Zerotonin

A sample of a fragrance that I probably would never have wanted to test if I had known the pyramid found its way to me. As a lovely addition.
It's not that I have to immediately call up the perfume page for every test and study the notes while sniffing, but I usually like to have a reference point. With many fragrances that you swap and feel you must test (go for), you already have that - precisely because you studied the pyramid. Or you already know the name, have read about it, had associations and ideas. Recently, I've stopped checking beforehand with random, included samples.
Good thing! Otherwise, I would surely have approached this test very biased.
Funfair Evening promised me sweetness from the name. Sugar. Sticky.
All the more surprised I was by the beautiful scent that I categorized as exotic-oriental in the first second. Sweet, indeed, but bearable. I could immediately identify my beloved orange blossom, as well as a fruity shisha apple at the beginning. It is definitely caramel-like too. But some beautiful, mysterious note refused to show me its face. I kept pondering in the back of my mind what oriental ingredient could be so appealing to me. And I just couldn't figure it out. When I looked it up, I didn't understand at first.
Anise.
Anise?
I hate anise!
At least I thought so. Sprayed it on again, smelled it, and realized: it is indeed anise that I like so much here! In combination with the sweetness and the fresh white flowers, it develops into a dream for my nose.

Unfortunately, this note weakens towards the end, and caramel ultimately prevails. I also could have done without the fruity notes.
Overall, however, a delightful fragrance that is more than just a fair and popcorn and - at least for me - held quite a nice surprise. I will now delve further into the anise phenomenon; perhaps I've only tested the wrong fragrances so far?

Ue o muite arukō
I look up while walking

Namida ga kobore nai youni
So that the tears do not fall

Omoidasu haruno hi
I remember the spring days

Hitoribotchi no yoru
But tonight I am all alone

And as he walks looking up, he sees above him, blurred by tears, the most beautiful lilac tree. He squints his eyes several times to see it more clearly.
Lush, white lilac blossoms under a bright blue sky. The air is filled with the creamy scent of lilac.

And while he stands and admires and takes a deep breath, a raindrop lands on the tip of his nose. The first of many.
Warm early summer rain moistens nature and allows all flowers and woods to unfold their scent.
Mineral-fresh air envelops him as he lowers his head slightly for the first time.
The sun continues to shine, creating a beautiful rainbow.

And as the raindrops replace the tears on his face, he realizes that there is actually no reason to be sad.

Imagine you have died. A few weeks ago already. Your body, as it once was, no longer exists. Everything external has changed.
But you are not dead. You just don’t know it yet.

One evening, when your time was ripe, you followed your instinct and went into the earth. With the thought that it was all over. One last time you shed your skin and suddenly everything around you became dark and stiff.
You lay there silently, motionless. While everything in your protective shell changed around you.
But now, after weeks, perhaps even months, your body suddenly awakens.

You are alive!

But everything is so tight, you can hardly move. With great effort, you wriggle back and forth in your cocoon until finally, finally, the shell breaks. Exhausted, you pause for a moment. A brief break before you have to fight your way up from your coffin in the earth.
Maybe it took one or two hours, but you made it. In disbelief, you perceive the warmth around you, the sunbeams and plants. You climb up the very first blade of grass and look around.
You hadn’t even realized that on that evening when everything was supposed to end, you chose a spot right among the chrysanthemums and incense plants. How beautifully they smell!
You climb higher. Some relatives and acquaintances have already been active for a while, buzzing and flying around. You find a spot in the sun, and you know intuitively that you need to take a break first. So that something can unfold...
...Wings! You have gotten wings! Maybe they are colorful, maybe brown or bright yellow. Perhaps you even have fur. But all that is unimportant. Because you have survived your death and have risen stronger than ever from the depths.
With your legs, you brush off the last clumps of earth, whose scent mixes with the spring air, the chrysanthemums, and incense plants. In the distance, you also smell some lavender bushes. Probably your first destination after you can take off.

Maybe you will only live a few more days, maybe even a few weeks. But that is also unimportant, because truly lived, this can become a beautiful eternity.
Once more, you take in the air that is filled with so much nostalgia for your old self and so much happiness for your new life, and let the wind carry you into the future.

It is night, and I wander alone through the dark streets. I stumble upon an old library, illuminated only by a few candles. I enter the building and am greeted by a mysterious scent of incense and old books. I am fascinated by the gloomy atmosphere and the feeling of being immersed in another world. My footsteps echo against the cold stone walls. Candles on the floor guide the way through the old wooden bookshelves. It is dusty, abandoned, as if no one has been here for centuries.
The path leads me to a door that opens into a garden. The scent of incense grows stronger as fireflies swirl around my head. In the dark, I see the outline of an old woman, calmly stirring a large wooden spoon in a cauldron. The burning wood beneath mixes with the spicy scent of the cauldron's contents and the incense. With skilled hands, she adds clove, nutmeg, and pepper to the brew. She seems completely unaware of my presence. I look around. Above me, the stars shine brighter than I have ever seen, despite the smoke from the fire rising into the night sky. I hear the bubbling of the cauldron, the crackling fire, and the gentle rustling in the trees. Nearby, an owl calls out.
Cautiously, I approach the old woman and catch a glimpse into the cauldron. The contents are black as tar. For a moment, I consider tasting it or at least bringing this enchanting scent closer to me. In slow motion, I see my arm reaching forward.
From a leather pouch at her hip, Baba Yaga takes out a powder, spins around quickly to face me, and blows it into my face. "You must not be here!" are the last words I hear before I awaken, and the scent of fine leather lingers in my nose.

Baba Yaga is like a real encounter with the titular figure (who is often known as a witch in Slavic mythology) - the fragrance evokes the feeling of being immersed in a world full of mysteries, where anything seems possible; a surreal dream world where one stands with Baba Yaga at the cauldron and works magic.

It has been about eight years since I first had this fragrance under my nose, in the form of a sample. And it was actually love at first sniff. I was brand new to Parfumo and really had no idea. Neither about fragrance notes nor about directions - not even about what I might actually like. I just knew that I liked this one. What I didn't like was the fact that I couldn't identify with the scent at all. I saw a mature, self-confident woman in front of me, beyond my age range at the time. That was still unusual back then. I received corresponding feedback while I was using the sample: "You smell interesting" (definitely not a compliment based on the facial expression ;-) or my mother: "That smells like pee." Such comments bothered me back then. Nevertheless, I added it to my wish list for "sometime."
Over time, however, every memory of this beauty, which accompanied me for a test and two wears, faded. And so, in eight whole years, I never got around to buying it. Still, I always had it in the back of my mind, just for "sometime."

Sometime was a few days ago when I seized the opportunity for a swap. It arrived the day before yesterday. And I still love it, passionately and deeply! How could I not, when it combines everything I love? There is jasmine, a lot of it, slightly indolic, animalic (or as my mother and surely many others would say: urinous). Creamy sandalwood and amber cuddle together, and throughout the entire experience, there is a dreamy flow of spices from cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom.
What I personally cannot agree with and perceive quite differently is the classification as a gourmand. Edible is nothing for me here; I completely miss the chocolate or even pineapple perceived by some. However, I do find Courtesan more or less sweet.
And now, after all those years of abstinence, I am incredibly excited to finally enjoy this treasure properly and "urinate" happily to myself ;-)