brilliantcat

Imp: Sandalwood and a hint of something herbal. Wet: Strongly sandalwood with resins and something very soft and sweet. The fallen angels' lost innocence perhaps? Dry: From a distance it's all resiny sandalwood and yum. Up close, and this is nose directly to the test spot, something has gone screechingly sharp and kind of burns my nostrils :x However, I highly doubt I would ever stick my nose THAT close to myself (I literally banged my septum ring on my hand trying to figure out wtf was going on), this is super lovely incensey resiny woody love. I may consider a bottle. ETA: After letting my tester age for a year, I picked this out of my "retest and decide if I like it or not" pile. Sweet and resinous and beautiful at first, though it ends up extremely "perfumey" on me. None of that horrible sharp note I noticed during my initial test though, this is well-blended. Aging smoothed out any discordant notes.

Imp: How lovely! I get a spiciness/bitterness from the lettuce along with light floral and just a smidge of mint. I agree with whomever described this as "beachy". It reminds me of grass-topped dunes just in view of the water. Wet: Even more of an aquatic vibe once on, I still get the same slight bitterness with fresh floral. This isn't a perfumey floral, it's a fresh-cut flowers feel. Dry: Fades VERY quickly and is a soft skin scent while present. I do quite like it, I think I may grab a decant or so.

Imp: I'm able to catch a whiff of the red musk before I start getting bitter herbals and green notes. Wet: More red musk mixed with herbs and greenery. Very interesting and unlike my usual red musk loves. Dry: Red musky herbal with a woodsy touch. It's different and I like it. Maybe need a decant or two.

Imp: What the? I don't even... it smells FOODY. I can't even figure out how but it does. And then a few seconds later I can taste soap on my palate. Very intriguing, this one. Wet: I think the opium tar is giving me the sense of caramel, cause my brain is definitely dinging FOODY. I've always blamed the caramel for being too sickly sweet and causing me to dislike Red Lantern, but I think the opium tar was giving it a bit of a boost because I get a similar vibe, though not nauseatingly so. Then, buried far below, I get the blue musk in combination with some of the other notes to create an almost aquatic vibe. This blend is a hell of a little trickster and I love it! Dry: Sweet, dry tobacco. Morph more, why don't you? Still sweet and a bit foody too.

Imp: Holy cow I can't pick out individual notes because it's blended so well and just smells so GOOD. Wet: It smells amazing. Incredible. Sexy, sweet, heady. I think I can pick out maybe the orchid and honey? It really is just wonderfully blended into cozy sexy love. Dry. BOTTLE NOW

After reading the other reviews (and having read the notes), I am desperately hoping for soporific, narcotic waters! I love a good aquatic and this has some interesting twists to it. Imp: Dark florals, softly aquatic. A still pool deep in a mountain cave surrounded by tufts of dark-growing flowers instead of reeds. Wet: Definitely opium! The cool stone is here too, along with the florals. This is simply beautiful. Dry: Opium and night-blooming flowers. Finally an opium blend that isn't ruined by one of the other notes or I simply can't smell amongst the other notes! I think this warrants a bottle

Imp: Purple, purple, purple! And I love purple Plum, currant, a hint of musk, and grapefruit. Wet: More musky than in the imp, plum, grapefruit, neroli (one of my favorite notes), and just a hint of currant. Musky, juicy, fruity, fresh, and yet sexy. Dry: Much foodier than I'd expected. Very plummy and a lot of currant. The musk is hiding as is the orchid. The neroli and grapefruit have faded to nothingness. It's definitely not bad, but I don't need a bottle.

Imp: I'm definitely getting the juicy, almost sweet feel of red musk which has to be the Siberian musk blending with some of the other notes. My guess would be the tea, at minimum. Wet: No more red musk but I'm getting the tea note so that almost surely had to be giving me that impression in the imp. Citrusy and bright yet somehow also dusty and dry. A floral is sneaking in there somewhere. Not at all what I expected. I'm interested to see how the drydown goes because all the listed notes are generally my friends especially the musk, tea, and lily. Dry: In the end it ends up going back to the red musk with light floral undertones. Pretty, but not me.

Imp: Deliciously resinous, smoky, and spicy. Wet: Same as in imp but more roundly spicy. Dry: Spicy, smoky, nose-tickling, and slightly resinous. I quite like it!

Imp: Icy, clean. Wet: Ice and smoke, you'd think those would be mutually exclusive but I'm definitely getting ice backed by fire. Dry: Cloying soapy mess, making me want to gag. Gonna have to wash this one off

Imp: Clay, dirt. Quite unusual! Wet: Clay and dirt underlaid by a chemical scent that I can see might be where others are getting gasoline. Dry: Clay, dirt, and gas. An extremely unique scent but not one I want to smell like Still, I'm glad I had the opportunity to try it!

Imp: Clean water and floral. Wet: Watery florals with a hint of musk. Dry: Watery florals. It's really quite pretty but not something I need a bottle of.

In the bottle: Candied fruit and Lebkuchen mostly. Immediately after application: I get hints of all the notes once it's on my skin. Rice porridge smells interesting as a fragrance It may actually be TOO foody for me O_O My mom's side is German/Polish so I want to love this, though we made Polish kolachkies every Christmas and not Lebkuchen. I love the apricot ones... but I digress. Warming up: Eugh, it's turned into a muddled mess and I dislike rice pudding in dessert form AND in oil form. Blergh. Washing off. Fading: NA Faded: NA Overall: It warmed into something terrible *shudder* Rating: 0/5.

In the bottle: Yummy resinous frankincense. Immediately after application: Frankincense cut with a bit of pine (likely the galbanum). It makes me think of fresh-cut wood. Warming up: A tiny hint of pee. Not the full-on cat pee I've gotten with a few blends, at least. Fading: Very slightly piney. Faded: Average throw, short wear. Overall: Not impressed. No hint of the fig at any point. Rating: 1/5.

In the bottle: Gingerbread, spices, and vanilla. Immediately after application: Same as in-vial but I catch a hint of something buttery. Warming up: Not much gingerbread. Very foody though with the vanilla and spices. Fading: Spiced vanilla marshmallow poofs. Yum! Faded: Average throw, average wear. Overall: I wasn't sure at first but it warmed up deliciously. Probably a bottle. Rating: 4/5.

In the bottle: Musky, a hint of wood. Immediately after application: Definitely musky. Warming up: Wow this smells really masculine. I smell an aquatic note in here I think. It smells like a commercial men's cologne at this point. No thanks.

In the bottle: Piney with a hint of vanilla. Immediately after application: The waft is all sweet sugary vanilla but up close it's an evergreen forest. Warming up: Soft vanilla pine. It blends better than I expected. Fading: Gorgeous vanilla pine. Faded: Average to generous throw, average wear. Overall: NEED. Rating: 5/5.

In the bottle: Exactly as it sounds, amazingly evocative! Immediately after application: At points I can smell wood overlaid by fog and then I'll catch a hint of fire-charred wood. I love scents like this! I hope it stays complex and interesting. Warming up: Charred wood and "fog". It smells amazing. Overall: Sleeper hit, whoa! LOVE LOVE LOVE. Rating: 5/5.

In the bottle: Very foody baked pudding. Immediately after application: Foody cinnamon pudding. Warming up: Slightly less foody. Still a lot of cinnamon shot through with the holly. Lovely <3 Fading: Goes back to its foody pudding state. Faded: Average throw, average to short wear. Overall: I like it, but I'm not sure if it's bottle-worthy yet. Trying to control myself Rating: 3.5/5.

In the bottle: All I can smell is the chestnuts. Immediately after application: The pine and orange come through and wow this smells good now. Warming up: Pine, orange, holly, chestnuts. Fading: Mostly the chestnuts. Faded: Average throw, average wear. Overall: Another very Christmassy blend to me, because of the pine and holly but the addition of the other elements keeps it from being air freshener-like. Possible bottle. Rating: 3/5.

Imp: I didn't have the note list available when I tried this and my notes say "resins and incense". I think it's the pepper and vetiver that gave it that feel. Wet: Really yummy smoky incense. Again, that was probably the vetiver and black pepper, and possibly the sandalwood. Dry: Sandalwood with a touch of smoky incense. Ahh nose, you didn't let me down since there is indeed sandalwood in this! It's quite a lovely scent, I may seek out a partial.

Ahh jasmine, we meet again. Please behave as the rest of the notes sound divine! Imp: Dark, sweet fruit with a hint of kitty litter (dammit jasmine). Wet: Definitely jasmine. It's strong too, I can't make out any of the other notes. Luckily it's less cat pee jasmine and more oomph floral jasmine at this point so I can deal with it, even if it's not my favorite. Dry: All jasmine, all the time. It's a nice floral jasmine at least. No cat pee as it usually turns on me. It's still a pass though. I wish I'd gotten all the other notes as I was hoping to get those instead of my nemesis.

Imp: Port, powder, a tinge of rose, and honey. Wet: Sexy, syrupy honey and port with an odd chemically smell I imagine to be the lead. Quite suggestive and raw. Dry: Honey musk and port. I wish there'd been leather obvious in this but it smells quite beautiful and sexy as is.

I am both excited and terrified to try this scent. Excited because I love all but one of the notes. Terrified because that one note is jasmine and we have a nasty history. Namely, it generally turns to cat pee. I have seven cats and I am quite familiar with that "cat pee" smell, and jasmine does a dead ringer for it on me. However, I've had some luck with it behaving in certain few blends so I shall remain hopeful. Imp: High-end perfume. Wet: Salty aquatic, definitely floral though the jasmine hasn't misbehaved yet so I'm really only getting general "floral" feel. Light, white florals though, not overpowering. This is a calm inlet where the water foams around your feet but the water is too gently lapping to have waves. Dry: JASMINE JASMINE JASMINE. It's actually not cat pee though, but it's strongly old lady floral with no hint of aquatic or other notes left. Pity.

Imp: Sweetly pear. Wet: As I figured, the rose immediately took over but I can still detect the pear under all those roses. Sitting down to have a bite under a rose bower. At least it's not old lady rose. Dry: And it's gone pure rose. I knew this was likely to happen but I love pear notes so I had to give it a try.