inkstone

In the bottle Feral insanity! It's a crazy blend of strawberries, carnation and poppy. To be honest, it's very sharp and off-putting. I'm a little scared to put it on. I don't like the way this smells at all in the bottle. Wet Dammit, I never realized how much my whacked-out skin amplifies carnation. It's a strange, sharp-smelling spicy strawberry scent. Truthfully, it reminds me of spicy strawberry-flavored bubblegum. It still holds echoes of what it smelled like in the bottle, so I'm still a little unsure about this. Drydown Oh, but it becomes sweet berries tempered with the florals here. I'm guessing that's the hibiscus and poppy at work. Slightly sexual, vaguely evil, and definitely crazy. I agree with Effluvia -- this is gothic lolita at its finest. It's become softer in this stage; it lightly wafts from my skin, but since it's lost that scary, green edge, it's very pleasant! Final Thoughts I love it! I didn't think I would due to my initial impression, but wow! I'm feeling slightly sick and was very tired when I dabbed this on my wrists, but now I'm full of chaotic, crazy energy. I feel ready to attack the world and shred it to pieces. This is probably more appropriate for the warmer seasons, but I like the wild energy it gives me. It vaguely reminds me of the chaos I feel when a new story idea has seized and eaten my brain. It has that same feel. This is a scent I'd wear when I need to bolster my confidence and energy reserves to attack a fiction project. I am so glad I have a bottle of this!

In the vial Very, very floral. Like a huge bouquet, where one scent blends with the next. I can't differentiate the flowers at all. Wet Huh. Something astringent is coming out on my skin and it's starting to overwhelm me. The flowers are blooming and well... This could be really bad. Drydown The astringency mellowed a little, but didn't quite go away. The florals softened a bit, but not nearly enough for my tastes. That edge is still there. I can feel the beginnings of a headache starting in my temples. Final Thoughts It is a very sorrowful scent and very appropriate for both its name and category. However I don't think it's me. I tried washing it off, but it seems insistent upon sticking to my skin. I think I need to accept the fact that I can only tolerate sweeter florals and even then, they need to be balanced out with other notes. Pure floral mixes seem intent upon giving me a headache. Le sigh. Into swaps for you, Midnight.

In the vial Very sweet. Orange blossoms and honey mostly, with the faintest whiffs of sandalwood. Wet As I expected, the sandalwood explodes on my skin to take over everything. It's shoved the orange blossoms and honey to the background. This does seem to be a characteristic of my skin. Drydown However, if Old Venice was any indication, the sandalwood settles down and it does the same thing here. I'm getting lovely, sweet honeyed oranges with the sandalwood adding a certain depth in the background. And there are the roses. I'm really starting to think that my skin eats rose notes for breakfast and only lets the residue slink out towards the very end when it starts to turn slightly powdery. Final thoughts I don't think I'd wear this everyday, but it's a nice scent. I do feel a bit naughty wearing it, for reasons I can't exactly pinpoint. I don't like it enough for a big bottle, but keeping the imp I shall!

I received a decant of this from the lovely AlectoNox. In the vial It's an airy, clean smell. Florals, ozone and something vaguely lemony. Overall it gives the impression of cold and sharp. Wet Oh, that lemony smell is bursting onto the scene. I don't know if I like this. I do smell daffodils and dandelions, mingling with something like grass and leaves. It's sharpening even more and yes, it does smell like cold rain beating down. Unfortunately it smells like cold rain beating down on lemon-scented insect repellent. Drydown The sharpness eases up, so I'm not cringing anymore. The florals keep it soft, but whatever that other note is, it keeps the scent sharp when I sniff my wrist. Final thoughts I don't think I like this. I can still taste the insect repellent in the back of my throat. The drydown's kinder, but ultimately I don't think this is for me. I can see how it'd be ideal for humid, summer days. It certainly has that crisp, refreshing feel to it. Well, into swaps you go.

In the vial At first sniff, I smell plumeria and oranges, mingling with some other florals I can't name. At second sniff, I start smelling the incense. Wet Whoa, incense likes my skin. I can smell the plumeria in the background, but the incense note is coming out. I feel like I'm wearing plumeria in my hair and around my neck, but I'm standing in a firepit. I'm surrounded by smoke and fire. Very appropriate for an Aztec god. Drydown On me, it smells like spiced oranges surrounded by incense and with plumeria floating elusive and fading in the background. It's interesting. Final thoughts The wet stage was a little scary. I literally felt like a walking firepit. The drydown's nice, but ultimately I don't think this scent is for me. I'm not particularly fond of incense blends. Into the swap pile it goes, in the hopes it'll find someone who'll love and adore it.

Oh Machu Picchu, why did you turn into the vacation hotspot of hell? In the vial Wet, tropical fruits! Yum! Wet The amber comes screaming out, golden and warm, which I wasn't expecting given the previous reviews. I'm getting whiffs of the florals and fruits in the background, but they're being drowned out. I'm hoping the amber'll calm down, mellow or something. I want to smell the fruits I smelled in the imp! Drydown ...I don't know if it's the amber note because amber always smells somewhat sharper on me than it does on other people or the combination of the amber with the fruit notes, but this turned sour on me. I can smell the amber, but I'm also smelling sour fruit and sour florals. Not attractive. And now it's giving me a shrieking headache. Final Thoughts I washed this off. I had such high hopes for this one. This will go up for swaps when I get my act together and start doing that. Le sigh.

When I received my imps from Dovekie, she'd thrown in a lovely tarted up imp of this too. In the vial A whole slew of florals, most notably jasmine. I'm getting a hint of lemon cleanness in the background. Wet The jasmine and honeysuckle bloom on my skin, like it has a tendency to do. However -- and I never knew this -- sandalwood apparently really likes my skin too. Wow, I'm about to be bowled over with the smell of sandalwood. I'm getting a hint of the plum in the background and a certain spiciness that I think belongs to the currants. But wow, sandalwood. Drydown There are so many floral scents in this that I'm having trouble distinguishing them. The jasmine is still prominent on me though, mingling with the wisteria and violets. The plums are adding a sweetness, the currants add a spiciness, and the sandalwood has moved to the background to provide grounding. Final thoughts I think my skin tends to suck up the rose note or brings out the other notes more, because I didn't smell it at all. Of course there are so many floral notes in this that it's blending together and making it hard for me to differentiate. This is a very feminine blend and perfect for summer nights. I don't think I like it enough to buy a bottle, but I'll be keeping the imp.

I've never smelled dragon's blood, so I'm not entirely sure what it smells like. But I wanted to give it a try and I figured since this was the aquatic blend of the Dragon's series, it'd be a safe bet for me. In the vial Wow, it's such a pretty red color! Is it the dragon's blood that's doing that? I smell florals caught on a salt-laden ocean breeze. Mmm, I like this! Wet The florals bloom on my skin, like all florals seem to do. I swear I'm getting a whiff of jasmine, maybe gardenia. There's some sweetness lurking in the background that I can't identify. Is that the dragon's blood, I wonder? The sea spray is mingling nicely with it. I feel like I'm standing on a beach, right before a storm -- the waves are crashing and the wind is sending sea spray across my face. I love that smell and this is what that smells like. Drydown There's a resiny sweetness mingling with the florals now. I'm assuming that is the dragon's blood. It's faintly metallic in the same way that blood is metallic. The sea spray breeze is lingering, making the flowers seem slightly watery. It's very lovely and comforting. I want to lick my skin. Final Thoughts This is a second-skin fragrance. It's subtle, but very much so there. I see a bottle of this in my future.

In the vial Yummy cranberries bursting with juiciness! I swear, left to my own devices, I would have jammed my nose in there to get as much of the smell as I could. Just lovely. There is a tartness that I'm fairly sure belongs to the cranberries, but there's also an underlying tropical sweetness that falls more in line with passionfruit. I'm not certain though since the cranberries are drowning it out. Wet Given the notes in this blend, I expected this to be interesting. Once I put it on, the cranberries, lilies and musk came screaming out. All three at the time same time, with the same intensity. It was crazy, and I wasn't sure which was going to win. I could smell the ginger and spices lurking in the background, but compared to the shrieking of the other three, they'd be easy to miss. The cranberries got overtaken by the other two and eventually, the musk wins out as the dominant note with the lilies and cranberry adding a different flavor to it. Drydown Oh, but this is delicious. The musk had faded into the background, mingling with the faint whiffs of ginger and spicy cranberries seem to have moved to the forefront. Just wonderful. It's subtle and doesn't waft from me; it sticks pretty closely to my skin. Final Thoughts This is deep red autumn with the right amount of juiciness, not too dry at all. I loved how the spice and cranberries blend together and the musk grounds it. The spice has the right amount of sweetness to it, with a tiny bite that likely belongs to the ginger. This could be a contender for a bottle, but I'll have to try it out a few more times before I decide. ETA (6 hours later): I can still smell this on my forearm! The spicy cranberries are still lingering, but now the lilies have come out to play. We're inching closer and closer to bottle status!

Mmmm.... Tropical... In the vial A blast of lush, tropical flowers--in particular the plumeria. It immediately makes me think of a tropical climate--the foliage, the beach, the crashing waves and the tropical rain. I'm very enthused about trying this on! Wet The plumeria and hibiscus really come out on my skin. And I think that's the pikake peaking out to play as well. It's very lush and creamy. I really like this. It's like sitting on a beach with the sun shining down on you and a gentle breeze wafting by. Then it does something strange: It completely vanishes! The flowers and ginger are completely gone. When I sniffed my wrist, I then started to pick up the ginger scent mingling with something wet. Where did the creamy flowers go? Drydown I figured my skin had eaten the flowers, which made me sad because I love plumeria. But as I went about my morning tasks, I started to get whiffs of the flowers again. The creamy flowers had returned! It seems the more I move around and the warmer I am, the creamy flowers come out. But when I get cold, the wet ginger comes out. How odd! It reminds me vaguely of lotion right now. Final Thoughts This is soft and subtle. It's like lying down on a bed of tropical flowers and letting the sun caress your face. This is a "Makes me smell good, instead of wearing something that smells good" scent on me. I'm a little torn about whether or not I want to spring for a bottle, but this imp will definitely be used. Very very definitely.

In the vial Cinnamon and nutmeg hit me first. Then I get the wood underneath. I've never worn a woody scent before, so this'll be new and different. Wet The cinnamon's gone crazy and it's engulfing me. But after a moment, the wood and nutmeg rise up to bring it under control. Thank goodness. I like the smell of cinnamon. I like the taste of cinnamon as a spice, but that was kinda strange. I'm starting to get the whiffs of moss underneath the wood. Very nice. Drydown The moss has faded into the background. It's hard to pick it out. It's mostly cinnamon and woodiness at this point, but there's a spiciness that I've having a hard time trying to pick out and identify. It seems to be playing peekaboo with my nose. Final Thoughts Apparently my skin really really likes woody scents. I never would have guessed. The florals never came out on me. I'm not sure if that's a result of my skin chemistry or just that the woodiness really came out and drowned it out, especially if it's as soft as the others have said. I think this would make a nice room scent, but it doesn't suit me. I don't mind the earthiness, but it's very dry on me. No florals and none of the wetness other people cited came out on me at all. Weird.

Hmm, this is an interesting scent. In the vial Wow, that's peppermint's strong. I could smell it even before I barely opened the vial. Luckily I like candy canes and after-dinner mints. After a quick sniff, I can detect a little bit of wet citrus. It smells like oranges to me, but it's lingering below the much more potent peppermint. Wet The peppermint's become very medicinal on me, taking on a slight eucalyptic sharpness to it. My sinuses are very clear! It reminds me of the Chinese medicinal oil I use to fix my aches, pains and other assorted ailments, actually. I'm still getting splashes of the oranges. Something else has started to come out -- I think it's the juniper. There's also something wet and floral lurking beneath everything. I'm fairly sure it's lotus. Drydown The mint's completely gone and been taken over by the juniper. The citrus is still there, but it's definitely quieter. Another floral has come out -- violet, I think -- and it's mingling with the lotus. There's something faintly spicy in the background. It seems to be ginger, but it's subtle. I'm not getting the coconut that's been mentioned earlier, but that might be because coconut doesn't seem to come out on my skin. Final Thoughts It has a nice effect, how it goes from sharp and bright to dark and deep. But alas this didn't last long on me at all. It faded pretty quickly. If I press my nose against my arm, I can barely smell the juniper but that's it. In the end though, I don't think this is for me.

On me, Neo-Tokyo is Empyreal Mist's urban, breezy cousin.

In the vial Light and fresh, with a touch of crispness. I smell florals and white tea. Wet The florals are coming out strongly now, but they're soft florals. The crispness is still there. It's not wafting from me the way Neo-Tokyo did when I first put it on. It's softer than that scent, I think. Gentler -- Neo-Tokyo has an urban flavor while Empyreal Mist has the countryside. Drydown I think my skin's swallowed the white tea. It's completely gone. In its place is a faint green scent that I'm fairly sure is bamboo. There's also something vaguely fruity.... yuzu perhaps? I'm not sure. It's very wet in the way a meadow is wet with morning dew. It's hugging close to my skin. The scent is there, but I pretty much have to put my wrist up to my nose to smell it. Final Thoughts This is a very light, fresh scent. It's reminiscent of spring and it's very innocent in a way. It's similar to Neo-Tokyo, but while that one has lots of air and breeze, this one has dew. Empyreal Mist is a calming scent and very gentle, almost fragile and shy. I'm not so sure I like this so much on my skin as a perfume scent. It might work better for me as a lotion. I do want to try this in my hair though. I may have better luck there.

I just received an imp of this today from loracj. Since it's one of the blends slated to be discontinued, I wanted to add this review since Juju doesn't have that many. In the vial Why, hello Miss Jasmine & Miss Violet, how are you today? This is a very strong floral. I'm getting whiffs of the gardenia along with something sweeter. Honeysuckle, I think? Wet On me, the florals remain really strong. I'm not sure how much of this is a result of the blend and how much of it is a result of my skin. I feel like I'm standing in a garden full of jasmine, violets, gardenia & honeysuckle. It's a little overwhelming. It is very southern though -- hot and slightly muggy. Drydown The sweetness of the floral is starting to fade and it's softening even more. Something else is starting to come out -- something dark. I'm not sure what that darkness is; it's faintly spicy, I think. That might be ginger since it tends to do that on me, but I'm not sure. Ginger usually doesn't have that darkness on me. Whatever it is, it's adding a different dimension to it. Final Thoughts This reminds me of a scheming southern belle who's very pretty & looks deceptively harmless. This is a woman with another face that's dangerous, not someone to be trifled with. She's someone who leaves her mark. It's a nice floral and I like it... on someone else. It doesn't suit me at all. There's a sweetness to the flowers that just doesn't work on me.

Mmm, I'm very excited about this scent. In the Vial Upon first whiff, it's light and breezy. I get a whiff of the urban metallics and ozone. It's a very clean scent. It reminds me vaguely of Kyoto Osaka airport. The first time I walked into that airport, I thought it was very very clean, even moreso than Tokyo Narita. I can definitely feel the anime wonderland in this scent though. It reminds me more of CLAMP manga though than say, Akira or Bubblegum Crisis. Wet The metallics and ozone are coming out more strongly now. It's actually wafting from me. Did I put on too much? Something else is coming out too. I think it's the bamboo, and I'm getting hints of the cherry blossom. It's very airy and fresh, though it makes me slightly cold. I think I'm going to like this. Drydown Thankfully the wafting has stopped. It's lingering close to my skin now. The metallic scent is fading. The ozone is lingering, but the cherry blossoms are really coming out. There are other florals adding to that scent, adding more body. I can also smell the fruit now; it's adding a sweetness. I'm craving a Fuji apple right now. Final Thoughts This scent feels distinctly Asian to me, particularly Japanese. I feel the traditional culture mixing with the urban modernization. I'm really getting a strong identification with CLAMP because of the cherry blossoms. In my head, I can see cherry blossoms streaming down past a gleaming skyscraper... right before the glass shatters because of battling anime characters. Very interesting. It does go on cold, but that helped in waking me up this morning. This is a very good blend to wear to work -- not too sweet, not too floral, not too strong, not too heavy. It's there and makes its presence known, but it's not obstrusive. There could be a bottle of this in my future.

Wow, my very first review. I'm a little nervous. LOL I'm not as good as picking out notes as other people here, but I'll try my best. In the vial: Interesting. My first impression is one of mystery and seduction. I couldn't smell the roses at all. The first thing to hit me was the musk with hints of amber. Hmm, this could turn out to be a disastrous wearing experience. Wet: I swiped this on my inner forearms because my hands tend to run cold so some place with more bloodflow would likely work better. It immediately makes me think of golden sunshine. Oddly enough, my skin immediately began to grow warm there and it spread through my entire body. I put this on fresh out of the shower and I'm always cold so that was an interesting observation. Unfortunately this also could be trouble. The musk is coming out like no one's business on my skin and I'm barely getting the amber and no roses at all. There are hints of incense lurking at the corners and a spicy tone, but it's a bit sharp-edged in the musk. Thirty minutes in, the burning urge to run to the bathroom and wash it off is growing exponentially. Drydown: Okay, it's mellowing to a nice golden amber. The musk is settling down and no longer rearing its sharp-edged head. The roses have also started to come out, which is softening the edges into something I can handle. Battling the fierce desire to wash it off worked out in the end. Final Thoughts: The rose scents are really coming out now, but I get whiffs of the amber and musk laying underneath it. It's a nice, sophisticated scent. Definitely something for the evening. I'd probably wear this for formal dinners, black tie affairs or similar events. It's not something I'd wear everyday or even to all night-outs, so I wouldn't get a bottle of this. While the wet stage is not so desirable, I do like the final turn-out and the warming effect which is nice for someone who's always cold, so I'll keep the imp.

It does sound like the blood amber is the cause of the skin rash. Like Tempete said, sometimes you don't have an allergic reaction until the second or third exposure. But during that first exposure, your immune system decides, "Nope, I don't like this" and then proceeds to have a hissy fit the next time your body's exposed to the allergen. This is what happens with bee stings and why people often develop pollen allergies over the course of a lifetime. (Just be careful if you try it out again. If it is the blood amber, there is a fair chance that the rash will be even worse.)