juniperus

My mother likes Clinique Happy, for years wore Anis Anis...and had this bottle of Chanel #5 for years, apparantly it's too expensive to use or something. I'm not sure I get that mentality, but whatevah. I have done a quick scan through and haven't spotted these mentioned - so any ideas on Happy or similar? My sister oft wears some Este Lauder scent, but she's a nurse so rarely wears any scent at all..and will be aeons getting through what she already has...but I might just have to make her a car smelly anyhoo. edited to add: and apparently she also likes Calvin Klein's Euphoria...so not I'm looking for something that is akin to "Pomegrante, persimmons, green notes, black orchids, liquid amber, mahogany wood, black violet and champacca flower."

Bottle: lovely - violet and lily and rose. soft-edged. Wet: the translucency of the geranium plays with the darkness of the violet, the lily and rose remain at the top, but are counterbalanced well by the other two notes. Dry: well, here we go - the tea rose is, as I feared, starting to turn soapy, and the lily is amping every so slightly. Later: uber lily..soap. GAH!

Bottle: very woody, all cedar Wet: I can catch the herbs beneath the cedar, a very dry scent. Dry: the bay has a sharp edge to it, the sage more of a presence. still very much about the cedar, but it's a mellow cedar, at least. Later: the sage is bothering me. allergies, same chest tightening I used to get when smudging (needless to say, that's why it's a past-tense activity). *sigh*

Bottle: cinnamon, with a dark rose coming up behind Wet: very deep, dark floral behind the cinnamon...rose with an attitude Dry: spicy dark rose, the cinnamon now less of a presence on it's own and more of a compliment to the floral. Later: sultry, yes, and mysterious and slightly sinister....gorgeous.

Bottle: very sweet, like juicy fruit gum with florals Wet: the floral notes are sweet, the fruit is sticky and dribbly sweet. wow. whew. sweet. Dry: same. Later: the fir and fig are fantastic, but the sweetness of the rest really make this difficult for me to wear...

Bottle: the lavender is sharp, the lotus sweet. a nasal conundrum. Wet: same, even sharper, maybe. dizzying headachey..the lotus, perhaps. Dry: h.e.a.d.a.c.h.e. big time. Later: had to wash, couldn't take it anymore. *insert expletive here*

Bottle: something sour and sharp I can't identify. green behind. Wet: same. bitter. Dry: I can see the scrubby brush of the area between the river and the desert by moonlight. I'm also getting somewhat of a headache from something here... Later: Still so very sharp, and the headache is getting worse. I'm not sure which note is causing me grief, but this is clearly not a blend for me.

Bottle: fruity sweetness with a floral behind. Grapes - fresh grapes. Wet: there is a resinous undertone, but I'm not getting more than a hint. Dry: the sharp woody/green remains, I can't find the floral I barely detected earlier at this point. It's a resinous wood, the image I get is the earliest stages of winemaking when the grapes are newly crushed and fragrant, and burning bush, and bending olive tree. Later: The wine aspect seems to be doing it's usual - going sour on me. Drat - this was very complex and interesting before this point, multilayered and multicolored.

Bottle: incense-y herbiness and fig, glorious fig. Wet: Dates, figs, and dark, so dark, underneath. Wonderful! Dry: I can identify the currant, but it's neither cloyingly sweet nor amping oddly...so I'm Very Pleased. Later: I really like this, there is dark fruit that aren't food-y, just luscious and deep. The darkness is rounded and subtle..creeping up on me like the reaching shadow at dusk. Many of the darker blends have vetiver, which usually hates me with passion, so I'm really enjoying this.

Bottle: very boozy, buttery rum. Wet: whoah, all booze - that sinus-pinging affect of taking a good whiff of a drink. Dry: same, growing sharper. Later: boozy...plastic? WTF?

Bottle: butter rum - reminds me of Spooky. Wet: the same, with a hint of almond beginning to make an appearance ...but not the very sweet cherry-almond I get from Hecate at first, this is a warm, toasted almond.. Dry: sassafras coming out to play, and a hint of clove. sweet and spicy and mysterious. I can almost taste it with each sniff, and it's more visually evocative than I expected it might be - I can see heat shimmering up from the pavement, the bright sun and blue sky, and colors of the marketplace as I smell the scents of mid-day. Later: the sweet has receded enough to allow the spices to really shine - this is really wonderful. Not quite me (not that it's mine), but it's sure nice on my skin...and if Da Boy gets the spice and not the booze he'll smell very yummy, indeed. (This was bought for Colin 'cause the sassafras in Tombstone smells soo nice on him, and his reaction was: "uh HUH!" said very emphatically while smiling and head-nodding. He did, however, opt for Sonoma Buddahwood on his little wrists today, he is really interested in all of my woody imps, so clearly we have a preference appearing.)

Bottle: milk and honey and carnation at first sniff, I can faintly detect the rose behind if I really work at it. Wet: bergamot apparent, now, and the other notes are lined up in a balanced, creamy sweet floral. light and very feminine. Dry: the creamy sweetness is mainly what I get, I do tend to amp honey..but at least it's not turning ick on me as it sometimes does. No more floral apparent, but it is still light and very girly. Later: faded in record time. which is fine, it's not mine, I just wanted a try. (This was bought for Emma, her review is: "I like it. It smells like flowers...can I go outside and water your flowers when I get dressed?" [note that she turned her nose up at Marie and a lot of other florals of mine she's sniffed (especially rose), so this is a surprise hit!] [also note that her meds hadn't completely kicked in yet, this was a classic ADHD moment. A teen with it told me this joke once, and it so typifies my experience with Emma on one level: "How many kids with ADHD does it take to change a lightbulb? Let's go ride bikes!")

Bottle: rose, but inexpressibly sweet. Wet: wiiine *whines* ruins blends for me, yes it does. Still almost sickly-sweet, and a little sour edge that's the wiiine... Dry: slightly more rose, slightly less sweet, no grass. Later: Everyone else gets rose, rose, rose from this - and frustratingly enough I don't. Now it's faded into some sort of vague sweetness that isn't pretty, not one bit. Off with it's head!!!

Bottle: lovely not-quite-open tea rose. I hope this continues to be lovely - tea rose has a habit of soapifying on me. Wet: the darker violet apparent, now, this is slightly haughty but lovely. Dry: ooOOoohhh...there is goes. ever so slightly soapy - please stop. *sigh* please? Later: lovely rose...soap. I love violet and rose, I had so hoped this would work! (and it's my middle name, so, damnit, it should have been miiiine! all miiine!)

Sharp, dark, spicy,and harsh at first sniff. Really harsh, acrid - and I'm starting to cough. I recognize a lot of notes but I can't put my finger on them in a way to really describe what is happening here. It's growing sweet, but sticky and headachey sweet in a very food-y way. Is there some sort of buttery note here? There is a creaminess that's almost...greasy. Something here really disagrees with me, and it's getting me right in the back of the throat.

Jasmine at first sniff, and possibly moonflower and other night-bloomers, as these are notes I seem to amp. The jasmine is mostly playing nice, however, and the amping is pretty minor compared to what I usually get form it. It's light...translucent. Very pretty, mysterious, and...shimmering.

Soft, pale florals. Almost sweet enough to the headache gods down upon my noggin, but not quite. There is a little light resin here, maybe a lighter amber, and a woodiness I can't quite place. Very grounded and balanced feel.

Bottle: this smells like what having a butterscotch disc and a peppermint in my mouth at the same time must taste - complete with that jolt of cold if I suck in air through my mouth really fast. Wet: the butterscotch has turned more into butter rum - it makes me really want some. Dry: I can't decide if this smells like a hot toddy with a shot of peppermint schnapps, or the schnapps with a shot of buttershot. Biz-zarre. Later: This is boozy and foody without being, er, overly either. It's really odd, and odder still that I can wear it without destroying it. I have no idea what to make of this one, but after today at work and this review I really need a drink.

Bottle: pine needles and a chilly aquatic note. Wet: same, with a slight minty..something...underneath. Dry: the aquatic is taking over, the pine has been engulfed. And no cold woodiness to be found. Later: yep, all aquatic, now, and one stiff sniff just got me a snootful of sinus-hating note. Ouch, I say. Ouch.

Bottle: soft and pale, a hinted, slightly aquatic-edged floral and..vanilla? Wet: same; definitely a vanilla or tonka here .. same sweet creaminess. Dry: there must be vanilla, because it's amping like a sonnafabiotch. I can barely catch any hint of the floral anymore, just a slight, slippery green edge under the vanilla. Later: Oh drat. And like the energizer bunny, it's stiiill going. Wash time...gaaahhhh....

Bottle: powder and greenery Wet: is it the powder notes that are giving me the aquatic-like headache? maaaan. this is sharp and chill and...owie. Dry: I can still barely detect the musk. The florals are barely there, a hint of green behind the blinding headache on my wrist. Later: Sorry, can't wait til later - must wash this off now. Yikes!!

Bottle: dark gingerbread, fresh out of the oven. Wet: still heavily ginger with a sweetness I can't quite place. Dry: I can just barely catch a glimpse of the resins behind the almost-foody ginger and spices. no herbal anything happening yet. Later: NOW I get the resins - very nice! Now I wish I hadn't missed it! Warm and dark but sweet and spicy (but not sweet enough to give me a headache!)...I won't call this yummy, but I will call it delectable!

Bottle: wow eucalyptus! wow pine! wow my sinuses are clearing! Wet: I can catch a hint of the orange, now, and it smells really amazing with the pine - not sweet or food-y at all. eucalyptus is assertive like a boor at a party after a few too many badly-made martinis. Dry: the eucalyptus has stepped back, some,to balance nicely with the pine and orange. fresh, but not aquatic-heachache fresh - this is the scent of tearing madly through a forest, trampling the undergrowth to let loose a terrific olfactory din. Later: buoyant - yes! Fun!

Bottle: tonka and clove, mainly, and most of that is the tonka. Wet: same, no hint of spice or floral yet. Dry: some spice along with the clove, heavy tonka, still. no violet, sadly enough. not unpleasant, just no violet. Later: all tonka, at this point. Not as bad an amping as vanilla, but not dissimilar either. crikies. ADDED Feb. 16: Bottle: spicy violets, really pretty Wet: the same..the violet is delicate, lovely. Dry: slightly sweet, but not as sweet as another violet I recall trying that was exactly violet candy, no this is all grown up..even the tonka is playing nice. Later: oooh, getting sweeter. I might have to try this again - I'm uncertain, now. Darn it all. I can't do sweet well...

Bottle: rose and juniper, and after a couple of sniffs I can separate the mellow chamomile. Wet: the same, very green with a hint of pink. Dry: not much of the cypress, yet, but the juniper is receding a bit to allow the chamomile to act as a mellow pivot-point in this teeter-totter of color. Later: mellow - faded rather quickly, but very nice while it lasted (and I juniper, donchakno)