zankoku_zen

Peony SN. Super strong, kinda creamy, ALL PEONY. All the time. This is your face, pelted by peonies. Any questions?

Strong aquatic note (ozone tinges), strong "stone" notes, and hints of white flowers.... And it sort of smells like laundry detergent. You know the "fresh water" kind.

Myrrh, benzoin with a touch of rose. Actually, my skin eats this up and I can barely smell after 20 minutes. Weird.

Roses, tea, cinnamon.... in that order of strength. Strong, elegant, feminine roses.

This review is for Black Lace v1 prototype. I didn't know if this should be a separate review thread or not. More vanilla, more tobacco, and definitely more cognac. Way boozier than the original released blend. The resurrected version was kinda appley on me. This one is definitely a tobacco/cognac heavy blend.

Fresh paper, and computer toner. This smells like paper that has just been laser ink printed on, with a slight floral note. It's like printed paper, but better. This is definitely related to blends like Manus Dei (Typewriter Incident) and India Ink SN.

2012 version. I really enjoyed the 2009 version of this blend, and its pretty similar with all the gleaming chrome and high pitched citrus notes. This one veers a little too close into cleanser territory though. Citrus, metal, gleaming.

2012 version. Again, on wet its a strong yuzu and lime combination..... and it devolves into something like an industrial strength toilet cleaner. Citrus, clean, overpowering.

2012 version Okay, so the original 2009 version went powdery, and this one definitely is strong on the lemon component, so its an odd mix of lemon-musk with hints of cacao. .... In other words, this sort of reminds me to a cross between Lemon Scented Sticky Bat and Batty. Lemon, musk, cocoa.

Dark, musky pine. With swirls of myrrh. Dark, resinous, pine.

Sweet rice milkiness, although by turns it smells like buttered popcorn, and a hint of cherry. Milk, salty, foodie.

Dark, sharp, and smells like musky cedar. Yup, musky cedar. PASS.

Blueberry and the same slushy snow note from Monastery in the Mountains and Ice Queen that I love. Ultimately, it dries down to Monastery in the Mountains - meaning ALL snow, no fruit. Cold, snowy, ozoney.

2012 version This smells very similar to 2009 - in that I again get plum, guava and violet. The caramel note is a little stronger this time, and I get whiffs of the pimento berry. Spicy, fruity, violet.

2012 version This one smells more like red currant and booze. So in essence, this smells like red wine/merlot to me, except fruitier and sweeter. Red, fruity, wine.

2012 version Lemon, yuzu, hints of basil that turn into a really CLEAN laundry detergent. I mean, seriously, your clothes would smell awesome if this was a detergent. .... Or a soap! It would smell awesome as a soap. No lie. Perhaps hyperdimensional holiday hits end with a nice shower?

Oooh, the perfect evil kitty tamer. (Please see my Yule cat review.) This smells like a happier Yule Cat - its got that cedar/civet musk going on, but it's gentler and nicer this time around. Hints of citrus. So, this is the feral kitty that peed on your couch. Except THIS YEAR, he/she/it (because does evil have a gender?) it decided that it's going to be NICE to you, instead of scaring the living daylights out of you.... because it's an even bigger mind f*ck. So, yes, this is the smell of evil kitties being nice. Except you know that the nice won't last. But you can't help yourself. The kitty smells nice, and is being nice, and you know it's feral and will probably chew your hand off, but you pet it anyway. .... Evil, sneaky bastard.

Ozone citrus candy. This smells like lemon candy, with an airy quality that smells fruity that you get from a scent like 51. In some ways it makes me think of Tempest + Batty.

Orange Fruitcake. This smells like the 2007 Fruitcake, with an orange overlay to it. It smells almond marzipan cake with oranges. Foodie, christmassy, orange.

2012 version Egg nog, egg, cherry pink candy. And something that I think smells almost floral --- which I think is pink carnation. It's got a spice/floral edge to it and it smells like carnations, but not like the Spanish Red Carnation SN. Eggy, floral, spicy. If you like carnations, give this a whirl. It took me a moment to recognize this note, but I have to say that this smells sweet and makes the carnation note more wearable.

Lavender, almond and thyme. This is a creamy, lavender. Very soft, very comforting with just a touch of sweetness.

Ginger, resin and honey. That's what this smells like. If you like honey or ginger give this a whirl. It pitches slightly floral on me during the drydown. Soft, spicy, ginger.

Brown sugar, bread pudding, custard, and cinnamon. This is foodie, dark with maple overtones and very toothsome. Fantastic drydown. It's a little strong on wet, but very cuddly on the drydown.

Tamarind and tonka dries down to an amber, tonka and patchouli blend. Resinous, warm, amber.

So I get creamy bananas on wet, with a hint of a white honeyed floral (I swear, at some point I actually thought VIOLETS), and then it dries down to a smoky beeswax and resins, still with a tinge of bananas... which makes me think there's something combining with the beeswax. Makes me think of Light of Men's Lives.