BPAL: Shanghai, Skuld, The Candy Butcher
Three reviews to catch me up.
Shanghai
Description from the site:
The crisp, clean scent of green tea touched with lemon verbena and honeysuckle.
In the Bottle:
This smells very clean and light. I can definitely catch the honeysuckle, which is one of the few floral scents to regularly work on me, and the lemon verbena gives it just a bit of tang, while the green tea keeps it from going too crystalline and headache-inducing.
Wet:
Almost exactly the way it smells in the bottle, only the lemon verbena gains a little strength. This is lovely, very clean and fresh.
Drydown:
Everything blends a bit more, so rather then individual notes, I get something that's fresh and green and the slightest bit sharp without being too sharp.
Dry:
Gets a teeny bit muskier, so the green tea's more prominent and the plant edge of the verbena and honeysuckle is more present. Still all kinds of light and refreshing. I really like this one, I think it'll be good for going to the beach. It's also the only one I've encountered thus far that requires re-applying. Usually, scents sit on my skin until I wash them off, but this one was all but gone in six hours, and at eight it was as though it had never been.
Spouse Report:
Spouse can't smell a thing, which I suspected, since it's so light. Which means it doesn't do anything for him, but at least it doesn't trigger his allergies.
Skuld
Description from the site:
Being. Ylang ylang, honey, Egyptian and Arabian musks and labdanum.
In the bottle:
This smells strangely…peachy and grapy. Fruity. I don't see any fruit in the description. Weird. There's a hint of honey, honeyed fruit. I'm not smelling the musks or florals at all. This is encouraging.
Wet:
There's something green or herby, that might be the labdunum. Something grounding that might be the musk, just a faint tinge of smoke. That fruity smell is overwhelming any other notes, though.
Drydown:
The fruit calms down a teeny bit. Everything else calms down a *lot,* which only means the fruit still pops. It's kinda dried fruit smelling, sweet and dusty.
Dry:
And the fruit…sweetens. Gah.
Spouse Report:
Spouse said potpourri. I think he's onto something. I don't like how sweet this is, without any other notes to mitigate it.
The Candy Butcher
Description:
An exquisite, enigmatic woman sidles up to you, bearing a tray of strange, dusty curios, chocolate creatures, serpentine taffy, and candied skulls. Her skin is dusky, her eyes are heavy-lidded and sensual, her hair is the fine, soft white of spun sugar, and her skin is softly scented with cocoa. She holds a shrunken head aloft, and beckons.
Dark chocolate with a heavy cream undertone.
In the Bottle:
Dark, rich chocolate with cream and a touch of hazelnut.
Wet:
The nut and cream are a little stronger, the chocolate a little fainter.
Drydown:
The nut and chocolate blend until the nut is just a tinge of extra with the chocolate. The cream mellows a bit, so the chocolate becomes the top note. This? Is fantastic. Except for the part where I want a chocolate bar now.
Dry:
The cream continues to fade, until I'm just left with creamy, nutty chocolate, rather than separate notes. It smells delicious, but it may actually be a little too foody for me, shock and amazement, and it's definitely not complex enough. I like a blend of scents rather than a single note. I'm glad I got to try this, though.
Spouse Report:
Spouse said it smelled really good, but, y'know. Chocolate.
In other news, my second bottle of Hungry Ghost Moon is on its way to me. I'm in hoarding mode with that one, let me tell you. Any pointers toward more to be acquired would be appreciated.
Shanghai
Description from the site:
The crisp, clean scent of green tea touched with lemon verbena and honeysuckle.
In the Bottle:
This smells very clean and light. I can definitely catch the honeysuckle, which is one of the few floral scents to regularly work on me, and the lemon verbena gives it just a bit of tang, while the green tea keeps it from going too crystalline and headache-inducing.
Wet:
Almost exactly the way it smells in the bottle, only the lemon verbena gains a little strength. This is lovely, very clean and fresh.
Drydown:
Everything blends a bit more, so rather then individual notes, I get something that's fresh and green and the slightest bit sharp without being too sharp.
Dry:
Gets a teeny bit muskier, so the green tea's more prominent and the plant edge of the verbena and honeysuckle is more present. Still all kinds of light and refreshing. I really like this one, I think it'll be good for going to the beach. It's also the only one I've encountered thus far that requires re-applying. Usually, scents sit on my skin until I wash them off, but this one was all but gone in six hours, and at eight it was as though it had never been.
Spouse Report:
Spouse can't smell a thing, which I suspected, since it's so light. Which means it doesn't do anything for him, but at least it doesn't trigger his allergies.
Skuld
Description from the site:
Being. Ylang ylang, honey, Egyptian and Arabian musks and labdanum.
In the bottle:
This smells strangely…peachy and grapy. Fruity. I don't see any fruit in the description. Weird. There's a hint of honey, honeyed fruit. I'm not smelling the musks or florals at all. This is encouraging.
Wet:
There's something green or herby, that might be the labdunum. Something grounding that might be the musk, just a faint tinge of smoke. That fruity smell is overwhelming any other notes, though.
Drydown:
The fruit calms down a teeny bit. Everything else calms down a *lot,* which only means the fruit still pops. It's kinda dried fruit smelling, sweet and dusty.
Dry:
And the fruit…sweetens. Gah.
Spouse Report:
Spouse said potpourri. I think he's onto something. I don't like how sweet this is, without any other notes to mitigate it.
The Candy Butcher
Description:
An exquisite, enigmatic woman sidles up to you, bearing a tray of strange, dusty curios, chocolate creatures, serpentine taffy, and candied skulls. Her skin is dusky, her eyes are heavy-lidded and sensual, her hair is the fine, soft white of spun sugar, and her skin is softly scented with cocoa. She holds a shrunken head aloft, and beckons.
Dark chocolate with a heavy cream undertone.
In the Bottle:
Dark, rich chocolate with cream and a touch of hazelnut.
Wet:
The nut and cream are a little stronger, the chocolate a little fainter.
Drydown:
The nut and chocolate blend until the nut is just a tinge of extra with the chocolate. The cream mellows a bit, so the chocolate becomes the top note. This? Is fantastic. Except for the part where I want a chocolate bar now.
Dry:
The cream continues to fade, until I'm just left with creamy, nutty chocolate, rather than separate notes. It smells delicious, but it may actually be a little too foody for me, shock and amazement, and it's definitely not complex enough. I like a blend of scents rather than a single note. I'm glad I got to try this, though.
Spouse Report:
Spouse said it smelled really good, but, y'know. Chocolate.
In other news, my second bottle of Hungry Ghost Moon is on its way to me. I'm in hoarding mode with that one, let me tell you. Any pointers toward more to be acquired would be appreciated.