jewelbug

Imp: The pine pitch (a la illustrated woman) is very strong here, along with a cooling almost effervescent, semi-medicinal scent and a rich musky spice. Wet : strong smooth pine pitch with that cooling sorta-minty quality and a spiced smoky wood scent, too. Its smoother than I’d expected, the pine pitch is almost creamy sweet here. Almost syrupy--with a fruity pine quality. Dry: rich creamy/fruity(don’t’ aske me why) pine pitch, slightly spicy…and BO ? I had a glade plug in air freshner in my bathroom once upon a time. And after several uses, all it ever smelled like was BO. Something about the combo of refills that I chose must’ve formed a BO-crust-accord on the top of the danged thing. It took me a while to figure out why my bathroom always smelled like armpits... Sadly, I’m getting that same, distinct armpit note from troll, as well (I’ve read that cumin can sometimes do this?). Overall: I can smell the wonderful-ness of this blend (smoky creamy pine pitch, spice)...UNDER the BO. Nope, this one's not for me.

Bottle: WHOA CHERRY. And red musk. Wet: (NOTE: I tried this perfume styel—I tend to use these as body oils/lotion surrogates, rather than bath oils)/ Still lots and lots of cherry, with red musk and deep orange. A bit of spicy feel (myrrh?). Settling in: red musky, slightly powdery, with a hefty bit of cherry/orange. The cherry is a nice foody one--that almondy kind of cherry (almost creamy/vanillic, oddly). The myrrh/musk deepen these bold playful fruits, and I can see this being really sexy on some. Sadly, red musk just isn’t to my personal tastes. Later, it smostly cherry, the orange is gone, and there's the support of myrrh/musk. Lasts about 4 hrs. Overall: The red musk here isn’t as powerful or “dirty” as in the perfume oil (especially later on), and I’d almost consider keeping this because it settles into a predominantly nom-able cherry, except that there’s just enough red musk to make it “meh” for me, and I don’t wanna break up the set when I pass her on.

Bottle: strong red musk with a wee bit of citrus mixed in. Very dirty smelling, to my nose. Wet: less dirty, a bit sweeter. Sweet mimosa/citrus (I guess that’s the orange blossom) , kinda heady with a southern floral feel, with the dirty red musk underneath. Drying: red musk amps up more and more. There’s also an almost plummy quality going on—a red fruit that must be the pom. The pom verges on red candies at time (bubblegumish). I never get a hint of melon, the red musk (on my skin, at least) is just too strong to let something that delicate through. I just don't like red musk in large quantities....Eventually, the pom takes center stage and red musk supports in the back, but I know from experience, that other days of the month, the red musk amps like nobody's biz on me. Lasta about 6 hrs Overall: For the majority of the time, I get soiled orange pomegranates. I’m finding lately that I just don’t like red musk much—in any significant quantity, it goes to a weird dirty smell on my skin-- Mme moriarty, spellbound, scherezade, lust, war…its finally dawning on me that its red musk that I don’t much care for! I'll pass this one along.

Bottle: Undeniably the labs milk note from MM07. Very sweet and strong. I also get a has a fruity citrus vibe, kind of acidic, but like a sweet pithy citrus. Wet: A very "fresh" milk scent, if that makes any sense. It has a clean herbal/grassy tone, not unlike dandelions, and sort of reminds me more of Ichabod crane (with its clean lily-floral milk) than MM07. The citrus note from the bottle remains detectable--still not sure exactly what fruit it is, but it does smell a bit sweet/acid fruity. You know, maybe its orange blossom? Drying: LUSH store and milk. You know that kinda "lush" scentthing that goes through all of their products and dominates their store? The kinda citrusy clean thing? I get that and bpal's milk note. Its quite lovely. I also get some drier almost dusty grasses (hay??) every now and again, and maybe the slightest hint of citrusy woods (bambooish?). This is sweet and milky, but also herbal/clean/fresh. At some points in the later dry down I wonder if there's copal here--I get the citrusy clean thing that Xiutech and Giant Vulva give me--along w/milk and the LUSH note. Lasts about 5-6 hrs, stays fairly close to the skin the whole time. Overall: Very nice indeed. As a bpal milk lover, this is right up my alley! This is definitely less milky/sour than Milk moon ’07, and reminds me more of Ichabod Crane (which, sadly, I recently swapped, so I can’t compare directly). But it has a more fresh/clean/herbal/floral feeling like IC did, and the milk/herbal/clean are in a really nice balance with each other (milk usually amps on me—not that I mind!--but here it plays very nicely w/the other notes). eta a sniff off (MM07, Nonae and Moo): Milk Moon 07 is much sweeter, has a stronger milk note, and is more acid/fruity/pineapple--bright tropical milk. Nonae caprotina is far more round, rich, buttery-milky and leans more towards foody than the other 2. By comparison, the cow smells floral/green/clean, and even a wee bit dusty/woody (huh, I wonder if its a dusty sage note?) and the milk note is less pronounced in cow than the other two(at least, on me). In the context of the other two milk blends, this one smells of dusty sage, citrus-flower (copal?) milk.

So happy to have come home to this today! Bottle: I get a cola-ish resin, and something almost leathery and smoky, too. Wet: Same kinda syrupy resin and a good hit of spice that verges on medicinal--clove-ish, actually. Maybe its the cinnamon leaf?? Despite the syrupy note, it manages to smell hot and dry. Dry: I get a lot of sandalwood out of this. LOTS of dusty red sandalwood (kinda smoky) a decent sized dash of the medicinal clove/clove-a-like note, with a little bit of oozy cola-syrup resin. Maybe a hint of reddish (or more feral/hunt type??) musk? But mostly hot-scorchy sandalwood. Overall: This is fresh outta my mailbox on a HOT day, so I'm gonna give it time to settle and smooth up a bit (i'll edit this review as needed). As is, I'm not sure this one's for me--its nice, but unless settles into something less medicinal/woody, I'm not sure its something that will see a lot of wear in the jewelbug house. eta: its the next morning (like 16 hrs later) and I can still smell this on my arm. Talk about staying power! Remnants of sandalwood, lightly spiced resins, maybe an amber?

When I first purchased this, I was very excited, but my happiness was quickly dashed by the fact that it went straight to burny plastic on me. But I couldn't quite seem to let it go, hoping that age would help (usually, for me, agind doesn't help burny plastic). B ut in this case, either aging, or perhaps a skin chem change has made the scent work for me! Bottle: Spicy caramel-heavy rum. Wet: Wow, so super spicy. With creamy coconut rum. No pineapple to my nose. This reminds me of a "coconut oatmeal cookie" cocktail that I used to make all the time--a blend of malibu, irish cream, goldschlager and buttershots. Yum! Dry: A little less caramel-y on the dry down, but still very much a spiced oatmeal cookie w/ coconut cocktail. Delicious smelling--a rich spicy coconut vanilla coctail. Overall: Glad I had patience with this one, its really wonderful. No pineapple, but that's fine with me, cuz what's here is delish!

Bottle: Very clean, fresh (lightly floraled) grapefruit, to my nose. Wet: same, clean fresh floral with a heavy dose of cold citrus and a slightly stormy vibe. Dry: much faded, less citrus, white clean but sweet foral, slightly creamy. Fades quickly (about 2 hrs until its barely perceptible). Overall: for my citrusy scents in this general fam, I prefer the creamier cheshire moon, the more resinous et lux fuit, or the fruitier sweet hungry ghost moon. They all last longer on my skin, too. I'll find this one a new home, pretty though it is.

This is a review of a nicely aged bottle from ~15 months ago (thanks tartchef!!!) Bottle: Semi fruity (citrus?), and a lot of very sweet honey/beeswax. A bit of smoky resin, too, but mostly a very honey/waxy scent with depth. Wet: Oh, yes, lovely honey/beeswax. With a sort of herbal quality in there…almost minted. For that reason it reminds me a bit of mead moon and the recent ’09 litha--herbal honey blends. There’s also a citrusy tone here--herbal lemon balm or citronella? And a smokiness deep underneath. Bright and sweet, but with some very grounding notes. Drying: This goes through a lemony wood polish and wood table with dripping beeswax candles phase...then breaks into: Dry: The balsam/wood/resin notes take the forefront, slightly smoky, with the company of less-pronounced-than-when-wet beeswax/honey/lemon. The very late drydown is a suble lemon honey w/resins blend, kinda creamy anda wee bit smoky. Very nice, indeed! Lasts about 6 hrs. Overall: A GC that is beautiful and complex and reminds me of a lot of harder-to-find blends. What's not to love?! Reminds me of: Mead Moon (but MM is sweeter, more honey, this has the added bonus of lemon/resin/smoke/wood), Litha (the honey/herbal combo, but litha is sweeter overall), Hand of Glory(but this is far less smoky during the early phases--the late dry downs of the two are pretty similar on me, though), and luperci (but with different types of wood notes than luperci and a twist of lemon). Huzzah!

In the bottle, this is powerfully resinous and kinda powdery. Almost schwarzer mondish, though lighter and more feminine. Wet: Strong resin/incense, again powdery, and something almost dusty smelling, as well. Dry: This is very rose-y after it sits on my skin. Lots of strong rose, lightly spiced, with resins underneath. The rose reminds me a bit of Winter of Our Discontent or even Mama Ji. Overall: this is very pretty, and I think it will age amazingly well. That said, I don't need another rose scent in this family. Im not huge on rose to begin with, and I have others that remind of this that I like a little better.

I ordered this imp when it was first released, so very excited by the list of notes. But after a preliminary sniff and swipe, I haven’t thoroughly tested it or worn it since it came…I guess that means I was underwhelmed and stuck it right into my box of imp-doom! If I remember correctly, it was really heavy then on the red musk note, which I’m not a huge fan of. After a long aging, I thought I should give this another chance today. Imp: Nutty?? chocolate and a wee bit of red musk. Maybe something slightly spicy… Wet: Chocolate topnote is replaced by a dark-feeling citrus (blood orange?) as the predominant note, with the nutty choc underneath. This is round and smooth and very nice indeed. Age has done it wonders! Dry: I’m getting a lot of tonka, I think, because this reminds me strongly of my aged bottle of tamora. So, a tonka-heavy blend with sultry citrus and cocoa (the cocoa doesn’t stick around too long, though). Its like an uber-sexy-sophistocated version of the chocolate orange candy you’d get at Christmas. Once the chocolate wears off (and it was never all that strong to begin with, stronger in the imp than on my skin), I'm left with beautiful round, full, sexy tonka with a hint of dark citrus. And then it starts toying with me, sometimes having a heavier red musk note, sometimes not. I just am finding that I don't love red musk--it smells dirty to me. lasts 6+ hrs. Overall: It is better now than when I first got it--aging has definitely mellowed the red musk and made the tonka BEAUTIFUL. That said, I think I’m gonna have to keep going to my aged Tamora for that awesome tonka note--this one is nice, but the red musk just takes it a little toward the “not perfect for me” side of things.

Bottle: A milk note very reminiscent of Milk moon 07 and Ichabod Crane, along with an almost-red-citrus kind of smell…not what I was expecting from fig (one of my note loves!) Wet: Rich, creamy milk note and an underlying (but not particularly figgy) fruitiness. This milk note strikes me as “fattier” than the one in MM07/Ichabod, if that makes any sense. A little more cream, and a little less “sourness,” though still quite similar. The decreased sourness could also have something to do with the fact that this fruit isn’t as acidic as that pineapple-y note I get from MM07. Drying: almost a white chocolate butter-ness (that’s how rich the milk is) and the fruity fig-ish note. Dry: Oh, discernable fig, there you are!!! Fig and an almost cocoa-butter rich cream. MMMmmmm.. This is where it stays. The fig is not the earthier/woodsier type, but smells a lot juicier and somehow redder than many others. Its still fig, though, and very nice indeed. Lasts 5-6 hrs. Overall: I like it! I’ll hold onto it and see how it develops. I didn’t really get myrrh from this, and as it ages, it will be interesting to see what happens.

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed this yet! This is about to go out to a new home, and I wanted to write my thoughts before it was gone. Bottle: A very strong milk note (much like Milk Moon 07), with some florals and honeyed beeswax. Very nice. Even a bare hint of spice. Wet: The strongest note is still the milk, the ‘sour” sort like MM07 (but I happen to like those milk notes, so that’s okay), again with flowers/beeswax and a bit of black pepper. Unfortunately, there is a hint of “ick” to these flowers—a jasmine-like-urine quality, but only if I sniff quite hard. Otherwise, I like this. Drying: Same as above with an added bit of a bubble gum, actually--sweet and almost fruity--but I think its actually a crapload of honeyed beeswax that I’m misreading. Dry: When this settles, the weird floral/urine is long gone, and the milk stays present but takes a far back seat to a gentle floral and strong honeyed wax scent. Lasts 6ish hours. Overall: I really quite enjoy this. It is downright cozy, and I love the honey/wax/milk in here. But it’s a little more towards the floral side of things than I normally wear, and for that reason, I find that I don’t reach for it very often. I’m going to pass this onto more loving hands, but I’m so glad I tried it, and I definitely wouldn’t say no to a decant for my collection/occasional wear.

Bottle: Powdery floral sandalwood, hint of fruitiness? Overall, this is “meh” to me--very heavy and perfumey. Wet: Heavy perfume, very powdery, kinda musky, slightly vanillic, no fruits. Mostly, though, its just a dark, heavily floraled sandalwood. Its too pefumey for me. Dry: It resembles the wet stage for a very long time, until about 3-4 hours in, when the super perfumey florals do fade off a bit, and I get more of a vanilla heliotrope with rose/sandalwood underneath. There's even a slight hint of white grape at this point. The faded perfume is wisps of vanilla nad baby powder. Overall: I liked the very late dry that was more vanilla/powder, but was not keen on the heavy perfumey floral that the first 4 hours had in store for me. It was too heavy of a dark floral scent for my personal tastes. I wasn’t wowed by this when I first bought it, so I gave it time to age. Sadly, she's still not for me--I have found this a much more appreciative home.

A gift from Lamia--Thank you!! Imp: super pink sugar fantasticness. It really does smell pink! Wet: super pink sugar, nothing else. Drying: About 5 min in, a green grassiness is just barely perceptible under the pink goo, and it strengthens...for about 5 minutes. Dry: Then, its back to mostly pink sugar goo. Really sweet, creamy, pink sugar. Overall: I kinda liked it best when I could smell the pink AND the dandelion, but that phase was extremely short lived on me. I think I'll keep the imp, but don't need more.

Wet: flowers and cut fresh grassy stems. Dry: The green stemmy/grassy note in this gets really bitter and stays that way. Is there violet in here? Violets are usually bitter like this on me. Not good for the jewelbug… Overall: Nope, too sharp, floral and perfumey on me.

This was an unexpected (and undeserved ), very generous gift from Green Spine. Thank you so much!! Imp: It definitely has a sharp tang to it, as copper might. But rather than metallic, I would describe this as a mix of lemon/lime, dirt and woods, super heavy on the lemony tang with dirt and woods barely detectable underneath. Wet: Super lemony (or is it lime?)….and vetiver, maybe? Still with a dirty note underneath. Its quite sharp, but at the same time, there is something kinda sweet about this, like lemonheads candies and dark green vetiver/dirt. This reminds me quite a bit of some of the TAL blends I’ve tried, though I can’t quite remember which one(s) (gah, don’t you hate when that happens!). I just smells like it has...intent. Drying: Is there mint in this? Or eucalyptous? I don’t really smell them, but my skin feels kinda cool and tingly where I applied this…The lemon is less sharp now, kind of a creamy lemon cleaner smell now, less dirt (perhaps the lemon is cleaning it up), and still some sort of deep green/herbal/vetiver note, though its much less strong than the lemon. Mid Dry Phase: FRUIT LOOPS! The sweet/citrus/lemon in here reminds me quite a bit of fruit loops, a la hungry ghost moon's ginger. Maybe this lemon is actually a very lemony ginger? It does almost have a “root-ish” quality to it. I can also smell something piney, or maybe eucalyptous-like in here now. I think the “dirt” I’ve been smelling is actually a patchouli underneath—it starts to resolve itself as patchouli about 20 min in and gets more and more prominent. Late Dry: Almost all patchouli, a gentle woodsy/earthy type of patchouli, with just a wisp of creamy lemon (ginger?)/eucalyptous around the edges. Lasts 6ish hours, mostly patchouli for the last 2-3. Overall: So glad I got to give this a test run, and happier still to see that my notes actually match those of some of the previous reviewers! For me, this is too much like a lemon based cleaning solution for me at the beginning, I love the gingery lemony fruit loops phase in the middle, and the patchouli at the end is nice, but just not a “me” scent. I will say that I think this patchouli will age well.

Imp: A little like chemical-heavy celery and leather. Me, Wet: a sweet smoky leather, hint of spice. Lime definitely manifests as it settles on my skin. The lime note is fantastic. Limey leather. The lime is bright and high pitched, and screams out over the sexy leather. They make a great pair. Me, Dry: the lime is less screamy, but still there. It sits nicely over a sweet, smoky leather. In the end this is a very nice masculine scent--little bits of leather, a limey zest and a clean cologne sort of smell (metal??). Its something very nice indeed, but that I would like better on a guy. On DH: Wet, it was super leather plus celery/lettuce? Dry, it was smokier (but a lighter kind of smoke) leather. Then the pepper started to come in, and well, this ends up smelling like some kind of smoked, spiced jerky, on him sadly. Overall: Too masculine for me, too weird on his chemistry.

Imp: Lots of wet soil and some florals and cherry. I do get a hint of jasmine (my nemesis), but I decide to swipe it on anyway... Wet: Initially, this is lots of moist bpal dirt (god, I love bpal dirt) with a hefty dose of floral. Its jasminey, yes, but something keeps this one from going straight to cat-pee on me (which happens in ~90% of jasmine blends for me). I also get a pretty discernable note of citrus--lemony, almost. Drying: It takes 30 min or so, but then the super dirt floral (very reminicent of Jazz Funeral) starts to give way to something much more complex. The cherry/plum makes an appearance and strengthens over the florals, so that I get slightly dirty fruits in a nice balance with rich woodsy/smoky/sweet incense notes. There's a hint of jasmine/florals, but its not the horrid kind. Overall: I wrote this off because of the jasmine, but its so complex and beautiful. I will keep the imp around at least a while longer to see how it ages, but its not something I need a bottle of.

Imp: Weird, spicy, funky root beer with an “off” greenness. I'm concerned, but swipe anyway! The reviews of mega cardamom are a siren song... Wet: The “off”-ness is definitely not my thing. I can’t quite put my finger on what it smells like, but its…wrong…somehow. Savory--cat food mixed with rotten pickled ginger? A sushi side under a fizzy sasparilla cola sort of smell. There is also a hint of a citrus. What the heck is the savory weird smell...it is…yes...akin to pickles or olives, as some have mentioned before me. Dry: Okay,now I can smell richly spiced woods and amber(amber note kinda like that in jacob's ladder)…and olive/pickled ginger rot. T0 make matters worse, after about 30 mins on, this takes on a synthetic burning smell (but only on my upper arm, not on my wrists). Overall: I was hoping this would be the cardamom to end all cardamoms, as it was for others, but sadly, this is just all sorts of funktastic on me. I hope the next home loves it more!

Imp: I was expecting a wallop of strong resins and thick snake oil vanilla, but I’m getting something very light and almost fruity??? Er? Wet: dark musky, slightly vanillic, something almost licoricey. Still, I’m really not getting a super resin/incense. Kinda smoky. Drying: Musky, smoky, rich, but that fruity feel from the imp is making a strong comeback…like cherry or wine or something?? Dry: Okay, I swear…musky vanilla and WINE/GRAPES. WTF? Is this mislabeled, maybe? Except none of the other snakes list wine/grapes, either. Huh. I was expecting that earthy/dusty orris and some lemony copal and frankincense, but what I get is vanilla musk and wine. Its nice, just very unexpected. About 5-6 hrs in, I could smell frankincense for a minute, but honestly, most all of the dry down was winey snake oil. Lasts about 8-9 hrs, and has very good throw. Overall: I like it, but there are others I like better. Mostly, I'm just intriqued about the winey turn this one took. I will pass the decant on, but glad I got to try it.

I have tartchef to thank for putting this in my grubby little hands!! Thank you so much for the generous (and oh-so-special) gift!! Imp: I get a rush of dry, powdered, incense-y woods (sandalwood, primarily, I think), and with that is a dose of some gentle spices (cardamom? Saffron?). It’s a very “golden” scent—amber/musk, too? Wet: On, this is sweeter. The clove is easier to smell now, but still hiding behind a golden sweet sandalwood/amber blend. Hiding with the clove are, possibly, some cardamom, and maybe even a little bit of anise (I’m getting a bit of an anesthetic spice--could be clove or anise, I suppose—either way, this is a good thing for me) Dry: As it dries, I get more and more clove/cardamom over the sandalwood/amber. Maybe even a hint of tobacco and a lightly smoked vanilla? Its really gorgeous. The golden sandalwood-dust and amber are a constant, and the spices crescendo over them. They start weak, strengthen, hit their peak maybe 2-3 hrs in, and then start to fade again, leaving me with a repeat of the opening theme (only, a little more vanillic) after about 5 hrs. It has great throw, surrounding me in a cloud Lamiasticness, and I didn’t even apply that much. Lasts 6-7 hrs. Overall: This is gorgeous, and I would love to have more. With such a rarity, though, I probably just need to hope that it sees a wider release! I will treasure my wee imp.

Ok, I'm a year-round whatever-perfume wearer, which is to say that I don't have "seasonal" scents, so much--I have no shame and will wear a pumpkin scent in July...That said, there are quite a few oils that bring out those summer feelings for me. Here are some that I can remember right now (a lot of em have coconut!): Antonino Dia White Rose Enraged Bunny Musk Ex Lux Fuit F5 Giant Vulva Xiuchetetcl (sp??) Jazz Funeral Litha La Fee Verte Opuhi Fae Tiki King Manila Obtala Intrigue Leo 07 Brown Jenkins Silk Road Spooky Strawberry Moon '09 Summer Summoning Spectacular Hehe, I thought of a lot!!

This test was courtesy of a MnS skin test—thanks, tartchef! Bottle: A very spicy, heavy-on-the-clove type of carnation. On: Mmm, yes, carnationy. Spicy and yes, clovey. It also has a slight vanilla-creamy vibe to it. Actually, it reminds me of a mix between Alice (creamy carnation) and Velvet Bandito (delicious clove). Overall: Very nomable, but luckily, the previously mentioned scents are close enough on my skin that I don’t need to sell my first born for this. If resurrected, I'd most certainly buy a bottle, or if I came upon a swap for it, I'd most certainly go for it, but since its so scarce sought after, I'm happy with my current similar blends! In fact, I think I'll try a little layering w/ Bandito and Alice and see what happens.

This test was courtesy of a MnS skin test—thanks, tartchef! Wet, this was intensely resinous, golden, amberish with a wee bit of spice. Dry, this was a beautiful resin scent, powdery, incensey, and well done. It does feel "darker" as it progresses, so artistically, very awesome. Overall: I like this, but it didn't wow me enough to need a bottle. I do think that it will age wonderfully, though, so there's a seed of doubt in my mind about this decision....

This test was courtesy of a MnS skin test—thank’s Lamia! Wet, this was quite fruity/coconuty with some gentle florals. Very tropical and nice. Dry, this was much more reminiscient of tropical floral blends like xiuchetetl (sp???), though with a little fruity twist. Overall, though, this ends as a clean tropical floral with a bit of a pineapple twist. Overall: Nice, especially the coconut opening, but not something that I need to add to my collection.