Deconstructing Eden Gentian House Review

Brand: Deconstructing Eden
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Frankincense, myrrh, opium smoke, gentian violets, vetiver, french lavender, a touch of smoke.

First impression out of bottle: Grassy dirt

Freshly applied: Lavender, grass, and earth

Drydown: Mmm this is a robust, DRY lavender. You know the type that is very dusty gray-purple and smells herby and dry. This is ever so slightly smoky, like you burnt some sage and lavender in an old house. It smells a bit ancient and sacred, but not like a church. Maybe like a mansion that belonged to witches, and this is the lingering scent of the cologne of one of their gentleman callers.

Like an old, creepy, very well-maintained home

After several hours: What I like about this is it's strongly lavender, and has an almost citrusy freshness (I think from the vetiver, which doesn't smell grassy or overly green, but just fresh and clean.) There's an underlying old (but not dirty) feel from the frankincense and myrrh. It's overall just an incredibly well-done blend. 

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium high

Would an [X] lover love this? I think someone who enjoys any sort of resin, smoke, herb, or lavender scents will LOVE THIS. 

Would an [X] hater love this? Honestly, I don't love lavender all the time. It's a fickle beast that often smells off in perfumes, but this is like a bundle of real lavender, combined with all the other amazing notes. It's also not too earthy, so if you hate smelling like dirt, you will still love it.

Where am I? Spring cleaning a witch's mansion with super high-end organic cleaners.

Where would I wear this? I love that, unlike the super summery Legare, this could be easily worn for all seasons.  This is a spring cleaning scent to me, but it also reminds me of being inside a cool dark house on a rainy day. I would wear this throughout the year, and definitely for daytime occasions. Will also attempt to get my boyfriend to wear this. He said he liked lavender deodorant one time 2 years ago, so as far as I'm concerned, I'm IN.

Deconstructing Eden Legare Review

Brand: Deconstructing Eden
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Mahogany, magnolias, gardenias, spanish moss, iced tea and petitgrain

First impression out of bottle: Cologne and bergamot 

Freshly applied: Mmm floral but green cologne smell. Sophisticated and unisex like something in a fancy hotel shower.

Drydown: The soft white florals are blossoming (har) now and making this way less green/cologne like. The petitgrain (which generally smells like bergamot) is prominent but it's not a citrusy scent. I can smell a really true, golden brown iced tea. I can smell the flowers from the garden, the mossy-woodsiness of the trees lining the drive, and a fresh pitcher of iced tea straight from the fridge. I think if you love Lady Nada, this is like a slightly less frilly/girly version. It combines a certain citrus freshness with a pillowy white flower vibe.

Drinking tea in a flower garden in the South

After several hours: Still cold brown tea and white florals. I would say at this point the white florals are more voluptuous and prominent, comprising at least 50-60% of the scent. The iced tea in this really provides the perfect fresh/cold background, but is maybe only 25-30% of the entire scent. It's not zingy like lemon tea or over the top, just cold and dark and sweet. The moss and mahogany are giving an earthy but not dirty foundation. I don't think this is masculine, but I can easily see a man wearing it because it kind of melds with the skin's natural scent. It smells glorious but if I didn't know the notes, I might not be able to say with certainty that it was floral tea. It's not a literal gourmand, much more of an atmospheric one. 

Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? I think somebody who likes white florals would really enjoy this, as it's a fresh but NOT green take on the theme. If you like unisex perfumes that aren't your basic hurr-durr Green Fresh Cologne, this would also be interesting. Finally, if you're a tea fan you will probably love it, but be warned it doesn't literally smell like tea leaves. The scent gives the suggestion of the temperature, briskness, and color of iced black tea without being overtly astringent or herbaceous.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think white floral/tea haters would definitely like this, as it's a very clever mixture of the two, and it's not too obvious. Tea scents can be sour/bitter, and this is neither. White florals can be too sweet or heady, and this doesn't have that issue either.

Where am I? Drinking iced tea on a pristine white porch.

Where would I wear this? Definitely a great spring/summer scent. It's too bad it's winter, or I would really want to wear this a lot. I see this as a daytime scent. It's perfect for work or weekend as it's inoffensive but whimsical enough to be fun. 

Sarawen Cake or Death Review

Brand: Sarawen
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: cake, allspice, cream frosting, amber

First impression out of bottle: Cinnamon bun with glaze and nuts

Cinnamon bun get in my mouth

Freshly applied: Same glazed cinnamon bun (think Cinnabon) with something a bit aquatic and perfumed, almost like a masculine aftershave. This is really interesting- a mix of a traditional cologne scent with a spicy gourmand. It kind of ends up smelling a teensy bit soapy, not in a really gross way just in a clean and slightly powdery way.

Luxurious, warm oriental perfume

Drydown: The soapiness/powder calms down and I get a warm unisex cologne (think a masculine oriental NOT some green/fresh aftershave Polo/CK business) with a hint of voluptuous sweetness. I think this is an ambitious gourmand/perfumey blend (which are my favorite types of perfume) and I'm not 100% in love yet. I think it would benefit from being heavier on the pastry/cake notes and lighter on the amber. But if I had no inkling of what this scent was supposed to be, going into it, I'd probably really like it as a slightly spicy, sweet oriental. 

After several hours: Vaguely cakey amber spice oriental (with no floral notes.)

Longevity: Medium
Sillage: Medium

Would an [X] lover love this? Oriental/amber lovers will enjoy this. Gourmand lovers may be disappointed that the cake notes (which are awesome on first application) fade and become less pronounced. But that could be my skin chemistry.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think if you hate spice or amber you will dislike this. It's a slightly powdery amber blend, which I know is a characteristic that amber-haters tend to despise. 

Where am I? Eating a Cinnabon out of the hands of a very-well-perfumed gentleman. Why such a sophisticated man is holding such a disgusting (delicious) treat I don't know.

Where would I wear this? Work, daytime, mayyybe nighttime as it has a bit of a sexy feel. I always think true unisex perfumes are sexy because they just remind me of couples' perfumes/colognes mingling together.

Deep Midnight A Study in Brown Review

Brand: Deep Midnight
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: A scented story of aromatic copal, nutty tonka bean, oak wood smoke, and toasted sugar

First impression out of bottle: Smoky wood and sugar

Freshly applied: You can taste the crunchy brown sugar crystals, which are sweetening up the gorgeous resinous wood notes. There's also strong smoke here. It smells like a very sweet and smoky version of Solstice Scents' Attic. It has that same resiny astringency that I love, but overlaid with a toasted sugar topping.

Like this, but with sugar

Drydown: This gets less sugary as it dries, and more nutty. The tonka is a great note here that's sort of surprising. It's not sweet but it's a bit earthy in a non-woodsy way. This starts to smell more like slightly sweet toasted nuts, resin, wood, and a hint of clingy woodsmoke.

Smoky toasted nuts

After several hours: Same as above. This gets to be faint after a few hours, but is a scent that clings nonetheless. 

Longevity: High, but the sillage fades later
Sillage: Very high at first, moderate amount of time with high sillage, then toward the 8 hour mark, this fades to a whispery light scent

Would an [X] lover love this? I think any fan of woodsy perfumes would love this. It has the characteristic astringency and wood notes that someone who loves cedar, pine, redwood, teak, oud, or mahogany would like. The smoke is just enough to make you think of a forest, not like an actual fire. The sweetness never crosses over into being too girly, I can see this on a man or a woman.

Would an [X] hater love this? I think even people who are frightened of woodsy scents or find them too assertive would love this. It's playful, a little lilting and charming, not super straightforward or bold. It's got strong, assertive notes, but it's a little sweet and fuzzy around the edges. I think this is a beginner-friendly scent, especially for a man who isn't accustomed to wearing perfumes.

Where am I? t makes me think of your hot lumberjack boyfriend who comes in from the cold with his flannel shirt stinking of wood and smoke. Then he eats a plate of cookies, and you wear the flannel the next day and it's a beautiful mix of earthy natural notes and sweet gourmand.

Where would I wear this? Work, home, weekdays. It's not quite sexy/sultry enough for nighttime. I like very girly scents, so maybe that's why it reads more daytime to me. It's sexy in a subtle, masculine way, but not ostentatious, so definitely work-appropriate. This has a cold-weather feel, but would be good to wear in the last hot days of September as well.