hkhm

imp: herbal, very light. wet: a light leathery herbal. i can't stress how light it is... yet persistent. dry: this fades pretty quickly, a soft clean scent. mostly herbal but still a hint of leather.

bottle: rich cocoa, spices and cherry. wet: the cocoa is a backdrop to a magnificent spicy cherry scent. this is very much like kabuki, just with a dash of cocoa powder. dry: much more cocoa when this dries. the cherry is soft, perhaps not as strong as the cherry in kabuki but there spices are still there and yummy.

imp: very soft incense. wet: a light, almost lemony, incense. dry. i've got it: this smells like light citronella incese coils.

Firewood and ash with an oddly otherworldly blend of patchouli, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, tonka, vetiver, and myrrh. imp: ash, vetiver, myrrh and a touch of pepper. wet: ash. well, there might be a touch of patchouli but the ash really dominates this blend. dry: ash.

imp: sweet tarts candy and light amber. odd but pleasing. wet: this is greenery, amber and still that light sweet tart scent. very relaxing. dry: this gets prettier as it dries. it has a much more wet, green scent, i think it may be bottle-worthy.

imp: peach and heliotrope, sort of like a lighter version of tamora. wet: beautiful! the peach is shiny, sort of like a nice fizzy peach drink. dry: soft peach and bergamot. pretty.

imp: yep, weeds. wet: whoa! boozy weeds! dry: this dries back down to weeds.

bottle: wet brown sugar and spices. wet: incredible. the sugar is melty, the spices are pungent. this is yum in a bottle. dry: this smells like the holidays, spices and sugars. so lovely.

bottle: currant and moss with a touch of soft spice. very light. wet: gah! super strong once applied! the teak is terribly strong as is the clove. i suspect that aging will help this matter though. dry: i get strong teak and tobacco on the drydown, there is an incredibly alluring note (or perhaps a stunning combination) but there is something very alluring and mysterious about this blend. i can't wait to see how it ages.

bottle: creamy apple. this smells terribly yummy. wet: this remains creamy apple once applied. i'm not really getting anything else but that is fine by me. dry: still creamy, yummy, crisp apple. i will be buying another bottle of this incredible scent.

imp: mostly gardenia with a bit of jasmine. wet: plenty heavy on the gardenia but the rose is coming up fast as this warms on my skin. somehow, the overall effect is almost lightly lemony gardenia. dry: dries to a lightly lemony gardenia scent with a touch of jasmine in the background. i'm not a fan or rose, gardenia or jasmine but this scent is nice considering it has three deal-breaker notes in it.

imp: like a very sweet, honeyed myrrh. i don't see honey listed in the notes but i would swear it's in here. perhaps the storax? wet: serious honey. this is so incredibly sweet i'm glad i tested only the tiniest amount. and the throw on this is insane! dry: this dries to something like a honeyed beeswax incense scent.

imp: very musky. wet: very sweet, dark musk. the myrrh and mullein and definitely in the background here. this somehow reminds me of satyr. dry: this dries to a nice, sweet musk scent. still reminds me a bit of satyr... just more darkly feminine rather than masculine.

imp: rosemary and pine. very clean. wet: this is intense pine. i can detect the presence of rosemary and bay but whoa... pine overload. dry: this is so much nicer when it's dry. the pine is tame and sweet, the rosemary is soft, yet bright. this is very reminiscent of taking a walk after a windstorm when there's all sorts of pine branches blown all over the path.

bottle: after having taken a good sniff of some galangal root at the co-op today, i now know that what i'm smelling is dirt and galangal. wet: this is wonderful. dirt with a rooty, herby scent. i love dirt scents though they are hit-or-miss on my skin (luckily, this one is a hit!). dry: the herby scent changes from fresh to dried as this dries on my skin while the dirt note stays fresh and wet.

bottle: wine, blood and pomegranate. wet: this is still pretty much all wine, blood and pomegranate with a touch of tonka. dry: the blood note fades quite a bit as this dries and this ends up smelling like a refined pomegranate wine.

bottle: yep, very reminiscent of earth rat, not quite so heavy on the melon but that bubbly, fruity scent is still there. wet: once applied, i'm getting the lychee and orange pretty strongly. it's kinda balanced with all the florals here and has a fizzy, candy-feel to it. dry: this dries to soft florals (noe are terribly distinct on me) and tame, yet playful, fruits. so pretty, i'll be wearing this one quite a bit.

bottle: sandalwood and what i presume must be the daemondrops because it's that same scent that's in i married a vampire from planet x. wet: daemondrops with something sweet and vanilla-y (the tonka and honey perhaps?). dry: the musk seems to come out as this dries, making this a creamy, rich scent that sticks pretty close to my skin.

bottle: sugary honey with musk. this is the scent of sexy. wet: the copal warms up pretty instantly on my skin but quikly subsides back to that rich, sexy, honeyed musk. dry: the beeswax scent finally appears which gives this a warm richness. it's still all deliciously sexy musk but it seems warmer, more golden somehow.

bottle: blackberry and sandalwood. i think i can detect a light hint of the orange blossom as well. wet: the blackberry turns to a more dark berry scent that plays wonderfully well with the orange blossom and sandalwood. i'm not really getting anything like an amber mint. dry: dries to a soft, sexy sandalwood. i'm sure it's the blackberry that's giving it that sexy feel. so pretty, i can't stop sniffing my arm.

imp: light, tropical florals. wet: i'm not certain which florals i'm smelling here but they smell very, very tropical. i wish there was more ginger though as i tend to go weak for ginger scents. dry: this smells very lightly orchid-y once dry.

Exquisitely melancholy. The background scent to an ancient exequies. Heavy, dark and floral: a blend of roses, with a touch of amber and musk. imp: i smell the amber and musk but i don't smell any rose... wet: the rose is dreadfully soapy in this blend, the amber and musk are making a valiant effort but it's gone to soap. dry: i tend to amp amber, musk and rose so the drydown is pretty strong... and soapy. it's almost headache inducing. sadly, not for me. (edited to add scent description)

imp: this smells just like fruit-flavored hard candies. wet: this is incredibly faint, i get light fruity hints, a touch of floral, something sweet... but it's too faint to pinpoint. dry: this went on faint and stayed faint. it's perfect for when you might want a very light, yet persistent scent.

imp: cocoa with someting fruity and woodsy. wet: cherry hazelnut cocoa powder. dry: this has bretty much dried to a pure cocoa scent.

imp: this smells just like bark and leaves. wet: very soft dirt note with varied woods (nothing too strong to mention) and greenery. dry: the aquatic note comes out a bit as this dries, but just a bit. the dirt note fades to be replaced with a more grassy note. very nice.