maewitch

I love me some peony, and this smells like the prettiest peony ever. There's that bit of rose supporting it, but it must be a white rose because it's not standing out and apart from my skin at all, just this sweet and wispy floralness. There is something a little green here too, but it's very light, a little dusty, like something dried and herby. It's all pale pink and light silvery-green. LOVE this.

OMG why did I only get one bottle of this, WHY??? This is probably the most perfect blend of floral and vanilla I've smelled yet. It is just so rich and rounded and sweet and deep and PERFECT. It's completely intoxicating. LOVE. EDIT: NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Violet. Oh, why must you ruin this for me. Evil evil violet, turning my beautiful baby into powder. Sigh. I will try letting this be for a few months, and see how it ages.

I love the strong white tea note best, though it dissipates fairly quickly. Nevertheless, it does manage to temper the strength of the rose and the carnation, which alone would be too powdery and spicy. This smells more like what those florals fade down to after a few hours, which I generally like far more than the opening bit. Light, feminine, gently floral and a little faded, like antique linens. Nice.

A very refined and elegant floral. This doesn't shout or push the envelope. It is classic and feminine and will arch one perfectly groomed eyebrow at your appalling lack of taste. The violet and rosewood I recognize most clearly after the initial freshness of the bergamot. The powdery sweetness of the violet plays off the somehow more sombre tone of the rosewood. The sandalwood is lovely as always and it, along with the musk, keeps this blend from being prim. I like it.

There something in this that reminds me a bit of Buck Moon - it must be the musk, with some sort of similar woodsy/dry grass undertone. But this is sweeter and actually a bit softer overall. I don't pick up the booze at all (which is good, because alcoholic notes don't always work on me). It's really just the musk, which is wonderfully light and soft, sugared up, with that crackle of leaves and crisp night air - but not in an ozony way at all. Words like 'thuggish" were making me worry that this would be too masculine, but it's not. It's really really beautiful, and I wish I had more evocative language to explain it.

I would have never thought that cedar and vanilla would blend so nicely together. This is dry and masculine but sweet and rich at the same time. The cedar doesn't amp on me and the vanilla is gorgeous. I'm getting the mental image of a simple cabin in the Arizona desert, the kind that's sparely decorated and has been witness to quiet nights and a man of few words standing in the doorway, smoking and watching the sun set. Except now there is a woman too, and the sweet smell of her mysterious female powders and oils is starting to seep into the olfactory landscape.

I got this purely for sentimental reasons and I didn't anticipate actually liking it. And I so DO. This is the Good Parts version of Perversion - all leather and man-spice and that hint of aged wood and just a little sweetness. I'm getting this mental image of curling up in the immense library of an old mansion, after being rescued from the rain in the English countryside somewhere. The table in front of my cozy chair is something medieval and oaky, and there are fresh logs in the fireplace, waiting to be lit. I'm wearing the mysterious gentleman-savior's coat, which smells of leather and the faint remnents of some sacramental incense, mixing with my own sweet vanilla perfume. This blend is sensory, intellectual, evocative and erotic.

I think I'm going to have to revisit this review eventually, because the first time I tried this on I got a strong and lovely spice note...which seems to have become much less distinct upon my second application. So I'll have to re-try this a third time to be sure. As of right now, this is only suggestive of that apple cider note that others have commented on. It's there, but playing in the background. Right up front I get dry, soft florals and that particular kind of spiciness I get from certain kinds of incense. This smells a bit like being in a field at dusk, in early fall when the grass is starting to crackle - but this is a field of flowers, a little sun-browned. I have just drunk my grandmother's apple cider, and the taste is still teasing my nose, and playing with the rich and almost musky scent of those flowers. It's a sexy yet homey scent, that thrum of things on the cusp, of fertility just cresting, of satiation and comfort.

The leather and the red musk in the opening moments was exactly right, but then the myrrh and what I assume is the black amber started to come out and this became too overtly sexual and masculine to me. It seems like a well-constructed scent, and there's nothing in there that goes funky on me, with the possible exception of the amber - it was starting to slide toward the powdery area. I think taken separately or in different combinations I would probably like most of the notes in here. It's just that all together they are too much for my personal taste.

This one is going to make me cry. I get the suggestion of sandalwood and currant and moonflower and it's just so incredibly beautiful together....but FRICKIN' blocked by the ylang-ylang, which crawls up my nose, refuses to budge and proceeds to make me nauseated. Damn you ylang-ylang! ::fistshake::

Unpleasantly sharp at first, the spices dropped right down and this became so very soft, a barely detectable spiciness clinging to the skin, with something just faintly sweet-floral underneath it, almost like the faint remnants of incense I have in my hair when I pop into my local occult shop. But prettier, somehow. I don't know if I'd get a whole bottle, mostly because it's so light and fades so quickly.

This was very interesting to try on. At first I got that particular floral-resin note that is Dragon's Blood to my nose. And then it started disappearing, but not fading. It was almost as if it was crystalizing slowly under a layer of glass, still there but almost unreachable beneath the chill of an icy and aquatic note. This is a scent that actually feels COLD somehow. This really does make me think of a dragon huddling in a deep cave during the winter. Very strange scent, but sort of engrossing too.

I was so nervous about trying this one. I snagged it on the forums many weeks back, and it's been sitting in my BPAL box ever since. I've taken it out and stared at it, but I've been wary about trying something so coveted with anything less than fresh skin and an open mind. So...on with the review. This is possibly the shimmeriest scent I've tried so far. When I say that I mean that it feels like the shimmery color that I associate with lunar oils, but also that it has this mutable quality. It smells cool and warm by turns, sometimes aquatic, sometimes fruity, sometimes faintly floral. I think the clearest notes I get from it are cucumber, melon or some other water-logged fruit, and the moonflower. It's just absolutely lovely, and the aquatic notes remian just on this side of the not-too-sharp line. Very ethereal and pretty.

I can't really fault this. It's very true to the description - salty air, lightning, the tang of ozone. If I were to stand on a hill and sniff an oncoming storm, this is what it would smell like. It just does NOT work for me. It smells far too sharp and masculine. To swap it goes.

Wet, this is very promising, kind of a dusty sugar and dough smell. Wet on my skin, it busts out with the uber-cinnamon note that induces instant nausea. After about 30 minutes this fades down and that sugary-dough smell starts to peep back out. It's lovely, but I don't know if it's worth the opening onslaught. I think I'd rather get my sweet baked goods fix without subjecting my stomach to assault. I'm so sad. I was really hoping to usher in the new Yule scents with a taste of the old.

This was a frimp from the lab, and not something I would have ordered myself. I gave it a try anyway. And...um...had to wash it off almost immediately. The combination of the powdery violet and the grassy-rotten-earth vetiver made me thing of that sickly smell you get from an open casket. Too much make-up and and the promise of the dark, deep hole. It's very much in tune with what I expect from a Funereal Oil, not a Love Potion. In fact, I had to double-check the category. Oh well. To the swap pile.

This is a wonderfully sweet, luscious, full-bodied floral. It's just so incredibly mellow and rich without being too heady or too sharp. It's also incredibly well-blended - I get wiffs of rose and heliotrope and gerdenia, but not a one steals the show. I'm not generally huge on florals, but I'm definately keeping this imp.

At first, it's all about the chocolate and the red wine and the tobacco and I'm thinking, Kali is one chick who knows how to live life. And then the lotus. There is a moment, a brief but HORRIBLE moment when the Goddess becomes a gum-snapping girl. I am not pleased. Though that is but a momentary lapse, it haunts the rest of the dry-down. Rich and decandent without being quite foody, it's so close to being a sure thing. But not quite.

I'm wondering if I got a mis-labelled imp (this was a frimp) or what, because I'm getting nothing herbal from this. This is like honeysuckle or jasmine - floral and very sweet, with maybe something a little green in the background. Maybe my nose is wonky, but I tested this twice to me sure and yup - sweet, almost syrupy floral. Nice enough, but not for me. ADDED March 9: Strong, sharp, powdery floral with an aquatic undertone. I can't identify the florals, but then again florals rarely work well on me. This one smells too much like air freshener to me. Not my sort of scent at all.

A frimp in my most recent order, and I don't know whether to say thank you or weep, knowing it is discontinued. This is melon fading gently into a wispy bouquet of white florals, violets and the tiniest, most perfect of rosebuds. This is the most delicate and lovely of scents, similar in some ways to Titania in its balancing of translucent fruit notes and white florals. The rose and the suggestions of something woodsy keeps it from being overly saccharine and girly; it is the encapsulation of that perfect moment of innocence and youth, trembling on the edge of discovery.

Goodgoddamm. The opening notes were nice, but nothing to write home about - that floral resin note, juiced up with the berryness of the currant. The fig barely made a peep. But the drydown...holy smackers! This is SEX. Pure, heady, holygods sex. I had no idea I could wear red and black musk so well. This is feral and intoxicating and so wonderfully deep. I don't know if it's a combination of dragon's blood with the musks, or just the later, but I must immediately try out Dragon's Musk and any other scent that has red and/or black musk to compare. Sweet lord.

Very very pretty blend of rose and lilac, neither of which dominates on me. The lilac softens and sweetens the rose, and the rose gives the lilac a bit of sensual depth. This is definately "old-school" perfume. It feels classically feminine and pretty, and I'm surprised by how much I like it. This feels like perfume I would wear to church or to an Easter picnic, and for some reason that does not put me off at all. It is simple, lady-like, subtle. I quite like it, almost despite myself.

This is so decadently beautiful and womanly. Not a casual fragrance at all. This is meant to be worn with the serious intent of sophisticated seduction. Deep, luxurious amber and rose, like golden silk sheets and the tease of rich red petals. I think the faint hint of citrus and the sweetness of the jasmine keeps this from becoming oppressive. Though not in any way girlish, this is vibrant enough that it doesn't make me feel like I'm playing dress-up with my mother's perfume. Fantastic.

I can't say I totally hate this. I really like the spicy-citrus notes that it opends up with, and I think I can pick up the frankinsence too. All of which I love. But then the vetiver. It's not an unpleasant smell in and of itself, and it doesn't make me sick like some notes do. It's this pungent grassy sort of smell, a little feral but calm at the same time. I just don't want to smell like it. I don't know, I can't explain it anymore clearly than that. I guess it's like people who like the smell of chocolate but don't want to smell like it. I think if I was sitting on my porch and caught this scent, it would be wonderful - it smells almost like what imagine African savannas smell like (and actually, it does remind of The Lion, in some obscure way). But it's just not a "perfume" sort of smell for me. It smells great on the boy though. The amber and the smokiness come out more, and it smells like really debauched man-cologne. I think I'll keep it for sneak-swab-attacks on him. (This was a mistake in my recent order, and I'm very grateful I got a chance to try it.)

Wet, this is like those supah-fake cherries they put on ice cream. Very juicy and red and fake. That fades out and is replaced by a strong wood note, which smells EXACTLY like this mahogany apothecary that I have. I mean, I couldn't even tell the difference. Which is not exactly great, since I rarely, if ever, want to smell like furniture. An hour later this has softened into a very faint berry-ish note that is pretty enough, but sort of indistinct and very light. The rough start and the undistinguished finish makes this one a pass for a bottle, and probably for the imp as well.