Meg

In the bottle: Very clean synthetic herbs... it reminds me of some kind of detergent. Ew. Wet: Same as in the bottle, lemony green grass that has a synthetic vibe. Drydown: Other herb scents come out around the grass, and I suppose this is the scent of red berries. It smells extremely chemical to me, worse than tart. There's a herbal quality to this, but I can't put my finger on which herb it is. Overall: Ick. Chemical and acidic, with very fake grass and berry notes. A huge dud on me, it's the kind of scent I try to avoid putting in my toilet because it smells too fake, so I'm certainly not going to wear it on my skin. Besides, grass smells tend to give me a headache.

In the bottle: Lavender and orchid, I think. Wet: Lavender peeking out through musk. Drydown: I still get mostly lavender and a slightly smoky scent of frankincense. Then the orchid comes out, it's a warm, rich and perfumy scent that I recognise from other blends. By that time, the lavender has mostly disappeared. It turns into a very soft, clean scent, with rose growing and melding with the other flowers. Overall: It's a soft and flowery blend with just a hint of smoke. I think that the rose stands for Psyche's love and the lavender for her curiosity, with orchid being the sensual side. Yes, it represents Psyche very well, and it's a very pretty blend if you like flowers. It never goes wonky on me and it's quite multifaceted. Nice!

In the bottle: It smells like a creamier version of "La Petite Mort" - slightly powdery and honeyed skin. Wet: Amber and honey with a touch of vanilla, and I think the smell of skin. Drydown: Oh wow! It goes into a wonderfully soft, sweet vanilla and honey mix! It's an extremely simple yet sensual scent, with that slightly powdery skin scent hiding just beneath it. It's sticky and creamy, like honey-covered skin. Overall: Delicious. You don't need much complexity to get a really stunning, erotic effect out of a blend (as proved previously by Whip). This is certainly a scent that smells both innocent and very wicked, depending on how you look at it. The skin scent drives me crazy and the sweetness covers it very well so that you only realise it's naughty when you're sniffing it up close. Mmmh!

In the bottle: Dark and broody, I get a touch of tobacco, I think leather, and wood. Wet: It's a deep, dark smell, I think I still mostly get tobacco with boozy hints. There's sweetness in here, too, I think in the tonka. Drydown: It settles down into a weirdly dark, slightly bitter mix of tobacco and tonka mostly. I think I get a bit of rum, but the Chardonnay and leather are nowhere to be found... and then poof, something blossoms and I get a sweet slightly fruity scent from the wine, and a dry leather scent beneath it. As it dries down it gets mostly into fruity light wine and tonka. Overall: This is how a gentleman's club would smell after they've broken out the booze and the hookers. It smells old-fashioned, somehow, I can't refrain from getting pictures of 19th century perversion in a really chic bordello. It has a weird bittersweet, dry/fruity combination that reminds me quite a bit of Red Phoenix. While I don't hate this as much as Red Phoenix, it doesn't really work on me either, I think I really have an aversion to tonka.

In the bottle: Rather sweet vetiver. This seems to be pretty heavy on the black musk. Wet: Spicy, wet vetiver, still pretty sweet. The leather comes out, it smells warm and moist. Drydown: It becomes rather dry, with leather at the forefront, basically it's spicy leather which is very very yummy. The vetiver has mixed with it so well that it's impossible for me to pick it up anymore. There is a very salty, slightly dirty undertone to the leather which is practically swampy, actually, vaguely unpleasant, probably from the vetiver. And at the same time, I get sweetness from the musk, which is disturbing. It ends up smelling more or less like a bog by the sea, complete with the vague dustbin scent that comes with it. Then it settles into baby powder and nappies, before going all vanilla black musk on extreme drydown. Eek. Overall: Unfortunately the blend goes from delicious to disgusting on me. I thought it was my skin doing weird stuff with black musk and/or vetiver, but I tried putting some of this on my pillow and the result was sickly and absolutely revolting. It literally ends up smelling like little old man's "Old Spice" or similar: ubersweet spice. Yick yick yick! So while I get different results, on skin or on cloth, it's gross either way. Such a shame, this could've been sex in a bottle.

In the bottle: It smells very much like Medea, probably the cypress/opoponax/labdanum combo, herby, resinous and dark, and I can smell flowers in here, too. Wet: Resins, lots of different types, with some greenery too, and flowers coming out. I also get some warm ambergris. Drydown: It still stays quite green and fresh, herby and resinous, sort of hot and cold at the same time. Then it becomes more and more spicy, a bit like myrrh. I don't get any narcissus, there are quite heady flowers but nothing that I could really pinpoint. Overall: It's a heady, elegant and very feminine blend to me. It's extremely regal and pretty invasive. It's mostly resinous and incensy, but the narcissus is pretty powerful too, too overpowering for me really. It's a very perfumy scent, not at all masculine on me, but a bit too womanly.

In the bottle: Tears and roses. Wet: A slightly astringent herby note, I can't quite place it, the calamus? Drydown: The rose starts coming out shyly and then slowly becomes rather sweet. I also get some light sweet smoke and the calamus stays around in the background. The tear note becomes rather discreet bit it's there all the time, making the scent deeper. Overall: A melancholic scent, very evocative of a sort of sweet sorrow, of romantic grief, rather gothy in its general concept. I find that it goes too sweet on me because of the rose, which is a pity, really. The salt of the tear note does come in and as the rose fades I get calamus again. It morphs quite a bit, but fades quite quickly.

In the bottle: Lavender, possibly orange blossom and mint. Wet: Lavender and orange blossom, and geranium, I think. The mint comes out, but it smells more like dill than anything else. Drydown: I get orange blossom and... other flowers, something white I think, maybe the passion flower. The lavender hovers in the background and possibly a bit of cypress. It's rather perfumy, with flower notes becoming a complex blend where it's hard to pick out particular notes. Overall: It starts out as a very pleasant, summery blend with lots of flowers. I didn't like the geranium phase, so I'm pleased it went away and became a very pleasant, creamy scent with some tartness from the lavender. And then... the orange blossom turns, as it invariably does. My skin hates all things orange, apparently, and this ends up smelling like little old lady perfume on me. Damn!

In the bottle: A light, sweet jasmine with a slightly green buttercup note. Wet: Jasmine, full on, of the plasticky kind. Sigh. There's also a musky scent in here, skin, nice. It gets sweeter as it dries down. Drydown: It veers between a pleasant jasmine/buttercup/honeysuckle combo and icky dry jasmine. I don't know if I'm getting skin or what, but at times, it smells a bit dirty and powdery, as jasmine sometimes goes on me. At others, it's smooth and sweet like honey. Hm. Overall: It veers between powdery-dirty and oversweet, without ever getting the balance right. The jasmine is pretty pungent, and it's the type of jasmine that doesn't work well with me. It's a pity, I really wanted to love this one, and it does smell incredibly yellow when it's in the bottle.

In the bottle: Cocoa and smoke. Wet: Sweet cocoa and rather bitter, spicy incense smoke. Drydown: The cocoa note disappears, but the incense stays there and becomes rather spicy and dark from the patchouli. The leather is rather faint but present, and the scent gives me a visual of a really black, dark piece of warrior's armor. There's also some musk in there, in the extreme drydown I get the honey scent of dark musk. Overall: I get lots of patchouli and incense from this blend, it's a masculine, nearly peppery scent, befitting for a mysterious warrior. The cocoa disappears completely for me, and I never get flowers, but it works well like this, really. Just not for me because it's too masculine, but it's a blend that I enjoy.

In the bottle: Wine and cocoa, it smells like a boozy chocolate. There's a tangy bitter scent in the background. Wet: There's rum in there too, and cocoa - reminds me of a rum and raisins chocolate I used to eat, yum. Drydown: I keep on thinking I'm smelling tobacco in here, though it's not listed in the notes. The cocoa lingers for a moment, mixed with the wine and rum. Then slowly the wine note becomes dominant and comes out stronger. It's still followed around by this nearly minty and spicy tobacco smell, the blood perhaps? Overall: There's an amusing private joke that goes with this blend. A while back, my best friend and I wrote a silly song about a very drunk guy seeing a rabbit and getting pushed by 5000 rabbits off a cliff. When I read the description of this blend, I couldn't stop laughing - must've channeled some Azteg gods, that night. So, our song has a scent! Or this scent has a song (a very bad one, unfortunately). It's not my favourite scent ever, it's yummy but a bit too foody for me, and somehow it smells a bit masculine, too. But there's no way I'm giving this one up, hee.

In the bottle: Extremely sharp citrus - yuzu and mikan (respectively a type of lime and a type of mandarin), certainly, but also a fruity scent, possibly the kaki. Wet: Same as in the bottle, with the tangy fruitiness coming out alongside the citrus, I'm slightly reminded of passionfruit. Drydown: The fruitiness, certainly the kaki, becomes much sweeter and soft, but there's still the tangy citrus alongside it, with a bit of a bitter green scent that reminds me of citrus rind. It gets a bit more bitter as time goes by. The citrus lifts just a bit to let in a flowery scent, the cherry blossom, a very pretty white flower scent, and the blend ends on cherry blossom and kaki. Overall: I like this a lot, generally I'm a fan of citrus scents, this one is fresh and sensual at the same time. It's true that there's a "shower gel" element, but if shower gels smell like that, put me down for some Aizen-Myoo! Clears your head with its sharpness, smells clean and becomes sweeter and softer as time goes by.

In the bottle: lovely sweet flowery orange, yum! Wet: Orange, less sweet and more tangy than in the bottle, and possibly a bit of smoke, too. Drydown: I still get slightly sweet but tangy orange, and flowers that I can't quite name coming out alongside it. I don't know plumeria very well, but I'm guessing this is what I'm smelling, a soft white blossom scent. There's a very slight smoky scent, extremely discreet, but mostly it's orange and white flower goodness. Overall: It's really a lovely summery sweet scent, but it doesn't last long on my skin before it goes a bit "off". Apparently my skin and orange really don't get along, and while the plumeria stays true, the orange gets too acidic for me, and then it goes quite powdery too. Dang. I'll use this one in a scent locket, I think.

A commanding, dominant oil that increases sexual magnetism, creates an intense and irresistible air of attraction, and amplifies potency. In the bottle: Wood, possibly cedar, and something astringent over it. Wet: Still wood and spices coming out, I can't relly define which spices. It smells a bit like a spice cabinet with a jumble of scents. Drydown: The spices get stronger and stronger, now I'm thinking pepper, and it's taking over the wood that hangs around as a base. It also smells quite smoky and mysterious. There's also a sweet and soapy scent I've already smelled in the Voodoo blends, but mostly it's quite a dry scent. Overall: Um... well, all it gives me is a slightly sore throat from the spice and dryness. I'm not a fan of the soapy component of the blend, and of spicy or incensey blends in general. Quite pleasant and pretty, but not my thing. I get why it works as a love oil, though, with all those spices and smoke...

In the bottle: Vanilla and blackberry, hmm... Wet: Chocholate, hmm... and the blackberry becomes nice and fruity. Drydown: A lovely blackberry scent, possibly a touch of booze and slowly, cake. The chocolate's completely disappeared by now and the blackberry gets a bit tart from the bourbon. Overall: Actually not as foody as I'd expected it to be. There's a hint of chocolate at first, and lots of blackberry, but it's more creamy than cakey, which is a good thing for me. Very lovely, but - I'll get lynched - nothing unbelievably special for me, either. I'll stay with Montresor for berry loveliness.

In the bottle: peony with a very fresh scent that must be from the water reeds. Wet: Lovely lovely scent of plum blossom, I think - rich and slightly fruity. Drydown: The aquatic notes come out, and whoo, they're strong. The lovely rich scent of plum blossom starts mixing with peony, which ends up completely dominating the blend. It dries down to a powdery scent with sharp aquatic notes. Overall: Probably very nice for peony fans, but I'm not a peony fan and it's one of the rare flowers that actually give me a headache. That and the aquatic notes makes it absolutely unwearable for me. It's a very sweet blend with a bright, sharp aquatic side. Pretty, but not me at all. And woe, the plum blossom was lovely, I wish it had stayed!

In the bottle: Vanilla and burnt sugar, with a slightly weird tang - booze? Wet: Creamy caramel, and there's still this booziness that I wasn't expected. Then the "baked goods" smell starts to come out slowly, making it less creamy and more biscuity. Drydown: I get caramel and a bit of gingerbready kind of spices, very foody obviously, and still hints of booze. It actually becomes pretty discreet to me, and not really as sweet as I expected. I think that there might be a sweet aquatic note in there because it makes me want to sneeze. Overall: A pleasant, rather simple and comforting foody blend. I'm not a huge foodie myself, but it smells a bit like vanilla and caramel ice cream and it's a good upper when you're feeling low, I think. There's quite a dose of spice in there, I wonder even if it's pepper, but most probably it's ginger. It's nice, but it smells a bit dry and burnt after a while

In the bottle: A rather plasticky iris and musk, with a touch of lemon. Wet: Musk and soft sweet lemon, possibly honeysuckle. Then the iris starts coming out again, really strong. Drydown: All kinds of flowers come out, including the very light carnation and the honeysuckle, mixing with iris and lemon. There's slight musk, that smells a bit powdery. It all ends up into a blend where I can't pick any notes out particularly. The carnation ends up battling the iris for dominance, after a while. Overall: It's a sort of vanilla-ish iris blend, with creamy sweetness from the carnation, but also that very specific bitter tang of green that comes with the iris. To me it's a bit plasticky and the iris really doesn't like my skin, I think. It ends up smelling weirdly like sour coconut, and that's really not something I like to smell of. And it becomes fouler and fouler on me as time passes, ick. Iris is really not my friend.

In the bottle: Sweet wood and dry leaves, hmm. Crisp and aquatic at the same time. Wet: A bittersweet leaf note comes out, slightly tingly and bittersweet, very aquatic. As it dries down, it smells like woods after the rain. Drydown: Aquatics come out to play, but they're not overpowering. I mostly get slightly bitter mossy wood notes and leaves, with the barest touch of mushroom. It's earthy and it's delicious! Slowly the creamy white lily starts to emerge from the bitter green of the trees. Unfortunately after a while the blend is 100% lilies on me. Damn! Overall: It starts out as a dark, wistful and beautiful blend. Extremely evocative of the Poe poem, a dark, mysterious aquatic with hints of earth and leaves. But unfortunately the lily really ruins it for me, making it too smooth and sweet and drowning out all the leaves and tree bark. Damn.

In the bottle: A boozy, incensy smell. Wet: The incense comes out quite fast, with a practically fruity and woody note. There's berry in here, it seems. Drydown: Smoke, berries and skin mixing together. The smoke and forest scent starts taking over, which is a relief because I'm not much of a berry fan. It smells like a spring forest, with some greenness, a rather bright scent. I get the fir note very clearly, nearly more pinewood than pine needless. Overall: Fire and firs. This is a very sweet, sensual blend that reminds me of nature. It smells like a walk in the woods in spring, with the berries ripening in the thickets around you. I think this is really the spring counterpart to Devil's Night, both scents are smoke and fir, but this one is lighter, more feminine and sweet.

In the bottle: Something a bit like bitter almond, and spicy ylang ylang. Wet: Light musk warming up very fast, it smells quite oily at this stage. Myrrh starts to peek out slightly. Drydown: A very slightly powdery light musk, myrrh and a striking skin scent, yum! It's slightly bitter and sweet at the same time. The ylang-ylang comes out slowly but strongly, sweet and really spicy, like honey and pepper. It ends up dominating the blend. Overall: Spicy sex in a bottle. There's skin and honey and spice, the sweetness of ylang-ylang and the bitterness of myrrh. Yes, ylang-ylang is so spicy it tends to give me a sore throat, but it doesn't matter, it's delicious. Absolutely stunning representation of the afterglow, certainly something you'd want to smell of to seduce someone. I think I'll try layering it with Hellfire to get the ultimate sexy smell (and get rid of the powdery element a bit)...

In the bottle: Cocoa, red musk and possibly tonka. Wet: Cocoa and red musk with some saffron and mandarin mixing in. Pretty powerful. Drydown: It dries down to a persistent mandarin, tea and cocoa scent, a bit foody and also plasticky from the tonka and red musk. The mandarin gets rather sweet and juicy, quite pleasant, and I get some herby scents that I can't quite place. Overall: It's a rather foody mix, but something in there makes it smell a bit like plastic. For once the red musk didn't take over obnoxiously, and leaves some room to the mandarin. The other notes disappear pretty fast, leaving mandarin over red musk. Not my favourite combo, and not particularly evocative to me. Besides, it has a bitter aftersmell.

In the bottle: I get a lot of wood, like pencil shavings, and a bit of the much feared red musk. Wet: The smell all but disappears when it's wet, that's the scent of amber. Then it all comes back slowly, the woody rich... red smell. And a tingly sweet scent that I'm familiar with but can't place. The red musk comes in, but for now it's being good... Drydown: This is very warm, woody and spicy. I can't believe I'm typing this, but the red musk actually smells nice when it mingles with the rosewood. At first. Then it starts coming out at full blast and becomes obnoxious. There's something powerfully spicy in here, but I can't tell what it is. Overall: The wood and amber do help tone down the red musk, but unfortunately not enough for the blend to work on me. It's not really masculine, in my opinion, just a very woody blend with some spice and the fearsome red musk. There's part of me that smells the heat of the spice and amber and can just *see* Fenris swallowing the sun. It doesn't make the red musk less funky on me, though. *sigh* I would have loved to love it.

In the bottle: Sweet red musk and plum. It's awfully sickly, and I have deep fear of red musk. Wet: Funky red musk, very very sweet. I can't really place what the sweetness comes from. Oh, and patchouli, somewhere in the background. Drydown: Still a huge amount of red musk, which isn't far from making me feel sick. At some point it becomes a bit subdued - phew! - and gives way to a very light scent of wild plum, which is quite pleasant. I also get this smooth, woody tonka scent, and a cinnamon and spicy scent at the end. But the overall effect is a general yuck. Overall: Ick ick ick. The red musk really surpassed itself on me and smells absolutely foul, and paired with the extremely sweet plum and the tonka, it becomes really disgusting. It smells like a perfume you'd smell in a prostitute's boudoir, cheap and sickly. So yes, decadent if you like, but unfortunately of the icky variety. Oh dear, off to swaps, quick!

In the bottle: A tart green fig smell, along with bitter walnut. Wet: Juniper comes out, alongside the walnut. It becomes less foody and more green. Drydown: As it dries down, I get mostly bitter walnut and a little bit of chocolate in the background There's a really herby quality to it, and an acidic smell from the juniper. This is how I discover that juniper hates me, and the feeling is entirely mutual. There's also an undefinable spicy scent from the cubeb. Finally when all the rest has gone, I'm left with vanilla-ish dark musk. Overall: Not a winner for me. I thought it would be foody, but it's really not that kind of vibe. I get a lot of bitterness from the walnut, and not much sweetness. It's a bit of a headachy sort of smell, and I'd describe it as really dark and pretty masculine. I bring out the spice quite a bit as well as the juniper, and generally it makes me think of a marinade I'd use on meats or the smell of a curry spice-mix rather than a perfume. Really not for me.