fizzbangdangcharade

In the bottle: Chocolate! Although it hints closer to chocolate mint plants vs straight candy. Wet: Still chocolate, but now there’s an undercurrent of what reminds me of marzipan made with pistachios instead of almonds. It also reminds me less of super sweet candy and more unsweetened baking chocolate. Warming: Dark chocolate pistachio marzipan, taken to munch on while trekking through the woods. It’s not really what I usually associate with woodsy; it’s less pine and greenery and more...bark dust and leaves. It’s very subtle, the chocolate still steals the show, flavored with the sweet pistachio marzipan. Drydown: Chocolate in the woods – I’m getting a little more of the green scents now. It’s very much warm bark and underbrush mixed with chocolate shavings. Last: This fades pretty decently by the end of the day. If I sniff my wrists I get a faint whiff of bakers chocolate left in the woods to grow old. (Not that that is bad! But it definitely reminds me of when you leave baking chocolate to sit too long, and it goes stale on you.) Throw: low throw – it stays pretty close to my skin. Although as soon as I raise my body temp through even the mildest of activities, the throw goes up (which is not true for all of the scents I’ve tried.) I like this, it’s interesting. Not an everyday scent, and probably not one I’ll purchase again when I run out. But it’s whimsical, and I’m glad I tried it.

In the bottle: Very floral, a bit astringent. Wet: Very floral still, but no longer as strong. It actually reminds me of the old laundry detergent/softener my mother would use. Drydown: It calms down as it dries. It's much softer; muted would be a good word for it. I immediately think of winter flowers, covered in a light dusting of snow at midnight. Silence is a good name for this one. It invokes the feeling of being utterly alone at night, beneath a full moon and a clear sky. Standing in a meadow and staring at the sky surrounded by the sweet scent of the flowers around you. Dry: It mellows further, and now I'm reminded of the way freshly laundered sheets smell; hung up on the clothes line in the yard to dry by the sun and the breeze. Cotton, the old scented fabric detergent and softener my mom used when I was a kid, sunlight and fresh air. I'm always iffy on florals, as they can be overpowering/make my throat itch. This one though, used in moderation (it's pretty strong, has a nice throw) is actually soft enough that I can use it and smell like clean laundry instead of a flower garden. Great scent for the winter. Not because it smells like winter, but because it smells like spring. Something you end up pining for in the deep of winter, when it's freezing and dark, and it seems there's no end in sight.

In the bottle: Something similar to pinesol, but also chocolate? Initially not a fan, but I gave it a go Wet: Sweet mint, and a touch of evergreen. Real evergreen, not the gross candles. I was surprised how quickly this changed into something I liked. Drydown: The sweet mint recedes, and the chamomile comes through. The further it dries, the less I smell of the evergreens, the more I smell the tea. There's also a touch of lavender that comes through, very subtle, that helps tone down the sweetness of the chamomile. Fully dry: The chamomile is front and center, a wonderful sweet lemon and tea scent. There's a hint of the lavender and an herby touch of green; like making tea and popping in a small bundle of herbs to add flavor. I honestly didn't think I would like this one, based on the notes. I've always had a dislike for lavender and patchouli, the former because of candles and the latter because it's constantly used in shops and by people in the city I'm in. But all the other notes in this are really nice; it really makes me think there's a hot cup of tea somewhere nearby that I made (and forgot) while doing laundry. (It also smells very very similar to those calming cat collars- which are predominately chamomile and lavender.)

This one is tasty. 100% baked goods on me. Wet: Freshly baked pumpkin bread, moist and spiced just right. Dry: The baking is done, the cookies are cooling on the counter. Much softer, warm pumpkin baked goods, with a nice blending of fall spices. Love this as a fall scent. Sadly, it doesn't last too long or have too far of a throw, but it does leave the faintest hint of a really nice bakery on me at the end of the day. Pairs well with my Apricot deodorant (combined it pulls out the apricot cobbler side of this scent more, which is really nice. So apricot cobbler with fall spices.) It makes me want to go to one of the really nice old world bakeries in the area and get myself a little treat.

Spicy and sweet, a milky vanilla peppered with a blend of spice. Like homemade chai steeped in honeyed cream. I’m instantly transported to a shaded, intimate space who’s only light comes from the blazing sun streaming in through the doors; the air thick with cloying incense and the spices from the market outside. Occasionally, when the wind shifts just right, it blows the soft scent of flowers across your face. This is a beautifully warm scent. The balance of vanilla, spice, and floral is just right on my skin where it isn’t ‘too much.’ I do wish it was less vanilla more spice (on me vanilla is the slightly stronger of the scents) but the spice and floral cut the vanilla enough where it smells less like I spilled vanilla extract on myself and more like I might have a nice warm vanilla milk chai sitting just out of sight. This one if very close on me, so you have to be standing next to me to smell it at all. It also blends nicely with my usual soaps (tea tree/mint and peppermint) so that it doesn’t get buried (or clash unpleasantly.) I only wish it stayed as spicy dry on me as it does when wet. When wet, it feels less ‘cozy tea drinking near a temple’ and more ‘stand on a dune in the warm summer sun.’ In the bottle: spicy floral- like cinnamon sticks shoved into a lovely bouquet of flowers, set up next to a burning stick of incense. Wet: Smoky vanilla, bright spice, a floral note that isn’t super floral. Dry-down: The spice comes out front and center, the vanilla burning in the background. The florals receding. Dry: Still obvious vanilla, but now more of the floral is coming through. Overall picture a bouquet of red cassia sitting on your desk next to a steaming mug of vanilla chai from the little coffee place down the street. Weirdly, I notice this gets more vanilla the colder out it is. I'm not sure if it's just the way the smell of the air changes up here in the north when it gets cold, or my skin drying out from the sudden lack of moisture that comes with winter, but the warmer it is the more spice I get.

The Native American Creator / Trickster God of Chaos and Change. The warmth of doeskin, dry plains grasses and soft, dusty woods warmed by amber and a downy, gentle coat of deep musk. This is the scent of my childhood. The smell of sun-warmed, clean dog fur on a soft summer day. The subtle background scent of the field grass that grows at the edge of the pine trees (that separate the yard from the field next door.) My grandmother’s favorite perfume from Estee Lauder. This scent is so incredibly nostalgic for me it brings a high of sweet, pure bliss and an old, aching wave of sorrow that pulls me back down. In the bottle: It was very strong, very “perfume-y.” Read almost masculine to me, like a cologne. As it first blended and warmed on my skin: The harsh ‘cologne’ smell faded and was replaced by a scent that instantly reminded of dog fur; of all the times I’d stuck my face into the neck of my mother’s Siberian husky growing up. That unique dog smell that’s part musk, part fur, and part flora dust from the summer dried grass patch they’d just been rolling in. As it settled: A more perfumed scent came through, but this was less cologne more expensive ladies’ perfume. It smelled exactly like my grandmother’s perfume, something I haven’t smelled in over a decade. The undertones were of her yard- the fields out back, the pines and other assorted trees, the tall wild grasses that bordered her property. At the end of the day: I’d gone mostly nose blind to it at this point, but I’d catch whiffs of something that reminded me of her bathroom: the perfume, the complimentary soaps and powders and potpourri, with that undertone of warm fur. Longevity: This lasted easily 12 hours on me. Throw: Despite how well I could smell this on myself it didn’t seem to be something that was overly noticeable by others. This is definitely one I’ll eventually buy a full thing of. The way it interacts with day to day smells (like fresh brewed coffee, or wood, or warm car smell) brings back bits and pieces of a childhood I wouldn’t trade for anything. I bought it the first time because the description of the scent intrigued me. I’ll buy it again because the actual scent, on me, is so utterly personal. I've already purchased a full size one for my mother , who was also instantly reminded of her mother/mothers house when she smelled it, as a Christmas gift.

Wet, this is an obscene amount of cherry. And usually I hate cherry, but this is actually a really nice variant. It makes me think less cough syrup, commercial 'cherry' and more 'made with real cherries' stuff. It actually kind of reminds me of a (stronger) hand made cherry caramel I had once on a whim and loved. Cherry, with a touch of vanilla, sugar, and cream. On and warming: the warm spice in the cherries comes through a little more, warming it further. Dry: there's still that underlying wisp of cherry, but now it's more predominately smokey incense, a swirl of sugar and cream in a mocha. Like eating cherry cakes and coffee in a spice shop. Another I really like. I wasn't sure what I was expecting (something more floral to be sure) but it ended up being better than I imagined it would be.

This starts incredibly sweet. In the bottle it’s very ‘tropical mixed drink.’ On my skin, the banana immediately steals the show. It smells like banana liqueur, used to create a decadent frosting. As it warms a little I get the hints of cinnamon and sugar below that (that combine in such a way to smell like a dark rum cake.) After it’s been on me for awhile the fruity overtones fade and become far more subtle, and the chili pepper, pomegranate, and sugar cane start to come out front and center. Something about the way the scents blend transforms this from rum cake slathered in banana frosting to a nice blend of Turkish Tobacco. (A transformation I was not expecting, but was actually really pleased with. It’s fragrant, and has a slight hint of spices that keep it in the realm of pipe tobacco leaves.) All in all this scent makes me think of sitting outside of a small bakery in the Caribbean, beneath palm trees that shade me from the fading summer sun. It reminds me a lot of my old, preferred brand of tobacco on dry down, but not in an unpleasant way. I really like this one, definitely a good summer scent.

A strong, willful blend with a soft, utterly lovely soul: white musk with a trickle of bright, sharp apricot and orange blossom. In the bottle it smells sweet and syrupy. On me wet- it went a little soapy at first. and then started getting hints of apricot. Soapy might be the white musk. On me dry: white musk, with a splash of light apricot. Blends well with my deodorant (Tom's Apricot.) Very subtle. Reapplication 6ish hours later (it had faded by the end of the day)- the musk and apricot are now equal. The musk cuts through the apricot sweetness, and there is the slightest hint of orange blossom. The musk is still a little soapy on me, but there is a sort of spicy sweetness to the apricot I enjoy. I was told others smell mostly apricot, so I may be partially nose blind to it (being that my deodorant is apricot.) This has become my 'the only other scent on me is my deodorant' scent. The two pair really well, and it goes with my 'I did the bare minimum today' aesthetic I occasionally have to break out by necessity.

Basically Katharina on me, but not even remotely as nice (it's like Katharina's zombie sister.) Where the white musk in Katharina adds something to the sweet spiced apricot smell that I get with the apricot/orange blossom, the narcissus in Hunger does not blend with vanilla and orange blossom on me well at all. Something about my body chemistry just straight makes this horrible. In the bottle: it smells almost sickly- like flowers and fruit left on a table in an abandoned house. Wet on: pretty similar. I get the spiced apricots as an undertone but the overtone is still like rotting fruit trees. Drydown: spiced apricots but with that same undertone I don’t like. It would be the scent in a horror movie that tips the detective off that the wife has been dead all along- the decay beneath the sweet. This one also went straight to the re-gift pile.

I bought this on a whim because the notes intrigued me; really glad I did! It's become one of my favorites. In the bottle: Gingersnaps cranked up to 11, but steering less 'baked good' and more 'pure essence' Right after application: Warms up a bit, still crazy gingersnap-y. There's an underlying smokey sweetness to it though- a little bit like vanilla tobacco. Dry: The gingersnap settles, blending further with that vanilla tobacco scent. A little sparkle of chardonnay comes through, pulling with it the leather. I adore this scent. It makes me feel powerful. It's sweet and sultry, warm and smokey. It has crazy long throw on me as well- a little really does go a long way.

In the bottle: very wet forest scent- pines and other vegetation. On my skin wet: evens out into a more manageable pine scent. It reminds me a little of wet pines, the way they smell in the winter/right before winter. I use peppermint body wash, and peppermint and tea tree oil shampoo and conditioner: this blends really nicely with that. As in, I barely notice it on me at all. It’s a very nice, subtle, close to the skin scent that works in harmony with my soaps to create an overall nice scent (instead of stealing the show.) Drydown: Sadly, by the end of the day, this has almost completely vanished on me. After a few attempts to make this one work, I finally gave up. Whatever evergreen scent is in it starting hitting too strong, and mildly triggered my allergies. I ended up passing it on to my roommate; it stayed slightly longer on him, but it hits more 'dollar store car air freshener in the woods' on him. So now it's it my re-gift for Christmas pile.