Tess

This is an experiment to see if this could be used in a Samhain ritual. While it's not really "grief" oriented, it is about honoring the dead. In the vial - This is really salty and astringent. Almost like vinegar, really. There's quite a bit of rose here, but not quite what I'd call white. Wet - Seriously, sea salt and vinegar over artificial rose perfume. Drying - Salt just does not stick around on me, so it's turning into a one-on-one battle between the vinegar and the rose. The rose is going soapy, though, which evokes much more of a white feeling for me. Dry (1 hour) - Eh, everything that might have made this interesting has disappeared. It's become all rose on me and slightly headache inducing. Blah. Overall - This is a "no" for me. Rather a large "no" at that, what with my pounding head and all. Blah.

Now, this sounds a whole lot sweeter than I normally wear, but I do like orange blossom and carnation (two of the very few florals I can stand). Strawberry has potential, if it's low on the sugar content. In the vial - I'm getting VERY little strawberry and lots of hibiscus. Almost candy-like sweet, too. Wet - Strawberry gum that's been chewed for awhile. Drying - It's old strawberry candy sitting on a candy dish under a vase of freshly cut hibiscus and orange blossoms. The florals aren't exactly what I'd call "strong," but they're prominent. Dry (1 hour) - Wow, this really does calm down into strawberry incense. A very, very faint one at that. Overall - I never really thought this would work for me, but I can see it being very nice on someone else.

Three notes were enough to draw me in: vanilla musk, carnation and lemon peel. Now, if the amber can keep it together and the sunflower keeps calm, we'll have a real winner on our hands. In the vial - Guuuuh, this smells so good I could drink it! The lemon is there and is completely real, blending in lovely ways with the musk and the heliotrope and amber. The florals just spice it up a little, with the carnation in the foreground. Wet - Lemon and carnation are there like pow! Drying - It always take my skin a moment to start pumping out the musk and the amber, so I can literally smell it coming out as the moments pass. All I can say so far: if I believed in heaven, this would be its scent. The throw is staying close to my skin right now and has a significant sunflower/lemon peel feel, but it's just lovely none the less. Dry (1 hour) - Something about the way these notes combine reminds of me honeydew melon. One covered in amber. I realize it's the neroli that's probably doing it to me, but still. Overall - It doesn't seem to stick around for long, but it's LOVELY. I should have picked some up earlier, darn it!

I loves me the white musk, so I'm hoping this'll be neither too sweet nor floral. Not that I can see either baby's breath or cotton blossom being the most heady of florals... Still, let's see what the bunny does on me. In the vial - Dear gods, I love that clover note! It's so fresh and almost lemon like! This could be so a new favorite. Wet - The clover really DOES smell like lemon, only much paler. Drying - This is so subtle. The clover is backing off to let some of the floral and the sweetness through and the musk is so... I wish I knew how to explain it. It's there, but it's almost a translucent scent. You can sense it, but not smell it, if that makes any sense. Dry (1 hour) - This powdered out quite a bit and the clover is just the barest hint. It's certainly not a strong scent, but it does have a nice, easy throw. This reminds me of Antique Lace. Closer to the skin, the musk is really warm and sexy. Overall - I do like this, but it's so light that I'm not sure I could wear it with slathering it on every few minutes. I adore the wet stage, so perhaps this would work well in a locket for it. It's not terribly sweet, which is a good thing, and just is a lovely floating scent.

My computer crashed and erased my review. Poo! In the vial - It does smell like nail polish or remover. Wet - VERY nail polish. Very, very. Drying - It almost smells like aguave over nail polish. But it's still very chemical-like. Dry (1 hour) - This turns into an interesting scent. It reminds me less of hay and dry fields. It smells like a nightflowering cactus in the desert captured in a perfume. Overall - After the initial stages, this turns into a very interesting floral. I'm not a floral person, but I could see it working very well on someone who can pull off the heat notes. An unusual but very interesting scent.

Citrus and musk! Whooo! And... floral... Eh. Come one, jasmine, leave this one alone. In the vial - This smells EXACTLY how I want it to. Musk and bergamont and amber. Yum. Wet - 'Rine and amber. YUM. Drying - Erg, jasmine and lily coming out. Taking over. Arg. Dry (45 minutes) - The jasmine has drowned out EVERYTHING other than the rose and maybe the barest hint of lily. The amber is a tiny hint of soap, but my 'rine and bergamont are gone, gone, gone. Overall - And arg, wouldn't you know it's a leaky imp. I just suffer every time something has jasmine in it and so very much does. Poopy.

I don't think I know what half these notes ARE, let alone what they smell like. However, I do know I don't have the best track record with patchouli. There have been some exceptions, though. (ie. Depraved) In the vial - This is dark, boozy and musky to my nose. An image of heavy drinking in an incensed clouded room while wearing amber perfume comes to mind. Wet - A lighter, slightly less booze version of the bottle. Drying - I'm getting barely any patchouli at all from this, but large amounts of deep amber musk with bitter myrrh in the background. It's black and ferrel. But faint, oddly. Someone wearing a leather jacket would be sexy in this, so far! Dry (45 minutes) - This turned into the sweetest amber musk with a huuuuuuge throw that yet isn't overpowering at all. When I get close to my wrist, I catch the patchouli and myrrh. In fact, those are the two most powerful notes close to my skin, as I walk through an amber musk cloud. Overall - I LOVE THIS. The combination of the dark, hidden heart to the scent, surrounding by a halo of light amber and musk is fantastic. (I'm probably catching the oponax in the throw, too.) It's very much a scent for a "keeper of secrets" and I'm looking forward to seeing how this one ages.

I am completely unsure why I bought this. It has jasmine in it, which always makes my nose freak out. Add to this that I've discovered just recently at work that I do NOT like the way pear scents smell. This could be bad... In the vial - I'm getting a lot of pear and lotus, with quite a kick of the cucumber. (I should have mentioned that I ALSO don't like cucumber.) It's very aquatic. Wet - Very little jasmine, mostly the other florals with a hint of the cucumber. Drying - Yup, there's the jasmine drowing out everything else. Normally at this point it because a waiting game, where I sit around and wait for it to calm down and let other scents through. Dry (1 hour) - This is so very faint. Mostly it's jasmine with hints of lotus and cucumber and pear. But faint. Very perfume smelling. Overall - This just isn't me at all and I just can't see myself liking it. On someone with the ability to wear aquatics, this would be a lovely, cooling scent. The musk didn't even give a hint of itself. It makes me so sad.

Cranberry! I so want this to work, because cranberry! Ginger is great stuff, too. In the vial - Spiced, musky cranberry. I think I'm drooling on myself. Wet - Strong berry with quite a bit of ginger. :B I hope this keeps up; I love them berries. Drying - Hmm, something is making the berry sour. The ginger is poking out quite nicely, but I think it may be the musk that's not settling well with me here. Hrm. Dry (45 minutes) - Darn it, the berry went all fake and it's the only thing I can smell now. Well, I guess I can smell a little bit of the musk, but it's really fake smelling. Really, really. Overall - It had so much promise at the beginning and it just didn't work out once my skin got ahold of it. Sigh. Maybe I'll look for something else with a cranberry note that's less central.

I've always loved the smell of leather, but we'll have to see how true the note is. In general, I hope my skin likes this, because... holy gods, this could be my scent! :B In the vial - Myrrh and musk, dark and very faint. Wet - ...hospital bandaides? Eh? Drying - The amber is what's giving me that clarifying, bandaid sort of scent. Sigh. I'm not getting any leather here at all. The bitter myrrh and the musks are there, though. Giving it some time before making a judgement. Dry (30 minutes) - The leather just doesn't smell real to my nose. On the whole, it just smells artificial to me. Bah. Overall - Well, I don't hate it, but it's too fake smelling for me. I just don't enjoy it, unfortunately. Ah, well...

The description of this scent is what I was drawn to, but the notes? Jasmine?! Oh dear gods, no. Still, maybe this is a chance to find a scent that won't beat me to death with night-blooming flowers. In the vial - I'm not picking up any jasmine, just rose on a backdrop of myrrh, which I like. Wet - Boy, my skin soaked up the floral. All I'm getting is the myrrh now. Drying - Here comes the jasmine. And wow is it throwing! There is a subtle hint of the myrrh damping it down, but the rose is just gone completely. On a good note, the jasmine isn't morphing into a headache inducer yet. We'll see if it stays that way. Dry (20 minutes) - It's staying true to the jasmine. There's still a touch of rose and myrrh in the background, but it's hugely wafting. HUGELY. Overall - Well, the jasmine is amped but not killing me at least. It's still... not me. At all. It's too sophisticated for me, too floral and bitter. Very fitting for the description, but not for me.

The notes for this aren't really listed, but I don't think it'll work with me... Florals with herbs and oils? Hrm. In the vial - Lots of spicey herbs. ...I don't like it. At all. I wish I could be more specific than that. Wet - It's spicey and medicinal and... I just still don't like it at all. Drying - Ew, ew, ew! I'm sorry, but this is terrible on me. Big Red that's been chewed for awhile after you taken some cough medicine that's had a bay leaf soaking in it. ...yeah, I don't like it. I think I can pick up some ginger, but not a twinkle of sandlewood or amber. Dry (15 minutes) - I hate doing this, but I just have to wash it off. This is just terrible on me. Overall - I'm glad some people love it so much, but it's just so very not for me. The combination didn't mix at all, with an oily note just making it seem slimey. Oh well.

For a man's scent, this has a lot of floral notes. Hmm, we'll see what it does on my skin. In the vial - When they call this a clean scent, they mean it. This reminds me of cleaning solution... I keep sniffing and that spicey floral of carnation comes out. Have I ever mentioned that carnation is one of the few florals I can wear? Wet - Mossy carnation and not nearly as much like Pine Sol as before. Drying - This isn't overpowering, but has a subtle throw to it. The scent hasn't morphed at all, but it HAS seemed to draw out my natural skin scent, which I find interesting. Dry (15 minutes) - I LOVE THIS. The amber is smooth, slightly sweet and mixing with my skin in the sexxiest way. The lavender is understated and the carnation is spicey with just a touch of moss to keep it grounded. Overall - This is fabulous. Simply fantastic. It's not what I'd call "manly," but is completely sexy in a gender-neutral sort of way. The way the notes blend if particularily nice and smooth. This is a bottle scent for me no questions asked, for when I'm feeling thoughtful and sexy in a smart way.

I don't think I've ever tried a coconut scent, but I know the musk works on me, so I'm hoping the rest falls in line. Let's see how the iris works on the skin, too. In the vial - Holy gods, iris! I am getting little other than iris. Wet - Huh, this is a very faint scent. The iris went "poof" and the very tiniest bit of musk came out. Drying - Damn, the iris is stomping back in and making me sneeze like mad. WHY does my skin amp the icky notes and ignore the good ones? There's a bare hint of hazelnut in the background so far, but that's about it. Other than iris. Lots of sneezing and sniffling with this one. Dry (45 minutes) - Freaking iris. I can just catch a hint of the musky hazelnut. The iris is covering it up like mad with its intensity. Overall - Why is it that there is ALWAYS a note that ruins these scents for me? And why is it almost always some floral that makes me sneeze and wheeze? Poo.

This should work soooooooo well on me. That is, unless the vetiver goes wild and has a kitty dance on my skin... In the vial - This smells nutty to me for some reason. Almost like peanuts. There's a hint of vanilla here, but it's mostly the nut smell. Wet - No, seriously. Vanilla cherry peanuts. Drying - I just can't get past the peanut butter smell here. There's a cherry vanilla candy type scent behind it, but the nut is lingering on my skin. It's very SWEET, though, and warms the nose. Dry (45 minutes) - The hopes I had for this turned to "eh." Frankly, it smells like a slightly musky version of Dragon's Milk on me. It's super sweet with an artificial cherry hint and a dark musky undertone. Okay, the musky undertone is great, but the vanilla and the cherry are just too fake. Overall - Let it be said that sweet scents just don't work well on me. I don't know if it's the honey or the vanilla or what, but my skin just doesn't like them.

In the reviews, the word "pine" is mentioned often and I'm sure hoping that it's just a mix-up with the Juniper note. =/ Because I'd love a deep earth scent to work with again. In the vial - Pepsi, which if I remember is how my nose does civet, and must and mold... and patchouli. I can feel my allergies flairing even as I sniff... Wet - Take Pepsi and get rid of the sugar. That's my wrist. Drying - The cola scent is the throw, but closer to my wrist I get the mustiness back. It doesn't have that same "unwashed" scent that it did in the bottle, but it's certainly not the pleasent earthy scent that King of Clubs and Graveyard Dirt have on me. Dry (20 minutes) - Wow, I smell like musty, moldy GIN. Okay, the gin is just the slight hint of juniper, but it sounds funny. There's pine in there, too, plenty of pine. Overall - This just smelt dirty on me and not in the good way. I'll have to pass.

I love the scent of wood fires in the fall, but this is probably much less "cozy fire" and more "burn in damnation!" smell. I always thought damnation would look good on me. In the vial - This does smell like fire to me at all... It smells like a chemical burn with medicine smeared on it. Wet - Okay, the medicine became pine. Slightly better. Drying - Ah, some smoke is starting to creep out. This is very much an evergreen bonfire to me or a smokehouse in a pine forest. I'm not sure which fits the image better, as the smoke wavers between the scent of pure smoke and that of smoking meat. Dry (20 minutes) - It's super pine and liquid smoke on me. You know, the stuff you use to smoke meat chemically. Overall - I could see this working very well on someone who doesn't amp the pine like my skin does. Oh well.

A raven-haired Fairy Queen of Ireland. One of her eternal duties dictates that she must hold a midnight court every season and hear the pleas of married Irishwomen. The court serves only to determine whether or not husbands are adequately serving their wife’s sexual needs. A judicious yet powerfully sensual blend, a mingling of justice and sexuality: sage, sweet pea, bold pale musk and warm tonka. I'm very scared of sweet pea and sage, but I love musk and tonka so much that I'm trying this one out. Let's hope it's smooth and not too herby/floral. In the vial - SWEET PEA and SAGE. Arg, oh dear. Wet - SAGE and SWEET PEA. Arg, oh dear. Drying - Someone please, please make the tonka and the musk come out more. They're there, I can feel them. I just need more of them and less of the herbs and floral. Dry (25 minutes) - Well, the tonka and the musk are ALMOST to the point where I'm happy, but the sweet pea kicked it up a notch to counter it. Bah. Overall - I just can't stand the sweet pea. Time to pass this on.

I've never had the chance to drink Absinthe, but it's on my list of things to do. I really hope the lemon in this isn't buried in the anise. In the vial - This smells lovely! The lemon and the anise aren't overly strong, with the wormwood being nice and dry. Wet - The lemon and wormwood are more to the foreground than any other scent here. Drying - Lemon. LEMON. There's so much lemon in here, with just the spice of anise and the dry feeling of the wormwood. Ah, hyssop in there, too, giving it just that hint of floral. There doesn't seem to be any mint for me nor is this at all herby. Dry (30 minutes) - The anise is seriously out in force. The lemon is still there and there's the barest touch of mint. It's not at all boozy, though. Overall - I really liked this up to the dry stage, but after that the anise is a little too strong. I'll continue to try it out, see if it'll work over time. It's very nice, I just wish there was more lemon. (I know, I'm strange.)

One word: fig. I'm hoping this goes ripe fig and dark chocolate on me, something rich and smooth. The wood notes will hopefully keep the sweetness down. In the vial - Oh the fig! It's a touch sweeter in the cocoa than the fig and the mix isn't too smooth yet. Wet - Wow, that dry wood pops out and just schmacks everything else down! Drying - OMG, the throw on this is heaven. PURE HEAVEN. My skin eats oils as a rule, but I'm typing and I can smell the glorious wood and chocolate covered fig. It's wafting around me in clouds of goodness. Oddly, though smelling my wrist directly does NOT smell good, more like burnt fig tree than anything else. Dry (30 minutes) - There's still tons of throw to this one! Where the heck does it all come from, I ask you? It's a little heavier on the woods than I'd like, but there's that fig and cocoa hanging in the background that just draws me in... Overall - I have no choice, I simply must give it a few more tries. It throws! On ME!

This sounds almost like Oisin with lemon and spice! Seeing as I loooooooove Oisin and I loooooove lemon and spice, maybe it'll be killer on me! And then I'll have to cry... In the vial - Lots of rosemary with a touch of lemon, mint and spice. Erm, not what I was expecting... Wet - ROSEMARY. And lemon. But dear holy gods, is there lots and lots of rosemary to be had here. Drying - Some spice notes are in there, but the lemon's gone, being replace by some rose geranium. (I love that plant, BTW. LOVE.) The rosemary is still kicking everything else's tuckus, though. Very, very herby. Dry (30 minutes) - This is mostly a very soapy rosemary with some spice and a heavy dose of the iris. I'm not QUITE sure what grey amber smells like, but I assume it's the amber sweetening this up a little bit. There's not a bit of lemon or bergamont to be found here. Overall - This isn't anything like Oisin. It's very soupy and lacking the smoothness I had hoped for. It also makes my sinuses hurt. If it had a dose more of lemon and some musk to smooth things out this would have worked. As it stands, I don't mind swapping this off to someone else.

This has to be the most easy to understand oil name ever. What's in it? Musk! And dragon's blood! In the vial - The musks are those dark ones that have a tinge of cola to my nose. And there's the ever-present floral tinge of the dragon's blood, of course. Wet - Hmm, the lilac in this isn't hitting very hard yet. Joy! Drying - This is the lightest dark musk I've ever run into... There is almost no throw to it, but there IS the cola and the lilac clinging to me. At least it's not overpowering my senses like it usually does. Dry (30 minutes) - Well, it's dragon's blood and musk. I'm QUITE thankful that it's one without the lilac on the dry-down. Overall - It delivered as promised, but with sadly little throw to its name. I think I'll have to pass on this one as it just is too dark and uninspiring for my tastes.

I'm not a homosexual man (as you may have noticed ), but seeing as I accidently bought this oil instead of Q7, I thought I'd review it anyway. Scent-wise: This is a morpher. It went through stages that reminded me of all my favorite scents, like Oisin, Queen, O, and Perversion. There's a touch of chocolate in there, as well, that my skin loved for a bit. The dry-down was very simular to O and there was some decent throw to the scent. I liked all the different morphed stages, so it's a lovely scent. Ritual: I didn't go very complicated. Visualization of a glow surrounding me in my magical mirror as I annointed myself and a lodestone to help draw people towards me. (I should point out that I was mistaken as to what oil I was using. I thought I was drawing WOMEN towards me, since I got Q7 and Q5 mixed up in my head.) I drew runes to see how my night would go and directed energy from them to my relection with my wand. Effect: NOT what I expected, but very much what this oil was for. Both the males and the F2M transexual came over after the dinner party and there was general flirting and good times to be had. It was like all three were attracted to me, but highly confused as to what to do with that attraction. (Considering the oil I used, I'm not surprised!) By way of being caught in the wake of my spell, my M2F transexual roommate made some progress in snagging one of the males. So, overall, I can see this oil being highly, highly successful for a man, seeing as it was borderline successful for this woman.

If it's got booze in it, I'll try it. But seriously, wine with cloves just sounds great, although I'm not sure about the mimosa. Let's find out! (Plus, this is one of those places that I really want to go to...) In the vial - Hmm, cloves? I'm not what I'm smelling here. It's a sweet red wine note, I can tell you that. Wet - This IS like candy. I'm not getting any of the listed notes, just sweet, sweet berries. VERY sweet berries. Drying - Pure candy. Cherry, strawberry, grape candy. If I hadn't read that other people are getting the same reaction, I'd be worried about the craziness. It's seriously artificial Kool-Aid scent. Dry (30 minutes) - This hasn't changed one darn bit. It's still fake fruit candy... Overall - I hope to smell this on someone who doesn't make it smell terrible someday.

I was so happy when this got brought back! I've wanted to try out a grapefruit scent and one that has red currant is just that much more tempting. In the vial - Wow, when it says grapefruit, it means grapefruit.... I am getting some of the chamomile in there and certainly the musk is in the background. Wet - Grapey grapefruit! And some musk, but lots 'o fruity! Drying - I. Am. Loving. This. The citrus is making nice with the herbs and the lavender, something I've never been that big on, it mixing in the most lovely ways, all with a dashing background of the musk. Serious yum. Dry (45 minutes) - This is ungodly good. There's very, very little throw, but the grapefruit-chamomile is mellowing with the musk in the loveliest ways with the lavender just hanging out for a little sweetness. I want to drink this! Overall - This'll take slathering, but it's incredibly good in a really unusual way. There's no currant in it at all from me, from start to finish, but I don't miss it. The sweet musky grapefruit is magical!