blu°

A mechanical construct: illustrating strong work ethic, determination, creativity, and innovation. Copper gears, brass cogs, fused wiring, scorched iron, and motor oil. This was a lot nicer than I had thought. I usually don't like ozone or cologne-like blends much, but what ozone is in Mechanical Phoenix is nicely grounded and the cologne note is light and bright. Although they aren't really similar scent-wise, I get a similar feeling from this as from House of Mirrors. There's a really nice vetiver in Mechanical Phoenix, if I'm not mistaken, but the total really is more than its components in here. It's lovely. Very much a working blend, metal, oil, drops of sweat. I've already swapped my decant, but if I'd tried it before agreeing to swap, I'd probably kept it for a while. I won't bother to find another one as it really isn't something I'd wear. However, if I had somebody, like, a guy, I'd be tempted to make him wear this and only this.

I'm reviewing this thanks to the wonderful Inanna9 who gifted me with an almost empty bottle that had just enough left to test wear it twice or probably three times. Big love!!! From the bottle and freshly applied I can certainly detect the Lily of the Valley which is one of my notes of doom. It usually makes anything smell like a hotel's guest soap on me. In here, though, it quickly recedes into the background making place for a wonderful velvety soft and warm vanilla-tonka-oak-amber that feels indeed like others already mentioned glowing and a bit golden. The brighter notes of the lily of the valley, apricot and ginger (apricot and ginger never really showed up on me at all) seem to mingle and wave faintly in and out only to leave a sparkly dusting (This has also already been described by somebody much more fluent in the English language than me. ). So, nevermind my lack of words, this is a fantastic blend. It does bear some similarity with Black Lace's vanilla spun cotton note, but is much brighter, and a tad more classically feminine. A snuggly scent, perfect for lazing around at home, cuddling on the couch, or just wrapping yourself in an additional warm blanket when going out on a cold winterday.

I was pretty sure to like this and jumped straight to a bottle when I saw one offered for swaps. However, I should make a note to myself that blends with labdanum just don't work on/for me. Like theseagrows and a couple of other reviewers have put it, this smells just a bit sour. Let me add that it also smells a bit bitter and stays kind of 'flat' to my nose. I recognize this scent from other blends with labdanum, and have enough good experiences with opium notes to totally blame the labdanum for this. Event Horizon also reminds me, like yeahbutnobut, of Schwarzer Mond, another incense blend with labdanum that didn't work for me. I had hoped for something a tad more like Darkness, which I love dearly, maybe a bit smokier than that one. There certainly is some similarity, but I definitely prefer Darkness over Event Horizon. This one will have to go travelling again!

Me too, and I'd never ever considered before to order a bottle just for the label... er, ok, I did consider to order Pink Moon 07 because of the label... Well, and this one. However, it sure as anything wouldn't work on me at all with all the honey and honeysuckle and jasmine.

I thought I had already reviewed this scent but it looks like I haven't. When I first got my bottle a few weeks ago, I didn't much like Midnight Kiss. The nicotiana was very sharp, the cocoa very dusty, and altogether there seemed to be missing something that grounded it. Looks like a bit of aging did the trick. When I yesterday re-tested it to see if I really should be swapping it, it blew my socks away. The cocoa and musk and blood wine have blended into each other and have totally rounded the scent out. The nicotiana is still noticable and heady but with the new roundness to the blend doesn't feel as agressive anymore. This scent is so RED!!! A deep deep wine-berry red that I really enjoy. As for comparisons, this feels a bit like the hypothetical offspring of The Tell-Tale Heart and Arachnina to me.

This was the one blend from the oils new at Dark Delicacies that was an immediate must-have. Roses, moss, dirt, incense... For a lover of Zombi, Thanatos and Rose Cross there was no way to not want this. So, when I today got my package from GRR's will call pick up, this was on my wrists in no time. First, from the bottle, there's slightly sour roses. A rose different from Zombi, or maybe it's the woods mixing into it. It's really predominantly rose to my nose. As well from the bottle as fresh on my skin. Very similar to Zombi, but with a more stately, more refined and elegant thing going on due to the ebony wood. I'd say it's slightly more masculine than Zombi maybe, not that either one of these were very gender specific, but this would just be a tad more wearable for a man IMO. Something in the wood/rose combo reminds me of Pulcinella and Teresina, something that's just a little bit sour. The rose in this is not a sweet rose, but smells blighted indeed. Withered before the bloom. Very melancholy feel with it. The earth note is lovely, though I don't smell a great difference to the earth note in Zombi... I also cannot comment on the incense or mosses, as The House is mainly about the rose/wood/earth on me. (As an aside note, I'm sitting in an Internet Café trying hard to sniff my wrists without making a fool of myself) For now I think I'll have to wear this a few times more to make up my mind about that wood note. It sure is evocative and makes for a nice take on the roses-moss-dirt theme that I so love in Zombi, but I'm not yet sure if it's something I'll feel comfortable with on the long run.

This doesn't smell earthy to me at all. It's an aquatic. A green aquatic. Not sure if sweet or salt water, but it's water. Especially after drydown I get this watery, slightly sparkly, slightly salt-crust thing that so reminds me of some other scent... wish I'd know which one. Maybe Danube? Or Amsterdam? I'm also thinking Midnight though that's not an aquatic scent. Maybe it was Pontarlier as someone else mentioned that.... But Pontarlier wasn't as slick as this one. Yes, it's slick. It's almost slimy. A slimy green thing. I'm sorry, it just doesn't work on me at all. But then I'm not your typical Virgo (courtesy of jarvenpa), am I? It's got an air of grand flowers, don't know why. It doesn't work on me much the same way lilies don't. That probably doesn't make much sense. Whatever, I'm glad to have found a decant since I was sooo curious, and also to complete my collection of 07 zodiacs.

Just a mini review that basically boils down to chiming in with all the others who are raving about it. One gorgeous blend, this one. And I'm not usually one for the tobacco-y, musky blends. This is soft and fluffy with the cotton and vanilla-musk. I don't perceive it as "clean-smelling" at all. It's mostly warm and snuggly. The vanilla-musk throws some inches around me while the musk and tobacco and incense, but especially the musk grow warmer and rounder, and more and more delish with time. Glad to have snugged a bottle.

Almost exactly what Tania said. Juicy sweet incense from imp and first applied, then soon I get the sharp heady florals. However, I do like Tuberose in other blends (Delight), as well as plumeria (Xiuhtecuhtli), so the specific white florals ruining this for me must be the azucenas (lilies), possibly the tiger lily, and almost definitely the Angel's Trumpet. When I grabbed the chance to order a decant I had hoped that maybe those would be outweighed by the other florals or the incense and sage, but they are not. Lucky me! (considering the amount of current LE bottles on my wishlist)

Lotus root, mogra, mango, tamarind, cardamom, clove, almond milk, cashew, rice flower, coconut, supari, raisins, and incense crafted from aloeswood, red sandalwood, cedar, and spikenard I'm positively surprised by this scent! Many of the former Indian themed blends didn't quite do it for me, smelled rather like some generic incense to me. This is nice though. It's sweet, smooth, creamy, slightly fruity, still with a dry woodsy/spicy vibe - especially in the (really strong) throw. Close to skin I get more of the fruit notes, slightly tart, and almost a bit too sharply so. It reminds me a bit of Halôa, but is less cloying on me. In Diwali the wood/dry spice/incense notes are stronger and win over the foody and fruity notes which are but a mere background whisper on me after some time and blend in perfectly with the resins here. Something in the wild mixture of different food/sweet smells (raisins, nuts, almond milk, coconut, etc.) brings to mind Midway as well, but I might be hallucinating that again. I seem to find a lot of midwayish resemblances lately. It doesn't last terribly long, maybe around 5 hours (?), but is a lovely, warm, fruity-spicy-sweet incense as long as it lasts. I'm sure tempted to get a bottle of this one, not sure though my funds will suffice with all the other items on my Yule wishlist.

This has a bit too much of ivy in it for me to like it, it's very fresh and green, a really cold scent. Well, I think it's the ivy that's so piercingly fresh and cold anyway. I always thought I liked ivy, but maybe it really is a bit much in here. Anyway, the scent is not a no-no per se, maybe it's just the wrong time of year for me to wear a scent this refreshingly cold. From sniffing the imp until application and quite some time afterwards this is all crisp fresh greenness. Once on skin the greenness gets a bit less sharp, like it was spread on a wider surface, loosing some density, becoming more agreeable altogether. It smells kind of watery and there's something sparkly in it that's really nice. After about 20 minutes I can detect traces of oak and moss underneath but they stay faint throughout wear length. I quite like that despite this freshness The Twisted Oak-Tree doesn't really smell especially cologne-y or masculine. I'm still undecided as to whether I'll be swapping the bottle that is on its way to me or whether I should rather keep it and test-wear it again in warmer weather.

I'm torn about this one... It might be a skin chemistry issue with the dead leaves note. I had it with October, too. It's causing an unpleasant tickling in my nose and is making me sneeze. I also think that it's maybe the leaves hiding behind this sharp thin slightly sour note that I don't like all that much. The dark amber that I was mainly worried about before testing The Death of Autumn, though, is behaving in here. I can hardly smell it. However, I suppose that the perfume might enfold much more nicely on somebody who wears dark ambers well. On me it stays kind of two-dimensional. I still don't dislike the Death of Autumn completely. It has such a nice smoky, burnt incense, burnt wood vibe to it. I really like the vetiver in here. It's not motor-oily and thick but rather dry, smooth and smoky. I also love the clove. And of all the fall blends on the woody/leafy side this is by far my favourite. Whatever, with my nose stuck because of having a cold, I'll re-test this for sure later on before deciding. If I can't wear it, it might still make for a gorgeous room fragrance.

It took me a few times of testing, but I think I rather dig this. As so many others I bought it for the story mainly, as it was one of my favourite fairy tales when I was a child. (It was in a book with beautiful illustrations which I loved dearly. Sadly, the book has been lost for ages.) So, the scent: At first it strikes me as a bit perfumey, powdery-perfumey much in the way of that mineral note Beth uses in Black Opal and the like. I'm not sure I like that. There's a kind of musk, or probably several kinds of musk with a big dose of powderiness and a tad of soft leather which combine to something that does indeed remind of soft fur. I'm still not sure that I like this, besides I'm a bit scared of the leather. But the leather stays subtle and the perfumey-ness fades a little. I'm not sure I can smell the woods and leaves, but I'm having a cold and my nose is stuffed. I'm sure they are in here somewhere. In the later drydown then, there's a beautiful warm skin scent when I sniff close. A bit sweet, round, warm, like the loveliest amber or soft musk. If there's black musk in here, it's only a dribble mixed in with what I think must be mainly white and skin musk. Probably those woods are there and make up for a bit of the warmth as well, but I couldn't really say. That ambery sweetness I get in the late drydown almost reminds me of some other oils, some skin musk or amber oils, maybe Hymn to Proserpine, La Petite Mort, maybe even something Midway-ish about it???? Whatever, keep in mind, that my nose is stuffed, I might be hallucinating this resemblance. But there certainly is something almost resinous sweet and rounded in Ivanushka in the later drydown. So, I think I love it, and I'd be happy to get another bottle. I'm also sure that it'll age beautifully, that that perfumey powderiness (I might mean a different 'powdery' here than other people do when they say something is powdery) will retreat with time and the scent will be rounded out. Also, when my mom and dad visited yesterday, after I had doused myself in Ivanushka in the morning, both commented on my perfume, and my mom kind of buried her face in my neck sniffing me wildly - which felt kind of weird tbh (and tickly), but speaks for the scent as she never really shows any such appreciation of the perfume I'm wearing.

I think I haven't reviewed this one yet... I had tried Harvest Moon 04 and hadn't liked it much, but this one is a completely different story. At first it's a really crisp apple, but then soon softens, becomes more complex, florally-fruity-herbal with a very smooth, a little bit Asian feel to it. And I don't usually like the Asian blends so much, but here it is gorgeous. It kind of keeps the scent from smelling too much like apple scented dish washing liquid, which is what I often get from apple blends. It's not sharp at all, and I'm indeed reminded of Mabon a little bit, too. That fresh air scent to it was also in Mabon. Lovely blend and I'm glad to have hunted down a bottle some time ago.

May I chime in and say that: YES, this is such a beautiful blend. I've been swooning all day long... At first I thought it would be way too cold and distanced, but after a while something warm and sweet was wafting up from my skin. The rose was most prominent during the wet, cool phase, while later on I think I smelled the lilac and violet leaf mostly. It was sweeter and more refined than just that, though. A bit woody and almost resiny, but still mostly floral in a very elegant and feminine way. While I really liked the scent, I was so busy at work today that I didn't pay attention to it all of the time. But when after a meeting in a colleague's room that took about an hour I returned to my own office, I could smell the scent lingering in the air there. A fresh and clean, yet warm and fluffy, ever so slightly woodsy/powdery floral. Sooo nice. If I wasn't so damn broke I'd probably try to hunt down multiple bottles, but as it is, I'm happy to have ONE to call my own. The honey in here is absolutely lovely, too. Not overpowering or sticky sweet at all, just a hint. I'm in love!

First of all: Thanks, Laura, for offering your imp! For me the experience is a bit vice-versa. While I do enjoy vetiver in small doses in other blends sometimes, it often retains that motor-oily quality and I cannot pull it off on any given day. However, the vetiver in the Great He-Goat is quite different. As with all the Salons, the ingredients seem to be somewhat lighter - though not necessarily of short wearlength. They seem to be less bold and juicy (when talking florals or fruit) in a way, a bit more classical perfume wise. The effect in the Great He-Goat is that the vetiver seems to be more of the grassy airy quality. Lighter and a bit dryer maybe than, say, the vetiver in Lenore (which I absolutely could NOT wear). It reminds me of Lush's vetiver, which I have always enjoyed a lot. I was thinking Middle Earth, or at times while wearing the Goat today even stuff like Fairy Jasmine. Yes, it's that soft and cozy on me. Same is true for the black musk which often is another deal-breaker for me (though not so in Two Monsters, another soft Salon blend). While it with GC blends often turns into that rancy stale smell, I hardly notice it in the Salons. It's just barely there and the quality is a lot less heavy and cloying. As for the other notes, they blend in perfectly, as everybody and their aunties has noticed before. I think I could definitely smell the ginger, and every once in a while I got a whiff of that fizzy bright pomegranate. Although, this is not a heavy scent on me, it stayed with me all day. It mostly clings to my clothes, I think, and I felt it around me when I made sudden moves, entered a room, stopped my bike at the traffic lights... I find it extremely comforting and grounding, and a perfect work scent, really, as it's so gender-neutral and non-cloying, yet has a supporting steady vibe to it that I so need to keep myself going these days. One of the nicest gender-neutrals around IMO.

Bien Loin D'Ici doesn't work for me. It's not at all the rich and sultry scent I pictured it to be, but a rather harsh and - somebody said metallic and that seems to get close - blend. It actually smells very much like some general Indian incense stick base. And not the bestest kind of Indian incense sticks. Like, when you are in one of those Indian hippie shops, and you sniff some incense sticks way to close from the package. Bien Loin is that incense scent and it stays like that. It felt like something alien on my skin, because it didn't seem to join with my skin chemistry. I got a strong and unusually high-pitched patchouli albeit it not being listed. I did not smell any kind of smoke-able consumer goods in it, neither weeds nor hash. It's rather the incense sticks. The oil also immediately reminded me of Tisiphone. I classified that one as a cheap incense, too. I'd definitely file those two together.

This is quite nice. It sort of reminds me of Death Cap minus the shroomy note - maybe with some sandal and incense added. The incense is a bit like Midnight Mass, but not as harsh, and without the rosey overtones. Brown Jenkins is very soft and snuggly on me, maybe a bit too soft and snuggly. I really like it but am not sure I'd wear it a lot. It's a soft beige-brown with pale yellow kind of scent, very much like Death Cap in the overall feel.

I cannot say if it's good, but Schlafende Baigneuse in the Salon Category has yellow rose listed.

Oh, you MUST add Snow-White to that list. I usually wear Temple of Dreams to bed for calm and comfort, but when I feel really torn and hurting, Snow-White is the best. It just covers everything like a soft snowy blanket and helps me to stop crying. Maybe it's the way it feels so innocent, I don't know. Anyway, thanks for compiling that list. That'll be a real help.

While Thanatos might not be the very least feminine blend, it does have an ever so slight masculine edge to it IMO. And it's plain gorgeous, so everybody should try it. It's a bit like Antony with rose added on my skin, and my love for it is immense. Elsewise, some rose-y blends that are rather rosewood than rose itself come to mind: Fenris Wolf, Seance might also be worth checking out.

This is very strong on the gardenia on me. Much more than I'd like it to be. Maybe I amp the gardenia, don't know. It's a much stronger gardenia than the one in Euphrosyne on my skin, when what I had been hoping for was that this might be lighter gardenia than Euphrosyne and more vanilla. So, I'm a bit disappointed, but not so much, since I was aware that the notes in this blend are not among my favourites. I guess I was hoping for a miracle. Well, I'm happy to have had a chance to test-wear biggerCritters. It's a nice enough blend, I just don't feel ok wearing gardenia. The vanilla in here is soft, a tad powdery vanilla, not the deep golden vanilla of, say, Snake Oil, and the like. It's much drier, and brighter, and more fluffy. Edited because I found where Puddin announces that the regular biggerCritters would have a regular label. Mine still seems to have a typo. It says biggerCritter, not biggerCritters.

Oh my, I was so excited about this ever since it went live. I thought it would be a wonderful combination for me. But alas, I think, it's not. Something in it just sits incredibly bad with me. I have a feeling the powdered sugar might have some brown sugar thrown into, because what doesn't work reminds me of Misk U and other blends with brown sugar. Maybe it's because I amp sweet even in blends that are not supposed to be sweet, and thus scents that are supposed to be super-sweet on their own kind of get doubled over and the sweetness then concentrates to something acrid and harsh. Not sure, though. There are other super-sweet ones I can wear just fine. Whatever it is that is causing that acrid dull scent, it's especially bad when sniffing close to the skin, and only during the first one or two hours. Later the bad scent vanishes, and leaves a nice-enough slightly sugary powdery, slightly artificially fruity, slightly tart-sweet scent, that is not really bad, but neither overwhelmingly nice. Altogether, Bloody Mary is kind of meh on me. I wish I'd get juicy wet fruits, but it's obviously not meant to be. I'll give her one more try, but as for now she looks like a sure swap item to me.

Thirteen isn't as bad as I first thought upon sniffing the bottle. From sniffing the bottle mouth it just smelled a little harsh, almost acrid, VERY herbally with a strong dusky chocolate underneath all. But once on skin, it behaved quite nicely. At first it's all chocolate (and a little herbal). Next there's the fig meat, fruity and sweet and rich. Still with the herbal part in the background. I then seem to smell a bit of clove, and later on a base of sandalwood... The rest is all more or less undecipherable to me. The chocolate-iness stays until end of the wearlength. It changes during dry down, though, and together with the wood and something else seems almost like a kind of musk against end of wearlength. I, too, can confirm, that there's something almost cologne-y way in the background. Some kind of aquatic, maybe from the five herbs and blossoms. Might be the minty catnip, too. I never smelled catnip on its own, so I can't be sure. I also get the orange vibe so many reviewers have described. One of the blends that cover the may green - orange range of colour in my mind. I had my friend sniff it last night, and she commented that it smelled nice, but might be more appropriate a scent during the colder months. She said it smelled kind of christmas-y to her. I'll definitely wear this during summer, but I can see how it might be even nicer in the winter. Wearing 13 I had the impression of it being a real "gambling" scent. I pictured the description for TAL's Lady Luck all the time... "a blend for risk takers, gamblers and scoundrels" if I remember correctly. It felt very unsteady, very change-able, like an extremely sensitive balance of luck vs. bad luck, that might swing to the one or to the other side just as easily. I have a strong feeling that 13 is a blend that I'll only wear on days when I feel confident to be able to take a little risk and chaos.

Sheol is a true beauty if you ask me. It comforts my soul in an incredible way this morning. The feeling it transmits is one of hollowness and some wide open vessel, and I find that calming right now. From the imp I smelled primarily strong resins with that almost alcoholic sharpness to them - probably the labdanum, it tends to smell a bit bitter and sharp to me. When applied, the soft flowers in this appeared. Elegant, almost regal. No lushness here. Somebody said this was too much a formal blend for them, and I, too, think that it's got some formal feeling to it. The flowers are of the kind you could find in a hotel soap, alas this doesn't go soapy on me. The florals would just fit well with a soap. However, the florals aren't the main player for me neither. From the very beginning the labdanum and copal are there and they grow stronger with time. This is primarily an incense blend, not a floral, for me, with the tonka peeking out somewhere in the back. The feel of the incense is solemn. It's dark but not hopeless. It seems to talk of eternal peace and of exactly what it is supposed to be about as far as the description goes. That last moment of the soul in joy and the outlook on Sheol. I really like this right now, but will have to wear it again to decide about a bottle purchase.