Teaotter

In the bottle: Fake vanilla extract. Not in a bad way, just very clearly the vanillin of pancakes or store-bought vanilla frosting instead of vanilla beans. Very yummy. Wet: I get a strong breath of sandalwood over the vanilla, and a hint of something like almond, maybe? Dry: There is something in this that makes my skin hot, though I've never reacted to a BPAL oil before. There is something hot and dry, like sand possibly (I don't know the sand note in Tombstone), although my brain is saying cotton fresh out of the dryer. Not dryer sheets, but the material itself. Still loads of creamy vanilla and the sandalwood, too. It reminds me very much of a vanilla ice-cream cone. There is something vaguely bakery-spicy like a waffle cone or graham cracker, and then the creamy vanilla. Honestly, it smells like I wished Detestable Putrescence smelled on me (but that one goes to plastic). The throw is mild and it fades quickly, but I have some hope that it will deepen as it ages.

In the bottle: This is much lighter than I expected from the notes. The horseradish is the standout, but underneath it is a deep herbal sweetness. I hardly get any vetiver from this at all, strangely enough. Wet: There is a burst of horseradish, then it disappears. If I stick my nose right to my skin, I can smell the warm burning smell I associate with the vetiver-myrrh combination, but it's soooooo faint. I can only hope this blooms again once dry. Dry: It is definitely present, on dry-down, but again it is much lighter than I would have expected. I'm having a hard time picking out individual notes. There is a slight skunkiness from the new vetiver (something that usually ages out after a month or so), along with the lit-candle smell of the vetiver-myrrh. But there's also this intense sweetness hovering around the edges, something I can't place, with maybe the barest hint of clove. Later: It becomes an almost herbal-spice blend as the vetiver passes and the patchouli comes out. There is still a lot of green, but the spices are definitely there. The throw is fairly light, and it doesn't last long on me -- though that may change as it ages. I was worried about the metal mentioned in the description, but although I get something vaguely metallic, I don't get the usual slick metal note. It's more organic than that, the way sometimes body-smells are almost metallic. This doesn't smell at all like what I was expecting, but I still love it. I don't get hatred or terror from this, though it does make me think of force and strength. I am so looking forward to smelling this as it ages.

In the bottle: olive blossom and beeswax. Wet: Same as above. The beeswax smell is incredibly strong in the first rush, then backs off as the fig and the frankincense come out. Dry: I love olive blossom, so it is one of the notes I'm glad sticks around for this. It gives a sharpness to the top that I adore. Underneath it is the swirly, creamy sweetness from the fig -- and probably the benzoin, though I don't pick that out specifically. There is a resinous layer under that which smells exactly like beeswax and frankincense. This has moderate throw on me and lasts for about five hours. It's one of my favorites!

When I first tried this, it was smooth creamy nuttiness, drowned by bug spray. So I set it aside for a month. In the imp: Creamy nuts and bitter bergamot. Wet: The nuts come out in full force -- mostly the pecans, but I catch a hint of the hazelnuts, too -- followed almost immediately by a bright blast from the thyme. Dry: This is utterly lovely! The nuts and tonka make a smooth, sweet creaminess underneath the citrus/green of the bergamot and thyme. I wasn't able to pick out the lavender or clove at all.

Wet: Smoky, dried grass. Then smoky wood. Drydown: This keeps shifting on me. Smoky wood, then smoky herbs, with some kind of creaminess or sweetness underneath. I honestly can't pick out individual notes here. It gets sweeter the longer I wear it. The throw is actually quite good, though it doesn't last a long time on my skin. I think I like this one a lot.

In the imp: Butter. There is some sweetness underneath it, but butter usually turns to nasty plastic on me, so I'm not expecting good things. Wet: The butter fades a bit, and then the sugar and tea come out. Sugar is usually an excellent note for me, so this might be good. Drydown: The tea actually comes out as the strongest note, oddly enough. Tea with cream, and buttered bread, but the butter behaves itself. It smells warm and delicious. Later: I get occasional whiffs of plastic, but it never goes there entirely. It stays close to my skin, though.

Imp: Butter. Which is a bad sign for me -- almost everything I get that butter-blast from turns quickly to plastic. Damn it, I had high hopes for this one... Wet: It goes on with a butter-cake blast, then it morphs into the sweet, tangy scent of sparkling honey mead. That alternates with the cake smell for a bit, with a hint of oatiness, or maybe rye bread, underneath. Dry: Nope, the butter wins. Plastic, plastic, plastic. The honey mead was nice while it lasted.

In the imp: Dusty chocolate. Wet: Wood and choclate, like a wooden box filled with cocoa powder. Very, very dry. Drier than that, even. Dry: Dry sandalwood and cocoa, with a hint of myrrh underneath. No surprises, at any rate. Later: Quite good throw. This lasted for about five hours before, then faded into myrrh just at the skin.

Wet: The first scent reminded me overwhelmingly of home-made honey mead. I love mead, so that's a good sign. Drydown: The florals start to come out a bit, taking the edge off the booziness and giving it a hint of a candy-like smell. Something tart and fruity and sweet. Dry: Honey mead + soap. It is doing exactly that soapy thing that rose notes do, only instead of amping rose-soap I'm amping honey-mead soap. It's odd, because I've never gotten that soap scent on anything that doesn't also amp rose before, but this is definitely soap. Too bad, because otherwise the honey-mead scent is perfect.

Boo 2009 - Sadly, this smelled exactly like heavy cream on me. No sugar, which I had hoped for. No cotton. Just cream, which isn't a bad smell but not one I wanted.

In the bottle: Spiced cherries. wet: The cherries fall back under a wave of warm, dry spices. I know why people think there's cassia in this, but I am pretty sure this is all cardamom with hints of the patchouli. Dry: The spices pull back a little, just enough for there to be hints of cherry and blackberry liquor under them, but the cardamom and patchouli really carry this. The throw is moderate, and it lasts for hours before settling down to be a faintly-spiced patchouli on my skin. ETA: Third wearing: I am pretty sure the lemon verbena is the sharpness that makes the cardamom smell like cassia.

In the imp: Dusty leather Wet: Dusty leather-bound books, with something sweet hanging in the background. Dry: A powdery incense comes out around the books. It settles quickly for me, then fades into a faintly powdery musk. I like the first part, but it doesn't linger long enough for me to really love it.

In the imp, all I can smell is the vetiver -- thick and evergreen and slightly medicinal. The first few seconds after putting this on, it smelled to me like greenery on fire -- only the vague hint of smoke, but mostly just that hot air smell that comes off of candles. Shortly after it dries, thought, I get this beautiful throw of myrrh and sweetness. The vetiver drops into a background note, a deep green which melds with the dark fruit of the black currant. The myrrh keeps this warm and toasty, not cold at all. This still smells fiery to me, something too hot to touch. I love love love it! The throw is moderate -- which makes it pretty much perfect for me -- and it lasts forever. Definitely a winner!

This is probably not the most useful review ever, because this is one of those scents that really makes me realize how few notes I can actually recognize. Because I put it on and said, "I know this note. What is this note? I know I've smelled it before...." I'm still not sure what the main note is, but it was all I smelled when it was wet. The galbanum? It was sweet and floral (the way honeys can be floral, not actually flowery) and only faintly resinous. I swear that was one note, not several, but I can't be sure. Dry, the teak came out a bit more, as did the narcissus. I can just get a hint of myrrh behind the whatever-it-is that is the main part of the scent for me. It settled down pretty quickly into a skin scent for me with very little throw, and disappeared shortly thereafter. I'm sad about that, too, because I think I like this a lot. Maybe with aging it'll stay longer.

In the imp: Mostly clove, with a hint of fruitiness in the background. Wet: I get a first blast of dust, which settles down very quickly into clove. Dry: This is still mostly clove, but the fruit is there in the background, keeping it sweet and not too overwhelming. The dust note is lighter. I think the dust note is what makes this scent smell almost fuzzy to me, like velvet. I don't know how else to describe it. This isn't a fresh clove scent, it smells more like opening a long-closed box filled with dried cloves and dried fruit. This one has a medium throw on me for the first two hours, then settles down into mostly a skin-scent with occasional wafts from my wrists. It does last a long time that way.

In the bottle: mostly honey, with a hint of sharpness that I usually associate with strong florals, only without the floral note. That's intriguing. Wet: Incense. I know there's no frankincense listed, but I'd swear that's the only thing I smell right off the bat. With huge throw. Okay, that's weird, but nice. Dry: Ah, finally. Spiced honey amber. I get some hay in the background -- warm, fluffy, dry hay without any wetness. I get no green-grass at all. It took longer than I expected to get here, but it is a lovely scent. At this stage, it doesn't have a lot of throw, but I do get wafts of it as I type. Lovely, lovely, lovely. This was a gift from my wonderful Switch Witch, and I am so glad to say that I love it!

In the bottle: sweet frankincense and amber Wet: Sweet clove and dried chamomile. The clove drops out quickly while the chamomile amps up. Dry: The frankincense and amber come back out, blended together perfectly. The chamomile is the only other note I can pick out separately. It's a warm and dry smell. We have an herb drawer in our kitchen where we keep the incense and medicinal tea herbs all together. This reminds me of that drawer, the resins and chamomile and other spices all blended together. I love it immensely!

This is one of the first blends I tried, and I liked it well enough. But I hadn't tried it for a few months, and I don't know if my nose just got that much better or if it ages well, but I LOVE it now! In the imp: Black tea with lemon Wet: Black tea with lemon and a warm laundry smell - not dryer sheets, just that smell of hot fabric. Maybe that's the linen note? Dry: The warm cloth smell backs off a little, letting the black tea and the lemon back out. There is the vaguest hint of something creamy in the background. It's a very clean, home-y smell, and I adore it!

In the bottle: Butter, with a hint of clove. Wet: The butter disappears immediately into a soft, yeasty baked-goods smell. Then the cardamom comes out in a powdery, spicy cloud. Dry: This fades a lot on me as it dries. At a few feet, I've been told it smells like coconut and not much else. I am still getting some mild throw of baked goods and spicy nuts, but it's intermittent. Close to the skin, I get more pepper and the occasional hint of musk (probably from the nuts).

This is the 2005 version, which I received due to my wonderful Switch Witch. (Thank you!!!) In the imp: Light brown sugar and faint spices. Wet: A light floral over the sugar sweetness. Dry: There is a hint of vanilla sugar, along with light brown sugar -- I am definitely not getting the dark brown sugar or molasses of some blends. The florals are light enough that I utterly adore them, and there is definitely a fruitiness and spiciness underneath, but the notes blend too well for me to pick them out. I LOVE this scent! LOVE!

I'm not sure which year I have, though from the descriptions, I suspect it's the 2007 version. In the bottle: doughnuts and wine Wet: This doesn't have the butter and sweetness of the cake notes I'm used to. Instead, it smells more like yeast doughnuts to me, with a layer of sweet grape-y wine. I get no incense at all at this point. Dry: The doughnut smell backs off to a mildly sweet, fruity-olive-oil-tinged warmth, with the incense grounding the whole thing. The notes balance incredibly well on me, just warm smooth sweetness with a just enough herbiness for interest. The throw is mild but there, and it lasts for several hours.

In the imp: sparkling? pomegranate. Wet: Pomegranate up close, with carnation coming in after a moment. Dry: The carnation and amber take center stage, followed by a smoky vetiver tang and the pomegranate sharpness. The opium gives it a sweetness which is entirely separate from the fruitiness and doesn't quite merge with the florals -- I'm not sure if I'll love this with a few months of aging or if it just doesn't quite come together for me. Later: At first, I didn't think this had much throw, but after a few minutes I noticed a soft carnation-amber loveliness wafting from my skin. This scent never gets very heavy on me, but it does end up filling the room. It just isn't overpowering. The throw is definitely better mixed on me than the close-to-skin scent.

In the imp: butter! Enough so that I wondered if my decant of Gollettes had leaked on the label. Wet: Strong vanilla cake, with the hot peppers showing up quickly but not overwhelmingly. Dry: This is still a very strong cake scent for me, but cake scents usually go very simple on me quickly, and there is definitely more here than cake. The incense notes are stable, though the peppers and a boozy note float in and out. I think the chocolate is acting as a grounding note for the incense here, rather than actually smelling of chocolate. Very, very nice!

I heard about this one as a smoky scent, and I had to get a decant. I'm so glad I did! It has the note I love so much in Havana! Wet: Wet lava rocks. Sulfurous, mineral-rich, smoky rock smell. Dry: Still very smoky, but the sulfur backs off a little and a hint of dry sweetness comes out. On me, this has good throw and lasts for hours, just like Havana. I've been trying to figure out if the note I like so much in Havana is the palm or the snakeroot, and I think this may just prove that it's palm (from what other reviewers have said above). Now to go out and try all the blends with palm in them....

Wet: Honey and dark fruit -- plums, maybe? Dry: The brandy takes over. It is very boozy, with honey and something more floral than fruity. In the end, this isn't really for me, but I'm glad I tired it.