Cali

Cherry!!! and is there coconut in here or is that just the freakin' cherry? Anyway, the coconut-element fades almost directly (but slowly) on my skin, but the sweetness of the cherry is ever there. Maybe a sniff of something that resembles a grain note, but no milk. Too bad I hate the cherry note hm.

This one's so fun how could I not give this a try. A soft opoponax lost in a thick fog. Gravel indeed. Gravel on a dark road in a forest? Sure smells like it. It surprisingly goes from dark and gravely to something like a dark fairytale.. messed up but it's got it's soft, tender moments and aesthetically pleasing but creepy elves. Or... Something like that. The more it dries down the more I like it, though I'll admit I'm actually missing the gravel now that it's fading. It's still there, but the violet seems to amp on me here. I don't think I need a bottle but man this is nice!

Blue lollipops from the imp indeed! So happy, bubbly and nostalgic. Wet, it's all of the mentioned notes. It's a chilly blue lollipop on my skin on drydown, and it's making me hungry and I'm not mad about it but it is a problem.

Ugh! Oh! This is so lush! Wonderfully spicy, foody but without being too tarty! A could-be-weenie. A feast on a golden afternoon on an autumn day. The apple, like in Samhain amps on me but other than that this is a lovely cornucopia.

2010 Version; The tobacco and coconut kinda scared me from the bottle, as I'm not a huge fan of either however on application it directly changes and it's sweet delicious caramel with a whaft of golden(!!!) amber and the spices. Dark, sexy, and this smells like freaking ambient noise; close your eyes and you're in a different place. What place? I can't yet make up my mind. But it's not uncomfortable. This is like an evil version of Edith Cushing! Oooh...

I just had to try this once I read the notes- I love BPAL's plum note, and this reminds me a lot of winter-time. From the imp it screams a sweet mint in your face, slowly fading and making way for the lavender to envelop the plum. Lovely. A liiiiittle soapy. Sweet, soft and definately wintery.

2010 Version; On application it reminds me a loooot of the old version of Mme Moriarty. Lovely red notes, heady and sexy. On drydown, this goes more boozy with a bitter undertone. Root beer comes to mind. It's still similar to Moriarty to me at this point, but now it's less heady and the sugar is sexy!! Maybe I should go for a bottle in the future.

This was a huge risk, as I seriously hate snake oil, but was determined to try all the piratey/nautical blends. I was able to buy a bottle off a lovely forum user and I'm incredibly charmed by the art on it as well, so I took the chance; good thing it all works out for the best!! This is a divinely sexy buccaneer. Or maybe a divinely sexy buccaneer strolling around on the deck of the majestic three-master. On application it's very salty at first, with a blast (no pun intended) of gunpowder, but that calms down a couple of minutes later. Then, the lime is there, soft and fizzy, with that lovely snake oil (these are the actual words my brain is making me type wow) coming through. The wood and ozone-sky in here ties it all together. Great throw; I get wafts of sea, wood, and the vanilla of the snake oil. Crazy long wear too! Dabbed a bit on before noon, and I could still smell it 12 hrs later. Oh this works so well on me!!

I really like the cinnamon in here, there's something sweet (besides that almond-like note) in there that transports me to a christmas market in Germany... Not very explicitly sexual. Romantic, perhaps lol. The cinnamon is very very very strong though, now that it's dry all the other notes have fallen completely into the background.... I still like it.. but love it? I feel like this might just annoy me if I wear it for longer than an hour.

Sweet, fuzzy, gentle playfullness. There's a certain headyness to it, a darkness, but in the background. Pretty sure that's the musk and amber. If only this had a stronger throw cause this is waaay to soft for me.

Caramel-y pear. Dreamy indeed! However cream hasn't worked on me before (always ends up smelling like trash on drydown, damn you skin!!) and while it could be worse here, it reminds me alltogether of laundry detergent. It started out lovely though!!

From the bottle this is nausiatingly sweet; crunchy marshmallow/strawberry sugar. The same sort of sugar similar in Fleurette's purple snails. But this is sweeter, more juicy. I'm not a fan, and I was hoping this would change to something delicious once applied, but on my skin it fades away leaving a trace of only to a wood note and the smallest touch of strawberry. Too bad. :c

I wanted to try this so bad; so many interesting notes! There's that lovely rose note, the same rose as in The waltz and The peacock queen. The dark, syrupy notes quickly fade a bit, and turn more dusty. I can't decide whether it's more like a floral old lady's perfume or a bold, modern women's perfume. It's strangely sexy and, while there's a darkness to it, so softly sweet. Nostalgic perhaps. And it genuinely takes me back to when I was in Crete, in the hotel room, sitting on the balcony as the sky suddenly turned very dark indeed. Really like this and I'll be holding on to this for now!

Finally got my claws on a decant! Been so intrigued by these notes; I wish I could pinpoint exactly what this smells like when wet, but I can't remember what it is. However, this is sharp and very soapy from the start. Citrus-y sharp for sure, which is that hyper pink grapefruit and that saffron. The tobacco makes this almost cologne-y (actually it's very comparable to 4711) but the other sweeter notes keep it from going in the too-much-sharpness or yellow direction, and give it even more hyperness but also a buttery softness. The saffron is very very faint in this but it's still making me feel unwell unfortunately, so if you're sensitive to that you might wanna watch out for this... unless ya just gots to try like me.

Oooh on first application this is lovely!! Didn't really know what to think of it in the imp but I love the mintyness of it. I usually dislike eucalyptus very much but this is very well balanced (and in the background). The white florals are almost similar to the ones in Lady Lucille Sharpe but they're dustier, and go a bit more stuffy on drydown. Melancholic and beautiful. There's something ozone-y in there which, when completely dry, swirls around the rest of the notes like a mist. From A to Z this is almost like a scare to acceptance of actually having seen that ghost! Very happy I got to try this!

I dreaded putting this on, but the review must go on; Don't like vetiver? Don't try this. I'll try and be nice: for it's simplicity, this is dark, mysterious and a tad sexy. It's (syrupry) thick, rich and earthy.

Oh wow, that oppoponax! I find this slightly similar to Crimson peak's Insects (though I must admit I haven't sniffed too much blends with oppoponax), but this is more sharp, more green, and with a bite. I feel like it's slightly boozy, and very woody, like it's an old liquor box. I don't hate it, it's certainly atmospheric but the pepper makes me want to sneeze. :'D

Definately a watered down version of the dead leaves from the imp, with something sweet. On my skin, the dead leaves and sappyness (yes it's got both) fade away nearly completely, and it's faint on me in general. I get a lovely golden fuzzy what I'm guessing is amber? Dusty. And there's probably red berries or SOMETHING red in there. In the end, completely dry there's a soft vine-ish, green note in there, it's back to the sappy but that hasn't taken away from it's powderyness. I like it, but I barely smell it on me.

Oooh!! Oooh!!!! Anyone know any good ones for the Pirates of the Caribbean films characters? I'm so curious what everyone will pair with (well, everyone, but mostly) Norrington. If anyone knows the musical Pippin (revival); what about the Leading player? I think funnel of love might be... close but I don't think it's her everyday-thing. Also, just in case anyone knows the musical soldaat van oranje, any thoughts on these characters?

Woods in winter Has a lovely pine note!! More "cold" than smokey I'd say but maybe right up your alley? I've been looking for something that's a lot like Oilily's discontinued Spanish rose. While I have one bottle left I'm terrified of running out cause it just makes me so happy?

From the imp: Aquatic salty soap. Reminds me of a veeeerrry watered down Thalassa. Dry, it's really subtle and I "get" the blood-note... almost as if there is just a hint of saffron in there? Other than and the salt note it just vanishes on my skin.

From the imp and in it's wet stages it's just all medicinal. Woodsy, wet, slightly herbal but also artificial. Honestly I just get root beer on drydown, it's odd. In the end there's that medicinal ...thing is still there, vaguely in the background, and a touch of lavender (or rather something resembling that). Barely any rose... too bad, I love rose. :c

Light and cold in the decant, a dark patchouli on the skin. Musk is for sure another one of the leading notes. No clue what spikenard or sugandh kokila are supposed to smell like, but there is something warm and sweet in here as well. The woodsy notes are there but subtle and after a couple of minutes, the patchouli and musk go dusty. Earthy. Not for me, but glad I got to give it a try!

In the imp it's absolutely loooovely, strong florals and fruits, lush woods and something cold in there. Unfortunately all that greatness fades away nearly instantly on my skin. ...I did just put it on my skin right there right...?? Woe is me. What wasted potential! If it didn't do as it does I would've definately needed a bottle.

Nononono there's something inherently medicinal in here for me and I'm not a fan. I don't know why but I'm getting a black liquorice from this, and an overly sweet one at that. And that's about it really. Bleh.