inkstone

This smells like warm, resiny incense on me. I cannot pick out the notes for the life of me, although that seems to be indicative of the Sephiroth oils in general. This is also another one that ends up being masculine on me.

Sweet cedar. Cedar does not play well with me, so this bordered on disastrous.

Definitely leather, but what I think should be the smoke came out smelling like sweat on me. So the end result ended up being sweaty leather. I'm a little weirded out. It does, however, smell quite masculine on me.

Roses, roses, roses. Alas, nothing about this rose blend makes it stand out from all the other rose blends. At least not for me.

Amber, honey and... clove? It's some sort of spice. This is a pretty blend -- creamy spice and everything.

The first thing I get is myrrh overlaid on a wood note. After drydown, I get roses. Unfortunately, I think it's the rose note that makes it go to powder.

Hmm, I'm having a hard time picking apart these Sephiroth blends. I smell almonds and some woody notes. Definitely some spices, maybe some nutmeg? It doesn't smell quite like cinnamon to me, but I'm not sure. There's a floral in here, but I totally can't identify it.

Sweet, wet jasmine, I think. Oddly enough, it dries down to powder.

The CCNow system is a bit confusing. When it says "shipped," it just means that your order has been downloaded by the Lab.

A freebie from the Lab! In the imp: Sassafras & myrrh. Okay, let's give this a try. Wet: Myrrh. Drydown: Myrrh Final thoughts: Bah, myrrh.

In the bottle: I'm in the food alley at the carnival... Wet: Sweet Mother of God, it's warm funnel cake and sugar-spun cotton candy and the tang from saltwater taffy all rolled into one! Drydown: I'm really, really hungry now. Final thoughts: A beautiful, gorgeous gourmandy blend! This stays true throughout its stages. Despite the fact that it is gourmandy and very much so in the bottle, it's relatively light on. Wonderful!

A freebie the Lab! I didn't even check its description prior to testing it so I had no expectations at all. In the imp: Sharp florals. Wet: Lavendar. I think there's some musk in this too? It's a lighter musk, not one of the heavier, darker ones. Drydown: Lavendar and lime. It's okay. I think this is meant to be a guy's cologne? Final thoughts: Now that I'm posting my review here, I see that this is indeed supposed to be a guy's cologne. I think it'd work well on a guy and this is one of those moments where I wish I had one readily available so I could smear it on him. LOL!

A freebie from the Lab! In the imp: Florals. Wet: Roses and lilac. I don't get much wisteria at all. Drydown: Roses, roses, roses. Even worse, it's the powdery roses that I despise, not the wet, lush, drooping roses that I love. Final thoughts: I really like the smell of wisteria so I'm bummed that it didn't come out on my skin at all.

In the imp: Cool peppermint. Mmmm.... Wet: Cool, fresh peppermint over an aquatic background. Drydown: The pepper never really comes out and that's fine as pepper tends to make me sneeze. But I can smell the faintest cucumber lingering close to my skin. It softens the peppermint, lessening the chilly edge I'm used to. Final thoughts: This is very pretty. I completely understand the comparison to Frost Moon. It doesn't have quite the same buttery note that Frost Moon did, but it's still very nice.

Chaos Theory II CLXXII The lovely Cricketshay sent me a decant of this to try. In the imp: Vanilla and milk. I sense a similarity to Milk Moon and Snow White. Hmm... Let's hope this doesn't turn out disastrous. Wet: Definitely vanilla and milk, but minus whatever note in Snow White made me ill. I also don't feel slightly nauseous like I did with Milk Moon. This could be good! Drydown: Still that creamy vanilla milk but I can smell something nutty -- I think it's almond. Maybe the teeniest whiff of coconut, but it's very very subtle. Final thoughts: I like this. It's very pretty and comfy. I'm glad I got the chance to try it.

In the imp: Kind of a boozy dirt. Maybe some fruit notes mingling in the background, but mostly that boozy dirt smell. Wet: Moist dirt with flashes of a ripe, red fruit. Drydown: Very earthy. The incense and dirt are the most prominent notes on my skin. I can smell the pomegranate and currant in the background, but they add color rather than heavy smell to it. Final thoughts: I didn't order a bottle of this because I feared the myrrh note. It turns out that was pointless. It wasn't the myrrh I should have feared, it was the dirt. It's a well-blended scent and very lovely, but it's not me at all. I bet this is gorgeous on the right person though.

In the bottle: This is pure strawberries and cream in the bottle. Delicious! There's a certain liquor-esque tone to the blend, which I'm attributing to the lotus and tea mingling with one another. Wet: Ripe strawberries hanging off the vine, with a definite green note. I'm looking towards the sage and tea as the likely cause. It does remind me vaguely of Maenad in this stage because of the green strawberry tone. Drydown: The green notes fade and I'm left with strawberries, cream, and the telltale bubblegum note of lotus. I really like it! Final thoughts: I was really disappointed with Pink Moon, because I'd been hoping for a pink Sugar Skull. What I got instead was pink grass and that really bummed me out. But I love Strawberry Moon! This is definitely a summery, fruity blend. However, much like Maenad -- and I think it's because of the strawberry note -- my skin devours this blend. I did apply lightly since I was just testing it out, but I suspect I will need to slather. Not that I mind.

In the imp: Wow, this is pure Irish coffee. How does Beth do that? Wet: The Irish coffee smell stays true. Drydown: The wood and dusty notes come out a bit more, but the Irish coffee stays very much to the forefront. It's very creamy and reminds me of praline. I love it! Final thoughts: I didn't order a bottle of this, instead thinking I would be able to snag an imp when the orders starting to roll out. However, now I'm starting to think I made a mistake. I never expected to like a coffee-based blend since I tend not to like coffee in general, but I love the smell of this. It reminds me of huge libraries and makes me feel all cozy.

Chaos Theory 2: XXXVIII I ordered one bottle of CT2 on the assumption that if it was meant to be, it would be perfect and if it wasn't, it would be a disaster. Instead I got CT2 38. In the bottle: My first impression is that of commercial perfume -- light, spritzy & sophisticated. It reminds me a bit of Queen of Diamonds at this point, except less icy and more suited to a summer version. However, when I sniff it again, I can start to pick out a white floral and citrus. Either lemon or grapefruit, perhaps both. Wet: Oh yes, it's definitely a white floral. Unfortunately, I'm terrible at differentiating white florals so that's about as detailed as I can go. There's still something citrusy -- I don't think it's the true lemon note as that becomes insect repellent on me. However it may be lemon verbena. It's subtle and not-at-all overpowering. At this stage, I'm reminded of Midnight without the night-blooming flowers and Szesspasszony without the harsh cruelty. Overall, though, it has a classy feel to it. Drydown: Now here is where it becomes interesting. The white florals fade until they become an undernote and the grapefruit comes to the forefront. At this stage, it actually reminds me of R'lyeh -- without the madness. It's just a lazy grapefruit relaxing amongst the little white flowers. There's another note that's familiar, but is completely eluding my nose. I can't puzzle it out. Final thoughts: I'm not crazy mad in love with this blend, but I don't hate it either. It's a bit of an enigma to me. I'm not thrilled about the wet stage, but I like the drydown. Very interesting.

The wonderful Cricketshay sent me a surprise decant just because it was on my wishlist. In the imp: Biting gingersnaps. It's similar to Gingerbread Poppet, except with a menacing edge. I like! Wet: Sharp, biting ginger over spices. I... I think I like it! I have to be careful and not bury my nose in my wrist though. I made myself sneeze over ODing on the spices. Drydown: The baked gingerbread forms a gorgeous background with the biting ginger atop it. Final thoughts: I love this! Gingerbread Poppet was unbalanced on me -- mostly cinnamon red-hots and not enough baked goods. But this... THIS! I don't know what it is -- the resins or the herbs -- but the evil, plotting gingersnaps have won my heart.

In the bottle: Strangely enough, I only smell white tea and tangerine. Wet: Oh ho! There's the white chocolate. Very lovely and creamy. Drydown: It balances out to a white chocolate/tangerine tea mix. Final thoughts: I'm not sure what to think about this blend. It's not quite anything else I've tried. I'll give it a few more goes.

In the imp: Dripping, syrupy apricots! Wet: Alcoholic brandy! Wait... where'd the apricots go? Drydown: Okay, it now balances out between the brandy and the apricots a bit better. Final thoughts: I don't know what it is but apricots tend to go vaguely plastic on me whereas peaches are fine. I think I'll keep the imp, but an imp is all I need.

In the imp: Fig leaf and fig fruit, over a background of almond. Where's the coconut, yo? Wet: Hmm... Interesting. It's greener than I expected, for some reason. The fig fruit adds a bit of sweetness, the almond a bit of bitterness and now I can get the barest whiffs of coconut. Drydown: It dries down to a pretty coconut and almond in this stage. The fig fruit is still there, adding sweetness, but the green note is nearly gone. Final thoughts: ...and then my skin ate the scent. In a little over an hour, the scent is gone from my skin. Uh...

A freebie from the Lab! In the imp: Desert roses. No, really. Wet: Sweetness, which I assume comes from the roses. There's a faint darkness in this that probably comes from the vetiver. It's not that strong though, which is all right with me! Vetiver tends to give me problems. Drydown: You know, I don't think I've ever smelled cactus flowers but for some reason, this smells to me exactly like what cactus flowers should smell like. So odd. It's like a faint memory that I never had. Or something. Final thoughts: In the end, though, this is not for me. It was an interesting experience though and I'm glad to have gotten the chance to try it.

A freebie from the Lab. In the imp: Sweet, vanilla tea. Wet: Hmm, the musk comes out. Something vaguely lemony and sharp too. Not sure what that is. Drydown: Less sweet vanilla, more musky tea. Final thoughts: I wish this would have smelled on me the way it did in the imp. As it is, it's actually a bit too masculine for my tastes. Le sigh.