fiddledragon

Dandelions and maybe a hint of lemon at first. The pun with "dandelion" is cute, but otherwise this isn't saying Strength to me. Maybe it needs to age a bit? I'm not getting any of the warm resins others have identified, just kind of whomp-y sweet florals that fade quite quickly.

Eat Me is probably the most blatantly cake scent in the general catalogue. All Souls (available from swaps) and Haloa (current LE) also both have cake notes. Dana O Shee was actually very similar to a milder Cockaine on me, plus almond notes.

Awww! The only perfume I've automatically thought "vintage" for is Eve, which is alas pretty rosy. Maybe Haunted, though?

In imp: happy bright flowers, with a touch of cinnamon. On me: At first there's a whiff of bread-dough smell like I got in Silk Road. But it quickly dries down to a very fresh yellow flower smell. Honeysuckle and dandelions and...almost lilies? It's not sweet at all, but very fresh-cut flower. I really like this one :-) I think it would be even better layered with something honeyed.

For the record, this imp has one of the old logos on the label, so I'm assuming it's pretty thoroughly aged. In the imp: sweet, soapy floral with the slightest hint of apple. On me: Rose. A very classic dried rose or perfume rose rather than the fruity rose of, say, Rose Cross or Blood Rose. There's what I assume is the apple blossom, which as someone previously noted is somewhat like a very tame jasmine. There's a touch of honey at the back, but it's not very sweet. I'm not bowled over by this, but it might make an interesting costume or room scent. It has a kind of "vintage" feel to me.

First off, the oil itself looks almost distressingly like blood. Wet, this is all red musk and patchouli. Red musk does this nag champa-ish thing on me, especially wet, so this is absolute Essence of Hippy Shop. As it dries, it becomes more classically musky, sweeter, and has a hint of wood or resin. It's very pretty, but I already have Scheherezade for That Hippy Shop Smell I'll use the imp and swap if someone else seems to really want it. This isn't saying "Judgement" to me at all, but I'm only passingly familliar with the Tarot archetypes. I find it fascinating that while this doesn't evoke that concept for me at all, for all I know this scent that I'm getting on my wrist may well not be what Beth had intended for her evocation of "Judgement" either!

In imp: faint minty coconut. On me: At first, BLEARGH! Evil death mint. I'd heard coconut-lime and was so hopeful. But no. Death-mint. With some citrus at the back somehow making it worse. It's very...bracing. Thematically this isn't a star so much as a really really bright fluorescent light. Blinding yet cold. As it dries, I become surrounded by this aura of sweet coconut, and close-up there's that bracing mint but the evil note dies down. There's more lime coming out now. Dry, I kind of like it. But it's nowhere near a favorite and the mint phase is just deadly. I could see this being a really good image of that sweet hope and purity of the star, but on me it just doesn't work. At least it's a popular one, so it'll find a good home quickly.

Pennyroyal scents are supposed to be avoided during pregnancy because it can cause uterine contractions...that's not exactly what you're trying to cause, but maybe it'll do something? Otherwise, I know excercise can help, and I've heard good things about raspberry leaf, though it's never done much for me.

I haven't tried either of those, but I think somewhere between Sudha Segara and Kumiho would make a good match for BB's citrus-ginger shower gel -- either one could work depending what direction it went on your skin.

In the imp: Rose. Rose often doesn't work on me, but this smells very similar to Rose Cross, so I have hopes. On me: The rose is going a little sour but not awfully so. There's something green and sweet and almost citrus in there as well. Maybe a dab of resin or wood? The whole scent is very faint, though it may come out more on places other than my wrists. Rose Cross is still my #1 Ritual Rose Scent, but if this were stronger, it might make good competition.

The rose in Persephone isn't one I can wear, but it was balanced beautifully with a nice tart fruity pomagranate. If your skin can do more roses than mine, Persephone will probably be lovely. My favorite rose-with-lots-of-stuff is Kali. So many different notes that do so many different things, and the rose just peeks out looking deceptively sweet.

In imp: very sharp but not unpleasant herbal. There's a fennel/anise smell, some woods, maybe galangal? On me: a kind of roasted/burnt smell jumps out but dies down quickly. There's definitely a wet fennel bulb scent, light wood, maybe some myrrh or other warm dark resin. It's a beautiful, very unusual herbal scent. The sharpness dies down and it's very calming. Like being in an herbalist's shop with the cryptic but kind and wise proprieter puttering around in the back. I'm not sure how often I'd actually wear this, but I'm very glad I have the imp. I try to avoid being overly dramatic, but this really is more of an experience than a perfume. It could be quite lovely as a meditation focus, either working with the Tarot archetype or just as a centering blend. A definite winner for the Lab :-D

In the imp: Resiny incense and marshmallows. There's maybe a hint of spice as well. On me: The sweet almost vanishes, leaving dark spicy incense and still a bit of a marshmallow scent, but without the sweet bit. It's a *very* dry smell. I think the spice is probably a touch of cinnamon and clove. This is a beautiful blend, and manages to distinguish itself from the rest of the BPAL incense blends with the spice and that interesting mallow note. Yum! It does want layering or something to keep it from feeling like it's drying out my sinuses, though.

Sweet, powdery, almost marshmallow-y wintergreen, tinged with a bit of something fruity and almost alcoholic. I'm not much of a mint fan, but at least this one didn't go weird like mint often does. It might be nicer in the summer.

Orange! A happy bright morning glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice :-D It's a nice bright creamy orange, with a dash of a sweet floral that I'm guessing, based on the theme and other people's reviews, is heliotrope. Or maybe sunflower...it wouldn't surprise me at all if there were sunflower in this. As it dries, something comes out that might be a very, very soft light myrrh or maybe some kind of spice that I'm not identifying. It turns from a morning cup of orange juice to a melting creamsicle licked on a hot summer day. But not the hot summer day itself -- just the fun creamsicle. It's an incredibly happy, joyful, youthful scent, but not inappropriately childish for grownup wear. It's like Sol or Ahathoor but better! The only think that's keeping me from running off to my Paypal account NOW and buying a whole bottle of the stuff is that it doesn't last very long. Maybe some aging or layering experimentation is in order.

In imp: strong herbal lavender, with a citrus-spice background. It's a wakeful lavender rather than the sleepy lavender in the Somnium blends. On me: lavender plus...something kind of herbally-citrus that I have a hard time picking out. A very well-blended oil. It's not really my thing as far as perfume goes, but it's a great presentation of Swords. I could see using this as a focusing or studying oil. I'm intrigued by the fact that for the Ace of Pentacles and Wands, the two elements I'm most drawn to, I found the oils a good embodiment of the physical element, wheras with Cups and Swords, I identify them more with the metaphorical concepts they're supposed to embody and much less with the physical element.

In the vial: cinnamon, red musk, dragon's blood. The musk and cinnamon are strongest in the vial, and the oil itself doesn't have that distinctive gloppiness of the strong dragon's blood blends, so I'm guessing that's not a main note. It is an impressive color, though. On me: cherry menthol cough drops. Ok, now I'm confused! I'm guessing, given how it smells on me, that this note may actually be mullein rather than eucalyptus. Now that the menthol kick had tamed down, I think the "cherry" note was me misplacing the dragon's blood. The cinnamon is gone (odd, given how much it amps on my skin; maybe I was smelling some of the sharpness of the mullein and thinking it must be cinnamon because this is a fiery scent?) The musk is warming up on my skin and lurking in the background...it's a more distinctive musk than red musk usually is on me; less of the hippy shop and more of the sexy that other people seem to usually get from it. Maybe it's actually a blood musk? Dry, this is a sweet warm dragon's blood and musk scent with maybe a hint of spice. It's not unlike a less spicy Mars or a tamer Dragon's Musk. The mullein keep sticking its nose out every so often and being slightly disorienting. While the scent itself isn't overly dry, it brings to mind a dry heat. It's a nice cozy fireplace with warm glowing coals in it, rather than a raging fire. Nice, but not really a favorite. Maybe it'll get better with age; I think this is a fairly new imp.

In vial: Lotus! Wonderfully appropriate for water; I've been looking for another good lotus scent. And...maraschino cherries? A sharp, fruity, alcoholic note. On me: Sharp faint sweet lotus with lots of complexity behind it. As it dries further it gets a bit musty. There's something slightly aquatic, but not the evil kind of aquatic that turns to rotted flowers on me. There might be jasmine in this? It's similar to Muse on me, dry (I get absolutely no lime from Muse, for the record). I think I like the wet better than the dry...dry, I might as well be wearing Muse, which is nice, but not really a favorite. I adore the sweet wet lotus stage, though, so I may try it in a diffuser. It doesn't seem to have much throw, but I'm surrounded by an incredibly faint nimbus of lotus and jasmine that's quite lovely.

I was hoping to try more civet blends, and was frimped this! Whee! :-) Anyway...on me, the juniper and cedar are at first quite dominant, not letting the civet or orange come out. Once it dries, the civet peeks out a little bit, and there's maybe a dab of sweet from the orange, but it's mostly woodsy. It's a very nice winter scent.

Yeah, I do that, too...most rose blends go horribly weird, but then when they do work it's so beautiful! Rose Cross was the Platonic Ideal of Rose, and I've now worn it so many times in lovely situations that I actually don't mind when it's a little off that week because it now has so many good memories attached to it. But most others go soapy, sour, rotten, you name it! If the rose in London works, why not blend it with something complimentary that you like? While you're being enabled...how about Othello? Roses, spice, and musk. That was one of the sour/musty roses on me, but the spice and musk were lovely. It's firmly on the "masculine" side of floral musks, though, if that's offputting for you.

I just realized that Brimstone is very similar to Muladhara :-D And while I find M. an amazing meditation focus, I can't really wear it for the scent as that "hammy" note is just too weird for perfume. Brimstone, on the other hand, seems to have a trace of the weird note, but then lots of wonderful smelling soothing vetiver and pine resin and other such things, so works as the "perfume" version of Muladhara. And it's cheaper. ;-)

My first reaction is that this is an earth-attuned Jabberwocky -- I tend to get more of the "bouyant" than the "earthy" in Jabberwocky's description. There's pine, eucalyptus, and lots of earthy mosses and vetiver and such things. It's a beautiful grounding and focusing scent, and is finally a pine that doesn't go all artificial-air-freshener on me. The only complaint I have about it is that it only lasts about an hour on me. But I got the imp in a swap, so maybe it's a young one and will strengthen with age. I may need to get a bottle to wear for study when I start grad school this summer!

I really should get around to trying Dirty...The Lion is quite warm and cuddly on me, but amber tends to go kind of sharp on me eventually unless it's tempered by something sweet. If I get another imp of it I should try layering it with Sudha Segara or something.

Eos! How did I ever end up swapping it?! I got it back and it is fresh warm morning sunlight in a bottle :-D *hugs little impling* I should give my Aureus another try...cedar's been less pencil-y on me of late.

Mmmm...a very pretty sweet floral. I guess this must be what orchids smell like; I don't think of them as having a distinctive fragrance, but I guess I'm not very familiar with them in general anyway. To me, it's actually a sort of halfway point between jasmine and rose. It's a very growing-flower type of floral, rather than the generic-floral perfumy smell. I think I most like single-note forals, where I can get to know one floral without them all mushing together into genericness. It's slightly soapy and slightly spicy-sharp; I got this as a gift with a Yule card swap on LJ and would never have ordered it on my own!