nineveh

I wanted to try this, thinking it would be a variation of Dorian (which, on me, is a light musk scent with a bit of cool vanilla). On my skin, this is sweet. It smells like cotton candy with some lemon in the background. After a few hours, the lemon's faded, and I'm left with a faint sugary scent and a little musk. Unfortunately, I'm one of those freaks who don't want to smell like cotton candy. This is a very nice dessert-type scent, but so extremely not "me."

My favorite CD scent so far! This is like the wood and leather of Dee plus the pine needles and darkness of Geek all mixed together with some clean musk. The musk was a little soapy while it was wet, but now I'm not getting any soapiness. As it dries down, the sharpness of the fir needles fades and the amber comes out as a sweet thickness. All in all, a warm, sweet, leathery, sexy scent. I love it.

I bought this for the tobacco, patchouli, and pine. Almond generally works on me, but I don't care for it if it's too strong. At first, it's nothing but almond milk. It's sweet and creamy, but not very complex or deep. As it dries, I'm getting something like lime. Perhaps that's the sarsaparilla. I really don't like lime (it ruined Torture King for me), so I'm not happy that this is what my nose is picking up. The pine, which is warm and mild, comes out too, along with something smoky. The almonds are ever present. By the time the sharp, limey part has faded, so has the pine. This dries down to a slightly sweet, pleasantly dusty scent. This one is definitely for an almond fan who likes a little sarsaparilla and smoky elements. Unfortunately, I'm not such a fan of almonds, and while I enjoy this blend, I know that I will pass it over for ones I like more, so I'm not going to hang onto my bottle.

First, I'd like to point out that the Wikipedia article on patchouli states that the oil is obtained from the leaves. Therefore, any differences one notes in the patchouli in this blend would be due to other variables than the part of the patchouli plant that it comes from, I assume. I guess that "leaf" was included in the description for artistic reasons. Wet on my skin, this blend reminds me of Frapin 1270, but not quite as fruity. It's darkly sweet with the fruits at the background and with patchouli (it's a nice, smooth one) and musk at the foreground. As it dries, it becomes kind of hot-smelling without being noticeably spicy. I can pick out the vanilla bean, but it's being pretty quiet. It's not changing that much in the drydown. For me, it has the same feel as Snake Charmer, without smelling that similar. It reminds me not at all of Smut, for which I'm thankful, as Smut turned pretty awful on my skin. This is dark and musky while being very wearable and not overwhelming. A keeper!

The candied fruit reviews for this scared me, because that sounds like something that wouldn't work for me at all. Luckily, HGM smells like neither fruit (fruit blends tend to turn fake or plasticky on my skin) nor candy to me. It starts out as a crisp, fresh grapefruit that's slightly tart but not sour. I didn't care for other grapefruit scents I've tried, but for some reason, I really like this. HGM loses the dominating grapefruit when it dries down, and becomes a very pretty mix of light, smooth woods and subtle vanilla. I think it has the same feel as Spirits of the Dead, and would be very good in hot weather. Not my usual taste, but I love this.

A few months ago, I was sure that Lotus Moon would be a lunar oil that I skipped based solely upon its name. Lotus is one of the worst notes for me. With my chemistry, it takes over blends and turns them into a miasma of rotting bubblegum. The golden lotus in Bastet was somewhat better, but still made that blend too sweet for me. I decided to take a chance on Lotus Moon since everything else in it sounded so good. In the bottle, pure bubblegum. Wet on my skin, where's the lotus? This is Opium Moon, smoky, spicy/herbal, slightly metallic. Drying, it becomes sweeter and creamier while still being nicely smoky. Maybe this is the lotus. Once it's completely dry, the smokiness fades somewhat and I think I can detect the rose. The blend also acquires a thickness like Haunted, so that must be the amber finally making itself known. The pine never shows up on me. After being dry for a while, this becomes a sexy and subtle perfume that feels like it should be saved for special occasions. I'm glad that I got a bottle.

This is some kind of fruit that's unripe and green-smelling. There's also kind of a fresh-but-spicy thing going on, like Silk Road. Overall, it's pretty light and unobtrusive.

With this one, I smell fresh lemony musk. I don't think it smells like soap exactly, but it reminds me of some kind of body spray or scented bath product. This one also reminds me of Mantis, but with a bit of mint.

This one is all thick, sweet wood on me with a hint of fresh greenness. I think there's frankincense in here. It reminds me of a less spicy, less salty Anne Bonny.

I'm getting a clean, powdery floral. It's a very gentle smell, but I'm picking up hints of burnt plastic, which is how jasmine generally behaves on me.

This smells like strong lemon tea on top of something that reminds me of Seance--rosewood? Rose leaf? I'm not sure. It's a sharp herbal blend with a very pleasant, creamy sweetness to it.

On me, this is a dark plummy incense. It's musky and reminds me of Hellion combined with Snake Charmer. It definitely has Snake Charmer's sweet, fruity musk quality. This is a sexy one, and I'd get a bottle if I didn't already have 10mL each of Hellion and Snake Charmer. I just don't feel like I need any more plum scents.

Hm, some kind of light rose? I'm not getting anything but florals with this one. It smells like a garden.

This one is going pickly on me, so I'm guessing myrrh. It's light, though. There are also damp florals and something a bit spicy. It reminds me of Bayou with Parlement of Foules hanging out in the background.

This one feels light and sunny to me. It smells like very soft lemon, the herbs from Mantis, and something soapy, which is probably lily of some kind. edit: After a while, it gets a bit darker, and then it reminds me of the Caterpillar minus all that incense and vetiver.

Note: I don't do any kind of rituals, so I'll be reviewing these blends based on their scent alone. This has a warm, sweet, mildly spicy base with a fresh floral top. It smells like a light jasmine. There's also a slight buttery quality. It dries down into a subtle skin scent. It's making me think of sweat and sex in the same way that Luperci did, but that is in no way a bad thing. Overall, I'd call this sultry, exotic, and feminine.

BPAL figs tend to smell like crayons on me (thanks, skin!) but I really love Ava Luxe's fig blends. The fig here smells a lot closer to Ava Luxe's: an earthy, mild green scent that doesn't feel fruity or sweet. This blend also shares the gentle woody earth notes of Mandrake and Death Cap, but seems more complex to me than either of them. It's completely wearable, and definitely a surprise hit for me.

Hm, this is like a sweeter Hellion with cherry. They both have the same incensy note to my nose. I don't care for sweet fruity scents, however, and this is just too much for me.

This fits the description pretty well: green herbs with honey. Unfortunately, the honey is going sour on me (like usual) and the herbs, while fresh-smelling, are a bit too astringent for me. I agree with the reviewer who likened this to a voodoo blend. The ones I've tried all have a strange powdery herbal base that turns to aloe baby wipes on my skin, and Osun is doing the same thing. It's reminding me of Van Van in particular.

On me, this is a very dry wood scent, almost like white sandalwood but not powdery or salty. It's very simple and mellow. I would recommend this to fans of dry wood blends.

This is only faintly earthy on me too. It's a sweet, light, almost foody scent like almond cookies. I'm also getting a cedar/vanilla scent, like Tombstone but much lighter.

This is a musk-heavy scent--black musk, from what I can tell. I agree that it smells like Haunted, but with green and wood notes underneath. It also doesn't have as strong a lemon smell as Haunted does to me. Overall, a very warm, deep, powerful yet pleasant blend. Edit, 8/25/06: Odin is now in my GC top ten, which is quite a feat, since I've tried nearly 400 catalog blends. It's confident, comforting, and I can't wait for colder weather to wear it.

A lovely, somber scent. To me, this has the same feel as the Bow & Crown of Conquest, but minus the sweetness of the vanilla. The spices are there, but it's mostly a subtly spicy wood scent, as opposed to a skin-burning red hots thing. I don't love it as much as I thought I would (the notes were very, very appealing to me), but I suspect that this'll start to grow on me.

Thirding the Rat King similarities here. This starts out very powdery and white, and a sharp green note emerges as it dries. I get dust instead of dirt, and a very faint whiff of the pickly scent from Thanatos. This could be nice if you're looking for an unusual sharp scent, but I already have a bottle of the Rat King, so I don't need to keep this.

Yep, it's aquatic. On me it's like a darker Lightning, but not as gloomy as I was hoping for. It's a soothing scent, but it's going soapy on me and giving me a bit of a headache, like aquatics tend to do. Definitely try this if you're into fresh/aquatic scents.