joyellen

In the imp: Very ethereal. It evokes a very misty purple feeling. Not very helpful, I know. It's such a misty, leafy purple floral with just a touch of white chocolate. The wild lettuce, iris root and violet leaf are lending a fresh quality. Maybe that's why it feels so misty. This is what I imagine an enchanted forest would smell like. Wet: The white chocolate warms up and sweetens the florals and greenery. I can definitely tell that there are leaves and roots as well as petals. Although the white chocolate sweetens things up, it's still very fresh and misty. Drydown: Oh, yum. The coconut has come out, and that plus the white chocolate are just beautiful mixed with the florals. Other than the coconut coming out it hasn't changed much. After about an hour I can pick out the white sandalwood. It's very soft. This is incredibly well blended. No one note ever overpowers the others. They all work together beautifully. To be honest, I did not expect to like this. As soon as I saw the word chocolate in the description I said, "pass." I would never have tried this had I not gotten it as part of my decant circle goodies. Funnily enough, the white chocolate was what I like best about it! I think this is going to get a lot of use in the Spring.

In the imp: This smells like clean cloth diapers. Wet: It's so faint that I have to stick my nose right up to my hand to get a whiff. For a couple minutes, I couldn't smell anything at all. It smells somewhere between suntan lotion and a baby wipe. Kinda coconutty, kinda vanilla-y. Dry: It's only the slightest bit stronger now. I still have to shove my hand right under my nose to get anything. There's virtually no throw at all. I can't say I enjoy this one. For people with the right skin chemistry, I'm sure this is a stunner. Sadly it's not on me.

Resurrected. Aged 1 year. Let me preface this by saying that fresh, this was just too much for me. The tobacco and incense were all I could smell and they were far too strong for my liking. One tiny dot applied from the tip of a toothpick was bordering on Too Much Perfume. I put it away with the intent to eventually sell or swap it, but when I was finally going to, I sniffed it again and realized that it had changed with age. In the bottle: Musky, sweet, and a bit incensey. I think I can smell the cotton. I'm vaguely reminded of dryer sheets. I hope this doesn't end up like linen, because linen doesn't like my skin. Wet: Indian musk is the dominant note. Tobacco and incense are grounding it, keeping the musk from becoming overwhelming. I can also smell the sugar-spun vanilla cotton, but it's far in the background. Musk is definitely the most prominent note. Drydown: After about 10-15 minutes, the musk calms down and that vanilla cotton sweetens up nicely. I love that the tobacco, incense and cognac combination isn't overpowering. It's very smooth. After about an hour, the tobacco and incense are starting to fade a bit. Now it's a faintly spicy vanilla blanketed in a dusting of sugar. Holy cow! I wish I could immediately fast forward to this point because I'm loving it. Although it's sweet because of the sugar-spun vanilla cotton, Black Lace could very easily be a unisex scent. In fact, I'm going to ask my boyfriend to try it tonight. I'm really glad I gave it time to age because it went from overpoweringly smoky to a smooth, well-rounded scent. I don't think I'd reach for this oil on a regular basis, but I'm definitely glad I gave it a chance to come into its own with age. I think I'll enjoy this most during cold weather.

I was gifted a tester from a very awesome forumite. In the imp: Vanilla with swirls of patchouli. It's not stinky hippie patchouli though. It just lends a woodsy quality. Wet: The sweet vanilla pokes out more, with the patchouli and hemp keeping it grounded. Drydown: Vanilla is the main player, but it's not a very foody vanilla if that makes sense. The patchouli and hemp are still there, but they've faded into the background. This just had to smell heartbreakingly beautiful on my skin, didn't it? This is definitely love. I sure hope Banshee Beat becomes available again soon.

A sweet forumite gifted a tester of this to me. This is my first review ever. Hope I do a good job! In the imp: It smells very soft. I can pick out the cherry blossoms and a hint of mint. Definitely a subtle mint. Wet: At first I was worried this would be too strong for me. First impression was very sweet air freshener. Too sweet usually spells nausea for me, but something told me to stick it out. Drydown: Oh, wow. The initial sweetness dialed down and I'm left with a really ethereal, almost misty scent. It's evocative of a misty grey afternoon spent in a tea garden. The mint has all but disappeared. The black tea and ho wood are grounding it and keeping it from getting overly sweet or floral. The cherry blossoms and rice wine are in the forefront, and I think I might be getting a whiff of calla lily, but to be honest I'm not very familiar with that note. This scent stays very close to the skin. I can't smell it while I'm typing. Only when I lift my wrist up to my nose can I detect it, and my wrist is pretty much plastered to my face now. I tend to gravitate toward softer scents and this is perfect. It's feminine without being overly sweet. I'm definitely going to finish this tester and am seriously considering a bottle. This is a really lovely perfume.