starrykitten

I was surprised at how berry-like this was on me. I was expecting it to be more woodsy and feral, and there were those notes. It was mostly like berries and wine tinged with greenery and woods on me. It lasted for a rather long time, too, which was nice.

The description of Penitence was so perfect. Frankincense+myrrh sounds like the perfect holy scent. On me, though, this went on as baby powder with generic drugstore perfume. I love other frankincense/myrrh scents (like Nephilim or Hecate) but this one wasn't so fabulous on me.

... Her scent is a bounty of golden honeyed almonds and a whisper of African and Middle Eastern spices. I agree with many reviews of this. In the imp and when it was very wet on me, there was a pink spiciness, like Snake Oil, but bubble-gummier. As it dried, it became very almond/milk/honey a la Dana O'Shee. If you lke a subtle kick to your honey scents, this is a good bet. Otherwise, I suggest sticking with Dana O' for sweetness and Snake OIl for vanilla-y spice. ADDED May 17: Like a lot of people have said, it goes on as a spicier version of Dana O'Shee. There are the almonds and the creamyness, but a kick of something else too that's a little sharper. The spice fades and settles in and it becomes much more subdued and gentle, similar to Bastet but maybe even quieter than that. It's a nice almond scent and has some shapeshifting to it, but I think I prefer Dana O or Hecate for really yummy almondness.

Yet another in the land of pure berry. There wasn't much spice or muskiness to my nose, but it was a rich, fruity, wet berry smell, like the one I think of as being very BPAL. If you want full bodied fruit, this is a good choice.

I was super-super excited about Blood Amber. I loved the name, the description, the color, everything. In the imp, it smelled like cherries and spice. On me, however, it smelled kind of like play-doh. Sort of rubbery and didn't seem to change very much on my skin, but my chemistry turns Dragon's Blood to play-doh more than I'd like, between this and Tintagel.

I received this as a freebie from the lab. It's very light and clean, good for days when you don't want to feel overwhelmed by the scent of what you're wearing. On me, it smells lemony and grassy. It's hard to pick out the notes precisely because they do all kind of fade into the mist, but I definitely get green and citrus.

Somehow, this reminds me of a used bookstore. Old paper, plus olivey fruit. I was happy all day.

Dark heart made me thik instantly of Black Rose.

Wings of Azrael is my favorite violet scent. It seems to stay on my skin the longest. I think the myrrh and the juniper help it to last. When I apply a lot of it, the herbier smells come through at first and it takes them a while to settle in. By the time the violet comes in, though, it's there to stay. It's a more grounded violet smell than some like Veil which are more ethereal smelling.

To my nose, osmanthus wouldn't be the green note in Queen Mab. Osmanthus dominates Ouija to me and its predominant note is one that is much more subtle in Queen Mab.

I'm throwing in for Blood Lotus. Just tried it today. It's not pure candy or pure bubble gum but something like that. Kind of like the gummy genter of a cherry Blo-Pop that still has some of the candy bits stuck to it. But with an aquatic note poking through now and then.

I'd been ogling Mata Hari since I heard it was upcoming, and even moreso after the description. I do like to wear it but it's not what I was expecting. On me, it's smells like some drink made by brewing jasmine tea in a cup of coffee. I'm really not getting any rose, fig, or tonka from it. It seems to have good staying power, though, and I love to wear it on rainy days.

Well, you go to the car dealership when you want incentive to buy a car, and you come here when you want incentive to buy perfume! You don't think we'd suggest against getting more, do you? the Star is popular enough that if you turn out, for some reason, not to like it, you'll have no trouble swapping. I haven't yet found anything that really smells similar to it, though.

I noticed today that Water of Notre Dame actually smells similar to Blue Moon, to my nose.

Sometimes it can help your scents last, especially if it's a scent that tends to fade quickly. Then making a lotion of it and applying the perfume on top can lengthen its life span, especially if you have dry skin that sucks up all the perfume. I tend to have oily skin, plus I live in a hot climate where I sweat off perfume pretty easily, unfortunately. I haven't counted how many uses I've gotten from a bottle, really. Maybe 30? I feel like I'm being slutty with my applications. I think a lot of it too is that I'm desensitized to it and can't smell it on myself that strongly even when other people can sometimes. Like I'll get a compliment on a scent that I think is totally faded, so that skews my idea of how much to wear.

Maybe Tiger Lily?

I second Neo-Tokyo!

I vote for Veil. And good luck!

The only one that I've tried is Mata Hari. On me, it smelled perfectly of coffee and jasmine; the rose,tonka, and fig didn't come out much. I'm not a big fan of most jasmines but I did like Mata Hari.

I feel so inferior! I don't get many compliments from men on my scent. Sometimes I'll think I detect extra sniffing, or holding a hug and inhaling a beat longer than usual. Snake Oil, O, Aureus, and Jack have usually inspired that. Although I think I just look for that reaction when I wear any one of those. I work in my school's writing center and I had one student seem rather attentive while I was wearing Wings of Azrael. My boyfriend will toss out general "you smell good's" but he knows that's a way to get on my really good side, so I have to take it with a grain of salt. I have noticed it being a bit, um, harder to be left to sleep when I wear Hecate.

Old Glasgow has blackberry and heather. I haven't sniffed it but since blackberry was the most prominent for me in Mabon that's an idea.

Wings of Azrael is my favorite violet currently. I've tried Old Sybaris, Veil, and Nocturne as well. Those are all lovely; Wings of Azrael just seems to be the longest lasting on me. As for chocolate and violet, no ideas. Maybe add a dab of Bliss or Gluttony to one of the violet scents??

Put on something that you can't sweat off.

Clary sage should be avoided. Basically, I'd say to write to Beth to double-check all the ingredients in case there's a subtle note of something.

hmm, there's always rubbing cough syrup all over.