mornatasare

Wet, this was all dusty wood on me, with a touch of pepper. I can barely identify the florals, but I think they're what's giving it that crisp, clean feeling that is also a bit dizzying. Damn florals. On the drydown, the dust and pepper bloomed a bit, but soon after this became positively headache-inducing. Sort of a wood-floral-bathroom cleanser combination. Ick. My skin chemistry must be very unhappy with something in here.

I do not like berry smells very much--I'm a deep, musky smell girl myself--but this is just beautiful. Very deep and round, not the light, girly-berry spritz smell that comes to mind when I hear 'berries.' The tea and the musk balance it beautifully. Just gorgeous!

There's a little bit of a sweet/medicinal bite to this at the start, but on drydown it turns into an ambery, musky vanilla with a woody background. Delicious! The vanilla seems to have a decent staying power on me, too.

On me the leather stayed and stayed. There was thick, wet, herbal vetiver at the beginning, which I like somewhat, but the leather pushed through towards the end and really rounded out the smell once it dried. Eventually the vetiver wafted off, but an edge of it stayed with the leather, which lasted a good five hours or so.

YESSSSSSSS. I love cumin, patchouli is my friend, and moss and I get along nicely. Yet Renfield makes them all blend in this mad, mad way that is positively delightful. I was quite tempted by him, but my skin seemed to eat the smell by two hours into my day. Ah fleeting madness.

Take Spanked, remove the cardamom and the boozy swoon, and put in clove. Meet the Count. I love warmth and leather, so the Count suits me just fine. This is spicy, leathery goodness. Not much in the way of throw (this is a clingy skin-smell), but I may be tempted into purchasing this one...

Oh. Oh yes. This is perfect. It's incredibly well-blended in the bottle, a musky, earthy smell with a bit of punch to it (the ginger, I think), but on the skin--oh my. As it dries, the leather, patchouli, and champaca do a little battle for dominance, each one coming about in different waves. Within an hour or so, it's settled into musky, leathery, nag-champa-esque goodness. The oakmoss, ambergris, and vetiver ground it into the most exquisite thing I can imagine. Can I please sweat this smell? I need more bottles. I need oh so many bottles.

Warm, round, and oh-so-amber in the bottle. On the missus, it immediately takes on that lovely second-skin quality and she smells not perfumed, but simply delicious. It goes powdery on her with an upsetting speed, however, so it's not something she's going to be wearing as daywear.

In the imp, I have to admit that I sort of shrugged at this one, but I tried it all the same. It started out soft and spicy, with a foody edge but without being overwhelming--it wasn't much of anything, really--but within an hour or so it had aged into something just like I wanted: warmth, spice, smoke, and that crisp fall smell that's impossible to put your finger on. Perfect, I thought! Sadly, the smell ran and hid immediately thereafter, like most of the oils seem to do on me just when they've hit their most delicious. *sigh* I'll have to see how this adapts to spray-form. ETA: I'm not sure which vintage of Samhain this was--if I knew when I swapped for it, I've forgotten, and the decant itself is not labeled. However, I just got some '05, and it's certainly not that one! '05 is all mulling spices and musky woods, which are nice, in their way, but the spices just aren't quite my thing.

Wet: There’s a hint of citrus or an equally clean scent, shot through with just a smidge of spicy warmth. Dry: The throw is staying close to the skin. I can just smell it with 2 inches of my wrists. The smell has warmed up to a gentle vanilla & musk leather, but it still holds onto that clean feeling. Not much tea, but it may be hiding in that clean smell--my nose is not too particular. Very much the gentleman’s scent. I get the feeling that if I wore this often enough, it would get to be quite second-skin-esque. Definitely buying a bottle!

With this one, juniper and pine kick me in the nose right off. It's almost Pinesol-sharp. It warms up the instant it hits skin, though, and the earthiness definitely comes out. I love it! Sadly, within two hours on me, it became an almost imperceptible herby-skin smell with no throw at all. I think I'll keep the imp, but I doubt I'll be buying a bottle--if I slathered enough to keep the scent going for at least half of the day, I'd smell pungently of herby Pinesol.

The ozone, ambergris, and leather come out to play first on me: sweet, round, and sharp. There's something a little herby edging in, which must be the ivy, but I haven't got the tang of the wine at all, unless it's mixing with the ozone. There's a nice roundness to this one with enough of a kick to keep me interested, but little throw to speak of--for a good nostrilful, I've got to get pretty close to my wrist. Edit after an hour of wear: the throw has improved some--it's wafting enough to be noticable, but not overpowering. The perfect throw, IMO. The smell has stayed round, musky, and sweet. Delicious. Maybe a little manly, but that makes it perfect for me. I feel a 5 mL in the works.

Had I read the description of this before just slapping some of the imp on, I doubt I would have tried it. As much as I love Victorian bits and bobs, I'm an earthy-smell girl. Thank goodness I didn't have the description on hand. I'm in love with this smell! Classy, and most definitely worthy of a gentleman (or gentlebutch, depending~). It's very clean and crisp, which I think is the play of lilac and citrus together. It has an edge of musk and pale florals that keeps it from being sharp. Whenever my 5 mL of this finally arrives, it will definitely have to become an everyday smell.

Luperci arrived today. My first impression: It is a SUPER-strong woody musk smell. Luperci says "I am a MANLY animal!" I'm not sure it's me, even though I'm wearing my tie and newsboy cap today. I think it's the patchouli and musk that are giving it the animal smell. There's definitely the sharp juniper sting, but I've no idea what Sampson Root smells like, so it may be that. I'm not sure about this--I like a strong smell, but maybe not one that punches nearby people in the nose. Edit after 5 hours on: the musk and honey have come out to play with wear. It's sweetened up and become a better smell for me--sort of a musky, warm scent. MANLY MAN FUNK has gone away, thankfully, but with it has gone most of the throw, which is sad since it's so nice now.

Fancy soap and powdery, elegant ladies in ermine stoles and white gloves. No violets on me, really, just soap. And there's something nice and refined about expensive soap, but the smell just isn't forceful enough to make any sort of statement. Numb may end up as a nice playing-nice-girl smell, but for much else, it's too soft, feminine, and powdery for me.