sunlitgarden

Eros

Floral/sweet with a bitter bite from the myrrh. Everything blends together well, but it's a combination I don't really care for.

Brown Jenkin

 

Frimp from the lab. This is INCENSE on me, which is unfortunate because I'm not really big on incense blends. It's also doing the cedary thing on my skin that Cathedral does, although it's not as strong as in Cathedral.

Pet Magah Bird

 

In decant: fruity-spicy. Blood orange is the most prominent, but there are clearly a lot of notes here. On my skin it smells sweet and a bit tropical, I think because of the guava/frangipani/coconut. Something in the combination reminds me of chamomile. Violet is usually my enemy but it's not too bad here, as there are enough other notes in the blend. I'm not so sure about this overall... it goes kind of muddly on my skin. Not my favorite.

 

Tried again 5/27/12: Trying to decide whether to keep this decant. Still mainly blood orange in the decant. On my skin, I smell the violet (again, don't like violet). There's something almost pastry-like about it now, weirdly enough (guessing it's from the caramel and sugar.) Unfortunately, I'm still getting a chemical-ish smell from that violet, so I think this is going away...

Boo 2010

 

In the bottle it's a rich, buttery, creamy vanilla with linen/cotton. On my skin it does take on a bit of a smoky quality that might just be the strong cotton note, but that fades with time. Unfortunately, Boo doesn't work well with my skin chemistry. The linen note really amps and the cream goes a bit sour. I am disappointed since I really liked my sniffie of Boo '09.

The Forest Reverie

 

Very dark oil. Pine! Grounded pine with light swirls of very fragrant smoke. I'm not getting florals or grapes. I am always on the quest for the perfect evergreen forest scent, and this is a great contender. Possibly bottle-worthy.

Grand Guignol

 

Boozy apricot, just like the notes say. I like it, though I kind of want to drink my arm.

Halloween: Brooklyn

 

In the decant it's very green, a mixture of various planty smells. An almost minty herbal quality comes and goes as I sniff it. The overall impression is tomato leaf-like to my nose. On my skin it's about the same, but also a bit floral. My skin is turning it to soap, unfortunately...

All Souls 2010

 

Mostly a resiny incense. It is on the sweeter side, although I can't pick out the currant on its own. I'm not really into incense smells in general, but there have been exceptions so I wanted to try All Souls out. It's going soapy on me though, so I think it's off to swaps.

In the decant: strong strawberry. On my skin: Buttery strawberry cake! The strawberry fades a little as it dries and it goes a bit buttered-popcorn-jellybean, but that too fades and I'm left smelling like a pastry. I'm not sure that this is bottle-worthy, but I'll keep my decant.... and may end up grabbing a bottle, depending on how often I reach for it. It would make a good addition to my foodie collection.

Edit 11/13: I did decide to go for a bottle of this, and I'm glad I did! It's like a sweet strawberry jelly donut with flakes of buttery pastry and powdered sugar.

Huesos de Santo (2010)

Buttery in the decant. On my skin, it's sweet custardy cake at first, orangey with a bit of dryness. I don't smell any flowers, or anise distinctly, unless it's what's causing the dry quality. I like it okay, but think my decant will be enough.

 

Edit: I did ultimately get about a half-hour of soft florals, which were nice. Overall I still don't love the scent though.

PINK!!! Fluffy strawberry and cherry fruity-cake-clouds. Smells like there's some white musk as well. I love it!

 

Update (4/28/12): Well, I'm not sure if it's aging of the scent, my chemistry changing, or my tastes changing, because I just retested Velvet Unicorn (to see if I want to swap for a bottle) and I'm not loving it as much as I did before. I do love the sweet vanilla-strawberry-musk, but the cherry (I think it's the cherry) is going kind of medicinal-plastic, giving it an unpleasant, almost chemical undertone. Bummer.

Punkie Night (2010 Version)

 

In the bottle and wet: Tart, crispy green apples. There's definitely a damp, cool feeling here, and very light spice. As it dries it gets a bit more spicy, but it's still very light. There's not much left of it after an hour or so. Hopefully it will get stronger with age. I can't pick out the cranberries, though they may add to the overall tartness of the scent.

 

Much later Edit: Deciding to let this one go. It's just too light on me and fades too fast. Seems my skin just soaks up the apple note.

Harvest Moon 2010

 

In the bottle Harvest Moon 2010 is a mixture of many different organic smells. It smells sweet, but also planty/vegetable-like. Unfortunately, the scent mixture is kind of overwhelming to me and reminds me a bit of a compost heap -- it has that rotting, too-sweet edge.

 

Once applied, Harvest Moon is sweeter than I expected it to be. There are so many notes that it's hard to pick out individual ones, but it smells a little orange-peachy. Unfortunately, the slightly-too-sweet-rotting smell is still there.

 

The throw-smell is better, as not everything is hitting me at once like it does when I sniff my wrist. It smells sweet, and a bit spiced.

 

As it dries down more, the spices become more apparent, and the overall impression is less compost-like. But I'm not sure I can handle getting to this point.

Upa Upa

 

Pineapple is strongest here, with a creamy coconut-vanilla. The spices in the rum remind me of plum crisp, like in Spicebush Swallowtail. It's both tropical and fall-warm feeling, which is interesting. Yum!!

There's a big vanilla thread here: http://www.bpal.org/topic/21163-searching-for-the-perfect-vanilla/

 

Some of my personal favorite vanillas are Dorian, Lyonesse, and Gypsy Moth.

Pink Snowballs

 

The rose here is sweet and light, though definitely "pink". Rather than smelling the vanilla outright, it adds a soft, warm smoothness to the blend. The snow note is definitely *not* the mint/eucalyptus/juniper smell in some blends. I actually get a hint of coconut in the decant and wet. The coconut fades quickly, though. The result is mostly a sweet, creamy rose. Bottle-worthy for me!

I skin tested Infernal Lover and it was almost single note red musk on me, but was sweeter. I really liked it!

Candles Moon

 

This smells very cool and crisp in the decant, possibly with a hint of berries. I'm getting the "sharp" milk note in this from Milk Moon 2007, but it's working better here than in that blend (where it did a warm yogurt thing on my skin) possibly due to the wax. There's a junipery-minty type cool note that is very refreshing (presumably the wind/snow note.) There is a bit of fruitiness behind it all, presumably the blackberry, but it's pretty faint on me. It's mainly a mix between the cool note and the milk/wax. A decant will probably suffice of Candles Moon for me, but I enjoy it. It's refreshing and warm at the same time.

Silver Phoenix

 

I'm mainly getting the orris as a discernible note. It's nice and light and shimmery-feeling, soft, almost powdery but in a good way. This was how I had hoped Great Grey Witch would be, but there were some notes in that blend that went weird on my skin. Silver Phoenix is lovely.

Copper Phoenix

 

This is warm amber with patchouli and spice, but it's more than the sum of its parts. It reminds me a lot of the feel of Phoenix Steamworks, which I also enjoy -- possibly the gold/bronze notes in that blend. I am not good at picking out the individual notes in Copper Phoenix but I really like it. Every time I sniff I notice different aspects of the scent. It does indeed remind me of a coppery-colored metal. Really amazing!

Spooky 2009

 

I was gifted a tester of this by the lovely Molls! Although Spooky was on my wishlist, it isn't working as well as I hoped. I mainly get mint as a discernable note. Somehow though, everything combines into smelling a bit like a sharp, pungent type of cheese, especially in the decant. o_O I did apply a bit to my skin and now it's more of a vanilla-minty, but there's still a bit of cheese-funk. I blame my nose chemistry...

 

Edit: I think one of the specific problems here is the butterscotchy rum-coconut combination; I tried mixing those two flavors in a cocktail (butterscotch schnapps and coconut rum) and it also was a fail.

To me Bliss smells like I dunked myself in a huge vat of hot cocoa with the very slightest hint of vanilla. And it's a rich, delicious hot cocoa - not a thin powder, but the good stuff made from freshly melted chocolate. I was shocked to see the oil was clear!!

Morocco

 

Carnation and warm musky vanilla and spices... I LOVE this one. It reminds me of something expensive and high end, plus it just smells really good! I have a bottle.

Lilium Inter Spinas

 

I got this imp second-hand and I really don't know how old it is, but this scent is extremely light on me. I guess I get some vague flowers but it's faint. I wrote this down as a blend I liked at Sakura-con, so I think I need to acquire a new imp... I'll update this review if/when I do, because as of right now it's disappointing.

Whoa, this is strong... thick and smoky. The vetiver basically eats up everything else, unfortunately. I think I'm getting a little floral under the vetiver, but the florals are actually a bit sickening, and overall it's just way too strong for me.