Sybil

I loved, loved, loved this one. It smells like La Belle Au Bois Dormant but "grounded" by the musk. When I put it on it was mostly floral, but on drydown the pear is coming out (my skin seems to do that with fruits). I put on less than usual and it was VERY strong, but now seems to have faded quite a bit. Unfortunately the gentleman next to me on the train this morning started sniffing loudly and then asked if I smelled cigar smoke coming from the air vents. I don't want to smell like cigars and now I'm scared of Endymion I still think it's lovely on continued sniffing, so I will probably get over it and keep wearing it.

I read the scent description of Maiden a while ago, but didn't remember it when I put it on this morning, except that it was something floral. About half an hour after I put it on, I was at the train station. Two men sat down next to me on the bench and I got a whiff of something that smelled spicy, like strong masala chai. I kept trying to figure what cologne they were wearing, maybe something by old spice? On the train I sat next to a young girl who was wearing a very similar scent, and a lot of it! I thought to myself, is it my perfume? By the time I got to work, I couldn't smell anything on my wrists, so decided that there must be a new spicy cologne that was all the rage with NJ commuters. I bet you know how this story ends... it was Maiden all along! I got home and slathered a bunch on, and now I am surrounded in that same spicy scent. I'm not getting any tea, and if I try really hard I can get a little bit of rose in the background. It's nice, and I'll probably keep my imp, but my skin just really amps the carnation and it's a little overwhelming.

This was the first blend I tried out of my very first order, which arrived last night! I got home from work late and was so excited to see the package in my mailbox. I put this on as I was getting ready to go to bed. I'm not very good at picking out the individual notes, but this is what it smelled like to me: You're on vacation in a small rural town in upstate NY or New England, staying at a cozy little Bed & Breakfast in a rambling old Victorian house. The sheets on your bed are clean old linen, stored in a chest with dried flower possets amongst them. There's a handmade quilt on the bed, and as you crawl in and drift off to sleep, you dream of the fresh warm blueberry muffins and creamy tea for breakfast tomorrow, and a week of nothing to do but browse used bookstores and antique shops. This is a very comforting scent, sweet and a little musty. It feels like a hug from your favorite person in the world. It's a little too sweet for me: not something I'd want to smell LIKE, but something I definitely want to smell. I'll keep this to scent my clean sheets.

It's interesting to see how many different reactions there were to this blend! I work in Manhattan, so I was very excited about this one. On me it's mostly leather with teak and amber and a little bit of lemon. It also has a little bit of mustiness in there. I put it a lot of it on my wrists and neck 2 hours ago, and now it's barely there. I can catch a little whiff when I turn my head. For me it's a more masculine scent, cologne-y. I was actually at 21 Club last night, and while I know there's actually a blend for the restaurant, this reminds me very much of that: dim lighting, dark panelled walls, leather chairs, and decades of the cigar smoke and martinis of men in suits making business deals long through the night. I would probably love this if the lighter tea and citrus notes were more prominent, but it's not really for me.