zankoku_zen

I definitely get woody/patchouli notes mixed with some musk, citrus, and a touch of sweet florals. However, the entire combination does a weird diaper lotion thing on me as it continues to dry to between the super dirty patchouli notes and the weird powdery sweet florals, its not a pleasant contrast. Medium throw and wear length.

Sweet, pink bubblegum, a touch of resin and powder. This one is a sweet, dusty candy blend.

This reminds me to a more grown up version of Jailbait. I sort of found Jailbait obnoxious. Perfect Fifths is slightly more refined.

Oak and roses, hints of incense. This one is dark, dusty white rose blend with a heavy oak base. Medium throw and wear length.

Somber, serious, roses.

Cinnamon dusted coffee liquor. It reminds me as a softer version of Bah! (with the cinnamon), but I was hoping there would be something sweeter in it to make it less bitter.

Bitter espresso coffee. But it's right on the money. Decent throw and wear length.

Green and ozone. But as it dries, I get a fair amount of grapefruit actually. Which in french is PAMPLEMOUSSE. To me this smells like grapefruit, bamboo, and just fresh citrus breeze.

Honestly, this would have made an AWESOME hairgloss. Decent throw and wear length.

Daffodils, dirt, grass, and a touch of frankincense.

On wet, its a much greener and dirtier blend. As it dries, the daffodils pop up alot more, I get a wee touch of ozone and frankincense. This is a very clean, green blend. Also:

DAFFODILS, MOTHERF*CKERS.

FINALLY.

This is the smell of green, misty outsides. In vibe, this sort of reminds me to Dublin and Unseelie (both which to me read as UK/Irish-centric). Like a softer and less ozone version of Host of Air.

Take Dorian. Slosh some TKO in there, and throw in a light green floral (I am assuming snow drops), and you get the Serpentine.

It is calm, cool, and peaceful. I can see why this is so popular. Good throw and wear length.

Red and golden musk, nag champaca, and orris. This toggles between regal incense and baby powder on me. Good throw and wear length.

SKIN CHEMISTRY FAIL.

This one starts off as sweet chewy coconut, like the kind of coconut macaroon that you eat. And as it dries, it gets more plasticky on my skin and ends up straight up suntan lotion coconut smell on me. Of course it has great throw and wear length.

I smell like I'm ready for the beach!

Mellow strawberry with pink roses and musky vanilla. I'm actually surprised at how much I actually like this. It's a very soft pink scent. The strawberry is fresh.

Actually, this is more along the lines of what I would have hoped DeVos to be. Pearlescent strawberry, roses and vanilla blend.

Clean smooth sandalwood and skin musk. It's cool, unisex, and very well balanced.

So not going to lie, I was hoping for more vanilla on this.

Musky chewy tobacco, amber and a just a touch of hay sugar. Honestly, this is what I wished Miss Fanny Phippany would have been like. I feel like they have the same vibe.

Mr. zee_zee likened it to a high end tobacco shop.

I like it, but very on the fence on how much I like it.

Provenance: Ebay Auction Win.

Label: White prototype label, handwritten. "Pledged to the Dead, Pickman", with the not for sale.

Description: This one is a lovely fougere with blonde woods in the background. I would put this more along the lines of Wilde, but slightly more smokiness and woodiness. I'm going to slather this on mr. zee_zee and see if he loves it (and given his picky skin chemistry, I can only hope it doesn't work for him). Vibe: darkly sophisticated.

Actually I can see Dorian from Penny Dreadful wearing this. It seems light and clean, but sexy, and then you realize that is has some really dark undertones.

Bergamot, white sandalwood, touch of sage and a ton of white musk. It was white musk floral for us, and not really something we're enjoying.

Musk, amber, frankincense. I get a whiff of orange once I put it on, and I agree with Liber that this has a golden orange-red feel to it. This one is a very heavy/sophisticated oriental smell.

It's elegant, sophisticated, and very amber/gourmand.

Strong honey and yellow cake. This one was foodier than I expected!

Love the label though!

Black currant, peach, and a dab of sandalwood. This is a purple juicy fruity blend. Good throw and wear length.

Peach, amber and narcissus. Floral peachy amber. Good throw and wear length.

Sugary lemon candy and a touch of peach. Very cheery and happy. Low throw and wear length.

Perfect for those of you that love candy blends.

Peach and oudh. I get a subtle peach, and a ton of oudh. Good throw and wear length.

Peach skin, teak and a touch of patchouli. The peach does a fair job of balancing book the wood notes and the patchouli. Making this super wearable. I'm very surprised. Low throw and good wear length.

Oh man, so this is mainly a warm saffron, frankincense with a dab of patchouli and amber. On wet, I get tinges of the chypre and ylang ylang, but they burn off to an warm ambery-frankincense blend.

Super well blended. Medium throw and wear length.

Alright, I wasn't entirely sure that I would like this, and I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I do. Neither gardenia nor white musk are good notes on me.

So for me, this is a slightly lavender, gardenia and iris with a tinge of white tea. It smells like clean white florals, but the lavender gives it a nice dreamy edge. It smells nice and sophisticated, like you just had a blow out at a salon.

Very appropriate for the office/work.

Lavender microglitter with flecks of larger teal blue glitter and a magenta sheen. This one I needed three coats and daylight to appreciate how gorgeous this is.

Honestly, I can see an Unseelie fairy princess being totally into this claw polish.

Okay, so this may be my favorite of the Dragon*Con claw polishes.

In the bottle, its this copper with a holo green glimmer on the edges.

I put on three coats to get a full effect. The second one came out with the copper tone which in some lights looks brown like the October claw polish in the deepest shades but more golden and with enough of green shimmer in it with gold flecks. Occasionally, you get a red flare. For me, this is the bastard child of Butter London's Scuppered and ILNP's Electric Carnival (Electric Carnival is that red to green shift, as opposed to a copper to green shift). It's all very fine micro-gillter