Dark Chocolate Fudge Taffy Pull - Violette Market

First sniff: 
Just lots of chocolate.

First applied: 
Chocolate and something a bit watery, sort of reminds me of Tom Ford's Black Orchid. There's a definite floral note but I can't place it - something delicate. This is quite faint too - I slathered a bit but the sillage is not at all high.

After 30 mins: 
A watery floral with a bit of a chocolate base note, pretty but not at all what I would expect by the name.

After 3 hours: 
The base has deepened a little and it's slightly more chocolatey than it was at the 30 minute mark; the aquatic floral is still there and seems to be the main focus. The perfume overall is quite faint now - this one doesn't hang around too long.

Longevity: 
Two to three hours. 

Actual notes/description: 
Dark chocolate fudge with hints of Bourbon vanilla, vanilla cream, pink sugar cane, lemon blossom, orange cream, raspberry truffle, blueberry and caramel. 

Availability: 
Violette Market
Limited Edition - State Fair 2012 
No longer readily available. You might pick it up in private sales.

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!

Santisima Muerte - Twyla Perfumes

Details: 
Santisima Muerte
Dia de los Muertos collection
Twyla Perfumes & Apothecary

Notes: 

Sandalwood absolute, golden champaca, rose absolute, blood-orange,  benzoin, sweet 

patchouli.

In the vial this smells like sweet orange - it reminded me a bit of Possets Florida, though not nearly as sickly. Once applied the sandalwood comes out and what I think is sweet patchouli. I definitely get a 'patchouli vibe' but it's not nearly as overwhelming as patch generally is for me. There's a floral note but it doesn't smell distinctly like rose to me, more like blossoms, actually. The perfume is quite faint (I don't recall whether this is one of the older, less potent formulas), and disappeared within 4 hours. 

Rating: 

3/5 Pretty, but not memorable.

Day 174!

Nevada - HEAT - Possets Perfume

Details:
Nevada - HEAT
Possets Perfume

Notes:
Nevada, it's HOT. It's exciting and it gets YOU hot! They work at that, and it's a natural phenomenon. Supersweet vanilla grabs a sassy orange/citrus for a fast ride through the desert at sunset. Resins drip into and out of the blend, and a blast of spice comes from nowhere to tie it all together. Heat isn't for everyone, and certainly not for the timid nor for the conformist, unless you really want to have a brief holiday from your hum drum existence. Gives you all the excitement of that last shake before you roll the dice. USA, spicy resin, long lasting.

There's an episode of one of Nigella's Christmas specials where she soaks a turkey in a bucket full of brine to which she has added a ton of seasonings like orange peel, cloves, star anise, vanilla pods, and so on. Oddly enough, this is exactly what Nevada made me think of when I first smelled it. It doesn't conjure up any kind of hot weather for me at all - quite the opposite. It makes me think of a cold, wintery Christmas.

In the vial it's mostly citrus, but the spice comes out on the skin and the vanilla sweetens it, but thankfully not in the same sickly way as Florida. The drydown is spicy citrus resin, still resolutely holiday food, but deeper and darker. 

Sillage is medium and longevity is quite good - about 8 hours later I could still smell it on my wrist. I don't know if I like it all that much - it's not bad but it just doesn't make me think of what it's obviously supposed to represent. I think this perfume should actually be called Nigella's Christmas Turkey.

Rating:
2/5

Day 153!

Florida - Possets Perfume

Details:
Florida
Possets Perfume

Notes: 
Florida, is there a place which is more closely tied to oranges? Several different natural orange essences from a variety of different sources giving different nuances to the idea of orange. Then we have barded it over with an intense and wild musk for staying power, spices to keep it interesting and a strong a bitter sort of musk which mimics the bitterness of the peel if you put your tongue to it. Bracing but sexy, not for the faint of heart, and real alluring. This is as interesting as a weekend in South Beach!

Well, this is definitely orange, but it's a sickly sweet orange that frankly makes me feel a bit nauseous. It's like an 'orange fruit drink' - the kind that pretends to be juice but isn't. After about 20 minutes this was literally making me feel sick and I had to get it off, so I can't tell you anything more about it. Definitely not for me!

Rating:
1/5

Day 152!

Perpetual Orgasm - Possets

Details:
Perpetual Orgasm
Possets Perfume

Notes: 
The divine honey which the bees make on the dry and craggy plains is the starting point for such a melting blend. Malta is an arid country and the non populated expanses are covered with tough aromatic growth which needs little rainfall. It is in that hard herbal mat that the bees wrestle the tiniest drops of nectar out of sparse light blue flowers and somehow manage to manufacture honey of such brilliance it’s almost as if the sun was captured and liquefied. Added to this is a shard of sharp lemon zest and the smooth modification of orange, both citrus which can be found in abundance in the Mediterranean, and which naturally compliment Maltese honey, and you will have found a paradise in a bottle.

So apparently a perpetual orgasm smells like orange sherbet. There is a dab of lemon, and something a bit.. not minty but kind of icy that just wafts through every now and then. It's bugging me no end what that is actually - it's right on the tip of my tongue but I just can't... quite... get it. AGH! I'm not a big fan of citrus scents generally, but there's a sweet edge to this from the honey that makes it much more palatable to me. I like it a lot. It really is just basically sherbet though. Who knew that's what an orgasm smells like? Sillage is quite high at first but mellows after 30 minutes or so. Longevity is good - 8 hours or so.

Rating:
4/5... and what the heck is that note?

Day 141!

White Rabbit - Enchanticals

Details: 
White Rabbit
Enchanticals Perfume

Notes: 
The frantic little fur ball...always running around with that over sized pocket watch. What was he in such a hurry for down in Wonderland? This perfume is in homage to that cute little fella with a blend of white things like white gardenia, a hint of fluffy coconut, then I added some fresh orange essential oil, dark juicy berries, tree barks & mosses and ancient ambers. Subtle, fresh and super alluring while being completely enchanting and fit to be adored by all on both sides of the Rabbit hole. Fragrance Family: Modern/Floral, Feminine.

In the vial White Rabbit smells foody - I can smell the orange and the berries, but applied to the skin the white floral comes out and it's quite potent.  It's sweetened by the coconut, which I took for vanilla until I read the notes and then realised immediately I was going up the wrong path there. This is a heady, 'perfumey' perfume - I was right on the edge of a headache with it for the first half hour or so. Once it dries down it softens to a smooth, foody floral, but it still has a fair bit of throw. Longevity is medium - I reapplied after about 5 hours. The moss and amber were lost on me - this was straight up floral gourmand. 

Rating: 
2/5 Meh. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. 

Day 138! 

Trick or Treat - Alkemia Perfumes

Details:
Trick or Treat
Alkemia Perfumes

Notes:  
A grownup confection of black licorice, mandarin orange peel, caramelized brown sugar, bourbon vanilla, candied ginger, tonka bean, blonde patchouli, cedar tips, oakmoss, and sandalwood. Utterly sexy on both men and women... While this perfume smells like a sumptuous treat, it's got a secret trick... Dr. Alan Hirsch (Director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation) did several studies on the effect of black licorice on the responses of men and women. He found that black licorice increased blood flow to *ahem* certain parts of both the male and female anatomy simulating sexual arousal.

I bought this sample late last year, tried it, adored it, and intended to buy a full bottle immediately, but for some reason never got around to it (too many scented distractions, too little time...). I'm moving it up the chain of full bottle priorities because I am wearing it today and I love it as much as I did the first time. In the vial it smells like orange-scented liquorice, very much a Halloween kind of scent with black and orange. It doesn't say in the seller's notes, but I am assuming this was originally a Halloween edition perfume. Once applied, the alcohol comes out - the bourbon vanilla (more bourbon than vanilla), the liquorice, the orange, that tonka warming it all.. unf! This perfume is TO DIE FOR. The tonka holds through the drydown, and there is a woody note as well that I guess must be the cedar tips (though I don't know what the difference is between that and a regular cedarwood note). Thankfully, I don't really get the sandalwood at all - I've been having a rough time with that of late. Blonde patchouli - what the heck is that? Whatever it is, I can barely, barely smell patchouli in the dry down, but again, it is thankfully in the background and not dominating. I could not detect the ginger either, though there was a tickly spicy note that popped up now and then fleetingly that might have been that.

I suspect this would be a polarising perfume - if you hate liquorice or orange, forget it. This is not for you. But if you like those notes, you must try this. It's not like anything else I own or have tried, and seriously - WHY DO I NOT HAVE A FULL BOTTLE YET?

Rating: 
5/5

Day 122!

I Tricked Your Treat - Enchanticals Perfume

Details: 
I Tricked Your Treat
Halloween 2012
Enchanticals Perfume

Notes:
A bag full of goodies with candy corn, butterscotch, chocolate, a hint of fall apples & oranges, spiked with buttered rum and a few other cauldron filled secrets ;) Super yum!

In the vial this is sweet, slightly lemony vanilla pudding. It smells so delicious I want to eat it. Once applied, it's sweet lemon pastry. It's super foody, but in a way I really like. It reminds me a lot of BPAL's Eat Me and The Garden Bath's Lemon Chiffon. I am a sucker for a perfume that smells like dessert!

This goes a bit dusty on me after about 20 minutes, something about the heart of it doesn't work on me very well. Thankfully that doesn't last long - just when I was beginning to get disappointed and think it was going to turn out to be a scrubber after such a promising start, it mellowed to a warm, caramel vanilla scent. The specific notes listed don't really come out on me - I don't know what actual candy corn smells like anyway. I don't get apple or orange, though I do get that slight lemony citrus. Buttered rum and butterscotch could be that caramel vanilla, I guess. Basically, it starts off on me as crème anglaise and on the dry down it turns into sticky date pudding. Either way, I want dessert now. Sillage and longevity are both medium - it stuck around for about 4-5 hours.

Rating:
3/5

Day 76!

Alice's Tea Party - Black Baccara

Details:
Alice's Tea Party
Black Baccara

Notes:
A peculiar and curious scent; sweet but hinting at something surreal. The atmosphere and magic of tea time with Alice is captured in an apothecary bottle. Hints of freshly brewed green tea mix with tart wild cherries, oranges, pomegranates, honey, marshmallows, whispers of vanilla and the faintest hint of baking bread. Comforting and delicious with the perfect dose of strangeness.

I recently received an order of 10 samples from this shop, and this is the first one I've had a chance to try. As I mentioned in my last past, with the last few sample orders I've done I've tried to branch out to things I would not normally try, and this is one of them. I don't like fruit scents generally, but I figured I could at least test this out and then pass it on to Noodles, who loves them. And that's exactly what I've done.

In the vial this smells like cherry advokaat - that cherry smell that is almost like children's cough medicine. I can also smell the honey and a hint of orange. Once applied it smells pretty much the same for a few minutes, until it begins to dry down, when it becomes a fruit cocktail - very sweet and syrupy. I can't smell marshmallow or vanilla (and definitely not bread) but there is a sugariness there. Once it dries down the tea comes out, but it still smells like fruit tea. This is definitely not for me, but Noodles likes it.

Rating:
2/5 Not awful, but not at all my cup of tea.

Day 18!