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Scent-wise: Straight out of the bottle, I smell something that reminds me of Greed. Vetivert, perhaps? Smoky, greenish, with a hint of musk way in back. The throw is strong for me (my chemistry normally keeps scents close). Very definitely a herbal scent, but a 'dry' herbal scent. Normally 'herbal' to me can have a feeling of damp forest, but this scent doesn't. There's something that reminds me of smudging with sage. Not the scent, exactly, but a feel on the palate -- a tingling, almost? I had my nose rather close to my wrist to help concentrate on the oil and focus myself, which could be part of the reason for the tingle. This isn't my usual sort of scent. I love foody scents, and hated Greed -- vetivert (if that's what is in here) is a loathe-scent for me. But the scent isn't the reason for this oil! Ritual-wise: It's not a bow-chicka-wow-wow sort of feeling -- don't expect Spanish Fly. Rather, it's allowing me to focus on the reasons I love my partner -- the things that I don't normally appreciate as often as I should. It's helping me pay attention to the things I forget. After-effect-wise: My partner will be home in about ten minutes; I'll update once the evening is over.

Five-second review of Amor's scent: This is the closest accessible blend I have found that matches Decadence enough to make me smile. Five second review of effectiveness: My partner touched me a lot on the small of the back while I was wearing it. Generally, that never happens. Overall review: I like it.

Nasally, Foundation of Fortune (FoF for short) is a slightly musty papery ginger-root and pepper blend. In use, it's awesome. I used FoF to anoint some money and my wallet, and it's helped immeasurably. I got a job, I found a cheap veterinarian really close by, I picked up a valuable (both in memories and in money value, though they're not about to be sold) pair of books for a song. I've been using this blend in conjunction with Horn of Plenty. FoF does the anointing and dressing while HoP helps me attune to the money-calling energy I'm putting out into the aether. Ideally, I'd be using Fof and HoP along with Aunt Caroline's Money Bag -- to both get the money and keep hold of it. However, that might be too strong for me to handle! I was very lucky to get an imp of this blend and I'm ever-grateful. Thank you.

In imp: Mmm, dark bitter chocolate cocoa, and fig. A slight wood scent in there if I do a long wine-tester's sniff. Wet: Fig. Ten minutes in: FIG. Thirty minutes in: FIG. An hour in: Well, if I shove my nose up really close I can catch a hint of some cocoa and wood. But mostly it's still... yup, fig. I don't dislike fig. I don't really interact with it much, to tell the truth, and before recently I couldn't have told you what it smelled like. But now someone seems to be sending me a Fig Message, because I keep getting frimps with fig in them -- first a couple of Carnals, and now this Intrigue. I liked Carnal, thinking it was a fruity blend plus some extra stuff in the background, but now on smelling Intrigue, I realise Carnal's "fruity blend" was just fig yelling loudly, rather than fig muttering to itself in a crowd of other fruits. Fig loves me, and wants to tell me that through a megaphone. Overall: Nice fig scent, but I already have Carnal for my (rare) fig needs.

Citronella, lemongrass, and something else. This starts off almost bitingly sharp, then mellows into a powdery softness, a pale yellow scent. There's a hit on something aquatic at the beginning, and for a moment I had thoughts of Off! bug spray because of the citronella and the biting sharpness, but that faded rather soon. I can definitely smell the citronella, and, like LiberAmoris, am going to keep a hold on this in case of insects. Effects: I had a terrible, horrible day. After applying the Van Van. Perhaps my personal power is negativity, or something, or I wasn't in the right frame of mind to appreciate/empower/charge it. Verdict: I'll be keeping my imp (like I keep all Voodoo imps) and almost definitely trying it again -- if only for the citronella aspect. I hope the next time I wear it, my 'personal power' will co-operate in a positive manner.

Origin: Swap, but I can't recall who with. Possibly cuervosueno or Northernminx. Whoever it was, thank you! I got this and put it immediately in my imp box. It's been about a week since I got it and I'm just getting around to testing it. I was worried I wouldn't like it -- other money blends have really not gone so well with me (in scent or in ethos). Whether it works with my chemistry or not, I'm going to keep it, and pop a bit on some of my dollar bills instead of my body (perhaps in conjunction with Foundation of Fortune (which on its own hasn't done much yet)). Straight out of the imp, I think I may be going to like this. Something about it lights up my nose in the way I wanted all those spiced blends (Snake Oil, for instance) to -- but they didn't. There's rich deepness to it just on the wand, and something a little smoky yet sweet. On my arm: Fresh, just like the vial. Drying down: Sweet and creamy, yet deep and dark with a touch of green. If I inhale deeply and think really hard, I can feel a hint of cherry or almond. There's a touch of herbal around the edges -- the herbs that most every Voodoo blend so far has had. After half an hour: I'm beginning to smell a bit more of the cherry or almond everyone is talking about. But it really isn't too overpowering, and I have to really talk myself into it before it appears -- it's a lush juiciness to the scent. I really can't name the dominant note of this -- it's making me think of something orange, but not melon, not mango, not orange -- maybe a very very very very quiet satsuma. -- that fresh sweet fruit, not the sharp tang of citrus. Something pale ornage or pink, maybe red, but not red red, soft red. Whatever it is, it's mellowed by the sweet almost-vanilla smokiness. Dry: I like this a lot. I was fearful of ending up with the almond of Hecate or the "loud one-note spice" of Snake Oil and a number of other blends, but Horn of Plenty has neither to excess -- there's some spice, some smoke, something creamy that doesn't hit either the Tonka or Vanilla receptors in my nose, and something fruity. Effects: As to effects in the real world, I don't know. But I'll tell you, straight after applying this to the crook of my elbow, I went fishing in Animal Crossing and caught two eels and a giant catfish. Along with some other fish I caught, I got 14,000+ Bells. I hope it works its magic outside the game, too. C'mon, job offer! Final verdict: If my imp runs out, I'm getting more. Like Chimera, I don't know if I'll stretch for a 5ml quite yet -- I'll wear it more and see what develops, but I definitely don't want to give my imp up. Edit: I find myself reaching for this imp to the exclusion of all other scents -- even my beloved Shub-Niggurath and Hellcat. The smell is absolutely delicious, regardless of whether the Voodoo do do to me (right now, there's not much Plenty in my Horn, so I'd say the effects are negligible). I believe I'm going to make Horn of Plenty my first 10ml ever. Wish I'd worn it before I made my last order, I could have combined them.

Colour me relieved -- although just a little sad that the idea I had in my head (Dorian tea with milk, honey, plus ginger) didn't match to the scent on my arm. Not the first time that's happened -- Sudha Segara I thought was going to be DSH Au Lait plus Red Ginger single note, minus that note all DSHs have. Instead, well, I think it's rice pudding. Thanks for your help.

My White Rabbit smells like peach/apricot. It doesn't smell like March Hare (I have an imp and compared the two), but it doesn't smell like the description, either. Just.... fuzzy fruit. Soft wet apricot, or maybe peach (I'm leaning towards apricot). I'm hoping it's a chemistry thing rather than a mislabeled imp, but anyone who has experienced White Rabbit and recognizes what I'm talking about, please, let me know.

I swapped for this on a whim, and I'm glad I did. In the vial: Menthol? Black pepper? Carnation? There's something spicey nose-opening in this that I think I've smelled before (perhaps in my CT2), and it's all that's really coming off the wand to meet me, while the honey and something sweet-fruit hang back scuffing their toes and pretending not to see me. Wet: My partner says "cough drops." I bet that's the same nose-opening note that's got me in a pickle. It's not listed on the notes, unless this is the labdanum. The honey's coming out more, and again that fruity smell lingers underneath. Is the spice the labdanum? My later feelings suggest no, it's something else. Drydown: ! A little musk making the whole thing feel more adult, plus the warming top breeze of whatever that spice is, and the super-sweet smell of honey that would make me feel a bit too over-sucrosed if it weren't for the spicey. The spice has matured and seems darker -- pale brown rather than green-grey-white [sometimes when I write these reviews, I wonder if I have a touch of the synaesthesia]. And now the labdanum seems to have matured, too: it's not fruit any more, but a very subtle fruit-floral that I'm liking even though florals make me go . No longer will I wonder what labdanum smells like! But I will puzzle over what the peppery-carnation-cinnamon-menthol-makes-your-nose-feel-'cold' note is. Curious! 6 hours later: The last gasp of the spice, and the honey that's still hanging on with sticky little honey claws. I imagine the dying stages of this scent is what the Honey SN smelt like -- so now I don't have to swap for it, aha! Overall: I'm keeping my imp. I need to smell-test this against O, because having more than one honey-based scent in my collection will cause me no end of dithering in the mornings. Right now, I prefer this to O because it's not so sweet (and yet, not so sexy -- that's the power of names for you), but I haven't tried O in a long time and I may be misremembering its sweetness. If I wear this a lot in the next month or so, I'll get myself a 5ml; otherwise, the imp will last me.

A sinfully playful lust blend. Inspires sexual spontaneity, a little bit of kinkiness, and new and inventive ways to get dirty. This smells like Blood Kiss on me, with a bit of Snake Oil thrown in for good measure. Snake Oil has some blend of spices that my skin loves and amps up hugely, but in this, the Dragon's Blood (I presume that's the resin) is so strong that the spice can't amp up too high.. This is, however, distinctly odd; I'd come to the conclusion, after a couple of impling tests, that Dragon's Blood makes me want to vomit. But this doesn't. Maybe I need to re-evaluate those tests and work out if it was some other scent. anyway, this is off-topic. It's not exactly my thing -- I don't like resins too much, but I will keep it around and see if the voodoo works. My partner and I need spicing up, we're still in the "can't boink, have to empty boxes" of a new house. As to the Voodoo properties, I'm not sure if it's worked yet. I did chase my partner round the apartment with a cold can of cream soda. That isn't a fetish for either of us, though, so it might not qualify.

I got this in a swap after an LJ friend raved about it. In short: This is, on me, almost a dead ringer for Eau de Kookai. Insert your own umlaut, I don't have the character map handy. I think it's either the saffron or the lotus -- or the combination of the two -- because I recall Kathmandu having a similar air about it (under the 'snake oil' exotic spice air that always comes up huge with me, plus cedar). So, if you're missing Eau de Kookai, or something, and your chemistry matches mine, try Bastet. Straight out ot the bottle, I get almonds, that then starts to dry down into a delicious amber-y medly. Then, somewhere, something happens and bam! Eau de Kookai once it's dry. I don't mind EDK, but I was hoping for something more like the amber medly I first smelt. This might well go back out to swaps a mere day after I got it -- in a swap. Pity.

CCCXXIX: 329 In the bottle: A little boozy. Red, resinous -- possibly dragon's blood. I'm also smelling something menthol or cinnamon-y: that back of nose bite, the opening of sinuses. I can't wear dragon's blood, so this does not bode well. Application (wrist): Woah. Still that resin, and the menthol stuff -- smells herby, tart, green. I can't place the herb exactly, though I wish I could -- it smells similar to a note in Tzadikim Nistarim, if that's any help. Drydown: More herbal, over a base that seems 'red' to my nose. Wait.. is there lemon in this? No, no, passing fancy, unless it's lemongrass, this is a bit greener of a top note than lemon. Still drying: Floral? Something I've smelt in this reminds me of a note in Kali, or maybe Xiuhtecuhtli? No, no, that's not it. Guh. I hate my lack of scent prowess. 30 mins in: If it's not dragon's blood, what is it? I'm perplexed, because it seems to give the same mental image (red) as Dragon's Blood, but without the side effects [nausea]. The herb seems like a dusty green-grey plant. Partner sniffs, says "I like it," which is high praise in his book. 1 hour in: The herb's fading, and something incense-y is coming up instead -- perhaps a touch of sandalwood? There's a hint of something plumm-y, or wine-y, and the "red" seems like velvet. 4 hours in: The beginnings of powder. The sandalwood's gone, but the fruit (almost spicy red/purple fruit) hangs on. 8 hours: Spicy powder, fading off. If I knew carnations better I might hazard a guess that this was one, but all I can say is "spicy pink powder" -- not the "exotic spices" of Snake Oil or Ahatoor, but a sweetish pink spice. 10 hours: Gone. Overall: Complex, intriguing, but not my thing -- even though the partner likes it. I'm going to swap this -- and the person who gets it, please, do set me straight on what all these notes are, because trying to describe this scent is like trying to draw the elephant while blindfolded!

Origin: Part of a frimp set of pale oils with dark names (zombies, murder victims, and goddesses of destruction, oh my) Preconceptions: I don't like mango, and sandalwood may be one of my chemistry's 'no' notes. However, I like mandarin and wonder what white musk will do, so I'm not going to condemn it without a try. In the vial: fruity-smoke? First application (to elbowpits): Mango, and something darker that lurks behind it. Concentrating really hard can bring out a touch of mandarin, but it's all behind the mango. Drydown: Still a lot of mango. I'm not really a big fan of mango, sadly. Then, the sandalwood comes out. Normally sandalwood, for me, is a precursor to the note in every 'exotic spice' BPAL that my skin amplifies (Snake Oil, Hell's Belle, Sacred Whore, Ahathoor -- I wish I knew what that 'spice' nwas so I didn't keep buying delicious descriptions and having my skin ruin them), but in this case, I think the fruits are keeping that from happening. There's a little bit of musk in there, I can't pick out any mandarin any more. The mango isn't really mango the way I think of it (I don't like mango but I'm okay with this scent), perhaps because of the sandalwood-incense-smoke around it. Dry: Fruity sandalwood musk blended into something that I can't really describe, other than "nicely odd in a mango-y way). I'll try this again when I'm not testing other imps at the same time.

Origin: Frimp, key part of a rather morbid set this order (murder victim, goddess of destruction, and zombies, oh my!) In the bottle: sweet florals, a bit of smoke. First application: Jasmine. Nothing but loud, shouting jasmine -- the bathroom cleaner scent. Drydown: First, Jasmine, then a hint of magnolia. The jasmine in this is really strong for the first ten minutes. Then, the magnolia perks up more, along with the orchid. The jasmine fades but still stays. Drydown: Magnolia, jasmine, a tiny hint of orchid. Overall: Too much jasmine for me. I was hoping star jasmine wouldn't suffer the "bathroom cleaner" curse that plain jasmine has on me, but... no. Without the jasmine, this would have been the beginning of summer in Mississippi, and an okay scent for rooms (I'm not big on florals), but the jasmine tips the scales the other way. Off to swaps, sorry.

This scent, along with Blood Kiss, has proven that Dragon's Blood blends are not for me. I wanted to like it. From Dragon's Heart, I'm getting very little but a loud note of something I assume to be Dragon's Blood. It's sour at the back of my nose. Sour, biting, acrid almost, but there is a velvety richness in it. It's a scent I could appreciate the depth of and describe glowingly, but I, personally, don't like the smell of it. I can't shake the urge to scrub my wrist -- the same urge that came from Blood Kiss. Underneath the Dragon's Blood note, that overpowers everything else, lurks a blend of musks, maybe a little berry, but I have to take a deep inhale and mentally process out the Dragon's Blood to get to the other notes. And I can't get past the Dragon's Blood making me want to wash. Into the swap pile it goes. Sorry guys.

I got this imp from eBay, from a kind Canadian who I suspect is on this forum. Hello, if you are! I bid first on the lot for High John, and then read the reviews of Decadence and that turned into my reason for driving the bids ever higher because oh, orange spices. I'm bad. And I was always thinking in the back of my mind "well, if it doesn't work with your chemistry, unreleased scents means extra demand when you swap or sell, or you could give it to mother, she likes almonds." Bad girl. In The Bottle & On The Wand: Marzipan. Definitely that almond marzipan. First Application (3:23PM): Marzipan. Oh gods, why did I want this so much? I hate almond. Drying down: Oooh, there's orange. Orange marzipan. Wait, the marzipan's right at the back, now. This is mostly orange. Sharp orange, with a 'candy' feel. Is that... is that cinnamon? It doesn't have the nose-bite of cinnamon, but it has the back of the tongue spice feel. Some powder, too? The orange is dying down into a spiced-orange combination... and, oh, another wave of marzipan. Now I'm smelling mulled wine. Not so much the cloves, but the rest of the scents. Mellow cinnamon and nutmeg, maybe? I don't know what goes into mulled wine. Definitely an orange in there, but it's an orange bobbing in a vat of rich alcohol, not the candy Terry's Chocolate Orange orange. Spiced orange warm alcoholic drinks. In a big warm room full of other people. I'm reminded of a Christmas party when I was twelve, everyone drinking mulled wine and talking to one another, and me feeling very special to be the only kid allowed with the adults. T+5: Spiced orange. Alcohol. I had a kit of "mulled wine spices" one Christmas, and it's those spices. There's a little almond at the back, but amazingly, it isn't annoying me (I hate almond, you can tell). Doesn't have much throw, I should apply more so I can smell it. I'm applying more. To my other [L] wrist. Thank goodness the almond vanishes within minutes of application! T+12: Why am I having to shove my nose hard against my [R] wrist to smell this? Not fair! T+14: Oh, there it is. Don't scare me like that! The spices that hit me at +5 seem to be moving back away, and... is that vanilla in the spices? Waving it's little bean-pod hands at me? Hello vanilla! Comparing with the other wrist, that's 10 minutes behind -- definitely smells more mellow. The crisp orange has gone, now it's dried orange peel on top of a load of spices. Almost spiced cider spices (the US incantation of "cider," not the Woodpecker Cider in the 2L bottles that Year 7 kids drink in tracksuits instead of going to school), but not apple cider but orange cider. Even though it isn't cider if it's not apple. T+20: Now it smells like a Lush soap I had (Red Rooster), but with more boozy tones. I hoarded that soap so hard. It smelt so good so I never used it. I'm the same way with candles. Turns out the Lush store has Red Rooster (I thought they discontinued it) -- Decadence would be very good for layering with it. Wrist L still has bits of almond in the scenting. Die, almond, die. T+23: Oh, hello almond. You saw Wrist L had almond, and you wanted to come say hi. Go away. both of you. Don't ruin this. T+26: Both almonds ran away when I glowered nasally at them. Throw seems a litle bigger; I don't have to press my nose so close. Still not huge throw, which is sad, because everyone should smell this. T+33: The spices are getting more mellow, if that's possible! The drink with the spices and the orange seems red to me. Berry-red? Berries aren't very obvious in this, but try to ignore the orange, and there's something red-black-purple in there. Blackberry, maybe. No real cloves yet, but something behind the berries (is that even possible? The berries are so faint!) is making me think of a pack of Djarum specials (not the Blacks, the Specials with the brown wrapping) freshly opened. The filter ends. It's making me want one. T+50: Definite Djarum Specials, and the orange is back in front. I must make clear that these changes are somewhat subtle -- not like the dramatic disappearance of the almond. It's more like the notes are all there, but some of them step forwards from time to time. I'm noticing them because I'm so enamoured of this scent that I keep sniffing at my wrist. Oh, the cigarettes have stepped back into the mix again. T+1 hour: Seems to have settled into a lasting scent. I must say, I really do love the way that different scents pop out at different times through the first hour. Doesn't have much throw, though, so I may have to slather this one repeatedly in order to get any real lasting smell effects. Wicked, my first imp experiment, has permanently warped my sense of throw. I now want everything to throw as far as Wicked did. Many many layers on this one, all moving around in the nose. Orange, mulled wine spices, some sort of berry-ish alcohol, and clove-cigarettes. Yummy. Final Verdict: Beth, please please release this so I can get a big huge 10ml bottle! Actually, that makes me wonder. What would aging Decadence do? I'm thinking it would enhance the boozes and spices and the citrus would fade. Maybe we'd be back to Port au Prince or some other spicy boozy scent, or maybe Snake Oil with less incense. Whiiiiiiich.. makes me think I should get some Port Au Prince and find an orange single note, and see if combining the two would be a way to fake Decadence. I'm serious, yo. I want this scent in my hot little hands. ADDED May 11: I have to disagree on the dragon's blood (sorry), because dragon's blood is a note I can't wear in any blend without the "I'm gonna barf" feeling, and I can definitely wear Decadence. I wore it again the other day, and the almond seems to be hanging around a little longer during the drydown. Even so, it's still a fabulous scent -- the spices are coming forwards more in the older imp I got a hold of, as the citrus ages (and fades) so it's turning into more of a rummy spicy scent. Not Snake Oil spicy, but Xmas spicy. I'm still not sure on that 'berry' note -- I couldn't seem to smell it at all the last time I wore Decadence. Was it just a figment, tied in to my visual of what the scent was?

Phantom seemed to vanish very quickly on my skin, which is a pity because I really liked the scent once it had dried. However, I tested it next to a wrist of Wicked, which has tremendous 'throw' on me, so Phantom may just be more subtle. It started off ylang-ylang and musk-y, and then deepened to a rose in the background and high notes (if that can be used to describe it) of myrrh, glittering on top. As it faded, I was getting only the faintest whiffs of the scent, but I did like it. Resinous yet not too syrupy. Musk in the background. I really hope I can train my body chemistry to not make it disappear! I liked what my chemistry did with the dry-down, enhancing some scents (so I don't know if a scent locket would work right now), but not that it made the whole scent vanish fast. I layered Wicked over this this morning, and the two scents combine to a myrrh-rose scent. If you like myrrh and rose, layer these two. The other notes (jasmine from the Wicked, ylang-ylang and musk from the Phantom) stop the whole from becoming too overpowering.

I just got my imp yesterday, and tested this in tandem with Phantom. I'm wearing Wicked again today, so I like it enough to wear it again. First application: Jasmine. It's got a little chemical tang -- a third-party sniffer compared it to "toilet cleaner" but she thiks jasmine scents are like toilet cleaner. I didn't get toilet cleaner, but I did feel a little artificial hint in the background. Kinda greenish, almost? Drying: The rose wafts out now and then, and the myrrh is strengthening. The jasmine has lost its chemical-i-ness, but is still a strong note. The "green" scent has gone. Overall, this has great throw. After three hours: The scent is still getting stronger. I slathered it on this morning because yesterday one wrist application was lovely but not quite enough throw. I overdid it, and sitting here in a warm room with a fan blowing on me I'm in a haze of Wicked. Good thing I like it. The rose has dried down to a dry, almost powdery scent. I'm envisioning a bunch of dried roses, originally deep dark velvet-y red/wine colored and drying down to a deep, almost black, color. The myrrh and jasmine richen and deepen it -- I normally don't like rose scents, but this one feels so deep. The dried roses are sitting in a castle room next to a spinning wheel, the needle coated with something black and sticky. Overall: Definitely a woman scent. Regal, accomplished, deep and slightly intoxicating. There's no let up with this scent -- nothing nice or light about it. It's... wicked. I don't know if I'm going to buy a bottle of this -- I'll wait on my partner's opinion of this before I invest. I like it, but it doesn't exactly feel like me -- I'm not that wicked and unprincipled, at least not every day. Wicked is, I guess, a scent for days when I'm going to get what I want, on my own. Not in an industrious way, but in the "I deserve this" way that royalty go for things, without even stopping to think about whether or not they do deserve it. Sweeping in, taking it, and no-one will question whether I should have been taking it. If that makes sense. ETA: I'm tempted to try this in my hair, but I'm already covered in enough scent for now.

And now there's another Chaos Theory coming out. I wonder what will be on the label for that?

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