jessiesquash

I read comparisons to Hope & Faith and my heart sunk because those smelled sickly sweet on me but luckily this is nothing like them. I can even see the comparison because this is definitely light and sweet but there are other notes to really ground this and keep it from being too sweet. It's light and airy and "moon-like" but it also takes on a perfumey quality. It's like a small garden in the moonlight on a warm night where all the fragrances blend together and create a gorgeous bouquet. The rose stands out but it is supported by a chorus of other notes. I LOVE Beth's roses and happily snatch them up even if they are very similar but this not a problem here. This is SO different! I'm so glad I got a bottle!! I even got a compliment this morning!

As a rule I don't like apple scents. To me they always smell fake or too sweet, like apple juice which I have always disliked. People around here wear that BBW scent Country Apple and it just makes me gag. BUT this is BPAL we are talking about and I still had to try it. I was certainly not disappointed! This is the freshest, juiciest apple of the bunch. Perfect; tart but not too sour. The kind of apple that really would tempt Snow White to take a bite! But this is a POISONED apple so of course there is something lurking in the background, something sinister and slightly sweet. Oooh I just love this! It's so evocative and I can even smell the green stem on this apple. I MUST have a bottle for Fall!

FINALLY! A Lunacy that works on me and a gorgeous one at that! This is everything I hoped Blue Moon would be; soft and ethereal and amazing! In the bottle, I can detect greenery, soft florals and a bit of the green tea. On my skin, this immediately sinks in and starts morphing. At first the throw is like WOAH. I could barely stand myself for awhile there. As it begins to mellow, though, it becomes softer and really well blended. By the time it dries, I can't detect any single notes except perhaps the green tea which sits nicely on top. It reminds me a bit of House of Mirrors, not in the way this smells, but the feeling of it. It behaves the same way on my skin. I'm so glad I bought a bottle!!

This is all salty fresh with light florals on me and it dries into a lovely fresh breezy scent. In a scent locket however, the wine just overpowers everything and the throw is just POWERFUL! I eventually had to take the locket off because the throw was more of a cloud and people were starting to comment. I think I'll reserve Caliban for my skin only since it behaves with my skin chemistry!

Ava Luxe: The Beach - This is so close to what I'm looking for. It's beautiful and very much like a day at the beach but it's not quite IT. God I'm so picky!! Nocturne Alchemy: The Nile - This is all sweet melon. I LOVE it but it's not what I'm looking for. I'll have more later but I have to get back to work!

In the bottle, this is very clean aquatic and very much like Thalassa. When I first try it, it's really no different than Thalassa but as it dries it takes on a different quality. Where Thalassa stays pretty salty and oceanic all day, Cthulhu dries down to a darker and more herbal scent. I bet this would smell heavenly on the right guy! This is maybe a bit more masculine than our deadly mermaid but it makes a lovely replacement for when she disapears with the rest of the carnival.

This is one of those that I was determined to like and even bought 2 bottles despite the horrible track record with fruit. In the bottle, it's amazing red fruits with a thin layer of that powdered sugar. On me, its pretty straightforward cherry. To me, it smelled odd and bit rotten but everyone at work seemed to like it. I'll give it another go.

Ooooh it is just like thin mints!! It smells amazing! For the first 20 minutes or so this is fantastic on me but then the mint goes away and all I get is a weird musky note. Is there sandalwood in this? Dammit! This is too pretty to swap away. I'll have to try it in my scent locket.

I just wanted to try and put together my next order to be placed with the upcoming revisit of Blue Moon. It can't be as extravagant and my last one but as long as the new CD scents don't come out, I'll just focus on getting a few GC scents I've been wanting. Blue Moon - Hopefully we'll have a few reviews before it goes live again but if not, I think I'll get two bottles just in case I ADORE it. $27.50? The Star $26.50 Y'ha-nthlei $15 Kiyohime Changes from a Serpent $25.50 Sunrise with Sea Monsters $25.50 Snake Oil $15 Whip $15 Sea of Glass $15

Honey almost never works on me but I thought the tea and vanilla would just end up being gorgeous and the dreaded honey would take back seat. In the bottle, I smell something really sweet. Too sweet. But I give it a try anyway. Ick! Fresh baby vomit is all I get and it's on my arm and it won't come off! This is definitely not me. *shudders*

I decided to try my decant when I saw Jessiesquash's post and on my skin, it is definitely the case. The cinnamon is strong initially, but backs down and the burning ember smell comes forward. I'm a huge fan of bonfire scents and I love this. Yay another Priala fan! Isn't she gorgeous! I was so surprised too. I figured the cinnamon would overwhelm but it really doesn't.

A-ha, she says dramatically, this is what jasmine is supposed to smell like! I'm so glad that I didn't pass this one up because of the jasmine. You see I think jasmine smells gorgeous, delicate and exotic. When it's not on my skin. On my skin it's pure yuck. Somehow, quite magically, this jasmine is behaving. I can smell the delicate petals and the lovely green stems. And then there's the vanilla just making it all gorgeous and creamy. I'm not getting any citrus, but with jasmine and vanilla to contend with, it's no great wonder. There is a brief period of the drydown where, as a coworker puts it, it smells like root beer! That almost made me run for the bathroom because even if I liked root beer (which I don't) I don't want to smell like it. I stuck it out though, and that phase passed rather quickly. Now I'm just getting warm fuzzy vanilla-coated jasmine. Ooh and what is that....sandalwood? Yum! Edited to add: I can't wait to slip the bottle into the Duke of Darkness' empty little pocket.

Some of you may have seen me around the forum, searching like the madwoman I am for the perfect ocean blend. It all started when I received Thalassa (which is amazing!!) and I just became obsessed with aquatics. I pretty much love any aquatic (unless they are heavy because those give me a migraine) probably because I am a water sign. So I thought I'd keep track of all the scents as I try them on my little quest. A huge thank you to all those that have offered suggestions and samples. You all are very awesome! Thalassa the Galapagos Mermaid - The scent that started it all! This one is actually just a shade to the left of perfect. It has other things going on though and I'm looking for a pure ocean scent. That is actually why I'm looking to other perfumers for this because Beth doesn't do the single note thing anymore. This one gives me my fix in the meantime and I just love it for those days when I'm feeling the spring fever and I can pretend I'm a mermaid....or something. Mara Fox: Mermaids in Atlantis - Sensing a theme here? This had no aquatic in it whatsoever but it is a lovely, sweet melon! Very nice and cool for summer. High Priest Not to be Described - I actually knew this wouldn't be a straight aquatic but I thought I'd include it anyway. I really like the way that the Arkham scents really evoke that sense of impending danger I get from Lovecraft stories. Roux-ga-Roux - This one definitely has that deep, brackish bog water aquatic and I love it but it still isn't quite IT. Caliban - OMG this is GREAT! It's not exactly the scent I'm looking for but it's very salty and oceanic and probably the closest so far.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Priala yet! It's very smoldering fire; very dry and crackling.

Ratkirani, calla lily, moonflower, honeysuckle, night-blooming jasmine, French lavender, verbena, grey amber and nighttime air. It's really interesting to read what everyone else is getting on this one because it's such an interesting, evocative blend. At first I get all lavender, very sharp, herbally lavender. That's okay though, I love lavender. After awhile the other florals begin to emerge and something green that smells a bit like flower stems and leaves and very like a garden. On me it turns a bit soapy in the end and then disappears but I like it very much in the bottle so I tried it in my scent locket. There is stays at that pretty night-time garden phase and gives off a gentle throw. I'll test it a few more times on my skin and then decide if it's a keeper or not. I might have to keep it just for the artwork it represents which I LOVE. Overall, another amazingly evocative Salon blend.

There is something so thrilling about knowing that your order is at the lab and that it's waiting its turn to be filled and sent off to your waiting arms. I placed what is probably my biggest order yet and I'm just so excited waiting for it! It's my "Got My Taxes" order. It's also the first time I've ever purchased multiple bottles without testing first. I ordered the following; 2 bottles Monsterbait: Bloody Mary 2 bottles Monsterbait: Tokyo Stomp 1 bottle Monsterbait: Ventriloquist Dummy 1 bottle Minotaur 1 bottle 13 1 bottle Riding the Goat 1 bottle Lady Luck Blues 1 bottle St. Theresa in Ecstasy 1 bottle Bordello 1 bottle Amsterdam 2 imp packs: Calico Jack, The Deep Ones, Bein Loin D'Ici, Poisoned Apple, 51, Squirting Cucumber, Voodoo Lily, The Dodo, Queen Alice, The Knave of Hearts, Croquet, and Cthulhu. I don't know why I think that Bloody Mary will work for me since I have trouble with fruit in general but I'm so excited about it, I couldn't help myself. I figure if it doesn't work on me, I can wear it in my new locket. Tokyo Stomp sounded just too good not to get two bottles. I'm a bad girl.

I wouldn't normally consider myself the type of person to wear a scent like this but it really works on me. At first I get patchouli, lots of patchouli and I'm not a fan of it when it takes center stage usually. I like the patchouli in the background where it really sexifies (is that a word?) other notes and gives a scent a nice warm base. However, this patchouli is not bad. It must be the vetiver doing sexy things to this. It has an interesting lemony tang to it and it's just getting deeper and more complex as it dries. I really like it. It's unique and not something I'd normally go for. I got to try it but I don't have an imp of my own. I think I'd like to acquire one for further testing. It's very much like Sloth's evil second cousin!

I've been obsessed with aquatics lately (perhaps because summer is coming and I'm also obsessed with going to the beach) so I was really eager to try this. I was intrigued by the idea of smelling like bog water. Initially it's very cologney and pretty masculine on me. I can barely detect those salty water notes but they are there. As it dries, the aquatic fades and I begin to get the other notes although I can't pick them out. In the end, I was left with a murky salty scent with something else lurking in the dark. It's a gorgeous scent; deeper and darker than most aquatics. The only thing I'm not quite sure of is if this is too masculine for me. I'll just have to wear it one day and see how I feel!

Laudanum = Priala on me! It's a dead ringer except that it doesn't last nearly as long. I think it might be my skin amping the myrrh.

Honey on me = ew! Honeysuckle on me = yes! This is very fresh and floral, sweet and sharp at the same time. The vetiver gives a nice base and grounds it. It's very perfumey but clean too. It actually really reminds me of that Johnson & Johnson No-tangle stuff we used when we were kids. Did anyone else get that? Hah, weird!

I put this on and had no trouble picking out most of the notes. While some perfumes are just one scent, some like this one have distinct levels. At first the rose, gardenia and jasmine are the strongest but they are balanced by each other so they are behaving very nicely. I really think it's the vanilla that is making them behave because they are just hovering between too much and too little. The rose takes over a bit at the end but it's still not HELLO ROSES but more of creamy rose with just a tiny bit of green to it. Sadly this disappeared really quickly on me. It would make a gorgeous spring perfume....I wonder if I tried dumping this in some unscented lotion. It would make a nice base for a lot of the more springy scents.

Skip this, it's just me musing about my next order. Since it's spring and almost summer, I'd like to get a few new GC scents that I've been noting as good spring scents. I'm definitely getting; MB: Ventriliquist Dummy MB: Bloody Mary MB: Tokyo Stomp .....and I might get a couple of the Dogs Playing Poker scents; Riding the Goat is really peaking my interest and one other whispered to me the other day but I can't remember which one. I'm wearing Bordello today and really loving how fresh and sweet it is so I might order a 5ml of that for the season. I need one more springy scent so I'll have to decide between getting something like Amsterdam (light florals) or Manhatttan (modern and sleek) or maybe even Empyreal Mist (very green and fresh). I also really want a 5ml of St. Theresa in Ecstasy but I'm not sure if I should wait until later or not. I have a few things that I need to sell on ebay to boost my paypal balance a bit. I'm getting my tax return in a few days but I really need most of it to pay off bills. I'm thinking I should only use about $200 of it on teh smellies. I'm a bad girl because I just ordered a couple of Villainess soaps too and I still am working on my Snake Oil soap and I have one Kumiho to use! Now I'm going to go haunt the Retail Therapy section in hopes that I can find some really good body lotion....preferrably unscented....because my skin has been so dry lately.

This reminds me very much of Stardust....maybe it's the blonde tobacco but it's very perfumey and very dry.....heady is a good word. And I'm also getting the salon thing that others have mentioned. It reminds me of a perfume my mother wears, something by Givenchy but it's more masculine. A very sexy man would wear this! David Bowie would rock this! It's a very debauched scent and evokes some very naughty imaginings from me about what exactly those angels are talking about. Past conquests perhaps? Angels can be bad too......right?

When the Salon blends came out I had mixed feelings. I'm an art history student and so when it comes to art I get a little *um* emotional. St Theresa in Ecstasy is one of my favorites. I love the audacity that Bernini showed in carving such an overtly sexual figure. So it was with some trepidation that I tried it. I definitely get the gardenia right away but it doesn't overpower the other components. The frankincense is there too and not going too sweet. Once it starts to dry down, everything just blends gorgeously together. It really gives that sense of being in a holy space; diffused light, faded incense smoke, a hush and sweet flowers. EDIT: The more I wear this, the more I adore it. Not only did Beth capture the holy aspect of the piece but she also captured the flip of the coin. This scent is also like that moment right after a really good orgasm!

I should have tried the poor Grr fizzy before TKO because it was pretty anticlimactic after that. I suffer from headaches that range from mild sinus pain to the very rare blinding migraines. I came home with a slight headache the other day so I pulled out the fizzy and dropped it in the bath. It put on yet another spectacular production for me but where the TKO fizzy really scented and moisturized the water, the Grr was kind of weak. It did get rid of my headache so it certainly works like a charm, I just didn't get that over-all feeling delicious feeling the TKO gave me. Well perhaps I'm just comparing apples to oranges here. Definitely try it if you have headaches.