eyeska

In the imp this was a lovely floral, but on me it turned to soap with a frightening rapidity - I have thus far only run into one other that has done that, and it was Ultraviolet, of all things. It was surprisingly lasting, and had a good throw, though . . .

Wet, this is a beautiful, slightly sweet tea with spice. Extraordinary, and I desperately wish it was as nice on me dry as it is wet. Unfortunately, my newest skin chemistry discovery involves me and frankincense smelling something like a hospital together, and once dry a sour/metallic/medicinal scent comes out from Famine. While somewhat appropriate, it's not pleasant in the least. Yet another "if you like frankincense" review here.

Definitely darker and leatherier (har) than standard dragon's blood. It's sweet, but has a darker, MUCH less flowery sense about it. I don't get the "sexy" feel that some other reviewers get, or the sense of it being masculine, and it's not my perfect leather blend (it's also the first leather I've tried thus far), but I'm not put off by it in the least. Others who've smelled it on me have been favourable, but I've not gotten any "oh, wow"s. I actually bought this because, er, I have an RPG character who runs around in dragonhide armour. This puts me directly in her mindset, as she's the archetypal "tougher than she looks" sort of person, so this actually fits her even better than I hoped. I doubt it'll be something I get a big bottle of, but the imp is intriguing and something I will definitely be keeping around long after the campaign is over. Very, very cool idea, and definitely pulled off well, in my mind. Just not quite perfect with my chemistry.

I know this post was from a little while ago, but when I cracked open my Pearl Diver Smooch on Friday it reminded me 100% of Olokun! I'm not sure if the Whipped would be precisely the same (the Smooch being a salt scrub might mean the Whipped would be less, well, salty and therefore possibly less of a match to Olokun), but I'd worn Olokun the day prior, so it was fresh in my mind and a definite match.

"Pristine" is a nice word for this. It's definitely soapy-clean/fresh and immensely pleasant. It's not fading on me too quickly, either - I got this as a tester-sniffy in a forum order, and it's sticking around past the two-hour mark. I probably won't buy it as a bottle because it's not the sort of thing I'd actually wear pretty much ever, but if you're a Dirty fan or love the concept, I'd definitely recommend it.

As much as I wanted this to work on me, I'm sorry to say that it smelt almost exactly like Off spray on me. After ten minutes, the throw dropped, and it became Off with leather, but still mostly bug spray. It's not even entirely a BAD smell, but it's not particularly pleasant, and it's definitely not me. I think I am another person who cannot do vetiver. Boo.

So I've tried this once already, but needed to think about it some, so this is my second trial. I've applied Kumari Kandam to my inner wrists, and they are actually, physically, COLD - and it's a warm May day, so that's a little unnerving. I understand the "Irish Springs" notes that others have mentioned - this scent is really complex and rather androgynous. I'm actually still trying to decide whether I like it or not - it's really interesting, and I LIKE the green notes I smell, but I'm not sure if it's just going too soapy/cleaner-y on me. It does have a paradoxical warm/cold thing going on, though, and my wrists are cold to the touch. Wild. (I'm trying to find a scent for an "ice fairy" costume I'm building, and this and Szepasszony were my prime GC candidates. The fact that my skin is ACTUALLY COLD keeps this one in the running.) EDIT: After a good half-hour, the throw fades somewhat and so does the soapiness, on me at least. This is definitely an earthy, dead-of-winter sort of scent. Heavy. I'm liking it more and more.

This was cautiously interesting, though I'm still very edgy around cinnamon scents. Keeping in mind that both Priala and Tanin'iver were lovely on me, I took a breath and applied this to my arm. After ten minutes, I have hot cinnamon candy arm. Now, it's the most delicious cinnamon candy EVER; my mouth is actually watering. If you like cinnamon candies, this could be great for you. But I don't like smelling like food. :/ I'm going to wear it out, see if it goes anywhere interesting, but I'm pretty sure this sucker's getting swapped or gifted.

Bah, out of date descripts it is. Ah well. The amber bottles are delightfully antique-looking, so I'm still happy.

I thought it was listed at the top of the page whether blends shipped in cobalt versus amber bottles? Bewitching Brews says amber, Sin and Salvation says cobalt? Rappaccini's Garden and the Wonderland scents claim cobalt as well. It looks as though most of the LEs (from pictures I've seen and what few I've actually gotten myself ) come in amber, but there are a few GC scents that appear to still come in cobalt (though I've not ordered anything from the GC except LEs and Bewitching Brews thus far, the descripts might be out of date?). EDIT: Although Diabolus does list its line as being housed in amber bottles . . . hn. EDITx2: Cobalt has only one "l".

Well, for GC stuff I might recommend: Djinn (smells like FIRE - makes me smell like a big bonfire, which actually I love) Oblivion (although there are a couple of folks piping up in this thread about this going sweet on them - it really doesn't on me, but of course with body chemistry, your mileage WILL vary) Yggdrasil (mossy and herbal) I do hope you're able to find something (or lots of somethings!) in your next package, though!

Very herbal, but I definitely get the pine and lemon as well. I suspect this might be very nice on the fiance, but it makes me smell vaguely like the dark end of the spice rack. While I can see it being pleasant (and, hell, I can see being in a mood where I really want the herbal, because it IS oddly comforting), it's definitely not my thing.

OH THANK GOODNESS. I was sitting on my couch, thinking, "Banana. BURNING banana. With cinnamon." I was also thinking, "nobody's going to believe this . . ." because I've read almost nothing but good press about Sacred Whore of Babylon. I am in fact relieved that the evil burning bananas are not unique to me, and that I can be on the lookout for gardenia and not expect lots from scents with it in. After 20 minutes or so, it seems to have turned to evil burning bananas, cinnamon, and unsweetened black liquorice. Bad skin chemistry!

Absolutely they are. They're GC impables, just like Bewitching Brews and so forth.

This scent is everything I wanted and MORE. In the decant I kept getting different, intriguing hints - spicy here, dark and smooth there, at one point I caught a hint of something that almost smelled like a cologne I associate with a man I know. I was DYING to try it, and it is delicious and spicy and dark on me. I never would have thought I could carry off clove or pepper, but I can; the pachouli isn't overwhelming, and I suspect the lighter note I get is the vanilla flower, which doesn't seem terribly obvious on me in the least, which is fine. But it's definitely got a masculine feel to it, so I tried it on my fiance. I'm getting two bottles of this. It's darker, smokier, and much more masculine on him, but definitely a similar scent. It smells fantastic on both of us. (And if I had any reservations about wearing a scent that seems "masculine" . . . let's just say that multiple positive reactions have completely removed them.) EDIT: Holy lasting power - it stays on me for quite a few hours, easily four or five before fading, and it stayed on my fiance for over ten!

This is absolutely gorgeous wet: it has a dusty, exotic feel to it that is just delightful. However, I have learned a new and exciting thing about my body chemistry: I amp jasmine. So unfortunately, even after an hour (it seems that after 30 minutes, if jasmine's going to fall into the background, it does), it's a very pretty but largely unremarkable floral on me. It has a hint of dry, gloomy intrigue about it, but it's nothing terribly special, because it mostly smells like jasmine. On the right person, though - like my previous poster - it could be phenomenal. On me it's nice, but not "OMG!" EDIT: Okay, apparently after an hour and a half the jasmine seems to die down and the more herbal/resinous qualities seem to pop out. Methinks I might just need to box this for a bit and see if it settles a little more, and the jasmine is something I can deal with a little better. It remains quite lovely, but I'm still not totally sold on it. Edit x2: Leaving this alone for a little over two weeks seems to have reined in the jasmine quite a bit! I'm getting a similar dusty/exotic feel that I do when it's wet! I'm pleased. I don't think I'll get a bottle, but I'll definitely enjoy my decant instead of looking at it and sighing.

This is my cue! On me, this is exactly as described - a light floral and salt water. I was really struck by how pretty it was. Then I stuck my arm out to my fiance who said that while he felt it smelled okay, he also felt it smelt a lot like bathroom cleansers he's smelt in the past - not chemical-y, just in that family, enough to bring it up. . . . so now I'm at a bit of a loss. *sad* I'll probably keep it to see how it layers with other scents. (At least he liked Olokun . . .)

Djinn (my fiance likes fire, apparently!), Lust (but patchouli and I are like this), and Tanin'Iver (dark and cinnamon are yum!) seem to be my sexier go-tos. Scherezade is one I was introduced to recently and it's definitely got that vibe, too. That said, this thread will likely be able to help ya out. *grin* I'm still learning my way around.

So, uh, this is a bit of a long shot, but: The Body Shop, for at least a few years, had a scent they rolled out at Christmastime called "Snow". They made body wash for that stuff, which (I thought) smelled divine. (They also had a sparkly lotion scented the same way, IIRC; there were also lip gloss pots, but those were peppermint, which the "Snow" scent definitely was not.) It was somewhat floral, but unfortunately it's been so long since I've had it that I can't really describe it beyond that. I don't suppose anyone knows what I'm talking about and could direct me to some BPAL with similar notes? I took a look at Basenotes.net and came up empty-handed, though I'm sure someone more familiar with it might turn up something I couldn't find. EDIT: Well, I found a cross-reference for this specific question, though of course it involves LEs from a couple years ago. *laughs*

Unearthing an old topic here . . . I found that my new imp of Arcana has the delightfully strong scent of lemongrass when I first put it on, which dies out after about ten minutes on me. It's also light enough that you can put something on later and not have any issues with layering incompatible scents. I was using it to wake up at work last week and thought I'd mention it.

This was a frimp that my mother gave to me, and the scent in the imp - dark and spicy and smoky - intrigued me. On me it hardly morphs at all, though after an hour or so I get a vague hint of citrus to go along with this exotic, firey smell. (I'm not even convinced it's lemon, it's just . . . citrus.) It's unrelenting, dark, and dangerously sexy. I love it to bits. It's got a nice throw, though sadly only seems to stick around for about 3-4 hours on me. I'm getting a 5 mL of it, not least of all because of my fiance's response. He's been very good with my new BPAL obsession, and makes sure to tell me if he likes or doesn't like this or that or is generally pleased by my scent, but he's not especially involved, exactly (which, really, I don't expect; he's not the one wearing it!). This one made him sit up and take notice, very curious about what exactly I was wearing and very complimentary.

This seems very true to itself in the imp, on my skin, and after the drydown. The spice and flora seem to be in the same measure all the way through, and I only seem to detect a little musk throughout. (Although after checking after over an hour, there seems to be a slight rise in musk. Nothing too notable, I can just be certain I'm smelling it now.) Dark and delicious and the tiniest bit smoky. My only complaint is that the throw on this is so good that I can't slather myself lest I have it be far too strong! Oh noes, Lust is beautiful on me and will last for aaaaages! Whatever shall I doooo?

Eos wins the prize for "best throw so far" on me; I've had some decent ones, but not ones that I can smell without my nose pointed anywhere near my arm. It's a beautiful (powerful!) jasmine on me, and I think I'll be hanging on to it for summer and using very sparingly. I can detect a bit of the musk and honeysuckle, but I'm getting mostly jasmine - which is just fine by me!

Bah! I got Melpomene as a frimp, making my first BPAL order a couple of weeks before her discontinuing, and am just getting around to a review. I, too, would have grabbed a 5 mL had I known her at the time. She's definitely uplifting, floral and citrusy with a good (but not overpowering) throw. She'll probably be my default summer smell, and I can give Tragedy a decent treatment before she's all gone. *pats her frimp*

This is very odd on me until it settles - very citrusy and strange with the other notes beneath it, but once it calms down after about five or ten minutes, it's very close to the skin, vaguely mystical and almost smoky. I adore it, though I suspect I might have to slather it in order to have it stick around for long. . . . oh well! I'm adding this to my 5 mL wishlist. EDIT: Yeah, this definitely fades quickly - within 3 hours, I can't smell it anymore.