fairestrocza

Cedarwood, orange blossom, Florentine iris, and golden vanilla. Beneath the Kotatsu is absolutely beautiful. The cedar is very subtle, and grounds the scent without playing a prominent role. The vanilla is warm, with no hint of plastic. The orange blossom and iris are sweet and subtle. This began as a subtle floral with medium throw, and settled down to a slightly closer scent dominated by vanilla. Truly a beautiful blend.

Red musk, orris root, and bergamot with blackcurrant, pink pepper, and red leather accord. Sweet and spicy. Dan Les Coulisses is dominated by red musk (the drier variety from scents like Witch Dance rather than the juicy red musk from Smut), with a prominent spicy note in the background. I'm guessing the spicy note is a combination of the pink pepper and red leather accord. I can rarely pull off leather notes, but this one is behaving. I can't pick out the orris, bergamot, or currant. Medium throw. Fits the image well.

Not quite the sweet pear I was hoping for. I can smell it when wet, but by dry-down this is all chocolate all the time. On the plus side, white chocolate is my favorite chocolate note, and this will be great for layering. Powerful throw.

STAGED MOON LANDING O, moon landing hoax. Incontrovertible proof: Fake rocks, fake footage. Determined to win the space race at any cost, the US government staged moon landings in an empty hangar at Area 51 in the Nevada desert and presented the spurious footage to the world as fact. Prop moon rocks: muguet, orris, white sandalwood, galbanum, cistus, and dusty vanilla. The label has a picture of a space suit with the lunar landscape in the background. The faceplate of the space suit reflects a camera crew. In the Bottle: Sweet! This reminds me of Silver Phoenix. Wet on Skin: Wow. Very different than it smells in the bottle. Still reminiscent of Silver Phoenix, but not as sweet. There is an edge to this while it is wet - probably the galbanum and/or cistus, but it isn't too harsh, just enough to give this a hint of "metal framework under the fake moon rock set." While Drying: An almost green note peeks out briefly (could this be the Lily of the Valley?). The vanilla and sandalwood lend a sweet and dusty aspect to the scent. I wonder if some of those rocks are made out of freeze-dried Astronaut ice cream? After a Little While: I am surrounded by a cloud of lovely sweetness (I thought this was mallow when I smelled it in SP, but maybe it is the orris). If I sniff up close, I can detect a slightly bitter note in my elbows (luckily, I don't generally walk around with my arm held against my face - it looks silly and makes me run into things). Close to my wrists, the sweetness is tempered by something that I can only describe as chilled air (like one might find in a walk-in freezer or an air conditioned museum). Later: Wear length seems to be about 4-5 hours. The scent is mostly gone from my wrists, but still lingering a bit in the elbows. Final dry down is similar to Silver Phoenix. Final Thoughts: Overall, this strikes me as a less poofy, more grown-up version of Silver Phoenix. I am so glad I decided to get a bottle of Staged Moon Landing. It may well end up in my top 10. The throw is just what I like - enough that I catch whiffs of scent while I am doing other things, but it seems to stay inside my personal space. Staged Moon Landing earns a 4.5/5 on my skin. (ETA notes about throw and wear length)

The throw: Not root beer, but Sarsaparilla. Sweet and effervescent, with a hint of Tombstone and Smut. Up close, there is a touch of coffee, some of the incense, and a more flat, slightly bitter smell. The 5-year-old says I smell like "you and honey." The husband says I smell like a fox (he didn't know the name of the scent). He tried to eat my arms. It is fairly complex, and I think I like it, but I'll want to wear it again a time or two before making any final decisions. I'll definitely be enjoying the decant.

BLOOD MOON 2010 In October, the crop harvest has past, and all hands turn to the Hunt: the third and final harvest before winter. Blood Moon shines over huntsmen as they ride over reaped grain in pursuit of their prey. In Christian mythology, Blood Moon may have a darker significance: "And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind." -- Revelation 6:12-13 The feral scent of throbbing musks and the heat of the chase through a shadowed, moonlit wood, swirled in the incense of the anointed cherub that covereth, and touched by blood-dimmed lunar oils. Blood Moon is more than the sum of its parts. If I were to say "cassia, rose, maybe sandalwood, and perhaps the faintest touch of lily, not too musky, and just the slightest hint of sweetness," it would fail to convey the warm, red cosiness that exists on an unlikely continuum between ethereal and ominous. This is not the feral scent of the hunt, but a dream of the hunt, floating, slightly detached, over the moonlit scene, while individual moments come into sharp focus, and then fade into the impression of mood that stays with you when you wake. Blood Moon has a decent throw, but is not overpowering. The husband said he could see someone wearing it in an office environment. The rose note smells surprisingly realistic, with no soap residue. Both cassia and rose can be overpowering, but here they balance each other perfectly. I am not sure that the subtle non-rose floral I detect close to the skin is actually lily (lily usually does not like my skin), but it is extremely subtle, and fades into the overall scent without making the scent feel floral. One friend said this reminds him of a perfume called "Chloe" that an old girlfriend used to wear. Another friend was surprised to smell the scent of real roses. I would say that Blood Moon is feminine, but not girly, and bold but not aggressive. I am pleased that I ordered a bottle, and I half hope that the two friends who are splitting it with me won't want their shares.

This starts out as a sweet/spicy floral. Just when I thought Cordelia might go into the keeper box, it turned soapy. I now smell like I washed with the purple seashell soap at grandma's house. It is a nice, fancy soap scent, but not what I am looking for from a personal fragrance.

On me this was almost pure sandalwood. Sandalwood is a scent that I like, but I find it to be a bit too dry here. I didn't smell anything that made me think leather (a note that is generally not my friend). I did, however, have a major allergic reaction to something in this blend. The sneezing, watery eyes, and nasal doom mean this one goes in the swap box.

This one is mainly plum, with a touch of fresh ginger. The plum is a little too (sickly) sweet for me, and I've never done well with the lab's fresh ginger note (though I love the spicy/foody version). I'll have to pass on this one.

Fresh and outdoorsy. I get mostly evergreen, with just a bare hint of the other notes. I'll use my imp, but probably don't need a bottle.

This one seems to be just on the edge of greatness, but something goes just a little cloying and soapy. The lily is probably the biggest problem here for me. The cassia is lovely, and not overpowering. The myrrh is behaving. Pomegranate and tamarind are always just a little off for me. I'll probably need to wear this a few more times before I know if it will behave or not on a regular basis.

Starts out as a surprisingly nice, but shampoo-ish, smell. It starts to take on a vegetative scent up close, with some nice rose in the throw. The skin scent takes on a bitter quality, and the rose starts to turn. This one had some potential in the beginning, then dried down into the hot mess that was always doomed to be based on the notes of doom.

Wet: sweet lemon candy. Dry: lemongrass and sandalwood. Beautiful, but a bit bland and uninspiring. I'll keep my decant, but won't need a bottle. (eta: ... except that there is a subtle complexity here that is pretty enthralling. I might actually need a bottle. I'll see how quickly the decant disappears).

An odd combination of fruity-sweet and peppery. At first, there was a wet-burned-vegetation scent, and I thought I was going to hate this, but after that note faded, and I wore this a bit, it started to grow on me. The different aspects of the scent seem to be at war with each other. In the end, I think this may be a bit too masculine for me.

Jasmine and lilies are not my friends, so it is no surprise that this was terrible on me. When an aquatic aspect emerged, it was the final kiss of death. This is the anti-me scent.

I will be wearing Vixen tonight for our first Holiday party. It is one of my favorites, and seems to fit the holiday mood. Maybe my toddler will sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in homage to my bpal

This starts out very foody. The rice note reminds me of one of the Shungas from a few years back (Ronin? Harmise?). It starts to develop a borderline plastic vibe a la snow-white-gone-wrong. As it dries, the cream turns into the evil sour milk of Candles Moon 2010 (granted, that one did mellow out, but it took over a year to get there). I never notice anything that I identify as cherry. Part of me is tempted to hang on to my decant to see what happens with that cream note in time, but I just don't think this one likes my skin chemistry.

Wet, Little Flora is warm, slightly spiced creamy note with a breath of incredibly realistic peonies in the background. I was prepared to add this to my (very) limited collection of florals I can wear, but then it dried. Dry, this is very stem-y in a way that reminds me of Rose Red - for some people, this should be fantastic news (and I would say that anyone who has Rose Red in their top 10ish bottle list probably ought to track down a tester of Little Flora). Unfortunately, on me that stem-y note hints at the smell of stale chewing gum. Skin chemistry fail, big time.

(2012 Version) In the decant it smells bitter with a hint of evergreen. Yules of this ilk are often risky for me, and this one is an instant turn-off on the skin. Something is making me think 'bathroom deodorizer' - maybe a lily behaving badly in there? It dries down to a soapy floral with a hint of something spicy. Not for me.

The first time I tried this, it started out with a blast of candied cranberry, with another sharp red scent. The second time I tried it, the cranberry was missing, and I got a blast of vetiver initially. There is a woody note that peeks out for a moment, and some ozone. Not a huge fan, though I can see how this would capture the season for some people.

Gelt starts out with a strong, powdery cocoa note. The chocolate starts to deepen and get less powdery as it dries. ... and then a weird funk develops. I can't quite place the funky scent, but the images it brings to mind are a musty cellar or damp socks. Ah well. At least I finally got to try Gelt. I think I'll be sticking with El Dia de los Reyes for my hot cocoa needs. (eta: someone upthread mentioned an herbal note, and I can see where they could go with that interpretation of my funky background note).

The tree farm starts off with a blast of evergreen. I generally like piney notes, but here there is a softer note in the background that probably improves the scent for other people, but detracts for me personally. The evergreen scent completely disappears within minutes, to be replaced with a powdery/talc note behind a developing amber (I think the powdery note is something other than the amber... maybe related to the cocoa). The hot cocoa is undetectable up close, but when I wore this last night, I kept catching faint whiffs of cocoa, and it took me a while to figure out that it was probably bpal and not coming from somewhere in my house. The powdery note also disappears rapidly, leaving a delicate amber scent. I expected a much more aggressive scent out of Hell's Acres. I think I'll have to wear this a few more times before I decide if I need more. The drydown is lovely, but maybe too similar to other items in my amber collection.

I'm about to slather on some Hemlock for our Christmas Light Hanging Extravaganza! Nothing says Christmas for me like Hemlock.

Halfling

Green vines, with the watery pumpkin note from Pumpkin Princess, and just a hint of the sweet-decay scent of some of the leaf blends. Dirt/soil never appears for me. On non-pulse points, there is a fairly nice balance to the notes, but on pulse points, my skin amps the aquatic aspect to the exclusion of everything else. My bff asked me to please never wear this again. I agree.