Chanter

Re: a World Where There Are Octobers... I've actually got that one! and you're right, it's lovely. Thanks!

Okay, I'll play. It's been a while since I stuck my nose in the forums, and I really should remedy that! My top 5 in no particular order, and good gosh but it isn't easy picking these! are: Morocco Dragon's Eye Dragon's Bone Cicuta October 2011 that doesn't even get into the scents I love but have to be in a specific sort of mood to wear, or the ones that aren't quite in the top 5 but are still marvelous, or... Ah heck. Anyway. runners up, for further information, are Helena, Juniper Hairstreak, Rose Red 2011, Squirting Cucumber and Anne Bonnie.

I'm a true rose fan, so I was definitely going to try this when decant circles went up. In the imp: Mmm, rose as advertized, as well as something sharper - that must be the dew-covered aspect, or maybe it's a representation of winter. Nice, if a little unexpected, anyhow. Wet on skin: Much the same as in the imp; this one doesn't morph much at all on me. That sharp note is still there, mingling with the rose itself, and it's really starting to grow on me the more I sniff it. On drydown: This mellows a bit, but really doesn't alter much scent-wise. I like it! Hanging onto this one for sure.

Seconding Dragon's Eye here, and how! I'm also a serious lilac fan, and Dragon's Eye was one of the first two imps I ever ordered. I think it's heavenly... but your mileage may vary depending on skin chemistry. Note to self: try The Lilac Wood at some point or other.

Aha! I've had a reply from the lab, and it sounds like October 2011 is backordered. That explains it! I'm much less squirmy now that I know that, and I'm looking forward to October 2011 even more than I already was, now. If it's backordered, it must be really lovely!

That makes perfect sense, and I'm glad to know someone else just got a CNS. Thanks! I figured there'd been a mad rush to place 'Weenie orders, I just wasn't sure if... you know... mine had slipped through the cracks or something. Twitchy me.

Okay, I'm totally being paranoid here, but I'm squirming like a squirming thing and wondering if my order's been eaten or something. I ordered on the eighth of September, and according to CCNow the lab has my order as of the thirteenth... but I haven't yet seen a CNS, and I'm in the U.S. From the look of the CNS thread, lots and lots of people who ordered on the same date or after are getting their orders already... does this happen often? Only one of the three bottles I have coming is a 'Weenie, October 2011. The other two are Morocco and Helena. I... just really want to know what's up. I e-mailed the lab and haven't heard back yet, thugh I imagine they're insanely busy at the e-mail end of things too. So... does anybody know if sometimes one bottle or so causes a delay? Or am I just being twitchy?

In the bottle: Mmm, this's a lovely woody cinnamon at first sniff, though I pick up hints of the amber and saffron as well. Wet on skin: Yup, the cinnamon's still there, but it's not overpowering. It plays really very nicely with the woods, the amber, and what I'm guessing is the frankincense. This must be extremely well-blended, because the cedar doesn't leap out at me like it does with Sri Lanka. That's plenty fine with me! On drydown: This doesn't morph much at all on me. It does linger though, so I was getting whiffs of marvelously cinnamony woodiness all day. I like this one!

A sensuous, deep berry bouquet: blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries with Morello cherries, apricots, and strawberries, swirled in heady red musk and brandy. I got this as a tester with a decant circle, thank you! In the imp: This smells much like it says on the tin, so to speak. I don't get much of the brandy at all, though there might be a little of the musk in the background. Mostly wild berries, though. Wet on skin: Yup, wild berries ahoy. I still don't get the brandy note, but that's okay with me. On drydown: This reminds me a *lot* of the berry scent in Blood Countess. It mellows after a while and hasn't got a lot of throw on me, but it's still a perfectly nice berry scent. I know some people have said the red musk overpowers everything else, but it doesn't do that at all for me. I'll enjoy the rest of the tester, I know that much.

In the bottle: This one's rather similar to Atlas at first sniff; I expect the woody notes are doing that. I like Atlas, so that's not a bad thing. On skin: The similarity to Atlas is still there, only without the mallow note, which was a little strong for me anyway. The woods are definitely there, plus something sharp that's probably the macha tea and mandarin mingling. The cocoa appears and the sage peeps out juuuust a wee bit as this dries, and there's something smoky in the background that from other peoples' descriptions I'm going to guess is galangal. Liking this one so far. On drydown: The cocoa gets stronger, but that's not at all a bad thing. Beyond that, this one doesn't morph much on me, so I end up with a lovely, cocoa-y, woody, slightly sharp tea-hinted scent. Mmmm. I am most certainly keeping this decant, and if I'm not careful, there may well be a bottle of this in my future.

I got this as a frimp from another forumite, thank you! To me, this one smells almost like a prototype version of Miskatonic University. The coffee and hazelnut are definitely there, mmm. I need to try this properly and see if there's dust in this one as well. If not, I'm going to adore this one.

Oooooh, now that I think about it, I'd love to see a few more lesbian-inspired or bi-inspired scents, especially bi ones! Hmm. There's a whole series of something.goths floating around; could there possibly be a somethingorother.girl series turning feminine and non-straight stereotypes on their heads in a similar fashion? Hmmm...

In the imp: It's true, this one really does smell like friendly, grassy greenness. There's definitely cucumber here, as the name suggests, but also something that could almost be cabbage? Not a bad smell, anyway, just a little unexpected. On skin: The cabbagey smell goes away, but the friendly greenness doesn't. It gets more grassy out of the bottle. I like this one. On drydown: It's still that friendly grassy sort of scent, but it's not lawn clippings grassy at all. It's more meadowy, with the suggestion of dandelions gone to seed or clover in the background. It fades almost completely after a couple hours, which only means I'll need to reapply it on the days that I wear it. This'll be a good scent for later December, January and February, when it gets the most horribly cold and snowy here.

I just got this one at the Madison meet 'n' sniff, and I had to try it today. In the imp: The incense and cedar are the strongest notes I can pick up. I liked this one at first sniff yesterday. On skin: The cedar gets a bit stronger than the incense, and reminds me a little of Baghdad for it. That's not a bad thing. On drydown: The pachouli I think? and something sweeter/tropical that almost reminds me of Mouse's Long and Sad Tale make their presences known, though the cedar, as well as hints of the incense and sandalwood are still there, especially if I don't sniff my arm too closely. I'm liking this one. I'll be hanging onto it and wearing it, that I know. This mellows after an hour or so, and then the cedar starts to get stronger again. Mmmm.

In the bottle: Ooooh. I went into this one rather expecting to like it, and I wasn't wrong! I get a lovely, woody, incensey smell with something almost nutty in addition. I like this already. Wet on skin: Still pleasantly nutty, still woody, still with a wonderful sharper incense smell that almost reminds me of the saffron in Baghdad. There's something faintly creamy here as well; must be the mallow. I liiiiike this. On drydown: The incensey note mellows just a bit, as does the wood, and now the mallow is coming out a bit more. If it were any stronger, I might object, but as it is I haven't got much of a problem. There's still plenty of the lovely saffron-y and woody notes, and when things combine, they almost do smell leathery or canvas-y if I think about it. This reminds me of summers camping in the Wisconsin woods. I'll be keeping my decant, that's for sure. There miiiight be a bottle in my future too, I'll have to see.

I got this as an unexpected frimp as part of a decant circle. Thank you! In the imp: That could almost be cherry! There's no cherry in here, but there's definitely something similarly sweet... maybe that's the peach blossom. Something a bit sharper in the background as well; could that be the vanilla bean? The sharpness reminds me of Dragon's Milk, though I much prefer this initial sniff! On skin: The cherry-ish note lingers - I'm going to guess that is the peach blossom, maybe mingling with the sandalwood, though I don't smell sandalwood specifically. The sharp note lingers too, not quite anise and a little chilly. Definitely the vanilla bean, though I like it much more than plain vanilla. When everything combines, I'd almost say there's honey in here, though I know there isn't. Thankfully whatever's giving me the honey ipression doesn't react on me the same way actual honey does. On drydown: The same notes are still here - honey-ish but milder, something sharp, an almost cherry-ish hint, a pleasant touch of amber that wasn't evident earlier... and oh crud, this goes a little play dough-y as it dries fully. Not entirely, but a little. I think I'll keep this one for a while, possibly wear it to work as it's a fairly gentle scent; it's not going to overpower anyone. At the moment I'm not entirely sure it's for me, but I don't have an ick! reaction either. Hmm.

Got this as a frimp with my last order, thank you! In the imp: Oh dear, I was afraid this might not be for me when I read the honeyed vanilla bit of the description. At first sniff, I get oddly sharp vanilla and something a little too sweet. On skin: The vanilla's still there, but it's retained the too-sharp, chilly quality, darn. The dragon's blood resin is there at least a little, but so is the honey, which still smells too sweet to me. On drydown: The dragon's blood resin is only barely there on me, and the honey and vanilla are more okay one moment, then almost medicinal the next. No offense meant, but this one isn't for me. I'll be sure it gets a good home with someone local, though.

This came as a frimp from the lab, thank you! In the bottle: I definitely smell the wild berry, as well as something slightly dust (the opium?) and something else sharp. That might be the crumbling roses, actually. On skin: The wild berry's still there, as well as maybe the plum? There's almost a bubblegum-ish quality to something here, but I have to think about it before I detect that super strongly. The incense and roses start to come out more as this dries, which I'm completely fine with. On drydown: As this dries fully, the roses, the opium and the gardenia and lilac get stronger, and the berry and plum fade to the background. I like this more and more as the scent shifts. It gets lovely and incensey and rose-y, and though it's just faintly soapy as well, I don't mind. I have to sniff for the lilac, but it's a pleasure when I find it. I could probably wear this to work, as it's not super strong, but I suspect I'll be wearing it just for the heck of it as well. This is a keeper!

In the bottle: Hmm, where's the--oh, there it is! I smell a very, very light floral with something faintly duskier just barely peeping through. That's lilac, I think. On skin: This turns into a very, very light, mild floral on me. It sticks extremely close to my skin, and even then I can barely smell it. What I'm getting is a light, faintly powdery floral, mainly very gentle lilac and what could almost be violet. Rereading the description, I bet that's lilac and myrrh combining I'm smelling. On drydown: I wore this when running errands, and for the most part I could barely detect it. Darn! Once in a while I'd get a whiff of what I think was mainly gentle lilac, amber and whatever's similar to violets in here (lilac and myrrh?) if violets aren't included. Darn darn darn. I was hoping this would be stronger on the tea rose, lilac and rosewood. I like this fine - it's like Prague in that it's a very gentle scent that I can wear to work when I want to have something on but don't want to run the risk of bothering anyone. But crud, I was hoping this would be stronger on me. Ah well. I'll wear this to work. Update: Ooh! I tried this after what couldn't have been more than a month of letting it age. I initially offered my sister a sniff of it, she didn't like it, and when I got a whiff of the imp as I was closing the cap, I said ooh, I need to retry this. In a surprisingly short time in my drawer, Viola has turned into a perfectly lovely, gentle floral instead of a barely-there hint of the same. The rose and a couple of the other flowers - lilac I think? show up the strongest, but they're not at all overpowering. I take back what I said earlier about it being hardly detectable, and happily so. Yay! :happy:

The dry, thin scent of a draconic ossuary. Dragon's blood resin with white sandalwood, dusty orris and crisp blondewood. In the bottle: Ooh, I can definitely smell the sandalwood here, and oop, there's the dragon's blood resin too. I'm liking this. On skin: The dragon's blood resin gets stronger on me; I can definitely smell a similarity to Dragon's Eye now. The sandalwood's still there, which I like, and hmm, is that the blondewood peeping through? Yes, I think so. Still liking what I'm smelling. On drydown: The dragon's blood resin mellows a smidge, and the sandalwood and that woody, slightly dusty scent gets stronger. This goes almost creamy on me, which I don't have a problem with at all. Mmm. This doesn't go dry and thin at all on me, which is a pleasant surprise given the description. I was expecting something sharper and less... friendly, really. I'll be keeping this imp, that's for sure. Edited to add: I wore this to a pottery studio get-together tonight, and from the time I put it on to the time I got home, it mellowed into an utterly lovely scent almost identical to one I used to smell on clean linen as a kid. I don't know if someone used sandalwood or dragon's blood resin in their laundry detergent, but the fact remains that as far as I'm concerned, after an hour or so this turns absolutely heavenly on me! Such a keeper!

I'm another one who's never been quite clear on just what Chaos Theory was... until now! Now I'm hoping for a Chaos Theory VII this year, eep! A sandalwood series would be incredible, if there hasn't been one already. That, or a dragon's blood resin series... mmm.

I got this one as a frimp along with Baghdad, Morocco and Miskatonic University. My first frimp, ooh. Thank you, lab staff people. In the imp: There isn't any in here, but the first thing I get is pineapple! There's also something pleasantly resiny and softly fruity in here - must be the sandalwood and vanilla. But pineapple? Hmm. I like it, though. Wet on skin: Oop, yup, definitely pineapple! I hate to say it, but what this reminded me most of was marshmallow fluff fruit salad... you know, that fruit deli salad with pineapple pieces, marshmallows, two or three other fruits and possibly nuts of some kind? I don't mind the scent, but I did get a surprise when I realized just what I was smelling. I think it must be the sweet pea and vanilla doing most of it. Where the pineapple's coming from, I still don't know. On drydown: This doesn't change much on me, other than to mellow quite a bit. I still like this one, but I was a little surprised overall. I'll be enjoying this imp; I can wear it to work as a pleasantly fruity scent and not attract a ton of attention, since it mellows on me.

In the bottle: I can definitely smell the Irish coffee and dust, and something almost hazelnut-y too. That's probably the coffee doing that. On skin: Oh darn it, the dust smell is really prominent! I was seriously hoping for more of the Irish coffee and oakwood here. Rats! Maybe it'll mellow. On drydown: Hmm. The dust is still strongly there, but the oakwood's peeping through, and depending on how close to my skin I'm sniffing, I get more or less of the Irish coffee. Hmm. Darn it all but I wish I liked this better than I do! The dust goes surprisingly strong on me is the only thing. I'll keep this one for the Irish coffee and oakwood notes; if anything, I'll wear it when I'm reading Spider Robinson's Callahan's books.

In the bottle: Hmm, this almost smells vanilla-y, but nicer than vanilla usually comes across for me. I'm used to smelling fakey vanilla in perfumes, which makes me go 'yicch!' There's no vanilla in here, but I still get a whiff of something similar, but it's warmer and much, much more pleasant. Also something... almost nutty? Hmm. On skin: The much-nicer-than-vanilla is still here, but the nuttiness goes away. I'm definitely smelling the incenses now, and I'm liking what I'm getting. This smells more and more like the incense I used to burn growing up. Yum. On drydown: The warm vanilla scent is still there, but slightly mellowed. The incenses have definitely stuck around, which I love. This is reminding me of being a teenager, listening to public radio and songs from the height of flower power (I was a weird kid, what can I say) while writing up a storm. This isn't overpowering on me, but it's still detectable. I wore it to work today, and had a very pleasant whiff of incensey, vanilla-y loveliness around me the whole time. This is a keeper. There may be a bottle in my future, too.

In the bottle: This is almost vanilla-y at first sniff, and is that something lemon? Must be the musk and sandalwood and the saffron I'm smelling, respectively. Sharper than I expected, hmm. On skin: Still something sharp, not sure what it is, but there's an incensey smell coming through that I'm liking more and more. On drydown: This mellows out, and as it does, more and more of the incensey smell comes through. The amber's still detectable and just vaguely powdery, though not horribly so. The sandalwood and rose are quietly there, and the musk is noticeable now that I *cough* reread the description *cough* and remember to sniff for it. This doesn't go super strong on me, which I don't mind, as I get the feeling that if it did, the powdery hint from the amber might start to bug me. I'm getting mostly vanilla-y musk and soft sandalwood/rose here, but not overpoweringly so. I like this one. I can wear it to work and not overwhelm anyone, but still notice a *sniff* mmm, there's that pretty scent whenever my arm is near my face. I may not get a bottle, but I'll definitely enjoy the imp. I may also point my mother in this direction, as the soft musk in here smells more than a little like a perfume she wears.