Brianne

Spices of the Orient mingle with crystalline musk, midnight flowers and cereus, jasmine, primrose and vesper iris. In the vial: Uh-oh, jasmine On me: I didn't even really need to try this on after sniffing the vial, I knew what was going to happen. And I was totally right. Jasmine just becomes overwhelming on my skin and it doesn't even smell right on me. On some women it smells just lovely, but on me it smells overpowering and "off". The only difference in this one is that it's a more soapy jasmine - it has a sort of soapy air about it with a slight spiced quality. But even the soap and spices are being overpowered by the jasmine Final note: I have no doubt that this probably smells lovely on plenty of women, but I am unfortunately not one of them. Jasmine, I'll get you next time!

In the vial: Shub, I'm tellin ya On me: Dark and spicey and earthy - this makes me think of Shub-Niggurath. It smells like that dark ginger and deep earthy spice. The dragon's blood makes this red and herbally. I keep thinking of the word "rooty" because it's just so dark and gritty but spicey. Final note: I don't care for this much, the spice is a little too deep and earthy for my tastes and the vetiver is too sharp. But if you liked Shub, give this one a shot, I think they are similar in a way.

In the vial: Something unpleasant I can't put my finger on On me: I'm just not really getting what everyone else is getting. It just smells generally resiny to me - some sharpness from vetiver but mostly just this sort of generic resin smell. Final note: This one just doesn't work out well on my skin. To make matters worse, it goes to diaper cream smell after a while, which just makes it unpleasant on top of the generic scent I started with. Something isn't working out with me here.

In the vial: Dark and bitter On me: I definitely get a dark citrus in this. Lemon I believe - and it's like lemon zest - it has a dark and slightly bitter quality to it. It's still quite bright though and very sharp. I'm surprised at how citrusy this is! Underneath it is a shock of dark ozone that lends a slight aquatic edge to this. But for the most part it's citrus! Final note: Totally not what I expected, I actually really like this one. It's sort of uplifting and pleasant, definitely a keeper!

In the vial: ACRID On me: I cannot describe this really - it's dark and stinks. That's honestly all I can say for it. Final note: I have no idea what is making this smell so bad on me, because none of the notes listed normally go "wrong" on my skin. But in this blend, things are just not smelling right.

In the vial: tulips and water! On me: Arg. I have this rather unfortunate problem with aqautic florals - they all end up smelling pretty much the same on my skin. Aqautic notes often take over so I am left with mostly the "watery" smell and then behind a floral that is almost lost behind it. I can clearly smell peony here and even a green-ness that must be grass, but right in the front is that aquatic. Final note: If you liked Dormouse, Peony Moon or The Pool of Tears - try this one. It's very pretty peony and a very crisp aquatic.

In the vial: sweet vanilla On me: I normally really love scents that have red musk, because it just works well on me. But, with Hollywood Babylon its a lot of good scents that just come together to make something that only smells "okay" on me. It's not bad by any stretch of the imagination, and yet I don't find myself "wowed" by it either. Red musk is right on top, as it usuall is for me. It's smooth and warm and followed by a soft vanilla and a slightly powdery amber. I smell a fruit note but it doesn't come off as either strawberry or cherry in particular. My only complaint about this scent is that it comes off like a candle scent or something. It's not bad, but it seems kind of faded and the fruit seems almost artificial. Final note: This could be quite nice on someone else, but on me it's just okay.

In the vial: airy floral On me: I can't put my finger on this note, but it is one I am familiar with. It's definitely a soft floral. Slightly sweet even. Airy is the word that comes to mind though, it has a breezey quality to it. Very light and inoffensive in my opinion. Final note: Just seems to be this light floral, I can't pick out any notes though - turns slightly soapy in later stages so I suspect lily is in there somewhere

In the vial: What IS that?! On me: Where other people are getting lemon, I am getting dirty diaper smell. It is positively hideous. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who is getting this unfortunate reaction to this scent. I really wanted lemony goodness. Final note: Is that civet? I have no idea, it's awful though.

In the vial: Slightly sweet and fruity On me: This goes on surprisingly fruity in my opinion. It does darken up though and actually makes me think of myrrh - it's woody and sort of spicey and makes me think of pencil shavings. But there is a fruitiness there still so it's like myrrh + fig. Kind of dark and then... kind of not. Wierd combination. Final note: It's very dark and spicey but it's backed by a bright fig note, so it's a sort of paradox in that way. Interesting for sure.

In the vial: What else? Dragon's Blood On me: I don't quite know how to review Dragon's Blood. It's smell is so distinctive and there doesn't seem to be any other way to describe it besides... dragon's blood. It's spicey and strong and yet distinctly floral to me. It makes me think of lilac actually, it has a soft sweet quality to it. Final note: Not much else to say - it's pure Dragon's Blood. Smells quite like lilac.

In the vial: peony On me: Goes on like very strong peony. A bright, strong, pink floral that always seems airy to me. There starts to be a definite "green" quality around the edges of this scent, which I imagine must be the "herbs". It could be green tea though, as sometimes green tea and green herbs can smell similar to me. And...that's about it with this one. Aside from this probably being green tea that I smell, I don't get other teas. It's mostly peony with that fresh green quality. Final note: If you like Peony moon, you'll like this. The two are extremely similar on me. The Dormouse has a more green tea vibe to it, but it's still mostly peony.

In the vial: Buttercream On me: I was a little afraid this scent might ACTUALLY smell like turkey. And I love turkey, don't get me wrong - but I don't want to smell like it. Fortunately, it smells like foody sweetness. It goes on like pure buttercream frosting but a nut smell quickly comes out - must be hazelnut, makes me think of coffee. I get a hint of fruitiness underneath which is tart and I think is both cherry and pineapple at the same time. Sadly, I have to struggle to smell them over the hazelnut smell. I think I get a "crust" smell in there too - kind of like toast - it's bready. In the end, this ends up smelling like buttered toast indeed. With hazelnuts. Final note: It's interesting, and certainly cool that Beth actually fit so many foods in one scent lol. However, in the end it was pretty much just hazelnuts and toast. I'll keep the imp for the novelty of it, but I wouldn't see myself wearing it enough to even use the whole imp.

In the vial: wedding cake On me: Pretty simple. Smells like mostly white cake with a soft, sugary currant frosting. Final note: Very straightforward with this one - the white cake is sweet but not too strong, and the currant keeps the sugary smell a little fresher with it's fruit note. Very pleasant!

In the vial: Oranges!! On me: Definitely oranges! The pepper is there, makes a kind of spicey sharpness to this scent. I have no idea if the kumquat is there because I've never smelled it before. And the tea is softening the orange up so rather than being a sharp citrus like a fresh orange, I would liken this to an orange bubblegum. It's more candylike and sweet. Final note: Very sweet, and really quite orange.

In the vial: A watery mango On me: The mango is definitely there but smells "watery" in that it isn't quite so sharp or vivid. Patchouli kicks in fairly soon and gives this a strange combination of wood and fruit. Then I can smell the green tea - that odd green and kind of herbally soft smell. So hard to describe, but it is definitely green tea. And then there is the fig. It's like every note is kind of taking it's turn being the "star" here, which is wierd, because I very rarely experience ALL the notes in a scent. When this settles though it becomes kind of a melding of mango and fig with a soft green backing and a very faint hint of wood. Final note: Mostly fruity in the long run, but a nice scent - I don't think I'd get a bottle, but I will keep my imp for sure. Makes me think of tropical beaches actually

In the vial: Pickles? No really, smells like pickles to me. On me: Thank goodness it doesn't smell like pickles ON me. The spice is rather evident immediately - I think there must be cinnamon in this it smells like cinnamon to me mixed with carnations. Then, just as I'm pondering the presence of cinnamon, I get warm plums right up front. The effect is that the scent becomes very holiday like in my opinion - spiced plums with the carnations only vaguely coming into play I think. I can totally understand why people fell in love with this, it's just delicious, and being that it's around the holidays right now I find myself wanting to sniff this all the time! Makes me think of Christmas candles or something Final note: Love this a lot - it's perfectly warm and spicey with just a touch of fruit and a hint at a floral that doesn't really smell that floral at all!

In the vial: A rather salty smell On me: This is just one of those scents where you get pretty much what you expect. Salt water + florals. The salt water is actually rather pungent at first, but it does soften up. The florals, I suspect, are probably jasmine and lily and maybe something else. They smell like "classic" florals and are a bit watery. They meld well with the aqautic scent so that you really do get the impression of tears mingling with a soft perfume. Final note: Not much else to say on this one, if you like floral aqautics, this will probably be for you. The salt added to this makes for an interesting angle on it, but it isn't for me since it's a little *too* floral for my tastes.

In the vial: Lime candy On me: It goes on like a lime candy but immediately turns minty and "fresh" on my skin. There is an underlying green-ness that seems like it is probably the apple and lime together that keeps this mint from being "just mint" and adds another angle to it without being in-your-face fruitiness. Final note: This scent is pretty straightforward. It's mostly mint with underlying lime and apple for a soft fruity zest. Pleasant and refreshing, I would buy a bottle.

In the vial: Mm chamomile! On me: This goes on like chamomile tea with currant - it's soothing and yet... kind of wild too with that vivid currant smell and tart, bright grapefruit. It actually makes me think of a "proper" breakfast - chamomile tea, grapefruit with a currant jam or something. It just melds together to make something that - while not strongly foodie - makes me think of food. The dark musk acts as a binder for all those scents and brings them together with a smooth warmth. They all blend beautifully and though I wouldn't call this a fruit scent, the fruit notes are definitely on top. Final note: I adore this scent way more than I thought I would. It's refreshing and bright and yet has a comforting warmth to it as well. Truly excellent blend!

In the vial: very dry wine On me: It starts off as very dry wine, but immediately goes into very bright currant. Then a subtle thyme kicks in with a slight greeness but after that it all becomes rather faint on me. In the long run, this scent was mostly currant on my skin and not a lot else. Final note: I wish I had more to say on this one but it was mostly currant and it just didn't last on me - it started off strong enough but very quickly became so faint I had to put my nose to my skin to smell it and then all but disappeared.

In the vial: Pungent On me: That vetiver jumps right out at first and nearly kicks me in the teeth it's so strong. I can definitely smell the cedar too, lending a woody quality to that vetiver spice. Then the raspberry leaf lends a sort of sweetness to it which is so strange and yet works so well with it. It has a very exotic quality and though I would at first call this a masculine scent, after wearing it a while, I think it's very unisex. Final note: I don't normally care for cedar but something about the unusual combination of the woods and spices with that sweet undercurrent makes me strangely fond of this interesting scent!

In the vial: Pungent and not very appealing On me: This went on pretty bad on me. It was just an overwhelming strong smell that I cannot describe. I think it must be the "ferns" because I seem to have this problem with any scent that has "ferns" in it's description. Thankfully, it doesn't stay quite so pungent and immediately turns into a softer, wetter scent. Salt water - much like what I smell in Jolly Roger. It's softer here though, not quite as in your face but definitely salt water. Behind it is a floral/green smell - I don't really get the wine unless the wine is what makes the greens smell so floral. Final note: Not a lot to say on this one. Not really for me, and yet it's not a bad scent either. Hard to describe. If you like Jolly Rogers, this might be one to try.

In the vial: Electric bamboo! On me: Goes on mostly bamboo and that "electric" ozone smell. Very sharp, and yet natural smelling. This is a very GREEN scent. After a while, the cherry blossom softens this up and starts to make it less in-your-face green. It's still very much what I'd call a bamboo scent, but the cherry blossom adds a nice element of softness and sweetness with it's floral. The ozone is still there but instead of being really sharp now, it's more like a wetness on the cherry blossom. Like just rained on cherry blossoms and bamboo. Final note: If you like Dragon Moon, you should try this scent. It's like the greener version of Dragon Moon and has some similarities while still being different. People who also enjoy scents like Embalming Fluid might like this as well for it's wet, fresh green quality

In the bottle: mmm red musk and beeswax(?) On me: This is what I was hoping Smut would be. The red musk is positively gorgeous and so super smooth. The patchouli and vanilla lend it an earthy sweetness and I love how the red musk and skin musk work together in this. It smells smooth, warm, sensual. I don't really get the leather in this, but red musk always ends up rather dominating on my skin, so I'm not surprised. Final note: If you don't like red musk, steer clear of this. If you liked Smut, Blood Moon, Spanked, or Krampus - you might give this a shot!