nekogrrl

In imp: the perfect rose. Wet on skin: like a rose. Dry on skin: Uhoh. Trouble in paradise. Something in this is going really wrong. It smells like something an old woman would wear (and not in a good way). Plus, I'm amping this like crazy. 10 minutes later: Time to wash this off. This is wrong. Final verdict: Definitely a locket scent. And the imp should last me fine.

In imp: wintry mints. Wet on skin: MINT MINT MINT MINT MINT. Dry on skin: strong, sharp mint. 10 minutes later: same as dry. Final verdict: Too minty for me.

In imp: soft fresh florals. Wet on skin: instantly turns to playdough. Bleh. Dry on skin: Still playdough, but luckily it's very very very faint. Final verdict: Hells to the no.

In imp: PINE Wet on skin: PINE sharpened by the florals. It's rather strong, as well. Dry on skin: pine softened by the musk, but it's still very strong and sharp. 10 minutes later: same as dry. Final verdict: really not my thing. Was hoping this would be slightly heavier on the florals. Good winter scent, though.

This is the resurrected version. In imp: spicy vanilla. Hm. This could go to good places. Wet on skin: spices! with the vanilla, amber and bezoin. Yum. I see where this was a popular scent. Dry on skin: OMG this went SO WRONG. It smelled.. sickly sweet with a burnt note in there I can't exactly pinpoint. And the throw was so strong! UGH. 10 minutes later: 30+ minutes later: This.. mellowed out nicely, actually. Not worth the nastiness to get here though. The imp will definitely last me. I'm disappointed, I thought it would be so nice, as there's no real dealbreaker notes here for me. Oh well. More for people who love it!

In bottle: vanilla peppermint Wet on skin: peppermint goodness Dry on skin: peppermint, with a hint of vanilla sugar 10 minutes later: the same I like this. Glad I got a bottle sight unsniffed. And it got a friend of mine totally hooked, so double yay!

Hard work, patience, and harmony: Chinese musk, dark musk, and moist soil with black cherry, opoponax, night-blooming jasmine, plum, woodland tobacco, snakeweed, and cypress. In imp: Oh.. what a lovely dirt note. Wet on skin: Sweet loamy dirt. Dry on skin: The florals are coming out more.. it smells like someone planted a garden on my skin. 10 minutes later: The lovely dirt has come back, and it mixes well with the plum, musks and cherry. The jasmine, snakeweed and cypress I don't really pick up much. Out of all five elements, this is the one I like the most. (but then, I /am/ an Earth sign, and heavily so) Definitely getting a bottle of this.

In imp: ooooh, bubbly pomegranate! Wet on skin: ooooh, bubbly pomegranate! Dry on skin: sweet, dark bubbly candy 10 minutes later: sweet, dark bubbly candy This perfume actually surprised me. Usually sweet scents smell like on me. I think the pomegranate and whatever is 'dusky' is keeping this from going all nasty. I really like this, and am going to get a bottle. Yay!

In imp: Yay metallics!! Wet on skin: Here, my husband and I split in opinion. I smell straight metallics with a bit of musk. He smells metallics with a nasty floral undertone due to the carnation. Dry on skin: He still gets the icky florals. I still get the metallics with musk. Maybe a bit of spicy carnation, but nothing like he's describing. 10 minutes later: Lovely, lovely metallics. The throw isn't strong at all. Even though hubby doesn't particularly like it, I think I'm going to get a bottle. I think this has aging potential.

Flexibility, cooperation, expansiveness, and altruism: Chinese musk and five woods with newly budding bamboo shoots, hyssop, chamomile, pink clove, magnolia, walnut, and fig. In imp: Bamboo and woods. Wet on skin: Bamboo and woods. Undertone of florals. Dry on skin: Oh wow that got nasty. The magnolia amped up something fierce, and it does not play nicely with me. 10 minutes later: Thank goodness the magnolia is gone. This has turned into a very sharp woodsy scent. It could go masculine, but I think the chamomile and fig are keeping it out of WHOA MANLY. As with the others so far, it doesn't have a lot of throw on me. For a few moments, I didn't think this was going to work, but it turned out nicely. I think this deserves a bottle.

In imp: I almost get a cinnamon out of this. Wierd, since it's not listed on the notes. Wet on skin: Hello pink pepper! Dry on skin: The note which became most dominant on me was the cactus flower; on my husband it was the hyacinth. Underlying both was still the pink pepper. 10 minutes later: The florals in this have mellowed down the pink pepper, and it has become a nice skin scent. Not a lot of throw, but you can still take a sniff and know it's there. I think this might be worth a bottle.

In imp: RAIN. Yummy. Wet on skin: The aquatics come out instantly, don't get a lot of the remainder of the notes. Dry on skin: The lavender comes out more, the lily of the valley stays in the background, tempered by the frankincense. It's a nicely balanced scent, but the throw is practically nonexistent. 10 minutes later: Gone. Shame, I liked this one. I dunno if this is worth a full bottle or not, just based on how quickly it burns off for me.

CT XLVIII (48): In bottle: sweet resin/spicy. Probably frankincense, at least. On skin: the same sweet spicy resin. The spiciness keeps the sweetness in check and doesn't overpower it either. Dry: It has a very light throw. Sad. It's (to me) a unisex leading to masculine scent, but I like it. Will have to test it out on the hubby, too. For my very first venture into Chaos.. I like it. I think I'm going to go throw the dice some more.

In imp: sandalwood, even though it's not listed. Probably a mixture of the amber, moss and patchouli. Wet on skin: Nothing. Like, it smells like my own natural skin. Dry on skin: The patchouli is coming up, but sadly, that's the only note. I love the Lab, but I'm not paying $20 to smell like me. I can do that for free!

In imp: CARAMEL, almost burnt-smelling. Wet on skin: cinnamon caramel Dry on skin: cinnamon caramel woods If the caramel would tone it down, and not be so almost sickly-sweet-rots-your-teeth, this might actually be a nice scent. However, for me, this is going straight to swaps.

In imp: wet ozony florals Wet on skin: The jasmine and bezoin come to the fore, saltiness lingering in the background. Dry on skin: LOTS of jasmine. Light saltiness/sea greenery in the background. Not a keeper, I'm afraid. Not a fan of jasmine.

In imp: greenery and hibiscus Wet on skin: Uhm, did I step in something? *checks shoes* Cause this is NOT what I signed up for. I think it's the frankincense that's throwing me off. Dry on skin: Sickeningly sweet. Can't pick out any one particular note - they're /all/ there, seems like, and they do NOT like me. Away it goes!

In imp: metallic florals Wet on skin: STRONG metallic florals Dry on skin: The florals have toned down some, the metallics/electricity and florals are mixing much more nicely. I'm kind of torn on whether to get a big bottle of this. It's very similar to Torture Queen and Thunder Moon, metallic/electrically speaking, and I'm not sure if I really like it /that/ much. It's good, I'm just not sure if it's /that/ good.

In imp: eye-watering booze Wet on skin: cologne and booze Dry on skin: cologne and booze *coughs* This is a little strong for me.. and reminds me of too many holes-in-the-wall I've been dragged to.

In imp: fresh-cut greenery Wet on skin: fresh-cut grass Dry on skin: light floral fresh-cut green grass I was SO disappointed in this. I wanted it to be a wonderful vanilla-blackberry-orange dominant smell, but instead, I get a lot of the oakmoss probably combining with the honey and amber and ti leaf to get the green cut grass smell. Later the gardenia comes out, but it's still not what I wanted.

In imp: WHOA FLORALS Wet on skin: HELLO JASMINE Dry on skin: JASMINE with a musky undertone Ugh, all this jasmine is giving me a headache. Not for me.

In imp: Lilies of DEATH Wet on skin: Lilies of DEATH plus an undertone of poppy. Ooooh, will the other notes come out to play too, or are the Lilies of DEATH the bullies of the playground? Dry on skin: Apparently there was a fight on the playground and the Lilies of DEATH just barely beat the others down. Lily is still the dominant note, but it is very close to the skin, and about equal to the poppy. Can't particularly pick out any of the other notes. Verdict: Probably won't wear it due to the lily note. Otherwise, nice scent.

In imp: sweet incense Wet on skin: incense and tobacco Dry on skin: tobacco Meh. It's a nice incensy scent when it begins, but I'm just not fond of the tobacco note when it's so prominent.

In imp: GRAPE and something else sweet, probably the blackberry leaf. Wet on skin: GRAPE and blackberry leaf. Dry on skin: GRAPE and a little bit of the blackberry leaf. While I do like a good grape smell, this is just a bit much. :/

OMG I love this scent. This actually would be at home in the Steamworks line, because of the chrome. That, along with the white tea lends a very metallic edge to this scent. As it dries down, the vanilla and white amber start coming out and mixing nicely. It is a very fresh scent. The gardenia is very faint and lends a sweetness to this otherwise sharp scent.