akiko

The smoke of Sacred Incense of Apollo twined through laurel branches, bay, and honey wine. I got this as a frimp from the lab. I was wondering if it could be mislabeled, because I get NO incense out of it, nor honeywine, nor laurel. Imp: rose. I doublechecked the description, and there's no rose in it. My SO said he smelled some incense, but I just don't. Wet: Rose. Just rose, and the nasty fakey rose that rose always turns to on me. Dry: Still rose. Nothing else. I see a few other people got a mystery rose scent, too, so I know I'm not just hallucinating. I'll see what happens as this gets older, I guess. Edited 3/12/08: Mystery rose is still there, but I'm starting to get more of the honey now. Still, not something I'd wear on a regular basis, so off it goes to the swap box.

I can't decide if I like this one. Imp: orangey, bitter, dark Wet: Hello, orange blossoms. It smells like orange flower water. Dry: Yep, still orange flowers, but not as strong. I can maybe catch a bit of spice, but mostly orange.

I got this one off the forum. I like almond and spices, but rose isn't my friend (turns into fake rose hand lotion on me.) Imp: Smells like Amaretto Wet: oh, look, there's the rose. Blech. A few minutes later: the rose is going away, and a spiciness is coming out. Dry: No almond to speak of, but there's some spiciness (clove, I think), and a very light rose, which smells fake on me. It's mostly gone after a couple hours, though. Edited: what I interpreted earlier as "gone" is actually sandalwood. Very faint, but there's sandalwood.

In my quest to try new things and things I fear (read: florals), I picked up an imp of this off the forum. Imp: fruity, mostly, with a hint of florals Wet: plummy goodness, but jasmine jumps out. I hope it goes away. Dry: Ooh, musky plum, with just a hint of florals. I like it.

Imp: Wow. This is like liquefied candy cane. Wet: Ooh, minty. It smells like eating a candy cane. Which is not a bad thing, to me. Dry: Softer, minty. 15 minutes later: Hey, where'd it go? Thinking maybe it'd rubbed off on my sleeve, which did smell minty, I ran upstairs and reapplied before heading off to work. An hour later, it's all gone. There's maybe a hint of minty vanilla. My sleeve, however, still smells nummy. Maybe this would make a nice locket or oil diffuser scent.

I've always been fond of the Persephone myth, so I had to get a decant of this to try it out. Imp: fruity, with a hint of something dark behind it. Musk, maybe, or amber. Wet: Ooh, pomegranate and that dark note. I noted a light floral behind it, which worried me (florals are my death notes.) Dry: It's got a lot of that dark note, which I'm more convinced is amber, because my skin chemistry really likes amber, and a good bit of the pom. It's nice, and it evokes Persephone to me. Verdict: I'm going to have to buy a bottle before mid-Jan. My wallet cries.

I got this as a freebie. In the bottle, it was all rosy florals. Dry on my skin, it smelled exactly like my grandmother's fake rose hand lotion. I took it to Thanksgiving dinner and made my sister try it. It worked on her, so I made her take it. (I tried to enable, but I think I failed.)

Imp: laundry soap, but not in a bad way: it smells clean, which may be the 'clean linen' scent. Wet: Musk and sandalwood make their appearances. Dry: Light floral/clean scent over musk and sandalwood. The decant is a keeper, though I don't think I need a full 5 mL.

Like pinkpepper, I thought this smelled like cologne or perfume in the bottle. It's a scent I can't place, and I'm not sure it's one I like. I tried it on anyway, because it's still November for a couple days, and the perfuminess is diminished somewhat. I can't describe it at all, except that it smells like November. I think I detect the aquatic note someone else mentioned, and I don't often like those. But somehow, it all works together to smell like fallen leaves and cold. I probably won't buy a bottle of it, but I'm going to use the imp.

Sweet brandy, dark rum, heavy cream, sugar, and a dash of nutmeg. I got a decant of this, and it arrived. After sniffing it at WC, I was stoked to get it. It didn't fail me. In the imp, it smells like eggnog: warm, sweet, with a touch of spice. Wet, it smells similar, with the nutmeg starting to come out. Dry, it smells soft, like sweet nutmeg. This lasted on me most of the day, though by about 10 hours I had to put my nose right against my wrist to smell it. By then, it was just nutmeg.

Imp: limey. I know there's no lime in it, but it smells like limeade. Wet: Oh, there's the lemons! Nice. Dry: The musk comes out more when it's dry, but I can still smell the verbena. Yum. I also tried this on my SO, and he likes it. I don't think he got any musky notes, though.

I got this as a used decant via the forum. In the bottle: Fruity-sweet. If it works on my skin, I have to get a bottle. Wet: Still fruity, picking up tang Dry: I think I smell the musk more, and it still smells sweet (probably the honeysuckle). Verdict: Buying a bottle.

I got this as a freebie from arcticghost. It had been recommended to me, and I was curious about it, but I didn't expect to like it. When the vial arrived, it had picked up a fair amount of Yvaine on the outside, so I waited a couple days before testing it. In the imp, I smelled something sweet, with a bit of darkness behind it, probably the amber. When I dabbed a bit on my wrist, it smelled still sort of sweet, but the amber came to the fore. Now that it's dry, it's all amber. I wore amber a lot in college, and it's reminiscent of that, except a lot better. I like it. Definitely a keeper, though I don't know if I'll be buying a 5 mL.

(First imp, first review!) In the bottle, I smelled mostly lavender. Very strongly. I was nervous to apply it, because strong florals don't agree with my sinuses, but I did it anyway. Wet on my wrist, it still smelled mostly lavender, fairly sharp. Once it dried, I picked up more of the magnolia smell, which made me happy, because I love magnolia trees. And 9 hours since I applied it, my wrist still smells like a giant magnolia blossom. I think I like it, but I'll have to try it again Edited to add: I tried it again today, and I used a teeny drop - the tip of the wand-cap. I think I got way too much yesterday morning, because it's not aggravating my sinuses nearly as much, which makes it a lot more pleasant. It smells similar, just not overpowering, and I like it. I don't think it's going to be an every-day scent, but I think it's a keeper.