Cocoa Pink Genevieve Review

Brand: Cocoa Pink
Availability: Fall/Winter 2015 (N/A during Spring/Summer)
Notes: Sweet milk, bourbon vanilla, sandalwood, burning sage & smoke

First impression out of bottle: Milk and toasted smoothness.

Freshly applied: Same toast-y milk scent with the bite of dried green sage. The sage is very warm and earthy here- not savory like turkey stuffing but herbal and clean like a witch's kitchen. A bit of tartness like Ava Luxe Milk (tart in a dairy way, not unpleasantly sour though.)

The sage here is not burnt in a blackened way, but pleasantly warm

Drydown: More smooth toastiness now, like if you could have toasted rice krispie treats floating in a pool of cream. Really creamy and lush but not sugary. Love the pop of sage here. The smoke note is not super strong, it’s like a wisp of gray kitchen smoke. I love that this has a toasted scent without smelling burnt or woodsy. It's very light, soft, and clean, while having a pleasant earthy substance.

After several hours: Same but faded to a faintly smoky and sweet white skin scent.

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium at first, then fades to a low but persistent skin scent after a few hours. Better throw and longevity than something like Caramel Popcorn Balls, which is weaker and softer.

Would an [X] lover love this? I think gourmand lovers would adore this. If you like herbs of any sort or faintly smoky scents, this is perfect.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think even people who shy away from milky scents and find they go sour will love it- this is so pleasant and inoffensively creamy

Where am I? Eating rice krispie treats in a witch's kitchen.

Where would I wear this? Daytime, work, weekend. It feels very warm and cozy for autumn, but I could wear it year round, honestly. 

Deconstructing Eden Shemhazai Review

Brand: Deconstructing Eden
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Frankincense, myrrh, French cypress, saffron, bergamot, teak wood, black pepper, sage, mahogany and oak moss.

First impression out of bottle: Frankincense and myrrh.

Freshly applied: Fruity green resins. Myrrh has kind of a warm, honeyed fruit thing going on, whereas frankincense has that green, almost pine-like aroma. I definitely smell the black pepper but it's not too much. 

Drydown: Still bright and evergreen-y from the cypress. This smells a little fresh and green but also woodsy and brown. I would say this is a unisex scent.  It smells like expensive aftershave. Very sexy and warm but fresh at the same time.

Smells like a wet Darcy drying in the warm sun.

After several hours: Warm woodsy coniferous scent. Less herbal and complex than Deconstructing Eden Mercutio, and a bit damper.

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? If you like evergreen/pine/cypress scents then you will love this. Or if you are a sucker for frankincense/myrrh combos, this is one of the best greenish ones I've tried. 

Would an [X] hater love this? If you hate fresh scents, this has a warm undertone that makes it more wearable and not so EVERGREEN. The pepper is very subtle and just underscores the warmth along with the sage, so you don't end up smelling like roast chicken.

Where am I? Playing in a cypress grove on a warm day after taking a dip in a lagoon.

Where would I wear this? Daytime, outside, spring, summer, maybe into colder weather. I think this would be amazing on a man, and I don't love it as much on me because I go for sweeter florals.

NAVA OM NA: Eternity Review

Brand: Nocturne Alchemy

Availability: General Catalog
Notes: desert sage, softened resin of vetiver, the scent of temple grass, black coconut milk and husk, dragon's breath incense and white benzoin liquid resin of the netherworld

First impression out of bottle: Dank grassiness

Freshly applied: Grassy from the vetiver at first. The sage is there, giving that herbal nose tickle but the vetiver is front and center. I get almost the dark damp quality you can get with patchouli, only without the rubbery potential. This is a very WET sage scent. Not a smudge stick, no burning or ash, just like an offering of sage and herbs that has been rained on. No coconut yet.

Damp, fresh herb bundles

Drydown: As it dries, I get some black/dark coconut, and the blend sweetens a tad. Light on the incense, definitely not a burn-y or smoky smell. Wet and dark and twisted, like the inner tunnels of an ancient temple. There’s no stone notes, but it absolutely reminds me of being inside ancient tombs when I visited Egypt. Cold. Interesting and beautiful. And I also start getting another coconut note, milky and white, to go with the black husk note from before.

Black coconut husk joins the wet sage

After several hours: The more I smell it, the more I love the paradox of the milky sweet coconut and the wet-smelling sage. It’s not like food or like anything I’d immediately deem attractive…but it’s kind of addictive and weird and pleasant in an unusual way. At first it was so grassy and cold but now it’s warmed up with the benzoin and the coconut, so I think it will layer fantastically with a sweeter or woodsy scent.

Sweet, pure coconut milk lightens up the dark, earthy blend

Longevity: High, as with most NAVAs. This is a morpher though, and the ultimate drydown described above is what lasts most of the day.
Sillage: High, which may be an issue as it's quite strange-smelling at first. It settles into something much more pleasant. Maybe don't apply this at your desk, though.

Would an [X] lover love this? I don't even know how to classify this scent, so...would a sage lover like this? I'd say YES unless they only like "dry" smelling sage. This is rich, a bit grassy, herbal, and dark. It's unusual for sure, but I think people who like sage are usually pretty adventurous.

Would an [X] hater love this? Would a sage hater love this? Maybe! I did not like it when freshly applied, but it has this uncanny fascinating moreish smell, where you just want to keep sniffing. It's rather addictive and surprisingly wearable. I'd say give this a spin even if you are a coconut or sage hater.

Where am I? When I wear this, I feel totally transported to a damp ancient temple. I smell hanging plants and offerings of herbs and sweet coconut, and the hint of incense.

Where would I wear this? I probably wouldn't wear this out to dinner, it's not a sexy date type of scent. I would wear this if I wanted to go for a long walk by myself, or maybe at work on a day when I needed to be focused and feel strong. It's kind of a subtle "power scent" because it has a pleasant sweetness but a strong backbone.