donnatron

Bottle: To my nose, this is Black Phoenix minus the musk. It definitely has that effervescent cherry cola quality I get from BP. It also smells delicious, like, want to eat delicious. Will definitely be experimenting with my summer cocktails to recreate this in drink form. Wet: The rum and the almond are tussling for dominance on my skin. This smells carbonated. Dry: Hells to the yeah! This dries down to a beautiful almondy rum touched with some cherries, a nice booze note that isn't TOO boozy. There is a tiny hint of mint. It all plays really nicely together and smells incredibly gorgeous and summery. Throw: Incredible. Overall: I really, really like this. It will definitely get heavy rotation this summer.

Bottle: Admission time--the entire reason I bought this was for the bottle. I flove this painting. Anyway, in the bottle this smells soft and sweet with some dusty resins and woodiness. I can't really pick out any of the individual scents, but it smells a little benign for the title. Wet: Immediately the dusty aspect perks up and this smells like... fruit stones. And a touch of sour honey. Dry: After the honey acclimates to my skin, it's really lovely. Now it lives up to its name--I smell like what I imagine a poison damsel would smell like. It's sexy in a weird, film noir vicious sort of way. It's a very hot scent, it evokes a sort of sandy, dusty imagery--very evocative of the desert. Throw: Good. Overall: It's a really interesting, complex scent and it evokes the painting perfectly. I think this is a perfect scent for summer. It's complex without being overpowering and is really gorgeous and unique.

At first I thought you meant the other Mike Myers. This makes a whole lot more sense. Black Annis layered with the Grand Inquisitor's Heretic's Fork or the Blood Garden (or anything with a blood accord) screams "FEAR ME!" to me. Black Annis really evokes freshly turned dirty and a touch of decay--it's kind of perfect for evoking the image of shallow graves and primal fear.

I wore Arcana to my university convocation. Next big event is a friend's wedding. I'm debating between Veil and Antique Lace.

Bottle: Gorgeous! I get violet first and foremost with some soothing lavender and a beautiful, soft, sweet almost candylike scent. Wet: The sweetness amps up and this is freakin' EDIBLE. It smells like those candied flowers you get in import shops. The sandalwood is behaving itself and just sort of lends a nice grounding note to all the sweet violet and lavender on my skin. Dry: It stays a sweet violet candy scent. It's not totally a candy scent, although it smells edible it also smells very regal and ladylike. I understand why Pamlwell said it smelled Victorian. It smells very old fashioned and very much like something a "proper lady" would smell like. I, of course, am not going to let that get in my way. Throw: Intense. I can smell it wafting off me like crazy. But it's absolutely amazing, so I don't mind. Overall: I have hedged so much on buying Veil. I can't believe I've been missing out on this. It might have to have a full on cage match with my current favourite GC, Kabuki.

Bottle: Buckley's cough syrup. Wet: Well, I'm mostly sure there is pine in this somewhere. Pine, maybe vetiver, may be honey? It's not unpleasant, but it's not grabbing me. Dry: Yep. Definitley vetiver. It's got that characteristic vetiver-powder thing which, personally, I'm fond of, although I know a lot of people aren't. Also a touch of sweetness and herbs. It's quite nice, actually, and I feel powerful wearing it. Not necessarily sensual or sexy, but I feel like I can command a lot of power right now. Throw: A few inches from the skin. Smells better when you're three inches from the skin than when you're all mashed up against it (as I tend to smell my perfumes ). Overall: It's an intriguing blend and I'll hang onto it for the fall. Even if it doesn't work as intended, it's still a lovely, piney, spicy fall scent.

Bottle: In the bottle Regan is a soft soapy floral. It doesn't actually smell like Ivory liquid hand soap, but it has an aftersmell of it. If that makes sense. It smells very, very clean. Wet: Unfortunately for me, it immediately goes sour, and smells kind of like I dumped some of my reviled Jezabel into a vanilla body wash or something. Dry: That's the ticket. the sourness either disapates or adapts to my skin leaving a soft vanilla floral. This is a very adult vanilla, but not in the wink-wink nudge-nudge sense. It's feminine and soft with a little hint of edge and allure. It's not sleazy but it's not innocent, either. Throw: Moderate. Definitely a scent you have to get close up and personal to fully appreciate. Overall: Lovely and unusual. It's very comforting and the type of scent that I feel comfortable wearing anywhere. It smells beautiful and I wouldn't be embarrassed to tell my grandmother's bridge partner the name.

I ordered a bottle unsniffed because I'm crazy that way. Bottle: Uh oh. This reminds me a lot of Drink Me, and Drink Me smelled horrific on my skin. I get a whiff of the treacle, which I think is what's making me think "Drink Me" and a touch of carnation, floral and that peculiar lack-of-scent I associate with amber. Wet: HELLO TREACLE! This threatens to turn into the same satanic butter scent that Drink Me went. Then the amber puts its foot down and this morphs into a beautiful sweet floral. Dry: It has a touch of molasses stickiness, but I like it. Very sweet and floral and sort of cozy and warm. Nice for fall and winter, it probably won't be seeing much action this summer (assuming, of course that it ever stops being cold and rainy here). Although warm, it's not a sunny scent, more of a cozy sweater and book by the fire scent. Throw: Pretty average. Although it's not throwing very far, the scent itself is pretty thick and rich and I think it would be kind of gross to be walking around in a dense scent cloud of it. Overall: Glad I got a bottle. I have a cozy sweater scent for fall.

Bottle: THERE BE MUSK HERE!!! Wet: Never mind, I'm a dirty liar. This starts off as a sugared pear. Very perfectly evocative of cutting a pear in half and dipping the flesh in sugar. It's... nice, I guess. I have a sort of aversion to pear scents ever since buying a pear scented spray lotion in grade eight that dried my skin out so much it started to peel. You all feel richer for having learned that. Dry: Oh, BPAL. I try to not be one of those people who will eventually end up on fandom wank due to my addiction, but you really pull through. This becomes a perfect, sweet vanilla with just a touch of pear sweetness. It is very, VERY sweet, but it's also very feminine and soft and cuddly and warm. It definitely smells like a "Touch me" scent. There's a hint of creaminess to this--it reminds me of Love's Philosophy a bit. Throw: Good enough. I can smell it a few inches from the skin and it's been about half an hour. If anything, once it dries into the skin, it doesn't acquire the dustiness a lot of notes do on me. It's very lush and creamy. Overall: I'm glad to have tried it. My bottle will not be wasted, but I'm also not going to start selling my organs on eBay to get more.

Rosalind has a really grassy-meadowy quality. It's light and green and has a bit of a wildflower throw. I really like it as a summer scent, it's clean and fresh without being linen-y. You might also want to toss Amsterdam into an imp order, although I would rec Rosalind over Amsterdam as Amsterdam has a very true grass note (natch), it also has some aquatic tendencies. Scarecrow is a perfect grass note to my nose. You could try layering it with a light floral like Utrennyaya. Eos has a skin musk note with jasmine, honeysuckle and buttercup. It's a bit more sexy than the other suggestions, but the skin musk lends a really warm, sunny quality to the scent. It really does smell like clean, sun-warmed skin. Two, Five & Seven is more primarily a rose with a touch of green grass, but you might want to try it to see if your skin amps up the green notes.

Imp: A soft, gentle sweet scent. Very pretty and seems very purple-blue to my senses. Wet: Oh no. Antique Lace has a sense of humour and is like, "OH HAI! I IZ MAKING U SMELL LIKE PLASTIC!" Dry: That disappears quickly leaving a soft vanilla-linen with a gorgeous spray of flowers. It's really soft and delicate and lives up to the name. I feel very feminine and girly when I wear this. It's really quite lovely and is one of the most evocative BPALs I've had the pleasure to try. It's womanly without being sexual and just really smells like an elegant and classic woman. I could easily see myself handing this off to my mother or grandmother and not blushing at the name or scent (rare, for me). Throw: A few inches from the skin. Overall: I've got a bottle on the way. This is absolutely gorgeous and feminine and the type of scent that feels at home on my skin. It's just a comfortable, indulgent, gorgeous scent. I understand why it's so popular.

Bottle: Sort of watery and light. I get a general sweet scent and I'm a bit worried that the honey will not agree with me. Wet: It's wavering. This is definitely going to be a certain-times-of-the-month scent. The honey goes a bit sour but the skin musk is developing, and it definitely warms and sweetens the scent. The rest of the scents are sort of intertwined amongst themselves. Dry: This is sexy. Skin musk is so amazing. It smells so natural and attractive and is really... seductive, actually. I'm alone in the house and have no one to test it out on, but this definitely lives up to the formerly "Love Potions" title. It's a soft skin quality with warm honey and the peach and apple are making the frankincense and myrrh behave themselves. Amazing. Throw: Quite a lot, actually. I've had it on for about half an hour and I can smell it wafting up to my nose as I type. Overall: Sexy. I picked this up because I liked the name and it sounded sort of light and close to the skin for summer. I might feel really inappropriate wearing this to work because it just SCREAMS "Take me."

Bottle: Mmm, candied lavender. Wet: More candied lavender. Dry: I came home from the bar slightly tipsy, turned the TV on hoping the movie Gods would bless with a freakin' awesome 1990s disaster movie and received 'Wild Wild West.' "I said awesome, not awful," I muttered disdainfully but watched it anyway. I absently dabbed on some of my TKO and thought about how Steampunk probably went out of a fashion a lot sooner than it should have due to the fact that the only two Steampunk major motion pictures ever made were "Wild Wild West" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen." That's pretty much the last thing I remember because I was out like a light and definitely not tipsy enough for it to be drunk sleep. Definitely lives up to its name. Which sort of sucks because it's a gorgeous scent on my skin. But, you know, sleep aid. Good times! Throw: Of course it's got a great throw and wearlength I wake up smelling. Overall: Fabulous. Absolutely amazing and fabulous and makes me excited to try the rest of the Panacea.

I like Ultraviolet in hot weather. It really blooms and has a lot of throw when it warms up, and the mint is really refreshing on a hot day. Shango is great for the fruity, tropical feeling of it. I also, erm, really like Privilege. On a hot day, the linden really comes out and the vanilla flower note sweetens to create an AMAZING scent.

I was digging through my purse looking for lip balm when... there was an imp there. I keep my travelling imp in a velvet pouch in a zipped compartment in my bag so I furrowed my brow, plucked the imp out and read "Bordello." Bordello is on my wish list because I thought that I had no Bordello. On this rainy Thursday afternoon I found myself staring in confusion at a little bottle of perfume oil in my hand when it hit me: this imp was an imp from God. Or not. But anyway, mystery imp. Imp: Cherry koolaid-ish. I'm getting a very liquid and boozy scent from this. It smells sort of like a shooter I once had. Wet: Pure fruity edible goodness. My god this is gorgeous. The plum is sweet and fruit, the currant adds a great element and the wine and amaretto behave themselves and don't make me smell like I had a three martini lunch (erm... not that I did. I'm just saying). There is a brief plastic phase, but that burns off after about ten seconds on my skin. Dry: The scent stays true. OMFG this is beautiful. It's like if Blood Rose and Blood Countess (two of my favourites) had a baby. It's so bright and sunny and absolutely what I needed as I stare wistfully out the window at the rain. Throw: I put it on at my desk while I was alone in the office. One of my coworkers came back and sniffed the air. "That's one's nice." Overall: What a great afternoon pick me up. This is a beautiful scent and I might have to have a smell off to decide if I'll aquire a bottle of this or Lady M.

Oooh, thanks ivyandpeony and fairynymph! Those are good recs--and I'm glad to see that there is a lot more easily-accessible GC honeysuckle than I thought. And I am definitely going to keep an eye out for Hony Mone. If white rose goes sour on you, fairynymph, we may have found our scent twins.

All right ladies and gents--I've probably got enough perfume to last me until I'm dead but I'd like to be the crazy aunt who has everyone squabbling over her perfume collection. I'm in a honeysuckle cycle. I've tried: Long Night Moon: Turned cheap aquatic on me. I tend to avoid lunacies when I'm looking for specific scents because I often find that I can't pick out single scents but instead get a general mood or evocation. Lolita: Very sexy but can turn dusty lemon verbena at points in the month. Twilight: Love of my life. The lavender is smooth and mature and the jasmine and honeysuckle are a to die for combo. I'm trying to be a good girl and seek it out on the forums before ordering from the lab and of course adding a few more bottles on to make shipping worth it. It's a struggle, though. Chimera: I thnk it's the copal that makes this so addictive. A gorgeous, thick, resinous beautiful scent that isn't too heavy for summer. Eos: I have to be in a mood for the butter quality of this. Very sultry and feminine. The skin musk in this is so gorgeous and so borderline inappropriate for day-to-day moments in my life. Hermia: This is all sweet pink pepper on me. Has a very impressive amount of throw. Litha: A coy version of Eos. Still very sexual to my senses, but has less of that post coital sweaty skin quality and more of a come hither quality. Vampire Tears: A sweet, slightly buttery green scent. Like Eos, I need to be in the mood for the butter. New Orleans: A flighty younger sister to Twilight. I am a sucker for jasmine-honeysuckle combos. So, yes, I've tried the majority of the GC honeysuckles. But I was perusing the ones I found on the search engine and want to see if it's worth seeking out some of the LEs. Anyone have experience with the LEs and the GCs and know if there are any that I would (most likely, no pressure or anything, guys ) like?

Imp: A gentle lavender-citrus. I get hints of patchouli. Seems gentle. Wet: Wilde is not gentle. Wilde pulls you in for a sweet kiss and then bites your tongue to spite you. On my skin it acquires that first-blast-of-cologne scent. I get a heavy, singeing alcohol-based commercial citrus-herbal scent. Dry: The scent remains but less intense. I catch some of the tonka as a sweet base, but the rest is still that indefinite, singeing, weird note I got on first contact. I can't tell if "gentleman's cologne" is a note or not, but this definitely smells like a sort of dandyish gentleman's scent--just amped up weirdly on my skin. Reminds me of a very masculine 4711 or a Crabtree and Evelyn men's scent. Throw: Strong. Overall: Mostly I just find this puzzling. All the notes play nice with my skin and it sounded so promising. However, I know at least three men who would be happy to take this off my hands, so it's not a tragedy, just some enabling.

From the GC, Djinn smells like wet cement and smoke to me--like someone's stranded in a cave and started a fire to keep warm. If your boy can handle civet and annis Black Annis has a very strong mossy/earthy/stoney quality. Like ivyandpeony, I tend to amp moss notes but I did find that Thanatos had an exceptionally strong moss note, and it's complex enough to maybe add some of the other scents surrounding a cave. Of scents I haven't tried, Brimstone may give him the quality he's looking for. Isle of Demons has that vegetation/cold stone/fire combo. Ozymandias is describe as "Dry desert air, dry and hot, passing over crumbling stone megaliths and plundered golden monuments, bearing a hint of the incense of lost Gods on its winds" which sounds promising.

Utrennyaya dries down to a soft, powdery minty-crushed flower scent that smells like mischevous forest nymph skin. It's very soft and pretty and has a very natural and slightly herbal quality to it. Mentioned earlier in the thread, La Petite Mort, Eos and Les Bijoux all have skin musk in them. Wensleydale from Good Omens is "well scrubbed soapy skin and clean cotton." There's a lot of Hexennacht 08 floating around the forums, and it's skin musk with forest, smoke, amber and incense notes--it's may be too heavy for what you want. From the Salon, Schlafende Baigneuse has skin musk with cream and light florals. It's very light and pretty. Another light scent that doesn't have skin musk but has a light, skin-like quality is Severin. the leather adds a "live" note to the whole scent. Tamora often gets compared to the scent of a baby. Scarecrow is sort of in the same vein as Coyote--hot winds and grass. Love Me is a beautiful soft spicy jasmine-honeysuckle scent. My personal skin scent is Kyoto. It dries down to a soft, sweet cherry blossom-sandalwood on me, and stays close to the skin. As it wears down during the day, it starts to smell like just a soft, cherry sweetness on my skin. It's really beautiful, but might be a bit too intense for your preference in the first few hours.

lookingglass, if you can handle vetiver, definitely try Saturnalia. It dries down to a gorgeous mossy/earthy violet scent, like fresh flowers coming into bloom in freshly tilled earth. Bluebeard also contains vetiver, but it's less aggressive thanks to the addition of white musk. Wings of Azrael is a very foresty violet touched with juniper and cypress; it's a balance between pine-y notes and florals. Nocturne and Le Serpent Qui Danse are floral violets through and through, but the each have a base note (vanilla in Le Serpent, and tuberose in Nocturne) that lend them a certain gravitas. Queen Gertrude is incredibly commanding and powerfully feminine. On me, at least, I can barely smell the violet in Faustus, but it's worth trying out for that dark, earthy hints of violet.

Imp: Daffodils that are just past their prime and starting to wilt--sort of sticky, overwhelming pollen scent. Wet: This turns clean and wet on my skin. The daffodils perk back up into peak bloom. Dry: Gorgeous. I definitely get the rainy/aquatic/floral aspects, and it dries down to a very evocative rainstorm scent. The ozone has great lasting power on my skin and give the scent extra throw. This is amazing. Throw: Absolutely amazing for an aquatic. Overall: This was a frimp and I'm glad I got to try it. The description never really appealed to me, but ont he skin it is a masterpiece. If you're new to aquatics or to florals, this is a good one to start with.

Imp: Smoke and cranberries. Wet: This warms up and turns into something completely unlike the scent in the imp. This is all warm cranberries and a touch of ginger. I can faintly smell the lilies and there appears to be some of my beloved red musk in here. Dry: Gorgeous. I'm iffy about fruity scents because they can make me feel like I'm thirteen years old. The musk and lilies keep this from feeling too young and the whole thing is very elegant and refined with a sparkle of fun--like wearing running shoes under a floor-skimming ball gown. Throw: Good. Overall: A beautiful, complex scent. A great addition to my collection, and a good one to try if you like red musk but want a slightly less sensual version.

Imp: Sweet, lush cherries with a hint of wood. Wet: The cherries teasingly warm up and dominate the scent for a few seconds and then flee, leaving a dull woody scent in their wake. Dry: Wood. Slightly spicy wood, but wood nonetheless. Despite the name and the cherries, I think this would be pretty marvelous on a gentleman. Throw: Lots of wood. Wood everywhere. Overall: I was expecting this to go out-of-control woody on me, so I'm not too choked. I'll try swabbing it on the boyfriend and telling him the name makes it subversive.

Imp: Boozy... sort of. Smells like some demented soul decided to make a bar mat show out of frangelico and amaretto. Intense and sweet. Wet: All almond all the time. I get a slight dusty note--assuming that's the myrrh. The classi SO scent is lingering in the background. This still smells very, very edible. Dry: Quite nice, actually. Still very sweet and foody, but it's calmed down into a lovely swirling vanilla-almond-patchouli-musk scent. Very dsitinctive and sufficiently different from the base oil. This is exceedingly sexy. Throw: Excellent. Overall: I just reviewed King Cobra and said I didn't need a bottle. Then promptly bought a bottle. My wallet is afraid--I may be haunted by Asp Viper for the next few days.