zankoku_zen

This has me very torn. I love the moonflower note, but I'm beginning to think that phlox and I don't get along. At the beginning, this is a very sharp white floral. Nothing distinctive. As it dries, I get more of the moonflower note and it does become more gentle, but there is still this underlying 'whiff' of something very very sharp. In the end, I don't think this blend is for me. Off to swaps it goes.

This is for the 2007 incarnation Upon application and in the vial, I could definitely smell the 'fresh cut' green stem of the rose as the most predominant smell. Once on my skin, it bloomed into a rose. A fresh, dewy rose. It's kinda amazing that way. It pretty much stays as 'rose' on my skin. Verdict: At this point, I know I don't like roses. My fave rose scent is Whip because it's not just rose. But this is very gosh darn pretty. And exactly like the lab description. That's fabulous. Bravo Labbies!

Hmmm... I think I used this sometime in mid-late November. I was applying for new jobs, but more importantly, the work suckage of my current job had taken a toll on my relationship with my husband. I wanted a sort of a kickstart in general. Not sexually, but more like I wanted to laugh and be happier and just enjoy time with my husband. I didn't light a pink candle, but I did think of Venus. In fact, I thought of the painting of Venus rising from the sea, her ginger hair blowing in the wind and taking a step off the giant shell and on to land, giving me her hand. I just asked her to smile upon me. I think she did. I found a new job, my husband and I are ridiculously giddy now (mainly because I don't wake up dreading to go to work) and we're being cuddly and just... my life has picked up for the better. Verdict: Dude, this stuff works. It's on my list of TAL purchase... which at this point is ballooning up horribly. Way to go Beth and labbies...

I used this along with FWP (thanks to the lovely LupaWulf!) a couple of weeks ago. I used a tea light because it was the only white candle I had. icon_redface.gif I did burn it two days in a row, in the morning. I also dabbed it on my chakra points. And while it burned I thought about my work situation and just how negative my boss is and how I let all that negativity affect me. That day I had a better day than I had in a long time. I did feel 'shielded' but more than that, it let me get enough of myself back and my own self worth to let my boss know I wasn't taking her crap anymore. A couple of days after that, I didn't burn another candle but I did dab some on my chakra points, mainly because I wanted to purge myself of the residual negativity. Smells very comforting, very lovely. And I have to say that the FWP + White Light combination worked well.

I used this (thanks to the lovely LupaWulf!) along with White Light a couple of weeks ago. I used a tea light because it was the only white candle I had. I did burn it two days in a row, in the morning. And while it burned I thought about my work situation and just how negative my boss is and how I let all that negativity affect me. That day I had a better day than I had in a long time. I did feel 'shielded' but more than that, it let me get enough of myself back and my own self worth to let my boss know I wasn't taking her crap anymore. Most importantly, I didn't feel like my life sucked and there was nothing I could do about it, which was the biggest side effect of the constant negativity at work.

I can see the comparisons to Fire Pig -- this has the same asian vibe with the sweet juicy fruit. Unfortunately, I was hoping for the asian pear and have got NO pear at all. I think the most predominant notes for me are sugar and violets. I feel like if you wanted to like Fire Pig and didn't, you should give Peacocks a shot.

Oh man, on me this scent began as lemon fizzyness with a hint of pepper. Now its shot to rosemary and graham crackers. Sorry to say but this doesn't work on me... ETA: Tried it in the vintage version from one of the Cobwebby bottles. I get more of the green grass, mild medicinal note. Aquatic. It's slightly sweet on wet, dries to a more outdoorsy scent, and is gone after an hour. Sadness. Prototype v3, from the 1st Cobweb event in February 2009: This one smells really similar to the vintage version available at the Cobwebby events. Green grass, aquatic, with a brighter yellow floral note on. Again, the drydown on this one doesn't last very long.

At the beginning, it had a wet green plant smell. And now, after an hour, the marine accord dominates. Very ozoney. I was hoping for more of the peony and waterlily.

This for me at the beginning was super sweet juicy peach and champagne. It smelled like a Bellini. Fabulous. But in the drydown, more of the florals come into play. It is still a peachy scent, but I miss the effervescent quality it had when first applied. Still, all peach lovers should try it.

At the beginning, this is incensey, but in the drydown the plumeria comes out in full force. Can I call this purple? This is definitely a purple, sweet floral. I smell a hint of the azucenas. A tad too sweet for me. I was hoping the incense and the florals would strike a bargain. Alas, no.

On me, this is definitely musky and masculine and brings to mind Old Spice, but not as spicy... but more woodsy and mossy. Just from the smell, this is perhaps a little too musky and mossy for my guy. Dynamite on the right guy though. Mmm... tasty!

This is a very interesting scent. It's sort of like a more ethereal O, meaning if you combined Fairy Market and O, this might be their child. Well, at least on me it is. I get honey and sweet vanilla, and the swirls of something else. Much sweeter than I expected but I'm glad that the vanilla behaves. A very pretty, feminine, slightly foodie scent.

For me, this is light and candy like. I was hoping for more of the ethereal quality that Fairy Market has. I do get hints of honey and dandelion, with just a sharp edge of booziness.

Oh man, I never had the jasmine 'cat pee' phenomenon happen to me. Until now. For some strange reason, in this blend, the wet stage does smell really awful. After about an hour, the jasmine behaves and well, smells like jasmine. Bright, sharp, clear and crystalline. Perhaps too sharp. Combined with the awful wet stage, this one blend did not work for me.

This so didn't work for me. It was butter everywhere. Butterny nutty pine. Buttery nuts. Then finally, buttery smoky nuts. In any of its metamorphing stages did the butter let up. Sad.

This began oddly enough as a fruity incense sort of scent but now it's more of a mellow incense/sandalwood with hints of powder. No lemongrass, honey or blood orange, which were some of the notes I was hoping for the most.

This is a very light green and chilly floral on me. I have no idea what hellebore smells like, but definitely nothing like rose, and something that must be akin to a slight earthy, creamy, light floral smell I've got going on. Unfortunately, after a few hours, it disappears from my skin.

I had much higher expectations or maybe my skin chemistry eats certain components up because the main predominant notes are fir and cedar. I really smell like a tree. There is a certain chilly quality to it, but none that really evokes 'snow'. But rather, this is the forest a few hours before there is a snow storm with that 'snow' is in the air quality. Damnit, I wanted it to snow in my forest. That's my only objection. *Sigh*

At the beginning, the brown sugar and cocoa were too sweet. This was an extremely foody scent. After an hour, the coffee note is more predominant, and the coffee's bitterness balances out the sugar/cocoa sweetness so it makes a dynamic combination. Very tasty. This isn't a scent that I would wear very often, but I think I will keep the decant because it is SO yummy.

The comparisons to Sea of Glass are spot on. It also echoed Szepasszony for me. This is a very clean, very ozoney, aggressively sharp to my nose. It also has a heavy lily component, like the kind found in Sea of Glass. To me, this smells like a better version of Sea of Glass. I wore SoG to a funeral, so to me this scent has a tinge of sadness to it. Very chilly and desolate indeed.

I was hoping for the blackcurrant to be a major player in this, but again the rose dominates. It starts out as a rather virginal, white flower sort of rose, and as time passes and it dries, it becomes muskier and darker. Blood-tinged indeed. As a Victorian romantic concept, and an embodiment of Wilhemina Murray's character and novel development, this is spot on. Bravo Lab!

This one starts so promising on my skin. I love the sugary minty vanilla... but the mint disappears as it dries and the vanilla takes on the plastic/burnt overtone. Not as bad as Tokyo Stomp, but it was the thing I was dreading with this incarnation of Lick It. So far, the best one for my skin chemistry has been Lick It Again. This one would have been even more gorgeous than LIA if the vanilla had behaved. Sadness.

Incensey. This was hot incense, leather and a hint of pepper on me. Very masculine, but I don't think my guy would appreciate this one. There was something almost ominous about this scent. I would think this is a perfect male Halloween scent.

On wet, there is a very distinctive cucumber/melon note. Very cool, crisp and aquatic. As it starts to dry, the cucumber/melon freshness drops a little and I get a juicy sort of white floral. Overall, as it keeps drying the white floral smell predominates and becomes very sweet. I think this would make a great bridal scent. I loved the cucumber/melon stage but that didn't last long.

I have a half-decant of Charisma that I thought I'd use because I REALLY wanted something to turn out well. I had my second job interview today with a non-profit that I'd really like to work with. The interview went well. The first two interviewers said I asked a lot of good questions, and the CEO ended up staying an additional twenty minutes to talk to me and told me I was a good listener and talker. I think we really hit it off. Hopefully, they'll call me soon! And if they do, I totally am going to buy a bottle of Charisma! Call me a believer baby.... ETA: They called and offered me the job! Huzzah! The CEO even called me afterwards to welcome me and that he is super excited to work with me. Yeah!