angelicruin

THE MARQUIS de CARABAS He wore a huge dandyish black coat that was not quite a frock coat nor exactly a trench coat, and high black boots, and, beneath his coat, raggedy clothes. His eyes burned white in an extremely dark face. And he grinned white teeth, momentarily, as if at a private joke of his own, and bowed to Richard, and said, “De Carabas, at your service, and you are…?" A splash of bay rum, leather, dusty black wool, massoia bark, and opium residue. I've got spicy rum and dry leather written down as the main components on my skin. I wish I had better notes from C2, but I had planned to get a bottle of this because I liked the skin test, but when I placed my order at C2, I ended up getting a different scent than what I had ordered. A revised review will be forthcoming once I can order a bottle from the lab.

PARAMATMAN Like two birds of golden plumage, inseparable companions, the individual self and the immortal Self are perched on the branches of the selfsame tree. The former tastes of the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree; the latter, tasting of neither, calmly observes. Orange blossom, East Indian sandalwood, and champaca. I get Orange Blossom right after application and then it turns into this spicy woodsy scent on my skin. The East Indian Sandalwood steals the show. Something in the spice actually makes my nasal membranes burn a little when I sniff this scent too much.

Oleander honey. Wet on my skin, this is strong oleander. I can barely smell the honey when first applied. Several minutes after application, the oleander softens and the honey note begins to emerge. Fully dry this is fairly good balance of both oleander and honey. A very nice floral honey blend.

Yellow jessamine honey. Eeek, this is strong jasmine on my skin right after application. And then it turns rather "soapy" dry on my skin. Pass on this one.

Deadly nightshade honey. Sharp green floral right after application. It's intriguing to my nose as it dries, being bitter green one moment and then sometimes softer when a waft of golden honey mingles with the nightshade.

Brains? Brains. Examples: Night of the Living Dead (and all things Romero-plus-Dead), 28 Days Later, Undead, Planet Terror Swirls of red jelly and sugary white ooze. Definitely the foody blend of the second round of Movie Blockbuster scents this summer. Wet on the skin, it's strawberry jam. The more it dries, the more it smells like a powdered jelly-filled donut. I'll definitely consider a second bottle of this stuff.

THE FOREST REVERIE 'Tis said that when The hands of men Tamed this primeval wood, And hoary trees with groans of woe, Like warriors by an unknown foe, Were in their strength subdued, The virgin Earth Gave instant birth To springs that ne'er did flow That in the sun Did rivulets run, And all around rare flowers did blow The wild rose pale Perfumed the gale And the queenly lily adown the dale (Whom the sun and the dew And the winds did woo), With the gourd and the grape luxuriant grew. So when in tears The love of years Is wasted like the snow, And the fine fibrils of its life By the rude wrong of instant strife Are broken at a blow Within the heart Do springs upstart Of which it doth now know, And strange, sweet dreams, Like silent streams That from new fountains overflow, With the earlier tide Of rivers glide Deep in the heart whose hope has died -- Quenching the fires its ashes hide, -- Its ashes, whence will spring and grow Sweet flowers, ere long, The rare and radiant flowers of song! A sunlit ancient forest, dotted with wild roses, grape vine, and queenly lilies, clothed in swirls of opium smoke. I get mostly smoky grapes on my skin. I can smell some floral mixed in as it dries, but I don't smell roses or lily specifically. This is like sinister grape on my skin. I do like it though.

THE FLOATING MARKET It was loud, and brash, and insane, and it was, in many ways, quite wonderful. People argued, haggled, shouted, sang. They hawked and touted their wares, and loudly declaimed the superiority of their merchandise. Music was playing---a dozen different kinds of music, being played a dozen different ways on a score of different instruments, most of them improvised, improved, improbable. Richard could smell food. All kinds of food---the smells of curries and spices seemed to predominate, with, beneath them, the smells of grilling meats and mushrooms. Stalls had been set up all throughout the shop, next to or even on, counters that, during the day, had sold perfume, or watches, or amber, or silk scarves. A cacophony of curious scents: copaiba balsam, petitgrain, citrus rind, sinicuichi accord, betel nut, wasabi root, coconut palm, and wattleseed layered atop innumerable strange herbs, spices, and woods. I skin tested this at C2 and found it to be mostly citrus herb on my skin.

MR. CROUP 'A fox and a wolf', thought Richard, involuntarily. The man in front, the fox, was a little shorter than Richard. He had lank, greasy hair, of an unlikely orange color, and a pallid complexion; as Richard opened the door, he smiled, widely, and just a fraction too late, with teeth that looked like an accident in a graveyard. Pompous and predatory: tonka bean, black musk, bourbon geranium, and crushed porcelain. I get boozy, spicy, musk & geranium notes and a little bit of smoke on my skin. A dark, resinous blend on me. I ended up buying a bottle of this after the skin test at C2 went so well.

Durian fruit infused honey with brandy. Well, I guess I'll be the first to formally review this scent. I'm not sure exactly what Durian fruit is supposed to taste or smell like on the inside, though I have heard it's rancid smelling on the outside shell. This scent is definitely NOT rancid. It's sweet fruit brandy with honey. This is actually quite lovely on my skin. I like the fact that it's not too boozy despite the brandy note. In fact, the notes are quite balanced on my skin with no particular one taking over.

MAHANA Peach liquor, almond syrup, orgeat syrup, and pineapple cream de cacao. This starts out as mostly almond & orgeat syrup on my skin. I can actually smell the orange flower & rose water ingredients in orgeat syrup. After a while, I think I caught a bit of the pineapple, but, sadly, no peach liquor for me.

ANESTHESIA 'Ratty!' said the girl in something between a squeak and a horrified swallow. She had a large, water-stained red button pinned to her ragged clothes, the kind that comes attached to birthday cards. It said, in yellow letters, I AM 11. A scent that slips through the cracks: peppermint, lavender, bergamot, and mandrake. Right after application it's very strong peppermint and lavender. Definitely clears the sinuses! As it dries, the peppermint does settle down a bit and it softens considerably. This was a surprise hit for me at C2 and I ended up buying a bottle after trying it and seeing how nicely it softened as it dried on my skin.

Once the world's greatest, most beloved superhero, he has now become its greatest villain--a capricious and vengeful god who haunts the skies and toys daily with six billion lives. Soapy cleanliness sullied by blood and ashes. Skin tested at C2. I got bitter blood & soap out of this scent. Not one of my favorites.

A sweet and over-the-top girly teenybopper perfume mixed with a little tanning lotion and a healthy dollop of pink (very, very pink) bubblegum. This starts out as a blast of PINK bubblegum, but it quickly morphs into more tanning lotion than anything else on my skin. I like it, though I had hoped the bubblegum would last longer. Hours later, it smells faintly of vanilla, but a lot of BPAL does this on my skin after several hours.

MANUS DEI (or the TYPEWRITER INCIDENT) Weeds, dirt, red clay, scattered groceries, inked fabric ribbon, machine oil, and cast steel. This one is mostly machine oil on my skin. As it dries, I get a bit of the weeds note, but it fades completely by drydown and I'm just left with the machine oil once more. Hoping maybe this will become more complex on my skin once it has time to settle & age more.

TRANSEO The Transeo are vampires that have assimilated into human society, often reaching positions of power. Among the Transeo there are many celebrated politicians, scientists, businessmen, philosophers, artists, writers, and musicians, and, surprisingly, a large number of influential clergy and militarists. Not every Transeo is an illustrious public figure; many simply desire the comforts associated with reentering society. In the past, most Transeo posed as humans as best they could, concealing their true natures. In the twenty-first century, more and more Transeo are coming out in the open, and they form the backbone of most vampire-acceptance movements. GA cologne that (almost) blends well into human society: benzoin, orange blossom, cumin, King mandarin, gaiac wood, juniper berry, Calabrian bergamot, Ceylon cinnamon, and blood camouflaged by wine. Orange Blossom and Mandarin are apparent right after application. As it settles on my skin, I get a little of the wood note and the blood wine note emerges. No cinnamon though. I really like this blend on my skin as well. It's like a sinister fruit wine tempered from being too sweet with a few drops of blood.

Rock the protester cliché! This is a filthy friggin' patchouli, dark, deep, rooty, and strangely sexy, with cocoa absolute, tobacco absolute, and bourbon vanilla. Sniffing the bottle, I immediately scent the cocoa absolute and the patchouli. Wet on my skin, starts off 100% patchouli. Shortly after application though, I pick up the cocoa note and as it dries further, the tobacco note emerges. Once fully dry, I can finally smell the bourbon vanilla under everything else. As in the scent description, this patchouli is very strong and rooty and it's definitely the strongest note on my skin, but the other notes do help to temper it somewhat.

The passage into parenthood is, despite all its joys, often confusing, a little shocking, and sometimes frightening. -- moreso for some parents than others. Examples: the Bad Seed, the Omen, Rosemary’s Baby, and Alice, Sweet Alice Baby sweetness and a touch of brimstone. As I sniff the bottle contents, it's sweet baby powder scent. Just-after-their-bath-and-snuggled-in-their-soft-little-onesie-scent or what I call "clean baby smell". Upon initial application, it's still sweet baby powder, but something else is lurking just underneath all that innocence. As it dries down, this actually doesn't change much on my skin. It's a little powdery on my skin, but considering the theme of the scent, I think it's appropriate.

MOUNTAIN OF BONE The notorious Vale pub, and the bhole's favorite after-practise hangout. White wine spritzers with a dribble of ooze and a bone-speared thok fruit garnish. This is mostly dark red fruit on me. I get a little bit of the wine spritzer, but this is not what I consider a boozy blend. I'd classify it as nearly all fruit on my skin. I love it and will contemplate a back-up bottle.

A freebie included with Trick or Treat Inquisition orders. No description available. Anyone who tried the Lolita v2 Prototype, this smells EXACTLY like that on my skin. Straight up sugary blast of bubblegum your mouth experiences after that first bite.

Doll's eye infused honey. What does Doll's Eye plant smell like? I tried to Google it to find out but could mostly only find out about it's poisonous properties causing cardiac arrest and death and also it's pain relief uses in child birth and PMS symptoms. Small amounts of it are brewed as a tea to relieve pain symptoms. On my skin, this is an herbal honey scent on me. I can definitely imagine this being tea.

Rebel Queen of the Iceni, she led an uprising of the tribes against the Roman Empire. After Claudius’ conquest of the area, the Iceni voluntarily allied themselves to Rome, though Rome was not a gentle parent state. The Romans conquered much of Brittania, desecrated the sacred groves at Mona, and slaughtered the druids. When Boadicea’s husband, Prasutagus, died, his will was ignored and his massive financial debt to Rome was called in forcefully. Iceni was annexed as though it was a conquered territory, property and estates were seized, both tribal nobility and the common folk were enslaved. When Boadicea objected to the treatment of her lands and her people, she was flogged, and her children were grievously injured. Boadicea took her vengeance. Under the leadership of Boadicea, the Iceni and Trinovantes united with their neighbors and the surviving druids of Mona to instigate a rebellion. They cut a swath of furious destruction. Her warriors slaughtered Legionary forces, and destroyed Camulodunum, Londinium, and Verulamium -- so scorching the earth beneath Londinium that the scar is still visible beneath modern London. Amber, fig, vanilla flower, oak, patchouli, vetiver, dragon’s blood resin, leather, and neroli. Inside bottle, very resinous vanilla fig patchouli. Wet on my skin, light woodsy, amber, vanilla fig. The patchouli note in this blend is amazing, very smooth. I'm not really getting any dragon's blood with this, other than there is a bit of sweetness that could also be attributed to the vanilla & fig notes. The amber is very tempered. I had worried that with the notes in this blend it might be too strong for me, but that is totally not the case here. It's a soft fragrance on my skin. And I do not detect any vetiver note on my skin. Vetiver and I usually do not get along, which was another reason I worried about this, but like Velvet Panther, the Vetiver note in this fragrance is friendly to my skin. ETA: I've finally figured out what this scent reminds me of. If you like The Haunted Palace or The House scents, I highly recommend giving this one a try. 6 hours later, Boadicea dries down to the most beautiful resinous creamy incense on my arm. I think this is my favorite warrior queen I've tested so far.

The Tree of Poisons. Every aspect of this tree is toxic, from the narcotic, lethal fumes that it emits, to its oozing, poisonous sap. A deceptively tranquil scent: heady fruits, dry bark, and deep green leaves, enveloped by a dark and sinister murk. Sniffing the imp, it's a boozy fruit scent to my nose. After applying to my skin, the booziness dissipates and I'm left with a fruity greeness. As it dries, I smell a woody note, must be the bark. I really love this scent. It's a darker scent, but not oppressive. The fruit notes are tempered from becoming too sweet by the green & wood qualities.

Breakfast cereal and jelly beans. Cherry is predominate jelly bean note on my skin right after application. Cherry settles after just a couple minutes and I get more of the cereal note than jelly beans.

I dwell in a lonely house I know That vanished many a summer ago, And left no trace but the cellar walls, And a cellar in which the daylight falls, And the purple-stemmed wild raspberries grow. O’er ruined fences the grape-vines shield The woods come back to the mowing field; The orchard tree has grown one copse Of new wood and old where the woodpecker chops; The footpath down to the well is healed. I dwell with a strangely aching heart In that vanished abode there far apart On that disused and forgotten road That has no dust-bath now for the toad. Night comes; the black bats tumble and dart; The whippoorwill is coming to shout And hush and cluck and flutter about: I hear him begin far enough away Full many a time to say his say Before he arrives to say it out. It is under the small, dim, summer star. I know not who these mute folk are Who share the unlit place with me— Those stones out under the low-limbed tree Doubtless bear names that the mosses mar. They are tireless folk, but slow and sad, Though two, close-keeping, are lass and lad,– With none among them that ever sings, And yet, in view of how many things, As sweet companions as might be had. Purple-stemmed raspberries, twining grape vines, Spanish moss, and dusty pale woods. This one was heavy moss & wood notes on my skin. Sadly, I got no raspberry or grape out of this one.