stillalive

first sniff in bottle-- not so sure I liked it. wet on skin-- ehhhh... I'm still not sure. starting to dry-- whoa! nice! VERY sweet but also a little smoky. Not a dragon scent, but maybe something a dragon's princess would smell like after laboring in the kitchen over dessert. Reminds me of a very vanilla-y pipe smoke or else warm vanilla sugar from B&BW, or both. Dry-- the faintest trace of vanilla... kind of creamy. I think on my boyfriend this would be to die for. I'll have to find out.

I like this but it's confusing to me... I smell some sort of spice, like cinnamon, but can't tell why I get that. It's a nice perfume, but one I'll probably slather on my bf instead of myself. I think it would probably even out Nosferatu quite nicely, especially for someone cosplaying Alucard.

in bottle: reaaaaally sweet and kind of... red? it must be the wine. wet: still really sweet but a little sharp and bitter now, too. drying: still sweet, a little bit earthy now too. All I can really smell is dirt, wine, and a little bit of herbs? 10 minutes later: nothing. Just the faint scent of wine if I work really hard at smelling wrist. If I ran into Dracula, I'm pretty sure this is what he would smell like. Not going to get a big bottle of it and not something I like on me, but it's an interesting scent.

Rake, scoundrel, demon in a frock coat. Devilishly seductive, ultimately tragic; a villain undone and redeemed by love. Based on an 18th century gentlemen’s cologne: ambergris, white musk, white sandalwood, Spanish Moss, orange blossom, three mints, jasmine, rose geranium and a spike of rosemary. Unfortunately this gave me a horrible headache... I was going to swap it but instead I used it to turn my AXE-addicted brother into a BPAL vampire. It does remind me of AXE except that I can pick out some different distinct notes in VdV.

This is one of my favorite scents, I think... it's very similar to Bengal but without the massive headache right off the bat. Much more relaxing than Bengal, much richer than Shanghai. My first impression was of the faint cinnamon, then incense, then something very green, then something quite brown, then something... deserty. It's so many different scents in one, but they all go so well together. To me, this is the scent of an ancient, far-Eastern prostitute forced to make a long journey. I can smell the perfume she adorns herself with, the incense and other goods of the traders she travels with, some sort of male scent from her clients, a richer warm but ever so slightly bitter scent from her owner, the grass, trees, dirt, and sand from different lands, even a touch of some sort of tea or drink brewing? It's confusing but in a terribly relaxing way. I'm in love with this... when my imp is gone I'll probably have to buy a huge bottle.

This reminds me of my mother's favorite tea... I think I fell in love with it because I was so homesick when my roommate introduced me to it. Wet: VERY strong, I usually get a headache so I can't put it on my neck. My younger brothers got nauseous when I accidentally spilled half of the imp on myself. Dry: Spice-y in a way that does remind me of that region. It makes me think of Inara, and I wonder if the incense she uses in her room on Serenity might smell like this. Drier: The very best part... it almost smells like baby powder, but a slightly cinnamony baby powder. I firmly believe that if one were to bury their nose into Inara's neck this is what they would smell. I think this will smell really nice blended with coconut oil and smoothed into my hair. Perfect for when I want a more exotic profile... it makes me think of what Sarah in the more recent movie "A Little Princess" said India smelled like. I'm contemplating buying a larger bottle of this.

wet: strong and lemony... it reminds me of sitting and drinking lipton lemon tea with my family on our honeysuckle-covered porch in Atlanta on a breezy September day. Dry: it faded so quickly... within about 10 minutes I can't smell it anymore, and within 45 minutes I have to seriously press my nose to my skin. My only complaint is that it fades so fast! Maybe it will last longer on my clothing? It's still a beautiful scent. I like that it makes me feel relaxed yet energized at the same time... puts me in the mood for gentle cleaning, organizing, filing paperwork. It reminds me a lot of Seras Victoria from Hellsing and one of my best friends. It smells like quiet optimism, slightly flowery but down to earth; it's there but not an overpowering presence, subtly changing the moods and perception of those around them. Cheerful but tragic... someone who never loses hope even after living through hell, instead taking pleasure in the small things like lemon iced tea and honeysuckles in the summer. I'm planning on diluting this and spraying it on my 6-year-old's favorite stuffed dog that she sleeps with every night because it has such a mellowing but cheerful effect on her. I just have to find a way to sneak in and take it for long enough to wash it and let it dry without her sobbing that I'm drowning it, lol. I'm thinking it would be better to use on objects rather than skin, assuming it lasts longer on fabric than my skin.