Category: Rappacini's Garden
As with a lot of the Garden scents, I get a lot of 'green' from this -- bark, roots, even a little bit of dirt. There is a bit of sweetness there, as well, as if the deadly tree has bait to lure victims in to sleep forever at its base. It has a nice amount of throw and lasted most of the day.
Category: Doc Constantine's Pharmacopeia
I don't really get a 'dirty' vibe from this (when I was initially reading reviews, people were all (OMG it smells like dirt and mud and violets!)...it's more of a *sweet* violet, perhaps one that has been squished to make, well, bruised violet compound. It's a pretty straightforward violet scent, IMHO. Has a wee bit of throw once it dries (and it is especially lovely once it does), and has good staying power.
Limited Editions -- Halloween 2009 -- The Literary Vampires
I pretty much just get roasted chestnuts off of this. It's a rich, almost buttery sort of smell -- it's like going over to someone's house after they've been baking all day...all the smells of the various breads, cookies and such mingle together, into one warm, delicious celebration of carbohydrates. It's a very, very intriguing scent, though in my case I'm pretty sure I don't need a bottle of it. If I do ever swap my imp of this, it will be with a bittersweet and reluctant feeling.
It smells slightly like generic perfume or cologne, but there is enough amber present to keep it interesting. Unfortunately, it turns very powdery fairly quickly...and while that's not necessarily bad, it's not really what I was looking for from this scent. Not for me.
Category -- Rappacini's Garden
As many others have noted, this is a 'green' scent, very evocative of a garden full of blooming plants late on a damp afternoon. I think I detect more peony than rose -- the floral components seem high and sweet without being too cloyingly so. It is a very inoffensive scent -- a modest amount of throw, and a pretty quick fade.
Category -- Diabolus
The licorice/anise component stands out the most for me -- which is great, because I love that scent! It is framed subtley by faintly-woody tones...so I can sort of see how one could get that 'witch in the woods' imagery. As time passes, it turns extremely creamy -- as if I had put on some anise-scented lotion. Which would be great, if I actually had lotion that smelled like this...but is sort of disappointing from just the oil.
I would have loved for this to have more throw. It has very decent staying power -- I could still smell it, on my wrist, at night when I went to bed -- but it is too subdued for me to really desire a bottle of it.
Category -- Sin and Salvation
The magnolia and jasmine blend really nicely, creating a sweet floral effect. There is a hint of rose there, as well. I don't get any amber at all...nothing but florals, here. For me, it falls in along the lines of Bathsheba, and Sacred Whore of Babylon...so if you like those scents, give this one a try, too.
Category -- Bewitching Brews
It's definitely a PINE scent -- but that's not to imply that it's offensive. Rather, it's a very green, fresh, 'pure' sort of pine -- the sort you'd get straight from the tree, rather than seeming like a cleaning product. Underneath is a faintly sweet, almost creamy sort of aroma -- the ambergris, perhaps, and/or the juniper.
Soon after application, I can also detect a cedary scent -- that must be the cypress. After a long moment of piney goodness, it turns into a more subdued, generally-woody scent.
It's really lovely, and perfect for wintertime, of course -- and though I don't need a bottle, I will definitely keep the imp for a day in summer when I am longing for some Christmas in July.
Unfortunately, Karl immediately said 'You smell like a car freshener!', so a bottle is definitely not in my future. But *I* like it!!!
Category -- Rappaccini's Garden
Oh God, this is gorgeous. Beautiful, sweet lily, smooth and velvety. It has a cool darkness without being damp, more an essence of the shaded light that surrounds the flower, rather than the earth it springs from.
If only it projected. It hugs my skin and really does not throw much, and this is disappointing.
(And, unfortunately, the only day that it really seems to amp -- is the day right before my period. I can't really justify wanting a bottle of something with such a...limited window of usefulness. )
Upon first application, it smelled like what I fancy an old-fashioned licorice candy would smell like: vaguely bitter, but with enough sweetness in its scent to lure one in for a tooth-achingly good time. I actually envision a licorice-flavored 'coal' candy with this one.
It is decent staying power and throw, and is pleasantly-sweet throughout; I can definitely pick out the licorice and leather notes. The coal dust makes it just a tad dry or powdery around the edges, without the whole thing crumbling into powderiness. It's very interesting, but an imp is most likely enough for me.
Darn...I really wanted this one to work, since it sounded so delicious. Unfortunately, all I get is toasted pancake syrup. BPAL made me a cookie...but they burneded it.
There's definitely lots of cedar...it's a wet sort of smell, very definitely like freshly-upturned earth and roots, and it's very fascinating in that regard.
It has little throw, and clings very close to the skin. While appropriate, it lessens the enjoyment somewhat for me, personally. And it seems to wear off pretty fast. Not for me.
Peachy flowers. While the peach note is really pretty, on me the notes just all meld together into a very generic sort of sweet-fruity-floral scent. It's a bit like a girl who is very pretty and sweet and demure, but also very vapid, and easily-forgotten. I'm sure the character this is based on is *nothing* like that, but it's the personality that seems to be put forth by this blend, to me at least.
It's got a very 'cologney' type vibe to it...not that that's a bad thing, at all. It starts off on the masculine end of the spectrum, maintaining a very deep, earthy atmosphere, but you can smell the sweeter notes lying underneath, and as time passes, those come up and give it a nice, more feminine elegance. So, I would agree with another reviewer who called it a unisex scent. I think if it would have projected more, I would have really been aching for a bottle of this; it's nice, but doesn't quite cut it for me.
It's not floral, and only a bit fruity -- it's mostly a smell that could be termed 'foilage'...various leaves and branches and twigs, gently stirred by a night breeze. The fruit note does smell like apple, so I agree with the 'apple orchard at night' images that others have noted. It's actually pretty impressive, because it comes off as cool and airy without being an aquatic scent, and on the dry side without being dusty. Even though it doesn't suit me, personally, I'm impressed with it, as these qualities really stand out as being unique to me.
Man...what a flippin' cocktease.
I get a brief, teasing whiff of orange, and then a pine branch smacks me in the noggin. But I like the orange...so I keep coming back to sniff again...and keep getting pine needles shoved up my nose. And then amber and incense come around afterward to douse my wounds in a medicinal bath, and prep me for round 7,531 of this endless cycle.
It's an exercise in sadomasochism for me.
This is a moist, white, freshly-made cupcake with a thick layer of cream-cheese frosting, adorned with a juicy dollop of strawberry pulp. And, as if that wasn't delicious enough, every now and then there is a redolant little whiff of spices...like nutmeg and cinnamon. Did I order a bottle? Are bears Catholic? YUM.
This is, indeed, silly and playful and effervescent. It is grape soda and chewy, juicy fruit candies, so many fruity varieties that they just sort of mingle together in a wet, bubbly mauve haze. It has little throw, and tends to fade fairly fast.
Just like candy, this is a scent that would be nice to indulge in once in a while, but a constant olfactory diet of it would be unhealthy. But I'm thankful for the sweet treat, all the same!
Of all the anniversary Phoenixes, this one was my favorite. There is a strong, sort of astringent note right at the beginning, almost like the sharp tang of *very* fresh barkmulch. Thankfully, this lasts but a moment, and soon there is just a lush blooming of green plantlife. 'Earthy' is an easy word to apply here, but it's very apt; they are just deep, green-brown, earthy notes. I get cypress, maybe some tobacco leaf, and just a teensy hint of cherry lurking underneath there. It lasts all day and as just enough throw to keep constantly reminding me of how lovely it is. Very nice!
Fresh on, it's very strong and strident with an air of cinnamon to it, as well as sweet florals. Like a spark, it flares up, and then settles down to the grim business of burning. It smolders all day long, and hugs my skin like the ember-flames of a fire licking at wood.
It was really pretty, so I think I will hang onto the imp for a little while, at least.
I was really leery of this one, but like all the Phoenixes, it was really nice. Believe it or not, but I really can 'smell' the 'gleaming white metal' in the description; it's like what the mirror-sheen on a stainless-steel table would smell like, if it had an odor. I think the honeysuckle is what makes it so palatable for me.
It's super-light, and seemed to fade really fast. This one won't be so hard to let go of.
I can see right away why this one is popular. It's dark and resinous, redolent with patchouli and spices and musk. I personally get a hell of a lot more 'incense' than 'vanilla' with this one, though I can also sense the vanilla; it wafts up every now and then in teasing little strokes, like a beckoning finger.
I'm probably going to really really really really really hate myself for not getting a bottle, because I have a feeling it's going to age REALLY well. Honestly cannot decide if I want to trade it or keep it. Swaps only, probably, if I get rid of it.
Someone else compared this to a 'high-end soap', and I totally agree! Not that it's soapy in a bad way; it's just really, really fresh and clean-smelling. It's almost minty, in a way. There is a definite air of teal-blue; brisk, cleansing water sudsed with sea-foam. Like nearly all the Phoenixes, it tended to hug very close to my skin, but was quite strong should I come nodding back for a sniff. I'd say it had about average staying power, say five or six hours.
Fig, walnut, and bamboo mingle together to evoke images of freshly-peeled bark, twigs, sticks, tendrils of curling greenery, and underneath it all, the moist, sheltering earth of a burrow. It's warm and sweet, like a little brown rabbit curling up somewhere safe. As if that lovely imagery wasn't enough, there is a teensy bit of caramel that gives it a chocolatey sort of feel...like a chocolate bunny, almost! (I was born in the year of the Wood Hare, so that must be where all the rabbity imagery is coming from). I really liked it, a lot! And I will probably rue the day that I decided to pass up on getting a full bottle of it.
I really loved all the Phoenixes. They are so very evocative in their own respective ways; I haven't had this much mental imagery from scents in quite a while. I really enjoyed my experiences with the Anniversary scents, and am grateful to have been able to sample them.
Category: Somnium
I've been applying this every night before I go to bed for about ten days now...and for the most part I'd say it works really well. This is the first of the Dream Formulas that I've tried -- I didn't know that you could order them as imps, until someone in a decant circle thoughtfully included this.
The scent is predominantly lavender, with a strong thread of eucalyptus underneath it, and hints of anise here and there. They mingle to create a very medicinal odor -- as a perfume, this would be really bad, but as a component for relaxation and sleep, it's *very* useful. The strident quality of it is actually soothing...it reminds me of when I'd get colds as a child and my mom would smear Vicks on my chest and under my nose -- that same sort of 'OMG this is strong...but it's helping, so yay!' feeling.
By morning, it has worn off, so I never smell it when I get up...though I often can smell traces of the other perfume I've been wearing the day before. This is the perfect medicinal blend -- it does its job, doesn't interfere or interact with anything, and then evaporates.
The vast majority of nights that I use it, I can be asleep in under fifteen minutes, and sleep all the way through the night with no interruptions. While I rarely have trouble sleeping anyway, this past month I've been having lots of problems with anxiety and such, so Baku has been a blessing.
I tend to be a skeptic, but as far as I'm concerned, this stuff works pretty well.
