Azrhiaz

As noted by others, this is a strong blast of eucalyptus wet-- enough to actually clear sinuses. Which is a nice side effect, but I'm pleased that the eucalyptus is gone within ten minutes, since I don't really want to smell like Vaporub. Drying down, the orange comes out, and it's not a dry orange-- somehow it's creamy on me, rather like a Creamsicle, and I LOVE Creamsicles, so that's nice. The pine isn't very piney, actually, but that's fine-- there's no musk listed, but I swear I smell black musk (my favorite). Either it's there, or the pine is turning black-musky on me. Either way, this stage is completely gorgeous. Warm and sunshiny. It doesn't last as long as I'd like (I think it made it about three hours on me, which is better luck than some have had with it), but I like it so much it's on the big bottle list anyway.

I agree with Luxuria that this is very like one of those break-apart chocolate oranges (only I don't get the dirt). And I adore those; in fact, it reminds me of my favorite coffee, long since discontinued from Panera-- Cafe Borgia (*shakes impotent fist of rage*). All velvety chocolate-orange goodness, with perhaps a little bit of cherry peeking through. Range for long-lasting is about medium-- reapplying at five hours. Not bad, if not as pervasive as some others. Delicious and sinful, and I'd love a big bottle.

Well, I just knew I'd love this, seeing as I'm such a rose fan. Didn't call that one right, though. Wet, I love it. It's just what I pictured-- sexy, lush, cinnamony rose. On the drydown, the cinnamon evaporates (pretty quickly on me), and then I smell the same rose as Silentium Amoris, so I'm loving that...until it turns into a sicky-sweet rose powder. It's almost...rose bubble gum? Right now I don't like it, but I also think I'm getting a cold, so my sniffer might be off. I'll give it another shot on another day before relegating it to swaps.

The imp I was most looking forward to getting with my order is here, and it's love, it really is-- this smells *exactly* like I was hoping it would. It's rich-- spicy and thick, honeyed cream and wine and the darkest cherries, dribbling stickily down your chin, and underneath it all my beloved vetiver makes it all positively feral. It's so sexy I want to gnaw my arm off. Big bottle STAT.

Hamadryad gave me the red welt action, which sucked because it smelled lovely.

As others have noted, a light, bright floral. The incense doesn't assert itself much on me; rather, it keeps the florals from being overly sweet and warms them up a bit. This makes me think of sunlight on white petals. Truly lovely, although I'm really not a white-floral kind of girl. This would make a stunning wedding fragrance, I think. In sum, very pretty, but I don't think I'll get a big bottle.

This is the best example I've seen yet of an oil that I would do anything to fast-forward. Wet, it's overwhelming, powdery lilac, skirting the edges of headache territory. But on the drydown, oh! The myrrh comes through (I love myrrh) and the amber warms it up, while the lilac gets relegated to the back seat (thank goodness). An oddly fruity note comes out, but I like it. Overall, the drydown is warm and beautiful-- womanly is the word that kept coming to mind-- and I'd love the oil if I could just skip the wet stage.

I'm so in love with Beth's rose scents. This is another lovely one, and yet...I don't know that I'll get a big bottle of this one. I can't smell the apple blossom; what I *do* smell is a freshly cut tea rose. It's so clean and so *real* I feel like I'm in a garden, which, hey, apropos. But as lovely as it is, it seems to be lacking the complexity of Silentium Amoris, Psyche, or Rakshasa, my three favorite roses. Since I've got bottles of those either now or on the way, I don't think I'll go for Eve. But I'll definitely use up the Imp.

I got an Imp of Chaos Theory XXVIII as a freebie (don't remember who threw it in for me, oops). Unfortunately, this is so wrong on me. Lemon Pledge crossed with Bounce dryer sheets. Yarch. Hate it! Ah, well, can't win 'em all. Previously reviewed by fragrantgrasse.

Almost entirely violet on me-- I couldn't get more than the tiniest whiff of my beloved rose. That said, I like violet, and this was so very period I halfway felt I should be curtsying today. I do really like it, but I don't think it's quite love-- it's a little more delicate than I prefer. However, it *did* last. Along with Regan, it's the scent that's lasted longest on me. Marie made it a good eleven hours, no joke. That alone might make me give further consideration to a big bottle.

By far, our most popular scent! Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla. Oh, well-- my turn to add to the pile of Snake Oil reviews. *g* I confess I almost wanted *not* to like it-- the side of me that immediately balks at whatever's most popular, combined with the fact that the name hardly invokes something wonderful for me. But with so much swooning going on, I had to see for myself. Wet, it's medicinal, as others have noted, but not unpleasantly so. As it dries down I get more vanilla, and the spices warm up just gorgeously. It smells divine on me, but the thing that's most interesting to me is that holy cow, I feel *strong* wearing this. Like I really am a goddess. It doesn't immediately evoke sex for me in the way that Kali did, although it *is* sexy. It's sexy *because* it's strong, not because it's debauched. Haven't gotten any compliments (yet), but I'm a definite Snake Oil fan now. And I'll definitely be wearing it when I meet Elijah Wood. Heh.

Oh, I thought I'd reviewed this one already-- how did I miss it? I'm very glad I ordered it on faith before it was discontinued. I've since received an Imp of it and I *do* love it, although it isn't for every day. It's the perfect embodiment of my beloved cemetary angels-- cold and beautiful and very, very sad somehow. The lily is most prominent on me-- I don't get any rose at all-- and it's a much colder lily note than the one in Tiger Lily. Perfect for the days when I'm sad and want to wallow in it, rather than snap out of it. Other reviewers have mentioned it fading, but this is one that lasts quite well on me. I catch whiffs of it on my sweaters where it hasn't even come out in the wash.

Wet: roses and spice. Nice, can't wait to see what develops. Drydown: oh, soooooo gorgeous! Spiced Indian roses, indeed. Sweet and spicy, like rose candy sprinkled with coriander. This smells so incredible, like Queen of Sheba with roses strewn around her divan, and it's lasting a lot better than the Queen did for me. I want a big bottle of this in the worst way. I smell delicious. LOVE!

Silentium Amoris is my favorite oil (and my favorite rose thus far) but of course it's gone. *sob* Psyche is gorgeous and very rosy and complex. Rakshasa is also quite nice, like a spiced Indian rose.

oh, I am so glad I bought a big bottle of this. Good guess this time. This is soooo beautiful. I'm a big rose fan, and this one is just fabulous. I love lavender, too, and I get them both when wet. The rose seems to me to be rather sweet, not dusty to my nose. On the drydown the musk comes through, but it's very delicate and very well balanced overall. I can't pick out the frankincense on me. And I'm totally thrilled that, so far, this is the most evocative of Silentium Amoris for me from among the other oils. Yes, it's different, but it's got the same feel to it. Pure, true love, indeed, and I feel beautiful wearing it.

Woo, my first 5 ml. that I'll be keeping! Having traded away Morocco and Sin in disappointment, I was really hoping this one would work, and thankfully it does. Wet, I get mostly the apple cider and the blackberry wine, edged with something sharper and green (the ivy?). My first thought was "oh, nice", but then there was a scary moment oh, crap, rotten apples, but it passed very quickly, and then I couldn't quit sniffing this wonderful fall scent, so unlike any other I've ever smelled. Enjoying the luxury of a bigger bottle, I squirted some lotion into my hand and tried to shake a drop out of the bottle into the lotion. Wound up getting two generous drops, but I proceeded to smear myself with Mabon goodness anyway. Went over to a friend's house, and when my other friend arrived, she walked in and said "oh, my goodness, something smells SO GOOD in here." And, of course, 'twas me. <3 Mabon!

While I really enjoyed the sassafras note in Laudanum, here it's just too much. Wet, this is a thick, sweet, root-beer syrup on me, stopping just shy of being headache-inducing. The drydown is far more pleasant with the cedar coming through, and it's a perfect cowboy scent. You can practically smell the dust on sunfaded denim and the swirl of tumbleweeds. Still, I don't think I could deal with the wet stage. Anyway, I got this Imp for a friend to go with our old-west RPG, so no worries. When Bordello arrives I'll be sending her the set.

Wow, this is fabulous. Like The Dormouse, it makes me think of UII Sheer Scent-- even more so, really-- and (as someone else noted) Calyx by Prescriptives. It's so very clean and beautiful, and I usually cannot wear lemon at all. I think this is the first lemon note *ever* that hasn't gone lemon pledge on me in .2 seconds. I definitely want a big bottle of this, but I'll probably wait for a bit, because this is summer all the way.

It's nice, well-blended, assuredly warm-- lilies drowsing in the sun is precisely it-- but I think I prefer the chilled lilies in Sepulchre, and as I have a 5 ml. of that on the way, I won't be getting a big bottle of Tiger Lily anytime soon. For the honey scents, I also prefer Alice and O. This is good; just not great.

I was really looking forward to trying this one, and I was *not* disappointed. I love wood notes, and I love figs, and although I don't think I've ever smelled black palm before, I quite like it. Wet, the cocoa and the fig predominate, and then on the drydown the woods come up gently, soft and warm. I agree with previous reviews that identify the scent as dark, rich brown-- it doesn't smell like chocolate on me, although I can identify the cocoa. It's too well blended for that. It makes me think of a brown velvet evening gown and stiletto heels. I went to bed wearing it and eight hours later, when I woke up, I was still smelling this rich, warm loveliness. Definitely going on the big bottle list, although I don't see myself wearing it every day. It's a "going-out" perfume.

I noted in my review today that The Dormouse would be great after shower. It's very clean and green but not soapy or powdery-- reminded me of Calyx by Prescriptives.

I like this far more than any of the "regular" lotus notes I've smelled, and it is certainly dark. However, I'm discovering that lotus goes in the category with gardenia and jasmine as notes I just don't care for. Off to the swap pile.

This is the second BPAL that's made me think of Estee Lauder Youth Dew-- the other one slips my mind at the moment, but I should go back and look at my reviews, so I can figure out which notes I'm really not liking here. This, too, smells very like Youth Dew to me, which I really hate. I smell like old lady, and what's more, this one is giving me a splitting headache, just as Youth Dew does. And, stupid me, I tried it on while my class is finishing a video, and I can't leave the room to wash it off for another twenty minutes. That'll teach me to try on perfume at the beginning of the period.

This reminds me very much of UII Sheer Scent, which I wore by the gallon in college. That, in turn, was similar to Calyx by Prescriptives. This is also very green and clean, but not at all soapy or powdery. It is a very enjoyable "out of the shower" type scent, quite lovely. However, it faded fairly quickly on me, and I've already got a big bottle of Baobhan Sidhe on order for a "fresh" type scent (although that one is very different with the grapefruit), so I don't think I'll get a big bottle of this one. I do quite like it, though.

I hardly know how to review this one. I'll start by mentioning my experience with Baobhan Sidhe (which smells nothing like this, of course). I stated that I nearly cried when I smelled that, because it smelled like so many things that reminded me of my beloved grandfather-- his daily grapefruit, his tea, his candied ginger. This? Smells like him, and within moments of putting it on I burst into tears. I have all his cedar furniture-- now it's my clothes in the armoire and the chest. He always put fresh cedar chips in there, to discourage moths, and so his clothes always smelled very strongly of cedar. But there's more here-- there's the faint catch of his old-fashioned shaving soap, too, and I swear I smell his skin. I keep expecting a hug. Unk's been gone since 1985, when I was fifteen, but I smelled him again today. And for that...thank you, Beth. Thank you.