euterpe414

This scent really vascillates on my skin. One minute it is an herby, somewhat creamy scent, and the next minute a sharp floral. It keeps changing between these two and won't settle down! This also has a lot of throw on me, to my dismay, because as I type this I keep getting whiffs of something sharp and off-putting. I suspect that the jasmine is what is toying with my nose this way. It has done it before, and no doubt will do it again. Although, the herbal scent that I get sometimes is really quite gorgeous- very light golden in feel and somewhat incensy. Perhaps if this were in a scent locket it might fare better on my skin and become the scent that I like all of the time. Oh jasmine, why must you toy with me?

On me this is a sweet earth scent. It almost has a nutty quality to it. I definitely smell the mushroom like resemblance- a light moist earth rather than the sharper earth in, say, Penny Dreadful or Burial. I am really enjoying this one, and it lasts quite a while on my skin, too. Yup, this one goes on the bottle wishlist!

Well, sort of. Today I got to sleep in late (very late...woohoo!!) and have been traipsing around my apartment doing not much of anything for a few hours. This was much needed since yesterday was the ultimate busy day from hell. Pepper's portable lightweight crate thingie came in the mail today. I am so excited about this because it means we can go stay anywhere and visit my friends in other countries and I don't have to worry about lugging her giant normal crate on the train. (she has anxiety issues and can't be left in anyone's house alone without being in the crate...unless you want your apartment to be completely destroyed ). Anyway, I unpacked it and- she is totally afraid of it! She won't go in it, even if I go in first! I am going to have some serious work to do with this before we leave on March 1st. For now I just put some of her favorite toys and some treats in there. We'll see what happens, I guess. On my way home from the post office I saw that Inland Empire is playing this week in the movies! I am soooo excited . I thought it would never come over here, and was looking online for downloads to no avail (bad, I know!). But yes, it is here for one week and I am SO going to see it on Friday (and maybe Sunday, too, haha). I think it's a good way to kick off my self imposed David Lynch fest; once again I have decided that it is time to watch all of Twin Peaks from start to finish. I know that part 2 of season 2 isn't out yet, but it will come out in April and by that time I will be up to that point, I think. Yay. In other news...I have decided this past weekend that I need to join a gym. I found one right around the corner from me that has a student discount. So, for 20 euros a month I can actually get some decent exercise. I haven't exercised in, oh...2 years. I used to go to a gym five days a week. What happened to me? (well I know what happened- more work, music, pieces to learn, groups to play in, etc.) Fortunately I have not gained that much weight (perhaps 15 pounds, which is bad but not catastrophic since I am tall) but I feel like a totally lard ball. All of my muscle is now flab. Ew. Plus, I am tired of not having enough energy during the day. I am going to do a trial 2 month membership and see if I actually make time to go enough for it to be worth it. I think I can, since I don't' have a rigorous class schedule and can make my own hours for practicing and etc. It better work, because I am sick and tired of feeling gross. Tomorrow is my second concert at the Italian Cultural Center. I am quite excited for this one, since out test run informal concert yesterday went quite well. People said they really enjoyed what I played, which is what I want to hear. I hope they were telling the truth, lol. I really should do laundry cause I am out of my 'nice all black outfits'. whoops. That and Pepper decided it would be a good idea to throw up this morning on my duvet cover. If that isn't an incentive to do laundry I don't know what is!

thanks! Yeah, I feel pretty fortunate that the gyms are not pricey, well at least not this one. France is pretty nice to students as far as discounts go I don't get why gymns have to be so expensive in the US, though...the one by my old neighborhood was $70 a month, I think. Needless to say, I did not join!

So I'm sitting here on day 2 of my fabulous vacation, listening to Love and Rockets. Feeling content. I just saw Inland Empire and it was fabulous, although it was really scaring me during parts (but hey adrenaline is good, I should love it since I'm a performer ). It was quite long, too, just like Mulholland Drive (good thing I went to the bathroom before, haha). Actually I found quite many similarities between it and MD- it seems that it is a bit of an evolution from the themes brought about in MD. I was happy to see Laura Dern and the older woman (I forget her name but she was the crazy mother) from Wild at Heart back in a Lynch film. and the animals- too fabulous! I loved all of those TV set scenes with the laugh tracks. I am definitely going to see it again this week, I think- I need to get a better handle on my thoughts about it, since I stopped making sense of it around 3/4 through the film. Anyhow, listening to L&R brings about some fond memories- specifically, Sunday nights at my favorite bar near school (which was CalArts night, yay for cheap drinks and free pac man!)- geting way too drunk, hoarding the pac man machine with my friends and dancing a lot. The DJ, who was my next door neighbor for a while, used to always play L&R, which made me a very happy girl indeed. Simple pleasures, I know, but I really miss those Sundays nights. It was my time to recharge the batteries for the week. I guess I just miss having close friends nearby, a community of sorts, a place where I feel at home that isn't just my apartment. I'm trying to be patient, I know these things take time, but still...at least I have my unlimited international calling plan at home so I can call LA whenever I want. (yay for DSL phone, the best invention EVAR). I am counting down the months/weeks/days til I go back to LA this August...

Well, you an feel better because I don't have a live journal or myspace. One night a few months ago I was drunk and my friends convinced me to get a facebook account, but I never use it. I just feel weird about people I see every day reading my journal/blog, what have you. Here it's a lot safer and I feel quite comfortable, but even then I forget to post often...I always get tons of crap from people about not having myspace though. Ha.

Oh, dear sweet Anaconda, why must you only come in imp form?? This is one seriosuly yummy scent. I can best pick out Snake Oil, tobacco and burnt/brown sugar (a la Sugar Skull). I am normally not a huge tobacco fan but this is absolutely divine. It's like rolling around in an amazing rich desert. It stays pretty true throughout the drydown- true to perfection! If this ever makes it to a bottle I would have to buy 8908098 of them. For now I will just inhale my imp, since I am a slatherer and would probably use it up in two applications.

This is a prett straight forward scent, and an incredibly delicious one at that! On me I am getting mint + green tea+ Snake Oil. Mint ususally pulls a disappearing act on my skin, but here it is staying put . This is so fabulous, and to think, I thought I wouldn't like this one very much! I do agree with the green tea ice cream comparison. It does smell a bit of that after it has been on for over an hour. Love this one, and I definitely will wear it often.

Habu is mainly bamboo and Snake Oil for me. I am not getting a lot of the musk or other wooden notes. It's a very green scent, and a bit clean smelling as well. This one doesn't change to much as I wear it; it only softens a bit over time (i.e. the bamboo calms down a little). This is very lovely and I will enjoy this on days when I want to feel fresh and clean.

Hm. At first this one smelled VERY acrid and musty on my skin; to be more specific it smelled like what happens when jasmine goes awry for me in a blend. However, there is no jasmine in this...so, confused, I decided to wait it out to see what happened in the dry down. Thankfully, after a while the Snake Oil came out, the acrid BO smell went away and I was left with a truly beautiful scent! Out of all the flowers, the linden seemed to poke out the most. The Snake Oil also became very evident- this is definitely the light floral SO blend. It's very crisp and fresh, while still containing the spice of Snake Oil. Strange, but true, I suppose! I am not sure if I want to put up with the really gross initial stage of Cottonmouth, but I must admit that the final outcome of it was quite fantastic. Perhaps it may fare better in a scent locket for me.

This is a lot more "tropical" smelling than I thought it would be. All of the added notes blend together quite nicely to create a light, sweet tropical fruity floral that wafts on top of the Snake Oil spiciness. Although in the bottle it smells "cider-y" it is not really that way on my skin at all. The Snake Oil aspect of this scent gets stronger as time passes, although it never quite takes over the blend. Coral Snake also has quite a bit of throw at first, but it diminshes considerably over time (either that or my nose has become desensitized!) This is a perfect summer scent for me, very refreshing!

I, too, am smelling mainly the same leather note that was in Quincey Morris (aka the good leather smell). This blend does not have much Snake Oil in it to me, in fact I can't even smell it at all. I do smell the other notes, but they are really well blended and support the smell of the rich leather. This is absolutely heavenly, rich and sexy in that raw kind of way . I am really looking forward to how this ages, and perhaps will invest in another bottle of this. Good stuff!

I never expected to like this one as much as I do! I am getting a lot of Snake Oil with olive leaf and bit of oakmoss (it's oddly lending a bit of a cologny feel to the blend, but not too much, thankfully!). This really isn't aquatic on me in the least. Instead, it is a sweet scent with hints of greenery. All in all very unique and lovely, yet still an all purpose can-be-worn-anywhere scent. I think I may need to hoard this one - aside from Boomslang this is definitely my favorite of the snakes!

On my skin this is a simple Snake Oil + marzipan. It doesn't really go through any morphing on me; it just stays nice and delicious! This is a smooth, sexy scent, and fans of BPAL almond blends really should give this one a try! yum yum yum.

My there have been a lot of lovely chamapca blends as of late, and this is no exception! Initially with this one I get a lot of champaca and frankincense. It is smoky yet understated- not a low of throw. I never end up smelling much Snake Oil in this one, I think it just adds to the smoky incense feel that is behind the champaca. I really am liking this one, but my only complaint is that it is not very strong or long lasting. It really fades out to a whisper after an hour or two. Perhaps that will change with time. Either way, I'll still keep my bottle cause it is a lovely scent!

This is rich, heady and sensual! I am not one to like the ylang ylang very much, but it isn't very prominent for me in this blend. This is mostly honey iwth some very strong fruit undertones. It reminds me a lot of Athens, actually. There is definitely something comforting about this blend; it exudes warmth. Not sure if this one screams 'bottle' to me, but it is lovely for sure.

I second the notion of tracking down a bottle of Dragon Moon. It smells a lot like green tea and cherry blossoms to me. However I bet that if you can't find it Neo Tokyo would be a good substitution.

OK, I don't even know why I tested this one. It has the evil combination of doom for me- jasmine and rose. PLUS other flowers added in (well, okay, I do love orchid, though). Of course when this one hit my skin it was like the apocalypse...sharp rose, musty cloying jasmine and some other floraliness mixed in for good measure. Ultimately jasmine is giving this one a musty BO edge. Maybe it's the jasmine and magnolia combo. I don't know for sure, but I do know that this is not working for me. bleh.

A salacious, lecherous, leering scent - dirty and dark, slapped with a wet sweetness. Earthy black patchouli swelling with apricot. This is such a simple scent, but it works so incredibly well! While the peach and patchouli in Imp were a bit too sickly sweet for me, I find that the apricot note is a perfect balance with the dark dirtiness of the black patchouli. There is definitely this rich, ripe golden delicious fruit/harvesty feeling and I am loving it! It lasts and lasts on my skin, too Too bad I just placed an order last night or I would have tacked a bottle of this onto it. This is a winner in my book, for sure. If you like the patchouli/fruit combo in blends like Ravenous or Imp, you must try this!

Aizen Myoo pulled a magical diappearing act on me! I smelled a very sharp, true citrus for about 10 minutes, and then all of a sudden it was gone. I actually liked it a lot, too, since grapefruit and yuzu are my favorite citrus smells and tastes. Now all that's left on my skin a a little hint of sweetness. Ah well, maybe this one will fare better as a room scent.

This one is just gorgeous. I dont' know what I have to add that hasn't been said before, but this is lush, sexy and very exotic. I get mostly champaca flower with a light vanilla incense. The orchid is staying surprisingly timid on my skin. Sometimes I almost get a banana like smell, as well. I think this scent perfectly fits the description. It is sultry, sexy, yet not screamingly loud- there is definitely a feel of anticipation and demureness rather than a predatory feel. I really like this one, and I think i may have to slip in an order of an extra bottle. It's fabulous!

I am seconding the "lemon candies" description. For me, too, that is all I get on my skin with this blend. it's exactly like those candies called 'lemonheads' (do they still make those?) that I ate one too many of when I was a kid. I really wanted to get the iris and/or anise in this blend, but I am certainly not. The lemony candy is not a bad scent, but I am not sure that it is one that I will want to smell like often.

Sometimes I love it here, sometimes I hate it. I really wish I could make up my mind. I talked to Mario today (he actually had a free minute, what a surprise) about how I was disappointed in the lack of lessons I was getting, and also about the problems with my other teacher being such a royal bitch to me for no reason (that I know of...). I have to say, just talking about it to him made me feel a lot better. It was a lot better than holding my thoughts inside for one more week. He actually said it was ridiculous that I had the in tandem lesson slot and that next quarter I will switch to him full time. I hope he actually means it. Sometimes he is too busy and forgets his promises. That being said, my lesson went quite well today. We actually talked about what I have wanted to talk about all along- artistry. No technique, no stupid requirements, just the philosophy behind the pieces I am working on. Perhaps that is because I had really busted my ass to learn all of the notes and etc. so that we would have no choice but to work on what I wanted. note to self: do this more often Actually I think it was because I just tend to play low flutes better, they fit with me naturally, I suppose. He has so many amazing thoughts on artistry and musical philosophy, it is a shame that many of my earlier lessons were wasted with us arguing whether or not it is valid and beneficial to perform from memory. Or whether or not I should play Paganini violin music on the flute. ew. I got asked to sub for the "most in demand" flute player in Strasbourg. I am pretty excited. I am going to play a Xenakis piece for flute and three guitars, and I adore his music! I feel so lucky to have gotten asked to do this, it makes me feel so guilty for being in a bad mood and wanting to leave just yesterday. But I guess that is the rollercoaster that is my feelings and/or life. Ok enough about my work! I spent the good old V-day drinking beer by myself and watching the L Word on You Tube. Go me. I have such an Alice fixation, it's not even funny. And you know, that was fine for me, I never liked to make a big deal out of VDay anyway (although I read Ah Xia's post somewhere in the forums about the carnations and totally had a sad moment remembering that I too had to deal with the "no carnations for you" thing on VDay in high school. ick. I so wanted to forget about that memory...). This evening was also good. More beer drinking and pizza eating with friends. A good way to finish off an improvement of a day, in my opinion. Although, my ever expanding waistline did not consider this an improvement. Although I better go to sleep and gear up for a weekend of crap, prelude to giant week of crap that is about to smack me in the face quite soon. At least it will be followed by vacation and the much anticipated trip to Paris with a good old friend from my undergrad (who is conveniently on a fulbright in Germany quite close by). I can't wait...

This is quite comforting and herbal. I really enjoy the citrus + mint + thyme that I am getting when I sniff my skin. I don't know where the rest of the notes are...perhaps my nose is not working as well as it should today. I really like this one, it is great for when i want to relax at home or want to feel clean and refreshed. However I must add that at first I, too, did get a dish detergent smell. It probably lasted for about 5-10 minutes and then went away. Surprisingly enough, this one lasts longer than other mint blends that I have tried. Weird. Anyhow, I may get a bottle of this, but I need to perhaps test it a few more times to make sure that it won't go awry on me for longer than it did.

I was a bit afraid to try this, since rum is one note that can sometimes ruin blends for me. On my skin, guess what I smell...ALL sweet rum. It smells like I made myself a girly drink and then dumped t over my head. When it dries it get a bit of a cherry smell, as well. Now, the rum doesn't make this sour or off on me, which is good, but I think it smells a bit too boozy for my tastes. If you like booze and foody scents, then this is heaven; otherwise...