Athenae

This is HEAVEN. Thick chocolate and the ginger gives a lovely light lemony sweetness. Butterscotch comes out on the drydown. I'm utterly in love. A.

Out of the bottle, I'm wondering if I got something mislabeled. This is HEAVY floral, thick and oppressive. I don't smell apple, or woods, at all, and I double-checked the description to make sure I ordered correctly. I amp florals and so rarely wear them. Wet it's the same heavy floral smell, and it only gets stronger as it dries into kind of a powdery floral. It reminds me of an old-fashioned French flower perfume my grandmother had on her dressing table. My husband likes it, but after half an hour I had to wash it off as it was giving me a violent headache. No apple, no woods. Bummer. A.

Strong, strong, strong coffee and strong, strong, strong cinnamon. I'm not sure about this on my skin but I bet it will be heaven in a burner. A.

I was afraid of the black musk too, and at first it's all black musk on my skin, but after a second the tobacco and pumpkin become the dominant notes with the myrrh in the background, and it's just perfect smoky fall heaven. I almost didn't get this one and I'm so glad I threw it in my order at the last minute. This is the sexiest pumpkin I've ever smelled. A.

On me Boo smells exactly, and I mean EXACTLY, like Monsterbait: Underpants. A.

Bottle: Apple! Wet: Apple! Dry: Apple, then nuts, then red fruit in general and now it's all apple again. It's less sharp than Snow, Glass, Apples and it doesn't go floral on me the way most apple scents do. Love. A.

Queen. Whenever I need raw power, that's the one I reach for. A.

Wonderful ginger and clove and bright orange. This lasts and lasts, too -- I'm a fan. A.

Rum and almond at first, and though it doesn't burn me and isn't listed in the notes I smell spice in this. It's got hella throw, too, just dabbed a little on my wrist and hours later it's still wafting all around me. Rum and almond dry down to a warm, buttery, bakery smell that doesn't go sour in the least. HEAVEN. Mmmm. A.

I love the story of the Magi more than anything, so I had to get this unsniffed even though ambergris can go bad on me. At first it's all frankincense, threaded through with something thin and metallic and sharp, that might be the coriander. It dries down to this high lovely incensey coolness, evoking the story just beautifully: noblemen traveling, drawn by they know not what to the site of something extraordinary. I'm enthralled by it. Perfect. A.

I had high hopes for the oppoponax, one of my favorite notes, but unfortunately on me the ozone does what ozone always does and it went soapy and sharp on my skin. Bummer. A.

This, which was mildly leathery and pumpkin-y in the imp, was absolutely vile on me on a level I haven't experienced since trying Depraved. The leather goes all sour, the dirt smells like days-old garbage, and I get none of my beloved pumpkin note at all. My skin chemistry fails this one hardcore. A.

Really gorgeous, smells like walking through a cool forest on an October day. I can't really distinguish any of the notes of this, except to say it goes through a briefly weird cologne phase that then mercifully goes away. I love it on the drydown, all nutty and perfectly autumnal. A.

Next to Samhain, this was the fall scent I was most excited about ... and it lives up to the anticipation. Sweet orange and cidery apple, with just a hint of something leaf-like and damp in the background. It's got the same feel as Samhain, but it's different enough that I'll be getting a bottle of it to enjoy the variety. LOVE! A.

I had hoped for marshallow. Got sticky, plasticky strawberry instead. Then the strawberry dried down into a kind of powdery sweet-tart smell. Ack. No marshmallow in sniff at all. To swaps it goes! A.

Wow, she's a morpher, this one! First five minutes on, all apple. Bright, floral apple. Then, a few minutes later, it's that thick aquatic ozone that doomed Talvikku and The Snow Storm for me completely. THEN, a few minutes later, it's minty, cool flowers, and I see where people are getting the Snow White comparisons, though I think I prefer that to this. There's no apple at all now. I'm not sure if I like this yet. I think I need to wear it out of an evening, see how it makes me feel. A.

At first this smelled darkly fruity and purple to me, like sweet grapes, and now the amber and musk and sandalwood for which I purchased it have come out, and it's like a slightly darker Mme. Moriarty. Adore. Winner. Keeping. Mine. A.

I'm glad so many others seem to love this blend because on me, it's spicy, gingery blueberries for two seconds, and then ... soap. Nice soap, kind of a light floral soap, but still ... soap. Bummer. In the bottle it's blueberry heaven. A.

This was a freebie goblin squirt in my Inquisition order -- thank you goblins! Rose, rose, rose, rose. I have a Bulgarian Rose perfume that I love in the summer, and this is just like I spritzed that around, with just a hint of the grassiness of the meadow in the background. A.

I have two ferrets. Two wild, crazy dingos. I love them, but they're two ferrets, and they make messes, and they smell funny. And lately the dining room next to their room has started to smell like we're people who have two ferrets. I've tried different things: BPAL in burners, various brands of commercial air freshener, etc. Nothing really works to both cover up the dingo smell and not give me a headache or smell like a truck stop. So I got my L'autunno, spritzed it on the dining room curtains, and lo and behold, even a day later, it smells like a wonderful bonfire in October, instead of like two ferrets. I will be ordering more sprays, that's for sure. A.

So gorgeous in the imp, all deep amber-y caramel, I slathered without testing and now ... my skin has swallowed all the amber and caramel, and amped the honey and apple blossom. I had hoped for foody and got floral. Nice floral, and not headache-y at all, but still, not me. My husband loves it on me, though. He's been sniffing over my shoulder as I write this! I may try her in a scent locket, see if she stays truer to imp form there. A.

Very plummy, and at first she goes all plastic on me, but now that she's dried down a bit, Dionysia reminds me of Montresor, that dark fruit and spice combo. I can see her seducing someone with a glass of something red and sweet. Wonderfully evocative. A.

Resin, wood and musk, dark and thick. On me, the orange and herbs don't even register. Aeronwen goes immediately to Heavy Musky Male Cologne and stays there. I'll keep my imp, but she's definitely a Lady for special occasions. A.

Inez is the only one of the ladies I wasn't sure about, and it turns out that of my decants, she's the only one I truly adore. All warm myrrh and musk, but not in an animalistic sense. She smells like someone you'd like to get closer to. Bottle list. A.

In the imp, I thought ... oooh. Then, on me, it was like a Christmas tree threw up. Pine, pine, pine. I do tend to amp it, but held out hope for honeyed tobacco. Alas, no luck. A.