coulrophobe

I've felt like I'm in bizarro-land lately, because all the blends containing rose that I've tried lately have worked on me! Who knew? In the imp - whoa, minty! I like mint. This smells like a nice crisp, cool blend. Wet - for a few minutes, I get an almost lotusy note as the mint and florals start to balance out. Drydown - the roses come out a little more than I'd like, but they're still not screaming or artificial, like they so often are with my chemistry. I think the violet and the other florals are offering some balance here. This is a very fresh, springy girlish scent that captures the concept quite well. It conjures up images of roses and grass covered with dew, and the lightening of the sky before dawn. A youthful and optimistic scent.

In the imp: Sandalwood... I'm not getting much else yet. On: Ah, there's everything else! I definitely smell the musk and spices, and I can sense the amber lurking underneath. I was really worried about the rose in this, as roses are my nemisis, but it seems to be staying in the background, adding to the blend rather than overpowering it. Once in a while I get a waft of mandarin. This one is similar to Scherezade on me - sweet and smokey incense. Quite lovely!

In the imp/wet on skin: Arg... I'm a fan of dry wood smells, but this definitely isn't dry. There's a sharp green/sour pungent note that's making me ill. Drydown: as the oil dries on my skin, the scent gets drier as well; I can definitely smell a big dose of patchouli and incense in here. A little spicy, but mostly incensy. Others compared this one to Silk Road, and I see a bit of similarity... but I think I'll have to stick with Silk Road, for more spices and no sharp/green initial stage.

Preconceived notions: Let's see, "earthy," and the imp shows a brownish oil... my bet is that this one has patchouli. Smelling the imp, I get eucalyptus and patchouli. Wet: Patchouli, eucalyptus (or juniper? they're very similar to my nose), maybe a bit of pine? These aren't notes I think of as being very "me," but I'll try anything once. I'm getting an odd, almost sour pungent note in the background; almost vinegary. How odd. I smell like a mystical underground... pickle. Um, that's funky. Drydown: OK, the momentary sense of pickle-ness has gone away, and it's all greenery and patchouli. Later on, this is a lightly spicy baby powder on me - but that's typical of what patchouli does with my chemistry. While this isn't really me, a nice one for earthy/green/patchouli lovers.

In the imp: Lavender... hmm, usually not a good note for me. Wet: Lavender, yes - but also citrus. The lavender's almost overwhelmed by lemon - not pledgy lemon, but a clean, bright lemon. These aren't usually notes that work on me, but this is kind of a nice change - a bit sharp, but very airy. Drydown: This goes extremely soapy on me (not necessarily a bad thing, I kind of like soap!). It's pleasant, but has lost some of the airy-ness I'd expect from this elemental. Still, very clean and fresh, a good spring and summer scent.

Like others in this thread, I know this isn't meant as a perfume oil - but rituals don't factor into my current belief system, so I'm wearing it, dammit! I'm definitely getting a warm, resiny feel with a hint of citrus - and at first there was an undercurrent of savory spice (not sweet spice like cinnamon/cloves, but more like the spices that were in India Bouquet... foody, but in a vaguely curried way). The bizarre undercurrent went away with drydown, and I was left with something that just smelled light, sunny and sweet. It reminded me a bit of Sol, except that the sweet note was stickier, almost sap-like. Temple: Egyptian is an interesting blend to wear; I'll leave any reviewing of its ritual effectiveness to the experts, as I wouldn't even know where to begin.

At first this one is all boozy peach on me (which isn't a bad thing at all), then very slowly, the amber starts to make itself known. Amber is like soft, golden powder on my skin, and it blends in quite well as the peach scent starts to fade. The white musk is very faint, unfortunately, but as the other notes dissipate, it becomes more noticeable. All in all, this is a very lovely blend, but it's not particularly long lasting on my skin, and I'm not sure how I feel about the notes showing up in stages, as they do with my chemistry; I think I would have liked it even more if the notes had been present all at once on my skin.

I haven't had a lot of luck with watery florals, but Amsterdam works pretty well. I don't get a lot of change between the wet stage and dry down - just a fresh, clear light floral, with a bit of aquatic (but not ozoney) tang. To me, this is like smelling a field of tulips with a bit of salt air (I know the description says "fresh water" rather than salt - but to me there's a definite but subtle salty-ness to it). This is a very springy scent to me - I can see myself wearing it a lot in January and February, when I'm miserable with the weather and dying for spring to come!

I was really interested in this blend, and loved the description - and found the notes to be an intriguing prospect, as they weren't things I thought of as going together (but that's why Beth's the artist, and not me!). Wet on my skin, I'm a little worried. The sage and sweet pea are duking it out, and the musk and tonka are hiding somewhere in the background... I can't smell anything except for an overpoweringly sweet herbal smell. When Aeval dries down, the sweet pea seems to be dominant, but with a little herbal kick to it. I'm still not getting much besides a vague feeling of "warmth" from the musk and tonka... I'm finding it odd that I can't distinguish the musk more, as it's one of my favorite notes and usually jumps right out at me.

When I first tried Alice on, my nose tried to tell me it was smelling lemon - I think it's the pungency of bergamot that's making me confused. After the initial tartness, the milk and honey emerge, making this a sweet but mellow kind of blend. The fact that the rose doesn't go out of control on my skin wins Alice major bonus points from me - I can smell the rose, but it stays mingled in with the carnation and foody notes, rather than going on the rampage like it usually does on me. In all, this isn't a very "me" kind of scent, but it's very pleasant once it's dried down - very innocent and girly.

Preconceived notions: As a fan of musks, I figured I'd like this one, and didn't let the "animalistic" description scare me off (to me, musks are rarely animally - instead they usually smell like very clean humans). In the bottle: Heavily herbal, a little masculine - very cool smelling. A bit more aquatic/herbal than I usually like. Wet on skin: Very clean and cold smelling, and still a bit masculine. Where's the musk and warmth? Drydown: Ah, there it is. There's still a cold herbal undertone that I get with some of the lunacy oils, but the skin-scent of musk is starting to poke through - it's warm, sweet and almost... coconutty. My nose must be a bit wonky, because I swear I'm getting a breath of fresh coconut, mixed in with a lightly spiced musk and forest herbs. Final thoughts: I'll agree with everyone who thinks that those who didn't order this might regret it. It's a lovely scent, and truly gender-neutral (though a little masculine on me in the wet stage - but I'm really not an herbal girl).

This imp crossed my path quite unexpectedly - and I admit, I probably would have avoided it like the plague, given my intense hatred of almonds (which seem to be mentioned in almost every review). But, I try every BPAL I can get my hands on, despite any preconceived notions. In the imp: I *do* smell the almond, but it's extremely faint and clean - not the hideous cloying cyanide-sweetness I get from most almond blends. This is like my imp of aged Dana O'Shee - there's a milky sweetness, rather than a suffocating one. Wet on skin: Still a vague hint of almond, which evaporates quickly into the telltale warm baby-powder sweetness of... AMBER! Drydown: Yep, this is all warm resiny goodness on me - no almond in sight, thankfully! Very sweet and a bit powdery, but not in a bad way.

Out of those mentioned, I get the most lilac out of Dragon's Eye and Bruja. Veil is much more lavendery than lilac on me, Whitechapel is all citrus and musk, Ouija is dry wood/faint spice/light floral, Chuparosa is honeysuckle rose... and in the others (besides Spectre and Himerus, which I haven't tried yet), some other floral tends to dominate. Your mileage may vary, though!

Because of all the comparisons to Snake Oil, I just had to do a side-by-side comparison. Usually when I do this, I discover how wrong I am (like when I thought The Lion, Brisingamen, and Blood Amber smelled similar - while they're all ambery, they sure don't smell that similar when you do an actual sniff test!). Snake Charmer is very much like Snake Oil, but sweeter and more subtle, with the fruits coming into play. Sadly, it's not as long-lasting on my skin - but absolutely gorgeous, nonetheless. It's a soft yet sultry scent, and it suits the name perfectly. I also have an imp of an experimental blend from Brumbjorn, and it's an even fruitier Snake Oil - I love the variations on a theme!

I was excited about this one because of the tobacco, which I love, but it just wasn't meant to be. Straight from the bottle, I can smell the tiniest hint of tobacco, with medicinal, almost sour herbs. On my skin, there's a weird almost anise scent, but greener, and yet still extremely wet and murky... if this scent were a color, it would be a deep brownish green... not the best color association for me! As it dries down, I get... roses. Nooooooooooo! The rosewood is making this an odd blend of roses blooming too close to the compost pile - then it goes straight to an overwhelming artificial rose scent. I really hate to say that about one of Beth's creations, but that's what my chemistry does to it! I'll just consider myself very lucky that the rest of the CN blends have worked much better on me, and admit that the Medicine Show just isn't my bag.

Lavender. Nothing but lavender. OK, so maybe there's a tiny hint of vanilla, or violet - something sweet in there - but I think that's just wishful thinking. Lavender dominates every blend it's in for me - and sadly, lavender's just not I scent I find pleasant or relaxing... I know that's lavender's aromatherapy purpose, but it often makes me edgy and vaguely nauseous - such a harsh, sharp smell. The only blend I've liked it in so far is Gaeko, where it's soft and smoky. Peace. Love the concept, but can't deal with the lavender. Edited to add: after it's dried down for a good half hour or so, I can smell... violet! But I'm not sure it's worth suffering through the lavender for me - there are so many other lovely violet blends.

I'm a purple girl myself (and white... and gold... and red...) For purple florals, it's all about Black Pearl to me (though, I don't know whether to classify Black Pearl as floral, foody, or musk... it's an odd mix!). The iris note is predominant on me, and it just smells very purple. For fruity purple scents - Bordello is about as purple as it gets for me. If you'd prefer something sweet and grapey, try Tum. Glasgow's a nice lighter-purple berry/floral.

At first, wet on my skin, this is all about the bergamot and neroli. When the sharpness dies down a bit, I can smell sweet, smoky incense and... fresh raspberries? Weird. I've been eating a lot of raspberries lately, so maybe they're just on the brain, but I'm getting a tart berry note here. The carnation spices things up a bit, and the rose is (thankfully) staying in the background where I prefer it! Gypsy queen is an unusual incensy floral, with a dash of tart fruitiness. Very nice, indeed!

In the bottle: pine and patchouli, with a hint of cinnamon On: at first, this is a mish-mash of scents all struggling for dominance... it's like they're playing "king of the mountain" on my wrist. The winner? Leather. And I couldn't even smell it in the bottle! I get a little bit of pine and spice, but it's mainly all about the leather - which is fine by me. Geek is a bit more masculine than I'd like for everyday wear, but I definitely like it, and can see layering it with other scents, to give them a powerful, leathery edge.

In the bottle, I'm getting a strong waft of lemon, mixed with deeper, smokier notes. On: Dark musk and a hint of citrus... I'm not picking up much in the way of other discernable notes. The lemon mellows out, and there's a nice musky scent. I like musk. On the subject of what musk smells like, I always just feel it smells like people - dark/black musk smells like men, red musk smells like women, and white musk smells like babies (nice clean babies, that is!). I'm definitely getting a clean, manly aroma from Torture King... very nice, and comforting. Not torturous at all!

I'll admit it - out of all the Odditorium scents, Shill was the one I was least interested in. The only reason it's in my possession was because ordering the entire collection was the same price as ordering the other 12 individually - so I consider Shill a freebie. Out of the bottle, why yes, Shill is pure, unadulterated buttered popcorn. And on my skin, more of the same. But it's better than I expected for that very reason - I was expecting there to be a sweetness, more like those buttered popcorn flavored Jelly Bellies... but I'm glad there's not. This just makes me smell buttery and lightly salty, and while I don't see myself wearing this on a date or anything, it's a nice homey smell.

With a name like Freakshow, I would have ordered this one even if the description said "cabbages and dog crap!" Luckily, that isn't the discription... there's a few notes I love, and some I'm kind of wary of, so this should be interesting! In the bottle: dry, dusty cocoa powder with the bite citrus. Cocoa and lemon are notes that both fall into the "wary of" category, so I'm a little apprehensive - but maybe it'll morph. Wet on skin: the cocoa grows richer, and there's more of a lemon tang to it... and... Holy figgy pudding, Batman! This dries down to sweet, spicy figgy goodness. It reminds me of Carnal, but with more complexity. I lurves mah Freakshow.

This is definitely the "real" House of Mirrors. Straight from the bottle, I'm getting a citrusy, breezy aquatic scent. Not what I usually go for, but quite pleasant. On: Oh no! I smell cucumber, which has a tendency to go all sharp and sour in aquatic blends when it hits my skin... after it's dried down for a while, it's still a bit sharper than I'd like, but I seem to have avoided the sourness. It's a clean, soapy smell, very airy and, dare I say, glassy. It's not very "me," but it's nice.

In the bottle, I smell light clean florals; no one note is sticking out. I'm hoping this will be a blend where the rose sits back and behaves, rather than running rampant like it usually does on my skin. On: Definitely heavier than I thought it would be; the light, clean, almost white floralness is gone, and instead it's more like a posh commercial perfume - very well blended, sweet and sophisticated. Bearded Lady is very feminine and refined; this is a scent I'd wear to a nice dinner, or a date at the opera or symphony. The comparisons to Antique Lace completely baffle me (on me, AL is all vanilla-musk, with the only hint of floral being a light sweetness in the background), but this is a very nice floral scent.

In the bottle: Whoa, buttery sweetness overload. I predict that this is going to be just like Miskatonic U - I'll keep the bottle around because I love the smell, but on my skin it'd be way too sweet. On: Um... well. Not what I expected, but far worse. I'm getting the plastic-coconut, almost clay-like note I get from Spooky. For all the buttery warm sweetness in the bottle, on my skin Midway turns dusty and stale. Pity, but I can still snuffle it from the bottle.