alicia_stardust

SHATTERED I smell mostly a mint-fruit scent, which is hard for me to like, but this is still nice. The grapefruit and bubble-gum lotus sort of overpower the mint after a while and it leaves me with a cold, crystalline, sharp pink citrus and floral scent.

WET: Honey, tea, and a voluptuous fruit-vanilla background. DRY: On my skin this starts as a honey musk: sweet but not too sweet. It's sensual and heady and has an almost skin musk-like quality. Behind that I get a lush combination of blackberry and vanilla with a cool, clean base of tea. Light, sweet spices linger in the background. This is a truly sophisticated, intoxicating, sensual blend. The blackberry leaf/fruit scent stays bursting and ripe but does not have the same dry-down as any of the other blackberry blends I've tried. It's the sweet fruit without the thorns. Lady Una has a medium throw and a slightly shorter than average wear-length. It sparkles. Purple.

FAIRY WINE WET: In the bottle this has a kick of effervescence, much like the initial fizz that I get from Christmas Rose, Glitter, or Pruno. Behind that I detect a warm, almost mead-like honey wine with fruits. DRY: On my skin this starts out much the same. There is an effervescent, bubbly, dry white wine scent. This is a light fruit wine, not a heavy dry red. The honey makes this smell like mead and I detect some light fruits: red fruits, white grapes, currant. They swirl together almost seamlessly. The dandelion in this is awesome! It brings a bright but almost herbal quality to this and keeps the effervescence and wine and honey from being too "high" of a scent. In other words, it grounds the scent without being actually earthy. Fairies can't have that, you know. The dandelion aspect in this scent brings to mind an expansive clearing through the trees, with tall wild green grass and random wild blooms strewn about. There is an etheric playfulness present in this blend and it fits the fairy bill so very well.

LONG NIGHT MOON This is a pretty, crystalline floral but it is not sharp or arid. Instead it has a sort of soft, velvety blue aquatic quality. The blue musk is cool and lush. The honeysuckle sweetens everything and is very strongly present. I don't directly smell the mint in here but it does have a very frosty, cold quality to it. This brings to mind a completely silent, still night in the dead of winter. Stars slowly, coldly, sparkle in the sky and a silver cast lies on everything that the light of the moon is able to illuminate in the frozen night.

IVANUSHKA This is warm and velvety. It is so musky yet it is clean and gentle instead of being swarthy or perfumey. I get a strong sense of downy fur, cold forest air, and the earthen and leafy surface of the forest. It is so evocative and so comforting. There's almost, almost a spice behind that musk, and the scent of the leaves reminds me strongly of something that I believe is in Blood Moon 2005. Musks are at the top of my favorite notes list, and I really love this scent. Even if you are a person that struggles with wearing some musks you must try this. It is truly unique and takes the idea of musks in a new direction. It is so lovely and it fits the story so well.

WHITE MOON This is a very pretty floral blend. It is very heady and strong, but not in a perfumey sense. Instead it is an intoxicating aroma of sweet, melancholy, calming florals. The lilac dominates this blend, followed by the lilies, the sandalwood, and the moonflower. This has a very cool, white, pale lavender "color". I find it comforting, calming, and a bit sad. It goes so well with the description.

SAGITTARIUS Oh. Oh, my oh my! This is so fitting for a Sagittarius blend. (My moon sign!) WET: This smells just like the yellowest, brightest part of a dandelion. DRY: This starts out with dandelion: bright, yellow, herbal. It smells fresh as if I have just smeared the bloom of a dandelion across my skin, leaving a yellow streak. Just behind the dandelion there's a decadent, resinous sweetness that makes me wonder if it's the balm of Gilead and the fig combining to support the dandelion. The clove is light but present and I can only barely smell the sage, though I think it lends a nice touch to this. The dandelion and balm of Gilead are so interesting and unique here. I was not certain of how I'd like this because, well, a weed? However, this is amazing and I am so glad that I gave it a chance. I think it has to be one of my three favorite zodiacs so far this year. It is simultaneously warm and fiery, yet more muted and gentle than the other fire signs. I feel optimistic and calm when I wear this.

THE GHOST This is very ethereal and clean. The ivy is by far my favorite note in this. Between the ivy and the mix of white flowers this has a sort of cool, crisp, clean, transparent vibe to it. It's almost tea or linen-like, though the ivy keeps things green and grounded. After a while the iris comes out to vie for attention against the ivy. The ivy and iris begin to dominate but the other notes are not far behind. This is very ghostly, indeed.

SUDHA SEGARA This is one that I have loved for a long time. It's very uncharacteristic of my usual favorites, but I find it so gentle and comforting. The honey and milk give this a sweet vibe and yet the ginger gives it just enough kick to keep it from being too soft or too girlie. This is just so gorgeous! I think it's one that everyone should try at least once.

DEATH ON A PALE HORSE This is strongly masculine, wild, earthy. I get a strong sense of patchouli vetiver that is twisted by the lime. They really meld together well. Sandalwood and musk are underneath those stronger notes. I really like this even though it's too masculine for me to wear myself. The muskiness of this smells really great on a guy!

TUM Tum brings to mind a brilliant, fiery red-orange sunset with a golden orb that is disappearing behind the horizon. Areas of the sky have begun to turn a deep shade of unnatural purple. When I smell Tum, I get a strong sense of that glowing sunset with a slash of purple darkness in the sky. That smell is of strong, thickly concentrated grape juice, a touch of spice and warmth, and a smattering of dry herbs and woods. Despite listing all of those other impressions, I really do smell mostly grape juice. It has a strange familiarity to it. I like that.

THE ISLE OF DEMONS This is lush, earthy. It has a sharp green edge that's makes me think of very thick, dense foliage in a wild forest. There is a stone-like, gaseous ozone sitting over this and a touch of sweet but biting florals. This is dead on! I love the natural wildness and chaos of this scent.

NOCHE BUENA This is a very haunting, feminine, gentle floral blend with a touch of incense. The plumeria is the first thing I smell and it is also the strongest note in this blend, from start to finish. Behind the plumeria I get a sort of pungently sweet medley of florals, but then the sage seems to bring in an arid, herbal quality to keep things from becoming too sweetly floral. In the background, the tuberose lends a dusky, powdery quality to this. This blend has a sort of hopeful, fresh, desert-like quality to it.

LICK IT ONE MORE TIME This smells exactly like a wet, freshly-licked candy cane. It has the right amount of sugar-vanilla to sit underneath all that peppermint. I did a side-by-side skin test of this with the original Lick It. The original is more subdued on the peppermint and seems to have a bit more sweet vanilla in it. This version has more of a peppermint punch to the nose that clears my sinuses and also warms my skin. Nice and tingly! I honestly can't decide which version I prefer, because they are both nice in different ways. While I liked the more subdued peppermint in the original version, I also like that this version smells so very, very much like a candy cane!

LA BEFANA This smells like pink candy, black charcoal, white lilies, a touch of dusky purple violets, and gray dust. It is AMAZING! It seems neither too foody nor too floral and it has a sort of brown sugar-like, mischievous, and almost powdery tart aspect to it. It has a medium throw on my skin and seems to stick around a bit longer than average. I am hoarding this one! You'll like this if you favor sweet, candy-like, foody, or light floral scents.

KRAMPUS This is exactly as described: sinister red musk, leather, dust, and wooden switches. It is truly a naughty and mischievous scent! I find it to be gender neutral and it smells great both on me and my man. The red musk and leather are the strongest but I can smell all of the listed notes. This is the 2007 blend, but I also have tried 2006 and aside from the age difference I don't detect any major differences.

DIWALI This starts out with a hint of mango and tamarind, but those very quickly fall back into the rest of the blend. Overall this is a very pretty incense blend. It is much lighter and brighter than most incense blends, and there is a touch of sweetness and foods/desserts. However, this is so complex that it is difficult for my nose to smell anything other than the "whole". It just sort of melds together into one lovely blend. It really is beautiful and glowing. I plan to keep this!

CHANUKKIYAH This is sort of a maple-sweet-honey-doughnut-fig scent on my skin, from beginning to end. It is really delicious smelling, but it's not so overly foody that I can't imagine it as a perfume. The amber really acts as a great base for all the other notes. You should try this if you like foody or resinous scents. =)

LIGHTNING This smells exactly like the charged air that comes just before a rainstorm. I smell rain, too, but this is more of a tingly, electric ozone scent. It has a clean, fresh, crisp scent that is almost sharp. It's very energizing.

OPHELIA On my skin, Ophelia is mostly white rose with a tinge of sweetness from the lily. It has an overall sort of water-drowned feeling without being too aquatic. It's more like the flower petals have been pulled off, wounded, and then smattered around and covered by water. I think that might be the water lotus' contribution to this scent. Ophelia is a very pretty, feminine, and melancholy sort of floral blend.

FALLEN Fallen starts out as an amber floral with a touch of musk. It stays like that for a while before the sandalwood comes out to play. It is only after an hour or so that I can detect the vetiver and violets. Overall this has a sort of dark (vetiver) yet heavenly (resins, sandalwood which remind me of incense) mood to it.

PENITENCE This is a reverent blend of frankincense and myrrh. It seems a bit brighter than Midnight Mass but it still has that strong resinous quality. There is just a touch of sweetness and brightness to this otherwise golden dark incense blend. Lovely!

O O is my naughty scent. I wear it when I want to smell sultry, raw, sexy, sweet, and rutted. The amber and honey combine with the vanilla to give this a musky, husky undertone that sits beneath a sweet, innocent, hypnotizing honey-vanilla top note. This is one of my top 10 favorite general catalog blends.

SWANK This is a deliciously juicy, tart pomegranate scent with just the barest hint of booziness to it. It's really quite lovely. It sort of has an intoxicating red, energizing quality to it. It's a lot of fun to wear out to a happy hour or a night on the town.

MAGDALENE This is an intoxicating rose scent with a nice hit of resin and a dusky base of orchid. The rose is really quite different than most other rose blends. It has a femininity to it, it is softer and less "in your face", and it has a note of melancholia combined with sweetness and depth.