kohaisama

This has to be the easiest review I've ever done. It smells exactly like described from imp, to wet, to drydown. It's the old, forgotten about foyer of a haunted house that is still extremely creepy. The only thing I didn't get was the cognac. There was no morph and it has great throw.

KHAJURAHO 08 In the bottle: tuberose, damask rose Wet: Date sweet, full roses and the sandalwood slowly creeps in. Dry: Smoky, sandalwood roses and SERIOUS throw. I like sandalwood and roses, but the smoky bit keeps me from really loving it.

In the imp: Rose Geranium and dirt Wet: Woodsy and damp, damp dirt Dry: A big heaping pile of wet dirt, something musty and a hint of rose geranium lingering about almost like an afterthought I'd say this is like a more sophisticated version of Zombi.

BPAL's GC Babhan Sith is a dead ringer for BBW's White Tea & Ginger.

whoops, wrong thread!

In the imp: smells like a dead ringer for Blockhead Wet: very quiet apricot that morphs into freshly cut rose stems, minus the rose and very soft Dry: apricots so faint that even smooshing my nose up against my arm, I can barely smell I really had high hopes for this one.

In the imp: juicy pear and white grapes Wet: sparkly fruity florals (almost as sparkly as Bon Vivant) Dry: grapes, sweet pea and peaches... eh... eh?? It's gone! It's all gone! Within 30 min of wearing this fragrance, my skin 100% absorbed it. There's not even a hint that it was there before. That makes me very sad.

In the imp: bubblegum syrupy strawberries Wet: sweet strawberries and something spicy Dry: pepper poppies KA-POW! Sharp, deep poppy with hibiscus tang It started out real fun and then became too spicy for my nose.

Otherworldy golden incense, blooming wind-flowers, everlasting lavender, bluebell, a faint whiff of exotic sugared candies, and fae mist upon wet green grass. In the imp: delicate florals and a light sweetness Wet: beautiful bluebells! Dry: the florals sharpened and turned into milled soap with something green floating in the background This isn't a winner for my skin, but it's beautiful naked and I can't wait to put it in my locket!

In the Imp: pomegranate & plums Wet: Plummy vanilla, no sign of patchouli (yay!) or red musk (yay!). I wonder where the pomegranate went?? Ah, there it is. Stealthy little thing made me sniff hard for it. Dry: Soft patchouli (sigh) and dark, luxurious vanilla with a lurking plum. Now I understand why I keep reading about people saying that this is what they wanted Snake Oil to be. Because it is. Snake Oil was just too sharp on my nose. I can really only handle it young. Mme. has two notes that always work against me, patchouli and musk (white seems to be an exception). I figured this would be a bust, but it turned out great!! Even though I can still smell the patchouli, it's not overwhelming at all and seems to be subdued a lot by the vanilla. The vanilla bean didn't do what I was expecting either. I was expecting it to be like ice cream vanilla, but it's not. It's more complicated than that. I really was surprised by this. I'm definitely getting a bottle. For days when I don't feel like wearing it, it'll be WONDERFUL in a scent locket.

Spicy chocolate mint. It's a very pretty scent, but not something I'd see myself wearing unfortunately.

Wet: Lovely, lovely peach! Dry: Gardenia, Gardenia, Gardenia with a megaphone After two hours: Department store Gardenia (when a fragrance smells obviously like a perfume and less like fragrance oils) Off to the swap pile with you!

I love Xanthe, even though it goes salty on me after a couple hours. It's like tropical-fruit gum. I don't know if I necessarily get strawberry from Floating Brain, just... "pink", heh. Um... what about The Blockhead? Isn't it pink bubblegum and rusty nails? I know rusty nails sounds scary, but my (potentially atypical) experience is that metallic notes tend to be light... On my skin, Blockhead was all pink bubblegum while wet, but on the drydown it was very faint and I got a slight tang but mostly leather.

There are no authorized resellers in the Midwest... is there?

Chocolate grass. When I first tried it, the herbal knocked me down so I let it settle for 24 hours and decided to try it again. I'm really digging it now. Even after the chocolate fades to a whisper and it becomes more herbal/lavender, it's still lovely. While I do think this is more of a delicate men's fragrance on my skin, I could put this in a scent locket and just smell chocolate grass all day. I can handle that.

I'm throwing my hat in with the other gals who said it turned into plastic. And it makes me sad. It smelled soooo good in the imp and soooooo good wet, but as soon as it dried, it morphed into chocolate plastic. A few gals on another community board suggest letting the imp settle (I just got it) for a week, try it and then let it rest for a month for the amber to age and try it again. If it hasn't changed by then, it's not going to unless I let it age well past the point of being able to buy a bottle from the Lab. So that's what I'm going to do. Hopefully I'll have a better updated review in a week! 11-24-08: Okay, I got impatient to try Gelt again. HOLY SMOKES. I'm soooo glad I decided to hold onto it and let it rest before tossing it into the swap pile. The plastic is gone and now all I smell is creamy chocolate. This would be my -must have- for single note chocolate. I can't wait to see what this is like in a month when the amber has a chance to age. Only thing of note, when it dries, the creamy chocolate does fade a bit and the amber is a bit powdery, but a far cry from plastic. Cocoa powder? I can handle that. Chocolate plastic? GAH!

Chaos Theory IV - MCCLXXXIX (1289) A purchase from Midnight Aeval (who also reviewed this) and I have to agree with her description. It really is a creamy rose, though I detect vanilla, which could possibly be the buttercream she mentioned. The roses faded and left me with only the faint scent of cream. I imagined dipping a rose into a sugar wash and letting it crystallize as it dries. I'll have to try it again with more than just a teeny dab as it seems to go a bit powdery (my skin tends to do that to vanilla or cream scents). I enjoy it and so does hubby. I'm glad I got the chance to get this from MA. If nothing else, it'll be AWESOME in a locket. Update: Tried this bottle one last time and I'm not getting any honey (as I've now learned that honey in any combo amps like mad to a cloying level of ick), but it's definitely buttercreamy and the floral is just soft and delicate. I wish I knew what it was. Not jasmine or rose... but something white and light, maybe? There could be amber in this since it does go a bit powdery on me, but I could be wrong. Final Verdict: I just can't see myself wearing this, so it goes into the bottle swaps.

Got mine as a frimp today and figured I'd do a review of it. Cthulhu disappointed me and I wasn't expecting much from The Deep Ones, so it was a big surprise when my skin decided not to go with the fragrance contents at all until the very end. Though it's good to see that I'm not the only one who found the grapefruit. In the imp: Something... tart and salty. Wet: Y HALO THAR GRAPEFRUIT! Y HALO THAR ORANGES! Dry: ...Irish Spring? 20 Min Later: There's something lurking... something like faint church incense after Christmas Mass. That would be the algae. I recognize that from my favorite beach blonde algae deep conditioner. And it's fading fast. So, in conclusion, Deep Ones are made of grapefruit and oranges and never suffer from scurvy. Which is important in their line of work. They also use Irish Spring to keep clean, which is also important considering how social they become when around mere mortals. And, true to form, they vanish with hardly a trace after their work is done much like this fragrance does.

I just got my goblin squirt today and I'm in love! Wet, it's florrrallll but you still get the great depth from the bourbon vanilla. When it dries and settles, I get that rich tobacco with a subtle hint of jasmine. It's awesome. I've always loved the smell of tobacco houses and fresh cigars (not smoked). I'd wear this if I thought I could get away with it! I gotta get a full bottle of this!

I had a similar reaction as angelicruin, but I can smell faint roses or some delicate floral and a slight hint of honey. My only problem is that as it dries, the fragrance becomes VERY faint and has almost no throw at all. Smells great in the imp, so this will be another smelly swatch for the locket.

I was in love with this from first smell in the imp. The mint was right there and I could smell something else, something floral. When I put it on, the mint went away almost immediately and the rose with violet came rushing forward. I was quite happy. Then, after it dried, the rose went away and the violet stayed. Now, an hour after having put it on, I smell like soap. I've lost all trace of the violet, rose, mint and everything else in this fragrance. All I can smell is dove soap. I guess this one would be best left as a smelly for my locket when I finally buy one. I wonder if it's the violet that breaks down to this soapy smell on my skin. Edit One of my co-workers caught a sniff of me as I walked by and asked if I was growing african violets. She grows violets and said I smell just like them. Huh. I had no idea violets smell like Dove soap. Now that she's said that, I've been sitting here sniffing myself and the soapy smell has calmed down. I still think it smells soapy, but then I haven't smelled violets in years so my nose could be mistaken.