ethaisa

TEARS, IDLE TEARS... a bittersweet aquatic lifted by white rose, olibanum, amber, orris, davana and oude.  

As a general rule, I'm not a real fan of aquatics, but this intrigued me enough to order a decant. It's watery alright, clear and bright with swirls of orris and faint resins. The rose is remarkably timid, at least until the davana starts to open up and then the rose beats it back, claiming front row in the floral array. I hardly detect the oude at all, except on the long drydown, beneath the final soft floral resins. A surprising amount of throw for such a soft scent, too.  Verdict: lovely, but not something I'll reach for often (I have many other rose blends I like more) but I'll be happy to keep the decant for those misty days when I'm feeling wane.

 THE RUSSIAN DANCE... florentine iris, black tea, labdanum, patchouli, champaca, benzoin and ambergris.  

Initially I was wary of this one because of the iris, but fortunately had a chance to test it thoroughly. As might be expected from the description, I find the iris note here quite similar to that in Florence - that orris note that I love. This opens as a light and faintly spicy floral mix of orris and creamy champaca that mellows quickly into a sweet, resiny incense blend. The tea note is distinct, more of a duet than a blend and the patchouli only comes though in the long drydown into a somber grey scent that lingers for hours. I look forward to seeing how this ages.

EBENEZER SCROOGE   ... neglected leather, oakmoss, tonka bean, black pepper, cumin and vetiver.  

This opens like I just walked into a leather shop, almost overpoweringly so. But that initial sharpness fades and the tonka plays sweet peacemaker between the pepper and cumin - all the notes are distinctly there, spicy, but playing nice. I don't get much of a sense of oakmoss, but that might be what's smoothing the edge of the leather, and the vetiver provides a nice ground note, neither overly smoky nor earthy and only a slight tang hinting of citrus. (I like vetiver is pretty much all its forms, but this one is particularly nice.)  Definitely a sense of dust and age and recluse to this scent - excellent for a pre-reform Scrooge. So glad I got a bottle of this.

Beanman & Beanwoman Prepare to Attack the Vagina
skin musk, white amber, ambergris, orange blossom, ylang ylang, coconut milk

(Yeah, this is one of those names.) This scent is gorgeous, and very well balanced - other than a faint spike upon opening (likely the yy) no one note overwhelms. I didn't think this would work on me - I'm always cautious about skin musk and white amber, and don't particularly like ylang ylang - but it is a soft and light creamy floral with great last and no plastiky drydown. (It's been a couple hours since first application, I think its safe to say that.)


VS

Unveiled
Red bush tea, vanilla, white peach, golden amber, mandarin, lotus root & myrrh

Oh, this might have been my perfect spring scent. And I do really, really like it. Soft fruity tea with a faint herbal touch, richly rooted in myrrh. The vanilla is subtle and not particularly foody and there's a light touch at first from the lotus. But on drydown, there's an odd.. something. I'm pretty sure its the lotus. I've tried this several times, hoping ... well, just hoping. I think this might work in a locket and I will retest in a week or so incase its weird cycle-related body chem, but lotus often doesn't play nice with me. :(


Winner: The Bean spouses. Bottleworthy.

Octopus and Abalone Diver
Ambergris accord, water lily, freesia, sea spray, molluscan seashell accord, and driftwood.

I'm generally not a fan of aquatics and this is no exception. There were hints of notes I liked in this (the ambergris accord?the wood?) but overall, no. Just no. It made me sneeze and I had to wash it off.


VS


Autumn Moon of the Mirror Stand
Honey, quince, vanilla, white cognac, Spanish mandarin, and golden tobacco.

Starts off with tart pear (must be the quince, maybe the mandarin) drenched in vanilla-honied cream (cream?) and then the tobacco rustles its way to the front (definitely get the sense of dry leaves here). The booze note is light and not really very boozy at all. Wonderful throw, with swirls of tobacco to balance out the tart and the sweet.


Winner:: Autumn Moon, no contest. Looking forward to seeing how long this lasts...

 
Needlework
oolong tea, lilac, sheer musk, crushed ginger, wisteria, delphinium, lavender

A rather watery floral, and quite strong, with lilac predominant at first and then wisteria getting sharp as it dries. Nary of touch of tea, or of ginger - very disappointing - and only hints of lavender. Ends up very soapy and too floral overall. I had to wash this one off (and my wrist still smells of soapy flowers).

Ronin
White sandalwood, rice flower, honey, black pepper, and oakmoss. 

Starts off with a blast of honey and a hint of a sharp, almost sour note which thankfully fades quickly. Not sure if I could pick out rice flower if you waved it under my nose, but I think the honey drowns it out in any case. The honey remains as the pepper kicks in; very nice. Good last, with a honied powdered (hello sandalwood!) finish. I quite like this.

VS

Okayaki
Olive blossom, cardamom pod, amber, morning star lily, bergamot, and a well-aimed snowball.

I was worried about this one because of the lily, but it is very well behaved. This started off as a spicy floral with a hint of citrus - so light that if I hadn't been looking, I would have missed it - and then mellows into a sweet creamy floral with a woody amber base. There's a hint of coolness with that cream - which isn't really a cream note per se but rather a smooth quality to the scent. The more I smell this the more I like it.

WINNER:  Okayaki by a faint edge, and only because it is such a unique scent. Both have bottle potential.