Rose Coloured Glasses - Twyla Perfumes

Details:
Rose Coloured Glasses
Twyla Perfumes & Apothecary

Notes:
This one is definitely for you Rose-lovers out there. Four different roses are used in this beautiful aromatherapy perfume, as well as a gorgeous vanilla, a generous dose of calming sandalwood absolute and jasmine sambac, and finally a touch of a beautiful and uplifting fresh mint absolute i've just found (and now i refuse to use anything else). I absolutely love this one, and find it especially good to wear on those days when my spirits need a bit of a lift. And if you're already feeling good, this will make you feel even better!


Super pretty rose perfume, with the roseness of the rose (heh) tempered by the sandalwood and vanilla, which adds a slightly musk candy scent. I don't really get the mint as such, but there's something there that adds a bit of a zing.I've worn this one a few times and I really like it - it's sweet and feminine and there's not a huge amount going on but that's okay. Sillage is medium - if you threw it about you'd probably announce your entrance to a room, but a bit of a dab is fine. Longevity is fairly good - I find it lasts 6-7 hours on me.

Rating: 
3/5

Day 178!

Courtly Love - Possets

Details: 
Courtly Love
Possets Perfume

Notes: 
The slow stately thromb of courtly love as the man adores his lady and shows his love every day. Coconut (here used more as a serious element rather than a novelty) dances with apricot and a light kiss of vanilla and a very sweet, not stinky, jasmine to make a honey-ed note stand out. Swoony nice.

I wore this for three days in a row because it was so pretty. It's just a sweet, girly gourmand, but something about it just kept me gravitating back for another wear. In the vial I can smell the jasmine and vanilla - it's a prettier than usual version of any number of white floral vanilla scents. Once applied, the coconut comes out and the jasmine just kind of hovers around the edges - this is definitely  a foody perfume rather than a flowery one. The coconut is more creamy than coconut generally is in perfume, and the apricot makes it smell like a delicious dessert - it reminded me of something custardy like a pannacotta or a crème anglaise.

Sillage was medium to low - it didn't really scream its presence at all, but I could smell it when I moved my arm. It didn't last a long time though - it was virtually gone in 3 hours or so.

Rating: 
4/5

Day 157! 

Lady Nightingale - Sarawen Perfume Art

Details:
Lady Nightingale 
Dragon Age Set
Sarawen Perfume Art

Notes: 
Fragrant white flowers of ginger blossom, jasmine, and gardenia over a sensuous base of light musk. Topped off with a single note of sweet vanilla. Delicate and innocent, yet charmingly sexy. This scent is an ultra-feminine floral musk inspired by Lelianna.

In the bottle there's something that smells almost fruity, but once applied this is definitely a white floral - the jasmine in particular is prevalent. It's quite strong at first, with a medium to high sillage, but after 20 minutes or so it dries down and softens a bit. The vanilla and musk base sweeten the floral. It lasted about 6 hours on me before I felt I had to reapply.

There is nothing unique about this perfume - it's a pretty standard white floral musk, but if you like that sort of thing, it's a very pretty version. I found myself sniffing my wrist a lot when I was wearing it.

As a side note, I can't believe this is the first Sarawen perfume I've tested for this blog! I just got a haul of samples the other day so there will be more. I love the packaging - the little bottles with screw top lids instead of vials with wands are a great idea.

Rating: 
3/5

Day 148!

Beatrix - Twyla Perfumes

Details: 
Beatrix
Twyla Perfumes & Apothecary

Notes: 
Beatrix (as in Beatrix Potter) - a scent evocative of spring blooms, warm bunnies, cotton dresses, ripe fruits and honey. Jasmine, melissa and mimosa; warm fuzzy musk, honey, grapefruit, sandalwood, clean cotton and peaches.

In the vial Beatrix smells like a fizzy floral - I realise that sounds weird but that's what comes to mind, as though there were sherbet in it. When I sniffed it my nose twitched AND WRITING THIS I JUST REALISED LIKE A RABBIT!! I have no idea whether that is deliberate but I'm delighted by it nonetheless.

Once applied I smell a very feminine, pretty floral, daubed with honey (which I realised later reading the notes is actually honeysuckle). I could smell something citrus and it took me a few seconds to work out it was grapefruit - one of the rare fruits I actually enjoy the smell of. The tart of the citrus early on tempers the sweetness a bit, but that disappears in the dry down, which is a honey musk, but one of those floral honeys like orange blossom or the like. Thankfully the peach never made an appearance on me, and the cotton just added a 'clean' element that wasn't so much a smell as a vibe. This perfume is gorgeously sweet but not sugary. Ultra girly but not sickly. I really like it. The sillage is fairly high for the first half hour or so - sensitive types could find this one a bit headachey. Lasting power is good - I put it on in the morning and reapplied mid-afternoon.

Rating: 
4/5

Day 136!

Lyra - Twyla Perfumes

Details:
Lyra
Literary Ingenues - Spring Collection 2013
Twyla Perfumes

Notes: 
Lyra - from Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series.  This one in particular is very close to my heart - it was my son Jamie's favourite book - we must have read it together 5 times in the space of 3 years.  I dedicate this one to him.  

Mandarin, jasmine, lily, cedarwood, copiaba, soft musk, madagascar vanilla and pink pepper.

 

In the vial I get a musky sweet white floral with a teensy bit of pepper that made my nose twitch. Applied to skin the pepper comes out more. At first I wasn't sure about it, I didn't want to sit here all afternoon sneezing my head off. It's not that kind of pepper though - it adds a really interesting spicy  kick to what could have just been a pretty floral musk. There's a slight woodiness too - I looked up copiaba because I'd never heard of it, and apparently that can be a bit woody, plus the cedarwood adds that sweet resiny kind of note. The vanilla didn't really come out on me at all as a distinct note - more just adding a bit of depth and sweetness in the background. It was all quite light and bright at first (I never did detect the mandarin, but I suspect that is what was making it so bright), but although the scent itself didn't change a whole lot, it deepened considerably as it dried down. Although it seems quite feminine, I think this one would actually work really nicely on a man. Sillage was medium, and it stuck around for about 6 hours or so before fading right down. I could still smell traces of it at the end of the day, but only with my nose up close. 

Rating: 

4/5 I really like this one, and yet again I'm tempted to get a full bottle, but ehhhhhn. How many full bottles of perfume can one person get through? I'm still considering whether to make a last minute dash before this collection comes down. 

Day 107!

Lucretia - Enchanticals Perfume

Details: 
Lucretia
Enchanticals Perfume

Notes: 
A Victorian, Gothic Mourning fragrance straight from the halls of the finest Funeral Parlors draped in velvet curtains, lace doilies under fine crystal vases of floral arrangements, and perfumed handkerchiefs dampened by tears of love lost. Soft powdery vanillas, a bouquet of funeral wreaths with Attar of Rose, Lilies, and Jasmine, with black Amber and a few other dark secrets.

In the vial Lucretia is a sweet vanilla floral, the kind of perfume I am always guaranteed to like - it's my jam. Application to my wrist brings out a pastry/cake note and a very faint hint of something lemony. The amber is present right from the beginning but it's quite soft. I can smell the jasmine and lilies in a beautiful blend of white floral, but the rose is not distinct - that's a good thing in this kind of perfume, it could easily take over. There's nothing much unique going on here - I've smelled many versions of this kind of perfume, but this is a particularly lovely blend. The dry down is a really pretty floral musk. Sillage was medium for a couple of hours, but even when it faded, the scent itself lasted for ages. I applied it early evening and I could still smell it on my wrist the following afternoon (for the record, I would normally have had a shower in that time but I'm on holidays so I'm skanking around the house).

Rating: 
5/5 Loved it, couldn't stop sniffing it. Definitely going on the full bottle list for my next Enchanticals purchase.

Day 87!

Snowdrift - Alchemic Muse

Details: 
Snowdrift
Winter Collection (2012)
Alchemic Muse

Notes:
White jasmine and crisp heliotrope floating over rose, carnation, gingered peach, and juniper berry in a sheer base of aged patchouli, smoky vetiver, sandalwood with a stray drop of black vanilla.

In the vial, this is sweet and lollyish - no idea what in the notes is making that happen. It smells like a candy carnival sort of perfume. Applied to my wrist it changed to a snowy white floral peach. Ugh... I think peach is pretty much my most hated of all fruit notes. The heliotrope makes it smell a bit synthetic as well, which is not always a bad thing (to me - I know it's an instant deal-breaker for many), but in this case combined with the peach it's not great. The dry down is a little nicer - it mellows to a slightly smokey vanilla blended with a light patchouli that doesn't overpower. Sillage is quite high on this - again I was wearing it when I was with Ben the perfume hater and he complained about it. It lasted about 4 hours.

Rating:
2/5 - maybe 3/5 I'm not entirely decided how I feel about this. I hate the peach, don't love the heliotrope, but the dry down is pleasant. Not a full bottle, though.

Day 69!

Vasilissa - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Details: 
Vasilissa
Marchen
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes: 
She herself had cheeks like blood and milk and grew every day more and more beautiful: creamy skin musk and blushing pink musk with soft sandalwood, white amber, dutiful myrrh, and star jasmine. 

There’s something about this that reminds me a little of yesterday’s Puce!, though this is not nearly as sickly. In the vial I can smell something sort of woody and slightly medicinal – I think that is the myrrh. On the skin, it smells like a sweet musky confectioner’s vanilla, the kind you’d find in a pudding. Odd since vanilla is not mentioned as a note – maybe it’s the pink musk? The jasmine adds a note of white floral as well. The dry down is sweet musk and lasts about 3 hours. Sillage is medium. 

Rating:
2/5 Eh, not hating it, not loving it.

Day 65!

Lady Victoria - Poison Apple Apothecary

Details:
Lady Victoria
Poison Apple Potions

Notes:
An embodiment of the Victorian Gothic era. A lady in all outward appearances, but there may be something darker lurking underneath…. Jasmine and Vanilla laid gently upon an enigmatic veil of musk.

This is one of my favourite perfumes and I don't wear it often enough. After deciding that I'm going to use my 'spesh' things instead of just buying them and hoarding them away, I pulled this out for a go around the block. There's nothing really complex about it - it's pretty much exactly as described. In the bottle and applied it's a gorgeous, lush blend of jasmine and vanilla. The musk comes out in the dry down and it lasts for hours. The sillage is medium. If you dab a smidge on your wrists it sits fairly close to the skin, but if you slather it on it does have a bit of throw.

Edit: I just realised that this smells quite similar to Solstice Scents Nightgown, so if you like the sound of this one, then that's worth checking out. 

Rating: 
5/5

 Day 31!