crebbsgirl

Notes that tend to work well Amber Beeswax Black Amber Black Musk Black Orchid Black Patchouli Cardamom Carnation Cognac Clove Earth Ebony Ginger Honey Indonesian Patchouli Incense Lavender Lilac Mahogany Moss Myrrh Nutmeg Orchid Red Musk Sandalwood Skin Musk Smoke Spice Teak Tobacco Tonka Vanilla Notes that depend on other notes in the blend Ambergris Ambrette Apple Blossom Benzoin Bergamot Black Narcissus Blue Musk Cassia Cedar Cider Cinnamon Cocoa Fig Galbanum Gardenia Honeysuckle Iris Lily Neroli Night-blooming Jasmine Oak Oakmoss Opium Opoponax Orange Blossom Nag Champa Pine Poppy Red Ginger Red Patchouli Rose Otto Rosewood Sandalwood Star Jasmine Vetiver White Musk Whiskey Wisteria Notes that tend not to work (But have in one or two blends) Almond Anise Apple Aquatics Bay Caramel Civet Champaca Cherry Coffee Copal Cream Eucalyptus Frankincense Gardenia Grapefruit Jasmine Lemon Lemongrass Lime Lotus Mandarin Milk Mint Orange Ozone Paperwhites Plumeria Pomegranate Pumpkin Red Sandalwood Red Rose Rose Attar Rosemary Sweet Pea Sugar Tea Rose Thyme Verbena Violet White Rose Wine Wisteria Ylang Ylang I tend to gravitate towards the sweet musk and resins, and shy away from florals and anything overly foody. My skin will make most wine scents go "juicy" and I can turn almost ANY fruit blend to generic children's vitamins in a hot minute.

Well, I'm getting married in June and I've decided to wear Shadow Witch Orchid when I do. The fragrance itself is lovely, and a spicy floral. My late grandmother loved orchids (actually, they were her favourite), so I'm also wearing it as a tribute to her, in remembrance and celebration.

I've tried this twice now and I'm still on the fence about it. Something is reminding me of a man's cologne and it's not something I have good associations with so I feel that might be tainting my feelings about this one. This is predominantly pine bark and tobacco one me. I'm not getting much of the almond milk and there is just the faintest hint of sarsaparilla. The patchouli comes out later in the drydown but doesn't overpower the blend. I think I will have to try this again to make up my mind about it.

When I first put this on I actually used the term "cacophony of scent", which garnered some pretty strange looks from the man, but it was the only thing I can think of to describe Wild Men. Something about this blend and my skin makes it almost impossible to differentiate the notes here. It's beautiful though. Further into the drydown the cloves become apparent, as do the amber and moss. The patchouli is really nice here as well, adding a really wonderful depth and earthy vibe. I really like this one.

This was the most surprising of all the CD scents for me. After reading reviews, I was ready to write this one off. I don't do green scents, and anything that may be described as "sharp" is definitely not for me. But the woods here balance the SO beautifully. This becomes a deeper and richer blend for them, with an awesome depth to it thanks to the black musk. SO can occasionally be too sweet for me and I didn't have that problem here at all. The bamboo note is a little sharp at first application but it mellows almost immediately. I think I may be looking at getting a bottle of this.

Unfortunately I can't smell ANY of the dark yummy stuff I was hoping to smell here. All I get is Snake Oil, with maybe a hint of coconut. The vetiver didn't come out on my skin at all.

Boomslang on me was alright, but not anything spectacular. Wet, this was pretty heavily chocolate. As it dried, the SO came out more as did the teak. There didn't seem to be any rice milk present. Overall, the drydown smelled almost identical to SO. It was as if my skin just ate up the other notes that were present at the beginning stages. I wished it had stayed similar to that. I like Snake Oil, the end result here was just to similar to warrant keeping it.

This started off nice. The Snake Oil taken up a notch with ginger and cassia. A really nice spicy kick to it. It was seductive and attention getting. And then some weird plasticky note came out. I have no idea what happened here but I usually have no trouble with SO. It went horribly fake smelling and gross on my skin. Boo. I was looking forward to this snake most because of my love of spice. Apparently it wasn't meant to be.

This was not what I was expecting at all. This is a very fresh blend. Something is slightly aquatic feeling here. It's sweet, but a dry sweetness. The incense and tobacco notes are prominent. I can faintly detect the dust. My skin eats this up, so it's pretty well gone within an hour.

Holy crap this is a morpher!! Wet, almost all I get is jasmine. The black orchid is present as well and I can very faintly detect the paperwhites. The myrrh is barely present. As it dries, it goes powdery on me, like a gramma smell. There seems to be a faintly citrus vibe here, almost lemony? I put this one on and was paying close attention to it for about an hour or so. I went out for dinner and shopping and when I came back, I could smell this delicious, resinous, spice. It was Eshe! I was shocked! Gone was the powdery floral perfumey smell and in its place was a complex, albeit light, resin/spice scent. I liked the end result, but it took a very long time to get there.

You might try the Antikythera Mechanism. There was a wonderful teak/oak note here. It was warm and delicious without being foody. Dragon's Milk is vanilla and dragon's blood resin and on me there's a slight spicy note that comes out. Good luck!

Ylang ylang and I are still apparently feuding. I thought we could put our petty differences aside, for the sake of patchouli and myrrh, and especially red musk (she's never been anything but good to me, that one). I guess I was mistaken. Especially about red musk. That bitch totally sided with ylang ylang here. The result was a cloying, in your throat thickness that I just couldn't get past. Patchouli and myrrh tried valiantly to subdue the other two, but in the end, the ylang ylang/red musk alliance was just too strong-willed. I had to wash this off.

This is the blend that made me love patchouli again. I can't believe I haven't reviewed this until now. This was a frimp from the lab awhile back that I ended up loving even more than the ones I picked myself. The patchouli was earthy and delicious, not overly hippie. The cinnamon provided a spicy depth and the amber lends a beautiful sweetness. Just YUM!

I have no idea what went wrong here. All of the notes in Wrath are typically go-to's for me. Except when I put this on, it smelled...well... rank! There was something absolutely WRONG about this blend on me and I have no idea what it was. It took on a scent that I usually get when I try to wear anything with the lab's civet bouquet. Oh this was just BAD on my skin. Boo.

Tropical indeed! Wet this was very much banana and coconut. The apple and pomegranate came out more in the drydown. This was very fruity. I didn't get any chili pepper here, and I could faintly detect the sugar cane. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys sweet fruit scents, but my tastes run a little darker.

On me, this was earth with soft florals. It went a little musky on me, which dirt scents tend to do. I really liked this though, as there seemed to be a spice to the dirt that was a little unexpected. The dry down stayed much the same, and still with a faint floral note here. Overall the effect was comforting, which was completely unexpected. I need to test this a couple more times but I think I will be getting a bottle in the near future.

I was a little scared of this blend, but I was determined to try it, after hearing one forumite's theory that either Eclipse or Chimera will work for anyone, and those that don't do well with one, will do well with the other. And since Eclipse was such a massive fail for me, I figured "what the hell?". Chimera is the blend that defies the odds for me. The only note in here that ever works for me is myrrh, and even then it's usually 50/50. Copal and honeysuckle are typically deal-breakers for me. This blend however, was wonderful! The cinnamon and myrrh balanced well with the copal and honeysuckle so that the overall effect was a sweet, spicy scent with a depth to it and a very very faint floral hint. Breathtaking!

I really enjoyed this blend. The clove, allspice and cassia were key notes on me. The tobacco and peppercorn came out more during the drydown. The tea leaf wasn't overly apparent (which is a good thing as I tend not to do well with traditional tea scents). The sandalwood added just enough of a "perfumey" vibe so that I didn't smell overly like a market. This was a beautiful scent overall, spicy and warm.

On me this went sweet rose. The apple and peach were very strong when wet, but dried to nearly undetectable amounts. The rose came out with a vengeance and the honey sweetened it up. I could barely smell the musk underneath. I had my mother sniff my wrist where I had applied this and she actually said "It smells like dead things." I think I will be swapping this.

This was an incredibly feminine blend. The violet-like orris took a predominant position here, with a faintly patchouli undertone, while the musk was definitely more present. I didn't get much myrrh here at all. The overall effect was powdery and dry. It sweetened considerably on the drydown, getting almost cloying on my skin. In the end, not a blend for me.

Dry cocoa powder and warm sultry amber. This is rich and sophisticated. Dark and gorgeous. I really like this, but it may be too chocolately for me to wear regularly.

This was a truly perfect scent for me. The cassia took the lead while wet, the entire blend spicy and exotic, with the red musk adding a gorgeous base, and the tonka and tobacco playing dirty. And then, during the drydown, the mandarin came out. Oh the humanity! Mandarin does NOT like my skin, or maybe the other way around. Thus, this went sickly sweet and thin. Not for me

MMmmmmm Crowley is LOVE! Wet I get leather and mahogany, with a patchouli and musk undertone. As it dries, I can get faint whiffs of the lilac, and the vanilla comes out a little bit as well. Further into the drydown, the vanilla comes out more and blends with the leather and mahogany, while the patchouli becomes a little more predominant than the musk. This is dead sexy. I'm not getting much lemon rind here, and I can only very VERY faintly detect the oakmoss. Overall the effect is earthy and woodsy, while slightly sweet. Just YUM!

Wet, this is a pretty sharp green. The bay and laurel predominate. As it dries, the wine note comes out and gives a roundness to the blend, while the honey sweetens it. The incense kicks in last, leaving a dominant resinous tone. After awhile, all I can smell is incense, to the exclusion of all of the other notes.

WTF Grape Kool-aid? As it dries, the grape sugary smell calms down and there's a smoky goodness to this but unfortunately it doesn't last. Midway through the drydown, there is a musty stage that seems to stick around. The patchouli and nag champa can't save this one for me.