zankoku_zen

Plum, honey, green tea and citrus. This one is a bit of a morpher. On wet, the jasmine is more prominent, but as it dries the plum blossom makes more of an appearance and the green tea comes in adding a bit of freshness to it. Plummy white blossoms, green tea, and a swirl of honey. Good throw and wear length.

Soft jasmine, opoponax and oudh. This one is a smoky white jasmine. Great throw and wear length.

Dandelion, grass, and a touch of white pepper. Green, grassy, clean. Great throw and wear length.

Honeysuckle, gardenia, and greens. Fresh, floral, clean. Great throw and wear length.

Dirt, mushrooms, and sweet musk. Medium throw and wear length.

Coconut, champaca and black musk. This is a black coconut blend. Smoky, musky, sexy coconut. Good throw and wear length.

On wet, there's a giant hit of blueberry/lilac fruitiness. This dries down to lilac-tobacco dominant blend, with just blueberry flirting about the edges. I am, in fact, getting a ton of lilac from this. Not at all what I expected. Medium throw and wear length.

Oakmoss, magnolia, whiff of tobacco and champaca. This is waxy white flowers with some aquatic tobacco. It's clean, woodsy floral. Good throw and wear length.

Black leather, khus, and amber. This one is a husky smooth black leather. It's less in your face than alot of black leathers. Much more wearable. Medium throw and wear length.

Black Book is like a mix of Burning Book and Two Ply Bristol. I get a nice worn leather, heavy paper and ink, and a touch of smoky oudh. It's much softer than either Burning Book or Two Ply Bristol ever were on my skin and much more wearable. It's got a medium throw, but after about two hours it has definitely become more of a skin scent on me.

Bullet dodged?

Brown sugar, brioche, sugary almond glaze. This is foodie/gourmand to the max. I have a buttery brioche base with a ton of sugar, and a ton of almond glaze. UNF. I sort of want a baked goods now. Big throw and wear length.

 

Unfortunately for me, I can't love this because I'd just go around eating donuts all day long. Mmmmm.

Earth Dog smells very differently from the previous lunar incarnations. I definitely got lychee, peach blossom, mandarin, and bamboo on wet. There was something almost bitter citrus zesty about this on wet. As it dries, I got more of the sandalwood, peony, and blue lotus. The drydown is much warmer (because of the sandalwood) and warm florals than fruits. Overall, I enjoy this much more and I have to say may be one of my favorite Lunar Year blends, behind Fire Pig (which I adore for utterly sentimental reasons as it is the birth year for both my father and husband). Medium throw and wear length.

Frosted apples, spices, and just a touch of gingerbread. It's not really gingerbready - its more like a warm apple pie spice with sugary frosting, and the gingerbread comes through as the base. Warm, cozy, and it makes the room smell like you've been baking. Meaning, if you're having people over, and don't want to bake, just spritz this around. People will think you have been baking. You better have some baked goods around to feed the hungry masses though!

Sweet cranberry jelly. This smells like cooked cranberries. It's fruity and sugary, with a touch of orange. It's very bright and cheery. Perfect for those of you that like fruity blends, but want something warm and cozy for the holidays.

Sugary sweet pea. This one is sugary, intensely sweet pea floral, and yeah, very pink. Girly to the max. Good throw and wear length.

Dead Leaves, Cinnamon and a touch of pumpkin. It was mainly a dead leaves, cinnamon and pumpkin blend. Very autumnesque. Good throw and wear length.

Blueberry bubblegum with vanilla. On wet, it's mainly blueberry bubblegum. As it dries down, you get more of the vanilla coming through and the bubblegum note starts to recede. It's still a sugary, bubblegum blend. Softer than I expected because of the vanilla, which gives it a cloudy/fluffy feel to the sugar. It actually reminds me more to cotton candy at this point. Blueberry bubblegum that turns into blueberry cotton candy fluff. Medium throw and wear length.

 

Too sugary for me, but those into sweet sugary blends should try and get their hands on some of this.

Plum, jasmine, and smoky patchouli. This one is sort of reminiscent to Blood Countess, but this one is more delicate and Asian. There's a cool plum blossom vibe. Medium throw and wear length.

 

On the other hand, if you were wondering about Blood Countess, this sort of gives you a similar impression. It's not a 1-1 dupe, but it's in that family.

Soft floral vanilla orchid with a touch of white tea. It's very springy, but the drydown softens it up quite a bit. It's much cleaner than I anticipated. Medium throw and wear length.

Almond musk with a tinge of sweet peaches. This one is a sweet almond-peach musk. Very delicate and soft. Medium throw and wear length.

Lily, orchid, and dragon's resin and a whiff of honey. I mainly get lilies and orchids, and they are lush and vibrant. It's a very tropical sort of floral blend. Good throw and wear length.

Cedar, sage, and sugary resins. This one is a warm cedary blend with sage and sugar. It's slightly masculine woods on me. Medium throw and wear length.

Musk, clove, honey patchouli and cashmere. This smells rich and opulent, warm and sophisticated. This smells like a traditionally musky perfume. Very elegant. Medium throw and wear length.

White pearly cream, woodsy background. This smells both perfumey and expensive, and yet very subtle and grounded. This one is a sophisticated blend that defies your expectations. Medium throw and wear length.

Light floral blossoms, white tea chypre, and fresh bamboo. It's a very clean floral smell, very gender neutral. It actually would make a fantastic scent for any type of bath product. Medium throw and wear length.