Tilt-a-Whirl - Darling Clandestine

Details: 
Tilt-a-Whirl
Darling Clandestine

Notes: 
Already, at dawn, you can tell it's going to be one of *those* days. Those blissfully hot, brilliantly cloudless days, when the heat creeps in gasoline hues over the empty, waiting midway, and ignites with the bustling crowd. Already you can feel the sun crackling at the back of your neck, and you know that tonight, as it sets, you'll be jumping hand-in-hand, giggling, off Wunderkammer Pier into the cool golden river. But right now, at dawn, these grounds belong to you. The yawning operator spots you and smiles, stands and lifts the gate. You scramble into your favorite car, Number Six, the one where if you lean just right you're set into startling motion, spinning and spinning, in rainbows of balloons and sliced-orange parasols and watermelon wedges and lemon shake-ups and tart cherry ice. Growing up is nice, but summer is yours forever. Fire it up. Throw your weight into it. Enjoy the ride.

This is a fizzy fruit drink of a perfume. It makes me think of orange sherbet or Fruit Tingles. Apparently there is passionfruit involved too, and though I would not have picked that, once I knew it was there, I could smell it. There's not a whole lot to say about it - it's a sweet, fizzy, fruity summer perfume - best suited to someone younger than I am. Sillage is lowish to medium, longevity was about 5 hours. I think I'll pass this one on to Noodles.

Rating: 
2/5

Day 214!

Limerence - Darling Clandestine

Details:
Limerence
Darling Clandestine

Notes:
Limerence is a rich floral-not a grandmotherly floral, but a moody blend of bruised Casablanca lilies, bittersweet succulents, full-bodied herbal essentials, a heady crust of sea salt, and a wonderfully fine mitti attar that's the essence of first rain hitting sun-baked earth. 

First a note about the vial - these actually come labelled with a little ticket, like an old fashioned bus or tram ticket, as shown in the third picture on Liber Vix's review of some Darling Clandestines. It's a cute idea, but it's not overly practical for storage - I was worried they would fall of and then I'd never know which was which, so I just stuck these little labels on them myself. 

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before, but I find in a lot of perfumes - and particularly with Darling Clandestine perfumes - that the vial and the little wand cap smell different. In the vial this is very floral - an English/Victorian garden scent with lilies and something old-fashioned like lilacs or hyacinths. The wand, however, smells very green and herbal. Once applied those notes blend together - a green, lush, wet country garden. Surprisingly for a DC perfume, this one doesn't change all that much on me. It lasted about 6 or so hours before I felt that I needed to reapply, and the sillage was low to medium. 

Rating: 
3/5

Day 179!

Catch Up Post # 4

Aaaagh! How did I get nearly two weeks worth of review notes piled up without making new posts? My mum is here for her yearly visit at the moment and she's gone to the casino for the afternoon so I'm grabbing the time while I can. I have just been flat chat with work lately and when I get home I'm too tired to do anything. I may not be back on track until after the end of the financial year when hopefully work will quiet down a bit.

BPAL Defututa - Olive blossom, honey, smoky vanilla, cinnamon, jasmine, sandalwood and champaca flower. 
There is nothing unique about this, but it's a really pretty honeyed white floral with a slightly spicy vanilla dry down. Sillage and longevity are quite high - it's one of those ones that will make you sneeze if you're prone to perfume sensitivity. 3/5

BPAL The Lights of Men's Lives - The wax and smoke of millions upon millions of candles illuminating the walls of Death's shadowy cave, some tall, straight, and strong blazing with the fire of life, others dim and guttering.
One of my first BPALs and stil one of my favourites - I don't know why I don't have a full bottle of this. It's a smokey honey scent that lasts for hours. I'm not generally a fan of honey perfumes but I do tend to like BPAL's. 4/5

Paintbox Soapworks Tw*twaffle - Buttery waffles, black cherries, warm maple syrup and shame. 
I wanted so much to like this, but it just smells too synthetic. It's really strong too - it gave me a bit of a headache. The cherry note (which smells a bit almondy) is overwhelming and gave me a bit of a headache. Bummer. 1/5

Possets Custance (The Man of Law's Tale) - Sandalwood combined with a drop of Oude infusion, a kiss of tobacco flower, and a light dusting of dry incense.
What I mostly got was incense, but it's not too heady and the tobacco flower seems to add a bit of floral to it. It's not one I'd seek out, but I quite liked wearing it on the day. 3/5

Possets 301- Musk and cashmeran. 
This is a really lovely, simple musk perfume. It doesn't change on me from start to finish, but it's comforting and warm and I enjoyed it a lot. It's quite strong and lasted most of the day. 4/5

Sarawen Girl on Fire -  Wild strawberries gathered from the forest blend with the comforting scent of leather hunting boots, and in her hair a very faint hint of sweet forest herbals.
In the bottle the strawberry smells a bit fake and cloying, but once applied it's actually lovely. It blends beautifully with the leather and the green foresty note, preventing it from being too fruity. Sillage was medium and it lasted about 6 hours or so. Really like this one - could be a full bottle. 4/5

Sarawen Scandal in London -  Feminine lilac and ylang ylang flowers blends with feisty dragonsblood with a light hint of eastern sandalwood. A touch of Holmes' favourite tobacco tops off this sultry floriental perfume.
Another Sarawen winner. I love me a floriental - they're probably overall my favourite kind of perfume. It reminds me a little of Givenchy Ysatis. The dragonsblood and tobacco add a smoothing element to stop it from being a full on heady floral. Nonetheless the sillage is pretty high making this more suitable for evening when you're on the prowl than knocking everyone out in the office. Love it. 4/5

Firebird Woodsmoke & Vanilla - Spicy, smoky, resinous, warm and sweet- with notes of frankincense and myrrh, fir needles, balsam and cedar, on a soft base of vanilla and honey.
I have a few of these 'sitting by the fire' kind of perfumes and this one is probably my favourite. It smells like a bonfire out in the forest - I can definitely smell the fir. The vanilla stops it from being too strong or too masculine. It's warm and cosy and one of those ones to wear when you're snuggled up in a giant aran jumper. 4/5  

BPAL Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal - A deranged darling, sweet and sociopathic! Clotted vanilla cream, pink pepper, grapefruit, blood lily, red ginger, English pear, and lemon-squeezed candyfloss!
I hate this perfume, I have had it for several years and have always hated it. I keep it because I love the name, though. I pulled it out for the first time in at least a year to try it because I though ageing might have improved it a little. Nope. It smells like vomited up canned fruit and turned cream. Gross. Still love the name, though. 1/5

Arcana Vulgar -  Dirty cherry with dark chocolate, vanilla-infused marshmallow, honey, pepper, patchouli and a hint of smoky bacon. 
So for years I've been banging on about wanting a bacon-scented perfume. Now I have one, and guess what - smelling like you've been rolling around in your breakfast is not that great. The cherry dominates in the bottle, but once applied the bacon really comes out, and it's slightly sharp and acrid. There's a very bitter chocolate note that might be what's adding to the sharpness. The dry down is sweeter as the vanilla and honey come out and the bacon subsides to a faint smokiness. I could get to like that part of it but it doesn't last all that long. It had pretty much disappeared entirely within 3 hours. 2/5

BPAL Mad Kate - Honeycomb, red currant, freesia, vanilla, rose geranium, thyme, and gardenia.
Honeyed floral - another pretty BPAL honey scent. The gardenia is the most dominant for a while, but the dry down actually smells like chocolate. Weird since it's not listed in the notes. The sillage is high before it dries down - that gardenia packs a punch. I like this, but I don't love it. 3/5

BPAL Saint Foutin de Varailles - Beeswax, frankincense, dried rose petals, and a dribble of wine.
Again with that honey note! Somehow I seem to have collected a good number of BPAL honey perfumes and tested them all at the same time. Weird. This one is quite similar to The Light of Men's Lives, and come to think of it might be the reason I don't have a full bottle of that. The wine adds a bit of a boozy element to it though, so it's not exactly the same. Sillage is high and longevity is good - I wore this all day and could still smell traces of it on my wrist the next morning. 4/5

Darling Clandestine What Mandy Makes - What Mandy Makes is deep, vague, very smoky, very potent, with undertones of Oriental musk. It has a cucumber topnote, though there's no "cucumber" fragrance ingredient. The drydown is smoky sweet. A perfectly unisex fragrance.
Cucumber always smells like melon to me - in the bottle and when first applied I smell melon. It's pretty and summery but it deepens quite quickly to a smokey musk. It's lovely would be perfect on either a man or a woman but it fades and disappears annoyingly fast. This is one to reapply frequently. 3/5 

Days 161 to 173!

Morderteile Kelah - Darling Clandestine

Details: 
Morderteile Kelah
Darling Clandestine

Notes: 
This is a fragrance I've created in honor of a magnificent lady with magnificent knockers. Amber, hyacinth, milk and strawberry jam are just a few of the elements that capture Kelah. As if anyone ever could capture her completely. You need a butterfly net, I bet. It's sweet and sultry and spicy and summery, and I'm so very happy with it.

I've never set myself up as a perfume expert (far from it), and I've never claimed to be great at describing them. I try to get across how each perfume smells on me to the best of my ability, and hopefully that is helpful to some people. However, I struggle so much with Darling Clandestine perfumes. The blends are such that I can rarely pick out any specific notes, and it's not that they are a big mess like, say, some of the BPAL general catalogues. It's just that they're so damned unique that I can't just go, "Oh yes - that's X!" with any confidence. I think I smell something like vanilla, but that might be the milk now that I've seen the notes. It's creamy and sweet - more like condensed milk now I think of it. There's something vaguely alcoholic in there... something a bit smokey... there's a dab of sweetness that's bordering on fruity but not quite (the jam?). Gosh, I don't know. It's very pretty, though.

This perfume went a bit dusty on me after a while, which was a pity because I was quite enjoying it until then. It didn't last all that long - maybe 3 hours or so. Sillage is quite low too. Once again, Darling Clandestine defeats my attempts to get my head around a fragrance! 

Rating: 
I don't know... 3/5? I like it a lot, but then it goes dusty. And even when it's good on me it's probably not one I'd buy a full bottle of. 

Day 139!

Pyrotechnik - Darling Clandestine

Details: 
Pyrotechnik
Darling Clandestine

Notes: 
Carefully blended and infused by me in small batches in vintage glass wine bottles, this fragrance is a sangria-spicy concoction with bold notes of cantaloupe and raw sandalwood darkened with smoke and earth. A multitude of different scent elements and weeks of methodical alchemy make Pyrotechnik no ordinary scented oil mix—it's a truly inimitable fragrance. The spice element in this one can warm the skin a bit, so take note if you're a sensitive type.

It took me ages to work out that what I was smelling was melon - in the bottle and when applied wet there was a strong watery element that I thought might have been cucumber for a while, but then realised it was too sweet. There is also a green note and something that smells like damp earth. I don't really get spice or sandalwood, though it does warm up as it dries, so maybe that's just those adding some heat rather than specific scent notes. This doesn't last a long time on me - maybe 3 hours, and although it starts off quite strong it sits close to the skin once it dries down. However, the bottle I have is huge so frequent reapplication doesn't bother me at all. 

This would be a lovely summer scent; the melon is fresh and bright without smelling 'fruity'.

Rating: 
3/5

Day 134!

Carny Wedding - Darling Clandestine

Details: 
Carny Wedding
Darling Clandestine

Notes: 
Carefully blended and infused by me in small batches in vintage glass wine bottles, this fragrance begins butter candy sweet and mellows on the skin to resiny wood and honeyed nectar. A multitude of different scent elements and weeks of methodical alchemy make Carny Wedding no ordinary scented oil mix-it's a truly inimitable fragrance. 

Jeepers creepers - in the vial this is sweet and smokey with a slight hint of candy, and when I applied it to my wrist I got a big hit of smokey bacon! Not at all what I was expecting. I don't quite know what to make of this. I have found with the few Darling Clandestine perfumes I've played with that they never smell like the (often scantly mentioned) notes lead me to think they will. And don't get me wrong, I love the smell of bacon. It's just so completely unexpected. When the perfume dries down that note goes away though the smokiness stays in the background.

Regular readers will know that within my perfume obsession I have a little side obsession with any kind of carnival/fun fair/freak show kind of scents, but they are almost all within a family of notes - foody, sweet, sticky, etc. I had expected Carny Wedding to be perhaps a more artsy version of one of those, and it's just not like those at all. Do I like it? I don't know. It's intriguing, and it's not quite like anything else I have. And I like that Darling Clandestine perfumes are often a puzzle.  As for whether I want to walk around smelling like this, I've yet to decide...

Rating: 
Undecided. A mystery!

Day 132!

Aequitas - Darling Clandestine

Details: 
Aequitas
Darling Clandestine

Notes: 
Yes. It's a fragrance inspired by the Boondock Saints. Smoke and blood and whiskey and damp alleys and leather and steel and gunpowder and sweat and denim and sweet wooden rosary beads and a bit of clover struggling up through concrete cracks. It is unisex and so, so, so sexy.

Aequitas contains highly concentrated German chamomile, so it's got a bit o' the green. And since it also contains real whiskey, the dark resins and lovely insanely green oil-bubbles tend to separate and settle at the bottom. Just give the bottle a shake, and the perfume turns the color of a luna moth. :)

I wore this for three days in a row trying to get my head around it and I'm still baffled. I can't really pick out any notes, it smells like... green. In the bottle I think I can smell the steel note and also the whiskey, but to be honest I could only pick out those notes once I knew they were there. It's very masculine - slightly too masculine for my tastes. Once applied it stays that way for quite a long time, but then a couple of hours later there's something floral about it - no particular flower, not particularly girly, but definitely floral. It's weird. I have no idea whether or not I like it. Sillage is medium, longevity is about 10 hours.

Rating: 
Undecided. I'm going to try it again in a month or so and see if I can make more sense of it.

Day 114!

Mad as Birds - Darling Clandestine

Details: 
Mad as Birds (prototype)
Darling Clandestine

Notes: 
Mad as Birds is a sweet, cool, garden-dew fragrance with notes of pear and mint and amber and marigolds. A multitude of different scent elements and weeks (months!) of methodical alchemy make Mad as Birds no ordinary scented oil mix—it's a truly inimitable fragrance. 

A few weeks ago in the middle of the really hot spell towards the end of summer, I was stuck in the house and bored and read a Facebook post on Darling Clandestine's page offering a special deal of 3 full size (specific) bottles and a 'bitsy' (Evonne's version of a sample - though really it's not that much shy of a full size bottle of, say, BPAL) of a prototype of Mad as Birds, a perfume that had been available in the past but was now reformulated. I had no idea what the notes were in any of the perfumes in the deal, and I'd never bought anything from Darling Clandestine, but I decided on a whim to grab it anyway. White wine spritzers may or may not have been involved.

In the bottle, Mad as Birds smells green and fresh, with a tiny hint of the mint discernible and a slight wine-ish note. This might just be me - when I was little my grandpa was always making wine out of weird things like bananas and pears, and since then I've always thought pears smelled slightly alcoholic.

Once I applied to my skin the pear was more distinct and true to its fruitiness, and I have to say, I really liked it. Am I actually coming around to fruit? Noooooo! The green note (is that marigold? I don't know what marigold smells like), still with that little dab of mint, keeps this perfume light and bright; I would have liked to have had this in the above-mentioned heatwave. The fragrance doesn't change all that much throughout, though the dry down is a bit deeper, with the amber darkening it all just a touch (not too much, though - it certainly doesn't scream "Hey, I'm amber!" as many others do). Sillage was medium, as was longevity. I had this on from early evening and could still smell it when I went to bed. In the morning there was just a tiny faint hint of it left.

Note: As this is a prototype, it may or may not be the same version as the one currently available on the website.

Rating: 
4/5 I don't feel like I need a bigger bottle of this at the moment, but I am glad I have more than a standard size sample. I have hardly any 'summery' perfumes, so this is something a bit different for me.

Day 78!

Circassian - Darling Clandestine

Details:
Circassian
Darling Clandestine

Notes:
Carefully blended and infused by me in small batches in vintage green glass wine bottles, this is a warm chocolaty fragrance with intriguing notes of amber and blossoms. A dozen different scent elements and several days of methodical alchemy make Circassian no ordinary scented oil mix—it's a truly inimitable fragrance.

It's weird that the label of this has nothing written on it. I received it from Su, so I don't know whether there was maybe a tag attached that has been removed or what. It would be confusing if you bought a whole bunch of them, though.

In the bottle I smell chocolate and coffee, a deeper version of Haus of Gloi's Vice. Once it's applied the chocolate recedes and the coffee really comes out strong. There is also a note in there of something a little sharp and green, and something slightly floral. The dry down is a chocolate floral with a dab of amber  sweetening it up. On paper, this is my jam, but there is something there I don't like, and I cannot put my finger on what it is. It wasn't a scrubber on me, it was just.... not what I would have expected.

Rating: 
2/5

Day 28!