zankoku_zen

Lavender, tobacco, and ozone. This sort of smells like Mysterious Warning on me, minus the leather note. It's more like Mysterious Warning Lite, and I can see the ozone note being problematic for a few people. The drydown is a little different, with the tobacco and ozone sort of sticking around. But, for those of you that miss Mysterious Warning, Behemoth may be a suitable replacement.

Plum, currant and pumpkin. I seem to amp up plum, so it balances the pumpkin very well. It's fruity, foodie, sweet.

On wet, this smells like some amazing orange cookies that I used to eat when I was little. It's foodie, orangey, and cakey. As it dries, the citrus recedes and I get more of the pumpkin/petitgrain. But for the first few minutes, I can virtually picture the little orange cookie, with its artificial coloring and the sugar cookie texture.

Dark chocolate, amber, patchouli, and dragon's blood. The chocolate note is soft and cocoa-like, a la Gelt, and smells sweet, with a touch of amber and patchouli to ground it. It definitely smells sweeter on wet, and almost like there is a light cherry note to it. To me, it really does smell like amazing dark chocolate, particularly on the drydown. It's a very soft, chocolate blend after about an hour. At this point, its almost if I got cocoa powder on my wrist.

Heavy on the black cherry, fruit gums, and a whiff of vetiver and patchouli. Jasmine is thankfully a no show. Fun, fruity, rooty.

Vetiver, pepper, tumeric and cinnamon. On a bed of sandalwood. Indian spices + sandalwood = Indian spice market. Savory, spicy, fiery.

Hints of lettuce, watery pale green musk, and a hint of moonflower. This is one is an ethereal, pale, and watery musky blend. It's a bit citrusy on me, and very fresh. For those gals out there that are a fan of aquatic cologne's (it sort of reminds me to Dolce and Gabbana's Light Blue, more in vibe than anything else, really). It does evoke deep, watery blue Mediterranean waters. Light, pale, ethereal.

Crisp green aquatic men's cologne. I swear I've smelled the commercial equivalent of this, but I can't put my finger on the name. Definitely a men's cologne though. On me its mainly the oudh and zdravetz, and my guess the sandalwood is grounding both of these components. Fresh, green, manly.

Green, pulpy vines, hint of water, soil and maybe pumpkin? This smells like watery, rooty greenery with touches of ivy. Green, aquatic, vines.

Pumpkin, coffee, and patchouli. All very strong and fighting for dominance. So much so that sniffing this actually brings out the sneezes. So I'm going to say that this is a PASS for me.

UNFFFFFFFF. Badgers. You are a mystery to me. On wet, you smell like a citrusy patchouli and the sweetness of the vanilla and honeysuckle makes me reminisce fondly of Jingo-Kogo. As you dry down, the leather and patchouli mix more together, the citrus note disappears but you remain a sweet, sexy blend. Very sexy. I don't think however I'll need more than a half bottle of it. But hot damn, this is fabulous. ETA: Who am I kidding? Badgers quickly turned into an obsession and something I reach for. Compulsively. Executing my previous Queens from the top. And one of the few bottles I hoard.

Haitian Vetiver starts as the scary bacon smoky vetiver, and then dries down to a green, smoky, vetiver (you know scorched grass type). I'd be very interested to see how this ages. By itself this is WAY too overwhelming on me, but I can totally see using this to make something smokier and more interesting.

Red musk, honey and patchouli. Which aren't really three of my favorite elements. The combination is lovely, and if you're a fan of any of the three components then this is a winner. Rich, dark, sultry.

Frakincense, oudh and myrrh. This is a dark, deep, animalistic resin blend with a hint of beeswax. It does sort of remind me to Sin, but deeper and darker. Not my type of blend at all, and slightly too masculine for me. It's like unleashing a predator.

2012 version Smooth, resinous patchouli with hints of vanilla and nutmeg. It's inky, spicy, and dark. I actually find it very wearable. Dark, resinous, mysterious.

Lavender, mango and oakmoss. The oakmoss gives it a very watery quality, but I find the lavender/mango mix to be a little odd. Fruity, sweet, watery.

Jasmine, leather and a teensy amount of fig. The jasmine is overwhelming, sharp... and the leather is very present. *sigh* PASS.

Mango, spicy pumpkin and allspice. It's sweet, foodie, and kinda noms on me. I find that the allspice note is overwhelming on me, and I wish the mango was more prevalent. Tasty, spicy, mango.

Cigarettes, hazelnut, hints of coffee and wood. This definitely smells like that handsome guy in the library with the beat up leather jacket that smokes clove cigarettes outside. You've never really talked, but you know you'd love to.

Om nom nom nom. OMG. I think I love a blend with coconut in it. I get giant hits of lime, some coconut wafting in the breeze, ginger and mint. This is fruity, coconutty, fresh, and limey. Seriously, I'd get the cephalopod BO, and layer it with this and be this awesome coconut tropical drink. SO AWESOME.

Grave leaves, moss and wine. This to me smells like a creepy old house. No joke. There's no dust, rot, dirt or anything like that. But its more like the foliage has taken over the house. ... Spooky!

Nutty pumpkin, woods, maple syrup and a papery note. This one is a foodie, festive blend. Very happy. It's sort of in the same vein as Trick or Treat and Devil's Night, with the cheeky implicit notion of fun.

Hit of black pepper on wet, but it dissipates into pumpkin, frankincense and carnation. This is a resinous, slighly spicy pumpkin. Can definitely smell the carnation, and its the same spicy note as the recent Spanish Carnation SN. So yeah, carnations and pumpkins having spicy floral babies together.

Pumpkin, cinnamon and huge swirls of vanilla. Pumpkin can be kinda buttery on me, but the cinnamon keeps that in check, and the vanilla adds the necessary sweetness. It makes me think of the Starbucks seasonal pumpkin latte they have, minus the coffee. Fortunately on me, this is a very close skin scent, so I find it much more wearable. If the throw were bigger, I'd worry that is overly sweet or spicy. Spicy, sweet, vanilla pumpkin. I may need more of this in my life.

Soft roses and soft sandalwood. It's a delicate, rose skin scent. Simple, sweet, and kinda soapy.