k00kaburra

In bottle: Sharp, as I usually find neroli to be. The creamy lotus seems as if it is trying to soothe the neroli and the lavender, but despite the gentleness beneath the initial sniff, the neroli lingers even as I pull the bottle away. On me: Eh. Neroli hates me, and lotus doesn't always seem to care much for me either. There's a pretty, almost-candy-like orange and lotus scent, but something in the way the other components blend give this a cat-piss thread that winds throughout the scent, ruining it.

In bottle: Lemony verbena with a hint of wood in the undertones. Wow! It is very summery, crisp and clean. On me: Pretty. Unlike June Gloom, this is a bright, happy lemon. If this was a phantom, it would be one of a child laughing and giggling in a garden on a warm summer's evening. It conjures the image of a 'happy place' - lemon that is candy-like, not sharp and stinging. Warm wood. It's very energizing and inspiring.

In bottle: Musky and...musty. It reminds me of walking into a house that's been abandoned for years and years. Everything's still there, pristine and as the owner left it, but because nature has begun to take the place back there are dry leaves on the floor, mold crawling up the walls, water damage everywhere, and creaking floors and stairs. Maybe some cinnamon? On me: Nutty. It reminds me of those jars of mixed nuts. It's also very smoky. It's like I'm in the house I just described, and in the center of the room some older men are playing cards with cigars hanging from their lips and an ancient ashtray with a mountain of ash sitting in the middle of the table. I get very heavy whiffs of some sort of wood, one of the ones I pick up in Cathedral. Sandalwood o perhaps cedar? While I like this scent - it is strangely comforting - I don't know that I could wear it, even to Vegas to test its gambling charms.

How strange; I haven't heard anything about JV being discontinued or even reduced inventory. I wouldn't panic just yet; even if things are discontinued the products usually continue to be available at the semi-annual sales for at least a year. -- Also, just to add - if they do discontinue the current sugar scrub, they are practically guarenteed to introduce something very similar within a few months; they tweak formulas and 'upgrade' products all the time. Don't worry! It really is nothing to worry about.

In bottle: My conception of Freesia comes exclusively from Bath & Body Work's Sheer Freesia line, and this truly smells nothing like it. This is much bolder and brighter. On me: Very fruity and fresh, it reminds me a bit of the juice in a bartlett pear, the crispness of apple, and the sweetness of almond. It's completely different from what I expected, and I couldn't be happier. Gorgeous!

In bottle: Sweet almond indeed! It is like marzipan, but not as sugary. The strength of the almonds in Bordello was not as apparent to me until I put this on. On me: All the lovely sweetness in an almond is captured here, with none of the nuttiness. As it dries it becomes creamier, but it never loses the almost-marzipan fragrance.

In bottle: Crisp and delicious! Oh-so-juicy, too. This is a very sweet pomegranate, but it has managed to keep the tartness of the fruit. On me: Smells like candy, and at times almost reminds me of apples. I love that this is a complicated fruit...unlike strawberry or pear, which you put on and pff! that's the same scent you'll have all day, pomegrante changes subtly, becoming sweeter or tarter as the day goes on. It is so very interesting.

I have a fig tree growing in my back yard, and in my experience fig scents never smell like the fruits on my tree. I was curious to see if Beth's fig would be different. In bottle: Spicy and sweet, it's definitely fig. Unfortunately, it's fig like fig fragrances smell, not fig like the fruit on the tree. On me: Oh, thank goodness. The artificial/false edge fades off and this is probably the closest I've ever come to a fig fragrance that matches the fruit. It's light and creamy with hints of spiciness. It does seem a bit weak on its own; but in blends it should be fabulous.

In bottle: It's a different honey that what I'm used to. It is dark and rich, and much less flowery than I expected. On me: It is much more incensey than I thought honey could be; I really am used to super-sweetened honey. It definitely seems more than merely liquid honey - the scent of the honeycomb and the beeswax is all here as well. It also grows stronger as I wear it instead of weaker. Most interesting.

In bottle: Oh, wow. OH WOW. That is JUICY delicious pineapple! This is so dead-on that I can nearly taste the fruit. On me: The slight bit of edge that was in the bottled form of this note vanishes on my skin. It's still lovely pineapple, but as others have said, it is less like the fruit and more like a candy or creamed version. It is still delicious, however.

In bottle: Very sweet, sugary vanilla. Reminds me almost of amaretto. On me: This becomes creamier, but still very strong distilled vanilla, like the vanilla extract you mix into cake batter. Reminds me a bit of Bath & Body Work's Vanilla Bean Noel, but without the plastic artificial notes that haunt that fragrance.

I picked this single note exclusively on the way 'pee-kaah-keeee!' bounces off my tongue. If that's not even how to pronouce the name, I apologize. In bottle: Sweet sweet floral. Reminds me somewhat of jasmine, but whiter and cleaner. On me: This must be one of the notes that is often lumped into the 'white florals' category. It is very gentle, light and feminine. It also seems to have an extremely short life span, and fades surprisingly fast.

In bottle: Very green, very watery floral. I've never smelled a fresh sweet pea blossom but the Bath & Body Works fragrance with this name doesn't much resemble this. This is greener, and lacks the interference of violets. On me: Watery and light. It does go powdery very quickly, which I found disappointing. The scent was quite thin; I expected something much more robust.

In bottle: I never noticed the almost coconut quality of Plumeria before I sniffed Beth's note. It smells of Hawaii, truly - I remember plumeria leis being presented to my family when we arrived at our resort. The rich perfume of plumeria is so creamy and tropical. On me: The Bath & Body Works line lacks the depth and beauty of this single note. It's so full of life and vibrant.

In bottle: Very light, it smells rather like fresh raspberries that haven't yet been picked. On me: Next to invisible. It doesn't smell artificially like raspberries (I am thinking of Bath & Body Work's Sun Ripened Raspberries) but it is a gentle note of raspberries sitting atop a bowl of fresh cream.

In bottle: Lime candy. Exactly like green lifesavers! On me: Much more zesty and closer to the actual fruit. It's a fast fading note, available only for a few minutes after it has dried.

In bottle: It smells almost like nail polish varnish. Eeew? I haven't done anything to store this wrong, so I hope it's just a nose-acting-funny thing. On me: Ah, here we go. Like Georgia Peach, this needs some skin to fully ripen into the perfected fruit. It's still a bit syrupy - it is more like strawberry candy than strawberry plants or strawberry fruit. Nonetheless, it's quite lovely.

In bottle: Super-strong, bright peach note. It's almost an artificial note because it's screaming so loud. If it were a color, it'd be an intense bright yellow; nice enough to look at, but not quite right. On me: Mellows and ripens. When the fragrance has had a chance to warm up, it becomes a fresh peach ripening on the tree in the sun. Absolutely divine!

In bottle: Green and herbally. It makes me think of a backlot field where kids play kickball after school. On me: There's hints of different green plants in it. On one sniff I think I smell dandelion; on the next I smell green grass blades. It is like the smell of a lawn; there isn't just grass, as I expected, but it's definitely a grass note.

In bottle: When I think of hazelnuts, I think of Nutella, so that's what I was anticipating when I opened this up. To my surprise it smelled nothing of Nutella, and more of a very sweet wood. On me: Very faint; it blends into my skin almost instantly. I can't really smell anything except a very delicate sweet note that seems almost musky. It's almost what I would think of as a 'naked' perfume - something you wear when you don't want anyone to think you're wearing perfume but you still want to smell good. Creamy and light are the two words I can think of to describe this.

In bottle: Very very sweet pears. In my mind, the default fragrance of a pear is that of Bartlett; D'Anjou pears are quite a bit juicier and smell rather syrupy to me. On me: Beautiful and true to D'Anjou pears. It's very syrupy, almost mushy to me, like a veryvery ripe pear. Again, I suspect that it is because I prefer the scent of Bartlett pears, which are a bit crisper and sharper. It's almost as if there's hints of brown sugar or something mixed into this, or spices to make it a bit foodier.

In bottle: It's the milky white liquid that you find in the middle of dandelion stems when you crush them. It's perfect. On me: It's very very green, but very true to dandelion flowers. A great, clean scent. It makes me think of childhood and playing in the backyard, making dandelion chains in the summertime. It's definitely a comfort scent for me.

In bottle: Peach and heliotrope with bits of bergamot. It's very sweet and pretty. This totally makes me think of faeries flitting about with butterfly wings. It's very fruity and feminine. On me: This remains very fruity on the skin. I really like it! It is the transition days between spring and summer, the delicate boundaries between the wet green hills and brown grass that the sun has toasted. I haven't been able to detect the oakmoss at all, but after the fragrance has been dry for a while the white musk grows much stronger. I consider this one of the best blends from the Lab.

Named for the ambitious, vengeful poisoner Catherine deMedici, who used perfumes to perform her dark deeds. A sinful blend of orange blossom, rosemary and rose... allegedly the exact perfume she utilzed in her work. In bottle: It's so sharp it makes me think of vetiver. Ugh. I know that some of that bitterness is the neroli, but eeew. I sense that Catherine and I aren't going to be friends. The rose is definitely there to sweeten things up, so this should smell quite different on my skin. On me: Somewhat astringent is how I would describe this. The horrible sharpness of the bottle is gone, thank goodness. I am reminded somewhat of Akuma, but with rosy florals instead of the berries. The rose is much more prominant than in the bottle; but the combination on my skin is rather like cat piss. Apparently I'm not the only one to have this reaction, either. This was a gift from the Lab and an interesting experiment, but I'm glad it's not something I ordered.

In bottle: Chocolate snowballs! I have a body cream from The Body Bakery that smells exactly of Spooky, and it is called chocolate snowballs. This is just delicious. It's minty coconut macaroons! On me: As my brother put it, "You smell like candy." The chocolate impression I got in the bottle disappears on my skin. The mint becomes a definite peppermint, and I am thinking of crushed candy canes. I still get the fresh-baked cookies and coconut notes, so it's almost like macaroon cookies that have been dipped in crushed peppermint pieces. (My bakery used to sell cookies like that around the holidays.) It isn't quite as lovely as it was in the bottle, but it's still a great fragrance - although I must admit that I don't think the name matches at all. The enduring popularity of this fragrance certainly isn't a mystery to me. It's deeeeeeeeeelicious!