lady_pandora

Origin: my GF's imp box Wet: Headshop. Drydown: This may sound weird, but the image I get from this scent is that I'm biting into a piece of wood, and there are spices rubbed into the grain. The wood smell is vivid and "juicy," if wood can be said to be juicy, and I can almost feel the texture of it between my teeth. (I chewed pencils as a kid, so I know what I'm talking about! ) My GF commented that it smelled floral on me, though my nose missed the flowers. Dry: Red Patchouli evidently has decided that I don't properly appreciate its role in the scent, so it decides to play an extended solo riff. And alas, the rest of the day it might as well be red patchouli single note; the other stuff never comes back. This is a woodsy, autumnal, and sort of comforting scent during the 1.5 hours that the wood and spices stick around. I wouldn't be in the mood for it every day--it falls more to the masculine side of the spectrum than my "usual suspects"--but it's quite nice. I just wish it stayed complex longer on my skin. I'd have to reapply a lot. I give it a 3 out of 5, and recommend it to fans of Anne Bonny. ETA: After writing my review, I read the list of notes and don't see red patch listed. Weird. Evidently some note or combination of notes (maybe the red musk?) is turning to a reasonable facsimile of red patch on me.

I was a Devil in a Blue Dress (blue velvet dress, sequined horns), and I wore Lilith, because she's a demoness and because I associate that scent with velvet gowns.

I wanted to like this; I have some poppy incense around the house and I love it. Poppy is such a decadent, evocative scent to me. Unfortunately, on my skin, Opium Poppy turns to hair spray. The only thing it evokes is a memory of being thirteen in the early nineties and having my bangs poofed up into a hair-wall over my forehead. :D

Have you tried Les Bijoux? Yummm.

This is a beautiful, complex scent that I'm not sure I can describe. I'll say that the vanilla, the musk, and the sandalwood are definitely dominant on me, and that my impressions seem to be "warm," "dry," and "golden." If it sounds like I'm describing MB:Underpants, I'm not describing it right. Mr. Ibis is a much less foody vanilla, a much drier sandalwood, and overall a less sweet and more gender-neutral scent than MB:U. It's very lovely and I definitely enjoyed having random whiffs of it waft their way up to my nose throughout the day. Only trouble is that it gives me that little twinge in the head that tells me I'll probably get a headache if I put on any more of it. More testing is definitely called for, just to make sure before I make any hasty decisions.

Barrel-aged whiskey and oak. I get a slight whiff of whiskey--and definitely expensive whiskey--when i first apply this scent. It's kind of sweet the way whiskey is, and very very boozy. But once it settles down, what this really smells like on me is woodsmoke. It shoots a dozen memories right to my brain--campfires, bonfires, the neighbor's woodstove on the first chilly October night. This is not the cigarette smoke smell I got from Black Tower but something much more inviting, more wholesome. This is a comforting, autumnal scent. Not sure I'll actually wear it much. Woodsmoke is more something I want to smell than something I want to smell *like*. I may use it in my oil burner, though.

Hee! I forgot this had vetiver before trying it on. No wonder I only really got two impressions from Spider: 1. Men's Cologne and quite an overpowering one at that. 2. Not for me. Not at all. I have a curse: I hate vetiver and I amp it like crazy. This just smells like aftershave and Men's Cologne on me and it is so not working. I think I'm going to try to sell this to a male friend.

Rum and sugar cookies all the way. I don't get any tobacco or lime and I'm quite pleased with that. This is very much a comfort scent. Yummm, sugar cookies.

Choosing from that list? Well, I haven't tried some of them, but I can recommend The Apothecary as a relaxing and mellow blend and Anne Bonny as a ball-busting empowered blend.

Sorry, I couldn't even get this as far as my skin. I sniffed it in the vial and knew it would nauseate me, and I usually like musks! A friend did try it on. She asked me what I thought. I said, "I love you to death, but I can't stand it, sorry." There's just something in it that smells like dirty socks to my nose. *shudder* Sorry Lab.

I don't like this, and it's not Beth's fault. A few years ago I had severely dry skin and I had a cherry/almond lotion that I used all the time. The lotion didn't work very well, and I also got sick of the scent after a while. This smells exactly like it. I think I just don't like the combination of cherry and almond and that it will always smell kind of medicinal to me and bring back memories of irritated skin rather than anything hedonistic.

This is an absolutely beautiful scent. I think it's the myrrh that makes it so great on me. Ordinarily my skin amps the hell out of jasmine and eats rose for breakfast, and while I do love jasmine, I sometimes like to smell the other oils in a blend as well. Here, though, the myrrh holds the rose in place so that it stays around to balance the jasmine, and the myrrh also gives the entire blend a sophisticated, mature-woman feel rather than the "girliness" many florals have. This is definitely the kind of Wicked Stepmother who sweeps around her forbidden palace in glamorous, flowing gowns. It feels kind of like an old-fashioned couture perfume and makes me think of old Hollywood. I need to order some of this; it's a great one for when you need to feel regal. Give it a try if you like Lilith and/or Purple Phoenix. Wicked has a similar feel somehow, even though it doesn't have the grape/wine note. The myrrh is probably the link.

This starts out almost peanut-buttery in the same way that Sed Non Satiata did. Which caused me to make the irreverent comment that, well, Anubis *is* a dog after all and I'm sure he does like peanut butter. That stage didn't stay around long, though. The dominant note here is definitely the patchouli, and I think it's the black patch. The fact that it doesn't reek on me in this blend, I suspect, is because of the amber. I usually can't wear black patchouli and the blends I can wear it in, all contain amber as well. So while I can't actually smell the amber in Jacquel, I'm definitely grateful to it. The spices add an exotic complexity. There is also something that kind of reminds me of dust. There's a hint of "sweat-smell" in the blend as well, which I think is coming from the patchouli note. It doesn't smell like week-old B.O. but more like the fresh sweat of someone who bathed this morning and just happend to exert themselves a lot during the day. I'm surprised I don't mind it but for some reason I kind of don't. My friend said this smelled like sex on her; I said that on me it smelled like sex in an old bookstore.

Mmmm, this is lovely. I get the flowers first (I can't put my finger on exactly what they are), and it feels like it's going to be a pretty and simple floral blend. Then the spices show up, and they reminded me of incense. The blend feels *sacred* to me, like it's something I'd wear for ritual. It doesn't have a lot of throw or staying power on me, but I love it while it lasts.

I almost bought a 5ml of this unsniffed when it first came out, based on the listed notes, but I held back because of the almond. I was so afraid it would go Play-Doh like it did in Hecate... I tried a friend's decant last night and as I opened the vial, I was chanting "Almond, be good. Almond, be good." The first fifteen or twenty minutes weren't spectacular on me. It didn't smell *bad* but it didn't blow me away either. Then, BAM! My skin went "Oooh, there's honey here, aren't we supposed to be amping that?" And suddenly it smelled like an apple dipped in honey, with maybe a bit of musk, and it was amazing. The first words out of my mouth were, "I should have bought that bottle." It's glorious and feminine and above all *golden*. After a while a sweet, sensual floral note rises to the surface as well. Thankfully I do have my own decant on its way soon, and hopefully I won't use that all up before I've got the money to go for the 5ml. Love this stuff. Love it. Try it if you like O, Brisingamen, Les Bijoux. ETA, 11/11/07: Usually I edit my reviews to say that I've come to love something I was "meh" about before. Unfortunately, this edit is the opposite. I find that I don't like Bilquis nearly as much as I thought I did at first wearing. It's just kind of...too much, if that makes any sense: too sweet, too "sticky" (not literally sticky, of course, but that's the way the scent comes across to me). It's definitely evocative of the American Gods character and the way she...ahem...sucks men in. And not in a good way. Also, about half the time, the almond goes play-doh on me.

I second (or third or tenth) the mention of Yemaya. The BPAL one (not the TAL one, which I haven't tried); it can be found in Excolo. It's fresh juicy melon all the way.

Wet: Chocolate-flavored lip gloss. Like the kind I used to wear when I was 12. 20 minutes later: Gone. Poof. *scratches head*

When I first put this on, it smelled disgusting on me. I can't put my finger on exactly what it smelled like, just that it threatened to be as big a disaster as Depraved or Coiled Serpent was on me. Ten minutes later? Warm yummy ginger and cinnamon. These two spices drown out pretty much everything else in the blend, turning it into a slightly less-sweet version of Bengal on me. I really like this. Not sure if I need a supply, though, given the similarity to Bengal and the fact that I kind of like the more-sweet quality of the latter.

Mmm, I love this. Dark juicy berries plus something soft and sensual that's registering as a floral with my nose but may be the musk, tinged with a hint of green. It's not strong on me--I'm going to have to slather--but yummm. I know this may sound like an insult to some, but this is sort of Bath and Body Works in the best possible way. It reminds me of one of their good scents and not one of their lame ones. I think it's Black Raspberry Vanilla that's specifically coming to mind, and I love that stuff. Bewitched is like that, only better.

I almost didn't try this one despite my love for the play and the character, because lemon and I often don't get along. It came as a frimp with my last order (Thanks Lab!) and I had forgotten what was in it until after I tried it on. Lemon, happily enough, is content to watch this one from the sidelines. Yay! What this smells like is a delicate flower in a garden at night, surrounded by damp greenery. It's very subtle and very green, and the floral is almost imperceptible at first. Much like Cordelia's true worth... Regan is more overtly "sweet" and "pretty" but that's kind of the point, isn't it? Now all I need is Goneril to have the full set... Anyway, though, I like it. Very spring, very comforting.

Vasakasajja goes on like the freshest, most delightful "clean shampoo" smell imaginable. I don't know exactly which notes make me think of shampoo and freshly washed hair, but when I say an oil smells like shampoo, I mean it in a good way. These are the kinds of light fresh scents I like when it's hot out. And it's been unseasonably warm around here for several weeks. It settles down to what smells like a mingling of floral and honey. It reminds me a lot of my Lush Flying Fox body wash (which is mainly jasmine and honey) and so I initially thought the dominant floral note was jasmine. After reading the notes, though, I've concluded that what I'm getting is orchid, and that both the floral and the honey impressions are probably due to the orchid. This is the same note that was so dripping-with-nectar in Shadow Witch Orchid and so honey-ish in Regan. Yummmm. After a few hours the throw remains floral-honey-shampooish but if I sniff my wrist directly there's a somewhat cloying "perfume counter" sort of smell that seems to be a mixture of musk and something "green" that isn't vetiver but kind of reminds me of it. However! I love the throw, and my BF actually complimented me on this scent (he rarely likes my BPALs, at best he's usually indifferent), and so I'm willing to put up with the fact that it doesn't smell quite as good when I mash my nose right up into my wrist. Just need to keep in mind it smells better at arm's length. This is VERY similar to the unreleased scent Baba Yaga, but slightly better on me, so YAY. Definitely very sensual, and it's a hot-weather sort of sensual as opposed to the heavier scents I wear when it's cold out.

Penthus!

Right out of the vial I get the scent of honey and something citrusy. Orange, I think. Don't see what in the notes is creating the orange impression, but it's there. This settles down on my skin into a lovely, feminine floral with just a hint of fruitiness in the background. The musk and the honey are barely discernible, but I think they're there, because I'm reminded vaguely of Les Bijoux, which contains both skin musk and honey. But while Les Bijoux is definitely a fruity scent on me, Brides of Dracula is dominated by the floral. The floral note is something I recognize but can't name. Maybe this is the osmanthus and/or the lily? At any rate, it's very pretty, very delicate, and very fresh-smelling. It makes me want a lacy dress and sausage curls. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether it will induce headaches if I slather it, which sometimes happens with sandalwood. I suspect it'll be fine, because as far as I can tell I can't even smell the sandalwood.

This is a LOT like Talvikuu--the watery/piney/minty note is exactly the same on me. What makes Thrush different from Talvikuu is the amber in Thrush, which rounds out the scent and makes it golden while blunting some of the masculine effect of the piney note. So if you thought Talvikuu was just a shade too masculine and aftershavey, you might want to try the Thrush. The amber also evokes the image of sunshine. Talvikuu will always remind me of snowstorms, not just because of the notes but because there was actually a snowstorm going on when I was given my imp of it. Thrush, then, is the day after the snowstorm. It's still colder than a witch's you-know-what and the snow is two feet deep, but the sun has come out and maybe the snow is melting just a little, but not enough that it's all gross and sludgy, and the sky is blue and cheerful despite the cold. I've got it! Talvikuu is the blizzard and Thrush is waking up the next morning and finding out you don't have to go to work.

There's this store I love in St. Louis. On the ground floor it's a head shop. In the basement they sell sex toys and BDSM gear. I like to go there and buy saucy lingerie, and everything I bring home from there has a wonderful aroma of headshop/leather/musk wafting from it. I love the smell so much that it's almost a shame to wash the clothes and get rid of it. Krampus is that store in a bottle. This is a mixture of a very animalistic musk, leather, and a note that reminds me of patchouli, but I kind of think it may actually not be patchouli. It flirts with mustiness but never crosses the line. I can't really describe the overall effect except to say that it smells like a kinky headshop! I can't decide whether it makes me want to get it on or mellow out. Definitely give this one a try if you like Smut. Krampus is a little heavier, a little more masculine, but there's definitely a familial resemblance between the two scents. Beth definitely evoked an appropriate image here, reminding me of shopping for the sort of things a bad girl might put on her wish list...