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my most recent spring “little treat” purchase (ie birthday gift) after months of meandering on a sample is pdm meliora. pretty penny. but i got it after selling a lot of destash and that covered the whole cost, so im not gonna get into that.

tldr: i am mad i liked this one a lot

i wake up every morning and usually choose violence. my favorite scents are dusty, vintage, the wrong sort of statement for most affairs. aldehydes and aromatics are my staples. my brand. i don’t typically go for the “clean girl” or sweet fruity pleasant styled freshies even if i keep them around. and this is by design.

so why have i fallen so damned hard for meliora?

it’s shampooey. it’s tart and fruity, the jasmine in it is not the sambac or grandiflora that lends its odious indole to a heady composition, the flora blends into a tea-like crisp watery soapiness. the currant is almost juice-like, not quite fruit punch (certainly not that sweet) but not so different that i wouldn’t say it. ylang and rose hide deep within it, not quite showing their faces, both scents i prefer to have detectable rather than mingled. it’s…simple. almost boring. but it’s romantic, elegant, classic and lovable, yet not so sweet that it gives me the typical fruity-floral ache that similar PDM scents did (shame upon delina and cassili). if other PDM scents are rococo in their overstatedness, their drama and feminine panache almost like a spectacle— meliora is their early regency sister— a return to a more understated and delicate form that mingles its influences and couches them in a very expensive and luxurious, but simplistic base musk-wood-vanilla.

this is to say: if you want a tea-like fruity floral free of any cremes or strong vanillas, and aren’t opposed to smelling like you just got out of a pricy european hair salon, i mean— meliora may be a good choice. DEFINITELY sample something that expensive first though.

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i did a pretty large destash and gave some stuff to a work friend and my sister, sold some stuff on mercari, and have a box going to my brother and his girlfriend. mostly travel sizes or bottles i just never reach for; my indie collection will remain completely untouched forever. but with the money i’m getting from selling some, im buying two new additions that i’ve had as return samples for a year: pdm meliora (buying this pre-owned grey market because i am NOT crazy) and guerlain’s samsara. i’ve woven rhapsodies about samsara being my perfect jasmine a thousand times (on my skin that loves, exudes, DRINKS jasmine, it is more jasmine than sandalwood). the right balance of indole and sweetness and wood, all with a heady petally crème. i adore it. meliora is going to be my odd consolation prize for an all season work wear sort of thing. it’s fruity and shampooey and has more of that wonderful jasmine tea, but shockingly simple and elegant. i find myself very bothered by how much i enjoy it every time because it really is not complex! musky shampoo, aromatic jasmine tea, red currant. not too sweet but not complex. yet it’s so…delightful! and i’m mad! anyway, much to say, i did a bit spring cleaning and curation. the two birthday buys this year are unfortunately very pragmatic and not impulse purchases; both have been very thoroughly long term tested and are a bit boring. but im starting to enjoy that.

that is, if the deconstructing eden easter collection doesn’t drop soon…

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starting to think fragrantica reviewers think literally everything smells like piss

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in which i finally review my thin wild mercury samples

- chelsea staircase by thin wild mercury is so good...very lemon iced tea. this is a half sweet iced tea with a lemon in it, but midway through i start getting sunflower. which is very buttery and kind of oddly savory? it's not like a gourmandy buttery savory, it does smell like sunflower, but it’s not a note i'm used to. but i did immediately recognize it bc ive grown sunflowers! i don't get a canvas or wrought iron note but there is a tangy-metallic musk? probably the fantasy note they're going for. this smells like yellow hazy sunshine.

- girl of the year is EASILY my favorite of the bunch. opening is soft cherry chapstick with an orrisy flair, but very distinctive leather jacket and a smoky incense like it's not the soft suppley leather i get from shalimar. this is a bit heftier. a little darker and muskier. weirdly very wearable on intimate sniff. very leathery, but the waft is cherry chapstick. when i get a job i'm probably going to get a FB of girl of the year. it's kind of the leather scent of my dreams; resiny and evocative and smokey, but light enough to wear. i think it's a strong contender also for best cherry scent i've tried.

- sheep meadow is confusing. definitely like. a blueberry fluff note. but it's cottony and not the right sort of sweet. i would say it's also kind of laundry detergent floral but not placeable. the lavender is there but it's musky. it's like a big pale blue stuffy. or like when they used to have those scented plush animals? this is what i imagined as a kid the blue ones smelled like. not what they actually smelled like but the vibe. i am assuming much like most almond scents on me, the almond will be in the dry down and it will last for fucking ever. this smells like a person. like i know this lady. i detect no chocolate. reminds me of osmofolia cirrus if it was also a blueberry vape

- the last one is 34 bohemian cafes. disclaimer: rose notes die on me so i knew this one wasn't gonna do it. it's a nice leather scent (this may be thin wild mercury's great strength), and the pepper is nice, but it's pretty dark, masculine, woody, and heavy- more than i usually go for. my preferred androgynous scents tend to be herby and this is very deep. i also get a woody resiny sweetness. in fact, this is a bit sweeter than girl of the year, but i think this is because i am more sensitive to wood/resin sweetness than other sorts of it, or my skin amps it up, because it isn’t as sweet as girl of the year on paper. smells kind of like the back of a smokey bar in a nice way, but i think this sample will be given to my brother.

i think the strongest two for me are girl of the year and chelsea staircase.

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i’m the lab rat for the owner of lovesick witchery and these are my test tube babies. so far, i have tried soft grunge and dusty vanilla on. soft grunge is a very round moderate incense smell— like a veil of incense and a soft shadow kind of vibe. dusty vanilla can best be described as opening an antique jewelry box and finding out it’s got some sort of vanilla powder in it too along with all the antique velvet lining. very cold and lightly sweet, very dusty indeed

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a second possets order hit the pentagon

so i guess i have to review doomed love now. it's become my bedtime comfort scent. the sweetbriar accord they use must be what has that minty cooling apple-like effect; it opens almost bubblegum but in less than five minutes you're left with a softly musky, sweet green, almost fruity garden mint like smell. it is unlike any fruit i can really place, but it's got more body than your usual herby mint punch. i don't think i've smelled real sweetbriar in years, so i don't know if this is what it smells like, but it's incredibly calming without a super minty, toothpaste edge imo. if youre interested in grabbing this, it's a valentine retour seasonal so youre gonna have to grab it now (though it'll probably be back next year). i actually got this order about two weeks ago, but i'll speak frankly: i am a federal employee and my anxiety for the last few weeks has been through the roof. posting to my perfume sideblog is....the very least of my concerns. however, when i come home after my night shift, and cozy up with my snoopy plushie and a piece of toast, the scent of choice? doomed love.

i don't know why it's named doomed love. maybe it's the cold aspect it has? to me this is a very personal gentle scent that i can see being a compliment getter if it ever leaves the house.

the other thing i grabbed in this order is venus black as a fb, which i reviewed after my free sample and was gaga over it. the freebies they sent me with this order, yet unsmelt so that they may age, are beatrice and terra incognito. i'm most thrilled for beatrice; possets musks are top tier

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alkemia novella dousing today. trying to burn through some samples. this one is a creamy tea lavender with a very dominant paper note and i can see it being far more alluring on someone who isn’t a tax examiner wearing sweatpants to the office bc she didn’t run laundry.

very lavender and it’s that alkemia french lavender, so it’s damned good, but lacking in a richness. herbal. infusion adjacent. tender. but not warm. i like it. would i full bottle? maybe someday. don’t know for sure.

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folks, they're saying it's the highest score a body has ever kept

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january 13th 2025⌇SOTD ᧔◍᧓

tart deco - snif (black cherry, raspberry, rose, jasmine, mimosa, birchwood, vetiver, vanilla)

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good luck, babe! [custom] - lovesick witchery - (plum, whiskey, red lipstick (dark cherry, cotton candy, raspberry, violet, brown sugar, tonka bean, musk, french crème), caramel velvet)

dark cherry time :3 🍒

havent worn tart deco in a bit bc it gives me a headache sometimes :( but we ball!!!

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1920’s French perfume bottle

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a friend of mine gave me her sample of the winter 2025 ffern so i’m wearing that today

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some first impressions

- upstairs window: thus far the favorite of the bunch. honey resin and a creamy wood note, lots of incense. smells like…warm slightly sweet attic smell. nice, and a bit spicy. not much to say about this one other than very very warm and comfortable.

- monastic: looked forward to this a lot but it was a gamble and i’m letting it age. i got stanky labdanum the moment it hit my skin. labdanum is a very often a death note on me if it’s the natural resin and can kill a good perfume for me, and it is detectable here but it does dry down to that freshly blow out cold match in the wind smell other people describe labdanum as sometimes? it also has detectable dark red rose. it is church incense, for sure, but going to let it age to see if it sits right on my skin.

- basilica: smells like churchy rosewood. reminds me very much of the catholic church in my hometown, extremely “antique wood furniture and faint smoke from incense” vibe. shocked this works on me bc of the resin blend but ecstatic that it does. this one is better than monastic for me, which i was on the fence about swapping as a sample for a full bottle of this— as in, i get a full bottle of basilica and sample of monastic— and now i am filled with baby remorse, but you live and you learn.

- full light: reminds me of vanilla milk steamers you get at coffee shops for kiddos. doesn’t do the sour milk smell on my skin but still too milky for me to enjoy, tbh. very true vanilla (not heavily sweet), warm milk, woody base. would be nice if you like lactonics! i don’t and i don’t love smelling like milk, but it is a well done scent if that’s what you like.

it’s here but i literally went home to grab it during my lunch break and didn’t get to smell anything. first impressions when i get home