NightingaleRB

When I first got this one, I was really hoping to smell like apples all the livelong day. And... I'm still hoping. While wet it was 100% apple, but that quickly faded into rosey rose. My mom thought it was Two Five and Seven, actually (her exact words were "that's rather girly for you" ). It faded quickly. A while later I tried it again, and a little bit of aging (but not much) brought out the shy little apple and lemon. Now, I've tried it again (after nearly 18 months of aging, ha ha), and I think I know why I couldn't find the apple before. The apple in Delirium really is closer to "apple pulp" than "a crisp apple off the tree." This is not meant in a bad way at all -- just imagine that you had a nice fresh apple and decided to make some homemade applesauce. And you thought a potato masher applied directly to the raw apple would be the best way to do it. That's what kind of apple this is. Age has also increased the throw, and made the whole scent more... I almost want to say "fuzzy." It's very sweet and round and full. I use this when I want: to convert innocent bystanders. But really it's good for when I don't know what I want to wear.

My mother and I really need to stop enabling each other. ;p (At the time of this writing I haven't technically smelled Snake Oil on its own, so everything relating to that particular smell is total guesswork.) This bit was written last year, when I first got Coral Snake: In the bottle I can nearly detect everything clearly, smells sweet but not too much so and I'm really feeling the Snake Oil. Once it goes on though the SO takes over, and... um. I'm not quite sure what it is but suddenly I'm remembering all the SO horror stories. It's not BAD but it's nothing like I was expecting from the description OR the bottle-sniff. Vanilla? Maybe burned vanilla. ... Okay, as it dries the close-up still smells like SO, but further away I get whiffs of the flowers. It gets slightly less "burnt" as time goes on too. And this bit was written today: I am SO glad I was patient with this one. The Snake Oil has calmed down considerably; now it smells like a dark vanilla instead of a burnt mess. It does still take over the blend while wet, though. The flowers emerge next; the SO is staying close to the skin but the flowers have more throw, creating a very interesting effect. I wish the apple and other fruits were louder on me though... it is there, a little bit, but it doesn't pop out (at least not as much as it did from the bottle). And on dry down, everything retreats back into my skin, leaving spicy deliciousness. This is hard to describe but it smells different when I sniff normally, and when the scent wafts into the BACK of my nose from my mouth. Like, if I sniff with my nose, I detect a lot of spice and Snake Oil. When I take a deep breath with my mouth open, I detect more florals and a little blood orange. Wow. I have to try this one in a scent locket, it's non-negotiable. I use this when I want: an intriguing mixed scent; sweet enough to make me smile, spicy enough to keep things interesting. Despite the size of the bottle I haven't been wearing this one as much as I should, because my nose is a n00b and everyone else seems to be more sensitive to Coral Snake than I am. Regardless this is a fascinating scent and if it doesn't work at first, let it age for a while.

Oh Persephone. You so crazy. (Thank you labbies, it's a lovely frimp.) In the bottle, this smells Divine with a capital D. Once it hits my skin though, all rose. Maybe there's a little pomegranate in the background thickening it up... that gets more pronounced as it dries down. It's not the same pomegranate that was in the bottle though. It's almost... bitter? Gets better later as it wears off... ^ I wrote that the first time I tried it, a few months ago, and it's pretty much the same now. A burst of rose at the beginning, followed by an almost sickly pomegranate (overripe? or slightly bitter? I can never decide), followed by the two eventually blending together and playing nice. I'd love to try this in a scent locket as I think it'd be very nice without my skin chemistry mucking things up. ;p I use this when I want: a wake-up-and-pay-attention dark fruity. I don't think I'd wear this out and about... the bitter is a little too pronounced for that.

Last Christmas, I ordered Pepper for my mom and the labbies included a frimp of Bayou (long overdue "thank you," labbies!). I managed to sneak a dab. Crocodile flowers. That's what it smells like wet. As it dries, more crocodile, less flowers. But no, the flowers are coming back again. It's a "deeper" kind of flower than, for example, Delirum. My nose isn't mistaking it for fruit, no way. Now that I've looked up the notes I can sort of detect the evergreen on the edge of it. It does like to stick to the flowers though. Maybe there's a bit of water in there too. I've never been to a bayou or marsh but this is exactly what I imagine it would smell like. "Deep thick blue-green" is exactly right, but it is in no way overpowering. A few months of aging has blended the flowers more seamlessly into the aquatics, so now it smells more like... well if mermaids had flowers, they would smell like this. I use this when I want: a pure delicious aquatic floral. I could even see this as a signature scent... perhaps?

This one starts out very citrus-y on me, but not Eau de Pledge. The citrus never really goes away but it definitely takes a back-seat to a light aquatic and what I can only assume is the ozone -- it feels like static electricity in my nose. This will sound strange but as it dries down it smells "cool." Like, I sniff my wrists and feel like the temperature has dropped a few degrees. Right as it gets on its last legs this one goes a bit flowery, like one single flower floating in a rain puddle. Not bad at all. I use this when I want: something cool and light. Very excellent for summertime, especially due to the cooling properties mentioned above. While it's not Eau de Pledge, it's not exactly Eau de Thor either (as I was hoping)... but it's still a great scent.

I admit, this one only caught my eye because of Rich Burlew's "Order of the Stick" comics. (I am a fan of Redcloak yes yes.) But I'm glad I ordered it, as apparently I like a lot of these notes. Out of the imp, I get a lot of coconut, but it quickly settles down into the patchouli and the two balance very nicely when dry. Unfortunately I don't know what benzoin smells like (or even what it is ), but overall the scent reminds me of the outer shell of a coconut, that black slightly woody FUZZ that covers the whole thing. There's a little sweetness too... maybe the coconut in question has just been cracked open a smidge? I get no sunscreen from this whatsoever. I use this when I want: to smell earthy-sweet. This could work as a masculine scent. Unfortunately my little imp has sprung a leak, thanks to a rather unfortunate accident involving a homemade "travel case..." guess I gotta order more!

Glad to see I'm not the only one who finds this scent familiar despite never smelling it before. It actually reminds me of my grandmother's house and visiting the beach -- this is totally a salty beach towel laying in the sun. I'm not so good at picking out notes but the one I do recognize is salt. Plus... something extra... Either it's so faint I don't notice it now or it wears off earlier than the others. This pretty much dries down without changing; it does get a little closer to the skin and a little more "liquid." I've been told that it smells like "Rachel Ever-So-Much-More-So." I rather like the sound of that. I use this when I want: a subtle, sweet, watery scent. Very nice and light enough to use every day. <3 ETA: Just popping in to say that a year of aging has dramatically increased the throw of this perfume, but the scent remains unchanged. Good news all around!

(My first review... eep.) This was a frimp from the lab (thank you!), but it literally made my eyes water in the bottle so I gave it to my mom. Now I'm trying it on anyway... I definitely smell the lily when wet, and there's a little spice as well. For some reason I can't stop sniffing... and now my nose is itchy. ;p It almost goes fruity the more it dries down. I don't get "erotic" from this at all. It's nice, but not "erotic," to my mind at least. I use this when I want: to smell spicy and intriguing. Probably not something I'd choose every day though.