zankoku_zen

Vetiver, and some green, citrusy musk. The musk reminds me to the musk used in Pollution, and yes, it sort of evokes a slightly more malevolent Jean Nate. As it dries, it gets just smoky and slightly more sour, and just more evil. I think I will go try this on the hubby, since one of his BPAL standbys is Pollution and this strikes me as a slightly grittier and more smoky Pollution.

Rose and orange water. I really get the rose and orange water on wet, and I think the aquaticness at this point is being backed up by the ambergris. There's something that smells almost sour and chemically on me though, so ... *sigh* I really like the orange water though......

You have got to love wisteria for this one. I smelled wisteria, pummeling the sakura and the iris. Rats.

On me, this smells like 'raspberries' the same way that 'grape candy' tastes like grape. It's artificial, dries to a bit of a plastic edge. It's sweet, and candy like and again, makes me think of plastic dolls. Epic. Fail.

Heliotrope behaves and misbehaves badly. On wet, it smells golden floral but as it dries I get a whiff of something sour/off and it turns into dirty diapers. Cue two hours later and its honey sweet + warm floral. Seriously. WTF?

Champaca and pear. And then as it dries, jasmine comes out. With a whiff of sandalwood. Oddly enough the entire thing kinda smells like generic dust cleaner.

Dry sandalwood and dusty nutmeg. This one ended up as a really dry scent on me.

I love the sandalwood in this one, but the vanilla. Oh, it definitely is the same type of rich foodie vanilla that goes to 'plastic' on me. Sad, sad, sad since I'd been hoping for a vanilla/sandalwood mix.

Definitely fruity. On first impression, I thought pineapple. In some ways, this reminds me to Carnaval Diabolique, but its got a mix of Stormclouds over the Midway. There was a smoky overall to it (and yes possibly vetiver, but more along the lines of the 'plum-colored incense smoke'), because to me it was green smoky fruity (pineapple), esp. on wet. As it dries, I get a stronger fruit note which I think maybe either melon or papaya, since it smells more 'exotic' than melon and less sweet. A hint of musk and/or amber. There is a sharp white floral that comes out after a couple of hours in the drydown, which I am not altogether pleased with. I really liked this on wet.

For me, this is a creamier version of Host of Air. Not quite as grassy, more floral, and definitely creamier. Sort of like the Unicorn crossed with Host of Air. I can see why this is popular though.

Full bloodied red wine that gets woodier and dustier as it dries. It dries to something almost powdery with red wine.

Again, the comparisons to the appley-rose of Rose Red 2005 are very apt. I basically get a huge hit of apple blossom on wet, but as it dries, I get a fruity sort of rose. And it dries to that... rose. Glad I got to try this one, but it's not for me.

Okay, I find this to be a very springy floral. On wet, it is fruitier and I think it is pear. As it dries, it definitely has something more creamy, warm and sugary come out among the florals, either phlox or carnation, but I'm willing to bet on carnation. Very, very creamy. I get mostly carnation, a touch of berry, pear (on wet mostly). Its sort of foodie in the way that it makes me think of funnel cakes. Very tasty. I can see why anyone would go crazy for this and hope the released version is very similar... because I think I can totally go for a bottle of this.

I would add Diable en Boite and Ded Moroz (DM in particular) as blends that have redwood in it. I love redwood. Any other blends, perhaps those with unlisted elements, that have a strong redwood component?

Dark sweet scent - I get smoky wood, moss, clover, peper and some aquatic seaweed. Interesting, and I can see the comparison to Schawazer Mond about this, a little too much 'pepper' in this for me.

Creamy sandalwood, smoky nicotiana, slightly fruity. I agree with the Black Lace vibe, but this one is less foody/sweet and just much more incensey.

Again, very much like Host of Air. Creamy dandelions end up however in soapy white florals. Pass.

Oh Little Bird, to me, you are like this year's incarnation of Host of Air. Slightly more ozoney, slightly more 'fresh', slightly more soapy. I definitely get the night air, grass and marigold in this. But something turns too soapy on me. *sigh*

Oh cream, if you only behaved. I definitely got a 'doughy' note, which then turns to plastic as it dries. Vanilla plastic. Pass.

On wet, I get a giant slap of frankincense mixed with heliotrope. As it dries, the frankincense recedes, and goes down to just being warm and the neroli comes out. It sort of reminds me to Sporting Sun, actually but the osmanthus casts this screeching floral top note to it all. Pass.

Ah Echo, you are indeed lovely. But too sweet for me. I get really sweet vanilla orchid on wet, but as it tempers down in sweetness as it dries, it also loses that fruity edge that I enjoyed. The grey amber makes its appearance at the drydown, casting a slight resinous vibe to the sweet vanilla. Delicate orchid floral overlay. I don't think layering Echo and Narkissos would work, although its possible that Echo could sweeten Narkissos, but I feel Narkissos would overpower Echo. I love Narkissos as is, so I'm okay with this. <img src="http://www.bpal.org/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_wink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="icon_wink.gif" /> ETA: When layered, Echo softens Narkissos up, but on my skin chemistry - Narkissos quickly overpowers Echo. It smells like a slightly sweeter version of Narkissos. I like it, but not enough to keep Echo around.

Dark sooty vetiver, creamy black coconut... I swear, doesn't Troll smell like this? Yeah, that's what it smells like

In your face balsam - really, this does smell like balsamic vinegar with a hint of menthol. I don't care what is in it, that's what it smells like on me. PASS.

I get citrus, lavender and juniper berry, and as it dries, the rice wine and the cedar. It smells like a green citrusy cedar note, which unfortunately just smells kinda chemically and fake to me. Pass.

This one is very odd to me. The best description is something that really smells like apple, very green, fresh and fruity - and then as it dries, I get a giant hit of spicy sweet clove, cinnamon and tobacco. Like a more incensey SSCA or if you took Fearful Pleasure and made it aquatic. I enjoy it - but its a bit odd.