Philosopher in Meditation: Smoldering woodfire embers, Galen’s Kyphi, and Abramelin incense.
In the imp: Hot - fire hot and incense smoking. I'm not familiar with Galen's Kyphi so I'm not sure what I'm smelling.
On me: Incense!!! Deep, dark, delicous incense!! It is sweetened up by something that I can't quite figure out, and smells so very lovely.
If I smell like incense, I am happy, and this is no exception. It's a unique incense, different from the other incenses that I've tried.
Methinks a bottle is needed.
Lucretia: Iris, black amber, sage, Kashmir wood, vanilla musk, mandarin and violet.
In the bottle: Yuck - pure iris! I almost didn't even test it, but thankfully I did.
On me: A sharp violet! The iris hides, thankfully. The violet blooms and definitely takes the forefront, its beauty is accentuated by the amber, sage, and vanilla musk. They blend beautifully to de-floralize the violet while still keeping a strong violet presence (confusing, but I don't know how else to describe it).
This is a gorgeous scent.
I think this is going to be one of my favorite categories!!
Madonna: Hyssop, pomegranate, Angel’s Trumpet, Indonesian patchouli, iris, white orchid, and frankincense.
OMFG I need buckets of this!!!!!! The white orchid dominates, but is balanced out by the pomegranite to make this a very sweet beautiful orchid. The hyssop (I think) sweetens it up nicely, and the frankincense makes it resiney enough to give a bit of an incense feel. This is heaven!!!!
Bottle - yes, must have bottle.
Love and Pain: Lavender, Balkan tobacco, black musk, dark vanilla, and golden copaifera.
This is the most beautiuful lavender blend!!! The tobacco keeps it from getting overly floral, but didn't stand out on its own (thankfully, because I amp it like crazy). The dark vanilla and black musk work beautifully to turn the lavender into a very dark purple type of scent, very sensual.
Bottle is definitely needed!!
Death and Life Completed: Grey amber, carnation, lemon balm, hydrangea, Chinese peony, white sandalwood, cypress, juniper, cedar, hibiscus, and African daisy.
Peony!! This is what I wanted peony moon to smell like. For me it's mostly peopny and hibiscus, no amber anywhere unfortunately. The sandalwood and cedar complement the florals very niceley and give it a bit of a woodsey feel.
Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Those Condemned to Death: Accords of peach kernel, hemlock, aconite, and belladonna, with bitter almond, saffron, honey, myrrh, hyssop, frankincense, and palm.
It's hard to tell what I'm smelling specifically, but the honey in this is amped A LOT! I think it's the honey/almond combination. This is so well blended that I can't pick out the notes.
It smells very good, but it's not "me" so I'll probably pass on this one.
Yvaine: The high, crystalline scent of a star-filled night with blue lavender and lush magnolia.
In the imp: Not sure about this, it doesn't smell very appealing and I get some sort of citrus?
On me: This totally blossoms, and the weirdness goes away. The lavender is sweetened up by something in there, and the magnolia peeks out but doesn't make the blend overly flora. It really does embody Yvaine, to my Stardust-loving-self.
This is very yummy and a bottle is needed.
Antonino, The Carny Talker: White musk, wild plum, vetiver, black coconut, verbena, fig, and lavender.
In the imp: I was expecting this to be dark, and was scared of the vetiver (usually my nemesis). Instead, I got this beautiful feminine scent of plum, verbena, and fig. Couldn't find the coconut, and thankfully not the vetiver.
On me: A beautiful blend of precious. The vetiver hid, and I'm ever sooooo thankful!! The musk helped the plum and fig bloom without being fruity. The verbena gave it a teeny bit of citrus so change things up, and the lavender really rounded this scent out beautifully. The coconut helped make this scent sweet, but I can't detect any coconut on me.
I think Antonino was really "Antonina" because this is a very feminine scent. I'm in love, and must get a bottle of this before CD comes down.
The Organ Grinder: Almond milk, sarsaparilla, tobacco smoke, black patchouli and white pine bark.
In the imp: A delicous almondy scent, though not as strong of an almond as those with almond oil. I also get some sarsaparilla and pine bark, but this is so well blended I can't pick out the other notes.
On me: Better than in the imp! A beautiful almond/woodsy scent. For about half an hour/45 minutes that is.
It then decided to turn into disgusting SOURED MILK! About as bad as Milk Moon 07 - ick. Thankfully the throw still smells pretty good, and I only get strong soured milk upon sniffing my wrists, but it's awful. And I can't seem to wash it off, so I'm stuck with it. And I can't smell too closely because it makes me nauseous.
So far it seems determined to last on my skin all freaking day. This is not nice.
Lust! Oh yes. And I usually don’t like patchouli. Do I smell coconut in here? I believe I do.
Jailbait - I like it, but it smells like Materva (soda) with a little bubblegum! This might be a Cuban/South Florida thing.
Lilith - I can’t pick out anything but I LIKE!
Blood Countess - Fruity and Floral? But I likes!
Obatala - a coconut that works!!! Oh this is delicious!! It's everything I wanted the Tikis to be.
Dirty Viking (HAEE)- Mint or eucalyptus? This will be good for hangovers.
Voodoo Punani (HAEE) - holy crap! More, now, please.
Skuld - OMFG my nose had an orgasm! This is up there in all time favorites. I must have buckets of this, and I’m so happy this is GC!!!!!
Golden Priapus - Amber, juniper and vanilla all in one? And pine that doesn’t smell like cleaning fluid? yay! The pine reminds me of Christmas, this will be a great holidays scent.
13 - I want to eat myself!!
I got decants of the Tikis that didn't appeal to me too much, and bottles of those that did. The verdict? Most of them didn't work at all on me.
Tiki Queen: Smelled like Bubbleicious Bubblegum on me. I guess that's not bad, but it wasn't what I wanted to smell like.
Tiki King: OMG coconut heaven in the bottle!!! And on me, it turned into a very weird lemony coconut, but the sweet turned to bitter and wasn't all that great. Damn.
Te Po: Smelled like the cherry syrup they put into Cherry Coke. And then upon drydown it was a combination of artificial cherry syrup and red hots. This might be great if I was 12, but it wasn't for me.
Marae: I had high hopes!!! But alas, it smelled like very faint baby cologne on me. Bah.
Boo Bam: Meh
Blue Fire: artificial blueberry explosion??? I'm keeping it to give it a second shot because I really wanted to like it!!!
Moai: Nasty ashes, ick.
Rangoon Riptide: Meh
Tupapau: Meh
The few that worked:
Screeching Parrot: Delicious apricots and pineapple, and some pomegranite too. Yay!
Upa Upa: Oh yes! Coconut and vanilla, and they don't go all weird. Heaven!!
Moana: It's very ocean-y clean.
Opuhi: Delicious!
King Cobra: Snake Oil with orris, frankincense, and copal.
In the imp: A very resiney Snake Oil
On me: Snake Oil with incese!!! A dryer incense, not like Temple Viper at all but still very good. After several hours it smells mostly just like snake oil, but that's what reapplying is for.
Verdict: Yum! I wouldn't mind swapping for a bottle of this too.
Temple Viper: Snake Oil with sugar cane, frankincense, champaca, opoponax, labdanum, and hyssop.
In the imp: Definitely getting a lot of Snake Oil from it, but it's sweeter and darker. I can't identify individual notes, but I can smell the sugar cake, frankincense, and champaca adding to the blend.
On me: This has to be the sexiest perfume I have ever worn!!! Sex in a bottle. It's Snake Oil, but different. Deeper, darker, definitely getting the sugarcane. The frankincense gives it a touch of incense without making it incensey. The champaca adds more spice to it. The opoponax makes this more vanilla-ey. So this is snake oil, only better and waaaaay sexier!
I think I need 2 bottles of this one!!!!
Dragon Moon '08: Our Dragon Moon represents the forces of rebirth and the vigor that springtime brings: dragon's blood resin, galbanum, blue sage, lavender, peppermint, sweetgrass, frankincense, moonglow magnolia, bergamot, and green cedar.
In the bottle: A delicious herbal blend of mainly sage, sweetgrass, bergamont, and a bit of cedar. Where is the dragon's blood?
On me: This is deliciously sweet herbal. I'm getting a lot of sage, frankincense, and cedar. The other notes are there, but blended so well that I can't pick them out. I like this very much, and it is very different from all the other BPAL I have.
Australian Copperhead: Snake Oil with acai berry, amber, cardamom, neroli, and smoked vanilla.
In the imp: A deliciously sweeter snake oil.
On me: The Snake Oil is very faint underneath the acai berry, neroli, and smoked vanilla. I didn't get much amber or cardamom out of this, mainly a lot of acai and neroli sweetness. But if I sniff deeply enough, I get the precious snake oil too. Sniffs at different distances also smelled different, so this one is very complex. And it has become my favorote snake. I definitely need a bottle.
Boomslang: Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk.
In the imp: Strong snake oil presence and some cocoa. Teakwood and rice milk? They are hiding.
On me: HEAVEN! Slather PLEASE! Delicious snake oil with a lot of cocoa yumminess. I think I may sniff a teeny bit of teakwood, but I still don't know where the rice milk is.
This smells sooooo good! It's got more throw than Snake Oil, or any of the other snakes I've tried so far.
Boomslang is a dark oil, and when it was wet I could see it on my skin. I'm sure if I hadn't rubbed it in it would have stained my skin, so must be careful with that.
This is most definitely a bottle need.
Coral Snake: Snake Oil with blood orange, red apple, lemon peel, plumeria, and gardenia.
In the imp: Is there really snake oil in this? And where's the plumeria and gardenia? This smells very apple-y to me. Reminds me a bit of Bath and Body Works apple body splash.
On me: Wet was ALL apples. As it dried, the florals peeked out and it was a delicious blend of snake oil with fruits and florals. And then it dried down and the florals went away, leaving apple. After a bit, the plumeria decided to come out to keep the apple company. The snake oil is hanging out faintly underneath the apple and plumeria. This is definitely a complex scent.
Verdict: It smells good, I alternate between smelling BBW Plumeria and Apple body splashes, and sometimes get straight up snake oil. It smells good, but it's not really my kind of scent.
Cottonmouth: Snake Oil with linden blossom, calla lily, passion flower, and narcissus.
In the imp: A floral snake oil! But not even close to floral overkill, the snake oil balances out the florals to make this a very well rounded scent.
On me: A very sexy slightly floral scent with snake oil undertones just underneath. The perfect blend of vanilla, spices, and mainly passion flower. I couldn't stop smelling myself all night.
This is definitely a must buy bottle.
Habu: Snake Oil with ho wood, teak, black musk, and bamboo.
In the imp: Sweet snake oil! I think it is the bamboo making it sweet. Something a little woodsy, but no musk to be sniffed.
On me: This blended so well onto my skin. It was subtle, but very good smelling. Again, the snake oil is there, but as a bottom layer. On top of it was delicious sweet bamboo, a tiny bit of ho wood, and a bit of musk.
This worked really well on me.
Western Diamondback: Oil with leather, tonka bean, red sandalwood, and sage.
In the imp: Snake oil with sweetened leather, a bit of sandalwood and sage peeking out.
On me: I was afraid of the leather, as it usually goes wrong on me, but this one went right. I smelled the snake oil underneath, but got a nice blend of leather and sage in there too. No sign of the sandalwood, and maybe a peek at the tonka. This is a great blend.
This will be turning into a bottle!
Sunrise With Sea-Monsters: Ocean mist, kelp, ambergris, amber, white pear, osmanthus, freesia, and seafoam accord.
In the imp: Lots of delicious ocean mist, a bit of kelp, and the seafoam. Not detecting any freesia, pear, or amber in this.
On me: I definitely feel the humor in this, I can visualize funny looking sea-monsters splashing around. This is wonderfully blended, as I can't pick out any notes in particular. It definitely reminds me of the ocean.
Faith: Sugared Violets
In the imp: A very sweet sharp violet softened by delicious sugar
On me: True to the imp, smells much like it did in the imp. Soft and sweet, yet still sharp and deliciously violet. I definitely need to get Hope & Faith bottles!
The Flower Song: Pomegranate wine, lotus root, river reeds, hyssop, and barley.
In the bottle: Not floral, as the title would suggest. I get sweet pomegranite and lotus, with something else I can't identify (I don't know what hyssop and barley smell like).
On me: Oh this scent was made for me! The predominant notes are pomegranate and plum (no plum listed, but it smells like plum to me), with deliciously sweet lotus root and river reeds right behind them. I'm sure the hyssop and barley are there, I just don't know how to find them.
This is exquisitely blended, and works wonderfully on me. This was a last minute, unsniffed add on a whim even though most of the Lupercalias didn't do much for me. I'm so glad this fell into my shopping cart!
Beltane 08: Mugwort, French rose, Lily of the Valley, broom, frankincense, myrrh, benzoin, foxglove, woodruff, rowan wood, ivy, sandalwood, spring mint, thyme, iris, copal, and night blooming jasmine.
In the bottle: Green!! This is a deliciously green Spring scent. I definitely get mint, but it blends in really well with the herbs and greens I'm smellling. I don't get any flowers out of this, but I'm sure they're hiding there somewhere.
On me: It was deliciously minty for about 10 seconds, and then the mint lost its sweetness and turned bitter. And then I began smelling like some sort of scented cleaning product. NOT good. No mint, no herbs, no flowers, only cleaning product. Hours later, it faded into a very faint floral but that's it.
Unfortunately, this totally bombed on me. And it smelled soooo good in the bottle.
Tiresias, the Androgyne: Dark, moody, and bittersweet: black currant, patchouli, tobacco, cinnamon leaf, caramel, muguet, and red sandalwood.
In the imp: It smells totally foody, I get A LOT of sweet caramel. No sign of patchouli, tobacco, cinnamon, or sandalwood. Maybe a bit of currant.
On me: OMG it is heavenly!! And it morphs. The throw smells all foody and caramelly. When I put my nose up to my wrist to sniff (which I've been doing very frequently), it's a completely different scent. I get a caramel sweetened black currant with a fair amount of red sandalwood to balance it out and make it non-foody. I LOVE THIS!!!
It has very good throw and medium wear time. I wish I would have brought some with me to work to reapply.
A bottle of this is definitely needed.
Zarita, the Doll Girl: Soft, yet sociopathic: white carnation, iris, orange blossom, and sugared cream.
In the imp: A floral-ish cream? Yum!!
On me: a nice sweetened floral blend, but I think I need to wear this again before deciding on whether or not I need a bottle.
Lucretia, Albrecht Dürer:
Iris, black amber, sage, Kashmir wood, vanilla musk, mandarin and violet.
In the bottle: There was something funky in here that my nose didn't like, it might have been the Kashmir wood but I'm not sure.
On me: This totally transformed into a delicious spiked violet/sage with a little amber in the background scent. Wow! I sniffed at the test site all night, really enjoying this one. What a change from bottle to skin. This may very well be on its way to becoming a favorite.
Violets: I didn't think violets were my thing, but I think I've been converted into a violet lover between Lucretia and Faith.
Valentine of Rome: Ecclesiastical incense, Roman flora, and the fruits of martyrdom: cypress, olive blossom, frankincense, myrrh, and blood accord.
In the bottle: I got incense, but with something harsh in there. Maybe it was vetiver, even though it's not listed? Vetiver and I have a love/hate relationship, but it usually ends up being hate.
On me: The vetiver-ish note toned down some, but there was something ash-like that I really wasn't enjoying. There was incese too, but not enough to overpower the vetiver/ash thing going on.
