Medici

In the imp: almost a fruity floral, underscored by... dirt and shampoo? Wet: Eh? Floral. Drippy, droopy florals with a crisp edge. I have no idea what florals exactly. I can't place it. Still fruity and a little sharp. Drydown: A dewy, sweet floral. A little too sweet for me, in fact, and its fading fast.

... He is a Hermetic Magician's hero for the ages, and his scent is an elegant, timeless, truly refined cologne, bold yet classic: gilded amber, hypnotic lavender, brash carnation and deep mosses. In the imp: Oh wow. I'm going to have to slather this on the boy. Very masculine - spiced, slick, musky and a little tingly to the nose. Wet: Almost aquatic, slightly floral and a little musky resin to boot. This is definitely a "guy's" blend, though - it screams masculine manly man. Drydown: Much the same, *very* nice blend. It manages to be fresh and strong and elegant all at the same time. Throw's average, and I will be passing this on to the man of the house to see what he thinks.

In the imp: Lilac, tea rose and calla lily. Wet: Mostly calla lily, slightly powdery with a touch of green. The lilac starts coming up strong during the drydown. Drydown: Lilac and baby powder. Damnit. Baby powder! That's a no-go. It usually doesn't happen with florals, but Viola seems to have taken the downswing into powdery fluff with my chemistry. Started pretty, though.

In the bottle: Carnation and lily. Wet: Lily, greenery beneath, and a little bit of carnation. Still predominantly lily. Drydown: I am a lily h0r! I bought a bottle unsniffed of this blend going, lily - yup, carnation - yup, white rose- yeah ok. Let's hope my skin doesn't amp it. The end result, for someone who likes funeral flowers, this blend is right up my alley and I am capering with glee that I went straight to a bottle. Two thumbs and one toe up.

Yep. Reminiscent of Snow White, but with pine and minus the marzipan sweetness. Snow Maiden has a sweet, sharp bite to her. Wet: cold and blustery, quickly sweetened by the daffodil. If that coldness is hoarfrost, me likey. (I had no idea what hoarfrost was up until today - I was expecting something like... silvery snow. Something glacial, and this is it.) A little while in and I get a smack of osmanthus, which is the reason I bought this blend. In drydown, it turns to ice on my skin. Sweet ice, and a little bit of pine sap. Another winner. This is the sort of thing I think about wanting to wear when it's January and freezing and I'm hating our Canadian winters. Snow Maiden might just perk things up for me this year.

It smells like snow! Like crunchy, sticky white snow and mint. Fresh and cool and a little aquatic with just a hint of floral. Crisp and cold, and totally, fantastically, wonderfully primed for winter. Oh, I am *SO* happy I got a bottle!

In the imp: It's making my nose tickle! Melon and sweet tobacco and chilli! Wet: Chocolate melon? Spicy chocolate melon! It's the tobacco and honey mix, makes it sweet and smokey and fruity all at the same time. Drydown: Much the same, but way too sweet for my liking. Verdict: While this is definitely an interesting combination of notes, it's a little on the cloying side with my chemistry, which makes it a no-go. I am glad I got to try it, though. It's an experience to stick your nose up to your wrist and smell it morph.

In the imp: Wow. Now that's what I call a chilly floral. Wet: Smeet, creamy, cold and smooth floral- mostly tuberose and jasmine, and I do get a hint of lime (it fades first and foremost.) Drydown: Much the same, thought th sweetness gains in amplitude to the point of being too much. Verdict: Nope. Lovely, but not for me.

In the Imp: Slightly herbal floral, slightly musky with a little bip of something sweet. Wet: Wow. There's dirt in this? Where? I get no raw earth! I get a nicely grounded floral, a little damp moss. "Earthen" is a good way to describe it, but I can't pick off the dirt note directly. Nice. Drydown: Jasmine steps out and smushes down everything else. It was peeking through earlier on and sweetening things up, but in the end it dominates and kills the richness I was digging in the onset. Verdict: Not my cuppa.

In the imp: Florid cleaning solvent. Wet: Much the same, a hint of green floral stem. It's fresh and slightly soapy. Drydown: Much the same but add a bag of chips. There's something funny about this blend, which might be the frankincense (it rarely works with my chemistry.) I am deeply saddened by this - I love calla lily.

For a weeping clown, Xanthe's full of bubblegum cheer that smacks of Aunt Carolyn's Joy Mojo in the bottle. Fruity and sweet, and particularly bouyant. After warming for a stretch, I get the barest hint of floral, but for the most part it stays consistent as a fruit bubblegum scent. I get a substantial amount of throw out of Xanthe, which for me at least is unusual with fruitier blends - I normally have to apply two or three times during the day to give it a little kick. Xanthe holds up pretty well in that arena. Well-loved, this bottle. 4/5 on Medici's Scale o' Lurrrve

Mme. Moriarty leaps into the resin category for me. It's a deep, rich, smoked-out, cream-filled bottle of wonder... so much so that I had to have a second bottle on backup. It is the Queen of the blends I've tried from Carnaval Diabolique thusfar. It is regal and mysterious and dark, yet feminine. It strikes me as being predominantly resinous, backed by a warm musk and slightly fruity waft. The throw is incredible. I wash my sweaters after wearing Mme. Moriarty, and even a week later it clings to my collar. I love it. The epitome of a nocturnal haunt on a summer evening. Again, another 5/5 on Medici's Scale o' Lurrrve

This has been a very difficult scent to nail down. Rather than be redundant and say, "I LOVE IT!" like several other folk here, I've been trying desperately to try and pick off where one note ends and another begins. I can't. It's too damn well blended. Moreover, there's very little evolution of the scent with my chemistry - it stays a sweet, light, almost creamy mint tea for the duration I wear it. I absolutely *adore* Ginnivre for its cool, slightly herbal sweetness. 5/5 on Medici's Scale o' Lurrve, without doubt or hesitation

Vanilla plastic, through and through. (Sort of reminiscent of plastic scented pencil erasers.) From the imp through drydown, it has a powdery, plastic edge that clearly doesn't agree with my chemistry. This is a no-go, sadly.

Plum, sweet apples and musk. It's wonderfully spiced, a touch floral, and totally, totally worthy of a 5ml.

Guinea Pig: Tested on the boyfriend, for whom a bottle was bought Wet: Sweet clove and cinnamon spice. (Girlfriend salivates a little on boyfriend's neck.) Drydown: The patchouli and coffin wood really take center stage in this blend, making for a very masculine show of dark manly manness. The spices stick around, sweetening the blend for the most part. It is utterly droolworthy. To the point where I don't want my S.O. wearing this out in public for fear that he might attract the noses of other wandering females. (Might have to make a little "Property of" sign if he does.) It's gorgeous and complex, and very masculine. The boyfriend is blushing. He gives Count Dracula a thumbs up as well.

Wet: honeyed flowers. Drydown: Ahh lily. How I love calla lily. Let me count the ways... on the downside the lily in this blend comes up first and foremost, does a teasing little wave, and disappears damned fast. Woe. I get a hint of white flowers, but for the most part, my chemistry is drowning it out with the honey. Same goes for the spices, they're there for a second and gone. At one point I get a brief waft of something that smells almost like orchid (very sweet, very floral), but again, I think the honey's the culprit. It's beaten down all the other notes for me. Overall I think I was hoping this blend wouldn't be as sweet as it is, it's almost too floral for my liking. 3/5 on Medici's Scale o' Lurve

F5, the sonofagun, is predominently green tea and aloe on me. I had a room scent that smelled like this once, a long time ago, and I remember I used it a lot to clear my head when studying. There's a little bit of that citrusy lemon verbena crispness that comes out during drydown, but for the most part, it stays green tea and watery aloe. Slightly aquatic (really just a little) and very fresh. It's going to be a great one to have on hand on those muggy summer days when all you want is a nice glass of something cold and something not too cloying to sniff at.

Ditto on the definitive fall scent for me too. Wet: Spiced apple Drydown: There's something almost floral and fragrant about the cider note, and below that it's like there's just a hint of pumpkin spice that's been baked over. It's dry, but juicy. Sweet, but a little tart. Spiced, but not to the point of being so noticible that it stands out. I truly love this blend, a favourite for fall and a definite keeper.

I think this is probably the one blend that stays the most consistent on me from wet to wear. It's an uber gooey caramel apple through and through. Very nice and foody for a sweet-toothed sucker like me.

Wet: rosewood Drydown: Rosewood and a little bit of green, fresh floral. Interesting. It's woodsy and there's a hint of frankincense to dry things off a bit, which I usually dig a whole lot. I'm not really jumping for joy over this, though - it's a little too subdued for me to fling myself at enthusiastically.

Wet: Musk and roses. Smoked out and somber. Damn, this is gonna be good. Drydown: Awe hell, I'm going to need a bottle of this. It's dark and resinous, the rose taking the backseat to the musk. I dig it. It's much darker than I expected.

Wet: Red wine and fresh, juicy grapes… rapidly turning into purple popsicle. Drydown: Purple Popsicle (melted), red wine (spilled) and the dratted mimosa that has yet to agree with my chemistry (cat pee.) *fumes*

Wet: Oh my gosh, am I supposed to get drunk on this? Booze, sprite and cherry syrup. Drydown: It fizzles my nose! I get a little bit of citrus, actually – hence the knee-jerk sprite relation, and lots of dry alcohol. I really, really dig this – I’m going to have to give it a demo run in public. If I get accused of being soused in class, well then I know it ain’t such a good idea to wear it out. I am definitely hanging on to my imp, though.

Wet: Sweet almond underscored by clove Drydown: Ohhhh clove, I love you! It's so sweet and sharp. Towards the end I get a waft of booze, but not a whole heck of a lot. It's mostly spices on me.