juniperus

Bottle: this smells like one of those chocolate oranges - you know, the ones in foil that you ht hard on the table, and once open fall into slices? The milk chocolate version. Wet: same, with a hint of almond. Dry: orange aspect faded, milk chocolate still present, as is a hint of white chocolate (that almond has opened up some) and floral. very complex. Later: the white chocolate has gone, and I have some of the deeper aspects of the milk chocolate and...fig? with floral. it's interesting and not so food-y that it's kinda bugging me at this point, but I don't know that I'm wearing it particularly well - it's growing hollow, or flat, or something.

Bottle: cool, minty somehow - wintergreen specifically. both green and golden. Wet: the florals are clearer, still that wintergreen-edged note that is more sweet than bitey. Dry: crisp, cool floral with a hint of woodiness and the berry on the sweet end. We have many of the same flora here in Michigan, and apart from that hint of the sea in this it smells very much like our Upper Penninsula minus evergreens. Later: this doesn't have much stay on me, but it's a crisp, chill wind off the northern sea in early fall that carries the scents of the summer flowers and berries that are ekeing out their last before the season's end. evocative and lovely - exactly as my sister described (she went to Newf on her honeymoon in late August), I really wish I had the money for travel..and the time..and a mate who didn't despise travel...

Bottle: soft, gentle white rose. Wet: same, deepening. lovely. Dry: hints of resins but they are, yes, very soft and subtle. The light rose has depth. This is the haunting and tragic love of Elaine... Later: soft and lovely and subtle without fading away completely - I love it (loving another LE is now a smart thing for me, either.) This invokes, at the last, for me, images of the unicorn tapestry. I admit it - I most wanted to try this not because of the rose, although I do wear rose particularly well, but because I'm a medievalist. Yes, that does make me a class-A nerdblossom. It's a darn shame I was still such a n00b in January and missed this - it's wonderful and I would dearly love a large bottle.

Bottle: light brown sugar, slightly stale. Wet: now more turbano...and oh so sweet, although not headache sweet at this point. Dry: now it's the smell of white sugar in by mixing bowl after I begin to mix in some real melted butter. Later: and now smelling oddly sour, like something with sugar that's going bad or something. clearly not a blend for me, yuck.

Bottle: a stale chocolate macaroon. Wet: I can catch that cake, just an undercurrent. Dry: there is this Chinese buffet my parents like, and when I come visit with the kids we always have to go because they have this big waterfall and the kids love to toss pennies. They have these little cakes on the cookie table a layer of very fluffy white cake, some chocolate, some paste of some sort and coconut on top - and this smells just like them. Later: stale coconut cakes. my chemistry doesn't like this, it seems. just getting staler and staler...it would be a really desperate monster that went for this one..

Bottle: strawberry and sweet pea - man, I really need to get a starter off my grandmother's old sweet pea bush. [note to self] Wet: ridiculously sweet. this is what Barbie Pink smells like, I am certain. I'm catching the very sweet pear, this is starting to catch in my throat - how odd, maybe it's the strawberry turning to an odd strawberry incense smell... I hate fruity incense. Heresy. Dry: hello, yes the vanilla and honey are amping. this should get interesting as the strawberry incense fights with them for dominance. R U ready 2 rummmble?!??? Later: vanilla and strawberry have signed a pact of evil and are stomping on all of the other notes. In cleats.

Bottle: coconut, caramel, and tobacco. In that order. Wet: coconut and caramel are the primaries, with tobacco behind and hints of the opium and spice..cardamom? Dry: tobacco always seems to turn on me - this now smells like a smoker's stale shirt and getting-granular-sweet old forgotten caramels, and that my friends is an unpleasant combination. no currant, no floral, no amber. this is probably what an opium den really did smell like - and you know, those strung-out people weren't so much into the personal hygiene... Later: oh hey hints of the amber behind the tobacco! who knew? still and all this hates me. really hates me.

Bottle: musk and patchouli and plum - lovely. Wet: smoke and lemon coming up behind, dark and warm. this is gorgeous..sorrowful. Dry: vetiver apparent behind the musk and patchouli. I hope it doesn't amp like usual - a girl can dream, can't she? Later: the vetiver isn't taking over nor shifting on me in unkind ways! might this actually be a blend with vetiver I can wear?!?? oh joy!!

Bottle: tea! Wet: tea! and fragrant bamboo. what is oude? Dry: the white tea dominates, and the sweet pulp. Later: subtle, light. interesting, and multi-layered while still being monotonal, if that makes sense. (ok, it doesn't to any but me, I realize that.) This is a very beige and pale green aisan-themed decorator room. A place you'd be afraid to sit for fear of leaving a mark on the pale, creamy furniture...a decorator magazine sort of room - light, but formal. subtle, but not retiring.

Bottle: plum and lotus root, very sweet. Wet: getting sweeter - whoa. No hint yet of the ginger, musk, or peony. Dry: peony blooms behind the plum blossom, and that choking sweetness has dimmed. I get a bit of the ginger, and little of the musk. Later: no more of the ginger, a bit of the musk, still mostly plum blossom. very light, little throw. interesting - uncertain how this will wear on me, may need a second try.

I haven't combed all the way through, but I just tried House of Mirrors - only aquatic that doesn't give me a headache. We hates the headaches, we do.

I'm discovering that, like my allergies to my kitties, there are certain oils that bother my skin when it's hot (and, therefore my pores are open), not when it's cooler weather - notably Hecate. I'm not sure where the OMG-ouch! is coming from - I'll have to see if any of my other resins are the same, or maybe it's the almond oil. It's not itchies - it burns.

Venerable and solemn: the scent of incense smoke wafting through an ancient church. A true ecclesiatical blend of pure resins. Bottle: a panopoly of resins Wet: resin-y goodness - I can pick out my buddies frank and myrrh, and rest of the notes aren't distinct enough for me to pick out yet Dry: I loves my resins, and this is a lovely blend - not as sweet as the top edge of Midnight Mass, nor as dusky/smoky as P&P. Later: dry, and comforting (no, I'm not nor ever have been Catholic!), and brown, and warm, and luscious. I realize I might be the only person who describes resins, not fruit notes, as luscious, but there you have it!

Bottle: spicy plum, very pretty Wet: the blooming, fresh carnation is just behind the plum. this is subtle and delicate without being overly feminine Dry: the musk is warming through, sinuously binding the other notes together. Later: light and exquisite, the musk isn't overpowering the plum (one of the few fruits I can wear! yay!), and the carnation has no bite, all bloom. I really, really like this, a lot more than I suspected I might!

Bottle: very light floral, violets Wet: a sort of aquatic, ozone-y floral Dry: as usual, the aquatic is hitting my sinuses hard. it's lovely, maybe this phase will pass... Later: not passing - this hurts. so sad. [edited to add: I really wanted this to work. so when I saw a bottle up I bought again as I'm stubborn. Aquatics usually don't like me, but I love violets...and praise be to all of the purplepeopleeaters it seems to work, today at least.)

Bottle: lavender, ozone, and a hint of musk. very interesting, light but not transparent. Wet: the currant is making its presence known, I can barely smell the musk, now. Dry: much currant, hints of lavender. the musk is gone, and I'm not catching the ozone, either. Later: amping the currant, the resin and lavender barely hints in the background. white musk never does seem to have a lot of volume on me...but this clinches it - another note I amp. Niiiice.

Bottle: a citrus-y aquatic - grapefruit is the only note I can clearly pick out. Wet: grapefruit with warm hints of amber behind, the aquatic-feel is receding some. Dry: back to aquatic, and amber. interesting. Later: it's almost a summery amber...usually aquatics mess with me, but this is juuust shy of causing havoc with my sinuses - I hope it remains that way, I'd like an aquatic, just one. Pleaaase?

Bottle: patchouli, all patchouli Wet: patchouli, and a resin - not sure which..maybe frankincense. it's warming and deepening..not a hit-me-in-the-sinuses patchouli at all. Dry: warm and rich, it's a smell of heat without fire. there is a floral note far in the back, but it's mainly the patchouli. Later: seriously heating - as in I'm suddenly wanting to change clothes I'm so uncomfortably warm. it's like a hot-flash in an oil - I'm actually flushed and opening windows! amazing..

Bottle: something sweet and strange, must be the osmanthus, I don't know that note at all. teak behind it and hints of wood. Wet: green, not-quite-minty, and then the floral opening behind it. less of the teak. This reminds me of something, but I'm not sure what that is. Dry: the woods are coming to the fore, with a veil of green behind them. I can catch the dried floral in wafts, like an afterthought. Later: we're back to that sweet note. I never did quite detect the lilac. this keeps flipping on me - I don't think it likes my chemistry.

Bottle: frankincense and the woods on top - hints of something else, but can't pick out the notes. Wet: masculine and..not dark..deep. cedar is wonderful with the frankincense. Dry: not too masculine for me to pull off, but this is sexy - power sexy. Later: when people talk about the intoxication of raw power, this will be what I think of - this is what it smells like.

Bottle: green-ness and rosewood. Wet: fresh, but not in a sharp or intrusive way. the hazel is merely a hint. Dry: subtle, green and floral and woody, but not obtrusively anything. a very balanced showing. Later: mellows into rosewood, with a hint of green. not a lot of stay on me, tho. warm and grounding, a peaceful core to the blend.

Bottle: both dark and fresh, interestingly enough. Wet: the lemon - the pith, sharp and almost herbal. and sandalwood-y smoke. Dry: mellows very quickly, I'm not sure if it's fading or just settling in. vetiver not amping yet, interestingly enough. Later: no stay at all on me. bummer. vetiver kept its place with this one, so I'm disappointed it was truly as fleeing as an incantation sent on a breeze.

Bottle: stone and smoke and ash. Wet: same, but deepening and darkening. Dry: must be both vetiver and moss here - the bottom notes are amping and morphing. Later: deep, dark cave smelling of bare earth and damp stone filling with the smoke of a great, hidden forge.

Bottle: apply blossom and rose, how lovely - I love apple blossoms...I live in an apple-producing state, so this time of the year I'm a Happy Girl. Wet: sweeter, ylang-ylang coming forward. apple blossom receding, sadly. Dry: oh, that shameless, showy rose, blooming it's little heart out, now..hints of the honey, I'm hoping it doesn't amp in unpleasant ways as is wont to do. the ylang-ylang is still in the supporting cast (where I prefer it, actually). Later: light, wistful, and so far no honey-monster. it almost feels too young for me (even though I wear rose blends well and often) in the same way Szpasszony did. Lovely, though: maidenly and innocent, yes, ...and very lovely.

Bottle: paperwhite, lily, and tuberose note all ringing clear. pale. Wet: oh, the lily is taking the lead. Dry: hinting narcissus can't make it past the lily. poppy is nodding its head beneath the towering lily amping to high heaven. Later: a sweet and pale..anemic florals and heady, sticky smoke. I would like this a lot if I didn't amp lily so, I am certain.