Dymphna

In the bottle: Snowy, but not in an overwhelming way. It's a very gentle scent. Wet: Soft, powdery snow, the kind that's fun to take walks in because it makes the world seem hushed and special, the kind that gets caught in your hair and on your eyelashes and makes you look like you've been showered with fairy sparkles. Quiet, soft, delicate, magical snow. Dry: This is definitely a January snow scent. (Yes, I know it was the December Lunacy.) By that, I mean there is none of the festive, hectic cheer of the winter holidays, no sense of group celebrations or jolliness or any of that. It's just a quiet walk in the snow. It's lovely and calm and sort of solitary-but-not-alone. It strikes me as a very personal scent, the kind of scent that reminds me of taking a walk by myself (or with my husband, but not talking too much) or sitting with a book or a journal and a cup of something hot and just enjoying my own company. And it's very soothing. I wore this scent to bed on New Year's Night (January 1st) and it was the perfect accompaniment to the relief I felt that the holidays were over for another year. Just...calm and peaceful, a hushed whisper of a scent.

In my notes, my review of this is long and rambling. I'll try to cut it down to size here. In the bottle: Lavender and a floral, reddish berry that I eventually realize is the lychee. Now I get why people described lychee as a berry-rose scent. It doesn't smell like roses per se, but it's reminiscent of them. MotT reminds me of The Oblation, minus the honey, and with the sharp blackberry swapped out for floral-berry lychee. It's kind of soapy, though, which worries me. Wet: For a while, I can smell a rich, greenish-brown herbal note which I thought was tea until I checked the notes and saw that tea wasn't listed. Instead, I'm thinking it's probably the benzoin and white resins mixing with the "lachrymose lunar herbs" (I love that phrase!). Still somewhat soapy, but shading more toward a lavender-berry-scented tea, which is a nice smell although I wouldn't drink it. Dry: Soft, floral, pink-but-not-sugary berries and a hint of lavender. I wish the tea-ish scent had stuck around, but the resins have retreated way into the background. I never smell snow, though this does smell very cool. It's more of a spring scent to me, though, not at all icy. It's very pretty and soft and ladylike and sort of perfumey, but not very "me." I was hoping for more of an icy lavender, but I think I'm amping the lychee. This is yet another blend that makes me wish my mom would wear BPAL because she'd probably love it. This is definitely her type of scent. (Yeah, I know that wasn't exactly brief, but you should have seen the original!)

I think I know the vibe your mom is going for. The scent that does the trick for me is Anactoria, but that's an LE from last year's Lupercalia update. (I'm really hoping it comes back, but I've got three or four bottles just in case it doesn't!) But you could try tracking down a bottle in swaps/sales. The only scents that have ever come close to Anactoria for me in terms of the Do NOT Fuck With Me vibe are Nocnitsa and Loviatar. Loviatar is sort of sexy, but it's also very no-nonsense. Nocnitsa is just...it literally gives me a mental image of a totally kick-ass woman striding forward and people just clearing a path for her. A couple more thoughts: The Lion is a very regal scent, and in fact "regal" is the word that comes to mind every time I wear it. However, it's also a warm scent. I've found that cooler scents often help when I'm going for a take-charge, maybe even slightly aloof mindset, which is usually when I've got to deal with authority figures or bureaucracy. That's just a personal preference, but if your mom feels the same way, then I recommend scents like Black Opal, Yvaine, Szepasszony, Baobhan Sith...maybe Phobos, though I haven't tried that...and of course any of the snowy Yule LEs. Snow White is a wonderful compromise between somewhat creamy sweetness and a sort of otherworldly chill. (Not to be cruel, but just for the sake of completeness, my ultimate "so cold, it's creepy" scent is Snow, Glass, Apples. I'm sorry, I just felt obligated to mention it because the last time I felt the need for a cold scent, I wore that and it worked really, really well.)

Okay, I've been longing for a perfume version--a BPAL perfume version--of Lush Rock Star soap for sooooooo long. I've come close a couple of times (Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo is more of a cousin than an identical twin, and the berry in Hunter Moon 2007 smells somewhat similar, but it's too heavy on the musk to really smell like Rock Star), but now I've found it. On me, Candy Phoenix is just about identical to Rock Star. Super-sweet, slightly powdery, just a tiny bit creamy, and exceedingly pink berry candy. YAY!

I love The Star and really need to wear it more often. I think I don't wear it because it's in a 10ml bottle, which doesn't fit in the little plastic drawer unit that I use for BPAL storage, so I keep it in my sock drawer and never think to go get it. Anyway! The Star smells very citrus-y in the bottle, and there is some coconut, but on my skin it's almost immediately a citrus cookie. It reminds me of those lemon cookies they sell in Italian bakeries. I don't actually like the way they taste, but I looooove the way they smell! The citrus (it doesn't really smell like straight lime on my skin, more like lemon or a lemon-lime mix) does eventually calm down a bit, but it doesn't disappear, so the lemon cookie scent stays true. This is a very nice foody blend that's suitable for warm weather because it's not too heavy. Definitely my favorite of the (relatively few) Tarot blends I've tried.

In the imp: A frimp from the Lab in my last order--I love those Labbies! Although at first sniff it makes me think of Rose Red, due to the noticeable scent of fresh green stems, this smells like pink roses to me. It reminds me of the tender, soft petals of a pink rose just beginning to bloom. Wet: Here's the part where I mention that rose almost always turns soapy on me (or, occasionally, smells like pickles), but that I keep trying rose scents because I'm stubborn. Even though I'm not a huge fan of roses, I was in a rose mood when I ordered my very first imp pack and the memory of my disappointment makes me keep trying. Anyway, there is a hint of soapiness when I first apply this, but for the most part it's staying rosy. It's a very soft scent, almost-but-not-quite powdery. Dry: As it dries, I smell something just the tiniest bit spicy. The rose is becoming even fainter, more like a few scattered petals than a full, heady bloom. It kind of reminds me of rosewater, very light and clean. And it's still not going soapy. Well, hey! Look at that. Maybe I've found another of those rare rose blends that actually works on me. Of course, I'm just about hitting that time of the month, so even if this works, it may be a "one week a month" blend, but I'm okay with that. Slightly spicy rosewater, mmmm!

In the bottle: Pine. I was hoping for opopponax and fearing cologne-y ozone (from the "night air" note). I forgot about the pine. I used to like pine, but it went so horrifyingly WRONG in The Illustrated Woman that it kind of scares me now. Okay, deep breath (not right over the bottle). There's something dark and mysterious lurking behind that pine tree. Could it be opopponax on horseback? Let's find out. Wet: Oh, it IS opopponax! Dark and sort of cola-like, with something in there that reminds me of vanilla. Hmm. Well, that's new and different. Nice, though. Of course, the pine is trying to crowd everything else out, but those other notes are no slouches. I think the ozone is somehow keeping the darker, heavier notes light and making the scent...this is going to sound weird...kind of bubbly. Seriously, there's something here that's a bit sour and murky, possibly the cedar (*shakes fist*), but the cola-licious opopponax and the light, refreshingly un-cologne-like ozone are combining to smell like fizzy cola. In the woods. At night. Dry: It gets a lot masculine as it dries, but it's a really sexy masculine scent, light yet deep. It reminds me of a cologne I picked out for my husband from The Body Shop many years ago when we were dating. I think it was called Activist. (Ah, The Body Shop in the 90s. ) It smelled fantastic on him when I could get him to wear it. Fortunately, he wears the BPAL oils I give him a lot more often than he ever wore cologne. I hope this smells as good on him as it does on me. I'd wear it myself, but the ozone finally did come out enough to make it too masculine for me. But it sure brings back some lovely memories.

In the bottle: This smells...strange. It smells a lot like O because of the honey and amber, but O only goes powdery on me sometimes (and is glorious at other times), whereas this smells strongly of baby powder at first sniff. There's more going on than just that, though; I also smell something sort of green and fresh (I have no idea what it is) and I think I also smell the currant. Wet: Oh, ew. This smells like foody soap or soapy food. Whatever the note is that's turning to soap, it's very strong. It's stinging my nose. And yet, there's that foody undertone, but not foody in a good way. It's like a too-rich dessert where the cream is almost curdled. It's sour-foody rather than sweet-foody. This is very unpleasant. Dry: Well, this smells gross on me. It smells like sour baby powder. Cloying, but still sour. If I sniff closely, I can smell the sandalwood, but it smells more like pencil shavings than the spicy/woodsy sandalwood that I love. Altogether, these notes combine to make something that is really icky on me.

ACJM is definitely the go-to GC bubblegum scent. Another (not GC but a long-term LE) that smells a lot like bubblegum to me is Xanthe, the Weeping Clown. I haven't yet smelled Floating Brain, though, so I can't say whether they are actually similar to it. I don't think either contains strawberry, so if it's a strawberry bubblegum that you're getting, you might have to layer with a GC strawberry scent like Bon Vivant or Hollywood Babylon to get a similar effect.

I can't believe I've never reviewed White Light. This blend has helped me through some rough times. I first got a decant when my family was in a bit of an uproar, centered around some problems my grandmother was having. This all culminated in her illness, going from ICU to a short-term nursing home, then back to ICU and then to hospice, and her death. I was also having some health problems of my own at the same time, and I tend to have anxiety issues in general, so my decant got a lot of use at that time and I bought a bottle as soon as I could. I was never able to break down the scent of this until I looked at the reviews, and even now I can only agree that it's a clean white floral with an element of warmth to it that reads as slightly spicy to me. But I did figure out why it worked so immediately to calm me when I first tried it: it smells like my mom's house. My mother is a bit of a germ-phobe so her house always smells pretty clean, and this smells like something she uses to clean, though not in an icky-chemical way. It's light, warm, clean, and comforting. In use, I generally apply a this to my chakras, the backs (and sometimes the palms) of my hands, and the tops of my feet. And it really, really works well for me. I have a couple of medical conditions that require daily medication, which bothers me because I've always hated taking drugs. I prefer to avoid taking extra meds whenever possible, and using White Light and sitting in quiet meditation has kept me from having to take a Xanax on more than one occasion.

In the imp: When I first got my decants, I sniffed this and thought, "Ew, smells like beer. I'll try it some other time." And I never got around to it because I never felt like smellng like beer long enough to test it. But today, I opened it and it smelled like...malt and bubblegum. I know that sounds weird, but it's actually a pretty nice combination, sweetly spicy but also sort of earthy. So I swiped. Wet: Still malted bubblegum. This is very unusual, but at the same time somehow familiar and very nice. There's a warm, musky undertone that's very cozy. Dry: A bit less sweet, less bubblegummy. Very herbal but not in a fresh herbs kind of way. More like dried herbs, that dry, spicy, tangy, earthy scent. It reminds me of the herb section at the back of my favorite health food shop, all the dried herbs in their big glass jars. I can only guess that the sweetness is coming from the "blood" (if Beth used dragon's blood), the malt is obviously from whatever makes up the beer note, the grains are from the barley and the warmth is coming from the whiskey. I have to say, I had zero expectation of this one working on my skin, or of even liking it when I sniffed it. I just got a decant for the name/concept. But this is one of the few of this year's Halloweenies that I've tried (and I've tried about two-thirds of them, I think) that works on me. It's gorgeous, perfectly autumnal--warm, cozy, evocative--and not at all the scary "keg party gone horribly wrong" scent that I feared. I really, really, really like it. Maybe I even love it. (After testing on the back of my hand to write the review, I swiped a larger amount on my wrist and the whiskey bloomed right away. It's teetering on the edge of that banana bread scent I get from Mad Sweeney, but then that passes, thank goodness. Gah, this is fantastic! Okay, okay, I love it.)

The short version, for those who don't want to read the whole long review: Black Lace with a fuzzy lavender-vanilla blanket thrown over it. GET THIS! In the bottle: I can definitely smell the Dorian and the lavender. On second sniff, I get the Snake Oil (muted, and I hope it stays that way) and the vanilla flower, which is reminding me of Black Lace. There's a sharp green/herbal note that is probably the fennel, although it doesn't smell like raw fennel to me. Hmm. I don't smell the lily of the valley at all; I hope it makes an appearance at some point. Wet: Wet, this is powdery vanilla with a Snake Oil background. It is REALLY reminding me of Black Lace. The SO isn't getting all dirty-musky or play-doh sweet on me...yet. This is a SO I can deal with! The lavender is draped over it all like a sheer veil, very pretty. It's a soft lavender, like in Yvaine, rather than the heavier lavender I've encountered in some other scents. (I've had bad luck with the Lab's lavender scents, so Yvaine was a wonderful surprise for me.) Dry: I've spent the past hour or so falling cautiously in love with this scent. While it does smell like a softer, toned down version of SO from a distance (say, when I'm typing and my hands are a couple of feet away from my nose), up close the SO and Dorian combine to somehow smell like Black Lace and the other notes add a soft, slightly powdery lavender edge, like a fuzzy lavender blanket has been thrown over it. Unfortunately, it gets a bit more powdery as time passes, but it's still very pretty. The vanilla flower and lavender are so gentle and cuddly, and the Snake Oil and Dorian blend beautifully (which is no surprise, huh? ). If you like soft, ultra-feminine scents with maybe a gentle hint of sexiness, this is something you need to try. My only gripe is that the lily of the valley never showed its face, but then again, I only tested a little dab on each hand. We'll see what happens when I put on a bit more. However, this is a pretty strong scent with good throw, so even those dabs were enough to give me a good idea of the scent's complexity, so maybe the LotV just didn't develop well on my skin.

I must have insane skin chemistry because for the most part this doesn't smell much like hay or dry grass on me. I do catch that scent a bit in the bottle, but once on my skin it changes so quickly. Even in the bottle, the hay scent is vastly overpowered by a scent that makes me think of clean skin and maybe light cologne. The first time I tried it on my skin, I was thrilled because it reminded me of the way my husband smells when I kiss him right after he steps out of the shower. (I should add that he doesn't use those stinky men's shower gels, just oatmeal soap, so no worries that this smells anything like Axe or Old Spice!) A bit masculine for me, but still yummy. The second time I tried it? Straight to baby powder. I was horrified, but it wasn't the cloying, sickeningly sweet sort of baby powder scent, so after a minute or two of waffling I decided not to wash it off. Which was fortunate, because a few minutes later, BAM, it morphed completely and I smelled like incense and fresh air and dry grass, with the distinctly churchy incense being the strongest note. It reminded me very strongly of Sundays in late summer or early autumn when I was a little girl, coming out of church with the smell of smoky, resinous incense still in my nose and smelling the sweet, dry grass and slightly damp and cool fresh air. Sounds like an odd combination, and definitely unexpected, but it was intensely nostalgic for me. Of course, I have no idea what this will smell like the next time I try it....

In the bottle: Apples. Like, OMGAPPLES. I mean that in a good way. I mean that in the best way. Apples are one of those notes that don't usually wow me. I like them okay, but they're not one of my favorite, adored notes, though they are wonderful in Harvest Moon '06. But this is like icy, sweet, crunchy apples. It makes me picture a crystalline apple that looks like it's made of glass or ice, something that would grow in the orchards of an Ice Queen. I opened this package when I was having dinner with some friends and passed it around (accompanied by threats of death if anyone spilled it) and everyone loved it. Trying to get some idea of other notes on second sniff, I think I get some citrus and the kind of soft, ethereal white floral I get from The Unicorn. Wet: Apple-citrus-floral. I know that sounds boring after all the "Ice Queen's crystalline apple" stuff I just said, but it's sooooo good. So sweet and so delicate-yet-rich, and a little bit sexy. I'm wondering whether there might be a bit of very light musk in this. It's not like heavy, sweaty musk, it's just...sexy in a very icy way. IT'S ICE MUSK! Actually, I have no idea if it's really musk at all, or if maybe there's just some other note or combination of notes that's giving me an impression of a very pale musk. Whatever it is, I like it. Dry: Um. Okay, this still smells good, but there's no apple anymore. I don't smell citrus, either. It's just floral-ice-musk. Frozen white flowers and a hint of whatever it is that's making me think of musk. If I sniff very close to my wrist, I can still smell a hint of apple, but it's combining with the florals to remind me more of apple blossom than apples. After about an hour, I start to smell apple again, and a faint hint of that citrus, very cold. The citrus reminds me of Sea of Glass (maybe citrus = glass?) and the apple is also very cold again, and a little bit bitter/sharp. I keep thinking this is how a piece of apple peel would smell if you put it in the freezer for several hours. I have to say, before I forget, that this is definitely a green apple to me. I should have mentioned that before. It all combines to smell like something very cold and very beautiful and very evil. Summary: SGA is a really amazing scent. It lasted for several hours on my wrist from the one small dab that I tested, and once the apple note reappeared from its brief period of hiding, it stuck around. I'm assuming it would be consistently apple-y on someone who wasn't having hormonal/skin chemistry issues. I have to admit, though, it creeped me out. It was just so cold. I'm sure part of the creepiness had to do with the fact that maybe a half hour after applying, I read the story to my husband from the chapbook. I'd read it once, a few years ago, but didn't really remember it very well, so that made it seem almost like reading it for the first time. Between that and the scary artwork and the coldness of this scent, it was really creeping me out a bit. Sounds silly, I know. I'm sure I'll get over it, and this will be a good addition to the other scents I wear when I want to feel and project a cool/cold/icy vibe. This would definitely be icy.

Most of my ideas have already been mentioned, but I'll throw in my take on them anyway. Black Opal - This smells exactly like rain on a deserted beach, and I know whereof I speak. I love it. Tombstone - Another beach scent. Smells like the remains of a bonfire on the beach. Scorched driftwood and clean air and a hint of marshmallow. I can't wear this, or at least I couldn't the last time I tested it, but it's an interesting thing to sniff. Zombi - Doesn't smell like decay to me. It smells so pretty! Dewy grass and roses, the complete opposite of decomposing flesh. Mars - I just have to throw this one in even though it was an LE because it's not all that hard to find or expensive to purchase even now. It's another blend I don't wear, but it still cracks me up just thinking about it. I got it early in my BPAL days, before I knew what dragon's blood smelled like in oil form. I was expecting something fierce and manly and I opened the bottle and took a big sniff of...spring flowers. Even now, whenever I open the bottle for a sniff, I snicker. Heh. Jazz Funeral - Yet another scent I can't really wear, but it's one of the few BPAL oils that freaked me out when I tried it because beyond even synaesthetic impressions, I got a full scene in my mind, like a bit of a film playing. A gorgeous, black velvet night somewhere in the Deep South, standing on a balcony overlooking a garden, the soft air scented by luscious flowers, and for company, the most compelling, dangerously charming man you've ever met. Beauty and menace intertwined, just stunningly evocative. I'm not sure whether I'm sorry that I can't wear this scent or not. Jolasveinar - This was one that I thought of right away, and I'm not surprised that I wasn't the only one. Seriously, dirt and trees and pastries. It's just kooky, and sort of endearingly nostalgic and innocent. La Befana - Since I already mentioned another past Yule LE, I might as well mention this one, too. La Befana is one of the most unusually beautiful and evocative scents I've ever smelled. It reminds me of my grandmother, of grandmothers and matriarchs in general, of warm kitchens and the kind of brisk, no-nonsense love you got, if you were lucky, from an older female relative when you were a little kid. It's like a hug from the archetypal grandmother--soft, violet perfume, a piece of hard candy, the promise of something yummy baking, and then a pat on the head and she's back to sweeping the kitchen floor. Not much like my grandmother at all other than the violet perfume (sometimes) and the pat on the head, but somehow it reminds me of her anyway, so much that it still occasionally brings tears to my eyes when I smell it. Seriously, sometimes Beth scares me. Skuld - Since I'm talking about scents that remind me of my grandmother and tears and Beth being scary-good at what she does and everything...to me, Skuld smells just like the super-sweet lemon iced tea I used to drink at my grandmother's house, plus ylang ylang. It's like Beth somehow bottled every summer of my childhood and then threw in some ylang ylang just for the hell of it, and it blended in perfectly. I get that the honey translates to sweetness, but I'm not really sure how the labdanum and the musks combine to smell like lemon tea. Don't care, either, I just enjoy the amazingness of it.

I kind of wish I'd ordered April Fool just for the label. But that's silly, since I wouldn't wear the scent.

Can't help with Lunar Eclipse, but the floral aspect of Cheshire Moon reminds me so much of The Unicorn, a misty, ethereal white floral scent. I'm not sure how to add the cake-y note without adding other notes as well.

The Unicorn just *is* spring to me! I can't wear it at any other time--maybe a little in early summer. Cheshire Moon reminds me a lot of The Unicorn, so that's a springy one, too. Beltane (I have '06) is spring/early summer. Katharina was already mentioned, and another very springy scent that I've been loving lately is Aeval. I think it will do well for summer, too, but it's got that sweet freshness that makes me think of spring. Al-Araaf smells like lily of the valley and honey, very much a fairy circle in an enchanted springtime forest sort of scent. I know there are more but that's all I can think of right now. I'm actually in the middle of change of seasons confusion when it comes to scents right now. I'm having trouble deciding whether to wear something cozy and warm or something fresh and airy. It's 3pm and I'm still scentless.

I feel bad even mentioning this to you because it's ridiculously difficult to come by, and expensive when you can get it, but if you ever manage to track down a bit, there's always Skadi. I've always found Skadi to be an interesting goddess, so I'm a bit bummed that I found BPAL too late to get a bottle. Oh, well, there's always hoping for it to be resurrected one of these Novembers.

Sounds like I'm going to have to get my hands on some Mr. Ibis. I was planning on it eventually, anyway. He's such a great character in AG. Also, I just tried Aeval yesterday for the first time in a couple of years and thought of this thread. It's clean, sweet, lightly floral, soapy-in-a-good-way, and I think the "bold, pale musk" in it *might* be Egyptian musk. It's definitely a light, clean musk.

In the imp: Wow, this is very different from what I remember. I tried Aeval early in my BPAL days, maybe two years ago now, and though the imp I got was used and not a brand new Lab frimp like this one, I'm amazed at how different it smelled. I know it wasn't mislabeled because it did smell very strongly of sweet pea. Unfortunately, I can't handle too much sweet pea as it can smell sharp and almost acrid to me in the same way (though not quite as bad) as orange blossom does. However, this doesn't smell at all like I'm used to sweet pea smelling. Instead, it reminds me very much of one of those conditioners that comes in a little tube inside a box of hair dye. This is a good thing because I love the smell of practically every hair dye conditioner I've ever tried. They're generally very fresh and clean-smelling (I guess to counteract the stinky hair dye) and this is the same way. It's a very light, clear, almost soapy scent. I can smell the pale musk, lovely and clean. I don't smell sage specifically, but I can sort of "feel" it--it's adding to the sense of clean, light purity. And I guess the light floral that's tying this all together is sweet pea, smelling very different than I'm used to. Wet: The same, although now I think I can smell the tonka very faintly. I wouldn't say it's grounding this scent, because it is very much an airy, evanescent blend that is not the slightest bit grounded, but it's adding some depth. The musk is exquisite, precisely the sort of clean, light musk I love. My only problem with this scent is the soapy edge. It's not bad, not soapy the way rose frequently turns to strong soap on me, more of just a fresh scent that you'd expect from soap. But it's so pretty. I've finally got the word that's been teasing my brain, the perfect word to describe this scent: it's translucent. I keep picturing sunlight shining through wafer-thin frosted glass, or a lacy, fragile fairy's wing. I know the Fairy Folk aren't the same as the way we now imagine fairies, tiny people with delicate wings, but this does remind me of the modern idea of fairies. Dry: Oh lord. This is beautiful wet, but it's unbelievably PERFECT when it's dry! It's exactly the kind of musk I love, soft and clean and light but still sexy as hell. I was just wishing for a nice, clean, pale musk scent today and none of my usual favorites was quite what I wanted. This is it! I can't believe that the first imp I tried was so different! This doesn't seem to have any of the sharpness I usually associate with sweet pea, just a soft, light floral. If I sniff very closely, I can catch a bit of sharpness, but it's more of the clean, soapy sharpness I get from the sweet pea in The Pool of Tears. (At least, that one smells like it's got sweet pea to me, though it's not listed in the description.) And now that it's dry, the sage has come out a bit more to add a dry, serious side to this otherwise completely airy scent. Yet it's still airy, just a touch more herbal. Now it's more like what I would imagine a Woman of Fairy (as opposed to a modern "fairy") would smell like. Oh, wow, I LOVE this stuff! If the update we're expecting this week isn't too rough on my wallet, I'm ordering a bottle. I can tell that I'll be wearing this a lot come summer.

In the bottle: Sweet and somewhat alcoholic, like a sweet liquer. The boozy note is very pronounced to me, more so than anything else. I can also smell a deep, dark wood note that ust be the mahogany. Yay, I love mahogany! Wet: A spicy, sweet fruit scent with a background of rich wood. The alcoholic note is still there and still quite pronounced, though the fruit scent is moving forward now, too. I keep smelling something that reminds me of blackberry leaves, with a green and peppery bite, and the dark spicy-fruit scent of black currant. There's also something sweet and sort of caramel-y. Or maybe butterscotch-y. That's what it smells like--butterscotch and dark fruit and leaves and that sexxxxxy deep, dark wood. So complex and so delicious. Dry: As this dries, the musk comes out. Wow, I guess I like blue musk! It is slightly masculine/cologne-like and has a suggestion of aquatic to it without actually smelling aquatic, if that makes any sense. The blend is now reminding me of Saint-Germain, which is one of the few scents my husband likes to wear. This isn't quite as masculine as that, fortunately, thanks to the fruit and the sugar, but it's enough like it that I can imagine a man wearing this. Although the throw remains somewhat cologne-like, on closer sniffing the masculine edge softens after a while and I'm left with a sweet, caramelized sugar and fruity liquor scent over a base of deep, rich mahogany, with hints of unmistakeably blue musk wafting in and out. It's very rich and very different from anything else I've tried, while still having elements in common with other blends. Not as feminine as I'd expected (and hoped), but still more interesting and complex. The longer I wear it, the more layers I discover. After about an hour, there's a new layer, this one black orchid (which I love) with a sweet veil of sugar cane. This is an amazing blend.

Tiger Lily! It's lovely, heady, sweet honeyed lilies. For some reason, it only works on me once in a while, but when it does, it's fantastic. I second the Alice recommendation, too, that's a perfect sweet, feminine floral. Also, Chuparosa is a beautiful soft, sweet rose scent. If rose didn't usually turn to soap on my skin, I'd wear this one often, it's so gentle and pretty. And The Knave of Hearts is rose and black currant tarts, though I only get a little rose from it. On me, it's mostly foody deliciousness with a hint of rose, like a yummy tart garnished with dewy rose petals.

Annietoes, your description--"warm soapy fresh"--made me think of Egyptian musk. It's warm and sort of sexy, but in a very fresh, almost soapy way. It's like warm, clean skin.

Be prepared. This is a long, rambly, and ultimately squeeful review. In the imp: Fresh, damp green grass on a late spring or early summer morning when the world is still enjoyably warm instead of sun-scorched and gasping for life. It's a very sweet green, almost juicy. Exactly like walking through dew-covered grass in the park, looking for a good place to set up a picnic blanket, and being surrounded by the scent of the grass. Wet: Still very grassy and sweet, though a little less sweet as it dries. I can smell the florals, but nothing specific. Just a suggestion of tiny flowers dotting the grass. It's very pretty and young and innocent, though there is a perfumey quality to it. I think it's something sort of watery, it reminds me of cucumber, very refreshing. Dry: It's drier and a bit less sweet after about ten minutes. The cucumber smell is still very apparent, at least to me, and once my husband pointed out the rose I could smell it (and it didn't turn to soap, YAY!), but all in all this is still a grassy blend more than anything else. It reminds me of Singing Moon a bit except that Singing Moon is a rainy summer day and this is a sunny one, but both are very green and somehow damp. And the cucumber makes me happy. I really like this. I'm not sure I need a bottle, though--I'll have to see how often I wear it before I decide. The only problem is that I'm really not in the mood for this type of scent now, when the weather is cool-to-cold, so it'll be difficult to make myself wear it often enough to decide...Ooooh! OMG! Another ten minutes or so and the carnation has decided to show its spicy little face, and I think maybe the heather, too. Oh, this makes it so much more interesting. It's ever so slightly bitter in a spicy, rich way. I'm imagining that same sunny summer picnic at just the moment when everyone realizes that clouds have moved in and covered the sun and the light breeze has grown up into a wind and it's going to pour any minute. The air smells impossibly *better* than it did before, and there's always going to be someone (yeah, usually it's me) who wants to stay and watch the storm and get soaked and has to be reminded of how not-good it is to be struck by lightning. Summer storms are among my favorite experiences in all of life, and the fact that ozones generally turn to cologne on me makes me very sad, so guess what? I AM SO GETTING A BOTTLE OF THIS! And after an hour, it turns into a beautiful, dry, sweet heather (I love heather!) with a hint of what may be creamy rose(!) and still faint traces of green grass. Wow, this is beautiful. I either like or love every stage of this blend.