zankoku_zen

I really wanted to love this and I was hoping for peppermint cream all the way. I get a blast of peppermint cream on wet, and then the chocolate makes an appearance. Both of these fade and I'm left with a slightly minty, slightly chocolate vanilla. Heavily foodie. Medium throw and wear length. RATS.

Sweet resins with a whiff of snowy vanilla. This one is warm and resinous, and the vanilla just adds a touch of sweetness.

Creamy vanilla, tobacco, and wisps of porcelain and cognac. The porcelain and cognac keep the vanilla from being too rich or foodie. I can see why people would really really love the vanilla-tobacco combo in this. It ends up as high end vanilla perfume on me. Great throw and wear length. I would definitely try to enable folks that love traditional vanilla perfumes with this.

Coconut snow frankincense on wet. As it dries, the snowy coconut top note disappears and I get more of the patchouli. This ends as a patchouli-sandalwood mix, with a whiff of coconut snow on it. Dry, strong, and manlier than I expected. Medium throw and wear length.

Green, wet, dead leaves with a hint of manly aquatic cologne. Airier than the just straight up dead leaves.

Blue satin swaths of iris and indigo flower, billows of white mallow root and smoked sugar, embroidered with antiqued amber. Pip starts off with satiny iris flower, and puffs of mallow. But it dries down to a smoked sugar and amber blend. The iris flower is slightly powdery on wet, but then it smooths out as it dries. The sugar starts to come out and the amber is very present. I was expecting to enjoy this as much as I have. Medium throw and medium wear length.

Cinnamon, red musk, and dark dragon's blood resin. The comparison to Scherezade is apropos. Good throw and wear length.

Honestly, this reminds me to Love's Philosophy + a squeeze of orange. Saffron vanilla, with swirls of mandarin and a touch of amber. Good throw and wear length. I think I need a bottle.

Fruity honeyed red apple. Medium throw and wear length.

Ooooh! Mandarin, touches of pine, patchouli and resin. Mmmm, yes. This smells like a different darker and more resiny version of Pallas Athene, which is one of my favorite blends. This is the masculine version of Pallas Athene with the addition of pine and patchouli. Good throw and wear length. Would consider at least a partial bottle.

Grey musk, ambergris, and a touch of tuberose. This smells dusty and aquatic on me. Good throw and wear length.

I get sandalwood, sage and a touch of sweetgrass. This smells like the Old West and dust. The sandalwood is dry, and gives me the impression of Dead Man's Hand, but no leather. Just the Old West. Good throw and wear length.

Oudh, opium tar, and myrrh. This one is a little smoky, a ton of resins, and hints of incense. Good throw and wear length. Darker than I expected.

Jasmine, frankincense, saffron and orange flower. This one smells strongly of resins on the background, with notes of jasmine, saffron and with a burst of orange flower. Oriental floral is how I'd best categorize this. Good throw and wear length.

Honeyed neroli and orange blossom on a bed of musk. This smells like honey, oranges, with musk on the drydown. Lovely and bright.

Sweet maraschino cherries with a sprinkling of sugar and almond cookie dough. Very buttery. This is more like heavy almond butter cookies with a bit of cherry here and there. Too heavy and gourmand for me. Medium throw and wear length.

Cirtusy bergamot, rose geranium, and a touch of sandalwood. This one smelled citrusy, herbal and a touch of woodiness. It was light incense, and was really pretty. Medium throw and wear length.

Roasted coffee, porcelain, and cassia. This one did not smell good on me. It was the mixture of the roasted coffee + porcelain egg shell. Great throw, good wear length. Of course.

Clean, piney snow and a touch of poppies. This one definitely coded as a 'winter' blend for me, and it was very Christmasy. It sort of reminded me to new fallen snow. Good throw and wear length.

Fig, sandalwood, and a touch of myrrh. I am seriously digging this. Medium throw and wear length.

Strong earl grey and cake underneath. Good throw and wear length.

This one is musky, ghostly, and white. I get ambergris, a touch of tobacco. This one smells otherworldy and I kinda loved it.

Pale pink roses, and dewy sappy stems. This smells like a pink version of Red Rose. Not as intense, sweeter, with a touch of apple blossom. Lovely. Good throw and wear length.

Soft woods, dirt, ivy and a touch of beeswax. On wet, it smells more like Graveyard Dirt but then it softens with the beeswax, wood and ivy. Good throw and wear length.

Lemon, rose geranium, and ambergris. This is a citrusy aquatic over a bed of rose geranium. It's cool, watery, and floral. Good throw and wear length. This one is feminine, and full of lunar power. I can see this being used in a TAL/ceremonial aspect.