Miyabi

In the imp: Holy crap, it's Estee Lauder's Youthdew! Arrrrgh! On skin, wet: Hmm, not so bad. The strong Youthdewness of it fades, and it's very very floral. Almost goes to a powder on my skin. I can's smell the pear, though the flowers are very present. Drydown: Ooh, the musk's come out. It's making this scent seem more natural and buttery. I usually didn't think I'd like musk, but this smells very nice. Definitely will use up the imp. It's not screaming "big bottle NOW" at me right now.

In bottle: Oooh, interesting. Smells lemony and sweet. Wet on skin: Eugh. This smells like...like lemon drops on me. Sugary lemon gumdrops or somesuch. Drydown: Nope. The lemon's faded in the background, and now it's some sort of fruity candy on my skin. I wanted to like this. I really did. I read the description and went, "awesome!" and alas, I think Vinland, along with Medea and Eve, are probably off to swaps. Darn.

In bottle: Hooo, that's strong stuff right there. Wet on skin: OK, I don't know what it is, but I feel like my nose has been punched with something smoky, like sweet tobacco. Drydown: It calms down a little, but the smell's turned into the potpourri smell of this house I used to go to that made me sick after a while. It's beginning to cause a headache. I guess Medea's fury even overpowered me. Off to swaps.

In the bottle: ...the child of dryer sheets and fruit punch. Wet on skin: Oooh. Clean, but still sweet. The fruity note isn't there. There's an edge to this I find interesting. Drydown: Fruity note peeks out for a little while, but then it disappears. The scent's still got that clean-with-an-edge going on. The edge is what keeps it from getting into dryer sheet territory. I don't think I'd get a big bottle of this, but I'll definitely keep the imp. This has a lot of staying power, too--I put it on this morning and it didn't come off until tonight's shower.

In the bottle: Lightly spiced pine, with a slight bubblegum tinge to it. On skin, wet: Oooh, pine! I'm not getting the cold images I originally had. Well, maybe for a second, but it's drying to something warmer. I'm getting images of sweet pine. Drydown: Sugar n' spice pine, with a slight menthol tang to evoke the coldness. Oh, my. This is delicious. I'm going to have to get my hands on a big bottle or see if the Yule 2005 scents divulge anything like this. ETA: Final drydown, I'm not so keen on. It lingers, since it's been more than a day since I put it on, but it doesn't smell like pine. It's like, a dryer sheet sort of nondescript sweetness. My brother doesn't like it, and originally I bid on a big bottle, but since I've been outbid, I think I'll just hold onto the imp or try my luck if there's a 2005 edition of Skadi out. I still think it was pretty amazing, though. Now this one, she has me sold on BPAL.

Got this off LJ. In the imp: heady, sweet honey and ylang ylang. Uh-oh. Wet on skin: Holy crap, the ylang ylang is coming on strong. I don't think I like this. No sign of the apples or roses I was getting so excited about. Drydown: The rose is peeking through, but barely. I know it's floral, but that's about it. The honey has managed to mellow out the ylang ylang a bit. 1-2 hours later: Almost nothing. Ylang ylang's up in front again. Man. I was really looking forward to this one too. As soon as I have a pile of 'em, off to swaps, I guess. Really disappointed about the lack of apples and roses in this one.

I've heard Dragon's Eye is the closest one could get to a lilac scent right now, since the Blue Lilac SN is gone. Too bad, because I heard from the reviews that it was really something, and I missed the lilacs blooming while I was in Tokyo.

I guess I'm different; while the sun's in Aries, I really don't like firey, spicy scents. They can get too heavy, I guess. Gemini sounds fantastic, if only because it's clean and sounds like enough of an everyday scent without getting too obtrusive. Overall, though, the water scents are my thing. Easier to wear with my style, IMHO.