zankoku_zen

Okay, both the orange blossom and coconut come out for a giant tackle hug at the beginning, which is a bit overwhelming. The scent, on wet, is very all over the place, floral with coconut and with a hint of incense. It bounces from place to place... like a hyperactive toddler. It dries down to a pretty orange blossom/coconut blend. Of course, I am not a fan of coconut, but hey! Even I think it's pretty.

So it starts off as a black cherry brandy, but the cherry goes overly sweet and cough syrupy. And then my skin eats it in like thirty minutes. Meh.

So there is a bit of lime on this wet, and then its a pretty manly aquatic. Both me and kid zz tried this on ---- a little too manly on me, and he thought it was a pretty nice smell. Pretty strong throw and wear length.

Okay, so this was mainly aftershave (me and kid zz both!). On me, I could smell some of the brimstone (barest hint of smoky bacon) and on kid zz he def. got more cat from it. Interesting, but def. a manly scent. While kid zz was both amused and excited about the concept of a Hellboy perfume, and testing it out, but I don't think it was the scent for him. His skin eats up scents, so he was surprised at both the staying power and throw on him, (regular throw and staying power).

On me, the leather dominates and I get this huge leather cloud, and its the same leather like note as in de Sade (hence, black leather) with the tiniest hint of vanilla floating about. Pass.

This is for the 2009 version.. Apple and caramel ---- unfortunately the caramel goes to 'burnt plastic' on me, but I also get whiffs of brown sugar with this one. I got way more coconut from the original version.

Oh Pomona. You are more of an apple cider, than say Lamb's Wool, but you have that nuttiness that comes out. I was hoping for something darker, spicier and more berries, but on me you are this lovely roasted apple and nuts blend. Lovely, but not what I was looking for.

Guh... this smells like a white floral soap. Pass.

This one is a odd one --- it's a very 'warm' floral. And 'warm' in the sense that blood is warm. I get dirt, and a hint of a 'warm' white floral with an edge of sweetness, and for me that's def. the heliotrope playing into it. Odd.

This one is got one HUGE throw of lilies. The ginger adds a bit of sharpness and prevents the lilies from being too sweet or cloying. But yes, one swab and I have a huge huge cloud of lilies on my arm.

Oh Sarah, you do smell like cold marble and undead flesh! It's a slight clean sort of floral with a core that doesn't smell clean, if that makes sense. I get soft, almost floral, aquatic around something a little more earthy that does make me think of rot and dirt.

Okay... so I really didn't get that bright eucalyptus note.... maybe it's just me. In my mind this was a bit green-yellow floral. There's a suggestion of oakmoss, and perhaps heliotrope to it, a little amber warmth, but in general its a very green, yellow floral thing going on. Kinda sharp sometimes.

This one is a bright, cheery white floral. I do believe it has either pansy or petunia in it, and it kinda smells like Nivea Cream to me, so some kind of orchid? Its purple, creamy and feminine without being soft or cloying. Very pretty.

I definitely get lotus and some berries on top of woods and something else. The berries/fruit note does occasionally veer into peach territory, esp. after three hours. I can smell cedar in this as well. Odd.

Agreed. Geburah is like De Sade's slightly more angelic brother. I mean slightly more because of the frankincense that you can smell after like three hours. But mostly, it smells just like De Sade. Too much leather for this girl.

I got this little cotton swab sniffie --- it smells like hazelnut, vanilla and a touch of florals. The sniffie wasn't wet enough to test on skin, but I definitely got the vanilla with a whiff of florals and the hazelnut was pretty strong. Very pretty. I def. wish I had gotten to skin test it! Hazelnut tends to be a pretty strong component on me, but I'm intrigued enough that I would have chanced it! ETA: now that I have a testable sniffie. WOW. Yes to the hazelnut, vanilla and musk. This is foodie without being too foodie, very cozy and perfect for cold weather. Delicious.

So on me, the rose and orris are very predominant on wet - and the orris turns the rose very sharp and sour. As it dries, it becomes more of a rose/patchouli blend, and then completely dries down to a rose/sandalwood blend. Overall, not a fan.

Warm, golden muskiness. Kinda masculine, but very pretty. Hints of honey on my skin. ETA: So definitely very different from the aquaticness of the most recent ambergris SN. This one is richer, golden, musky. Honestly, the more I wear it, the more I think you can actually wear this SN by itself. HOT DAMN.

OMG. I get giant buckets of red musk SN, except its darker, sexier and more voluptous, esp. with hints of rose

Hrmmm. Okay, I got a whiff of lemongrass at the beginning, and maybe a hint of coconut (admittedly, I am both of those sucker) on wet, but as it dries, I get more of a 'sandy' blend. There's definitely musk in it (not red), and so I get a slightly fruity, perfumey musk, that is definitely 'desert' like and 'incense' like.

Honestly, I get more of a lilac vibe from this. HUGE in fact. On wet, I do get something that reminds me to lily of the valley (that may be the weird interaction of lilac on me). I kept thinking this might also have some jasmine in it, as there is a bit of sharpness to the overall floral. Bright floral, huge throw. I get loads of lilac from this.

So on wet I get the hearty slap of buttery pumpkin and honey. Like hello! It dries to a much more subtle scent, that is masculine musky with a hint of pumpkin and honey. Not my kind of the deal at all, but if you're looking for a nice manly pumpkin... this is it!

Oh yum! This has to be the best BPAL watermelon blend ever. I mean, I get watermelon with hints of blackberry and strawberries on wet, but watermelon is definitely front and center. As it dries, I get this woodsy spice, slightly peppery on me, which might be coriander. As it dries, it gets slightly more musky. Erm. Yeah. I really like this one. More so than High Strung Daisies.

Actually, for me, there is one big difference between the released version and this one. For one, I don't think there's coconut in this blend, because I amp up coconut like no one's business and it wasn't present here. At all. Definitely strong vanilla cake, hint of chocolate (I don't think there's cassis on this). It almost veers into plastic territory, but not quite. Ends up smelling like delectable vanilla with a hint of cocoa. YUM!

PPH08 reminds me to L'Autunno. I didn't get any citrus from the beginning, but I did get heavy smokiness, patchouli, and SAGE like crazy. There is a slight sweetness to the blend that makes me think brown sugar/molasses. But... uh yeah. Sage is so not my friend.