lookingglass

Weird-io! In the opening, the melon and gin go WA-ZING!!! but it's not particularly edible. I've never smelled anything quite like it. It's a light green, wet, fizzy smell but it immediately gets a little powdery and creamy. It's fresh yet sweet and dense at the same time, kind of like a clean musk. I thought there might be iris in here because it gets that gentle baby head creaminess all dried out, but it must be the honey. I gave it to DH who loves deep smokey scents but craves something more summery sometimes-this seems to work very well for him. I would definitely consider this gender neutral, though. It dries down very quickly and sticks very close to the skin. It reminds me a bit of Black Opal at the end.

This is brilliant. I always thought I'd like a green scent with oakmoss but I neh-ver really have. Green scents tend to smell like the bottom of my Grandma's purse, or a tincture of some kind- not mysterious, sexy, or a good fit for my skin. I never got that leathery feel people always talk about in green scents. I've wanted to. I think it's a wonderfully romantic notion, and leather as a note rarely works for me as I find it too tangy. I have often imagined Mina's green leather gloves in Bram Stoker's Dracula and want to smell like that. Wah! I want green leather! Faiza, however, is my ticket. I guess I needed a little fruit, ti, and honey in with the mix. This is NOT, however, a frilly, girly, fruity, flowery blend by any means. I'm not like, "hey there, orange and blackberry! Whatcha been up to?!" like easily identifiable tarts. The white florals, too, are understated and are merely creamy and indolic, blending seamlessly with the honey and musk. OMG . The leathery note seems to come from the oakmoss and musk. It's smooth, melty, sleek and murkey green with an understated sweet smoothness. The topnotes give just enough lift to make the darker notes shimmer. The drydown is amazing and I can't describe it well enough...it reminds me of how Fae dries down in feel: the musk gets all... faceted...shining light and dark, sharp and creamy all at the same time...it's subtle but ungodly beautiful. She's quiet, slinky, complex, and sexy. I'll be getting a bottle when the Carnival gets back in town, for SURE.

Yellow rose! It really smells like yellow rose! Fresh, with green stems, wet and bright. Drying out the creaminess comes out and I smell fresh honeysuckle. I think this is the most realistic floral I have ever smelled. Yes, it reminds me of L'air du Temps, too, but more of a nod to it, not a dupe. This softens out quickly to a light breeze of a pale yellow floral-delicately sweet. Fresh out of a luxe shower, indeed. It's sunny without being tangy or piercing.

Resiney...yep. It's nice. It is purpley, but not FRUITY, more like a...purple haze. Dried out it smells a lot like my beloved Medea without the green complexity and a little more oomph.

The only reasons that I haven't tried this scent before today is because of the pine and some fierce resistance that I can only liken to trying to deny an intense romantic infatuation with someone you don't even know. I was so afraid she would smell like Pine Sol, which smells like cleaning up puke at elementary school to me. I know. I feel horrible even thinking that about a BPAL, let alone writing it, but I was SCARED. Scared the pine would be minty or Christmasy...just the fact that it was THERE. Even thought I heard so many amazing things about this Illustrated Woman. And I just happen to be a very illustrated woman myself. All the other notes are total win. "Common...put me on the wishlist...just see what happens...read the reviews... you know you want me..."she called to me. I didn't even want to read or believe the reviews because I could not imagine that the pine wouldn't eat up any other beauty she may possess. But now, today...I faced my fear and my desire. I sniffed the bottle. Pine. Strong pine, but definitely not Pine Sol. Pine sap. Fresh flowing, gooey, amber colored pine sap that as I child I could not resist touching to see if it was dry as it oozed out of the trees that shaded the sandbox that I played in everyday, that lined the edges of the forrest I was forbidden to enter alone. (I want to go...let me go...I'm so curious!) When it was dry I peeled it off in thin ribbons, the amber edges all white, or I picked off small globs and rolled them around between my thumb and middle finger. I can feel the sensation even now... When it wasn't dry, my finger poked through the sticky membrane to the richly scented liquid. Either way it would get all over my hands and smell so amazing it was worth the dirt that would soon stick to it and last all day, no matter how many times I washed my hands. Sometimes later I would get in trouble for wiping it on my white cotton dress... But it fades....the memory...and the pine in the Illustrated Woman. OMG. What a flashback... Morphing...if it's not pine what's it gonna be? Sniff...what the? Sniff... Fuck YEAH. THIS is Holy Grail. WHAT am I smelling?! It smells like...like... what I always wished headshops and stores of magical objects and incense and every other perfume oil smelled like but DIDN't. It just smells absolutely amazing: chewy, rich, smokey, but like SKIN. It has a resemblance to Snake Oil (my true, true love for years), for sure, but she's less medicinal and with less sillage, and just...different; it smells just as musky and sweet but with different musk and different sweet. I think it's more complex than Snake Oil, with less vanilla and more honey and resins. But it FEELS just as comfortable and BAD ASSED at the same time. There is a slight niff of men's cologne but Iiiii like it!-it's subtle and naughty. I cannot stop smelling myself. No one would dare fuck with me in this. It's the kind of scent I could imagine someone smelling and thinking "What is that?". It smells like some exotic PLACE really, or rather, like someone has been in some exotic place and then returned and I am enchanted by them and want to hear their stories and learn their secrets. And then I realize...it's really ME. Me. The bookish, tattooed, smokin' freak that I am and- I like myself. A lot... I love this. LOVE it! I am so frustrated that the Carnival is down at the moment cuz I would buy multiple bottles right now, which is something that I don't do very often. I have to have more of this. Have to. She delights me the way she smells so like my childhood and then grows into a dancing, wild gypsy and finally into a luscious, honied lover. Instant love. I have fallen. Honestly. Madly.

Smells like...boozy cherry chocolates and coconut but actually very wearable! Fun!

Brilliant, IP! Thank you!!!

I'm thinking Obatala: milk, coconut meat, shea butter and cool, refreshing water

All the corruptions of the earth: mandrake, dark myrrh, seaweed, swampy moss, black pepper, pimento, opoponax, tobacco absolute, and tarry clove. FUNKY! It's almost a chypre without citus topnotes-a dream come true! It's a punch in the face with sharp resins and fresh spices and wet earth that almost reads like a heady, dark floral, greenish brown, not too sour. It's reminiscent of the Caterpillar, but with less floral, and add clove, lots of myrrh, and GREEN...sweeter, sticky, and kind of leathery. It feels like a classic Caron but more...wild-swampy, yeah..like, primeval. Ooooh, another add to my heaping myrrh pile!!!! I gotta have a full bottle.

Sweet, hot, buttery, salty, creamy skin and green lilac stems. Weeeeeird!!! DH says it smells like being at the beach.

I got this one because I love, love, love myrrh. I was a little afraid that it would smell just like Phantom (a favorite but I need MORE myrrh!), with the myrrh and rose, and it did a bit, initially. Drying out, though, it is much less rosey, eventually fading out nearly completely, leaving only a trace, reminiscent of mala beads made out of dried rose petals. Then the galbanum really emerges. I have always tried to love green/galbanum scents like Chanel 19, but they smell so dated and disappointing. This, however, lets it shine. A review a few back said this smells like Lancome's Magie Noir (one of my favorite mainstream perfumes), and it kiiiind of does. It's rich and clean at the same time-resinous and comforting. It is does have that 80's powerhouse kind of feel, but totally BPAL, so it's so much more wearable. Epic WIN.

Hand of Glory Brimstone

I smelled this at the Mutter giftshop. I had juuuust seen real shrunken heads for the first time and then...sniffed this. It's what I'd imagine them to smell like, on top of what the Mutter really does smell like: dusty, yet supple leather, stuffed with herbs. Crrrreeeeeepy!

Rereading the Deathly Hallows again... -There are firey Chimeras in The Battle @ Hogwarts -p.649 "...he almost welcomed the oncoming oblivion, the promise of nothing, of no feeling..." -the Coiled Serpent/Serpent's Kiss/Pain in the Shrieking Shack -Black Lily-for Snape's love for Lily -Ron...I think he'd smell good in the Lion, but Howl in Darkness sounds perfect-haven't smelled it. -White Light-maybe for Ron or the memories... -Fenris Wolf -Goblin -Elf ...but what now, for Snape-Severin is gone...Horreur Sympathetique?

Has anyone mentioned Hand of Glory, Bezor or Troll?

I rediscovered Horreur Sympathetique last night...oh, the dark plum honey!!!

Reviving this thread to give some myrrh some more lovin'! I'm having a serious myrrh cravings right now. Hecate, Old Demons (opoponax=sweet myrrh) and Phantom are what I've been reaching for but I think I may need just a myrrh single note. It's so rich, creamy, sweet and warm...What are your favorites these days?

Medea and Phantom.

This is really clean and a little boozy, like a gin and tonic feels. It's refreshing, but light and soft, staying close to the skin and melding ever so much with the white musk and vanilla. It does not smell like cake. It reminds me a bit of B&BW's Rice Flower and Shea, but greener and softer, if that's helpful. It's a good warm weather scent.

I'm kicking myself for not buying this while I had the chance. I was afraid that the woods would be too woody and the rose would amp and smell Platexey. Not sooooo. This smells like Inez with a little Sed Non Satia. It has a lot of honey, so much it's almost nutty. Is that vetivert I smell way down there...oooh, you deep, deep naughty. I do love you here! The wild rose is almost herbaceous but just enough to give everything some room to breathe. I love these heavy basenote laden scents.

I had never heard Siren's call. I assumed that there would be hidden aquatic notes or shrill jasmine that would hate me. However, ih8perfume brought this to the TN Meet N Sniff and held it under my nose...I am so thankful that she did. There's a twist of fresh ginger, almost green, not brown like gingersnaps at all. The jasmine is quite realistic: soft, delicate, creamy, and thankfully, indolic. As it dries down it gets a little...skanky, and I like it. It's like Depraved sister: dark, chewy apricots, but a bit more socially acceptable because of the lift in the topnotes. I could swear there is patchouli in here. Swear. Or wood. No...patchouli...Mmmmmm, I love this. All dried down on my skin it smells like bed pillows a few days after changing the sheets: still kind of clean but also creamy, fleshy, and lived in. Skin but better...yes, oh yes...! Silage when wet is notable, but the drydown is close to the skin. It's not what I'd expect a Siren to smell like; I find the abstraction intriguing. She's one of those happy BPAL surprises that keeps me coming back for more. I'm adding it to my bottle list and she's currently in my Top 10.

Old Demons of the First Class!

It makes me think of the Doormouse: sweet, opaque, pink vanilla. I would say Eat Me, just based on the description, but to me Eat Me is spicy and dark-it dosn't smell PINK, more like spiced cooked berries. It makes me think of the Doormouse: sweet, opaque, pink vanilla. I would say Eat Me, just based on the description, but to me Eat Me is spicy and dark-it dosn't smell PINK, more like spiced cooked berries.

'Here to give some honey love shout out to Door!!! aaaaaand Tobacco Honey!!! aaaaaand the Lights of Men's Lives! Bzzzzzzzzz!

Now Iiiii want some, too! LOL!