obsidienne

I get a sense of melancholy from this blend, which is very well-blended to my nose. Although it starts off slightly sharper (probably due to the mist) it dries down to a mellow, warmly sensual scent. Whenever I smell it, I think of the colour of molten sunset gold, or a deciduous forest at sunset in autumn. For rose haters (not me! I love rose!) the roses seem to me to be very gentle. I think they're yellow . I'm not sure what the yellow flowers are, but the aspen leaves are subtle and earthy and have a slight hint of that unusually beautiful smell that a leaf-strewn forest floor has in the fall. I tend to dislike those mist/dew/water notes; here, either they work for me and are very subtly blended in, or they just don't factor into the final experience. Overall this is a soft and golden autumn scent, but with great throw and lasting power. It's one of my all-times favourites, although I don't turn to it as often as I'd like to, maybe because I'm afraid to use up my bottle.

A light, green & airy floral with a hint of something earthen beneath it all. This is a stunningly gorgeous scent: I can see the rolling green hills and dancing clusters of bluebells, heather and dandelions when I smell this. Also, I love juniper and it's definitely in here, but perfectly balanced with everything else. I was really glad I threw this into my order at the last minute, because I normally dislike "green" scents. That said, I haven't worn it but for twice in all the time I've had it, and it turns out that something in here makes me feel slightly nauseous -- probably the wine, and more than probably the dandelion (*thinking of Strawberry Moon '09*). So, for all its beauty, I can't keep this.

A tribute to New York’s 21 Club on West 52nd, formerly the speakeasy Jack & Charlie’s Puncheon Club. This is the scent of the perfect martini. Gin! Juniper! Definitely a fun boozy woozy martini; I'm not going to break it down any further than that. A fun, silly scent. I think it's a great summer blend. I just about threw it into the "bye bye" box until I realized that it reminded me of Velvet Pink Kitty without the sugar & strawberries. It will get worn here and there. And much layering will be attempted. Especially with rose blends; I just can't help myself.

This was far lighter and softer than I expected! I'd have to slather half an imp throughout the day to get any sort of smell-o-rama experience out of this. For me it's a light springtime floral -- not particularly exciting, but pretty and feminine. I can especially smell the woods over the subtle, non-cloying (woo!) lily, & sweetly balanced mandarin; white musk almost always registers as a backdrop scent to me, and never really seems discernable from the rest of the notes. The pepper is so faint that I wouldn't know it was there without being told. I have no idea what laurel smells like, but I am sure that the lighter, and, um, pale pink aspect to the floral lily is the peony, adding its charm to the blend. The florals and mandarin fade into the background quickly and it becomes overall a little too woody for my liking. I've had this experience with other blends with woods in them (Calico Jack and 51 come to mind). A ghostly scent, indeed. Just very light and subtle. A good blend for when you know you need to keep a low scent profile, like at the office or a meeting. I'd do it in a scent locket, though, to preserve the florals, and to keep from having to slather repeatedly. I also think this would make a pretty room scent.

Velvet Tiger has become a lot more black-licorice-thwapping-me-in-the-face as it ages!

Exactly what it's supposed to be: a bundle of lush red rose petals and the joyously refreshing scent of emerald green grass. It makes me happy just to smell this! I recently ordered another squirt and I'm saving them for our long winter, to combat the blues. Oh, and the scent lasts and lasts wherever you spray it.

I received my Berry Moon order yesterday, then failed to bring it home with me and had to wait to try it out. So I came into work and then put on some Berry Moon. The first words that came to mind when I put this on and then walked off to get on with my day were, "Sweet f*ck! What is that awesome smell?" The fig in this is so lush -- so gorgeous and rich and full. The entire blend permeates your immediate area with this luscious soft cloud of YUM. Nom nom nom. On the skin, I can really smell the ripe sweet blueberries, honey, golden (like molten sunlight) musk, and orange blossom. The raspberries are in there, I think, but in a way that is not very obvious; they add a hint of crimson brightness. Which is a bit of a relief since I was rather afraid that this would end up a tart, "fake fruits" blend (it didn't). Berry Moon is also very well-blended; no one note stands out at the expense of the others. Absolutely stunning. Edit: I should note that the fig steps back and the honeyed sweetness seems to get stronger as this dries down. I love honey, so no problem, but that initial first application experience is unforgettable. Lasting power: medium. Throw: good before the fade.

It only took me months, but I finally decided to sit down and write out my impressions of the four (4!) SO CT5s I ordered (too much!). None of them screamed SNAKE OIL, they just had varying amounts of Snake Oil background. All of the silver writing rubbed off within 5 minutes of me getting these, so I marked them 1-4 with those stickers you put on the top of the lid: 1) Light Snake Oil with well balanced additions of things that make me think of: pale musk, a mellow & subtle floral, light almost peach-esque fruitiness, slightly (very slightly) salty element (maybe it's ambergris?), and vanilla. Overall it seems rounded, golden, and sweet. It gets nicer and nicer as it dries down. 2) Light Snake Oil with a slightly resinous aspect to it -- perhaps frankincense or myrrh or some other soft, slightly sweet resin? I have never smelled those scents on their own, just in other blends, so this is truly a guess! Overall, a little bit furry and warm. Soft & lovely, close to the skin. Maybe that smell could be partly heliotrope. I get a slightly Snake Oil-spiced vanilla ice cream vibe after a few hours. The bottle was totally overfull, too. 3) Another light Snake Oil with something vaguely reminiscent of one of the notes in Morocco (which I love) -- whatever it is, it is something that can cause an allergic reaction, because this does cause my skin to burn, if only a very little bit... really, I have no idea what it is. Huh. (I don't think it's cinnamon -- a common irritant -- because I would probably be able to smell that!) The whole blend is quite pretty, but it's also faint and soft to me, especially compared to my other CT5s (I'm testing all four at once), although two of my coworkers and my boyfriend seem to have no problem smelling it. My nose is often blind to certain scents. I don't think I can keep this one. Overfull bottle! 4)The first time I smelled this I thought, "Drinking root beer down the road from a small pine forest." But on second try, I have to scrap the root beer concept and rethink. This is more of a purple and green version of a light Snake Oil! Faint hints of perhaps pine boughs or juniper or perhaps multiple deep green elements, with something purple, like plum or something else that is dark and fruity. Maybe a touch of dark musk.... something in the green elements or an added touch of spice gives this the finish. My favourite (if the weirdest) of the Chaos Theories! Also another awesomely overfull-stuffed-with-perfume bottle. *edited because I can't stick to just one interpretation of any of these blends!

Late response, but hey. This has no honey or nuts in it, but Velvet Nudie smells a lot like just skin to me, with a faint breath of citrus and florals. Very faint and subtle. Another option might be a verrrrrrrrrrry light application of O, which when used lightly could meet your criteria.

If you say it really fast out loud, it sounds like "God, you're a ho!" ;D

This is a pretty simple, light sweet scent; and somehow, it smells more like milk chocolate than white chocolate to me? Anyway, sweet, sugary, marshmallowy white/milk chocolate with a hint of coconut. The throw is somehow both faint and yet decent -- you get occasional whiffs and wonder "why do I crave chocolate?". The scent itself is quite light. Almost a skin scent on me. It has amazing layering possibilities. I really like it, but have to admit I wish for it to be much stronger.

A beautiful, cooling aquatic blend, without the typical notes found in many BPAL aquatics. I decided to test this out today because we are experiencing a heat wave, and anything that can create an impression of coolness would be nice. Undertow turns out to be quite gentle and faint: softly sweet lotus, spicy juniper and a light cooling mint, all on a very subtle scale. Lotus can be quite overbearingly sweet and even weird-smelling to me, but this is genuinely lovely here, blooming into my skin but not becoming bubblegum and plastic. Undertow stays close and quiet, and has minimal throw and lasting power for me.

I can certainly see what all the fuss is about: it starts off spicy earthy sweet pomegranate plums, without the "off" plum note I've experienced in Frumious Bandersnatch or Midwinter's Eve 2007. This is sort of like the essence of deepest darkest red, and slowly develops into a dark, warm, spicy, creamy enveloping vanilla with touches of red and black fire from the perfectly balanced patchouli. I usually fear and loathe pomegranate, but no fear, here! Wow. Wow. I cannot believe this scent. It skyrocketed into my top 10 within minutes of me putting it on, and cemented its place there when this luscious and spicy vanilla came to the fore. *drooling. all. over. the. place* Overall, I'd say this blend is all at the same time: spicy, subtly fruity, earthy, deep red, black, creamy, and very warm thanks to the vanilla. My kind of scent. *drools some more* I can imagine how great this well become as it ages. It will be a sin when this scent leaves town. In fact, the Carnaval really ought to stay... Mme. Moriarty = &

I can see why people are all ga-ga over this: it's quite lovely and fun. Vanilla, molasses and fruity red currant deepened with green moss and patchouli. The molasses note it quite subtle and well-blended into this; I note this because I found it off-putting and plasticky in Kill-Devil. This dries down to a soft creamy vanilla with all of the other notes adding complexity and interest; that said, it's incredibly faint and fades faster than fast on me, which is so not my favourite thing in a perfume.

I was generously frimped this lady, and it has turned into an instant love affair -- and a total surprise, as I tend to like more complex blends. However, Khrysee turned into the most luscious golden warm vanilla on me, with a just a hint of orange blossom. Sometimes I find orange blossom a bit weird and sickly, but in here it was perfection, and rounded out the blend. I was nose-glued-to-wrist the entire afternoon. It seems to me that I have found The Perfect Vanilla and I am kicking myself for not buying a bottle of this when it originally came out. Geez.

Hua Mulan starts off soooo beautiful. White tea and ginger, somewhat reminiscent of Kumiho or the Dormouse, overlay a soft jasmine/pink musk that is so gentle, elegant, and simply gorgeous. As it dries down, the jasmine strengthens and the bergamot and leather begin to enter into the story. It morphs very fast on me, we're talking minutes. After those initial pale pink soft top notes burn off, Hua Mulan becomes much less feminine, now predominantly leather with everything else in the background; the notes are there, but so faint in comparison. It's almost a spicy leather! She goes from a young and rather innocent girl to an experienced warrior. Absolutely fitting... but disappointing from the perspective of the perfume. I think if the leather note was a bit softer I'd love this, but this is more just a "like" affair.

Wow, this is a lot lighter and less sweet than I expected it to be. It's quite fruity, with a lot of tart! from the pepper and perhaps the currants. Smooth amber supports it and the pink pepper also provides a wee bit of fizz. The honey is very subtle, but noticeable (I love honey). Oh! Blackberry! Hai! I love you! I was expecting something totally different, a little thicker and spicier, but I'm liking Tomoe Gozen a lot. It's beautiful, feminine, and a bit fun. Edit: Upon rereading the reviews (and upon a second sniff-test session this evening), "fruit punch" is mentioned. And I do get that. Hrmm.

I get warm rich amber with musk, perhaps black or red musk or a mixture of the two, light on the red. Something soft and lightly spicy wafts out as it dries down. So light that it cannot offend. I am wondering if this amber-scent I am getting is actually civet? I have no idea what civet actually smells like, my only other relationship with it having been via Debauchery, which was so offensive to my nose that I was stunned by its cruelty. Satyr reminds me of a manly version of Snake Oil, without vanilla. I can see both men and women wearing this, although it leans more towards men. That said, I think it smells great on me, and this is not my usual kind of scent. It's almost like dark, sun-warmed skin, very earthy and intimate. Satyr stays quite close to the skin, and is very smooth with no sharp edges. Not a lot of throw. Verrry sexy. A total surprise blend. I sense the layering possibilities... I should also try this on my boyfriend, just for kicks.

Strawberry Moon 2009 has been a weird scent for me, because it starts off okay but not great, then ends up quite lovely, but it takes so long to get there. Wet, it's very tart fresh strawberries, with strong herbal green grass and dandelion sap predominating. The dandelion sap has a slightly sickly smell to it that I can't make myself get used to. Overall, it's both too tart and fake sickly sweet when it starts off -- a jarring combination. As the scent dries down and relaxes into my skin, the vanilla sugar starts to come out and smooth things over. It's on far drydown that it becomes a light sugared vanilla-strawberry scent that I can finally enjoy. The strawberries are not the cloying berries of Maenad or Hollywood Babylon, here they're just light, sweet, and slightly tart. But because it's so light and faint, I have to reapply to get the effect, and I have to go through stages 1 and 2 again before I get to 3. So... it's not a comfortable scent for me. I thought I was going to wash my hands of this scent, but I do like that final stage. I think I'll keep the bottle... although I'll probably sell my backup.

This starts off so delicious -- spicy-sweet carnation, sweet orange blossom, glittering yet earthy patchouli. A light salty musky note is evident, which I assume to be the "ambergris". The patchouli grounds and develops the other notes and keeps it quite mysterious and lush; the overall effect is magical. Like a masquerade ball. The initial stage of this oil is amazing, but it dries down to something a lot tamer and less interesting, and the ambergris note gets just a tad too strong for me, but I say that lightly. Also, Masquerade didn't last very long, although the throw was quite good while it lived. That said, no perfumes last on my skin.

This scent is essentially a palest yellow floral with stronger lemon overtones on top of a pale, soft musk. Like other reviewers have said, it smells like freshly washed skin that was washed with a soft floral-citrus soap. It's slowly morphing on my skin, becoming sweeter and a bit sparkly over time. Very light and soft, Velvet Nudie is unobtrusive and most certainly the sort of scent you wear when you expect someone to get very close to your soft spots (the throw is so light that I doubt it'd noticeable otherwise!). Sexy, but also a sort of... innocent. Further drydown sees it warm up a bit, as well. The throw is literally only three or four inches off my skin (and I applied rather liberally to my wrists). Also, the lemon catches at my nose a little... but then again, I have been mega-huffing my wrist for the last ten minutes, so don't blame the perfume.

Total. Bummer. This smells like Tiger Balm on me... and I ordered 2 bottles! It's a lovely, lovely smell, but it's still Tiger Balm. I'm going to age it and see what happens. Basically, the vetiver completely murders all of the other notes, and all I can smell are their sad, moaning ghosts. For those who found this (like me) a vetiver-graveyard, I have tried layering this with different things, and it turns out that layering it with a vanilla or another orange-based scent works really well. I even tried it with The Body Shop's Neroli Jasmin scent and that worked out to be quite yummy (despite the fact that I find all of TBS's scents sort of fakey and too sweet and cheap-smelling). So. Not a total waste! Edit: Time has mellowed this out a bit. The licorice note is now more predominant to me than vetiver, and also, marvel of all marvels, the orange now has room to breathe and show its face. That said, this does not do anything for me and doesn't blend with my chemistry to make magic, so it's gotta go.

Mmmm... this is a gorgeous summer storm. It starts off almost like a cologne, because the ozone is so sharp, but it settles into something exciting and cool, with a citrus overtone and perhaps even a faint white flower that sweetens it up. It's, um, pale, but also very electric. I love it!

My CT5: V2 (O) was marked "LV", but some of it may have rubbed off. It turned out quite odd in that there is almost no O at all; only the faintest hint of vanilla seems to show up. When I first put it on, there's an impression of strong florals, fruit, and of pale pale musk or something else. It is overall a very powerful blend, with a lot of throw. The overall effect is a wet fruit & florals sort of thing. I can't say these are in the same notes category (I have NO idea!), but this blend reminds me somewhat of Chuparosa or Moon Rose in some respects, perhaps the florals? That said, I am AWFUL at accurately determining any notes I am not already extremely familiar with. So. Worst review ever. Edited for an updated impression.

Ouch! Opium overload plus musky animal stink and something salty-sour. Get thee away from me!