Pig & Pepper - Twyla Perfumes

Details:
Pig & Pepper
Twyla Perfumes & Apothecary

Notes: 
Cyclamen, raspberry, rose, milk accord, amber, mimosa, honey and pink pepper. 

Sometimes I have a week where everything seems like a dud, and sometimes I have a week where I like pretty much everything I test. I wonder if that's just chance or if there is a body chemistry thing going on. For example, I wonder if I'm having 'lady's days', my skin chemistry changes to make everything smell either really crap or really good. Interesting. Or maybe just creepy.

Anyway, this has been a pretty decent week and this is the third one in a row that I've tested and really enjoyed. In the vial I can smell rose, mimosa and honey, it's bright and sweet and a tiny bit fruity. Once applied the pepper gives it a bit of a spicy kick, and the raspberry adds a nice tart element to balance the sweetness. The amber is there in the dry down but doesn't amp on me for once - it just makes everything else smell a bit deeper. There's a creaminess that I attribute to the milk accord, and overall this is a lovely bright perfume that I'd probably wear more in the spring and early summer.

Sillage was medium, as was lasting power. I reapplied after about 6 hours.

Rating: 
4/5

Day 158!

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! 

Devilish - Arcana Soaps

Details: 
Devilish
Arcana Soaps (bought from The Rhinestone Housewife)

Notes: 
Shaking off vanilla's reputation for namby pambyness, this infernally dark and smoky fragrance comes complete with licks of fire and sulfurous wafts of brimstone. The devil really does have all the best scents!

Hold my hand guys, this is my first ever Arcana. Part of me is wondering what the heck took me so long, and part of me is wishing I never dipped a toe in because I predict I am going to become much poorer. I. FREAKIN'. LOVE. THIS. It's vanilla turned up to 11. In the bottle you really can smell sulphur, and that should be gross, right? I mean, my experience of that smell is trying to 'smoke' matches (don't ask) while lighting the bunsen burners in Science and then going into a coughing fit. Once applied, the vanilla is deep and smokey, with a touch of booziness about it but not too much.

The description of this perfume is spot on - I can't describe it better. It's quite masculine but still a bit sweet, and the sillage starts off reasonably high. When I wore it to work, Jacquie commented on it, saying she liked it but she wouldn't want to be stuck in an elevator with me wearing it. It does settle a little but it lasts a long time - I could still smell it at the end of the day.

Rating: 
5/5 I splurged on a full bottle and I am so glad I did.

Day 156!

Shaking off vanilla’s unfair reputation for namby pambyness, this infernally dark and smoky fragrance comes complete with licks of fire and sulfurous wafts of brimstone. The devil really does have all the best scents. - See more at: https://www.therhinestonehousewife.com/products/product-detail.php?iid=45#sthash.TYBCIETM.dpuf

Shaking off vanilla’s unfair reputation for namby pambyness, this infernally dark and smoky fragrance comes complete with licks of fire and sulfurous wafts of brimstone. The devil really does have all the best scents. - See more at: https://www.therhinestonehousewife.com/products/product-detail.php?iid=45#sthash.TYBCIETM.dpuf

Bloody Valentine - Black Baccara

Details: 
Bloody Valentine
Black Baccara

Notes: 
A perfume for those who like their florals with a hint of gloom and doom. Bloody Valentine is a story of aged papers and Victorian flowers enhanced by a tinge of the metallic and earthy. It is a strong, floral blend best suited for those who love the smell of "vintage" flowers and Victorian inspired perfumes. The scent here is from another time and place. The strongest notes are those of violets, followed by rose, sandalwood, a hint of red wine, a trace of soil, and clove pennyroyal, among others.

The dominant notes in this floral are violet and rose, and boy are they running the show. It's like Bea Smith and the Freak fighting for supremacy in Prisoner (the real one, not that travesty of a remake). This is a true head kicking perfumy perfume, and not for those who like their scents delicate. There is a sweet note that could be wine, and a sharpish spice note that might be clove or nutmeg. The dry down was like a mildly spicy soap, and once that soapiness made an appearance it stayed until the perfume disappeared about 4 hours later. No likey. 

Rating: 
1/5

Day 155!

Snake Oil Salesman - Enchanticals

Details: 
Snake Oil Salesman
Enchanticals Perfume

Notes: 

"Hurry, hurry, step right up! Find it here and here alone, the one, the original Snake Oil Liniment direct from the Santa Rosa Mountains. What does it do you ask?! It heals the sick, and grows hair on your head, rub it on your belly and watch it shrink overnight. Got a headache? Muscle aches? Just rub a bit on the affected area an VIOLA! Pain be gone! This stuff cures all that ails ya, and if you act right now, you can be the one millionth and oneth happy customer who has purchased this miracle ointment!" Ok, I'm lying but I think you might like this one! A sultry unisex fragrance created with tons of love and essential oils like this: Blended together are ancient cypher's, incense accord with frankincense, Egyptian sandalwood, a shot of whiskey, spices like ginger and cardamom, and a bunch of deep dark secrets that well, if you told you I'd have to kill ya ;)

In the vial this is a spicy incense; applied to skin I can smell ginger and what I think might be cloves. Some kind of strong spice, anyway. It's quite masculine and dark. After a couple of minutes it took a horrifying turn and became... fertiliser. I'm not kidding. You know in Spring when the council comes out and lays fertiliser in all the nature strips and it's kind of fresh and country-ish but also gross and manky at the same time? Yeah, that. I thought maybe I was imagining things at first - that I'd stepped in something and that's what I was smelling, but nope, definitely fertiliser.

Like the trooper I am, I stuck it out and thankfully after 20 minutes or so when it had dried down, the fertiliser smell faded and it morphed into a spicy resin, very masculine and not too bad but definitely not my thing. Longevity was low-ish to medium - it had gone completely in 4 hours. Sillage was high at first but didn't last long.

Rating: 
2/5

Day 154!

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!