jewelbug

Bottle: Buttery sweet, but not completely foody. I smell amber and a fruitiness coming through, and think its pomegranate. Wet: Lightly spiced buttery baked goods with amber and a hint of dark fruit. Its butterscotchy, lightly smoky, with amber resins. Drying: Boozy scent, like the rums. Buttered rum, smoky, with a little bit of fig. For a while in the early dry stage, I get hints of burning that are more than just smoky--that synthetic weird thing some of the buttery/rum scents do on me. It doesn't last too long, but its there. The later dry down is a pleasant buttery pastry scent with fruits and light amber. Sadly, I can never really pick out or feel the beeswax. Overall: This smells good, but doesn't stand out amongst the other food blends that I already have/love, and since it has that weird burning phase, I think I'll find it a new home.

Imp: Lots of sandalwood and syrup-y resins. Wet: Same as in imp—lots of sandalwood and sweet resins. There is a citrus-tinged maple syrup quality to it, under the very dusty wood scent. Drying: The polished teakwood note comes out, supported by the syrupy citrus-tinged resins (mostly myrrh, I think). The feel is definitely that of ritual incense. This is all incense and resins, burning even, slightly smoky. The particular resins I smell have citrus (a gentle bergamon/earl grey type of citrus), maple and nutty notes to them. The late (several hrs later) dry down is a dusty incense. Overall: Lasts 9-10 hrs. Its a lovely incense blend, but not something I can see myself wearing. There's something about one of the resins that is odd to me. I've had this happen in other blends, too, not sure what's responsible.

Imp: Extreme herbal. Wet: A very minty lavender. Fresh and herbal, but yes, very sharp, as promised. It’s a sharp green herbal, and has the nose shocking strength of paint remover (doesn't smell like paint remover, though--hope you know what i mean). Dry: Gets much less sharp, and sweeter, with an almost sugared or vanilla aspect with the herbs. Its a lightly sweetened mint and lavendar, gentle and uplifting. Less “painful” now, and more pretty! After about 2 hrs, it fades to nothing. Overall: I actually really enjoy this scent, but I'm not much for reapplying every few hours. I don't know if I'll keep it for when I need an uplifting 2 hour boost, or if I'll work on swapping it. I wonder how it'd be as a room scent, too....

Imp: Clean, sweet, salty aquatic. Wet: Clean, sweet aquatic with a sharp white floral scent. Something sorta cucumbery in this, too. Dry: Clean, cucumbery aquatic with discernable osmanthus. This is very pretty and feminine. I like it, but its not my usual fare. It settles into a clean watery osmanthus blend. Overall: This is fairly shortlived on my skin—lasts 4ish hrs. Its pretty, but not me. I’ll pass it along.

When I first bought this, it had a tendency to go plasticky on my skin, but now that its aged, it seems to behave. Bottle: Sweet buttery vanilla woods. Wet: Buttery vanilla (almost caramel-y) over polished woods. This is a bit sweeter and foodier than Antikythera Mechanism, but really its almost a dead ringer on my skin. Dry: Sweet carmel-toned vanilla with slight woodsiness. Overall: If you like this, try the A. Mechanism. No joke.

Imp: Deep woody vanilla. This wood has a definite sharpness. Wet: Dark vanilla-polished wood. Dry: Dark sweet vanilla, no more furniture polish, less wood than wehn whet, but the woods provide a great balance. Overall: This is VERY similar to glowing vulva on my skin. This is a little less buttery/foody/creamy, but its so close on my skin that I wouldn't be able to tell the diff unless they were side by side. PS: Smells a lot more woodsy and REALLY sexilicious on DH.

Imp: Dusy, sweet, incense and musky. There is a hint of something almost citrus-like. Wet: A deep dusky coconut. There seems to be a common note between this and Antonino, and I'm guessing its the coconut, but it also has that slightly citrusy overtone. I can wear this, but think it would smell great on a man too. Dry: This scent has great throw and is a dark, musky, slightly woodsy, incense-laden coconut. I'm loving it. Its warm and nuzzle-y, just as promised. Overall: There is a coconut incense that I used to buy from a local shop. It was a wonderful quality incense and unlike anything I'd ever found. Sadly, the shop went out of business, and I've never found anything to approximate that smell since. Until now. This is BEAUTIFUL.

Imp: Treacle and spicy carnations. Wet: Lots of spicy carnation plus a sharper floral that I don’t particularly care for. Its very sweet with a dark, almost smoky, treacle note. Dry: Treacle with bits of spicy carnation and a little hint of fruitiness. Overall: This is a very cool carnation blend, but it fades pretty quickly on my skin (few hrs, max). Pity.

Imp: creamy vanilla amber. Wet: Amber witha creamy sweetness, vanillic, but also some citrus and maybe even fig or banana flitting around in the back. Dry: Sweet, dark, kinda creammy amber, but the fruits seem decidedly tropical to my nose--banan/mango/fig? Later on, I decide its mango-y. The feel of the blend reminds me of manila. The late dry is light tropical fruits with a warm, musky vanillic amber, and a little bit of woodsiness. Great throw. Overall: Very nice blend, though I don't see it making it into my regular rotation.

Imp: A very sharp (and not appealing to me) floral over a gentle resiny vanilla. Wet: Powdery vanilla, slightly spicey, with a tart, sharp floral. Dry: Sweet, powdery, golden, resinous (light resins) vanilla. Its creamy, soft, and gilded, with a sligth sharpness in counterpoint. I like the drydown quite a bit. The late dry is a goden vanilla musk, soft, powdery and feminine. Its fairly light, but lasts 15ish hours on me. Overall: I would probably want a bottle of this, except that DH couldn't smell it!!! I put it under his nose, and he literally said he smelled nothing. I smelled a wonderful blend and his receptors couldn't even pick it up. Since I wear perfume in part for him, I don't think this one's worth me getting more of. Sad.

Imp: a very woodsy blend, with a touch of herby floral. Wet: the throw is a lot fpine, but I can also smell a berried sweetness. Its a deep, dark berry with a bit of cranberry's tartness. Dry: Pine takes backseat to the sweeter berries. It turns into a berry herbal with an almost creamy pine/cedar backdrop. The late dry down (5+ hrs) is a faint, sweet berry, kind of vanillic/ambery. The berry+ reminds me a bit of Florence. Overall: Its pretty and outdoorsy, and I think it would be a lovely home scent. It strikes me as almost Christmas-y.

Bottle: I smell the sugared tea of Dorian with a good dose of lavendar and some soft, powdery notes. Wet: Sweet sugared lemony tea with the barest hint of snake oil spices and some bright lavender. I sniffed this at ECWC and got a lot more lavender from it, so lav taking the backseat here surprised me. Dry: Lots of powdery lavender over that spicy snake oil base and that sweet, sugary lemon dorian in the background. Its lovely. The throw gives off more snake oil, and when I get closer to my wrist, I get more dorian. That's really cool. There's also something kinda darkly fruity to this at times--plummish? Very late in the dry, its much more dorian-esque than snake oily, with powdery notes. Lasts 12+ hrs, which is amazing! Overall: Love it, can't wait for it to age! I hope my two bottles are enough!

Imp: Black pepper cologne. Wet: Masculine cologne scent, but its spicy and metallic and a little sweet. I get a hint of a powdery scent that I usually associate with black musk, but that's not listed here. Maybe it's the leather? Drying: The pepper seems to back off, so that it's a gentle background spice under a metallic cologne, with a sort of ozone to it. The resins add a bit of powdery sweetness, and some smoky leather pops up and grows stronger as it sits on my skin. Dry: Leather really steals the show on my skin once this dries. Semi-smoked leather, with a tobacco-like sweetness, a pretty good handful of powdery musk or resin, and just a dash of pepper. Very late into the drydown (8-10 hrs later, in fact, when its still going strong), this is a warm enveloping kinda powdery resin/leather, very nice. Overall: Not my usual fare, but a really powerful and unique blend, nevertheless. I'd like to smell this on a man, but my DH isn't a fan of this one, and I'm sure he doesn't want me slathering sexy on other men...so...swaps!

I have two imps of L’Autunno. They are WILDLY different colors. One is a fairly deep red orange, and one is a much paler golden tone. I’m reviewing both on either arm to see if they are different. Imp: Red: a very woodsy apple. Actually, this smells like LUSH’s Tramp shower gel + apple. Mmmmm. Yellow: Less apple than the red, still with a Tramp shower gel-like note, but more smoke and woods woody patchouli, perhaps?) Wet: Red: That same apple-Tramp combo. Yellow: Way less apple than the red version, lots more wood smoke. Both are spicy, slightly sweet woody apple scents, though, and I enjoy both.  Dry: Red: Apple-woodsy, patchouli + tramp. The wood in this verges on cedary pencil shavings for a while, but it ends in a woodsy patchouli with hints of spice and a touch of apple. Yellow: Smoky autumn fires with roasting apples, and a light spiciness. Ends in a deep, sweet, spicy apple blend, far less patchouli than the other imp. Overall: I was most excited about the fig note in this one, but I never smelled it. However, I quite enjoyed both of these. It’s a quintessential autumn scent—apples, smoke, woods…just perfect. It’s a lovely perfume, but I think it would be an amazing home scent, as well. Its just so deep and autumny and cozy. I had several compliments while wearing this blend--good throw and about 8 hrs of staying power. I would like to compare this to harvest 05, fearful pleasure, hesperides, verdandi, and samhain to get side by side autumn apple blend comparisons.

This is the first claw polish I've tried--picked it up at the last ECWC as a bit of an impulse buy. Impulse or not, I don't regret it. My toenails are a lovely shade of shimmering plummy purple. The only problem is that it looks a LOT like another color I have at home (which I totally forgot about when picking my polish at shelldoo's). Since I don't go through polish very quickly, having two very similar purples means that one will just get old and goopy before I'm through. I think I'll look for someone to adopt this one while its still fresh.

I tend to avoid rose notes in my perfume. I like the scent of roses (so long as its not overpowering), but my skin tends to turn most of bpals rose notes into soap. So, room sprays are a great place to get a rose fix that can't be ruined by my skin chemistry. This scent is AMAZING. It is literally like walking outside on one of the first beautiful days of spring. It just has that very happy, uplifting "the world is reborn" sort of smell. I LOVE this--lots of fresh, sweet, baby grass and some gentle sweet roses. I honestly thought I'd like it, but be able to concentrate on other bptp sprays. Not so--this took me by surprise. This is amazing, and $40 or not, I need more than my wee sample. This is how I will keep my spirits in that spring-like high, even through the coldest days of winter.

As others have said, this smells just like the perfume of the same name. Its deep and sweet and slightly spicy/fruity, and just all around wonderful for a sugar skull lover like myself. I'll be purchasing a bottle of this before it leaves town.

This was a gift from zankoku_zen, by way of Dark Alice--thank you both for conspiring for the lovely surprise! This is an incredibly fresh dirt scent. I adore the bpal earth/dirt notes for how evocative they are, but wear them only occasionally. This is a wonderful way for me to get my bpal dirt fix while still wearing the perfumes that are more "me." It smells like the outdoors--fresh earth mostly, but hints of florals, grasses, twigs. I can't really pick out much marmalade, but I'm guessing it is what's responsible for the slight sweetness. Love this!!

This smells so amazingly delicious. What I get mostly is a spiced cocoa, with a bit of brown sugar/caramel to it. It reminds me of a really great mexican hot chocolate, and I :luv: it!!!! I'm wondering if 2 oz will be enough? My couch (and because it wafts so much, entire living room) smells fantabulous!

Question about L'Autunno: I have two imps of L'Autunno. They are WILDLY different colors. One is a fairly deep red orange (like Corazon in color, not as red as, say, Dragon's Milk), and one is a paler golden hay tone, no red at all. They smell similar, but not exactly the same. The golden one is more smoky woods with apple, and the red is kinda like Lush's tramp shower gel + apples. I was wondering if: 1) Anyone else noticed this remarkable color/scent difference in L'Autunno bottle/imp batches? or 2) Is it possible that I have one sample of the perfume and one of the bath oil, or something like that? If so, any guidance on which is which? Thanks!

Imp: Masculine cologne and a hint of sweet milk. Wet: Sweet cologne, something green and woodsy, a little spiciness, and a slight undercurrent of milkiness. Dry: Cologne and golden tobacco with a light milky sweetness. Overall: This is a really good blend, just not very me. Funny, I liked this more on hubby than myself, and he liked it more on me than on himself. In any case, I think its too masculine for me, and he obviously doesn't dig it much, so I’ll find it a new home.

Imp: A deep fruity wine with a hint of floral. Wet: Incredibly grapey wine (like bubbleyum grape, actually), and also a heavy bit of plum. Dry: This ends in a very grapey wine with floral/incense vibes. Overall: This reminds me a great deal of Montresor. But where Montresor has a lot of oaky richness, this has a sorta cloying champaca/incense. I like Montressor better, so this will head off in swaps.

Imp: Smoky, sweet, golden leather with a touch of spice (nutmeg? Cardamom?). Wet: Wafting, I get a strong honey/beeswax scent. Close in, I get a lot of smoky leather. The mix of the two is really lovely. This is similar in feel to luperci—with the sweet honey and more manly notes (though in luperci its woods, and here its smoked leather). The smoke note is that of a good lapsang souchong tea, so this feels all sorts of cozy to me. Like a honey-sweetened smoked tea. Mmmmm… Dry: This is very strong smoky leather with slight sweetness for an hour or so. Then the leather tempers, and I have a slightly powdery (like black musk sometimes goes on me) leather with a very honey-heavy beeswax. Its really beautiful. Overall: This is a bit towards the masculine side, but I very much enjoy it. I think I’ll try it on my hubby too, and see who wins a bottle. Regardless of who wears it, we need a bottle of this in our house.

Its a very odd sort of milky scent, but the Organ Grinder is great for something milky in a non-traditional sense (almond-milk). I like how unique it is.

Imp: Very light…slightly sweet, but there’s something sharp and a bit bitter hitting my nose. Wet: Very bitter and green, like cut stems, with a little bit of orange. Dry: Luckly the bitter-super-green-stem scent (which I wasn’t a fan of) backs off. It gently morphs into a fruity floral. I can smell the peach and apples, sweetened by honey, and the rose/blossoms. That said, the florals are actually pretty understated here. That’s a big surprise on me, since I turn a lot of florals, roses especially, into soap. If I didn’t’ know better I’d guess there was some fig in this, too. Its ends in a sweet fruit with floral support. Overall: This was pretty, but non-distinct to me. Fruity floral in the vein of hanging gardens and the rest of that family. Nice, but not my sort of scent, so I’ll be passing it on.