sophia_helix

In the bottle: Like everyone says: pink! It ranges from flowery-sweet to a very sugary-sweet, with a tiny chemical edge that makes my teeth ache, like children's toothpaste. No strawberries. Wet: Oh, my GOD, this is sweet. Sugar sugar sugar, a little like bubblegum. There's a wet bit of something less synthetic behind it which smells more like a plant-sweetness, but still no strawberries. It's a little sharp and overwhelming, and I hope it dries down a little softer. Drydown: There's still something a little chemical and bitter about this that I don't like. It makes me think of articial sweeteners very strongly, and I *think* it's the lunar oils. I only smell it when my nose is right on my skin, though, and farther away there's just a cloud of undefinable sweetness. I wish I could pick out notes, but it's a combination of me not being very good at that anyhow, and this being a particularly well-blended scent on me. I'd like to try this on my mom -- she put on Tiger Lily and got nothing but lilies, whereas for me that one is just sweet with a strong top note of honey. I bet individual florals like her skin more than mine. The only thing I can identify beyond sugar is daffodil (which is a sugary flower-scent to me anyhow). A couple hours later, and it's not so sickly-sweet, though there was a period of time when it was seriously turning my stomach, like I'd been eating packets of Equal or something. When I got into my broiling-hot car, the strawberries jumped out at me (??), so now I've got that, but it's still a more sugary version of strawberries. One of the most interesting things I noticed was that my interest in eating sweet things completely dropped off while wearing this. I immediately started craving a turkey sandwich with spicy mustard and pepper-jack cheese from Safeway, and while I was there I got a green tea frappucino and told them to leave out the melon syrup. So...if you have a raging sweet tooth like me, and are trying to find a way not to crave the sugar-goodies, I'd suggest wearing this! Otherwise, unless I can find something to layer this with that cuts down the sweetness, I don't think this is the scent for me. I should add that Blood onmy hands, who I got this imp from, very sweetly sent along a sample of the Skindazzler Tickle Me Pink lotion for layering. It does go very well, and I'd suggest the combo to anyone who loves this scent!

This came yesterday from another forumite -- thanks, Velvet! In the vial: Creamy berry sweetness, a little bit of green tea, and a bit of sharpness beneath, sort of herbal. Wet: The blackberry jumps out, very juicy, but with a richer note that I think is the musk. Not smelling the tea or the sage at all, though, boo. It's a sort of lavender-purple scent. Drydown: The musk is dying down, the berry is becoming juicier, and I'm getting a faint bottom note of sage. This is just getting better as it dries. ::sniffs obsessively:: It's reminding me a lot of Rosalind, for good and for bad -- the delicious berry scent, and the lack of staying power/throw. It's delicate in a good way, though, and I know I'm stingy with my imp applications, so to get a really good test I'd have to put some more on. Also, I put more on down my shirt after about an hour, and it turned really creamy and yummy there -- and stayed! That trick with getting some on your clothing as well as your skin really seems to make a difference. Plus, um, I think my cleavage is warmer. Second one this week I need a bigger bottle for -- dang!

This was a freebie, though I'm embarrassed to say I don't recall what forum sweetheart sent it my way. In the bottle: Um. Rose-type floral, with a musky, earthy background that must be the incense. I'm rotten at identifying "sweet" blends. Wet: Ooh, now it's sharper, and I think the lemon peel is coming out. There's definitely rose in here now, and it smells like *real* rose, not perfume rose, with that extra depth of sweetness. This is much more like I thought Venice would be (and has a lot of the same notes). There's also orris, which does not bode well. Orris loves me far too much, and I do not love it at all. Drydown: How do you spell perfume disaster? O-R-R-I-S. At least in my case. I still have that rosy sweetness lurking behind, but the bulk of the smell is alll orris, all the time. I hate this freaking scent. Why does it love me so? This just got more and more like sickly-sweet soap as it wore on. I finally had to scrub it off, but I can still smell it. Wah! This had so much potential in the vial, and I was excited about it. :D Bonus Dude Review! I made my husband try it on, and while when wet it was ecstatically spicy and woodsy, it quickly dried to exactly the same smell I got. Is it the blend, our noses, or our similar chemistry? A mystery. *g*

In the bottle: Blue-green and sweet. There's the salty aquatic BPAL smell I'm not so crazy about, as compared to the ozone-aquatic BPAL smell that I love. Wet: Much nicer, very green. Like a pond of still water in a hot place, maybe with some kind of mineral spring underneath. It's got that kind of tang. There's still the floral sweetness to it, though, which is undermining the smell I like. Drydown: And the waterlily comes SCREAMING out on me, just like it did with Venice. About ten minutes later it's all I smell, just that sickly-sweet scent I really hate. I think I totally OD'd on it with Venice, so now I've got a knee-jerk aversion to it, but I really don't like that scent. Too much like some kind of cheap, heavy store-bought perfume. It's wrecked the tangy water scent I was enjoying. Well, at least it has a lot of throw and staying power? ::trying to be positive:: Of course, figgers that the one scent that really lingers on me is one I hate. D'oh. Maybe one more trial, just to see, and then into the swap pile. But at least I know now that I hate waterlily, which I hadn't figured out before.

Dew-covered berries and fresh green grasses with a faint breath of spring flowers. I got this as a frimp from Blood onmy hands (::waves:, which was a very nice surprise. In the bottle: Um... pink? I think it's the peony. It's a very sweet, yummy smell, not foody but somehow smelling like spun sugar should, or candied flowers. And a bit of soap, but in a nice way, like a fancy bubblebath. Wet: Oh, it's even juicier and sweeter now, and I think it's the berries. Also a bit of spice. Very pleasant. Drydown: Dammit, this one just won't last. It's very thin and faint with ten minutes. I might need to put more on, though, and maybe my allergies were acting up that day. The scent is so pretty and spring-like and delicious I can't bear to think it didn't work.

This oil is so firmly one of the favorites, it feels silly to even review, but what the hell. We're all special, unique snowflakes, right? In the bottle: I've been so anticipating this, and now that I smell it, it's .... kind of sour and stale smelling. I'm not sure about this, so I've tried my other swap imps first, warding off disappointment. So many heartbreaks already... Wet: Oh, all right, it's sweet now. And honey. And a little spicy. And ... wow. Drydown: I am going into absolute ecstasies as this dries on. I didn't know what amber smelled like before, but now that I've got a hit of that spicy, golden scent I'm tracking down every blend that's got it. I knew I loved honey (Tiger Lily has been my only unqualified catalogue success), but this is so so yummy. The honey in Tiger Lily is sweet and girly, but THIS is just spicy, sweet, honey-sex. And the vanilla just ties it all together, taking it another step towards that mouth-watering sweetness. And I'm SO relieved this has a lot of throw and staying power. It keeps getting better and richer. The spice is heavy on my wrists, but down my cleavage it's pure juicy honey. And ... um ... the reports were correct. My husband came home, I said "Smell me!" and the rest is a blur.

This was one of the first oils I tried -- I borrowed a dab from a friend's imp, fell crazy-in-love, and knocked myself out to buy a 5ml on Ebay. And now it's here! *happy sigh* In the bottle: Oh, so clean and wonderful. There's lemon, and just strong, fresh ozone. I have to add here that I am completely a sucker for clean scents, love to inhale wet laundry and the smell of, um, Windex, so I'm probably a nut. But this oil was made for me! Wet: The lemon jumps RIGHT out at me, and I'm so thankful that it smells nice, instead of sickly like Embalming Fluid or Szepasszony did on me. It's just a nice, clean lemon. Did I mention clean? *g* Drydown: There's a strange little scent about two minutes into drydown, which makes me think a little of anise. I'm guessing it's the lunar oils. It goes away quickly, and the oil dries into a quieter version of its bottle-self. Maybe a little too quiet -- my only complaint with Storm Moon is that it fades pretty fast. But my husband says it has a lot of throw (ok, he actually said "Boy, I can smell that over here!" *g*), and I always have a hard time smelling oils on myself after I've been sniffing them for a while. The initial, bracing rush of lemon and ozone is completely worth it any fading.

An unexpected swap with a friend; the label is homemade, so I don't know what year the decant is from. In the bottle Sweet , with a hint of fruit. It's like almonds, vanilla cream, and crisp green apples. It's really delicious and creamy. Mm. Wet: The almond smells more like coconut now, and the fruit is sharper and more tangy. But...there's some bizarre metallic/dirty scent underneath, which I hope is just my cheap leather watchband. Ugh, it's like tires burning! Drydown: Waaaah, it's awful. All I get is a memory of sweetness and something like dirty apples, bitter and sour, along with a metallic scent that makes me think of eating ice cubes out of a metal tray. Blech! Okay, after a few hours of sniffing, the bad smell goes away, and I get sweet vanilla/coconut again -- but it's sort of sickly and faint, nothing like in the bottle. And then I get plastic. The smell has gone from a soft creamy white to flat grey, like dirty snow by the side of the road in March or something. It smells heavenly when it isn't on my skin, but I guess I'll have to pass it on for someone else to love. I've never had a scent go from so delicious to so horrible so quickly.

This was one of the first imps I picked up -- I was lucky enough to have a friend send it my way. The description sounded so intriguing, esp. the part about rocks and water, that I couldn't wait to try it. I was thinking of that part in Anne of Green Gables, when Anne plays Elaine on the Lake of Shining Waters, and is rescued by Gilbert. In the bottle: Gardenia is the most pungent note, and something else sweetly floral, but I certainly smell the aquatics underneath. It's a strong scent, very rich. Wet: Still strongly floral, but the smell of clean water is getting sharper. Neat. I like the way it takes the edge of the sweetness. I'm looking forward to seeing how this dries. Drydown: Water, water, water! "Tart" indeed. Maybe a little too much like dishsoap. An hour later that calms down, but now it's kind of nondescript, just an average white floral perfume. Very little staying power. Glad I tried it, but not a keeper. I tried this on my friend Rachel, and she got nothing but SOAP, and then back to tart water smells. Hardly any florals at all. Chemistry, you are so strange...

In the bottle: Very clean scent, which feels like a blue smell. A little heady fruitiness as an afternote. Wet: Fruit is stronger, but so is the clean scent, which is turning astringent now -- luckily, I like that. The fruit is fading pretty fast, leaving "clean." It smells like a very nice body wash, which is not a bad thing. Drydown: After an hour of so, the lovely ozone is gone and the cherry-sweetness is taking over. Now it's cloying. Like always. Blast. I am so cursed by fruit. Into the swap pile.

In the bottle: The citrus is what jumps out at me, with an afternote of sweetness, which seems mostly the jasmine. Wet: The lime is much sharper and more pungent, with a lovely tingle. The sweetness has retreated to just an underlying hint. This smells just like what I want from this scent -- astringent citrus with heady sweetness. Yum. Drydown: Annnd, five minutes later, the lime has vanished, the jasmine is indistinct, and I am left with the same irritating, cloying sweet smell I got from Venice. I can't describe this smell -- potpourri and cough syrup springs to mind, though it's not that bad -- except to say it's vaguely sweet, vaguely fruity, but rich in a fake way that makes me feel sick after a while. I think I'll be avoiding jasmine after this -- everyone I made smell my wrist said they just smelled overstrong gardenia or muguet. Alas.

Note: This is the current version of Hellfire In the bottle: Getting the tobacco strongly, and a hint of the sweet musk (or is it the ambergris?) Definitely a "hot" smell. Wet: Whoa, an earthy scent jumps right out at me. Must be the incense. The tobacco note at the end is more bitter than before, and the sweetness has disappeared. Drydown: Sweetness came back over the next four hours, and the scent has mellowed down into a nice, sweetish tobacco smell with very little else. It's probably too masculine for me to wear, but I really like the smell. Sadly, I traded it away for something I thought I'd like, and didn't, so now I'm kind of mourning it.

In the bottle: The scent of lilies wafts up first, and then a mouth-watering, golden honey scent. Wet: The lily is fuller now, like I'm really smelling a flower, but the delicious honey top note pervades. I keep smelling my wrist because it's wonderful. Drydown: This lasts about four to six hours on me, and I just adore it. Definitely my favorite of the 40-odd oils I've been able to sniff or wear so far. It dries down to just a honeyed sweetness that makes me feel warm and happy, very peaceful. I am going to BURN through the 5ml I have, I can tell!

In the bottle: Mostly sweet florals, very heady and complex. I think I'm getting the wisteria and the jasmine, with a hint of rose. Wet: There's an astringent note amidst the sweetness now, which I think is maybe the lemon or the currant coming through. I'm getting the rose strongly as a sort of after-scent that lingers after I've stopped sniffing. Drydown: Still an astringent sweetness, which I hesitate to call soapiness. It might verge on smelling like rose-scented soap, maybe. And okay, fifteen minutes later, the sandalwood has emerged, turning the scent musky instead of sour, which is weird but appreciated. Wait -- but only on one wrist. The hell? And now it's gone, a minute later. Bizarre. Just lemony-rose, now, with a deep, non-sweet floral/fruity background that I can't identify, and is probably the orris or the waterlily, since I wouldn't recognize either smell by name. Six hours later, the scent is lingering, very solidly that unidentifiable mix of floral and sweet and fruit and something else. It's kind of cloying and making me sick to my stomach. Not a keeper for me. Boo! I was really anticipating this one, and I bought a 5ml (untested) at the Black Broom. What a newbie mistake...