moon_lemming

Wow. Thanks for writing up such a detailed entry; I apparently have only seen about half of the stuff that you've seen. I didn't even notice the "Thirteen" kerfluffle until I was going through anxious1's most recent posts trying to figure out what was going on.I'm going to have to do a little thinking. (Oh no, not THINKING! *shakes fist*)But seriously, I wanted to let you know that the time you took to write this is appreciated.

Well, hrrrm. Yes, that's definitely leather, uncannily so. Sadly, I can't pull it off. But dammmmn, I can't wait to try this one on my husband.

Mmm, this one is beautiful. It's the first CD scent I've tried, and I'm hoping they're all as gorgeous as this one. Wet, it's a minty herbal tea -- not too strong of a mint, just a perfect swoosh of mint -- and as it dries, a heavy dollop of honey starts to shine through. It actually really makes me crave a cup of tea. It's lovely. I think, although it pains me to say this, that I wouldn't wear it enough to keep it, since I have a hoard of Dorian for my tea needs, but I am so glad I got to try it.

Leanan Sidhe is definitely a "pretty" scent! In the imp, it's a white, clean floral, very crisp. Sadly, on me, the florals amp (as usual) and it becomes a little detergenty. Too floral for my taste. I still think it's pretty, though, just not for me.

Oh my. Sniffing the Lab's chocolate scents makes me incredibly thankful that 13 works so well on me. Vice was a disastrous experiment. It is not every day that I recoil from the smell of chocolate, but that's exactly what happened when I sniffed Vice for the first time. I put it on anyway, hoping that it would be a miraculous morpher, but the chocolate stayed dry and bitter and the cherry just made it cloying. It was a pretty bad scene.

Innnteresting. Tweedledee is definitely reminiscent of Froot Loops in the imp, with a glass of orange juice sitting right next to the bowl. On me, it smells like a tropical fruit, which is okay, but the pepper makes me sneeze. It was an interesting scent experience, at least.

I really like Bordello, which surprised me, as I'm not a big fan of BPAL plum scents. In the imp, Bordello smells like watermelon-strawberry Bubble Yum, super sweet and fruity and heady as hell. When it's on me I smell like watermelon Jolly Ranchers. Scrumptious sweetness. I'm not sure how often I'll reach for it, but it's one of the most fun scents I've smelled in a while.

Plum, eh? I can't really pull plum off, I smell too candle-y, but I loved the description of Oya, so I had to try. Oddly enough, the plum wasn't really a problem in this blend. In the imp, Oya smells very much like tropical fruit salad. (I know, this doesn't sound like what everyone else smelled -- weird, huh?) On, it stays the same, but has a whiff of hairspray. The hairspray ruins it for me. I'm not sure what it was that translated to "hairspray" in my brain, although I'd like to know so I can avoid it in the future. Oh well.

Oh Obatala. First, I had problems with Milk Moon; I know they've been compared, but Milk Moon was too buttery for my chemistry. Obatala, on the other hand, is too dry, and then after the dryness goes away, it's too sweet. It starts off as a pulpy, milky coconut scent with a layer of dust on top. I still haven't figured out what it is that causes that dry, "dusty" scent. As it dries, it dusts itself off and becomes a scent full of coconuts and sugared millk. If it stayed there, it would be perfect, but it gets sweeter -- TOO sweet, which is so weird for me to say -- until it smells like the middle of a coconut bon-bon. Or the "white" layer of those neapolitan coconut bars you can get. Just doesn't work with my chemistry at all.

I was looking forward to Litha so very, very much. Honey? Yes, please! I think it would be difficult for any oil to live up to my expectations for this one, but Litha comes awfully close. In the bottle, it's a sweet honey with depth, sort of like clover honey. I've never had honey mead, so I can't say whether that's what I'm smelling or not, but it seems about right. There are also some herbs in there, but they're indistinguishable -- very well blended. On me, the honeysuckle picks up and it veers just to this side of detergent, but then the thyme shows itself and the carnation and daisy peek through and it's just a floral medley over a puddle of liquid-y honey. Very nice. A little too floral for me to wear often, but I'm keeping it for days when I'm celebrating the brightness of summer and everything that comes to life.

What a weird combination. But it's so good! At first all I get is a leetle sweet pea and a lot of yummy sage. As it dries on my skin, though, the tonka peeks out and it's so lovely. Well, potentially so lovely. The sweet pea is turning a little hairsprayish on me . . . yup. Hairspray. Damn it.

I was confused by The Hanging Gardens at first, because I had forgotten what it was supposed to smell like and was expecting monster florals. Instead, my nose picked out plumeria and a heavy dollop of syrupy pears. WTF? (That's what I asked myself and the imp, although I probly shouldn't admit to talking to imps.) Anyway, it smells lovely in the imp and fresh on, but my skin does this thing with plumeria. You know the smell you get a whiff of when you walk past a salon? That sort of unpleasant nose-scrunching smell? That's what I get. PLUMERIAAAAAA!

Hey, this is good! Sweet black cherries in the imp, and when it's wet on my skin it's black cherry ice cream. As it dries, the strawberry sweetens it up. It would be almost TOO sweet except there's something grounding it . . . I can't pick out musk, amber, or heliotrope, so I couldn't tell you which it is. I think it might be the amber. Whatever it is, it rounds it out and adds a depth to it that keeps it from being a cloying candle scent. It's just sweet and glittery and chock full of optimism. I'm probably going to end up getting a bottle of this for next spring/early summer.

The Unicorn smells almost like cherry cough drops on me at first, which is very strange. But I've learned that my chemistry likes to play tricks on me, so I'll wait it out. It dries into a pretty, clean watery smell, like small white flowers floating down a sparkling stream. There's a touch of sweet fruitiness and something that smells a little . . . papery, but not really . . . too. It's gorgeous, and has the perfect amount of throw for an office situation, but I like Lady of Shalott better for the "clean water" scent. (Wow, what a mind-bendingly insane number of choices we have.)

The first whiff I take of Tezcatlipoca is filled with bitter cocoa. Real, dark cocoa. It's totally not my style, but I dabbed it on my skin anyway just to see what happens. On me, it's the same cocoa surrounded by smoke and something savory. It's disturbing and evocative. I love the idea of it, and I love the execution of it, I just don't love the way it smells on me.

Another entry in the "stupid chemistry" ledger: Shango is okay in the imp, kind of smells like banana Laffy Taffy with a little depth to it. On me it turns into greasy bananas. No thanks.

In the bottle as well as on my skin, Shattered smells like lots of mint and a tiny bit of grapefruit, maybe floating in a crystal-clear lake. It's very pretty. I like Juke Joint better as far as mint blends go, but the chilly quality of this makes it stand out from the other grapefruit blends I've tried. I'm not sure if I need a whole bottle; I'll have to see how often it pokes at my brain.

Snake Charmer is a winner. Sweet creamy vanilla, black coconut, sexy spices. DAMN. I really cannot imagine how this could possibly improve with age, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

I initially bought a bottle of this thinking that the kidlet would love it. I'm not usually a fan of the ubersweet foody scents. But one sniff and I fell head over heels in love with Midway. I can't add anything unique to the many, many reviews already available for this scent, but I'll forge ahead anyway. In the bottle, Midway is a mish-mash of fair goodness: funnel cake and caramel and sweetness. On, it develops a hint of buttery popcorn, but not Shill-like BUTTER POPCORN, just subtle butteriness; the scent as a whole is very light, though it strengthens a little as it dries. I cannot wait to find out how Midway changes as it ages. Seriously. Love.

Wow, most of the pieces that make up this blend are things I couldn't pick out if you paid me to. My overall impression of Thanatos was "pleasant men's aftershave." It's way too masculine for me and alas, it doesn't work with my husband's chemistry.

Hmm . . . is one of the night-blooming flowers some sort of jasmine? Because that's the only way to explain the new carpet smell I get from Morgause. It's full of pretty white florals at first, but then the new carpet smell takes over and the floral turns monstrous. This is pretty standard for me for an oil that has jasmine in it. There's just no way I can get past that new carpet thing.

What a confusing kitty! My notes say that in the imp I smelled "sugared pink grapefruit and sweet pink florals" but there's nothing sweet and pink in the blend at all! I guess the currant blends with the grapefruit to make it seem sweeter than it is. It is a lovely blend; the only thing that stands out is the grapefruit, but it's obvious that there's so much more underneath it. The drydown is basically the same as my initial sniff, just with a lot more sugar sprinkled over the grapefruit. Cheshire Cat is so pretty -- the only reason I'm not pouncing on a bottle RIGHT NOW is that it's very, very light on me. I need to retry it and see if it's too light to wear or if it will work paired with a locket.

Not quite Turtle Soup: blurry aquatic notes, with a confusing, contrary splort of iris, ambrette, green apple, vodka, white mint and a squish of lime. In the imp, this smells EXACTLY like Sonic's limeade tastes. On me, it picks up some green apple tastiness, so tart that it's almost a lemon-lime slushie. I like the idea and the scent, but it's way, way too light on me, and it completely vanishes within two minutes. Sniff.

Um. YES. What a gorgeous scent. In the imp, Mouse's Tale is a little bit of floral goodness and a lot of creaminess. On me, it's freaking perfection; the sweet pea is there, but not too strong, the ambers behave themselves, and the sandalwood is quiet but there, just the way I like it. And oh, this vanilla. Everything combines to make this gorgeous creamy vanilla floral and wow, I need a bottle of this.

Oh man. this one made me sad because how cool would it be to say you're wearing Frumious Bandersnatch? In the bottle, zee Bandersnatch smells of grape lollipops and tasty spices. On me, once we get past the initial grape cough syrup stage, the spice picks up, the grape drops back, and the scent becomes more of a spicy carnation with a swirl of blackberry wine, which smells awfully grape-y. Sadly, I'm not a fan of smelling like grape ANYTHING -- not even subtly -- because it reminds me of being sick (the cough syrup thing), so off to the swap pile it goes.