zankoku_zen

Hint of cocoa, but then it ends up smelling alot like Narkissos on my skin. Smoky, masculine narcissus, deep green stems, hint of nutty grain.

This definitely has strawberry in it, and I have to wonder if it doesn't have cherry in it because the similarities to Gothabilly are pretty strong. On wet, however, I had to wonder if there wasn't a hint of guava and/or another pink fruit, as it had a fresh fruit smell. As it dried, the strawberry has come out and what I think of as vanilla musk. Touch of booze, and I can see this veering into cake territory.

Vetiver, frankincense and woods. This is dark, smoky, gritty. Perhaps a touch of chili and/or patchouli. I also think the woods is definitely cedar. It's like a more feral version of Labores Solis or Raven Moon. Aggressive, masculine, smoldering.

This prototype is much more unisex. This wolf is made of sexy red musk, a touch of woody sandalwood and teensy bit of smoke - which is fresh which makes me think it has some eucalyptus along with the vetiver. Fun, sexy, predatory.

This really does smell like Fruitcake. Cake batter, rum, hint of spices and perhaps a hint of orange? As it dries, a slightly smoky note appears. But yes, this is a kissing cousin to Fruitcake.

Definitely started out as a foodie blend - I would peg it as more of a buttery scone as opposed to cake. As it dries, it becomes more floral and I do think it is sugared rose incense like. Tasty, but not for me.

Light carnation, creamy sandalwood, brush of sweet pea. I think the sweet pea is what gives the carnation the sort of 'pink velvet' associations others have noted, and makes it softer. I find this prototype to be less 'spicy' than the released versions.

I agree - this smells and feels very much like TKO. Instead of carnation, you have the same lavender note as in TKO, creamy vanilla and amber, and a hint of cardamom. It's like TKO went out on a night dancing, instead of sleeping in. AKA TKO goes WHAM! Wake me up before you go go...

I definitely got a giant slap of peach on wet. As it dries, a hint of melon, some mint. On drydown, it's a sort of fruity ozoney musk. There's something oddly familiar about it that I can't place my finger on...

Creamy vanilla, lots of dry sandalwood. This one has virtually no throw and sticks very close to the skin. Again, it's like skin musk but better. ETA: I've been testing Amaterasu v2 vs v3 and what I said stands. My biggest problem with v2 is that my skin chemistry eats this up. It simply does not stick around.

The fizziness of the gin in this one reminds me to Polynesian pop, except with a hint of more juniper. I get splashes of cranberry and raspberry. It's basically fruity gin, and part of me is really kinda digging it. The other part of me is worried that I'll get accused of drinking at work.

Banana and coconut rum. Not my favorite combination. If you like banana, and Malibu, this is the tropical treat for you.

Loads of sandalwood, hint of champaca and orange blossom. Smooth, woody and with just a hint of oranges. Too woody for me, but I do enjoy the orange blossom note in this blend.

Blackberry brandy and a splash of tea. The tea dilutes some of the booziness.

Mmm. Fruity booze. Hints of peaches and pineapples, and maraschino cherry. The cherry is definitely the most predominant note on my skin, and oddly enough smells something like a strawberry on me. Tropical fun!

So on wet, I got a super hit of pumpkin - and this one is the baked, cooked variety. BPAL's typical pumpkin note is super buttery on me. Not this guy. I got a splash of something that made me think blue curacao/blue raspberries and sugar. Still, pumpkin dominates the blend for me, and it dries to pumpkin + cinnamon. Interesting. I'd like to do a prototype vs. released version to see the differences.

Kaidan was one soapy white floral on wet (why hello plum blossom). As it dried, the floral toned down and I got a bit of the incense. So it ended up smelling more like a male version of the Dove soap bar. Creamy, floral, clean.

I found this to be very faint on me. I would say it's golden amber, skin musk, vanilla incense. Smoky, female, radiant. I can see the comparison to L'Estate but in some ways, it also reminds me to Leo 2007. Perhaps a slight hint of leather? Not my type of deal at all but if you like golden vanilla musky blends, give this a whirl. If you can find it. ETA: Tried some Amaterasu v3 again, and this one was more of a golden vanilla blend, hint of sandalwood. The vanilla was definitely still musky and it made me think more of the vanilla you use for baking. Since I've become more of a vanilla and sandalwood fan, I found this to be very pretty. Very grown up, lady sophisticated actually.

Midnight Bell does remind me alot to Midnight Mass. In fact, among all the resins there has to be some amber, because I definitely got amber from this blend. Incense, amber and the same 'stone' note that I got from Night's Bridge. Slightly masculine, very golden.

Fruity pineapple on wet, hint of light rum, and then it dries to an odd fruity floral. I think it has a shot of sweet pea in there and a dash of maraschino cherry.

Odd - I didn't get the coconut blast on wet. I could have sworn on wet, I got mango. Like the same mango note in Corazon. As it dries, I get more of the coconut, sandalwood and a hint of honey. Very tropical and creamy.

There is definitely plum in this, and way more red musk. This prototype is way more wearable on me than the released version. It's got that sultry red musk, with hints of smoke and fruity sweetness. Red musk amps to high heaven on me, but this one wasn't too bad.

Very different from the released version. It definitely had hints of green grass, perhaps a touch of honeysuckle, and yes, there is still sweet pea in this. As it dries, it becomes sweeter but the released Titania is unbearingly cloying on my skin. This one is light, floral, sweet and refreshing. Still not a fan of sweet pea, but I find the prototype to be superior to the released version.

Dirty grapes, patchouli and a swirl of opium smoke. The swirl is very similar to the one in Gun Moll, but without something to truly sweeten this blend up it ends up in a fairly masculine territory for me. In other words, this is cologne for Satyrs. Yup. Definitely.

For all of you that have lost out on Geek.goth, fear not. Polynesian Pop is basically orange Geek.goth. It's got the same fizzy, sugary note as Geek.goth courtesy of the gingerale, and instead of lime it's orange. Actually for an orange, it lasted about 30 minutes which is really a record on my skin. As it dries, I get more of the rum coming out but the fizzy gingerale holds and some of the spicy ginger is coming out dry. Bubbly, refreshing and really, I am surprised at how well this is. Loving the fact that it is a GC and thus, very available to everyone.