rhubarb3point14

Vicomte de Valmonte goes on very crisp, herbal, and elegant, and it only gets better from there. It's minty and orange-blossomy, but also increasingly musky and warm and sexy as it dries. It makes me feel LIKE A MILLION BUCKS. It’s empowering, even exhilarating. It makes the hair stand up on my arms. It makes me feel… almost a little reckless. This is a unisex fragrance, to me. And also completely unlike anything else I've worn. Ooh, yeah. I would wear this for a job interview, or to try to sell something, or to gamble. It has a can’t-lose feel about it.

This stuff is great. Very aquatic and green and sexy and spicy. It's very biting straight out of the imp, and it carries a long way, so a light application is the way to go. I find this to be very, very masculine, so it seems like an odd choice for me... unless I planned to sit around fantasizing about pirates. But it does develop absolutely gorgeously as it fades. The next morning, when all the greenness and aquaticness has worn off, there is just a tiny bit of spice left, like cinnamon and black pepper and a smudge of poppy resin. Really yummy and worth the wait. Wish I could get my husband to wear this! He won't, though, so I'll just have to do it myself!

Straight out of the imp (I should say frimp -- thank you, BPAL!), this shocked me with its loveliness. It was a burst of aquatic lily and jasmine. Gorgeous and compelling. It also tugged at my memory. I've worn something like this in the past. Maybe CK's Escape? Then my body chemistry got hold of the dragon's blood, which, apparently, it doesn't get along with. By one hour later, all I had was metallic, powdery cherries.

I was so hoping to love this, because I love rhubarb so much that I made it my name! I wanted Lawful to be my signature scent! Alas. Out of the imp there was a pop of juicy, tart fruitiness that gave me hope, but when it dried on my arm and mixed with my body chemistry, it seemed that every note except for the one I wanted took precedence. I get a walloping amount of chamomile (which I recognize, and don't necessarily love, from having just tried La Catrina Calavera). And fig, lots of it, very sweet. There is an oaky dryness there as well. I agree with what was said upthread about this being a surprisingly gender-neutral scent. It might be sweet, but it's definitely not girly. But this is, I regret to say, not right for me.

Oh, dear. I don't think I like this one. Out of the bottle, it has a very appealing fruity burst of plum, almost grape. But then, as it dries down, the plum shares the stage with lots and lots of leather, far too much for my tastes. I never do get much in the way of lilac -- at least not the fresh, dewy lilac that I would prefer. This smells sort of soapy and grandfatherly to me. It is also very intense. I think I might have to wash this one off.

Ooh, pretty! Straight out of the imp, it's bright green freshly-mowed grass. Then clear-as-a-bell tulips and peonies. Very natural, outdoorsy, simple, and innocent. This dries very, very soft and disappears rather quickly. I agree with the person upthread who said this might make a gorgeous room spray. I think I might buy a bottle solely for that purpose.

This scent reminds me very, very much of something from my childhood (that would be the 1970s, for those of you keeping score at home ), but I can't place it. Some kind of personal care product, I imagine. Maybe a shampoo or a fragrance popular at the time? God, it's not "Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific," is it? Let's just say no for the sake of everyone's sanity. [uPDATE: I slept on it, literally, and woke up convinced that it reminds me of Avon Field Flowers, which I had in the "Roll-a-Hoop" decorative decanter circa 1977. About 90 percent sure of this.] Anyway, straight out of the bottle, La Calavera Catrina is assertively herby-peppery. Then, once it's drying on my wrists, I start to be able to sort out more of the notes. I get a ton of chamomile, a lesser amount of chrysanthemum, and a touch of rose. There is a hint of straw and warm aridity. It becomes powdery, but luckily not soapy. I don't get vanilla at all, which is probably a good thing because vanillas can be awfully cloying on me sometimes. I also don't get marigold at all, which is really disappointing, because that's one of my favorite, closest-to-my-heart smells of all time, and is what I was hoping for the most. Verdict: It smells like a fall meadow, but with a strongly nostalgic component. If I had to translate it into visual terms, it would be one of those late-60s/early-70s album covers with two people walking in golden sunlight, washed out by droplets of lens flare. I like it, but I'm not sure if it's "me." I will probably sell or swap it.

… However, this bottle was not marked `poison,' so Alice ventured to taste it, and finding it very nice, (it had, in fact, a sort of mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pine-apple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast,) she very soon finished it off. This is the damned strangest thing I have ever put on my wrists. The initial hit is a wallop of treacle, and then it turns to pineapple and pastry, with more treacle. I guess I can smell a bit of spicy cherry-ness if I think about it. Drink Me is way sweeter than I can usually tolerate, but I have to admit I find it intriguing and, on some level, very appealing. I'm not smelling any turkey... at least not yet. ETA: No turkey ever emerged. Just sweet pineapple pastry forever. This scent grew on me, and when I eventually washed it off, I missed it! A surprising success.