GemmaCat

It's so weird to me that people detect sandalwood in this as all I'm getting is a delicious sweetness blended perfectly with the fresh linen scent of Antique Lace sans gooey vanilla. This is honestly a dead ringer for a vanilla-less Antique Lace to my nose, and is simply fabulous! Soft, sweet, and fresh this is the ultimate comfort scent. Beautiful!

First thing I detect is a smokiness, very womanly and with the merest hint of lily, and then it's ALL cranberry. Not the juicy cranberries like in Swank, but dark almost fermenting ones, like if you were making cranberry wine or cordial. This is such a dark, unusual scent, maybe even a little intoxicating, but it's not something I'd ever wear. To the swap pile!

Sparkling pear with quite a strong, soapy floral, which must be the heliotrope. The pear is juicy and bright, which is how I like my fruit, but the heliotrope is making this too strong and in-your-face for my liking. Florals tend to be tricky on me, so I'm not really surprised. One for the swap pile.

The first thing I thought of when I sniffed this one was apricot brandy and a faint herbal bite in the background, so when I looked at the actual notes I was very surprised! Usually leather, rose, and violet are very strong on me but I can't detect them at all in Wanda. All I get is that initial apricot brandy sweetness followed by a full-bodied merlot that is both dry whilst still hinting at an underlying juiciness. This is actually very beautiful, but too much booze isn't my sort of perfume, so it's off to the swap pile with this one.

Predominantly lavender with a slight soapy note, and maybe a dash of citrus. This is a very masculine and crisp scent, which reminds me distinctly of expensive asftershave. I was shocked to discover jasmine is in this one as usually jasmine overwhelms all other notes and gives me a migraine, whereas I can't detect even the faintest whiff of it in this. Sadly, I also can't detect the tonka or patchouli, which I was very much hoping for. Very nice, but not something I'd wear myself.

This is a weird one. I expected something hot, maybe even a little dusty, with florals in the background. But what i actually get is pure, overpowering soap. As it dries down it somehow manages to get even soapier. One for the swap pile, I'm afraid.

This is so weird on me because the predominant note I'm detecting is sandalwood. O_o Woody-oaky and a little dry, with a hint of mint and sugar, but still sandalwood. If I let this drydown, though, I get a very slight booze note and the sugar really starts to warm up with the mint so that I'm left with a woody but very intrigueing and almost smoky scent.

My first thought when I sniffed this was a creamy Misk U coffee note. Once applied, it's a rich caramel-butter coffee scent with just the tiniest hint of cocoa. Gluttonyis gooey and more foody than Misk U and, of course, it misses that old library/dusty books smell, so althought it's a food lover's wetdream, Gluttony won't be staying with me.

I bought this from someone on LJ since I'd heard that it's very similar to Frumious Brandersnatch. I'm really hoping that is not true now, as this turned into a bit of a floral monster on me. At first it's all soft, sweet plum but then the carnation starts to amp up to headache inducing levels. Such a shame because I love the lab's plum note.

This is the first scent I've ever tried with civet in and, oh no, civet really hates me! This smells overwhelming of the dark musk in Smut that smells like BO as soon as it hits my skin, mixed with cow manure. I was distinctly reminded of when they spray the fields here with fresh dung to encourage growth. *gag* So nasty on me but a surprisingly fun experiment with civet!

I was hoping this would smell like the TAL Yemaya but no such luck. It's still very beautiful, though. Predominantly I can smell a bright, almost sparkling honeydew melon scent with a faint hint of something citrusy. This is very light and airy with a delicate sweetness running through it. A perfect summer blend, for sure, but it lacks the really ripe and juicy melon scent I've come to love in such blends like Fee.

OMG, I love this!! This is a rich, true melon, so juicy and sweet, with a soft floral drydown. Florals usually don't work on me but these are so soft, gentle, and sweet that they blend perfectly with the melon scent. Soooo good!

I get sweet lavender from this with a little bite in the background. It's hard to tell whether this is an herbal kick from the lavender itself, or something else thrown into the mix. Either way, I have plans to use this before bed to see how it effects my sleep, as Beth's other lavender blends have worked very well for me.

This is predominantly fresh and sweet, with a pure soap drydown. I can't place any of the notes in this one; it just sort of melds into a soapy-sweet-citrusy perfume.

Woah! Bright citrus and a hint of mint. Very fresh and eye-opening, with lots of lime. There is something in here that makes my asthma flare-up, though. Maybe yuzu? Either way, it's very nice and bright but I can't wear it due to how it effects my chest, so this has already been passed on to someone else.

I decided I couldn't wait for my bottle of this, and nabbed a decant off Yeahbutnobut. At first, I thought "Hmmm, maybe I shouldn't have ordered the bottle" as initially this smells like the lemon-cleaner/fougere scent I get from Dorian, and which reminds me a lot of the bathroom cleaner Ajax. But if I give this time to warm to my skin it grows lighter, softer. The lemon becomes more delicate and there's this lovely fresh linen scent, which reminds me a lot of Tushnamatay or Antique Lace sans vanilla. On the drydown, this becomes a cool, fresh musk that makes me think of clover fields or dandelion seeds blowing past in a summer breeze. I'm not getting the sweetness others have mentioned, though. What's really special about this scent to me, however, is the throw. When I sniff it on my wrist it seems like it's a scent that clings close to the skin, but as I moved about I got beautiful wafts of a soft musk that is simply beautiful. I think that if I ever want to wear a subtle almost-there-but-not-quite perfume, I'll be reaching for this.

I find it interesting that so many people found this to be a comforting scent because on me it was a harsh, briney aquatic with a very strong cat pee scent. Not pleasant at all, I'm afraid. ^^;

As soon as it hits my skin I get sweet, spicy flowers blooming forth in a real cacophony of scents! Very in your face with the florals; rich, potent, and with a little bite. I'm not getting a booze or soil note, but there is a slight dampness to the mix, which makes me think of hot-house flowers after a short rainfall.

At first I get a scent of true damp soil followed by wet linen. The latter is very fresh and bright, and the combination with the soil scent is very unusual, but also very pretty. I'm undecided about this one so far, and will have to try it again.

A poisonous fruit-bearing member of the buttercup family. The scent, like the plant, is dark green, herbal, and plump with bulging black fruit. This can best be described as a sweet, soapy-herbal-berry to my nose. Fresh and very slightly powdery. Quite a pleasant scent, really.

Many thanks again to Jola on Livejournal who made it possible for me to sample the Convergence scents! She is an angel. Doc Buzzard is a very masculine, woody and resinous blend. Whereas the other C12 scents are softly resinous, this is harsh and proud and extremely upfront. It almost has an alcoholic quality, actually. As it dries down it's grows slightly softer and the wood notes come to the forefront, getting an almost nutty quality. It has quite good staying power, too. I think this is a fabulously masculine scent. It just screams 'big strong man!' to me!

Jola on Livejournal frimped me a partial of this when we swapped, and I am so very grateful! This is all musky vanilla sweetness on me with a resinous background. I'm not getting any of the spice/gingerbread notes that others have picked up on, just a deep, sensuous musk and that womanly, exotic sweetness. Sadly, this fades fast on my skin, though the drydown is a lovely almost candy-esque sweet scent. I'm so thrilled I was able to try this since it really is beautiful. I think it's a wonderful embodiment of New Orleans erotic history.

I received this as part of a swap, and I'm quite surprised as it's nothing like I expected. Initially, it's sharp smelling but not like the spice people have been describing, more like a floral note. Quickly it becomes very soft and sweet, and I get a delicate resin note that is rich and smoky. On the drydown it's a musky-sweetness, thankfully nothing like Smut, which was awful on me. I like this much more than I expected, though it doesn't last long on me at all, quickly becoming very close to the skin and almost airy. A beautifully soft and sweet blend, overall, though.

Scent-wise this is pure lavender. Very pretty and soft. I've worn this a couple of nights in a row and I've been sleeping just fabulously. I'm not sure if it's because I've changed my schedule lately and have been exercising more, but I've definitely been getting some high quality sleep. In fact, I've had some awesome (and naughty!) dreams just lately so the Sandman has been smiling on me. I like this a lot, and will probably buy a 5ml bottle to keep by the bed.

This smells like Temple of Dreams (strong lavender) but with a slightly creamy, aniseed-y background. I still slept great wearing this one, but more than that I had a dream that should have been very disturbing, but I remained calm and actually woke up feeling fresh and perfectly ok (although a little confused as to why such an awful dream didn't upset me!).