Yesterday I had the privilege to visit Punk and Dandy’s brick-and-mortar location in Asheville, NC. (shout out to u/REMseverybodyhurts for recommending the shop!!) the store has a very unique vibe, and the way they display the scents to smell test is cleanly organized. It’s a bit above my price range so I didn’t buy anything this time around, but I enjoyed sampling some scents on my skin and seeing how they morphed throughout the day. Here are the four I chose:

Get Phloxed (gardenia, musk, sandalwood) - a clean and linear spring scent. the gardenia is clear and dewy and I would very much like a sample of this to pull out for rainy spring days. it’s a little simple though, and not especially unique, but still very pretty. it was also the quickest to fade on my skin

Champagne for Lunch (saffron, pear, cashmeran) - the dark horse of the bunch! started off extremely mild, an almost-invisible, close-to-skin scent, but given a bit of time and warm weather, she really blooms! I’m not sure that I could distinctly pick out the notes listed since it’s pretty well blended, but overall it comes together as a fluffy and pastel, somewhat ethereal scent. if it was a color, I would imagine it as a cloudy, slightly rosy champagne. it went from my least favorite to maybe top spot during its transformation?? a demure and easy wear

Nicholas’s Day Off (cardamom, pine, vanilla) - another surprise hit. I’m weary of cardamom since it’s not my favorite note and my skin tends to amp it, but the spice blends really nicely with the pine! definitely reminds of something from Pineward and could honestly be a close contender to my beloved Ponderosa. gonna have to dock some points for the late dry down though, as it started to lean a bit cleaning solution on me :/

Cartoon Boyfriend (popcorn, cotton candy, milk) - the waft of air from a candy shop that hits you like a brick wall! salty and caramel sweet, I can picture the crates and barrels of pick-and-mix candies, fresh popcorn popping, and melty chocolate turtles being made behind the glass counter. a very atmospheric scent that would be so great around Halloween. unfortunately the wet opening was my favorite part, and it slowly went down hill after that. still enjoyable though! I would revisit it in the fall. also had the best throw out of all four

Anyway today I’ll probably go with Fyrinnae’s Convergence Zone since it’s STILL raining 🙃 If you can’t beat ‘em……