AnArtfuldodger

In the bottle: fizzy tangerine cream with a spike of floral Wet on wrist: It smells fizzy, and slightly orange, and the ambergris is doing herbal woodsy patchoulie things on me (?). Huh. On the drydown: This is a morpher. The weird woodsy patchoulie thing has simmered down (I'm not sure what that was all about, but whatevs), KI'm not getting the spike of floral, and...is that bubblegum? And slowly it's becoming that nice orange cream that people are raving about. It's very faint on my skin though and has a very low throw. But, when I sniff my wrist, yum! After about two hours, the floral/herbal/woodsy is once again mingling with the orange-y scent...not sure this will work on me now. :-/ This is definitely a morpher!

2009 version In the bottle: hot cocoa powder Wet on wrist: chunks of dark, dark (almost bittersweet) chocolate -- it's not the chocolate from the Lupercalia 2009 box of chocolates though (that chocolate note doesn't work on me). This is a rich and warm, and I want to nom my arms off. On the drydown: On me, it's alllll that deep dark rich chocolate. I smell divine. Also, I tried a quick layering of El Dia de los Reyes with Lick It Til It's Sticky and OH MY GOD YUM. It's like peppermint cocoa, and as they dried down together, almost like Girl Scout Thin Mints.

I was so excited to try this blend, since Eggnog 2007 is up there in my top 5 favorites and I've hoarded it. All the notes in this are things my skin loves -- eggnog, coffee/liqueur, spices?! Sounded like an A+ winner. So, on with the review. In the bottle: straight up spiked eggnog Wet on wrist: I get that sharp bite of liqueur mixed with the eggnog, and a hint of spice. It is glorious, and everything I hoped for. and then........things go south. On the drydown: Yes, south we go. The liqueur vanishes, the coffee vanishes, and surprisingly (considering what a hit Eggnog 2007 is on my skin) so does the eggnog. What's this?! I cry to myself, sniffing my wrist. It's been replaced with something I can best describe as....funky. But not in a groovy way. After some sniffing of my wrist, and some more sniffing of my wrist, I think it's the goatsmilk aspect that's throwing things off kilter on my skin. It's a little sour on me, and a little.....dry? Or is it just really, really rich, to an overpowering weird level? Weirdness abounds. However, I was determined to stick it out and see if it continued to morph, because dagnabbit, this scent should work on me! Emphatic grunt! Two hours later: it's richer now. It's a rich creamy scent on my wrist, and the funky scent is gone. I'm smelling the nog again, though no coffee, and not really any liqueur, though a little spice seems to be coming through with the nog. It's reminding me at this point of a richer, less sweet version of Eggnog 2007. During the weird stage in the middle, I was thinking sadly this would go into the swap pile, but at this point, I think I'm giving it another lease on life with me. We'll see how it does as it ages a wee bit, and we'll work on our relationship.

In the bottle: cherry and almond with a bakery sweetness Wet on wrist: sweet cherry and almond, like a cherry-fied version of Dana O'Shee (yum!) On the drydown: Yup, pretty much the same. The pastry scent is very low on me, as the almond blows it away mostly. I don't really get any apricot, but my skin amps almond so that could be why. Medium throw. If you like Dana O'Shee, you will probably like this.

I had a headache this morning, so I decided the first Yule I'd try would be Lick It Till It's Sticky, since peppermint is good for the achies. This is a very sharp peppermind when wet. On the drydown, it softens and reminds me most of those more crumbly candy canes with the soft sugar, if that makes sense -- the peppermint candy-cane bits that are sort of like after-dinner mint consistency. To me, it's not hard hang-on-the-tree candy-cane, it's a softer more sugary crumbly kind. I like it! My skin eats peppermint though, so it becomes less noticeable after about an hour. Definitely a keeper, both for headache purposes (the poor man's panacea!) and for holiday pepperminty-ness.

In the bottle: There's an overwhelming scent of buttery, buttery, BUTTERY scones. Wet on wrist: On me, it becomes the same buttery scent of Monsterbait: Closet. It's very buttery scones, but I'm not getting any blackberry jam. On the drydown: For the first hour, it was all that butter scent, but on hour two, I sniffed my arm, and the blackberry jam had come out to play. NOW it was buttery scones that definitely had some blackberries scooped ontop, or were baked into it... I got several compliments that I smelled delicious while wearing this, so yay! For me, it's a keeper, though I don't think I'll stockpile. If you like this, you're probably a fan of Monsterbait: Closet. It's less sweet by far, but at least on me, it smells like it's got a similar buttery component. A good companion scent, but not a twin. A cousin, perhaps.

I should preface this by saying that I had my first ever BPAL spill incident this morning when opening this bottle to test it. Cake Smash all over the coffeetable (about 1/4 of the bottle spilled out, and I rushed to grab a toothpick to sloooowly edge the pool of liquid to the edge where I dribbled it back into the bottle, because dammit, I was not going to lose it, and now it's moooostly all back where it belongs...but let me tell you, when you spill this stuff, well.....my living room now smells like CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE CAKE). Okay! So! In the bottle/living room: Very rich cake, the chocolate is subtle and fudgey, not cocoa powder at all (nothing like any of the Lupers that I tried from the Chocolate Box, which is good since those went ick on me), and I can grab a hint of that rich frosting too. Wet on skin: Cake + frosting still. This isn't the Eat Me cake though, it's much less...heavy. This is rich, but not heady/heavy, if that makes sense. The frosting comes alive on me too. On the drydown: I *think* I catch a hint of the Snake Oil, but it's barely there, because usually Snake Oil is a BLEH scent on me (BPAL blasphemy, I know *hangs head*) but here it just adds the tiniest other layer of depth to the scent, and really smooths it out. I haven't ever sniffed/tried Doc Constantine so I don't know if that's what I'm getting instead of Snake Oil (could be), but Dorian's my one true love and I'm not getting any of that, for the record. Final verdict: Yum! It's a good subtle cake scent on me, not like HOLY SHIT I TOOK A BATH IN CAKE like Eat Me is on me -- I like it. Om nom!

In the bottle: * sniffs, then looks at bottle with raised eyebrow* if it were dark and I was handed this bottle (and, you know, didn't know it was a BPAL bottle by the shape & size), I'd just assume it was cough syrup. Yowza! Wet on arm: The booze does come out to play here, and it's very cherry indeed! It's surprisingly light, considering how strong it is in the bottle, and only seconds after applying, it's mellowed. On the drydown: It's sweet cherries soaked in brandy. Kids, don't wear Suck It and drive. If you get pulled over wearing this, you're going to have some 'splainin' to do. Later in the day: The booze disappears and I get dark sweet cherry, without the kick of booze.

In the bottle: sugary cotton candy Wet on wrist: The cotton candy/spun sugar really dominates for a minute or so. As it dries down, I do get that sort of marshmallow fluff scent (oh hi there childhood!). It's not overly sugary, but that's the dominating scent. If there's linen/sheets in there, they're slathered in marshmallow fluff! On the drydown: Yep, still marshmallow fluff, with the cotton candy scent having sort of morphed into that. Alas, my normally sheet/cotton/linens-loving skin apparently eats spun sugar even faster! Not sure if I'll keep it or swap it away, as despite being such a foody, nont sure if I want to smell like a fluff sandwich, through and through. Hmm. But for those who want to smell like fluff, this is the scent for you!

Creepy 2009 In the bottle: WHOAH HEY CARAMEL HOW YOU'S DOIN'? Wet on arm: Apples slathered in caramel. That pretty much covers it. VERY heavy on the caramel, light on the apple. We're talking triple-dipped here. On the drydown: The apples appear sometimes, other times it's pure caramel. Having recently tried Sugar Slathered Candy Apple, I'd say this is slightly less sweet, but very similar.

In the bottle: Oh hi Fearful Pleasure. Deep apple all the way. Wet on wrist: NOM NOM. This is so very similar to Fearful Pleasure still (which I just brought out the other day since I saw a tree's leaves turning yellow). But the apple is less sharp, more mashed (HOW DOES BETH DO THAT) and softer, and the clove and nutmeg and sugar are winding their way around this scent, not overpowering the apple, but really mixing and warming with it. On the drydown: The spices really come out to play, and the nutmeg's really coming to the front here. The apple is fading, and it's reminding me of a warm drink that really does have all of those things, with apple being a component, but the other things really rising to the top. It's the sweeter sister to Fearful Pleasure, really. Much calmer, less noticeable, but just as good (just in a different way).

Wet on wrist: ohmygod OM NOM NOM NOM NOOOOOM caramel and sharp apple On the drydown: Juicy, juicy apple, the scent of that first crunchy delicious bite, slathered in caramel. As it dries, the apple really comes out and the caramel is clearly a coating. Verdict: Love. Absolute love. Similar scents: Snow, Glass, Apples; Fearful Pleasure I only have 2ml of this, and am going to need to find MOAR MOAR MOAR OMG. Update: after a few hours, the caramel's still going strong, but the apple has faded.

In the imp: Watermelon, all the way. Wet on wrist: FRUIIIIT. This is watermelon and preserves and sugar and melon and melon and melon and melon! OM NOM. On the drydown: This is really sugary fruit. It's sort of like wearing a fruit salad with some spoonfuls of sugar on top. It's very fresh fruit, too -- juicy and cool and sweet. It seems to be fading rather quickly on me though, so it may simmer down a bit so it's not FRUIT but fruit. Not sure if I'll buy a bottle, but I'll definitely use the imp up. I'm a little worried if I wore this out, I'd attract bees (I really don't worry about that with any of my other bottle scents) -- I'm so sweet and juicy! You know, that's it. In the Regina Spektor song when she sings about tangerines and says "So sweet and juicy!" she is CLEARLY actually talking about this perfume.

In the imp: very sharp honey Wet on wrist: I get a burst of chamomile and then it's all honeyhoneyhoneyhoney....honey! On the drydown: It's settled to a warm cup of chamomile with spoonful after spoonful of honey in it. It's very sweet, very feminine, and quite clean in the just-washed-my-hair sort of way, yanno? I don't know if I'll purchase a bottle, but I'll definitely use the imp now and again. I think I like drinking sweet (well, slightly less sweet than this) chamomile better than wearing it all the time, but I can see myself reaching for this if I'm feeling under the weather.

It's official. Fig and I are not friends, and never the twain shall meet again. All the other notes would have been glorious on my skin, but alas, figs! In real life, I like figs! I don't mind the smell of figs! I am a friend to all figs, and never a fig foe. But alas. For figs clearly see me as only a foe. I want nice warm fig scents, they give me feet smells. In the bottle: Figfigfigfigfigfigfigberries!honey!figfigfig On my wrist: FE FI FO FIG. On the drydown: I actually get a little bit of the raspberry tartness in the musky afterglow of the scent which is GLORIOUS and lovely. But the initial burst of scent I get when I sniff my wrist is that of feety feety figs. I figured I'd give figs another fair fight. But I think this firms up the final decision. Figs are fatal on my skin. (Again, that afterglow of berry and honey that I get is LOVELY -- I really think this is just a case of my skin hating my guts, judging from other reviews here.)

Is IT cuddly! This is SUCH a comfort scent. I get a hint of musk overlayed with cocoa, and I get a whiff of light tobacco and that vanilla rolled together. This is the first CD of many that's a real hit with my skin. It's such a soft warm scent without being "hot" (like, cinnamon is a warm scent, but it's a "hot" scent...know what I mean?) -- this makes me want to just cuddle up in a blanket and snooze and be cozy. I think I'm in love and it makes me kind of nervous [for my wallet] to say so...

In the bottle: Sharp, cold, juicy apples! Wet on wrist: This reminds me of gummy apple candy, with a breath of ice. On the drydown: same! OM NOMNOMNOMNOMMMMMMMM

This is really what I wanted Beaver Moon res. to smell like -- it's all pink and creamy and fruity, but there's just a hint of frosting -- not headache-inducing at all! *knaws at wrist*

I love-love-love the bottle art! In the bottle: YOWZA BONFIRE *coughs a little* Wet on skin: YOWZA BONFIRE *coughs a little more* That's a strong bonfire right there. This isn't your grandmother's little firepit on the patio. This is BONNNNNNNNFIREEEEEEE THROW ON THE CHAIRS THROW ON THE TABLE THROW THE PIANO IN TOO -- this is heavy duty burn-all-the-evidence-and-dance-around-it-under-the-open-sky bonfire, so that smoke is furling up in plumes. On the drydown: still all smoke and flames. I really can't detect anything else. My skin normally loves booze, and rose is one of the few florals that works on me, but they've burned long ago, the bottle of booze exploding in the flames and the rose curling and turning to ash before I even got to the party. Definitely an outdoor scent. Wearing this, I feel like I've been at a bbq standing over the cooker all evening -- it's a clingly sort of scent. Very, very bonfire. Very evocative, spot-on with the bonfire bit, but I don't think my skin really likes it. It's not something I can see myself reaching for -- just a tad too strong. But very evocative, hits the nail on the head there, and again, love the bottle art! Gonna go wash this off, I think. I feel a bit smokey.

In the bottle: very sharp...reminds me of lemon pledge with a sharp floral bite to it. Wet on wrist: Very citrusy. Nice, though! There's a hint of booze in there that's gone just as quickly as it arrived. On the drydown: the jasmine and lemon are really fighting a battle to the death over who gets to be the dominant note here. One minute it'll be the citrus, the next it's the jasmine. I'm not getting any snake oil (which is fine with me, since snake oil never works well on me, not in regular SO, not in Snake Charmer, not in Lilith Victoria), but neither am I getting any Dorian (alas, my sweet, my love!). Cedar usually amps on my skin, and my skin usually loves anything booze-related too, so I was hoping those would show up, but all I'm really getting here is a citrus/jasmine OTP. I'll have to try it again when I'm not trying several oils in a day (just got my order), but I'm not sure if this one is a keeper or not at this point.

Spiced Satsuma orange, tangerine, rich amber, black licorice, teak, cinnamon, and vetiver. In the bottle: AMBER VETIVER orange? Wet on wrist: this goes all amber and vetiver on me; I get a hint of orange and spices, but mostly it's allllll amber/vetiver (they sort of mingle). On the drydown: I don't know for sure if it's the amber or the vetiver here, but one of the two will almost always conjure up images of summer camp for me. The buildings we'd do skits and such in really had this scent. Same with the cabins. Slowly, slowly, slowly the amber and vetiver and settling down, and the orange is coming to the front. However, that back-scent of the amber and vetiver is still definitely there, and I think it's a bit too heady for my liking. It's sort of like if I were peeling an orange in one of my camp cabins. Not bad. But not for me. It was worth a shot! I think I've probably going to steer clear from amber and vetiver from now on; this isn't the first time I've gotten that camp image, so I think they're just no-no notes for me. Alas!

The reminds me a lot of The Flower Song, which is a huge favorite of mine! Wet: Bright, fruity. On the drydown: It's a very reed-like smell, with a soft fruity undertone. It's like The Flower Song, but less sweet, and without the wine, if that makes sense. I like it!

Oh gosh, this is pure sweet bright tangy lemonade with a hint of berry on me. The perfect summer scent! Sharp, sweet and clean and bright! It's like a tall cool glass of berry lemonade, from in the bottle, to wet on wrist, to the drydown. Mmmmmm.

Dirty or Wensleydale all the way!

This is ROSE ROSE ROSE. I don't really get anything green or sappy here, just rooooooooooose. I don't dislike it, but don't think it warrants a bottle; for some reason, anything this strongly rose reminds me of rose-flavored Turkish delight, and that in turn reminds me of what a grandma would smell like. It's definitely a pure rose scent, but not for me. Lovely, though!