zankoku_zen

Sweet, spicy resin that dries to sweet, spicy resin powder. On wet, there is a tiny bit of citrus but overall it s a sweet, resinous blend that is way less ominous that the description.

To me, Bette Noir is a more grown up, darker version of Bordello. Smoky plum, swirl of orange, and dark perfume. If you like Bordello, for me this had a kiss of Voodoo Queen or Gun Moll with the smokiness layered on top of it.

Ugh. Loads of leather. Not quite black leather, slightly more worn and not as chemically as say the leather in DeSade. I get a tiny hint of black musk and pepper. Yes, pretty much like leather SN if you ask me.

Oh man, I think this has tuberose in it because its got a very high pitched floral line to it. Hint of nectarine, green musk and metal. But yes, one of the florals is definitely tuberose.

I get no lime from this, which makes me sad. It smelled like fruity bananas to me, esp. on wet. As it dries, it is slightly more citrusy. But yeah, I get a TON of something that smells like bananas on me.

Hmm. Gypsy is much darker than I expected. Yes, I get the vanilla and musk but I also get a fair amount of cardamom, which adds a dark powdery spice to it. I really am amping up the cardamom in this, so to me this smells vaguely Indian. Warm, sweet, exotic.

Very Black Lace-ish. I get opium, tar, and resin. I was hoping for something more along the lines of... I don't know... Voodoo Queen, but I get a hint of plum and a ton of opium. Very heady, very dark, very femme fatale. I don't deal well typically with these types of blend, so pass. Ah, and on the drydown, I get a pretty good hit of sweetness from it... so yeah, no.

Unfortunately this has a type of vanilla that smells like plastic on me. Because I get the cherries and the vanilla plastic and I can't shake the 'Barbie doll' connotation in my mind. Made.of.fail

It starts off as men's soap and leather - fairly ruggedly masculine. As it dries both of them calm down a bit, and I get that gunpowder note which makes this blend much more interesting. It's less overwhelmingly masculine as it dries, and its more comforting. Sort of like hugging your guy and realizing that he's a GUY and while he's here hugging you, he'll also gladly bash some heads for you.

Definitely leather vs. honey smackdown. On wet, I can smell the honey more, and I agree that this is the white honey, sticks very close to the skin. The leather is definitely the same leather note as in DeSade - black shiny chemical leather. I amp up both honey and leather, and they are both notes of DOOM in my skin - however, this isn't quite so bad mixed together. Still not a leather fan, but this is surprisingly more wearable than alot of the other leather blends I've tried.

This one definitely has dragon's blood in it - because while it has some smoky aspects to it (perhaps a touch of menthol on wet, and a hint of vetiver afterwards) it also has a bright cherry/fruity floral tone to it. The color of the oil is somewhat rose-tinted, which definitely adds credence for dragon's blood being a component. Much more floral and sweet than I expected!

Yurei starts off as a white tea/white floral perfume. But it has a tendency to get more 'floral' and perfumey as it dries. It's very warm, Asian feeling - and I feel the white tea definitely adds a 'clean' edge to it. I get the sandalwood (maybe vetiver due to some smokiness?) grounding the blend a little more on the drydown after an hour or two.

This really is chamomile and honey for me. On wet, it is almost imperceptible. As it dries, I get more of the chamomile and at this stage it reminds me to Sachs. It's a sweet chamomile. After about an hour, the sweetness is revealed as honey and then it seems to transition into a honey-chamomile blend. I find it very soft, sweet, skin scent. I think if this were ever made into a lotion, it would be delicious - as it would be very subtle and yet sexy.

Rose... and my old nemesis, WISTERIA. It's like I get tag teamed by ROSE and WISTERIA. I do get whiffs of lavender, and something murkily green underneath. It makes me think of old rose gardens. But if they were planted... oh, I don't know. On top of an old witches' garden. You know it wasn't JUST a pretty garden...

Agreed that this is the same leather note in Dead Man's Hand. Although it actually makes me think more of Quincy Morris. In any case, I get LEATHER, and a hint of machine oil and a teensy bit of musk. Very manly. I amp up leather to high heaven, but I find this less scary than say.. the leather in DeSade.

Yes, it does smell like Sprite on wet. Unfortunately, the lemon-lime notes burn off as it dries, and what I'm left with is a fizzy sugary note. It definitely reminds me strongly to the champagne note in the Champagne blends that were available one WCWC. I loved it on wet, but that didn't last more than 10 minutes. Tres sad.

Whooohoo. This is the strong herbal lavender type, it smells almost 'salty' to me. It blooms like a maniac on wet, but as it dries, it calms down considerably and now I can pick out some rose geranium (about even, in rose vs geranium). In the end, I get wafts of lavender and rose geranium and it smells floral, clean, and like a garden. My skin totally eats this up. Damn.

I definitely get a clovey grape wine blend with hints of smoke, latex and something else. It smells like a club. A sex club. You know, one of those clubs. The kind where people have sex in the corners, on the bar, stretched out in the spotlight. And half of the time, they still have clothing on. If you can call it clothing. More like a plastic kind of wrapping really. Like human bake-and-shakes. ... Anyway...

Lucky #20 definitely has a strong herbal jasmine smell to it. Definitely jasmine, and then something dark and rooty underneath. As for effects, so far neither negative nor positive. I am currently editing a grant at the moment, so its hard to say! If it helps out in that avenue, I will edit this post and let you know.

DarkAlice sent me sniffies! Thanks love! 128: This one definitely has a slight metal vibe, same note as in Witchblade but dries to a straight up vanilla. Pretty tasty 181 - Sharp blast of sweet peppermint, but unfortunately the vanilla in this one ends up in playdough territory for me. Sad.

My guess is lavender, vanilla musk and sandalwood. It goes a bit powdery on me, and reminds me a little more to Lilith Victoria as opposed to straight up TKO. There's also something slightly dark and herbal in there that I am picking up, which just adds to the 'night' part of this blend. Gorgeous. ETA: So Nightmarchers is a very dark, herbally lavender blend. I get much more opium, black musk, and black amber and possibly a dark orchid note. I sort of wished it was a cross between the blend that I tested originally and this super dark lavender that I have. Boo.

Dry, sticky wood. It reminds me to pepper, and some other spice I can't name. But yes, very resinous...

Hmmm. I don't do leather blends... But this one has that faded leather note like in Quincy Morris, and it's a golden musky leather. Very soft, very touchable, very comforting.

I find this to be a very odd blend on me. It's a cinnamon powder (why hello amber) with hints of coconut, clove and dusty sandalwood. No ginger or tonka for me. Just a hot summery sort of blend. Dusty country roads, hot flowers and the smell of suntan lotion.

Again, there is a hot sand element here... and it reminds me almost to Kinnabari. On wet, there was almost a water effect to it, but it has since dried. I think there is some sandalwood, some eucalyptus, and yes, some spice. I don't think it's cinnamon but more like allspice.