Northernminx

A lush, bouquet of flowers, rich and bursting into bloom and covered in warm early summer rain. This was gorgeous, very floral (gee go figure) but also not cloying. Fresh flowers and not perfumey ones, this was succulant and green and growing. Love it, definite keeper!

This is glorious! Fruity and tropical and sweet at first - somewhere between grapefruit and peach -, there's a soft floral undertone and the clean sweetness of black tea as this dries. That sweet tropical fruitiness remains but this becomes far more complex and I'm adoring the tea with this. Jubilant, energized, lusty and fun. Defininite keeper.

Sharp, herbal, and a bit astringent when I first put this on I don't get quite as much woods out of Yggdrasil as others seem to. It's fresh, clean, and definitly reminiscent of green growing things, but it's also powerful and seems to be very...er... pardon the pun...well rooted. Incredibly complex, I can't begin to pick out the notes in this although it's a faint almost lemony musk as it dries down. Interesting but not quite me.

Sweet, fruity banana and melon in the imp, I've been looking foreward to trying this one. It goes on a lot greener than I anticipated, like garden fresh melons with dirt still clinging to them. Earthy, rich, a touch of musk and a lot of clean sweet smells and fruit this is gorgeous and I think I'd someday like a large bottle if I can get my hands on it

Venerable and solemn: the scent of incense smoke wafting through an ancient church. A true ecclesiatical blend of pure resins. This is more woodsy on me than resin and incense, more like a well oiled and worn church pew, cleanly polished with an aftertouch of smoke and incense attached to it. I get a lot of cedar out of this and a lot of what might be frankincense but I'm having a hard time separating the resins out. Gorgeous, soothing, calming...I can't imagine wearing this often but I needed it today.

I've actually avoided wearing this for the longest time as it smelled soooo boozy in the imp I was afraid someone at work would think I was drunk. Rum rum rum in a perfume imp...rum and more rum with a liberal dash of rum. Getting the point? This dried down to a boozy, sweet concoction that was a little butterscotch and a lot of alcohol. Alone it was entirely too sweet for my taste but I layered it with Anne Bonnie and it was gorgeous. I still prefer Port-au-prince to it because port-au-prince is a little bit spicier but this was definitly a fun one to try.

The lotus in this makes it very fruity for a long time, rich full bodied fruit, this is decadent and playful and warm. As it dries down I get a touch of rose, but they're lush spicey roses and not dry ones. This is feminine and fun but I'm not a huge lotus fan so I'll let someone who IS try it.

The good: Saffron and tangerine citrusy smells are yummy, like a delightful, sexy, masculine tango. The bad: Vertiver still doesn't like me and sadly this is one of those blends where it shows up and refuses to go outside like I politely asked it too. No, mr. vertiver has to show up and beat up the tangerine doing the tango, give him a black eye, and toss him out the front door. Masculine? Definitly, like a barbrawl waiting to happen this is testosterone laden on me. Wonderful, except for the vertiver, between that and the masculine part this one isn't for me. Sigh.

Darkly aquatic, but not oceany, more like a pool of still, dark green and blue water. I love this as it does what Lady of Shallot does on me and never once goes powdery or light, just stays cool and liquid and dark. While Kingsport and I didn't get along overly much, Dunwich and I are in love and planning elopement. As this dries it's very softy and faint, but still aquatic with a touch of lilly and dark shadows and cool woods. Mmmm so very soothing and mysterious.

This is glorious and very ethereal and otherworldly while still being masculine. The white musk is very light but always present, smoothing this out with just a touch of reserved, delicate orchid and a vague earthy spice. This is stunning and the perfect companion to Titania.

In the bottle this reminded me of Gingerbread Poppet so much that I thought I grabbed the wrong bottle this morning. This goes on spicey and dark, a definite evil gingersnap, with lots of dark herbs, patchouli and smokiness. It sweetens and the ginger really comes out as this dries, foody but not cloying and just a touch too herbal and smoke for true sweetness. This is gorgeous but I honestly like gingerbread poppet just a bit more on me as the herbs in this are turning a bit astringent with my chemistry. While I love it, I don't love it as much as other people do so off it goes. ETA: I wrote this a few days ago and just posted it now... but damn if this hasn't really grown on me. It's a little more sophisticated than gingerbread poppet and further people keep stopping me to ask what that awesome smell is. Back into the box o' keepers it goes!

Look mom! one of the SiA and I REALLY got along! This has been the first oil in the collection that has really not argued with my skin chemistry. Minty and bright and cold to start, this dries very light and barely there, just a soft hint of cucumber and a touch of pepper on my skin. Interestingly enough it had an actual skin cooling effect as it was hot today and got all tingly as I was sweating. I'm in love with this one and while slightly similar to Frost moon as others have noted, it's not aquatic at all. Adore it!

I get a lot of very pale, clear musk from this. It's not warm or resiny but light and clean and...well yes bottled air and darkness does do this apt description. It's a little bit astringent as it dries down, but not soapy, more crystal and sharp edges still with that faded touch of musk. This was strong to start but faded fairly quickly on me. I'm not sure I'd wear it a lot but again, one of the guys might adore this (more of my SiA collection is getting nabbed by friends. Enable enable enable!)

::sniffle:: Today I am sad. The SiA blends and I are not agreeing very much (which is fine really, it's a hit or miss game with skin chemistry) but I had the highest hopes for Miskatonic U. Sadly not to be. That gorgeous whiskey, coffee, dusty goodness in the bottle stays around for about ten minutes on my skin; I was one happy minx let me tell you as I adored all the notes in this. Just as suddenly though this goes rancid on me, like stale burnt coffee and singed paper. Not a nice smell. **kicks her skin chemistry** As Macha mentioned very strong, very long lasting... very sad this didn't work

Unfortunately this one didn't like me so much. The random aquatic note that goes powdery on me dominated this and it was less aquatic and more flowery - very not cthulu. It's gorgeous in the bottle, wet and mysterious and cool, but not so much on me. Silly skin chemistry.

Initially this reminds me a lot of blood rose, something deep, fruity and wine like that gives this a definite richness. this isn't anywhere near as rosey as blood rose though, there's a earthy richness to this, and a touch of pine and light floral to ground this. This is feminine without being powdery or soft for me and I suspect it's rich enough that a guy could get away with it too.

The rose in this was a dry tea rose on me, powdery and soft. Strangely lemon didn't overpower this for me (which is rare) but I found the interplay between the tartness of the lemon and apple and the rose a little unsettling and a little too sharp on my skin.

The only thing that could make me try this was that I'm on a mission to try all the scents. Otherwise I'd have avoided this like the plague as it has sandalwood and vertiver in it. Yup insta-powder and insta-rank on me (neither of these notes appreciates me much.) Predominantly sandalwood with a touch of floral this was powdery, soft, nd more fallen angel than Lucifer on me. Ah well. Off it goes.

I really don't know what to make of Mi-Go. I want to love it...I really do... but it's...kinda doing nothing for me. I feel ashamed to admit that in the bottle this is glorious, all fruity with a touch of jasmine and spiceness and WOW. But on me i'ts kind of like a pineapple gone wrong. Tons of pineapple and mango smells swallow up all the rest so that only a tiny little thread of ginger and jasmine peak through. Which basically means this ends up smelling like a saddened and forlorn version of Tzadikim on me. I would try this again but I also start sneezing madly with this. The brains do not like me enough to justify them sticking around. Sad sad minx... off they go, poor brains.

BAMBOO! I spent most of my morning wondering what that oddly familiar smell was and when I rechecked the description, that was what leapt out at me. From the start this one was a little tough to pinpoint. I just plain didn't like it at first - spanish moss and cardamom were spicey but a little creepy and my wrist was kind of freaking me out there for a little while. As Whippoorwill dries though I'm finding I can't stop sniffing myself. This has mellowed into a touch of herbal, fresh greenesss and a little spice; wet bamboo with a little black pepper and a touch of sweetness that juniper always brings for me. As I'm finding with several of the SiA scents, this one's not quite me but I think it would be wonderful on one of my friends so I'll let him have a shot.

I expected something heavier, more present, but somehow the way Al-Azif slithers into your day is deceptively quiet and oh so appropriate. In the bottle I get a faint sweet wisp of sugared incense, almost like a touch of maple syrup gone bad. On the skin I had to wonder where this was. There was just...nothing there for the first few moments. Then something slunk in. There's a little too much vertiver in this for me to adore it, but it's menacing, dark, mysterious and a sort of intoxicating sort of dark. It's softened by an incensey sweetnes and while this isn't overpowering it is _there_ just present like an undercurrent through the day. This really is gorgeous and slithery even if not entirely me.

I will preface this that I'm not big on aquatics. They go strange on me, usually powdery and perfumey. This is still gorgeous. Dark, salty waves on a cold day, a touch of wind but mostly water, cold, dark water with something stirring beneath. Sunlight may or may not penetrate the depths of this, but you get the sense that even if it did, you'd be freezing anyway. This is reminiscent of misty mornings with the damp of the shore just clinging to you. I don't think I'll personally be keeping this as it's kind of ... not me. It is however right up my best friend's alley and so off to Linda this will go. I think she'll adore it.

Once, when I was little, my father had an enormous vegetable garden with corn and tomatos and pepper plants all staked and growing. They were over my head in most spots and I used to trail after him picking tomatos off the vine to nibble at. Once I got "lost" in the mazes of plants and ended up sitting down under a rather enormous green pepper plant to wait for my father to "rescue" me. This is exactly that smell. Herbal and woody in the bottle the cedar on my skin, and whatever else is in it, softens into a green, earthy fresh goodness. This is pure happy memory for me, summer days and warm earth and cool green peppers. I love this one.

Used to open up options in your life, overcome obstacles, and create opportunities. This blend increases your potential for success, inspires creativity and quick thinking, and helps you to be more flexible, adaptable and open to change. Sweet and cinnamon in the bottle i was looking foreward to this being a voodoo blend that might work on me. Strangely, I get a medicinal smell putting this on and like my recent attempt to try one of the Panacea's, I just couldn't seem to get past a faint association with childhood cough syrup. It's not to say that the blend actually DOES smell like that, just something in my chemistry and nose are trigging icky memories. Off to swaps

While this is spicey ginger with a nice undetone in the bottle my skin makes it smell very citrusy for some reason and I have the same problem I have with several lemon-grass blends in that nothing else ever comes out other than lemon. I wanted a little more ginger and tea from this but my chemistry said no. Stupid chemistry. Ah well!