zankoku_zen

Vanilla, orange blossom and tea. But yes, floral tea. I think this would be amazing to drink, not so sure how I feel about it as a perfume. Warm, tea, comforting.

Whoop smells like Christmas - pine trees, tart berries, and a hint of baked goods. The amber and honey gives it a warm background, and I would algo categorize it as 'slightly foodie'. Very seasonal.

The Snow Queen and Snow King greet Klara and the Nutcracker Prince as they journey through the Enchanted Forest: vanilla-laced snow, graceful and sweet, with fir needle and black pine bark. Vanilla + dark pine. It smells almost ominous. In the sense that it is light, sweet creamy but with something 'darker' looming in the background. It's like being in the forest, after a snowfall, in the dark. It really doesn't work for me wet and immediately in the drydown. After four hours, the melding of the vanilla and pine is softer and less ominous. Low throw, but the vanilla sticks around for a while. Eight hours.

Wood, clove, pepper and musk. This is like opening an old spice chest. It just hits you with the spices and the wood. Sort of how you imagine a pirate ship or a ship that is back from spice trading smells like. I have to say that it has an 'edge' to it - the sort of 'you don't want to mess with me' vibe going on. Dark, spicy, mysterious.

*mini necro-bump* Any recs for red mysore sandalwood blends? Anyone?

Very green, very masculine on wet. I get hemlock, and gin and just a whiff of something 'icy'. Green, herbal, cold.

I find that this is almost a clash of cultures. I get smoky, dry leaves and the currant adds a bit of fruity sweetness. On the other hand, the winter part is almost 'ozoney' and goes slightly soapy on me. PASS.

Sherry and wood. It smells like a more boozey version of Hearth, not as smoky and with an occasional whiff of oranges. Very festive.

This is the same clove that Voodoo Queen has, and I am thinking she might also have black currants in her, because this smells like VQ - except only less complex and more one-dimensional. I can see this going to generic Xmas spice on someone, but I am very much enjoying the clove + dark fruit intersection.

Red musk, vanilla, hint of leather and black pepper. Red musk definitely dominates both the leather and the black pepper. On wet, the vibe is much more masculine, but as the red musk gains prominence, it becomes a much warmer, female scent. Not my cup of tea, but glad I could test it.

I really get the bergamot and amber in this blend. Soft citrus, and then just some glowing amber. Gorgeous.

Creamy mint-vanilla, touch of coconut and pine. Smells slightly masculine on me. If you were looking for a male version of Snowblind, give this a whirl.

Oh Lime, you have not aged well. I can tell you were lime way back in the day but now you have this bitter, powdery edge. It's more like lime zest than anything else, with a faint tinge of varnish. SAAAD. ETA: Lime PEZ. Sadly, my skin really does eat this up.

For me, the apple and lemon combined into a cherry candylike scent. I think something in it doesn't agree to my nose because it smells very sweet and kinda fake. The way that grape candy doesn't taste like grape at all.

I get mulled wine. Lots and lots of mulled wine. As it dries however, it becomes generic Xmas potpourri on me. Sad.

Heavy, rice pudding, foodie and sweet. Big hit of clove. I'm not a huge foodie fan, but this is warm and yummy.

This is for the Ded Moroz proto, from way back in the day. Because of the age, both the amber and the rose are much more prominent. There was also a small tinge of pine. It faded much quicker than I expected. I have to say that I adore the released version much more, and some of it has to do with the staying power (perhaps because I slather more of that?).

Pennyroyal SN starts out with a biting blaze of mentholic/mint with a slight herbal/medicinal background. It is very much the same sort of smell as in Pain, minus the lavender. My skin literally eats this up though.

Cotton candy plastic. Lotus in its pure bubblegum form, sugar and something that ends up smelling synthetic on me. Whew. Dodged a bullet with this one. ETA: 2016 from the bottle. I get a lot more green grass on wet, and then pink cotton candy with a whiff of orange blossom. It degenerates from there, smelling plasticky, which to me means that there's some form of BPAL cream in there. But yes, there's definitely some lotus or lotus root in here.

Okay, so this at the beginning smelled like floral varnish. And then after five minutes, it was almost a juicy, fruity sort of lily. And then, it has dried to a delicate, white lily scent. Definitely lily of the valley, as of now three hours in the drydown it smells like my husband's maternal grandparents garden where they have a bajillion lilies of the valley, almost like a ground cover. Lovely.

Blood Moon 2010 is slightly musk, dry leaves, and spicy incense. I like it better than the previous Blood Moon incarnations, because all I could get from those was the dragon's blood/dragon's blood resin. This one is much more 'leafy' and the musk is soft and comforting.

Dark cherry blossom, powdery violet, hint of ozone and white grapefruit. This isn't really at all like Neo-Tokyo to me. More like a darker powdery cherry perfume. Slightly sweet, tart and musky. ETA: So the Fan Dancer has aged to a dark cherry blossom, violet, and some white musk. Whatever ozone and grapefruit in it has dissipated. So it ends as dark floral with powdery musky overtones. Darkly seductive I'd say. There's something deeply sophisticated and mature about it, actually.

Villa Diodati is very interesting. It's resiny, incensey with a touch of citrus and ozone. But it's dark, masculine. There's a hint of dirt to it as well. This is the smell of a dark, tenebrous place, full of mystery.

I have to say that Crucible of Courage is very wearable. Not that its distinctive, but its rather a scent that envelopes in its warmness. I get something floral, warm, creamy, slightly powdery. I think it possibly has roses, vanilla, and something else. On wet, you can definitely tell that its' not just a perfume as its more herbal than perfume tends to be. The drydown is gorgeous though. Given that I am just testing it for scent purposes, I'll review it again after I perhaps need a "courage" boost.

Truly the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. Samhain 2003 This one on wet was... well, very off putting. It smelled like medicinal varnish. It dried down to a soft apple and leaves, with a hint of dirty patchouli. Samhain 2004 On wet, this one smelled... well, more purposeful and made me think of Mabon. And magic. It smelled herbal, and it definitely had an 'intent' vibe. However, it dried down to a very powdery dirty patchouli, dirt and woods scent. Sadly, no apple. On the other hand, its very apropos for the year that birthed the original Mabon and Lugh. It has the same vibe as those two, less of a perfume and more of an evocation. From a vintage perspective, 2003 plays better on my skin than 2004. Phoeey.