The Piemaker - Sarawen Perfume Art

First sniff:
Fruit, but for once not gross fruit. Okay, I'm going in.

First applied:
Sort of like cherry, but this smells like actual cherry pie made with actual cherries, not that cough syrup cherry note you usually get in perfumes. I kind of like this - it's warm but light at the same time.

After 30 minutes:
Jammy fruit and something floral - it smells like one of those blossom jams you get at farmer's markets. There is a very, very slight dustiness - I hope that goes away. Sillage is not high, even after just half an hour I don't really notice the perfume unless I sniff my wrist.

After 3 hours:
Sadly this went completely dusty not long after the 30 minute mark, and pretty much disappeared within 2 hours. That first burst was pretty nice, but it didn't like me much after that.

Longevity: 
Not long - not even 2 hours. I find that with a lot of Sarawen perfumes, my skin just seems to eat them.

Actual notes/description: 
Having baked pies all morning, the piemaker opened his establishment and commenced to serve his customers. The scent of berries, baked pastry and a hint of floral wafts through, beckoning one to sit at a booth and enjoy one of the piemaker's fine treats! The piemaker is inspired by the character of Ned from Pushing Daisies, and is a balanced unisex fragrance with a floral amber background blended with gourmand notes. Main notes: berry pies, pale musk, apple spice, tuberose, amber.

Availability:
Sarawen Perfume Art
Limited Edition - Valentine's Day 2015
Available at the time of writing in sample and full size.

Dorian - Sarawen Perfume Art

First sniff: 
A very potent single floral note - not rose, maybe lotus? With a sharp green note as well.

First applied: 
Woo, this is a head kicker - I sneezed a few times immediately after applying. The floral note is still right out there but I don't think it's lotus. It's definitely not iris or violet, it's familiar but not common to me. Mystery! There's a teeny bit of something that is maybe vanilla... or possibly coconut. It's got that slightly tropical edge. I like this - it's definitely floral but not old lady-ish. Jeez, it's really strong though. Sorry in advance, office!

After 30 minutes: 
I had a doctor's appointment first thing this morning and while he was talking to me he suddenly started sniffling and then sneezed. He said, "Sorry - sensitive nose." At the time I thought he was referring to hay fever, but I realised later on it was my perfume that set him off. Oops! At the 30 minute mark it was still pretty strong, and I still can't figure out what that floral note is. 

After 3 hours: 
Almost gone. Wha' happen? It was super potent for a while and then it seemed to fade really suddenly. I can smell it if I hold my wrist up to my nose but it's definitely only got about two hours or so of real life in it. The base is more mellow, musky and less floral - I'm thinking there's coconut in there for sure. I like this one a lot so I wouldn't mind having to frequently reapply. It's probably more suited to the evening than the office though. 

Longevity: 
About two hours at full potency, then fades considerably. 

Actual notes/description: 
A beauty that never dies, which lingers in late nights with absinthe-induced fantasies as light musks permeate the air. The sweetness of his sins is covered in dark orchids and red florals, while exotic chypres and hints of coconut cream linger in his debauched luxury... main notes: musk, absinthe, orchids, (d'oh!), coconut. 

Availability: 
Sarawen Perfume Art
Fall 2014 - currently available
Sample and full size

Catch Up Post #6

Sarawen Ambrosia Chocolat - Chocolate, amber, honey, vanilla, patchouli. 
This smells like sweet candied flowers and chocolate, with a note of something boozy that I put down to the vanilla. The honey warms it up and stops it being too 'young'. It reminds me a lot of Molinard Fleur de Chocolat. Sillage and lasting power are medium - I reapplied after about 6 hours. I liked this, but I don't think I need a full bottle. 3/5

Villaness Xia -  Orchid, black vanilla, blackberry, black pepper, cocoa, amber, sandalwood.
This was a free sample and appears to be exclusive to The Soap Box Company. It's chocolatey in the vial, but once applied the pepper really comes out. I wanted to like it but I think the orchid actually weakens it and makes the rest of it seem watery. The notes just don't seem to mesh or something. 2/5

Villainess Dulces en Feugo - Musky bitter chocolate sweetened with vanilla and touches of citrus then positively inflamed with black pepper and nutmeg.
Again, the notes here just didn't quite go together. I got a friend who has pretty much zero interest in perfume to sniff and asked what she thought of it and she said that 'something was clashing with something else'. I could mostly smell chocolate but I got the citrus and spice as well. In theory this should work beautifully, but it doesn't. 2/5

Enchanticals Zombie Juice -  Sandalwood, coffee, cocoa, vanilla cream, whiskey, allspice, spice, sage, pumpkin liqueur.
Sadly this was an almost immediate scrubber on me. There was something in it that made my wrists itch like crazy and I had to get it off. I had the same problem with Harvesting Zombies, so it's obviously the same note. For the 15 minutes or so I had it on it smelled like chocolate, cinnamon and something like grass or hay. 1/5

Haus of Gloi White Blackberry - Cream, ripe blackberry and a touch of juniper wood.
There is a strong note of almond in this at first, both in the vial and when applied to skin. I hated it and almost washed it off, but after 10 minutes or so that note subsided. What's left is a fresh, creamy berry scent. It's pretty and girly, but I feel about 25 years too old for it. One for Noodles, I think. 2/5

Haus of Gloi Zazz - Tart cranberry, pink grapefruit, sparkling champagne all shook up with crushed ginger root.
This smells exactly like the stuff I use to clean my toilet. Blech. 1/5

Alchemic Muse Turkish Mocha - Dark chocolate ganache topped with a dollop of whipped marshmallow meringue and a smattering of roasted hazelnuts immersed in steamy Turkish Coffee spiked with cocoa absolute.
Not a lot of luck with perfumes this week. In the vial and first applied this is a coffee/chocolate scent, very reminiscent of Haus of Gloi's Vice. However, after about 15 minutes it turned dusty and it stayed that way until disappearing entirely a couple of hours later. I reapplied later in the day and the exact same thing happened. 2/5

Days 199 - 206!

Logical Delusion - Sarawen Perfumes

Details:
Logical Delusion
Sherlock Holmes Collection
Sarawen Perfumes

Notes: 
A dangerous and cunning blend of poisoned tea, tobacco, and gunpowder, with a hint of nag champa and absinthe. Beware, Holmes! This is a unisex fragrance that borders towards masculine and is inspired by the character of Moriarty from the world of Sherlock Holmes - it is the perfect foil to my Holmes' fragrance, 'Logical Deduction'!

Well, there's definitely tobacco - straight up that's mostly what I could smell in this one. I did get a whiff of the tea in the background every now and then but the tobacco dominated so it was hard to find. In the dry down, the absinthe was discernible occasionally, but like the tea, kept getting pushed back by the tobacco. This is an extremely masculine scent to me. It was pretty strong with high sillage and lasted for a good 8 hours or so. I almost scrubbed it off at one point because it was so potent it was starting to give me headache. A little dab of this is plenty.  

Rating: 
2/5 If you like very manly perfumes you might be into this, but it's too much for me.

Day 196!

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!

The Baker's Boy - Sarawen Perfumes

Details: 
The Baker's Boy
The Hunger Games
Sarawen Perfumes

Notes:
Spend a day frosting and decorating cakes with Peeta. A luscious, gourmand fragrance bursting with ripe strawberries (from Katniss of course!) and delicious yellow cake. Underneath the delicious-ness drifts soft vetiver, leather, and golden amber. This perfume is a unisex blend that borders towards feminine.

In the vial, and when I first applied this, I thought I smelled hay. Looking at the notes now I realise it's vetiver. At first this is a fairly masculine scent - the vetiver and leather dominating. The dry down however, is when all the sweet foodiness comes out, and I find that really interesting as it's generally the other way around. The strawberries are almost floral-smelling rather than fruity, and the amber is sweet and mellow and not overwhelming. The longer I wore this the more I liked it. Sillage is lowish - it sits reasonably close to the skin but I imagine if you lashed it about you'd make yourself known. The longevity is medium - I reapplied after about 5 hours as it was beginning to smell more faint by then.

Rating: 
4/5

Day 160!

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!