Invidiana

I can detect some lovely citrus and tuberose here--that is, if I get under the yerba mate of doom. The first (and last) time I tried yerba mate tea I promptly spit it out, and while I had hope for the other elements to rise above it here, it pretty much stomps all over them much like lemon verbena with what dries down to a soapy undertone. Sigh.

This is mostly sweet-tart cranberry and red musk on me, with a bit of peach in the background. It starts off very much like SweetTarts before becoming a more realistic fruit scent on the drydown but still wiht a bit of an uplifting, almost effervescent quality from the cranberry. I can detect the slightest tinge of coconut if I concentrate hard enough. Pretty inoffensive, but I don't think this is going to be a bottle for me.

I expected this to be primarily incensey, but it has an unexpectedly delicious bite. The warm , even sensual, woods here recieve a moderately sweet (but cloying) coating of amber and get a comforting bready feel from the grains and hops. There is something of a slight lemony undertone, from what exactly I'm not sure, but I think it will mellow with aging. Overall this is like the smell of fresh-baked bread taken to new heights, like grown-up French toast. Bottle for me, definitely.

On my skin this actually reminds me of a cooler version of Street Festival. The passion flower in this smells very similar, maybe a tinge more floral, than the passionfruit in that, and amps miles over the other notes. I barely get any peach at all though I do sense something vaguely musky. It's not unpleasant, but I was really hoping for more cherry blossom and tuberose.

I am admittedly picky with rose, but the more this keeps drying down, the more I am loving it. The pink rose is gentle and not overy dry or dominant, balanced with the feminine pink peony I recognize from Lady in Speckled Pink Kimono and a springy touch of lilac, all pleasantly sweetened by the white honey and given a certain soft creaminess by the rice flower. Bottle for sure.

The linen note here reminds me of The Coldest Evening of the Year, which I love, so I initially had high hopes for this. However, I feel the white sandalwood ultimately ends up too dry on my skin, like that same bone-dry white sandalwood in Bony Moon, and amps much too much to allow the nicotiana and dragonsblood to shine through. I think I'll stick to Coldest Evening for now.

This wasn't one of the Shungas I was expecting to be bottleworthy, mainly because of the honeysuckle, but it's beautiful. I think it's the type of honeysuckle here, maybe because of its combination with some other element, or maybe because of its own nature, that seems to come off like white honey rather than that detestable flower that reminds me of hornets and wasps. The pear lends a mellow fruitiness, not at all candylike, and may also be responsible for the "honeyed" feel of this. The sandalwood musk doesn't make it warm as sandalwood and musk often tend to do but complements the cool elements and gives them something of an ethereal sensuality. There is also a hint of pleasant floral powderiness that I personally enjoy. Yes, this is definitely turning into a bottle.

This one is very fresh and uplifting, much like being at an outdoor festival in the springtime. It doesn't go off on me, but my skin ends up mostly amping the passionfruit with the grapefruit a close second, with a hint of blackcurrant and a very small tinge of violet. I really wanted more play from the other various elements, especially the plum honey, benzoin, vanilla and tobacco, rather than a mostly passionfruit/grapefruit scent, but I guess my chemistry isn't allowing for that.

I've never smelled an actual kudzu vine before, but after being told by Izile it smelled something like grape candy, that was what I came into this expecting. However, the moment I put this on I get a rush of vetiver (or something that smells much like it) instead. As it dries down the vetiver calms to my relief, but just when I think the coast was clear for honey and ginger cream the rest of the way through, the gingergrass asserts itself much like lemongrass does on my skin, except more gingery. The honey and ginger cream fight for dominance but ultimately can't slay the gingergrass dragon. I think without the gingergrass it could have been a win on me. Sad.

I very nearly got a bottle of this unsniffed, but ultimately backed off because of the cardamom and cumin. Despite all the elements here that appear like they'll equal a win on me, the damned cumin is not cooperating with my chemistry. I can definitely pick it out like the cumin in Mexican food (which is the one and only reason I avoid Mexican places when going out to dinner), and I also think it's corrupting the other elements by making them smell like--believe it--printer ink (!) on me rather than thick glorious resins and honey. I thought I'd squeak by the cumin here like I did with Pallas Athene, but it wasn't meant to be.

I amp cinnamon. To hell. Which is why it's not much of a surprise that despite all the wonderful warm, sensual elements I can detect in the wet stage of this--most notably the patchouli and red musk backed by thick resins--it ultimately dries down to cinnamon gum with a tinge of red musk. Damn my skin chemistry.

Eanach Dhuin. Dead ringer for Irish Spring, on my skin at least. Lincoln Tunnel Vortex wasn't too far off either.

I definitely see the similarity to The Arabian Dance here, especially with the leather and coffee which are the two dominant notes on me. Surprisingly this isn't very carnationy on my skin, and I often tend to amp the unholy carnation of doom but it manages to stay subdued. At first I thought it was that which was adding a bit of sweetness, but then realized it was the tobacco, most kinds of which manage to take on an almost caramelly quality on my skin, but there mustn't be that much of it because it's only a tinge of sweetness under the leather and coffee. This isn't unpleasant but I much prefer The Arabian Dance for its additional sweet elements which tone down the masculinity of the leather and coffee that really amps in this one.

When I first sniffed this I could have sworn there was red musk in it but now I'm surmising that the combination of blood orange and pomegrante imparted a similar feel at first. It started out juicy and citrusy and red-orange, and I almost thought it would be a win until it took a wrong turn. I think I would have loved this without the geranium and gingergrass. I simply could not ignore the sharp edge they gave the other elements on the drydown, which effectively ruined this scent for me. Eh, I'm not much of an afternoon person anyhow.

This is downright beautiful on me and I normally hate honeysuckle. Most all BPAL honeysuckle scents dry down to screaming honeysuckle on me, and taken that I have a scent memory association with honeysuckle and huge wasps that is not a good thing. I think it's a combination of the type of honeysuckle used plus its proportion in comparison to the other notes and the way it blends with them that makes this scent decidedly un-honeysuckle on my skin. It's really more of that beautiful indigo musk also in Nightmare plus the black iris and night-blooming (read: non-cat pee!) jasmine that are swirled together for a dark yet somehow crystalline scent like a clear midnight sky sparkling with stars. This actually isn't much of an orrisy scent on me; the orris does contribute to its softness, and the rosewood is just a background element to anchor and not overwhelming. This and Dusk are the two winning phoenixes for me this year.

Aptly named. This is a wonderfully cool and clear scent with lots of ethereal white musk and heady champaca flower at the fore, supported by something not quite ozonic but still fresh and clean (but not soapy) that makes me think of breathing in the crisp air on a winter morning. There are hints of fir that stay in the background to contribute to the wintry feeling (though this is by no means a pine scent) and the papyrus may be contributing to the clean feeling along with the gray amber. Evocative and beautiful.

Peach is not often my friend, and even mixed in with champagne it still isn't. This starts out fizzy but ends up cloyingly sweet and candylike, reminding me of these peach gummies which I remember trying and thinking they definitely needed a roll in those sour crystals to balance out all the sugar. Skin fail.

This smells very true to the real thing; I really do feel like I'm sticking my nose in a glass of sangria, only with champagne fizz bubbling up. I can smell all the red fruit and sparkling citrus typical of sangria too, with lots of boozy red wine. However, the wine note in this goes slightly sour on me on the drydown, so I'm going to stick with Spiked Punch.

I agree with the others that there is a fizzy quality to this scent, almost like one of the Atomic Luau Lounge blends but softer. It is a rather lively grapefruit-based floral with the floral elements playing nicely. I do wish there was more vanilla, apricot and white patchouli evident as I could just barely smell them--mostly the grapefruit with a bloral backdrop. This does embody the renewal of dawn, but I really think Dusk and Midnight are more my speed personally.

It saddens me that bluebell isn't a note present in many perfumes out there because this one is so enchanting. Forutnately the jasmine tea here is the kind of jasmine that likes my skin and doens't have that much of a presence to begin wtih. It's really the bluebell and other florals along with the redcurrant that comprise the most prominent scents here, drying down to cool airy florals over bittersweet redcurrant. There is a bit of mint and thyme evident in the wet stage but they aren't really bracing or herbal, but just add to the cool "windy" feeling overall. I will definitely be needing a bottle of this for the upcoming months.

The first time I tried this, I could barely smell anything. The second time, I couldn't smell much wet, but then after it dried down I suddenly caught a whiff of something really lovely and airy and springy on the back of my hand and it took a moment to connect "what's that?" with Hanami. It's a simple scent in theory, but really beautiful and uplifting, with wafts of cherry blossom and wisteria that remind me of biking down a certain road during the springtime when the wisteria are in full bloom. It also brings Sakura spray to mind and would probably blend really well with Sakura sprayed on my shirt. I have to find me a bottle.

Inganok Jewelers is tres weird but....I think it's sexy.

What about Pain? A nice sharp bracing herbal might wake him up but definitely not turn him on. Touching on a totally different family of scents, Agnes Nutter. Mmmmm, nothing like the smell of burnt wood and rusted metal to get a guy in the mood.

I love this because it reminds me of one of my favorite candies of all time, butter rum Nips, that I used to eat by the handful back in junior high when calories were a nonentity. The wet stage and drydown are very similar on me, a sweet buttery dark rum that takes on a mildly spiced quality as it dries down. There is definitely some clove in here though it behaves itself, and a sprinkling of nutmeg and allspice. It's actually boozier wet than it is dry, and actually sweeter wet than dry, though I could wager the booziness factor on the drydown will increase with age.

I was tempted to get a bottle of this right away but leery of the honeysuckle. Fortunately I get virtually no honeysuckle out of it but a really deep and enveloping wintry scent in which all the notes combine seamlessly on my skin. It's a little bit sharp at first, probably from the sage and pine, but that quickly fades to reveal a musky and resinous heart with hints of dark greens, slightly smoky tobacco and light florals. The pine resin and oude gradually sweeten a bit over time, though I should add that my skin tends to draw the sweetnes out of virtually anything. I've never tried the Lab's Siberian musk single note on its own but wonder if it has a part to play here, because the musk element really does have a certain fierceness to it without being sharp or off-putting. It makes me think of standing in the middle of an enchanted forest amongst ancient pines with icy stars glimmering between their branches. This is a unique and really magical scent that I definitely need a bottle of.