Northernminx

*Gasp squeee!* This was very piney, green, sharp and strong, a little spicey and kinda not me at first and I almost dismissed this as one of those herbal blends I find fascinating but just can't wear. However, (for once praise the chemistry) it softened, sweetened and did what my much beloved Allegory does on me - sweetens into sugar frosted juniper. Normally I'd be tossing this in the swap pile since my chemistry wonkies it to something similar, but as Allegory is discontinued I will one day have a replacement when I run out. Squeee!

Sweet in the vial, vaguely sticky. This was sweet and a little cloying on me, lots of neroli and teak and vanilla, but the floral scents in this and the lemon aren't peeking through on me. Lots and lots of vanilla though. It's pretty but I'm not a big vanilla fan when it over-rides everything else so off to swaps for this one.

Strong and definitly on the side of exotic. The patchouli and vertiver are the strongest for me, with a little bit of lime adding some bite to the spiciness at first. As this dries down, the vanilla and almond mellow it a little and the clove starts to come through along with the pine. There's something almost metallic about this as I wear it and while it's very complex and unique, i"m finding it a little unsettling.

Light and fruity flora, creamy smooth, and a gentle. This is gorgeous and a wonderful summer scent, definitly evocative of a little melancholy walk at twilight. The pomegranite is still present in this along with some aquatic notes, but the rose and peach blossoms are softening this nicely adding something a little more ethereal and feminine. It's growing on me the longer I wear it as well. I wasn't overly impressed at first but as the hours go on this is just stunningly complex and pretty.

Fruity, currant in the imp. On me this was a lot less..well...angry than I anticipated. The current was predominant with an underlay of black musk and a touch of Dragon's blood. Dragon's blood tends to go fruity on me for some reason so I don't think that helped the overall "fruit-tastic" impression. Not to say that this isn't lovely, but it's very close to some of my other BPAL's after reacting with my chemistry. As this mellows, a little more floral and a little lighter, still not very angry. Hrm. One of the few times I've thought the scent and name didn't quiiite match.

Light dry floral, this was a lot of dusty rose and geranium (and wow dead on geranium) pale green, and faintly herbal in that strident way geranium has. The sandalwood crept in to sweeten this a bit but it's so very light on me that none of it really sticks around. Off to swaps with this one. Not bad, but not great with my chemistry either.

Sweet, dusty dry and just a hint of spice in the vial. This smells utterly yummy! Sadly sandalwood and I have never gotten along and the sweet powdery smell of it overwhelmed any dragon's blood in this on me (the stuff doesn't get warm and spicey on me like it seems to on most people.) As a result, not much Dragon's blood, just a lot of sandalwood. Off to swaps.

Dark, sluggish and slow, like wallowing on a couch for a week with the flu. Musky and strong, the vertiver in this was a little too much, not much on the myrrh for me so off to swaps with it.

One of my college English classes spent four days analyzing this poem not in terms of "right" or "wrong" but in terms of what we felt it meant. One of the more interesting, and certainly my favorite, interpretation is the artist in her tower weaving reflections of the world; she descends only to find that both the world and the people in it aren't quite as beautiful as her reflections and don't understand her work. So needless to say, this got bought gleefully for a test and I am oh so glad I did. Deep blue aquatic saltiness, cool and calm. This is what I wanted Danube to stay like and it never did. Lady of Shalott manages to be soothing deep, cool, and vaguely salty, like a river winding to sea. The florals come out a bit but not overly so, soft wilting blooms by the riverside. Translucent, poetic, gorgeous. 5ml a must

AIEEE! Scarily strong in the vial I've been avoiding this imp for days and finally sucked it up and put some on. And ohhh boy am I glad I did. Powerful, strong, sexy, and oh so very mysterious. Bottled gloom is right, but incense filled, hot, muggy gloom and oh so come-hither. Opium and narcissus are the strongest notes for me, a beautiful spicey incensy smell tempered by something darkly floral. The myrrh comes in to smooth it all out and wow... not something I will wear constantly - it's simply too kick-butt for that. But a definite knock the socks off the men in the room kinda scent.

Lots and lots and lots of cherry, candy sweet, ripe lush cherries. I sadly got nothing else out of this one for a good three hours before it finally mellowed into something that was a faintly soapy floral with an undertone of cherry. Not unpleasant, but not one I loved either. off to swaps!

Totally...odd. I should have loved this. I mean c'mon roses and cinnamon purrrrr. My chemistry just eats this though and while it's very rosey in the bottle, it disapears almost instantly hitting my skin. There's a faint soapy rose scent left, but no lingering effect, no cinnamon. No Romany incense for me. Sad minx.

Tried this one this morning having bought it, like some others, for the name alone. Holy smokes what a complex scent! I thought I was going mad smelling the pines and balsams and firs at first, very earthy, rich and dark. The musk started to peek through with...mint? Wow. Chilly mountain forests make sense. There is a definite tobacco sense now, warm, vaguely spiced, but also vaguely "off." Something about my chemistry makes this go metallic almost on me which is really okay as this was too masculine and very very Vlad for my personal use, but I am so utterly impressed by the notes that mingle and appear in this scent. I am contemplating passing this off to the boyfriend to see what he thinks.

Cinnamon over almonds in the bottle, and a hint of something incensey. This is a little more serious than Dana O'Shee or Hecate in that regard. The almonds are predominant for a while, but then this lovely vanilla incense scent comes through, very calming, but still almost somber. I love this one but as it ends up very similar to my beloved Dana O'Shee with my chemistry, off to swaps it goes.

This was a STRONG fruity incense in the vial to me, but on my skin has dried into something a little less scary from the bottle. An utterly gorgeous blend of incense and floral notes with the currant adding a dark, fruit base to this. The myrrh is also apparent and occasionally I get a whiff of orchid. Totally beautiful and intoxicating, deep, dark, mysterious, feminine and powerful. Unfortunately it lasts about three minutes on me and while I adore it I'll be swapping it off to someone who it hopefully likes more

Salty grapefruit? What the...? In the vial this is dark, salty, aquatic and I swore it was sea water. Creeepy. On my skin I was surprised to find the grapefruit coming through. Salty grapefruit as the aquatic stuck with it for a good half hour. This was a really fresh but disconcerting blend. Insanity? Quite. Dark? I'd definitly go for wierd and unsettling. At the bottom of drydown it was mostly a faded citrus but fresh still and the sea salt aquatics peeking back through. This was intriguing and while I couldn't stop smelling my wrist, not quiiite me. Off to swaps.

I really really really wanted to love this one and it started out lovely, a creamy warm jasmine smell that was just stunning, a nice touch of that voodoo blend trademark herbal underneath the whole thing. Sadly this took about fifteen minutes to turn to sheer baby powder on my skin. While I love baby powder, it's not really a good scent for the image this was conjuring in my mind. Off to swaps sadly.

Green and blue and mist woods. This is like a cold wood on a misty morning, utterly fresh and stunning and clean and cool. This didn't last long on me but was so beautiful I absolutely must have more. So very very pretty. This actually raised a welt on my neck but didn't anywhere else so I think I may just have to be careful in application.

Do I keep it? Do I not keep it? Spicey, rich, warm. This starts off as cherries, fruity rich and robust and quickly fades into cloves and vanilla, rich and warm and spicey and then morphs into this lovely honey and amber concoction reminiscent of O. I was going to pass this on despite it being gorgeous because I thought one of my New York boys would adore it. However I'm thinking I need to get some for myself as it's rather like wearing Morocco and O in order and is just a rather stunning experiance.

Light, herbal, soapy and... sweet God am I allergic to this. I couldn't quite get over that soapy green herbalness on my skin and it never really morphed, just got a little more soapy. There was a tinge of something rosey underneath it all but mostly it just made me sneeze. A lot. I will never have a chance to find out if this one works better on me as it made my nose itch far too much. Off to swaps.

Someone had previously mentioned this smells a lot like Republic of Tea's Blackberry Sage tea. Very much true! This is fruity bright, but not overpoweringly fruity. Definite blackberry with an herbal note, light and fresh and green. Sadly because the blackberry was not strong this tends to fade quickly on me and I prefer the stronger fruity notes in Jester. Off to swaps despite it being loverly

Sexy, feminine, and gorgeous. Sweet floral in the vial, this was very much a creamy coconut on first application. Absolutely stunning and smooth. The iris comes out a bit, adding something mysterious and utterly sexy, but never overpoweringly floral. There was something almost a little salty to this as well and I was reminded of the mediterranean at night when I went to Spain. I could not stop sniffing myself on this one. Definite keeper

Lots of Cedar and sandalwood in this one. This wasn't what I would call definitively masculine, but I kept associating it with something male (possibly because of the name) Dry and herbal and with a mysterious kick. This was blended so well I had a very hard time pickig out the individual notes after drydown, just lending it a sort of mystical air to the entire thing. It really was quite lovely, but not me and not really Jake either so I'll send it onto swaps.

A light, incensey floral in the bottle. On application this was predominantly a dry, dusty rose, light and not too overpowering. There's a sweetness of lily underneath that begins to come out and a defininte incense dryness from the frankinsence. I found this very soothing and soft and not too overpowering. I think it will become a keeper for the list of bedtime scents.

Soft light, breezy and almost aquatic at first. This is gentle, wistful, and sad. It's not the stormy seaside maiden wreaking havoc on Rhine ships, but the sadder and softer side of the legend. Very very pretty. Sadly the sandalwood in this became more prominant on me and sandalwood just tends to make me sneezy. Gorgeous but off to swaps anyway