provocateur

In bottle: Lavender and ... lime? Something a little citrus. On skin, wet: Lavender, plain and simple. On skin dry: A light lilac, which then fades off into floral powder. Conclusion: While this is light and airy, I was hoping for more of the lime to show up. Rating: 2/5

Wow. This was practically pure apricot until well after the dry down period where it ended up as slightly cloved apricot. While it may make for an interesting tea cake topping, it's not one for my skin.

In bottle: Sunny! Very warm and inviting. There's a hint of daisy and carnation and just fresh flowers behind it. On skin, wet: Airy, bright sunflower, heliotrope, carnation and daisy. It just reminds me of the spring garden. On skin, dry: The amber pokes out and overlays the spring floral. Wrapping its self around the vanilla musk ever so slightly. It's finished at a golden, earthy tone. Conclusion: Talk about a pick me up in a bottle. This was pretty much love at first sniff. The Ultimate question - How many bottles to horde? Rating: 4/5

In bottle: a nice woody herbal scent. it's hard to decipher the notes separately on this one. On skin, wet: Hoo lawdy! It's a sharp astringent woody... thing. It managed to clear out any sinus problem they seriously thought of having. On skin, dry: A somewhat headachey, airy dried herb blend. Conclusion: Well, at least I know what to keep around when I have a sinus infection! Rating: 0/5

In bottle: Earth. Very earthy, almost to the point of moldy (roots) earth. There's a little hint of a woody note. On skin, wet: Mandrake. Pure mandrake. I had to check a couple of my plants just to make sure. On skin, dry: It went poof after about 20 minutes. Conclusion: While this is pretty true tell to the actual plant, I was unable to tell if this ended up morphing into something more or not. Rating: 1/5

In bottle: Flowery! Very floral. On skin, wet: Very floral, and there is a hint of the loam.. not much else. On skin, dry: Mm. Powder and soft florals. Conclusion: While it was fun to stalk this down, and I'm glad I got to try it, I should've realised by now that florals and I are not a happy couple. Rating: 0/5

in bottle: Fresh, outdoors-y - which is more than likely the honeysuckle, carnation, daisy and other spring florals. on skin, wet: spiced honey mead. on skin, dry: a green, honeysuckle honey. conclusion: there was, while it was drying down, where I wanted to say there was a point where it smelled like bright sunshine. However, I don't know what exactly bright sunshine really should smell like, or even what notes would give off that sort of aura. Beth has managed a very delightful, outdoors-y spring scent with this one. rating: 4/5

in bottle: a soft dragon's blood. on skin, wet: resinous poppy. (the resinous is a sign of the dragon's blood on me). on skin, dry: amber and poppy. conclusion: well the dragon's blood did surprise me by not being so overwhelming and musky on me as it usually is. I think the ylang-ylang might've taken care of that. I love amber and poppy, but this one didn't really cut a rug for me. rating: 3/5

In bottle: Black opium in all it's delicious glory On skin, wet: More black opium and vetiver and a hint of honeysuckle. On skin, dry: Vetiver and opium. Conclusion: This is very deep, rich and succulent. How did this one escape me for so long? Rating: 5/5

In bottle: Lily and rose On skin, wet: Mandarin and the rose is still there. On skin, dry: the typical rose and powder combo. Conclusion: I had hoped, with how the rose didn't get soapy while it was wet, would stay that way, instead I get the rose powder that reminds me of grandma. Rating: 0/5

In bottle: Sugary anise On skin, wet: Lemon, sugar and mint. On skin, dry: Anise! Conclusion: Anise hates me. Rating: 0/5

In bottle: Ozone. On skin, wet: Musky, resin ozone. On skin, dry: Ozone, pure ozone. Conclusion: I'm not an ozone fan, but I was hoping more of the notes in this blend would be strong than the ozone note. Rating: 1/5

In bottle: Dirty, spicy plum. On skin, wet: Patchouli and plum. Oh, bliss! On skin, dry: Tonka, benzoin, plum and patchouli. Conclusion: I really don't care if there were other notes in this, because just as it is, is divine. Rating: 5/5

In bottle: Lemon? Where the? An woody? I'm not sure if this is turning out to be just amber and musk... On skin, wet: Cedar, and amber. (Again, the hell?) On skin, dry: Amber powder. Conclusion: I have to wonder where the lemon and cedar came from. That was one of the bigger abnormalities for me. Normally, I love amber and musk, but I guess this combo just didn't do it for me. Rating: 0/5

In bottle: Lemon! On skin, wet: Citrus, but not the citrus of Detox. On skin, dry: Industrial lemon cleanser. I can see how this would make for purification. Conclusion: Not my bag, but I think I'll try it as a room scent for meditation with some Detox to see how that can compensate for the cleanser smell Lustration develops. Rating: 3/5

In bottle: Green herbs and a bitter lemon (is that the balsam or the storax?) On skin, wet: Balsam and herbs. There's a little light note that I can't quite decipher. On skin, dry: Balsam, or storax, which is reminding me of almonds. Conclusion: I wish more of the green had come out to play. Or maybe it was the embalming herbs reminding me of almond. Either way, I don't like almond. Rating: 0/5

In bottle: Peach, peach, and some myrtle. On skin, wet: Peach and "bright" musk (it certainly is sunny!) On skin, dry: Amberish peach. Conclusion: There's definitely a lot of peach here on me. Rating: 1/5

In bottle: Pure ylang-ylang On skin, wet: Neroli and ylang-ylang On skin, dry: a hint of sandalwood and not a lot else until the ylang-ylang comes back. Conclusion: Ylang-ylang and I do not a happy couple make, apparently. Rating: 0/5

In bottle: Dark amber with a hint of sandalwood. On skin, wet: Amber and musk. A hint of the imperial florals kick around a bit. On skin, dry: A generic musky amber. Conclusion: Where's the woods, vetiver and violet? Disappointing Rating: 2/5

In bottle: Smexy girl - orange blossom and lemon verbena. A beguiling innocence. On skin, wet: Honey suckle and lemon. The heliotrope is flitting in and out. On skin, dry: everything else seems to fade and I'm just detecting the lemon verbena. Conclusion: It's a very girlie blend, and definitely not for me Rating: 1/5

In bottle: Damp foliage - somewhat like the outdoors after a fall rain. On skin, wet: Rain. It smells exactly like rain. On skin, dry: An herby, foggy dampness. Conclusion: I can't tell if I like this or not. I may keep an imp on hand as a benefaction during ritual, but other than that, I'm ambivalent about it. Rating: 2/5

In bottle: Vanilla and sage. On skin, wet: Cedar and white musk. On skin, dry: Vanilla and leather. Conclusion: I think I've found my first love you! vanilla blend. I'm usually pretty blah about them. I love the way this morphs. It's got to be on of my favourite morphs to date (Al-Sharain is still the first favourite morph). Welcome to the bottle list darling! Rating: 4/5

In bottle: mm, black currant On skin, wet: black orchid and myrrh. It's light, but there's a hint of something heavy in the background. On skin, dry: poppy and labdanum (which must have been the heavy previously). It's bliss. Shortly thereafter, it morphs back to the orchid, and then true to orchid form, dissipates. Conclusion: Lovely, but I may just keep this as an imp when I'm feeling the mood for floral. Rating: 3/5

In bottle: Honey wine. There's also something soft underlying the background. On skin, wet: Laurel and bay. Heavy on the bay. On skin, dry: Laurel - which then morphs to sweet cloying honey. Lots of cloying honey. Conclusion: I'm learning that there are only a very select amount of blends where honey actually works with me. This, sadly, is not one of them. Rating: 0/5

this, all around, from sniffing it in the bottle to three hours after application stayed a chocolate brownie batter. No myrrh, no sandalwood, no coco-vanilla. so, rather than eating my own arm, i made a batch of brownies and put this in the sale/swap pile. 0/5