fragrance samples arriiiiiived
long post with reviews and notes below cut
first up: rĂȘve d'ossian EDP by oriza legrand
this smells like delicious dr. pepper and resin, like if cdg avignon were sexier and friendlier. VERY STRONG when you first spray it but it quickly settles down into a cozy, sweet incense. the scent memory it evokes is an empty russian orthodox church or monastery to me, when the lamps and candles aren't lit and you can really smell the residual incense from years of services, free of the sooty oil lamps or the salty, aggressive smokiness of freshly-burnt incense. love, will likely look for a full size.
next: CALAJ Perfumes - Transilvania EDP
when i say i got BLASTED by cherry and fecal matter i am not exaggerating. the opening smells like if a real life civet took a dump in front of you after having eaten a pile of cherries earlier in the day, or if you drank some cherry-flavoured cough syrup and then immediately set to mucking out a horse stall. if i smell it too much i feel nauseated, and yet i can't stop. this is, allegedly, a sexy vampire fragrance. i could see it, though the vampire this bizarre concoction calls to mind is not a mincing dandy in lace and silks but a wild, mountain voivode with ravenous sexual appetites (although if i met a woman who smelled like this i would drop to my knees and swear fealty on the spot). after a while, the rose, vanilla, and honey smooth out the animalic roughness, like lingering stickiness from the delicacies the vampiric voivode plied you with before ravishing you. there is a lot more i can say but im getting distracted by this sexy vampire story.
after about an hour the most aggressive notes calm down considerably. still would not wear this to work or anywhere that open sensuality is discouraged.
and now for something completely different: Brandt - Guava Sorbet Elixier EDP
this one was a little disappointing at first. up close the sandalwood and bergamot make this smell like a pricey, if generic, shampoo, and i hardly get any jasmine or milky notes. the guava, osmanthus and citrus project very well, however. the effect is of a creamy, sweet scent cloud tempered by the guava's natural bitterness and some of the sharper citrus notes. im gonna have to smell this when im not being attacked on both sides by rĂȘve d'ossian and transilvania because it is quite complex.
