klowey

Spicy and warm, like a fire in a closed room. After a while the dragon's blood comes out and takes over, but still with the hint of pepper and leather. Very swarthy.

On initial application: Splash of green grass with a light floral. Less salty than Val Sans Retour. Berries come out after the first 15 minutes or so, and then get stronger and stronger, with a hint of green behind it. Apparently my skin loves berries. A lovely scent, but I'm still searching for the perfect green grass scent.

First out, frankincense and lavender. On dry-down a softer scent comes out. A little spicy, a little lavender, a little violet, and a little orchid, not much rose at all. Soft and warm.

Out of the vial and on the skin, the first scent apparent is the lemongrass with a couple of the woods. An hour later it’s still very lemony and citrusy, a little of the soapiness of the jasmine is starting to peek through. Later: Citrus gone, all soap. Bye bye Namaste.

In the imp and directly on my skin: Cold, wet evergreen forest. Dried: Unfortunately, evergreen doesn't last long on my skin. Pretty soon all I have is a spicy, sweet and balsam peru scent. End result: I might keep it around as a room or a locket scent, but I don't think I'll be wearing it on my skin.

Incredibly, I think this might be a lotus scent that I can wear. It's a little sweet, but there is also a warmth from the amber and musk and an incensey smell from the myrrh and spices that keeps it in place. Not something I'll be ordering in a big bottle, but it might be worth the imp for when I'm feeling especially girly. In unrelated news, the cat's been especially cuddly this evening...

I really, really wanted to like this one, but it went kinda powdery, kinda meh. It almost needed something else, something sweeter or darker or greener, which is weird since it's supposed to be mostly herbal, moss, and grass scents. Off again in my search of the perfect grass scent.

Directly on the skin it's sweet orange. Sandalwood starts to appear quickly. On dry-down it becomes very powdery, but still with the sandalwood behind it. Unfortunately, I really don't like powder. It just seems to get behind my nose and start it itching.

To me this is a heavy red scent. I definitely get the spice of dragon's blood and cinnamon. Unfortunately, as it dries, it reminds me more and more of Fly Nap TM. Something used to put fruit flies to sleep long enough to examine them. Not a necessarily good connotation. I'll have to try it later to see.

And now for something slightly different: I have a phone interview to determine the background knowledge I have for a biologst/histologist job I really, really want. It's tomorrow and it's more like an oral exam than a regular interview, but since it's a phone interview it's more like an interview than a regular test. Best of both worlds I guess. Basically I'll be looking at webpages of slides and answering questions posited by two interviewers. No stress at all. But, on the plus side, I don't have to worry about my perfume offending anyone. So, recommendations?

OK, I'll admit that I got this when it originally came out, and though I wear it on occasion, I haven't done a review yet. In the bottle: There's something sharp and sneezy lingering behind the flowers Once it's on the skin: It softens to an enveloping floral and the sharpness goes away. It's daffodils and sweet, green florals. It's a very whole-garden scent. Not just blossoms, but the greenery and a hint of black earth, but very little of it. I also get an association with a deep, almost orange-yellow colour which may be why I think daffodils and tulips. Well and dry: Now it's almost closer to a lavender fougere. Very soft and retreats to the background, but the sweet floral is still there. Thumbs up, but it doesn't last exceptionally long.

Hmm, warmth. I pulled this one out because the airconditioning is far too high in the office. There's a sweetness to this scent that reminds me of dragon's blood and cinnamon, but in a much more wearable form than Wrath. It's a very, very dry scent, and one I can only wear in cooler weather, but it's worth having even in a summer collection. I figure I will be wearing it more and more as the fall approaches. (Especially if they don't turn the AC down a bit.)

On first application and dry-down, this is a very wet, wet earthy scent. It's not even a garden dirt after a storm. It's stranded in a deep, dark forest (or "wood" to be appropriately melodramatic) after a thick mist has drifted in. Oddly, the one place that comes closest to this scent is down by the locks at the end of the Rideau Canal, with the water falling over and through the locks and the vegetation on the escarpment. There's a rose scent doesn't seem to pop up until it's almost completely dried down and faded somewhat, after two to three hours. Overall, it is completely evocative of the penny dreadful stories and perfect to wear while giving tours.

I've been waffling over this review since I put Brisingamen on this morning around 10am (it's currently 5:30 in the evening.) I swiped on my wrists, re-dipped in the imp, and swiped my neck. The scent is still relatively strong, so I can definitely vouch for the lasting power of this one. The scent has also stayed relatively stable for the entire time, with little change from application to completely dry. It may be a little fruitier in the imp, but that's the only difference. I have some difficulties with amber and herbs going powdery on my skin, however, the sweetness of the apple blossom seems to keep it one step from powder. It's very much a skin scent for all that it has a bit of throw behind it, and I think I can catch some of the spice of the carnation. Overall, I'm not entirely sure what I think. It reminds me a lot of Hunter Moon, so I might come back to it more once my HM bottle is done. Logically, it's good on my skin and I like the smell, but it's definitely a scent you have to be in the right mood for. Today just might not have been that day.

When I first put this on my skin, I adored it. It was rich, warm and fruity, more plums than cherry. And I'm not one for food smells. However, as it dried down, it seemed to turn into a full-on lotus scent. Unfortunately, I can't wear lotus without it going sickly-sweet, so it appears this is being swapped away.

On me Lady MacBeth was brittle berries, Vinland was airy berries, this is rich, dark berries, crushed along with their leaves. First applied it's all berries, but as it wears on, the berries fade a bit and the sage and other greeneries come out. While it's strong, it never seems sticky sweet, which makes it a keeper in my books, but probably not a full bottle order. We'll see how often I find myself reaching for it.

I should mention that I put this on yesterday before a tour and couldn't stop yawning. I'm sure it was just a coincidence... This was definitely a luxurious scent. Deep and rich; red and enveloping. There is a wonderful pepperiness, especially in dry-down, that I absolutely love. Few scent leave me with a distict image associated with them. This one is burgundy sheets on a large bed or the field of poppies from The Wizard of Oz.

This one is strange in that it has smelled almost exactly the same from vial to wet on skin to dry on skin. Of course, it smells like Avon's old bubble bath in the tall, pearlised bottles with the bubbles on the sides and the flat bits up the centre, so that could be the reference overriding the components of the fragrance. Objectively, I smell the sweet-pea and something vanilla-y (tonka?) with an underlay of powder. I just can't get past the bubble bath, so it's off to the swap pile for this one.

In the vial this was all boozey, boozey rum with a hint of cocoa, but as soon as it hit my skin the cocoa jumped out. (Much like the Quik Rabbit, which just seems wrong somehow.) A few minutes later and it's bitter-sweet cocoa, a fruity wine, and an underlying spice. The warmth of the scent is what it reminding me of the blood, but I do get a rich, warm, blood sense, if not a blood scent. Perfectly evocative, maybe not a summer scent, but I'll definitely keep it around.

I got an imp of this in a swap and I'm desperate for more. It's light, green, and smells of grass and spring. I was turning my imp into a salt scrub in my room and when I was done, my cat came and curled up. Every once in a while, his head would pop up and he'd sniff the air with his eyes half closed. Which is almost a perfect description of it. It's a promise of an idealised spring where grass grows, and the slightly cool, damp air carries the scent of flowers, trees, and sap. It's a scent that makes you want to go outside and try to recapture it. That said, it is ephemeral on me. It's in a salt scrub to use in my morning shower, but if it ever gets released as any type of scent, limited, catalogue, whatever, I'm buying 10ml and turning part of it into a moisturiser to use at work. It's light enough that it shouldn't be offensive to anyone.

I would add Eris to the list. There's something about the floral/fruit mixed with the martial spices that seem very, very red to me. Personally, I'm still trying to decide whether to order the Living Flame. My skin loves Dragon's Blood, but I don't like overly sweet scents. But in lieu of cinnamon, it does seem to be the most likely red scent in a blend.

This is candy sweet, right from the vial and onto my skin. Hours later it's still very sweet and very sticky. I've noticed this with other lotus blends, and I think I'm going to have to avoid them from here on in.

And there again is the whole skin chemistry thing. Dana O'Shee was too much for me, and yet Pele smells like warm skin with a floral background. I think it's the ginger.

The interesting thing is that when I concentrate I can smell the florals and the white ginger. But when I just let it drift into my mind, all I get is warmth. Warm skin, warm tropical breezes wafting through the forest, warm air hovering above rock. I don't know if it's a suggestion from the name, but it really brings to mind pumice or lying out on lava rock heated by the sun. ETA: Might not have made it clear, but I absolutely adore this scent.

On initial application, I smell a spicy, dry wood. I'm assuming that's a mix of the wormwood, anise, and cardamon. As it dries, I smell the green herbs more, in fact there's an overlay of something alcoholic and intoxicating to the scent. Sparkling almost. Worn for a while it's spicy and woody. All the stages are lovely. This was a freebie from the lab, and I probably wouldn't have ordered it on my own, but I'm really glad I have it and I'll definitely order more.