Soupy Twist

I get sweet iced coffee in the bottle and on first application. Then it immediately becomes cardamom... and nothing else. I don't know where the coffee went! I get a tiny bit of tobacco after an hour or so.

Tobacco and a little smoky sweetness in the bottle. Goes on as tobacco with a touch of smoky vanilla. Eventually a little amber softens the edges, but mostly it's just... tobacco. A really nice tobacco, with plenty of longevity, but nothing else. I think my skin just amps tobacco to the point of drowning out all the other notes. Disappointing, because I saw all the love here for this scent and I really wanted to like it more than I did. I'll use the imp again, but it's not FBW.

You remember Salon Selectives, which had that distinctive artificial but pleasant apple-blossom scent? Pretty much that. A light apple in the bottle. Goes on as an apple blossom with touches of vanilla. This becomes that Salon Selectives apple, starts to deepen a little with the amber, and ends as a slightly-too-sweet fruity floral.

This might be the grapefruit I've been searching for! In the bottle I get sweet grapefruit (finally, not the pith and peel!). It goes on as sweet grapefruit as well and then sharpens a bit with ginger. This becomes a greener, lemongrass kind of note (not listed), drying to a grapefruity white tea. Marvelous. I have to agree with almost everyone that it vanishes quickly. But so pretty!

In the bottle I get fresh tobacco and something woody, maybe teak? It goes on as tobacco which has been smoked a little. There's a slight lime note (not listed, but you know those sneaky pirates), which turns into spices and bay rum (also not listed... but you know, pirates!). Ends as a lovely spicy tea. Unfortunately it vanishes on me after an hour.

In the bottle I get cocoa and cinnamon. It goes on as cinnamon, and then quickly turns to brown sugar. After a minute I get the cocoa, and it continues to be a mix of cocoa and sugar for the next several hours, with a little cinnamon on the edges. Marvelous, despite not getting any coffee scent. I bought a bottle unsniffed, and it has fulfilled all my hopes.

Clean, juicy, and hints of tobacco in the bottle. Goes on as a juicy rosin? Then I get maybe a little citrus and some linen, and definitely leather — a nice one. This becomes pipe tobacco. Then there's some "citrus aftershave" notes (probably from snogging Watson ) and it goes back to the rosin. Dries to a wonderful clean pipe tobacco. I love this. It has a lot of throw, which tobacco tends to do on me, and the longevity is amazing. Absolutely must get a bottle. I did try layering it with Watson, but the "lime aftershave" from that scent crowded out all the tobacco. Sorry, John.

Linen and lime in the bottle. Goes on as lime with machine oil, which dries to metal — not a bad scent, definitely a "well-cared-for gun." It continues to a cloth/tweed note, and then it's back to the lime aftershave. It's not a real lime, but a "lime-scented" product. There's a bit of something smoky in the back of the throat, and it finishes as that lime aftershave. Not terrible, but not something I'd wear again.

I coveted this for six months, and I can hardly express how disappointed I am. Apparently dragon's blood does not work on my skin at all, which is really a bummer because I have been a dragon fan in general for 20-odd years. Sweet in the bottle. Goes on as incense and soon becomes a bad stiff-leather smell — like when all you can smell is the tanning chemicals. Then I get the smoke, but it's more of a burnt cigar, which eventually becomes a cigar of incense.

Another frimp — not something I'd have chosen, but I may wind up getting a bottle! Really nice. Cucumber in the bottle. Goes on as sweet fresh cucumber, sweetening into a floral, and drying down to a juicy grass. Very reminiscent of Aracana Soap's Avalon minus the apples. I like this a lot.

This was a frimp, and thank you SO much for this because it totally made up for the disappointing dragon's blood imps I actually bought. Lemon in the bottle. Opens as lemon Pledge which becomes something much less artificial and sweet, and dries to a nice tea. Doesn't last long and not very complex, but a nice scent. (When I saw the name I was like, "really? a formaldehyde perfume?" and then I read the description and tried it and thought "WOW, that is probably the least apt name possible for something so pretty." )

This was a frimp — I definitely don't care for oakmoss, and this just underscored that opinion. Smells fresh in the bottle. The description is "a negatively-charged scent," and somehow it's exactly that. There's a weird mint and moss note, which changes to something sort of like ozone. I get a hint of something almost antiseptic which puts me in mind of a dentist's office, in a bad way, and then there's oakmoss. Scrubber.

Quite possibly the strangest perfume I've ever smelled. Almost defies description. Sweet in the bottle. The opening is a sweet kind of resin, maybe? There are hints of cloves, almost like a sweet antiseptic. If cinnamon was a fruit, this would be the juice of that fruit. Then it becomes kind of candy-like, but not "cinnamon red-hots." Finishes as too sweet. Not wrathful at all. Online research says the "dragon's blood" ingredient is a form of amber incense, which is kind of the last base note. Apparently dragon's blood doesn't work with me at all, because I coveted this and Dragon's Hide quite literally for six months before I finally placed the order, and wow, I was so disappointed with both of them.

Juniper and pine in the bottle. Goes on as a cypress pine with some eucalyptus notes. Not a complex scent, but a nice one; it's like walking through a very crowded Christmas tree farm. Finishes as more of a juniper. Doesn't have the roundness or sweetness of some other pine fragrances, but it's not harsh or too bitter. Doesn't have lots of longevity or throw, but I liked it enough to reapply it at midday. Will probably pick up a bottle.