Review: Alkemia's Discontinuing 15 scents! Here's A Review for 5 Scents (Links to 8 More)

Alkemia just announced they'll be discontinuing 15 scents (some may be returning seasonally). It turns out that I have 5 of those scents that I haven't reviewed yet, and I've reviewed 8 of them before.  So here's the list of scents that will be discontinued, and you can click on the names to go to the review if I've reviewed them before:

All Hallow's Eve
Bellos Encantos
Blessed Bee
Deseo Ardiente
Fetish
New Orleans Love Spell
Memoria Seductora
Sanguinaria
Sea Goddess
Seduction Cacao
St Louis Cemetery #1
Sugar Spell
Wildwood
Yule Rose
Yuletide Blessing

The only 2 scents that I don't own is St Louis Cemetery #1 and Sugar Spell. I'll review All Hallow's Eve, Blessed Bee, Seduction Cacao, Wildwood & Yule Rose below. For my previous Alkemia reviews, you can go to the Alkemia tag on the side or click here.

As usual, reviews are done blind until the TL;DR's written. If anything in the notes surprise me, I write an overview.

_______________________________

All Hallow's Eve 

"A scent of magic, mystery, remembrance, childhood nostalgia, and sweet blessings for darker times - bourbon vanilla, tonka, black licorice, star anise, roasted marshmallows, hazel, coriander, pale amber, cardamom, smoked benzoin, sweet myrrh, and woodsmoke whisping on autumn air."

This is a pretty complicated scent. At first, I only got smoke and that typical "eggnog" base that many different perfumers seem to like using. It's an artificial "eggnog"-ish scent that some people find cloying and is often labelled as either eggnog or marshmallow (sometimes even cream or vanilla...which is an insult to cream and vanilla). There's some woody spices mingled in this, as well as hints of liquorice –ie. the worst candy in the world. Once your nose has gotten used to/have shut down from the eggnog & liquorice combo, you get hints of a nutty sort of creaminess in this (similar to the nutty bit in Darling Clandestine's Carny Wedding).

I'm kind of torn on this...the liquorice mixed with that "eggnog" base is a big NOPE for me, so I'm tempted to trash this, but the sweet, woody spice bit smells very familiar and nostalgic. That bit smells like a Fall candle I must have smelled frequently as a kid. The smoke bit makes me the candle smell even more realistic.

TL;DR: "Eggnog" base, liquorice, and a Fall candle.

_______________________________

Blessed Bee

"A blend of three honeys - pure, sweet, golden, naked."

I like this. There's definitely honey, but it's more of a candied sort of honey and has a lemon sort of tartness to it, so it smells more like a lemon honey candy –where the scent is heavier on the candy bit. There's also this part that I'm guessing is supposed to be beeswax, but smells more like that cottony baby oil smell.

After about 10 min, something also starts smelling a bit like burnt cotton candy on me. The lemon honey candy mixed with baby oil scent is stronger though, so I don't mind it.

TL;DR: Lemon honey candy mixed with baby oil, with hints of burnt cotton candy.

_______________________________

Seduction Cacao 

"The unrefined, raw seduction of three different ultra dark cacaos ground together with a touch of musk."

There's definitely chocolate in here, and it's in between the smell of real chocolate and chocolate milk powder. There's also this soapy, absinthe/liquorice-ish sort of scent muddled into this. That's pretty much it.


TL;DR: Chocolate mixed with an absinthe/liquorice-ish sort of soapiness.

_______________________________

Wildwood 

"A woodland blend of green amber resin, vetivert root, agarwood, green cedar tips, jatamansi, and dried leaves."

I get earthy green and wood, but more of a sweet earth kind of earth. Not the dirty type of earth. The green bit makes me think of long, dark green vines. The wood bit is more of a cleaned and polished wood floor type of wood, complete with a watery kind of clean smell.

Instead of wild forests, this scent actually makes me think of polished wooden floors in model homes that has never been lived in before. The kind that's so impeccably clean, you end up not daring to step on or touch any spot that the realtor hasn't stepped on or touch. It'll look something like this:

You just know you're going to scratch it in the first day.
Image courtesy of servicemasterbycapital.com

If you're looking for a clean (almost clinically clean), light wooden scent, this is it.

TL;DR: Polished wooden floors in model homes.

_______________________________

Yule Rose

"A mystical alchemy of precious Roses, Balsam Fir, luminous Frankincense, and night-dark myrrh."

Pepsi candy with rose. I smell hints of something woody, but at first the Pepsi candy scent is the strongest. And yes, it'll have a fizz, but a very disappointingly little amount of it. The soft drink sort of base is similar to the scent in Alkemia's Yuletide Blessings, only in this scent, it's less fizzy and the increased sweetness makes it lean closer to Pepsi.

Eventually, the woodiness gets stronger until it becomes a woody rose candy with hints of Pepsi in the background. The rose is the type of rose that I've smelled before in mainstream perfumes/body lotions and called Damask Rose.

TL;DR: Woody rose candy with hints of Pepsi.

Pure Micas vs Micas With Base

Swatched over UDPP and blended into a Smashbox eyeshadow
Top: Mica with base
Bottom: Mica only

I got requested to do comparison swatches of pure micas & micas with a base. So here they are:

Top's with a base, bottom's without. While it's hard to see the difference on the swatch, application-wise, I noticed that:

• Pure micas are prone to "bald" spots (you can kinda see a bald patch on my swatch)
• There's more flyaways with pure mica
• You need to blend with a more careful hand when it comes to pure micas, since it's easier for the colour to go "bald"
• They also smudge off more easily:

Swatched over UDPP and blended into a Smashbox eyeshadow
Top: Mica with base
Bottom: Mica only

So in conclusion, it is possible to wear pure micas alone provided that you have a good primer/glitter glue, and don't mind a possible rain of glitter down your face.

Review & Recommendation: All 6 of BathSabbath's Spring Scents

UPDATE: Virginia gave me a discount code exclusive for my readers! Use UNICORNHEART for 10% off any purchase until March 1st!

Virginia from BathSabbath let me buy an early preview of all 6 of BathSabbath's Spring scents! She's seriously awesome! I happened to be in the US only in December, and since that means I could save on shipping costs, I had to ask her if I can buy her spring scents early. She let me do that and since they're finally out, here's my review!


They're currently only listed in soap form and Virginia will be adding the perfume listings soon, but if you want them in perfume oil version now, you can message her. This is my 5th BathSabbath review, and for previous reviews, you can click here or on the tag on the right.

As always, scent reviews are done blind until the TL;DRs are written. If anything in the notes surprise me, I write an Overview.

__________________________________

Heart of the Unicorn

"Notes of Lily of the Valley and fresh Gardenia blend with sweet citrus on an aquatic base."

I'm trying to place my finger on why this scent is so familiar. It smells like a tart candy in the beginning, but starts turning into a citrus-floral room fragrance after about 5 min. It's a cool, clean sort of room fragrance, with thick, lush florals and that slightly searing room spray orange, with hints of wood. I'm personally not a fan of citrus type of scents, so I'm not too crazy about this, but I can see this being very popular. When I say thick and lush, I don't mean something exploding with florals...I can't identify what florals are in this, but it's the kind of scent that makes you think of white flowers with thicker petals and comes with a barest hint of floral bitterness.

I can see this scent in an Indonesian beachside resort/restaurant –the kind that's too sophisticated and chic to go too tropical.

This is the Uma by Como hotel...obviously located in Ubud (ie. hipster haven). I say obviously because the decor is relatively simple & cheap, but elegant. If it's extremely luxurious yet deceptively simple, it's in Seminyak (ie. 2nd home of all the rich Indonesians). If it's extremely trashy, it's Kuta...or as my Australian friends love to call it –Bogan Central. If it looks like a temple or old, it's in Nusa Dua –popular spot among older tourists and families with screaming kids.
Image courtesy of mrandmrssmith.com

That's it.

This is why it's so familiar. The cool, clean, thick, lush florals scent with hints of wood is the kind of scent that very popular in Indonesia as an ambiance fragrance. The orange smells like the room spray we often use in our bathrooms. The scent is like walking through an Indonesian beachside resort/restaurant, and walking past a bathroom where an overenthusiastic cleaner went nuts with the room spray.


TL;DR: Indonesian beachside resort/restaurant with orange room spray.

Overview: Yup, gardenias & lilies are popular parts of flower arrangements in Indonesia. I think the hint of wood is coming from the gardenia. I tried a pure gardenia perfume once and I described the scents of gardenia as "sophisticated, almost woody, light florals."

__________________________________

I Was Made For Loving You

"The refreshing scent of 100% pure Lavender. ( Perfume oil is a blend of lavender and vanilla absolute)"

I smell lavender (which smells like cool, blue florals), but it's sweetened to the point where it smells like one of those powdery, butter mint candies.

This is so delicious!

TL;DR: Butter mint candies.

Overview: I was definitely not expecting a lavender and vanilla combination to turn into butter mint candies. I love it.

__________________________________

Love Bites

"Notes of spicy ale with a touch of Lemon on a base of ripe Raspberries, all rounded out by the sharp sting of loneliness."

This scent definitely has a bite to it at first. Initially, there's a sharp, stinging sort of scent, but luckily it dissipated pretty fast on me. Now it smells like the most amazing fruity lemonade. The scent is "rounded out"  –definitely not powdery but makes you think of smooth and cashmere-like –which makes the scent more wearable as a perfume. Despite my usual dislike for citrus scents, this is something I'd totally wear. 

TL;DR: Fruity lemonade turned into perfume.

Overview: Huh...besides the initial sting, I wouldn't exactly describe this scent as spicy or stinging.

__________________________________

Love Stinks

"Hints of rich Vanilla on a base of pure cocoa."

I got a strong whiff of cocoa powder in the beginning, but soon it calms down into cocoa mingled with creamy chai. It's the kind of chai I've now mentally filed as "Starbucks chai" –mellowed out, mild and Americanized version of "chai" that's very different from real chai. The creamy bit is an eggnog sort of creamy.

TL;DR: Cocoa with eggnog-y chai.

__________________________________

Sacred Heart

"The sweet scent of Jasmine paired with classic Rose, and livened up with Bergamot and Lemon."

Oh this is the sweet, candied kind of rose. Initially, the rose was strong, but other scent enters to temper it. There's definitely lemon in this, and something fresh in a cool, herbal way. I really love this scent. It smells like being girly in a chic country cottage. I think this picture captures this scent best:

It's definitely very feminine, rather florid and obviously rose, but yet clean and light.

TL;DR: Being girly in a chic country cottage

__________________________________

Sweet Cherry Pie

"Notes of tart cherries on a base of vanilla and sugared almond."

I just know it'll be Nyquil since anything with cherry tends to smell like Nyquil to me. Yup. To be fair, it leans a bit closer to cherry candy since it has a bit of a powdery vanilla, and doesn't have that slight, bitter tang Nyquil comes with...but cherry candies smell a LOT like Nyquil.

After about 10-15 min, the scent moved from powdery cherry-vanilla candy, to cherry scented plastic toys, to this powdery, milky cherry scent that's actually not too bad. It definitely doesn't smell like Nyquil now. In fact, it smells like a lighter version of the powdery Nanette Lepore or twee sort of scents. Still one of those riskier scents that you either love or hate though. I personally found the cherries cloying, but that's just because I'm not a fan of artificial cherry scents.

TL;DR: Powdery, milky cherry.

Overview: I went in for a second sniff and yup, I can smell the almonds now –they're the powdery bit in this scent.

FOTD: OCC Lip Tars Ombré Lips

For my Ten Three Labs FOTD, I decided to give the Korean trend of berry-stained lips a try. Here's the close up: 

This is using OCC lip tar in Black Metal Dahlia and OCC stained gloss in Mein Herr.

Full face:

Review & Swatches: Ten Three Labs Eyeshadows, Salve Sticks & Smudge Sticks

/u/ifweburn and I have been chatting and I ended up sending her stuff from Indonesia, and she sent me some stuff from her store, Ten Three Labs.

So here's what I got!

Those are seeds! I have no idea how to grow them but they're cool!

• Smudge Sticks: Vylette, All Vamp Everything
• Salve Stick: Flawless Victory -Ridiculous Strength Peppermint
• All 12 Eyeshadows from The Grand Reopening Collection: Bells Bells Bells Bells, Capoeira, Electric Love, Ehhhhuagh, Hello Blondie, It's Your Funeral,  Kuchi Kopi, Night Butterfly, Oil Spill, Thank You For Loving Me, The Butler, Zombie Butts

_______________________________________

Salve & Smudge Sticks Review

So these came shrinkwrapped:

And here's another plus for me, the top bit's pretty smooth!

It's a small thing, but messy balms always makes me sad, so I'm happy these are pretty neat.

Formula-wise, these will easily be my favourite lip balm formula if not for the flavour. I'm not saying this because I'm Cara's friend. I'm honestly incredibly impressed with these formula. First of all, they're very moisturizing. Secondly, it's solid, yet not oily. If we're putting lip balms on a spectrum from the oiliest to the waxiest, it'll sit in between Notoriously Morbid's Coffin Kissers and Haus of Gloi's lip balms. It's perfect for me.

Now here are my not-so-happy reviews of their tastes:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Flawless Victory -Ridiculous Strength Peppermint

Ridiculous strength is right. It's so minty. To the point where it feels uncomfortably cold....and I'm in a tropical country. I'm not sure how this would feel in cold weather.

When I first tried this, in a moment of sheer genius (not), I thought, "Hey, my lips are burning cold! I should rub this chilli on my lips to neutralize the coldness!"

Turns out your lips can burn hot and cold and the same time.

All Vamp Everything

This is the flavour I'm most ok with out of the lot. It's an artificial cherry with mint but I'm ok with artificial cherry so it's not too bad. This has the perfect level of mintiness in my opinion –no more than a subtle, fresh tingle.

Vylette

This was the worst flavour for me. Artificial grapes. I HATE artificial grapes. There's also the perfect level of mintiness in this but gahhh SCREW YOU ARTIFICIAL GRAPES!!!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Still, I love the formula a LOT, so I'll still highly recommend these. Not only are the formulas awesome, check out the swatches for All Vamp Everything & Vylette:

These are meant to be tinted balms, hence the slight "streakiness". From afar, they look great:

Cara really picked the perfect colours for me!

_______________________________________

Eyeshadows Review

Under natural light, swatched over Darling Girl's glitter glue

These formulas are definitely legit and contain bases. For a guide on identifying ingredients in your eyeshadows & why bases are important, click here. Here are the swatches:

Over Darling Girl's Glitter Glue
Left: Under artificial yellow-toned light to show the shift
Right: Under natural light

Over UDPP
Left: Under artificial yellow-toned light to show the shift
Right: Under natural light

Left: Under artificial yellow-toned light to show the shift
Right: Under natural light

Left: Under artificial yellow-toned light to show the shift
Right: Under natural light

For the mattes, I only did swatches over bare skin and primer, and under natural light, since there aren't any shifts to show off:

Both under natural light

I like these eyeshadows, but I noticed that I have a lot of problems with the lighter matte colours (Zombie Butts, Ehhhhuagh, Hello Blondie, Kuchi Kopi) –they end up being really streaky. Hello Blondie was the worst and you can see it kinda flaking on the swatch. The darker colours were perfectly fine though.

For the shimmers, everything was great except for Night Butterfly. It's rather streaky and definitely a struggle to put on.

Oil Spill is supposed to be black with holographic sparkles, but it's mostly a matte black with a bit of holographic sparkles. The holographic sparkles show up best when you're foiling it with water.

If I had to pick one favourite out of the entire collection, I'd pick Bells Bells Bells Bells –it applies so beautifully, even on bare skin! Thank You For Loving Me is definitely a close contender for favourite!

Oh yes, you can wear them over bare skin. Not my favourite or recommended method of using them, but yes, they stay on for a while. Here's a picture of my eyeshadow on bare skin after 2h (it could have lasted longer, but I forgot to take a picture before I ruined it by rubbing my eye):

Ehhhhuagh & Zombie Butts over bare skin

They are harder to blend and do cling on to your pores that way, but I ran into this problem with most indie matte shadows. They do perform slightly better than Blackbird Cosmetics' eyeshadows (old formula) over bare skin though.

_______________________________________

So here are some looks I did with Ten Three Products:

Look #1: The mattes

Over Eccentric Cosmetics' primer. I just tried to squeeze in as many products as possible. Here's Kuchi Kopi, It's Your Funeral, Ehhhhuagh, & Hello Blondie

Sorry for the crap quality..it's been cloudy and rainy the past few days.
Lips: OCC Lip Tar (Metal Black Dahlia) & OCC Stained Gloss (Mein Herr)

Look #2: The shimmers

Bells, Bells, Bells, Thank You For Loving Me, & Oil Slick

Lips: All Vamp Everything

Review & Recommendation: 8 Possets Winter 2014 Scents (Part 3 of 3)

This is part 3 of my review of the 26 decants of Possets' Winter 2014 scents I got. Part 1 is here and part 2 is here.  For my previous Possets reviews, you can click here or on the Possets tag on the right. Hurry and grab these scent if you like them! They're gone by Jan 31!

As always, all scent reviews are done blind until the TL;DR part's written. Overviews are written if the notes surprise me. 

________________________________

Pachebel's Canon

"Vanilla, orange, and sandalwood are the three main ingredients in this perfume."

It starts off with lemon butter cookies! Only while some lemon butter cookie scent get too hot, heavy and cloying on me, this stays light and delicious. The lemon bit also has more of a zing in this. Not a bubbly, spritzy sort of zing, but more of a sharp, clean, citrus burst. 

The sweet lemon bit takes the centre of attention on me after about 5-10 min, so I end up with less cookies. I don't mind it though, because this is a gorgeous lemon scent. I tend to associate lemons with cleaning products but this is the lemon of a light, luxurious gourmet lemon candy. The homemade gourmet ones you may get at the end of your meal at a Michelin star restaurant. The kind where the chef will create a 1 paragraph description for it and will get offended if you call it, "Just a lemon candy."

After 20-30 min, I think I smell wood. It's the light, sharp scent of freshly cut wood that some people may find "dusty". I think this was what was keeping the scent so clean, light & unique. 

TL;DR: Luxurious, gourmet lemon candy with hints of cookies & wood.

Overview: It's so easy to get your citruses mixed up when it's in candy/cookie form. I guess now that I know it's orange, it does smell more like oranges in the beginning. It starts getting more lemon-ish when the sandalwood muddles with it though.

________________________________

Ride of the Valkyries (Wagner)

"MUSK! Wild, strong, mad, berserk! Like a quick trip with the girls themselves. Crystaline musk thunders with a musk I blend myself (very strong and heavy sharp stuff, like crystal musk but more aggressive), a faux ambergris (no whales were harmed or even annoyed to make this), and a shot of witchhazel."

This is a gorgeous clean green scent! The green is the green of thick, succulent plant stalks. It's mixed with this cottony scent that's heavier than the usual cottony, baby oil sort of scent. If the usual baby oil sort of cottony scents are small, fluffy balls of cotton, this is soft thick blankets of cotton.

The plant stalks bit was the first to go and started fading into the background by about 10 min, sadly. I still smell hints of it, but the cotton blanket bit went to the forefront. It also started become a more musky perfume for an older lady. Not exactly old –it's more of a late 30s sort of scent. I think this is a perfect picture to explain this scent:

I want an excuse to wear puffy ballgowns.
Gorgeous photography by Margarita Kareva

Florid and grandiose, yet clean, with green plant stalks at the base.

TL;DR: A cottony, musky scent for someone in her late 30s.

Overview: Whoa, I would expect something much heavier from that scent description. Possets did a great job!

________________________________

Silver Orange

"The tart kind of orange which benefits from association with the sweetness of the silver base."

I'm excited to try this after trying Silver Coconut, well, I'm not exactly a fan, unfortunately. The orange in this is more of that artificial orange cream candy sort of smell. The silver bit is less metallic but way more water. Not a sweet, blue note, just water. The resulting scent is a clinical, clean room (I'm leaning towards the waiting room of dentists or plastic surgeons...all the clean, expensive, more cosmetic than medical stuff), with a creamy orange room scent.

This is where you sit before some person judges you and tells you you need botox at 25. And maybe toss in a boob job while we're at it.
Image courtesy of amydelucainteriors.com

It's nice enough, and I can see some people going crazy over this, but I'm not a fan of creamy oranges. I really, really love the silver bit though. It's so gorgeous. I think I'm going to order a bottle of Possets' Silver Vanilla blind.

TL;DR: A dentist's/plastic surgeon's waiting room.

________________________________

Spanish Dance from the Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky)

"Bitter and sweet, unsweetened liquor of chocolate. The whole is so very very rich there is even a suggestion of wood to it."

Chocolate. Actual, rich chocolate. In the beginning, I got hints of boozy liquorice that I found cloying (I HATE liquorice), but by about 5-8 min, it's mostly gone. Instead, I got hints of wood, and it's the kind of wood that's been dried and weathered in a bone-dry desert for a while. There's also a curry bitterness to it.

It kinda makes me think of curry powder sprinkled over dark chocolate, served on a wooden platter. That may sound gross to some people, but I actually like it. Have you guys tried raisins or grapes in curry? Or a curry ice cream? They taste delicious.

By the way, the curry isn't the mellowed out curry you get in most countries where curry isn't native. This is the strong, pungent type of curry you get in India and the Middle East. If you've been to India and found the food too pungent or strong for you, you'll hate this.

TL;DR: Curry powder sprinkled over dark chocolate, served on a wooden platter

________________________________

The Lullaby from Hansel and Gretel (Humperdink)

"The very gingerbread house from the famous scene, filled with cream and red currents. So very soperific that you will feel like dreaming the minute you put it on."

What the hell is going on with this scent? There's this sour, wet Chinese pickled fruit smell that's very familiar, but I can't put my finger on what fruit it is. Oh, and there's a salty, metallic tinge to it. It's salty, sour & sweet at the same time. For Indonesians, the combination reminds me of Nano Nano candy...except there's that Chinese preserved smell.

The scent gets me hungry since pickled fruits & vegetables are often served as appetizers in Chinese restaurants, but I don't really want to smell this way. What is going on? I kind of imagined gingerbread houses and candy for this scent.

TL;DR: Chinese pickled fruits.

Overview: That's it. Possets' ginger & cream combo hate me (see review of Wassail).

________________________________

Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky)

"Tuberose and gardenia dance merrily with Black Coconut and a bit of lime, and lemon zest."

You know that pink bubblegum scent? Now imagine it powdery and cool. It surprisingly makes an amazing perfume. It's a scent that's playful and light, yet grown up and boudoir at the same time. It's hard to describe how great this scent is, so I'll just pick this one picture that really captures the spirit of this scent:

I realize most of the fashion & erotic photography I've added to my favourites list are coincidentally by female photographers. I think women tend to know how to appeal to women better.
Another gorgeous photograph by Mascha Seitz..I love her!

I get hints of an old oil sort of smell that often comes from Possets coconut, but so far it's behaving and staying very faint. It may be a problem for certain skin chemistries though. 

TL;DR: Cool, powdery pink bubblegum

________________________________

Wassail! Wassail! (Traditional)

"Cream, ginger, coriander, and lots of booze!"

This smells like a Japanese pineapple chewy candy, and very, very strong on the sour pineapple part. I wonder if there's something going wrong on me. I know sometimes Possets' coconut smells like Japanese chewy candies, so I wonder if there's coconut in this?

There's something fresh and clean (in the freshly cut herbs sort of way) trying to get out, but it's drowned out by the Japanese pineapple chewy candy scent.

TL;DR: Japanese pineapple chewy candy that's stronger on the pineapple.

Overview: I guess the ginger and booze mixed up turned into pineapples? The chewy candy bit could be the cream part, and I'm pretty sure the coriander's the fresh and clean herb bit that's trying to get out.

________________________________

Winter (Vivaldi)

"Peppermint (a favorite winter scent), brown musk, a drop of dill, and sassafrass."

I smell peppermint and some grassy herbs sort of scent. It's not a fresh sort of grassy herb scent though, it's more of an old, dried herbs sort of scent, that's almost a bit bitter. The resulting scent smells makes me think of old people, but it's not the musty, sort of old. It's a clean scent that makes you think of one of those old ladies or gentlemen who seem to easily fit into any nurturing, care-taking roles, and are always ready to clean your scraped knees, bring you something warm and soupy while you're sick in bed and offer peppermint candy to soothe your tears.

It's a kind of scent that triggers a nostalgic feeling in me, which is really weird because most of the old people I was exposed to as a kid were Asian old people who smell like various herbal remedies from their respective countries, and this is definitely a more European/American herbal remedies sort of scent. Add peppermint to it and it's definitely not an Asian old person.

TL;DR: A nurturing old person.

Overview: I had to look up what sassafrass is. Apparently it's often used in teas and root beer, and kinda smells like root beer. 

Review & Recommendation: 9 Possets Winter 2014 Scents (Part 2 of 3)

This is part 2 of my review of the 26 decants of Possets' Winter 2014 scents I got. Part 1 is here.  For my previous Possets reviews, you can click here or on the Possets tag on the right. Hurry and grab these scent if you like them! They're gone by Jan 31!

As always, all scent reviews are done blind until the TL;DR part's written. Overviews are written if the notes surprise me. 

________________________________

Dance of the Hours (Ponchielli)

"Mint, coconut, copra, and Meyer lemon make up The Dance of the Hours. This one is so pretty and reminds me of snow falling gently at night. Foody and delectable."

Minty coconut lime! It smells like this Bath & Bodyworks Coconut Lime Verbena scent, with the addition of sweet peppermint.

This is the scent I'm talking about
Image courtesy of jabong.com

The coconut bit leans on smelling like sunblock or old oils on me after about 5 min, unfortunately. I'm kinda sad because the initial smell was so great, and it's just the perfect creamy mint flavour that smells delicious and wearable instead of going full toothpaste. Maybe it'll smell better on a different skin chemistry.

TL;DR: Bath & Bodyworks Coconut Lime Verbena with sweet peppermint.

Overview: I had to check out what copra is and turns out it's just the dried meat, or kernel, of the coconut used to extract coconut oil.

________________________________

Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Tchaikovsky)

"Fruit wine with a powerful violet snap to it. Very cold but deeply musky. Fruit never smelled so perfumy before, it really crosses the line, as when an ingredient is used in a different context, here fruit is used as a volatile part of the perfume and does it with great finesse. Very graceful and quite regal I would say."

In the beginning this is like a sugary white wine sangria with hints of florals. Unfortunately, after 5-8 min, the white wine sangria bit turned into artificial grape and there's hints of this old crushed plants smell. It's more of the Japanese artificial green grape scent rather than the "Western" artificial grape scent, so I found it more tolerable. Unlike the "Western" artificial grape scent which I personally find cloying and immediately makes me think of bright, purple drinks/medicine, I find the Japanese artificial green grape scent more clean, light and fruity. If you've tried this candy, you'll know the scent I'm talking about:

It's Kasugai's gummy candies. I looove these candies so much. I blame 20% of my childhood cavities on them.
Image found on amazon.com

The old crushed plants smell makes me think of squashed spinach that's been left in the kitchen for a few hours. I'm not sure how I feel about the combination.

TL;DR: Japanese green grape gummy candy with squashed spinach.

Overview: I love Possets, but I think a lot of their fruity scents turn very artificial. I can't find the violets in this either, so it's very well blended into the scent.

________________________________

Danse Chinoise (Tea) Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky)

"Pekoe tea, green tea, incense, and lime leaf. Incredibly soothing, with the tea marrying perfectly with the scent of unburned incense. The lime leaf adds a small and subtle green note."

This reminds me of a scent I've sniffed before in a high end boutique in Indonesia/Singapore. It's a slightly smoky, lotiony scent and I smell hints of jasmines and earl grey tea in the beginning. The jasmines and tea blended into the scent fast though. It's definitely a more Indonesian sort of scent and I can totally see this as a Thann scent.

Thann Spa in Phuket
Image courtesy of asiaprwire.com

While it smells a lot like a massage oil I can see being used in a Thann spa, it's still a massage oil I'd gladly walk around smelling like –it's' smoky, lotiony and floral, with hints of tea.

On me, the smokiness is the first to go, and the scent becomes more of a floral with a deep, dark and rich black tea after about 40 min. It's still a very gorgeous scent though.

TL;DR: Thann massage oil.

Overview: Btw, if you're wondering what pekoe tea is, it's just a grading system. Here's the Wikipedia definition:

Pekoe tea grades are classified into various qualities, each determined by how many of the adjacent young leaves (two, one, or none) were picked along with the leaf buds. Top-quality pekoe grades consist of only the leaf buds, which are picked using the balls of the fingertips. Fingernails and mechanical tools are not used to avoid bruising.

Basically, it's a pain-in-the-ass-to-make tea. Oh, and I'm impressed with Possets' incense. This is the kind of smoky incense I often smell in Asian (the entire continent, including India) spas...none of the weird game-y stuff some perfumers like.

________________________________

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Mozart)

"Melon, mint, a schmere of marzipan, smoke, resin, fruity, musky, woody, smoky, astringent but with a very smooth edge."

This starts off gorgeous. There's definitely a Japanese melon candy smell but it's bundled up in a scent that makes it smell very wearable and more mature. This scent is clean, cool, sweet, and smooth. It makes you think of the finest cashmere smoothly caressing your skin.

By about 10 min though, the scent starts getting more and more artificial until it reminds me of a room scent. It's the kind of room scent that's vaguely floral, but mostly this sweet, blown up plastic sort of "clean" scent. It reminds me of a room scent in a tuition centre I used to go to.

TL;DR: The clean room scent of a tuition centre.

________________________________

Flight of the Bumblebee (Koraekov)

"Erratic green notes of grass and green leaf combine in totally unexpected ways with deep resins of the East making a very unusual and attractive perfume which is at once daring and comforting. Can't classify it but it is a cutting edge blend if ever there was one. Out of nowhere a violet-like note weaves in and out of the blend, and the heavy patchouli and saffron positively dance."

I LOVE this! There's the most delicious honey, a citrus tartness and a fresh green note that makes me think of sprays of young leaves. There are so many layers in this that I just can't describe. There's florals, something that makes me think of swishes of cloth...it's so amazing. It makes me feel like dancing on a wet meadow. I actually bought 20ml of this because I love it so much. I think a perfect ad for this scent would be this gorgeous photo here:

Though I'd make the models run about a bit. This is a very happy, lively scent.
Amazing photography by Dmitry Yushkov

I can see this as a unisex scent, but it definitely leans towards feminine to me.

TL;DR: Dancing in a meadow.

________________________________

Hallelujah! (Handel)

"A deluxe Black Musk pairs with black oude, grey musk, sandalwood, myrrh, and blonde luan wood."

First thought: this BETTER get better.

It started off as that horrible, bitter wood smell but it does better. This is a LOT of wood so if you're a wood fan, you'll love this. I smell that fragrant sandalwood that leans towards masculine to me, but I also got this sweet, nutty scent. I love, love, love the wood. It smells so luxurious and sweet. It makes you think of intimate caresses with hot guys in luxurious rooms full of rich, dark, wood panels. It's a cool, exciting scent, and definitely not one of the cozy, warm type of wood scents.

TL;DR: Hooking up with a hot guy in a luxurious room full of dark wood panels.

Overview: I looked up luan wood and another name for it is Meranti. That's actually the wood my dad's factory uses to create their plywood. I visited the factory a few months ago and it does NOT smell this luxurious. Just for fun, here's a gif of how they turn the log into sheets of wood:

This is taken on my iPhone and sped up 6x

________________________________

Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven)

"A soft red raspberry and heavy sugar, topped off with an extra dusting of clove, a heart of white musk to ground it and a fluff of almond to start it all on a charmingly melancholy note."

Finally! A song I can play on the piano! This scent is a cloudy raspberry. It's definitely the artificial kind of raspberries that made me think of a Gushers flavour at first, but luckily, everything else blended beautifully and counters that artificial raspberry scent. Once everything settles, the raspberry becomes muddled and there's this cool slightly dusty scent that follows it, which makes me think of clouds on a moonlit night...but maybe that's just a suggestion. I wasn't really expecting artificial raspberries for this song, but the cloudy bit is definitely what I expected.

Kinda off topic but I actually attended a lecture by a music professor who did extensive research on Beethoven and the era he's in. Based on the design of pianos in those days and Beethoven's style, he concluded that the Moonlight Sonata is supposed to be "cloudy". You're supposed to play it with the peddle pressed much longer than people usually do, so the notes "muddle" with each other instead of sounding clear and crisp. He played it the way he thinks it's supposed to be played and it was so hauntingly beautiful.

As it dries down, I get hints of this zing that makes the back of my throat itch. I'm not sure what it is, but this could be an issue for certain skin chemistries.

TL;DR: Cloudy raspberries.

________________________________

Nocturne (Chopin)

"The best of balsam fir and a thick crust of sugar. Beautiful in the moonlight."

I got the most amazing vanilla cream scent, but it's mixed with that chemical smell of whiteboard markers. I'm not sure what's going on. Is it myrrh? Myrrh often has this whiteboard marker scent on me.

After about 10 min, the scent finally settles and the whiteboard marker scent faded. It's still a clay-like, slightly chemical-ish vanilla though. The smell seemed oddly familiar and after a while, I finally put my finger on it –it smells like vanilla scented plastic toys I used to have.

Is it just me, or did kids toys get fancier since the time when I was a kid?
Image courtesy of polyvore.com

I like the smell on my toys as a kid, but I don't exactly want to smell like it.

TL;DR: Vanilla-scented plastic toys.

Overview: Balsam is usually very icy on me, but I'm not sure how balsam fir is supposed to smell like. I guess the combination with sugar creates this weird scent.

________________________________

Silver Coconut

"Milky coconut and the silver base."

This is not in alphabetical order, but /u/weepy asked for a review, so I'm pushing this scent review early.

Initially, I got a burst of berries that dissipated pretty fast, but it was definitely confusing for me since I wasn't expecting any berries. It was quickly replaced by this watery, metallic kinda smell. It's a smell I used to think liquid mercury would smell like (luckily for me, my science teacher kept a close watch on me and stopped me from sniffing mercury). The watery, metallic smell is just watery and metallic –it's not sweet, or icy, or blue. It just smells like liquid metal. If it has a more salty, coppery tinge, I'd describe it as the smell of blood from someone on a high-iron diet. The watery bit is the way some leather notes smell watery, so if you're not a fan of that, you probably won't like this.

The coconut part is Possets' coconut, which tends to smell like sunblock and old oils on me. So now this smells like old sunblock mixed with mercury, garnished with berries.

TL;DR: Old sunblock mixed with mercury, garnished with berries.