quigza

I'm going to start this with the mention that I think my decant is pretty old

Wet: It smells sharply soapy. Like, this is how my older sister describes how cilantro tastes (I can eat cilantro- but she hates it).

Dry: Linen? The soapy feel is more there, but in the generic "cotton" fragrance" sort of way. There's a sharp bit, that may be ginger or pepper it's not sweet, but doesn't feel like pepper due to an additional creaminess. Any "tea" feels more like a generic woods.

Aftermath: Oh, the ginger comes out when the "linen" finally backs off. This is nothing like I expected. It might be nice for layering with something also fresh.

wet: frangipani & orange

Dry: Ever have vitafusion calcium gummies? It's like that & frangipani (plumeria) & a bit of Abuela's incense.

aftermath: Some vanilla tinted creaminess, faded floral, and candle wax.

It's a lovely experience. I think I might wear it for specific purposes, but this isn't an everyday thing for me.

Well, found this on the bottom of a box (because sometimes you don't ever fully unpack from moving). It's a snickerdoodle on me, with a little bit of a nutty edge. I guess it (and me) aging changed out some of the notes I originally got. There a touch of IPA to this as well? But, as this is making me itchy, I'm going to send it to one of my sisters.

It smells like earthy jasmine, geranium leaf, and something sweet (it smells more like dragons blood than plum to me). Thankfully, the musk doesn't really show up. I like this.

I was rec'd to try this as I love Saturnalia (discontinued). I do feel the similarities.

At first there's a grungy kind of smell to it. And, there's a very scary point in the dry down in which I quietly hope the musk doesn't turn on me. Thankfully, it doesn't. The violet plays well on me & the vetiver drifting into the lovely green happiness it sometimes does on my skin. But, there's some white floral in here and something sweet as well. The sweet is a little resiny. The white floral goes a little wild here (my skin makes some white florals stronger).

The effect for me is more of a little wooden cottage with false jasmine and violets blooming nearby, and a freshly tilled garden ready to plant. Lovely, but not what I was expecting at all.

I may need to update, as my surprise SDCC fairy just got it to me (they lucked out and were working the next booth over at SDCC). I may add to this after I have let it settle for a couple of weeks.

Completely sugarless, waxless, unprocessed dark chocolate, with a grit to it. I like dark chocolate. I like rooty vetiver. I had no idea that the two would go well together. But, they do .

I love this. I love this so much.

In comparison, Bliss is much more like a Hershey bar.

This is also much more dark than chocomania by TBS. (Including the limited edition home fragrance in the green bottle that was darker than the regular chocomania)

IDK what happened here. But, it smells like an auto mechanic's shop on me. There's oil & grime & petrol smells co-mingling. I lasted about 5 minutes before my significant other demanded I wash it off & opened the window to air out the room. I may try this again when I'm alone, just to see if it changes. I'm pretty sure it's the citrus and vetiver making it too much at the opening.

Tried it again. The opening reminds me of Tokyomilk's 'French Kiss.' But, Fallen doesn't ease up enough to make it worth the muscle-through.

It smells so sour when wet. Sour & sickly sweet. We're not talking sweet & sour chicken. I mean like biting Buddha's hand while smelling the sweet note in body odour. I thought maybe it had gone bad, but the sour turned into citrus/yuzu after drydown. And the sweet became light and not sickly.

I have fuyu persimmons growing in the backyard & the sweetness after drydown reminds me of them when they're just before ripe (before the honey note gets prominent). That would explain a vaguely astringent note that pops out as well. I don't get the mandarin or black tea notes at all. But, the incense/wood note may be the "tea."

You know, I smell the flowers, but they just aren't as strong as others above are saying. Does my skin eat sakura?!?!

Overall, this strongly reminds me of a lot of the plants growing in my neighborhood & backyard (this neighborhood is still pretty strongly japanese-american & the gardens reflect that). But, It feels like fall & spring were squished together. It makes it off balanced. Then again, maybe it's my skin chemistry. I kind of want to try layering this with oudh though. (IDK - I think it'd smell interesting)

So, musk don't play well on me. I braced myself as I put it on.

It smells just plain weird wet. Musky horseradish, something sour & red, and a floral that makes my eyes sting.

After drying down, It remains eye watering. The horseradish is a mellow spice, it's that floral. It's growing, I tell you. One, maybe 2 of the musks are actually playing well with me. A faint, light 'your skin but better' scent, and something. But, then there's one or more that smells like a perfect match for the smell of my feet after a run. Ugh.

There is a slight tea note that I keep catching as well.

Definitely not for me. That said, my takeaway is that horseradish/wasabi is amazing if you can make it to drydown.

In bottle: Wat?!

Wet: Is that peach and sweat?! Wait, there's something slightly green? Woody green? Maybe? please?

Dry: What fresh hell is this? Oh, there's a little amber in here. The peach is amping. That could be good in certain situations. Oh no... *gags* the smell of sweat has gone from "just exercised" to "I've been camping for a week with no showers." Why does musk do this on me?

I had my SO sniff the wrist and he wrinkled his nose & ask if I had not showered because it was affecting the fragrance. (edit to add: I had)

*tosses into swap pile*

I am 100% certain this would smell like a peach goddess in summer on my bestie (she of the amber amping skin). That said, on me it smells like a car camping trip gone wrong. Spilled can of peaches and all.

Further edit to add: After washing it off, there's still a touch of something slightly woody. I love that part!

This goes on with a light hint of cantaloupe, something floral, and a light musk. As musk tends to turn on me, I readied the soap. But, a half hour later, it hasn’t turned. So glad. The floral component must be a white floral, because the flowers do seem to amp on me. The floral component must be a white floral, because the flowers do seem to amp on me. I’m wondering if this is osmanthus? Every time I get a good whiff of this fragrance, it seems to fade away. You have to let hour nose rest to get another good sniff. I like scent, but it’s elusive, despite it very much being present when you can smell it again. It makes it hard to pick out notes. But, I guess that’s the point of something called neutral, right?

Additional note: I know there is no sandalwood in here. However, this fragrance does what sandalwood does to my nose. I can smell it for just a second, then it disappears.

When wet, this smells like campfire ash, a touch of smog, and damp dirt/earth. as it dries down, it gets a touch cedary. The cedar smell and ash smell go back and forth. Throughout. The earth smell dries out, but somehow theres a wet note that comes out as the smog note dies down. I guess ozone? I keep searching for the sweet note others are describing. But, I mainly get something that smells like my own skin, but more.

Overall, it reminds me both of camping, and something post apocalyptic after a rain. Like I said, weird.

As a complete aside- I do have to note that if you were eating a nectarine, then smell this on your wrist after dry down, you are going to get a surprise.

Edit to add: after about an hour, the sweet note came out - smells like fenugreek on me. Almost everything else has faded but the fenugreek and a touch of incense

This is very sweet. Like, honeysuckle mixed with dragons blood level of sweet. Very faintly get the violet - I do not blame violet for this level of sweetness. Theres something not listed that is making it ridiculously sweet. There is a touch of something green, do not get Evergreen though. Juniper, I think. The flowers are muddled, not very distinct. I can only pick out the violet because it starts making things smell like sweet tarts candy after dry down. Eventually, it is sweet tart candy, and slightly soapy juniper floral.

How to recreate this fragrance:

Purchase a box of Queen Anne Cordial Cherries.

Open box

Insert face

Chew

This is awesome, if a tad intense with the cherries. It's straight up candy on me. I don't get the floral note at all.

This smells like getting drunk on bourbon whilst eating fig desserts with your friend who just started school at Berkeley. It has a lot of nostalgia wins for me right off the bat (oh, university days). It dries to to a warm raisin cookie on me- excepting for the green patchouli which is just a tad sharp. - but that's something that rounds with age. I'm pretty sure this is going to age wonderfully.

Edit to add: So, it's May. The patchouli does start to get less sharp over time! It's still sharp, but not as bad as before. Pretty sure I'm going to love this next year.

I got ahold of a cobalt bottle of this (so, aged).

It is a very organic sweet. You know when honey gets a little crystallized at the top of the jar? There's a whiff of that. There's also a bit of marzipan to it. After it resting on my skin a while, I also get a note of condensed milk. I think the "grains" part was lost to the aging. But, I still like this & am going to use it for layering fragrances that could use sweetness.

Faith (2009) - This smells like those little violet hard candies you get in a tin. You know, the ones that your great grandmother probably carried in her pocket with crumpled used tissues? It's a very nostalgic scent for me. Reminds me of my grandmother. I remember when I first bought it, thinking the violets were more pronounced & the sugar was more "rock candy" than a married note. Now the notes have blended into the aforesaid candy.

Very much a bay rum cologne. Spicey (touch off allspice & cinnamon & nutmeg?). Smells good on my partner. Gives me a touch of a rash when I wear it tho (probably actual cassia or cinnamon in it).

Anything similar to Saturnalia out there? The vetiver + violets works well for both me & my SO. So anything near a dupe would be appreciated.

I have bottle of this &, while it smells good in the bottle, the pear note turns into a weird incensey scent on me. Remember when they had fruit scented incense in the 90s with weird fruits like pear & pineapple? It's like that. However, it's not a factor of aging. I put this on my boyfriend and it smells like fruity candy (he was a touch upset about that ).

I'm using an aged imp. Not sure if I reviewed this already. I'm really liking this right now. There's a nice poppy and green undertone. And a sweet note that pops up now and then.

It fades to only poppy on me

in the bottle: cherry cough syrup, specifically the "tussin" type. Not cherry dayquil (yes, I sniffed the ones in my medicine cabinet)

wet: cough drop cherry, sweetness and...something a little warm. before it fully dries, the warmth turns into woods. maybe a little cedar-y.

dry: cherries (real ones! the dark ones), that wood smell, and faint sweet something (like remembered cookies)

aftermath: faintly cheery and almond. No more sweetness

Note: My nose doesn't register Sandalwood. It's a genetic quirk. So, take my review with the appropriate grain of salt.

In the bottle: A little bit of sweet, moist earth. incense (unlit) and faint wood smoke

Wet: much the same as in the imp, but the earth is no longer sweet.

Dry: faint incense (my roomie says it's strong incense, thus meaning it's very sandalwoody) & something "green"

Aftermath: Ok, this scent confuses the heck out of me. My allergies aren't set of by the incense. The sandalwood "blank spot" leaves all the secondary notes to play. I know I'm missing a lot of the scent. That said, it isn't bad.

Honestly, this is rose all the way through on me. I was hoping for a little something else in it. But, my skin apparently is not amenable to that.

Rose, rose, rose.

'versary

In the bottle: liquid baked goods

Wet: buttercream frosting, strawberry baked goods. I wouldn't say cheese cake, but it's close

Dry: vanilla-y pound cake & strawberry butter cream frosting

Aftermath: white cupcakes with strawberry frosting & an occasional cherry note. still on 3 hours later

I want to eat my arm. This is so delish!