quikslvr

The first breath was an initial turn-off: just a strange mix hit me. I let it settle (not even for very long!) and this morphed into a simply entrancing mix of wine and honey. The myrrh and cognac (possibly the olibanum and gurjum balsam too) peek through after that: the depth and waft of this are mystical, bewitching--like you're there, in the painting, laying back and watching events unfold. The drydown is mostly honey and myrrh to me, and reminds me a bit of Athens. Goes quite light and ethereal. Lovely. Definitely want more of this.

Very cologne-y and woodsy first kick, with the frankincense emerging as dominant in its first phase. Rich and deep and heady, the frankincense falls away a bit next, replaced by the myrrh and cardamom and saffron. This does also remind me of Bengal. Oh, and then it falls into the lust phase for me: the musk comes out, and oh, man, that's sexy. I was thinking 'no' on the first cologne-y phase, but this makes it all better. Bottle me!

Very, very woody frankincense at first. It slowly lightens as it dries, though, becoming almost bright, and pink/red if pictured as color. I'm finding this really hard to describe, actually. Sophisticatedly bubblegummy? The scent of well-manicured couch leather in the home of 10,000 young girls? Hawaiian punch spilled in a beautiful redwood tobacco box? Whatever it is, it's amazingly well-blended, and could probably suit either male or female--I think I'm just amping the sweet stuff.

This strikes me as very faint at first, and rather on the fougere end of things. Light, light leather and oakmoss predominate, but mostly this is just very well-blended, to the point where it's hard to discern notes. There's certainly musk here, but it really doesn't strike me as black musk--I would've thought white, frankly. But I suppose if there's just the right amount, black musk might be very light. I'm no expert here, though. \ This would fit right in at a high-society function as a light, beckoning cologne. It's got an amazing drydown, where the darker end comes through (vetiver, etc), but still gives the impression of lightness. Definitely a keeper.

Oooh, was my first reaction. It's fascinating: iris, so certainly a floral component, but primarily resin and wood backed by the musk. There's some powder in the back, but it's a very grounded scent, and certainly on the musky and perfume-y end. Complex but not confusing, well-blended but still identifiable, this blend is an awesome play in balance. On me, I fear the florals are drowning out the beautiful musk and resin and wood. I'm not a floral person, and the iris and violet seem to be in the foreground for more of this scent's lifespan than I'd prefer. Where the florals aren't, though, I'm there: and the waft, for me, is often much more musk than floral, so this one I'll probably hang onto a bit of, at least. And as it dries down and settles in properly, I find I'm falling in love with that waft: ever-so-vanilla musk, with a sharper topnote above that I suspect is the iris and wood interaction. Oh, yes. This is the good stuff.

Mahogany/benzoin depth at first, a touch on the masculine end. Gets deeper and more masculine as it dries. I don't catch the tea and vetiver much, but it seems heavy on the mahogany and benzoin, with just a touch of the orange blossom. The opoponax and karakarounde may be noticeable, but I wouldn't recognize them. I do catch something powerful that I can't really place, so I suspect it's one of those two. I'm finding this pretty steady--not really a morpher on me. Ends spicy, dark, and masculine.

All frankincense and floral at first--I think that's the rose geranium that I'm mostly getting on the floral end. Very evocative of churches and holiness. Its depth is incredible. The end stage is a pretty amazing, peaceful, resiny depth. I don't really care for the floral stage, though, but I've never been a real floral person. The end, though, may make this one worth it for me.

Undoubtedly floral. Calla lily and something else very light and airy at the forefront. As it dries, it gets even more airy and remote, but sweet and still barely grounded (I'd blame the grounded on the amber--and I'm glad it's there, or this would float off into nothingness!). It's a gorgeous floral, but it's undeniably floral, and I'm not so hot on them. As it settles further, though, it gets just gorgeous--almost musky in its sultriness. I suspect it's the interaction of some floral and the amber--or perhaps the ratkirani which I'm not so familiar with, but I'm really impressed, and this is from someone who doesn't like florals. It goes gentle, soft, soothing, with an edge of sexy.

Yup, earth. And fungi. Dead on. At first. But that doesn't last long. It morphs into this dry white floral--I think I'm smelling a hint of lily in there. Light, balanced, but ultimately and definitely floral. And florals and I don't always get along. In its favor, it wears very light (though I did test with a light hand) and I find it has a magical sort of depth (for a floral--but remember this is me, the non-floral-liker talking). Not really me, unfortunately.

At first: dark, masculine, mostly patchouli and vetiver, yet strangely aquatic. Perhaps that's the lavender playing off the vetiver? As the blend comes together (and that is what it feels like), it's magical. A light musk fougere with a dark undertone. Perfectly masculine, perfectly dark romantic. I'm not taking my paws off this one unless to apply to someone I like. I didn't think I'd like it at first, but now I'm convinced. I'm very glad this one came together so well.

I almost always go with Perversion if there's going to be smoke, personally. Works with the smoke rather than against it, in my opinion.

Lovely roses at first: sweet and strong and not sharp--to me, a cross between the rose in Rose Red and that in Pride. Then it starts to turn strange: the cognac creeping in, I assume. I can smell what I assume to be the cognac, with a deep and sugared boozy note, vaguely reminiscent of the recent Sugar Skull. The cognac comes and goes, letting the rose shine through. The moments that both can be smelled can sometimes come off as a bit odd, but overall, I actually rather like it, though it's too rosy for me to really wear much (I'm not a huge florals fan). From my memory of the reviews before me that got eaten: am I one of the few that this actually works for so far?

The first one is correct, and for the second question, I usually use "staying power."

Bright, sweet orange, with a touch of soft powder to it. Has its sharp moments, but what I'm really loving is the underscore: that soft touch. It doesn't smell floral to me, but it's definitely the flower, not the fruit--I think that softness evidences that to me. Gets softer and softer until it disappears. Gorgeous, but probably not something I'd wear much--though if it came back, I'd probably order it.

Here's the fourth:

Frankly, the note in the Elixir that's most noticeable to me is the vetiver. When I go to Clinique's site, the notes listed there are: rose, jasmine,Ylang Ylang and vetiver. I just don't want folks to be steering you wrong due to an incorrect description. To me, the closest BPAL I know of is actually Tarot: Death, but I'm not sure that most people would like it or smell the comparison I get there.

Scent: Very smooth, soft, not at all disagreeable to my nose. I do catch a hint of cherry, as LiberAmoris mentioned, but I suspect it's not dragon's-blood-based, mostly due to the color of the oil, which is a warm yellow. That cherry touch fades every once in awhile, then comes back. I'm having so much trouble with notes here, but of course, that's not the point. I find it very soothing, overall. The scent kind of surrounds you (or at least, me), though that may have something to do with placement: I anointed forehead and hands. Efficacy: Probably a bit early to tell. I can tell you that I felt more focused on healthiness, prosperity, and happiness, but that may be due to using it with intent more than its contribution. I'll certainly edit when I have more to add.

Hellooo Vetiver! While I appreciate you in small amounts, you know we're not really friends. Let's see if we can make this work. Your friend Violet over here is trying to make friends with me: why can't you be more like her? I mean, even when we get along, you're still kind of dangerous. (aside, to Violet: ) He doesn't like me, I know it. I'm glad you're growing up and getting stronger than him. Maybe if you just talk to me for awhile, he'll go away. What? You like him? Oh, you guys are together? Really? Oh. Oh, man. Oh. You don't need to prove to me how together you two are. Yeah, I got the idea, you don't have to go smooching on him . . . oh, keep your pants on! You too! Oh, gawd, I didn't need to see that. That's it. You're both fired, no matter how well you "balance" each other out. To summarize: very well-balanced two-note blend. Unfortunately, neither note is my favorite.

To me, there's no vanilla in Snake Oil, so your taste may vary. My near-pure BPAL vanilla is Tombstone.

Bamboo pulp and oude with green and white tea. All green and lemon tea on me at first. Luckily this goes more soft green than sharp lemon on me as it dries. Still, it's quite bright, without being totally POW! in the nose about it. I find it soothing, despite its zingy-ness. Very pretty. There's an underscore to the waft that's deep, a little woody, and gorgeous--perhaps the oude? On me, though, I only catch it every once in awhile. It also goes rather perfume-y after it's dry. All that said, while I love the smell of real tea, it's never been something I've wanted to smell like, so I think this bottle will be moving on.

Sweet, dragon's blood-laced smoke at first. It stays that way, still, for awhile before the red musk starts to emerge. There is a metal accord in here, and it's an odd tinge that I can almost taste in the back of my throat at times, but it's very intermittent. Otherwise, it reminds me a bit of Blood Moon, though a little farther on the sweet side, strangely. Perhaps that's the incense coming out. Or maybe I'm getting a touch of vanilla that's not in the description. Strange, but I very much like it in its drydown. Very neat.

Which email address are you sending to?

Biting neroli at first. It seems very sharp, pointed, and bitter. There's a little bit of orange in the background as this dries down, then raspberry comes out. Unfortunately, the first stage is objectionable enough to me that I'm not going to hang onto this one. But if you want to smell dangerous and then soften up just a little after awhile, this is your scent.

Pink and fluffy. Very cotton-candy-esque. Sugary, sweet strawberry candy. I can totally see the comparisons to Pink Moon and Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo here. Once it's dry, it's more like the bubblegum in the twist-wrappers with the white powdered outsides--Double Bubble, perhaps? While this is awfully sweet, it's grounded well. Waaay too young and girly for me, but I should've known that, given the description.

Very much a fougere at first. Lavender and perhaps a white musk (though that may be the tonka or amber talking) evident first, though the rosewood's there if you really get close. The lavender settles quickly, and the resinous tonka and amber emerge. Sophisticated, mature (one might even say "old"), and certainly reminiscent of a traditional masculine scent, though one of the feminine bent could easily wear this, as long as she doesn't mind remarks like "are you wearing cologne?" Yes, you can call me crazy here, but to me, it's got a stage that reminds me of Perversion--it's got that same light tobacco thing going on. It then goes into a darker stage, almost all dark tonka and the depths of amber, deepened by patchouli (though I can't smell the patchouli as its own note--which is good, in my book). That's a very masculine stage, and it wears very close to the skin there--you'd have to be really close to catch it (though I suppose it might throw better if slathered--I didn't, in this case). Every once in a while I catch a whiff that really smells like "old man" to me, though, which is a problem. That's probably because that particular whiff reminds me of something my grandfather used to wear, though. I rather like most of its stages, except perhaps the overly lavender one, and those occasional odd whiffs. I'm not entirely sure I'll wear it a lot, but I still think it's neat. In brief: soft, subtle strength.