cranberry

Wowza - yes this is plum all right! This is a yummy, plummy, rich scent, that is slightly spicy. When I first put it on, it's definitely purple fruit but then the spices come out. I smell the carnation and am getting a touch of clove. I don't know what chrysanthemum smells like so maybe that's what I'm getting, I couldn't tell ya. The carnation gets stronger the longer it wears. It does smell a bit like a candle, but a good candle. This would be an amazing room scent! It doesn't change a whole lot on me but it doesn't last a real long time either, however I did only put a couple/three swipes on too, so that's probably not a fair statement. It smells edible, like a rich pie pulled out during a lunch at non-so successful florists shop (that only contains carnations ). I've been craving sweets lately so this is a good substitute. Overall, I like it a lot. I'm not sure I'll be needing a bottle but I'll hang onto the imp and enjoy any more that come my way.

2005 Version I've tried to love this blend; this is the 2nd bottle that has found it's way to me. On the skin, it stays very true to it's smell in the bottle, mainly roses. As it wears, it becomes slightly powdery on me and I'm not getting any resins. Maybe they are there acting as a base but they are pretty much overwhelmed by the powdery rose. I was hoping for more incense and resin with touches of rose or florals. Ah well, can't win them all and there's plenty more BPAL to love.

In the Imp: buttery rich milk. It jogs my memory of Milk Moon. Which didn’t work for me and I ended up passing it on. The smell in the imp is not promising. On the skin: milk, hints of coconut, but with a twist. At first it is very similar to Milk Moon (or as I remember it). As it wears, the coconut milkyness recedes and I get what I think is shea. It’s slightly sweet but it remains cool and refreshing thanks to the aquatic note. It’s almost a bit minty on me but not quite. Milk Moon was very heavy on me and turns a bit sour, this does not do that at all and I’m so thrilled. It’s a soothing creamy scent, it evokes feelings like those I get from Snow White, my ultimate soothing scent-wrap-yourself-in-fluffy-towels or a great big hug scent. It's completely different but just as soothing. Just beautiful. Yes, this is a very white, pure scent.

In the imp: loam, dirt. It reminds me of dark, moist woods, cool temperatures. This is no tropical scent. On: the oil is very thick and viscous. It was hard to rub in. I only put on the tiniest amount; the dirt note was quite strong. First on, I still get a strong dirt smell, but it’s soft smelling. As it wears, it becomes resiny or incensy while still retaining the dirt smell. The longer it wears though, the less dirt I smell and the incense and amber are coming out. It reminds me of the musk in Buck Moon or Devil’s Night – warm, velvety. So far I’ve only had this on for about a half-hr, but WOW! It’s slightly sweet, soft, warm. I’m convinced it has some of the same components as Buck Moon and Devil’s Night, absolutely convinced. I may have found a replacement for when I run out. I really like this one, I can’t wait to try it in a more proper fashion and I’m seriously considering getting a bottle (like I need any more bottles of anything, but this one has me thinking about it). Very nice.

Peony Moon is a very pretty spring floral. To my nose in the bottle it's very sweet, a bit soft, overall very nice floral. I too see similarities to Budding Moon, which has similar components. As it dries down, the pretty soft floral changes and becomes a bit sharp. I'm not liking this part of it. The sharpness stays with me as I wear it. Is this a bad reaction to the woods and reeds? I hope not but I'm not getting those, just a sharp floral. ah well, I've got some great florals already that work with my chemistry.

Wow! This is very pretty floral - not too sweet, very sunny and fresh smelling. I agree with the likeness to bamboo pulp. I see where the fizzy lemon scent description comes from, but I'm not getting real lemon, but something close. It has a fruity aspect to it and it almost reminds me of a hard, powdery lemon candy - dang it, I'm forgetting the name. For some reason, as I smell really hard, I'm also getting similarities to Black Opal or Jacob's Ladder - I have no idea why. Maybe there's a touch of tonka in here buried deep. It's a beautiful scent, and reminds me of summer, wildflowers and fresh breezes. Wonderful!

This is from imp that I’ve had for a long time. In the imp I get smells of dirt, moss, then flowers and a smidge of herbs. The predominant scent is loam and soil. On the skin, wet, the dirt, moss and dust disappear and I get flowers, possibly gardenia or jasmine, or maybe both. It has kind of an Aveda type smell, which I love. It’s a beautiful floral. It's a lot more lush on the skin than in the imp. As it dries, incense peeks it way in. The strong jasmine note remains but it’s blended with other element tempering it a bit. As it dries further, I’m picking up a dusty, smoky note; that was a total surprise, I didn’t expect that! Overall, I like it but I'm not sure if I need a bottle or not. I tried it when I first got it and I think I got more earth, incense and moss, and I fell in love and immediately wanted a bottle. Many months later I'm getting mostly a beautiful heady floral. If you're a jasmine fan try it! I will hang onto my imp though.

Casanova may work on you. when I tried it, it started off more traditional mens cologne but then as it dried it turned into this most amazing scent....I really liked it. It has a similar vibe IMO to Dee, Old Scratch, etc. Have you tried Smut or Enranged Orangutang Musk? In EOM, I find the florals/woods to be fairly light and dominated by the musk and amber...I know that they're both LE but you could probably find some on the swap boards.

I've always thought that the Sephiroth oils smell a lot like Aveda scents, especially Hod, Malkuth and Kether. Of the three, there was one in particular but I can't remember specifically which one...but there's something about that series...

part of the unreleased sniffing circle... In the Imp: Yum! Herbal & spicy. On the Skin: Still a spicy herbal and the vetivert comes out. Man, this is amazing! There’s a touch of citrus there and moss. As I wear it, the citrus becomes stronger yet melds beautifully with the spice, moss and vetivert. This scent makes me think of the woods in the Pacific Northwest or Southeast Alaska – lush, moist, mossy, yet dark and cool. In some ways, it reminds me of Torture King without the leather or bourbon. It has that same citrus - spice - vetivert vibe. Overall: I have to agree that this is truly a gender neutral scent. It is very clean and crisp – it would smell amazing on a man yet still smells wonderfully on a woman. This is the scent I was dying to try and I’m so glad that I had the chance. It’s fabulous!

Part of the unreleased sniffing circle. Initial Impression, on, is fruit! It made me think of Fruit Moon. A bit cologne-ish, there’s something there that I can’t identify that is bringing that in. But it’s predominantly fruit, a tropical type fruit. I’m not really getting pineapple, maybe guava? Kiwi? It’s very well blended and I have a hard time picking out specific notes. The closest I can nail it down to is tropical fruit. As it dries, it turns a bit soapy. I liked the initial stage better than this. There may be a touch of something floral there – overwhelming the fruit. There’s a bit of spice too. The soapiness remains. Overall, it’s a complex scent, but not one that I need a bottle of. The spicy fruit is interesting (I like that part of it) but the florals combine to give it a soapy aspect that I doesn’t particularly work for me. It was great to try it though!

Part of the unreleased sniffing circle… In the imp: It smells very foody, mainly almond & marzipan. On the skin: It changes almost immediately from an almondy foody smell to an orange foody smell. As it dries, spices emerge and it reminds me a bit of homemade quick type Russian tea (tang, cinnamon, nutmeg, lipton tea mix). It remains a spicy orange smell. It fades fairly quickly on me. Overall, I have to say that I like the drydown a lot more than the opening. I love Russian tea....glad that I got a chance to try this.

Part of the Unreleased sniffing circle... In the Imp: light, clean, fresh, lemony On the Skin, Initial impression: On the skin, it's as in the imp - lovely, lemony fresh, light smelling. Very clean smelling and crisp. When I first put it on, I thought that I got whiffs of something wild and grassy, but that could have been suggestion... Dry: As it dries, a piney, juniper scent emerges. It also changes into more of an herbal, green scent instead of citrusy, as would be expected by the emergence of evergreen. Overall: It's a nice scent, but not really what I would ever reach for and it has no lasting power on me at all. After about a ½ hr, it’s gone. But, I'm glad that I got an opportunity to try it.

I'm testing this as part of the Unreleased Sniffing Circle. Initally on the skin and in the imp, I get a strong minty smell. Maybe spearmint or wintermint. It’s very cooling and refreshing. As it wears, I do get a touch of soap underneath the mint, but it is very light. As far as components go, I would have to say mint, maybe a touch of sugar. This would make a fantastic lotion for hot weather (note - I want to make lotion of all minty scents so there you go). It seems to stay pretty true, not morphing a lot. But, it also disappears pretty quickly on me too. Overall, I like it, but if it were released I’m not sure if I’d buy a bottle, or not. I’ve got mint scents already and they don’t speak to me like the woods or resins do.

I’m trying this through the Unreleased Sniffing Circle. In the Imp: lavender, maybe a touch of eucalyptus. It’s a coolish smelling oil to me. On the Skin, Initial Impression: oh yes, it’s lavender all right. At first it’s pretty sharp, but it softens pretty quickly. It gets slightly powdery on me as it dries but also a bit sweeter. After about 20 minutes: Lavender and violets. It gets much softer on me the longer I wear it. I find this oil very cooling and think it would be great in hot weather. I have to say though that it fades pretty quickly on me. Overall: Nice, I like it. It is a very soothing scent yet also refreshing. Unfortunately, it disappears pretty quick. But, the oil is very well suited to its name.

I love amber. Well certain kinds anyway. The Lion is an excellent strong amber with spice (I think it's cardamom - just lightly there). Sin is a resiny, warm, spicy scent. Very nice. Coyote is another good, almost pure amber scent with a touch of grass and leather. Yummy. Snake Charmer is also a good amber scent but with lots of other scents in there too - it's strong on the vanilla. It's also an LE and may be difficult to find. Verdandi on me is green apples and amber (very very nice), and Succor is amber and olives (interesting but also very soothing). I love love love amber. I can't wait to see the other recommendations people have for you.

snake charmer & sin. always good response, esp. from snake charmer. plus, when I wear them I feel sexier and more delicous. smelling great plus feeling fabulous is a deadly combination! and yes, I have to agree, Spanked is VERY VERY sexy!

This is the 2nd batch of the Chaos II decant circle organized by OW. It's long since left my hands but it's just taken me a long time to get this posted. Again, in no particular order... DCLI Initial impression: Pink! Strawberry! Sweetness! After about 5 seconds on my skin, it deepens and I get red fruit, berries. It gets spicy but remains fruity/berryish. Maybe a touch of cinnamon/cassia in there to spice it up. Great drydown! This is another goodie! (andrabell's review) CDXVI Fruity, slightly floral. I have a hard time identifying notes in this one. Not really my style but nice. I just can’t describe the notes in this one. (sarada's review) CCCLXXXVIII Reminds me quite a bit of Queen of Clubs upon first application, loam, earth, fig. Damn – this is really similar to QoC! I think that it’s more floral though. (Shollin's review) VIII This reminds of another Chaos in this batch. There could be a touch of sassfrass in here. Maybe a touch of mint or pennyroyal. Some kinda floral, maybe gardenia? This is a strong, bracing scent. (OriginalWacky's review) XXV One of my contributions to the circle – My first review 2nd review: this seems to have mellowed a bit since I first reviewed it. Its softer now and the vicks cherry cough drop accord is not nearly as present as it was a few months ago. (sarada's review) L Initially, this oil is light, herbal, with maybe a touch of lemon. Light, springy florals. It is very very fresh smelling. There’s something minty about this blend, it comes out as it dries. During the drydown, it remains a light, fresh blend, the mint gives it a bit of kick. Very nice! (sarada's review) DXLVIII Wow this is really different! Strong smelling, a bit medicinal. It’s a light blue colored oil – very pretty color! Minty, and quite herbal. I smell lavendar. It’s very fresh and energizing. It makes my wrist tingle. Long lasting and it remains herbal as it wears. (sarada's review) CCCLXX A bit aquatic, light, floral, maybe pear? These are notes that I’m not too familiar with – light, clean smelling, this would be easy to wear to the office. There could be some oakmoss in here. (sarada's review) CXCIII In the bag – smelled a bit like sassfrass. On the skin: Minty, - I think spearmint. Nice. (sarada's review) Closing thoughts - this was an olfactory rollercoaster and good learning experience to get to test all these difference scents. Decant circles are sooo fun!

In the Imp: dry bubblegum-type scent. Its an orangy-red color which makes me think that there's dragon's blood in here. On the Skin: Thank god, the bubblegum note vanishes once I put it on. Instead, I get an almost ylang-ylang scent plus cinnamon and an underlying note of musk or civet. I don't think it's jasmine as jasmine hates me, and this is pretty good so far. It's warm, spicy, and very sexy. When I first applied it the other day, immediately out of the shower, I had a wee bit of a reaction to it - my skin turned red where it was applied. As it Dries: Vanilla comes out, wow - this reminds me a LOT of Dragon's Milk. This is just fabulous! There's definitely both dragon's blood and vanilla in here. It has an underlying musky edge to it. The cinnamon mellows out a lot and there's also a touch of incense here. Overall Impression: Warm, spicy, sexy, sultry scent. I don't know that it works for it's intended purpose but it certainly makes me feel sexier, so from that alone it's being effective. I think it's fabulous! I have to get a bottle with my next order. Yum! edited for spelling

I tend to gravitate towards traditionally masculine or unisex scents - incense, leather, musk, resins, wood all speak to me! I too used to wear just straight sandalwood or even vetivert oil, both considered quite traditionally masculine. King of Clubs, Tezcatlipoca, Coyote, Dee, Torture King are all among my favorite scents. I say wear what you like and what moves you, and don't limit yourself to what is considered traditionally masculine or feminine!

I have to break up the Chaos II circle reviews into two sets. Damn - there are lots of oils and thanks to OriginalWacky for organizing this! In no particular order... CCCXC It reminds me very much of Sugar Skull 2005 but a bit fruitier. Stays pretty true, sweet, sugary, slightly fruity. In the vial it’s more fruity but then sweetens up and carmalizes as it melds with the skin. Delicious! And long lasting too. Great Chaos blend! OriginalWacky's review , sarada's review XXXVII Green, fresh, slightly floral. When I first smelled it, it reminded me of fresh green moist moss, slightly sweet. As it wears on, it sweetens up considerably and delicate white florals come out. Very nice….innocent, sweet, young come to mind. OriginalWacky's review CXX In the vial, slightly herbal, but then it sweetens upon the skin and florals come out. I think that roses are back there among the flowers and there’s a hint of sassfrass. OriginalWacky's review, sarada's review , roesmoker's review D In the vial, predominately lavendar. Bluish, greenish, light almost robin egg colored oil – beautiful! As it dries, this remains strongly lavendar but it’s tempered by something else. It gets fruity as it wears, so maybe lotus? Good combination. OriginalWacky's review , sarada's review CCCXVII In the imp – mint. On the skin: Minty! Is that spearmint? Edible smelling – makes me want to eat it up (doesn’t help that I haven’t had lunch yet). Sort of spicy, maybe a hint of cinnamon back there. Fantastic!! There may be a hint of cucumber back there. Great drydown, the cinnamon mellows out a bit but the oil remains spicy, minty, creamy. Very nice! OriginalWacky's review, sarada's review, Imbrium's review LXXVII Reminds me of Blood Moon, musky, with cinnamon or cassia. But I think a bit sweeter than Blood Moon. I think there’s red sandalwood in there. There could be just a touch of sassfrass in there but just a drop. It adds just a bit more spicy warmth. I don’t want to try any more oils, just bask in the spicy goodness of this on my wrist… This is one of my favorite chaos theories out there – this is amazing! OriginalWacky's review, sarada's review, yeahbutnobut'S review, sihaya09's review, lachodia's review, olympia301's review, shelldoo's review CCLIX Gardenia I think and maybe a touch of mint. As I wear it the gardenia (?) fades and melds into the background. It becomes kinda fruity, I have a hard time describing these kindof scents. If I had to do a description, I would say some kind of white or tropical flowers and something fruity, so maybe there’s lotus in here too. OriginalWacky's review , sarada's review more to come....weeee - this is fun!

Thoroughly revisited. This year’s Hearth is warmer, sweeter, and more traditionally comforting. This is the scent of candied chestnuts, buttered, covered in brown sugar and honey, alongside the scent of cedar smoke and soft pine. Another spot on scent - it smells exactly like the description, as least as far as I can tell. I don't think I've ever smelled/tried chestnuts, so there is a bit of imagination there. But back to the oil, it smells warm, slightly nutty, and pretty sweet - predominantly brown sugar and none of the honey on me (thank goodness as I do bad things to honey). There's hints of the pipe smoke, but the sweet nuttiness rules this blend on me. Theres a hint of pine and it all melds together into this incredibly evocative scent - sitting in a cozy room, fire burning, brings to mind libraries with leather books (even tho I don't get any leather from this scent). Very nice. oh, and it lasts and lasts and lasts!

In the bottle - strong, sweet, edible goodness. Mainly cheesecake. On the Skin - initial - sweet cheesecake, but then it morphs pretty quick and I get plastic. It's similar to the initial note I get in Midway (I get plastic there too) but much much sweeter. It's a very strong scent and the throw is tremendous. After about 20 minutes or so - the plastic note burns off and I get edible goodness, the tanginess of cheesecake, maybe a touch of crust. Overall - I didn't think that it could be done but Beth did a hell of a job capturing these scents. It's pretty phenomenal really. The beginning and ending are great, but the getting there is not good. Is it a keeper? I'm not sure, but it does have some yummy phases.

wow - the new labels are so great - thanks for posting those!

Pink Phoenix - In the bottle this is a very sweet scent. I can really smell the strawberry and vanilla. The honey comb, sweet pea and pear take a bit of a back seat but add to the overall sweetness. On me, it starts out pretty sweet, but then a ways through it morphs on me. I almost smell chocolate (I know, my skin is weird). It's the honeycomb making itself known and taking over. Unfortunately, this is what I was afraid of. Honey and I do not get along but I wanted to give it a shot because, after all, it is an anniversary scent! I have a tendency to amp honey big time, but not always in a good way. As it wears on, it becomes almost musky on me, but there are still remnants of sweetness underneath. I don't really get any florals, just musky chocolate honey, and a touch of sugary sweetness. I'm going to give it some time and try it again in a few weeks, see if something is different. It's a really happy, cheery scent in the bottle, if only it stayed that way on me. Fingers crossed...