stardreamer

Normally I steer clear of dragon's blood because it does nasty things on my skin. But I think the leather must be taming it down in this one; although I don't actually smell leather, I'm getting a "cedar and smoke" vibe off this, quite autumnal and pleasant. It doesn't morph much, and the staying power is very good -- 12 hours and still quite noticeable on my wrists, though the throw is long gone. Bottom line: I like this a lot better than I thought I would; it's a keeper, though it's definitely going to be a fall/winter scent only.

This goes on a little more floral than I was expecting, but after about 1/2 hour most of the floral notes fade back, and what's left is a mix of sweet amber and spicy carnation which is very nice indeed. That stays stable for quite a while; late in the game, the carnation fades too and the amber is the last lingering note. Staying power is excellent -- after 14 hours, it's still faintly present on my wrists. As to its mystical potency, I couldn't say; my partner isn't here, and I suspect he'd be immune anyhow, since he hates most fragrances. :-) But I don't need that to classify this one as a keeper.

I don't care what they say is in it, this is Pine-Sol, wet ashes, and incense. Ick, ick, ick. Swap pile ahoy!

Well, that description wasn't promising -- I don't generally like florals, and I don't like not having a list of components. Fresh on, I thought it was indeed going to be too floral. However, the primary floral note appears to be jasmine (which I do like, in moderation), and the herbs and earthy undernotes are keeping it under control. I found myself thinking that this would be very nice to wear for working out. Over the long term, the incense note comes up more and (as usual) is the last thing to fade. Staying power is moderate, very faint after 6 hours. Bottom line: I like this better than I thought I was going to; it won't be a top favorite, but it's well worth keeping and using up the imp. Since my main association to the name "Crossroads" is this trilogy (of which I'm very fond), that makes me even happier.

Not much to say about this one. It's a light, very floral fragrance with a lot of jasmine, inoffensive but very much Not Me. To the swap pile it goes.

Two words sum this up pretty well: floral and faint. It's not unpleasant, but it's definitely not something I'd wear. Fortunately (for me), it also doesn't stick around very long. To the swap pile it goes.

Despite the fact that it's inspired by rum punch, the Dreaded Rum was not in the list of ingredients. Unfortunately, something else that is -- maybe the molasses -- seems to have much the same effect. I immediately got that awful burnt-sugar note, plus an unpleasant harsh tang in the back of my throat. It never got quite bad enough to wash off, but it never changed either. This one's headed straight for the swap pile.

This goes on very light and fruity, mostly orange -- the raspberry is barely noticeable, and there's none of the darkness I usually associate with neroli. Unfortunately, this also means that my skin's citrus-eating power comes strongly into play. Sure enough, even with a touch-up midafternoon, this scent fades very fast -- it's entirely gone after about 5 hours. There's not much throw either, even when it's fresh. It's a pleasant scent, but the lightness and poor staying power make it a swap for me. It needs a home with someone whose skin chemistry doesn't play merry heck with it.

In the imp and fresh on: Apricot??! There's no apricot in this! Drydown: Still smells like apricot, with spices. Reminds me of Siren, but I like Siren better. Long-term: Okay, now it smells like amber sweetening on my skin. Staying power is average; after 10 hours, it's mostly gone. Bottom line: Meh. Not going to be a top favorite, but amber scents in general work well for me; I'm really surprised that I didn't like it better. This is at least worth keeping and using up the imp.

This is a difficult scent to describe. It's dark and full-bodied and spicy, with the amber adding a bit of sweetness -- very appropriate for a God of Death. But overall, it strikes me more as a background scent, something to layer under other things for added richness. So after I'd had it on for a few hours, I layered Plunder over it to see how that would work -- and it worked very well indeed! I'll probably make up a small lotion bottle with this for that purpose. No estimate on staying power because of the layering experiment. At any rate, it's definitely a keeper.

In the imp / fresh on: Cedar! Also noticeably masculine, but not so much so as to make me uncomfortable. Drydown: Still mostly cedar, but I can also pick up the amber underneath, and something spicy that's probably the saffron. "Litsea cubeba" is supposed to be lemony; I'm not getting much of that, and the musk is just a ground for the rest, not noticeable in itself. Long-term: Wow, usually going out in the heat makes scents fade faster. This one intensified instead! Still quite masculine, but in a way that says "tomboy" rather than "butch". After a while, the amber sweetens on my skin; this becomes more noticeable after several hours as the cedar fades back. Staying power is very good, still quite present after 10 hours, though the throw is mostly gone by then. Bottom line: Not surprisingly, this reminds me of Golden Priapus minus the vanilla note. And it works just as well for me; a girly-girl would probably not be comfortable with this blend, but I've got enough Inner Bitch to wear it as a power scent. Definite keeper!

In the imp / fresh on: Ooh, spicy! And yes, just a touch of booziness as well. I like this. Drydown: This is a nice, balanced blend; nothing really sticks out. If I consciously try to identify notes, I can pick up cinnamon, clove, and pepper, and maybe the allspice. Everything else stays pretty well in the background. Long-term: It seems to get sweeter over time; otherwise, not much change. My one issue with it is that there's not as much throw as I'd like. Staying power seems about average, pretty well faded after 10 hours. Bottom line: Definite keeper! Gonna have to try this one at a con...

Wouldn't have gotten this for myself because rose and red musk are both downchecks. But hey, I'll always test a freebie -- I've been pleasantly surprised more than once. In the imp / fresh on: Hey, that's not so bad! A little sweet, a little floral. The rose doesn't come out and smack me in the face, and the red musk isn't even noticeable. Drydown: Still not bad. Maybe I'm going to get lucky with this one. I think it's mostly the black cherry I'm getting here; it's slightly reminiscent of The Red Queen, which is good. Long-term: Oh, damn. Believe it or not, now I'm getting that "fresh sweat" note that I noticed with Ave Maria Gratia Plena. Damn, damn, damn. Bottom line: *sigh* No go. For once, I wish something faded a little faster; if it had disappeared before hitting the sweaty note I'd be delighted with it. As it is, swap pile.

In the imp / fresh on: Sweet! In the same cake/pastry family as Eat Me and Cockaigne, but without the buttery note. A lot of the reviews mention gingerbread, and I can see that. On drydown: Wow, I see why one of my friends is so nuts about this. It's still sweet, but now I'm getting a boozy note as well, which is unusual -- most of the time what other people describe as "boozy" reads as fruity to me. Long-term: More spices now, as the sweetness fades back. Never got much in the way of "dark resins", which suits me just fine. Staying power appears to be about average, fading fast after 8 hours or so. Bottom line: Definite keeper and probable favorite.

For me, this is a very light floral with just a hint of soapiness. Throw is also light, and staying power is poor; after 6 hours, it's completely gone. Inoffensive, but nothing like what I'd think of as sexual or commanding. And not at all me -- it's the swap pile for this one.

This has the Dreaded Rum in it, and on first sniff I feared it was going to go the burnt-sugar route. Fortunately, that note is much stronger in the bottle than it actually proved to be once it hit my skin; I suspect that my usual vanilla amp-up may have had something to do with that. Once it got going, it turned into sort of a "dark tropical" blend -- either the depths of a moonless island night laced with sinister drumming sounds, or the kind of fruity drink that comes with a black umbrella in a snake-etched goblet, whichever image takes your fancy. Staying power is about average; after 12 hours it's very faint, with the spices and coconut being the last things to fade. Bottom line: Not going to be a top favorite, but it's definitely interesting and different enough to keep.

Not a lot to say about this one. As should be expected from the description, it's a nice aquatic, not too strong; nothing about it really stands out from any of the other aquatics I already have. Staying power is average; after 8 hours, it was fairly faint, and after 12, it's pretty much gone. Bottom line: Not going to be a top favorite, but I like aquatic scents in general, so worth keeping.

In the imp and fresh on: Pleasant, lightly floral. Drydown: Now the amber is coming up, and so is the vanilla. This is a nice mix. Long-term: The florals drop out almost completely, and the spicy sandalwood becomes more noticeable. It's a light sweet amber-based fragrance, not overpowering, with excellent staying power -- still quite noticeable after 12 hours. Bottom line: Definite keeper. This should work well in warmer weather when other amber scents can be too heavy.

In the imp and fresh on: Sharp, resiny/woody. Not outstanding, but pleasant. On drydown: This is getting spicy/herbal; I think I smell pepper, and sage, and clove, and perhaps some sandalwood underneath. It reminds me somewhat of Silk Road and Queen of Sheba. Much nicer than it started out! Long-term: As it wears on, the woody notes come back up and there's some incense lurking in the background -- incense is almost always the last note to fade on me. Staying power is excellent; it's still very noticeable after 12 hours. Bottom line: Definite keeper, probable favorite... and of course it would be a discontinued scent!

In the bottle and fresh on: Amber! (That would be the copal, which is chemically similar to amber.) Sweetly spicy amber. The spicy is certainly the cinnamon, and the sweet probably the honeysuckle. Honeysuckle is usually much too strong a floral for me, but it's staying nicely tamed in this blend. I don't get any myrrh; it's probably just grounding the whole thing. Drydown: Oh, this is nice. It's similar to The Lion, but significantly lighter. (Hmmm... the mythological chimera is part lion, isn't it? So that makes sense.) I could see wearing this for something like a job interview, when The Lion would be too strong. I'm still getting mostly amber/copal, and am surprised that the cinnamon isn't coming out more. Staying power is also excellent -- 10 hours, and it's still very noticeable on my wrists. Bottom line: Definite keeper and probable favorite.

This goes on very sharp and almost camphor-y, but quickly fades to an undistinguished light floral. Individual notes don't make themselves obvious, though I suspect that I'm mostly getting the lavender. Staying power seems about average, but the throw is very weak. Bottom line: swap pile.

This goes on rather sweetish, but quickly settles to spices and sandalwood... perhaps a bit too much sandalwood. Aside from that, it's very much an Indian scent, reminiscent of being in an import shop over in the Little India part of town. Staying power is good, with (again) the sandalwood being the last thing to fade. Bottom line: I didn't fall in love with this scent the way I'd hoped to, but I certainly like it well enough to keep and use up.

This is a decant of 2006 that I'm only now getting around to testing. First impression: Flowers? What flowers? This is all fruit, and very nice fruit at that, but a little more... summery... than I would have expected. There's a very strong drift of pineapple early on, which eventually fades out to a heavily-berry note with a bit of winy sharpness underneath. It's a very "red" scent, and therefore suitable for the season; I like it and I'll certainly use up the imp, but I don't think it's different enough from Bordello and Lady Macbeth to warrant buying a full bottle.

First impression is fairly floral. But after it's been on me for an hour or so, there's something in it that smells like fresh sweat. I'm not kidding -- you'd think I'd been to the gym, but I haven't. This one isn't going to get a staying-power estimate, because I'm headed for the shower! And needless to say, the imp is headed for the swap pile.

First impression: Quite masculine, with a touch of something unpleasant -- vetiver, maybe? That note fades fast, though, and it turns very ambery. In fact, this reminds me a lot of The Lion, though not quite as deep and heavy; there are hints of dry grasses and a bit of powder as well. Definitely a "golden" scent, and a very pleasant one. Bottom line: definite keeper.