scourgeotheseas

Dragon's Milk In the bottle: Mmmm, smells juicy. A hint of sweet cherries and a touch of vanilla. It's lovely. On me/wet: The juicyness comes out - I smell cherries, vanilla, and just the barest hint of honey. And then it turns to Play-doh. Not as strong as the Play-doh schent of O, which was residing on my other wrist at the time, but still noticeable. Eventually: The play-doh note fades somewhat, leaving me to try and enjoy the combo of Dragon's Blood and vanilla. Somehow, I can't make it happen. I wanted to love this, as vanilla and Dragon's Blood are two things I truly love, but this is not a winner for me. As with O, I'm assuming the honey note is the culprit here. Looks like both of these are heading for my swap pile...

March Hare In the bottle: Dried apricots. Mmmm. Not the stinky sweatsocks smell you sometimes get with real dried apricots. On me/wet: March Hare immediately turned to Superclove on me! CLOVE!! Underneath it, though, is a cross between bubblegum and black licorice (yup, it was mentioned before and I smell it too). But atop all that, CLOVE! Drydown: Finally the clove starts to settle a bit, allowing the fruit to come forward. I smell a little apricot, but mainly I get Juicy Fruit gum. After about four hours, the clove has disappeared and a fully ripened apricot sits on my arm. I do like that, but wish that the clove and apricot appeared together. I think I'll keep the imp, but probably not go for anything more.

O Well, everybody else loved it... In the bottle: Gorgeous! Light, raw honey and a little musky. I'm definitely catching a whiff of sex. On me: A tiny bit of honey, then musk, then Play-doh. Ick! For a moment it was beautiful, then my skin chemistry got involved. Eventually, the play-doh smell fades a little bit and I can smell something musky and warm trying to surface. But it doesn't suceed, due to my skin. I feel so sad that this doesn't work for me. Worse, I think the majority of my new order contains honey, which I think is responsible for this ickyness. I can wear amber, and generally I love vanilla.

Blood Amber In the bottle: Smells like Dragon's Blood to me. I love that, so I'm hoping for good things. On me/wet: As almost everyone else has said, I smell Dragon's Blood and amber. The cherry sweetness I associate with Dragon's Blood is definitely subdues by amber, which gives it an incensey feel. Drydown: The amber stays true, but I wish this had more Dragon's Blood kick to it. I feel like it took a big backseat to the amber, and I'm beginning to realize I can take amber or leave it. It also doesn't seem to last that long, fading withing a few hours to just a faint whiff of scent. While I certainly don't dislike this, I'm not sure I'm in love with it either. There are many other Dragon's Blood combos that I love a lot more than this.

To all those people who got bubblegum: How I wish I were you. I like bubblegum! However, not too sure about Forbidden Fruit. In the bottle: Even in the bottle, this smelled weird to me. Slightly "off", if you will. Do I smell citrus? Something sweet? Petroleum jelly? What? On me/drydown: A little better. It turns into a warm floral on me, which is nice. Excpet that something "off" remains on my skin. I'm not sure if it's the lotus or something else, but one of the notes does not agree with me. After 30 minutes: It faded a lot, so the little I can smell is really nice now. Unfortunately, this was not a winner for me. I so wanted to like it. I think I'll try out my new swap of Blood Lotus to see if lotus is the offender, or if it's something else entirely.

Well, I thought Tarot: the Lovers was going to be my happiest cinnamon scent, but I think Hamadryad will give it a run for its money. In the bottle: Hmm. Spicy, dry, kind of a men's cologne feeling. Maybe that's the wood notes or something. On me/drydown: I get an immediate hit of dry, spicy cinnamon. Definitely the stick, certainly not the Red Hots. There is also a hint of woods and florals, but the cinnamon is the big hit! After a long while, the extremely strong cinnamon stick smell starts to fade and is slowly replaced by a light woodsy, warm scent. However, the slow morph doesn't begin for a long time. Hamadryad stayed true and strong on me for hours. It smells like baking at its best, like a homemade applie pie bursting with cinnamon. I'm in love with this one.

Jack II I got this as a freebie from malanna, with orders to pass it on. Oh, I shall... In the bottle: Peach comes blasting out, followed by butter and some spice that may prove to be nutmeg or clove but smells like neither of them. And not nice, to my nose. No pumpkin at all. On me: It is buttery on application, but immediately turns into the smell of the unidentifiable spice. None of the peach appears at all, and I swear I smell like celery salt. I know some people have a problem with buttery scents, and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm one. This is godawful on me. I'm so sad. This overwhelmingly bad fake potpourri smell is wafting off my arm. I must go wash this off now... On the last sniff before I removed the offender from my arm, I got a nice whiff of peach. But not enough to keep it...Jack will definitely find a new home. Yuck!

Bon Vivant In the bottle: Champagne. It captures the slightly sour scent I always get from the real thing. On: A fizzy strawberry, very light and summery. However, it also smelled kind of artificial to me. Not unpleasant, though. As I continued to wear it, the strawberry scent began to fade, becoming more "real", and the champagne note became more detectable. I'm unsure about this one -- there's certainly nothing wrong with it, and it smells good on my skin, but I'm not sure it's something I want to wear. :| I may keep it for awhile and see how I like it later, as I could see this as a summery or mood-lifting kind of scent.

I just got an imp of Danube and was really struck by how much I could smell the "water". So I'd recommend that one, too...

Faustus Beth threw this in as a freebie a while ago, and I'm just getting around to it. In the bottle: Some kind of spicy scent. It must be frankincense. I don't smell cinnamon or any floral. On me/wet: It's all about the frankincense, I guess. I love cinnamon but can't pick up any of it on my skin. I also really don't get any violet at all. Perhaps the frankincense will go away soon, leaving me with a more pleasing drydown. Drydown: Starting to pick up a more powdery scent. Other than that, I can't sense a change. It does smell very masculine, though. Yeah, this is SO not me. Off to the swap pile, ye impie!

Oh, that's good to know. I'm trying to stock up on Sugar Skull because I love it so much. I'll have to order some Gluttony to try. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I just got an imp of Sugar Skull and LOVE it! However, I hate Gluttony on my skin -- I smell like burnt coffee. Does anyone have any other suggestions for a scent that smells like the beautiful burnt sugar of Sugar Skull?

Jabberwocky Got this as a lab freebie many, many weeks ago and avoided it due to the eucalyptus, which I generally don't like. Today seemed like a good time to try it... In the bottle: Fresh pine (not Pinesol!), a tiny whiff of dreaded eucalyptus, and orange peel. On me/wet: The pine jumps out immediately, but it's lightened by the orange. I smell no eucalyptus! Yay! It's a bright, refreshing, morning scent. I could see this as a body scrub, definitely. Drydown: The orange is becoming more prominent, with the pine fading into the background. It is a bubbly, light orange, like when you first dig into one with your fingernails, well-tempered by the freshness of pine. I hope it doesn't fade as quickly as I think it's going to... I love this, and totally did not expect to at all!

allelujiah sent this imp as a freebie! Thanks! I'm not even going to try to figure out the notes. It smells like a creamy lemon in the bottle but dries down to a very dry, spicy (but not traditionally "incense-y") scent. I imagine it to be the scent of a Egyptian market -- exotic spices mixed with warm, dry winds, and maybe a hint of woods. It's quite beautiful, although very different from my normal choices. It's only drawback is the total lack of throw - I have to bring my wrist to my nose to smell it.

I just got my hands on a decant of Egg Nog. Oh, excitement! Thanks, allelujiah! Except...it does smell like Play-doh immediately on contact with my skin. This has never happened before. It smells excellent in the bottle, though. Just like homemade, boozy eggnog. Can't quite decide what to do with this, seeing as how I obviously won't be wearing it. Maybe it's time to buy an oil burner... ETA: The Play-doh scent picked up a semi-vanilla, semi-cake batter component after ~20 minutes. Unfortunately not enough to kill Play-doh, though.

Delirium...it told me to wear it today. In the bottle: Lemon, definitely. However, it also smells like a bag of Starburst candy. On me/wet: The lemon doesn't hold for more than a minute before the rose begins to pop out. And it's a light, fresh, fruity rose. Everybody else is right, this will be perfect for spring. Drydown: As it dries, the rose also starts to fade, and a hint of apple is beginning to show through. It's not a very strong scent and seems to be fading rather quickly. Final analysis: It's pretty, and worth keeping around (for a while, at least). However, it doesn't compete with rose blends like London or Persephone.

Well, reading the review proves that this is one of the those scents that totally depends on body chemistry. In the bottle/wet: Cherry Luden's coughdrops. I like smelling sweet and candy-ish, and love Luden's. This was a good thing. Then it all changed... Drydown: The cherry scent faded quite quickly on me, and was replaced by cedar. Cedar chips, to be specific. I smelled like mulch, or the stuff lining the hamster's cage, or a cedar chest. Guess my body amplifies cedar. Unfortunately, I don't like it much at all. Not a fan of the wood, or the smell. And it lasted for about 6 hours. I wanted to love the Red Queen, and if she smelled of cherries I probably would have. But I hate to smell like trees, so this one has to go.

Got a decant from omly, and wow! In the bottle/wet: Hard cherry candies! That fades away pretty soon, though, and the pipe tobacco comes through. Drydown: To me, the pipe tobacco is really the dominant scent. I never smell leather, and the cherry fades pretty quickly. It sticks around long enough to identify the pipe tobacco as a fruity blend, but that's it. It smells exactly like my dad's pipe tobacco, which is the scent I totally identify with him (well, that and motor oil). It seems to be pretty long lasting. It smells really good on me, but I'm not sure I really want to actually smell of pipe tobacco. It might be great as a room scent, cuz it's such a gorgeous blend. I'm glad I got to try an imp, and I'm sure I'll find a good use for it.

I'm glad I let Vice stay on for a while, because it morphed quite strongly on me. In the bottle: Artificial chocolate and bug spray. Or chocolate, strong green herbs, and bug spray. I'm wondering if the bug spray is my personal impression of orange blossom. Almost all chocolate scents in bath products smell weirdly fake to me, as well. On me/wet: Still smells of chocolate and bug spray. After about 15 minutes, the bug spray goes away! As it dries: I smell chocolate first, with a faint hint of cherries and vanilla. After a while, I smell exactly like a chocolate covered cherry, but in a good way. It's a light cherry and chocolate scent. Damn, it's gorgeous. It doesn't have as much throw as I'd like, and I needed to reapply after about three hours, but it is a highly enjoyable scent. I'll definitely keep the imp, but I'm not sure it's a 5ml.

Yeesh, I reviewed this without looking at the notes and was way off. Haunted started out vaguely medicinal on me, and I kept thinking I smelled lemon verbena or anise. But I also kept sniffing my arm and going, "Wha? What is that?". The sharp citrus smell continued for awhile. Then all of a sudden it turned powdery, but in a baby wipes kind of way. Not for me at all, but I think I'll try it one more time to see if I can ID the amber.

I wanted to smell like an evil creamsicle, truly I did. But Hunger didn't want to do that for me. In the bottle: A very strong, almost cloying floral. After having smelled a live narcissus, that must be what I smell. On me: Heavy, waxy, patchouli smelling narcissus. It does mellow as it dries, but the orange and vanilla notes never appear to my nose. Instead, it remains a strong floral that makes me vaguely sick to my stomach. I tried this on at the same time as Tarot: the Devil, and thought they had the same base notes.

Whoa. A popular one, I see. The Devil has the same base note as Hunger, to me at least. It's a heavy, waxy, patchouli/narcissus kind of smell. As it develops, a very musky or civet note comes to the front. And remains there. It's quite long-lasting blend, but was too musky smelling for me (musks and I don't generally get along). I felt like a very hound-y smelling dog was hanging out on my right arm.

I was all excited for this one... In the bottle: Grape cold syrup, or grape candy, or any of those crazy artificial grape flavors. Which, I'm guessing, is how my nose reacts to the combination of dragon's blood and cherry. On me/wet: Still smells like grape something. Grape Ape, Grape Ape! Drydown: Within a couple of minutes, the grape candy smell goes away and is replaced by the Dragon's Blood. I can't pick up the clove, and I'm not entirely sure what myrrh smells like on its own. However, a subtle incensey feel is mixed with the Dragon's Blood. An hour later: The Dragon's Blood and the spices have blended into a heady mix. I'm reminded of Tintagel without the potpourri feeling. I think I like it...but I'm not entirely sure.

In th bottle: A very sweet floral. When I went back to sniff after reading the description, I picked up a whiff of lime, but a very sweet, candyish lime. On me: It's starts out with a blast of bright florals, and an undertone of very light citrus. I think it's the lotus that has that sweet smell to me, and I really enjoy it. It's a bright and summery scent, and wears very nicely. Defintely a daytime scent! Unfortunately, I felt compelled to give my imp to my tuberose-loving mom. Time to swap for another, I think!

I'm not a fan of patchouli to begin with, so this freebie was simply a test. In the bottle: Incense and dirt, with a hint of fruity sweetness. When I put it on, I vaguely smelled ripe apricots for a few moments before the patchouli completely took over. And I mean completely. I didn't smell fruity, or sweet, or anything except "Agh! Patchouli!" I gave it to my mom. It had amazing staying power on her -- 6-8 hours later there was still a whiff of it, and by that time it had dried to a much softer version of it's original self.

OK, I bought this specifically to give to a friend. I can't, because it's way too good. Like the other reviews, I never would have guessed how sweet this blend was going to be. In the bottle: A light, soft, warm floral with hints of sweet - maybe vanilla. (By warm, I mean none of the green notes I sometimes expect from florals.) On me: A light, fresh, vanilla scented floral. Very old-fashioned and delicate, but the vanilla gives a core of warmth and strength. I'm finding this to be surprisingly sexy, as well. Certainly, I should try it again when I'm slathered in six other scents, but I think this is going to be an Indian-giver kind of imp. No way is it leaving my posession.