k00kaburra

In bottle: Jasmine and vanilla. It smells like there's some sort of wood here - white sandalwood, maybe? That's probably just the ginger, though. It's very hard to describe. On me: The weird sandalwood-esque note - which probably was the ginger - disappears and is replaced by a delightfully fruity scent. Apricot and vanilla are surprisingly strong, while the jasmine looks on from the sidelines. The ginger adds a slight bitterness which only helps deepen the blend. It's very unusual but definitely a sexy scent.

In bottle: Quite spicy, like Snake Oil. Everyone compares it to the combination of Snake Oil and O...I've yet to try O but I can definitely smell elements of Snake Oil here in the same beautiful mix of spices and that ever-fantastic vanilla. There's something else here too, not detectable by the nose but by the feeling it inspires - it's something raw and sexual, that awakens desire and brings a playful smile to your face. On me: I don't really know what to say. Somehow Beth managed to capture that post-coital calm and bottle it in this perfume. It is very musky and the myrrh gets stronger the longer it is on my skin. Unfortunately, it also starts going quite powdery, which is too bad, because I like this very much in the wet stages.

In bottle: Very well blended; it's nearly impossible for me to pick out individual notes. I would describe it as medicinal, with a somewhat spicy base. Like eucalyptus and mint floating over cinnamon. There are hints of green mingling with the rest of the blend. I wouldn't be surprised if there is some sandalwood here. On me: This is an extremely calming scent. I've been quite high-strung all day, and after applying this oil I am finally beginning to calm down. The bottle scent and the skin scent are quite similar; this isn't a heavily mutating fragrance. I am still quite mystified as to what is in this blend - but the point isn't to know, after all. This potion achieves its purpose, and that is what matters.

In bottle: Rich, strong rose. Rather like dried rose petals in a potpourri sachet. On me: This is quite true from bottle to skin. Dried rose petals all day long.

In bottle: Fruity and fantastic! Pomegranate and peach dance together upon a still pool of cold water, while flower petals float in the air overhead. On me: Hints of autumn and age creep into the blend. The fruit is still bright but it is ripe; a day more and it would be overripe. The petals are bright and lovely; a day more and they will begin to brown and fade. The pool of water grows colder every day; the breezes are no longer fresh and balmy, but have begun the change to winter's winds. There's the slightest hints of spiciness and dry leaves; this is a perfect transition scent, encapsulating the brightness and light-joy of summer and the beginning of autumn's crispness and heavy spices.

In bottle: On first sniff, uberose and light aquatics; second sniff reveals the lovely, crisp fruitiness of the pear. On me: Hmm, the skin where I applied this is tingling. It isn't turning red or showing any signs of distress, so I think it's OK, but a bit odd all the same. The plumeria is so very strong, but it's backed up by mountains of rose petals. The fruitiness is still here, and assists in further sweetening the blend. I am very two ways about this. It is sweet, but is it too sweet? The florals are strong and the rose is quite pungent; but is it overwhelming? I can't make up my mind as to whether I like this or not. It is getting quite powdery on me, so I don't think I shall keep it. But the fragrance is so peaceful and beautiful that it was very difficult to decide.

In bottle: Rich gardenia and light fruity overtones. Perhaps there's hints of vanilla here as well. The gardenia makes me think of jasmine - I wish I had single notes of the two flowers, that I might see exactly how (dis)similar they are. On me: Gardenia dominates, allowing only faint hints of cinnamon to poke up with her. Chocolate? Red wine? No such luck - I can't anything remotely foody. Only gardenia, with cinnamon and perhaps perhaps a tiny bit of vanilla.

In bottle: Strong lavender and weaker mosses, with many hints that something quite powerful lurks beneath. On me: An excellent - I dare say near perfect - men's cologne. There's something almost citrus about it, but I believe that's just the mosses. Carnation gives this fragrance such a gorgeous spicy edge, while the lavender provides the perfect stage for the other notes to dance on. My brother will adore this; off to him it shall go.

In bottle: Green tea and lemon, with white floral elements. Clean and astringent. This fragrance has the makings of another summer staple. On me: Faint on the skin, but true to the bottle. Simple yet profound.

In bottle: Faintly lemon and slightly grass. Delicate little white flowers and rain pouring down from the sky. The ozone/air notes in this aren't 'zingy' or powerfully crisp; just clean and bright. On me: Love it! As another member commented, this fragrance changes little from bottle to skin. I will definitely need to get a larger bottle of this blend; it is a perfectly chilled scent, cold with underlying frozen beauty. I can't imagine anything better for those sweltering summer afternoons.

In bottle: Violets and vanilla. It's very sweet, like sugared violets. In the bottle, I really like it. Lovely delicate florals with a scent that slithers out of the bottle and over your skin. On me: It is almost as if the scent rolled over, and the violets were pushed to the bottom and gardenia to the top. This smells STRONGLY of gardenia blossoms, white and creamy, with wisps of smoky sweet violets and vanilla. I wish the bottle and the skin fragrance matched better; I can't stand this scent.

In bottle: All the spices of the Old World blended together so skillfully I can't pull them apart. There's a light greenish note that makes this note crisp, hints of a citrusto give this juice and an edge, and a vast collection of mystery spices, which bring about mystery and allure and sexiness. The scent is light and playful, something I never expected. On me: Cinnamon and ginger. Light, delicate florals and green, leafy herbs - this is a beautiful and complicated scent, very difficult to describe. It seems very youthful for a spice scent; it isn't heavy with age like most incense-scents seem to be.

In bottle: Sparkling sweet almond, dark musty oakmoss, and Egyptian musk. Exotic and unusual; it's almost a perfect balance between light and dark. On me: This just up and vanishes on me. I can faintly smell the jasmine, and the way it blends with the oakmoss and the almond is beautiful. But you can barely detect it on my skin. Dangit.

In bottle: Mmm, ylang ylang. Since ylang ylang is in two of the Sensuality blends at Bath & Body Works, I figured there was a 99.9% chance of those blossoms being in this blend. It almost smells a bit tangy, like ylang ylang floating in 7-Up. There's hints of a lime citrus causing that, I think. On me: Near-pure ylang ylang, with hints of something fruity-dusty...almost like coconut. Gorgeous! And unlike many ylang ylang-containing fragrances, this isn't going putrid on me. Grand.

In bottle: It smells like...mushrooms? It truly reminds me of toadstools growing in the soft dirt. On me: Amazing perfect dirt smell. It captures potting soil and freshly churned gardens to a T. As I'm not a dirt fan I won't be holding on to this, but curiousity compelled me to try it and I am delighted that I did.

In bottle: Red and juicy. It seems to be red wine and berries? Almost like...Lady Macbeth, if she was a young woman instead of an aged matron. Under the bright juice I smell wisps of smoky patchouli. On me: Still very juicy. Flowers are starting to appear now; I can't identify any of them though. This is a very well-blended fragrance; I can't pick out specific notes very well, just a general feel. Like Red Moon it goes weak on the skin; that doesn't surprise me as I'm sure these share more than a few notes.

In bottle: Beautiful and crisp and zingy in the bottle. It is almost exactly the scent of the air before a mighty thunderstorm - Beth captured that perfectly. It's almost a bit fruity too - I don't remember it being this way in my previous bottle, but in this it definitely has the tang of fruit in it now. On me: That beautiful ZAAAAAAP! fragrance on my skin. It's pretty amazing; actually - fragrances don't often stay near identical from bottle to skin. This is just as tangy and perfect as before. I may very well have to scout up a few more bottles before this is completely gone.

In bottle: Gotta love that crazy good decay scent. Patchouli, poppy, and civet. The rose sweetens the fragrance, but it is mostly dank and dark, like the underside of a rotting log in a foggy, damp forest. On me: Rose fades and vanishes; the scent dries but remains the scent of soggy rotting wood. Deeply earthy, this is a strong soil packed with nutrients and bits of bone. The civet grows stronger and stronger and has overpowered the patchouli, and the poppy has retreated to the background with the rose.

In bottle: Dry, sweet sandalwood and lilac. It makes me think of moth-eaten curtains, white and wispy, floating in the air because the breeze has picked them up The florals make this sweet and the wood gives it the feeling of age and hints at decay. On me: The tuberose becomes much more prominant, and the lilac and lilies remain. It's still a dusty fragrance, like old pressed flowers, but it's lovely. After the perfume has dried out it goes a bit sharp on my skin; it's still lovely but the scent is being obscured by my skin's chemistry . I think I'll keep it anyway; perhaps at a different time of month I'll be able to make this work.

In bottle: Delicate rose. It's a pure rose scent, but it isn't a strong one. It's like the ghost of a rose petal; the memory of the flower bouquet you held on your wedding day. Fresh and beautiful. The best way I can think to describe it is as a silver rose, but please don't make the mistake of thinking that means the fragrance is metallic, because it most certainly is not. On me: Unlike richer, heartier roses, this does not turn and do strange things on me. It remains that same ethreal blossom, blooming in the light of a full moon.

In bottle: Flowers with a sprinkling of green herbs. Definitely jasmine, perhaps some ylang ylang? It does make me think of May Day and the whole 'dancing 'round the flowered Maypole' tradition. On me: Powerful floral. Jasmine, ylang ylang, rose. There's also that interesting, sweet note that I get from lotus, and I think I may detect a hint of tulip. The herbs that I detect in the bottle have become rather watery, but it definitely adds, rather than subtracts, from the scent. All in all this is an excellent spring floral, perfect for bringing in the new season of light and warmth.

In bottle: Deliciously fruity. Fig and pear, plum and quince. Plumeria is strong, as well, and some hints of creamy gardenia bubble up now and again. On me: On the skin, some of the plants grow more prominant. Grapevine and dried rose petals increase in strength, as does the pomegranate and a citrus note. There are so many different things blending together in this, some notes retreating to the background only to re-emerge a few minutes later, others humming faintly in the background the whole time and never quite stepping into the spotlight. The spicier fruits and woods keep this from being a sweet screaming fruit salad, and aid this in maintaining a tropical, lush garden sense.

In bottle: Strawberries and sharp orange blossom, with black poppy darkening and twisting the sweeter berry note. No detection of carnation wet. On me: Definitely a darker strawberry. Sweet strawberry is the strongest note, and unlike some of the other strawberry fragrances (Bon Vivant, for example) it doesn't have even the slightest hint of artificial fragrance. It is a chaotic strawberry, with the orange blossom equally strong. Very fruity, but not in a typical "cucumber melon" sense. Even folks that normally are not a fan of fruit should try this; itis quite unique and I imagine quite a few people would be surprised at how much they enjoy it.

In bottle: A very sharp, medicinal mint. It is not so much like candy canes or a sweetened mint as it is a toothpaste sort of mint. Clearly, beneath the mints there is a bit of a floral note. On me: On the skin the scent instantly turns greener. The mint is still as strong, but it has changed and violets have blossomed into the oil. Oddly enough, the violets fade away as the oil dries and I'm left with a scent that is still predominantly mint but a citrus -almost a grapefruit - left behind.

In bottle: Green and herbal. It's very bright, with hints of floral. Every drop of this liquid screams green; close your eyes and see rolling green hills under a blue sky with huge, puffy cotton-ball clouds. On me: On my skin, the white musk and florals become stronger, although I could not identify them specifically. This is a beautiful green scent, perfect for man or woman. I purchased this because I figure anything benefitting the Comic Book Legal Defense fund is a good thing, but it's so perfect I would've gotten it even if it wasn't an Oblation scent.