zankoku_zen

Apple blossom, ginger and a hint of pink roses. This one was mainly an apple blossom/pink roses scent. Very clean, because of the apple blossom. Fruity, clean, and delicately rosey.

Citrus, tea, and a touch of aquatic. I was actually going to say that this smelled like citrus green tea/sake. It's a very clean scent. Summery.

Definitely smells like high end hair products.

Sweet strawberry leaf and vanilla cream, and a touch of plastic. Honestly, if you ever wanted to smell like Strawberry Shortcake, this would be the thing to get.

Oh man, I should have reviewed this years ago and forgot. I have a decant of STFU that I've used at work on rare occasion. Unfortunately my work environment a few years ago was a hot mess, with a lot of sniping. I used STFU mainly to shield myself from alot of that foolishness.

Coincidentally, now that I reflect on it, all of those individuals are gone and I'm still with my organization.

If I ever have need to use it again, I'll go ahead and edit this review with a scent review.

Brass Balls has a brassy overtone, I get a hint of lemongrass, and there's definitely spices. It's somewhat metallic smelling.

I've worn this twice on my chakras, and I can say that while it doesn't smell like a perfume, its sure is effective. I wouldn't call this a swagger, as more as a boost. Like this is the more confident you out there. I would actually say that it has a fair amount of nerve calming.

I didn't think I needed this, since I have Wolf Heart, but the energies are very different. This one is definitely more social. Wolf Heart is more existential. I like the nerve calming aspect of Brass Balls.

Strawberry smoothie, red musk, and a hint of cherry blossoms. This is a very red-pink blend. Both the strawberry and cherry blossom bring out a candy-like sweetness to it, and the red musk anchors it. It's feminine, pink, and musky.

Honestly, the impression I got is the sort of thrill you get as a teenage girl when you discover you suddenly have cleavage. You feel grown up, but there's this girly excitement and buzz and innocence about it.

I get a ton of cassia from this, and other kitchen spices. Cinnamon, and a touch of nuts. Overall, this smells like a spice cake. With a slight crusty note to it.

These are pink roses, light honey and a brush of lychee which has a tart/citrus edge to it.. It's much more of a rose/honey on wet, it's almost musky. It dries to a lighter rose, touch of carnation, lychee and honey.

It's pink, lovely and very dreamy.

Dragon's blood, red musk, and a touch of honey and poppy. There's a light floral note (I'm assuming poppy) that floats above the musk and the dragon's blood. Good throw, decent wearlength.

Rich, tangy, musky.

Goat milk, honey, touch of coconut and rose. This smells like chewy caramels made with goat milk and a dash of rosewater. It's thick, rich, creamy, and very foodie. Low throw, good wear length.

If you were looking for goat milk caramels, look no further.

Blueberry, cream and crust. It's mainly blueberries and crust on my hair. Sort of faint after blowdrying, but tasty nonetheless.

October is gleaming copper/bronze. The coverage on this is fantastic, as I am only wearing one coat and it's amazing. It's a more coppery version of the Robotic Scarab claw polish, which to this day is my favorite BPTP claw polish. I am glad that I have something that is quasi-similar.

Amazing color. Love it.

For me, Dark Manipulations was a purple crelly. And by purple, I mean Welch's grape jelly purple. Honestly the crelly also brings to mind some of the translucence associated with grape jelly.

On the other hand, Dark Manipulations makes an excellence case for swatches. The shade is dark, but lighter than the bottle. In the bottle, it look almost maroon, and I was expecting maybe a darker brown/red type of blend, so I was pleasantly surprised by both the purple and the translucence. I wouldn't have picked it up based on the color of the bottle - since it looks like a vampy maroon/brown.

This purple on the other hand. Totally would have gone for something like this.

For me, Lullaby is sky blue. Like think Carolina Panther's blue. I think there's a crayola color Cerulean are probably the most apt.

This one gave me almost full coverage with one coat. And I'd definitely put it in the creme family. The formula is great to work with.

Between this and Fear, I think I have blues covered. Fear is definitely more teal, and Lullaby is more straight up cerulean. Love them both.

Womb Furie is the pink Luper cousin of the Weenie Pumpkin Spice Everything and the Yule Eldritch Drunken Constellations. Whereas PSE and EDC had a pretty heavy base, Womb Furie is actually pretty sheer. It took me three layers to get a decent coverage.

As for color, the raspberry pink actually reminds me as a glitter more sheer version of the old Bordello claw polish. I don't have many bright pink polishes, so this fills a niche nicely.

Key Lime Pie in the bottle and applied wet. As it dried however, and I was using a hair dryer, I got more of a marshmallow/cream note going on. The lime faded away, and I got marshmallow and the crust.

So in some ways this ended up as a slightly more citrus version of Marshmallow Cream pie on my hair.

Again, Aradia is like So Below/As Above in vibe - dark, mysterious, gothic. It does sort of smell like a hybrid baby of Banshee Beat and Antikythera Mechanism. I got mainly a ton of oak, with a non-foodie vanilla, and some patchouli thrown in as a ground base. I can see this aging very well. Good throw, good wear length.

I'm very torn on whether or not I actually can see myself wearing this. In some ways, it reminds me to Depart Pour Le Sabbat from the recent Weenies, without the goat milk, so for some of you that are wanting something comparable, that may feed the need.

Does anyone have recommendations for something similar to Edith Cushing?

Not entirely the same, but Lyonesse or Morocco may have some of the same vibe and appeal that you're looking for.

So maybe not helpful at all, but perhaps you can find 2nd hand a bottle of BPAL's limited edition Amanda Palmer scent:

MANUS DEI (or the TYPEWRITER INCIDENT)
Weeds, dirt, red clay, scattered groceries, inked fabric ribbon, machine oil, and cast steel.

This definitely reminds me to Talkvikuu and Monastery in the Mountains. Slushy snow, iris, hints of warm vanilla, amber, and sandalwood. It's a mix of cool and warm. Decent throw and wear length.

This smells both feminine and masculine at times. Cool, sophisticated, yet cozy.

This one is oddly delicate floral blend. I think there's iris in this, as I get a bit of powderiness on the drydown. On wet, I smelled a lot more jasmine, and I have to wonder if there isn't actually some magnolia in this, as I get some creaminess in here. It's definitely feminine, pretty, and very wearable. Good throw and wearlength.

Cool sage, pine, and a drop of oakmoss. This one is herbally mysterious. There's a coolness and aquaticness to this blend. It smells clean, and slightly masculine. Good throw and wear length.

Clove, pine and cinnamon. This smells like a combination of foodie bread over polished wood floors and a bright Christmas tree. The labdanum is slightly smoky and soporific. Good throw, good wear length.

Food, comfort, sleepy.

Gilded silk, perfume, and a touch of wood. Honestly, this smells like a Victorian perfume - in the sense that you get perfume, wood, and something that smells old and sophisticated. In some ways, the vibe reminds me to some of Edith's perfumes for Crimson Peak. Good throw and wear length.

Sophisticated, mysterious, delightful.

Oh man, this smells like tobacco and Christmas trees. I really love the tobacco note in this, and its warm, comforting and cozy. This smells like a warm hearth, full of holiday cheer. Slightly too masculine on me, but this would make a gorgeous room spray. Decent throw and wear length.

Smoke, pine, and warmth.