xoe

Don't know what I could add to the above reviews. Sort of berryish, then turns to candy sweetness. There's a brief spell where it smells sort of caramelish during drydown.

It is quite happifying.

Perhaps Veil. Lab description: "A quiet scent, soft, calm and enigmatic. A perfume of mystery, of whispers, and of secrets behind secrets. White sandalwood, lilac, gardenia, violet, orris, lavender and ylang ylang."

I haven't tried it yet myself, then again I also haven't tried Monyette...

As far as blending Gardenia and Vanilla single notes, I have done that and it's AWESOME!

This to me, and on me, is all pepper. Very masculine. Very dark. And it hits me in the back of the throat when I sniff it. Never had that reaction before.

Different.

Interesting the way this one changes.

Starts out as mint, then goes citrusy, then sort of vibrates between a few things, then mainly the thyme with some citrus coming through.

*edit - I tried this again, and it's different this time. This time it started out almond. Then went to lemon. And stayed as what I thought to be lemon and pepper. (must have been the thyme and the bergamot and verbena.

ADDED 3/17/07:

lavendar lemon and fairy dust. smells sweet, but disappears quickly.

This is not what I expected at all. I expected it to smell like the feathery flower from the tree. Something like this -

But I remember those flowers as much sweeter smelling.

This is certainly beautiful, don't get me wrong, but it isn't what I expected.

It is slightly alkaline. Very sexy. Slightly sweet. A bit like strawberry. Definitely not powdery. Kind of sharp. Not unpleasantly sharp by any means.

As it dries it becomes sweeter less alkaline.

Very confusing. I hope somebody else reviews it so everyone can get a better idea of it.

(*edit. I finally found a good, and yet reasonably sized picture.)

Well, my my my. Noone has reviewed the single note of strawberry yet?

Well, let me tell you it is GREAT! It is fresh and innocent and sweet, but not too sweet. Also slightly tart. Strangely a little bit heavy at first.

This does not smell like "Strawberry Shortcake".

Doesn't smell like Suave Strawberry Shampoo.

Doesn't smell like Strawberry yogurt.

Doesn't smell like Strawberry jam.

It smells like a giant strawberry just at the peak of ripeness. Like if it went one second more it would be overly ripe.

My boyfriend thinks we need a full bottle of this! And that's a rare compliment, believe you me.

kudos on a perfect strawberry note.

Chaos Theory LXXX

Hmmmmmm.

......................hmmm.

The color of this, if the scent were a color, would be sort of the colors of this board. a sort of grayish purple.

I just don't know what to make of this. Definitely floral, possibly sweet pea, definitely some kind of berry. Is there a violet in there? Maybe champagne is in there, maybe not. Some sort of light musk. Something herby too.

It smells somehow functional. Like it's to be used somehow. Like it's a good scent to wear when doing something. Like maybe worn by a memeber of the proletariat. I don't know what I mean by that, except to say that I can totally imagine wearing this to a labor union meeting or something. It's down to earth, but not earthy.

Oh. Boy. I am not making sense.

If I think of a better way to describe it, I'll come back and edit.

*eta. Well I edited, but I didn't think of anything better. Just ... it's difficult.

I can totally see waht eleventhousand means about the faint buttery coconut note.

This is soooo beautiful. I just got a whole batload of imps today, and I've got teensy weensy drops of each of my single notes on my fingers. The others I'll try on their own before reviewing, but the Gardenia is just spectacular. I feel positively decadent wearing it. Decadent and Southern. Like a Southern Belle. And now I need a mint julep!

Seriously though, this is remarkably true to the flower. Amazing.

Hey Sheelanagig (GREAT NAME!)

I too love Anna Sui (in the beautiful purple bottle).

While Seraglio is really nice, it's nothing like Anna Sui.

Queen Mab is also fantastic! It too isn't like Anna Sui, but I'm sure you'd like it.

Siren is a definite possibility. It is slightly similar to Anna Sui.

What about...

Mata Hari: A renowned exotic dancer and courtesan, possessed of aristocratic elegance, matchless charm, an iron will and a streak of fearlessness. The actual events of her life have met with much speculation, and to this day it is unclear whether or not she was truly a German spy. Despite shaky evidence of her guilt, she was tried for espionage by a closed court-martial and was executed by a French firing squad in 1917. Her scent is striking and bold with a delicate yet dark undertone: five roses with soft jasmine, warmed by vanilla, fig, tonka bean and mahogany, spiced with a drop of coffee bean.

OR

Old Sybaris The pinnacle of wealth, luxury, self-indulgent pleasure, voluptuousness and sensuality. Bright violet with sweet clove, Mediterranean spice notes and tonka bean.

Actually Old Sybaris is the one that seems most like Anna Sui to my memory.

Try some imps. Let us know what you like!

This is one of my holy grail single notes, this is akin to the vanilla/sweetness of Dana O'Shee.

She's right. It is like the vanilla in Dana O'Shee. I guess that makes sense. To me it's light and deep, dry, sweet and slightly salty.

I can't wait to start layering it with others.

Yay for single notes!!!

Weirdly for me, this smells like bad breath. Like I'm kissing someone with bad breath, to be exact. (And I know it's not my breath, because I've got Phobos on the other wrist and it doesn't smell like bad breath at all. ) There's another aroma under the bad breath one, but I can't really get past the bad breath one.

It's very strange.

Not sure of the effect it has, as the bf is sleeping and it smells too much like bad breath to really light a fire in me. I do feel like my glands are swollen. Like in my throat. But if that's an effect of the oil, it's really missed the mark on me.

Oh well. Guess I'll have to find another way to use it.

SUPER ALMOND! After a few minutes I can sense, rather than actually smell the heliotrope and cinnamon. It is much lighter than I originally thought it would be. And much less almondy. Which is a very pleasant surprise.

On me this is at first quite soapy, but that only lasts a couple of minutes. Then it is strongly lilies. Warm lilies. My skin seems to want to eat this one too. Because an hour later, it's still there but very faint. Which can be a very good thing. Something for me to wear to work and not feel like I'm overpowering everybody with my fabulous fragrance.

It's really warm and soft and beautiful.

First impression: light & mossy

*editing 'cause I've got more than a first impression now.

It's citrusy and sweet floral. Not powdery at all. I'm not getting a mossiness at all this time. Very feminine. This is great for both solitary seeking or for going out into the world. It envelopes you in softness.

Verrrry Lemony. Lemon Meringue Pie!

editing to add that as it dries down the lemon really softens up. I guess that must be the white musk doing that. Though I could swear there is heliotrope in this as well. It's really cheering and soft.

Citrus Peel! At first I thought it was orange, but reading the description... I know I was wrong. Yeah. Grapefruit definitely. Delicious!

------------

eta: Today I've got Baobhan Sith layered over vanilla bean on one wrist. And it is SPECTACULAR! The vanilla adds a real depth to the Baobhan. WOW!

Very very light. I guess with a name like dissipation, that shouldn't come as a surprise.

A bit soapy, but definitely the smell of tears. Smells like I just had a really good cry. (But, while I was doing the dishes.)

First Impression: It is the rare BPAL that does not agree with me. And this is that rare one. There is some background base note that disagrees with me. Maybe it's the cypress, I don't know. I'll try it again and give it a full testing. But so far not so good for me.

Very first impression: WHOA! A Hershey bar with almonds.

After it's on about 10 minutes: A deliciously incensey fragrance. I used to have this incense called "Ethiopian Rocks" (Yeah, great name.) It smells just like that incense. And I really loved that incense.

First impression: Fresh and rainy and minty and decidedly japanese.

I'm just doing a quick first impression right now. Will edit later when I fully take it in.

First Impression: apple & lemon & pink flowers.

I just got this in a swap. And it is very light.

But it isn't too sweet. It's like Dutch candy. When I was in Holland I would get these black licorice candies that were shaped like little naked peeing boys. Weird, I know. This oil smells like sniffing that little cone-shaped bag full of naked licorice boys.

YUM!

Several hours later and it is much sweeter now, but a pale sweetness. Not sticky at all. Very dry and light and beautiful. It's a dark whisper of a scent.

eta: It made my arm cold where it was applied.

I got Chaos Theory XXXVI and I'm afraid it's an instant headache scent for me.  My first thought was that there was something floral in it, but then I realized it smelled very familiar, like something I had recently tried.  And then, I realized it's very similar  to Old Glasgow which also gave me an instant headache.  I think there may be moss in it, though I'm not sure if it's Spanish Moss or Irish Moss or if I'm mistaking something floral for moss.  Anyway, I'm going to have to swap or sell it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I bought Chaos Theory XXXVI from the overly generous Minilux

It is a fizzy dark purple. If there really was such a thing as the Wonka Fizzy Lifting Drink and if it was sort of grapey/berry flavored. And it does have a bit of a moss smell underneath. Like maybe you found an old crate of Grapelberry Fizzy Lifting Drink in a shed in an extremely humid environment.

It is GORGEOUS.

BLACK CAT

Wow. being first is difficult. I'm not sure how one would go about using Black Cat, but I'm going to make it a point to find out. Especially the part about bringing back the joy.

However, as a general perfume, Black Cat is rosey and clean. There is a slight spiciness. A slight sweetness. Really well blended.

All in all, a highly recommended scent. Especially if it does all that it's supposed to do.