nevermore

I adore Skadi. I was nervous of the berries in the description, but I'm very glad I ordered it. It smells like walking into a house with a real Christmas tree and mulled cider on the stove, after being out sledding or skating all afternoon. On me, the berries and pine are most prominent, with a touch of spice. The "snowy" notes are apparant in the bottle, but not on my skin. Still, it's lovely.

This is now one of my OMFG BPALs - I put it on yesterday afternoon, and I instantly knew I wanted a bigger bottle of it. It's gorgeous. On me, Black Pearl is about half coconut and half floral - I can't really smell any of the hazelnut, and the musk isn't very strong. It is quite tropical smelling - perfect for winter days when I have to wear about 6 layers of clothing so I don't freeze (like today). I think it would be ideal for summer too - it's light enough that it wouldn't suffocate people. I bigger bottle for sure!

I missed this one when it was up for sale from the lab, but through the magic that is the swap board, I managed to get my hands on a bottle and an imp of the King. I was a little leery at first of the fruit in the King, because my skin tends to do bad things with fruity scents. However, it all turned out for the best - the blackberries and plum are only prominent for the first little while. Even then, they aren't too fruity. The final scent is a rather sweet, slightly resin-y, wood sort of scent. I can't really pick out any specific notes at any point after the drydown, but it's lovely.

I'm keeping the bottle for myself, but I have passed the imp along to someone who I know will enjoy it ...

In the vial, Calliope smells exactly like a drink I was recently introduced to - orange juice, sprite and a shot of amaretto. Quite lovely, even if it makes me feel like drinking.

On my skin, however, the almond disappears and it turns to a nice herb-y orange. It's quite light, but still pleasant. It's really a shame that I can't get anymore of this, as I find it's a nice subtle scent for wearing to work.

In the imp, Horn of Plenty smells exactly like Voodoo (in Bewitching Brews) - vanilla, almond, lime and vetiver. It retains this for a while on my skin before morphing into vanilla, vetiver, and the rather herby note that all the Voodoo blends seem to share. It's quite nice smelling, but I can't comment on it's effectiveness yet, as I haven't worn it very much.

I so wanted to like this one, but it really isn't me.

In the bottle, Dragon's Milk smells positively yummy - vanilla with a hint of cherry and spice. However, my skin amps up the dragon's blood and turns it strong and bitter, which overpowers the vanilla and honey. The other dragon blends I've tried do the same thing. I think I would do well to avoid it from now on. *sigh*

I recived an imp of Chaos Theory I from omly (Thanks!).

When I first opened it, I was a little hesitant to try it, as it smelled exactly like the pink bubble gum you get for 5 cents (which is not something I particularly want to smell like). But, I decided I had to try it at least once before I swapped it, and I'm very glad I did - it smells exactly like apple pie with lots of cinnamon. It is the perfect autumn scent. I think it would make a wonderful room scent too, but I'm not going to waste any of my precious imp on that.

I just recived this in a swap in the mail this afternoon, and had to try it. In the bottle, Queen smells like a mix of Crucible of Courage (the green, woody part) and Snake Oil (the vanilla). On my skin, it goes through a series of odd transformations - straight vanilla to lemon/vanilla/anise (similar to the anise-y note in Black Cat) to something akin to Hellfire (but less masculine and not quite as pronounced) to a final scent of vanilla, a touch of green, and a touch of lemon. It's different, but I'm really enjoying it. Another big bottle I think.

Edit - I had to update this review, in order to mention how well it gets me attention. I think the past few times I've been out to the bar, I've had about 4 guys offer to buy me drinks, when usually nobody does.

I'm from Western Canada, and I think my Blue Moon was in that backlog. It was reshipped on September 10 and I received it on October 13. It got opened by Customs ( ), but that's no reason for it to take more than a month to get to me! Stupid Post Office!

Red Devil, I imagine - I'm going to wear my normal clothes, plus a pair of devil horns that I have (my old standby costume, as I haven't had time to come up with something new this year!). Or possibly Dia de los Muertos if it's here in time, but I doubt it.

I ordered an imp of this in my last order, as pineapple is one of the few fruity scents I can tolerate and I wanted to try it out with Tarot - The Star (for a pina colada type scent). I had to try it by itself first though, and I was amazed. I was anticipating just straight up pinapple, but the imp I have has more of a creamy scent over top of the pineapple - like the fruit was cut up and served with ice cream. It's lovely. I think I may have to splurge and buy a bigger bottle.

I have to second (or third) the recs for Hellfire and Hecate. Both are slightly sweet and musky, but in completely different ways. Old Kathmandu is also quite lovely (spicy/smokey/inscensy), and not as strong as the first two.

EDA - I also have to suggest Voodoo, which is spicy and gorgeous and which I feel compelled to suggest to everyone!

In the vial, all I could smell was violets. And on my skin, it's the same for the first hour or so. After that, the tonka bean (I think) and the cloves come out making a lovely sweet violet. I don't think I'll wear it enough to consider a bigger bottle, but I will probably buy another imp once this one is gone.

Oddly enough, I had the same burning/redness this morning when I put on Tarot - The Star. I've worn it before, and it's never burned or turned red. It stopped burning after a few minutes, but I'm still slightly red. I have no idea what might be causing it, because I can't smell any cinnamon (which is really the only thing I've reacted to before).

Tombstone, on me, is a woody, slightly dusty vanilla. It’s perfect for putting on after many of the other scents have faded – it smells quite nice with Voodoo and Snake Oil. I don’t think I need a bigger bottle right away, as I made my imp into a solid perfume, which will last for quite some time.

I really did want to like this one, but unfortunately, it really didn’t like my skin. In the bottle, Queen of Sheba is almond-y and spicy and smells like something I would really like. However, it turned into a really dry and bitter almond on my skin, and stays that way for quite a while. Eventually, the spices come out slightly and the almond recedes, but it takes too long for the scent to get there for me to wear it. I’m going to have to swap this one. Stupid skin chemistry.

I’m not particularly fond of lilies (allergies), but I decided to give this one a try, just for fun. The lilies are quiet prominent in this one, but with a resinous base. I really enjoy this scent, though I’m not sure if it’s “me” enough that I would wear it out often. I’m going to keep the imp around, and see how much I wear it.

This reminds me slightly of Goneril – but green and slightly fruity instead of floral. The raspberry leaves give a slightly fruity and green edge to the cedarwood (which is the prominent note). I think that Goneril is a nicer cedarwood scent with my chemistry, but I will certainly use up my imp of Alecto.

Wet, this smells like lime meringue pie with a little coconut sprinkled on top. Once it dries though, it’s mostly coconut with a touch of lime and maybe some lemon. The coconut is a very authentic smelling coconut – like the sweetened dried coconut that you buy for baking. Very nice and summery.

Aquatic and violet, and very calming. It’s a light, summery sort of scent, but you don’t need to put a whole lot on, because it wafts like crazy. I enjoy wearing it, and I may need a larger bottle once my imp is done.

Love Me is a really odd combination of scents that work really well together. I think it’s a mixture of jasmine, some spice that may or may not be cinnamon, and something to sweeten it (I think it might be a little vanilla). I tried it one night before I went to bed and as I lay in bed reading, I kept smelling something that wasn’t jasmine or spice, but was light and sweet. I really like it.

I trade for this one, solely based on all the other lovely reviews, and I’m very please I did. Regan is really not my usual taste in perfume (which generally runs to spicy or incense-y), but I’m really enjoying it as a lighter summer perfume. It’s floral in the vial, but rather. Once it hits my skin though, the vanilla comes out some, but the orchid stays prominent. It’s gorgeous.

It seems that orchids are one of the few florals that actually work on me (violets are nice too, but many florals just turn to nondescript department store perfumes). The orchid in Regan, Queen Mab, and Goneril really agrees with my body chemistry. I shall have to try some more of the orchid blends, since they seem to work so well on me.

In the vial and for the first minute or two on my skin, this smells oddly like dill pickles. After it dries though, Goneril turns into a lovely combination of geranium and cedar wood, with the orchid showing up after a few hours. I really love this one (after the dill pickle smell fades). It also has quite good staying power, for a floral anyway.

Between Tigerlily and Kostnice, my terrible hatred for lilies has been completely overcome. I’m terribly allergic to the actual flowers, and that made me rather hate the smell by association. However, Tigerlily is so nice and light, that it makes me feel bad about avoiding scents with lily in them for so long. In the bottle and on my skin it’s the same, slightly sweet floral that lasts quite a long time. I don’t know if I like it enough for a larger bottle, but I’ll use up my imp and decide from there.

I really like this one. It was on my “want” list simply based on the name, and I was glad I took the chance to try it without knowing the notes. The gardenia and spices mix quite nicely. It’s a very unique scent, and took me a few tries to decide if I liked it or not.