ismene

As soon as I sniff this, I think of bright pink bubble gum. It's very, very sweet. It's a bit fruity, but I'm not really picking up on the oranges. As it fades away, I get hints of incense now and then, but it's still fairly sweet. Hmm. I've tried this one a few times now and can't really make up my mind about it. It's very pretty, but I'm not sure if it really suits me.

Hexennacht reminds me quite a bit of Harvest and Hunter Moons. It's got that same outdoor, animalistic quality. I can't smell the fir or anything that resembles herbs. Wet, I get smoke, a bit of wine, and some vaguely familiar yet unidentafiable hints of fruit. Dry, the musky, animalistic notes come out, but they're really really awful on my skin. I don't want to describe what it smells like on me for fear of putting others of the scent. I guess I need to learn to stay away from oils with notes described as 'skin' or 'animal.'

'Acrid' and 'punguent' are the words that first come to mind when describing this scent, but it's by no means unpleasant. It's just very strong and sinus clearing. After it dries down, it starts sweetening up and that continues as it fades. What an odd scent. I can't pick out any notes, and I don't think it smells anything like what's in the description. I think I like it, but there's just this weirdness about it that keeps nibbling at my mind.

This is the scent of an earth goddess. At first it's all wet dirt, but then that's joined by the sweetness of fruit and a hint of green things. This is perfect and I hope I don't spill any of it. My only wish is that the scent didn't fade so fast, but I know my skin just love to suck up whatever oil I put on it.

Les Fleurs du Mal is a very feminine, very old-fashioned floral. It reminds me of what would happen if the floral waters of the nineteenth century were turned into a perfume oil. Lilac is the most prominent note on me, with a faint hint of rose. The wisteria doesn't really show up at all on me. After an hour or so, the scent starts to turn powdery. It's a pretty scent and I don't have allergy problems like I do with most florals, but it's really not my style.

Despite being described as a gentleman's cologne, Whitechapel is certainly appropriate for a woman. It's a soft blend, pleasantly citrusy at first. After a time the lilac kicks in, which makes the scent start going powdery on me. Unfortunately I do get some of that furniture polish smell after an hour or so - I'm starting to think my skin will do this every citrus/floral blend. I think this would be a nice one for people whose skin likes citrus notes better than mine.

I love cherries and vanilla. I love honey and cloves. You'd think I'd love this, but it's just not working on me and I've tried it several times. In the bottle it's fine, if a little too strong. On my skin it turns a bit sour, though I can easily pick out all the listed notes. I think it might be the wine note that's doing the oil in for me; grapes and I don't get on in general. I'm really sad that this one didn't work out for me, because I thought it sounded wonderful.

This oil is very earthy, but also quite sweet. In fact, it sweetens even more as it dries and fades. It's not as green as I expected to be from looking at the notes; it's one of those oils where I have trouble identifying any individual notes. Some people commented on how dark the scent was, given the legend of Black Annis. I didn't get that at all, even knowing a bit of her story, and found it a surprisingly light, sweet scent. Maybe I'm just a baby-eating hag at heart.

This is simply gorgeous. Golden and syrupy, you can smell the amber from the moment the bottle is opened and it never wanes. It's sweetened even more by the lotus and myrrh and given depth by the musk and spices. It faintly reminds me of O, but this scent lasts much longer on me and has a richness that O never quite achieves. I definitely need a bottle of this.

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet, but I suppose I should since I've decided not to keep my bottle. Mabon smells like sour apple cider on me, or perhaps apple beer. It's a scent with a lot of depth, but despite that I can't actually pick up any of the other notes. When it's very faded and almost gone, it turns into this lovely apples & cream scent, but I have to press my nose right against my skiin to be able to smell it. This is probably a good ritual scent, but it doesn't really work on my skin.

I loved Snow White '03. It was perfect. However, after I'd had the bottle nearly a year, it had started to go off a bit and had a faint plastic smell that was really unpleasant on my skin. Needless to say, I was looking forward to receiving my new bottle. Snow White '04 is a lot greener than the previous year and, unfortunately, had that plasticy note right from the beginning. Someone said it might be narcissus. Whatever it is, it's most unpleasant on me. I've tried it repeatedly, under different circumstances, but it's always the same. I'm so disappointed I know the ingredients in LEs vary a bit each year, so I'm hoping next year's version of SW will be as lovely on me as the first year.

Many people are describing Beltane as being light or fresh, but to me it feels very heavy. It indeed smells like a large bouquet of fresh flowers - flowers to which I'm allergic. I wasn't expecting this one to be quite so overpowering or I wouldn't have ordered it, since the stronger florals usually give me a headache. I can't identify many of the notes, but I think I smell a bit of rose, which would explain my bad reaction to the oil.

Dance of Death is very dry and dark on me, but also quite earthy. I keep getting an image of bones decaying and crumbling into dust as dirt seeps in through cracks in the coffin, the spices buried as gave goods still giving off a faint aroma. It's a very evocative scent. It sweetens up quite a bit as it fades, but I'm still getting the same images from it.

Mm, fig. I can smell a hint of orange in the vial, but on my skin it's pretty much all fig. It's a warm, sweet fig, without the odd chemical undertone that the fig single note has. I like it a lot, though I'm not sure how much I'll wear it since it's so one-dimensional on my skin. I might end up using it more as a room scent.

I've been rather puzzled by this each time I've worn it. It's sweet, it's fruity, but it wasn't really working for me. I finally got round to looking up the notes tonight and I'm even more puzzled. It contains plum and a musk, so you'd think I'd love it and it would smell fantastic on me. Well, I don't and it doesn't. It doesn't smell bad on me, it's just kinda...meh. Nothing bad, but not spectacular either. I'd like to smell this on someone for whom it works well, because the blend certainly sounds good.

Hothouse blooms indeed! This scent is all honeysuckle and jasmine on me, but there's no hint of decay or even spice. It reminds me of walking past the huge honeysuckle bushes when traveling in the south and of the tiny honeysuckle bush in the front yard of my childhood home - though it never got so big or so fragrant, since the climate here isn't mild enough for a long flowering period. New Orleans is a heady floral but still somewhat delicate. I can't speak to it's staying power, since the jasmine started giving me headache after a bit and I had to wash off the oil.

Kyoto smells very much like Kabuki to me, only spicier. After an hour or so the star anise dies down and it smells almost exactly like cherry trees in bloom. Unfortunately the whole thing fades after a couple of hours and it never has that much throw. It's a lovely scent and I wish it lasted longer on my skin.

Initially this smells like a cherry phosphate, if anyone else knows what that is. (I'm craving one right now, which is a shame since in my entire life I've only found two places that know how to make one.) After an hour or so, the cherry begins to fade and I can pick up something powdery and somewhat floral. Probably dragon's blood, since it tends to go powdery-floral on my skin. Decadence is a red scent similar to Red Moon and The Living Flame. They're all pretty good, but they smell so similar on me I'm trying to convince my pack-rat side I don't need to keep them all.

It's not quite like the absinthe I've had, but it's close. I'm getting more of a sassafrass smell than anise or wormwood, but they all smell a bit similar to me. Very little lemon or mint, just occasional hints of them. It's a pleasant light green scent whose initial sharpness fades pretty quickly. I like it, but I'm not sure if I'd use a whole bottle.

This smells like candied lime peel on me. There's a hint of berry every now and then and a bit of rum when it's wet, but really, citrus candy. No bitterness, no curry smell. There's no touch at all of chocolate, fig, or musk, which is odd because those notes are usually very strong on me. Not what I expected, but I like it anyway.

My first thought on opening the imp was "Wow, this one's really strong." It has the sweetness of dragon's blood and the depth of musks, but it's a little too sweet for me. I can't really smell the fig or the currant, which is a shame since I love those notes, but I think they add to the sweetness of the whole thing. After a while it turns a bit floral on my skin and even sweeter, so it becomes very overwhelming.

Mmm, fig. As others have noted, it does smell rather artificial at first but that goes away and it smells more natural as the oil dries down. It's a sweet, dark fig and the scent of the oil makes me very, very hungry. It doesn't have much throw, however - I have to hold my arm within a few inches of my nose to be able to smell it once the oil's dried.

Dark, sultry rose. I was quite fortunate that this blend didn't give me a headache at all, since rose and jasmine are often culprits. However, it didn't do it for me. It didn't turn bad or cloying as florals often do on my skin; it just didn't quite work for me. After a few hours, Wicked had faded out to a sweet myrrh, but the first hours were just too rosy for my tastes.

I really wish I'd discovered this before it was discontinued. It's musky and spicy and perfect. It smells like exotic imported fabrics, still heavily scented from their country of origin. I have trouble picking out notes in this, but on looking at what's in it I can kind of see how they blended to make up this oil. Fortunately, the rose doesn't bother me at all like it usually does.

This one isn't really what I expected. I thought it would be mostly woodsy, but the rose is the dominant note on me. I get a faint hint of something green but it's only a hint. This particular oil is strong, only taking a small amount for a good deal of scent, and has a lot of staying power. It's nice enough and not as strongly overpowering as many rose oils, but I'm not much of a rose person and it tends to give me a headache so I probably won't keep it around.