karykeion

Sent by Evanescence! I was unsure how I would feel about this, because Lighting was kind of weird on me, but I love water and thunderstorms so much that at this point I'm like the pokemon master of storm scents and aquatics. Gotta catch 'em all. In the bottle: Hmm, well, okay, smells kind of like Lightning, I guess that's the lab's ozone note--WOW THAT DOES SMELL LIKE RAIN. Also herbs and flowers. Basically, this smells like walking through someone's abandoned garden in February. On me, wet: I like the rain note, but the flowers are kind of soapy on me. And they just get soapier the longer they're allowed to sink in. No, flowers, stop smelling like laundry detergent! Aquatics never do this on me, the worst they get is dryer sheets! Nooooooo!!!!!!! ...Okay, that's over, it only lasts like ten minutes. I'm left with what is essentially Lightning plus flowers, and I'm not really sure if I like it or not. On me, dry: Rain and flowers. That's pretty much it, rain and flowers. Or what used to be rain and flowers, anyway, seeing as it's pretty much gone. I'm going to try it again, I think--I'd like it a lot, if it would just do me a favor and stick around a little.

This is going to be dangerous since I think I amp clove, but here goes! In the imp: Ooh, that's gorgeous! It's like a marketplace! Almonds and spices and yum. On me, wet: Dat clove is definitely standing out, but I like it, it's so spicy-sweet! I'm especially loving the combination of almond and bay, it's very nice and tasty-smelling, but in less of a foody way and more of a "standing in a place that's selling lots of delicious exotic things" way. The whole blend is very sweet because of the almonds and whatever note makes the rum buttered rum specifically. I really like this, the clove isn't giving me too much trouble and it smells like I've been out in a sunny city street all day with spices swirling around! On me, dry: Spicy, sweet, and warm. I'm not sure I'll wear it often, but I do like it and it's definitely getting a full test!

In the imp: WINE and currant. On me, wet: Ooh, sophisticated! I get a lot of wine and a lot of currant and berries initially, not much thyme. It's very juicy and berry-like and sophisticated, and the more I smell it, it becomes less sweet and juicy and more adult, with the thyme coming out more and balancing out the sweetness of the berries. It starts to turn into this kind of imperial, sexy, delicious mix of HNGH as it dries, which really pleased me because I was expecting some kind of berry explosion. On me, dry: Elegant juicy sensual red perfection. I'm not sure I need a bottle, as this isn't the kind of thing I wear a lot, but when I need a slinky, intriguing scent, I know what imp I'm picking up.

Decanted by saralaughs! In the decant: Sup there, alcohol? And vanilla, and I think some leather. On me, wet: Ooh, this is really nice! It is more boozy than I would like to smell, I think, but I do like the rum note. I was also a little worried about the champaca flower and ambrette seed, since those were both in Body, Remember and that ended up smelling like nail polish on me. I think that same kind of sharp grossness is actually here too, but better-blended? Like, I can smell what I didn't like about Body, Remember, but it actually works in this blend instead of smelling yucky and out of place. As it dries I think I'm starting to pick up on a hidden musk note, which I am really fervently hoping doesn't ruin the entire thing. On me, dry: Interesting and pretty! Sweet and leathery and less full of rum than at first, which I appreciate, being a college student who doesn't like the idea of smelling like alcohol in class. I think I'm going to give it a full run and see if I like it. I don't love it, but it's a pretty okay perfume.

Decanted by lanas, thanks! In the decant: It seems just...perfumey, cologney? I mean, it's nice, but it's not making an impression. On me, wet: Ooh! I do like this. I'm not getting a lot of rum, but I like the woods and thyme and I can smell just a tiny bit of orange peel. On me, dry: Hmm. I'm not sure whether I like this or not. It's not bad, it's a nice smell, woody and spicy and clean, but it's not really grabbing me at all. I'll do a full test run, but for now my reaction is pretty much just "eh".

In the imp: Smells like leather and man. I think there's also frankincense in here. I'm not sure I'll like it on me, but I like it, objectively speaking. On me, wet: Leather, frankincense, and new book smell. Oh my god. There's something a little sweet backing up the woods and incense, I'm not sure what it is, I guess tonka. Usually when I try adventurous manly leather-wood scents, I don't really like them on myself very much, but this? I want to smell like this forever. This is a smart adventurer in his little personal library comfortably reading something forbidden and arcane. It starts to get saltier as it dries, kind of. The frankincense fades to the background and it becomes more leather and tonka, I think. On me, dry: So it's nothing like what I normally wear, but I adore Dee. It smells comfortable and sexy and smart, mostly incense and leather. So glad I got to try it and I think I'm picking a bottle up.

In the imp: ...Eh. I like patchouli, but I don't like this particular spicy patchouli. It has a kind of woody bite that I'm not a fan of. On me, wet: Gingery patchouli. I like patchouli and ginger but I guess I'm not a huge fan of them together. I don't really know what orange blossom smells like, so I can't really pick it out. After about twenty minutes, I could swear there's vanilla in here, and the whole scent starts to take on this kind of creaminess that I actually really like. The ginger and patchouli blend together better on the skin than in the imp, I think, and I'm still not getting a lot of orange blossom but I like what it is that I am getting. On me, dry: Oh my god, I don't believe it. The unpleasant woody bite of the patchouli/ginger combination is gone, and the blend is now a kind of sexy patchouli with a sweet background of ginger, orange blossom, and what I swear on my life is vanilla. I do not know how, but somehow these things combined to smell exactly like Snake Oil on my skin, but without the red musk and therefore perfect and BO-free. Need a bottle now.

Decanted by lanas! This looked so interesting, especially the Hungary water. I'd never heard of that before. In the decant: This smells important. It smells like a powerful lady in a very expensive, intricate dress who prizes her femininity and makes influence her sword and shield. I would not want this perfume to be angry with me. On me, wet: Oh, herbs! It's so much less scary than in the decant. It's very citrusy and rosemary-ish and floral. I'm not sure it's really me, but I like it. There's something kind of soft about it that's almost soapy, but doesn't quite get into that territory. I'm also starting to be able to smell the roseated oil now, and the blend is basically herbs, citrus, and rose, all of which blended together have a nice springy, juicy feel to them. I like it more as it dries, I think, because the herbs come out more instead of the citrus and I don't like citrus very much. On me, dry: A very pretty herbal scent, like Envy, but I like this more. It's lost a little of its feel as a perfume worn by gorgeous woman who's here to kick ass and do important things, but in place of that impression I'm getting a delicious, juicy spring herb garden that I think would be really great to wear in a certain context, even if I'm not really sure what that context is. This is definitely getting a full test run.

Count me in to anything with patchouli and honey in it, throw in spices and we're golden. Decanted by lanas, thank you! In the decant: Spicy and earthy but there's something in here that I really do not like. I think it might be the tar. On me, wet: Patchouli hello there! And something that smells like medicine, which is the note I didn't like in the decant. Wow. I smell the honey and patchouli and amber, and these are all good things, but that medicine smell is kind of ruining it. Luckily, though, whatever the note in question is (the tobacco tar?) starts back off a little bit and now I'm getting a pretty nice blend of honey, patchouli, amber, and spicy goodness. It's still present, but it's less obtrusive, and as it dries more the medicine note sort of fades into something reminiscent of mint, but warmer. Actually, it's starting to get kind of sexy-smelling and I like it! ...Wait. Is that the musk note from Blossoms in Springtime?! No!! On me, dry: Oh no, I think this had a hidden musk note in it Other than that, though I like this a lot. It's different than I thought it would be, less spicy and more warm and gritty and kind of sexual. This is another one I'm definitely doing a full test run of, because it turned out a lot sexier than I thought it would, and the terrible minty medicine note is miraculously pretty much gone. Ultimately I like it, I think.

Decanted by saralaughs, thank you! In the decant: Plum honey, blackcurrant, vanilla, clove, I've really been looking forward to this...but it smells kind of like a soap I used to have. Uh... On me, wet: I'm getting vanilla, blackcurrant, pomegranate, grapefruit...there's something in here, though, that I'm really not a fan of. I mean, it works fine on me, but I don't really like just this one mystery note. I think it might be the grapefruit. The throw is pretty and creamy and fruity, but up close to my skin I'm pretty sure it's the grapefruit that's doing this thing that I really, really do not like. It's somehow thick and sharp at the same time, and has a sort of bitter fuzziness to it, and just no. The rest of the notes, though, are great! I love the blackcurrant/plum combo and the vanilla is making it all creamy and sweet. The terrible grapefruit note is starting to mellow out, too, leaving fruit, vanilla, opium, lemon, tobacco, and spice, all of which I am enjoying a lot. On me, dry: It's...nice? I can smell a lot of really nice notes in here, and the grapefruit has backed off to the point where I don't want to run and wash it off anymore, but it still smells like some product I've used in the past. Some kind of soap or shampoo or something. I was really looking forward to this, but it just kind of smells like bath products to me because of some association I can't place. Glad I got to try it, though.

Ooh, I've been so excited to try this! I just recently had the chance to try Dee and fell in instant, need-a-5ml-now love with it, so besides this being a Lovecraft blend, I can't wait to test another mysterious scholarly scent. In the imp: Irish coffee, with kind of a toffee nut flavor. On me, wet: Coffee and wood. As it begins drying, a note starts to emerge that's perfectly reminiscent of new book smell. On me, dry: Yep, coffee and new book smell. It barely morphs at all. I like it, but I'm not getting a lot of dusty tomes or wood, and if I want to smell like coffee and new book smell, I can just buy coffee and new books. I think it deserves a full test, but until then, I'll reach for Dee when I want to smell scholarly, I think.

In the imp: Wow, what, root beer? Flowers and root beer. Hmmmmmmm. On me, wet: Woodier, but more root beer. This is the first oil where I can identify every part of the "picture". I can smell the floral perfumes of the ladies in the room, and the wood of the floor and table and board, and...polish? medicine? root beer? There's just one note in this that is really, really not nice on my skin. The rose starts to come out more as it dries, and the root beer kind of goes away a little. It's a very nice scent overall, but it just kind of smells like perfume? On me, dry: Fades really fast to something mostly fresh and clean, but with a strange misplaced almost foody note that I'm pretty sure is the rose, since that was in The Reaper and the Flowers too, and it's happening here again. Which probably means that rose is death for me, oh dear. Not really my thing, but I'm glad I got to try it.

Decanted by ladymeag, thank you! In the decant: Sweet dark salty coconut. I like. On me, wet: WOW, something in this blend does NOT like my skin. It goes from sweet salty coconut goodness to dark coconut with an overlay of gross sweet chemical hairspray the second it touches me. This is the first blend I've ever felt the overwhelming urge to run and wash off, but I will persist to the drydown. On me, dry: The disgusting chemicals stick around until it dries, at which point it becomes a sweet, softly coconut-and-sugary, salty scent evocative of the beach at night, which is exactly what I'd hoped for. I can't decide how I feel about it. It would be really, really lovely if not for that initial hour of terrible chemical gross awful. I'm in love with the drydown, but I don't know if the beginning is really worth it. I'll test it again in about a week and see how I feel.

Originally posted a different review in this topic by accident, but I actually have a decant of this now, so this post is being repurposed! Decanted by lanas! In the decant: Oooh, this is interesting. I'm getting mostly honey, rose, and vetiver, and they're coming together into this dark, sensual, classy smell. I saw honey, patchouli, and a floral note from Blossoms in Springtime and jumped on it. On me, wet: HOOO VETIVER. Mostly vetiver with rose and helichrysum straight off, which sort of come together to smell like nighttime, if that makes any sense. Like wood at night. The honey is really interesting here! It's like honey and roses at night with wood? It kind of smells like the feeling of finding something attractive in the concept of darkness, I know that's really pretentious, but that's the impression I get from the honey and roses in the enveloping darkness of the vetiver and patchouli. The only thing I don't like about it is that there's something about it that...kind of smells like wet dog? It doesn't stink, but...yeah, I don't know. I think it's the vetiver/helichrysum combination. On the other hand, the rose doesn't appear to be turning into greasy fried chicken, which white rose specifically has done to me in the past. This is a good sign! On me, dry: The really weird combination of vetiver and helichrysum is backing off, and now I'm getting mostly vetiver, rose, patchouli, and honey. It looks like black rose behaves on me and doesn't go weird and greasy and terrible, hooray! I really like this, it's such a pretty beguiling scent. I'm not entirely sure it's something I'd wear a lot, but I love it enough that I'm going to give it a full day test run and see whether I need a bottle.

Decanted by bpalscentsual, thank you! In the imp: I think I like the 13 blends a lot, they're just so spicy-delicious and interesting! Kind of a chocolatey-fruity scent. Oh, hello there, honeysuckle, I missed you! On me, wet: Aww, this is so pretty! Apple, chocolate, honeysuckle, and nutmeg are the things popping out at me, and they make a really gorgeous light combination. There's a kind of dusty, smoky note that starts to come out as it dries more, and...oh wow, I can smell the black tea! And the white chocolate is coming out and adding to the apple to make it sweeter and counter whatever that dusty herbal note is, and it's doing a splendid job. On me, dry: ...This is the exact scent of one of those huge buttered pretzels covered in salt. It's a little sweeter, but that's what my mind is reading it as! It's so cute, I love it! Not sure I'll wear it much, but I enjoy it. I love those pretzels.

Decanted again by bpalscentsual! In the imp: Yep, that's a 13. Mostly sweet dusty chocolate with a savory kick, which seems to be what I'm loving lately. On me, wet: Kind of hard to smell. I'm actually really not sure I like it on me as much as I liked it in the decant. It's just a bit too flowery for me, I think, or too strong or sharp or something. I don't get much chocolate, it's mostly just sharp herbs and flowers. There's something kind of musty-sharp and not very nice in here, too. I don't know what it is, but this is really, really not my thing. On me, dry: I think the problem is that I amp clove. I can smell the chocolates and other spices under it, but this blend is just really sharp and dusty and not very good on me at all. Oh well.

Oooh, I've been looking forward to this one. In the imp: Mostly wood and rum. Kind of manly-adventurous. On me, wet: Yep. Leather, rum, wood. I'm not getting much ocean, but I think this is my favorite "manly" scent...Oooh, now the sea note is coming out, and I really like this! I've never actually been on a ship before, but I imagine it would smell like this. The sea note comes to dominate it as it starts to dry more, and it's this cold salty blue aquatic note vaguely reminiscent of one of the ones in The Deep Ones. It's that, but from the deck of a ship. On me, dry: Sea air blowing through the rigging of a ship. This is a really amazing scent. It's a little more "Adventure!" than I'm used to, and I'm not sure I'd wear it every day, but I love it--I think it's a special and interesting aquatic and I'm glad I got to try it.

Decanted by Truelove! In the imp: OH I LIKE. OH. First impression is chocolate, and then OOH GINGER OOH SPICES YES WANT. On me, wet: Ginger dominant with a background of deep, rich chocolate and spices that kind of remind me of curry. I guess the dustiness comes from tulsi, because I definitely recognize it from 13 (January 2012)--as a matter of fact, I requested it because 13 was so good on me and this seemed to share a lot of notes with it, but I think ultimately I like this a lot better than 13. I'm kicking myself for not having gotten one when I had the chance because this is my spice cabinet scent, at least for spring. The ginger and chocolate give it a beautiful rich sweetness that's perfect for late winter/early spring, but the addition of the tulsi and tumeric spice it up enough to make it different and interesting and not like any other Sweet Candy Flower Pretty Spring scent. On me, dry: Still mostly ginger, but the dark chocolate has come out more. The savoriness of the spices complements the sweetness of the ginger and the chocolate perfectly. This is a unique, delicious springtime blend and I am immediately going to track down a bottle once I have the funds to do so.

Bradford pear, honey, and vanilla cream. Thank you bpalscentsual! In the imp: Hoooooooly pears Batman. All the rave reviews have gotten me so excited to try this. On me, wet: I wasn't really sure I liked pear. Thalia had pear in it and it smelled exactly like deodorant to me both in the imp and on my skin, so I guess I just wrote pear off after that. I was wrong. This is a delicious, delicious pear, and I want to gnaw on my own arm. Also, the honey really jumps out on my skin, so much that it actually kind of becomes HONEY and then some pear and then CREAM. It's fading really quickly and I sort of wish it had stayed more pear than honey and cream but I really like it. On me, dry: Dries down to a fruity honey-vanilla that I don't think of as powdery at all. The pear comes back out and the overall scent is a faint, fresh, light pear-drizzled-in-honey scent with a gorgeously sweet background of vanilla. I want to devour my forearm. I'm not entirely sure it's really my thing, but it really is absolutely beautiful and this decant will probably get a lot of love.

Thank you, tkannon! In the decant: Honeysuckle and plants. I don't really like the ocean note, but I never like it in the bottle. On me, wet: The honeysuckle smells sweet and wistful and beautiful, and I am eternally a devotee of BPAL's moss note. The sea spray note kind of lends this gentle atmospheric quality to it. I really wasn't a fan of this when I tried it the first time right out of the mail, but with just a little bit of time it's become this perfectly blended sweetly floral mossy aquatic. I don't even like floral blends very much, but I am all over this. On me, dry: Sweet and light, a very white scent to me. This really wasn't my favorite perfume to start with, but I just kept reaching for it and it's become a sleeper favorite. My mom wants a bottle, too!

In the imp: Spicy gingerbread and orange! Oh my god, that smells so delicious! On me, wet: That right there is ginger snaps and Constant Comment. I would know that smell anywhere. It's also how I would imagine what it would have smelled like when Best Friend was studying at Oxford, eating boxes of ginger snaps and drinking seven cups of tea a night to finish her papers. I kind of instantly love it and I'm totally going to save it for next winter. On me, dry: Perfect scent of orange tea and cookies. I love this so much and, as weird as this might sound, I wish it were available in the GC. I LOVE the Constant Comment scent and I'm definitely going to keep the imp around for autumn and winter.

In the imp: Citrus soda! And a little bit of chocolate. Whoever compared this to ramune was right on. On me, wet: ...Carbonated minty moss! Holy cow, I know what I'm going to wear the next time I want to make an impression. My nose has no idea what's going on. It's like sugary citrus moss? I think this is what magic smells like. On me, dry: It's dried down to minty citrus with an undercurrent of moss. This is a very bright scent to me, and I totally agree with all the other reviewers who are saying it smells carbonated. It does, and it totally reminds me of soda. I think I'll pass this along to Best Friend, as she's a soda fiend, but if she doesn't like it I'll get plenty of use out if it!

Graciously decanted by tkannon! In the decant: Wow, that's some black tea and licorice. It's really earthy and almost reminds me of chocolate, for some weird reason. On me, wet: Earthiness and tea. I'm not so big on earthy scents, but tea makes me swoon with happiness, so I'm utterly torn over whether I like this or not. On me, dry: Earthy and mossy. I'm not really getting much goji or mango blossom, and I'm getting way more anise than I would like. I might make my way through the decant, but it's not going to become a favorite.

The last diabolical dapper men's scent I tried was Dorian, which turned out beautifully, so I have high hopes for this one! In the imp: Oooh, citrusy cologne! On me, wet: Not very strong. Lavender-citrus-musky-creamy. Kind of reminds me of Dorian, but a different shade of white. I REALLY like it, but I'm not sure I like it on me, which was pretty much my reaction to Dorian too. I guess this is just what cologne smells like? If so, I think I like cologne--it's not really my style, but I think it smells really nice and sexy, and for some reason whatever musks are in cologney smells never go stinky and bad on my skin. This might be my favorite of the two of them, though--Dorian had this lemon-pledge thing going on that I wasn't really a fan of, even though Best Friend assured me she smelled no such thing. On me, dry: Lovely. I don't even think of it as a man-only scent, it's just very creamy, dapper lavender-lime. Definitely keeping it around!

In the imp: Oh my god, it's evil salad. It's lush, green salad that's going to murder you with its sharp salad teeth. On me, wet: Has anyone else seen Jumanji? That' what this perfume is like to me. This is running through a tropical jungle full of trees that want to kill you. It's kind of minty and herbal, which is nice, but...it's not that I liked them better in Envy, it's just that they didn't feel like they were going to jump off my arm and stab me in the face. Goes through a brief phase of smelling like a minty Christmas candle, but that doesn't last long. On me, dry: The tropical feel of the plants is a little lost, and now I'm smelling evil evergreen trees and something a little acrid that nevertheless isn't bad, just foreboding. What a cool blend! I'm not sure I'd wear it, but it was really fun to try out.