ymmat

This is one of those that I would have never purchased for myself, but after falling rather unexpectedly in love with R'lyeh, I decided to try the imp I received. This is a scent that I can't describe as a smell. It doesn't smell quite like anything and the comparisons that others have made with grapefruit puzzle me (particularly since I loathe grapefruit). I don't smell anything acidic or acrid. There is nothing pointed or sharp; it's very fluid and the scent flows right past my efforts to describe it as "a smell." The Deep Ones evokes visions of the ocean's bottom where the surroundings are just as deadly as they are beautiful. It is the scent of sea nymphs and sirens. It is the scent of Poseidon's gardens deep under the waves. I smell movement, currents, things we glimpse only out of the corners of our eye. It is the mysteries of the ocean that defy our description and our grasp. It's gorgeous, evocative, and enigmatic. I adore this scent.

I was really hesitant to try this since pine (of any variety) and I really do not get along. I always end up smelling like Pine-Sol. I figured I'd get a decant at least because I am an Earth Rat. In the vial, it smells lovely and fruity. On my skin, it smells exactly like tamarind hard candies (one of my favorite treats). As it settles down a bit, the coconut comes out and the tamarind smell fades. It settles as almost a very light coconut cream. So, no nightmare of pine, which leaves me hopeful for other pine blends, but I probably won't buy a bottle of it. It's nice, but doesn't settle into something I'll wear that often.

Mother of Demons, Vengeful Fury, Darkest Seductress, Queen of the Djinn, Goddess of the Gate. Red wine, myrrh, black musk, and attar of rose. This smells so gorgeous in the vial - the myrrh, musk, and wine mingle to form a gorgeous scent with a hint of rose in the background. Once this hit my skin, two things happened. The red wine amped and the rose amped. They do not co-amp well. It was rather unpleasant, but thankfully brief. The red wine toned way down and the rose continued to be the dominant note. Right now, the scent is rose with a hint of myrrh and musk. The wine is not really detectable. It's still a beautiful scent, but not so much me. It does however paint a really vivid picture of Lilith for me. For whatever reason, it fits.

I almost left this one untried, but I figured, what the heck. I'm not wild about it in the vial. The citrus strikes me as slightly bitter. It blends well with the patchouli, but my mortal enemy lurks in the background. I can smell him, waiting. *does best Kirk imitation* YLANG YLANG!!! I decided it was time to face my nemesis and I applied it to the back of my hand. Instantaneously, there was violet and for a brief second, I thought I would escape the inevitable, overpowering pain that is ylang ylang - near me, on my skin, anywhere in my sphere of influence. *shakes fist* But the inevitable happened, just as quickly the violet was eaten alive and Mr. Ylang Ylang moved into the neighborhood. He's now hanging out with the patchouli, toking it up and mocking me. I hate him so much.

This is so lovely and tart in the vial. The instant it hits my skin, it's gone - not lingering, not kinda there, it's completely absorbed. To make sure I wasn't just not smelling it, I applied it again and had two friends smell - nothing. Bizarre.

The best way for me to describe the smell in the vial is... complex. It smelled of citrusy tea at dusk in the sunroom with the windows flung open as the scent of jasmine wafts on the breeze. On, I initially get the scent in all its complexity but jasmine is not my friend and it knocked out the windows, ravaged the sunroom, and drank my tea.

I really liked this in the vial. It was light, slightly citrus and flower, but with a lovely sweet feel. On, I smell like the florists - the overwhelming smell of flowers and greenery when you walk in the door.

I was a little hesitant about this one. I liked it in the vial but the cream seemed a little overpowering for me. On, the cream initially went a bit over the top (just briefly though) and then it settled. Now, some of the other notes are peeking out and it's becoming slightly darker but very smooth smelling because of the cream remnants. There may be a bottle of this in my future.

This one made me sad. I really loved the seaweed and weed smell in the vial, but on my skin, all I get is seaweed. On the plus side, I kinda smell like a day at the beach, but minus all the fun stuff. Normally, I amp mint so it's a little surprising. Alas.

Oh Holiday Moon, how confusing you are. When I got my bottle, I adored the scent. It was hints of green tea with lilts of spice which was really quite pleasant. I have not, as of yet, put it on my skin, but I did wear it in my scent locket. By the end of the day, I had to take the locket off because I was being overwhelmed with the scent of pine. When I smelled the locket up close, it didn't smell at all of pine, but if you held it about 3 inches away from your nose, it bowled you over. I shall try it again, but the pine thing... not so fantastic. Considering that my skin amps pine like nobody's business, I'm almost tempted to put it on my skin to see if it's really pine or if something truly funky is going on.

In the imp, this smells of a velvety red cake complete with cream cheese frosting and a hint of booze. The second this hit my skin, it turned into an overwhelming scent of a rich vanilla-y frosting - creamy and sweet - with just the faintest after note of liquory goodness. As it dries down, it smells much more of cake, less sweet, and less creamy. The smell reminds me of a bakery.

I was a little worried about this one because of the "perfume," but the bubble gum intrigued me. In the imp, it smells to me exactly as described - bubble gum, lollipops, and hints of darker notes of an adult's perfume. Once this hit my skin, it reminded me of fruity Hubba Bubba. As it dried, the bubble gum smell toned down quite a bit, but the darker notes didn't really come out, just the lollipop flavors. I put it on about 3 hours ago and now, I can hardly smell anything. I loved the drying down smell, but it vanished so quickly. I'll try it again, but unless it lasts longer next time, no bottle for me. Poo.

I bought a bottle of this on a lark because it sounded like something I would enjoy. I was right. In the bottle, it smells delightful - green tea and spiced fruits. For some reason, I have an easier time picking out higher notes in the bottle. Lower notes don't jump out to me as much. So, when I put this on I was expecting something at least vaguely similar to what was in the bottle, but the green tea and the fruit completely vanished. On my skin, it becomes a beautiful honey vanilla. I very much like Lady Una as the scent manages to be sweet and warm without evoking the sense of edibles. It's also particularly light without compromising the staying power. I've had it on about 4-5 hours now and am still able to easily smell it on my wrists. Lady Una has leaped to the top of my favorites list.

In the bottle, Sugar Skull '07 reminded me of candied fruit - tangy and sweet. On my skin, it immediately turned to rich, fresh brown sugar. Now, it's settled down to a nice soft and sweet front note with a light hint of tart sugared candies bringing up the rear. I'm curious to see what it will do a few hours from now.

No worries. It absolutely did not come off as unsympathetic. Anyone who lives with severe allergies knows that you ultimately have to take responsibility for dealing with it - whatever that entails. Even though I always ask (sometimes repeatedly) and try to avoid places where I know I'll run into peanut, it still happens sometimes. At lunch yesterday, something I ate got cross-contaminated. Thankfully, it was a tiny enough amount (and I caught it soon enough) that mega-Benadryl, Coke, cold air, and my inhaler kept me from having to do the hospital thing. Since I don't eat the BPAL (although it is tempting), it's significantly less of an issue than dealing with my allergies elsewhere. It still might be helpful to have a running list, especially since there aren't readily available descriptions for everything. It's not something I would expect the lab to do, but if those of us who have known allergies/sensitivites just kept track of what caused us problems or things we knew to avoid, shared knowledge could save someone else a rash or two.