innocent

I have no idea why, but these notes combine into a smell that reminds me of dirty babies - soft, powdery, with undertones of "off". Darn, I had high hopes for this one.

The almond in the notes list worried me, but it shouldn't have. The almond in Bastet was strong at first, and sweet (both things I had feared) but it somehow wasn't overwhelming. I smelled like mysterious marzipan! Unfortunately Bastet faded quickly, so I probably won't get a bottle, but I'll certainly keep my imp around.

Iago should have been awful on me. The second vetiver touches my skin it transforms into ashtrays. While there was still a hint of that acrid unpleasantness in Iago, there was also a sweet, masculine warmth to the scent. I want to attribute that to the black leather. It was nice enough that I'll start looking for that note in other blends - hopefully without his buddy vetiver.

Unsettling and unpleasant. This reminds me of a chemical fire. I don't do well with smokey scents, and this one is worse than most on my skin.

A very clean blend, almost soapy on my skin (I liked it better in the imp). As others have said, its very well-blended. A good one for people who like light, clean scents (and whose skin doesn't turn every bloody thing into soap).

I was afraid of the cream note in this, since milk / cream sometimes goes to latex on my skin... fortunately it behaves here. Prunella smells just how I hoped it would - the notes are well-balanced. It reminds me a bit of Bandersnatch (though Prunella is not spicy), but without the craft store smell that Bandersnatch sometimes has.

I think its the sandalwood, but this goes cloying sweet on my skin with a medicinal undertone of lavender. Not good. I think sandalwood (which I like in other products) will have to go on my Do Not Want list of perfume notes.

Hmm... the patchouli and carnation combine in strange ways on my skin. The scent almost reminds me of vetiver, but without the head-piercing quality that vetiver has. Not for me.

I should have paid attention to the "tear-soaked" aspect of the straw. Aquatics amp on me, and smell either like dryer sheets or soap. That said, the Miller's Daughter is still pretty pleasant. The rose is swollowed up by the soap, but the gold, straw, and amber put up a pretty good fight. A bright scent, like late-morning light. Unfortunately the soap is too much for me.

Mint and grapefruit with an undertone of sweet grapes. I can actually feel the place where I applied this (the mint maybe?). That, combined with the sharpness of the scent, makes me feel as if I'm playing with glass knives. This stays true and well-behaved on my skin but, while I like the way its smells, its a bit too dangerous for me to wear often.

Vetiver and... chocolate? It's hard for me to tell what else is going on in this, because vetiver likes to beat my nose into submission and then crawl up my forehead to give me a migraine. I'm going to have to wash this off. 9/28/2009 - I was going through a bunch of imps and decided to try both this and Iago again, in the vague hope that my tastes have matured and I'd like vetiver now. I still don't like vetiver, but I'm no longer convinced Queen contains any. Whatever it does contain, I still don't like it. This one makes me glad for the existence of rubbing alcohol. Time to go put on something that likes me.

At first - very sharp citrus. Nothing else. It dries down to something slightly dusty, slightly soapy, with a faint hint of tonka. Not as exciting as I thought it would be from the notes list.

Butter (I agree that it must be the chestnuts) and dryer sheets. Strong throw and rather headache inducing. I'm going to try and let it dry down a bit more, to see if it calms. As I don't generally like butter or aquatics this scent is a big NO!

Wet this was very soapy. Dry it was less so, I could make out the dandelion, clover, and birch. Quite faint, and I don't think I'll wear it - I'm not fond of anything that reminds me of soap.

Oooh, Katrina is everything I had hoped Hope would be! Sweet, creamy rose (and very different from the Rose Red I put on my other arm to compare). I like this very much and might order a bottle in November before the Weenies come down. If I'd gotten my decant in time for this month's lunacy, I probably would have ordered this instead of Rose Red (Rose Red in lovely, don't get me wrong, but its such an icy scent - it seldom gets cold enough here that it seems appropriate). Hopefully my finances will be repaired enough by November that I can order a bottle of this guilt-free! (Someone was a very BAD innocent with her holloween shopping.)

A lot of people have been comparing Ichabod to White Rabbit and, unfortunately, I have to agree. White Rabbit actually smells like latex on my skin, and so does Ichabod. The unpleasant smell is less strong here and so I decided to let it dry down (something I couldn't do with White Rabbit because the smell was just too strong). After an hour or so I can catch yummy whiffs of what Ichabod is -supposed- to smell like, but sniffing my wrist still smells like latex. Ick. I think its not so much a case of one note going wrong (many people have mentioned cream and milk notes going sour on them) as my nose interpreting the combination of notes in a very weird way. Too bad for my nose. Fortunate for my wallet.

I really liked this wet. Dry it smells like latex. It reminds me of the dentist's office.

Wet, Jezebel was too sweet with a sort of orange candy vibe... but as it dried the rose began to come out (and I loves me some rose). Dry this is a soft, powdery scent. I don't normally like anything that gets described as "powdery", but the powder here has a sandalwood feel and I keep getting whiffs of lovely rose. Very nice, I wish it didn't fade so fast.

There's a dryness to this which I normally associate with white sandalwood - the orris maybe? On my skin this is mostly dry and powdery, the musk and coconut don't appear. Not a keeper.

First on this is a lovely soft floral, white without the undertone of soap that many white florals have. As it dried, I kept waiting for the soap to come out - but fortunately it never did. Unfortunately, this fades very quickly on me. Something to try if you're interested in florals but not into rosey or heady scents.

Eek. I was worried about the coffee in this doing weird things... but the jasmine has taken over and is stomping my nose into a small puddle. Much headier than I like my florals, with an undertone that reminds me of clean diapers... not for me!

2008 version Samhain is drinking merlot in a forest's tangled underbrush with someone you're not quite sure you trust. Uncertain. And a little bit dangerous.

Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood. A yummy, simple scent that strongly reminds me of Antique Lace. I like it, but the vanilla is a bit too prominent for my taste - I think this would be lovely layered for some added complexity.

I did a bad thing. I'm reviewing Hemlock without actually putting it on my skin. The oil in the imp was so similar to Vick's Vapor Rub that I couldn't put it on (I had the same initial reaction to Belladonna, but forced myself to try it - it made me feel really ill). This will be the first imp I've put in the swap pile without skin testing it.

I cannot pull off Windward passage. The initial salty tang in interesting, though not something I'd wear, but the drydown is a very potent soap. Aquatics and I do not get along very well, and this is no exception.