pickman's model

I got this one for a male friend who was looking for a scent. Him being as much of a mad Lovecraft geek as I, we settled on Nyarlathotep. So I'm writing a review for him. In the vial: Citrusy, but dark. Very dark. Wet: Citrus, ozone and vetiver. So very much vetiver. The citrus keeps it from going too much like Malediction and the ozone really added an odd note to it. Dry: Evil. Sexy. I keep sniffing him. The Crawling Chaos works so well on him. Outdoorsish, but not in a "Grr! Me Rugged Man!" way. I am so very, very jealous that vetiver works on him and not me. On the other hand, he smells wicked good and we can giggle when he wears it and I have Shub on. Verdict: I converted a guy not only to BPAL, but to scent. And I keep nuzzling him to smell. Score.

You, my dear, are looking for Snake Oil. It is the perfect spicy, rich, sexy, exotic vanilla.

I second Tezcatlipoca. Mmm...

In the vial: Rich, boozy and chocolatey. Wet: Chocolate, awash in red wine, rum and florals with a metallic undertone. I can definitely see the "blood" in this. Drying: This is what I wanted Dia de las Muertas (2005) to be. There's booze, chocolate all over the place. This seems a lot wilder, but still the same vague sense. And vetiver. I hate vetiver with a fiery hate, but in this, it's dark, calm, behaved, adding a pleasant wildness. Dry: Now it's just chocolate and vetiver, with rare peeks of florals. I can't stand florals or vetiver, but I love this blend. Odd, awesome and fun.

Vibrant with the joy and sweetness of life in death! A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits. I was madly looking forward to this one, so I wound up opening it in the front hallway of my friend's place where it was sent. In the vial:I think of making the sauce for baklava, madly sweet stuff. And a guy I worked with in a kitchen, sculpting pretty flowers for me out of melted sugar by hand. ( I loved when he did that) The same warm, sugary delicacy. Andrew (the guy this was shipped to) says: Smells like baking desserts. Dead on. Wet: The cinnamon amps like mad on me. Nothin' but cinnamon. Where's the sugar? Dry: Ahh, there it is. The cinnamon calms down and is mingling nicely with the dark, sweet sugar. Take a fresh, extra-cinnamony cinnamon bun and throw it in a big bag of brown sugar. Stick your face in and inhale. The sugar is nice and dark and caramelly. This is sweet, but not too sweet. A teeny little touch of booze is in there, waving from the back. My favourite scents: foody things, spicy things and dark things. Sugar Skull is yummy, spicy and dark. Ohhhhh yes.

Wet: Sweet, an undifferentiated sweetness and a "mainstream perfumey" note that sort of alarms me. Dry:The vanilla fades into the background, bringing up a wonderful spiciness that makes me think of really nice chai. And a touch of lemon. (I love lemon!) A little later: There's that musk. Light musks make me ever so happy. This is a very clean, sweet scent. A little wicked though, as the spices smirk through the milky sweetness. This one comes off very femininely on me, unsurprising as my skin amps every stereotypically girly note out there. There's not a ton of throw, but that's fine with me.

I got mine as a frimp from the Lab. I usually can't stand florals. At all. Except... In the vial: Sweet honey. I love honey. And lilies. I can deal with this. Wet: The lilies are amping over the honey. Still, this is ok with me. Dry: The lilies are at the forefront, but the honey's keeping it from being straight floral. Nice and sweet. The lily doesn't go too funeral-y on me (unless it's on my wrists and my hands are cold. Then it gets disconcerting) and the honey seems to be tempering the "eeeew! flowers!" my skin usually has. There's a touch of saopy-cleanness that has a nice "just out of the shower" effect that's nice. Well, looks like there's a floral besides Zombi that actually plays nice on my skin.

Embalming Fluid is always my favourite for making and keeping me awake. It's essay time, I'm on 4 hours of sleep myself. *reaches for Embalming Fluid* Must...get...to...yummy lemony green tea...

Wet: Cherry cherry cherry! Bright red cherry-flavour! Nice and tart and sweet. Dry: Cherry, but some vanilla and a lovely dark wood. Getting woodier and sweeter. I can get the currant now. This is quite different from the other foody scents I've tried. I love foody and I love woody. This is like you took the foodiest food and uber-wood and put them together. I love cherries, I love woody scents. This one was nice.

Immediately, I get leather. Like I leaned into a pile of half-finished projects at my flogger-making friend's place. Then the myrrh comes in, dragging the amber behind it. On me, it makes me smell like a boy in leather. I like such things a great deal, but I am not myself a sexy leather-clad gentleman. Hmm. I had a lot of hope for this one. Sadly, I can't carry it off. To the swaps! I have Tezcatlipoca for my domme side, I guess.

A brilliant, ethereal scent: white musk, bergamot, heliotrope, peach and oakmoss. This smells to me like a real, juicy, fresh peach, a teeny touch of white musk and a nice summer-foresty note. It makes me smile to wear. The description "sparkly" is pretty apt, the peach isn't candy-sticky like Tamora. Heliotrope and I have never gotten along as well as with this blend before. Yum. *sniffs* *grins*

Yeah, everyone was right. It does smell like crazy-good sex. With a bit of sweetness to make it perfect. Warm, inviting and utterly sensual. I want to curl up purring. Only problem is it has very little throw on me. Ah well.

Oooh. This starts out like the darkest, most expensive chocolate ever. Then comes the incense and the leather. It ends with a bitter cocoa, smoke and a teeny bit of floral wearing a really well-fitting leather jacket. If Shub-Niggurath is the "sexy evil girly" scent, Tezcat's the same but more masculine. I'm a really girly girl, but I can see wearing this one pretty often. Sextacular. It's a rather good scent for a to evoke a more dominant state of mind too.

Wet: smells like those Fuzzy Peach Slices candy. One of my favourites. I kind of want to chew on my wrist. Dry: Sweet, fruity and yummy.Not a lot of throw, but it sits all golden-peachy peachy. Sometimes heliotrope and I don't get along, but we sure are now. I think that's what's adding the Fuzzy Peach-ness. 15 Minutes later: It's faded to the point where I'd need to be nuzzled for someone to notice. I for one, have no problem with this. Nice for when I feel like snuggling and smelling like candy. So much more floral than anything I usually go for, but soooo cute. And it invites nuzzling. So woo!

My Succubus costume on Saturday smelled like Shub-Niggurath, because that scent gets me more adoration than any other. That and I don't own any BPAL Succubus. Tonight, my little dead girl costume will smell like Snake Oil or possibly Zombi. Sweet or earthy. Hmm.

Malediction! Damn this is a sexy smell for a guy. Maybe a darkly handsome sort of guy. Rowrrr... Now if only I could get it on _my_ darkly handsome boy. (he doesn't wear scents.)

In the Imp: Grr! This is some seriously aggressive vetiver action going on. Wet: Stronger, smoky and pretty intimidating. Like being grabbed by the throat. Dry: Vetiver, all dark and broody makes a nice wood addition to the dirt of patchouli. It's like a dark forest, full of old, fallen trees and a sense that wolves are following you just out of sight. Cedary malevolence, dirt (I love dirt) and an animal note that's a little alarming. Final: It makes me think of werewolves. Very aggressive and foresty. Evergreen needles crushed under feet like paws and woodsmoke on fur. Growly and masculine, but not quite right for me to wear. As a ritual scent, however...

In the imp: Smells like wood. And a bit of dust. Wet: "Wet" is a misnomer, as it's the driest scent I've ever experienced. That same dusty wood, but with a note of clean laundry with unscented fabic softener. Dry: Sandalwood is at the forefront, with a note of something else I can't identify and the teeniest, itty-bittiest bit of sweetness. Oddly clean. I can visualise an ossuary, well-kept and full of ornately arranged bones. Edited to add: after about 20 minutes, I get this combination of the perfume my mom wore when I was little and the sandalwood soap my best friend and I were obsessed with in high school. So comforting and nice. When that all finally settles, I get a sweet, warm sandalwood. Love it sooo much!

Good heavens. This blew me away on so many levels. A definite smokiness, foody sweetness, earth and flowers. I'm eight years old, and this makes me think of my grandfather's funeral so vividly. A big Catholic thing in early November. And some thing else too. More joy, but a definite note of the departed. Damn. I had to sit down when I tried this. It's beautiful.

Wow, that's unusual. I get (for lack of anything more concrete): clean laundry (ozone, I suspect) really strong wind and a little earth. Not particularly "me", but I think it's really quite pretty.

In the vial: Levender, Nothing but lavender. Wet:There's the jasmine, with some lavender standing in the back, but still as noticeable as the really tall kid in school pictures. Dry:Soapish, as jasmine seems to like turning on me. It smells very much like shower-freshness. That and this perfume I associate with a fair-trade shop in town, and exotic perfume scent. Final: I like this for if/when I have to act like an elegant, adult lady. A bit closer to conventional perfume, but still unusual and exotic. Wish I'd thought of this when I went to the opera the other weekend.

Santa Muerte is definitely different from what I usually wear. I'm not a huge fan of florals, but I swapped for this because I'm drawn to Santa Muerte herself. It works on me. The tartness of the cactus sits nicely with the earthy sweetness of the rest of it. The flowers aren't all huge and in-your-face. It's very autumnal. Not one I wear often, but once in a while.

First off, I adore lemon. And green tea. So I suppose it only makes sense that Embalming Fluid rocks my world. Wet: lemon! lemonlemonlemon! I smell like lemonade! Dry: There's the tea cozying up to that lemon. It really smalls like lemon green tea, with the slightest touch of that white musk. This is the stuff I wear when I'm tired and grouchy and in no mood to get up or do anything. By the drydown I'm all happy and chipper.

I just want to say that this is hands-down the greatest scent I've ever experienced. On me (like everyone else), I get gingerbread. Sexy, evil gingerbread. There's a lot of spiciness to this one, but also a nice grounding, which keeps it away from the "cinnamon hearts" territory. A nice touch of incense too. But seriously, that whole aphrodisiac thing? Oh hell yes. Random stangers hit on me. The mate can't stop snuggling me. Boys, girls, young, old, this thing makes everybody like me.

That is to say, I like Santa Muerte (sometimes) and Zombi, but that's about it. Problem is, I'm a really girly sort of girl, and I also don't like heliotrope. I love Snake Oil, Shub, Embalming Fluid and Eclipse, but is there anything less heavy that isn't all flowery? Dammit, I'm picky. Why can't florals just love me instead?