animalcule

Yay, this smells like Bess without the overpowering grapiness! Just what I always wanted. This is beautiful. I always fall for the simple blends it seems. Catherine is softly floral, but grounded by the sharp rosemary. Very clean and refreshing without being soapy. Not getting anything that brings 'incense' to mind which is good because 'incense' ruins blends for me. Also not getting anything menthol or medicinal but that's to be expected for me as my skin amps sweet and tones down most herbal notes. Also it's consistent over time and lasts for many hours. Bottle purchase for sure.

in the bottle: dewy roses and sugar wet and dry: sugary-sweet wet roses. Lasts well! I love this, but I think I love Faith more (surprising to me as I am a die-hard rose fan - apparently I love violets too). Faith has this creamy vanilla note that I adore - Hope is more of a straight floral, with a little sugar on top. They are gorgeous together of course.

In the bottle, wet, and dry, Faith is the same: violet buttercream frosting (a hint of vanilla). Never a hint of soapiness for me, it's stays sweet and foody. A strong scent with good throw and lasting power. The sugary-vanilla notes stick around for ages, the violet gets less intense with time. I love it, so glad I bought a bottle.

Light, pretty, fresh, springy floral. Very light scent, no throw, disappeared fast. Smells like any number of nicely-scented body products to me, unfortunately.

imp: mm, rose. wet: all rose - but old, dried roses, with a hint of mustiness/sourness I'm not crazy about. dry: the same. Good staying power. I do love roses, but prefer them fresh-picked. Won't be wearing this one again.

Smelled delicious in the imp, but I did not try it on because it shares a note with Serpents With Glittery Eyes and Forky Tongues that is a migraine trigger for me, and I got stabbing pains in my eyes as soon as I sniffed it. Green musk, I think. Lovely fragrance (as was SWGEAFT). Oh well.

I tried Aglaea without knowing any of the notes. imp: sweet fruity mellow smell, slightly musty wet: the same, fruity and complex. I can't pinpoint which fruit! Still with that slight undertone of fermentation, which I am not enjoying. Makes me a little nauseous. drying down: ah, this has amber in it. I really do despise amber, and it seems like it's all I can smell when it's in a fragrance. dry: yup, amber and fruits. Much better than Hymn to Proserpine IMO when it comes to fruit+amber, but I won't be wearing it again.

I 'clean test' with tiny pieces of coffee stirrers. My bottles for keeps all have wand caps, I love them. Sometimes I do just turn the whole bottle upside-down on my arm. Especially scents that I like to slather (Alice). It may be unreasonable as I only have 3 bottles (with 3 more on the way, although they are all unsniffed), but I'm far more worried about 'wasting' perfume by letting it sit around until it doesn't smell so fantastic than I am using too much at a time or using it up. Easy for me I suppose since all my loves so far are GC -not that it's a guarantee they will be re-purchasable forever.

imp: mm, vanilla. wet&dry: this smells like less incense-y Snake Oil. Not for me!

I can't believe I forgot to review this one! In the imp (which was almost a year old), wet and dry, I get patchouli incense+Beth's rich, delicious vanilla. Vanilla I like, but patchouli I do not wear (except - surprise of the year! - in Tweedledum), nor anything reminiscent of incense. Fortunately I gave my imp to a RL friend who I recently sucked into BPAL and she is enjoying it.

imp: oh goodness, this is delicious. I haven't been so excited about an imp for a long time. I think I'm getting mostly current and citrus with a hint of greenery. wet: mmmmmm. Lots of citrus and the same astringent herbs as Envy. As it dries I'm getting the musk and it's getting a bit powdery... dry: Herbal fruity musk. Quite happy with this one although it's not a new favorite, yet. ETA: Turns out it's a NO for me. Gives me a headache every time.

imp: very nice, I can't pinpoint anything but cherry. wet: almondy! dry: this is really lovely. Woods amp on me, I think I am getting mostly rosewood here with a little cherry but it's nice. It smells like... wealth. Brings to mind rooms in mansions. Unfortunately this feels quite masculine to me, so I don't know how much use it will get! I'll be keeping the imp though, and will try it in my diffuser - it would be nice if my apartment smelled like a palace. ETA: I didn't give King of Hearts long enough to flower the first time I put it on. With subsequent wearings I've changed my mind - this might well end up a bottle purchase for me. Over time the more masculine rosewood and lavender scale back and the rose, cherry, and musks come to the fore - making this somewhat sweet on me (and I love sweet scents) but with an edge that makes it different than any of my other perfumes. Very sexy. It is a light scent, as PPs have noted. Almost no throw.

imp: oh my god, it smells like honeydew melon tastes. Too cool. wet: still honeydew, but with more of a candied sweetness. Must be the grape, Beth's grape goes SUPER sweet on me. Luckily it's not too strong. dry: honeydew and Sweetarts. I am conflicted! I wish it was more tea and herbs and less candy for me. I will be keeping this imp, I can see it growing on me...

I haven't tried red musk yet, but black musk and white/pale musk are winners for me - IF they are supported by notes that keep them from fading very quickly into over-sweet powdery blah. Embalming Fluid and Aeval (both with white/pale musk) are my favorite scents and they last amazingly well on me. Bewitched (black musk) and Dorian (three pale musks) are close behind. BPAL musk/tea and musk/sage is something I am determined to fully explore! There are lots of musk scents that I want so badly to work that just don't. Black Pearl (awesome for 5 minutes), Zephyr, and Fae are some examples...

Fruity candy (Laffy Taffy or Sweetarts). No thanks.

Oh Fae, I love all your notes, why must you fail me? I love white musk, but there has to be something in the blend to keep it from being bland, oversweet powder on my skin. Unfortunately this is all Fae is on me - bland, oversweet peach powder. Surprisingly for such a mild scent, it had great staying power and made me feel a bit sick after two hours.

THE FOREST IS ON FIRE!! THE GRAPES ARE BURNING!! This is possibly the worst blend ever for me. Too bad I ordered it before I realized just how overpoweringly strong grape, wood, and any sort of smoky stuff is on me. No more wood scents for me, I promise.

imp: Mild apricots? wet: oh, eew. I am swearing off booze scents! I can still smell the apricot but there's this terrible sour, weird odor as well. dry: super-sour rotting apricots.

For me this is pretty much acrid woods from start to finish, with a little bit of sweet spiciness hidden in there... chocolate also seems to go very bitter on my skin, that's probably not helping the situation. But woods and me don't seem to get on, at all.

I can't pick out any of the listed notes. All I know is that this smells awful to me (can't describe how). And it's ridiculously strong, I don't know why I applied it to my skin, but after I did I could smell it on me after like three scrubbings with detergent.

Incubus made me realize the lab's caramel note is great on me! The mint here is also very nice... and I love sage, although I can't smell it here. Unfortunately I loathe smoky scents and this is too smoky for me. Won't wear it again.

imp: Green, fruity, floral. I can smell a pleasant patchouli in there. wet: I was not expecting to like this as I don't like patchouli, but... I like it! It just smells goooood. dry: Lasts very well. Patchouli comes out more later on, unfortunately. Conflicted. This is very different from all the other scents I like/wear and if I keep the imp I don't know how much use it will get. However, it smells GREAT. Just not like me, I guess.

It's just Fruity Pebbles for me, from the imp to the fade-out. It actually reminds me a great deal of Fae - plain, super-sweet, fruity, dry. I'm sad. This sounded really nice!

I love sweet pea and vanilla, but amber and sandalwood are pretty much death-notes for me. I have little hope. imp: bleh. amber. With a little sweet pea and sweetness - don't give up yet! wet: as usual, amber is amping. dry: bland amber powder with a side of sandalwood dust and the tiniest hint of delicious sweet pea. Ah well.

Disclaimer: my Alice is quite aged - 2005 by the previous owner's best guess. I have not smelled fresh (or younger than 5 years!) Alice, when I do I will add to this review. in bottle: clean, warm, slightly sweet, slightly spicy (in a peppery way). No rose, unfortunately. I don't know just what it smells like (so far the lab's milk and honey don't smell very distinct or at all like the real thing to me, but I like them lots anyway), but it smells good. wet: more of the same. dry: this one is consistent from the bottle up to a few hours. Sweetish, powdery in a way I LIKE (previously 'powder' was what amber/resins/myrrh/frankincense did on me, and I hate it), spicy, warm. As previous reviewers have said, Alice is <i>cozy</i>. I am so happy that I apparently enjoy carnation! ETA: I have tried fresh Alice, and I prefer it aged. Aging strengthens the creaminess and the sweet honey note. Fresh it is very similar to Maiden (carnation, white tea, rose - a fresh spicy floral). I had better buy another bottle ASAP, I am going through my 05 bottle very quickly!