Footnotegirl

Kabuki, a story in two parts: Part one, being the short story - Bottle opened - Hrm, very sweet. Drop applied to wrist - CHERRY Drydown - ANISE OF DOOOOOM I'm not liking so much. 5 minutes - CHERRY NYQUIL DISASTER 30 minutes - Hmm, it's like some sort of interesting, european candy, for sophisticated palates.. very nice, very subtle.. hmm. 1 hr and thereaftter - PLEASE STOP ME FROM TRYING TO LICK AND MAKE LOVE TO MY OWN WRIST IT IS OBSCENE. om nom nom. Part two, being the longer tale - So, I got Kabuki as a frimp over a year ago. I opened the imp, sniffed it, and didn't think too much about it afterwards for a while. Then in July, I had a little meet 'n' sniff with some friends at a convention, and I offered to trade a bottle of Litha and the imp of Kabuki to one of them for a bottle of tasty, tasty intoxicating homemade Limoncello (the drink, not a scent). Before I completed the trade, I put a dab of Kabuki on my arm and sniffed it, winced, and was happy to be rid of it. I should have known better. An hour later I was whining to any who would listen about my rampant stupidity, but a good bit of the limoncello was gone and the trader had already returned home. Sadness was me. Because my wrist smelled sweet but not too sweet, and ever so slightly earthy and herby, and the anise added a tinge of unexpected without being overboard and all licoricy. And all of it terribly, terribly sexy. So for several months I have been searching for a bottle on eBay, but never found it. Recently I gave in and ordered an imp pack, and Kabuki was one of the imps and I now hug it and love it and call it george and wear it incessantly. Which means that soon, I will have to buy a bottle.

Almost sicky-sweet when I put it on, but just enough spice to make it interesting enough to keep on. Ten minutes later... I want to make love to my own wrist. And possibly give it expensive jewelry and furs. Cinnamon and honey and.. powdered incense, but not burning. Some time later. I appear to be one of the lucky ones that Sudha does not disappear on. My stars, this is beautiful. The undertone is warm and rich and smooth, with a sharp edge of spicy ginger right on top. Like a satin pillow holding a lovely, lovely golden dagger. With a curved blade.

Otherworldy golden incense, blooming wind-flowers, everlasting lavender, bluebell, a faint whiff of exotic sugared candies, and fae mist upon wet green grass. Ordered this smell un-sniffed, and am so happy I did so. Upon opening the bottle, I was mighty afeared, as it smelled sort of like.. walking into Sephora, which isn't a bad smell, but not what I expect from BPAL. I should not have been scared. As soon as it hit my skin... I feel like a citizen of Wall on that day of days. I've got my new basket. It's filled with ripe red delicious apples and some honeyed and cream tea (I'd almost say honey buns, but there's nothing 'baked' about this to me). My feet move over the dew-soaked grasses of the lands I know, crushing the blades slightly. I pass the wall, and spot the market in the field. The first thing that tells me that I'm in a different world is that it's warmer here, and the breeze carries the scent of flowers I have ever seen. The breeze also carries the scent of fairy fruits, not innocent apples, oh no. Tiny strawberries and oversized plums and things in colors that should not be. But all of them, all of them so juicy that they would drip down one's chin, if one were fool enough (or brazen enough) to bite into fairy food, and leave your lips sticky and stained. They grow closer and stronger, and then are swept into the clamor of scents around me. People with leaves for hair, or skin the color of night with stars for eyes, talking in tongues made of crystal sounds, and smelling of far away. Incense, wishes, and dreams, two silver a dream. Finally I arrive at the edge of the forest, and there's a little cart on wheels. Beeswax candles burn, air sweet with them. Crystalline flowers shimmer, lending that flower scent once again, though even more alien. A girl who is sometimes a bird opens the door, and we sit down to share honey cream tea and apples, just like we did nine years ago.

Some of my favorites lately, they are not always 'copies' or even all that close, but I find they layer well. B Never too Busy 2 Be Beautiful (discon shower gel) + Honey Moon (Yes, obvious, I know) Tramp + Belladonna (Dance of Death never worked with Tramp for me at all). Belladonna doesn't smell 'the same' but... they meld very well, with the green and woodsy. Is sort of like Tramp is the forest, and Belladonna is the banks of the cool glacier water brook that runs through it. Potion (discon lotion) + Alice Skin Sin (lotion) + Blood Kiss Les Cacas (henna) + the new Hunter Moon Jasmin and Henna Fluff-Ease + New Orleans

I got this as a frimp with my Libra/Hunter Moon 2007 order. In the bottle: OMGSOGOOD. Lovely wafting flowers, sweet warm goodness. Land of milk and honey. On my skin wet: OMGSOBAD. Well, people who like foody scents might have been approving, but on me it turned immediately into BUTTER SHORTBREAD OF DOOM HAS YOU SURROUNDED which is very much not my style. Drydown: Is it.. could it be... it's rounding out! There's still a little bit of the shortbread scent, but the flowers are coming back and the sweet is less foody. An hour later: Well, the butter shortbread is pretty much all gone, but the promise of flowers that the original scent gave me never did manage to return. It's nice, though it's just not seducing me. Will have to try again before deciding whether to keep or swap.

In the bottle: I the roses are way deep behind the kids cough syrup scent, though neither of those are quite right sounding, as it was more complex and present. Wet on the skin: Oooh. Syrup from cherry italian ice (not cough syrup cherry, but tasty italian ice cherry, but not 'chill' at all. So, clearly very melted) poured over ripe ripe rose petals. And moist. Humidity moist, not water moist. Dry down: Oh, please, let this just be a phase and not the perfume going all soapy on me. All the scents are mingling together, so that I can't piece them out anymore. An hour later: Whew. Most of the soapy is gone. The scents have still sort of woven together into one scent. Flowery and sweet/sharp fruity. Pleasant, but not my favorite. However, the first scent to get an "Oooooh" from the husband, so possibly a keeper. I'll have to wear it a few more times to be sure.

This has become my favorite summer scent this year (alternated with Thalia and Belladonna depending on what shower gel I used that morning). I only have one frimp of it, and unfortunately it has taken to leaking (it's hard to find a way to store an imp upright, let me tell you!) But here, after many wearings, is what I get from it: Application: Flowers. Not girly flowers, but the kind of waxy petalled flowers that hang heavily from vines after a rain. Also, sweet, heady and sweet. Shortly thereafter: Goes through about five-ten minutes of smelling like icky old lady flower soap. Thankfully that clears up and leaves me with. Until fade: Glimpses of night flowers on a dark breeze, each and every one of them dipped in sticky sugar syrup that would probably make a Hurricane with enough rum added. Lurve. Lurve so much.

We settled by the fire as dusk drew in, new, green wood mixed with dried moss and shards of maple bark were lit, and bottles of new red wine uncorked. We'd been dancing earlier on the damp, green grass and the girls still had the flowers, wide, blown rose crowns, dandelion bracelets and all the flowers still blooming as the year grew late. As darkness fell thick and the stars came out, more wine was opened and the ale was raw in the air. Stories were told and laughter rang in the night. After dining on fresh, tart, juicy apples the dancing renewed, the scent of flowers on damp skin wending through the warm smokey air inside the circle and tugged by the fresher, cooler air from outside. As the night goes on, the cool air draws nearer the flames. Flower crowns are thrown on the fire, and to beat off the cold the dancers drink wine, spilling some into the earth and onto the hot coal with their drunken merriment. The colder winds blow closer and closer to the fires, sharpening the scent of wine in the air. Sleep comes eventually, snoring within the light of dark, smokey coals, the first tang of winter in the autumn dawn as dew gathers on the last of the crushed, wilting flowers and wets once more the wine splashed on the ground and among the dry, crackled leaves. That's Hunter Moon to me.

In the bottle: Ewwwwwwwww. Urine and sugar. /Old/ urine and sugar. Not. Nice. First brush on the skin: Silicone 'toy' scent. Very plasticy and sweet. Dry-down: Magic happens! Within a couple of minutes, ick turns to /oh mmmmmm/. Warm sun on golden antique rose petals, melting away the dew. Very round and full. Time passes: The roses sharpen up and cool down. There's lots of roses, and this extends out to a long period of sweet-sharp, dark red and sterling silver roses. It hangs in the air quite nicely. Doesn't go powdery on me. I'm not generally a huge fan of rose scents. They're nice, but I usually find them either too fake, too overpowering, or too powdery on me. This? Works. I don't know if I'll keep it or give it to a dear friend who loves the Roses yet. But to be tempted to keep this at all is a major sign of liking it.

This is actually a quite nice scent. In fact, it's very much the definition of 'quite nice'. Not amazing, not drop dead gorgeous, not offensive. More than just nice. It's quite nice. It smells like sweet marzipan, or playdoh if playdoh was all natural. Sweet but not flowery and not quite fruity. It's not strong at all, even though I put on more than I might usually. I like it. But that's all, I just like it. I don't love it.

This is a /very/ nice warm scent (bright orange in color). It's warm, but not what I would consider 'earthy'. More like warm and airy. Contrary to the description, the black pepper and clove are not top notes, though the cinnamon is very much there especially in the bottle. Applied to the skin it's got floral top notes, but they're sort of thick, earthy floral rather than light, girly floral.. think honeysuckle, maybe some antique rose. There's definately a sort of 'ozone' sent to things that lifts the scents up to make them airy rather than earthy. It's not bad ozone though.. hard to explain. The scent is not overpowering, but I do catch whiff's of it on occasion when I turn my head.

This perfume is the reason that I originally ordered from BPAL. So, logically (not) it's the one I'm really not liking so far. I was told it smelled like Tramp by Lush, but, unfortunately no.. not really. It is actually very pretty. Just more flowery and.. well, it's got that powdery thing going on. When they say dry, they mean it, and unfortunately due to my upbringing, dry/powdery scents remind me of my grandmother. My /evil/ grandmother. It also, unfortunately, goes through an approximately 20 minute long "Unfortunate Pickle Phase" on my skin about 45 minutes putting it on, but then that goes away. Much, much later in the day, I like it.. but that's too little, too late.

This.. is so lovely. So amazingly beautiful and lovely and spicy and. Wow. It's warm and deep and smells like all the things advertised. And like the ocean. It's like smelling a romance novel pirate king with the fire and the rum and the heady.. Notice how I said king? As much as I love love love this scent, it is too masculine for me. It smells gorgeous, and now that it has faded (I put it on at about 2 p.m. and it's nearing 2 a.m. and there's still the lightest whiff of it) I could go with it, but.. for the first few hours? Way too masculine for me. And I'm not a girly girl flowery perfume type.

I first got an imp of Blood Kiss when I ordered an imp pack mainly to try "Dance of Death" which I had been told bore a striking resemblance to Lush's "Tramp". I picked it because of the mention of clove in the description (I love clove), and because, hey, sexy name. Dance of Death didn't work out for me, but hoo boy. Blood Kiss. Here's the review that I wrote after my first try on my LJ: At first, I thought this would be too sweet. There's honey here, definately. Not that fake honey, or generic honey, but sweet-sharp biting honey. The vanilla wasn't really all that apparent, nor was the musk.. but oh that cherry and wine and clove underneath the honey. Just.. amazing. I'm keeping this, and /you can't have it/. it's about 12 hours since I put it on, and though I can't smell it when I sniff my wrist, I catch occasional whiffs of the red-purple honey smell and it makes me happy. Two months have passed, and I love Blood Kiss more and more every time I use it. Blood Kiss just loves my chemistry, turning warmer and sexier through the day. Strangely enough, it can't be smelled at all where I actually put it on, but I catch it on the wind and playing in my hair. I am having a hard time going through my backlog of untried imps because when I sit down to pull a new one, Blood Kiss just calls me, whispering "You love me. You love the honey and the warm and the sweet but not cloying icky girly sweet. Me! It's me you want."