sunlitgarden

In the decant: Chocolate and green tea, as advertised. On my skin: Mmm, chocolate... and a lemony note that smells like lemon verbena. I really do smell matcha in this - for those who are not familiar with it, it's a powdered/ground green tea that's usually sweetened, at least in the US. Lemon verbena is here, though it's not as strong as it sometimes is on me, and I smell something almost like sweet tobacco... As it dries the chocolate fades and I'm mostly left with this lemony/tobacco note. Kinda weird on me....

In the imp: Boozy almond and... banana? Some kind of fruit in the rum. On my skin: Almond predominantly, with some spicy clove. This is surprisingly light on my skin. I accidentally got a bit on my face while sniffing and it burns. >_< I'm pretty much just getting pure clove as it dries. Basically like I'm huffing the spice jar. I like clove, but not quite that much...

2008 Version This is a delicious buttery cookie. There's something almost dusty about it, though... possibly the aging of the sugar note. It fades as it dries, though. I want to eat my arm! LATER EDIT: This now smells like stale vegetable oil to me in the bottle, and it's not much better on my skin. Because I purchased this from a seller on LJ who was suspended from the community for, among other things, selling adulterated oils, I strongly suspect that this bottle may have been diluted with some other sort of oil that has since gone stale/bad. So please take this review with a grain of salt -- it's probably not "pure" Sugar Cookie.

In the imp: Leather and herbs. Juniper. This is not clean leather - it's dirty, been trekking through the woods for weeks leather. Which makes sense. On my skin: I am really getting the impression of dirty leather. Something in it makes the back of my throat feel dry and dusty. I think this is the same leather note as in Coyote (well, "doeskin" vs. "buckskin"), which did something similar... in that blend I attributed it to the grassy plains and dusty woods, but Ranger is having a similar effect on me. I think I would wear this to a tabletop game session if I was actually playing a ranger. It would help me get in the mood. I don't think it's really something suited for everyday wear, though, so my imp is enough.

I tried Tea at a Seattle Will Call a while ago, and it was pretty much all lemon verbena on me... my skin seems to seriously amp LV. Well, I recently received a decant of it as a frimp in a sale package so I decided to try it again since it's aged a year... In the imp, I'm mainly smelling lemon verbena and honey. On my skin the LV isn't as strong as it can sometimes be, but it's still the dominant note. It smells like tea with honey and lemon. I'm not detecting any star anise. It reminds me of L'Occitane - not really a specific scent from there, but the smell of the store. I know they have a lot of products that involve these notes (lemon verbena, tea, honey) so that's probably why. As it dries more, I'm mostly just getting the LV. Totally dry, it is nice and soft and sweet, but I think I would rather stick to the GC lemony tea blends (Dorian, Embalming Fluid).

In the imp: Buttery and boozy. Hot buttered rum! On my skin: Sweet, buttery almondyness. There is something in here that reminds me of curry. I think it's the butter and sweet spices. The curry scent goes away as it dries, though. It's very cinnamony on drydown. It's really yummy. I prefer Sugar Cookie for my cookie-scent indulgence, I think... but I may need to deathmatch these. Edited to add: In the drydown it reminds me a lot of Spicebush Swallowtail (which is one of my favorites, so that's not a bad thing at all!) It also lasts a really long time. I could still smell it in the morning.

In the imp: This is pretty sweet. Actually, I think the "embalming fluid" note is actually, well, BPAL Embalming Fluid, since I just tested that today, and the lemony-sweetness is here as well. It also smells like rose. Light, sweet citrus and rose was sure not what I was expecting from the description, but that's what I'm getting. On, it's a fresh rose. It kind of reminds me of The Rose with the green stem note it has. This is SO not what I was expecting from this scent. It smells good, though.

In the imp: First impression was "oatmeal raisin cookie." I seriously smell raisins here - I guess maybe it's the Chardonnay/grape note? On my skin, I get a baking-spices cinnamony note and vanilla (though, looking at the notes, I guess it's actually tonka.) I am getting some leather now. It smells like the "black leather" note from Black Rider and Rogue that I like; other leather notes have smelled harsh and chemical on me. This is surprisingly foody on my skin. The booze and tobacco are not strong, but I can detect them in the background. It's making me think of a sexy leather-clad rogue, fresh from a night of debauchery, baking cookies. The rum comes out more as it dries and smells coconutty. Leather, sweet tobacco, coconut.... Weirdly I actually feel kind of fuzzy-headed even though I am totally sober right now. Power of suggestion? I think it's too sexy for me to actually wear out. o_o

In the imp: This reminds me of L'occitane White Tea, a commercial perfume I still wear. Very bright, lemony and fresh smelling without smelling like cleaner. This imp is aged at least a year, maybe two (don't remember exactly when I got it); my partner points out that it did smell cleaner-like at first, which I didn't remember. On my skin: Still smells like L'occitane White Tea. So happy to have found a BPAL equivalent - I would rather buy BPAL than commercial, and the L'occitane scent was a LE so I would have to find it on ebay. Embalming Fluid is lemony tea and bright and yummy. I think I will need a bottle, especially if it needs age to get awesome so I can start it now.

Nes Gadol Haya Sham was frimped to me in a sale package. In the decant: There's a lot going on here... The overall impression I'm getting is clean, sweet... fresh... actually, it makes me think of mint chocolate for some reason. Like an Andes mint they give you after dinner in a restaurant. It doesn't actually -smell like- mint chocolate, but it's that same kind of nose-cleansing quality. It's a bit astringent, but not terribly so.... I feel like there's honey in here, or at least the combination of notes is producing a honey-like scent to my nose. Tested lightly on skin. It's kind of spicy, kind of... smoky? for a few seconds, but then the lemon verbena starts seriously amping. My skin does tend to amp the lemon verbena note the lab uses, if Phobos is any indication. I mainly smell lemon verbena with a spike of something kind of bitter, possibly myrrh. As it dries more, there's something in here that reminds me of Dia, but I don't know what it would be. Dry, it smells nutty. It doesn't smell bad, by any means, but it's not really my style...

Somehow, I was expecting this oil to actually be red. It's not, though. Just a very light yellow. In the imp I get a tart raspberry/cranberry and juniper/gin. It's actually not boozy on me. With the cranberry and the cool juniper, this is actually reminding me of a winter/Christmas candle, instead of a tropical scent. I like it, but it seems like the wrong time of year to wear it (spring, at the moment.)

In the imp: Sweet pear and lily of the valley are the dominant notes, with a little rose. Wet on my skin, the pear smells very ripe and juicy, and the lily is sweet. The rose adds a tartness to it. I love the concept of fruity-florals, but so many go bad on my skin; this one actually seems to be staying pretty true to what I smelled in the imp. As it starts to dry, it's bordering on soapy, though. I'm not really smelling white musk, which is too bad because it's a note I enjoy. Unfortunately, it smells more soapy the more it dries. It's a pretty blend, but I don't think it's bottle-worthy for me.

In imp: Smells like plum to me, though it's not a listed note. Kind of heavy and overly sweet. On skin: Bleh, as I thought, this is gross and sickly sweet on my skin. I'm not getting any fir, and the combination of the strong florals and the aquatic note are actually making me nauseous. I'm actually glad to read that a couple other reviewers had that reaction as well - makes me feel a bit less crazy. This is a "must wash" blend on my skin, unfortunately.

In the imp: Almond pastries! Oatmeal with a bit of cinnamon. On my skin: Baked goods ahoy! More almondy pastry. It's possible that what I'm interpreting as almond is actually the kukui nut, which I haven't smelled before. As it dries, it smells less almondy and more generally nutty. It's surprisingly light for a foody blend, but like Good, I know it can be layered. I think this could be worn alone though, especially in the fall, for a lighter foody scent instead of some of the blends that are really rich and cakey. Don't know if it's bottle-worthy, but I will use my imp.

In the imp: Fresh and clean. Not laundry-clean, but the vanilla and honey just smell... bright. Fitting for Good, I guess. On my skin, it's a little spicy, almost ambery. Weirdly, there's something about it that reminds me of sunscreen, though I'm not sure exactly what note it would be. Maybe just a combination of all of them. There's an... almost salty edge to it; it reminds me of the ambergris accord in Lyonesse. Overall, to my nose, Good is smelling like a less complex and more honeyed version of Lyonesse. The honey is nice, but I like the complexity of Lyonesse better. I know that the RPG blends are designed to be layered, which I'll try to keep in mind; I don't think Good is interesting enough to wear on its own, but it might be nice with Halfling.

In the imp: Berries indeed! It's sweet, and I smell blueberries for sure. Mainly smell berries and honey with a little musk. On skin: Honey and berries. Reminds me of a berry pie - I even kind of get a crust-like note. As it begins to dry, the fig is giving it a greenish note, that's almost a bit... nutty? I'm actually not too fond of this note. Bummer, too, because I really liked the sweet blueberry note in the decant and when immediately applied to my skin, but the fig comes out fast and I'm not crazy about it. My skin tends to turn fig into an overripe, almost rotting vegetable matter type of scent, I'm discovering. It's not as bad here as it has been in some other blends, but still not something I would really wear.

I'm always trying to find an aquatic blend that will work for me and that doesn't smell like dryer sheets. I liked the concept of Wild Swans at Coole, and I tested it at Seattle WC and liked it, so ended up buying a bottle. Unfortunately, though, it doesn't seem to have worked out quite so well in the long run. (It seems to be one of the BPAL Murphy's Laws, how you like a scent at WC and then when you get your bottle it just isn't the same. I had the same issue with Gelt.) In the bottle, there's a lot going on. There's the leaf note and florals, and a definite watery note. It reminds me a little of Dancing Waters from Bath and Body Works (a scent I liked but didn't love.) On my skin, the florals dominate more than I'd like. There's a bit over-sweetness that unfortunately reminds me of... a bathroom deodorizer, or something. Specifially, I associate it with an airplane restroom. O_o It's kind of headache-inducing. I've worn it a few different times hoping for better results, but unfortunately it just doesn't seem to be a winner on me. I'm passing it on to a new home.

Pumpkin Queen was gifted to me as a sniffie in a swap package. It's not completely dry, so I'll give it a try... (hey, that rhymed ) In the imp: This makes me think of what I imagine "Pumpkin Cheesecake" would smell like, though I haven't sniffed that blend. Pumpkin with sweet spices, but it also smells very rich in a way. On my skin: There's only a drop of testable oil in here, so it's a light amount, but it's not doing the curry thing that some pumpkin oils have done on me. It's more like the sweet pumpkin in Marshmallow Pumpkin. It's kind of generic "fall candle" on me, which isn't a bad thing - I love fall candles. I pretty much buy one of each of all the Yankee fall tarts when they come out. Overall, this does smell really nice, but I'm satisfied with my Marshmallow Pumpkin for a sweet pumpkin niche.

I haven't tried it myself, but there's Inganok Jewelers from the 2010 Lupers ("Gleaming stone and silver") Based on the reviews, it sounds like this blend is really chemistry-dependent, but many people have reported a stony or mineral-like note.

Carfax Abbey is the best one I've found so far, at least for my chemistry and the particular feeling I'm looking for. I am in love with this blend!

This is the first review of Carfax Abbey here in about two and a half years. So, aging may well play a part in any differences in my perception of this scent. In the bottle: deep woods and resins. I definitely get that ancient, abandoned feeling. I detect a hint of cedar, but it's not doing the pencil-shavings/Home Depot thing like Cathedral did on me (but this is much more aged than Cathedral was when I got it.) I'm not sure this is something I want to wear as a skin scent, but I'm still skin testing it. Wow, I love this. Woods, incense, with the herbs making it a bit sweet. It definitely smells old and dusty, like a long-abandoned attic full of books. I've been searching for an old book holy grail scent for a while, and I think this might be it! Edit: The sweetness really comes out as it dries. After about an hour, it's a very sweet incense. This blend is more wearable than I was expecting it to be, which is great because I really enjoy it

Lilith's Tea Party is a scent that in theory should be one of my favorites, but somehow falls flat whenever I wear it. It's a pretty scent, but I think the florals here keep it from being a pure strawberry, cake and tea delight. Golettes fills my "strawberry cake" scent need better. I love the idea of LTP, and I've held onto it for a while and keep trying it, but each time I try I end up having some kind of reaction to it and feeling borderline headachey/nauseous. I think this one needs to be passed on, unfortunately.

Not sure if it's the milk note, or the milk/linen combination, but this goes sour on me just like Boo. Which is a real bummer, because I had high hopes for a chai tea-like scent...

I wanted to like Blood Countess because I have a strange fascination with Elizabeth Bathory, but I can't even bring myself to skin test this. In the imp it smells sickly sweet, kind of the compost, rotting type smell I got from Harvest Moon 2010. I don't like opium, and while I do like the other notes, together they're just too much. I think it might be the floral-plum combination that can cause an overly sweet, rotting edge to my nose in some blends. Gardenia is hit or miss for me, and this is another miss, unfortunately.

I forgot I had already reviewed this, and I tested it again without looking at my previous review... I apparently had liked it before, but I don't now. In the imp this mostly smells like a lemon-scented cleaning fluid. On my skin, I do get the fruits, and also a clean, aquatic-ish note that I'm assuming is for the "wet boughs". I can see how this would be a pretty scent - but unfortunately, I've smelled too many cheap imitations in cleaning products and sprays, and that's where my association goes.