Brand: Sixteen92
Availability: Limited Edition Halloween 2015
Notes: Tart cranberry, benzoin, fir needle, dark chocolate, smoldering incense, dry leaves
First impression out of bottle: Dragon's Blood and chocolate-covered dried cherries
Freshly applied: Fruity and chocolatey incense. I loooove the Dragon's Blood note in here, it's a very warm red incense, almost fuzzy and slightly musky.
Drydown: While the opening smelled like a jug of Kirkland brand chocolate-covered berries, the drydown is more sophisticated. This is now a combo of kind of fresh tart fruit, a woodsy dark chocolate note, and still that strong incense. I really love this- it's mostly incense on me, with nuances of earthy and foodie notes. The fir and dry leaves provide a slightly darker, earthier background, but they're not super apparent as individual notes. Something about the tart cranberry, which lends some astringency, along with the sweet soft chocolate, wrapped in dusky incense is really magical. This is one of my favorite incense perfumes and I have a ton.
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| Hot, red, and incensey |
After several hours: Sweet incensey chocolate. This is way more complex and nuanced than Solstice Scents' Grey's Cabin, a chocolate incense smell which is one of the only SS scents I don't own in full size because it has a really flat feeling.
Longevity: Medium
Sillage: Medium
Would an [X] lover love this? I think anyone who enjoys berry scents, Dragon's Blood, incense in general, or even red musk (this has a similar warm fuzzy feel) will really love this.
Would an [X] hater love this? I think if you hate incense, this might be a good slightly brighter take on it. It's not ultra fresh or overly fruity, so if you particularly can't stand any incensey notes, this will likely not be for you. I find it far less headshoppy than I Saw Goody Procter With the Devil, so there's that.
Where am I? The cottage of a witch at Thanksgiving.
Where would I wear this? Daytime, weekend, evening. It's not super sexy but it has a dark feel that would work well at night. It feels very autumnal, I don't think I'd wear it come springtime.
Brand: Deconstructing Eden
Availability: General Catalog
Notes: Bulgarian rose absolute, Indian jasmine absolute, sandalwood, dragon's blood, frankincense, purple plums, Madagascar ginger, and precious spices
First impression out of bottle: Fruity Dragon's Blood
Freshly applied: Dragon's Blood, berries, and a hint of ginger and whiskey (sometimes DE scents with spice in them smell like whiskey on me!)
Drydown: Unfortunately, this is one of the DE scents that first takes a funky turn on me. There are very few but this is similar to Jasmine House, which turned to straight coriander and whiskey on me. I have a very similar impression from the initial drydown of Theodora.
After several hours: So the nice thing about DE scents is even when they don't work on me, the drydown is always fabulous. In this case, it doesn't take too long (maybe 5 min) for the scent to morph out of its SPICED WHISKEY loudmouth opening into something far tamer. This turns into a slightly alcoholic (like wine and maybe a hint of brandy) purple-fruit incense scent. Dragon's Blood usually smells "red" and "dry" to me but here it smells VERY purple and almost damp and juicy. I don't get a lot of individual rose or jasmine, but I do smell a faint floral background. I definitely smell a bit of fresh ginger, which is a really nice addition. This is not overwhelmingly incense (maybe 40-50%) and it doesn't smell smoky or powdery. Just very smooth and sexy.
Longevity: High
Sillage: Medium
Would an [X] lover love this? I think incense and plum/berry lovers will really enjoy this. It's not too juicy, not too dry, just perfect.
Would an [X] hater love this? Even if you think you dislike incense or Dragon's Blood, give this a try. I prefer Nag Champa to Dragon's Blood but this blend won me over. Sometimes the note can be too dry, too musky, but this is a very elegant and sexy version.
Where am I? A dimly lit purple tent filled with fruit, incense, and booze
Where would I wear this? Weekend, daytime, nighttime, autumn, winter, spring, summer. I think I might wear this at work but it's not really a work-mood kind of scent. I would put this on to lounge at home but also to go out on a nice date.
