Astarial

I'm also getting soapy dryer sheets. Not an unpleasant scent, but not one I want to wear on my skin. After a few hours of drydown, the soapiness goes away and it's a soft sugared kind of scent, but I'd need to retest to get a better description.

The original Candy Butcher didn't work on me - it went to gross plasticky bananas. Sadly, the new one doesn't work on me either. In the imp, it smells of chocolate and faint spices, I think star anise. On my skin, though, it rapidly becomes burnt and acrid and stays that way for quite a while. Eventually, an hour or two in, it eases off and becomes a sort of musty spice scent, meh but not horrid. Sadly no chocolate or cream for me.

My favorites are Green Tree Viper (delicious, slightly musky mint), Banded Sea Snake (A really nice, mossy aquatic), and Boomslang (rich, dark, chocolatey). And I really like Death Adder, Temple Viper, Western Diamondback, and Habu on my guy. They read as sexy-man to my nose (plus, WD doesn't work well on me because the leather takes over, but it doesn't do that on him).

Perhaps Yule Cookies? LE from a couple yules ago, notes are "Clouds of flour and spices with the scent of ginger tea, warm caraway cakes, snickerdoodle pinwheels, and sugar cookies with sweet orange frosting." Gets you the orange and the sugar cookies. What notes stand out in Sugar Witch?

I recommend Green Tree Viper, which is mint and a soft backing of snake oil muskiness on me. You might be able to find an old bottle for sale, or wait until it's released with CD.

I got five decants of these from Yojenitan, so I'll review them according to her labelling system: A: This is fruity and sparkly in the imp, kind of like that sparkling fruit juice you can buy around new year's for people who don't drink champagne. Once on my skin, it gets more floral, and dries down into a soapy champagne white floral. B: Sugary, creamy, warm, and rich, from wet through drydown. This one doesn't morph a lot, and it reminds me a lot of caramel and brown sugar. Sometimes I get a bit of a salted caramel vibe, even. There's something glorious going on the background, too - dunno if it's vanilla or amber but it's really inviting. Very, very lovely. C: In the imp, this is very hard to describe. On my skin it's herbal incense, almost salty? Some eucalyptus starts to come out as well... I don't really like that part, it's a bit harsh for me, but luckily it doesn't last long that way. The harshness dies down after a while, but the herbal incense stays there quietly. It's not really me. D: Kinda fruity (grapy?) in the imp! On my skin, it starts out primarily leathery. It reminds me a lot of Villainess' Quick or Dead. Some of the fruit does come out as well, and the leather recedes over time. It's not really fully fruity, though... kind of perfumey-fruity? With some leather in the background? Meh. E: In the imp, a bit foody/cakey. Kind of like the super bready note I get from gingerbread snake before it warms up a bit and gets awesome. That gentles into a softer wood/incense scent. Not a ton of throw here, and I think I'd like it on a guy more than on me.

I got decants of all of Yojenitan's bottles except for D - which I'm seriously regretting missing, seeing her review! They're pretty similar on my skin to how she described them: A: Herbal in the decant, sort of floral/aquatic on my skin, and I'm getting a strong tobacco-ish note that starts to come out strong as it dries down. I don't smell any vanilla, chocolate, caramel, or sugar here at first, but I think there's a soft vanilla hanging out in the back. B: Creamy and I think a little citrusy in there, like a mellow orange-creme chocolate truffle or something. Doesn't really do much on my skin, mostly just hangs out smelling the same. C: I love this one! In the decant it's a rich brown sugar with a hint of cake. On my skin, it gets even sweeter for a bit (which I love), and then backs off and lets some spice and resiny and caramelly notes come out. It's great. E: I agree that it's kinda stinky. It reminds me of something, but I can't quite remember what. It's kind of herbal and dark. On my skin that gets to be kind of a wet herbal darkness, and kind of goes into smelling like a swimming pool, or the locker rooms at one. Definitely my least favorite.

Emma will probably be more floral than you're looking for, then - most of the reviews mention it. You could see about finding a decant from someone in the Sales and Swaps board, though. Two other possibilities could be Mars Ultor (black amber and smoky vanilla with cistus, benzoin, caramelized tobacco, and blackened nutmeg), which is a current LE, or Arise, Lift Up Thine Eyes and See (champaca flower gilded with golden amber, Madagascar vanilla, Roman chamomile, and black nutmeg), which is a LE from last year's Lupercalia, so another one you'd need to find in sales or swaps. You can see reviews of both of them in the review section, under Limited Edition -> Lupercalia.

Can you describe what the scent is like for you? Is there any note that predominates, or do they have roughly equal strengths?

In the bottle for this one I get no coconut at all - it's primarily saffron with just a touch of honey. It sweetens once applied, but remains very light and not at all cloying. The coconut peeks out into the drydown, and I definitely get some of the references to a pina colada - it's got a very fruity, tropical drink kind of feel to it. Very briefly it borders on suntan lotion, but then goes back to pina colada. Once dry, it's a very soft, gentle blend. I'm not picking out any of the notes in particular - they combine really well.

Coconut! Sweet coconut, with a hint of toasty warmth that I think is the macadamia milk. As it dries, the nuttiness gets stronger, and some of the amber comes out to join it. For a while, I get almost a sense of egg nog, which I think is the cream and the marshmallow. Once dry, it's just sweet, light, fluffy, soft, and creamy. It's not overwhelming or really very foody on me. Nothing like Snow White, but with a similar feel to me. Gorgeous!

If you're attracted to the smokiness of Djinn but want to go easy on how heavy that gets, you could try some blends where it's present but not playing first fiddle. Some ideas I had were: (Not So) Penitent (Mini) Magdalene: Candle wax, smoke, red sandalwood, a dusting of kitchen spices, and a dribble of vanilla ice cream. Liz: A light, feminine vanilla floral perfume and a swirl of smoke and leather. October: Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and sap in the air. Sissy, the Ascendant: Sassafras and smoke for black vulture feathers, and King mandarin and red musk for the deep red-orange of the vulture's face. Blue lilac and chamomile / opoponax and vetiver for the blue and black of her eyes. Vanilla bean and fig represent her innate goodness and instinctive kindness. The Lights of Men's Lives: The wax and smoke of millions upon millions of candles illuminating the walls of Death’s shadowy cave: some tall, straight, and strong, blazing with the fire of life, others dim and guttering.

Depending on whether you're looking for a christmas-tree-evergreen or not, some of these will be more or less up your alley: Black Forest: Thick, viscous pine with ambergris, black musk, juniper and cypress. Jabberwocky: Pine, eucalyptus and orange. The Jersey Devil: The scent of the wild, hauntingly beautiful Pine Barrens of New Jersey! Pitch pine with blackberry leaf, cranberry, cedar wood and tomato leaf. Ranger: Buckskin accord with Terebinth pine, Russian birch, black ironwood, elder bark, hay, armoise, juniper, patchouli, galangal root, Spanish moss, and cabreuva. Thanatopsis: A deep, solemn earthen scent containing pine, juniper and musk Troll: This is a gruesome blend of ghastly greens and blacks: vetiver, pine pitch, troll musk, black basil, clove smoke, and scorched cumin.

Beatrix, you might try Mouse's Long and Sad Tale. It's warm and creamy and utterly snuggly - not much on the spicy front, but with enough complexity to keep it interesting.

This is gorgeous. It doesn't smell very impressive in the bottle, just a bit dark and fruity, but on my skin it warms into an amazing scent. Rich, warm amber takes center stage, with the fruits playing softly alongside. Dark and sweet, but never cloying. Cozy and upbeat.

How about these? Alcie: Bright nectarine, honey, sandalwood, green musk, sea buckthorn berry, and oakmoss. Aizen-Myoo: Yuzu, kaki, and mikan with cherry blossom and black tea. Light and Swift: Swift joy and bright passion: white lavender, lemon verbena, and elemi. These are getting more into crisp, juicy, and fresh, rather than oceanic (though Alcie is compared to the beach in a couple reviews).

This is beautiful! I primarily get fresh apples and poppy seed muffins, and a touch of sweetness from the honey mead, earthiness from the patchouli, and just a whisper of dry herbs round it out. Despite primarily smelling of food items, it's not a foody scent. It's bright, cheerful, autumnal.

I posted a few suggestions in the other thread, but you could also try Windward Passage: Breezes blowing off of the waters of the Caribbean: marine accord, seaweed, and bladderwrack.

I looked up the notes for Light Blue, and they're listed as citron, apple, bluebell, jasmine, bamboo, white rose, cedar, amber, and musk. So here's some options that share notes, and which are generally bright and sparkling like it seems to be described (names are links to their review threads): Whitechapel: White musk, lime, lilac and citron. Phantasm: Green tea, lemon verbena, jasmine and neroli. Aelopile: Glowing amber and citrus, labdanum, verbena, cedar, and oud. Xiuhtecuhtli: Copal, plumeria and sweet orange and the smoke of South American incense and crushed jungle blooms.

Gotcha. In that case, you might try tracking down some Mead Moon - at least on me, it's deeeeeelicious without being cloying. Definitely a lot more honey than some of the others - Amicitia was mostly woods on me, and Luperci more of a sexy, musky patchouli with only a bit of sweetness.

I really can't say it any better than Mel. Incensy chai doughnut on a pile of hay! It's gorgeous and warm and snuggly.

This is definitely lighter and more innocent than Silkybat original. The patchouli is very faint, actually - I applied this on top of yesterday's straight Silkybat, but mostly what I smell is the vanilla and snow. It's not Snow White, but there's sort of a similar feel to both of them - snow and sweetness, lightly brushed with something else. I wish the patch were a bit stronger, but I'm happy to combo it with Silkybat to achieve that - and wear it on its own when I want a little bit of that goodness without worrying about other peoples' sensitivities. If you're afraid of patchouli or generally find it overwhelming or reminiscent of dirty hippie... that's definitely not the case here.

ITI, this is mint, anise, wormwood, and a touch of lemon. Herbal and minty. Wet, I get a flare of toothpaste-like mint, which I'm pretty sure is the mint/anise combination. Mint has never lasted long on my skin, so it quickly settles back and lets the anise come through alone. The notes don't list any sugar, but I swear I'm getting just a tinge of it. Anise also pulls back as this dries down, leaving a lightly sweet, herbal-lemon scent. I can still get some anise and mint if I huff the crook of my arm, but not on the wrist applications (front and back). Unsurprisingly, this doesn't last terribly long. Only a couple of hours.

Incense scents have never really called to me very strongly, so while I wouldn't have opted for this myself, I got it as a frimp and I'm glad to have the chance to try it - just to know how I really feel about these two notes. In the imp, this smells.. wet, and maybe resinous. A little bit spicy, and almost a hint of fruity sweetness in there. On my skin, the wetness dries up and it's a spicy, woody blend. It almost veers into bugspray land, but steers clear. Not much morphing at all through drydown. There's nothing bad about this blend. It never smells off or bad. Neither of the notes seem like they're going wrong, and though I don't know what they smell like independently, there's enough subtle complexity if I huff it that I don't think either one is taking over. If you like incense, if you like woodsy, I'm sure you'll love this... but I think it's just not my thing. On the other hand, I do think this would smell a lot more appealing on a guy than it does on me. Not in the sexy cuddly nuzzly kind of way that I get from patchy, musky blends, but I'd probably think a guy wearing this smelled nice enough. So like I said - not bad, but not for me. Edit: So after a few hours, when I sniff it I get a wonderful smoky aroma. This, I like, and would definitely nuzzle on a guy. This did only arrive yesterday, so maybe I'll let it sit a while and see if more of that smokiness comes out earlier on.

With the caveat that I tend to amp honey, I wouldn't call Mead Moon masculine. I wouldn't call it feminine, either, but in my mind it's closer to that side of the spectrum. It's a deep, rich, sensual, sexy honey. Can a man pull it off? Absolutely, so if it's for a man don't avoid it. But if it's for a woman, I don't think it'll leave the "masculine" impression you might be looking for. On the other hand, it's not like it's floral or perfumey, so "not-feminine" might be good enough. I haven't tried all of these, but here are options that stand out as potentially more masculine based on notes/reviews (which are linked in their names): Amicitia: White sage and chaparral with sweet cedar, caramelized honey, warm fig, and carnation blossoms. Hal: Saffron-infused bourbon vanilla, blackened honey, Kashmir wood, Atlas cedar, ambrette seed, hay, and Egyptian jasmine absolute. (Sounds like this one depends on whether jasmine can play nicely on the wearer's skin.) Luperci: Raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk. Marche Funèbre en Memoire de Maxamilieni: Juniper wood, styrax, leather accord, blackened honey, and amber. Ogun: Heavy and dark cigar tobacco, gin and juniper, melon, chili pepper and a touch of honey. This is Your Wilderness: Honeyed patchouli with cypress, black pine, and tobacco absolute.