aedes

Lovely! Smells a lot like Al Araaf, only with a slightly sharper edge, possibly from the reeds, and the plum note has a presence as well (well, okay, plum blossom, but it smells similar to me). The woods are in the background quietly, providing a stable, non-intrusive base. I haven't kept any of the Asian moons so far because I just haven't liked the green-ness of the bamboo. But this is different, and its definitely a keeper. The reeds do keep the scent from smelling like an average floral, but they certainly aren't so present as to make the scent masculine or impersonal. I need another bottle! Stat!

Interesting.... You know, I really have to say how impressed I am by all the Come and See line. Beautifully complex, glorious, wonderfully conceived. Masterpieces in their own way. This one in particular is kind of escaping my description. At first, I couldn't smell it at all. My boyfriend could, and he said it smelled spicy. After about 15 minutes, I could pick up what smelled like a little pepper, maybe along with musk. The scent grew to a pale, spicy scent, if that makes any sense. Reminds me of the nazgul. Ghostly but dark. Unfortunately this strange ruddiness grows out of the background, sort of like dust, but from what I can't place. Almost smells playdoh-like. Normally only linen goes to playdoh on me, but this doesn't have linen. So I don't know what I'm smelling, because it doesn't sound like any of the notes. But this is sort of how I expected Berenice, The Spirits of the Dead, or Destroying Angel to smell. Pale, but full of death.

Starts off smelling just like Snow Moon - wonderful, snowy sort of ozone, fresh flowers. But then, after about an hour, it morphs into a powdery note. Not bad, but meh.

Warm, sweet. Ripe, soft apricots on a warm, hazy day. My boyfriend loves it on me, though I don't know if I can really handle such a fruity smelling blend. If you like Ava Luxe's Viva, you really should try this.

I get a predominant tea rose scent. Not as white and vague as I was fearing, it remains potent and definable. Rose and swaying, watery florals. The lotus doesn't turn to bubblegum on me like normal, either. Hooray! If you liked Parlement of Foules, you really should try Ophelia.

I get the cinnamon red hots, but I also see the clove people are talking about. Actually, it gave me the same queasy feeling in the bottle that Three Witches did, but on, oh it's so nice. But it's different from other spice blends somehow. Doesn't smell quite like Shub or Three Witches or Gingerbread Poppet. Smells... weirder, more eccentric, distant. I have a feeling that there's something maybe aquatic or ozone in there, very far in the background, giving this and alien feeling. I love it! So cool!

I bought the imp before seeing the notes, so this was a pleasant surprise! Actually, I normally don't go in for "green" scents. They normally just smell antiseptic and cold to me. But this is a green that's not herbal, and I like it a lot! Juicy, minty but not too minty, a pleasant jumble of bluish-green smells. I'm not sure of a bottle or not, but it's a really cute, fun scent.

Yup! Dirt! A lot of it! Maybe dirt well-mulched with wood chips, but dirt dirt dirt. Actually reminds me of those scented crayons I had as a kid. The dirt one smelled a lot like this. Would be a lovely smell for those gardeners out there!

I'm amazed at how much this smells like mushrooms! Damp, fresh earth and white mushrooms all the way. Seriously, you could smell the white button mushrooms in the produce aisle if you wanted an idea. You wouldn't think this would work for perfume, but I think it's very wearable on a person who likes earthy scents. It has all the earthy element but with a freshness and cleaness you wouldn't normally find. I'm pleased with the concept, though it's not for me.

*HONK HONK!* Leather, bi-yatch! Such life-like leather I could barely believe it. What Rose Red is to roses, Dead Man's Hand is to leather. Leather lovers, this is your holy grail. I think I'm going to spread it on leather articles in my house to amp their scent. Wow!

For those with Peony Moon, what do you think is the closest GC? I'm so eager to try mine, but still waiting on it.

Hm. Well, I finally got an imp of this after The Lion and other amber scents turned out so well on me. This is a spicy, slightly sweet amber. But I don't think I like it. It smells too much like, well, like myself. Smells like my palms after working up a good sweat. I know, I should be so lucky that I smell like spiced amber when I sweat, huh? But seriously, there's a weird, BO twinge to this on me. I can't do it. Que lastima.

I could swear I've had an Indian curry that smells just like this. Must be an indian spice in there - cardamom or saffron. Whatever it is smells very warm. I agree with the dragon's blood. The oil itself is also a BRIGHT red, like I can still see it on my skin after drydown. As it dries, a clear, clean floral note starts to emerge through all the spice. Very intriguing! I think I may have to get more of this!

I was very surprised to read the notes in this one. I didn't realize all those floral top notes were in there. I get a warm, soft (yes, I think possibly a little powdery), smokey, dark, and perfume-y smell. Actually, my image is of lying on furs in a doeskin teepee at night on dusty ground, with a small fire curling up to the black sky. It's what I was hoping Coyote to smell like, actually! I need to focus on the Poe, I know, I know, but the soft, earthy, smokey notes still reign in my sensations of it. And I'd also like to note that this is the only scent other than Old Scratch with patchouli in it that doesn't conk me on the noggin and drag me back to its cave of rotten dirt funk. That is to say, I didn't even realize it was in there. So all those folks out there afraid of patchouli like me, you may want to give this one a try.

Whooo! *cough cough* This mule's got some KICK! If there were a Cherry Sambuca, this would be it. Smells downright boozy for 5-10 minutes on the skin, then quickly fades. Thought I could smell almond in there, but it must have been the combo playing tricks on me. Might like to try a liqueur flavored like this, but I don't want to smell like it myself.

Ah! Here! A vanilla I can wear! I think this is just super-rific, especially since more popular vanilla blends like Snake Oil tend to smell a bit plastic-y on me. This smells like a more feminine version of The Lion. Just as golden and rich, but less animal, more sweet. I think I can smell honey in here, pretty strongly. Darn you, lab! Making vanilla harder and harder to resist!

My boyfriend took one whiff of it on me and went Not "eek" but definitely some going on. His words: "That's a $1,000 hooker scent right there." I agree with him. And I love it. Starts off like bubble gum, which I notice a lot of notes do for me. Weird. Anyway, it mellows out within a minute or two of hitting the skin. The first time I tried, the wine note was strong, but this time just the sweetness. It mellows out into a wholly indescribable, seductive scent. Honestly, the closest thing I can think of to the smell is peanut butter. But it doesn't smell like peanut butter. And a whole lot of throw going on, much more than anything else on my arms at the moment. Best image I can think of is Julianne Moore in a gorgeous, brown silk gown. Only I can imagine she'd be much more expensive than $1k. But this will turn heads

Well, let's see, I absolutely suck at journalling and my spare time is slim, so I'm sure this blog is going to go on 4-EVA!!1!eleven! Oh boy, I'm going update every night and tell all my friends! yeeeeokay. Well, even if it lasts all of five minutes, it'll at least be nice to be able to vent somewhere and not worry that I'm thread-jacking or imposing on anyone to read my innanities. And plus, I can ramble on about scent stuff and people will have a clue about what the hell I'm talking about. Like Hades. My obsession with it has grown to somewhat frightening proportions. At first, I thought "hm! Smells pretty nice. I think I'll keep it around for when I'm getting my sleek-ass hipster thang on." Then, I started wearing it more and more. I think the exotic and atypical nature of a lot of the notes kept attracting me, because who wouldn't like to say "Oh, it has black narcissus, stephanotis, opoponax, labdanum, onycha and ambergris in it. Yeah, those are some of my favorites." when someone asks what you're wearing? Freaking hard core, that's what it is. Anyway, now it's become a total obsession. I'm all "Hades in the morning, Hades in the evening, Hades at supper-time!" And it's kind of making my boyfriend's eyes water because I can barely smell it on me anymore and keep on dowsing myself in it. I dunno, it's become sort of "The Boyfriend" scent because, while it doesn't necessarily capture "me" it makes me feel like Pluto himself's got my back. Meanwhile, all sort of pretty scents have been feeling lonely and neglected. Damn you, Velveteen Rabbit for manipulating me as a child and making me feel guilty for not loving all of my posessions equally! Damn your velvety, sob story hide! My obsession with it has spiked recently partly because I've been toying with the idea of going all-out and making it my one and only scent, so when someone thinks of me, they'll think that smell. So I've been wearing it a lot just to see if I can't get it to drive me crazy. That and I've been looking around other places to find opoponax in blends that have full suites of bath stuff, so I could fall in love with them and have an easier time of it. But all the other places I've found it (okay, just Ava Luxe, really) treat the opoponax sweetly, making sweet, somewhat smokey blends. Don't get me wrong, I love Opoponax Intense, but I think I like the use of cypress in Hades to give it that dangerous, sacred smell. Dog only knows since I don't like cypress or cedar in anything else. But, of course, commitment like that scares the crap out of me right now, and I'm a little concerned with how much I want to concentrate on a scent that doesn't personify me as much as a phantom "other." At the heart of my concern is that, if I were to try the scent that was the absolute most "me" it could be, I'd turn my nose up at it and instead grasp at scents that are more "someone else." And that prospect saddens me. Or I could just be worrying over a whole heap of nothing, so I'll sign off with a funny math joke I read recently: Two mathematicians are eating together at a diner, and they wind up arguing over how much mathematics the average person knows - one believes that most people have a reasonable knowledge, while the other thinks most people are incredibly ignorant when it comes to mathematics. While the second mathematician is in the restroom, the first decides to have a little fun to argue his point so he calls a waitress over and tells her "In a few minutes, I'm going to call you over again and ask you a question, and the answer will be 'One-third x cubed'. Can you remember that for me?" "One thir dex cube," she says. "One-third x cubed," he corrects her. "One third ex cube," she repeats, and leaves. When the second mathematician returns, the first one calls to the waitress and asks her "Waitress, what is the integral of x squared?" She replies "one-third x cubed," and then turns to walk away, but then calls over her shoulder "plus a constant!"

I'm so happy this scent came in to my life. I had long sworn off amber as a note that only turned to powder on me, so I was actually disappointed when I was gifted with not one, but two frimps of The Lion from the lab. But trying it on, this smells like no amber I've ever experienced before. Brisingamen and a boat load of other ambers went rancid on me. But this, this smells so warm (REALLY warm) and spicy, a little musky almost. It smells... it smells... like a LION! Rawr! It really is amazing how much lion-ness Beth captured in this blend, and it's shown me that I can wear amber! Score!

Yes, tight, pink, virginal rosebuds. That's definitely true. But there's a poignancy in this blend that I wish I could nail down. A certain sharpness or cry or hook that really makes this a unique rose scent. An herb, maybe, citrus, possibly. I think at one point I actually smelled honey in the blend. This is not your simple, church-going virgin, if she even is a virgin. This is a woman with a secret not even her diary knows. I say, if you love roses and want a little bit more complexity or mystery in your blend, get yourself some Venus. But then, you probably already have it.

I really think you should try Seance. It's my personal favorite next to Hades. Smells like a wonderfully beguiling, ghostly rose. The rosewood and dried rose leaf give it its rosiness, the hazel makes it a little spooky. A perfectly unique rose scent, if you ask me. Rose Red, too, is the must-have for rose lovers. Peacock Queen also has its devotees. I'll also toss in Black Rose. Smells a bit like London, though, from what I remember.

I've found that High John the Conqueror smells a whole lot like The Hanged Man. Funny, that! Oh! and Tiger Lily smells a lot like Al-Araaf if you're an Al-Araaf junkie like me and didn't get enough before it went away. Shub-Niggurath and Three Witches smell like scent-sisters to me, too, and there's a lot of 3 Witches flying around right now, so you Shubby fans can probably find some good stuff there.

Eucalyptus seems to do a great job waking me up and making me more alert and active. Jabberwocky's my particular go-juice, though lots of people also like Loup Garou for their eucalyptus fix. Also, just going with my standards of Seance or Hades works well because they're familiar. And they both have a little bit of pleasant "spikiness" on the nose that perks me up without making me go "ew!" Oh, and thirdly, Pele can really make me feel great on a blah day. Sets me to humming and dancing, activities which I find similar to a good writing splurge.

Hm, I've been thinking about getting into Lush, that is until BPAL gets their soaps back. Anyone know of a Lush (or, heck, Dark Swan, or any soap, really) that smells like Hades? Okay, doesn't have to smell just like Hades, it can just compliment it. Anything myrrh-tastical would probably work. Anyone? Bueller?

I've stocked up on it, so I really should review it, huh? This scent has convinced me that I can like lavender. Normally it smells so sharp and... salty. But this is a nicely refined lavender, I think. The citrus compliments this beautifully, making a wonderfully light-hearted and snappy blend. I'm so glad I took a chance with her! It really makes me feel lovely.