angelamaria

In bottle: sweet and syrupy candy, almost fruity at first whiff. It's butterscotch with a little fruitiness in it. Wet on skin: mostly the same as the bottle smell, but smoother and not as in-your-face; the fruitiness I'm getting is a kind of berry, but somewhat vague and fleeting to be really sure. Dry: hmm, something is a bit off here, not quite right. It started off really well--sweet yummy butterscotch with a bit of a berry fruitiness to it, which I like a lot. But as it stays longer on my skin it seems to be becoming a bit more bitter. And then much later, well, I suppose I should have expected it--something rather plasticky has come out. The vague fruit note is overpowered by it. Verdict: this was very promising, but again with that plastic note. It's difficult to pin down what it is, when I can still smell most of the notes when the plastic has come out, so I can't tell which note has turned into it! Sigh.

In bottle: foody, almost boozy vanilla. Sweet, syrupy vanilla cake with thick creamy icing. Yummy! Wet on skin: huh. Right off, there's a sharp note that's not very pleasing, almost plasticky, vaguely lemony, slightly bitter and rather astringent to my nose. It fades as the oil dries, however. While that's happening, I can get the sweet vanilla, and a bit of the aforementioned almond. It's not as foody as it was in the bottle, but definitely smack dab in the middle of the foody spectrum. Dry: oh no. Powder. Powder and vanilla almond cake, with a hint of the plasticky-ness, but thankfully none of the astringent. It's still quite yummy, but the powder and the glimpses of plastic quite spoil this scent for me. Verdict: I wonder if I'll ever find a straight-up foody scent that I can wear.

In decant: rose with honey. Well, creamy rose with honey. *cough* Wet on skin: mmm, honeyed cream. Yummy! The rose is rather faint. Or...or is it already turning into powder?! I can only get it if I sniff hard and think about it. There IS a slightly rosy quality to the honey/cream; it's not full-on syrupy sweet honey, not foody at all. A nice rather delicate honey/cream. Dry: ....OH WOW. It's dry, and THERE IS NO POWDER. Okay, so there is, but it's faint, and it's not eating anything in its path. This is a very well-behaved rose! And yes, I can actually get the rose now--it's not strong, definitely not a lush red rose--but it is a rose indeed, a pretty and elegant white rose with honeyed cream. This is so spot on. I kept going back to it, and much later on (about two hours? more?) the powder is definitely "more" than previous, but seriously, as it is, this is amazing. Verdict: OH HELL YEAH, I'M KEEPING THIS. I took a long time before finally testing this, because I was thinking, well it has rose, why should I even bother? But I'm so glad I did. At least I have ONE rose scent now! (Okay, so it's not your typical rose scent. But never mind.)

(an aged bottle) In bottle: first off, I slowly made circles in the air with the bottle in my hand to have the oils mix together, as I've read in places that sometimes the oils can separate. When I opened the bottle, I saw dark flakes in the neck where I presume the oil got into as I did my circling--which I have also read in some cases. I just thought it was interesting to note that Anyway, to continue-- in the bottle, I mostly get cocoa. Not chocolate--but cocoa. Not foody to my nose. I'm also getting the snake oil. So it really is basically cocoa in snake oil. Wet on skin: hmm, this is actually lighter on my skin than in the bottle--by that, I mean, not as heavy and not that incense-y. I can small the snake oil, but it's in the background; it feels like single-note cocoa right now. It's slightly foodier, and somewhat sweeter, but I still wouldn't call this a foody scent. It's also...slightly powdery. This does not bode well. Dry: noooooo. Powder, and lots of it. My Snake Oil review talks about oily powder, and while this is not "oily powder", it's all powder still. At least it doesn't make me want to hurl. If I get to ignore the powder, I'm getting the cocoa, the teak, and maaaaaybe a bit of the rice milk. But...yeah. Powder. Sob. Verdict: I think that kind of settles it--because of Snake Oil turning into powder for me (I really wish I knew exactly what that was), I'm willing to be ALL blends with an element of Snake Oil will turn into this ghastly powder. Oh well, can't really do anything about it, I guess.

In imp: definitely citrusy: this is airy and bright, perfect for hot summer-y days. Slightly cologne-y, lightly floral, as well as lightly vanilla-ey. Promising scent. Wet on skin: sweet and citrusy, although a bit more on the fruity side than just plain citrus. There is a somewhat vague round, sweet note, which I assume to be the vanilla--just a drop, as the description says; not enough to make the blend actually creamy. Really nice, clean, and bright. Dry: "round" neroli/lemon, vague florals, and light musk. The vanilla continue to grow in strength, albeit slowly, but never in leaps--this is primarily a bright, fruity, non-creamy scent. Throw is rather faint, but very pretty--I'm certain a couple applications will likely be the norm over the course of a day. Verdict: this is a bottle scent for me. I've worn it a few times already since first testing and I love it, but I really need to bring some with me out--it's gone in about two hours.

In imp: creamy dusty floral. Apparently stephanotis is a kind of jasmine; but it blends very well with the orchid that I'm never too sure what I'm smelling. Wet on skin: wow, this is...very promising! Creamy, slightly dark-sweet florals. The vanilla is definitely out and recognizable as itself now: a sweet, gentle vanilla. I'm liking this a lot! It's so nice! Very promising! ...OH NOOOOOoooo... Dry: amazing. This is an amazing scent. The slightly dusty, powdery note is back--I seem to be getting a little of that in blends with jasmine--but it's very pretty and it seems just right. Creamy floral vanilla, a more feminine Dorian without the lemony undertone. It's quiet, elegant in a "shy" sort of way, for lack of a better term. It's lovely. Verdict: unexpected, I'm almost a little sad I love it! Now, how to procure a bottle...sigh.

In decant: well, straight up floral: jasmine and violets in seemingly equal parts. Deep and heavy floral, sad and sorrowful--but well, the latter two impressions are probably my own takes on these two scents: they smell like a funeral. *ducks and hides* Wet on skin: well. Jasmine and violets! I can't really get anything else from this scent, it seems. Maybe it will change when dry; it's becoming slightly lighter, not as heavy, I think. Dry: sigh. Still jasmine and violets. Definitely not a morpher, at all, haha. Oh well! Verdict: Yeah, not too much of a fan of this combination--I may like both notes, but together they are too heavy and sorrowful for me, and a bit on the perfumey side.

In bottle: woo, sweet and sugary fruits! This is definitely sweet, but not cloying, or foody, or boozy. Very prettily fruity apples and oranges and guavas--the apples and guavas are very well blended, sometimes I think it's a guava and sometimes I think it's an apple. Wet on skin: basically the same as the bottle smell, but a bit muskier, with a few touches of candy-sweetness. Sometimes it also feels like a slightly powdery, dusty version of the bottle smell--but it smells great. Sweet, fruity, and now a bit more on the foody side than before--probable the pepper is making it feel a bit like gum. Dry: spicy-sweet apples. Musky, and it's both dark and light at the same time--well, what do you expect, it's a weeping clown. It's probably nearer to a summer scent than anything, but it's not too high on that spectrum, I can easily see wearing this whatever season. Verdict: absolutely lovely scent, I'm glad that this worked for me! (After all, I bought a bottle...lol.) It's possible the fresh version may be different, but as it is, this is a beautiful blend.

In imp: not exactly sure what I'm smelling here--skin musk? A bright note is in there somewhere, but something is making my stomach churn...myrrh maybe, as this is the first time I'm encountering this note with this. Wet on skin: creamy, with light musk, and powdery amber--and not much else. I think I can get faint jasmine. Very faint. Dry: soapy. Uhh. It's both gotten spicy and soapy, and the musk is still around. This is very weird to my nose...I don't know exactly what it is, but my stomach is still complaining about it. Maybe it's some combination of notes, I don't know--it disappeared during the wet on skin phase but it's back. Later on it's a weird soapy slightly-sweet musk. Verdict: maybe I need a fresh imp or something, this was very weird for me and totally not what I expected!

In imp: this is a sweet and uplifting floral! Definitely white. Pretty, elegant. Very apt for unicorns Wet on skin: oh wow. Sweet and ethereal white floral. Almost aquatic, but it's a bit more of a light luminous blue than a deep watery blue, if that makes sense. It's slightly powdery/dusty, but it seems to be just right for the scent, and hopefully it won't be overpowering and behave well on my skin? Very pretty, very elegant, I'm both excited and dreading the drydown AND what happens after that if it's good! Dry: OMG. LOVE. Pretty, elegant, ethereal and ladylike. Very fitting (although I'm thinking more of The Last Unicorn unicorn than any other kind). White, with a touch of light blue aquatic, sometimes slightly creamy. A very pretty floral. I seem to keep saying that, huh? Well, it is! A bit later on there is a very slight plasticky tinge--I don't know where it comes from--but I will need to test a greater amount to be really sure...I hope it doesn't grow worse. That tinge right now is bearable, and I can only get at it if I breathe in deep, so yeah. And maybe, just maybe, it's also because I am testing a plasticky scent an inch from testing this? Verdict: I love this. Fabulous, fabulous scent. Much, much, much love to marquis for this imp, I'd never have discovered this if it wasn't for her ♥

In bottle: somewhat masculine-foody, quite creamy. I think I detect balsam, and it seems what others are getting as well. It's slightly sweet, slightly tart. Quite sexy, too! Not overly foody. Wet on skin: this is clean, still leaning towards masculine. It's kind of makes me think of a non-sweet honey, actually! The vanilla note is clearer to me now. On my skin, it's not as sexy as in the bottle, but it's still quite pleasing. Dry: mostly the same as the wet on skin experience--slightly foody masculine scent. There is a bit more balsam over time, and less creamy, but I can still say it's creamy easily. It's a clean scent, but slowly turning plasticky for me. Later on, I can get the vanilla relatively clearly but one of the notes has gone plasticky--I can't really be sure which, it could be the balsam but it could easily be a different note that is overshadowing the balsam. Verdict: damn, I wish I knew what note was turning plasticky! I've come across a few plasticky blends, but aside from strawberry (which I don't detect here), I don't know what else gives me this plasticky note. Maybe some citruses, I'm not sure. Anyway, sadly not for me, but the initial creamy state is fabulous.

Thank you, Penance! Those are absolutely lovely. *loves*

In bottle: ouch. At first whiff, this smelled to me like some kind of chemical cleaner! Not a very promising start. I doggedly kept waving it under my nose, and when only catching smaller whiffs of it, I'm getting the leather. It's just so difficult to get anything else with that strong, almost harsh other-note in there somewhere. Wet on skin: soapy leather! There is also a slightly minty feel. Softer, more manageable wet on skin than in the bottle. The soapiness and mintiness for me probably account for why it was so harsh to me in the bottle. It's slightly herbal, there's a kind of vague greenness to it. Dry: soft and clean leather--altogether soapy and herby, with a touch of that bright mint. It softens a lot on the skin, it seems, and actually becomes rather beautiful. It's definitely a masculine scent to me, but not sexy--well, a lot of the masculine scents smell sexy to me if not right away, then eventually; but this one doesn't change into something sexy, but definitely masculine. It feels green/brown. Slightly musky and smoky, as well, over time. Verdict: well, not for me. I haven't tried out the released Paladin yet, so I can't compare that with this one--but this doesn't feel like a paladin to me--although that may be more of my preconceived notions of what a paladin should be (read: a knight in plate armor!). However, that said, it does feel like a good sort of manly person, a strong ray of sunlight through dark forest and leaves.

In imp: vanilla and amber, a vague sweetness but also slightly nutty-smelling to my nose. Not too foody, relatively pleasant. Wet on skin: slightly foodier, vanilla is out, and the sweet pea is more prominent as well. A clean scent. Not as nutty now, and I can get hints of the sandalwood. It's very nice, a light scent, not too strong or cloying but its presence is there. Dry: weird. This has gone both refreshing and powdery to me. The powder isn't odd, because of the ambers, but it's a little...disconcerting that it also feels rather refreshing, almost minty. The sweet pea is most out, rounded out by the vanilla and grounded by the sandalwood. It's a white and bright scent, but almost dainty, almost lazy. Later on it becomes even softer, and the powderiness isn't so bad, and it's promising at this stage, but after an hour and a half or two, there is something rather plasticky in the drydown. Verdict: I had three tests of this one! But eventually I gave up on it. That plasticky note (obviously something to do with my skin!) is sad, for such a nice pretty scent, but there you go.

The closest I have is Khrysee, not exactly a GC though -- its a bit sharper than Cabaret, lacks the amber depth as well... Thanks! I put it down to try it at some point. I hope the amber won't be too powdery!

Are there any GC scents close to Cabaret.Goth? I have only my decant, and I don't know if I'm relieved or sad that the amber turned it all into powder for me! I'm already planning to get Zarita, the Doll Girl (with sugared cream and neroli) in my next order to give it a shot, but are there any truly GC scents that are similar, but without amber (and rose, rose hates me)? Also looking for an equivalent for Steam.Goth. Not for my wearing, but I find that it is so cleanly sexy I want to have something like it Lastly--I will need to test them side by side, but VILF and Liz are similar to me, with VILF being harsher, and Liz just being softer, more feminine. Granted, my VILF was a new bottle (from Bat's Day--I don't know if these are old stocks the lab had or if they made more) so it might need time to blend together better so it's less raucous. (Now I just need to find an aged Liz...sigh.)

In imp: spicy, slightly floral, but not overwhelming. The florals here are nice and tart, leaning towards being cologne-y, but not tipping over. Wet on skin: well then, the amber has gone noticeably powdery. There is a bright note amping somewhere--a kind of spicy floral scent, but the ylang ylang seems more prominent to my nose. Granted, I'm not exactly sure what poppy smells like yet. Slightly resiny. Dry: sigh. The amber has gone overwhelmingly powdery. Otherwise, it is a nice, slightly musky floral, not heady but "there". It's an elegant sort of floral, chin up and all that. I kept sniffing my wrist here, and I feel quite betrayed by the amber here. Verdict: this would have been a keeper if the amber didn't trample over all of the other notes after going to powder (leaning towards baby powder, not smoke, although neither here not there). Oh well!

In imp: this is a definite floral scent. Hello, rose, and hello, gardenia. And yes, you too, jasmine. It's a sweet-spicy floral. No leather. Wet on skin: wow, totally heady. I expected that from what I got on the imp, but yeah, definitely in-your-face floral, strong and powerful and assertive (well, it's the Highwayman, what do you expect?!). The jasmine is a bit more prominent, slightly edged out over the rose and gardenia I was getting in the imp. Not so much leather either, and the spicy cinnamon is also a lot more subdued. Not a fan of this floral combo, it's...so...disorienting. But oh wait. No rosy powder yet. Ooooh. Dry: gardenia and jasmine, and amazingly, no powder. Or it's there somewhere, because the rose has gone, but the rest of the notes are holding their own instead of hiding, terror-stricken, behind the powder that rose has put up. Interesting! The cinnamon is all gone, and I can't get any leather either, so this is pretty much just plain heady floral. Verdict: I'm pleasantly surprised that the other notes didn't get utterly destroyed with the rose in there. But aside from it being way too heady and way too floral for me, honestly, I would have liked to actually see the Highwayman, y'know? I'm not sure where the poem came from, as it certainly isn't in Alfred Noyes' poem, but it's beautiful and seems to fit.

In decant: foody! Sweet pumpkin (well duh), almost slightly nutty, and there's a honeyed vanilla sort of feel--well, caramel and cream, I suppose. I'm really liking this. Wet on skin: creamy sweet pumpkin. I've never actually eaten a pumpkin cake before, but I'd imagine this is what it smells like. It feels like the white chocolate is coming out as well on my skin, that I can point it out. I wonder where the pomegranate has gone? Dry: huh, the pumpkin has disappeared somewhere. This is weird, maybe my skin eats it up? Or amps everything else? I'm just getting cream and chocolate now, a creamy sort of sweetness, but that pumpkin note is gone. At some point--newly dry?--it's gone crazy heady--a bit too heady--but later on it's softened quite a bit, a soft creamy sweetness that's kind of vague--no really strong notes in here, other than the caramel edging out on top. Verdict: very yummy, but that pumpkin disappeared way too quickly, and the final scent on my skin is a bit too vague sweet-caramel-cream-and-maybe-some-other-things for my tastes.

In imp: spices is definitely right. I can't pinpoint any one scent from the imp (which seems suitably aged, as it's relatively viscuous), but it's incensey and nutty to my nose. I'm a little apprehensive. I can't get at the vanilla. Wet on skin: wow, it's...yellow on my skin. Like as if I used a marker and dabbed at my wrist. Anyway, it's nutty, spicy, and very incensey. I can get a little of the vanilla now, but everything else is drowning it out. It's slightly powdery as well--is there rose here somewhere? It's not being entirely nice to me--my stomach has started to churn a little. Dry: I only had four words in my scent notebook: "powder. oily powder. arrr." Well, I washed it off as soon as it dried, my stomach was complaining and I couldn't handle it. Verdict: well, I didn't have a lot of hope, as I don't like incensey scents, but something went wrong here with my skin, I think, for the powder to have appeared with that intensity. I'm a little sad, as it's a popular scent, but well, those are the breaks! I'm not too surprised it didn't work for me.

In decant: at first whiff, it actually smelled rather boozy, but delicious and interesting to my nose. I can pick out citrusy and herbally notes, but the runaway winner is the peach--sweet but not cloying. It's certainly a fruity scent. Wet on skin: it's a pleasing peach and citrus scent on my skin, soft and rounded with a bit of that musk. There's a slight powdery quality in this that's actually kind of nice. This is turning out really well, there's a vanilla-like quality to it but staying away from foodiness. It's a definite yellow scent, bright and brilliant. Dry: dried down to peach musk, light and sweet. It's very light, that I had to try a larger amount to really get a sense of the scent--when it became a lot sweeter and headier. It's a beautiful peachy citrus musk, or maybe citrusy peach musk...I'm not too sure Verdict: very pretty! I don't think it's me, though--I love the scent but I don't see myself wearing peach so much.

In bottle: heady, slightly boozy, and candy-like, sticky sweetness. Somewhat foody, but not overtly so. I'm getting a definite cherry-red vibe from it, which is probably the red currants! Wet on skin: it's mostly the same scent wet on my skin as in the bottle, but the cherry/currents are stronger now--and interestingly, the headiness is disappearing for me. It's not quite so heavy as I expected (and dreaded). It's still the same sweet candy scent, edging into definite foody territory. Dry: yummy! It's a red candy smell, comfortably sweet without being heady and cloying. It's rounded out quite nicely, cleanly sweet, sometimes getting a bit of a musk vibe. It's a rather playful scent, perfect for cheerful, bright days. Verdict: I never really thought I'd like this as much as I've ended up liking it, as I don't like eating cherries! It's a wonderful fruity/foody scent that's worth a bottle for me.

In imp: this is a sweet mix of fruit and floral, almost candy-like. I went "oooh" as I sniffed this! Plumeria and pear is well-blended. Wet on skin: the pear seems to rise up more than the plumeria now, and the candy-like sweetness is still there. Slightly bubbly, almost bubblegummy--I have "I LIKE" in caps here, and a note than I should have tested this before I sent off my first lab order. Dry: fun, candy-like, bubbly, and not as bubblegummy as wet. The plumeria seems to rise up now--it's not as pear-y as before. I think the plumeria goes a little soapy for me, as much later on it does turn rather soapy, "cleaner" than "bubbly". Verdict: it started out so well, but sadly I think I will be letting this one go. I might use it a couple more times and see where it leads, but it's not going to be a bottle for me, unless something changes later on.

In decant: nutty and sweet, also rather candy-like--and then I went, "peanut butter!" I like peanut butter (to eat). So, I like this (but I can't eat it, obviously). It's not TOO peanut buttery, but I was suddenly reminded of it as I was sniffing. Wet on skin: it's not as nutty on my skin, it actually feels rather musky for me. I'm getting a bit of amber, as well as traces of that Trident smell, but not too much--more like an afterthought. I wish I knew what exactly was doing that! It's getting ticklish to my nose, and getting dustier... Dry: well then! It's turned into dusty vanilla. It's a yummy and foody vanilla, but not like when I sniffed the imp. Definitely not peanut buttery, but that's okay, I'm not too sure I want to wear nutty perfume, I've never liked them on my skin. Verdict: definitely nice, but it's more of a "meh" thing for me, so I'll let this pass. I might give it another dab (I did give this a second test) but I'm not wild about it. (I think I'm the only one who's getting a nutty note out of this? o_O I have no idea what's up with that...)

In decant: sweet and musky. It's almost citrusy, but not quite. It's a very oriental kind of floral, sweet and tart. Interesting. Wet on skin: this is a very complex blend! I like it. Musky. Sweet and floral, sometimes fruity, sometimes almost citrusy. I can get faint whiffs of the myrrh at the end, but it's not strong and doesn't overpower the pretty florals. Dry: the musk is amping up. I've never smelled blue musk, so I'm a little unsure about what note it is, but it's an interesting blue-ish note. I don't exactly know what I feel about this blend--it's a very different, unique scent. Some whiffs make me think of wood varnish, however--and this kind of keeps amping up, so that after a good while the scent is just plain incense and resins to my nose. A bit sad at that, I liked the florals here. Verdict: definitely a blend that needs to be aged, and I will have to do that and come back to this. The florals were very interesting when I was able to catch them, and while I'm not instantly in love with those florals, I'm very curious how they will behave aged, and if the varnishy note mellows down.