cranberry

I was inspired to test my imp through the GC swap. In the imp it smell like musky, dark fruit, maybe fruit that is slightly off. Not a great smell but not a bad one either. On the skin, it blooms. Wow, this is amazing. A blend of musks (esp. red musk, yum!) with a fruity tang and a touch of the herbal, resiny jasmine-like dragon’s blood. This is a very strong scent and only a little is needed. After a few hrs what remains is the musks tempered a bit by the dragon’s blood. Overall, this is a great scent!

I’ve been inspired to test my Dragon’s Eye imp by the GC swap. Wow – I can really smell the lily of the valley and the lilac. This oil reminds me of my grandmothers house for some reason and hot summer days when I was growing up. I’m not sure what galbanum smells like. In all of the Ars Draconis scents that I’ve tried, the dragon’s blood is a very small component in the scents; this oil is no different. It seems to be there more in a supporting role rather than taking central stage. This reminds me more of a traditional, old fashioned perfume or toilet water than a BPAL oil. As it wears on, the florals continue to dominate. Overall thoughts, scentwise it's not for me but it's certainly a very evocative oil.

The GC swap has made me pull out my Dragon’s Musk imp and give it a whirl. In the imp, it smells a bit musty and a slight note of dragon’s blood. Once on, it’s nicely balanced between the musks and the dragon’s blood. It’s not a sweet scent by any means. The dragon’s blood is here more to accent the musk rather than play a starring role. It’s a very masculine scent. The perfect compliment to Dragon’s Milk. Dragon’s Musk and Smut share some of the same musks. For someone looking for Smut, this may be a good substitute. It evokes the same kinda vibe to me. It’s a long lasting scent – hrs later I can still smell it. As it wears on, the dragon’s blood resins seem to come out, but still with the musks dominating the show. As it wears on, I’m not getting the Smut vibe as strongly as I was earlier. Overall, pretty good!

Picked up my first package it the General Catalog swap last night and am testing my first oil tonight. Contents included: hamptons - reviewed black forest- reviewed jabberwocky - reviewed la petit mort - reviewed mock turtle lessons - reviewed megaera - reviewed psyche - reviewed shango - reviewed wahoo! I can't wait to try these! ETA: ok, I've tested these all. I'm awaiting a new tin and then they are ready to send off to cordia. Woot! 6-2-06: ETA, I've sent these off to cordia - the tin that spacekitty used was just fine so there didn't seem to be a need to wait.

La Petit Mort – Love Potions Notes: skin, ylang ylang, myrrh I’m trying this courtesy of the General Catalog swap. I’ve tried this before but it was a long time ago and didn’t have a good response to La Petit Mort, so I passed it along and didn't bother to review. Initially, I smell honey, that same top note as I smelled in O. Roaring up behind the honey is ylang ylang. It’s a good combination and it smells a lot better than I remember. It’s grounded by the myrrh. As it wears it’s not changing much, from wet to dry. It is a good lesson to me in that even if you have a bad reaction/bad chemistry with an oil, it doesn’t hurt to give it a second chance. I’m liking this quite a bit which is a shocker to me because I can remember distinctly not liking this much at all. edited to reflect correct category.

The Hamptons – Wanderlust Notes: The scent of a Cosmopolitan cocktail. Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap. In the Imp: cranberries and lime. On the skin, wet: fruity, cranberry, lime. It smells very fresh and crisp. On the skin, dry: as it dries, the fruit is subdued by the smell of gin. I generally like booze but I don't care for this. I think bourbon is more my speed. Overall: it was interesting to try and seems very good for the summer season but this is not a scent for me.

Megaera - Excolo Notes: orris, black amber, bergamot, plum, grapefruit Tried via the General Catalog Swap. I've been wanting to try this one for a long time so I'm thrillled to have gotten the chance. On the skin wet, it smells like a dark red fruit - pomegranate, fig, or plum. It has a slight soapy note, and I’m getting a whiff of ozone. It’s a fruity, clean fresh scent. After it’s been on for about an hour, all I’m getting is a fig or plum note, the same one that I find in Queen of Clubs. My overall impression, is that it’s a strong, plum scent. I like it a lot - very nice!

Psyche – Love Potions Notes: bulgar rose, white musk, lavender, orchid, frankincense Tried via the General Catalog swap. Wow – this is all florals. A light pretty floral scent. I can’t identify the flowers, maybe lily of the valley? It wears pretty well, doesn’t change a whole on me. There could be a touch of carnation (must be the lavender) with a touch of white musk underlying. I’m glad to have tried it but it’s not my style at all.

Jabberwocky - Mad Tea Party Notes: pine, eucalyptus, orange Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap. When I first apply Jabberwocky, I get a sweet, pine scent. Sweet sugared pine. It smells very fresh, with an almost juicy type scent. It is reminiscent of the 2005 Yule pine scents – Snow Moon, Snow Angel, Talvikuu. It has a similar note without the florals, but instead an almost fruity scent. Upon review of the notes, that must be the orange making an appearance. As it wears on the skin, the pine disappears and I’m left with something that reminds me of a candle. It would be a fantastic room scent, but I am unsure about wearing this as a perfume.

Mock Turtle Lessons – Mad Tea Party Notes: blurry aquatic notes, with a confusing, contrary splort of iris, ambrette, green apple, vodka, white mint and a squish of lime. Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap. When I first put Mock Turtle Lessons on, I smell mint, something vaguely aquatic, and something that smells fruity. It's a light scent, but I did only put a touch on, but it blends well into my skin. Is there pennyroyal in here? Overall as a wet scent it would make a great body lotion. As it wears on I get a scent that smells almost mossy in combination with a fruity scent, apple or fig I think. Although it’s a light scent, there’s something here that’s fairly sharp. It’s giving me a bit of a headache. After a few hrs, it turns kinda soapy. My overall impression, it goes through an interesting evolution on the skin and it's good for warm weather. I could see a man or woman wearing this with no problem. It's not my style but it's been interesting to try it out.

Black forest – Bewitching Brews Notes: pine, ambergris, black musk, juniper, cypress Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap. I’ve been wanting to try this one for a long time. In the Imp: pine, juniper On the Skin, wet: On wet, it smells just like it smelled in the imp, predominantly pine and juniper. On the Skin, dry: As it dries, the black musk appears and turns a bit powdery. The juniper and pine hang around in the background. The longer it wears the more powdery it turns. I’m glad that I didn’t order this one. After a couple hours, the powder is still with me, but that’s it, only powder. Overall impression: The Black Forest is not for me. It turns way too powdery. I like the initial notes but there’s other pine – juniper scents out there that work with my chemistry.

I’m trying this courtesy of the General Catalog swap. I’ve tried this before but it was a long time ago and didn’t have a good response to La Petit Mort, so I passed it along and didn't bother to review. Initially, I smell honey, that same top note as I smelled in O. Roaring up behind the honey is ylang ylang. It’s a good combination and it smells a lot better than I remember. It’s grounded by the myrrh. As it wears it’s not changing much, from wet to dry. It is a good lesson to me in that even if you have a bad reaction/bad chemistry with an oil, it doesn’t hurt to give it a second chance. I’m liking this quite a bit which is a shocker to me because I can remember distinctly not liking this much at all.

Tried via the General Catalog Swap. I've been wanting to try this one for a long time so I'm thrillled to have gotten the chance. On the skin wet, it smells like a dark red fruit - pomegranate, fig, or plum. It has a slight soapy note, and I’m getting a whiff of ozone. It’s a fruity, clean fresh scent. After it’s been on for about an hour, all I’m getting is a fig or plum note, the same one that I find in Queen of Clubs. My overall impression, is that it’s a strong, plum scent. I like it a lot - very nice!

Tried via the General Catalog swap. Wow – this is all florals. A light pretty floral scent. I can’t identify the flowers, maybe lily of the valley? It wears pretty well, doesn’t change a whole on me. There could be a touch of carnation (must be the lavender) with a touch of white musk underlying. I’m glad to have tried it but it’s not my style at all.

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap. When I first apply Jabberwocky, I get a sweet, pine scent. Sweet sugared pine. It smells very fresh, with an almost juicy type scent. It is reminiscent of the 2005 Yule pine scents – Snow Moon, Snow Angel, Talvikuu. It has a similar note without the florals, but instead an almost fruity scent. Upon review of the notes, that must be the orange making an appearance. As it wears on the skin, the pine disappears and I’m left with something that reminds me of a candle. It would be a fantastic room scent, but I am unsure about wearing this as a perfume.

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap. When I first put Mock Turtle Lessons on, I smell mint, something vaguely aquatic, and something that smells fruity. It's a light scent, but I did only put a touch on, but it blends well into my skin. Is there pennyroyal in here? Overall as a wet scent it would make a great body lotion. As it wears on I get a scent that smells almost mossy in combination with a fruity scent, apple or fig I think. Although it’s a light scent, there’s something here that’s fairly sharp. It’s giving me a bit of a headache. After a few hrs, it turns kinda soapy. My overall impression, it goes through an interesting evolution on the skin and it's good for warm weather. I could see a man or woman wearing this with no problem. It's not my style but it's been interesting to try it out.

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap. In the Imp: cranberries and lime. On the skin, wet: fruity, cranberry, lime. It smells very fresh and crisp. On the skin, dry: as it dries, the fruit is subdued by the smell of gin. I generally like booze but I don't care for this. I think bourbon is more my speed. Overall: it was interesting to try and seems very good for the summer season but this is not a scent for me.

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap. I’ve been wanting to try this one for a long time. In the Imp: pine, juniper On the Skin, wet: On wet, it smells just like it smelled in the imp, predominantly pine and juniper. On the Skin, dry: As it dries, the black musk appears and turns a bit powdery. The juniper and pine hang around in the background. The longer it wears the more powdery it turns. I’m glad that I didn’t order this one. After a couple hours, the powder is still with me, but that’s it, only powder. Overall impression: The Black Forest is not for me. It turns way too powdery. I like the initial notes but there’s other pine – juniper scents out there that work with my chemistry.

Shango - Excolo Courtesy of the General Catalog swap. I’m been wanting to try this one ever since it came out. In the imp: bananas, mango. On the skin, wet: fruit, hint of red musk. mainly banana. On the skin, dry: the apples come roaring out with banana keeping pace. The red musk stays around but isn’t an “in your face” –type red musk. Instead it provides a gentle warm backdrop to the yummy fruit. There’s also a trace of something sharp, which I presume is the chili pepper. As it wears longer, the fruits meld and the red musk becomes more prominent. It becomes a much more sophisticated scent and reminds me of Corazon (although my memory of Corazon is very, very hazy). Overall impression: Yum! Warm musky fruity goodness that really sticks around.

Courtesy of the General Catalog swap. I’m been wanting to try this one ever since it came out. In the imp: bananas, mango. On the skin, wet: fruit, hint of red musk. mainly banana. On the skin, dry: the apples come roaring out with banana keeping pace. The red musk stays around but isn’t an “in your face” –type red musk. Instead it provides a gentle warm backdrop to the yummy fruit. There’s also a trace of something sharp, which I presume is the chili pepper. As it wears longer, the fruits meld and the red musk becomes more prominent. It becomes a much more sophisticated scent and reminds me of Corazon (although my memory of Corazon is very, very hazy). Overall impression: Yum! Warm musky fruity goodness that really sticks around.

I gotta share this. I have several bottles of Devil's Night. The initial bottle I got was musky, clear smelling, and reminded me a lot of Buck Moon. I've been wondering because very few people, if any get this reaction. I checked out my other bottles and did a wrist-to-wrist comparison, and they are totally different! They smelled very different in the bottle and on the skin confirmed it. On one wrist I now get the boozy, fallish scent that most people are taking about when they review devil's night. It has a lot of similarities to Samhain (05) and it clearly links it with the Yule series. Whereas my other bottle displays more light musk (and again, super similar to Buck Moon). It's just stunning to me that this one bottle (and perhaps another to tiny degree) are soooooo different. I don't think it's a matter of aging or having a mislabeled bottle, but it really illustrates to me just how different batches can be. I've never run across an oil with this much difference from one to another. It's really quite amazing!

In the bottle I smell wood, maybe a touch of cedar, resins. When I first apply this, it's slightly sweet, resinous, maybe elements of sandalwood? It's really quite nice and I like the wet scent quite a bit. It's a rich, warm, sexy smell. Where did my sandalwood (or whatever that was) go? As it dries, it dries to a dragon's blood scent. There's a touch of spice back there. I like it and I'll keep the bottle but I did like the wet scent a bit better.

I totally agree. Ochosi is an amazing scent and as I wear it, it reminds me so strongly of Buck Moon that it's shocking. Wonderful really as I love Buck Moon dearly and have always been very careful about using my bottle. OK, on to the review. In the imp: fresh, herbal, a bit like what I remember Yggdrasil smelled like (going only on my memory here, it turned on me so I got rid of it quick before it had a chance to tempt me again). On the skin, I smell the same creaminess that is present in Obatala, that must be the shea. Beautiful, smooth, creamy. As it wears, the shea recedes and it becomes deeper, richer, herbal, grassy, touch of woods. I'm smelling musk, the same musk and elements that are in Buck Moon. There's similarities here too to Devils Night - not boozy but that same wonderful velvety musk. I want to roll around in that musk, it's so amazing. There's touches of wood and the forest, and it evokes clear night air. This imp is not going to last long. I am in love.

This is a beautiful, fresh green fragrance to me. It is very refreshing and spring-like. I get predominantly bamboo and tea, the oude is not present much so I’m sure that its presence here in the blend is for grounding and fixing the lighter notes. It’s almost floral but not quite, and I do get a touch of lemon. I’m usually avoided the lighter GC (and LE for that matter!) blends so I don’t have oil to compare it to… As it wears it softens and the oude makes itself known. Just lovely! ETA review on 3-27-08 For a long time, I thought this and Dragon Moon smelled identical. And that maybe liked Dragon Moon a tad more. Well I finally pulled them out and tried them side by side. Now I’m not so sure. On me, both wet and dry, but especially so wet, this smells like the lightest, brightest white tea and bamboo. As it wears, there’s a sharpness too, but it’s not offensively sharp, just sharp in a very bright, clean, fresh way. This is the palest of green, almost white in color. There’s something here plant-like, I guess that would be the bamboo. When I compared this to Dragon Moon, I called this a stem scent and that makes sense. After all, bamboo is just that. This is just lovely. As it wears, it’s taking on an almost citrus smell – that sharpness is there and now I’m thinking I do prefer the sweet floral tea of Dragon Moon to this sharp high-noted scent that is getting a bit too fresh and bright for me. Dang.

When I first put it on, it smells light, tangy and fresh. I smell sage and light powdery florals – mainly iris with touches of orris. I don’t smell any civet, it remains a soft, gentle scent. As it wears, it doesn’t change too much. This is really pretty. It’s quiet, refined, subtle and subdued. This would a great scent for body powder or linen spray. It stays close, not really any throw to speak of. If you slathered I still think that someone would have to be close to get a sniff. There’s something special and sexy about scents like this. It’s definitely a second skin scent. Last time I tried this I remember that it didn't last long - we'll see how it wears this time. I’m torn between ordering a bottle or not, I don’t know that I’ll use it that much but I actually like this quite a lot. eta: so I'm trying this again through the civet sniffing circle. god, I love this scent! what I am smelling most are the sage and orris. simply lovely - this actually reminds me of a great lotion I got from Ginger's Garden, the scent of that lotion and morella are quite similar. I'm guessing they both have sage and orris. this smells smooth, slightly powdery but not in a bad way at all, a touch of sweetness, and so fresh and pure. this is a very different type of scent from what I normally wear, but I think I need to track down a bottle. everytime I wear this I remember how much I like it, and it's perfect for those times where I want to smell unobtrusively good.