Hawke

In the vial: Something earthy and a wood, I think. Maybe a hint of something to sweeten it up a bit. These are not notes that I clearly recognize. Ah, but a hint of something sour. Wet: Interestingly, this becomes powder on contact with my skin. Perfumed baby powder and I fear either roses of amber. I was going to say vanilla at first, but that disappeared fast. Dry: It's a pity. I really do like whichever note it is that gives this a little kick, a little spice (patchouli, possibly, but who knows). I *am* getting a vanillic vibe now, but there's still that powdery note that tops everything and ruins it. So close to working for me.

In the vial: Lotus for certain. Maybe a hint of vanilla and a citrus as well. Wet: Anise? How odd but there's a definite black licorice note wafting off my wrists. The lotus is still present and sweetening up the anise a bit, but how odd. Dry: And yep, that's where it stays. Lotus and anise, in a tug of war between extremely sweet and watery and biting and bitter. Which, I suppose, matches the card very well, as it pulls us in many directions. The scent on my skin, however, is a bit nauseating and headache inducing, so off it goes.

In the vial: Oh dear. Rose. Wet: Yep, that's rose. I wouldn't even have bothered with the review except that I wanted to say that it really is a lovely scent, straight out of the vial. It's elegant and sophisticated and I imagine long ropes of pearls being wound around her finger while the Empress daydreams in her garden. But Rose and me, we have this disagreement, and I always win. Someone else will love her.

In the vial: A sweet floral that must be the sweetpea. I suspect this will be too "girl" for me. Wet: Eek! Something in this went instantly chemical and sharp, enough to make me flinch back from my sniff. And the floral, yes, underneath it which I think I was right about. It'd be too girly if it didn't smell like someone had dumped cleaning fluid in the vial. It *must* be the sweet pea that did it, because Pink Phoenix has that note as well, and that was *AWFUL* on me. A lovely scent for someone who doesn't have my skin chemistry.

In the vial: Cherry limeade with a bit of fizz. Like Slushie syrup. Wet: Interesting. Almost chocolatey at fist, and then a very rich sugar or caramel scent. The fruit more or less disappears. The pine is like a memory of pine, like pine tar has been powered and very lightly sprinkled through this. Dry: It's a campfire smell. That's what it is. Burnt tree sap and the remains of corn husks and leaves and bodies. Not burning bodies but people close by a bonfire. Not what I was expecting, but better!

Sensual, sibilant, sexual and hypnotic: Arabian musk and exotic spices slinking through Egyptian amber, enticing vanilla, and a serpentine blend of black plum, labdanum, ambrette, benzoin and black coconut. In the vial: Rich sugars, vanilla for certain. Something vaguely boozy and a hint of spice. Wet: The vanilla amps up right away into an almost caramel scent. The spice, whatever it is, is still background material. As it warms up, it literally warms. It smells warm, a sensation of heat without burning, if that makes sense. It wafts pretty powerfully, but I really don't mind. I keep sniffing myself anyway. Dry: Oh, this is good. I understand the comparisons between Snake Oil and Snake Charmer now. Honestly, I can't say which I like more. Guess I'll need to do more tests. Poor me.

In the vial: Oh dear. This has vague cough medicine/amoxicillin scent memories tied up in it. Not exactly a bubbly fun scent for me. I cross my fingers. Wet: Still cough syrup. Wah. Slightly powdery cough syrup even. With a vanillic after-scent. Odd. Dry: Augh get it off. It amps the dryer it gets and the vanilla turns into plastic. Definite fake strawberry and plastic scent. Wow. This is actually making my eyes water.

In the vial: A dark note, vetiver or oakmoss maybe, with a cedar/minty note perhaos and maybe a fruit somewhere buried. I am skeptical about this one. Wet: Bandaids. Augh. Bandaids and something medicinal with a lovely undernote of lemon. Fortunately the bandaid smell blends in with the rest but it's still not exactly my thing. Dry: This has actually sweetened up somewhat with a faintly vanilla cedar note, maybe. The fruit disappears. Not awful, but still not me.

In the vial: the first thing I smell is tea, buoyed up by some faint fruit, I think. Maybe a floral. It's got a little bite, whatever it is. Wet: I know this note but can't bring the name to mind. Oh! It's similar to Van Van, giving me that same cotton mouth feeling. Drydown: Somewhat powdery and a vague floral, though I'll be damned if I can tell which. It's not terribly offensive, but not something I need more than one of, either. I get no creamy notes at all. I'm not even sure I get ginger. How odd that this smells, to me, nothing like its description.

Vial: Spice, maybe ginger, as it has that soapy after note. (I write these without reading notes or reviews first. It's always an education to see a) what's really in here and what the note is that breaks them, if there is one -- this time it must be lily.) I suspect honey and some sort of flower. Wet: Yup, the floral leaps out right away on my skin. It's either carnation or rose, I think. I'm hoping for the former. Drydown: Whoa. This is getting washed off. Waaaay too floral for me and getting stronger by the second. I get occasional sniffs of a pretty scent, but mostly, it's just too much SMELL THE FLOWERS NOW on me.

In the vial: I'm hard pressed to say I smell anything other than "fruit" and maybe florals. Wet: Definitely a mystery floral. I want to claim there's some sort of cactus or maybe a prickly pear note? Vaguely soapy while remaining sweet. It's sort of odd. Dry: Add in a hint of spice I can't name, and a couple of hours and it's really very pretty. I had to grab my DDLM '05 and Harvest Moon to compare because they all smell *similar* to me, but not exactly alike. I like DDLM more, but I don't have much of that, and this is not a terrible runnerup. Probably not big bottle material, but we'll have to see.

In the vial: Fruity, like apples and possibly a hint of red wine. There's also something like a sweet wood in there. Wet: The scent sharpens up and picks up a floral I don't recognize immediately. It's vaguely medicinal, really, like a menthol rub. Dry: And then, several hours later, it fades into a soft flowers-and-spice close to skin scent. It's not bad, but it's not a particular standout from other scents. It's pretty enough and not objectionable, but not something I need to hunt like mad.

In the vial: Something warm, almost nutty, overlaid by a sweet fruit, maybe apple or grape or both. Wet: Fig, probably, as it's sort of a warm, sticky fruit smell. Honestly, it smells almost like pumpkin and honey mashed together. Dry: Which is not to say that it's bad. It's *extremely* sweet, but it's not really foody, or not a food that I could easily name. The nutty/creamy scent keeps it from being sickeningly sweet and keeps it warm. Has decent throw and doesn't change much beyond the final creamy sweet stage. I don't know that this is a get a huge bottle scent, but it's not bad for the imp.

In the vial: Wow! Spearmint. There's *such* a strong spearmint note that I honestly can't smell anything else. Wasn't expecting that. Wet: Or maybe it's birch. Whatever it is, it's sharp and startling. And then the rest of my review pretty much consists of ... wow, how bizarre. This *must* be a case of a mislabeled batch, because some of us are *clearly* getting something very different than the rest of you are. Maybe it *is* Envy, as has been noted. I haven't smelled Envy before, so I can't say. I don't *mind* the spearmint/wintergreen, really. It's actually kind of nice. And it does dry down to a pretty, soft against-the-skin floral. But it's definitely mint and not cinnamon. Edited: I actually do have an imp of Envy I forgot about, and I sniffed it. Nope, wrong kind of mint. This is not an Envy mixup, I don't think.

In the vial: Something woody, something a little sour. Maybe a hint of citrus. Not sure about this one. Wet: Well, that's as close to a generic "perfume" smell as I've gotten out of Beth's blends yet. Not sure what that is. Something powdery begins to appear and a floral that I'm hoping isn't rose. Drydown: Well, the powder lingers long enough that I almost washed it off. I can see how it gets mistaken for violet as it has the same powdery feel as Numb. I get orange and spice beneath it though, and susprisingly, I like it. Dry: But sadly not enough to make me want to keep it.

In the vial: Bright, hard lemon candy. Wet: Not quite as bright or sharp. I thought I smelled tea for a second, but it may be something floral. (ETA: Or both.) The lemon is still present. Drydown: Oddly, this begins to smell like dish washing liquid. Is it the jasmine causing that? Possibly. And then bleach. And chlorine. And wah, where did my lemon candy scent go?! Dry: What a disappointment. I *love* the initial lemony/tea scent, but bleach? Not so much. Also, another one that smells different on my wrists. The left is decidedly more bleachy. Yuck.

In the vial: Crisp and fresh, a little bit of salt water too. Definitely a windy/stormy scent. Wet: Marshy and a little dirty but clean dirt, if that makes sense. This is one of the rare ones my boy could smell. Him: Must be strong. Me: Nah, your nose is just finally working. Dry: It fades almost entirely away to a "memory of being wet" smell. Hard to articulate, but very tranquil.

In the vial: Something that should be cherry, if it isn't. Tobacco, possibly, and something sharp. Wet: Smoke? Something fiery or a little burnt, at least. Some musky vanilla and something alcoholic, still. Drydown: Ah, here come the florals. The sharpness may be vetiver as I'm not entirely sure what it smells like alone, but I'm pretty sure I don't like it. On the flip side, the honey has come out clearly now. Dry: Well, well. The funky possibly-vetiver (or skin musk, I suppose, there was another blend that had that that I didn't like) and florals disappeared. Just when I was going to give up and toss this in my swaps pile. Now it's warm, thick spicy honey and just a little floral. Maybe I'll hang onto it.

In the vial: I feel like I've gone crazy. Obviously there are no notes listed for the tarot blends, but I *swear* I smell iced tea. Maybe some light flowers, too. Wet: Now there are stronger flowers. Maybe carnation? The tea scent isn't nearly as strong, though it's still present. Drydown: It's interesting. For a while it was a little warm, a sense of heat rising off myskin. Now, there's something cool. Not mint, but an herb, I think. The floral's toned down, too. I actually really like this. Some hours later: Oh! Violet. Yes, someone else compared this to Numb and I agree. This is Numb light with an iced tea lead-in and just a hint of powder. Surprisingly, still liking it.

In the vial: Cinnamon maybe, or clove. Also a sort of doughy scent. Like a cinnamon roll. And something with a slight alcoholic bite. Wet: Instant cinnamon explosion on my skin. Wow and yum! Cinnamon roll goodness without the overly sticky addition of frosting. Dry: Ah, now there's the sweetness. Fortunately, it's still not sticky-smelling. I'm still going with cinnamon roll, though. I get no flowers at all, just spicy, delicious scent. Definitely one of my favorites.

In the vial: Sweet, faintly soapy clean scent. Like laundry detergent, but in a good way. A fresh scent, whatever notes that might entail. Wet: Maybe lotus. Definitely something aquatic, and sharp ozone with a hint of something citrusy. It definitely smells stormy. Dry: It just smells clean. Like fresh out of the shower or dryer clean. There's something a little fruity still buried beneath it. It's pretty, but I don't think I need to hunt down a bottle of this moon.

In the vial: Citrus and gren, along with something brown. Faintly bitter. I feel like I should recognize this scent. Wet: Grapefruit and juniper? Okay, the notes are wrong, but the scent is the right idea. I get the bite of the mint and sting of the citrus and boy is that an odd combination. Sinus-clearing, cleaning fluid but not a *bad* smell. Just not sure I want to smell like this. So much citrus in this that it makes my mouth go dry. If that makes sense. Dry: It's actually not bad on my skin when it's dry. It's still primarily orange with the coolness of the mint. It'd be a good hot weather scent, probably, but not something I'm like to reach for.

Rose strikes out again. In the vial: It's either vetiver or patchouli (ETA: or neither), I'm guessing. The sort of dirty, sharp smell on the wand. Maybe some citrus (ETA: benzoin?). Pretty sure this is not going to be my thing. Wet: Ooh, bandaids! That's new and different. Spice-licked bandaids. And then a sort of rose scent under the bandaids, that just gets stronger with every sniff. Drydown: Well, at least the bandaid smell is gone. Oops. Mostly gone. It's actually not as bad as I feared. The rose is not overpowering. The plastic note is unpleasant but not eye-watering. Still, this is not my thing.

I finally try one of the lab "classics"! In the vial: Something vaguely sweet, though not pure sugar. Something sharp, almost alcoholic. Really, smelling this in the vial, I thought I got patchouli which apparently translates as dirt to me. I didn't like it. Wet: Now the sweetness clarifies. This smells like brown sugar, caramelized sugar at the very least. Vanilla pops up and the alcohol seems to be gone. Maybe that's what it was -- vanilla -- in the first place. Drydown: Oh wow. This, as I was told by the person I got it from, was an imp straight from the lab. If this thick, rich, sticky scent gets more potant with age, it will be big bottle material for sure.

Another near hit. It really is lovely, for a while. In the vial: Fruit with perhaps a hint of alcohol. An apricot brandy? With a little spice. (ETA: peach and apricot are often very similar to me.) Wet: The spice is a bit more evident and the fruit disappears, or rather, fades considerably. There's also a hint of a flower I think, though I can't yet tell which one. Drydown: There's definitely a powdery fruit stage on this that makes me very wary. Not sure if that's the floral part f the amber. it was actually very nice until then. And then the powder disappears -- which gives me hope that amber will not always ruin a scent for me -- and this becomes a rather generic perfume scent. Pity.