Greensleeves

In the bottle: Pale yellow oil. Sweet eucalyptus and minty green herbal with a hint of fruit. Wet: Tangy eucalyptus, mint and citrus. Dry: A hint of banana, citrus and something tangy, I think the minty note might actually be the white ginger. After a few minutes: Fruity ginger and amber, still a hint of banana. After first hour: Fruity ginger and amber, with hint of berries. After two and a half hours: Soft amber, citrus and fruit. After 5 hours: Amber and citrus. Final verdict: Not bad, but not one I want to keep.

In the bottle: Light yellow oil. Sweet, citrusy, herbal floral. Wet: Clean ozony amber, herbs, citrus. Smells like a combination of Villain and Saint-Germain. Dry: Very citrusy, and amber/incensy, with the soft powdery aroma of white musk. After a few minutes: VANILLA! Some understated florals and musk, the citrus has fallen back quite a bit. After first hour: I'm getting a hint of plastic from the combination of vanilla and white musk, but it isn't overpowering and there are still pleasant elements to the blend like the sweetness of citrus. After two and a half hours: Plastic is gone, it has turned into a soft, sweet, citrusy, powdery musky amber and vanilla scent. Quite pleasant, but I think Villain does the citrus better for me. After 5 hours: Sandalwood and vanilla, that's it. Final verdict: It's quite pretty, but I have other scents that I like better. Time to pay it forward.

In the bottle: Pale yellow oil. Fruity, synthesized ocean themed smell. Wet: Fruit, synthesized ocean themed smell, herbs. Dry: Synthetic ocean all the way, not very pleasant to me. Some sort of overpowering flower I don't like, possibly freesia or hyacinth. After a few minutes: Some sort of minty, ozony note accompanies the synthetic ocean and freesia. Possibly some sort of white musk. After first hour: Mint, juniper, white musk, freesia and sythetic ocean. After two and a half hours: Actually softer and prettier now. After 5 hours: Not bad. Final verdict: The scent is much prettier when it's had time to develop, but I prefer a scent I can enjoy all the stages of.

In the bottle: Pale yellow oil. Fruity pine and musk. Wet: Minty eucalyptus, pine and musk. Very cool on the skin. Dry: Floral, minty, fake ocean/water scent, possibly violets. Sticks at the back of my throat unpleasantly. After a few minutes: I detect a hint of something cool and clear like there was in Hurricane, a strange sort of possibly... ozone? The sweetness of violet is coming out, along with an herbal undertone. This is much, much more floral than I expected considering all the nice herbs. I think I'm getting juniper, which smells a bit floral to me as well. After first hour: The heavy florals have calmed down a bit and I'm getting more of the enjoyable green notes, but not nearly enough. To me the florals evoke that 'commercial' smell that I tend to associate with people wearing too much chemical-infused bleah perfume instead of lovely Bpal. I think this blend just doesn't work for me. At the same time, it isn't making me ill like those commercial perfumes do, so that's something positive. After two and a half hours: The florals have mellowed a bit more and the blend has become a bit more herbal, and the commercialness has died down. Now it's mildly pleasant, but I don't really want to wait this long for a scent to get to a point where I think it is okay, but still nothing I would like to make part of my permanent collection. After 5 hours: More of the same. Final verdict: Not bad, but not something I want to keep.

In the bottle: Medium yellow oil. Incense and fruit. Wet: Sweet incense, perhaps sandalwood, and something like peaches, and honeysuckle, oh honeysuckle, I would know you anywhere. Dry: Honeysuckle, fruit and incense, possibly some jasmine. This smells a lot like Twilight. Maybe a hint of rose. After a few minutes: Honeysuckle, rose, jasmine, and amber. After first hour: Faint honeysuckle and jasmine. After two and a half hours: Faint honeysuckle and jasmine. After 5 hours: Gone. Final verdict: Pretty, but it doesn't stand out for me.

In the bottle: Medium yellow oil. Fruity dirt. Wet: Incredibly clean, nose-clearing, minty fruity dirt. The clean note makes me feel sort of lightheaded when I smell it. Also, my third eye tingles. Dry: This is like a roller coaster for my nose. Smelling it makes me feel very clear headed and somewhat jumpy and excitable, as if I can sense a storm coming. I'm getting that minty tinge again... that must be the vetivert, in which case I think I have just determined that I like vetivert. After a few minutes: So fresh, clean, rainy and tangy OMG MINTY VETIVERT DANCEPARTY ON MY ARM with a hint of clean soil. After first hour: When I sniff my wrist I am suddenly starting to taste something medicinal and soapy in my mouth.It smells familiar, but I can't place it. Aha, Vaseline Intensive Care original lotion, from back in the 1980s/1990s before they (possibly) changed the formulation and smell. After two and a half hours: More Vaseline Intensive Care lotion. After 5 hours: Lotion. Final verdict: Trying this was a very interesting experience, especially considering how lively and perky this made me, as well as the interesting scent memory it triggered, but this isn't something I would wear.

I didn't do an in-depth testing of this one because I forgot to make notes as I was wearing it, but the impression I got was very kitchen-herby. It really smelled like something that would be a good rub for pork chops and it made me want to go grill some meat. Even the cedar, which for me was disappointingly faint, did not detract from the 'edibleness' I perceived. It was also a very dry scent, and while I do like dry in some cases, like with incense, it wasn't a warm dry, more of a tepid, dusty sort of dry which isn't really to my taste.

In the bottle: Pale yellow oil, sweet herbal incense Wet: Citrusy, faintly musky, with a hint of sage. Dry: Herbal, sagey citrus incense with a hint of leather. Very subtle. I don't think this will be a long lasting scent. After a few minutes: Oh wow, the frankincense has really perked up nicely. This is turning into a lovely herbal and incense perfumed leather. After first hour: Faint incense, herbs and leather. After two and a half hours: Sweet incense, sage, and faint herbed leather. After 5 hours: Faint sweet incense with a hint of leather. Final verdict: Very pretty, and the ambergris, which I was very scared of, did not seem to be offensive at all. This definitely warrants an honourable mention, as this is something I would consider wearing again for sure.

In the bottle: Medium yellow oil. Sweet uplifting incense. Wet: Smells a lot like Penitence, with that same sweet, uplifting, churchy incense smell. I'm also getting the same feeling of relaxation, enlightenment, exhileration and gnosis. Dry: I think this blend may have more flowers in it or something. I think I'm getting a hint of rose to go with the incense and also something fruity. This is a little bit more multi-faceted than Penitence, but in such a subtle way that I would consider these scents interchangeable. The more I sniff my wrist the better I feel, and I was feeling really stressed and unhappy before. After a few minutes: There seems to be something a bit more woodsy coming out. Also my quivering from stress and anxiety is slowly turning into quivering from some sort of spiritual excitement. After first hour: This doesn't seem to have the same staying power as Penitence, and the feeling of exhileration has died down. Maybe the different blend is not as potent for me. Still very pleasant to smell though. A lot more woody than Penitence at this point. After two and a half hours: Sweet incense, and a hint of wood. After 5 hours: Faint woodsy incense. Final verdict: Unlike Penitence this scent did not bowl me over with an almost otherwordly, bordering on spiritual, experience when I was expecting a mere enjoyable fragrance, thus it might compare unfavourably to such an unexpected treasure. It was, however, a quite pleasant, more mellow and complex substitute.

In the bottle: Sweet, resinous green. Wet: Resinous green and floral, perhaps some kind of lily, lilac or hyacinth. Very sweet. Dry: Powdery, resinous herbal green, with a hint of lilac. After a few minutes: Faint resinous green. After first hour: Resin and faint incense. After two and a half hours: The same. After 5 hours: Gone Final verdict: Pleasant, but it didn't inspire me.

In the bottle: Pale yellow oil, rich mossy greenness Wet: Tangy fresh greenness with a very pronounced grass note, a hint of something citrusy, and something cool like eucalyptus. There is also a hint of freshly sanded wood. Dry: Rich herbal green. This is probably the purest plant scent I've ever smelled. It's not just the essense of a plant in liquid form with all the outer parts removed, it's the whole plant, the crisp fresh leaves and stems, even a hint of the earth it's sitting in. After a few minutes: Fresh, peppery, rich tangy greenness. I think I can detect a hint of lavender or mint. After first hour: Spicy sweet and tangy herbal green. After two and a half hours: Faint sweet greenness, maybe moss? After 5 hours: A hint of green. Final verdict: Very pretty and definitely a 'me' scent, but I think some of the other Rappaccini's garden blends do it a bit better. I think I can bear to part with this one.

In the bottle: Dark orange oil. Smells like Green Tree Viper, minus the mint, with instead a very incensy, mossy richness. Wet: Mmm, sweet, dark, mysterious greenness layered with vanilla and incense. Dry: I feel like a sexy forest goddess, the scent is so rich and green and sweet, and very deep and grounded. It is not a meadow greennness, but a seductive, moonlit greenness. I think this might possibly be even better than Green Tree Viper. After a few minutes: Suddenly everything has gotten somewhat bitter. I detect a faint hint of really bad tasting cough syrup, but overall it still smells good. I'm also feeling something sort of burny on my wrist. After first hour: The bitterness has faded and again I'm getting dark green richness mixed with the spiced vanilla of the Snake Oil. I want to hump my own leg again. After two and a half hours: Rich woodland moss and vanilla spice. Eminently sexable. A woodsy sex cookie, lol. After 5 hours: Soft green and vanilla. Final verdict: Wow, this is awesome. Another one for the keeper box.

In the bottle: Dark yellow oil. Metallic and commercial perfume. Wet: Amber, resin, and Off bug spray. Husband says it's 'Not bad', which is one of his few positive reactions to something I also don't mind the scent of. He actually agreed to let me put some on him. Dry: Clean and fresh. Very metallic and chromey. I'm getting a hint of Irish Spring, but it doesn't smell nice to me the way Irish Spring does. After a few minutes: The metallic note is getting cloying and nauseating. I smell machine oil and metal. After first hour: This smells unpleasantly heavy and cloying. I tried to give it a chance, but I think I need to wash it off. Final verdict: Bleah. Another one for the bottom 10.

In the bottle: Dark orange oil. Sweet fruit and incense. Wet: Incense, sweet fruit (is this the mango) and lavender. Dry: Incense, deep fruity richness and a hint of floral lavender. After a few minutes: Rich juicy fruit, smoky incense, and a faint hint of herbal floral. After first hour: Fruit and incense, soft herbal flowers, and a richness that must be the musk. The musk is not commercial or offensive, it just seems to harmonize with the other ingredients and hold the blend together. After two and a half hours: This is starting to smell a lot like Licwiglunga, the incense and the fruit are really prominent. After 5 hours: Very faint incense and fruit. Final verdict: Pretty, but I'm not in love.

In the bottle: Dark orangey yellow oil. Citrusy incensy lavender. Wet: Lavender, citrus and frankincense. Mmm. Like Arcana only more potent. Very cool on the skin. Smells cool to the nose as well. Dry: Lavender, citrus, incense and soft, powdery florals. I'm no longer getting the buzz that some incense blends give me, but it still smells sweet and very cool. After a few minutes: Herby soft lavender, citrus and incense. After first hour: Soft, powdery jasmine. After two and a half hours: Barely there jasmine. After 5 hours: Gone. Final verdict: Pleasant, but I think I'm just as happy with straight lavender essential oil for my bedtime needs.