LunaDragonGirl

Creamy, sparkling yellow, lemon tea cookie! Delish! A lot of people have mentioned "green" but I'm getting a sparkly yellow from this, although I can see a bit of green there...it's like a new spring daffodil...pale yellow with the green stem, pushing up through the last of late winter's gently-sparkling snow. This has aged pretty well...when I first got it back when it was released, it had a bit of a harsher green edge to it...it has mellowed out considerably and softened. Also, this layers really well with Hungry Ghost Moon, at least, last time I was bottle-testing. I want lemon tea cookies now! NomNom

As Innocent said before, fans of BPAL's dirt notes are gonna love this one. Just applied: warm, soft, velvety-grey dirt...I get a scent-picture of the fur of a mole (or what I remember mole's fur to be like, from my encounters of them in the garden when I was little)...that soft velvety grey with a slight sheen...with a pile of freshly dug, damp dirt all around. As it dries, more of the cedar comes out to play and I get velvety-grey dirt mixed with a heavy dose of pencil shavings. Not something I would wear as a perfume, or even use as a room scent but it is very evocative and gorgeous. I definitely feel the Badger energy in this one. I guess I'm just not a big cedar fan! Well...very small doses are okay, I think. But this is a bit too much for me. I'm glad I got to give it a try though.

For some reason, I realized today that I never properly reviewed Cerberus...one of very first bottles of the Preciousss I ordered. So..this is a retroactive review I guess...from June 05's testing: I was SO hopeful that Cerberus would love me...cuddle up to me protectively like a giant irish wolfhound...I took that first unforgettable sniff...and the juniper jumped right up my nose and started slicing at my sinuses and eyeballs. I took a much gentler sniff...still quite sharp...with a hint of cherry cough syrup. Gave my nose a few minutes to calm down, then tried a tiny bit on my wrist from the cap...I couldn't even take this scent for twenty minutes. I tried...oh I tried...hoping it would mellow out into something comforting, as it did on many others. It continued to become even sharper pointy doggy teeth ripping at my head. Instant headache. I'm so sad! I guess I should just stick to cats.

In Imp: Cedar and Sandalwood come at me out of the imp with a vengence...eek! Sharp and scary pencils! Wet on skin: Overpowering scent of (as auburnette mentioned above) graphite and pencil shavings. This is bring me back to first grade when I had the job of emptying out the pencil sharpeners for a month. Oddly enough, I liked the smell of pencil shavings then...and I like the smell of cedar now, but Magus is not okay with me. It's dry and crackly and makes me wrinkle my nose. I'm not getting any of the galangal or high john essence that I'm aware of...and the frankincense is only a soft background note...mostly I'm getting dusty bits of Dixon Ticonderoga #2. Drydown: more of the sandalwood and frankincense come out...mellowing the pencil shavings/graphite dust notes a teenytiny bit, but this never balances out to warmth for me. Still mostly dry, dusty pencil shavings...very two dimensional flat dull yellow, rather than mellowing out into a three dimensional golden warm scent. ): Not for me! Off to the swap/frimp pile!

If you click on the Galleries (it's in the labels gallery) link at the top of the board page, there is one pic someone loaded of an old bottle with the parchment label. Here ya go: Pic

So I woke up this morning feeling as though I had been run over by a bus. Blegh. Thought maybe I had just not slept very well but it turns out I have a cold. Headache, sore throat, sniffles, body aches...the whole shebang. I've been drinking lots of EmergenC and TheBoy made some tasty soup for me for dinner, with lots of garlic. He's a nice Boy. Spent a lot of the day on the couch, perusing the forum and the Spectra.net forum that I just joined. Mmmmm...MAC makeup goodness. I hope I feel better tomorrow. I hate being sick. I'm one of those people who feels guilty relaxing and resting even when I'm supposed to, like when I'm sick. It makes me restless. PS: The rain can stop anytime now...I'd like to put in a vote for some nice sunshiny springtime weather...if any of the weather gods/goddess are listening.

Awoke this morning after a night of intense dreams, none of which I can remember, feeling quite moody and as though I could break down sobbing at the drop of a hat. It took me quite a while to actually get myself out of bed; there was a huge part of me wanting to simply stay hidden under my comforter for the rest of my life. (the constant rain is NOT helping my mood, I might add, as much as I love the rain...the smells, the sounds, the way the creek behind my house rushes and gurgles) Decided that today was a good day to find my way to my favourite coffee spot, for a tiny bit of heaven...cappuchino, biscotti and a bit of knitting work on my second pair of fingerless gloves/wrist warmers. I've discovered that the rhythm of "knit 2, purl 2" puts me into quite a meditative state and calms me down a lot. My fav coffee spot happens to be a cart inside of a lovely shop that sells magazines from all over, newspapers, and stationary...they also sell cigars and save the empty cigar boxes to sell to people who might want them. Wandered into the store after finishing my coffee moment and asked to see their current empty cigar box collection. They had three left...one of which came home with me as it was the perfect size for a BPAL box. It's a square box as opposed to the usual cigar box shape (short and rectangular)...perfect for 5 and 10mls. Now I have to decide what I'm going to do with it...and after a bit of thought, I think I'm going to go with an Edward Gorey theme. I have a ton of small Gorey pics from two years worth of "daily desk calendars". I think I will colour some of them with coloured pencils and modge podge them on. Maybe paint the box a shade of grey, or possibly purple. PS: More forumites need to use the chat feature! It's nifty and cool!

Heehee...well, I can see it so it must have worked. Hi! *waves*

In the imp: Green with an edge..maybe pine or cypress? On wet: Green and slightly piney or woodsy...sharp...then the dreaded lotus kicks in...at least I'm assuming there is a lotus note in this...that sickly sweet, cloying, bubblegum scent that lotus always does on my skin...*sigh* Dry: lotus, lotus, lotus. I'm not getting any of the nice florals that others have mentioned. Wanted to like it, but just DOES NOT work on me.

I wanted to love you, Madrid! But I think our relationship, as quickly as it started, has to end. It's me, not you...I'm sure there is a skin chemistry out there who is a perfect match for you, darling. In the imp: boozey, like a glass of wine that has been left out too long. On wet: Wait...there might be hope yet! I'm getting luscious red wine, full bodied, with a hint of spicy clove and a lingering background note of citrusy somethingorruther. 2, 5 and 10 minutes later: Noooooooooo! Sickeningly sweet rotting citrus fruit, drowning in overly-sweet watered down red wine gone bad. No clove to speak of, and a headache threatens. The scent description sounded right up my alley....clove *swoon*, red wine *nice*, mimosa *yum and citrus!*, but...unfortunately, Madrid left me with only nightmarish visions of rotting oranges dancing around a vat of moldy grapes.

Re: Shadow Witch Orchid label....ooooooooooooohhh...SO pretty! It looks like there are a lot of jewel tones in this label, and the spiders...CUTE! I can't wait to get my hands on some RG scents! Amazing label art adds so much to my overall enjoyment of the precioussss...makes it a "whole body" sensual experience. Macha. You ARE the Doodle Goddess. Thanks for posting the pic, Gin!

Center of your back, eh? It should rock! You should post a pic of it in the Tattoos thread afterwards. (: Don't forget to eat a decent meal before your tattoo appointment..having an empty stomach is a bad thing. Also, bring a couple of tootsie pops or suckers or lifesavers to suck on while you are getting tattooed (if you eat candy that is)...it will help keep you from feeling passy-outy. Getting tattooed over your ribs might be painful (I've heard that is one of the more painful spots to get tattooed) but just remember to breath through it, and I'm sure you'll be fine! And I bet you, about five minutes after you're finished, you'll be craving your next tat. Are you going alone or bringing a friend?

Hmmm...I would go with Lionheart, or, if you don't have that, The Lion (: Those are both strong, protective, brave scents. (: Blood Countess might also work...it's very powerful and sensual...both things I associate with tattoos. Where on your body are you getting a tattoo? I got my first tattoo a few months ago, on my outer left leg, just above my ankle, and it didn't hurt at all, but it tickled like CRAZY...kind of an intense tickle...hard to describe...but it was an intense experience..and the endorphine high was great. *giggle* Hey, my name is Kat too! Yay for tattooed Kats!

For me, it's two Excedrin extra-strengths, sipping on ice water, a cold washcloth, a dark room, and a slathering of lavender essential oil on my temples and the back of my neck. I've used Somnus a few times, but it doesn't work as well on me was straight lavender EO. I've never thought of trying mint or pennyroyal...and I love the scent of both. I should try that next time...and maybe get ahold of some Pain. (any excuse for more of the preciousss!)

Rhowan, You might know this already, but a great way to keep track of where the lab is with regards to shipping orders is the "ClickNShip" thread over *here*. People are usually nice enough to post the date they ordered, and when they recieved the "ClickNShip" email from the post office, indicating that their order is on its merry way. Looks like the busy labrats are just starting in on shipping the orders placed during the first week of September. Hope this helps!

After trying Nanshee and having that SO not work on me (lemon pledge anyone?) I was a bit hesitant to try Baku, but Somnus is lovely, so I gave it a try. In the imp: lavender...yummy lavender...I want to say similiar to spike lavender essential oil as opposed to the other, (augustafolius I want to say but I know I'm wrong). Wet on skin: Very strong lavender...almost like I swiped on essential oil. Stays that way for about, oh, ten minutes....then....wha??? licorice? Licorice with a background of lavender...then the licorice morphs to something more akin to fennel or anise. Drydown: Varies between a topnote of licorice/anise/fennel with a bottom note of lavender. Nice, but I'm much happier with Somnus.

In the imp and on me: Overpowering, sickly sweet, cloying fruity scent...like black cherry syrup that has been reduced to the consistancy of molasses...very heavy and overpowering. I can't detect any of the more incensey notes at all, and I'm a big fan of amber. I'm getting a headache. After almost a half an hour, the overpowering sweetness finally disapppears and...nothing. The scent has just faded away to nothing but a slight, tiny hint of baby powder. I wanted to love this, I really did. The imagery in the description, the concept...all wonderful. The scent on me however...no worky!

When I'm feeling unsure and scared and in need of comfort, White Light layered with Lionheart works wonders. If I'm feeling too raw and sensitive to deal with the outside world right away, Dragon's Milk or Dragon's Tears or Bastet wrap me up in fierce protection and allow me to deal with the world. When I just want to feel a bit of cheer, Pink Moon, Chiroptera or Queen of Clubs usually does it for me.

At first, I wasn't going to purchase this, but after hearing someone tell me what they thought it smelled like, I couldn't pass it up. Bottle from Black Broom. In Bottle: Warm, with a slight spicy note in the background that could ALMOST be cinnamon. Definitely amber. Intensly comforting scent. A combination of being wrapped in a warm fluffly blanket on a cold day, and the comfort of mom. Wet: Warm amber, vanilla, creamy with a hint of spicy "warping" the creamy warm amber. Drydown: An incensey note is coming through, making its way to the top of the note pile. The topnote is now spicy ambery incense cut through with creamy amber vanilla. It's like a white spice cake, where you can see the dark spices scattered randomly throughout the whiteness of the cake, rather than a layer of white and a layer of spice. There is a slight touch of something resiny too....not the amber...something darker, that is tickling my nose, but I can't for the life of me put a finger on it. Frankincense maybe? Guh. Can't figure it out. LOVELY scent and I'm going to order at least one more bottle before CN goes away. Don't know how on earth I could have even thought about not ordering this one! Silly me. Get this one while you can, people. It's gonna be in high demand when CN leaves this earth. EDIT: This is really Snake Charmer --Shollin

More Droolworthy Macha art! Without futher ado, i present to you the glittering House of Mirrors And now for the main attraction, 3 out of 4 Elementals! On the second stage, hailing from the hot lala lands of Los Angeles, give a hearty welcome to Buck Moon and Bastets Laughter.

The Queen of Clubs has come out to play! Deal me in! So pretty!

Frimpy from the lab with my very first order ever. (: And I have three black furbabies myself, so quite appropriate. In The Imp: Spicy, herby, dark,dark green almost turning black is the colour I smell. There is a note I can't place that I want to say is akin to licorice...but it's more like a really good hard alchohol...like scotch...it has a derinite edge to it. Wet: Toning down immediately. I can BARELY get whiffs of the floral people are talking about, hiding behind the spicy/herby/green bits. Drydown: For a few seconds, it is as if a giant red rose got squished under a large damp chunk of cedar wood. Wow. The colour is changing from dark, dark green to an almost warm wooden brown. Almost like a chunk of reddish cedar. I'm getting the incensey cedar scent on top of a rather nice floral/rose scent. This one is quite the morphing smellie. Not quite something I want to keep around for wearing much though. Might get a bottle for ritual purposes however...as I like how I'm feeling as this scent goes into drydown.

Received as frimpage from a swap. In The Imp: very fruity...I can pick out cherry and strawberry...it's a strong, dark red scent...almost like a cross between a cherry Tootsie Pop and Berry KoolAid. Wet: still fruity. Some background spicyness is coming through. Dark, glistening berry red. Bordering on too cloying...but the spicyness/vanilla/sparkling notes in the background mellow it out a bit. Drydown: STILL fruity. More cherry than strawberry. I'm getting a spicy note that is mingling with the cherry that is making me think of cinnamon. It's trying really hard to be spicy cherry cough syrup on me, but everytime I sniff, the scent subtly changes. Oh...wait...there is the amber/muskyness....oh...there it goes...back to cherryfruitiness. Hm. It seems to be mellowing out nicely, but I don't know if this is something I'd actually wear enough to merit getting a bottle. Off to the "wait and try a second time" pile.

Mmmmmm....Evil Gingersnaps is right! Got this in imp form in a swap...and MUST track down a bottle now! In The Imp: Vanilla, cardamom, other dark spicy things swirl around reminding me of a large chunk of gingerbread cake, warm and fresh from the oven...with a nibbling undertone/background note of freshly cut/chopped ginger...fresh and green-tinged Wet: Two distinct layers...top layer of freshly cut ginger...a sharp nibble rather than a painful bite, tinged with green...bottom layer is that warm from the oven gingerbread cake (Not cookies...it's more of a cake feeling)...dark, spicy, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, molasses. Drydown: The two layers are merging wonderfully. When I sniff my wrist directly, I can still distinguish the two layers, but when I get whiffs as I go about my day, it's evil gingerbread cake happiness. The freshly-cut ginger component makes this a great summer scent. It has a crisp, cool feel to it, but dark and spicy enough to make it through fall and into winter, where I imagine the warm, spicy bits will go well with a cup of hot cocoa and a snuggly kitty next to me.

I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would love this one, as I adore honey/milky scents... In The Bottle: First whiff I get mostly the spicyness of the lunar oils with a creamy buttery milky scent wrapped around it like a blanket. It's like a milky version of the butterscotch disc candies. On Wet: More of the same...a bit more of the spicyness of the lunar oils comes out to play...but the background milkycreaminess is still there. On Drydown: Wow...after about a half an hour this really softens up and fades on me. Fades down to a soft, creamy comforting smell...almost like....*tries to put a finger on it*...um....really creamy yummy rice pudding, with maybe the tiniest drizzle of honey on top and the tiniest smallest sprinkle of spice (it's more like a nutmeg than a cinnamon, if I had to try and name the spice) The scent is still smellable on me, but it's very gentle. Verdict: Love it!