edenssixthday

Mocking the Invisible World With Its Own Shadows - Of all the Yules I've tested (so far), this is my favorite. It opens with a gorgeous waft (not blast!) of wisteria on a bed of warm ambergris. As it warms up on my skin, the frankincense and sandalwood meld together into the most amazing dry resin-wood scent that is kept from being too dry by the ambergris and is sweetened up and brightened up by the verbena. I can't begin to say how much I'm loving this scent. I am always on the hunt for amazing sandalwood scents, but never imagined I'd fall in love this much with a white sandalwood scent!

The Reward of My Benevolence - This is a really pretty scent. I love tuberose, olive blossom, clary sage, and oakmoss, so I was certain it would be great on my skin. It's a strong floral with the warmth of oakmoss beneath counterbalanced by the dryness of white sandalwood and cedar. The clary sage gives it a nice herbal touch. The tuberose is really sweet and the olive blossom is almost... waxy (?), but it's really pretty and calming. I don't know that I would reach for it over my other favorite tuberose scents, though. After drydown, it's fairly subtle and has about average wear length on me.

A Companion of the Same Nature - This opens up really heavy on the dry leaves and mums. As it dries down, the skin musk comes out, as well as the linen and a hint of the spicy carnation. The longer it's on my skin, the rose becomes more evident but smells more like a tea rose (probably because of the dry leaves in the blend), but the rose never becomes overwhelming and remains subtle. Throughout the life of the scent, it's a mostly dry leaf and mum scent on me and the wear length is about average for me.

Solitary and Abhorred - Peru balsam and I don't get along, so I didn't have many hopes for this scent. Sure enough, it's not very good on me. It's very strong on the patchouli and carrot seed, which makes it smell kind of herbal or vegetal. The balsam makes it a very dry, woody scent on me, which seems to be exacerbated by the white tea. Without the balsam, I think I might like it a lot, as it's definitely unique and interesting. I think it would make a really good unisex scent (for people who can wear peru balsam, unlike me!)

The Phoenix At Dawn - This scent is bright and lightly effervescent. It's definitely a fruity-floral blend, with the dominant notes being rose, apricot, grapefruit, and grape. It's sweet and fruity, with a soft floral edge. It's incredibly gorgeous, but as soon as it dries down, it disappears from my skin, which is such a shame because while I can smell it, it's very, very pretty.

A Blot Upon The Earth - With plum, moss, and opium poppy, I thought there was no way this could go wrong. However, almost from the moment I first apply it, something in it is very soapy on my skin. I can smell the plum and moss and poppy, and they're gorgeous, but whatever note it is that's turning to detergent on my skin sadly makes the rest of the scent unwearable.

A Dense and Frightful Darkness - This is a really beautiful scent. It's definitely on the unisex side -- musky, woody, and resinous. On me, it's mostly a myrrh and oakmoss scent with a strong musky base. It's slightly powdery on the drydown, but not offensively so. It's really nice and I'm so glad I have a little bit!

In Brightness And In Joy - One of my Yule 2011 faves. It's mostly berry and warm sandalwood. The berries are red, sweet, and juicy -- maybe currant? pomegranate? both? There's the fainest trace of florals behind the sweet, juicy berry. The sandalwood keeps the scent grounded, as berry scents often tend to waft into the ether on me. This one sticks. In fact 24 hours after I put a bit on my hair, I could still smell it swirling around my head. It's a phenomenal winterberry scent and I'm so very, very glad I decided to get some!

Öndurdis - This smells like Skadi met up with the Shivering Boy and The Winter Maiden bath oil and had somehow created a beautiful little baby. It's a truly amazing winter scent, full of pine and snow and ice, but also there's an undertone of frozen winter berries. It's absolutely amazing, and will be well-loved by me during these frozen winter months! The throw is really good, but not overpowering, and the scent has an average level of staying power.

Loi Krathong - This is a really fascinating scent. It's loaded with the scent of banana leaves, incense, and wax. It's warm and inviting and very tropical in a way that's not remotely reminiscent of Hawaii. Sadly, as it warms up on me, the lilies go all sorts of wrong on my skin, which is typical for lilies, and that one stinky little notes is going to keep me from enjoying the rest of this awesome fragrance. Can I put in a request that lilies be banned from all perfumes? They ruin so many otherwise amazing scents.

Halloween: Las Vegas - When sniffed in the bottle, it totally smells like wine and cigarettes with a hint of other hard liquors underneath. It kind of smells like a wino. As soon as it touches my skin, I can smell the sweetness of frosting and the vanilla-cream of Dorian. As it warms up on my skin, I can also identify the dry leaves and florals. It's a complex scent and incredibly evocative. But on me, it just doesn't do anything special, sadly. All of the notes swirl around me, but don't blend together to create a more unified fragrance. It's a bit cacophonous on me, unfortunately.

The Two-Tailed Sogg - This scent is so bright and pretty. It goes on with the pink grapefruit and green musk as the dominant notes, and they're absolutely amazing together! Bright and crisp and almost effervescent. I love love love green musk and have yet to encounter a scent with it that I didn't really like. As it dries down, there's a warm powderiness that comes out, which I think is a combination of the orris root and the honey. Far beneath it, grounding the scent to my skin, is the moss -- another favorite note -- and the woody cypress. The pink grapefruit starts to fade very quickly, within 5-10 minutes of first application, and the green musk and orris root become the most evident notes. It is such a pretty scent, and I can't understand why it's not getting much love in the reviews. It doesn't last long on my skin, but until it dissipates, it's really, really pretty.

The Wiley Grasser - This is a really weird scent and I can't decide if I love it or hate it. I think I don't really like it, but find it extremely intriguing because it's so odd, and even though I don't really like it on me, I have to admit this weird combination of notes works really well together. It's super sweet, pink sugar-like cotton candy blended with a car freshener-like pine, and the floral sweetness of gentle flowers. I think the reason I don't like it is that there's something medicinal or astringent about the pine, at least with my skin chemistry. But the cotton candy scent is so freaking amazing, and that's why it was hard to decide if it was a "love" or "hate" scent. It's one of the most unique scents I've ever encountered. I'm tempted to keep it for that reason alone, but honestly, with that weird astringent and bitter pine note, I'd never actually reach for it.

Candied Pumpkin - In the bottle, this smells awful to me. I think I'm mostly smelling the brown sugar and bitter ginger, which aren't good notes to my nose. However, once it's on my skin, it warms up to amazing and spicy gorgeousness. It's definitely a warm pumpkin scent that's loaded with ginger, clove, and cinnamon. The brown sugar doesn't ruin the scent like I expected. It's delicious and makes me hungry for a delicious pumpkin dessert.

Honey Hair Gloss - I was so excited about this product because my dry, fine, curly hair always needs help, and because I love honey scents, but can rarely wear them on my skin. I really believe the amazingness of these glosses is all about the argan oil. My hair just adores it and feels so silky and soft, looks shiny, and I do believe it even gives my curls a little more bounce. My hair looks so healthy when using these glosses! And this honey scent is beautiful. It's slightly floral, and a previous reviewer noted that if you like Jezebel, you'll like this scent. I hadn't made that connection myself, but now that the idea has been put into my head, I TOTALLY agree. Another really lovely Trading Post product.