Leo 2016

[marared]

Fixed fire: the essence of ambition and confidence. This blend is the distillate of self-assurance and courage, a radiant golden halo of warmth, magnanimity, and loving faithfulness. Utilize this blend to bolster your self-esteem, to assist you in genuinely taking pride in yourself and your accomplishments, and access your inner splendor.

Golden frankincense and sweet amber with Roman chamomile, angelica root, saffron, gilded carnation, and helichrysum.

I wasn't sure if I was going to like this - the "golden" sorts of scents usually go powdery on me, but I AM LEO and I had to try it.

Surprisingly, this isn't bad at all. It's cool and more floral in the bottle - I smell the carnation and the helichrysum, but the instant it goes on my skin, the amber and saffron warm up and say HELLO! It's very warm and very fuzzy, but while I now can only barely detect the carnation, the flowers keep everything balanced without smelling *floral*. After ten minutes or so on my skin, if I inhale really deeply, I almost smell something like butter cookies, although this is definitely not a foodie/gourmand scent, it's just a few molecules of buttery sweetness.

It reminds me of a more intense version of The Butterfly from The Last Unicorn, which also has golden amber. It also kinda makes me think of The Hag without the bay rum.

[DiesMali]

In the bottle: Smoky, herbal incense.

 

Wet on my skin: Same as in the bottle.

 

Dry: This is niiiiiiiiiiice. You know how high-quality temple incense smells after you've burned it, when the ashes are still warm and smouldering and they have the smoky burnt quality beneath the fragrance? This is that. There's a slightly powdery and spicy-feminine quality from the amber and carnation, but the predominant feeling to this scent is "smouldering incense." At least on my skin. The primary notes that I can identify in the incense portion are frankincense, saffron, and smoky-rich helichrysum. The chamomile and angelica aren't so prominent on my skin, but they contribute to that spiciness underlying the incense.

 

This perfume makes me glad to be a Leo, basically.

[Casablanca]

Pre-sniffy thoughts: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer are my moon, cusp birth signs, and rising, and the first Starstruck blend to call to me is also the first that doesn't show up in my chart at all. But the call is strong. I love all these notes.

 

I cellared Leo for a day and night because hot mailbox.

 

In the bottle: Carnation and a little herbage (I can smell chamomile and angelica).

 

Leo goes through two phases on my skin: herbal-spicy floral and then spicy oriental.

 

On my skin Leo starts as carnation warmed and fuzzied by saffron, with chamomile adding a sunny meadow mood, like it does for me in Against Idleness and Mischief. After a minute or so, a little of the grainy texture of frankincense comes through, but it's smoother than how it usually smells to me. I think I smell clove, but it might be eugenol from the carnation. I'm not familiar with helichrysum, but there's a glittering kind of note in here somewhere.

 

Dried, amber comes forward so subtly that I can't tell when it got stronger than the carnation. The chamomile is less strong now.

 

Later, the frankincense steps up and the angelica I remember from late-stage Gold Phoenix comes out. Both mingle with the saffron and it's lovely. Leo lasted around five or six hours on me when I wore it before cellaring yesterday, which for me is a long time.

 

Overall, Leo smells close to what I imagined, although it's more morphy than I guessed. I love this and may get a backup.

Edited July 24, 2016 by Casablanca

[Lycanthrope]

I am a Leo. I don't know all the rest of my zodiac spread because... reasons... like not remembering what time I was born... but I am a preemie so I was supposed to be a Virgo.

 

I've been doing all the Starstrucks - some good hits, some really weird ones, and then there's Taurus, which is like HAI I'M A BULL AND MADE OF ROSES AND YOU WILL SMELL LIKE ROSES (do you want to? no? MOO BAD). POW.

 

Leo starts on me pretty much like a reddish spicy cloud, a little similar to Three Cocks but definitely a bit peppery and also herbal. I think it's the chamomile adding that weird type of grassy floral thing it does. With my skin chemistry it quickly veers towards carnation, a lush, Clemence-like carnation, with a dry backdrop and mild heat likely from saffron. On my skin saffron is a little funky but then also does not persist - it tends to retreat and just blur the edges of scents a little. In this case, the carnation showcases almost like a carnation SN to me with just a bit more complexity.

 

I already got a few bottles since this is my birth sign. It's so very different from the past Leos! I think those had more walnut or something. Nuts. Hee.

 

This is a desert warmed carnation blossoming in a handful of sand.

[Joyleaf_]

My partner is a Leo and I was struck by the notes i this blend and knew I had to try it. On the skin Leo is a spicy floral smell at first. I can detect the carnation, amber and saffron and they blend together in a lovely cloud. At dry down, the chamomile comes more forward with its slightly more herbal smell.. which for me is disappointing, as I wanted this to solidly be in the golden ambery resinous sort of scent profile. It dries down to a warm spicy carnation with hints of resins and amber overlay and I am fairly pleased with that.

[Lunasariel]

I straddle the divide between Cancer and Leo - I was born during the first days (well, nights) of Leo, but my personality leans strongly Cancer. However, as much as I love water, aquatic scents don't play well with my skin, so I skipped the Cancer Starstruck in favor of the Leo. And, yup, looks like it's got a lot of my favorite notes in it! Here's hoping for my old friend amber to take the florals, herbs, and hint of incense, and turn it all to gold on my skin.

 

In the imp: A soft, almost candy-like, sweetly floral scent. I think I'm getting primarily the chamomile at this point, since I'm strongly reminded of Lenus Mars. Some determined sniffing reveals a hint of spice (probably the carnation) and a broad, warm base that could be the saffron, could be the amber, or could be both.

 

Wet: Ohhhhhh dear. I had hoped that Lenus Mars was a fluke, but apparently chamomile does the same Bubble Tape routine as lotus on my skin - a powdery, synthetic, too-sweet scent. After about 5-10 minutes, the Bubble Tape calms the hell down, leaving an... interesting divide. From afar, I get whiffs of the most fascinating, regal frankincense-amber-saffron-carnation blend, but when I huff my wrist, I get a toned-down version of the above - an herbal-floral scent that errs just this side of too sweet. Better than it was, but still not ideal. Here's hoping that it improves over time...

 

Dry: Goes through a beautiful herbal-amber scent, somewhat similar to Philostratus' Phoenix, but eventually the frankincense veers sour (as it tends to do on my skin). The faintest sweet edge from the chamomile hangs around for an unexpectedly long time. This would provide a nice addition to the amber, but it mingles unpleasantly with the sour frankincense. Maybe like me, this Leo will get better with age?

[zankoku_zen]

Frankincense, amber, chamomile and saffron. This ends like an herbal-amber frankincense on me. A touch sour, but the herbal bitterness counterbalances some of the sweet amber in there. Gloriously gender neutral. Soft throw, medium wear length.

[annemathematics]

I love lycanthrope's description, "This is a desert warmed carnation blossoming in a handful of sand," which I think sums up the feel of this scent quite nicely.

 

this is a nice warm, fuzzy, spicy amber. all a big blend. I can tell that the spice is from the carnation. I can sense the herbally goodness that give this a rich and dry quality. but it is all about the blend and this is an amber, nice and fuzzy like a lion. rawr.

[Blood onmy hands]

Golden, powdery amber with dried herbs and dry spiciness. Chamomile always smells like sharp, dry, golden herbs to me, and I'm getting a good dose of that here, along with a dry carnation spiciness.

[Scarlet Woodland]

This reminds me so much of The Scales Of Deprivation which won't be terribly helpful unless you've smelled that but it really is VERY close on me.

 

I can't really pick out the individual notes but I love that in a scent. It's a light, fresh incense, with an almost lemon peel edge. I really like it.

 

Must re-test later as noticed it settles into two layers in the bottle so not sure I got the whole caboodle the first time.

[LizziesLuck]

The notes in this sound gorgeous and golden, but there is huge potential for the Frank to be a bully and stomp all over everything else....

 

Wet: Hmm, more herbal than I anticipated, the chamomile is really making a showing. Annnd then in comes Frank. I do like Frankincense, I just hate how it turns EVERYTHING to single note on me. And that's sort of what is happening right now. Though I think this is the prettiest, warmest, most golden Frank I have ever smelled. Mmm.

 

 

Dry: Mostly just golden Frank *sigh*. Hints of something a bit sour and herbal. Maybe a touch of amber. Not the scent I was hoping for, but certainly what I expected with the Frankincense. Oh well, I'll keep trying! One day the right Frank blend will come along.