Aredhel

Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: Vetiver! In the imp/bottle: Sharp, strong black pepper and vetiver, with violet and grapefruit lying beneath. On skin, wet: Dominant notes are black pepper and vetiver; I can't pick out anything else beneath them, as strong as they are. On skin, dry: This is a very dark, heady scent, and not something very pleasant. This was still going strong an hour after applying, and would have gone longer, had I not washed it off. By then, it was still only black pepper and vetiver. Conclusion: This was rather pleasant in the imp, sharp, dark notes nicely balanced by violet and white grapefruit. My skin took to nothing but the pepper and vetiver, unfortunately.

Rating (on skin): 3/5 Summarised in a word or two: Apple! In the imp/bottle: Bright and floral apple blossom. On skin, wet: I know this is a single note of apple blossom, but it kind of smells spicy, as in spiced apple. On skin, dry: This dries down into -- what else? -- a sweet apple blossom. The spiciness is gone, leaving a faint, warm apple blossom. Conclusion: Too sweet for me (apple blossom notes not turning out well on my skin anyhow), but quite pretty overall.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Flowery mint. In the imp/bottle: This smells strangely minty. It smells almost like... astringent, actually. On skin, wet: Mint, mint, mint. Beneath that, rosemary, lemon rind and iris. On skin, dry: This seems to dry down into a sharp, strong mint-floral. It's got quite a throw, and lasts for hours. Conclusion: This didn't win me over. I love mint, but this was a strange floral mint. Odd.

Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: Salty aftershave. In the imp: Unsurprisingly aquatic in the imp. I notice the leather first, followed after a moment by rum. On skin, wet: Salty! Nothing of rum, leather or woods, just very salty water. Upscale men's aftershave. On skin, dry: This got scrubbed off in about ten minutes. For only sampling a tiny bit, this packs a heavy punch. Conclusion: Sometimes the "traditionally masculine" scents work for me, others they don't. Jolly Roger most certainly does not.

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Musky flowers. In the imp/bottle: Very, very faint flowers -- I mean, very faint. On skin, wet: Soft white musk and bright white flowers. On skin, dry: After about ten minutes, I have to veritably smash nose to wrist to smell this at all. Conclusion: This is a beautiful, musky floral when wet. I tried slathering a bit more, in hopes of making it last, but it still dies out within 15 minutes. If I thought I could make this last longer, I'd definitely go on the hunt for a bottle.

2004 Version Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Berry gum. In the imp/bottle: Cold flowers, berries and plums. Berry gum! On skin, wet: This is a very sweet, fruity berry, with just a hint of something floral. On skin, dry: This dries down into something that smells of mixed berry gum! Conclusion: This is very fruity, but certainly not what I would associate with the name "Midwinter's Eve." I'd love to have a candle scented with this, but not a body fragrance.

2004 Version. Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Cinnamon vanilla! In the imp: Warm, sugary vanilla cookies. On skin, wet: Spicy-sweet cinnamon-vanilla cookies. I can even smell the dough! This is spicy, but in a sugary way, if that makes any sense. Very foody, but strangely, I'm not repulsed because of it. On skin, dry: A warm cinnamon vanilla. Lovely! This is a gorgeous spiced vanilla scent. I can't smell anything like dough anymore, which I'm actually glad of. Conclusion: Very, very lovely. Sugar Cookie is a very warm, spicy vanilla that I simply adore.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Medicinal chamomile! In the imp/bottle: This is definitely chamomile: lush with an apple-honey quality to it. On skin, wet: This smells almost medicinal to me. It's got that apple-honey quality that chamomile has, but something almost like menthol as well. On skin, dry: There's no significant change from wet; it's still medicinal, and strikes me not as chamomile, but a dry green herb. Conclusion: I love how this smells in the imp, but it turns into something very different on my skin.

Rating (on skin): 3/5 Summarised in a word or two: Sweet! In the imp/bottle: Sweet almond, neroli and sandalwood. Not bad, but too sweet so far. On skin, wet: Rose, neroli, orange peel, sweet almond, and sandalwood. Sweet and kind of... smooth. On skin, dry: This dries down into a sweet almond/sweet citrus scent. It starts out very complex but dries down into something very simple and sweet. Conclusion: This seems like a very feminine, almost sexy-sweet scent. It's not my thing, or something I'd wear.

Rating (on skin): 3/5 Summarised in a word or two: Cocoa! In the imp/bottle: Cocoa! Rich, thick cocoa. On skin, wet: Cocoa, a bit of vanilla, and a thin coating of myrrh over a base of sandalwood. On skin, dry: A dry, sweet cocoa sandalwood. I'm not sure if it's the cocoa (which my skin loves to turn into chalk) or the sandalwood that gives Velvet its dry quality, but I'm not font of it. Conclusion: Once again, I'm not a fan of smelling of chocolate or cocoa. Even though it's a nice, woodsy cocoa, it's still cocoa.

Rating (on skin): 4/5 Summarised in a word or two: Tea! In the imp/bottle: Tea, herbs, and peony. On skin, wet: The dominant notes are most certainly the teas. After that, there's only the herbs. On skin, dry: This is very, very faint after the first few minutes. It's still quite pleasant; it reminds me of White Rabbit, without the pepper. It even smells as if there's a milk note in it. Conclusion: I like this one quite a bit, but it's gone in less than ten minutes. I would have to really slather this on to make it last more than an hour.

I've had Social Anxiety Disorder for going on six years (I'm 20), but it never even occured to me that High John, Moxie, or any other BPAL oil might help (if only psychologically, a bit of a helpful nudge knowing it's there). I'd love to know if anyone's tried Moxie with that purpose in mind, and what their results were (And now I believe I shall be adding imps of Water of Notre Dame & Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo to my Buck Moon order, and perhaps a bottle of Moxie). On a related note, I would agree with Tesseljoan about possibly considering some sort of treatment, if you've not already; When I *remember* to take it, the meds I'm on & my therapy for SAD make a very positive difference.

Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: Bitter. In the imp/bottle: Very thick, rich, tart honey. Not sweet at all, but impossibly lovely. On skin, wet: This is absolutely honey, but it's a very sickly, bitter honey. It almost smells like sweet dirt. On skin, dry: Single-note honey just doesn't work well with my skin. Ever. 'Nuff said. Conclusion: As wonderful as this is in the decant, my skin does horrid, unspeakable things to single-note honey.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Berry candy. In the imp/bottle: Sweet and fruity with a floral touch. On skin, wet: Sweet berries and citrus. Exceedingly fruity, almost candy-ish. On skin, dry: Syrupy berry now. I like berry well enough, but never one so achingly sweet. Conclusion: This seems like the perfume of a pop music-loving pre-teen, or sweet young girl, but not for me.

Rating (on skin): 4/5 Summarised in a word or two: Musky! In the imp/bottle: Dark, heavy musk, and an equally heavy amber. On skin, wet: Dominant notes are amber and a deep, dark, warm grass. On skin, dry: The amber is really beautiful in this, and it compliments the grass very well. The amber in this actually reminds me of vanilla (as my favourite amber notes in blends tend to do). Conclusion: I really like this. I can't see *myself* wearing it, but this might be divine on a boy-thing.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Little girl-ish. In the imp/bottle: Very faint amber, bright florals, and soft, light citrus. On skin, wet: Dominant notes are amber and citrus, and a sweet floral note. On skin, dry: This is a very sweet, floral amber, in the end. The amber note doesn't really do much for me in this blend, but I do like the citrus and floral. Conclusion: This is quite pretty, but very "little girl"-ish on me. If I were girly, and twelve, I'd jump all over this.

Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: Rosy dirt. In the imp/bottle: Dark roses, heavy amber and red musk. On skin, wet: This instantly goes bad on me. The amber and red musk disappear, and the roses turn into bitter, rotting roses covered in dirt. On skin, dry: This is a very strong, bitter, almost *wet* rosy dirt. This is what I'd imagine old, decaying roses trodden into a thick, damp dirt would smell like. That, or a bottle of mud mixed with a synthetic rose perfume. Conclusion: "Irresistibly sexual" this is most certainly not.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Ozone. In the imp/bottle: All I get from the imp is ozone. On skin, wet: This is still nothing but ozone on me; a very nice ozone, though. On skin, dry: After about ten minutes, something almost darkly floral, something bitter, springs up beneath the ozone; this brings 'seaweed' to mind. Conclusion: This is absolutely my favourite ozone scent; it doesn't turn into dryer-sheet on me, and that bitter, rotting floral adds something very dark to it. All the same, ozone is exceptionally strong on me. I don't like it quite enough to keep the bottle, but I'll certainly keep an imp or two of it.

Rating (on skin): 3/5 Summarised in a word or two: Floral. In the imp: Dragon's blood resin and soft lilac. On skin, wet: Dominant notes are the dragon's blood resin (of course), lilac and a faint lily of the valley. On skin, dry: Ooh, this is quite nice! Normally I don't like lily of the valley and lilac together, but the dragon's blood adds something beautiful to it. Conclusion: I'm not sure if I'd ever *wear* this, but I like it all the same. Another great Ars Draconis scent.

2004 Version Rating (on skin): 3/5 Summarised in a word or two: Smoky chocolate. In the imp/bottle: Sweet flowers, chocolate, something vaguely foody, and tobacco. On skin, wet: Smoky, flowery chocolate... candy. On skin, dry: Wow, this really doesn't last. In less than thirty minutes, it's reduced to a light, chocolatey tobacco. Conclusion: Too foody, and not strong enough.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Er, apricot! In the imp/bottle: Sweet, warm, dried apricots! On skin, wet: This is *strong*, and not nearly as sweet. This almost smells like rotting apricots. On skin, dry: Back to sweet, warm, dried apricots!...for a while. Then, despite it being so strong, my skin devours it in less than half an hour. Conclusion: I really love this in the imp -- it's sweet, juicy and very, very life-like. If only my skin would let it stick around.

Bast, Ubasti, Ailuros, Ba-en-Aset. Represented as both a domestic cat and a fierce lioness, she truly evidences traits of both. She is the Mother of All Cats, Goddess of Sensuality, Fertility, and a guardian and protector of women. She is also one of the Eyes of Ra, and in that aspect is an Avenging Goddess, seeking retribution and punishing enemies of her people. Luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffron and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus. Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: Weird! In the imp/bottle: Sickly-sweet almond, lotus and amber. On skin, wet: The dominant notes are most definitely almond and amber. Actually, I don't catch anything else but almond and amber! On skin, dry: This makes me queasy. After an hour or so, it starts to calm down, and it becomes a soft, warm amber. Conclusion: This isn't my thing in the imp, while wet, or for the first hour, but after that, it turns into the amber that I love; The thing is, I don't think I could stomach it for the first 59.9 minutes.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Foresty. In the imp/bottle: Sharp, very heavy cypress and mint. On skin, wet: This is minty and foresty. It reminds me of one of those pine-scented car fresheners. On skin, dry: As this dries, the mint becomes more prominant. I still can't discern anything but mint or cypress. Conclusion: This would be, scent-wise to me, Black Forest's cousin. I'm not crazy about mint, so I'd hoped the cypress would overpower it. No such luck.

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Vampy! In the imp/bottle: Orange blossom, ginger, and earthy patchouli. On skin, wet: Another one that smells like Snake Oil, though this smells a bit... bloody. Spicy, earthy and bloody, with a bit of sweetness. On skin, dry: There's a lovely smoothness to this after a while. Spicy and bloody and very vampy. Conclusion: Gorgeous. Vampy is great way to describe it.

Rating (on skin): 3/5 Summarised in a word or two: Herbal In the imp/bottle: Definitely floral, and sort of green. On skin, wet: I wonder if there's a tea note in this. I'd swear there's a citrus of some sort here. Lemon peel? On skin, dry: This now smells like a musky, herbal, citrus floral. Very nice, but also very faint. Conclusion: I like this! After sniffing constantly for an hour, it gave me a slight headache, but I was fine after just wearing it normally. Still, I don't think I like it enough to keep the whole bottle. I'll probably decant it and keep one or two.