reynardine

In imp: A bit of orchid and musk Wet: Very light musk, touch of orchid. Very, very light scent. Drydown: Went to soap on me. Sorry, this one wasn't meant to be. Off to swap pile.

In the bottle: Odd, fresh scent. Can’t pick out individual notes as they are all blended together Wet: I’m getting peony, bamboo and some fruitiness. Drydown: bamboo and fruits Later: One of the more interesting Asian blends that the lab has come up with. Very fresh and bracing. Moderate throw, multi-seasonal wear. I’d put it on when I’m feeling unusual and want to convey that fact.

In bottle: odd scent. I’m mainly picking up ginger? Wet: musk and ginger, with a touch of vanilla in the background Drydown: Same thing. I seem to be amping those two notes. The other ones aren’t coming out at all. Later: Mainly a sassy ginger scent. Moderate throw on me. A summer scent, I think. It’s odd, but I like it a lot.

In bottle: almost perfume-like blend of wildflowers amidst aquatics. Getting no citrus at all. Wet: FLOWERS!! So many, I can’t pick out individual notes. Drydown: Herbs coming into play now, still very floral. Pretty, but reminds me of a perfume that was popular when I was a kid (1970’s). Can’t remember the name, but it smells just like it—my mom had it. Later: Mainly aquatics with a touch of herbs. Flowers in the background. Seems like it would be a nice summertime scent, especially on very hot days. I like it but not love it. I’m going to test it again later in warmer weather to see how my reactions do then.

In bottle: a thick, creamy scent, almost fig-like (although there’s no fig in this). Wet: Divine!! Picking out the vanilla and some fruits. Drydown: Now the florals and veggies seem to come into the picture. Still beautifully complex. Later: It does fade into the background quickly, but the scent is still there, lovely and subtle. Obviously will have to slather this one. Great scent! I love it!

In imp: light, brisk rose scent Wet: rose in background, amping spices Drydown: the rose is very soft. The spices tend to dominate this one. It gives it a kick, but not one that I particularly am looking for. Later: Now the rose comes out again. This is not an innocent kiss, but one with some passion behind it. Still, it’s not working for me. Too spicy. It was a lovely dance, but it’s off to the swap pile with you, my girl.

Got a decant to try and I AM IN LOVE. Wet: Honey and peaches, with a bit of floral behind Drydown: Stays true, although the magnolia comes out a bit more. Later: This is a heavenly scent. Bottle. No, two bottles! My mom will want one!

Had to try this one out, via decant. In imp: rose and jasmine, with a touch of spice. Not getting the booze at all. Wet: Jasmine dominates, with a touch of rose. Drydown: VERY floral, rose and jasmine duking it out for prominence. No vanilla that I can pick up. The Man commented on the throw, “Strong stuff!” Later: Tea rose, jasmine and a bit of pepper. It calmed down and doesn’t throw as much, but still a very strong floral scent. I love florals, so this worked out for me perfectly. Warm spring/summertime scent.

In bottle: wine, I smell wine. Grape wine. Wet: GRAPES, omg, it smells like Bubble-Yum Grape Flavor. Please tell me that this will change! Drydown: I must amp booze, I swear. Wine. A fruity wine. Later: It morphed. Still grapey, but less with the wine and more complex. Not instant love, but I like it. Have to test it more, I think. In the summer--this is more of a summer scent and it seems off testing it when it's 20 degrees F outside!

Got a tester from a generous forumite, enough for one application. In imp: Almost smells like grapes? Wet: light musk, with some berry hints—reminds me of Berry Moon, which I adore. Drydown: the vanilla is starting to come out, but still predominately blackberry. The musk is very light. An hour later: It remains stable as a blackberry/vanilla scent. Thank goodness the vanilla didn’t go plastic on me! Light-to-moderate throw: this is a slather scent for sure. I am so getting a bottle of this!

This will be a bit of an odd review. I got this bottle back in 2005 and never bothered to review it, so this is an older, wiser Katharina. In bottle: Still the pretty smell of orange blossoms Wet: Now the musk comes out. But it’s nice, not overwhelming. A touch of apricot here. Drydown: Apricot is coming out more. So lovely! Touch of orange blossom. An hour later: Apricot and musk! The orange blossom is just barely there. Medium throw. Beautiful scent. This one's a keeper, that it is.

In imp: lilies, with something behind them Wet: lilies, but now I’m getting a touch of the woods and dried leaves Drydown: lilies in a pile of dried leaves An hour later: Odd smell, almost like wet leaves. The lilies are hard to pick out now, but the woody/leafy scents are still there. Very, very light. Interesting, but not me at all. Off to swaps with you!

In the decant, I was smelling the red currant. It smelled like berries to me. Great, I thought, I love berries. Wet: Booze! WHOA, BOOZE!! Port, I guess? I don't drink much. Drydown: I'm swimming in more booze than a 1920's Hollywood party. It's making me dizzy. (I must amp booze or something?) Washed off. NOT FOR ME. I'll pass thing along to a friend I know who is curious about the scent.

In decant: Coconut and sugarcane. Wet: There was a touch of coconut, and then the blood orange took over and ran with it. Drydown: More fruits! It's fruits galore! And so sweet and pretty! An hour later: Medium throw on this one. Fantastic fruit scent. I'm going to have to track down a bottle.

A kind soul frimped me some of this recently. In imp: Intriguing. Amber and Pomegranate. Interesting mix. Not liking the amber Wet: The amber is pretty strong here. Drydown: More amber 30 minutes later, the pomegranate, which is what I wanted to try this one for, comes out. Absolutely lovely. The amber does hold it in check. It's a sophisticated scent. Proserpine as Queen of Hades, not as the happy maiden in the fields at play. Very lovely. Not me, but lovely.

From the creamy fruity scent in the bottle to the roses 'n' cream w/ a touch of something citrus after two hours, Alice is PURE WIN. Those who like florals and fruits should give this one a try!

In bottle: Very sweet, like marshmellows or caramelized sugar Wet: Sweet. I was afraid the vanilla might hit that death note of plastic, but it never did! Drydown: Caramel. Much later: Still smells like caramel. Which is fine but I was hoping for more like what the bottle smelled like. Off to the swaps pile and to someone who will love you better.

I got an imp of this to try because I love berries, but: In imp: Oooh, this is beautiful! A blast of berries! Wet: Even better! Drydown: OMG, must get bottle!! But then, the tragedy. This stuff faded on me within a half-hour to almost nothing. Gone, just like that. I guess the joke is on me, huh. Very funny, Jester. :-P Off to swap pile with you.

In bottle: Musky, hints of citrus and wisteria Wet: orange and grapefruit Drydown: Now I'm getting a bit of musk again, with the citrus (orange and grapefruit dominating) and wisteria. Perhaps some other florals back there, but wisteria is what I'm picking out. An hour later: Soft and pretty, more fruity than floral. Absolutely beautiful. So glad that someone sold me their bottle!!

Someone frimped me a sample of this, and I've been wanting to try it! In imp: berries and vanilla cake Wet: vanilla and a bit of cake. The vanilla has me worried--the Lab's vanilla has been iffy with me. Sometimes it works and sometimes it goes to plastic, so I was a bit afraid. Drydown: Sweet, sweet, sweet, very sweet scent. Almost too sweet. Just a hint of currants. I'm mostly getting vanilla. Fortunately, the dread plastic note of doom has not appeared. An hour later: And finally the cake appears. There's a bit of a powdery scent, but honestly, that was badly needed to cut into all the sweet. Also finally getting some of the currants. Lasted about three hours. I'm not a foodie, but I do like this scent, and the Man absolutely LOVED it on me, so bottle it is.

I managed to score an aged bottle, and I've been wanting to try this since I missed out on it 2 years ago. In bottle: a complex, woodsy scent Wet: WHOA PINE!! (I must amp that note or something). But there are other things going on back there...wait for it... Drydown: Pine is still strong, but I'm getting other wood scents now, evergreens, a touch of berries. An hour later: This has blended into a beautiful, beautiful subtle and complex forest scent. I may have to place it in third behind my love for Vinland and Pomona on my favorites list. Will give it a few more test runs before reworking my favs list though. And oh, yeah, I am SO keeping this bottle!!!

In Imp: Lovely green herbal with floral undertones Wet: very "green" scent (I would suppose that is the herbs). As many have said, there is a watery feel to this, but this works on me where many of the Lab's aquatics do not. Drydown: herbs with faint florals An hour later: Very faint, but quite pleasant. A perfect springtime scent. Good for a young girl, I would think, or if you have to work in an office since this doesn't have a large throw.

Oh, no, this fragrance has forced me back to the dialect of my youth: In imp: Whoa, Hello thar, Piney woods! How you doin'? Wet: Yessir, this here is PINE. And maybe Juniper, I dun know that fur sure. Drydown: Gittin' a mite bit 'o musk in here, yes. An hour later: Dries down to a mighty fine pine scent, yes it does. It's too manly a scent for me, but I am surely keeping this imp to try on the Man. It has a very nice woodsy smell but does NOT kick off the allergies like so many of the others do (yay no Cedar!). Actually, on a guy this might smell downright sexy. [EDIT] The Husband tried it on last night and WOW. It was very strong on me but didn't even throw that much on him--just at a medium rate. He gives it two very high thumbs up. Will use up imp and is maybe thinking about a bottle.

It started out quite well. Got a hint of musk. Spicy when wet. Dried down to something woodsy--probably with cedar since my nose suddenly stopped up? More of a manly scent, I'd say, but since the allergy thing hit, I'm going to pass this one along.

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions regarding the Burberry/etc. I'm going to send her a bottle of Morocco and see how she likes it. Maybe even get her interested in checking out BPAL for herself!