kraken

Night's Pavilion and the Perfumed Garden, both from the Lupercalia series, remind me of lying down in the garden at night looking up at the stars. Perfumed Garden is much bolder than Night's Pavilion, but I like them both.

I have the vatta insomnia described above. My body may be dead exhausted, but my mind will not let me sleep. The best calm down and sleep scent for me is Wulric. Chocolate is very comforting to me and helps me think of non-stressful memories. Lavender and sage are other scents that are very calming to me. I've tried a few of the Somnium blends, but they didn't do anything special for me. Some of them I even wound up getting out of bed to wash off. I haven't tried any of the TAL blends. Have you tried wearing your favorite scent to sleep--a scent that reminds you of good, relaxing times and has you huffing your wrist? Sometimes I curl up with Haloa or other cakey scents (because I love baking and weekends baking with my dad were always good times).

I kept two bottles in my purse and didn't even baggie them when I went to Hong Kong recently. My purse went through the scanner and they didn't even blink at it. I'd baggied up some lotion and toothpaste, but forgot to take it out of my carry-on to put it through the scanner separately and they still didn't blink at it. I put two more bottles, wrapped in bubble wrap, in my luggage and they came through just fine.

Ah, I love Atia. She can go from lust to spite and from sycophantic socialite to wicked politician in the blink of an eye. She is a woman who is unafraid to follow her passions and it is at once her strength and her downfall. My favorite quote from her is, "I will use your children's eyes for beads." I see her wearing something with musk, slightly exotic with spice, with a touch of fruit or flowers. Nothing too dark or heavy, but nothing too ephemeral. It's definitely something that needs to be noticed. Madame Moriarty, Misfortune Teller (Red musk, vanilla bean, pomegranate, patchouli leaf and wild plum.) Bastet (Luxuriant amber, warm Egyptian musk, fierce saffron and soft myrrh, almond, cardamom and golden lotus.) Bien Loin D'ici (The Scarlet Woman, aglow with sensual indolence: red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents.) Bilquis (Honey, myrrh, lily of the valley, rose otto, fig leaf, almond, ambrette, red apple, and warm musk.) Blood Kiss (Lush, creamy vanilla and the honey of the sweetest kiss smeared with the vital throb of husky clove, swollen red cherries, but darkened with the vampiric sensuality of vetiver, soporific poppy and blood red wine, and a skin-light pulse of feral musk.) Ex Lux Fuit (golden amber, heliotrope, vanilla musk, carnation, daisy and sunflower bouquet, neroli, lemon peel, ylang ylang and honeycomb.)

I'd recommend... Antique Lace (A soft, wistful blend of dry flowers, aged linens, and the faint breath of long-faded perfumes) Dirty (A fresh, crisp white linen scent: perfectly clean, perfectly breezy) Dorian (A Victorian fougere with three pale musks and dark, sugared vanilla tea) Whitechapel (White musk, lime, lilac and citron) Of the four, Antique Lace and Dorian are my favorites, though Whitechapel and Dirty may be more of what you're looking for. The lighter scents tend to disappear from my skin faster, so I tend to wear heavier ones (for example, Alice is one of my lighter scents).

I second trying Gluttony and Miskatonic University. Another nice thick chocolate is Boomslang (Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk), but you have to like Snake Oil too. For caramel try The Arrival At The Sabbath And Homage To The Devil (bourbon vanilla, benzoin, caramel, Mysore sandalwood, aged black patchouli, carnation, and iris florentina) from the Salon. It's mostly vanilla and caramel on me. The other caramel recommendations I have are, sadly, LEs. My favorite caramel is Red Lantern (golden amber, blonde tobacco, Sudanese black coconut, rich caramel, black currant, white opium and delphinium laced with a sensual blend of Asian spice) and you'll find this one much easier to get than MB: Underpants. My other favorite is Monster Bait: Ventriloquist Dummy (apricot, dry woods, and patchouli covered by a disarmingly sweet mishmosh of caramel, brown sugar, hazelnut, and butterscotch), though it's on the woodsy side.

Hello fellow Aveda fan! I recommend looking up scents that have rosemary, lavender, ylang ylang, sandalwood and/or vanilla in them. Strangely, Wulric the Wolfman (cocoa absolute, French vanilla, birch tar, lavender, bourbon vetiver, wild musk, clary sage, and cistus) is oddly Aveda-like once you get past the cocoa.

Sweet! I knew I could count on you folks to come up with scents I've never tried. I'll definitely have to add Cockaigne and Chimera imps to my next order. Maybe I'll pick up some Saw-Scaled Viper to try too, but historically, Snake Oil and I haven't gotten along. Still, I am curious to try all the Snake Pit just to see if there's some blend that will make Snake Oil work on my skin. Thank you!!! Nothing's wrong with it. I'd just like to smell like cinnamon and something else as opposed to just cinnamon.

I have this strange urge to smell like cinnamon toast. Not quite as sweet as a sugar-coated cinnamon bun, but still sugar and spice and everything nice about weekend breakfasts at gramma's. My problem: My skin amps cinnamon oil so that it usually overwhelms other notes in a blend. Inferno, Wrath, Sin, Bengal, Love Me = Cinnamon. Does anyone have a similar amping issue and found a blend that doesn't amp cinnamon quite so much? Maybe I can do a blend of scents. Anyone have scents that do wind up smelling similar cinnamon toast? I could go for just a toasted spicy scent.

When I can't think of what else to wear, I put on my trusty Velvet. Another scent I like to laze around in is Mouse's Long and Sad Tale. Usually when I'm being lazy around the house is when I like to dig into my "to be tried" imp box.

In the Bottle: Caramel candy sweetness with the dryness of hazelnuts and wood. Initial Wet: Spicy caramel-butterscotch. Sweet, but not cloying, and the woods begin to come through very strongly. Initial Dry: Oh, my... it's all spicy woods with a brown sugar sweetness underneath it. It's not overwhelmingly sweet like other foody scents, in fact I would hesitate to call it foody at all after it dries down. Drier Dry: More spicy and less sweet, though the butterscotch scent is still there. Overall, I love this one. Foody + Woodsy = Love

In the Imp: Light, sweet aloe. Initial Wet: Very light and green. Almost tea-like. Initial Dry: It practically disappears on my skin. Drier Dry: I can get a hint a vanilla sweetness over the musks. Overall, this is way too light for me to be able to discern most of the notes. It has no throw on me that I can tell and I really have to press my nose to my skin to get anything. I don't know if it's because I'm used to the heavier scents I usually favor, or because my skin really eats this one up.

In the Imp: Vanilla, amber and lily. Very sweet, but not gourmandy. Initial Wet: Fairly strong florals backed by vanilla and amber. Just a hint of moss. Initial Dry: The amber comes through more strongly along with the vanilla. The lily fades to make way for the orris. Drier Dry: Warm vanilla and amber primarily. The musk is light and compliments the amber nicely, remaining light and does not weigh the scent down. The sandalwood is likewise a nice dry note. Overall, it's lovely, rather like a Bastet meets Antique Lace. I like it very much, but it does not last very long on me. Not that I mind slathering it on over and over again.

What about a scent that you like in a scent locket so that only you smell it? That way you can wear your normal scent so that you don't seem out of the ordinary, but you have your secret weapon close at hand. I like Love Me and Glasya as my kick-ass scents.

In the Bottle: Black pepper and resins. Very sharp with just a hint of floral. Initial Wet: Black pepper! Freshly cracked peppercorns. Initial Dry: Black pepper. Drier Dry: Black pepper with the faintest hint of honeysuckle sweetness behind it. This is nothing except black pepper on me. It's my scent and I was hoping for more honeysuckle, opoponax, and dragon’s blood than what I get. Usually I amp dragon's blood. Apparently, I amp black pepper more than dragon's blood. ETA: Reading everyone else's descriptions of dragon's blood and honeysuckle, I'm jealous. I've pulled it from my swaps pile and am going to age it to see if I can't get that black pepper to calm down on my skin.

In the Bottle: Sharp, almost medicinal. I think it's the cedar meeting the tobacco. Initial Wet: Leather and tobacco. Not tobacco as it's being smoked, but rather the smell of a fine cigar just out of its box. The leather is very certainly leather, like sticking my nose into my suede jacket. Initial Dry: It smells like stepping into an old fashioned style riding store with wooden planks and saddles displayed along the walls. Tobacco lays right underneath the leather and there's just an afterthought-hint of sweet pear and vanilla. Drier Dry: The vanilla comes forward and softens the sharpness of the leather. The cedar is more prominent and the tobacco is more laid back. The scent is soft and more gentlemanly than rugged. Overall, I like this scent. It's one of the few leathers that works on me and doesn't go sweaty-sour. It makes me smell like I've been wearing a leather jacket. I don't get a lot of musk out of this at all, just a sweet leather scent. I really think my man should wear it, I love the smell of leather on him, but he's really not into wearing scents. ETA: I tried it on the hubby and at first it's all pear and vanilla, then slowly over the course of an hour morphs into sweet leather with a hint of wood. It's much more girly on him than it is on me. *pouts* I wanted him to smell like rugged leather.

In the Bottle: Sharp herbal resins backed by floral sweetness. Initial Wet: Very light white flowers. Initial Dry: Er... gone. Drier Dry: Just as I was about to give up, a dusty, powdery scent appears. It's myrrh and sandalwood with just a hint of herbs behind it. The final scent is nice, but very light with no throw at all.

Velvet is my absolute favorite. Boomslang is very nice, much more on the chocolate and less on the woods. I'd say its closer to Candy Butcher than it is to Velvet. I wear it in a scent locket and the cocoa balances nicely with the Snake Oil. I couldn't wear it at all if it was mostly Snake Oil, so I think the other notes balance it out very well.

In the Bottle: Florals and lemon citrus. Initial Wet: Now amber and citrus with very little florals. Initial impressions make me thing of warm, summer sunshine, lemonade and sun-dried lawns. Initial Dry: The florals and vanilla begin to come through, but not strongly. Not much honey, but the amber more than makes up for it. The whole blend is very nice, one note not completely dominating the others. Drier Dry: It turns to a dry, spicy honey backed by sunny citrus. The spice is amber and carnation and there is just a touch of florals, not overwhelming. The throw is all honey. Unfortunately, it fades within a few hours. I think it's safe to say that this is the only "sunny" scent that I really like. I think the honey really does it and it's nice that the florals aren't dominant.

How about Vasakasajja (Dressed seductively and sumptuously, reclining in a bed strewn with glorious, sensual blooms, she awaits the arrival of her lover. Her breath is quick with anticipation, and her cheeks are flushed with passion: skin musk, wild orchid, champaca flower, amaranth, tonka bean, and French vanilla.) Almost everyone who's reviewed it gets a fruity floral out of it. I did as well and I really loved the vanilla throw.

Hi Another chocolate lover here. I'm one of the few people on whom Snake Oil does not work. But, because of the cocoa, I tried Boomslang. I think that it's thanks to the cocoa and teakwood that it does work on me on me at all, covering up the unpleasant tang of the Snake Oil (though it's much more wonderful in a scent locket). A lot of other chocolate lovers really like Intrigue (black palm, with cocoa, fig and shadowy wooded notes). I wanted to like it, but fig doesn't work on me. If Pumpkin Queen worked on you, look for some Pumpkin Patch #2 (pumpkin with cocoa, hazelnut, and walnut) to try. My favorite is, of course, Velvet, but I also wear The Tell-Tale Heart (blood musk, cocoa, black pepper, allspice, dragon’s blood resin and vetiver) fairly regularly. The Candy Butcher (dark chocolate with a heavy cream undertone) from the Carnaval Diabolique might be your answer to Bliss' fading. It's not too sweet, but does have that milk chocolate feel to it. And, of course, definitely try Centzon Totochtin and Tezcatlipoca.

In the Bottle: Raw, musky floral with a slight sour note underneath. Initial Wet: Fruity! It smells like tropical fruits mashed together. I didn't expect any fruitiness out of this blend. It's sweet, almost honey-like, which must be the tonka and vanilla. Initial Dry: Floral and fruity. It's a lively blend of sweet and flowers, but not necessarily sweet flowers. The skin musk starts to come through and the throw is a nice, warm tonka and vanilla with just a hint of flowers. Drier Dry: The skin musk really takes hold, forming a nice base for the rest of the notes. The fruit has died down somewhat and now it's just a sweet, almost foody, floral. The throw is no longer quite as strong, which is a shame because I really liked it. Others have compared this to Khajuraho, but I don't really get that particular connection. Maybe if I mixed Khajuraho with Perfumed Garden, that would be closer. I was hoping this would be just a bit less floral than it actually is. The fruity note took me by surprise. I'm not sure yet if this one is a keeper. I like the vanilla, tonka, and skin musk but don't know what to think of the fruity and strong florals.

In the Imp: A field of grass in late summer--some green, but mostly burned by the sun. Initial Wet: Ugh, it smells like old urine. Good thing it has no throw. *contemplates washing it off* Initial Dry: It has a strange, sharp tang that I would almost describe as metallic. It doesn't smell so bathroomy now. I can begin to make out a sweeter scent under the sharpness. Drier Dry: Amber waves of grain... I get a warm, slightly powdery, sweet scent, which is reminiscent of how amber behaves on my skin, along with the smell of grasses sun-dried until they're crisp and they rattle against each other. It's slightly spicy and dusty. Definitely a warm scent that develops a decent throw in its later stages. Wow, what a morpher. I definitely enjoy the latter, drier scent, but I don't think I can stand getting to it each time. This might be a lovely room warmer instead of being on my skin.

In the Bottle: A green, spicy floral. Initial Wet: Springtime in a bottle! It smells floral and green, like walking through a grassy field of wildflowers with a basket of fresh fruit. Initial Dry: Hrm, it's going soapy, but still floral. I smell the potential for a spicy floral. Drier Dry: Floral dish detergent Drat. I was hoping to find a nice, soft, foody floral, but I don't think this one likes me. I didn't get much spice out of it and definitely no honey cakes or sweet cream. ETA: So I went to go work out during my lunch break and I kept getting a whiff of something that reminded me of my aged Perfumed Garden. Then I realized that this beautiful, spicy honey cake floral was coming from where I'd applied a dab between my breasts. Ah, now I'm even sadder that I have to get hot and sweaty to wear this blend. Maybe it will have to become my workout scent.

In the Bottle: Dark cocoa with a hint of wood. It reminds me of Candy Butcher, but darker and not as sweet. Initial Wet: A mix of scents, chocolate and wood and the sour note I get from Snake Oil. The rice milk is an interesting touch and I think really mellows out the Snake Oil on my skin. Initial Dry: It reminds me vaguely of Velvet, I think it's the chocolate-vanilla-wood combination, but the rice milk throws me off from that. The Snake Oil is still very prominent, with a dusting of cocoa over it. Drier Dry: Ah, now this is lovely. It's morphed into a dry, dusty chocolate note, slightly spiced by vanilla. It reminds me of cocoa powder kept in a wooden container. This is definitely the scent I was hoping for from this blend, but I wish it had more throw. I must be one of the few people on whom Snake Oil isn't the scent of scents. There's something in it that goes vaguely sour and makes the back of my throat clench when I smell it. But I do love chocolate and cocoa and vanilla, so I just had to get this one. I've never tried an aged Snake Oil, so maybe whatever spice that doesn't agree with me will mellow out with age. ETA: I put this on some felt in my brand new silver scent locket and Oh-My-God... I was getting compliments all night. I don't get a lot of the teakwood this way, but it's cocoa and the lovely, spicy vanilla Snake Oil that everyone else seems to get (when it's not on my skin). The throw is strong enough to keep me in chocolate heaven whenever I wear it. ETA: It's now been five months since I've gotten it. The bottle's been opened regularly to feed my scent locket. I just tried it on my skin to see if the aging has changed it at all (the scent locket still smells the same). Now it's OMG delicious. Even the hubby (who wrinkled his nose at it when I tried it fresh) said unbidden, "wow, you smell really good." The Snake Oil sour note is gone and it's cocoa with spicy vanilla. The wood is a nice solid undertone and helps to make it not foody-like-cake. I can't smell the rice milk anymore, or at least, I can't pick it out as a single note. I'm going to have to stock up on bottles before the Carnaval goes away.