emerald_ibis

Miskatonic University smells of spiked coffee and old books. Some batches that I've smelled have been more coffee scented than others.

Black Pearl smells like a day at the beach to me. It gets that combination of salty air and coconut suntan lotion and everything else that you described to my nose just right. It doesn't hurt that this was my "beach" scent when I lived in Florida

I'm trying to find something similar to Ostara. Light, fruity florals are pretty much the only thing that I want to wear right at the moment (springtime in TX is short, and I'm trying to live it up as much as possible). I've tried Titania, and the mood is the same (so to speak), but it's a lot fruitier than Ostara, plus I amp the peach ridiculously. I can't do heavy florals. I have and love 51 and Amsterdam, to give you an idea of some other light scents that I have in rotation at the moment. Help? Thanks in advance!

For Christmas I wore my '05 Gingerbread Poppet (which is delightfully sweet and smells EXACTLY like what my grandmother makes). For NYE, a light application of Mme. Moriarty or Temple Viper, which are interchangeable as signature scents for me. Manthing and I are staying in, and I want to smell like ME. Or possibly Beaver'versary, as Manthing has something of a sweet tooth, and I think would be intrigued by me smelling like cupcakes.

Wet and initial drydown: PINE! PINE, IT SMELLS LIKE PINE, NOBODY ELSE SAID IT SMELLED LIKE PINE, OH EM GEE, WASH IT OFF WASH IT OFF WASH IT OFF WASH IT OFF!!!!! After a few minutes: wait, there's something nice. kind of spicy. hey, resin. or incense. the pine's going away, and I'm pretty sure it's snickering at me. the pine mocks me. dastardly, mocking pine tree. Much later: very nice, and I will keep the bottle. I layered it with some aged Dorian, and it's absolutely lovely. Keeper. 3.9 of 5 stars - loses points for the initial OH HAI, I M THE PYNE TREEEE blast of evergreen.

I like to use Masala with Temple Viper / Western Diamondback / straight Snake Oil -- adds a nice spicy touch Jai Mahal also goes well with the Snake Oil blends, methink.

I cheerfully admit that my chemistry is, occasionally, strange. That said, for those people looking for something even remotely similar to Black Lace, might I suggest Dorian? My skin loves to amp musks and vanillas, and that's what I get a lot of with Black Lace and Dorian both. Dorian's lighter, though, and just a touch sweeter. (As a side note, my bottle of Dorian is almost two years old, so this may also make a difference)

Is anybody still reading here on page 9? Anyway, this is specifically on the aged version of Mme. Moriarty, because I personally plan to have a hefty stash of the stuff before the Carnaval leaves town and thought that perhaps other people would be interested in how this blend ages over time. Beautifully, by the way, if you like patchouli, musk and vanilla. And I happen to love them a great deal, so this is wonderful. The older she gets, the deeper and heavier Mme. Moriarty becomes. The fruit notes, sadly, fade a great deal over time. The plum that I loved so much when my bottle is fresh is now very faint. It's still there, but is just barely hanging on in the face of the strong trio of patch, musk and vanilla. Aged, this is like Snake Oil's more serious, more sophisticated cousin. It lacks the playful sugary edge that Snake Oil always has on me. It has a stronger patch vibe, and just a the tiniest touch of fruitiness to make things interesting. DEAD SEXY, though, and I always, always get compliments on it. I'm nearly finished with my first bottle and already have two backups hanging around in my box. More will be ordered ... I never, ever want to be without this scent, if at all possible. Definitely top ten, maybe even my number one.

At last! A dragon's blood blend that I can wear!! Seriously, most of the time, dragon's blood gives me a headache, and I cannot stand it. However, when mixed with leather and smoke... In the imp and when I first apply it, all I get is dragon's blood and just a hint of leather. It may be due to the age of my imp, but the dragon's blood note is not terribly overwhelming, either. It fades pretty quickly and becomes a gorgeous, sweetly smoky leather. I am planning to order a fresh imp soon so that I can compare it against the aged version (no seriously, dragon's blood frightens me 99% of the time), but if the fresh version is just as nice, this may very well be a bottle purchase in the near future.

Either my imp of Erato is rather aged, or my wacked-out body chemistry is striking again. Because my experience with Erato was very different from most people's, from what I've skimmed on the review page. Wet on my skin, Erato has a rather heavy, smoky scent. The orris and the myrrh, maybe? My skin tends to amp resinous scents, soooo maybe that's it. Anyway, as it dries down, it remains somewhat heavy on my skin. The smoky, woody scent fades and the flowers do come forward a little bit. I never catch more than a faint whiff of rose (which is good!). This is a very smooth, lovely blend, and it goes so well with the idea of it being an ode to the muse of romantic poetry. I admit that I only tried it because it's being discontinued soon, but if I had tried it sooner, I would still have a bottle on the way right now. On me, it is gorgeous on its final drydown - very earthy and sweet at the same time.

I didn't expect to, but I really love this scent. I generally (to my heartbreak) do not have good luck with "wood" notes (they tend to go pencil-shavings on me pretty quickly). This, however, is lovely. It does start out very strong in the wood and dusty-Bible department. Then it goes very strongly pencil-shavings on me for a short period of time (which worried me a great deal). The blend smooths out beautifully, though. I can still smell the blonde woods, but it blends beautifully with the musk and "old books" smell in the background. Overall this is very clean and ... quiet, I suppose, is the best way to describe it. It's not like anything else in my collection, and I very badly want a bottle!

The grey and ghostly flower that fills the fields of Hades. I received this as a Lab frimp ages ago, and it was in my "keep" box, so I must have tested this at some point, right? I couldn't remember it, though, and that's usually not a good sign. In light of the coming discontinuation, and also because I have a character called Asphodel in one of my favorite writing projects, I dug out the imp and decided to test it again. In the imp and upon initial application, this is a fresh, sweet floral that I enjoy a great deal. It smells crisp, cool and refined. Then, for some strange reason, it goes through an extremely odd morphing phase where it smells like ... fresh corn. Yeah. As in, just purchased from the farmer's market, unshucked, with silk spilling out one end. That doesn't last too long, fortunately. While I can still smell hints of corn, it is now a pretty, if somewhat unremarkable (at least on me), clean floral. I like it, but I don't love it, and wouldn't wear it. I'm glad I got to try it, and I will keep my imp, but it's not going to be a bottle purchase for me.

Seconding Amsterdam. It smells exactly like sweet, freshly cut grass and cool water on me.

Spooky on Christmas, mostly because I was entertained by the idea of going about smelling like coconut rum when I had to GO TO WORK (*grumbles*). Wore Coyote and the Coiled Serpent for New Year's Eve (had to work again). Coyote because of both the Trickster and 'God of change' aspect, and the Coiled Serpent because wearing it makes me feel grounded.

Montresor, this is Coyote. Coyote, allow me to introduce Montresor. Now, dance. Dance and mingle and let the best of both of you rise up into the air in a cloud of beautiful soft musk and rich wine. And they did. And when they were done, Hunter Moon '07 was born. Yes. I really, really like this one.