paraphrased

In the bottle, this smells watery, sweet, and just a bit sharp. Nice, not spectacular, I was hoping it would become more complex on my skin. Instead, the second it hit my arm, it was like shoving your nose in a flower. There's nothing wet about it left, if there was a storm around, you're inside with a dehumidifier on. It's like being in a brightly lit, almost-too-clean room with a giant yellow flower shoved so close it's leaving pollen on your nose. There's a huge difference between scents that smell like being near flowers, and ones that smell like your skin has become the flower. The latter fascinates me in a way, but doesn't change that I hate florals with a passion.

As a vegetarian, I never expected a 'leather' blend to feel so... me. And although I don't avoid leather notes, I would never have picked this myself. In fact, I so ignored the Marchen category I didn't try it for 3 years. But I am in the debt of whoever tossed this in their envelope to me. In the air around me, it's a pale leather, lilac, and herbs. It's a light scent, but spreads well. It's somewhat dry, masculine but gentle. You can't smell the plum unless you stick your nose right up to my arm. At that distance, though, it smells like plum, lilac, and freshly-washed skin, even when I have no right to smell freshly-washed.

Kumiho is my go-to for 'refreshing' summer scents, while warm musks just feel fitting, but I'll take anything that isn't too spicy. I've learned my lesson, Plunder is nauseating on a hot day, to me. I don't do florals, but since I love me some swamp, I bought an imp of Bayou thinking I could use it in an oil warmer. (I never did set up that oil warmer...) I imagine myself just melting into nature if I wore that for a walk in the summer.

Warm, sweet, and dark musk and amber. I could smell sandalwood when I applied it, but it disappeared and only returned hours later. I think the frankincense joined in then too, but I'm not familiar enough with the note to say for sure. The bergamot and neroli did not make an appearance. This is a musky incense, no citrus in sight.

Tea with green herbs and a bit of fresh grass. As I wore it, it morphed from a tea:herb ratio of 3:1 all the way down to 1:1. It was a slow and gentle change over the unfortunately short 4 hours that it hung around. It was a little sweeter than I'd hoped, but not overwhelming, and I didn't get a drop of fig. Thankfully; I'm not a fan. I could've done with more ginger, though.

I got this as a frimp years ago, and never tried it; My first forays with patchouli were unimpressive and vetiver, suffocating. But I accidentally ordered Rumpelstilzchen before noticing the vetiver listed and was taken aback in the best way. So THAT'S why it's used! With that, I was willing to try Bloodlust. It's almost disappointing now, but I can't smell the vetiver on my skin at all. It's more similar to Snake Oil, which on me is all incense, none the vanilla. I'm not sure exactly what they have in common -- red musk, patchouli, dragon's blood maybe -- but whatever they share is what I get. But it's got a dash of brightness, and none of the thickness that made Snake Oil uncomfortable to wear. At first there was a good dose of cinnamon too, but that faded quickly. That didn't stop me from getting a burning sensation where I applied from the cinnamon, lasting a few minutes longer than the scent of it. It's been replaced by another spice, though one I can't name. I'm glad I gave it a shot. This is something I'll wear again.