levelek

I got this as a frimp. My first thought when it went on was that it smells like the mix between an 8-year old and a grandma. It got mildly less offensive on drydown. Still: blech. Annoyingly enough, most flower scents go soapy on me and this one doesn't... it figures. For the record, the dominant notes are rose with gardenia (not a combo that appeals to me). Later, the helitrope and its vanilla aura pushes the rose+gardenia into the background... much better but still not for me.

Wet: TKO rolled around in vanilla and went on the prowl. Drydown: the tea note emerges strongly. Dry: Vanilla is the most dominant , the tea is only there to keep it fresh, and TKO recedes to the background. I prefer tonka to vanilla, and not mad about tea. Not a favourite, but I will use it up.

Warm jasmine and honeysuckle, glowing in the sun. Plus soap. Gah. A scent that stays close to the skin. Must try in my hair to avoid it turning into soap.

Sugary beeswax. Smoke in the background, when smelled from close up - inobtrusive. And now, a strong floral blossoming over the beeswax! I can't identify it but it's warm, almost heady. Very interesting - a floral that is not turning to soap on me. Now the sugar is turning more into vanilla. I like it better this way. Wait, it's becoming buttery, and creamy, a foody scent, with the beeswax and the flower playing second fiddle! What a morpher! And now the flower is disappearing. Pity that I am amping the sweetness, as usual.

Not overly offensive, but a little too mature for my tastes. (Not a great correspondence to the description for me, then!) Almost fruity, like dragon's blood. Could also be smelling the pansy. ETA: just read stardreamer's review. Aha! Very interesting. Must be the wild pansy then. Still not for me.

A frimp. In the vial: the orchid is jumping out at me. On wet: the orchid is still the strongest note, but much darker and warmer and resiny than at first sniff. I think it's mingling with the labdanum. Drydown: This morphed completely! Now it has a strong salty, almost aquatic overtone. Interesting! The cypress is faint in the background. I seem to have had a very similar experience to the description in the first post by Belladonnastrap.

Frimp. I am tired, but probably won't try this again, so here we go. I get cassia, wood and mango mainly, in this order. The cassia and wood together is just too much, it's a bit stale and graceless and on the verge of nauseating. However, it is a very interesting combination - kind of messing with your head when you try to decide if it is wrong, and how wrong. I might keep the imp around to show to people for nose training purposes. Or I might pass it on. Ha.

Got this as a frimp and I am testing it before passing it on. I dislike apricot scents so I don't expect to like this. On application: it's apricot all right. It's not nauseating like March Hare, much lighter and more graceful. Makes me think of a '50s swing dress and its owner moving lightly across the house towards the spring sunshine. Pretty straightforward, with the musk lending warmth, and the orange blossom lending it more interest and elegance. I'll still be happy to pass it on.

Got this as a frimp. Overall summary: the first buds of spring. In the vial: smells like concentrated fresh sweet-green flowers. I am not super familiar with all of these individual notes, but I think the sweet pea, calla lily and heliotrope form the strongest impression. I can also tell it's not all floral. On wet: the pear blends extremely well with the florals, almost impossible to distinguish. The intensive sweet-green aspect abates (a good thing, for me). Not too soapy, considering all the florals, thank goodness. Dry: doesn't really morph. Overall, completely not me, and completely not the image I want to project of myself either, but I might keep the imp around for those first days of spring.

I got a sniffie of this with a forum purchase - I coaxed the last drop out of the vial. Insofar as that is representative of the scent... I am amping the sweet/foody/figgy notes, as expected. The overall impression is dense, creamy, but not sickening, beautifully blended. Fig is not my favourite note, but I would wear this scent (or would have done so, if I had had the chance!) I seem to do well with leather notes, they are very subdued on my skin but they probably provide the grounding that I like.

I love the variety of scents that people are getting out of this. LOL. On me, it's the grape and some other sweet note that smells like dragonsblood to me. It reminds me of Wolf's Heart. The slightest hint of soap, which may be that lotus that people have been mentioning? (I don't have a lot of experience with that note.) The grape is not the fresh fruit, - it feels like it has been cooked (but not nauseating). I only put it on a little while ago, so can't comment on anything else.

Another frimp from the lab. In the vial: smells like a sophisticated man's cologne, with lots of lavender. On wet: as above. The patchouli is more apparent. On drydown: turns more citrussy and creamy. Patchouli goes away again. The lavender is still there, and it's still a very male scent (suprise!). It's reminding me of Detox at the moment, except with a heavy base that is leaning on its elbow and wiggling its eyebrow at me. I wonder what is making it smell so manly to me. Not that I wouldn't wear it! Another kickass work scent.

This was a frimp. An uncomplicated scent. In the vial: orange. Wet: whoa, orange! Then it sweetens further. Carnal is fleshy allright, but it's the flesh of a juicy mandarin left out in the sun to warm. I could not identify the other warm scent that is rounding out the mandarin - reading the notes, it is of course the fig. Not normally a scent I would wear, but this morning I am exhausted, and this is keeping me relatively awake without the aggressive slaps that mint or ozone would deliver. Fades super fast.

A frimp; never would have picked it out by myself! A perfect balance of green and incense-spice. Fresh and warm at the same time. Clove, myrrh and pine are the strongest notes for me. But the others are also there - perceptible but wonderfully blended. It is refreshing (mint! pine!) but sweaty at the same time (vetiver!) - not in the sense of smelling like sweat, but evoking the image of hot, intertwined bodies. ETA - I wrote this before reading that part in the scent description, so it certainly did its job in evoking the intended image! Very, very interesting, and I like this a lot more than I expected. Its closest competitor among the scents I have tried so far is No 93 Engine, and that is more versatile. I can't dedide yet what would be a good occasion to wear it. Sitting in a slinky dress in an overheated room in front of a large fireplace in the winter, slightly dizzy with good booze and hormones in male company, but perfectly clear that conversation is the only thing that will be happening that night?

Very very good smelling grapefruit shower gel. Not too soapy, but that is the association. I can pick out the other notes if I go looking for them, but the main act here is the citrus. Also, disappears fast. If I loved grapefruit scents, I would love this.