blu°

This is primarily floral on me, too. And I agree that it's probably yellow flowers in here. I'm quite surprised because I always figured the Hermit to be rather herbal woodsy and a kind of dry scent. But it's a vivid springtime floral. The first thing I smell when opening the decant is narcissus. It's very obvious and the only note I can discern from sniffing the vial. After application, there's still narcissus alongside a note that reminds Prague - so I guess it might be crocus or snowdrop. I'm leaning towards crocus. Maybe there's a faint trace of herbs underneath this - but really all I can make out with certainty are florals. I'm thinking there might be an itty bit of rose thrown into this as well, but I might be wrong on that one. A few moments later the scent is turning surprisingly creamy - there's something soft and mellow and sweet hidden underneath that is starting to define the character of the whole blend. I'm thinking an amber of some kind or something milky... Then I start to smell the carnation. It's definitely carnation in here. I'm reminded of Alice and Gypsy Queen now. While it's still not completely dry now, I can see that the carnation is taking over. The even smooth surface that had been there a moment ago has vanished and the structur is rougher now - kind of sparkling and a tiny bit powdery. This is a lot like Gypsy Queen meets Prague on me - probably with a dash of green herbs or woods or maybe just white musk that is making this lighter and less cloying than an actual mixture of those two would probably turn out. It's a lovely spring time scent which to me is rather yellow in feel than purple, but I admit there are some pink shades mixed into it. And some green. Really nice and kind of dreamy and innocent. I like it.

I can't believe my beloved Temple of Dreams is getting so many bad reviews! I've searched the whole thread just now and was relieved to actually find some reviews that mirrored my experience with it. I love it and wear it every night, not so much because it would do anything for my sleeping and dreaming but just because I find the scent to be so very cozy and comforting. On me it's this dreamy sweet and soft incensey floral... The lavender is not sharp at all to my nose but whispery soft and mellow. Somnus was harsh and boring on me, but Temple of Dreams has me enamoured ever since I first tried it. Because of the regular use this will definitely be the first bottle I'll ever finish. My boyfriend curiously thinks it's an aphrodisiac, but I guess that's just because I wear it every night. Some people said they smelled basil in ToD, which makes me want to smell the Basil SN. I happen to love Antony, too, but never could identify the basil note in it.

Sultana is the same as Blackberry Bath Bomb, and as I recall the blackberry note in BPAL is very similar. I believe that the floral in the two is frankenscense. I would do a search on the BPAL site for blackberry. Samhain smelled very similar to me when it was fresh, but aged it is very different. I just thought the other day that BBB really has a LOT of frankincense. I'm not so sure about the similarity to Sultana of Soaps, but if you want to recreate the BBB scent you might want to try layering Glasgow or another blackberry blend with Cathedral.

Antonino makes me think LUSH, too. Not so much a specific product, but the general LUSH kind of scent, must be the vetiver and lavendar and citrus combination.

Eshe for me is a difficult one - quite complex and a big morpher... At first it's overwhelmingly sharp, almost medicinally sharp, slightly soapy and cold from the embalming herbs (I cannot wear Embalming Fluid) and probably the jasmine... This floral/herbal sharpness just sits on top of the scent and overpowers everything else for the first hour or so. It's not a headach-inducing floral kind of sharp, more the herbal-soapy kind, a bit like tea notes usually turn out on me. Thin, papery, cold, soapy, sharp, to name some adjectives. I then lost track of the scent for some time, until suddenly I noticed a rich warm resinous something wafting up from my skin. That must have been about 2 to 3 hours after application. Eshe had lost all her sharpness and now had dried down to merely the resinous and woody base notes. I really love this stage, but the scent had become quite weak at this point. Overall, I think this is a classy perfume. Very complex, with a surprising turn. Maybe if I'd wear the embalming herbs a bit better, I'd be totally in love with this scent.

Definitely try Black Phoenix, and maybe Asp Viper. ETA: Oh, and don't worry about Forspecial's suggestion of Baron Samedi being too masculine if you want to try it. It's lovely, spicy and warm and as far as I'm concerned, perfectly gender-neutral.

Ok, this hasn't been a new one for me. I've had this imp for at least 1 and a half year. It had been stuck into my imp box, one of the eternal imps that I'd be forever undecided about. I eventually forgot about it, and one day it had even made it into the little pile of used imps that I'm frimping out in swaps. However, it fell into my hands yesterday, and I thoroughly enjoyed wearing it throughout the whole day. I kept getting these amazing, uplifting spicy wafts from it, and then immediately put it back with the imps I'm planning to convert into bottles sooner or later. I remembered it being a kind of close-to-the-skin, flat and bitter scent. Strong almond, maybe a bit of narcissus, and dark. Yesterday I noticed for the first time how spicy it is. I'm not quite sure if that's cinnamon or maybe bay rum. It made me think of Port-au-Prince or Baron Samedi a lot. And I think the spiciness has become stronger within the run of the last 1 and a half years, because I didn't notice it earlier. At no point - not even when I first tested this - did I get cherry from it. The dominant note always appeared to be a strong bitter almond with a poisonous feel. The aged oil is that poisonous almond with some spice to it and some depth that migth be due to musks or some kind of resin. I don't notice anything akin to narcissus anymore, though I still suspect it to be in here. However, that spiciness is taking over aged Black Phoenix on my skin pretty soon and that's how it stays until it vanishes a good 8 to 9 hours later. I really love this now and it'll probably be part of my next lab order.

This is indeed fun and fruity and lovely. I'm not quite sure it's something I'd wear very often, because I tend to favour the darker, heavier blends, but for what it is, it's quite nice. It makes me think of summer and going swimming. After an initial splash of bright sparkly fruit it dries down to primarily a bright fruity chypre kind of scent. It does remind me of Fae a little, and maybe also of Titania. Something about the woody patchouli, bergamot and sage contrasting the bright fruit.

This seems to not work on my skin. Somebody mentioned Champaca flower and I think that should be the culprit for that metallic and stingingly bitter scent I smell close to my skin. Mama-Ji on me stays light and close to the skin, probably because the Champa never blooms on me but collapses into a kind of flat scent, and doubles over into the strong concentrated essence of that dreaded metallic bitterness. I've also been wary of nutmeg, ever since test-wearing Laudanum, so there might actually be two players in here ruining Mama-Ji for me. After a while the sharp bitterness, which is actually more of a bittersweet-ness, recedes a little. What is left is a light and kind of murky skin scent with a soft but kind of high-pitched floral incense and a dry dusty spice coating. At this point it's not all that bad, but I still don't think it'll find its way onto my bottle-wishlist. I wasn't fond of other spicy florals (Harlot, Lucy's Kiss) neither, nor of Kali, so I'm not all that surprised to not fall head over heels for Mama-Ji.

This is making me think new Barbie dolls out of all things for some reason... Consequently a piece of slam poetry art I once read comes to my mind. It went something like, "...together with my crazy cousin X who confessed was in love with Derrick and used her Barbies' feet for masturbating when she was little." So, ehem... weird associations aside, I really like Arachnina. She's lovely and deep and dark and sensual and mysterious, and I'll probably get a bottle sooner or later.

To me this doesn't smell like Midnight Mass or the Penitence so much, but I get an ever so elegantly feminized version of the reedy wood note in Danse Macabre and a really strong incensey backbone that resembles TAL blends - mostly Fiery Wall of Protection - and a bit the Liber Resh vel Helios blends. Maybe there's a bit of a soft white musk in here that is making this be so feminine despite all these serious and strong resins. Finally it's like a more feminine Danse Macabre, breezy, incensey and powdery. Quite wearable, more so than Danse Macabre It's quite complex, and like with most CD blends, I've got the feeling they require much longer testing periods.

My experience with Dolce Stil Nuovo is much like edensixthday's. I can hardly smell anything at all. And I can tell there's a lot of white musk in here. It's like a dessert made from white musk, and the florals are just decoration on top of a huge bowl. I do notice a trace of carnation, but that's about it. However, I'm glad I had a chance to try this scent before it went away, if only because I can be sure not to have passed by something I might have loved.

Yes, probably... hope I'm not ruining it for anyone. Myself, I've long given up to get my hands on it again. As for the Olive Branch, there's mandarine in it, isn't it? And I think there must be some heavy musk or ambers, maybe even black musk, too. Dunno if that helps anyone. Another one: I think some of the Snakes smell terribly Lush. Interestingly it's those ones that I thought were supposed to smell dark and mysterious... King Cobra smells like a mix between Mme Moriarty and Silky Undies, and Death Adder reminded me immediately of I Should Coco soap. They are very girly scents on me and feel like something that's coloured pink.

This will probably help very little, but Venom (disc) seemed to be a bit similar to Sex Bomb to me.

I imagined Death Adder would be kind of a dark and dirty blend, but what it most reminds me of is Lush's I Should Coco soap. That's fine since I love that soap but it was kind of a surprise. The vetiver in here is not of the dark motoroily variant and resembles more the dusty grassy vetiver from Lush products, too, so that's probably why. The black coconut smells sort of pink-ish to my nose, and altogether this is a powdery girly scent to me, not a dark and menacing one. It feels a bit calming instead. I really like this, though, and would be happy to get my hands on a bottle.

I like this. It's soft, dreamy, lush, juicy rose wrapped up in a powdery sugared fluffiness. Kind of like a whitened Antique Lace and quite a part of what makes Alice. Huge amount of white musk, though, I'd say. White musk sometimes turns a bit bitter on me. I like this more than Faith, quite naturally since I don't usually like violets, but I also think, that this is more complex and interesting. I guess there might be orris in both twins, and: orris + rose is more interesting to my nose than orris + violet. I'm tempted to get a set, though.

Wow, clove was pretty much all I could smell in this for most of the wear length. Very STRONG clove. But nice. In the very end I could smell something mossy, but that was only after several hours after applying. All the other notes probably changed the quality of the clove, probably softened it, but I wouldn't have known that they were there if not from reading the description. When I first applied the Wild Men, I thought: Huh, masculine! But it mellowed and later on I found myself with my nose stuck to my wrists. Such an amazing, gorgeous heat and spiciness. I don't usually like strong spicy scents as various spices smell bad on my skin, also I don't like very dry scents. Somehow though, cloves manage to smell fiery and hot, yet a bit humid/juicy to me. As I walked home from work that day (having applied an hour before I left), I noticed several people on the metro and in the street turning their heads... sniffing... trying to find out where the scent came from. So: it's kind of spectacular, very warm, very cozy, if you think spicy = sexy, it's very much so, too. I love it lots, but am a bit unsure if I'd really wear it that much. However, I'll put some on my beloved man right now. He's teh spice man. lol.

This smells indeed heavenly. Very Snake Oil-esque. A true deep vanilla and tonka that's utterly delicious. The leather is ever so soft and I don't mind it for now. Still, I'm wary, as leather often feels ok to me first, but then later it'll just get on my nerves as it sits on my skin like a strange element that never ever melds, adapts or changes... But for now, I like the Western Diamondback and hope I'll be able to enjoy the parts I love about it.

I wasn't all that thrilled by Green Tree Viper, I must admit. It's a nice blend, no question, and probably my problem is that my father wears minty scents a lot. Although GTV doesn't strike me as in-your-face masculine, I couldn't rid of the feeling that I'm wearing my dad's perfume while I had it on. It might come down to a chemistry collision thing on that very day, and I'll give it another try, but it didn't feel like a me-scent at all.

What everybody says: Cocoa covered Snake Oil. And very deep Snake Oil. Like it was aged already. On me, the cocoa stays almost throughout till the end, and it's a gorgeous dark, sweet, languid embrace around me. I ordered a bottle because it's so delicious, but I fear, I might not really wear it that much, because it might feel like a bit much on most days.

This will be a kind of dodgy review, but well... I was surprised to like this so much, is basically what I wanted to say. I can't usually wear tobacco well, so I was wary this might be really bad on me. Instead, it isn't. Every single note is lovely and deep and me too, couldn't stop sniffing my wrists when I wore it. The wet tobacco must be really different from other tobaccoes. Also, the opium smoke in here is quite gorgeous. It's a tad bitter, a tad sweet, but not too much so, it deepens and sweetens the woody/tobacco-ey base. A very wearable, warm and cozy, also sexy, blend. I've already ordered my bottle.

I'm getting completely different results on this one. While the berry is recognizable and steady, it's not overpowering the scent for me. The quality of the berry is tart, high-pitched, but kind of pale, and just lends a tart fruity tinge to the blend. It's not a deep deep berry scent on me. I think I must be amping the cardamom, because this becomes a very dense breeze kind of a scent on me. Slightly citrussy, but with that almost woody smooth thing going on which transports the scent about half a mile around me. (This aspect has an ever so slight masculine edge to my nose, but not too much so.) Still, it's not overpowering or anything. It seems to be a pretty good work scent, and I go complimented on it being a pretty nice work scent, too. It also feels extremely energizing to me, in a good way (read: it's not making me feel hectic or nervous). It makes me work steady and calm, and also kind of effective I think. This weekend I'm working because there's an international workshop on Atlantic languages at our department at uni, and I think Australian Copperhead will be the perfect companion. Scentwise, I'm reminded of Ra and Moxie. There's not really any Snake Oil base that I can make out, but I guess it might show up after a bit of aging. Love it, will probably get more than one bottle, if my financial situation allows for it.

This is primarily a softened and sugared Snake Oil on me. The Snake Oil is still fresh and light. Champaca is sort of iffy on my skin, and at first it turns incredibly sharp, metallic and sweet. The sharpness fades after a few minutes, thank goodness, and only the sweetness with a vague incensey feel stays. The frankincense in Temple Viper is hardly noticeable on me, it just lends a sort of powdery finish to the blend and softens the edges. Sugar cane is noticeable as a sugar coating to the blend. It's not bad, but I don't love it yet. Will let this one age a little and see how well we get along then. I guess it all depends on how the champaca develops with age, as I'm sure to love all the other notes when they'll have had time to settle and ripen a bit.

This smells like bottled spring / early summer. Very fitting for a Valentine's Day scent, and a really interesting scent, too. It's mainly about the blackberry and lavender on me, with a sweet and slightly tart sparkliness from the honey note. Altogether it reminds me of some type of candy or something, not sure which. At times I'm thinking, the honey doesn't sit well on my skin, and I'm not sure yet how well we'll get along on the long run, but I like it... quite a lot right now. Very sweet and girly, a bit dreamy, and with a lot of bright and sunny in it.

Endymion is a soft and dreamy pear blend, that seems to be meant to be sort of masculine. It's really soft and light, though, and rather gender-neutral in my opinion. Still, you might want to try it because of the pear.