magikfanfic

In the bottle: Oh, god, that smells good. Mango and papaya definitely. Also more of the berry fruits. This smells delicious. Like a wonderful mixed drink or something. Wet: Orange as well as the mango still. And currants. With the strawberries as well, I think. Gosh, there's just so much in it. It smells like Starburst, that's what it is. Dry down: Very tropical on me. Mostly the mango, papaya, guava and maybe the tangerine. This isn't nearly as complex as I thought it would be. Rather than smelling like a host of fruits, I'm kinda left as a Starburst candy. Something under it. Maybe the currant. Has a slightly astringent smell to it. Oh, no, probably the orange. Orange does that to me. Apple as well. Yeah, unfortunately, the apple has decided to come out, turn into nail polish remover and ruin the rest of the scent. At least temporairly. Dry: Tropical fruits over the nail polish remover scent. Not the best combo in the world but not as terrible as possible. Pineapple? But there isn't any in here. No, it's the foul apricot, which also hates me. Maybe the pear, too. Why are the evil fruits coming out? Well, that died down. I do smell like a smoothie, though. Mostly the guava. I don't know. I don't love it, but I'm not sure about it yet.

In the bottle: It reminds me of aloe. Aloe and some wood. This has a pretty silver sense to it, but then aloe has also struck me as being a little metallic like in its essence. Wet: This is more wood when it hits my skin, which could be a bad thing as a lot of the wood notes are things I'm allergic to. It does retain the metal smell, though, which is less like aloe the more I sniff it but they do seem to be somewhat related. This is like smelling one of the Zen candles that's supposed to be the metal element. It's not a bad smell at all. In fact, it's rather pretty, but I'm not sure it's something I'm going to be wearing very often if at all. I'm not usually a wood scent person, but I like the mixture between the wood and the metal. The metal smell is very strong and clear and clean. I've got a bit of a thing for clean smells. Dry down: This does have an aquatic/ozone sense to it, but it's not as strong an ozone as some and it's not as aquatic as others. I don't get the fabric softener smell from this that most aquatics morph into on me. There's a bit of citrus in the background that I can now pick out from reading the reviews. So it's starting to remind me of some kind of cleaning fluid. One of those citrus ones that takes everything off. This does have a very water water smell to me. Not the more ozone water smell I get in some scents but a clean water smell. The wood acts as a nice background note to the rest of it, though. Dry: On me this is more wood with some clean, citrus, aquatic notes mixed in with it. But a lot of wood. Thankfully not one that I'm allergic to, though. The longer I wear it, the more it smells like wood and less like the aquatic water scent that I liked about it to begin with. I'm torn on this one. I don't know whether I want a bottle of it or not. Because it's not, but it's not what I expected. It seems like a scent that I should give to the boy, but I'm also intrigued by just the clean of it. It reminds me of the snow notes in some of the Yule blends. This reminds me of candles and cleaning and soap and woods. I'm just so very torn about it.

In the bottle: Sandalwood and mandarin. Mandarin and I have a troubled past. It hates my skin or my skin hates it. But things with mandarin have a history of not working in big ways. Wet: Mandarin and sandalwood. I have no clue what opium smells like so I won't be able to detect it. Maybe it's that odd herbal note I smell, though. This is very gold. Very classy and cultured. And a lot more subdued than I thought possible. Dry down: Only now it smells a little too herby, which means it's bordering on medicinal. The mandarin is there but that herbal smell is cloying and somewhat overpowering. Yeah, not liking this too much. The sandalwood is also out of control. I usually like sandalwood as long as it's not too prevalent. This is mostly sandalwood and that herbal smell that reminds me of the smoke that comes from the legal herbal cigs my dad used to smoke on occasion. Dry: Sandalwood and an off herbal smell. Not interested. Washing off.

In the bottle: That's surprisingly lovely although it doesn't really smell quite like anything listed in the description. I'm guessing that the really sweet smell is the iris and maybe the musk mixing with it. I really like white musks and they like me. I'm glad not to been bowled over by coconut yet. And I was expecting the hazelnut to be at the top of the scent and overpowering. Wet: This is probably the perfect iris smell. I love irises and I've been trying to find a perfect iris scent for awhile now to no avail. Yet this is beautiful. It is fresh and yet a little tart at the edges as well. This is perfectly blended so I'm not sure that it is just the iris I smell. It might be everything mixed together. But it speaks of beautiful blooms and a little powder and lonliness. Everything I love about irises. Dry down: And now it has a slight background note of coconut, but it's pretty faint and blended so it might be bearable. I hope so because so far this is just achingly lovely. I'm in love with the idea of having found the perfect iris blend at last. Most of the others have been off or I've been allergic to them, but this one is perfect so far. Just lovely. But now it's morphing and the iris goes away and leaves more of the hazelnut, which is an odd scent to combine with these in my opinion. It's still nice. It's just a little richer and less floral now. This is a nice light scent, though. Very young and pale. Dry: Iris with a background of coconut and hazelnut to keep it from being overwhelming. This is lovely and full, floral without being too perfumy and just lovely.I'll have to give it a few more tests before deciding if I need a big bottle, but it sure is a lovely scent. It smells like something else but I cannot for the life of me remember what.

In the bottle: Cocoa powder in a bottle. Huh. I mean, I know Beth can do wonderful things with oils but I never imagined that Bliss would really smell like, well, chocolate. Wet: Cocoa powder and sugar. Like when my father makes fudge. It does smell good enough to eat, but I'm not about to mix it into cookies or anything like that. Dry down: Cocoa. I'm not anticipating this going through any really interesting stages, really. It's nice, but I'm not sure that I really want to smell like chocolate all day. I'll probably keep the imp around, though. Maybe smelling it will calm my chocolate cravings. Nah, it'll most likely exacerbate them, but it still smells really good. Dry: Yep. Still cocoa.

In the bottle: Coconut and fig. I'm not sure I'll like this, but the same kind friend sent it so I can't just toss it aside. Wet: Coconut, fig and a little almond milky scent. It's...I don't know. It's not that it smells bad and more that it simply smells weird to me. It has this light kinda nuttiness that makes my stomach clench up. I'm really not good around coconut or fig scents. Almond isn't a big favorite, either. Dry down: Coconut and almond. Almost all of the fig has been eaten up or just hasn't arrived yet. This has a very creamy, milky kind of scent to it so I'm guessing it's more coconut milk than the nasty coconut shavings that get all hard and disgusting. It still isn't making my stomach very happy, though. It's just...once we bought a coconut wanting to pop it open and drink the milk and eat the inside. But it was rotten. And we poured the milk and it tasted funny. And then we popped it open and saw how nasty it was, and I nearly threw up even though I'd had only a little, little, little of the bad milk. This reminds me of that. Dry: Coconut and a little trace of fig. Unfortunately, the idea of rotten coconut milk is not going away so I have to wash this off.

In the bottle: Sandalwood and jasmine. An interesting smell but one that is still nice. Makes me think of my red De who brought some BBW shower gelw ith her the last time she visited. There's also something vaguely food. It's nice and completely not something I would have ever chosen to try. I'm so glad my friend sent me this one. Wet: Sandalwood. Sandalwood and jasmine, which I adore as a smell in its own right. It stays close to the skin as a scent but still has a nice aura to it that's just divine. I can detect some of the lily under the sandalwood and the jasmine, but it's not turning sour on me quite yet. Dry down: Jasmine. This smells a lot like the jasmine and vanilla body frosting I got from Skindazzles. I really liked that scent even though it wasn't quite what I had been expecting when it arrived. And, yes, there's the bourbon in the vanilla, too, which is just kinda yum. On me this is turning into a nice vanilla, jasmine, sandalwood scent that's sexy and warm. I don't have a lot of warm, sexy scents. I tend more toward fun, fruity, flirty ones. The girl whose always an inch out of reach. This is woman waiting in bed for you. Jasmine vanilla mostly with just a hint of the sandalwood. Dry: The jasmine is really the strongest scent in this, which isn't surprising as my skin loves to amp up jasmine. I'm surprised the bourbon vanilla hasn't been eaten, though. And the sandalwood is the perfect base for this. This is lovely. I'm not sure I'd want to wear this enough to get a whole bottle, but I'll so be using the imp.

In the bottle: Ginger snap cookie from hell. This is strong, strong. This is "Should I even put this on my skin" strong. Wet: Ginger/incense woah! Strong. Way too strong for me. I think it's gonna eat me. It's spicy but still just smells like cookie to me. And mostly a ginger cookie. Very little sugar in this recipe. Dry down: Tones down a little but it's still that breath of ginger snap cookie all hard and snappy. Spicy enough to make your tongue tingle and your teeth click as you try and bite through it until you finally dump it in milk to soften it. It's not a bad scent, but I'm not really one for smelling like baked goods, thank you very much. Dry: Ginger snap from hell. If you like ginger and spice, this is where it's at. If you're like me, and the idea of walking around smelling like you're fresh from the oven is less than appealing, step back.

A modern incarnation of the Queen of Pentacles, or Disks, the Queen of the Thrones of Earth. Nurturing, warm and kind, she is practical, quiet and domesticated, and yet still ambitious, and possessed of the sensual lushness of Mother Earth. Soft, deep earth notes with myrrh, amber, pomegranate, dark incense, red currant, rose and vanilla. In the bottle: Fruity. The pomegrante and the deeper red currant. Sweet and fruity and a little bit flirty. Oh, I hope I don't fall in love with this one. I have no idea where I'd get a bottle of it now. Wet: Wow. Red currant and dirt. Well, now I don't need it nearly as much, that's for sure. That currant is right there though and it makes me sad for the red currant tea I used to drink in England. But it's mostly red currant with a little bit of incense and dirt in the background of it. Not nearly as lovely as the inital fruit smell but not bad. Dry down: Red currant and incense still with the dirt notes. This is comforting and nice, but a little thick for me. These Club scents strike me as being brown, golden brown but warm and thick just the same. Heavy in an old way rather than in a cloying way. On me, this is just mostly the currant amped up by all the other scents beneath it. And it cracks my heart a little as I remember the tea parties we had. But beneath the currant is the incense and the amber and the myrrh, three notes that I do not get along with but don't seem as distressing in this blend. It's got a little sharp kick to it, though. The tart of the currant mixing with the dirt. And now there's the rose, lingering and floating and moving through the rest of the scent. Dry: Red currant. Tart and fresh but with a thicker earth note as well as some rose and incense behind it. It turns more earthy the longer I wear it, which saddens me. I think I'll keep it for the visceral memory kick the currant unfolds. It's a little way to remind me of Harlaxton, but I'm not sure that it's anything I'll be able to wear myself.

In the bottle: Well, that's a manly almond smell. It's a somewhat pleasant earthly reek with almonds all through it. I'm not the biggest fan of almonds or most of these notes but I've got to try it. You know me. Wet: Wow. Almonds and....this smells like something I've smelled before. It's not bad, but I'm not sure it belongs on a girl. I'm surprised with this. It makes my nose burn a little but it's comforting and dark and just nice all around. I'm gonna have to smear this on the boy to see if it smells as good on him. It reminds me of the liquor kick in vanilla extract for some reason. Dry down: Oh. There's the fig. I'm really not a fig fan in the least so I'm hoping the fig stage is fleeting. Not that I'm gonna be wearing this one myself. No, no, no thanks. It's way too dark and full and thick for me. And now we're in a nice moss stage. Nice to smell. Let's just hope my allergies don't kick in and send me running for the soap. And the leather. Oakmoss and leather is actually a pretty good combo, esp. with the musk and even the amber scents in it. Again, not for me but it should be lovely on my boy. Dry: Um...crap. The beginning twitches of a "OMG, what are you wearing? That's evil!" headache. And now...huh more of the dark musk and it's not quite as nice as was in the other stages. But the headache is edging to racing so I'll wash this off and toss it at the boy.

In the bottle: Vanilla and jasmine with the rose pretty strong in the background. So far this smells very nice. I was very tempted by this one s I'm glad I have an imp to try before buying a bottle. It might end up being a little too floral perfume for me, though. Wet: Vanilla and jasmine at first. And then...hmmm, what's that note. I'm not as big a fan of the Turkish rose as I am of the other roses that Beth uses. The Turkish one just seems to be a little more incensey than the others. And there's that slightly sour lily note my skin always gets. But the amber is what really concerns me. I have a slight problem with amber on occasion but the vanilla and the florals in this seem to be taming it down. Dry down: Vanilla and amber with that sourish lily smell in the background. This blend isn't what I had hoped, but it's also not abd so far. I don't seem to be allergic to it and it is rather pretty. I'm just not sure if this is anything I'd ever end up wearing, you know. I've been looking for a nice vanilla blend for awhile now and simply cannot seem to find one that I really like for me. This just seems to be a little too conventional perfume smell for me, though. And the combination of the lily and the Turkish rose don't do much for me. This kinda smells like one of the Rose Petal Place dolls I had, but I can't remember which one. Kinda generic, though. Which is probably my skin murdering lily. It always does. Dry: And now there's more rose. It's like rose and amber and smelling it is burning the back of my throat, which is never a good sign. It's not that this isn't rpetty. It's just not me. I'm glad I got a sample of it to try, though. Oh well. I'll keep looking for a good vanilla and hopefully find this a happier home.

In the bottle: This was one that I debated buying for awhile because mint usually doesn't care for me. Yet I wanted to smell it, esp. because I like the scent of cucumber in things such as cucumber melon, etc. And this has a very cooling, cucumber smell that is backed up by the mint. It is a mixture of mint, though, but it still remains calm and soothing rather than overwhelming. I get a little of the pepper as a cold, spice in the background. As long as this doesn't go funky on my skin, I think I'll like it a lot. Wet: Mint. Once it hits my skin the mint wants to dominate. Peppermint it smells like. But, yeah, mostly mint while wet though the throw is slightly more cucumber. I was hoping that this would be a nice cool, cucumber summer blend. If it stays mostly mint, I might not want to keep it. Dry down: Mint and the pepper, which is a very nice scent, really. It takes the edge off the mint and makes it seem more blunted. Rounded. But the mint remains the strongest scent so far. It's not that I don't like mint scents. I do. I just don't love them. I have/had a few. I simply don't seem to reach for them much. I do like the spicy cucumber throw of this, but it comes and goes rather than being strong for long periods of time. And the skin smell is still that blunted mint I was talking about earlier. This is a cool, cool blend, though. I find myself looking for cool blends, esp. when it's so freaking hot outside. But I'm not falling in love with these mints even though they do wonder to cool me down with their scent alone. And now the cucumber begins to peak out on the skin. Very nice. This is such a light scent. Hmm...mint again but with more of the cucumber in there with it. I like this, but I wonder how often I'll reach for it. I think the mixture of mint and cucumber is a fantastic idea, and Beth has done it better than most could, I'm sure. I think this might be one of those that grows on me rather than is immediately loved. Dry: This is pale green ice fire. Cold and calming. Mint blunted by both the pepper and the cucumber to form a mellow, icy scent that I do not immediately love but is something to cool me down on days that are too hot. I'm gonna keep this around to test some more so I can see whether it really is me or not.

In the bottle: Honey and ginger are in there. I can tell that much. Also I can smell something floral. Probably the gardenia as I'm familiar with jasmine and it doesn't smell like jasmine usually smells. I was expecting something way stronger and more honey scented, but this is actually kind of light and feminine flirty rather than seductive womanly. Wet: Honey that fades out to the background pretty quickly and...well, it was the green sharp of thyme but this is changing quickly. Floral. This is a stronger floral than I had been anticipating. The honey becomes a background note to the florals, enriching them. Dry down: Florals with a honey background that seeps through the florals themselves. This does not smell cloying, though, which I had been afraid of when I bought it. Honey scents and I don't usually get along, but I wanted to try this. But, yeah, the honey's coming out more now and overpowering the rest of the notes. This is yellow and not sticky but you can tell that it's thick rather than heavy. Mostly honey with maybe a touch of ginger in there as well. This isn't what I had expected, but it's also not something that I love. I'm not sure I'd even be able to wear it because of my aversion to smelling like food (unless it's fruit.) This is a little too sweet for me. Dry: Honey with a floral background. It's not overwhelming, but it also doesn't take my breath away with its loveliness. I think it's a pretty blend, but not really anything I'd want to wear on a regular basis. A little more of the ginger is out now, which is nice. But it's still too...not me.

In the bottle: Cherry and orange lollipops and bubblegum is right. This jumps out of the imp and kicks my stomach with a wave of "OMG, woah." Cherry scents and I have some problems. Orange I don't get along very well, either. This should be an interesting ride. Wet: Bubblegum mostly. With the cherry and orange scents underneath it. Sticky, pink bubblegum. And an odd taint to it that might be that womanly perfume in the description. Dry down: It's starting to smell like Luden's cherry cough drops on me. An odd mix of too sweet and medicine that doesn't help the slight pounding in my head any. But there's a background note I can't discern that's somewhat revolting on my skin. This goes from too sweet to too medicinal in minutes. It's not pleasant. It's not something I can wear. I'm sure it's just too many scents that don't like my skin on my skin, though. Cherry scents, especially, do have a tendancy to hate my skin. Dry: Medicine. Not even sugar scented medicine. Just medicine, which is a sickly, stomach churning smell. Bad skin yet again.

In the bottle: Reminds me of Persephone but with a bit more fruit and sugar. Persephone has a very rosy smell but this rose seems to be balanced by the sweet fruit with it. Wet: Fruity, juicy, lush with the rose more in the background than the forefront, which is the opposite of Persephone. I'm not sure what fruit might be in this, but it's sweet and...hmm...almost smells like mango on me the more that I think about it. The rose is so background in this, though, which makes it nice and lovely. Persephone has a slightly jaded quality to it that isn't present in Oshun. This is a fresh fruit and fresh rose smell. Quite nice even though it does have the tendency to smell a little like gum to my nose in that it has an artifical sweet quality to it. Dry down: Hmm..well, it doesn't seem to be mango anymore. Now it does have the kind of citrus tangerine quality to it that has been mentioned in other reviews. In fact that tangerine is almost drowning out the rose, which is very background in this always surprising on my skin. Although I have the slightest fear that there might be lilies in here because the floral is getting some of the same musky smell that usually happens when I have lilies on my skin. There's still that tangerine sweet to it, though. And now more citrus and less floral than I had expected in this blend. It's not that I don't like it because I think it's very nice and it still ranks number one of the scents I've tried lately. It's just that I have an awful lot of rose blends and this one doesn't really strike me as something I'm gonna wear much. I like the juicy rose but this has an odd background note of...it reminds me of Moxie and Persephone blended together not that I'm smelling it. Like there's some cardamon or cinnamon lurking under the surface of the cirtrus/rose top scent. Dry: Yeah, this is Moxie meets Persephone on my skin. It's nice but not really me. Plus something in it is causing that Ingenue-caused headache to start kicking around again. I'm lucky to have had the chance to try this, but I don't think I can keep it.

In the bottle: Ooooh, melon. This one sounds kinda good. Mostly lily and rose in the vial, though, with the suggestion of some wood notes underneath but msotly just a floral feeling over all. Wet: And the melon goes away the instant it touches my skin and instead smells like roses in full bloom. Roses have a habit of doing that on my skin, though. Although the melon is still there to temper it down a little. I like this one. It smells a little old fashioned, but it still smells the best out of the last 10 or so blends I've tried. Dry down: The rose is dying down and mixing with the...oh no, wooden notes and a headache that kinda just started and is going full-blown rather quickly. It's still rose but now the clover is coming out more. And the wood, which makes my head ache. I had such high hopes for this one, and it seemed to be working fairly well, too. And now it's at a very odd wood/lily stage. My head is pretty unwilling to take any more of this so I have to wash it off and probably sell the imp as soon as possible. Well, it was almost meant to be.

In the bottle: Kinda wet and light in the bottle. I have a feeling this might be the kind of scent that fully blooms on skin. Wet: Lilies covered with salt. Ozone. Wood notes of droom. Dunwich and I are not meant to be. I can tell after three seconds. Dry down: Ozone and wet woods with lilies. Lily notes mostly hate my skin and these are doing the same thing that most of them do, they go waxy and kinda funky. It's not the horrible rotting floral of doom I get with some, but it's not something I want to go around smelling like. And the ozone increases. I've got one aquatic that works on me because it's lush and sweet despite the ozone. This is nowhere near Thunderbird bliss, however. Ozone and wet wood. Wood notes do hate me with a passion usually. This isn't setting off my allergies, but it is a little too masculine for my tastes. I'll go drop it in the boy's imp box and see if he likes it. Dry: Ozone and wood notes with that musky lily smell. It's kinda...it's nice but completely not me.

In the bottle: Smells like the chocolate digestives they gave us when I was in England. It's not a bad smell, but I'm not sure whether it's going to like me, you know. There's a little bit of something in the background, but I can't tell what the note is over the chocolate. Wet: Chocolate digestives. Makes me kinda miss them even though I was freaked by the word digestive appearing on my cookies at first. There's also a bit of one of the fruits handing around. I'm not sure if it's the tangerine or the mandarin, though. It doesn't smell the best with the digestives, though. The throw is nice; it smells like baking. Dry down: Weird. Now it smells like nail polish remover with chocolate in the background. I'm beginning to regret buying this blend. I think some of its components hate my skin. I was so looking forward to it, though. The throw still smells like baking, chocolate and sugar and orange. Orange chocolate digestives. Eh. But on my skin it's chocolate scented nail polish remover. To anyone in the nail polish remover business, do not scent it chocolate. Thank you. I think it's the combination of the tangerine, mandarin and currant that's causing the nail polish remover smell, but I'm not positive. If I sniff closely and long enough I can sort of pull those three scents out but together they smell like, as I've said, nail polish remover. Dry: Chocolate nail polish remover. Le sigh. Another bottle that doesn't like my skin. I should have known. Most of the foody scents refuse to work on me. The throw is so lovely that I'd be tempted to keep it for oil burining. It's a pity that my skin makes it smell so rank, though.

In the bottle: This looks like it should be interesting. I always worry about incense, and I have no clue what calamus even is. Salt water and funereal smoke. It has a very salty twang and feel to it, but the incense isn't as overwhelming as I was afraid it might be. Wet: Salt and...what is that? Some kind of floral reek on my skin. It's...um...this is totally not a scent for me. I think it hates my skin. A lot of incenses do. It smells kinda...not rotting but sickly. Sickly and salt-ridden and just...not pleasant really. Dry down: Salt and that sickly note that makes my stomach kinda churn. I'm not sure I can keep this on long enough in order to properly review it because I'm pretty sure something in it hates my skin chemistry like nobody's business. Now the roses are coming out a little, but they still don't make the scent any better on me. I have to wash this off now. It hates my skin and my stomach isn't fairing so well.

In the bottle: I smell myrrh, all myrrh and nothing but myrrh so far. Myrrh with maybe the slightest hint of jasmine in the background. I'm thinking that this blend and I probably will not get along too well. Wet: Jasmine and myrrh though the myrrh almost drowns out everything else. The throw has a slight rosy quality to it, which is kinda nice. Dry down: Myrrh. Myrrh and I are not the best of friends, really. I don't like resiny, incense type scents because they end up being too cloying and overwhelming on me a lot of the time. Though I can handle most of the too strong florals as they end up being surprisingly light. And now it's myrrh and jasmine. I'm guessing the myrrh doesn't like my skin, though, because it kinda reeks, especially with the addition of jasmine, which I usually do quite well with. The throw is still sweet rose, but I can't stand to smell myself directly and that's a bad thing. Dry: Sickly myrrh and jasmine. Too much and too strong for me to wear even though this has a fairly nice throw to it.

In the bottle: Wow. That's surprising. I never would have thought it would smell like that. It reminds me of melons for some reason. I'm not sure which one of the florals in there is being so sweet and fruity, but it smells like melon. Melon with an unfortunate dash of patchouli in the background. I was concerned about this one because I'm usually allergic to gardenia, but this might work after all as long as the patchouli and the amber behave. Wet: Fresh melon with patchouli in the background, which really strikes me as being a somewhat weird way to smell this one. What causes that lovely melon scent? Unfortunately the patchouli, as well as some distressingly spicy note, it winning out over the lovely melon. Dry down: Spicy, patchouli melon, which still makes very little sense to me. I don't hate it. I just wish that it was more melon scent and less of the spiced patchouli because I hate patchouli and most spiced scents. That might be the amber. Or...is one of those florals supposed to be spicy? I'll admit that I'm not very familiar with most of these notes. I like the melon kick it has, but the rest of it is starting to make my head ache a little. It doesn't change too much on me, though. Just kinda stays with the same quiet melon, spiced patchouli smell. I was hoping some of the spice or the patchouli would go away, but they seem to just like to blend together and sit there together. Dry: Spcied patchouli melon with more patchouli and less melon than before. Makes me sad. Oh well.

In the bottle: Patchouli and neroli mostly. It's something of an oddly soft scent in the vial, but I'm guessing this is another one that's not me. Wet: Patchouli and musk on me right now with a little bit of burning I probably should have prepared myself for. I can pick up on the vanilla and maybe the teak beneath the other scents but this isn't wowing me yet. Dry down: Teak and apple with the odd patchouli and muck scents. This is a very interesting blend really. I just wish it would stop burning. I won't be able to keep this based on the burning alone. Also occasional wafts of vanilla in it, but it does bled together to smell like...wood and yet not wood. Thsi smells like the memory of wood if that makes any sense. And then the patchouli rises back to the front of it, and I run away from my hand. Dry: Patchouli and musk mostly as the other scents have been devoured by my skin. Nothing I'm gonna be able to wea since these are some of my scent enemies.

Chaos Theory II CXCIII (193) In the bottle: This smells like jelly beans and menthol. No, it smells like that fluoride treatment they give you at the dentist's office. OMG. That stuff they squirt into your mouth and then leave you there. I've had a few panics where I was convinced I was going to drown myself while they were gone. As well as some of that too sickly sweet jelly bean aftertaste. I don't know about this blend at all. Wet: Jelly beans, menthol and fluoride. It's...I don't know. It's sickly sweet and yet terribly disturbing for me on a personal level as well. I'm not sure about this. I may test this, decant the imps I promised for various people and then sell the rest. I doubt I can even have something with these associations in the house with me long term. Dry down: It's like...it's mint but not mint. It's the subtle mint of jelly beans and menthol. Mint alchol but not to the extreme of juke joint. Like too sweet peppermint schnapps or something. But to me it's still evocative of the flouride and the sucking noise of that horrible tube in my mouth. Jelly beans and childhood fears. I'm sure that this blend is probably lovely to people who lack the associations I have. Dry: Jelly beans and flouride. I can't get past this. I need to check and see who wants imps from me and then get it away. Which means that I struck out with my Chaos blends.

Chaos Theory II: CCXX (220) In the bottle: I don't know. It reminds me of some of the blends that the boy really likes. So I'm gonna go pillage his box real quick. It's kinda like a mix between Haunted and, I don't know, something leather, maybe. I'm not real sure. I do know that I probably won't be wearing it on myself past this test review. Wet: Woodsy and somewhat spicy as well. Nothing I'd probably choose for myself and I'm kinda hoping I don't turn out to be allergic to it. Maybe some mosses as well. I don't know. I'm bad at picking out notes without any clues. Dry down: Woodsy with some leather in it maybe. I don't know. It strikes me as a fairly masculine blend. I'm thinking that the boy will probably like this one a lot, which is good because I bought two Chaos bottles with it in mind that he should get one of them as long as the notes worked out. But this blend is right up his alley. It reminds me of a lot of the other scents that he really likes. I'm starting to think that maybe Beth threw it in for me on purpose. Dry: Still a fairly woody/spice masculine smell. I don't know what's really in it, though. I'll let the boy test it and then see whether he wants to keep it or not. It's nice but not for me.

In the bottle: Somewhere I have a candle that I bought for the boy. It smells the way this does: heavy and dark and wet. This is dripping wet, soaking wet, plant wet, ground wet, dark wet. This is wet through and through, soaked to the bones and beyond. This is foliage clumping in the water. This is Man-Thing in the swap. Thick and dark and heavy and inhuman. Wet: This smells like wet trees and branches and leaves. This is a wet that never dries. A wet that goes beyond water to become the source of damp. I'm amazed that Beth has able to capture this scent because it just seems to...I don't know...primoridal to me. Nameless and beyond human knowledge. That said, this isn't a scent I'll ever be able to wear. It's way too dark, wet and masculine for me. But I think the boy will like it. Dry down: Heavy water, dark, dripping wet plants. This scent changes very little. It doesn't even seem to be picking up that fabric softener background note that most aquatics do, but it still won't work on me. I stand by my assertion that this is Man-Thing, though. Not Swamp-Thing because he has human intelligence. This is Man-Thing, unkowingly, instinctive, of the ground, of the wet rather than just linked to it. Dry: Wet, dark and green still. Keeps giving. But not for me. I think the boy will love it, though.