leahcat

in the bottle: wow this IS interesting...not very strong but has a crispness to it. Almost smells warm through, not cold. wet: I certainly cannot ID a single note in this but it's not offensive at all, not sweet, not heavy, not crisp, not cold, not warm, not ...huh. drying (2 minutes of heavy sniffing): ok, there might be a very soft touch of something I hesitate to call floral - mostly because I haven't found a floral I can tolerate and this is different. It'd be something like the barest trace of a calla lily or some such. dry: sophisticated and I'll be danged if I know what's in this. However, it's very mild so I can see this being one of the 5ml bottles I actually use up since it needs a bit more for use. I'll do more testing on longevity later

French Love In the bottle: honeyed vanilla faint w/ dragon’s blood (although I admit the color is influencing me on the blood count) Wet: rather soft but stronger than in the bottle/imp. Does not have that super-ultra-sweet tang that dragon’s blood has, quite nice! Drying/3 mins:more musky almost spice now, but still a lovely honey vanilla tone to my nose at least Dry/15 mins: much more spicy now, it’s taken over. The soft honey vanilla is mostly gone.

Florence In the bottle: very faint, barely there in the bottle Wet: mmmm! A soft scent, if it doesn’t fade this might be rather nice. Drying/4 mins: Amber and berries, a bit of a heady scent like waking up from a good dream, I can’t get any iris at all (which is nice!) Dry/10 mins: deserves more testing when my nose isn’t tired out. Has definite possibilities!

Juliet In the bottle: yup, that would be lilies! Wet: more sweetness now, probably the honeysuckle and pear. Floral but not too strong... still floral. Drying/4 mins: lily floral overload Dry/ mins: never got this far. Nose went nuts, had to wash it off. Wish I liked florals more on me.

Eden In the bottle: a surprisingly musky garden scent – not green but.. *reads the description* a ha! Toasted coconut indeed. Wet: toasted coconut, almond milk definitely. Oh! there’s the fig leave. Unique. Complex. Drying/4 mins: Definitely interesting... my nose isn’t sure what to make of this! Dry/14 mins: Worth further testing.. not sure it’s for me but it’s a very interesting scent.

Delirium In the bottle: lemony something? Wet: sweet lemon, a bit lemon Pledge like though. Giving it time... Drying/5 mins: still strong lemon, might be able to talk my nose into smelling apple in there, but it’s not the sort of apples I eat. Definitely rose, which is getting stronger. Dry/18 mins: icky lemon. So sad.

Elegba In the bottle: Oh! Sweet happiness! Sugar rum for SURE. Wet: sugar rub, soft tobacco...barely coconut. Much fun! Drying/4 mins: Coconut sugared rum. Do I need to ask for more? Dry/17 mins: happy sugared rum! Happiness!

Grand Guignol In the bottle: soft brandy, not too booze, soft fruit. Nice! Wet: a bit stronger on the brandy but still very mellow without the boozy of some of the other’s I’ve tried. Has promise! Drying/6 mins: a soft sweet brandy without much bite. Definitely uplifting without being too bright or strong of a scent. Dry/15 mins: much the same as before, it definitely fades a bit but that’s fine. I don’t really want to walk around smelling like a brandy cordial, you know? So happy with this one!

The Hanging Gardens In the bottle: Green with a surprising tone of sweetness! Forgot about the fruits, but indeed this is a fruit orchard over grass. Wet: ok, there’s that touch of rose but still very subtle (as I dislike florals...), the fruits are a nice blend of pear-plum-date-fig to my nose. Definitely others in there as this is a VERY complex scent! Impressed. Drying/6 mins: Alas! Much more rose now, gardenias as well. *rubs itchy nose* fruits fading fast. Dry/ mins: Gardenias and rose with a touch of sweetness. Fruits definitely take a backseat here

Santa Eularia Des Riu In the bottle: bright soapy barely sweet semi spice. Wet: floral – and while I love jasmine and lavender... not together! Oh well. Floral double punch, a bit like some lady’s soap set. Bare touch of herbs in there, the orange blossom/sweet is gone now. Drying/3 mins: oh lookit! The orange is back, to my delight. The herbal is almost gone but the florals have taken more of a backseat now. This is rather nice, the sort I’d like a satchel of for the underwear drawer, you know? Dry/16 mins: very soft, still floral, the orange is more gone now ah well.

De Sade In the bottle: leather! Wow they got that one rather well. Not perfect, but it’s close enough. Had no idea what to expect with such a cryptic description. Wet: ok ok, this is ‘raw’ leather. I’m used to oiled and used leather which gets a different scent from the neatsfoot oil and other stuff (nono, not S&M, from horsebackriding, bad mind!) Drying/5 mins: raw leather Dry/20 mins: yup, raw leather

Alas! The frankinscense and vetiver and deep musk knock everything else out. Sweet clove, mandarin, bourbon, lemon peel, leather, grasses, lime? Completely gone. Can I get those in a scent by itself? Sigh.

Aglaea In the bottle: bright! Sweet! Fruit? Wet: a soft fruit, not sweet though. A plum sort to my nose, oddly enough. Perhaps that’s the myrtle or wine? The bright tone is definitely gone now. Drying/3 mins: barely spiced fruit with that overtone I tentatively ID as the wine. Amber is very much a back seat in this, but I like amber a lot so it doesn’t stand out as strong to my nose I admit. (she who bathes in Bastet....) Dry/15 mins: almost overly sweet now! Oh no! overripe PEACH over the head. Ouch. Must test again later to see if this keeps happening.

Kunsthammer In the bottle: oh how nice! Nothing like what I would have expected, but I also have no clue what benzoin or olibanum is either! Barely sweet, I can ID the orange in there but little else. It’s impossible for me to describe. Wet: definitely the deeper scent of the blood orange, with something I’d describe as a complicated light musk. Very interesting! Drying/5 mins: this mellows out considerable, as the layers blend together. It’s almost like the softest of incense with a spicy but light musk... all barely sweet with the blood orange. Rather nice! Dry/12 mins: A very sophisticated scent, this is one I’m happy to have an imp of!

Yerevan In the bottle: sweet! Um.. fruits? Floral? Hard to tell. Wet:sticky sweet something. Pears? Touch of apricot? Currently too much for this stomach. Drying/4 mins: this has soften CONSIDERABLY, oh my. A bare touch of floral (rose by the description), soft sweetness that isn’t at all overwhelming. When I breathe very deeply I get dead fish ... um, not sure about my nose right now. So normal breathing gives me a VERY nice scent. Wow. Dry/12 mins: soft vanilla fruity sweetness. No idea about the vanilla, but that’s what my nose says now! Definitely for more testing!