Lyrical

In the bottle: a soft, sweet, watery floral. Rather nice. Wet on skin: dewdrops on roses and another floral I guess must be moonflower. Pretty! Dry on skin: the rose comes out more, but it's a very soft, mild, pretty rose, almost sugared. Lovely!

In the bottle: mostly earthy patchouli. Wet on skin: base and earthy. I don't get the glittering golden notes at all. Dry on skin: ah - there's the heliotrope! It's warmer and sweeter now, a deep russet brown in colour, soft and spicy. Not quite me, but yummy! The patchouli is fully balanced out by the other notes. It certainly doesn't smell like a deadly sin!

In bottle: very sweet, slightly sharp fruity floral - pale and ethereal. Wet on skin: mostly a rather sharp floral. I don't usually wear florals, so I'm not familiar with the notes, although I recognise hyacinth. I can't smell peach - the fruity element is more pear/melon. I was hoping for more musk, ti and sandalwood, but I can't detect them. There's just a hint of vanilla bean adding smoothness. As florals go, this is a nice one. It reminds me of Cheshire Moon without the citrus or the icky jasmine note. Strong throw! Dry on skin: the sharpness gradually fades and what's left is sweet, smooth pear/melon fruity. At this stage it reminds me of the final stage of Tiki Queen, which behaves in a similar way on my skin. The end is much better than the beginning! It's very fresh - a great scent for a hot summer day!

Bamboo pulp and oude with green and white tea. In the bottle: slightly citrussy green tea with an intangible pale, woody base. At first sniff I'm reminded of Hungry Ghost Moon, but it's not the same. Wet on skin: definitely citrus, very cool, somewhat sharp. Dry on skin: stays sharp and citrussy although I can't name a particular fruit - it's somewhere between grapefruit and lime. Unisex. I don't know what oud or bamboo smell like. It's very dry. Eventually it ends up cool and somewhat woody, in a pale, bamboo sort of way. Then it veers towards bitter, but with a touch of powdery sweetness. Hmmmm. Second review: I liked this much better today! I felt a strong urge to wear something clean and refreshing, and less sweet and creamy than Hungry Ghost Moon. This one fits the bill! It stayed lemony and fresh for hours, and I will definitely reach for it in the summer heat. Medium wear length, but well worth re-applying! I'm loving it now!

I tested the 2005 vintage. In the bottle: sweet plum (the one in Bordello) over a faintly chilly note. I've never smelled a real sugar plum, but I think this is what it would smell like. Wet on skin: sweet, juicy plum, with no bitterness at all, and a chilly background note. Dry on skin: still sweet plum, but a little perfumy rather than straight up fruit. I like this on its own, but I think it would be great for layering over something dark and musky (like Bathsheba). Good throw and decent wear length!

In the bottle: grapefruit, cherry and ginger in a soft, fresh blend. Wet on skin: mostly almondy cherry at first. Not entirely unlike Libra 2007, but paler. Dry on skin: not much throw. Light, cool and fruity, mostly citrus. Very faint, but I like it a lot. 2nd wearing: this is the lime scent I've spent almost a year looking for! The crisp citrus is softened by grape and light florals, while gentle white musk lingers in the background. I really slathered and walked around in a very faint, pastel coloured haze all day and it was lovely. This is ridiculously faint! Fortunately I've found that if I apply right under my ears the throw is enough to reach my nose, so now I'm happy!

In bottle: very sweet and creamy - like the fondant filling inside a coffee flavoured chocolate. There's a note from El Dia De Reyes, which I didn't recognise as coffee at the time, but now I realise it must be the lab's coffee note! I also get a hint of polished oak, which is grounding the scent nicely. Wet on skin: that note from El Dia De Reys dominates - a sweet, gooey coffee scent. Dry on skin: El Dia De Reyes with more strong coffee and without the chocolate. The initial strong throw wears off quite quickly, but it doesn't morph much otherwise. It's definitely foody - like coffee biscuits. I won't get a bottle but I'll enjoy the imp.

In bottle: very soft, pale and creamy, lightly floral, a hint of chilly white musk. Smells like the loveliest sort of "real" perfume. It reminds me of Black Opal - another cool vanilla floral. Wet on skin: cool and fresh white musk and soft flowers - a perfect summer scent! It's very faint, though. Dry on skin: I think I've already used all the adjectives - pale, light, creamy, just a little floral without being in the least sharp - the softest, coolest, gentlest breath of a perfume. Colour-wise, it's palest dusky pink. If you love The Body Shop White Musk (as I do) you have to try this one! Bottle. 2nd wearing: I've been wearing this all day and it's gorgeous! So light and soft and sweet! It's a lot like Morocco, only cooler and cleaner and more feminine - I tried them side by side for comparison purposes. (I don't get spice from Morocco - if you do, you might not agree with me!)

In bottle: buttery, spicy peach pie. Yum! Wet on skin: peach comes to the fore with buttery pasty. Not fresh peach, but peach pie filling. It's very foody. Dry on skin: this soon gets a little fresher and sharper, and the spice comes out. After 30 minutes it settles into a fruity, spicy sharpness that reminds me strongly of Frumious Bandersnatch, only with peach instead of plum and with pasty underneath. YUM! Not a bottle, because the buttery, peachiness is a bit too much for me, but I'll enjoy the imp.

In bottle: just as the description says! Orange, but orange grounded in warm, sweet, earthy fig. Wet on skin: mmmmmmmmmmmm - juicy and soft and sweet and rounded and absolutely gorgeous! Dry on skin: oh the fig! I want to marry it and have little figgy babies! Carnal is just love at first sight on me! Tinned mandarin oranges in syrup (a favourite childhood dessert) with dark, juicy fig, yet somehow not too foody. It's tart and creamy and earthy all at once. This is going straight to the top of my bottle list! I wish it had more throw, though. Perhaps if I slather ... Ah - the answer is to apply on my neck just below my ears, where the distance from scent to nose is short and sweet.

In bottle: juicy pear and fresh floral. Reminds me a little of both Tiki Queen and Fairy Wine. Wet on skin: fruity and golden. Mmmmmmm! A tropical floral emerges, which I assume is plumeria. Starting to veer towards the realm of jasmine! Dry on skin: phew - I think we steered clear of the jasmine territory! It's a sweet, golden fruity-floral - very fresh and summery!

A tragic heroine from German lore. In despair over a faithless lover, she threw herself into the Rhine. In death, she has become a siren that haunts that river to this day, luring sailors to their doom. Neroli, sandalwood, ylang ylang. In bottle: sweet, floral but not overly so, mostly neroli and ylang ylang. Wet on skin: sweet, the floral element is sharp and fruity, but overall it's round and clear. A little orangey, a little sandalwood, but mostly light, golden and pretty. Dry on skin: pretty, but too floral for me to love it. However it's a very inoffensive, worksafe scent. Short wear length.

In bottle: warm amber and sandalwood, softened by cool sweet pea and vanilla. Wet on skin: a soft, sweeeeet mix of flowers, amber and sandalwood. The vanilla is there, but it doesn't scream out at you! Very delicate. Dry on skin: very sweet and innocent - a soft, almost milky floral vanilla grounded by amber and sandalwood. Pretty, but too sweet and dare I say boring? After an hour the vanilla and sweet pea have receded enough to let amber take centre stage, nicely supported by sandalwood. This is much better than the first stage. However, I'm not keen on the way amber goes on my skin, and this is too similar to O to interest me.

A golden, honeyed floral - like sniffing a real flower, over a base of musk. Wet on skin: soft, golden honey and real flowers (as opposed to floral perfume). Dry on skin: bright and soft, a little spicy, and the floral is sharp. Not really getting the musks.

In bottle: masculine and woody (*sniggers*), but soft. The oak and vanilla remind me strongly of Haloes, but without the cloying note that has. So far, a more masculine version of Haloes. Wet on skin: a darker version of Haloes - oak and vanilla (and probably teak too, but I'm not sure where oak ends and teak begins). No tobacco yet. Dry on skin: here comes the tobacco, adding a smoky, sexy edge to the vanilla and woods. Where Haloes was golden, this is dark brown. Definitely unisex. This is Haloes' mature and darkly sexy older brother! Probably a little too masculine for me to wear much, but gorgeous anyway! Decent throw. Two hours later: wait a minute - what's that note? It's gone icky! Needs further testing. I could still smell it on my skin when I woke up this morning, so the wear length is great. Second test: this one is a keeper!

In bottle: I don't know what sassafras or onycha smell like, but this is vaguely vanilla, aniseed and oak in the imp. Cool label! Wet on skin: pale, warm, a little spicy but gentle and creamy. Oak leaf is similar to oak, and the vanilla reminds me of the vanilla note in Love's Philosophy, only this is fruitier and more balanced than LP. Nice! Dry on skin: If you like Haloes and/or Love's Philosophy you'll probably like this too. It's softer and warmer and spicier than either of them, but very gentle too. The butter extract isn't particularly buttery, but adds a soft, creamy base that isn't too sweet. Ooooh - I like this one! Gradually another note emerges, which I guess must be sassafras. It makes me think of a drink that is warm, creamy, a little peppery, not too sweet, and foamy on top. I don't like it as much now - the peppery note is a little weird. Eventually a slightly sicky note develops too. I hate my skin! Later: the pepper and sick recede and it's more like it was in the beginning, only fainter now. Not for me.

In bottle: wow! I think it's the fougere that provides the crispness here - it's very perfumy and very beautiful - light and cool and sweet. Wet on skin: sweet and fresh, almost floral, and remarkably similar to the lemon/vanilla/musk of Zephyr! I suppose the fougere has lemon in it. Dry on skin: stays very much like Zephyr, but with less citrus and more vanilla. A little powdery (like Zephyr). Doesn't morph much but after a few hours it is suddenly reduced to a waft of sweet, vanilla tea. Lovely! Second test: this time it was more as I expected. The lemon has calmed down and I can smell the tea. A bit faint, though. A soft, powdery vanilla, with refreshing tea and just a hint of lemon underneath. Very nice! Unisex.

In bottle: warm, golden, fruity, creamy, yet light. Wet on skin: soft, creamy, floral, golden. I can smell the characteristic creamy warmth of heliotrope over the amber, peach, sandalwood and vanilla. Nice! Dry on skin: heliotrope is a note I'm on the fence about. I used to think I liked it, but now I'm not so sure. Lots of the scents that combine amber and heliotrope with red musk are ones that I love at first sniff, but I find I don't like them after a while. However, heliotrope and amber seem to work nicely together combined with peach, sandalwood and vanilla! Anyway, if you like Beth's heliotrope, you should try this! I find it rather bland, though.

In bottle: lavender, but the softest, sweetest lavender ever! Wet on skin: very foody vanilla. This reminds me of Midway Resurrected. The lavender recedes almost at once, leaving gentle vanilla sweetness. It's not bedtime, but I do feel a little heavy-headed after applying this. Dry on skin: very soft and faint lavender and sweet vanilla. This one fades fast on skin, but lingers softly on fabric like the ghosts of long-dead, lavender-flavoured cookies! Sleeping: I have been unable to detect a definite difference in the way I fall asleep with TKO. It is soothing, though.

In vial: butterscotch and a light, fruity rum! No self-respecting pirate would ever be caught drinking this, but he might keep some hidden in his locker to drink on the sly! Wet on skin: butterscotch schnapps, a little fruity. Dry on skin: now it's pure, buttery-creamy butterscotch-flavoured fudge! WIN!

In the bottle: rich, dark, powdery cocoa with incense and spices. Wet on skin: no chocolate at all! I think I can smell tea, frankincense and sandalwood, with lots of rich spice. The cocoa reappears in the background, grounding it beautifully. This is so rich and decadent! Dry on skin: too much frankincense, but warm, dark and spicy, with cocoa powder ever-present in the background. The other 13 I've tried was the one from Oct 2006, and I love that lots, but this is very much darker, richer and spicier. The combination of black tea and cocoa is a little weird, though not unpleasant! Not a lot of throw at the moment. It's strange that I get no apple at all. This isn't foody, despite the chocolate, but all chocoholics should try some! One hours later - where did it go? There's only a trace left! Short wear length on this one! I reapplied and when I woke up in the morning there was a comforting, although unusual, smell on my T-shirt. Unfortunately, I've been itching like mad all day in the areas where I applied 13! Testing again on fabric: the morphing process is very similar to how it was on my skin, perhaps a little milder and sweeter at first - almost foody. Too much incense for me. The jury is still out on this one - I'm hoping it will age well.

They aren't the same, of course, but Bordello would be a decent GC substitute for Midwinter's Eve, and I find Dracul is quite similar to Bakeneko. Not quite as gorgeous and complex, but since Bakeneko is hard to come by, it's worth trying!

I was recently frimped Incubus and I find it really reminds me of Red Lantern. It's minty, but otherwise the caramel and tobacco (nicotiana) over dark, sexy musk make it worth trying if you are looking for a GC replacement.

In bottle: cold and clear - ginger and white grapefruit. Wet on skin: something creamy (almost milky) is mingling with vanilla, ginger and the bitter tang of grapefruit. It is sweet, cool, pale and very pretty, but there is something a little ghostly and intangible about it too. Dry on skin: it remains an exotic and intriguing combination of creamy, sweet, bitter and soft. The icy cold musk is tempered by the creaminess, and the overall effect is like a very expensive, luxurious, lightly fragranced body milk. Grapefruit is the first note to fade. It reminds me a little of Tiki Queen. Not much throw and medium wear length. Overall verdict: quite different from my usual favourites, but sophisticated and lovely, and I'm sure I'll wear it a lot in hot weather. Next day: I love, love, love this scent! I can't get enough of it!

I wouldn't worry too much. Sometimes international parcels get delayed, but they very rarely get lost. The chances are it will turn up soon enough. I had one that took 3 weeks, and the seller was offering me my money back, but it arrived in the end with nothing to show why it had taken so long!