Casablanca

My first thought on opening this bottle: Embalming Fluid? Yes, this makes me think of Embalming Fluid, with the mild green and lemon, but I only get a hint of lemon in Shamisen. It's instead like a nice, gentle lemongrass. The colors of this are green, yellow and white: bamboo is dominant, and there's a fragrant white floral closer to gardenia than anything else I can think of -- maybe wisps of gardenia, jasmine, white rose? -- and the "silk," which smells so like a body wash from Caress I forget the name of. It reminds me of recreations of orchid scent that include rose and jasmine. I'm not sure I get any wood besides giant green reeds of bamboo. It's a little smoky, but the smoke seems like part of the "silk" thing to me. Anyways, I love it!

Wand: This reminds me of maple syrup. Smoky tobacco is right there as well. On second sniff, the boozy part comes through, but I'm still mostly smelling maple syrup. Wet: Sweet floral tobacco and maple syrup. I'm picturing a sunny Sunday morning table of syrupy waffles, flowers, and a bag of Drum. Dry: Tobacco usually comes out more on me in this base note stage and it does so again here. This comes across to me now as a drier tobacco than in Elegba. But they could be the same, and this could have more to do other ingredients. Whichever the case, I don't like it as much -- it's not a stale tobacco, just a little closer in that direction. It's a tobacco that makes me think of tobacco stains. I loved the kinda-similar Elegba. Santo Domingo is fun and evocative for a while, but dries into the tobacco qualities that usually keep me away from tobacco notes.

I'm not expecting much from this freebie. I haven't liked the lab's red musk so far, and patchouli is kind of risky. I love ylang ylang, but it's strong and needs care. So far I've only liked it when it's supporting something else, whereas this looks like a top- and heart-note solo for it. Wand: Mostly ylang ylang and patchouli. The red musk isn't standing out to me here. Wet: Ylang ylang. At first this isn't much different from the ylang ylang oil I have at home, save for the earthy weight of patchouli behind it. I get a little of the burnt, spicy, cherry smell of the red musk after a few minutes, and myrrh with it. I wonder if there's also a wee dot of frankincense in this. I'm getting some of the dry, gritty texture I usually get from frank. Dry: Red musk takes the stage in all its stinky glory. Patchouli keeps trying to body-slam the crowd. I want to quietly exit out the back. Yeah, a me-repellent. It'll work for someone!

Wand: Honeysuckle, a sharp opium, and just a trace of vetiver. Wet: The honeysuckle is heady and nose-filling. There's an earthy-woody smell to this that's coming at least in part from the vetiver, and maybe also something unlisted. The opium, either alone or in its combination with the vetiver, at first gives this a kind of biting quality I don't care for, and seems to bicker with the honeysuckle, but this all settles in just a minute or so. Dry: The honeysuckle fades; the opium goes more smoky. This is an agreeable blend once it calms down. Not for me, though.

My beachy favorites are Eden and Pele, but... I tested Elegba as a frimp today, and it's unexpectedly fabulous. This is definitely coming with me to the shore next time.

Heya, Lady Luckless. Love your art picks so I'm going to roll with that! I think Rackham and Pui-Mun Law have Titania written all over them. Which seems lately out of stock, sadly. A nocturnal bounty of fae dew-kissed petals and pale fruits: white grape, white peach, iced pear, musk rose, sweet pea, moonflower and snapdragon. As well as Night Scene from the recent Lupers, if you can find it, which also feels to me like an introverted scent: Blue musk, white frankincense, wisteria blossoms, and lemon peel. Now I want to pick some for Mucha, too, but it seems like so many could fit the bill there. The bright colors and bold strokes of Van Gogh make me think of Macchu Piccu: Sweet tropical fruits burst through deep, wet rainforest boughs, enormous steamy blossoms, over thin mountaintop breezes, mingled with the soft, rich golden scent of Peruvian amber. As another redhead, I often go for ambers, honeys, forest scents and autumny things when picking a scent for style/self-expression of personal colors. Cheers.

Heya, Joyleaf. My boyfriend is a double Aries like you. I just want to add: The Apothecary for your gardening: Tea leaf with three mosses, green grass, a medley of herbal notes, and a drop of ginger and fig. Fighter for your knives, and because you like Iago, so leather: Leather, musk, blood, and steel. Cheers.

Wand: OMG patchouli (both colors), purple-red grapes, incense, and musk. Wet: First come the grapes, with loads of patchouli right behind them. I guess this qualifies as a "fruitchouli." At first, though, something goes wrong for me on the back end of this -- something goes deeply sour. Is that the cereus? I think so, because after some minutes, the sourness calms down and the after-smell reminds me a little of the prickly pear in Tenochtitlan. I like it at this point, on its own, but it's too deserty-smelling for me to think "Norse" for Urd, and it's a little weird with the grapes. Dry: Once this settles down, it's OK, but there were bumps in the road getting to this point. For those who like juicy, purple-red grapes and patchouli, this might be just the thing. I agree with Bassmastadroog: this one is a scratch for a pretty specific itch.

Wand: Sweet coconuts and a drop of rum. It's kind of root beer-adjacent. Wet: Holy coconuts! And sugary rum, yes. Tobacco is a backdrop. Add some cannabis and you have Coki Beach in St. Thomas. Dry: Rum and tobacco come forward as this dries. I can't smell this without thinking of the Caribbean cruise with my hunny, which is perfectly good. I don't usually go for tobacco blends, but it's such a positive association. Associative memory... parsing smells... same part of the brain, and that's really showing here! I'll probably bring this imp to the beach. The tobacco and maybe hidden things give enough woody earthiness that I can see how it could work for other times, too.

Wand: Woody sweetness and some flowers. A little rosemary? The honey in this doesn't really smell like honey to me. It smells closer to added sweetener. Wet: This is like a sweetener that's meant to have some honey qualities, but is still a sweetener. I also get roses, rosemary, lemon verbena, and something like grasses or hay. Dry: This turns into a rose-heavy chalky soap on me as it dries. Perhaps not.

Wand: Distant pine and a little smoke. Wet: Strongly camphoraceous pine, acrid smoke, and flowery-sweet fire. Ah... what is that sweetness? A flower and a fig? Dry: Similar. This reminds me of Bonfire room spray from, um, I think Nocturne, maybe? But sweeter and less woody. I like it. More fiery scents seem to work on me than not.

Wand: In order, I get vetiver (lots of it), pine, basil and smoke. Wet: This is a smoky, herbal and densely wooded black bog filled with vetiver oil instead of water. It's as cozy as camping with a comfortable fire in Mirkwood. Dry: Spicy black musk with extra vetiver. I like this. I'll enjoy the imp!

For use only by women. An extremely potent passion blend, used to great effect when you're converting feminine sexual energy into power. Wand: Honeysuckle, ylang ylang, anise, pine and cypress? I get flowers and evergreens, anyway. There's also something kind of astringent and unpleasant. Wet: Goes peppery on my skin at first, but not as sharp as the black pepper in White Rabbit. After a bit, anise comes out in droves. Whoa. I feel bowled over by licorice. I also get a tiny bit of super-sweet vanilla, like an ice cream vanilla. The rest is the same as on the wand. Dry: This is a strong one. Might have to wash. I'm not feelin' it. Pass.

I'm a lil confused about grey amber and ambergris being listed separately. Separate thought: If I can smell the orris, I will probably want to run away from this one. Wand: Heavy golden vanilla, musk, and iris-scented talcum powder. Oh no. Powdery iris is a me-repellent. Wet: A massive poof of iris powder to the face. Yeah, I was afraid of that. This stuff is the opposite of me. Now we are both in danger of being cancelled out. Almost no vanilla now. Dry: It's been an hour and a half since I had time to sniff, and only a soapy, powdery residue remains. The vanilla musk that was so heavy on the wand skipped on my skin completely, or I missed it.

On the wand: ROSE. Tea rose. I fear this treads into old-lady territory. I didn't even know older women who wore rose, and I'm still getting that vibe. There's something in this that smells old and moneyed. Wet: This isn't a fresh, full rose. This is a papery old rose, the smell that goes with the delicate rose-painted tea set, the dark underbelly smell of the tea house. Is that also licorice or violet lurking? Or both? That's contributing. Dry: I don't get wickedness from this, just cloying venerability. I've never been to London, but this seems an overly limited representation. Pass.

This is a bottle I wanted but was afraid to get -- it just sounds like every possible shade of yellow, and I'd rather things were mixed up a little. Gold is my favorite color and I don't want too much of a good thing. I saw a used decant for sale and got that instead. I thought I'd then get a bottle if I liked it. Before the decant had even arrived, I looked up the Phoenixes, and they were gone. Oops. Bottle: Only buttery amber as smelled in the bottle, but with a shrieking lemon note also evident on the wand. Wet: Golden yellow, with a high-pitched whine of a smell from the lemon. The amber is intense, especially with the honey, though the whole is softened by saffron. The notes combine into a golden-yellow streak of smell, almost monosyllabic, except that the golden warmth of most notes fights with the cooler yellow of the lemon. This might be a fine lemon on its own, but I don't like it with the rest of this. Dry: The cool lemon steps back a bit, and incense comes forward. I'm not keen on incense notes but I feel like the whole has more harmony: the incense blends in, it's just not my preference. I still kind of want something to offset all this yellow. A little green, or something. Also, golden musk sometimes doesn't smell quite right on me, and there's a bit of that problem here. It's not cat pee, but it has started down the path that leads to cat pee, and so it brings that to mind. I'm glad I passed on a bottle of this. I mostly like it once the lemon calms down, but not as much as other ambers I have.

Bottle: Smooth honey and, well, Snake Oil. Wet: An easy-to-inhale honey on a background of soft, spicy vanilla patch. There's a welcoming, earthy warmth in this too that I associate with fig. Dry: Not a morpher. Stays the same on me all day, just fading gradually. This is the perfect balance of sexy with comforting! I like it a lot.

Bottle: Honey and ylang ylang. (Before I read the notes, my thought was honey and jasmine...) Wet: Immediately: honey, fig and patchouli. Then I also get ylang ylang, but the clove starts out subtle. An overtly earthy and sexy scent, with a little spice. Dry: The clove comes out more, seeming to heat up the patchouli. It's a nice partner for the honey-fig as well. I also get a little saffron at this point, though none is listed. After a couple hours, this is just spicy powder. I should be excited by this, liking all notes except the patchouli, which I sometimes like and sometimes don't. It should be fine here for some, but I think for me, in this blend, it's just dragging a little too much earth and the '60s and '70s over the ancient Greece. Plus, it turns to powder later. Pass.

Bottle: A reddish-brown musk, deep cranberries, reddish lilies, and dark smoke, in that order. Wet: A cranberry tang on a background of lilies and smoke and spices. I smell the ginger when I look for it. The throw is pretty good while wet -- I keep getting random whiffs of playful cranberries and a little smoke. Dry: The cranberry shows a nice longevity. I get some musk after a while, but the cranberry needs a couple hours to wear down a bit before the musk came through on me. This would make a nice red and tangy floral for the fall. I like this blend's sense of play among its smoky mystery. Like Voodoo Lily, it's nicely expressed with a couple red and burgundy things I wear.

Bottle: Myrrh, tuberose and geranium. Wet: This is mainly a myrrh floral for me, but I get the red patchouli -- it's the same as in Anne Bonny, I think. Though the note smells the same, the overall expression is different when it's treated florally. Dry: I really don't get much more than a myrrh and red patch floral from this. It's pretty, but I'm a little bored. A nice floriental that just doesn't excite me.

Bottle: Black, acrid smoke with the faintest ghost of citrus. Ozonic pink grapefruit and eucalyptus together? And then a full minute or more after I've capped the bottle and put it down, I suddenly smell mint, wet minerals and dead leaves. Bizarro. Wet: The liquid is a curious pinkish-red. First smells for me are pale green mint growing between dry gray rocks. Then black, minty smoke, with the barest impression of pink grapefruit and a spicy floral close to dragon's blood. There's a lot going on here. Dry: A relaxed, slightly gritty, mostly bonfire-like smoke, and a little moss. There's a lot of weirdness that leads up to it, but I assume I'll mainly wear this for the smoke.

Finally, a perfume name my autocorrect gave up on. I like it already! Bottle: Dry, powdery cocoa and a hint of linen. Wet: This first smells like if you wet your finger, stuck it in a tin of cocoa, and licked off the powder. Then I get a mix of cotton linen, a honey as dark as Pennsylvania buckwheat, and a wet maize mash. There's something dark, resinous and ambery that I think might be the copal, but I haven't smelled chapapote or copal before. Dry: A blackened, burnt smell comes out on me when dry, along with a cocoa-honey sweetness. Then the burnt smell settles into a not unpleasant smokiness. I don't smell the maize anymore. This blend is a journey, but I don't think I'll need more than the imp.

This was a recent frimp and I'm glad for it, since it was on my curiosity list. Bottle: Primarily black musk with extra vetiver. A little lemon and honey. Wet: The dark liquid stains my skin like greenish iodine, and might do the same to clothing. Lemon comes up first, a pale yellow twist of a citrus against a dark background. I like the contrast but, disappointingly, the lemon fades in seconds. Then I mostly get vetiver and musk, but find the softening spice of saffron, too. Dry: Through the vetiver musk, the honey comes through as dark as Pennsylvania buckwheat. It's almost like molasses. This is a heavy scent. Since I like black musk, it's a pretty good scent for me for the occasional day when I wear darker colors or just want something a little different. I wish the lemon stayed for a few minutes. I can see how this is a bit like Old Tibet in Boulder!

I've been looking forward to this one. Because Titania! Bottle: A blend of pear, grape and peach, with vague flowers. Wet: Cool pear, grape and peach on a bed of colorful and slightly powdery flowers. This does have something cool-smelling in it that sets the stage for night, while the sheer abundance of fruits and flowers says summer. Nicely done. Dry: Fruits and florals combine more into an indistinct blend and go more powdery. There's enough nostalgia in this one that I don't mind. This is one of those fragrances, like all aquatics, that I can enjoy wearing not because it's me but for where it takes me. It's a trip, not a self-expression. Titania succeeds in taking me back to my open high school courtyard on a late spring night about 30 years ago when I saw the play. I'll probably want more of it when it's back in stock.

Bottle: Salty brine, darkly wet greenery, and decay. Wet: Like many slimy green plants have been crushed and thrown by the waves to rot upon a briny shoreline. Dry: After a couple hours, this is just a faint salty residue on me. For me this blend is dark greenery, salty wetness and decay: for the earth, the ocean, and personal dysfunction. In other words, perfect for Caliban. I may not want to wear this, but I appreciate how skillfully he's been captured here.