meaganola

I realize this is way late, but my understanding: The Dark Delicacies things are LEs, so they're only available for a limited amount of time (I think only so much is made, and then they sell through it until it's gone, rather than the Lab's LEs that are available for a certain amount of time, and you can pretty much order to your heart's content until that time is up). The retail-only Salons are basically GCs, not limited to a certain amount of time, although the one time I made it to Le Pink and had a list of the RO Salons I wanted, they were out of everything on my list, and I already had all of the non-RO GCs they had. It was a sad day, although then I went to DD and got *way* too many Poes (and a signed copy of _The Descent_) since I had not blown my budget and carry-on space at Le Pink.

Oh, my, how lovely. I'm going through a dragon's blood phase right now, but smoke and I don't really get along, so I ordered an imp of this to give it a shot. This was a very good decision. The sweetness of the DB and pom combined with the spiciness of the cassia remind me of Phantom Calliope (one of my favorites) to the point where this will be why I won't cry when I run out of PC. I didn't even notice the smoke, which is an awesome thing since it usually overwhelms everything and reminds me way too much of the morning after certain parties in my past. The parties were great, but reeking of smoke even after three showers and having to smell *that* with a hangover? Not so hot. Anyway. Yeah. So very, very glad I decided to give this one a try despite the smoke.

This is fascinating. I'm another use-it-after-a-shower person. In the bottle, it smells like popcorn. Maybe with a dash of barley, except I'm thinking barley from that certain stage of making beer that the lobby of Hale's Ales brewpub always smells like and that reminds me of Spaghettios for some reason. That's pretty much all I smell. But since we're talking about something from the Post, I gave it a try to see how it changes. And it changes dramatically. Once on, it goes completely Mme Moriarty (I don't get the spices, orange, or anything else Mme doesn't have, though) on me. I love Mme, but I have to confess that I do hope that it fades overnight because I wasn't expecting it to go in this direction, and it's not something that will be good to be smelling tomorrow. It just doesn't mesh very well when I have to spend the day sending, like, a thousand emails. It would be amazing for a lovely spring afternoon wandering the most awesome bookstore in the world, but, alas, that's going to have to wait until May. On the up side, that just means that this decant will last much longer!

Ooh, yummy, fruit salad with lots of apples (I know I grew up around *way* too many apples because I can taste and feel the texture of the exact apple variety I smell, but I can't quite put my finger on exactly which one. Gala, maybe? Criterion? It's one I don't like the taste and texture of, but it turns out that I *love* the smell) and whipped cream over, like, pound cake. Funny, though: I get sweet apple, not tart like others are getting. There's enough passionfruit and guava there to remind me of that canned tropical fruit salad my dad likes but I don't, although it turns out that, once again, I just dislike the taste/texture and like the smell. As for how I'm wearing it, I mixed some in with unscented lotion, which gets applied frequently throughout the day at work because my hands are super dry, and I find myself wanting apple-heavy fruit salad and pound cake with whipped cream. I know there are supposed to be carnation and sweet pea in there, but I don't smell them, which is actually a good thing as far as I'm concerned. In short, this is everything I had hoped Cheshire Moon would be. I'm very relieved about this because I had ordered one bottle that hadn't arrived before it came down, and I decided to go for a second bottle just in case it was awesome, and, yep, good decision there. (Now I just wish I could figure out a recipe for fruit salad that tastes like this smells!)

*Thud*. That is the sound of me sitting here on my couch after having slathered my legs with this stuff post-shower. I almost didn't get this because I don't take baths, but then I decided to just go for the whole Post VDay line, especially since I found myself wishing I had more ylang ylang. This was a very good move. I realize it's the ylang ylang, but Incendia is very "Yes, I'm a hippie, and as an added bonus, you *will* get laid." It's kind of funny, though: The orange pretty much disappears on me, but then when I walk into my bed/bathroom where I applied it, the whole place smells like oranges. Whatever. Even without the orange, it smells amazing, and I'm glad it's a bath oil so I can slather it all over my arms and legs. And then there's the part where I wrote the above last night but didn't quite get around to posting it, and then I tried Glacies tonight, and I'm wishing I had opted for Incendia again because I just can't stop thinking about the ylang ylang and the patchouli and everything else. Um, yeah, so very glad I got this one. Is it time for another shower yet so I can wash off Glacies (which is inappropriate for the weather right now) and go slather-happy with Incendias? Oh, and I'm using this as a post-shower moisturizer since I don't take baths. And now I'm wanting to get decants of all bath oils (considering how long it takes me to go through lotion, I don't think I'll go through them quickly enough to warrant bottles, except I'm very glad I got a whole bottle of this one). I kind of wish I had tried the bath oils before Christmas so I would have felt compelled to get decants of them when I was getting decants of the Inquisitions and Atmosphere Sprays, but at least now I know better and can snag 'em all in the future. ETA: On the second time around, I get the chocolate, but only while applying, and possibly only because I was looking for it. This is actually very good because I don't really like chocolate in my perfume/soap/lotion/etc. This continues to be amazing. I had initially thought I might end up selling or swapping this one away since I hadn't noticed the vetiver before I ordered and frequently have issues with it, but, uh, not gonna happen now. I'm having a hard time picking out notes to rave about. It's just *gorgeous*.

I almost didn't order this. The notes didn't quite seem like something I was in the mood for, but I decided to just go for the entire V-Day line. While I don't like this one was much as Incendia (which makes me go *thud* and think, "Yes, I am a hippie, and as an added bonus, you *will* get laid," but I unfortunately don't have anyone to make that promise to at the moment), and while this is inappropriate for the current weather around here (still bundling up in hat/gloves/scarf. Hell, it SNOWED a couple of weeks ago. That is pretty much unheard of around here), it's going to be very nice for warmer days in the spring. And summer, since it's nice and cooling. I think this will actually go into storage until then because, well, I would probably forget that it does the cooling thing, and then I would take a really hot shower one night because I was cold, and then I would apply this stuff and cancel out the effects of the shower. Not good. It's okay that I'm going to have to hold off on using this for a while since I also have hippie love in a bottle. I mean Incendia. To my nose, the scent is gentle herbal mint, so it might even be good for days I have a heat-induced headache. I hope. I don't seem to be getting the florals, which is good because florals and I don't really get along that well. But herbs and mint? Very nice if ultimately a bit seasonal due to the cooling sensation. As far as application goes, I'm using these oils as post-shower moisturizers instead of in my bath since I don't take baths, and I absolutely love how quickly they absorb (I'm probably going to start collecting them. Well, probably just decants since not using them in baths means I probably won't go through them quickly enough to need bottles of everything). I'm thinking about decanting them into bottles with pumps, though, because I'm worried that the bottles will get slippery, and then I'll drop them in the shower, and half the bottle will go down the drain. This would make me a very sad panda.

In the bottle/vial, it's fruity gum. Not quite Juicy Fruit, not quite Fruit Stripe, but still fruity bubblegum. I actually forgot about how much like bubblegum it smelled in the bottle when it came time to pick out today's perfume. And then I spritzed some on (I make up little sprayers with oil and perfumers' alcohol). Hot damn. It instantly went in a very different direction. New favorite note: Peach wine. This is another one I had left over from a decant circle, and this time, I'm keeping it. Both leftover decants, in fact, and I'm even tempted to get a full bottle for myself even though two decants of anything is usually more than enough for me no matter how amazing something is. Anyway. There's something about this that reminds me of Butterflies and Plovers, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is (it's not the blood orange. It's more of a *feeling* than a note in common, which makes the resemblance a bit odd). And the peach wine just makes it ultra-awesome. I don't get much of the florals, but that's just fine with me because I'm not a huge floral fan. But peach wine? Oh, *hell*, yeah. Yes, I know Aglaea has it, but Agalea is nowhere near as kick-ass as Philommeides. So, um, yeah, I dig it. A lot. I think I'm going to have to wear this in a scent locket because I kept wanting to *smell* it (rather than smell *of* it), and that can lead to over-application. But if it's in a scent locket, I can just sniff the locket when I need another hit. (And about that bubblegum thing: It changed so dramatically and quickly when I sprayed it on that I had completely forgotten what it smelled like in the bottle until I pulled out my backup decant and gave it a sniff. Completely different. But still fantastic if you like fruity wine notes, and, well, my middle name translates to "fruitful orchard" and "God's vineyard," so I think I'm genetically programmed to like fruity wine notes.)

I had about a decant of this leftover from a decant circle, so I decided to give it a shot even though it doesn't look like something I would normally wear. Maaaan, I don't get *any* of the things everyone else gets. All I can smell is an odd spice that reminds me of long pepper, not pink pepper. No caramel, no rose, no other good stuff. This is definitely not for me, but my sister-in-law apparently likes spicy stuff, so I think I'll annoy my brother and give it to her in the hope that her body chemistry doesn't pick up on the caramel and do whatever bad things it normally does with sweet stuff.

I tried to be a poll worker, but then I found out I had just moved away from one of two counties in my state that still do in-person voting (I registered as permanent absentee about a decade ago, so I didn't have a clue that anything had changed since nothing changed for me). Aside from those two counties, it's all mail-in. But I'm headed to my brother's house to watch the returns this evening with him, his wife, and their kids (I needed to not be alone, but I'm not up to an election watch gathering at one of the many pubs, bars, or theatres having parties tonight since I know pretty much *no one* except my family in this area). I was trying to decide between the Dodo and the Caterpillar for reasons I posted about in the Bad Associations thread, and I think I've decided on the Caterpillar (and I had to go with something from Mad Tea Party because, to make a long story short, I feel it's the most appropriate category).

I almost tried Black Phoenix today, but just before I applied it, I changed my mind and grabbed Hermia. Good decision. It's taken about four hours and a second application to figure out what this reminds me of: I'm another one who finds it very, *very* closely related to Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal, although Hermia is lighter and not as sweet. Which is good, especially in the summer, because heavy, super-sweet scents + me + heat = Not Good. Even though it's actually cool today (I actually needed my jacket when I grabbed lunch!), I still know this will be a good one to grab when the mercury climbs back up the thermometer and I'm in the mood for something sweet. I've got plenty of DoaLTC to last me for a very, very long time, though, so a bottle of Hermia is far, *far* in my future if at all. It will be nice to toss this one in my travel bag for times I think I'm going to want DoaLTC while on vacation but don't want to risk losing one of my most beloved LEs, though.

This didn't thrill me too much, but I'm actually happy about that. After reading all of the raves, my heart was sinking because I only got one bottle. Then I tried it last night. Honey baby powder, with a smattering of herbs when wet. Memories of my childhood, when my brother was a baby, and my mom used to take us for walks to the neighborhood honey factory. Yep, we actually lived within walking distance from a place where they processed, bottled, and sold honey. It's pleasant and nice on me, but not OH MY GOD NEED MOAR NAO! I'll be tucking this one away for aging and see what a few months does before I decide whether to unload it. Normally, I make up a little sprayer a day or two after I get an oil, but I'm waiting until it ages before I do that this time around. It's just *that* pleasant-but-not-thrilling to me. On the up side, it looks like this one already has a cult following, so it should be super easy to rehome this bottle.

Yikes! My first OW OW OW BURNING oil! Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal. I'm hoping that it's just a reaction between the oil, the alcohol (I use perfumers' alcohol), and the fact that I was *sweating* all night due to the fact that my apartment hot (high 80s, which is hot for this area) since I used this one a *lot* in January/February when I first received it with no problems. I haven't worn it since late February just because I have many, many imps to test and just haven't gone back to wear old favorites. The burning and redness went away after an hour or two, but it still makes me nervous that this is going to be an issue in the future with more and more oils. At least I do have a couple of scent lockets (White Rabbit! Clocket!) so I won't have to go scent-free, whether it's a weather/sweating issue or a newly-developed skin sensitivity.

My experience is that as long as whatever you did resulted in you receiving a PayPal receipt, you're golden. In fact, the only time I had an issue with things missing from an order was a CCNow order (I think I just ordered so much that the screen/printout that had my ordered items listed cut off the last few items), and Bill got everything sorted out for me.

Hmm. I really, really wanted to like this one. I love root beer, and I love wintergreen, so I was operating under the theory that whichever one I got would be great, and a combo would still be great. Alas, I am ending up with a weird band-aid-and-slightly-buttery-linament combination. I wish I could swap this one, but I already mixed it with perfumers alcohol and put it in a little sprayer, so it's just going to sit there and taunt me until I think, "Well, maybe I was just having an off nose day," and give it another shot. I'm still waiting for a day where I really like (rather than merely tolerate) Love's Philosophy, though, and I have a feeling SSS will be the same way. On the up side, it doesn't last all day. Oh, it's still hanging in on my shirt, but on my skin? It's long gone.

This is mostly violet with a teeny bit of citrus and maybe some nectarine (I don't get much ylang ylang, amber, or pathcouli), and there's this distracting almost buttery note (it's not *butter*, but that's the only word I can come up with to describe it) that I keep trying to identify. It also shows up for me in Oval Portrait and Thalia, but I don't see anything that is in all three, so I don't know what it is. I like violet, but that butter thing just sort of breaks it. It's not impressive on me at all. The rest of this bottle is definitely going on the swap list. I have too many other scents I haven't tried yet or just *love* to bother using the rest of this one.

Oh, man, words cannot express how much I love this one. All of the notes listed just kind of dance around in a fizzy dizzy wonderfulness that I wish was an actual drink. I think my favorite part is the black cherry. No, wait, the almond liquor. No, wait, the rum. That's one of the best things about this one: Everything shifts around and is wonderful in its own turn, but then things overlap and become even more awesome, kind of like a kaleidoscope. And as it has warmed on my skin for a while, it just gets better (the mint makes my skin a wee bit tingly where I applied it, but in a good way). Another second (at least) bottle oil for sure! This might even be my official film festival scent, although I still have five more Luaus to try before I will know for sure. Of course, when I had a coworker sniff this, she made a disgusted "Eww!" noise and face like I had shoved her face in dog crap because it's not All Floral All the Time, as she believes perfumes need to be. I'm very glad the Lab does not agree with her (most florals are a one-way ticket to Headacheville for me), and the fact that she doesn't like this scent -- not even as a hypothetical drink -- just reminds me once again that she and I live in completely different worlds.

My spreadsheet notes for this one: Weird bitter/sour note upon application fades pretty much immediately, leaving a gorgeous fruity/slightly boozy/slightly spicy scent! Non-spreadsheet details: Love love *love*. I think the weird note I initially pick up is the grapefruit, and then once it hits my skin, I get this amazing all-of-the-other-fruits combination, with the ginger peeking out every once in a while. I get the booze, too, although it's not the *alcohol*. It's hard to describe. Maybe something like a flambe where the alcohol is gone, but all of the flavors of the brandy and rum are left behind? I don't get any flowers, which is a Very Good Thing, and I do get a bit of the candy-ish thing, which is also a Very Good Thing. Verdict: I'm going to have to buy at least another bottle of this. Maybe even more, depending on how the rest of the Tiki Testing goes (one down, six to go). I know my coworker will *hate* this, but she believes perfumes should be All Floral All the Time, and that sort of thing gives me screaming headaches. Fruit and booze? That's my style. (As a side note, for Seattle-area residents, there's a new tiki bar coming our way at Lake Union Cafe on 05 May! Unfortunately, I'm going to be in El Mundo del Raton when it opens.)

Le sigh. I had such high hopes for this because foody scents are usually *wonderful* on me (Gingerbread Poppet! Egg Nog! So cake? Lemme at it!), but I just can't handle it. And it's not my body chemistry: I tried it in my oil warmer, and I could smell it through the baggie I stored the pipette in (I finally just decanted the rest of the bottle so I could just toss the pipette and not have to smell it again already), and both ways just set off The Quease. I wish I could figure out what I'm reacting to so I could avoid it in future scents, although it's most likely whatever this has in common with Chanukkiyah since that one does the same exact thing. On the up side, it's an LE, so I should be able to swap this at some point (I feel weird frimping LEs unless it's on someone's wishlist because I want to make sure they're going to a home that really *wants* them, and if I hold them back from the frimps, I will have them for someone who can't get them any other way. Weird logic, I know, but, hey, I'm an Aquarian. We like logic and weirdness equally).

The notes sounded so promising: I *love* citrus, amber is lovely, and one of the major notes in one of the few department store scents I can stand is tobacco (still trying to figure out what vetiver does for me). I now understand what it means when someone says their skin amps something. In the imp, I smell pure tangerine with a tiny bit of spice. On my skin, I get nothing but pepper, although after about ten minutes it shifts to powdery pepper. Do not want! Off to the swap stash, and I really hope I can scrub all traces of this off before I go to bed since I put it on my wrists, and I've realized that I sleep with my hands tucked under my head/face. On the up side, between this, Bengal (no *wonder* this one set off a queasy headache!) and White Rabbit, now I know to avoid white or black (pink seems to be okay) pepper at all costs.

Wacky. I don't get much floral at all. On me, this is straight-up incense. Maybe it's floral incense, but it's not heavily floral. Not a bad scent (I happen to *love* incense), but not quite what I was expecting. And I think it's giving me a headache, although that might be due to the fact that I just realized it's 5:30pm, and I haven't had anything to eat since about 10am.