Shango - Excolo

Courtesy of the General Catalog swap. I’m been wanting to try this one ever since it came out.

In the imp: bananas, mango.

On the skin, wet: fruit, hint of red musk. mainly banana.

On the skin, dry: the apples come roaring out with banana keeping pace. The red musk stays around but isn’t an “in your face” –type red musk. Instead it provides a gentle warm backdrop to the yummy fruit. There’s also a trace of something sharp, which I presume is the chili pepper.

As it wears longer, the fruits meld and the red musk becomes more prominent. It becomes a much more sophisticated scent and reminds me of Corazon (although my memory of Corazon is very, very hazy).

Overall impression: Yum! Warm musky fruity goodness that really sticks around.

Black forest – Bewitching Brews

Notes: pine, ambergris, black musk, juniper, cypress

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap.

I’ve been wanting to try this one for a long time.

In the Imp: pine, juniper

On the Skin, wet: On wet, it smells just like it smelled in the imp, predominantly pine and juniper.

On the Skin, dry: As it dries, the black musk appears and turns a bit powdery. The juniper and pine hang around in the background. The longer it wears the more powdery it turns. I’m glad that I didn’t order this one. After a couple hours, the powder is still with me, but that’s it, only powder.

Overall impression: The Black Forest is not for me. It turns way too powdery. I like the initial notes but there’s other pine – juniper scents out there that work with my chemistry.

Mock Turtle Lessons – Mad Tea Party

Notes: blurry aquatic notes, with a confusing, contrary splort of iris, ambrette, green apple, vodka, white mint and a squish of lime.

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap.

When I first put Mock Turtle Lessons on, I smell mint, something vaguely aquatic, and something that smells fruity. It's a light scent, but I did only put a touch on, but it blends well into my skin. Is there pennyroyal in here? Overall as a wet scent it would make a great body lotion.

As it wears on I get a scent that smells almost mossy in combination with a fruity scent, apple or fig I think. Although it’s a light scent, there’s something here that’s fairly sharp. It’s giving me a bit of a headache. After a few hrs, it turns kinda soapy. My overall impression, it goes through an interesting evolution on the skin and it's good for warm weather. I could see a man or woman wearing this with no problem. It's not my style but it's been interesting to try it out.

Jabberwocky - Mad Tea Party

Notes: pine, eucalyptus, orange

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap.

When I first apply Jabberwocky, I get a sweet, pine scent. Sweet sugared pine. It smells very fresh, with an almost juicy type scent. It is reminiscent of the 2005 Yule pine scents – Snow Moon, Snow Angel, Talvikuu. It has a similar note without the florals, but instead an almost fruity scent. Upon review of the notes, that must be the orange making an appearance.

As it wears on the skin, the pine disappears and I’m left with something that reminds me of a candle. It would be a fantastic room scent, but I am unsure about wearing this as a perfume.

Psyche – Love Potions

Notes: bulgar rose, white musk, lavender, orchid, frankincense

Tried via the General Catalog swap.

Wow – this is all florals. A light pretty floral scent. I can’t identify the flowers, maybe lily of the valley? It wears pretty well, doesn’t change a whole on me. There could be a touch of carnation (must be the lavender) with a touch of white musk underlying. I’m glad to have tried it but it’s not my style at all.

Megaera - Excolo

Notes: orris, black amber, bergamot, plum, grapefruit

Tried via the General Catalog Swap.

I've been wanting to try this one for a long time so I'm thrillled to have gotten the chance.

On the skin wet, it smells like a dark red fruit - pomegranate, fig, or plum. It has a slight soapy note, and I’m getting a whiff of ozone. It’s a fruity, clean fresh scent. After it’s been on for about an hour, all I’m getting is a fig or plum note, the same one that I find in Queen of Clubs. My overall impression, is that it’s a strong, plum scent. I like it a lot - very nice!

The Hamptons – Wanderlust

Notes: The scent of a Cosmopolitan cocktail.

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap.

In the Imp: cranberries and lime.

On the skin, wet: fruity, cranberry, lime. It smells very fresh and crisp.

On the skin, dry: as it dries, the fruit is subdued by the smell of gin. I generally like booze but I don't care for this. I think bourbon is more my speed.

Overall: it was interesting to try and seems very good for the summer season but this is not a scent for me.

La Petit Mort – Love Potions

Notes: skin, ylang ylang, myrrh

I’m trying this courtesy of the General Catalog swap. I’ve tried this before but it was a long time ago and didn’t have a good response to La Petit Mort, so I passed it along and didn't bother to review.

Initially, I smell honey, that same top note as I smelled in O. Roaring up behind the honey is ylang ylang. It’s a good combination and it smells a lot better than I remember. It’s grounded by the myrrh. As it wears it’s not changing much, from wet to dry. It is a good lesson to me in that even if you have a bad reaction/bad chemistry with an oil, it doesn’t hurt to give it a second chance. I’m liking this quite a bit which is a shocker to me because I can remember distinctly not liking this much at all.

edited to reflect correct category.