zankoku_zen

Spicy cinnamon and apple, with a touch of ginger and red wine. Honestly, this smells fantastic and I wish it were a candle. UGH, this makes me want hot spiced cider so badly right now. Good throw and wear length.

Red apples, a ton of vetiver, whiff of cacao. I get mainly apple and vetiver, and on the drydown the vetiver is winning. It sort of reminds me to the Gas Lamp's Flare. Medium throw and wear length.

On wet, it smells of woods and smoke (hello vetiver)! As it dries, I get hint of lemongrass/lemon verbena (although I tend toward the lemongrass) and red wine. Deeply woodsy, and on the drydown after two hours, I get a resinous note that I believe is frankincense. Definitely more masculine. Deep, regal, incensey.

Incense, blackberries, and a touch of orchid. .... Morgause, is that you? Because you smell regal and purple and incensey, and you changed your seasonal fruit from plums to blackberries, but its all with keeping in that purple fruit theme, so not really a deviation for you, is it? Strong throw and wear length. So if you were looking for a blackberry version of Morgause, or Morgause didn't work for you because of the plum or you wanted her to be less flowery, here's something to try out. All you witchy ladies that like to smell regal and powerful, this one is for you.

Strong cedarwood and a touch of white rose. So on wet, all I can smell is the cedar wood. Like cedar and pencils and cedar in your face. And remember that time you got locked in the closet and all you could smell was the wood? Yeah, like that. It dries down to a primarily cedar smell with touches of white rose and davana, which lead to a light floral wisp around all that wood. Strong throw and wear length. But guys, guys, get in on this. Especially if you like smelling like a tree. And then you give hugs, which are really just like climbing into a closet. You know, like that closet that took you to Narnia? Because I imagine that closet had a strong wood smell, and you should have a strong smell because when you're magical and can go places, and your arms are just waiting to take that special someone on that special journey.

I'm adding in additional information that our own Doc Constantine provided via email: "We use no animal products in anything with leather, butter, cream, milk, ambergris, blood, civet, or musk in the color copy. We create vegan accords to simulate the scents. Scents with honey, beeswax, and "butter C02" in the description contain honey, beeswax, and butter C02 respectively. Other references to butter - anything without the C02 designation - are an accord, and therefore vegan."

Licorice and teak. If you like licorice, give this a whirl. The oil was super dark brown. Licorice and smooth teak. Dark, spicy, foreboding. Medium throw and wear length.

This smells like ivy, lichen (which to me just smells like moss), and a touch of benzoin. It's a green, crisp, gender neutral to masculine blend. Medium throw and wear length.

Green musk, bamboo, and lemon. This one is very fresh and breezy. Good throw and wear length.

Pine, berries, and a musk with a touch of cedar. It's a clean, masculine blend that is very Yule-centric to me. To me, this smells like a version of Mistletoe mixed with Holly King. Good throw and wear length. And now..... I really want a snowy piney Christmas event.

Sea moss, algae, and kelp. This one is a straight up aquatic on my skin. Like a better version of Irish Spring. Neutral to masculine on me. Good throw and wear length.

Moss, amber, and mums. On wet, the mum note is stronger. It dries down and the moss starts popping out, as well as the amber, balsam and a touch of leaves. For me, this is a mossier, more aquatic version of Belle Epoque. Medium throw and wear length.

Juicy peach with red currant, and a touch of black currant. It's sweet, pretty, and peachy.

Smoky oleander, wispy jasmine and a touch of tobacco-like darkness from the ambrette. This is a foggy, cool Southern sort of scent. If you like the smells of jasmine or magnolia, as the oleander makes me think of magnolias... It's a cool, white, Southern gothic type of blend. Good throw and wear length.

A lot of myrrh and papyrus and just a tinge of vanilla. Sweet incense. Good throw and wear length.

Sweet, herbally rose blend. It may be rose geranium actually. For me, this smells like a kissing cousin to Mantle of Venus or the Planetary Venus blend. It's got that same soft pink vibe to it. I don't notice the same kind of punch from some of the other love TAL blends, but this one seems more geared toward romance? In that light, flirty, way.

Scent review: I got a dab of this on my hands as I was making a decant. It's red musky, with a touch of rose and almond on my skin. Vibe-wise: This scent energetically reminds me to Black Cherry Love oil, but without the playful aspect. This is more about 'strictly business'. Effectiveness: I'd say pretty effective. I have to admit that I have a pretty healthy libido. I'd be curious to use this when I'm not in the mood and see if it does in fact put me in the mood. ETA: So edited to add that this is effective. On both men and women. YUP. That's all the details you're getting folks. Just, be careful what you wish for.

Strawberry candy. It's sweet, and perhaps too candylike for my tastes. I used a little bit, and maybe 90 minutes later it was gone.

Clove, cinnamon, and a touch of amber.

You move towards the first stage on your right, and as you walk, you feel something brush across your cheek. Something about the softness of the phantom caress makes your skin crawl, and you flinch involuntarily. At that moment, the Spider Girl strides haughtily onto the platform, her stiletto heels clicking a strange staccato as she walks. Her body is wrapped in skin-tight strips of black PVC, and the gleaming vinyl glistens in stark contrast to the alabaster skin on her six pale, white arms. She gestures to the rafters above with a graceful flick of her blood-red nails. In dread, your eyes are drawn skyward: above her, in a gossamer snare, web-shrouded bodies twist and struggle. A swirling, hypnotic perfume of black currant, poppy, red and black musk, lilies, nicotiana, tobacco tar, and patchouli. Okay, I get black currant, lots of musk, a touch of tobacco. This one is muskier and fruitier than the original Arachnina. For me, it feels more gleaming shiny carapace than feral. The previous one definitely felt like a feral, hairy prickle. This is more the shiny dome of the abdomen of a black widow. Stays fairly close to the skin, medium wear length. There's something here that reminds me to red wine. I also had the serendipitous swab on a spot that I was re-testing Imperfect Enjoyment and it really smells fantastic to combine those two. IE brings out a different musk on Arachnina, tames some of the white floral aspects and brings out the patchouli. At the end it ends up like a more slinky type of blend. Sort of like when Black Widow is doing an incognito mission and is posing in a slinky Hollywood siren dress. You know she's deadly and can probably kill you with those thighs, but its just classy all the way.

Cherry blossoms, wisteria, almond and cacao. So this smells like a Lupercalia. I get heavy sweet cherry blossoms with a brush of wisteria, and a base of almond and cacao which add a warm foodieness to the blend. It's a pretty intense cherry blossom scent. Good throw and wear length.

Heady lush night florals with jasmine and a touch of musk. I get a bit of currant but it just adds a whiff of fruity sweetness. This smells heavy, Southern, and nocturnal. Good throw and wear length.

Roses, beeswax, and a touch of frankincense and leather. This smells like a mix between the feminine and a dry scholarly book. Decent throw and wear length.

Vanilla plastic and a whiff of banana. The cream note in this blend doesn't work for my skin chemistry. Foodie. Good throw and wear length though.

Cool lavender mist. I get wispy lavender and a touch of ozone and oudh. It's a soft skin scent with decent throw.