Unreleased
Baba Yaga
Part of the unreleased sniffing circle.
Initial Impression, on, is fruit! It made me think of Fruit Moon. A bit cologne-ish, there’s something there that I can’t identify that is bringing that in. But it’s predominantly fruit, a tropical type fruit. I’m not really getting pineapple, maybe guava? Kiwi? It’s very well blended and I have a hard time picking out specific notes. The closest I can nail it down to is tropical fruit.
As it dries, it turns a bit soapy. I liked the initial stage better than this. There may be a touch of something floral there - overwhelming the fruit. There’s a bit of spice too. The soapiness remains.
Overall, it’s a complex scent, but not one that I need a bottle of. The spicy fruit is interesting (I like that part of it) but the florals combine to give it a soapy aspect that I doesn’t particularly work for me. It was great to try it though!
Decadence
Part of the unreleased sniffing circle…
In the imp: It smells very foody, mainly almond & marzipan.
On the skin: It changes almost immediately from an almondy foody smell to an orange foody smell. As it dries, spices emerge and it reminds me a bit of homemade quick type Russian tea (tang, cinnamon, nutmeg, lipton tea mix). It remains a spicy orange smell.
It fades fairly quickly on me. Overall, I have to say that I like the drydown a lot more than the opening. I love Russian tea....glad that I got a chance to try this.
Kweku Anasi
part of the unreleased sniffing circle...
In the Imp: Yum! Herbal & spicy.
On the Skin: Still a spicy herbal and the vetivert comes out. Man, this is amazing! There’s a touch of citrus there and moss. As I wear it, the citrus becomes stronger yet melds beautifully with the spice, moss and vetivert. This scent makes me think of the woods in the Pacific Northwest or Southeast Alaska - lush, moist, mossy, yet dark and cool. In some ways, it reminds me of Torture King without the leather or bourbon. It has that same citrus - spice - vetivert vibe.
Overall: I have to agree that this is truly a gender neutral scent. It is very clean and crisp - it would smell amazing on a man yet still smells wonderfully on a woman. This is the scent I was dying to try and I’m so glad that I had the chance. It’s fabulous!
Nine Mysteries
I'm testing this as part of the Unreleased Sniffing Circle.
Initally on the skin and in the imp, I get a strong minty smell. Maybe spearmint or wintermint. It’s very cooling and refreshing.
As it wears, I do get a touch of soap underneath the mint, but it is very light. As far as components go, I would have to say mint, maybe a touch of sugar. This would make a fantastic lotion for hot weather (note - I want to make lotion of all minty scents so there you go). It seems to stay pretty true, not morphing a lot. But, it also disappears pretty quickly on me too.
Overall, I like it, but if it were released I’m not sure if I’d buy a bottle, or not. I’ve got mint scents already and they don’t speak to me like the woods or resins do.
Peace
I’m trying this through the Unreleased Sniffing Circle.
In the Imp: lavender, maybe a touch of eucalyptus. It’s a coolish smelling oil to me.
On the Skin, Initial Impression: oh yes, it’s lavender all right. At first it’s pretty sharp, but it softens pretty quickly. It gets slightly powdery on me as it dries but also a bit sweeter.
After about 20 minutes: Lavender and violets. It gets much softer on me the longer I wear it. I find this oil very cooling and think it would be great in hot weather. I have to say though that it fades pretty quickly on me.
Overall: Nice, I like it. It is a very soothing scent yet also refreshing. Unfortunately, it disappears pretty quick. But, the oil is very well suited to its name.
Val San Retour
Part of the Unreleased sniffing circle...
In the Imp: light, clean, fresh, lemony
On the Skin, Initial impression: On the skin, it's as in the imp - lovely, lemony fresh, light smelling. Very clean smelling and crisp. When I first put it on, I thought that I got whiffs of something wild and grassy, but that could have been suggestion...
Dry: As it dries, a piney, juniper scent emerges. It also changes into more of an herbal, green scent instead of citrusy, as would be expected by the emergence of evergreen.
Overall: It's a nice scent, but not really what I would ever reach for and it has no lasting power on me at all. After about a ½ hr, it’s gone. But, I'm glad that I got an opportunity to try it.
Part of the unreleased sniffing circle.
Initial Impression, on, is fruit! It made me think of Fruit Moon. A bit cologne-ish, there’s something there that I can’t identify that is bringing that in. But it’s predominantly fruit, a tropical type fruit. I’m not really getting pineapple, maybe guava? Kiwi? It’s very well blended and I have a hard time picking out specific notes. The closest I can nail it down to is tropical fruit.
As it dries, it turns a bit soapy. I liked the initial stage better than this. There may be a touch of something floral there - overwhelming the fruit. There’s a bit of spice too. The soapiness remains.
Overall, it’s a complex scent, but not one that I need a bottle of. The spicy fruit is interesting (I like that part of it) but the florals combine to give it a soapy aspect that I doesn’t particularly work for me. It was great to try it though!
Decadence
Part of the unreleased sniffing circle…
In the imp: It smells very foody, mainly almond & marzipan.
On the skin: It changes almost immediately from an almondy foody smell to an orange foody smell. As it dries, spices emerge and it reminds me a bit of homemade quick type Russian tea (tang, cinnamon, nutmeg, lipton tea mix). It remains a spicy orange smell.
It fades fairly quickly on me. Overall, I have to say that I like the drydown a lot more than the opening. I love Russian tea....glad that I got a chance to try this.
Kweku Anasi
part of the unreleased sniffing circle...
In the Imp: Yum! Herbal & spicy.
On the Skin: Still a spicy herbal and the vetivert comes out. Man, this is amazing! There’s a touch of citrus there and moss. As I wear it, the citrus becomes stronger yet melds beautifully with the spice, moss and vetivert. This scent makes me think of the woods in the Pacific Northwest or Southeast Alaska - lush, moist, mossy, yet dark and cool. In some ways, it reminds me of Torture King without the leather or bourbon. It has that same citrus - spice - vetivert vibe.
Overall: I have to agree that this is truly a gender neutral scent. It is very clean and crisp - it would smell amazing on a man yet still smells wonderfully on a woman. This is the scent I was dying to try and I’m so glad that I had the chance. It’s fabulous!
Nine Mysteries
I'm testing this as part of the Unreleased Sniffing Circle.
Initally on the skin and in the imp, I get a strong minty smell. Maybe spearmint or wintermint. It’s very cooling and refreshing.
As it wears, I do get a touch of soap underneath the mint, but it is very light. As far as components go, I would have to say mint, maybe a touch of sugar. This would make a fantastic lotion for hot weather (note - I want to make lotion of all minty scents so there you go). It seems to stay pretty true, not morphing a lot. But, it also disappears pretty quickly on me too.
Overall, I like it, but if it were released I’m not sure if I’d buy a bottle, or not. I’ve got mint scents already and they don’t speak to me like the woods or resins do.
Peace
I’m trying this through the Unreleased Sniffing Circle.
In the Imp: lavender, maybe a touch of eucalyptus. It’s a coolish smelling oil to me.
On the Skin, Initial Impression: oh yes, it’s lavender all right. At first it’s pretty sharp, but it softens pretty quickly. It gets slightly powdery on me as it dries but also a bit sweeter.
After about 20 minutes: Lavender and violets. It gets much softer on me the longer I wear it. I find this oil very cooling and think it would be great in hot weather. I have to say though that it fades pretty quickly on me.
Overall: Nice, I like it. It is a very soothing scent yet also refreshing. Unfortunately, it disappears pretty quick. But, the oil is very well suited to its name.
Val San Retour
Part of the Unreleased sniffing circle...
In the Imp: light, clean, fresh, lemony
On the Skin, Initial impression: On the skin, it's as in the imp - lovely, lemony fresh, light smelling. Very clean smelling and crisp. When I first put it on, I thought that I got whiffs of something wild and grassy, but that could have been suggestion...
Dry: As it dries, a piney, juniper scent emerges. It also changes into more of an herbal, green scent instead of citrusy, as would be expected by the emergence of evergreen.
Overall: It's a nice scent, but not really what I would ever reach for and it has no lasting power on me at all. After about a ½ hr, it’s gone. But, I'm glad that I got an opportunity to try it.