Unseelie

The Raven; in the vial - VIOLETS, green crispy, nose-hair singing VIOLET. more of the violet leaf oil than the violet blossom smell, strong and vital, and less floaty floral. Not sweet at all, tangy if anything. On Wet: Ja, most definitely and without a doubt VIOLETS. If Evita was a violet, this is the Evita of violet scents so far {You must love ME, she's belting out}. Drying: The sandalwood is giving the violet an interesting turn. It's remaining a green-Violet oil scent, and something in my brain has got "boyscent" on repeat. As in, this is for me to wear as a boy, or this is to give to boys who need to smell like violet. i'm not sure what the component is that smells like "commercial boy product" but there's a sense of it here. "Boyscent," my brain would like me to add, or "Girl-stealing-Boyscent" if you're wired that way. 30 mins: The violet is calmer, the whole scent is warmer, but still green-evoking. It's spicy only in a "commercial" scent way, but i know i'd never find a blend like this commerically, i suspect my body has eaten the musk and is hiding it away. It's a very clean scent, a masculine violet, and not at all sweet. I think this has the potential to go very soapy, and probably will on me at some point, though today it's holding at merely very green. i've got an insane insight about this scent: i bet it smells MARVELOUS when the imp or bottle has aged a month or two, and the blend is complete, and some of the harshness of the violet fades back. hn.. i bet it's astonishing given time.. *tucks the imp away in a drawer for later finding*. i've ordered a 5ml, so i'm going to decant for my brother as planned, then hide BOTH of the bottles away for a month or so before sending his out and taking my bit to smear on the mate & myself. comparison time! i pull out the Saturnalia to give them a side-by-side, see what notes pop. Saturnalia is velvet & vetivert. open the bottle and PEANUTS. o_O The Raven is violet from the get go. let a dab of Saturnalia dry and going back and forth; the Saturnalia is staying greener and more vegetatively harsh, The Raven's smoothness is more apparent, gentle musk and body-heat in it. Saturnalia winds up violetflower floral, The Raven a manscenty, more complex blend, *almost* sweet by comparison. 30 mins later - Saturnalia is still wafting strongly violets. And it was just a DAB-dot on the back of one wrist. o_O The Raven is not wafting at all, it was smeared on wetly and rolled between insides of both wrists. i'd think it were gone, but sniffing right at the site reveals sandalwoody faint delicate musk.

i don't know the branded perfumes you mention, but wanted to mention Queen Mab. you like florals, and Mab is a really deep creamy orchid. "Chinese Musk" is a listed note, and i think that's what gives it such depth and the sweet milky quality. From the lab desc: Forum Reviews. i'm a "spice girl" myself, and thought i didn't like florals, so my total addiction to this one.. maybe it's the sandalwood, musk & orchid.. makes me want to mention it. Cheers!

wet: ORCHID. My eyes pop out, roll back, fall shut, are retrieved dusted off and replaced in my head, and i swipe it on. Yes, the scent is thick deep and orchid, and i'm deeply falling head over heels. I'm not getting anything "fruity" or berrylike, but then i'm rather focused on this single floral note. 20 mins: dried, it's still all orchid, and though there's a faint faint faint sweet-tang I can't place the scent remains deep. I'm thinking "why not go place another single bottle order RIGHT NOW." Then i get a clever idea, remembering that i want to try to get a grip on spending by not buying too many too similar scents - I've already got Queen Mab on the "hit list". I've noticed that trying a similar scent in a single point to reference back and forth with can help pick out different notes, though I always try to start a new scent "clean" with no interferance this countersniffing really helps with decision making. So i dot Queen Mab on my right hand and start slowly back and forth sniffing. Suddenly.. Phantom Queen smells of green apples. @_@ THERE's the apple! Queen Mab now smells.. buttery musky and orchid, and Phantom Queen crisp and bright. Yes, there's the musk in Mab coming up. <3<3<3scampers off to paypal Phantom Queen dries with a bright light green floating crispness, still orchid but now that i can pick out a bit more of the flavoring it's got a whole new aspect. Fresh and clean, no soap or tang spoiling the orchid but a wistful floral touch. Wow, would this make a wonderful spring scent! {For strong scent junkies like me, it's a floral for non-floralists, methinks.} I'm SO happy to have the imp, am still "in the market" for another, and will share this one with my mom immediately to see what she thinks. i'll probably order this in February, let it arrive to cheer me up in March/April. It's a delightfully rich floral based on my favorite flower - a winner for orchid lovers.

oh. oh yes. i wanted to compare this to Dragon's Milk, do some kind of intelligent comparison.. in the first half hour, blah blah blah. no. now i just want the mate to come home so i can coat him in this Wonderful Stuff. yes. i must smell this on a male. now. it's astonishing. i guess i really have a thing for the Dragon's Blood resins. i want me to smell like the sweetly honey/almond/milk/edible Dragon's Milk, and i'd like to see what his male chemistry will do with the warm Dragon's Heart. Dragon's Milk smelled sugared, Dragon's Heart smelled woody, briefly, and now is a heady carrier of the Dragon's Blood spices and a nudge of sweetness that isn't strong or too feminine. woody then subtly sweet, i make this smell 'good', i bet a ~man~ would make this smell unbelievably HOT and i need to get my hands on a man immediately to test the theory. ... when's that guy getting off work, anyway? sheesh...

Saturnalia was one i would have.. er no, okay, still do describe as "Plummy". Smells to me like plum tree, and plum fruit, without the post-fallen-fruit rotting sweetness. So i wanted to recommend it as a fruity, juicy scent without the sugar sweetening or 'made into jelly' effect. then i look it up and see that it's really simple; violets, vetiver. It's a floral, though very un-flowery. And aaaaah, vetiver, *that* is what always smells like peanut to me in the vials of things that have it! The peanut effect is gone pretty quickly on the skin, and there's just this really nifty heavy violet smell afterward. >_> i still think it's fruity. ah, and i'd second Bewitched - SUPERfruit. and Tintagel for juicy fruity spice without sweet. Nemesis also, fig roundness and patchouli, very nice.

wet: i think i smell black currant in the bottle, a weird juicyness, and splash it on hoping for a spice out. Go Rage! drying: on me roses powder up almost instantly, but somethings fighting back in this blend and it’s too complex for my tiny brain to figure out. oooh, i like it. geranium reminds me of something like 'traditional' perfume - probably a random association, the combination with the rose is nice and heady. i’m liking this more as it dries. i need to stop snorting my elbow. it's a very yellow/orange smell, the amber warming and keeping back the bite of the geranium & jasmine. every now and then the rose wafts, and i look around to see if anyone is here It's really odd but chemistry and proximity really affect this one; i wore it standalone to work for one day, and just loved the mellow long lasting depth of the amber, as someone else noted i didn't feel particularly rage-full, just thought i smelled great, perfumed, fully dressed and a complete female. tonight i sniffed it and swiped on the back of my hand after rolling around in Voodoo all afternoon; Voodoo smells like a sweet spice jar broken open, Rage smells like the war room cologne of an empress - there's the rage mood aspect! [edit] wearing again and it's Geranium Geranium Geranium.. and suddenly that's a flower i can't stand. ?_? i'm hoping it's an imp-oddity, and the full bottle mix will be more balanced, and "as intended", and i'm also hoping it's a body-chemisty fluctuation - go go gadget hormones! i did want to note that sometimes florals are very generic, and sometimes you can tell exactly which flower, and this one has been pretty clear - rose & geranium! from the get-go.

Oh this is a treat for me, in the vial and long after. i first had a trade imp, then lucked into a 5ml for sale on the forum. i’d loved it in the vial, and think that the full mix of the bottle is even better; wearing it from the big bottle i'd swear there's more of the complex variety of all parts coming into play - better orchid, more lasting and noticable musk. Overall - Plum! it smells sweet and round and yet delicate, flowery but not at all powdery, and there’s my beloved orchid peeking through! Wet: SO sweet, rich and plummy. Dry: the fruityness fades back to delightfully floral sweetness, but is never completely gone. orchid, and no soap, no sting. the jasmine is *just* like i like it, working with the other notes and not overpowering them- a hint and not a hit. jasmine can be very strong on me; the sweet plum and orchid are winning in this formula, though. playful flowers, warm and purple, it’s a wonderful scent that wafts around me, i catch traces rising through the workday. the sweetness slowly fades, finishing up the day with a faint clean clean musk. it never changes completely, or strongly, but the various scents play with and off one another up to the end.

woooh.. in the vial - jasmine, ready to kick and bite. on wet - jasmine, rose peeking through, but a hard jasmine overall. dry - the rose is trying hard to beat out the jasmine, but i think i'm tuned to recognize jasmine and that's coming out on top. the rose smells like powdery rose, harried by the constant tang of jasmine. i'm not getting a dark or subtle effect, just the wrestling florals. dry, half hour - the mate says, hesitantly, "magnolia?" i sniff again. "nope, jasmine, and powdery rose" as it seems that's going to be the final result of the war. it's a very nice floral mix, if you need a jasmine without its hard tangy edge the rose does a wonderful job of taming it durning the dry down. i smell good. i don't smell goth-club good, or scare the people at work good, but generically florally good.

Wow, in the "i'm frightened" way. everything i've tried so far has had a pleasing effect, even if unexpected, so i'm almost having an "ah-ha!" moment with this one - finally, something that i apparently turn weird with the body chemistry. hah, take that! in the vial - WOAH, super sticky sweet! good grief! just incredibly overwhelmingly deeply overripe dark sweet fruit! i fear to try this, and hold off for a day or two. finally driven to sample by interesting prior reviews.. i swipe.. wet - oh HELP i smell sooo sticky sweet and i can't run away from the smell, it follows me in circles around the sofa, aieeeee! dry - as it dries, the sweetness fades. incoming is a scent i can't quite place, growing stronger as drying contines. at the half-hour mark i realize - dirt. i smell like.. dirt. and it's not from tripping and falling when running around the sofa and rolling on the dusty floor. i inhale long and hard and realize that what i'm smelling is borderline smokey, it probably should smell like smoke. on me, it smells like.. dirt. sweetly grapey dirt. or maybe.. like an old dusty stick of stale incense. wah! am sad. i made this weird, i suppose, since the ingredients sound *wonderful*. one to trade! Trying this a second time, a couple days later... a little more experience with amber and resin.. and just a different day.. the amber smell is better, the resin sweeter and less dirt-dry. it still has a damn strange reaction on my skin, but i've smelled that hint from a couple other oils this week and understand it. i'm oddly tempted to try this heavily layered over something that will ride the scorchy smell well, give it that gentle nudge into the ambery/warm scent it should be.

wet - orchid sweet, different from plummy deep. roses coming through as kotex type scent, definitely not baby powder, fortunately this aspect dried away. ^^;; dry - still orchid. lighter than i'd expected. warmly sweet. the musk seems so delicate, but there. mature scent, womanly and purple. one hour - smelling jasmine and musk, rose peeking through. it gets better as it dries! complex and wonderful, there's the orchid, and no soap! i'm not getting the sandalwood, i think, not sure, but i'd expect more.. spice from that, and so far it's warm dark floral to my nose. lurrrrve it.. two hours - more roses, light but still there. it seems as though this one won't get stronger with time, but lingers very lightly, will probably be a "reapply through the day" scent, especially at work or day-long events. reapply at four hours - delightful, and i want more. more plummy this time, or maybe my nose is broken purple. . orchid is winning over the rose. complex! can't stop sniffing and grinning. delighted, and noting this for beeeg bottle. going to try it on my mom next week and if she likes it one for her, too.

wow. WOW. this was a forum imp purchase, decanted by t3h w(_)nn3rf(_)1 fairywingmaker. i open it and sniff the wand and WOOOOOO... eyes get big, nose gets happy... smells like spiced purple, wonderfully fruity and deep. what a ROUND scent! swiping it on and it's all purple; some kind of deeply sweet fruit, plum or grape. the description says wine - if so it's not a dry wine, little to no bite, but a rich sweet full tasting wine. the spices are wonderful, mulled and not incensy. i think "yes yes yes, mmmm," and decide to carry the imp in to work to see if it needs boosting during the day, i want this one strong and continual. once dry the fruityness fades back a bit and the spice lingers. i sniff myself all day long, and it wafts from elbows and wrists when i have to run around a bit and i warm up. it's a purple spice, and doesn't need reapplication until the afternoon, and i do so gleefully and liberally. i never get a smoke or musky/animal scent, i think, it remains a deeply spiced sweet scent. the mate says later on that it's almost like a holiday candle, but looks puzzled - i know what he means, it's not cinnamon and not "generic xmas spice" but there's something reminiscent. the fall season is captured wonderfully, and this will be a perfect fall/winter scent - warm and rich and comforting. and me with the "i don't like sweet things, or fruits" preconception. doh! i think i like wine, a LOT. i am now officially on the hunt for a full bottle of this one!

7:32pm wet - powdery, flowery, very light & very powdery. At this point i'm worried - will this cause the dreaded "goes to baby powder on me" syndrome? what could cause that - thoughts derail from trying to figure out what's in the smell to wondering about hormone spazzing. 7:53 dry - still powdery. very powdery, but not baby powder, the florals are teasing, light and definitely there. e likes it. wait, what did you say? e likes it. @_@ okay, WOW. this is a guy who wore straight patchouli when i met him, and has since migrated to bay rum; strong spice fan. hmm. 11:00pm - it’s still there! flowery and light, and it's kind of soothing. i keep thinking powder and keep being pleased that it's not baby-powder; but the powder theme won't leave my mind. Next Morning - woke up to reapply same for layer and was sniffing myself all day at work testing the strength. for a light scent, it seems to really stay! i put it in elbows and at wrists, rubbing occasionally to friction warm the scent. i smell powdery flowers, it's not baby powder, it's different, better, quite nice. Probably not a big bottle scent for me, but i'll want to keep an imp on hand for the right - good girl type - occasions.