Delirium1009

I wish my review could be more favorable, but here goes...

In bottle/imp: Herbal, nutty and cool with a dry musk feel to it.

Immediately on skin: This smells really powdery on me, but with some cooler herbal notes to it. The sandalwood is barely detectable, but it adds a touch of warm sweetness. The seed note is interesting… it’s like a mix between nutty and woody almost.

After a little while: The sandalwood has gotten a little stronger in this and I can smell it along with the woody/nutty seed note. Overall though, this is very powdery (some ambers turn a little powdery on me, but this is total baby powder) with the sandalwood and seeds in the background.

Overall Impressions: I had hight hopes for this scent… but they were dashed by the powder of doom. The seed note is interesting, and the sandalwood is nice, but they were very soft. Overall, this is a slightly warm, powdery scent, and has some interesting stuff going on… but it just doesn’t work on me.

In bottle/imp: A powdery mix of lilac and leather with a hint of fruitiness.

Immediately on skin: This is a cooler scent. I get a nicely balanced mix of lilac, leather, dry herbs, and fruit. It’s a drier blend, and very understated. The leather gives it a very smooth feel, but I get a slight soapiness from it.

After a little while: The plum comes out in this more, but it’s still nicely restrained by the other notes. This is very much a smooth scent with an equal amount of leather and lilac, and then the fruit adding a slightly sweeter, juicy feel. It’s a very well-blended scent.

Overall Impressions: This scent is very intriguing. It’s very well balanced and slightly complex, but smooth and unisex. It starts out a bit soapy, but after it dries it becomes this understated leather, lilac and plum scent that sticks very close to the skin. I think this is a little too unisex for me, but I can see both men and women enjoying it.

In bottle/imp: Cherry pie and cream.

 

Immediately on skin: There is a very strong cake note in this, or something like pie crust. It is melded with baked cherries and cream. It seems to have the same pie crust note I get from Pumpkin Cheesecake, which smells almost nutty on me.

 

After a few minutes: The cherry note in this has turned to more of a fake cherry now, and slightly medicinal. The pie crust note is still there, and it continues to smell rather nutty. The whole blend has a slight creaminess to it, but it isn’t all blending well to my nose.

 

Overall Impressions: I had high hopes for this, but it has a weird pie crust type note that ruins it for me. It’s slightly nutty and blended with the cherry and cream notes. If you enjoy foody and cherry blends, this might work on you.

In bottle/imp: Light spices over a subtle herbal note.

 

Immediately on skin: This is incredibly perfume-y right as I put it on. I’m getting a very sharp musk, deepened by light spices. The cinnamon is most prominent, then the cardamom, but they take a back seat to the amber musk.

 

After a few minutes: This is still very perfume-y on me with the musk standing out as the strongest note and the spices in the background. I can smell the tea and it’s very crisp and sweet, and there’s the slightest tang of citrus. There is something almost floral about this blend… floral and sweet and musky, but in a very cheap commercial perfume way on my skin. It’s a very airy blend like steam off of a glass of spicy tea.

 

Later on: After wearing this for an hour, the musk has faded a bit and I’m left with a warm, spicy, and not overly sweet tea scent. It has a very crisp feel to it.

 

Overall Impressions: In the first hour or so of wearing this, I find the amber musk dominates the scent and gives it a strong perfume or cologne feel. But the spices and tea notes blend in beautifully and create something very wearable. This is a very airy, warm scent, and I could imagine a guy wearing it just as easily as a woman. I like how it smells after an hour or so the most, but the initial scent isn’t bad. I have to say though that I prefer the lab’s green tea notes more than the black tea in this one.

In bottle/imp: Crunchy leaves and grass.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells like summer melding into fall. It smells like I took a big handful of fresh grass and crunchy, dry leaves and mushed them all together. It’s fresh and green but dry and autumnal at the same time.

 

After a little while: This doesn’t really change much on my skin as time goes on. I think that at most, it becomes a little more blended together and the leaf note fades a little. What I’m left with is a fresh grass scent with a nice amount of dried leaves to temper that sharp greenness.

 

Overall Impressions: Grass and leaves. Leaves and grass. Dry, crunchy leaves and fresh, fragrant green grass. This is nice and simple but with a good balance between the two aspects of the blend. If the description sounds nice to you, you’d probably enjoy this.

In bottle/imp: Very clean leather and musk.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells of leather and musk. Surprised? Well it’s more than that. It’s a very clean musk and leather scent, and is much lighter-smelling than I was expecting. It has a cologney overtone to it that I like.

 

After a little while: This has hardly morphed at all. It’s still clean, dry leather and musk with a slight cologne-like note.

 

Overall Impressions: This blend is simple, but well blended and nice. It’s edging into masculine for me, but could definitely be unisex. I like this one much more than I thought I would; it’s clean, but warm.

In bottle/imp: Vetiver with a cool herbal tone over it.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells strongly of smooth, herbal vetiver to me. There’s a bit of smokiness to this as well.

 

After a little while: The other notes seem to have come out a bit. There’s now a sharp almost metallic note along with the vetiver, and a definite overtone of moss. This is a sharp, herbal vetiver with a very evident dry metallic note.

 

Overall Impressions: This is unisex but definitely edging into masculine to my nose. It’s strong, dry, and rather thick-smelling. The vetiver is the strongest note so if you don’t like it, avoid this blend. The moss gives this a slight freshness, but the gunpowder makes it more sharp and metallic. It’s an interesting blend, but not something I personally would enjoy wearing.

In bottle/imp: Woody resin with very smooth spices and a hint of tobacco.

 

Immediately on skin: This scent smells of strong resins mostly, but has a nice smooth spiciness in the background and a touch of fruitiness. There’s also a nice amount of dry woods.

 

After a little while: This is a bit more floral now with strong, woody resinous depth to it. The wood, tobacco, and spices seem very smooth, but something in this is just a touch bitter. It’s very thick and rich. The agave nectar and roses give this a flitting sweetness, but the resin and wood dominate most of this blend.

 

Overall Impressions: This is an interesting resinous, woody scent with bits of spice, tobacco, and a hint of sweetness. It’s dry but thick, and slightly cloying and bitter. I’d say this is unisex edging into masculine, but depending on how your skin handles it I can imagine it may go more feminine. Interesting, but not for me.

2008 Version:

 

In bottle/imp: Rich punch-like fruit and mulling spices.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells very similar on me to last year’s Sugar Skull. Except I think this one might be a little fruitier. This is a deep red/pink/purple fruit scent. It’s very juicy, rich, and sweet. It smells almost like punch. Oh, but wait… a perfuminess is coming out now, making this almost floral. It’s very sweet, and almost smells more like candy and sugar flowers than fruit after a minute or two.

 

After a little while: Rich, sugary, fruity… so wonderful! I love this scent. It hasn’t changed since it settled into that slight perfuminess on my skin. It has a definite candied, crusted sugar quality to it this year that’s not as thick as last year’s.

 

Overall Impressions: I love Sugar Skull, but I don’t like this year’s version quite as much as last year’s, and I have 3 bottles of that already. This one is a little less thick than that, but still retains a juicy dark red fruitiness and sugary quality. It also has a light perfumey overtone which isn’t bad, but I prefer the other one.

In bottle/imp: Apple and oakmoss with a light poppy/opium note and something almost cake-like.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a very apple-dominated scent. It’s a fragrant, red, juicy apple with a bit of oakmoss adding some whisping fragrance and this interesting almost foodie note underneath. I think it’s the nutmeat, but I’m not really sure. This scent is interesting how there’s this misty, fragrant apple and then the more solid base of nutmeat and faint crunchy leaves underneath.

 

After a little while: This gets less grounded as I wear it and definitely becomes a more ethereal fragrance. It’s still quite strong and has great throw, but the nutmeat and leaves in the background fade a bit while the apple, moss, and poppy juice get a little stronger. It’s sweet, but not overly so, and not really cider or fresh apples. It’s more like apple perfume, but with a fall overtone.

 

Overall Impressions: Whereas Samhain is earthy autumn apple, and Fearful Pleasure is cider apple, To Autumn is misty, ethereal and slightly foody apple. At first the nutmeat is very strong and makes this almost foody smelling, but as I wear it that fades and I’m left with something akin to Poisoned Apple with a definite fall flavor.

In bottle/imp: Lots of fragrant white flowers. A bit of depth and sweetness to this, but mostly they’re perfume-y.

 

Immediately on skin: This is thick, deep and bright nighttime flowers. I can pick out the moonflower, but that’s about it. They smell mysterious with a touch of sweetness and also a bit of bitterness.

 

After a little while: This hasn’t morphed much on my skin. It’s still this really deep, mysterious floral blend. There’s a bit of bitterness and smoky flowery notes, but it balances really well with the sweeter florals.

 

Overall Impressions: This is a lovely nighttime floral blend… without jasmine!! This blend is very floral with a hint of bitterness to balance it. It’s slightly smoky, but not overly so. This is a dark evening type of blend with just enough complexity to keep me sniffing.

In bottle/imp: Honey sweetened patchouli and light musk.

 

Immediately on skin: Patchouli and honey just don’t work on me… but somehow in this blend, they’re nice together. The scent is very sweet, but has the undercurrent of deep patchouli and a light touch of musk. There’s a bit of carnation and magnolia, giving the scent a breath of florals. The sandalwood adds a nice warmth as well.

 

After a little while: This is smelling a bit like Autumn to me, but sweeter and softer. More specifically, I find the honey/patchouli/musk combination smells a lot like the dry leaves in that blend. This has not changed much, except for the fact that it’s melded together even more. It’s a sweetened patchouli musk scent with a hint of light spicy florals and warm sandalwood. It’s a very warm and almost smoky scent.

 

Overall Impressions: This is a nice blend, and very complex but nicely blended. The patchouli and honey blend with the skin musk to create a very pretty scent and it’s not very floral at all… there’s just a hint of carnation upon drydown. The sandalwood adds a beautiful light and warm spiciness.

In bottle/imp: An airy floral with a very light finish of snake oil.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells of bitter resins, soft powdery violet, and the tiniest amount of snake oil.

 

After a little while: The floral tones of the orris have come out quite a bit and this is like a dry, violet snake oil. It’s very powdery however and bothers my nose quite a bit.

 

Overall Impressions: This is much more floral and powdery than I was expecting. It smells like violet and dry resin with the tiniest bit of snake oil. It’s nice, but not for me.

In bottle/imp: Vetiver with a finish of smooth snake oil.

 

Immediately on skin: The vetiver is the strongest note in this, but I can smell the snake oil blended with a little bit of coconut in the background. This is smooth, but it has the bitterness of vetiver.

 

After a little while: This definitely becomes more creamy as it’s worn. However, I wouldn’t call this a sweet scent at all. It’s very dry and heavy on the vetiver with a very smooth, creamy dose of snake oil following behind. This is quite powdery smelling on me though.

 

Overall Impressions: The vetiver in this is the main note I get, so if you don’t enjoy vetiver you probably won’t like this blend. The snake oil in this is nice and creamy, but this isn’t a sweet blend at all… it’s more dry and powdery with hints of vanilla and coconut all under that veil of vetiver.

In bottle/imp: Strong, complex cologne. Herbal, but clean.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a very “hight” scent. It’s almost a clean scent, but it’s almost spicy too. I think that’s the pimento berry and oakmoss blending together. It’s very unisex, sharp, and cologne-y.

 

After a little while: Wow, this turns to baby powder on me pretty quickly and then stays like that. It’s the dark musk, I’m sure. Behind that is the light spiciness of the pimento and the fresh feel of the oakmoss.

 

Overall Impressions: This is a more unisex, drier scent for sure. It’s very high and powdery with a kick of spice and a very interesting cologne-y type of feel. The dark musk goes totally to powder on my skin, so this doesn’t work for me. It’s interesting to sniff though, and totally not what I was expecting for a goat scent!

In bottle/imp: Caramel and soft cinnamon.

 

Immediately on skin: Mostly, this smells of thick, rich sweetness. The caramel is the strongest note, but it’s more of a base for everything else than the only note here. Blending in I get touches of the cinnamon, sandalwood, tobacco, and then the lightest hint of the currant.

 

After a little while: This just goes wrong on me… I’m not sure what note it is, but this turns into an earthy, fruity, floral thick caramel scent that smells a bit off on my skin. It has a very smooth, rich feel to it though.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent is very unique. The notes really combine to create this very thick, rich blend with a lot going on, but it becomes one of those scents that’s just so well blended that it’s hard to pick apart. Unfortunately, this smells a bit cloying on me, but I smell why it could be fabulous on others.

In bottle/imp: Deep leather and herbs with a touch of mint.

 

Immediately on skin: The leather in this is very evident, but also very realistic. It reminds me of the booths that sell leather goods at county and state fairs. It’s like sun-warmed, dry leather. But then there’s also the strong, dry green-ness of this scent. It’s a sharper green note… something reminiscent of fir or eucalyptus mixed with green herbs.

 

After a little while: The leather overpowers the green notes a little as this settles. It’s dry and warm, very unisex, and so nicely blended.

 

Overall Impressions: This doesn’t smell like a perfume… it smells like a place. Like maybe a tent somewhere in the woods on a warm day with leather goods hanging about and the scent of the fir trees or herby greenery all around. It’s on the unisex side, but to me leather usually smells more masculine. It’s so rich and lifelike… I would never wear this, as it’s totally not my style, but I love sniffing it.

In bottle/imp: Thick, sweet spices and a lick of cherry.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells like those Atomic Fireball candies with a little more depth within the spiciness and a hint of fruity cherry. The main spice is cassia/cinnamon with just a touch of the cardamom. The cherry gives this a little complexity, but not much. Wow, this one really tingles on my skin.

 

After a little while: Sometimes I’m struck with odd scent memories when it comes to bpal, and this blend reminds me very strongly of a Richard Scarry scratch and sniff book I had when I was little. I think the page that I’m thinking of was one about a bakery. Anyway, on to the actual scent: it’s spicy from the cassia, but there’s also a little more cardamom and cherry to this now. It’s a very bright spiciness though, not very thick or heavy. It has a definite fruitiness, but it’s seamlessly blended into the spices.

 

Overall Impressions: This scent isn’t the thick, rich spiciness of other blends: It’s the bright red spiciness of Red Hots and Atomic Fireballs. It’s spicy, but not really rich. The amount of cherry that comes out in this is pleasant and not cough syrup-like at all. This is a fun, candy-like spice and cherry blend. Mostly cinnamon though, so if your skin is sensitive, watch out!

In bottle/imp: Patchouli and almond plus an interesting fizziness.

 

Immediately on skin: This is interesting, but very masculine to my nose. It’s like a deep, thick patchouli pine scent with a touch of fizziness. The patchouli in this gives it a strong base and to my nose makes up most of this scent. The pine is evident, but blending really well into the patchouli. A little root beer slinks in playfully, and at first there was a bit of almond, but it seems to have faded now. This is very dark-smelling.

 

After a little while: The patchouli in this has smoothed out and now this is a very rich and slightly creamy patchouli blend with a little root beer and tabacco. It’s so thick and dark smelling… and almost foodie. It’s right on the edge almost. This still gives me a very masculine vibe, but I think it smells much better now than it did fresh.

 

Overall Impressions: I’m not a big patchouli fan, but this blend surprised me. Once it settled down it became nicely balanced and rich with a hint of sweetness. The almond milk and sarsaparilla seem to be doing a great job of balancing the patchouli, and the tobacco adds another dark layer to the scent. A bit masculine, but not cologne-y.

In bottle/imp: Bay rum and lime with a very alcoholic undertone.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a very thick bay rum scent on me with the fizzy scent of gin underneath. It’s mostly thick spiciness and fizz, but the black musk sort of lays on top of the scent and definitely gives this an overall masculine, musky vibe. I’m getting pencil shavings from this a touch too.

 

After a little while: This has turned to a rather generic scent on me. It’s musky, spicy, and masculine. There’s still a light amount of fizzy gin, but it’s far in the background, as is a touch of tobacco.

 

Overall Impressions: I originally got this decant for my husband, as I expected it from the notes to be a rather masculine scent. I was correct. This scent is a lot of bay rum, a bit of gin and black musk, and a little lime and tobacco. I suspect a woman could wear this quite easily, as it might be more unisex to some rather than masculine, but bay rum always has a pretty masculine feel to me. Overall, it turned into a rather generic cologney scent on me, but I’m sure on others it’ll have a bit more depth from beginning to end.

In bottle/imp: Warm, glowing, and woody with some sharp spices.

 

Immediately on skin: This scent starts out with warm, glowing beeswax and wood. The wood note in this is the same one that I get from Haloes and I really love it. However, there’s also the leather in this, which mixed with the pepper and nutmeg combine with the beeswax and oak to create something smooth but a bit sour and cloying.

 

After a little while: Leather, oak, and creamy beeswax with odd spices. It sounds like it should go together, but to my nose this just doesn’t mesh together well. The oak is really nice in this and is just a touch perfumey, and the beeswax is warm and lovely. I think it’s the leather and other notes that are ruining this for me.

 

Overall Impressions: Unfortunately the combo of notes here turns my stomach a little. I love the oak and beeswax, but the leather and spices turn this into something really odd. I can see it pulling together on someone else’s chemistry, but not mine.

In bottle/imp: Mint and violet with some bitter herbs. Perhaps geranium?

 

Immediately on skin: On me this is very juicy. It almost smells like the fruity violet that I get from Faith, plus a hint of mint and lots of wet green notes. It almost smells like there just may be a fruit note in this (melon perhaps?) or maybe a light amount of orchid. It has almost a bitter citrus bite to it that finishes off the mint/violet/juicy scent in my nose though.

 

After a little while: That fruitiness seems to come out more as I wear this, and now it smells like violet with a lot of melon and a bit of almost sour/sweetness to it. Oh, and a bit of a watery green aquatic undertone. It’s definitely an interesting scent.

 

Overall Impressions: I don’t know what I was expecting from this scent, but it surprised me. This blend is just so fruity and juicy without being overly sweet. There’s a bit of violet which I can for sure pick out, and then that lush fruitiness that smells so much like melon, along with this wet green undertone. It almost reminds me of green tea actually. Anyway, this is a very bright scent and a lot of fun. It smells of iridescent greens and golden purples swirled together in my head.

In bottle/imp: Musky herbs with sort of a high citrus or white musk note.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells like some sort of white musk is in it, but I don’t see it listed. Perhaps it’s the jasmine mixing with the herbs. This is dry and a higher perfume to my nose. It’s slightly citrusy and clean.

 

After a little while: This scent is very odd and hard to explain. It’s dry and a higher type of scent, a little sharp and powdery, with the warmth of sandalwood and light base of smoky jasmine with the syrupy black orchid peeking through the middle of the blend. There’s something clean about this, but also kind of spicy, dry, and resinous.

 

Overall Impressions: It almost smells like if you had incense sticks of all the notes listed here, then you burned them, and took the ashes and mixed it all together and threw in a little resinous myrrh. This scent is dry, but complex and a bit sweet. It’s interesting, but not something I would wear.

In bottle/imp: Sour, herbal musk.

 

Immediately on skin: This is musky, but also very dry and sour. It smells old for sure. It also has an odd green soapy note to it that eases gently into the dragon’s blood.

 

After a little while: This dries to a sweet, musky, dry scent after a while. The parchment, incense, red musk and dragon’s blood (daemonorops) are evident but all blend together seamlessly. They smell deep and dry, but dark as well.

 

Overall Impressions: This is a very evocative scent. It smells dry and very deep and dark, but also a hint sweet and floral from the dragon’s blood. I think this will be a big hit for those who like paper and incense scents.

In bottle/imp: Bitter, smoky, woody resins and a touch of spice.

 

Immediately on skin: This has a lot of resins to it, but it’s very rich and thick. There’s a light spiciness and a nice woody finish to this scent as well.

 

After a little while: This has a glorious dryness to it that I’m loving. It’s very rich and dark, but warm and very golden-smelling as well. It has a thick incense vibe to the whole blend, plus an undercurrant of wood.

 

Overall Impressions: I’m testing this and Bezoar together, and while I get a lot of resin from both, this is much richer and darker. It has a thick resin/incense/wood vibe going, and I would imagine it would be great on a man as well as a woman. It’s a little bitter, but that balances all the sweetness in the resins very well. Overall, I really enjoyed smelling this.