Shollin

First sniff: Wet bubblegum! This is exactly the fake-sweet scent I get from a lot of the lotus blends. Wearing: Yup, very much bubblegum. Pink juicy bubblegum.

First sniff: Light, fresh and airy, with a little bit of soapiness. Wearing: Lightly, sweetly floral, and slightly powdery. It goes pure violet powder for a little while as it dries, but the final version is gorgeous. Softly sweet and almost foody.

First sniff: Chilly incense, and a little bit of spice. Wearing: I’m thinking the darkness underneath might be vetiver, but it’s nicely restrained. Very much cinnamon on top.

Not having access to the powder and incense in question, or to white and pink candles, I couldn't use this properly. But I did try it on at night. First sniff: Sweet, green, herbal mint. Wearing: This is almost crème de menthe-y on my skin. It’s a gorgeous sweet mint with a hint of darkness underneath.

First sniff: Dark green, deep brown. Pine and earth. So very evocative. Wearing: This is what I wish Burial had smelled like on me – dark, brooding pine and earth.

First sniff: Silken-soft, airy, billowy, light-pink floral. Wearing: It’s just very, very soft and airy. Floral mousse (not the stuff you put in your hair, but the stuff you eat). Very pale and very pretty, and just sweet enough.

First sniff: This is so familiar. It’s bright and fizzy and breezy and light. It’s lemon-lime soda with a smidge of peppermint. Wearing: Mintyfizzybright. I really like this. Even though I never did figure out what the heck it reminds me of.

First sniff: Red berries and caramel. It’s warm, sultry and sweet. Wearing: It’s still predominantly caramel, but the fruitiness stays underneath. After the initial wet scent-burst fades a bit, the amazingly gorgeous coconut shows up. My guy’s reaction: “Can I get my nose surgically attached to your neck?” So yeah, I think this one’s a keeper.

First sniff: I’m Mister Icicle, I’m Mister Ten Below… Yeah, this one is coldmintyfresh, a blast o’mint that runs straight up my nose to my brain and yells WAKE UP! Wearing: As instructed, just on my palms. It didn’t last very long, but the scent is definitely stimulating.

First sniff: Hmm. I remember really liking The Chariot when I smelled it at coulrophobe’s meet’n’sniff, but this time it smells quite a lot like licorice, which I don’t like. It’s sweeter, but still licorice-y. Wearing: Yep, definite licorice. How very strange. I wonder what changed?

Carnation is one of the most well-traveled single notes out there (third behind Honey and Vanilla Bean, according to review numbers), and somehow I’ve never managed to get my hands on it. Until cupide430 sent me hers to try. First sniff: Oh, I was right. I don’t remember ever smelling an actual carnation, but there’s a spicy floral note in all the carnation blends (Alice, Love in the Asylum, etc.) and I always figured that’s what it was. And here it is, a little greener. It’s strong, too. Wearing: Spicy awesomeness. I adore this.

First sniff: Almost without exception, lilies are strong and soapy to my nose, and this one is the same. Big white fleshy petals and a strong soapy floral scent. Wearing: It’s more of a clean scent on me, rather than soapy, which is a pleasant surprise. Fades very quickly, but it’s nice.

First sniff: Wow. Oh, wow. Ohgawdamightytakemenow. This came in a round robin swap and I’m whining at the thought of sending it back. The opening is a little bit of spice and an almost almond-y scent, which is unexpected but awesome… as I keep inhaling it just gets rounder and juicier and by the time I run out of breath I’m surprised I don’t have juice dribbling down my chin and warm fruit-fuzz brushing my cheek. It’s reminded me I need to wear March Hare a heck of a lot more often. Wearing: It’s just so juicy and so fruity and so fuzzy. I NEED MORE.

First sniff: I don’t know why I’m surprised that this is so flowery. It is, after all, the flower of an apple tree. (Yup, that’s me, Master of the Obvious.) Wearing: Slightly sweet, fresh green floral… and ever so slightly soapy. I keep expecting to smell apple, but it just isn’t here. (That's not a complaint - that's a reflection of how off-base my expectations are. Apple blossoms apparently don't smell like apples!)

First sniff: Hot damn, that’s popcorn. Buttery, salty popcorn. My mom swears up and down that Spooky smells like popcorn to her... I should let her sniff this one. Wearing: Popcorn, yes indeedy-oh. It’s amazingly true… but I don’t think I’ll ever really need to smell like popcorn.

First sniff: Melon… bright fresh juicy melon. Wearing: Fruity green melon. That’s about all I can say, but I like.

First sniff: Fruity bubblegum or Jolly Ranchers. It’s hard-candy sweet. Green apple, maybe. Wearing: It’s very, very bubblegum-y. Exactly like pink squishy bubblegum, the kind with the little drop of syrup inside. And as it dries just a little bit… oh dear. Is that civet? Whatever it is, it Really Does Not Like Me.

First sniff: An oddly clean-smelling, fresh-air rose scent. Wearing: Pale watery rose. It actually works on me, and there are few rose scents that do, but I really only need one because I so rarely feel like smelling like rose… and Rose Red reigns supreme.

First sniff: Soft, clean florals, bordering on soapy. Wearing: Fresh, fruity floral. It’s a very quiet scent without much throw. As it dries, the pear blossoms into something gorgeous and sweet… this is very much like what I hoped Juliet would be on me, before the sweetpea turned it soapy.

First sniff: Er. Bubblegum sprinkled with black pepper?! Wearing: A two-word review a la Laurel: Fruity Weirdness. It’s very orange, it’s a little bit soapy, and there’s the pepper on top. Orange is usually pretty good on me, but this is just a little too strange.

First sniff: Sharp wood and dark vetiver. Wearing: I don’t think I’ve managed to write a decent review of any of the vetiver-heavy scents… they hit my skin, they turn to swamp, they go in the swap pile. Sorry, Death.

First sniff: Rich soft floral with a touch of deep sweetness. Wearing: A vanilla-carnation explosion, backed by muted roses.

First sniff: Mmmmmm. Dragon’s blood, I’m almost sure of it. A soft, quiet, restrained – and yet smoldering – dragon’s blood scent. Wearing: Quite sweet on my skin. It’s reminiscent of The Living Flame – a coral-red vaguely floral sweetness that I can’t quite pin down. It gets a bit spicy as it dries. ADDED Jan. 27: I got a sniff of the original Fire Eater, the prototype that a few lucky folks got their hands on, in a round-robin swap. It's... First sniff: Completely different from the released version. It’s quite a bit softer and sweeter – it reminds me of honeysuckle. Wearing: Somehow it’s like a round fruity jasmine. It goes very floral as it dries. Which is good – I didn’t need to fall in love with another unfindable scent.

First sniff: How. Very. Strange. It’s muchmuch softer than I ever imagined, almost an aquatic ozoney scent. Wearing: Well, there is a little bit of a metallic tang here, lurking around the edges. But mostly it’s a fresh, clean, storm-washed air scent, totally invigorating. I expected metal and wood and weirdness… very glad I tried it!

First sniff: fr00t m00n!!1!!!11! It smells like those gummi LifeSavers! I haven’t a clue how this is going to behave on my skin, but the vial-scent just makes me laugh. Wearing: The scent on me is more of a tropical-fruit thing than anything I recognise as berry or citrus or apple. It’s all mangoey papayaey guavaey goodness. Once again, I find myself wanting to find a tea that tastes like this smells.