shriekingviolet

just merged an older "long lasting oil" thread with one SilverGarland started.

Initial Impression:

Sweet, soft and refined, but there's a definite edge. Like a dagger sheathed in velvet.

 

After Wearing It:

Though I loved this in the bottle, when I first applied this, I was a bit taken a back. Wet this was a really strong, slightly bitter floral that smelled a bit intimidating. The myrrh and opoponax gave the oil a menacing start, portraying the Queen of the Spades as a cut throat type of monarch. While the scent was decidely feminine, this made me think a lady of times past who's had to burn out or at least hide her feminine side to ascend and maintain her power. Nothing soft, just poised and ruthless.

 

After the oil dried and settled with my body chemistry though, things changed. The scent warmed up and became softer, yet more bold and lively. The amber asserts itself, giving the blend a rich depth, while the plum and berry notes show the Queen's more playful side. At one point, I remember thinking that this new side of the Queen ever felt maternal and gentle. The fruit notes where sweet and juicy, but not at all candy-like. They cast a mysterious, yet mischievous light onto the experience. I also kept thinking I was smelling jasmine here.

 

During the final stages of the fragrance, the plum and blackberry notes are the most dominant. The wood and resins add weight and balance, so the fruit notes stick fast rather than fading and don't become TOO sweet. Overall the experience shapes the queen's image as one of a lady who gives off the aura of fierceness but has a really good soul once you get behind her walls, which I find appropriate for the scent. It lasts too. I applied the oil 12 hours ago, but I can still smell it clearly.

 

 

Final Thoughts:

This scent reminds me a lot of Noir, particularly in its opening sequence, though it's lighter over all. I didn't get a chance to pick up a bottle of Noir before it was discontinued, so I was quite happy to find that this would be a good or even better substitute for it. Queen of Spades is so lovely, changeable and fullbodied, I'm glad to have 2 bottles of it! A great sophisticated lady's blend. Rave!

Site Description:

 

Initial Impression:

Smells like an orchard on a hot, humid day. You can almost taste the juicy fruits on the air.

 

After Wearing It:

Wet on my wrist, the fruit notes in this smell so bright and ripe, almost to the point where they smell syrupy. It was all I could smell for a while, and it was almost dizzying. After it dried though, the earthier notes started to poke holes in Old Yerevan's fruity haze. With that musky base underneath, the fragrance made me think of what an abandoned, but fruitful, orchard would smell like. Ripe fruits being dropped beds of decaying leaves and older, decaying fruits. It's a fertile, and oddly pleasing combination, though it can be a little much. It reminds me of the back part of our backyard before we cut down the apple trees. During the summers we'd have gather up the fruit that was in various states of decay so that part wouldn't turn into a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The smell back there was so strong and sweet that it was dizzying, sickly but beautiful.

 

As time wore on though, the fruits faded a bit and the scent was just palely spicy-earth. Nice and subtle. Unfortunately the oil didn't last much longer on me. After about 4 hours, I could only smell bits of it if I really inhaled deeply with my nose pressed to my wrists. Not really surprising though, as fruity scents don't always have much staying power on me.

 

Final Thoughts:

Nice scent, really rich while it lasts, but I'm not sure it's really me. I tend to gravitate toward spicier/more resinous blends. I'll give it a few more goes though, as I really do think it's worth having.

maybe you'd be better off wearing snake oil in some sort of scent locket? I was about to say "dab it on your sleeves" but then I remembered that snake oil was one of those oils that can stain!

Initial Impression:
Mmm sweet, but a dark, rich sweetness. Like enjoying something decadent on a hot, balmy, moonless night.

After Wearing It:
This oil is pure, lazy decadence on me. It's sensual, but in the most languid way. The combination of the coconut and hazelnut was strong, making me think of tall, sweet alcoholic drinks (hazelnut ALWAYS makes me think frangelico) that are meant for sipping and savoring rather than for gulping down so you can get to the next drink. Sniffing this off my wrists, I thought of lounging on a great recliner outside in a dark tropical setting. The music is slow, your company is beautiful and welcoming, people are having the time of their lives around you, but you're too content to move. Each moment is gorgeous, and time feels like molasses, because rather than throwing yourself back into the frenzy around you, you linger on that perfect moment for hours. It's singular, it's selfish in its luxury, and you'll want to return to here again and again.

As I said in the beginning, it's the coconut and hazelnut that are the obvious pair in the beginning. It's very sweet, but not in a toothache inducing sort of way. It's more warm than just sugary, and the white musk makes a wonderful base for it: enriching the strengths of each while keeping everything soft around the edges, creating the nighttime feel. The iris isn't very obvious here, but I can catch glimpses of it here and there. It's like a hidden anchor for the entire scent, keeping it from floating off into oblivion. Just golden and gorgeous.

The lasting power for the scent is pretty good. I put it on maybe 7 hours ago, and I can still smell it and feel its effects on my mood. The throw of the scent wanes after a few hours, but it stays fairly strong close to the skin. Which is fine, because I've been leaning my head on my hand or arm all evening long....

Final Thoughts:
Beyond the hazelnut-frangelico association I can't rid myself of, this fragrance really does remind me of a state of drunkenness. Maybe it's the warmth and the fuzziness of the white musk, but it instills the sort of gentle heaviness of limbs. I feel lazy, drowsy, but thoroughly content, like it's a buzz I've slowly built up and fostered all night without going too far. I've been fighting the urge to take a nap all evening, which is odd, because I have no reason to feel tired and napping isn't something I usually feel compelled to do without reason. I just want to crawl into bed and wrap myself in blankets to reach that optimum state of comfort. As an insomniac, I find the idea of an oil making me feel drowsy very thrilling. I can only hope that it really is the oil making me feel this way and not something else. I don't normally wear scents to bed (I find them a little distracting), but this might be the one that changes my mind on that. Will have to wear this a few more times to see, but if this oil really does make me sleepy, I'll be buying this in huge quantities.

Wow that was long! I've been lazy about reviewing for months, so let this make up for it.

i think you may be misinterpreting what people are saying.  i think that some people got their order that included harvest moon before orders that were placed after their harvest moon orders.  hmmm...i don't know if that made much sense.

I think you mean that they've been receiving their harvest moon order before orders they made previous to the full moon order. In any case yes, or at least that's what *I* meant when I posted in the "I got my order!" thread.

 

In any case, I've never heard of the lab combining orders. I think they "harvest" in big bunches, so even if they were taken at the same time, they could be filled hours or even a day or two part.

Ok now I want everyone to bear with me for a moment. I made the mistake of thinking that I'd only have to scan the boards a bit tonight before popping off to bed, so I stupidly took a sleeping pill before logging on and now my mental facilities are eroding. I've only half read a lot of the posts I needed to get through so pardon me for not being too specific or for not covering your particular concern.

 

Now I've been at work since 5:30 CST and didn't get home until around 2, so most of what happened came as a big of a surprise to me as it did to most of you. I'm sorry that Quantum Spice's removal of the post count and the new word censoring caused so much distress. I haven't had the chance to discuss what happened or what we should do from here with her, but for now, I'm reversing the changes that were made. The moderators have discussed from time to time the idea of changing the way the post count/rewarding is handled, but we hadn't reached any sort of conclusion and hadn't touched on the subject in a while. In the event that a change like that occurs (and it probably will, though probably not for a while), the reasoning behind it will be made public and (hopefully) it'll be done in a way that would feel reasonable and beneficial to the majority, if not everyone all together.

 

That said, I have to work in the morning and won't be available to further sort through this mess until tomorrow evening, so if everyone could put their concerns and arguments on hold until such time I'd be grateful as I'm already quite behind. Those of you who have specific concerns (such as shrinking PM boxes, I have no idea what that's about but I will look into it), do PM me and I'll see what I can do about them tomorrow.

 

Thanks for your patience.

Bayou's fab. It reminded me more of my time in New Orleans than Old New Orleans did.

 

And maybe I'm nuts, but a lot of the foody scents make me think of the South. Maybe it's just because Southerners know how to eat so well!

Site Description:

none yet

 

Initial Impression:

Smells slightly like kerosene. Something herby in the background.

 

After Wearing It:

This smells like summer to me, like sitting on the lawn at night among the tiki torches and citronella candles trying to keep the bugs away. The smell of the grass, weeds and wildflowers drifts upward to blend with the smell of smoke, citronella, kerosene and a touch of lime. It's a slightly masculine blend, quiet and reflective yet impersonal. A quiet vigil on a hot, sticky night.

 

Final Thoughts:

Nice scent, good energy and imagery behind it, but in the end not for me. It'll go up for swap someday when I actually feel motivated to start swapping.

Initial Impression:

Smells like vanilla scented pipe tobacco and whiskey.

 

After Wearing It:

Wet, this reminded me strongly of those whiskey filled/flavored chocolated you can buy. The notes were all coming on strong at once and the affect was slightly dizzying. After it dried, it mellowed a bit, the sassafras and cedar notes coming to the foreground while being sweeted by the vanilla. It was dry and sweet, and reminded me of a candy store we used to go to right before being dropped off at camp for a week. The shop had a rustic decor and felt like the last stop before the end of civilization. It was a vaguely exciting memory, jovial in a way. I can definitely see where the idea of a frontier saloon could have inspired this.

 

Final Thoughts:

This scent is masculine, but not overly so, as I think a girl could pull it off. It's sexy too, but not really for me. While I enjoy it, the smell of sassafras is just disconcerting on my skin. It's something I'd rather smell on someone else.

Initial Impression:

Light, sweet and pale. Suggestions of lemon, vanilla and something else...

 

After Wearing It:

First on this smells like a clean sweet breeze, very faint traces of lemon topped with sweet flowers and vanilla. It was utterly enchanting in its light, airy texture.

 

However the sweet vanilla edge faded back pretty quickly, while the lemon note gained more strength. It was still light and fresh, but I missed the sweeter edge. I got bored pretty quickly. I was in a pretty decadent mood that day, having gotten tarted up that day for fun, and wearing Zephyr (which felt like the "anti-perfume" on me at this point) just was suiting my mood. I ended up layering O over this because I just felt rather naked wearing such a light scent that day.

 

Final Thoughts:

Might have to try this again, but seeing as how I do generally prefer heavier blends this probably isn't for me. I'll probably keep the imp though as it smells like it'd make a lovely linen spray.

Initial Impression:
Dark and sharply foody, a touch foody. I think I smell something like cedar in the background.

After Wearing It:
First on this smelled like chocolate with something sweet and bubbly behind it. I didn't have the note list with me at the time so I wondered if it might be white wine or a citrus note that make the chocolate note less heavy and more sparkling. It was sweet and exciting, invigorating. The feelings it invoked reminded me of how you feel when you've been reading a particularly exciting book. You feel caught up and eager for what turn the path will take next. Appropriate for Intrigue indeed.

Later on the chocolate moves to the background while the fig note becomes more prominent. It's a rich and decadent blend, thick, ripe, and well rounded, the fruit and cocoa notes grounded with faint traces of wood (might smell the black palm too, but I have no idea what that smells like on its own). It's a pulsing, dark brick red scent and just lovely all round.

Final Thoughts:
What an interesting scent! A complex chocolate scent that manages to be rich and deep without being overly foody or sweet. I love it and am definitely contemplating getting a larger bottle.

Debauchery is the only scent I found that uses Egyptian musk (try using the search function on BPAL's site. quantumspice did a fab job). Haven't tried it though so I can't say how dominant that note is in it.

Someone wrote in a Vixen review that it was similar to Shalimar. Same with Snake oil. Might try either!

It does do that, but they *are* saved Amber, so just ignore it.

 

Amy, yes it can be done. I'll work on it soon.

OK I'm finished editing code for the night. I don't think there are any bugs in the new stuff, but that usually means there is. So let me know if you run into any new problems involving the following areas.

 

Posting colors and font: Your settings are now in a different spot. You'll have to reset them to what they were before (or would like them to be now), but after that, there should be no more resetting of your text prefs anytime you edit your profile info as those fields no longer exist on the same form. Go to My Controls -> Edit Posting Options to play with your font faces and colors!

 

Topic Flagging: Make a topic you're following stand out more by "flagging it." In every topic, there's a link towards the top of the thread to "flag this topic." Once clicked a little red flag will appear next to the topic title on the forum view. To unflag the topic, just click the unflag link (which will be in place of the flag link on flagged topics). Hopefully you'll find that useful!

 

Lastly, there's a small cosmetic change on the way subforums look because I thought they looked bare up top before.

 

 

 

Have other things to do, but I'm sleepy so that's all I'm doing for tonight.

Update to that. I think I've successfully finished changing the way your text preferences are done. They've been reset, but if you go into your CP and reset them in the new spot (click edit post options, its right above edit profile info), it should be all good. There'll be no resetting of your posting options now every time you update profile info, since it's in another form entirely. Sorry for any inconveniences, but I think this is probably worth it.

Seeing as how this is the time of day when the forum receives the least traffic, I'm using it to play around with some of the forums PHP files. If you run into any errors, don't be alarmed, just be patient.

 

I'm also playing with the posting text options, trying to see if I make it more efficient without massive rewriting of code, so that, at least, will definitely see some bumps as the night rolls on. So if your text loses its formatting, leave it be for the moment!

 

That's all.

Orders mailed on June 10th, placed in May Rose. Because Brian mentioned in another thread that it'll take them most of next week just to get through the June 1 orders.

Oops!  There .. all fixed. Didn't know!  I'll make a note for future pics to keep them that size hun! *hugs*

Thanks doll.

I use them straight, but if your skin is senstive, you might dilute them with a carrier or a lotion. If it isn't, don't worry about it. I think the majority of the girls here wear at least some of the oils straight, so with the exception of the cinnamon blends, I don't think they get to most people. Mercury and Dove's Heart are the only ones that ever stung on me (and I've tried @ 125 oils), and neither left a mark and the sting was temporary. Only bothered me on my neck too, so it hasn't stopped me from wearing either on their own. I just avoid the neck area.

Hey Tygher, could you either crop, resize or link that pic rather than posting it? Any pics larger than 480 px wide mess up the forum layout.

I ordered a (5ml) bottle of Havisham at about 2:30 am. It went much faster than I thought it would, seeing how it was just released last week!

How I use Blue Moon is really going to depend on how it smells on me.  I'll definiately be using some during my blue moon rituals, but if it smells wonderful on me and makes me feel all "special" (like a blue moon is!), I'll wear it out

same. I'm pretty much that way with any oil that could easily double for ritual purposes (celestials, tarots. etc.) If I like the way they smell on me and their energy doesn't interfere with how I feel, I'll wear it whenever the urge strikes me.

 

Anyway my order was

 

2 5 ml bottles of Blue Moon

2 5 ml bottles of Lughnasadh (1 of both of those is for Karyn)

1 5 ml bottle of Havisham

1 5 ml bottle of Kali

3 sets of imps: Swallow's Blood, Blood Rose, Intrigue, Judgment, Ace of Cups, Temperance, Sloth, La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente, Circe, Naiad, Swank, Luna, Mars, Leo, Sagittarius, Akuma, Thanatopsis, and The Raven.

 

I ordered all of the LE scents this time (June Gloom was in my previous order), even though some didn't sound like my usual taste. I figure if I don't like them, they'll be easy to swap or sell and I hate that I stupidly missed out at Yule! Not making that mistake this time.

LOL congrats Kate! (and you too Beth ). Just posted my ordered in quickly. Glad you decided to open the ordering at midnight because I was hoping to catch a bottle of havisham (I hope I did? CCNow let me buy it, though you said hours ago there were only 3 5 ml bottles left *crosses fingers*). Intensive planning didn't save me from last minute impulse buys unfortunately. What I save by not making impulse orders, I blow by tacking on items at the last minute. Ah well, at least I can take some comfort in that some of the order was for Karyn.