juniperus

Bottle: wow, amazing blend - I can rarely catch all of the notes at bottle-sniff, but with this I could. Wet: sage and sweet pea most clearly defines this - very crisp and clean. Dry: I'm catching the musk, and the tonka hasn't sweetened this beyond all recognition. Later: where patchouli makes me think hippy-shop, sage makes me think occult bookstore. this is fresh and clean, a light floral that doesn't seem too 'young' for me. And I love sweet pea - must plant some, I've always loved my grandmother's.

Amsterdam, I think. I can't say I've sniffed the whole GC, but I ordered PM because I was so enchanted with Amsterdam's peony - and it's that note I focus on with both. I'm laying in stores of EOM at this point - but I know the day will come when I am out. I've not found anything comparable so far in my sniffing...any ideas from the old-timers?

Bottle: heer be dragons..blood? it smells very much like Hecate in the bottle - I'm getting that immediate oh-god-too-sweet internal panic. Wet: there is a musk behind the sweet, and something else with a sharp edge. I can't quite make it out. Dry: like Hecate (on my skin), the sweet cherry has completely passed. I'm getting a hint of almond...this is languid and heady and gorgeous. I can't quite pick all of the notes out, nothing is taking over even though it's a multilayered masterpiece. Later: same, mellowing and fading on me a bit. really spectacular - this is a signature written with a flourish by a fine Waterman, that's for sure! Unlike most sweet that turns very bad on me, this has gone to a really lovely place: no food-y associations, no sinus-grabbing sweetness - on me? Amazing - I didn't think it possible!

Bottle: sharp, churchy incense; franky, myrrh, oh baby. Have I mentioned that one of my foci is the Papal Inquisition in Aragon and the writings of Nicholas Eymeric? Wheeeeee! Wet: Same, less sharp. I'm all about this. Dry: warm and resinous and formal. I am far, far from Catholic, but this smell is one of the things I love about stepping into the nave - that and the windows. Later: mellow and dusky and resinous and wonderful. Not a lot of stay, but that's what reapplication is for - wish I had more than an imp!

Bottle: woods under spices, esp. cinnamon Wet: woods stronger, I detect sandalwood. and a hint of green behind the spice. Dry: warm bursts of musk under the woody/spiciness. the green hasn't made it beyond a teasing hint. there is a sweetness, might be vanilla or maybe there is dragon's blood resin behind the spices. Later: I think there is tonka here, and the mulling spices have married the musks for a really warm, mellow, and sexy feel. This has all of the aspects of Tintagel I liked, but I'm wearing it much better and the musk makes it simply delicious. Brava!

Bottle: sandalwood, and a hint of amber Wet: the sweeter blossoms are coming forward, especially the tuberose. And the honey. Dry: I can catch hints of the vanilla (but it's not as sickly sweet as it usually gets on me, to my delight) and the florals are holding their own. Later: this is right at that edge of sweet I can comfortably wear. the florals have mellowed, and I can catch the dates now, but no sandalwood. very interesting, mellow, and retiring (which is OK - sometimes I just want to wear something just for me). very nice!

Bottle: frankincense and violet, none of the cinnamon. Wet: the violet has stepped forward, still no spice. Dry: ah-ha! hints of the cinnamon at last, but not food-y edge to it. Later: still heavy violet, and the cinnamon has replaced the frankincense for the #2 position, but it's still not food-y. interesting, but I do wish the frankincense had stuck around.

Bittersweet yet powerful: salty aquatic notes and bursting with dragon's blood. Bottle: sweet, sharp, and aquatic. Wet: the dragon's blood resin is more evident it and of itself. I'm not sure what the aquatic is, but it's on the sweet side. Dry: a hint of floral. floral? Later: the aquatic has turned to old-lady's-bathroom floral, like the bowl full of the soap collection. gardenia and lily of the valley soaps. bizarre.

Bottle: musk, fig, and a hint of dragon's blood resin Wet: the musks are forward, while the resin is stepping back. a hint of the currant, but it's not too sweet. Dry: mostly the same, but warmer, mellower. Later: musks with a chorus of the other notes, like a vocalists with a back-up group. very nice, never got too sweet on me. yessss!

Bottle: sweet wood and amber and musk..oh my! Wet: add to that the sandalwood - a very warm conspiring of oils. Dry: sweet, but not grabs-me sweet, and mellow.no one note is fighting its way forward. Later: sandalwood and musk, warm and round and rawr. this likes me, it really likes me!

Bottle: florals, especially the violet, and a hint of wood. Wet: the violet remains in front, the woody notes have receded. a hint of amber. Dry: a decadent, definitely purple, set of heady florals. no vetiver, for which I am grateful, but also little of the amber and no musk, which I had hoped for more. Later: still no musk, a hint of the amber..mostly the purple florals. pretty, more feminine that I would expect for Lucifer, tho.

Bottle: woods and pepper, with a sweetness that I can't pick out quite. Wet: I think the sweet was the lily, as that's competing with the wood. Dry: lily and peony, in front of wood. A hint of the pepper left, no musk yet. Later: green and wood and pepper. none of the mandarin, and little of the musk left. complex, feminine (but certainly not girly) and the lily didn't take over as it often does on me.

Bottle: civet, red musk, maybe, and..cloves? Wet: the civet and musk are at the fore, glad civet usually doesn't turn on me. And sweet..vanilla? Also a green edge, but I'm just not getting that note clearly. Dry: the vanilla is expanding, and the civet. the spicy note has disappeared. Later: oh that darn vanilla. this is sexy like sex in a candy store sexy. er. no. surely better on someone else..bummer.

Bottle: a spiciness and a hint of a floral..carnation I think. Wet: more of the same, but brighter, somehow. Dry: carnation, a woodiness, an incense-y/resiny spiciness, and another floral I can't quite put my finger on that really brightens and opens the scent up tremendously..not too sweet. Later: the incense-y sandalwood and something-else has increased, it's dry and warm..like wood in the sun. very nice.

Bottle: whew! sah-weeeeet.cherry! with the sweetness I'd almost suspect dragon's blood resin, except there is no rose-scent at all (and it's not red. bwaha). Wet: sweet, almost maraschino, cherry with a hint of ylang ylang. Dry: more incense-y with the myrrh stepping forward, but still rather sweet. less of the cherry-scent. Later: the cherry is gone, and it's very incense-y, and the sweet has calmed considerably. Not sure if it's for me, but it's nice.

Bottle: heady, sweet floral, very intense Wet: more clearly an orchid Dry: duskier, more subdued. Later: still very fresh and floral, almost-sweet, but subdued enough that it's a reach-out-and-grab-ya floral. pretty, but not a scent I think I wear particularly gracefully. alas.

Bottle: holy sweet mother of...sweet. not food-sweet, not floral-sweet, just...sweet. fortunately, also not sinus-assaulting sweet. Wet: poppy and pulp, I assume, as i don't detect the other notes..still very sweet. Dry: a hint of the ylang ylang and sandalwood also appears in the fray. Later: it's fade quite a bit, little staying power on me. I can catch hints of the chamomile, the sweet has calmed down some, but the lavender never did step up to be counter (a shame, that's the note I like the best from the list). It's ok, but not more than ok on me.

Bottle: paleness at first sniff - nothing standing out on it's own. I find it interesting when I can smell a shade.. Wet: I can catch the sweet of the vanilla, the white florals (nothing standing out there, tho), none of the lemon or musks. On the sweet side, but not overwhelming. Dry: the floral is stepping in front of the vanilla, a hint of the neroli, and maybe the bergamot (some sniffs I get a hint, some I don't), but nothing else. Later: Very gentle, subtle scent, and very spring. still none of the citrus (which doesn't upset me too much, foody notes don't tend to like me), nor the musk (which does sadden me). The drop of vanilla, as usual, is expanded to a greater than a drop effect, and the hints earlier haven't materialized to much standing. I can catch a bit of the sandalwood, but I'm still left with vanilla and pale, pale floral...which isn't unpleasant, per se, but I think this would be much lovelier on someone who has a better relationship with all of the notes in the blend.

Bottle: freshly blooming peony. I can't wait for the eeensy-little bush in the backyard to bloom! Wet: there is a hint of the plum blossom with the peony..it's on the sweet side, but doesn't detract from the heady, intoxicating peony. Dry: it's my grandmother's back yard in a few weeks - she has a whole fence-side of the yard packed with these huge peony bushes that had been her mother's (..and someday, when the house needs be sold, they will be my and my sister's lovely old-fashioned bushes). Later: soft, and subtle, and peony, and Spring! Happy, happy me. If I had married early enough in the year these would have been my bouquet, I do love peony.

Bottle: this is very reminiscent of Namaste, sharp and lemony. Wet: lemon, very little else. not a sweet lemon, more sour. Dry: Cedar is really stepping forward, hints of the lemon but none of the sandalwood. Later: Cedar and sandalwood, the barest hints of the patchouli. Not terribly complex, but definitely warm and woody..and both familiar and exotic.

Bottle: Oh my! Patchouli! Wet: The musks are stepping forward, mellowing the Good God It's Patchouli affect. Dry: a lovely balance, golden and warm. I detect little of the poppy. Later: I get the image of walking through a spice market at sunset - the pavement is still radiating heat form the day, all is gold-colored from the dying rays, and the spices and are perfuming the air. Complex, but mellow. Very nice.

Bottle: Dark, green, and oddly floral. Wet: The floral, almost jasmine-y, sweet of the stephanotis and the resins are foremost. The green of the cypress is present without standing out on its own. Dry: A definitely darker floral, but as a result of the resins plus the floral not a dark floral itself. Interesting and complex. Later: Fresh and dark and fascinating, but not quite me. Not disagreeable, odd, and complex, and masculine without being stereotypically so.

Bottle: Moonflower, crisp and heady. Wet: The rose steps up, but still on the high, sweet side as it mingles with the moonflower. We're heading close to soapy, which will make me very, very sad indeed .. as I was so certain I'd like this I have bought more. Dry: It's somewhere between powdery and soapy rose-ness with the moonflower still very present. A very...flowery floral. Not so much of the complex with this one. Later: Definitely a rose soap with a white floral in there to lighten the effect. Gah!

Bottle: sharp, sharp bay. Wet: bay and the sweet of the honey. It's sharp to the point of an aggressive scent, if that makes sense. Dry: it's assailing my sinuses from two fronts - aiee! one two sharp, the other too sweet! Later: the bay is so strong I need to wash, I can't wait.

Bottle: spice and...gotta be the vetivert. damp burnt wood-bits from a campfire. hint of sweet. Wet: more of the sweet and spice. the spice is getting me in the sinus a little, but I'm not sure why. Dry: reminds me of a grandmotherly witch's cottage in the afternoon sun - drying florals, warm aged wood, and spices. sweeter than I usually care for, but not offensively so. Later: A sweet spiciness that doesn't smack of bakery - very interesting. The spice and vetivert remain strong til the end, the sweet present but not so much that I can so easily pick it out of the pine-up. Really interesting, I keep sniffing my wrist, pondering it.