Gin

High-Strung Daisies sounded so good! So good, in fact, that I ignored the mention of pink pepper. Pink pepper and I do not get along. What the hell, pink pepper? You're pepper, which I like, and *pink* which sounds like a recipe for win. Instead, you smell like a jasmine diaper. I'm sorry, but you do, and I've now decided you were the one that ruined Mi-Go for me, too, since High-Strung Daisies smells a lot like Brain Canister on me. Underneath the unpleasant pink pepper, I can smell lovely sugary carnations (a la Pink Moon 2007) but the pepper won't let them come through. pink pepper.

Eh, I have to agree with sarahjane. The Phantom Calliope is sadly cough syrupy on me. The cherry is syrupy from the get-go and the cardamom (? I guess, it's spicy) just adds to the medicinal feel.

Jazz Funeral is something I've been waffling on ordering for quite some time. I'm intrigued by the idea, but unsure of the notes. The graveyard dirt is very apparent in the imp. On the skin, it's moss and dirt and magnolia. Dries down to light floral with a hint of booze.

Mama-Ji is polarizing! I fall into the floral camp. I expected loads of spice, but got floral. I don't know what floral--champaca seems a good guess. Paperrose said, "Definitely something flitting between floral and incense." and that's exactly what I'm getting. Nice, but not what I expected, and not something I'd wear.

Litha 2006 is everything I had hoped for from Litha 2009. I think I misread the 2009 description and expected they'd be the same. 2006 is warm honey mead, golden and comfortable. There are florals here, but they're subdued. Honeysuckle, carnation, maybe some marigolds? Beeyoutifull!

How Doth the Little Crocodile reminds me of Frango mints, box and all. It's chocolate and mint and cardboard until the cedar comes through. The cedar takes over, and it's CEDAR, mint, and chocolate from there on out. Not for me. My son seems to love it though!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat is luscious and melony. In the bottle, it's all melon. On my skin, the melon gives way to mint and something, maybe the tea, and smells an awful lot like my grandmother's handbag. A top-up brings out lovely lime... and then back to handbag. I like the melon and lime well enough that I might try this in the burner. Otherwise, it's off to swaps.

Desdemona is very pink, fluffy floral. The water lily and sweet pea are really sweet but as it dries, the carnation becomes more apparent. I wasn't too sure about this one, but the carnation really redeemed it. I'm afraid it's still a little too girlyfluffypink to be in heavy rotation, but it's nice.

Oh, Zombie Apocalypse, you're breaking my heart. The reviews of strawberry jelly/jelly filled donuts are right on. I can smell the sugar, which is actually less sugar than SUGAR! and strawberry jelly. Unfortunately for me, the SUGAR! takes on a caramelized/plasticky tone. And it's got a pretty strong throw--so much it almost makes me a little queasy (of course, it's hot and crazy humid here so anything even half as sweet and strong would probably be overwhelming). Too bad, I loved the sound of it.

I was hesitant to try Yvaine. Lavender tends to go stinky-BO on me, but the reviews convinced me to try it anyway. And it works. It's still lavender, but cool lavender, not the cloying BO kind. My first wearng of Yvane gave me nothing but cold, clear lavender. On the second wearing I got more florals (nothing I could name, just wafts of flowers). I wore it to bed, and between the breeze from the window fan and the Yvaine, I felt like I was outside in a garden at twilight.

The Miller's Daughter is just as described: rose, amber, and hay. The rose is a little powdery, the amber is powdery, and the hay smells like sweetgrass.

Belle Vinu - Very flowery at first. I dabbed it on my forearm near my elbow and kept gettng wafts of rosy-ness. There were other notes, too, but nothing I could decipher. Now, well into it, I can smell the vanilla-peach over a light sandalwood. This seems very fitting of the character. Not a very 'me' scent, though.

If I'm not sure the oil is a keeper, I use a fancy toothpick--they're round but have a groove on the non-pointy end. It picks up a little more oil than a regular toothpick. I used to use Q-Tips, but they seem to suck up *so* much oil. For keepers, I usually up-end the bottle on my arm, though now that it's summer and I'm always coated in sunscreen, I've been using an index finger. I also like the glass wand caps, but I always forget to add them to my order.

Cytherea is violets on me. My first test = violets. I read the descripton and thought, that can't be right. Second test, oh! hey orris! nice to see... you ...and the violets. Weird.

Well, hello there, Eisheth Zenunim! You are lovely, aren't you? Without reviewing the notes, I get a honey-skin smell. It smells good. After rereading the description, I can pick out the peach and the cocoa, and I think, the neroli. This is so good, I'm glad I didn't let the ambergris scare me off. (I know it's not real ambergris, but I still sort of cringe every time I think about it.)

Bordello! A decadent, deep perfume, lusty and luxuriant. The scent evokes images of velvet-lined Old West cathouses, tightly laced corsets, rustling petticoats and coquettish snarls of pleasure. Bawdy plum with amaretto, burgundy wine and black currant. It's very plum/black curranty on me. And it layers well (IMO) with Velvet Pink Kitty. And I second/third Candy Phoenix, Sugar Skull, Pickled Imp, and Dorian. Xanthe, too!

How about: Bathsheba: Her scent is breathtakingly lovely, exotic and powerfully sensual in its innocence: carnation, sensual plum, and Arabian musk. Or Blood Countess: Corrupted black plum, smoky opium and crumbling dead roses covered by a deceptive veil of Hungarian lilac, white gardenia and wild berry.

Aizen-Myoo is one of those scents that I really like but hardly wear. Whenever we cross paths, though, I always think: why don't I wear this more often? It's really lovely. Sparkly yuzu and tea and cherry blossom (which I sometimes mistake for plum blossom). It smells fresh and pretty. It's floral without being traditional-floral (rose, jasmine, etc.) and sweet without being foody.

Oblivion - Looking at the notes, I thought, no, not for me. I popped open the imp anyway, and... I don't know what I smelled, but I liked it. Or was at least intrigued by it. It smells masculine and clean. I think what I'm drawn to is the saffron. It makes this blend sweet but not foody sweet. Oblivion is spicy and woody and sweetgrassy. Really beautiful.

Oh Penthus. Like Sepulcher and Tears, it's a 'sad' scent. Penthus is very light: roses and salty tears and incense. Makes me think of a small, cold chapel.

Fallen smells like lilac at first. Then the musk and sandalwood come forward, and the musk amps 'til it's almost unbearable. This is definitely not for me.

Nonae Caprotina is sweet milk and fig. No myrrh. To my nose, this is very much like Milk Moon--so similar that I don't think I need both.

Season of the Inundation reminds me of Graveyard Dirt. It is DIRT. Loud dirt. Dries down to a sweet and smoky herbal scent.

The Feast For The Greatly Revered Ones starts out smelling like spiced hot cocoa. Dries down to a sweet, foody scent. It's not really chocolatey... I get more spices, and maybe the maize, and what I'd guess is th agave. It's almost too sweet for me to bear, and I *like* the sweet, foody ones. This is just sweet and foody in a different way.

Labores Solis - I get a lot of frankencense from this, and not much else. A bit of amber in the background, maybe.