zenvodunista

THis is a fascinating scent. I'll be honest, I read the notes and thought, "Yawn. Another light tea scent in the Embalming Fluid/Spirits of the Dead family. How many do you really need?" But while Gennivere is in the family for sure, she morphs in an interesting way. I'm not sure yet if I'll wear her -- I tend to go for more spicy/earthy/oriental (in the perfuming sense) scents, but it's very interesting and very very pretty. Right out of the bottle it is all tea. But it hits my skin and everything blends together to create a completely *different* scent that reminds me a little of Sea of Glass, or Snow White sans creme, or .... It becomes something utterly else- one of those scents where it's a description of cool and calm, but no actual mention of notes! In a lot of ways, I think this scent, for me, summons up the Alchemy in Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab. It's transformation from cup o' tea to indescribable beauty is alchemy indeed. Sea of Glass is one of those scents that I think is gorgeous but not very me. I don't know yet if that's what Gennivere is. I could see myself wearing it more on warm days than now, and so I'll see perhaps if I have the patience to keep the bottle until spring. But it is gorgeous, and if you like scents in the SoG family, do get Gennivere. I think you will love her. n.

This one is so sweet it makes my teeth ache. I tried it on and could barely stand sniffing myself, as it's sweet to begin with and then I amp sugar on top of that. There's a lot of fruit in here and if your skin sucks sugar, you might be able to smell it. On me? This is was just pure candy. I remember some folk comparing it to Kunstakammer and I can see why. But Kunstakammer had that underlying frankinsensce that gave it a deep richeness - at least to my nose - that pullled the candy back and made it into something else. I know there are candy lovers here in our fandom - and Xanthe is perfect for them. As for me, I have to go brush my teeth! n.

In the bottle: Hoof. That is *funky* smelling. I guess it's the ambergris or something but... Man, I do NOT like this in the bottle. It's very marine/funk. Hoo boy. On: The marine funk evaporates within 5 minutes and I'm left with a long lasting lovely musk and floral combination. The wood and whisky is gone on my skin but it's lovely and I can't pick out a single note. It doesn't smell "like" something ---- it smells like skin but better. Like flowers but like skin. ON me there is relatively little throw, this is an intimate scent, one that's right up against the skin but hard to reisist once your nose is there. I'm unsure about a bottle mostly because I don't know when/if I'd wear this. But it's extraoirdinarily pretty. Floral without being FLORAL, and musky without being MUSKY. I plan to revisit it for sure. For now though, I'll be keeping the imp, and maybe investing in a bottle later. Wonderful work though, and I highly recommend that folk try it. I think you will be surprised. It was nothing like what I expected, and nothing like it was in the bottle. n.

Leather pine boy. Geek without the dust or darkness. Dead Man's Hand whittling wood. Gentle De Sade. *Manly.* I'm putting this one with the BF's other scents. n.

This is the perfume that made it Official: Cherry and cardomom *HATE* me. I don't know why! They are two of my favorite things to eat! Maybe that's why. Cough medicine and B/O. Stupid skin chemistry. *kicks a rock* n.

I've not had luck with the chocolate scents. Scents *with* cocoa are fine, Tezcatlipoca and Centzon Totochtin both come to mind as scents, but Bliss and Vice are both *meh*. The Candy Butcher is no exception. For a little while it is a sort of dark chocolate/smoky floral that reminds me ever so slightly of Dia De Los Muertos before it aged to all hell and turned to just dry leaves. I'll probably test this again, just to be fair, but for now, everyone else can have this one. My skin chemistry and it aren't doing too much. I LOVE the art though n.

Like Antonious the Carny Barker, the Carnaval starts off with a blast of citrus, which to my nose is right and proper. You must cross a threshold from the mundane world into the world of the carnaval, and citrus here is the ticket holder's booth and the entrance into the bright lights and noise and chaos of the carnaval. An overwhelming blast to the senses that wakes you up and you find that you are not where you were. Pretty soon though you've left the threshold behind, and are explore the myriad delights this carnaval has to offer. The scent falls firmly into the oriental/floral category, with added smoke. I feel like I could wear this anywhere - day or night. This is a twilight perfume, neither dark nor light. Delicately floral, gently smoky, almost amber like in it's sweetness, I feel sexy and mysterious in this perfume. Powerful. This is another wonderful blend. What a series! ETA: The longer this is on, the better it gets. It's so gorgeous right now at 2+ hours. *happy happy sigh* n.

I am not a jasmine hater -- in fact, I am a jasmine Lover! But I can only smell jasmine in this :/ I'm going to give it a few weeks though and see if the jasmine lets some of the other notes shine through. I will be conducting a layering experiment though with P&T at some point. I'm betting they'll work well together. At least my preliminary testing (one on my left hand, the other on my right hand) seemed to send off a wonderful mingling throw. Jasmine woods. -- each one tempering the other. n.

Reason #1056789 to always Trust the Lab: Cedar. Cedar is my nemisis. You know how some people rant about civet, and others about jasmine? I rant about Cedar. Anything with Cedar turns - at best - to woodshavings on me, and at worst, old man Body Odor. And not the kind we love. The bad kind. I might not smell it in the bottle, but sure as heck, it's there on my skin - ruining everything. We hates the cedar, we does. But, I ordered the whole shebang for the Carnival (though I won't be able to next time, likely -- stupid money ) and figured this would be my personal Shill -- the one scent I'd never be able to rid myself of and the one that would be worst on me. I was wrong. Totally and utterly wrong. P&T is the antique box that you found when you moved into the gothic mansion in your tiny hometown. When you opened it you found it contained roses made of resin. That's P&T. At first I thought, "It works on my skin but I'll probably use it as room scent." Now, an hour later, I think I'll wear it too. It's really gorgeous. IT's the kind of scent I wish I could wear but never can. It's the kind of scent I never thought I'd like. I'm really blown over. And I keep wondering what it would be like layered with Melisande. A real work of art. I am totally blown away and surprised. n.

This is all amber and vanilla on me -- and more to the point -- it's amber and vanilla that doesn't go to babypowder like O does!!! I can't believe it! Perhaps it's the addition of ambergris, or the grey amber. I don't know. I don't care! This is going on the wishlist! n.

Gosh, I haven't the faintest idea how to describe this. It's jasmine, which I love, but with a tart undertone that I've never experienced before. I can't pick out any of the other notes, not almond, not saffron , not red patchouli, not any of them. Maybe that tartness --- oddly enough -- that tartness reminds me of the stargazer lily? So, it's lily and jasmine and??? I don't know. I don't even know if I like it or not. I'm going to let the imp mellow a bit, and come back to it. I am still on the warpath for a saffron scent that will work for me, and I"m not going to let this go without a fight. n.

To my nose, Port Royal smells just a like an expensive antique wood box full of spice. I don't smell rum and I don't smell sea air. I dabbed it on the BF who said he's been pining for a BPAL that would make him smell like a merchant trader from the 1700s - minus the ocean. And I dabbed it on me, even though I "can't wear woods". Lo and behold! It smells just gorgeous on the both of us. All the things I can't wear: Bengal, Three Witches, Morrocco -- all those scents that have a weird note on me -- I can wear Port Royal. Furthermore, it's the first "wood scent" I can wear where the wood is predominant. I am SO excited! On me it's like what I expected Bengal to smell like -- all chai spices and the added richness of wood. I am very very happy and hope to aquire a 5ml soon. On the BF it smells perfect, as usual -- they always smell perfect on him! How come HE get's perfect skin chemistry?! n.

I keep looking at that list and trying to figure out why the heck my bottle of Mme Moriarty smells like sandalwood?! Then again, I keep thinking I got Snake Oil minus Vanilla. For a long time, this smells awfully sharp and woody on me, which is a sadness since I don't do well with sharp and woody. After about 4 hours though, it settles down into something soft and round and sweet and lovely. A definite marriage between Snake Charmer and Snake Oil, this is Snake Madame. Two of my favorites of all time are SC and SO, so I'm not sure if I should keep this one -- plus the 4 hour drydown is a bitch. But if it's the red musk doing it -- if that's the sharp thing -- or the patchouli -- it ought to die down with a bit of aging. ANd if that's the case, then I ought to stock up! The good thing about CD being around for so long, it means that I can age Mme Moriarty for a full year, before I decide to invest in a second bottle. And if the Mme. ages well, well then, please add her to my list of favorites. ETA: My second day wearing this, the rough edges smoothed out much much faster - 1 hour, not 4 . It is Teh YUM. Reminiscent in some ways of QUeen of CLubs, though without the dirt, natch. In fact, I think the drydown is more lik QoC than SC or SO. LOVELY! I see a second bottle in my future. ETA: I wore this a third time. That time I got all structured patchouli for *hours* and then it faded to nothingness. I'm feeling like Mme. keeps shuffling the cards on me, and I never know what the reading is going to be. Right now I'm leaning towards bad. I have the feeling this patchouli leaf is closer to black patchouli on the patchouli scale and not red. Red is beautiful on me, whereas black patchouli gives me flashbacks to camping trips with stuck up rich girls playing at being enlightened. Standard Northeast "hippiegirl" fare on the boarding school circut. No thanks. My only hope now is that age evens everything out. Calms down the biting sharpness of that leaf and the red musk, and allows the vanilla and plum to come to the fore a bit more. It's only been about 20 days now. Must. Have. Patience. Perhaps I should hide it under the bed to help me from obsessing. n.

Whoa, sweet! I don't smell any resins, or rose in this one. IT's all Apples and Honey. If you like those two things, you'll love this. Me, I'm not so big on the apples on my skin thing. But pretty, adn I"m glad I tried it! n.

I'm also a Manhattanite, and a Native New Yorker. So, I was SO happy when this came out. This is a complex scent but light. I am going to be aging mine for a bit, as my skin tends to eat scents that are light. It starts out with a fresh citrus that feels cool and slick. This is not a bouncy citrus, this is a citrus that just left a high end day spa As it mellows, a smoothness comes in, it's hard to explain further than that. I get a bit of aged whisky but I think that's my skin chemistry mixing with the teakwood. For a bit it goes to a more commercial perfume scent, and then goes to a more floral moment. IT morphs a lot, which is why I'm goign to give this multiple tries before I say anything more. But it is complex -- just like this city. n.

I never liked Midway, I'll be honest. Very few of the foody scents have been workable on me. They generally are too sweet or too buttery, and Midway did that on me. Was so buttery I felt like I was greazy. Blech! However Midnight on the Midway is a whole different story. I had done a spot test to confirm no skin evils, and so slathered it on with abandon yesterday. All day I kept getting whiffs of it -- it's incredibly atmospheric. Not that it's "ozoney" or has "air notes" but that it wears not like a perfume at all in the classic sense. I kept smelling it, and it would smell like the *approach* to the fair. Or the the fairgrounds at night, which is appropriate. It had the funnel cake thing going on, wavering in the background, and whiffs of the incense from the swami snakecharmer's tent, and it was faint yet clung to me all day. THe fair was at MoMA, the Museum of Sex, at a japanese restaurant, on the M4 busline. IT was every where, gently haunting me. I loved it! I don't think that I'll get many compliments on it mostly because i think the inclination will be to say, "Where is that smell coming from?" rather than "Your perfume is amazing." I expect that like Midway this will age nicely, intensifying and getting richer. I absolutely love this. The name says it all in the end, it is Midnight on the Midway. Haunting, nostalgic, atmospheric, and beguiling. Wonderful work. n.

The Carnaval rolled into my corner of town tonight, and the BF was here for it. Before I could say much of anything he'd sorted out my frimps and taken a bunch for himself, and then asked me what this one was --- as he opened it and slathered it on. However, it appears that BPAL favors the brave. This one is all Dorian, but with bergamont (the flavor used on Earl Grey tea leaves) dominating rather than full on vanilla. I told him he could have the bottle after I get a chance to smell it on me too! n.

I don't know about tobacco, or pine. I don't get those at all from this. In the bottle I smell butter of all things, with hints of nuts, and that must be the almond milk. On... it's all coconut meat and milk, with moments of butter that fade back to that creamy, meaty, coconut. Deeper and richer than just coconut though. I am strangely entranced. This is not the kind of scent I usually go for, but I keep going back and sniffing where I applied it. I can't stop. On a walk to the store I smelt this gorgeous ripeness and realized it was me. This stuff has throw. I have a feeling I'm coming back to this one. n.

On my first sniffs of this I got a bright, almost lime-like note. Brash, and bright, and cheerfully seductive, Antonio definitely pulls you in. An hour later and that brightness is gone, leaving me with a well rounded lushness on my skin, still seductive but instead of hawking the wares, whispering of the secrets that lie within. n.

Chaos Theory III: DCCLXIX (769) In Bottle: Whoa! CITRUS. Is it lime? Smells like lime. With a bit of the white pith.... On: WHOA! CITRUS! Definite pith. This is like lime singlenote. Whoa. Limey. I keep thinking it's lime because it's both a touch floral like limes are, as well as having the bitterness limes do. I can smell the white pith though that clings to the inside of the rind... 5 minutes: Maybe it's not lime. Maybe it's like Meyer Lemon or something. I mean, it's limey, but a touch like kuzu or kumquat -- but not sweet like those are. It reminds me a bit of of pink grapefruit too. That floral and that bitter together. This is like the Skyy Citrus Vodka of CTs! 20 minutes: The *tiniest* hint of pepper. Possibly white or pink peppercorns. I'll say pink cause I love them 30 minutes: Huh. Now it smells a touch like the merengue on key lime pie. The lime is mostly gone. It reminds me a bit of the marshmallow drydown of Snow Angel. Hmmmm. 40 minutes: Gone. Too fleeting for me to wear as a perfume, this is *stimulating* and lovely. Perfect for bath bombs, my morning shower wash, and the like. The bottle is way full. I'll get several uses out of this one. Lovely work, lab! n.

Harvest Moon '05 + Hungry Ghost Moon = Harvest Moon '06 n.

FWIW: I think the red patchouli is much sweeter than the black, and often has a vanilla like component to it. Snake Oil does have patchouli in it, though it doesn't smell like patchouli, if that makes any sense I LOVE Snake Oil. LOVE. Tezcatlipoca is sweet incense smoke, leather and intensely sweet red patchouli. Centzon Totochtin is incense, blood, chocolate, and the same patchouli as is in Tezcatlipoca (as far as my nose can tell). I think you'd like both of them. I say this because I have a 10 ml of Tez and a 10 ml of Snake Oil. I used to have Centzon but it and Tez are quite similar and I ended up giving Centzon to a rabbit obsessed friend of mine. n.

For some reason Sed Non Satiata smells of beeswax to me. Or rather, it makes me think of candles and the scent of beeswax rubbed into exotic woods to shine them, and beeswax candles burning while flesh presses upon flesh. Hot stuff. Also, if you can get an imp of it, Luperci was heavy on the beeswax. But it was a Valentine LE so.... Some people get the honeycomb in Ex Lux Fuit, but I can't smell it. n.

I cannot decide if I like this blend or not. First off: When I smell Smut or Sed Non Satiata, I never smell peanut butter like some folk do. Just don't. Can't. I opened up Queen and smelled peanut butter. Peanut butter mixed with Smut and Sed Non Satiata. I put some on anyway. It's calming down down, and the PB is gone, but there's a definite tang of cunt-musk which I assume must be BPAL honey. This really, really, really reminds me of my fresh imp of Sed Non Satiata (I didn't like how it aged ) and of Smut. The more I wear this, the more I like it. Maybe tomorrow I'll wear it. I'll need everything I've got to get all the stuff I need to get done, done. n.

I ordered 5 ml of this unsniffed on a whim. I've been a little obsessed lately with ambergris. I know that it smells good on me, that I can wear it, but I can never pick it out in the blends. I can't seem to actually smell the note and so was fascinated. Leather is iffy. Too much and it goes to slaughterhouse on me, too little and it fades away completely. Hellfire is almost too leathery. It's probably the most leathery blend I can wear without smelling like an abbitoir. In the bottle though, that Ambergris hits my face. I thought, "So that's what they mean!" Despite owning and wearing Two Monsters, and some other ambergris scents, I had yet to actually smell it. But here it was: musky, and a little salty like the sea. Reminiscent of sweet oysters, actually. BAM. And there are the ocean waves and musk and salt and sweat all mixed together, strangely seductive. But the rest of the scent: masculine and structured. Smoke, leather and tobacco. A richer and more deep Perversion, Two Monsters without the incense with leather instead. A wonderfully rich scent. Highly recommended if you can carry it off. If you can't, I think a lot of men, particularly sophisticated men with a lot of experience, will enjoy this one immensely. n.