strahlend

 

In the imp this reminds me of a red fruit, maybe plum, and a hint of ginger.

Wet on my skin this does smell a lot like ginger to me. It has a sort of sharp, mineral, planty, bite to it.

After a very short time the ginger fades back and the fruity note, warm spice, and floral become the dominant notes. It's a little bit juicy sweet with spice, but still light in feeling.

After about 10 minutes this scent melds together and becomes smells like slightly woody, slightly fruity incense. All of the stages are nice, but this part is my favorite, luckily it's the one that lasts the longest.

A lovely scent for the transition from winter into spring. I wish this scent lasted longer on my skin, but it fades off in about an hour.

I've come across Masquerade a few times over the years but never gave it much thought, which is weird because there's nothing objectionable to me in this blend.

 

This starts out with a lot of sharp patchouli, reminds me of the kind in #Occupy, it almost has a burnt smell to it to my nose.

 

Luckily the ambergris and orange blossom work with the patchouli to soften it up a bit.

 

This scent makes me think of Vixen (orange blossom, ginger, patchouli) and Ravenous (red patchouli and orange blossom) - similar components, quite different results.

 

I think that comparatively Masquerade has more of a warm, woody, incensy feel, Vixen features more ginger, and Ravenous has a much sweeter patchouli and features more orange.

Thanks for the good ideas everyone! I think I have some of those in my stash, I just need to do some re-testing.

I'm in the mood for a super cinnamon-vanilla scent.

 

Dragon's Milk is sort of what I'm thinking of, but more cinnamon and no dragon's blood. The smell I'm thinking of is sort of like vanilla-cinnamon french toast.

I can only smell lavender. It's very nice lavender (not too sharp, not too sweet), but the vetiver, tobacco, and lotus are MIA as far as I can tell.
I had no idea what zdravetz was, here's what I found: Zdravetz, Geranium macrorhizum, referred to as true geranium, has a strong floral aroma. It, however, has been used extensively in Bulgaria where it is known for its aphrodisiac properties and for its balancing effects on female hormones. Zdravetz is said to lower blood sugar.

At first this scent strikes me as a smokey floral.

Later, the currant comes up in the dry down and is an interesting partner with the lavender. It keeps the scent a little lighter and brighter and keeps the lavender out of the realm of antiseptic or powder. Unfortunately it does lean toward the soapy (very fancy and expensive soap) end of the spectrum for me though.

Sniff from the decant – very powdery rose. Second sniff seems more lavendery.

 

Skin testing - Lots of lavender. A minute later it's powdery-rose-lavender. Nicer than it sounds. It's soft and sweet and pleasant. A while later it's mostly lavender, on a velvety plush purple pillow of opium poppy and white musk.

Later, this is a soft, powdery lavender. The rose is not overwhelming at any point, which I appreciate.

This is a fairly strong scent, I get a decent waft up from my arm.

At first I got pink grapefruit and orange, then mostly orange. This is such an ORANGY orange.

 

Skin testing – It's still very orangy. It's like smelling a real orange, with the pith, leaves (maybe from the lemon balm), flowers, and juice all in tact. After a little while it still smells mainly of orange but it has mellowed and smells a little softer and lightly musky (maybe from the lightest touch of cumin).

I love peppermint, but do not smell it here. I also do not smell the tuberose.

 

It feels clean and refreshing but never goes into cleaning product territory.

This is a lovely scent. It's both soothing and uplifting.

Well.... at first it reminds me a bit of the Chinese Floor Wash I got from the TAL. I can groove on that.

Sadly, as time passes it seems like the flowery parts become more intrusive. I stuck my wrist under my boyfriend's nose and he physically recoiled. We don't always agree on scents, but we do this time.

Since I have an affinity for water (I'm a pisces) and dragons (chinese birth year) I'm going to keep this partial bottle for sentimental reasons, and the label is BEAUTIFUL, but at this point I'm not sure I'll ever wear it.

This is a warm, soft, clove with a faintly sweet musky base.

 

I really like this kind of clove, so I'm happy. It seems like clove is often in blends with booze or leather, but here it's pretty much standing on its own. Much more subtle than other blends with clove or cognac, but it is noticable and sticks around for a while.

 

I'm testing right out of the mailbox, so I'll update later if there seems to be a noticable difference.

First impression - very much a snow scent, would fit in great with the Yules.

 

Testing – wow, the white pear is really lovely with the snow notes. It's a subtle fruitiness that I wasn't sure would work for me. At first glance it's similar to other bpal snow scents - but with a hint of floral and a subtle application of pear this really turns into its own thing.

 

After a little while it is more noticeably snow than anything else, but it's very soft and lightly sweet and very, very pretty. I think it's the honeysuckle in here that's really lifting the scent. I'm not getting sandalwood or amber – both of which often come across as powdery to me – and this doesn't seem powdery at all. Just snow and a gentle sweetness with just the tiniest little hint of that pear.

 

I'm surprised this isn't getting more rave reviews, it's a beautiful scent.

First impression - lots of cypress.

 

Testing – hmmm... this smells like dry wood in the forest. Juniper is lending a bit of an edgy green feel, maybe the mulberry leaf is in that mix too. The cedar here has that deep, rich reddish/cedar smell that I remember from sniffing my mom's cedar wood trinket box. I think it might be the neroli and jasmine that are adding the depth to the cedar. Oh man, this smells really good.

 

Starting to smell like gentle incense. It's hard to describe, there's a hint of the juniper berry, the warmth of the jasmine and neroli, and this great cedar base. I'm not getting cypress at all any more.

 

This scent changes a lot from application to dry down. It starts out kind of dry and cold then becomes a sweet, warm, woody, floral.

I've already got a couple bottles of this stashed, it's fantastic!

 

The sandalwood is dry and smells authentically woody, not perfumy. There's a sweet resinous feel to it from the olibanum (frankincense) and opoponax (myrrh). Just a little hint of green in here, maybe the violet leaf?

 

This scent makes me feel centered and confident when I wear it.

This is LOADS of vanilla and I can't help but think that it smells really good even though I don't usually look for vanilla heavy scents. The copal and beeswax are lovely partners for the vanilla.

 

Testing – it seems like as soon as it hits my skin the honey goes crazy and takes over. Where did the vanilla go? I guess it's still there but it's being overshadowed by the honey and amber. The amber is the sort that goes powdery on my skin.

 

Later - The vanilla is starting to come back through. There's still a heavy dose of honey here, which is what I get if I sniff close to my skin, but if I back up just a bit I smell more vanilla.

 

Well.... I think there's just too much honey and powder in this for me. I was hoping for more emphasis on the copal - I've been on a resin kick lately.

At first this came across as banana laffy taffy candy - sweet and edible.

 

That idea captures the opening of this scent so perfectly, I'm not sure what else there is to say.

 

The super sweet fruit fades down really quickly and I'm left with a thick, rich, creamy vanilla.

 

Then it's gone! Sadly this scent doesn't stick around very long.

In a word.... unique.

 

Green, fresh, cool, almost like cucumber, but not that either. I enjoy many "green" scents and I can't think of another one like this. Although I usually find Egyptian musk to be too sharp it's working perfectly here as a compliment.

 

Captivatingly unusual. This is a lovely and refreshing scent will be perfect for spring and summer.

I love this scent!

 

I didn't think that I would from the note list, so it was quite a surprise. I was mainly worried about the honey and rose and not knowing what helichrysum is.

 

This is a sort of medium weight musky, woodsy scent to my nose. It doesn't smell particularly like vetiver or honey... or any of the notes listed. This is a blend where the whole is more than just the sum of its parts.

 

Unexpectedly beautiful.

Patchouli, Kashmiri tea, cardamom, black pepper, carnation, and clove.

 

This is all warm spice on my skin. It's dominantly clove, but I can see how the carnation and cardamom play a part in the spice-fest. Pathouli is a perfect, yet subtle, backdrop for the dominant notes.

I'm very happy to have a bottle, it smells great and I think it will make a lovely layering component.

I only get black musk, no cinnamon

Sniffing the decant: mild ginger compared to what I expected, it seems...maybe like there's more vine and gingerGRASS than ginger in here.

 

testing ---- ohhhh this smells good. Oh, but wait, maybe not. Weird.

 

There is a green-ness to this that, while not unpleasant, is not something I'm really enjoying. The honey is distinct, but not a deal breaker in this incarnation at this point. I wish I could smell more ginger cream and less vine and gingergrass.

 

Suddenly when I sniffed it almost seemed like there's vetiver in here. It seems smokey all of a sudden. Must be the ginger kicking in. I like this much better than the green impression, but it's still not what I hoped it would be. It's like smelling ginger candy from a foot away. It's gingery and sweet … but faint. The honey is still hanging out, though the green has pretty much gone away. Sort of just seems like a slightly herbal light, fresh honey smell.

 

At this point I don't feel like I can tell how I feel about it.

 

It's weird how the vetiver wafts in and out of this scent.

 

This scent is first to disappear and leaves behind only a trace of honey.

 

Retesting: this wavers back and forth between sour greenness and smokey vetiver. A fascinating scent, but in the end probably not one I would wear because of the occasional sourish green parts.

 

When this dries it is lovely. The smokey part and the hint of sweet are really interesting.

I STILL don't know what to think about this scent.

Sniffing the decant: this seems faint, maybe herbal – like an herb shop that also sells resins and incense, and I really don't know what to make of it in the imp. Doesn't smell anything like what I would expect from the description.

 

Testing: immediately this reminded me of something that I can't remember and made me smile. I think it's the cardamom that is going wild in here. Oh and the cumin! Lots of cumin. This really smells atmospheric. I think it would make a better atmo spray than a perfume perhaps.

 

The cumin is really blasting through here. I wonder why I keep reading it as anise? Maybe it's the cumin cardamom combination. This is a pretty unusual scent. I can't quite decide how I feel about it.

 

Retesting: cumin and something that's still making me think of anise. This is a unique scent and I find it appealing, but I'm just not sure that I would wear it enough.

Finally remembered that this reminds me a lot of the potpourri I bought at an herb shop. It keeps striking me as appealing, but I'm not head over heels in love.

I fell in love with this scent immediately. Definitely a favorite from this update.

 

This is what I wrote down as soon as I sniffed it - My loves are in here: rum, wood and tobacco. There's something amazingly fresh and zingy in here too.... it's like.... Tom Robbins. Like a goofy grin on the Mona Lisa. Like pirates who wear sequins. There's something very sexy and adventurous mixed with something very lighthearted and playful. So far this is The One that screams my name and says LOVE !!!

 

Kagema starts out with a delicious blend of rum and tobacco. After a few minutes a little bit of orange peel starts to make its way forward and mixes with the rum and other musky cohorts to give this a little twist. This holds its own as a unique scent. The teakwood is becoming more prominent and is BEAUTIFUL with the rum, the orange is still hanging around in the back. I don't distinctly notice the cedar, bay or thyme, this scent doesn't feel herbal to me in the least.

 

Kagema fades down to rum and soft warm leather and lingers for quite a while.

 

There are several unexpected loves for me in this update, but I will make it a point to get a couple backups of Kagema.

This scent went from dark, bitter wood to bright lemons in less than five minutes on my skin.
My chemistry does seem to amplify anything remotely related to the lemon family, in this case I'm guessing it must be the matcha tea.
In the end it smells like a mix of very gentle musk and lemon/verbena. Not at all what I expected from sniffing the decant!

On first application from the decant something seems a little sour, and I get a hit of a high pitched floral.

Next I'm getting more distinct impression of black musk, but it's not overwhelming.

I smell the frankincense lurking in the back, but it's not the star here. I'm getting mainly black musk and a sharp floral. There's also something reminding me of opium in the background.

It takes just a little while for this blend to settle down. When the frankincense comes forward just a bit more it helps blend the musk and florals together.

Overall though, this scent remains sour, powdery, and sharp with my skin chemistry.

Frankincense dominates this scent for me. The leather is very soft, not the sharp new leather product kind.

 

The frankincense blends with the rum, leather and vanilla to give this a very inviting feel. I think it's the champaca mixing with the resin-warm backdrop gives me an impression of carnations.

 

This reminds me slightly of Midnight Mass and other blends that feature frankincense, but this is a whole new twist which warrants a try from people who like resins. I know I'll be ordering a bottle. This stuff is gorgeous.