juniperus

Goneril. I'd still give your friend Othello and not mention the rose - I don't get much from it at all and it's dark and strong like whoah. I like Titus on my hub, so that's a good choice too, I think. Listen - he knows the male chars, give him an imp of each of them and see what he does with them. His own associations with the literature may take him places the reviews don't lead you, you know?

Bottle: spice, sweet spice Wet: the cassia and red musk, with a citrus edge I can sense more than smell Dry: patchouli and tobacco present (hoping the tobacco doesn't take off), this is darkening considerably Later: back to mainly spice, the plum is lovely...fantastic, really lovely!

Bottle: dark and dirty. not dirt - uncleanliness. Wet: I can separate the pepper, and some sweetness (blood musk?), and leather Dry: add to that the incense. no amping cypress yet, so that's a good thing Later: the leather has faded (usually it amps, so this is a pleasant surprise), and the cypress has not amped - but something here isn't working, or not working with something else...but the sweetness is almost sour, it's very strange.

Bottle: buttery and nutty...I wonder if that's the chestnut blossom with the musk. how odd. Wet: mostly the same, but I can discern floral behind Dry: more floral coming up from behind, but still much warmer than mere floral Later: the almost-foody forenote has passed and this is now a lovely floral, warm, rich, no amping lily (a rarity for me) (I'm certain my friend, a Judith scholar, will love this to pieces!)

Bottle: lavender and citrus, sharp and sweet Wet: much the same, but with a faint floral background Dry: I can smell the jasmine, now, and the herbs are subtle and a little moody in the background. the citrus is less sweet, lavender takes the lead but has lost its sharpness. Later: the jasmine has gotten pretty big, as its wont to do, but it's not taken over completely - the lavender is holding its own. this is very pretty, not quite me - but gentle, calming, and a little wistful.

Bottle: sweet red musk Wet: red musk, and I can discern the white musk floating above it... Dry: I can feel the tang of the grapefruit but I can't separate the scent of a grapefruit (which is a really strange thing, but I'l rolling with it), and there is a sweet ness underneath is all..yeah, a manic sweetness. LOL Later: wacky. the sweet is almost painfully so, but not quite...this is right on the edge for me...it's lovely but distracting, I like it, but I don't know if I can often wear it. Does that make sense? No? LOL

Bottle: delicate floral, more like the riotous orange lillies that grow in my yard than those pale creatures that come from the florist Wet: the same, an almost buttery floral Dry: there is a spiciness here, it reminds me of the forsythia in my grandmother's yard that smells faintly of cinnamon...spice and floral, but yet not very floral or very cinnamony precisely. Later: SO beautiful and so short-lived on me.

Bottle: cedar and pacthouli, like 'dirty hippy' meets one of those rustic, woodsy cabin boutiques Wet: I can discern the cinnamon on the edges, this is turning kinda incensey Dry: hello vetiver, you bastard. ugh, the vetiver is amping and morphing..not that I'm surprised, it does the same thing on my skin every damn time. I'm close to giving 'hope springs eternal' a swift kick in the arse, though. Later: OMFG vetiver, or rather - what vetiver becomes...big, ugly, dirty (not like fresh soil, like dust and muck and crap that gets tracked in on your shoes), with a hint of used motor oil. ack ack ack

Bottle: floral, evening-type and sort of general-floral in tone Wet: growing sweeter, both floral and fruit. Dry: if I were to put a bouquet of flowers (the ones I smelled when I was visiting my sister in Nashville, not flowers that grow up here) in a vase filled with Pom....that's what this smells like. I can't smell the aquatic note separate form the rest, but I'll be damned if the headache isn't starting anyway. Predictable, unfortunately. Later: owhurts. owsinuses. ow.

Bottle: wintergreen Wet: yup, wintergreen. Dry: wintergreen and...wood! I can just barely discern the florals, they are soft, not heady. it's...like I was sucking on a wintergreen lifesaver while walking through the forest. ok, that was an odd image... Later: the wintergreen has subsided, we are in the forest and it's a gentle, quiet place.

Bottle: very soft, pale green-yellow floral. gentle. Wet: exceptionally pale..non-corpreal, mist-like. yes. Dry: this is so delicate, so wispy and pretty...like looking at the world through freshly washed lace curtains. Later: there is such a softness here without being powdery...I'm having a hard time describing this..it's not what I would describe as 'young' or 'youthful', per se, but it's innocent and transluscent.

Second both Anne and TCS! Imp is fantastic, great choice! Luperci and Mme. M are both wonderful - at least she can still get Mme. M, so if you're hesitant about LEs that might be the better choice, there. Vechernyaya is a very delicate and feminine patchouli, it's really lovely.

Bottle: green, light florals...very fresh Wet: the same, a bit greener Dry: lighter, no sign of overwhelming fruit like I feared - this is very subtle. Later: gorgeous, and defying all laws of skin chemistry - the honey and jasmine, vanilla and fruit Played Nice With Others. a frikkin miracle, I tell you!

Bottle: sweet and smoky cinnamon, yummmm Wet: ooh, smokier...it's like the olfactory experience of diving into deep water...it surrounds my senses, almost overwhelming in depth Dry: sweet, cinnamon, warming...wow. I mean it. Later: the myrrh cradles the fire and the smoke - it's amazing, image-invoking, a masterpiece. brava!!!

Warm, slightly spicy, woods with a little muskiness underneath. I love this, and so will Bri, I suspect (ok, he's not hard to please...LOL)

Bottle: resinous, open and fresh (without smelling green, per se). gently resinous, in other words Wet: more of the very light greenness that is lending itself as fresh is apparent. Dry: this just grows deeper and gains presence - not heavier, mind you, but it does have oomph. it's gorgeous, really amazing. Later: I missed this last year, to my clear discredit, but it's fucking amazing, some amazing brilliance in resins - love me some resins, but I've never smelled them so light, so clean....oh how I desperately want more of this!!

Bottle: candied florals. Wet: still sugary, more floral .. especially carnation. Dry: the sweet is really vanilla-y, I can just barely detect the phlox behind the carnation and vanilla ampage. Later: crappit. amped vanilla sticky sweetness that stomps all over these lovely flowers. I'm very sad, I wanted phloxxxxxx!

Oh that's one of my favorites, too and I think the key for her will be, like for me, the red musk. These are others I like that are in the same vein: Dragon's Musk Scherezade Fenris Wolf Loviatar (I can't wear this because leather notes don't like me, but she may do well with it) Debauchery (caveat: I can wear civet. Some people can't.) Lust

Bottle: Very fresh and fruity, like a fruit bowl placed in front of my nose (with a floral garnish) Wet: The lychee and kumquat are foremost among the fruits, this is pretty much all fruit at this point - but it's not sweet or artificial..this is fresh, and almost refreshing like the first really deep breath of spring when I can really smell the season change. Dry: The fruit has backed off some to let the florals come out - no one floral is standing out, but I can, if I try, pick out the peony and plum blossom (the two notes that really attracted me the first time I read the description). Later: the finish is an almost smoky sweetness, perhaps that's the bamboo, willow, and resin - I don't know. But the end is really lovely on me - I was pretty uncertain through the strong fruity phases, because often fruit do Bad Things on me, but there was no unfortunate morphing (just fruit, which I'm not necessarily big on smelling like..they were nice, but on me they weren't OMGawesome). I am glad I didn't get a bottle, this isn't that amazing on me, but it is nice, very nice during the latter half when the fruit are almost an afterthought behind other notes (like the white peach in Imp, on my skin) so I think I may have to consider getting a decant..this will be lovely for spring, and it might be interesting layered with one of my other springtime favorites, Peony Moon.

Bottle: pleasantly incensey Wet: much the same, a little sweeter Dry: not a dusty incense, a little sweet (and no amping honey, I'm glad to say), and multi-layered Later: very interesting, not the sort of incensey scent I'm usually drawn to, but this is really very lovely - I think I need to acquire a larger bottle.

Bottle: sweet and slightly sharp (the oude, mebbe?), no one note standing out Wet: I can identify the currant, and amber, and then there is a jumbled note of several things I can't pick apart. Dry: complex, and very interesting. sweetening ever so slightly, the sandalwood coming out more. Later: gorgeous and miraculous - the honey has neither amped nor morphed. the currant is a sly hint at the rear, this hasn't gotten the lest bit foody on me. The sandalwood and amber are amazing, and I couldn't be more pleased.

Bottle: ok, this will sound terrible - but sweet, rather pleasant, furniture oil. (I have teak furniture in the office that I have to regularly oil, stop looking at me like that!) Wet: light and fresh popping up - I will guess that's the bamboo (though admittedly I don't know what ho wood smells like) Dry: less of the teak, and more of that fresh note. muuuch better, it was a little disconcerting for me. Later: the same, and not really fading after time, either. I'm only catching the musk and snake oil if I really work at it..this is very fresh and the color green of celery hearts...pale. Not me, but a really fascinating scent. It's not expressly feminine, per se, but very delicate.

Bottle: spicy. none of them are really stepping up on their own, it was a team effort. Wet: while I can catch the cassia, this is ginger's show. Dry: spicy and sexy and more of the cinnamon...foody, but WOW. it's spice-rack foody, not baked-good foody. Later: the same...it almost smells like three witches over snake oil with no pepper. and by that I wish to say: wooooowza!

Bottle: ooh, minty! fresh! it's a gum commercial! (just kidding) Wet: same, heavy on the peppermint. and I can catch the bergamot hovering in the background. Dry: more of the bergamot, and it might be tempered a bit by the green tea, but I'm not really registering it as green tea...just, er...balance. Later: the same, really, it's just fading, but not changing disposition as it's doing so. interesting, but not me.

I have only a drop to schniff and try, but: buttery, rich, and foody. I can barely discern the snake oil, this is a pound cake with a hint of some spice I can't quite put my finger on. Even though I'm not a foody kind of gal I must admit this smells really damn good and definitely edible and sexy all at the same time. A..minty? note hovers - I don't smell it so much as feel it. There is a resinous quality after a long space of time - this is really round and lovely, and distinctly sexy, and I'm certain there is much weeping and lamentation that this can't be bought separately in a big bottle. I know I'd love one!