pandorasmuse

In the imp: I really doubt that this will work on me, but I bet it'll be dead sexy on my husband. Slathering him now! Wet: Salty, and a little sweeter than initially expected. Drydown: More balanced. Just enough rum—he doesn’t smell super-boozy, but there's a pleasant undercurrent. Later: Awesome. I was right, it smells great on him!

This smells like being drunk at the beach. I like coconut, but this is just too much. I don't think I can even try this one on.

Hi there, thyme. I know we haven’t always been the best of friends. Try to pipe down and I think we’ll get along just fine here… In the decant: Hmm. There’s a strong current of Bubble Yum running through this. The lime sugar and pear is doing it, I think. Thyme is behaving and not showing its face. Wet: A bit limish. Still very gumlike. My skin’s a bit tingly, but I may have just scratched my arm with the toothpick I’m using to test. I really hope this one calms down a bit, because it’s promising. Drydown: Eeee! This is drying nicely! I’m getting strong whiffs of delicious juicy pears. Later: This is my favorite from the Metamorphosis series. I ultimately didn’t buy a bottle, because it didn’t last quite as long as I’d like.

Received from a forumite. In the imp: Hmmm. Violet, or orris, maybe? Light and pretty. Wet: When I first applied, I got more intense violet/orris, then almost immediately that lovely light smell changed into something that’s a cross between cleaning fluid and burning synthetic fabric. Chemistry fail.

In the decant: Interesting. There’s stuff I’m not super-familiar with here, but I like orris. And sugar. Wet: More aggressive than I usually like. No sweetness at all. Drydown: I do smell a bit of the sugar now, and the orris. Later: Froot Loops and baby powder. Sad. No good on me.

In the decant: Hmmm. This smells like some sort of kitchen cleanser in the decant. It might be the vetiver—I haven’t been too successful with it in the past. Wet: Bleh. The problem is definitely the vetiver. I’ll give it a minute or two, but I may have to wash this off. Yeah. I can’t do it. I had to wash it off. Vetiver smells HORRIBLE on me. I’m sad about this, because the lemon sugar sounded like it would be fantastic. Off to swaps/sales.

In the imp: Sweet and gently floral. Wet: More astringent than I would have expected. Very obviously incense-y. Drydown: Getting soapy… Later: Soap and incense. It’s rosy incense, but still. Not for me, I’m afraid.

In the decant: I don’t really get any strong impressions from this one. It’s not unpleasant, but I’m having trouble picking stuff out. Wet: Lots of woods, with a little baby powder thrown in. Drydown: Potpourri and baby powder. Sort of reminds me of a relative’s guest bathroom. Later: Still too potpourri-like. It’s pleasant, but not for me.

In the decant: WOW. Sugary butter. It reminds me of the time my sister made a “cake” for our mom, who was sick at the time… it was margarine and jelly mixed together. Mom’s such a sport—she ate it to make my sis happy! Wet: Lots of butter. Where’s my Earl Grey? That’s what I was hoping would come out the most strongly. I love tea. Drydown: There’s the tea! And the cucumbers, too. There’s still a hint of buttery sugar, but it’s not as smack-you-in-the-face as it was when I sniffed and first applied. Once it dries, it’s pretty awesome. Later: This is very pleasant, but it doesn’t last too long. This would be absolutely perfect for me if there was no butter—tea, sugar, and cucumbers would be heavenly.

In the decant: I smell the pine… and the other woods. There’s something a bit sweet underneath all the heaver notes, but it’s pretty faint. Wet: I'm getting a Christmas vibe from this. Must be the pine. Drydown: The pine has pretty much gone away. The other woods are still very present, but they’re tempered by green and sweet notes. Still… I kinda smell like an outdoorsy dude. I may have to test this on my husband. Later: It slowly turns to furniture polish. It lightens up later, but it’s still too astringent for my tastes.

In the decant: Ooh, this is promising—grains and yellowed grass in the sun. Wet: This smells like camping (without the mud and bugspray)! Drydown: Happy days in high summer, when it hasn’t rained for a while and the grass is brittle. Later: This really reminds me of Girl Scout Camp and goofing off in the outfield during the baseball unit in fifth grade. It smells exactly like the description. It’s not something for everyday wear, but I can certainly see it working wonderfully during certain summer days.

In the decant: Like a lemonade snowcone, or one of those lemonades that come with half of an actual lemon in ‘em. Wet: Delicious lemony sugar with a bit of musk in the back of my nose. It has a nice green note to it. Drydown: Sugary green lemony grassy goodness. Later: Mmmm. Lovely. I love sugary scents, and this one is delightfully sweet balanced with musky elements to keep it from being sickly. At work today, I kept having these moments where I caught whiffs of it… “What is that wonderful smell? Oh, that’s right. It’s ME!” Bottle? Probably.

I hold out great hope for violets. I HATED the Fresh violet perfume I tried, but I remain optimistic about this one. In the decant: Candy and flowers. Very promising. Wet: Sweet, with a not-quite-medicinal edge. I could go for this. Drydown: Lots of sugary sweetness. Just a touch of violet. Later: This is quite pleasant. This is the first violet scent I’ve really liked. It’s perfect for this time of year, too!

In the decant: Mixed florals with freshly cut green stems. It really does smell like a florist shop! Wet: Very grassy and pleasant. Drydown: Green and very pretty. The throw isn’t much, but I just put a tiny dab on. Later: Still green and lovely, with light florals in the background. It’s very faint, though. I like it, but sadly it’s not bottle-worthy. It totally would be if it stuck around, but it fades to quickly on me. I thought it might be because I tested with such a small amount, but I WORE wore it to work the next day with no luck.

In the decant: This definitely smells true to the description. Wet: Raspberry filling more than anything else. Drydown: Gelatinous fruity filling. No white chocolate. Later: This is fun, even though I am only getting the filling. Certainly not an everyday scent, but it'll be a great pick-me-up!

This is the 2010 version. In the decant: I smell sugar and musks. No booziness, but I don’t always smell booze notes until they’re on my skin. Wet: Whoa. This isn’t a retiring blend at all, surprise surprise. Still no booze. The sugar is the top notes, with the musks underneath. Drydown: Now the musks are dominating, but the sugar seems to be sticking around. Still no booze! Later: This is the sort of thing that makes me feel like I’m 10 again—“I’m not grown-up enough to wear this!” The booze finally comes out. This is a scent that demands red lipstick. As I wear it, it gets a bit gentler but is still very much a “pay attention to me!” scent. I see what the fuss is about, but I’m not sure if it really works for me. I’ll keep and wear my decant.

This description just screams Southern, doesn’t it? In the decant: This smells like canned peaches to me. Is that weird? Wet: Peaches and cream, but I’m still smelling canned peach syrup. Maybe that’s the magnolia’s influence. Drydown: Josie is much more balanced in this stage. I can actually smell the magnolia now. Later: Fantastic. Southern summer dreaminess. Josie is one pretty lady. Definitely my favorite District scent so far.

In the imp: Wow. There’s a real rose in here, isn’t there? How can it hide in the clear oil? Wet: A rose garden in full bloom. Real roses everywhere. Drydown: Staying strong and true. Later: This is just fantastic. It smells so REAL! I love it, and will most likely get a bottle at some point.

Amazing. The oil looks like non-fizzy root beer. In the decant: This smells a lot like Mircalla, Countess Karnstein to me—the red musk and clove must be dominating. Wet: More of the same. Clove, red musk, and not a whole lot else. Drydown: Vanilla and cloves, with musk. This reminds me a bit of the stewed apples with cream I like to make in the winter. Later: Too much clove. Clove just clobbers everything else on me. It seems to be emerging as one of my notes to avoid.

In the decant: I'm getting a lot of the green violet leaf and narcissus. There's something a little astringent, too. It seems familiar, but I can’t place it. Maybe that's the orris? I’m not really sure what orris is, though.. Aha—just looked it up on Wikipedia. Orris root is an ingredient in many brands of gin. My husband loves gin. That explains the familiarity. Wet: Lots of narcissus! Beautiful. Narcissus is one of my favorite flowers, scentwise. Drydown: The vanilla is finally peeking through. This smells like what I always imagine candied flowers would taste like. Later: So pretty!!! Springlike and lovely. But it seems to be fading fast. I'll have to wear it for a day and take some additional notes. After wearing for a full day: Nope, it doesn’t last. It's VERY pretty, but I can't justify getting a whole bottle of something that fades so quickly.

In the decant: Hmmm. Baby powder… Wet: Definitely more promising when it hits my skin. Honey seems to be hit or miss on me. We’ll see which way it goes! Drydown: There seems to be something green in here, or something else that’s sharp-smelling. Later: The sharpness totally disappears, leaving seductive loveliness. I will probably pick up a bottle of this.

In the decant: Delicious. Sweet wine and roses. And something I can’t identify. That’s probably the frankincense. Wet: It’s a smidge medicinal when it first hits my skin, but I think there’s promise. Drydown: A little sickly, unfortunately. Like I spilled cough syrup on some flowers. Later: Sharp and sickly on me. Sending this decant to my swap box.

In the imp: Enticing and a little dramatic-smelling. Wet: A fresh clean smell (the rain) dragged down a bit by something unsettling (the vetivert). Drydown: Meep. The rain smell is being totally overwhelmed now. Later: Eh. I like it better after it sits for a while, but it's still not great on me. That's OK—there are other aquatics out there!

I love tea. Love love love. Also chocolate. In the decant: Mostly milk chocolate. Wet: Quite trufflesque. Drydown: It's not so chocolatey any more. I smell the matcha—this smells like green tea ice cream, or green tea mochi. Later: Lemon Pledge? Hmm. No thanks.

This has a couple of things that are iffy on me, but a couple of things that are awesome. The oil is very orange, which I didn't expect. In the decant: Mossy and mysterious. Lightly floral. Unexpectedly light, considering there’s jasmine in it! Wet: Whoooo! Moss and musk. Drydown: More and more moss. Later: This smells a little too manly on me. I’m glad I got to try it, but I think I'll pass.