zankoku_zen

Brown leather and cinnamon. So this leather sort of reminds me to Quincy Morris, with the same brown leather note. Except this one smells newer. Quincy Morris was well worn leather. This is more like a brown leather whip. It's not as sharp and predatory as black leather, but it's still firm. And new. And just waiting for you to break it in.

Patchouli, cumin and frankincense. This is down and dirty, earthy, and dry. The frankincense adds just a bit of resinous sweetness to the blend. To me, this smells manly. And by manly, I mean it smells like a guy that can rough it out for a week in a desert, take down stampeding buffalo, and maintain a perfect yoga pose for hours.

Rosey, vanilla incense. This one is a soft, heady, cuddly blend. On very close whiffs, you can smell the red licorice. This is actually the smell of recalling a pleasant childhood dream as an adult. Totally adorable.

Stage blood and pantomine gore indeed! This is a dark, ominous and bloody blend in vibe to me. I get the beeswax, rosewood, and vetiver and frankincense. It's dark, creepy, and very much like an abandoned gothic stage. In which you think that's stage blood, but you're not entirely sure. Oddly enough, that demonic possession looked very real indeed.

Orange blossom, tobacco, tea and sandalwood. This one is a soft blend on me, sophisticated, delicate, dark, and sweet incense. In so many ways, it's like an opium laced dream. There's an almost 'not quite there' blend, like the footprint of ghost, and it speaks of having caught the glimpse of something that you may have dreamed a long time ago. I find this both disquieting and strangely nostalgic. ETA: Now that I'm testing this from a bottle. I get more of the orange blossom, and it dries to a tobacco with a slight tea note and whiffs of sandalwood. It's more a bright, traditional citrus perfume on wet, and then dries to the tobacco blend.

Okay, so this one is reminiscent of the 2012 Siberian Musk SN (or perhaps better said, the 2012 SN has distinct similarities with original SN). This one is a dark, syrupy, oil as well. It is however, because of the aging, has a softer edge to it. It's a heavy musk, with a slightly light powdery floral edge to it. Whereas the 2012 version was STRAIGHT UP sexy musk and I found it unwearable by itself, this one (and I'm assuming because it is aged) you can almost pull off. At this point, you can smell more complexities in the musk and something that reminds me to Dior's Poison. Heavy, sophisticated, sexual.

Peaches, red wine, and red roses. This is a very sensual, red wine blend, with rose and peach notes. It's heady, womanly, and very sexy.

Peach and fizzy champagne! This reminds me to a Bellini! It has that light, sparkling fizziness of champagne notes in BPAL blends, with peach sweetness. Fun, bubbly, party-ready blend.

Vanilla orchid, butterfly musk (which to me smells like lavender musk), swirls of jasmine and rose. This one is soft, cuddly, and floral. In alot of ways, this reminds me to a non-lavender version of TKO. It's got that same cuddly, warm sugary vanilla + soft florals appeals. It's comforting, sweet, and soothing. On the very drydown, I get twitches of tuberose, which to me are a discordant note in my skin chemistry. If it weren't for that, I'd be searching for a bottle STAT. Despite that, I still very much like this blend.

Okay, I have to give the lab mad props for Anne of Green Gables inspiration and quotes. This blend is very along the lines of Autumn Leaves, in that you have dry leaves, autumn wind, and a hint of maple syrup. It's very seasonal, clean, and one of those blends that to me is more about the scent experience like No 93 Engine and Wolfsbane. Not something that I would wear, but something that 'nails' the scent experience to a tee. This is a celebration of Autumn, with the dry leaves and the chilly wind. Bravo lab!

Fresh sugared peaches. Oh man, this is droolworthy. I'd totally use this as a lotion.

Stronger, tarter green apple, more piney snow, and a whiff of ozone musk. I think I prefer the released version of SGA better but this is very close to the released version.

Woodsy patchouli and a swirl of honey. This is essentially a very pretty patchouli. If you're a patch lover, you should be into this. In some ways, this smells like a more patchy version of Badgers.

To my eternal horror, I can't wear Snake Oil. There's a musk in there that simply doesn't play well at all. So Snake Oil + pumpkin seems to obscure whatever that musk is, and I get a musky, vanilla pumpkin. Pretty delicious, but I think I like other versions of the Pumpkin patch better. On the other than, this is probably the one variation on Snake Oil I can wear. (Most of the Snake Pit blends were an utter disaster on me).

Spices, patchouli and pumpkin. This smells like an ultra spicy, ultra pumpkin type of Samhain. I have an odd relationship with Samhain. I think my favorite release was 2005, as the others have all contained a note that simply doesn't work for me. This pumpkin version of Samhain softens the woodsy aspects a bit, and brings out some creaminess and sweetness to all the spice. Definitely very autumnal, and a great variation on the Samhain blend.

Peach, tonka and red musk. On wet, I got more of the tobacco note and I was super excited about that, but it's dried down to a peach + red musk blend. Which is nice, but not what I was hoping for.

Masculine cologne, with lavender, soft musk and a minty top note. This is a clean, ozone type cologne. I'd think this is a very clean, sophisticated, blend. Very appropriate for the office. I'm actually quite excited about this, and will try this on mr. zee_zee, and hope it doesn't go all femme on him.

Bitter citrus, yuzu and lime, and hints of wood. And yes, on wet, it really does smell like an herbal essences shampoo. And then it dries to a woody, citrusy, absinthe. AT WHICH POINT I AM WILLING TO FALL ON MY KNEES AND PLEDGE MY UNDYING LOVE. ... FINALLY. A citrus based BPAL that doesn't evaporate on my skin in the first nanosecond. /goes off to hoard this.

Chocolate, nutmeg, sandalwood with a hint of plum. As it dries, the plum gets stronger and just makes it a chocolate + plum blend for me. This one is an odd chocolate mix to me. In that sense that I enjoy it in the same I enjoyed Wulric and Boomslang, but ultimately there's a combination of chocoate + nonfoodiness that just doesn't work for me.

Peaches, orange blossom, hints of grass and tomato vine. This is bright, fruity, summery and smells delicious. Great room scent. If you love peaches.

Sweet frankincense. ... Where's the vanilla? I may have to test this one again, but sadly the element that I wanted to dominate in this - bourbon vanilla, seems MIA.

Night air, pomegranate and myrrh. This one smells, like dark pom but with a very distinctive 'airy' quality to it and smooth incense in the background. For you pom lovers out there, give this a whirl.

Maple honey with a swirl of pumpkin. There's something in this blend that smells 'off' to me, but it may be the 'yeast' element in the mead. It's dark, boozy, mead.

GUH. This is so good. It's a dark, woody peach blend. Resinous, woody, with just a hint of peach to give it a little sweetness. I now need some of this in my life!

Leafy, dry leaves with a tinge of red rose. Nice, deeply feminine autumn blend. The red rose adds a very feminine aspect to the dry leaves, making it perfect to wear for autumn. The red rose is the type of apple-fresh stemmed red rose that you get in some of the Yuletide Rose Red blends.