inkstone

A freebie from the Lab! In the imp: I approached this blend with trepidation because it contains two of my least favorite notes: patchouli and vetivert. But I make it a point to try everything the Lab sends me. It smells like pure patchouli in the imp. Wet: Pencil shavings. Sigh. Drydown: Headache. Sigh. Final thoughts: I even dabbed so very lightly to be careful. Time to wash this off.

In the bottle: Soft lotus and rose. Wet: Lotus and rose. In this stage, it's like a pale, white version of Kurukulla. Drydown: Hmm... I can see what people are talking about when they say "dryer sheets." It does have that certain feel to it. *glances at description again* White lotus apparently doesn't cling to me as much as the regular lotus note. However the Bulgarian rose and freesia do. Wow, they definitely do. Final thoughts: I want to give this a couple more tries before I make my final verdict. My period's set to start in a couple days and apparently, right now, my skin is hellbent on making everything go slightly soapy.

Many thanks to Cricketshay for sending me an imp of this to try! Anyway, I am sure this is gorgeous on the right person with the right skin chemistry. But on me, it is all vetiver, amber, oakmoss and musk. It's not right for me at all. That said, I'd love to smell this on a guy.

I received a decant of this from the lovely Cricketshay. In the imp: Creamy and milky. It definitely lives up to its name. Wet: Huh. I admit I haven't tried many milky blends, but this is an odd sour, milk smell on my skin. I'm a little concerned. Drydown: It's a very creamy, milky scent. Unfortunately, it still has that sour tone to it that isn't sitting well with me. There is a similarity between this blend and Snow White, and I think that's part of what's making me uncomfortable because Snow White made me physically ill. Yikes! Final thoughts: I don't get much mintiness from this, if even at all. I didn't really like this blend on me. It doesn't make me sick like Snow White, but I just feel uneasy wearing it. Le sigh.

The ever-sweet Cricketshay sent me a surprise imp of this in our last swap! In the imp: Minty minty minty goodness! So delicious I could lick it! Wet: Still that sharp peppermint note blasting out on my skin. There's a vague coconut note, but it's extremely faint and nowhere near as strong as it is in Spooky. There's a boozy, golden note in here that I can only identify as rum, but there's also a smokiness that I'm having trouble identifying. Drydown: The minty sharpness is gone. Boo on my skin. It completely devoured it. Also that faint whiff of coconut is gone. It's all smoky booze on me. And it's not a pretty thing either. Damn. Final thoughts: I mourn. I swear, I mourn.

In the bottle: Fruity florals. I definitely smell the jasmine and pepper. Wet: Jasmine, calm down! I can also smell the pepper, but thankfully it's not so strong that it makes me sneeze. The fruits are there in the background but not as strong as I'd like them to be. Them hanging around in the back like that makes it difficult to differentiate. Drydown: It becomes wispy jasmine and pepper towards the end. The tropical fruit punch effect is there in the background, but still hiding behind the jasmine. CURSE YOU, JASMINE! (Or should I be cursing my skin chemistry? I'm unsure.) Final thoughts: The jury's still out. I wish this were more fruity on me than peppered jasmine but I'm going to keep trying it to see if I can get it to work. It might just be my skin chemistry at this point and time. It's definitely a summery blend though.

No problem!

theshapeshifter - If you have a personal account, you can accept payments from a Paypal balance and a bank account. You can't accept money from a credit card -- if someone tries to pay using a credit card, Paypal will send you an email asking you to upgrade your account to verified (that is, add a bank account). However, you're given the option to deny the payment if it comes from a credit card. And yeah, it does keep on lowering your limit even if you pay via balance and no, it never resets. When you run out, you'll either have to add a bank account or switch credit cards.

Courtesy of the Celestials circular swap! In the imp: Very wet and aquatic. Something vaguely citrusy -- it's very familiar, but I cannot put my finger upon it. It's driving me nuts. Wet: Very mysterious. Hmm, I think there's a faint wood note in here. Not something like cedar, but maybe something like sandalwood? It makes the blend slightly smoky in this stage, although "smoky" isn't an accurate term. It just seems smoky in the midst of all the aquaticness. Drydown: It becomes very aquatic and faintly floral in this stage. There's still that citrus note. There is lotus in here, but it's not the usual pure bubblegum lotus. It's the note lotus floating on water type note. Final thoughts: Nice blend, if slightly mysterious and unsettling.

I've tried Tamora, Fae, Katharina & Aglaea. For a point of reference -- Tamora is my favorite of them all and I do associate it with peaches. However, I think of it as the juice that runs out when you take a bite into a sweet, overripe peach. For me, the oakmoss and bergamot in Fae don't make it as sunny. Maybe more elusive and wild, but not the same sweet peachiness I associate with Tamora. Katharina is extremely fruity. For me, it's slightly sharp due to the orange blossom but it's the fruitiest of the bunch on me. Algaea is bright and sparkly. I'd say it falls somewhere between the sweetness of Tamora and the peach in Fae, if there were a spectrum. If Fae is slightly elusive in the "I run around in the forest type of way" and Tamora is sweet in the drenched peach juice sort of way, Algaea is a shiny and bright peach wine. That's how they are on me, FWIW. My skin chemistry is a little strange, but it loves the peach and to a lesser extent, apricot.

In the imp: Oranges. Wet: Oranges with the sharp bite of neroli. Drydown: NO! It went to soap! Final thoughts: In addition to turning to soap, my skin sucked this right up. It faded after an hour.

In the imp: Roses. Wet: Roses, still. Drydown: The honey and ylang ylang come out. I get whiffs of the apple blossoms from time to time, but it's drowned out by the roses. The roses that, unfortunately, turn to powder. Final thoughts: Boo, powder. Off to swaps.

This was a freebie from the Lab! In the imp: Soft amber. Wet: Amber mixed with something vaguely... fuzzy? What am I smelling? Maybe I should start looking up what the notes are in things before I test them out. Haha. Drydown: Okay, it's amber mixed with pear. I also get a little bit of the poppy mixed with an herbal note that is probably the coriander. Final thoughts: I wasn't sure what to expect due to the wet stage, which is pretty off-putting to me. However, the drydown is very nice. I'll have to try this again before I make a final verdict.

This was a freebie from the Lab! In the imp: Herbal. Wet: Woo, that's some sharp pine right there! Drydown: It reminds me of Vick's Vaporub, complete with the prickling along my skin. It's not painful, but definitely makes its presence known. Final thoughts: This is a very stern, masculine blend. Definitely not for me, but I think this could smell good on a guy.

This was a freebie from the Lab. In the imp: Lemongrass and patchouli. That's... interesting. Wet: The lemongrass is the strongest note on my skin. Drydown: It's lemongrass, sandalwood and roses, but mostly lemongrass. It's not working out here. If I wanted to smell like lemongrass only, I could just rub some on my skin. Where are the other notes, dammit? Final thoughts: My stupid skin chemistry strikes again!

This was a freebie from the Lab. In the imp: Whoa! This is dark and strong. I don't get the cream and orange blossoms at all. O_O Wet: Since I'm pretty familiar with vanilla and orange blossoms, I can only assume that's the narcissus I'm smelling. I don't think it likes me very much. Drydown: Okay, the narcissus settles down on my skin so the vanilla and orange blossoms come out more. It's a nice blend, but the narcissus isn't sitting well with me for some reason. Final thoughts: The narcissus doesn't work for me. It's a little too sharp on me. I think I'll stick with my cozy Jezebel.

A freebie from the Lab! In the imp: Florals over vanilla. Wet: Eh. Gardenias never liked me very much, did they? Drydown: The vanilla note is clobbered by the gardenia note. I can pick up the faintest hints of cinnamon and a smoky note, but that's about it. The gardenias are out of control. Final thoughts: I'm sure this is beautiful on someone with the proper skin chemistry. As it is, it's totally unbalanced on me. Boo. Off to swaps.

In the imp: Drowned roses. Wet: Roses floating on water. Drydown: The roses are less prominent in this stage. I can pick up the lotus now. It gives it that vague bubblegum note I'm so familiar with. It's very feminine and wistful. Final thoughts: I like this a lot. I don't think enough for a bottle, but I'll be keeping the imp.

This was a freebie from the Lab. In the imp: Florals. Wet: First, sandalwood. Then, the violet. It's not bad. Drydown: This is very wispy. It's similar to the way Queen Mab and Kitsune-Tsuki are wispy on me. The violet and ylang ylang are the strongest notes on me, with the other florals mingling in the background over the sandalwood. Final thoughts: Not bad. Not for me though. Off to swaps.

Simply cool, the essence of Lounge: the scent of a crisp pomegranate martini. In the imp: Tart fruitiness! I definitely see the pomegranate martini in this. Wet: Hmm, it's very clean. I actually get less pomegranate and a more citrusy note from this. Not lemon, but something else. Drydown: The alcohol note comes out. And it came out wrong. Final thoughts: I'm sure this smell divine on someone with the right skin chemistry, but this smells very weird on me. Kind of like soapy bathroom cleaner, which I'm certain isn't the intended result at all! Le sigh. Off to the swap pile.

In the imp: Unbelievably fruity, but the pears jump out the most. I'm so excited to try this! Wet: Pears, plums and pomegranates! Oh, I love this! Drydown: Initially, it becomes some palm/gardenia combination, then followed by the fig. The fruits and florals are all there though, juicy and everything. It's just so well-blended that my nose is having trouble picking them all apart. Final thoughts: I love this blend. I love it, I love it, I love it. It's juicy and fruity and floral all in one. The only problem is that my skin sucks it right up and it fades so quickly. I guess that just means I'll have to reapply often!

In the imp: Pink pink PINK Bazooka Joe bubblegum! Covered with sugar. Wow, I feel the cavities forming just from smelling this. Wet: Still pink bubblegum but there's something else underneath it -- older and faintly musky/incensy. Drydown: Hmm... It does something a little weird here and smells a lot like a basket of potpourri. Er.... Final thoughts: In the later drydown stages, it calms down and stops smelling so potpourri-like. I'm not quite sure what to think of it. It definitely embodies Jailbait though! I felt like I should have been wearing a Catholic schoolgirl outfit or something!

Courtesy of the Celestials circular swap! In the imp: Spicy. Wet: Incensy. This is well-blended. I can't pick out anything else. Drydown: Still that smoky incense. Some amber in the background, I think. It also has a vague watery quality to it, because it's translucent in my skin. That's usually a tip-off for me. Final thoughts: I wasn't sure what to expect with Scorpio, but I think I like it. I don't think it's something I would wear everyday but every now and again would work, I'd say.

Courtesy of the Celestials circular swap! In the imp: Citrus. Wet: Oranges. There's something along the lines of lemon, but it's not the dreaded lemon citrus note. It's more along the lines of lemon verbena, I think. Drydown: Orange cloves! How pretty! Final thoughts: This is definitely a bright, sunny scent. I like it very much.

Courtesy of the Celestials circular swap! In the imp: Dark. Some sort of wood? Maybe a resin? I'm not sure. It's very mysterious and remote. Wet: Sharp and vaguely metallic? What is that note? I can't identify it. Drydown: Cedar? It's musty and cold in this stage. Final thoughts: This is very appropriate for this planet, but I don't think I'd wear it.