reynardine

In decant: Chilly florals Wet: Aquatic scent, very cold, with some underlying floral? There’s a touch of spice here as well. Drydown: That “spice” was evergreen (maybe pine). It’s really taking over in the drydown. Later: This has turned into a forest scent. Very wintery. Reminds me a bit of Yew Trees, just softer. There’s a sweetness to it as well. Have to test it again before the Yules go down—I might want a bottle of this.

In bottle: very floral Wet: full blown rose—not bitter, but soft. Drydown: soft lovely rose. Reminds me of the rosewater and glycerin my grandmother used to wear. Later: This fades VERY quickly. I do like it, but since I already have a 10ml of London, I don’t think I need another rose scent. This is softer than London, but still too similar.

In decant: berries with a touch of dryness underneath Wet: Nuts, honey and berries. REALLY NICE. Drydown: Hay starts coming out. Honey fading, berries very light. Later: After a drydown phase where everything almost disappears, out comes this clean berry scent, very pretty but extremely light. Fades very quickly. You know what this reminds me of? A very light-throw Vinland.

In decant: very bright fruity scent Wet: Still bright, althought the frankincense is coming out and, yes, irritating my nose. Drydown: No, it’s no good. Frankincense is setting off the allergies. I thought I’d try this one despite the one death note because I really liked the other things going on, but this just isn’t going to work for me. Need to wash it off before I get a headache.

In decant: chilly pomegranate Wet: Nice pomegranate scent Drydown: drying into a very sweet pomegranate. Fruity with a touch of bitterness. Later: Light, very nice fruit blend. The bitterness offsets the usual overly sweet fruit scent. Very nice, will probably get bottle of this.

In decant: Whoa, Minty-fresh! Wet: Getting some of the butter and cocoa. Waiting to see if this morphs. Drydown: Butter fades, although there’s still a tinge of rum. Vanilla and peppermint abound. Later: Okay, this reminds me of Tokyo Stomp, except with a slight boozy touch. I love it and must get a bottle!

In decant: very creamy scent Wet: carnation, very strong, with a creaminess behind it. Drydown: More of the cream comes out and the carnation fades a bit into the background. Later: Mainly a soft carnation. Unfortunately, I just don’t like carnation very much, so I don’t think this is the scent for me.

In decant: Getting a LOT of amber there Wet: Well, hi there, Patchouli! Are you going to let anyone else out to play? I know I amp you, but still… Drydown: Crap. Getting the sandalwood. Death note—it makes me headachy. Gotta wash this off.

I’ve had really good luck with the Lab’s Asian blends (that don’t have my allergies—sandalwood or incense in them), so I decided to give this lady a try. In bottle: a sharp, sweet floral Wet: very sweet floral. A touch of honey, but mainly I’m getting hibiscus. Drydown: Osmanthus coming through now! Very floral. In the bottle it was almost too sharp, but on me it seems to calm down. Extremely sweet. Later: Lasted a few hours. Very lovely scent—with the flowers, I’d probably wear it more in the summertime.

First, to tell the honest truth, I don’t much care for Snake Oil. But the CD Snakes have so far been wonderful! In imp: fresh minty scent with a touch of spice Wet: Ooooh, divine! The mint and spices completely compliment one another. Also getting a touch of the bergamot and tea. Drydown: Very light, spicy blend. Really gorgeous. Later: Mint and spices. I am so getting a bottle of this!!!!

In imp: very fresh apple scent Wet: WHOA, LEMON!!! With a bit of apple in the background. Very faint touch of rose. Drydown: Lemon fading and getting a soft apple scent now. Later: Very, VERY light apple scent. Barely there. Okay, but not really what I’m looking for. Off to swaps.

In imp: musk and honey Wet: REALLY musky, with clove and something else I can’t identify. I don’t like it. Drydown: Turns to something medicinal. This is nasty. I have to wash it off. Smells like Vicks Vaporub. Off to the swap pile with you!

Wanted to try this one because both mandarin and fig notes tend to do well on me, but I’m not sure how it’ll work together… In imp: Very citrus! Wet: Certainly getting the mandarin orange-y scent, very bright and fresh. No fig at all. Drydown: Going into a light, pretty citrus, again almost one-note. No fig. Later: Very light citrus. Pretty, but faded off to nothingness within an hour.

Note: this isn’t one that I was attracted to through its notes, but I’ve been sent two samples of it and everyone raves about it, so I thought I ought to at least give it a try. In imp: smells like dark chocolate Wet: whoa, nasty mess of smells. Powdery chocolate, some musk and what I guess is tobacco? I’m surprised my allergies haven’t kicked in (tobacco usually sets them off), but maybe it’s the smoke that gets to me? Drydown: Now it starts morphing? Weird. Almost a sharp, clean scent like alcohol? Wait, that is fresh tobacco. Overpowering everything. Later: It turned extremely sweet on me, almost floral. I’ve no experience with black musk, so I’m not sure if it was that or just me amping tobacco. Interesting experience, but not a scent that I’d wear. Off to swaps with this one.

In imp: spices and resin Wet: Very spicy, sharp smell. Same kind of spices that I smell in Snake Oil. Drydown: The resin smell goes into the background, leaving a thick spicy scent. Later: Now it smells like spicy lilac. Very strong lilac, just like you’re standing right next to the tree. Late spring/summer scent for sure. It’s interesting, but not quite me.

In bottle: buttery pumpkin Wet: fir and tomato with a touch of rosemary Drydown: pumpkin is barely there, mostly under botanicals. Later: Very clean, botanical scent. Fir and rosemary dominate. Autumn scent for sure. Very light, will have to slather this one.

In bottle: roasted apples Wet: roasted apples with a lot of ginger mixed in. Drydown: Getting some sugar and clove into the mix as well now. Roasted apple dominates. Sorta smells like mulling spices that you put in apple cider. Later: Interesting scent. Settled into mulled apple cider on me. Very autumn-like—can’t really see me wearing it any other time of year. Not sure if I’m won on it or not, though. I do like apple, but this one is spiced. I want to hold onto this bottle and see how it ages.

Snake Oil with acai berry, amber, cardamom, neroli, and smoked vanilla. In bottle: gorgeous berry smell Wet: berries and almost an orange smell (neroli?) with the spices of Snake Oil behind it. Drydown: Barely any Snake Oil at all. Berries with a touch of spice. Later: Oh, this is a winner. Moderate throw, bright berry scent with a touch of spice underneath to give it some interest. Will love to see how this ages!

In bottle: pomegranate, a bit of musk and incense. Wet: more pomegranate, orange blossom, musk and incense. Drydown: Coconut with pomegranate, the incense calms down Later: Coconut with pomegranate and orange blossom, very pretty, lasts several hours. I’m so glad I went ahead and got a bottle!

In bottle: Smells like Thin Mints Girl Scout Cookies. Wet: Mint, chocolate and cookie, medium throw. Drydown: Vanilla has, for once, stayed pure. Still quite minty. Chocolate has calmed down a bit, but there’s still a bit of a cookie smell. Later: Minty vanilla, with a touch of cookie. Love this!

In bottle: sharp apple scent Wet: snake oil with apples. The spices are really coming out. Drydown: spicy apple scent, lovely. Later: I like this better than Snake Oil, actually. The sweetness cuts into the spiciness. As the scent settles, more of the orange and apple comes out. Will enjoy seeing how this ages. EDIT: 2014 (5 years later): the fruit is not quite so in-your-face, but still there. The drydown on the aged stuff is incredible. More Snake Oil now, but still has the spicy apple and orange in the back.

In bottle: mess of florals, hard to pick out individual notes. Pretty, though. Wet: Almost an incense note here (although there’s not incense in this blend). VERY floral at first. Drydown: the grape/berry texture starts coming out now, but still with the heavy floral Later: Moderate to Heavy throw, morphed into lovely grape/berry scent with floral undertones. Beautiful once it settles down.

In bottle: fermented honey, smells a lot like real mead Wet: Something sharp here that cuts through the honey smell, that I didn't care for. Drydown: Fortunately, the sharp note (lemon, maybe?) retreated, leaving the honey/nutty smell I was hoping for. Later: Moderate throw, very nice warm scent. Excellent for winter.

In imp: rich, almost buttery cake scent Wet: reminds me a lot of Eat Me, the same sweet foodie scent Drydown: Now I’m seeing the difference. Eat Me was plain sweet, Cake Smash is more like cake mix. Later: Bit of a spicy smell comes out to give a bit of a kick to the sweetness. Seems to last a bit longer than Eat Me, but the two are very, very similar.

Got a decant of this. In imp: a touch of musk, mainly honey and sugar. Wet: Very sweet, with a light musk. Not at all what I was expecting. Drydown: It stays true to scent and very sweet, but light, so light. Later: Barely there. A wonderful sweetness. However, with the lack of throw on this, I doubt I would have gotten a bottle of it. Glad that I got to try it though.