R

[journal]

 

 

RED LANTERN 2008
A tribute to the opium den cum bawdyhouses of Shanghai in the 1930's. Golden amber, blonde tobacco, Sudanese black coconut, rich caramel, black currant, white opium and delphinium laced with a sensual blend of Asian spice.  

It comes on a little foody but I think that's the caramel and cocnut. I can sense the tobacco but it's not powerful at all. Man this is good. I just hope it stays good on my wrists and that it doesn't go stale like some food scents can do on me.

Drydown is gorgeos but not on my wrists so I have to apply it in other places.

I'm glad I got this one, it's very complex and very beautiful. 

 

RED MOON 2007
a little lunacy 

August is a month of reflection. It is the month of rest before the harvest, and it holds for us a time between toils, a brief period of relaxation before we take up the burden of our work again. It is the Time of the Phoenix, a season of celebrating health, vitality, warmth and joy, but it is also the time at which the Corn God dies for the sake of the land, his blood soaking the earth to ensure a bountiful harvest in the fall.

The Full Red Moon of August was named thus by some Native American tribes because as the moon rises, it dons a reddish veil, visible through the hot, sweltering summer evening haze. Our blend for this Moon mixes traditional lunar oils with the warmth of amber, red musk, and heliotrope, the russet haze of dragon's blood resin, sunflower, and crushed orange peel, with a dusting of summertime herbs: chamomile, rue, elder flower and marigold.  

I slathered some on right away, when I decanted some into a roller bottle, which is rarely a good idea before I know what i'm dealing with, especially when i'm on the far edge of a flu as I am now. My nose isn't really up to snuff yet (...), but I don't think it was a disaster. This is a good one. Yep, the red musk, not very floral at all, and mmm some spice, and what is that? Is that orange peel?

Clearly I will have to come back, but something tells me it's gonna be enjoyable. 

I come back to this one frequently actually, but I seem to forget to report it.

Orange peel is a prominent note with the red musk, and the herbal/floral note is also present, but I was surprised when someone mentioned that it has dragon's blood at the forum. I had to go look at the description and yep, there it is. Not on me though. I tested BLOODLUST the other day and in spite of the vetiver and the red musk, two notes that usually take over, it was a dragon's blood scent to me. So this was interesting and very cool.

I love this one actually. I wear it as often as I can, taking into consideration that I only have a partial bottle from ebay. I have to save it a little.  

 

RED PHOENIX
limited editions
anniversary 

A celebration of three years of decadence, determination, death and rebirth. Red musk, tonka, Chinese cassia, mandarin, patchouli, benzoin, wild plum and tobacco.
 

I knew I would like this but man I didn't know how much.

The first thing I notice is cinnamon but it's smooth with a sweet hint. A fruity sweet hint, not like CHIMERA that can easily slide over in too much no matter how gorgeous it is.

I got some on me unintentionally decanting it into a roller bottle, because i'm testing THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM today and wasn't prepared for this one. They layer very well though, and by now the red musk has had time to come out and play. And it does. Sexy sexy.

It came in a blue bottle. I've never seen that before so I assume it's old (it was a purchase from a fellow forumite so I haven't checked yet...checking...oh okay 05), and it's beautiful. I wish the blue bottles would come back.

Scratch that, I want the scent to come back, because I would hoard it.

I will do a more in depth test later since it didn't get to shine alone today but I have a feeling it's more than capable of holding it's own. 

Online: Cassia is the first one to come to the forefront but once it's on it's sexy sexy red musk, with a juicy sidekick i'm thinking is the plum. The warm scent of tobacco (a note I never thought I would like after I stopped smoking but it's very different from what I thought it would be, it's warm and brown and comforting) comes through as a backdrop everything else is played against. This one is sailing right up there as a favorite and it's physically painful to know it's so hard to get more of.

I just mixed a little bit with some jojoba oil and scented my hair with it. Man I smell gorgeous!

 

RED ROSE
Red rose buds, with amber, clove, tonka, Indian musk, fir, and tobacco. 

this one is in the BAGHDAD family only much better. A spicy rose with a deep echo of something old, but good old.

ROSE RED 2007
limited editions
yules07

The perfected winter rose, dew covered and freshly cut.

oh wow this one smells exactly like red roses!! often rose scents, although undoubtedly being rose scents, don't actually smell like the flowers. but this one does. while wet i even get a little whiff of the water in the vase but once it dries, it's all roses. real roses. this one is limited edition so it didn't come in an imp, i had to get the bottle unsniffed, but man am i happy i got this one!! it smells exactly like the one red rose i get in my garden every year.