ShadowsDance

Well, it's definitely a floral in the bottle! On my skin? Yep, floral.. not able to really pick anything out. It goes powdery quite quick and then turns into soap. Blah..

In the bottle passion fruit and raspberry are at the front. On my skin it's a very fruity scent, sweet and almost candy-like. The pineapple and raspberry are there, and the other fruits come forth from time to time. I don't get much rum from this, I would not call it a boozy scent. Not sure if it's just my skin, or if it's because the bottle has aged for a while, I would guess the first however. It's more like a sweet tropical fruit punch on me. Delicious!

In the bottle it smells like, well, dirt! On my skin the dirt is definitely still there, but it is lightened with a somewhat floral background. It's not quite as deep as, say, Graveyard Dirt.. but very similar to that.

In the bottle: Creamy chocolate, although a bit fake smelling.. On my skin that bit of fake plastic sort of scent is no longer there. It smells much like a mug of hot cocoa. Occasionally a bit of bitter burnt plastic still shows through.. I love it when it's being good on my skin, however. I wish would would act better more often.

In the bottle it is somewhat of an incense like scent, and slightly floral. On me it would seem the myrrh and pomegranate are up front, but the wisteria is definitely there as well. It smells very much like a sweet, but somewhat tart, floral incense.

In the bottle: yep, it's dirt! On my skin.. dirt! Deeply rich and earthy, slightly moist, and definitely mossy. There is really nothing more I could add, that says it all.

So, I took a risk and ordered a bottle of this. 95% of the time florals will turn into baby powder on me, and this actually has baby powder listed as a note.. Eep! In the bottle.. yeah, there's the baby powder! On my skin it's not quite as powdery at first. I get nice hints of milk an honey, and the sage also stands out quite a bit. Unfortunately, after about 10 minutes the baby powder comes back to the front, and anything else that might be there is drowned out. I actually do not mind the smell of pure baby powder.. it's just not something I really want my perfume to smell like. Ah well..

So, I've had this scent since it was released, I've just been slacking on reviews.. When I first opened it to get the "from the bottle" notes my first thought was "oooh, I'd forgotten how good this is." In the bottle, it's a very sweet somewhat floral scent. On my skin.. it's hard to place! It's sweet but a little tart, fruity in a way, with a hint of floral background. I can't pick out any of the individual notes, but this blend works so well on me. A very tropical, summertime scent. (Thalassa and Thunder Moon had a rival for my attention last summer!) Although I would say it's sweet with a tart edge, I don't think they smell exactly like sweet tarts.. (that's Bloody Mary, for me) but there is a candy like quality about this scent.

Flowers so very rarely work out on my skin, thye generally turn to powder, but anything with gardenia always temps me. Luckily I broke down and decided on a bottle of this when it was live - it is pure, wonderful gardenia on my skin. Nothing else, it's like having a single note. I love it.

Sensual, sibilant, sexual and hypnotic: Arabian musk and exotic spices slinking through Egyptian amber, enticing vanilla, and a serpentine blend of black plum, labdanum, ambrette, benzoin and black coconut. In the bottle: If I didn't know better, I would swear this is Snake Oil. That.. doesn't look good for me.. On my skin.. yeah, pretty much the same as snake oil. It starts out musky and spicy, and within about 10 minutes it turns to power and never looks back.

Mmm.. cinnamoney goodness from the bottle. On me it's cinnamon, clove, and creamy vanilla. It's like a spicy apple crisp with vanilla ice cream melting over it. That's all I can really say about this.. It doesn't morph, and the pine sap never shows up - but that's okay with me, this scent is awesomely wonderful!

In the bottle it smells just like an orange creamsicle. On my skin that scent stays pretty much the same. I don't get anything floral from this, just a rich creamy orange cake - with just a hint of anise. Delicious! Only complaint? It doesn't last all that long on me, two hours tops. Worth the reapply, though.

In the bottle I got a strong scent of maple syrup, which is interesting as that is not listed in the blend.. (More of that to come!) On me I could not really smell anything until it dried down. I started to pick up something similar to hazelnut coffee.. That soon changed into a strange plastic maple scent. Eventually the pancakes themselves came out, but they too had a bit of a plastic quality to them. This occasionally goes away and then comes back again.. This has great lasting power though, I applied it at 11:00 last night, and it's 6:20 in the evening of the next day - and my wrist still smells like maple and pancakes.

In the bottle it just smells like another floral blend. As I wear it, it starts to change slowly.. It goes from being a "generic floral" of sorts to being a slightly musky floral, that's also sweet and somewhat creamy. As with most florals, this eventually turns into a sour baby powder after a short while..

In the bottle I mostly smell the lily of the valley. When I apply I can get hints of Dorian through the lily. As it dries down it becomes a bit powdery, but then along the way turns into Dorian. That's all I really get after that, a faint version of Dorian - occasionally with a touch of extra vanilla. I was excited to see the Snake Oil/Dorian combo, but this blend just doesn't work well for me. (It has given me layering ideas, however..)

Hmm, from the bottle I get fir with something sweet.. cherry or plum, maybe? On my skin the fir really pops out, but it has a sweet and slightly spicy undertone. As it dries the fruits and spices really come forward. The cedar is showing itself as well.. This is a pretty complex scent, it's hard to truly pin down any of the notes, because they're always changing. While it's a nice autumn scent, I don't think it's one of my favorites. Not sure if I'll keep it or not..

Mmm.. in the bottle it's a nice tangy, yet sweet, pomegranate scent. On my skin it's almost the same as in the bottle, just a few hints of black currant coming out now. Mmm... this is sweet, but not too sweet. Very good. It reminds me a bit of those strawberry candies with the goo in the middle, smells a bit like that. I've seen a few reviews saying this is like Sticky Pillowcase, but they're very different scents on me. If I had to compare, I'd say it's more like Bon Vivant actually - with a hint of the pomegranates I got strongly from The Flower Song. Sparkling tangy-sweet fruit candies.

In the decant it's a slightly floral vanilla. On my skin, it's a nice vanilla.. but not really in a foody way. It's not really one of my favorite vanilla type blends, but it is interesting. Sadly, it fades out totally within about 20 minutes of applying.

The imp smells strongly of patchouli. On my skin the patchouli is still dominant, a very deep and earthy scent. As it dries down, it does soften a bit.. I though I'd gotten a hint of sandalwood at some point, but I'm not sure. Patchouli does stay front and center the entire time, however.

... Dry white sandalwood and soft Siamese benzoin over a lugubrious blend of myrrh, Moroccan rose, mastic, tomb moss and a thin whiff of Greek incense. In the imp it's heavy incense, lots of myrrh. On me the myrrh is still up front, but now there is also an earthy note, slightly dusty.. Sadly, after about 15 minutes it goes into baby powder mode, and never comes back. :/ Going to go ahead and blame the rose for that, since it often seems to be at fault..

LVIX The notes I wrote while trying this only contain one word.. CAKE. Really, it's all cake. A hint of snake oil in the background, but mostly sweet vanilla cakes. Or sugar cookies. Kinda like wearing Snake Oil into a bakery..

XII Huh.. it's just Dorian. I can't smell anything else with this.. My imp of Dorian is all used up, thinking of getting a 5ml anyway, so might try to compare the two again then. Until then, though.. it's just like Dorian. *shrug*

In the bottle it's a rich, sweet coconut. Wet on me it's creamy honey almond, with lots of coconut. As it dries down, the almond fades into the background quite a bit, but the sandalwood really comes out. This ends up being a toasted coconut (like macaroons!) and sandalwood mix on me. Soft and delicious. Very long lasting as well, going on my 8th hour and it's still fairly strong.

In the bottle it's tangy pomegranate juice. On me the pomegranate wine is the primary note coming forth. As it dries down it takes on a more floral tone, but only slightly. It's a very fruity scent, tangy but sweet at the same time. This is actually what I was hoping Swank would be like, lots and lots of pomegranate. My only complaint is that it only lasts for three to four hours before fading quite a bit. Still, even given that, this has become one of my favorite scents.

In the imp it's sweet vanilla. On my skin it's sweet and creamy, but not too thick. As it is drying, it seems to take on a plastic quality.. but that does fade after a bit of time. It returns to a creamy vanilla scent, with a hint of something slightly cool and minty. It reminds me of Tokyo Stomp, but with less mint undertones. Same type of vanilla.. Good lasting power as well, I'm at about 6 hours now?