Christine Daae

To me, Black Opal is a cooler, more stone-like version of Death Cap, which is warm and earthier. They have a similar vanilla vibe, though.

Hooray for blogs! (I have about a frillion, why not one more? )

Reading some of the reviews, I wonder if I got the same blend as everyone else did. D: I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet, the imp (which I think was a frimp since I don't think I would have picked this for myself!) has been in heavy rotation since I first tried it. Right off the bat I get white florals - some sort of tuberose or magnolia or gardenia, something hothouseish and sweet and almost fruity. It is a Seriously Floral smell, and I really like white florals (<3!) so yay for that. The the sorta-fruityness dies down and I'm left with a white, creamy floral. With undertones of a smooth vanilla or tonka. The throw has a bit of spiciness to it (smells more like cinnamon to me than carnation, but that might just be my nose!), but when I sniff my wrist (as I am wont to do) I get the sweet creamy white floral, no spice. I can see where people smell jasmine, but jasmine almost always smells vaguely sharp to me, and this has no sharpness to it. There may be some sort of amber in this, too, giving it a sort of golden smell. I'm kind of rubbish at picking out notes, but this one smells white and golden to me.

I'm totally stalking this thread because I love the idea of smelling like a princess! The most sparkly princess scents I've tried so far have been Fae (I don't know why I don't have a bottle yet, actually), Lolita, Glitter, and Bon Vivant. They're the most "sparkly" feeling, to me. Other princessy scents: Alice (of course!), Hermia (so pink!) and Kindly Moon. And reading these recs I really want to try Titania now.

I've already worn Hermia a couple of times, but have yet to write a review of her! In the imp and wet, this is practically perfection - candy-sweet, almost, with the spice from the pepper. Oh, how I love thee. It's very pink and golden. As it warms to my skin, it becomes something even lovelier - the amber warming up, maybe? It's fruity and sweet and warm and just oh so lovely. After about ten minutes, the pepper amps up a little bit, making it just a little bit spicier. That bite with the fruity floral is so unexpectedly pretty. Oh Hermia, how I love thee!

In the imp, really green with a floral undertone. Wet on skin, the floral starts to bloom (me + florals = yay!). As this dries, this becomes a cousin to blends like Kindly Moon and Poisson d'Avril on me - lovely, green, fresh springy flowers. It's pale and ethereal, but also fresh and feminine on me. Not sad, at all! Pretty springy flowers!

So...this is the first of the Lab's cocoa/chocolate blends that I have ever tried. Ever. And it was a frimp. So I have no idea what cocoa/chocolate do with my chemistry...here goes! In the imp, it's dry and woody with an "aftersmell" of sweetness that I can't really pinpoint. Wet on my skin, I get INSTANT sillage as soon as it hits my skin. This hardly ever happens to me, especially with BPAL - they tend to stay close to my skin. The sillage is coconutty? tropical? That may be the palm. With a little bit of the woods and the sweetness (which I think is the fig, as opposed to the cocoa - it doesn't really smell like cocoa to me). I kind of smell like really high-end sunscreen. Eventually, I do get a bit of the cocoa, but mostly this just smells...sort of tropical and sweet. It evokes images of spy movies set in the tropics, especially old ones. It's shadowed and sweet and dusky. I like it, but it's not really my thing - I may try it on my boyfriend, though.

This is a gorgeous, creamy white floral. It is summery and humid as opposed to springy and bright, though it does have a slight green freshness to it. It's round, and warm, and undeniably white and floral. This actually has throw on me, which is amazing - white florals tend to do that on me, though, when almost nothing else (well, nothing else that I like!) will. It's the pure, pristine version of Lucy Westenra to me (it's the gardenia, I believe) - moreso than Lucy's Kiss was. I agree with everyone who has said that it's very 'bridal.' If I thought I were going to get married anytime soon, I would save it for then...but I don't think I am, and it's too pretty not to wear! I may have to track down more bottles of this...

If Plunder was unsweetened chai tea, this is chai tea with the sugar and milk. SO good. The honey behaves, the skin musk doesn't get out of control - and it's just yummy, sweet, spicy goodness. <3

So yesterday I was supposed to be out shopping for other people and ended up buying a whole slew of B&BW's Midnight Pomegranate. I wondered if anyone had tried it, and knew if either Hymn to Proserpine or Fruit of Paradise were good to layer with this? Here are the notes as listed on the site: Fragrance Top Notes: Pomegranate, Sparkling Citrus, Dewberry, Anise, Cinnamon, Nutmeg Fragrance Mid Notes: Cassis, Black Berry, Iris, Jasmine, Raspberry Fragrance Base Notes: Musk, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Tobacco, Patchouli Now, for me, I don't get *any* patchouli or tobacco. I do get some of the other fruit notes, and the cinnamon and nutmeg, and I definitely get the vanilla. I would like to keep the pomegranate itself around a bit longer if I could, though, and I was wondering if Fruit of Paradise would be good for that?

I wonder what "velvety musk" is, haha. I can definitely smell the amber, again, now that I know it's there! Dorian would probably layer spectacularly well with this, you're right. Unfortunately Zephyr turns to lemon on me (wah). And go on, give me another reason to buy some Victoria! (I've been wanting to try it anyway!) Thank you for the recs!

Sunshiney? Eos! If the jasmine plays well on you - it does on me - it becomes this softly glowing, sunshiney scent. It's really pretty. Other "happy" scents: Lolita (sunshine candy)! Poisson d'Avril (springy flowers)! Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo! Tiger Lily (honey-lily-yumminess)!

My BFF bought me a set of the White Musk fragrance from the Body Shop for my birthday because she said it reminded her of me. Which is odd, because I don't think I tend to wear much musk at all...but! My question is: does anyone know what the notes are in the Body Shop's White Musk (other than white musk, obviously!)? I'd like to wear it but I'm afraid that what I normally wear would clash.

This is one of my favourites from my latest order. I got this in the hopes of a nice cinnamon blend that would remind me of chai tea. In the imp, and wet, this is a DRY cinnamon and spice. Very dry. Not a hint of sweetness or foodyness. Which is okay - I have Chimera for my foody-cinnamon needs (that one smells like cinnamon buns on me). The dryness might be because of the woods, but I haven't tried enough of the woods to really know. As it dries, this blend turns to chai tea on my skin. It is exactly chai tea, but chai before you put the milk and sugar in. It smells the way my kitchen does when I'm brewing a cup. Ohhhh, but it is so lovely. And I keep getting wafts of this, too - usually what I amp is my least favourite note in a blend (LEMON! GRAPEFRUIT!), or I don't get any throw at all. This...is just lovely wafts of unsweetened chai tea. OMGLOVE. <3 I am debating between a bottle of this or a bottle of Bengal in my next order.

I really, really want to like this one - all the reviews make it sound so lovely! Black opals are my favourite gemstone, too. Wet and in the imp, though, this smells...metallic, almost, with a hint of a very not-foody vanilla. This is a very strange scent. It's vanilla, but it's not terribly foody or sweet - it's almost chemical on my skin. I definitely amp this one, though (whyyyy do I always amp things I don't want to amp?), I keep getting wafts of chemical vanilla. It does call to mind rocks, and water, and ozone and such, but I'm not sure if I like it or not. Right now I am going with "not." I have Death Cap for my non-foody vanilla needs.

In the imp and wet...apparently peony = SOAPY DEATH on my skin-slash-to my nose. I did not know this, as I don't think I've tried peony before. Okay, whoo, this calmed down a little as it dried on my skin. And...apparently it smells like fruit on me. I'm getting a little bit more of the tea (definitely smelling bergamot, so one of the teas is probably Earl Grey! ) And...then it evaporates into a light soapiness with a little bit of sweet floral. D: I wish I was getting what everyone else seems to be getting. I like light florals, and I can even handle/appreciate a little soapiness, but I have other things for that - and I wanted more tea, dammit!

Full disclosure: This is not something I would have ever bought for myself (too fruity in the description). It was a freebie in my latest order. In the imp and wet it smells like jellied candies. Like jelly orange slices. Sugary and sweet and fruity. And at the end of my sniff there's something warmer, almost buttery (the tonka?). Like buttered-popcorn flavor Jelly Bellies. I really like sugary and sweet, and I'm not sure how I feel about smelling like fruit. (Or popcorn flavored candy?) I seem to go back and forth on that. As it dries, it stays sweet (my skin chemistry looooves the sweet) but becomes less like a candy and a tad more floral (very light), with the tea underneath. *sigh* I should just start ordering anything with tea in it! Everything with tea smells good to me! This is, surprisingly, a keeper. Who knew?

This starts off pretty soapy and green (at the same time). Like the sap from crushed plant stems. As I wear it, it mellows out quickly into a sunny, warm flowery sweetness. It's very pretty! I'm reminded of the first stages of Poisson d'Avril (which I love). This is lovely - warm and dewy and floral. It definitely lives up to its name! <3

In the bottle, this is all sweet, cheesecakey, creamy goodness with a hint of strawberry. Almost like strawberry-cheesecake flavoured ice cream, actually! Yummy. Wet, this continues to be gorgeous, cheesecakey goodness. Oh lord this is yummy. I can smell the graham cracker crust, too, as this dries. Eventually, as someone else mentioned, this develops a plasticky feel. D: Nooo! The lovely creamy strawberry goodness! And then, it definitely does the same thing Misk U does on my skin. The hell? I will put this up for sale or swap eventually, to hopefully go to the home of someone with more cooperative skin chemistry.

So, on me - Bengal and Plunder are very similar. They're both chai tea, Bengal being after adding sugar and milk, and Plunder being the version where it's just steeping in the kitchen. They're both so very, very yummy. I am looking for things that are similar in feel to Kindly Moon. It's one of my favourites, and it's really hard to describe what it does on me - even though it's almost all florals, it turns into this lovely, clear, sweeet almost melon-ish scent while still being identifiably floral. It's so gorgeous. Is there anything similar to this in the GC, or even the Salons?

I don't know how, but the honeysuckle and cinnamon in Chimera combine to turn me into a walking cinnamon bun. I seriously get cravings for Cinnabon every time I put it on. It's so good.

I got this when it first came out, and just haven’t gotten around to reviewing it until now. In the bottle, this is exactly what it says it is: a lot of resins underscored with a light, pretty rose. On my skin, this turns very sweet (as a lot of things tend to do with my chemistry). I’m no good at picking out notes, but this is in the same vein as Seraphim or Rose Cross, in that it’s really very “holy” smelling to my nose, with a bit of pretty floral. This is one of the first LEs I ever bought, and I’m still glad I did – I still find it very lovely.

One of my favourites, and I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed it before now. In the bottle, this is all sweet-milk and spicy carnation. Wet on my skin, it is incredibly sweet (must be the milk and honey) with a slight floral undertone. This is just such a comforting scent to me. It is sweet, with the slightest hint of tea and floral, and it pairs so beautifully with Maiden. Where Maiden is floral-sweet, this is almost foody-sweet, and it’s just gorgeous. It’s the closest thing I have to a “me” scent, just something sweet and comforting and casual. I love it. <3

Another one I’m not sure why I haven’t reviewed before now. In the bottle, this is a pretty, spicy carnation. Wet on my skin, it starts off as a blast of something very sweet and quite lovely. As it dries, I swear I get a bit of lemon in there, though I can’t be sure. The tea, the spicy carnation and the Damask rose blend together beautifully into a scent that I always describe as “Heaven’s tea room.”

Simplicity and innocence, gleefully despoiled! Sugared violet. In the bottle, Dimatapp grape liquid medicine. No, I’m not kidding. Wet on my skin, very violet/grapey (I have no idea what’s translating as “sickly sweet Dimetapp cough syrup” in my brain), hardly any sugar at all. Eventually, the powdery vanilla sugar smell shows up a little, turning this almost to cotton candy on my skin. It smells like violet candies. I think I may be one of the multitudes that just can’t handle the violets, sadly, cos this could be quite pretty. I was expecting to like Hope better, anyway.