anmorata

Banshee: Wet: Eucalyptus never smelled so good. I smell lemon, too. Yum. This could be edible. Drydown: this smells like something I've smelled before but I can't quite place it.. Lemonheads and herbally tea, maybe? I just *barely* smell the mint. Longterm Wear: The lemon is definitely amped up by my skin. I love this scent. It's a keeper!

Delight: Delight started out a strong, heavy floral then faded to just an old-lady perfume scent. My skin really seems to amp up rose, and that's all I got out of this, with just tiny hints of jasmine. Sad. I really thought this one would work out.

Bon Viviant: This scent is dead-on in its description: champagne and strawberries. It couldn't be any simpler than that. The strawberry, unfortunately, comes across as a very synthetic strawberry, and reminds me of some of the strawberry scented lipgloss that my 8 year old daughter loves. Bon Viviant also reminds me of Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo, in a sense. I like it, but it's very young and bright. Not an everyday scent for me.

Brimstone: Wow, I wasn't sure I'd make it through to write a full description. The moment Brimstone hits my skin, it becomes very chemically acrid and leaves me recoiling in horror at the smell. After about 10 minutes or so, it lessens into the smell of a bonfire that's smoldering in the ashes. The chemical undertone is defintely there, though. I'm baffled with this scent.. I can't fathom wanting to smell like this. Perhaps Brimstone is best layered with another scent?

Libertine: Wet: Very strongly bergamot. Very much a blue-flower feel, IMO. Drydown: Still strongly bergamot, with hints of sandalwood peeking through.. somewhat powdery. Long-term wear: If it weren't for the bergamot dominating this scent, I bet I'd love it. But bergamot is all I get out of it. Off to the swaps pile, sadly.

Veil: Wet: I know this smell from somewhere, but I can't quite place it. It smells like candy.. like.. Bottlecaps. Drydown: Whew! Sugar. Still Bottlecaps. Longterm wear: Finally, the Bottlecap smell wore off, and became a nice, gentle floral that I really enjoy. It could have turned soapy, and for a moment I thought it did.. but it didn't. It almost reminded me of the lilac and lavender bath powder cubes I used to give to my grandma for Christmas.

Shroud: Wet: just a very strong "perfume" smell. Drydown: Sweetens up to a white flower smell. Definitely very dry, the sandalwood is starting to peek through. Longterm wear: White florals tend to turn into a very soapy, castille-like scent on my skin. Shroud, unfortunately, was no different. Off to the swaps pile!

Saint-Germain: Wet: This just screams of cologne, to me. Like Old Spice. Is that cedar I smell? Drydown: The carnation comes up, but this smells like.. the smell of a man's skin just after shaving. That's it. right on the money. Longterm wear: I couldn't wear this for more than 1/2 hour. It was most definitely not me. I'd love it on my husband, though.

Rakshasa: Wet: Very sweet.. perhaps the patchouli? It's a gorgeous smell. Drydown: The sandalwood and the rose come out to play. This is a very different sort of rose smell, though.. not at all what I was expecting. It's a very spicy rose. Longterm wear: the combination of patchouli, rose and sandalwood almost create a scent that reminds me of jasmine trees in the summertime. This is a fabulous scent. It stays light, which is perfect.

Kostnice: Wet: Heavy florals intermingled with heavy resins. Whew. This is like church. The scent doesn't change during drydown. Longterm wear: This scent was so heavily resinous on me that I had to go scrub it off. It left a bad taste in my mouth for awhile (heavy resin scents somehow do that to me). Off to the swaps pile!

Hymn: Wet: Very floral. The rose is very detectable, with hints of the lily peeking through. Drydown: Resin notes start peeking through, too. This scent reminds me of Church at Eastertime. Longterm wear: Hymn stays light on my skin, but leans predominantly towards the lily and rose. Not bad, but not an everyday scent. I'll still maintain that this scent is Church at Easter.

Ave Maria Gratia Plena: Wet: Hello, floral! The first thing I smell is the night-blooming jasmine.. I love this scent. Drydown: The rosewood peeks in, and the musks make their presence known. Very nice. Longterm wear: Sadly, I didn't see any citrus out of this, as I'd hoped. The florals intermingled with the musk and the rosewood instead. It's a very nice, light scent. I like it quite a bit.

Phantom Queen: Wet: Phantom Queen takes on a very sweet smell that reminds me of an apple orchard. It also made me think of A Midsummer Night's Dream, for reasons unknown. Drydown: Apples and meadows and clover.. this is what I think Ireland might smell like. Longterm wear: This is a beautiful, complex blend. I agree with Macha's conclusion that there's a little something darker lurking under the surface of all that's green and lush. I love this scent.

Nyarlathotep: Wet: Smells like what I think Egypt would smell like after a thunderstorm. I suppose that's the ozone. And then the lemon peeks in. It almost smells like lemon Pledge. Drydown: Where did the scent go? I seriously smell nothing on my wrist. It's hiding. Longterm wear: On drydown, this scent almost completely vanished, despite heavy application. There's hints of a rain smell here and there, but that's it. I really expected this to be a lot heavier.. color me surprised.

Fortunately, I have all of those, save for Love Me. I'll give them a shot. The sort of charisma I'm wanting is.. well, I suppose it's best explained with an example. I have a friend who is just one of those people that lights up the room when she's there. You notice her when she walks in, you miss her when she's gone. She's wonderfully funny, charming, and self-confident. I want to be that girl, or one just like her. I have always felt like a bit of a wallflower. I've got the confidence inside me, I know I do.. it just needs a little boost. Perhaps the rest will follow once I get that in line.

Dragon's Milk: Wet, this goes on very similar to all the other Ars Draconis scents I've tried - heavily Dragon's Blood, not much else. During drydown, the honeyed vanilla starts to come out and it intermingles with the Dragon's Blood, almost creating a cherry scent. It maintained on my wrists for several hours, then faded slowly. Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. I don't know if this will be a big bottle scent yet, but it's possible.

Dragon's Tears: This is a lovely, subtle scent on me. Wet: a slight hint of dragon's blood. Drydown: a lovely hint of the salty sea peeks in.. Beth hits the nail on the head with this perfect aquatic aroma. Longterm wear: The dragon's blood peeks in from time to time, but this is definitely an aqua smell. It's very light and subtle, great for daily wear. I love it.

Dragon's Eye: Hello, Lilac! While I could smell the Dragon's Blood Resin tones upon application, this quickly turned to lilac and stayed that way. Not bad.. apparently, lilac works well with my body chemistry. Not an everyday scent, but lovely nonetheless.

Dragon's Bone: Very dry and dusty. Wet: Starts out decently with Dragon's Blood resin.. the resin-y tones are definitely present. Drydown: The sandalwood and orris start coming through, and the scent takes on a whole new tone as it becomes a bit more powdery and dry. After 20 minutes: A sweet, violet-like floral peeks through. Not at all unpleasant. While Dragon's Bone is a very nice scent, I don't believe I'd wear it for personal use.. just personal preference.

The Coiled Serpent: This scent hits me as being very resinous and full of incense. I didn't pick up that it was patchouli until after I'd read the other reviews here, but I'd have to agree. I'm not familliar with chakra alignment or yoga, though it's something I've been wanting to try. I may pass this one on to a yoga teacher friend of mine, instead.

Perversion: I hadn't planned to review Perversion. I had an imp from a mass purchase, and someone was looking for one in the Wanted forum. I figured I could spare it now and pick up another one later. But before I packaged it up, I figured that hopefully she wouldn't mind if I took a light swipe of it (one imp stroke across my wrist, done very lightly) for my own curiosity. I certainly wasn't expecting to fall in love with this scent, but I did. It is, simply put, incredible. Wet: All Vanilla! YUM! Drydown: Vanilla Rum. Ooh, I think this will be a big bottle scent. 15 minutes later: definitely smelling the tobacco and leather hints in the background, but they're so faint that I don't hate them. Surprising. Mm, vanilllllarum. I love love love this scent. 1 hour later: still the same. Loving this. 2 hours later: fading.. I applied it lightly, so I will likely need a heavier application. This is a big bottle scent, entirely. Next order, I'm ordering Perversion.

Dracul: My experience with Dracul was very similar to NorthernMinx's. Dracul is a *very* complex scent! It started out heavily spicy when wet, moved to a heavy evergreen, then the mint started showing up during the drydown, then I smelled something like being lost in a huge evergreen forest. I never got the tobacco smells out of it, sadly. A great scent, a bit masculine for me (I don't normally go for any sort of evergreen). I doubt I could wear this regularly, but I'm enjoying smelling it.

Dove's Heart: I find it interesting how different Dove's heart is for everyone, and how differently it's perceived by each person. For me, Dove's Heart was shockingly, strikingly green and herbal upon application. Sharp, biting, green green green. During the drydown, I start to detect some florals.. lavender, perhaps? .. that intermix with a slightly spicy soap-like tinge. I didn't use Dove's Heart for any specific matter that needed closure, but as someone else mentioned I don't see this as being a very comforting scent to me.

Thanks, Penance! Much appreciated. Quick question: Is Ingenue still technically Discontinued, even though it comes up on a site search as an in-stock scent?

I was not aware one could do that. Thank you very much!