Limerence - Darling Clandestine

Details:
Limerence
Darling Clandestine

Notes:
Limerence is a rich floral-not a grandmotherly floral, but a moody blend of bruised Casablanca lilies, bittersweet succulents, full-bodied herbal essentials, a heady crust of sea salt, and a wonderfully fine mitti attar that's the essence of first rain hitting sun-baked earth. 

First a note about the vial - these actually come labelled with a little ticket, like an old fashioned bus or tram ticket, as shown in the third picture on Liber Vix's review of some Darling Clandestines. It's a cute idea, but it's not overly practical for storage - I was worried they would fall of and then I'd never know which was which, so I just stuck these little labels on them myself. 

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before, but I find in a lot of perfumes - and particularly with Darling Clandestine perfumes - that the vial and the little wand cap smell different. In the vial this is very floral - an English/Victorian garden scent with lilies and something old-fashioned like lilacs or hyacinths. The wand, however, smells very green and herbal. Once applied those notes blend together - a green, lush, wet country garden. Surprisingly for a DC perfume, this one doesn't change all that much on me. It lasted about 6 or so hours before I felt that I needed to reapply, and the sillage was low to medium. 

Rating: 
3/5

Day 179!

Baneberry - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Details: 
Baneberry
Rappaccini's Garden
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes:
A poisonous fruit-bearing member of the buttercup family. The scent, like the plant, is dark green, herbal and plump with bulging black fruit. 

Erg. This is one of those BPALs that just turns into a smooshy mess on me. In the vial I can smell a herby green note and a sweet, berry-like fruitiness. Once applied it's just a giant fruit salad. Not for me at all. Sillage and longevity were medium - it lasted about 6 hours or so. We all know how I feel about fruit scents - enough said here.

Rating: 
1/5

Day 133!

Arizona - Sage and Honeycomb - Possets Perfumes

Details: 
Arizona - Sage and Honeycomb
Possets Perfumes

Notes: 
I have had a lot of requests for a desert scent. Many people love the sagey smell and thin clean atmosphere that comes with some very heat. Arizona seeks to capture the spirit of the state. A drop of honey mingles in the astringent fuzziness of sage, a good shot of evening musk lets you know that people really are here. A very beautiful blend, clean but appealing and bright. USA. 

This was one of the (many) freebies I received with my last Possets order; I would not have bought it myself as none of the notes appeal to me. As herbs go, sage is not a favourite of mine (give me the smell of basil or coriander any day), and even if it was, I don't like smelling like herbs - I like walking into a kitchen and smelling them. In the vial this is indeed herby and sweet, and there is also a note that makes me think of hay (my mum is married to a sheep farmer - I have smelled a lot of hay). What I don't have is a lot of experience of deserts - my last trip to a desert was a school excursion 30 years ago. However, when I smelled Arizona, it actually did make me think, "Yes, this is what I think a desert smells like." Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but it's effective. And I wonder if maybe the 'hay' smell is just a smell of 'dryness'? If so, that's clever.

Once applied, I can smell the honeycomb - or more correctly, honey. I'm not a fan of honey, either in taste or smell. It's one of those slightly sickly sweet scents that makes me screw my nose up, and combined with the sweetness of sage (man, there is a lot of alliteration in this sentence!), I was not loving it. And it continued to get more and more sweet as it went on. Of course, because I was not loving it, it lasted FOREVER. I put it on early evening and the next morning I could still smell traces of it. The sillage was not too high, but I think if you slathered it on (I didn't), you would risk announcing yourself from the next room. The dry down is musky and still sweet, with the sage hanging around until the bitter end.

I can understand why a lot of people would like this - it has a whole 'nature' thing going on that many people find appealing. However, it's not for me.

Rating: 
2/5

Day 81!

A Murder of Crows - Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Details:
A Murder of Crows
Halloweenie: Pumpkin Patch 2007 Companion
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Notes:
Sleek iris and verbena, grey amber, benzoin, davana and glossy herbs.

Nadja requested a review of this one, and I was happy to oblige because I love me some iris. In the vial, I can smell the iris - it's floral and pretty without being girly, slightly astringent and lemony from the verbena.

Annoyingly, once applied on my the iris all but disappears and all I mostly get is the verbena. It smells herby with a faint indistinct floral note for a while as it dries down.

After about 30 minutes, the iris becomes more prominent again, while the herbal notes retreat to the background.

Unlike many BPAL scents on me, this perfume sits very close to the skin with little throw. It disappeared entirely within a few hours.

Rating: 
3/5. It's a nice enough perfume and the iris is lovely when it appears, but I have far better iris scents.

Day 1!