zankoku_zen

Okay, so the misty flowers totally don't work for me. The citrus and the misty flowers combine to smell like some sort of industrial cleanser on wet, and as it dries, the misty part turns musty. And kinda like... naphthalene. So... yeah. PASS.

This definitely is like a fresh, very sweet, strawberry. On wet, it almost has a watermelon candy aspect to it. As it dries however, the strawberry starts to get the faintest edge of plastic. Enough to turn it from a real strawberry to strawberry bubblicious gum. Yes, definitely more GUM than, say, freshness. Ah well.

Okay... maybe I'm odd but I don't think I got the strawberry, unless it was there for like one hot minute. On application, this was a buttery, apple spice like cake. It kinda reminded me of Fearful Pleasure, but more akin to Mabon. Honestly, what it brings to mind is some sort of apple/honey spice cake that you'd use during Mabon. It's that kind of blend. Definitely has a 'Weenie/Autumn feel to it. I sort of wish I had gotten strawberry shortcake... but I'm not complaining about what showed up!

Hmmm, this on application is a salty musky blend with something that smells like a raisin. As it dries, I get clove, sarsaparilla and just a hint of tobacco. I'm very on the fence on whether I like this or dislike this.

This one was a very strong cherry cough syrup when I first applied it. And then, I had a mild intersection with cherry and something spicy that reminded me to Ho Ho Ho. Now on the drydown, it's almost entirely almonds and cherries. In fact, it kinda reminds me to that Jergen's lotion scent.

Oh man, I got a masculine green musk cologne on wet. As it dried, I definitely got hit with a slap of leather... like the leather in Hessian. In fact, this blend kinda reminds me to Hessian of the Hollow. As it dries a little, I get more of the cedar. But yeah, this is a masculine leather + musk + cedar.

On wet, this really made me think of carrot cake. As it dries, I get a dark musk (probably black musk), a hint of raisin, a hint of ginger, and yes, the notion of something 'glazed'. That's more of a vibe than anything else. I can see the comparisons to gingerbread, but it puts me more in the mind of Shub-Niggurath (and they are really distant cousins, but that's the closest GC association I have). And Shub, the gingerbread kind, as opposed to the other kind as I know there are two very distinct version of Shub. Same kind of vibe - EVIL cake.

Wow, this is a very fruity floral with a touch of spice. It's sweet and while it makes me think of apples, it also brings pineapples to my mind. Perhaps its the fact that I can smell almonds. It has a very strong almond component, and a VERY creamy drydown. Perhaps also a touch of wood.

On me this was a sweet, fizzy sort of Sweet Tarts scent. I do believe the fizz comes from champagne, as it has that light/bubbly feeling. However, it basically dries down to soap. Really nice, fruity soap. But still soap.

Hmm. I can see the Glowing Vulva compraison. It's kinda musky, but with a lemon/clary sage bit going on. Underneath, I wanna say I get something almost sandy, kinda dry woody... and yes, hints of vanilla. I'm thinking the wood might be teak.

This one reminds me strongly of Marshmallow Poof --- although it has more butter and more vanilla in it. Unfortunately, again, this vanilla turns to plastic, except it's almost Play-Doh like on me. Fortunately it fades fast on my skin chemistry. Ah well.

This one is a fresh, ozone aquatic with a hint of peppermint. It's got a strong citrus component, and it does make me think 'Embalming Fluid' or 'Dirty'. Its that clean linen sort of feel. Unfortunately, some of this blends tend to go to 'industrial cleanser'... which this does. SAD.

Wooo. Definitely buttery lemon cake. It's pretty damn tasty. Unfortunately, the vanilla is the kind that goes to plastic on me. Other than that, this would be uber yum.

Oh man, this definitely has a 'red clay' dirt smell. I would guess dirt, sandalwood and some black patchouli. It's a spicy, kinda stinky, dirt blend.

Phosphorous does kinda remind me to Embalming Fluid - I get more of a lemon balm as opposed to lemon/lime. And there is something green in the background, and hints of aloe and green tea. I don't really get the metal hints on it. This dries to a dry, soft lemon blend. My skin totally ate this up.

Astraphobia opens up with a giant blast of menthol, which quickly burns off. There is definitely peppermint and spearmint in this blend, and I'm guessing lemon and eucalyptus. It dries to a slight lemon herbal background.

Hmmm. This definitely has beeswax in it - as it got a slightly waxy feel to the honey and it isn't quite as aggressive as honey is on my skin. It's definitely got vanilla and a light musk to it. Slightly incensey. On the drydown, I definitely get the vanilla + beeswax making sweet, sweet, sweet SWEET love to each other. Slightly creamy and not at all powdery. If you can hack beeswax/honey, I would definitely give this a whirl. From what I can recall of O, it's less sexually aggressive and more sensual. More of the come hither, as opposed to the ravishing kind.

Ditto on the similarities to Uncertain Horror or Scattered Gloom, Lunar Eclipse, Penumbra, On Darkness. For my money, this is a very dark, dark blend. It's got musk (I wanna say black, as it is kinda stinky and sweaty), patchouli, benzoin, perhaps a touch of amber and patchouli. I get hints of licorice here and there, which would also explain the color as it is a dark brown, like Uncertain Horror. Perhaps also a touch of dust? But yeah, a DARK, sweaty musk blend.

Oh man... this is totally a Tiki blend. Coconut and lush tropical flowers, I am thinking hawaiian ginger and definitely gardenia. And yes, possibly that Monoi tiare mentioned. Overall, not my kind of blend AT ALL.

Eve is definitely warm golden delicious apples and honey. On wet, it's a very strong, springy green kind of apple but it warms up quickly. It's almost got a 'baked apple' feel to it. There's definitely something floral lurking in the background, and I would guess white rose as this does have a passing similarity to the White Rose blend. I am thinking this has a touch of brown sugar to it, perhaps molasses. For me this is White Rose + APPLES + honey.

Set reminds me to Ifrit - it's this sandy, gritty, HOT blend. Sandstone, sand, and glaring light. It's definitely got some vetiver, red musk, my guess some saffron and I am almost willing to peg the light floral touch is wisteria (although its possibly lilac). As it dries, it becomes a much more heavy red musk/dark floral sort of blend. I can see fans of the Ifrit and heavily sultry floral blends loving this.

This smelled almost salty out of the imp. It's got a very strong air/aquatic component (not necessarily ozone). And yes, I get some woods and something that does remind me to the Castle (more like stone, rather than anything else). There's something vaguely sweet in here, and slightly green, like a light brushing of Host of Air. It also kinda reminds me to Prague and I wonder if it doesn't have crocus or tulip in it. But yes, "restrained" is something that comes to mind. Mildly aquatic, sort of fresh, cool water. Those are really the impressions I get.

On wet, this is a very lush, very green floral. Think green like in the Green Party and/or Host of Air. It's a big bouquet of flowers, and I do believe there are tulips and lilies in this. And on the drydown, the rose comes to dominate the blend. What a prima donna. On me, finally dry, smells like really expensive, really nice rose SOAP. Grr.

This on me is a rich, warm sandalwood blend. I get, especially on wet, the hints of camphor that others have noted. However, on the drydown, the coconut definitely starts to emerge. It's more like the husk of the coconut, the blend is also slightly musky. It might also have a hint of patchouli. It puts me in mind of Goblin, the GC blend.

Copper starts as a warm, golden metallic blend with a hint of lemon/lime. But as it dries, I get something warmer and I'm guessing it has perhaps some saffron and/or patchouli in it. There's something vaguely savory about this blend, and the 'spicy' part of it makes me think of Chintamani-Dhupa in vibe. I wish it had kept being metallic, but I agree with the impression of this being like a warm red rock earth/sand.