fufu_berry

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this, but it's so lovely. It opens with a blast of soft mint, which dissipates pretty quickly on me. After the mint opening, it just gets kind of tart and fresh and creamy and it's so hard to describe. It has good staying power on me except for the mint top note. It's perfect for spring -- light and refreshing, but not soapy or cologne-y.

Oh wow. I had just started reading Irredeemable before C2E2, and so I was really wanting to try these scents, particularly Alana Patel. On wet, I got a lot of the "faded perfume" - kind of astringent, a little floral, but not heady at all. Quickly, the gin came to the forefront, very bright and effervescent, but the perfume-note is keeping it from being too cheery. This is *not* happy drinking, which makes sense given the state Kaidan finds Ms. Patel in. The "cigarette smoke" is more like a tobacco note on me - I didn't get any smoke smell, but my skin always eats smoke notes, so it may just be a factor of my chemistry. Overall, I love this scent - it's elegant and gritty at the same time, and fits the character perfectly. Yay!

Wow, this is so lovely. I'm not a big tea drinker, but BPAL's tea note is generally really nice on me - it's clean without being soapy, just slightly herbal. On me, the cinnamon in this doesn't overwhelm, but blends in nicely with the other spices. It's peppery and cozy and clean and herbal. If anyone has ever had Good Earth tea, that's what it smells like to me. It's a great scent and a nice association. The sandalwood and tobacco aren't terribly present, but help to keep the scent from going too foody or spice-cabinet. Glad I got to try this in person and snag a bottle!

Wet: Cinnamon and honey Drydown: Clove and some of the peppers are coming out - very warm, earthy, spicy. Liking it so far. Dry: More ginger, yay! This is sticking very close to the skin, and it smells awesome. Not too sweet, just spicy and golden and warm. Love it!

Wet: vetiver. Mmmm, I love vetiver. Drydown: Something a little thin and woody - not like the cedar I've gotten in other scents, must be the combination of the cedar and the leaves. Dry: A faint sweet note I imagine is the raspberry leaf. It's nice, but nothing remarkable - I like my vetiver a little stronger and earthier. Something is going just faintly soapy, so I probably won't need to hang on to this.

Purse candy - butterscotches and black licorice from the bottom of an older lady's purse. This one is very foody, I hardly get any musk and no tea at all, which is disappointing.

This is a great herbal - I get sage, thyme, paprika, cinnamon. The "mouse fur" is fuzzy and a little sweet. There's just a hint of pickle, but it's refreshing and not too sour. "Cooking spices" is definitely apropos.

Cedar and musk. Very clean and outdoorsy - I barely get any honey.

High John the Conqueror is a good "rise above" scent for me - it helps me to feel like nobody's BS can touch me. I also like things that are named after powerful entities/people - I usually go with Tezcatlipoca (the leather and sandalwood makes me feel badass) but I think a lot of the Excolo category would be appropriate: Ehecatl, Hecate, Kali, Nemesis, Obatala, Shango, Alecto, and probably lots of others. Good thoughts to you as well! ETA: Oh, and of course Van Van! The ritual oil is useful for protection and turnaround (turning bad luck or bad occurrences into good), so I imagine the perfume oil would bring up some of those thoughts if you used it.

Heygraycatbird, do you like dragon's blood? Dragon's Tears is very salty and a little floral. 51 was also very salty and airy and floral to me.

I'm thinking Countess Willie - creative, sexy, well-read/knowledgeable in an eclectic variety of subjects, confident, and protective of those close to you. "Sophisticated, dramatic, well-traveled, glamorous, and worldly, Countess Willie V. Piazza, owner of the French Studio, was a trendsetter in style and fashion. Countess Willie was an educated woman, a patron of the arts, and possessed an impressive library of rare volumes. She featured many historic jazz musicians in her House, including Tony Jackson and Jelly Roll Morton. Unlike many of her counterparts, she was known for having a kind heart and a generous, loving nature. She was fiercely protective: when a patron of her establishment, the nephew of a prominent New Orleans cleric, committed a heinous act of sadism against one of her ladies, Countess Willie shot him dead. Chocolate plum musk, red musk, amaretto, candied fruits, and red ginger." PS: You sound awesome!

Wet: Ah, red musk. I have a weird association with red musk -- it smells like boba/bubble tea to me, kind of brisk and dark like black tea with just a little creamy sweetness. Drydown: Honey and something a little sharp-smelling coming through. I've never tried anything with mate or ambrette seed, so I'm not sure what is doing it. It's a little piquant at the moment, but not too overpowering. I'm wondering if maybe this is too similar to Great Sword of War to need. Dry: Greenness and fuzziness - assuming that's the cognac and lavender making an appearance. It's getting very sweet, but not in a foody or sugary way thankfully. Still not sure if it's different enough from GSoW, I'll have to death match them at some point.

The vetiver in this is definitely gritty and acrid - I like that scent, but those who aren't into the bitter/smoky vetiver probably should not try this. It's pretty similar to Lex Talionis on me, which is awesome, since that's a long-DCed scent and really hard to find. Mostly woodsy and earthy with some spiciness from the pepper. I don't get a ton of grapefruit, which is fine with me.

This is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin - vetiver and myrrh. Golden, resinous, earthy, and just slightly sweet. The vetiver is like the one in Great He-Goat - it goes on slightly boozy, like a good bourbon with just a hint of sweetness. This is a pretty simple scent, but I love it. I'm already imagining what I can layer it with.

I feel your pain RunnerInPink, I am also currently landlocked for my PhD. I would second the recommendation for The Deep Ones. It's salty without being too "Cool Water" aquatic, and it has a slightly sweet tinge that kind of reminds me of the smell of ocean lingering on your skin and hair after being at the beach. It smells very specifically to me like Carlsbad, CA. Hope that helps!

I don't usually like to wear scents to bed, but I've been having really involved and crazy dreams, to the point where I'm not feeling rested when I wake up and bugged by them all day, so I put this on before bed last night. Wet: Wow! This smells smoky and definitely has some clove - kind of like a less-intense Rumpelstilzchen. It feels cool on my wrist when I put it on, which is neat. Drydown: Herbs coming through - like crushing basil and rosemary between your fingers. Really beautiful. Dry: Some "fuzziness" that I associate with lavender and the rosemary and basil still. Really love this. It didn't help me get to sleep any faster, but I did feel more rested when I woke up despite sleeping fewer hours, and didn't have any labyrinthine dreams that I can recall. Will be trying this again.

This is super well-blended! I'm having a hard time picking out individual notes, but it smells kind of earthy and sweet (but not like foody sweet), which I would wager is the sesame, almond, myrrh and olive oil, mostly. The rose keeps threatening to overpower, but it hasn't so far - as long as it keeps behaving itself, I could see myself hanging on to this. Very unusual - if you've been on the fence about this one, I'd give it a shot.

This is predominantly sour citrus and then a little bit of sweet currant on me, with a hint of soapy after-scent (like aftertaste, but smell, you know?). I'm not getting any tea or ginger, which were the things I ordered this scent for. ;_; Probably going to have to swap, which stinks because I love the label art.

Wet: Ack! The almond is more like marzipan, a really sugary candy smell. Nooooooooooo! Drydown: Almond getting a little less sweet and a little more creamy; some pine fighting through. Dry: Wow - this changes so much from wet to dry. Now it's a really well-blended patchouli/pine, with just a hint of spice from the sarsaparilla and some creamy nuttiness in the background. I could still smell it a little on the sleeves of my coat the next day, and it was really nice, just lightly smoky and spicy. This would be a top-ten scent if I could just get rid of the nauseating wet stage - I'm experimenting with different layering combos to try and kill the candy smell, or at least hide it until it goes away on its own.

I'm a fan of Entangled for naked lounging - something about the raw honey + ginger combo is fresh and uplifting but also sensual.

On wet, this was a really nice blend of vetiver, oakmoss, and a delicate leather. After a couple minutes, I got a little bit of sweetness and the faintest hint of powderiness from the amber. Unfortunately, as the scent got warmer on my skin, I started smelling something really strong and acrid, like ammonia. Not a winner.

Yikes! This is all red musk + Dimetapp (grape kids' cough syrup) on me. I can smell the lovely red musk (it has kind of a "creamy" feel on me) but there's a really strong grape/medicine smell that has bad associations for me. The throw is also crazy strong - it's still holding on after several rinses. Gonna have to swap it. :/

Kumari Kandam is very cool-feeling to me, to the point of being chilly. It has a bit of a menthol feel at first. Kyoto is also very cool - reminds me of spring in Tokyo, a light rain under the cherry blossoms.

I got a nice Nag Champa smell from Third Charm.

For honey and apple, Mitzvah Goreret Mitzvah was pretty much all honey and tart apple on me.