zankoku_zen

Dark, heady white florals. I get the jasmine and ylang ylang with a base of ozone and soap. It's sort of darkly sophisticated, with a clean edge. White, floral, powerful.

Red velvet cake and wine. I get hints of Dorian and incense. This is cake on a debauched night out. You know the kind of night. A lot of bump and grind, fueled by sugar and alcohol. Smoky, sexy, sweet.

This one started off as a green, appley floral and I think it has tuberose. Light, high pitched florals, with a swirl of sweetness - either sugar or sweet pea.

SGR4 is a light green blend, with a hint of citrus fizz. My guess it has some juniper in it, green grass, and I think some green musk.

Dry lilac and smoky resins. It's a very masculine, musky sort of blend. It has a very odd appeal. Rough, dangerous, and kinda sexy.

Pomegranate, mulberry and myrrh. The mulberry sweetens and dulls the pom note which is always problematic with me, and the myrrh adds a resinous blend. I actually enjoy this a fair amount. I may need more.

Unsteady Governess with hints of red musk and saffron. If the Unsteady Governess was a light, citrusy blend, the Vampire Bride retains that same cool, citrus edge, but underneath you can feel the pulsating blood underneath the skin. The contrast is interesting, and the juxtaposition of cold/warm works well. Ultimately, not my kind of blend but definitely one of the more interesting blends of 2011. Icy, pulsating, cold.

Loads of dark patchouli, sweetened slightly cocoa and vanilla. This is dark, rooty patchouli. PASS.

Woodsmoke, patchouli and sandalwood. Scorched earth, fire with a touch of green. Evocative of the painting, and it veers into slightly masculine territory for me. Powerful, green, smoke.

Scorched vetiver and pepper. The pepper mellows out and the clove comes out, but it ends up masculine and aggressive on me. Spicy, peppery, dark.

Earthy, dirty white florals. I get musky white florals that have been doing horribly salacious things. With honey. Think about. *PAUSE* ... Yup, that's it. Dirty, floral, honey.

I get fir, patchouli and leaves. Along the lines of Samhain, but more of the fall leaves variety. It turns sort of dusty toward the end, which means that its the type of patchouli that doesn't work for me. Fall, leaves, chilly.

I get whiffs of pumpkin on wet, but then it dries down to a sweet vanilla, chocolate and fruity combination. Light, girly, sweet.

Red musk, dark nutmeg, gritty tobacco. On the drydown, I get more of the amber. This has a dark, and almost wild edge to it. Dark, sexy, warm.

Mildly soapy white florals drydown to mildly soapy roses. I have to just resign myself that I am going to amp up every single rose note ever in a blend. Rosy, white, clean.

Tenebrous Love: a shivering white musk with vanilla-infused white cocoa, amber incense, and dead, dry leaves. Oh man, this one may be a winner in my book. It has a strong leafy note but dries to a vanilla/amber blend. It's sweet on the drydown, cozy and reminds me to a cross of Blade of Grass and Tattered Lace. Warm, cozy, vanilla.

Woodsmoke, pine and fraknincense. This a dark and stormy sort of blend. The kind you wear out in fall thunderstorms. Powerful, dark, rich.

Very green and planty, with a base of sandalwood. Unfortunately, my skin eats this up. And after 10 minutes I can barely smell anything.

Boozy banana flan and a smattering of sugared flowers. There's a bitter burnt edge to it though. Floral, caramel, warm.

Sweet linen, smoky cologne. I like the blood-tinged tobacco musk in this. Masculine, dark, streaky.

Calavera Catrina started out promising, with heavy notes of marigold and autumn leaves, and has devolved into a chamomile-rose blend. Which while pretty, is kinda generic and definitely not 'autumny' on my skin. Clean, pretty, light.

This one definitely reminds me to Sea of Glass, with the deep, watery note in it. Which sadly does turn slightly laundry detergent on me. Really nice smelling laundry detergent. Clean, watery, cool.

This one has vetiver and sandalwood, or even perhaps cedar. It ends up smelling like smoky, masculine pencil shavings. Odd.

Ta-ta, you have such a promising start. At the beginning, you are hints of carnation, coffee and a teensy bit of leather. And then the leather comes out and smashes everything to bits. Arabian Dance + LEATHER.

Patchy cocoa and hay. With hints of black pepper. Spicy, dark, dirty.