Kate

From the Celestial swap. Powerful orange clove scent! Very spicy and yummy. Possibly a whole cinnamon stick thrown in there too. It smells just like Christmas to me.

Pisces: February 19 - March 20 From the celestial swap. Somewhat aquatic when still wet. It smells sweet and like bubblegum on me at first. It's light and airy, but a little too sweet for my taste. It faded out very quickly on me as well.

Leo: July 23 - August 22 From the celestial swap. This one started off very sharply with a strong floral and citrus scent. Maybe lime is the fruit. After it faded, It smelled sweet and creamy. Possibly blood orange? After the strength leaves, this is a very nice scent on me.

From the Celestial Swap. I love this one. I am not at all sure what it is, though perhaps lotus and bergamot as other people have noted. It has a musky scent with maybe a touch of fruitiness. But it's very mysterious and fanciful. Yummy! My favorite of the celestials I've tried. I wish I could have a whole bottle of this one.

From the Celestial Swap. This one started off completely indescribable. I couldn't place it at all. It had an odd amonia smell when still weton my wrist. As the day went on, it faded into something vaguely like patchouli and something else I can't name, possibly musk and an aquatic note. It smelled REALLY good though and I love it. Appropriately, it is an enigma.

Libra: September 23 - October 22 From the Celestial Swap. It was weird at first, I couldn't place it at all. A bunch of strong flowers hitting me at once. But as it faded it went into exclusively strong rose scent, which doesn't usually work well with me, this one was no exception.

From the Celestial Swap. A green scent. A whole rose plant, not just the flowers. Maybe a hint of jasmine or gardenia at first. A very elegant floral. Very feminine and very strong.

From the Celestial swap. White floral, maybe jasmine. Slight fruity scent cherry or more possibly plum. Smells sparkling and bubbly, something like 7-up or champagne. I've never distinguished ylang-ylang before, but it might be that. Effervescent is the descriptive word.

From the Celestial Swap. This one faded so fast I'm trying to recall the scent from memory now. It was a very strong spicy scent at first, maybe something green. Then I got a powerful gardenia smell for awhile. Next came a light citrus scent that was very nice with a little vanilla, maybe a blood orange or orange blossom. But soon after that it faded almost completely. Very pleasant while it lasted though.

From the Celestial Swap. This one was almost identical to Wrath, both in color and in scent. I got very powerful cinnamon right away, but it faded rapidly into a soothing creamy scent which I think is dragon's blood resin, cloves and maybe ginger. It's very substantial, but still light enough not to feel overpowering. Appropiate that it should be similar to Wrath I think.

From the Celestial Swap. In the bottle and wet on my skin I got the "woody" scent others have described, but it was different. It isn't woody like actual trees, it smelled more like being IN a wood. Full of plants and moss and spicy smells. Almost immediatly after drying it began to smell like the most powerful fruit scent I've come accross to date. It was very sweet, dark, heavy fruitiness. Possibly cranberry, it remindes me a lot of Lampades. It smells like a cross between a tropical drink and a new age shop. It's good, but maybe not as a perfume. It's calming in a grounding way. It feels weightier than the others I've tried so far.

Aries: March 21 - April 19 black pepper / frankincenseginger From the Celestial Swap. This one was a big intro with not much follow through. When it was drying on my wrist, I got a huge whiff of chocolate. Really powerful, pure chocolate. Then slowly as it dried, the chocolate faded into a more spicy scent, possibly ginger and something that smelled vaguely like roses. But it quickly faded to nearly nothing. Nice, but gone too quickly on me.

Scorpio: October 23 - November 21 From the Celestial Swap. This one didn't even have a real scent for me. It was a very light dishsoap/baby powder for maybe an hour, then nothing at all. Just a smell like I'd washed my wrist clean was left. I would expect more from a sign as volatile as Scorpio, but I have never mixed well with the sign before, so maybe this is appropriate.

Capricorn: December 22 - January 19 From the Celestial Swap. Total failure on this one. It smells like I took one of those cedar blocks meant to freshen closets and strapped it to my wrist. That's all I get, nothing else. When it was wet I wasn't sure what it would be, it had a little more of an incense smell, but when it dried, instant cedar overload. Considering cedar is one of my LEAST favorite scents, this one is a no go for me.

Saturn: Discipline - Crystallization - Control - Constriction - Banishing - Destruction - Sowing discord - Death - Reverence - Endurance Just received this one in the Celestial Swap Circle. This one looked like something I'd like because it was dark and appeared incensey. In my hurry this morning I went on that alone. It wasn't what I expected at all. It was very powerful and I think contained one of the elements that I am mildly allergic to. Similar reaction as Magus on me, possibly high john essence. It smells vaguely nutty and I get a bad rotten taste in my mouth when I wear that ingredient, whatever it is. It's very woody, possibly cedar. Ick. But since I had no time to wash it off, I wore it the rest of the day and it mellowed somewhat. It lost the bad nut smell and took on a lighter scent that has some creamy aspect - maybe vanilla, or resin and maybe a flowery scent under that. It's pleasant now, but not something I'd wear just to wait through the bad scent. Just the description would be enough to warrant me not wearing it again!

Just got this one from the Celestial Cricle Swap. I can see how this one would be good for study and conversation. It's a very light mild scent. I picked it because Mercury seems to have a big influence on me, and since there was no Virgo, I went with the next best thing. It was light to start with, even when wet. It's faded a lot during the day, but it's still there in a ghostly form. I can't quite name the flower, something light and mysterious. Possibly a little lavender. I didn't get much cinnamon in it's main form, but maybe that's what gave me the impression of a shimmery scent. And it does have a light herbal feel. I like this one a lot, it's so relaxing. Like walking through my mother's her garden just after the dew has fallen. Yummy.

Anne Bonny I LOVE this scent. I got the red indonesian patchouli right away, which is definintely different than normal patchouli. It wasn't at all overwhelming on me. It was very heady and potent, mixed with the sandalwood and frankincense it was devine. It had an amazing throw on me and lasted all of the afternoon quite strongly. This is by far my favorite so far. It smells very exotic and yummy. The next day while trying a different oil I sat down on the couch where I happened to have sat the day before wearing Anne Bonny and caught a whiff of it from the pillows. I frantically attempted to find where exactly the scent was coming from so I could just sniff it until it went away. Yes, perhaps I am nuts and need help with this addiction , but Anne Bonny is definitely worth it!!

Madrid In the vial is smelled somehow like bubblegum. I can't figure it out, maybe the grapes? On, it smelled immediately of grape juice and cloves. It smelled nice, but nothing spectacular on me. It lasted only a short while, and smelled predominantly of the cloves before disappearing completely. Nice, but not for me.

Thanks for the info. I might look into that book as sadly I have no insurance, and thus no way to have a doctor work it up for me without costing me a fortune. I'm not too worried, as I have not encountered anything I'm allergic to besides a couple medications and this reaction didn't strike me as anything really severe. Just my body saying, "I don't like this!" mildly. I find it fascinating that we can all have such different takes on these scents, whether just in the specific elements that emerge, or the reaction we have.

I can tell you that it's a woody tuber, Ipomoea jalapa, member of the morning glory family and a relative of the sweet potato. One source on line gives this description: "Fresh John the Conqueror root has a unique, spicy fragrance, reminiscent of a combination of cherry-scented pipe tobacco, vetivert, cedarwood, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and mace." <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I of course can't be sure, but that sounds a LOT like what the taste in my mouth and the nutty smell consisted of. I'm not allergic to morning glory or sweet potato, but then again I'm not sure this was even an allergic reaction, but it definitely reminds me of the woodiness I got. I think I will stay clear of high john in the future, which doesn't seem hard as I haven't seen it in a lot I want to try. And if I do get it accidentally, it's not like it would kill me! A bitter taste is hardly a serious allergy to me like a rash or hives would be. Thanks so much for the descriptions, Macha. I know scent elements like that can be hard to categorize, but that really helped.

Chimera is amazing! I was wary of it at first, as the person I got it from described it as making her smell like a cinnamon candle, which I didn't want. In the bottle I got a very strong cinnamon smell, but also an undercurrent of something like vanilla. When I put it on, I think I put too much as most of the oils I've tried fade so quickly, I slather. This one didn't need that. I sniffed it and I smelled like a red hot (those tiny red baking candies) tastes - EXACTLY. But as soon as it dried and began to fade, I got the wonderful creamy vanilla scent, but with the added punch of spicy cinnamon. It's heavenly! It also lasted all day, and had a good throw, so I kept getting yummy whiffs from my wrists. It's now one of my top scents and I can't stop sniffing it.

Crossroads At first the florals in this one dominated, but once on I got the incense and possibly the herbs mixing and creating a very pleasant scent. I didn't at all get the darkness or coolness implied in the description of a twilit garden. Instead, I felt it was light and warm, and reminded me of the ocean on a warm sunny day. I LOVE this scent! I can't get enough of it!

Hamadryad At first very strong and spicy. I smelled the various woods and mosses very clearly. This scent lasted a long time on me, and the florals came out much later on. It was a very comforting scent for me, very "naturey" and woodsy, which for me is a place I feel very at home in. I am not sure I would wear it out on the town much, but it would be good for a day spent outdoors, or curled up reading. Also anytime I need a comforting scent which isn't sexy. A definite keeper and worthy of a larger bottle in my opinion.

An ancient blend, swollen with arcane power: galangal, high john essence, frankincense, cedar, and sandalwood. I tried Magus yesterday and had a strange reaction to it. When I smelled it on the bottle and when first on my skin, it smelled overwhelmingly nutty. When I sniffed it I got a bitter taste in my mouth as well, which was very unpleasant. Under the nutty smell I could smell the sandalwood, cedar, and frankincense and they smelled very nice, though slightly masculine. It faded pretty quickly on me as well. I am blaming the reaction on high john essence or galangal as I have never encountered them before. I was disappointed because this one sounded lovely, but it will be moving on to new ownership in my next round of trades and hopefully not inflicting it's nuttiness on anyone else!

Has anyone had a strange reaction to Magus? I tried it out yesterday and whenever I sniffed it it made my mouth water - but no in the good way. I got a bitter taste in my mouth that I can't really describe. The overwhelming smell from the oil was nutty, a bitter nuttiness. As it faded I got the other notes, sandalwood, cedar, and frankincense I think and under the nutty smell they smelled quite good. I am temporarily blaming the reaction on high john essence or galangel because I have never come in contact with them before. Can anyone give me a description of what high john or galangel is supposed to smell like? I'd likt to try and track down which one of these babies did this so I can try to avoid it in the future. Thanks!