tawaen

I smell like amber! In the tub, Glowing Vulva smelled all creamy and lotus-y at first fading into amber, but on my skin afterwards all I have is amber. The teak was there, but it was never a prominent note. And the amber scent has clung through the night. The oil left my skin glowing and moisturized (and a little oily) as always. I put on Fearful Pleasure this morning and I smell soooo good. The combination is heavenly. (Note: Used as actual bath oil. As in, two healthy squirts into a tub of steaming water and soak for half an hour. Then get out and don't towl off for 5-10 minutes so it soaks in.)

Punkie Night 2010 This is a very crisp apple smell at first. (In the bottle it's jucy, sweet apples so I'm glad the cranberry gives it some tartness on application.) I do get some spicy undertones, but they're faint. The spice get a bit stronger later in the wear but never enough to make this smell like cider rather than freshly sliced apples sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg. I slathered pretty thoroughly but this is still not as strong as I'd like. After about 3 hours I wasn't able to smell this at all unless I put my nose to my wrist. I can see why people compare this to Fearful Pleasure, but FP is all cider, spice and warmth on me. Punkie Night shares the apple note, but here the apple is the centerpiece and it's much more fruity and tart, with the spices only showing up at the edges. Maybe if I layer with Egg Moon, this will be able to replace FP when I run out...

This is obviously a very fruity blend. In the bottle, it's a generic sweet berry/citrus blend. Wet, the lemon/grapefruit/lime citrus background was much more noticeable than when it dried giving it a tart, fresh smell. Dry, the musk comes out a bit and balances the pomegranate, but the citrus seems to have disappeared. There's almost a waxy afternote to it. Quite sweet but not overpowering thanks to the musk. Not much throw, and after about 4 hours I can only really smell it when I sniff my wrist directly. (And I used a good amount, so it's not for lack of enthusiastic application.) I'm glad I got Pom II, this is very similar in feel (not scent) to The Snow Maiden, and will make a great summer scent when my imp of TSM runs out.

In the bottle, this smelled primarily of dark chocolate and incense. This is a very, very dry scent even when wet. Definitely powdered cocoa beans rather than a candy bar. It smells almost smokey, which I think is from the peppers and incense. There's definitely something a little spicy there. But it's a sweet smokey scent, with the hint of vanilla and not really an incense heavy smell. I'm not getting any real tequila from it... Which I suppose is good, since I'm at work, but that was one of the notes I was more interested in smelling. :-) It stays close to the body, but when I move around I get wafts of it. When I sniff where I applied it, it smells very sweet and edible. But in the air around me, it's darker and more interesting. This kind of reminds me of what I hoped Shub would smell like. (Obviously this isn't a ginger smell. I'm thinking about the "evil baked goods" comparison, where Shub was just plain snickerdoodle cookies on me. Nice, but not intruiging.) Calaveras is dark and edgy and a little foody. When I catch a sniff of it, it doesn't make me go "nom" it makes me lean in closer to get more of that scent. In short, Incense-spicy-dark-chocolate-smokey-vanilla without actually being heavily foody or incense-y.

Another metal request here. After predicting that the Festival of Anuket wasn't for me, I ended up wearing it more and more this summer, and now my imp is gone. And I miss it. But since it's LE, I don't want to get dependent. So... Are there any other aquatic AND metallic oils in the GC? The other reviews for FoA said it was similar to Phoenix Steamworks or Sea of Glass, but I think I'd have to layer those to get a sweet aquatic and tangy metallic scent. Edit to add: I did search BPAl for metal scents, but none of the results seemed to have an aquatic note. Though I may have missed it, since the Lab note descriptions can be a bit exotic.

I have no idea what camellia smells like, but I definitely get the grapefruit and verbena from this. Primarily the grapefruit, and not the sticky-sweet fake grapefruit scent that kills the soul, a nice tart and fresh grapefruit. There is a sweetness to the spray, which might be the camellia? I hear it's vaguely like honeysuckle, but fainter. There's also a bite to it, which I guess is the "crips mountain air." But mostly fresh grapefruit. Nice bright smell, a bit light (if you want a heavier smell, just use more, of course), but I could still smell it when I came back to the room two hours later. I don't know if it will last all day, but it's really wonderful.

Snickerdoodles! That is all. It doesn't morph much once you apply and lasts for hours. I have no idea how old my frimp is because it came through swap, but I'm getting the delicious scent of baked goods, sans evil undertones. Good enough to use the imp, but I have other spicy blends that don't go quite so foody. However, this would probably be amazing to layer with other things. :-)

Without reading the description, I would never have placed rose in this blend. Now that I've seen that, though, I can smell it faintly. This started off as "Woah, flaky buttery pie crust," and dried down to currants alone. The initial application and pie smell is almost overwhelming, but it only lasts maybe half an hour before it calms down to a tart, fruity and (very) faintly rose scent. The dry-down last for a considerable time, but it comes on it's own. When I smell where I applied, I don't get much scent at all, but occasionally when I move I get a nice splash of berry goodness. If you can get past being bashed over the head with a bakery, this turns into a fresh and subtle scent that lasts all day.

Wow, this is a very different scent once you get past the noxious-floral-of-doom stage. I usually love vertiver, but mixed with the florals at first it just smelled like... Decaying greenery? Gone bad? I'm not sure what it was, but it was distinctly unpleasant. However, this becomes much more floral and sweet given about 10-15 minutes to settle. I have no idea what cactus flower smells like, but this is a much more classy floral scent than rose usually is on me. (Rose and I are not friends. Usually it overpowers my nose.) Very dusky and warm. Perfume-y. Considering how strong the notes in this blend are, it doesn't seem to have a wide throw after the initial application. I get little hints of it when I move my arms around, but otherwise it stays pretty tame and close. (I used about 3 drops.) It's pleasant to know it's there, but it's not going to wallop passersby.

Hello, cinnamon! That's definitely the first thing that comes out of the bottle. But along with the spice, there's a splash of sweetness and something a little earthy/woody. (The frankinsense, I suppose.) I would say this is more a fall/winter scent than spring, because it's so warm. It's like a snuggly sweater. This is a well-rounded blend, and strong. I used quite a bit because I have a wet dog next to me, but this more than covers that. I wouldn't say this is a sexy-spicy blend, it's more comforting and cheerful. Will edit when I have a better nose, once the dog is dry. ETA: Went to sleep with it on and when I woke up it was still pretty strong. However, it got creamy and sweeter overnight. Not a lot of throw, but very noticeable when smelling where I applied it. I layered over it with Fearful Pleasure and smelled just like fresh apple tarts all day. Tasty!

This started off on me as a very sweet, aquatic floral scent. I'm not sure that I noticed any metallic to it at all when wet... But as it dried down, I got a nice amber-y and sharp smell underneath. It can only be described as golden, I suppose. :-) Without that metalic note, at first, I thought it would be too sweet and almost "sticky" with the aquatic notes. But once it dries, it gets so much better. It's still sweet, but it's blanaced by the brightness of the metal. The scent stays fairly well, too, though I slathered a bit because it was so soft smelling going on. Six hours later it's still hanging in there, and it's lovely. Nice, but not a favorite for me. It's a great scent for spring, though, so I'll use up the imp.

Echo is a very pretty, gentle scent. It's very well blended and the individual notes are a little hard for me to pick out. I primarily get the vanilla and sandalwood, which makes it quite sweet and a little spicy. There is a floral aspect to it, but it's rather subtle and seems to disappear shortly after application. Then it smells primarily sweet and vanilla-y. After about 4 hours it has gone dusty on me and no longer smells as sweet. My workplace has too many other stong smells and this scent, however lovely, can't really compete. I only get a slight amber/sandalwood smell when I bring my wrist to my nose. Otherwise, it's not showing up anymore. Would definitely need re-application for all-day wear.

51 has a nice, light tartness to it. It's very green, and I can smell the melon and fruit, but it's not especially sweet which is very nice. However, this is not a very strong scent. I wore it for St. Patrick's Day as the "greenest" scent in my collection, and I couldn't even smell it on my wrist by the end of the day. I suppose it smells clean and fresh. I can't really pick out the individual notes very well, they blend nicely.

Ok, I'm not very good a picking out indivdual notes... I'm getting a peppery-earth and floral scent from it. (Is that rose? I don't know; it's not especially pleasant.) But this scent has a STRONG throw. I only used a small amount to test it, and it's like I rolled in the stuff. It took about an hour to fade to manageable strength. Not one of my favorites, and it is powerful. It sweetens after it's been on a while, but there's something about it that is almost making my nose tickle.

Well, the man wasn't really trying to resist me anyway... In the imp I noticed the apple more than when I was wearing it. On the skin this is very amber-y, with a hint of spicy floral from the carnation and sweetness from the apple. I didn't notice the myrtle as an individual note when I had it on. It's a warm and rich smell. Very sexy. Good lasting time, too. I could still smell it at my wrists before I took my shower the next morning, and I didn't use THAT much.

This smelled so lovely in the imp that I brought it with me to work so I could share the love. :-) Silk Road is spicy, in a cinnamon and resin kind of way. The florals are definitely a stong undertone, but I can't tell what individual notes are in there. It's a bold scent, but it's not something that is overwhelming, in fact it's very smooth. It got more resiny on me after a few hours, but still beautiful.

Mmmm, spicy and incensy. The oleander really comes through, and I keep sniffing myself to get another hit of the musky undertone. This is a really warm smell, and three hours in it's still holding strong. Perhaps this is a bit too sexy for the office, but it's really making me feel ferocious! A scent to kick ass and feel wonderful while doing it!

I managed to spill this one all over my hands and shirt so I can definintely say that it smells exactly like the description right out of the bottle. And that these oils don't stain regular cotton, especially if you are quick to stip down and douse it in cold water. Funsy! I smelled exactly like those chocolate covered cherries with the gooey liquid inside for about a day and a half. It was fairly overwhelming. People at work kept asking, "Did someone bring in candies?" The scent stayed farily true through the whole process, not much variation. My nose may never be the same, and I think I'll stay away from foody scents for a while. But otherwise, it's quite a delicious fragrance. Yummy, yummy.

I purchased a 5ml of this without reading the reviews, because this sounds like something I should love. Vertiver? Yes. Sandalwood? Rock on. Charred wood? Perfect. In the bottle it smells crisp and green, but the individual notes are hard to pick out besides the vertiver. The lemon definitely keeps it from being the "dark" smell of the description. When I first put it on this morning, all I could think was, "Wow, that lemon really comes through. I know this smell... What does it remind me of? It smells like my dad after he shaves in the morning." (Note: My dad works in a woodshop, so he always smells woodsy. But after he shaves, he smells like lemon, too.) Definintely a more citrus-y smell on me. After about a half-hour, the crisp lemon is warmed up by the vertiver, but I'm not really getting any charred scent. Smelling it right at the place of application gives more of the lemon, but when it wafts up to me I get more of the warm, exotic wood smell. I can see where people have said this is masculine, but I really like it anyway. About three hours in I put on lotion scented with orange and honey, so that really mellowed the scent out. This is great for work, where I don't want to smell uber-feminine or sexy.