Argentwolf

For once I do not instantly get leaves and nothing else at first. Instead the frankincense seems to be what come out, first. There is a brief flare of very beautiful smoky copal. After a while, they seem to mingle together into a soft smell of incense. Like the other DL scents, it hugs very close to the skin, and while durable, does not present itself; you have to seek it out. It's very surprising to me, considering I thought that all of the scents in this line would have very prominent notes. In any case, I think this is a pass, for me.

Like the other DL scents, this starts off for me as a mix of dead and green leaves. As time goes on it balances out into something nice and warm, a nice mix of the vanilla and myrrh although neither note stands out more than the other to my nose. Does seem to have slightly more throw than the others I've tried so far, and is as long-lived as the rest -- these scents seem to be the kind that will gladly just hide out on your skin all day, for you to come to and have a sniff to enjoy whenever you need one.

Right away there is a spicy note of powdery, dusty pepper like kakiphony has mentioned. I like that a lot, but curiously up close on my skin, the pepper rapidly disappeared and the leaves predominated. All the same, they were more the dry, rustling sort of leaves one might expect from the name. Even curiouser, though, is soon after, when I go to smell it, the green note, like this were a mix of dead leaves and living ones, is what now dominates the scent. I'm not getting any sandalwood, really. Very little throw. Can't say that I like it as much as DL and Tobacco.

Oh wow. As others have noted, this is more like a mix of dead and green leaves, which threw me off quite a bit at first. I was not expecting something so fresh. Over time, though it turns drier and 'browner', and then the tobacco starts to come out and -- oh holy hell, it's sexy. Like sweet, rich pipe tobacco, a bare hint of caramel, with the dry leaves now very contentedly in the background. There is like -no- throw to it, which is disappointing, because I could basically just live in a cloud of this all day very happily, if I had to. Dabbed behind an ear or somewhere else you want a special someone nuzzling, though, and I can see the, um, possibilities. So nice.

2015 version: It starts out sweet, but not like fruit to my nose, at all. More like something woodsy -- like amber -- in fact the scent smells deep red-gold to me, if that makes any sense. An hour later and if I huff deeply, I get smoky, resinous notes that are very pleasant -- my kind of incense notes. Indeed it really just does remind me of warm, golden incense, and for some reason I keep wanting to come back to dragon's blood. It is not as strong now, but is still pretty detectable, so probably has decent longevity. It has a small amount of throw, but nothing too strident, to my nose.

2015 version: At first application, there is white tea and violet leaf, very dry and almost spicy. As time goes on, there is something deeper to it, but also sweet. The myrrh, perhaps, mixed with the olibanum? And probably also the red musk. Hmm, actually yes, there's a bit of a...nutty tone, that's very faint? I wonder if this is the 'peanut butter' note that people talk about with red musk. And just a few inches away from my wrist, as I lift my hand, there is a nice, crisp blend of floral scents coming from my skin. I do like this as a floral. It seems to be fading already, though, so I don't have huge high hopes for its longevity. ...Yep, an hour later and it's already fading quite a bit. Ah well!

Like LizziesLuck, I didn't get 'cold' or 'frozen' so much as 'wet' from this, but then I don't usually go for 'cold' blends so that may just be my inexperience. It really just kind of reads 'pretty, white floral' to me, and while it does evoke the thought of a lovely bouquet, there will probably be other floral-type scents that are able to grab my interest much better. It has a very minor through, and was gone by mid-evening (I applied it right before I went out to some friends' for the night).

To me, this starts out as a fresh, dewy scent, and then I can smell the honeyed lilies. Very pretty. Over time, it grounds out into something slightly deeper and earthier, though it's not the deep dark dirty earth of patchouli. I can smell some of the cognac, I believe. It hugs the skin and has already faded considerably after an hour. Pretty, though my tiny sample may be enough to enjoy.

2015 version: Starts off as a refreshingly-sweet and fruity aroma, then goes through a phase of just vague sweetness. About an hour later, it has mellowed down into an almost musky scent that does remind me of dark sugars mixed with lighter ones, with just enough fruit around the edges -- though now it is like a candied fruit, much deeper and richer, not as high and sweet as before. It seems to have decent staying power and a slight throw. I enjoy it at the stage it is right now -- dark and rich -- though I do not know if I need a bottle.

2015 version: Initially this was quite startling -- a blast of vanilla and cocoa, yes, but with something that just amped the heck out of it. Now that I think about it, that would be the 'minty' tone that people are talking about. Something like ozone, or wintermint, something definitely very white, for that 'shivering' aspect. About an hour later I now notice that amber and a bit of a dry leaf note have come out to balance it, though that strong, bracing vanilla-smell is still present. It smells very traditionally-perfumey to my nose. It appears to have pretty decent staying power, but stays close to the skin. Overall it is pleasant, if not a must-have for me.

This starts out sweet, in a light, almost airy way -- so there's the pomegranate and currant. About an hour later I notice now that it has taken on a more golden tone -- amber, there. And I really like it, at that stage. I don't get any patchouli really, or anything terribly earthy, but perhaps this one is just a very slow morpher? It stays -very- close to the skin, but seems to have decent staying power.

2015 version: I had tried Samhain before, and hadn't been impressed -- it had just seemed like sweet cider and nothing else. This year's blend is also very cidery; however, there's a note that is both earthy and sweet, the way that incense is sweet -- patchouli, no doubt -- that helps ground this so that it's not just runaway candy-sweetness. Either that or my tastes have just changed. But I enjoy this blend quite a bit. It has been going strong for about an hour now and therefore seems like a scent that will be fairly enduring. I think I will move this to my short list.

This is a pretty nutty, 'brown' blend -- it makes me think of brown musk. It ends up drying to a faint and sweet aroma. It's not unpleasant, but it really doesn't also say 'beer' to me, either.

This has a nice, spicy and creamy scent -- solid enough that I can see 'cheesecake' in it. It actually reminds me a little bit of the pumpkin cheesecake my sister makes for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately my skin eats it and it wears off very quickly.

2015 version: This starts off as -very- leaflike, as if I were sticking my face in a cluster of leaves still on the branch. Then there is something sweet -- that must be the sap. As it dries, it gets a very dry and smokey feel to it. I definitely like the ambiance of it, though it does not throw much and seems to fade quickly. I enjoyed it more than Magnificent Autumn, however.