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!

Bar Sinister - Possets Perfume

Details: 
Bar Sinister
Possets Perfume

Notes: 
Green Bourbon vanilla extract, sweetbriar, a powerful green musk, and a very highly refined leather, a background of labdenum, and a high and intoxicating silk accord. If you were born to gentry, you might have a stripe running from right to left on which you would have some heraldic figure. That is if you were legitimate. if you were the love child of a powerful man, you might  have a coat of arms with the bar running from left to right and the same figures on it to show who your father was and why you were powerful. This wasn't always granted, but often enough to have the bar sinister be a feature in heraldry. All of the elements of illicit love at play here. Sultry sultry sultry.

In the vial and applied wet, this is a masculine vanilla, kind of boozy and musky, and there's a sharp green note as well. There is a resin note from the labdanum that is thankfully not overpowering - resin can amp on me sometimes and give me a bit of a headache. It just stays in the background warming up the scent and making it all manly mannish. Leather comes out more in the drydown, and the combination of that with the vanilla made this one compulsively sniffable for me. The whole time I was wearing this I was: *sniff sniff* "Mmmmm!" *sniff sniff* Mmmmm! I think this would do nicely with a smokey note too - I'm going to try layering it with something like Alkemia's Smoke & Mirrors once the heatwave is over (if it's ever over - waaaah!), and see what happens.

Sillage is medium - it doesn't throw itself around the room, but it's definitely there. It lasted a long time on me - upwards of 8 hours. And let me tell you, I enjoyed those 8+ hours immensely. *sniff sniff* "Mmmmm!" If I passed a guy in the street wearing this, I'd probably follow him home.

Rating:
5/5 Definitely a future full bottle purchase.

Day 68!

You Bring The Whiskey - Poison Apple Apothecary

Details: 
You Bring The Whiskey
Agnes Scott Collection / Fall Seasonal Rotation
Poison Apple Apothecary

Notes:
Based on our beloved tune, this boozy scent is heavy on the sweet southern whiskey and has lighter notes of Madagascar vanilla.

This is simply a rich, boozy vanilla liquor. It doesn't change much from first sniff to dry down, except that the dry down is slightly less boozy and slightly more vanilla-y. If you like vanilla, you'll probably love it - it's a grown up version, akin to something like Wiggle Perfume's Speakeasy Vanilla. I bought a full bottle unsniffed when it was on sale and I'm glad I did, because I love it. Sillage is medium - and if you ladled too much on it would probably be pretty high. It lasts a long time - I've had it on for about 6 hours now and I can still smell it when I move my wrists around. Gorgeous.

Rating: 
4/5

Day 59!

Jazz Funeral - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Details: 
Jazz Funeral 
Ars Moriendi
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes: 
Bittersweet bay rum, bourbon, and a host of funeral flowers with a touch of graveyard dirt, magnolia and Spanish moss. 

For a long time, Jazz Funeral was my favourite BPAL, but then I discovered more and more of their fragrances and then branched out into other indie perfume oil shops, and this one was pushed aside and forgotten. I pulled it out today because I was testing some Black Baccara scents and one of them made me think of this. It's still as lovely as I remember it being.

In the bottle, it smells like damp dirt and wet grass (I guess that's the moss). Applied, the floral comes out, though the dirt note is definitely there. Something - maybe the dirt - gives the flowers a note of decay. You know when there's a vase of lush white flowers that's been around for a few days and they are just beginning to die? You can still smell the perfume of them, but it's beginning to fade and turn just a little? That's what this is like. It sounds awful, but it somehow works - I adore this perfume. The damp earth recedes as it dries down, and it becomes more of a white floral, but still with that element of decay. The bourbon and - I assume - the bay rum give it a bit of warmth and depth. The sillage is in the head kicker category - I stopped wearing this at work a long time ago because a lady who sat a couple of desks away from me complained that it gave her a headache. Lasting power is long too - I've had this on for about 6 hours and it still smells quite strong.

Rating:
5/5 I'm glad I was prompted to pull this out again - I forgot how much I loved it.

Day 19!

Screamin' Mimi - Midnight Gypsy

Details:
Screamin' Mimi
Midnight Gypsy

Notes: 
Sticky sweet cotton candy with vanilla musk, cherry lollipops, a bite of chocolate.... and a splash or three of bourbon.

I got this in the mail a few days ago and I cannot stop playing with it. In the vial it's boozy, but a bit sweet, not that booze note that makes you reel back. First applied it's still sweet (not sugary) and boozy, and ever so slightly smoky. There's a hint of vanilla but I wouldn't call it bourbon vanilla - the sweet note is more of a confectioner's vanilla. It makes me think of trifle (my favourite old school dessert) - I don't get the cotton candy at all, and barely register the chocolate, but there's cherries in syrup, vanilla custard, and cream. This is a gorgeous gourmand with a bit of a kick.

Screamin' Mimi has medium sillage - it doesn't really scream its presence (heh), but you're definitely aware of it. It also lasts a really long time on me - I applied it twice in the early evening, and both times I could still smell it on my wrists well into mid-morning the following day.

Rating:
5/5 I absolutely love this, and I am definitely getting a full bottle the moment my January No Buy is up.

Day 6!

Carnival - Alchemic Muse

Details:
Carnival
Alchemic Muse

Notes: 
Relive the days of swing sets and carousel rides with this fun-loving scent from childhood. Sweet pink grapefruit, cotton candy, and lemon drops afloat a heart of sticky caramel, red berries, and fig leaves in a warm, comforting base of bourbon vanilla and white musk.

Whenever I see any kind of carnival or fair scent in a perfume shop I have to buy it. I am obsessed with them, and I love to see what different interpretations perfume creators have. Sometimes they're sweet, like toffee apples and fairy floss, sometimes they're warm and salty like popcorn. I rarely wear them, as they're almost always very 'young' perfumes, but I still love them.

In the vial, this perfume is sweet and citrusy, like orange sherbet. Once applied, the citrus becomes more tangy - I assume that's the grapefruit. There is a definite lolly smell, but it's not at all sickly. Slightly lemony, but I don't get the caramel or the berries.

As it dries down, it doesn't really change all that dramatically; it morphs into a sweeter, sticky candy/vanilla smell, but one of the better ones I've come across. It has a medium amount of throw, and lasted about 4 hours before I needed to reapply. 

Rating:
4/5 I really like this one a lot. Thumbs up! I think it would be an awesome soap, too.

Day 3!