Poenari

I am one of those who continues to try the Samhain perfume each year, because it ought to be a holy grail scent for me but somehow comes up short. I never get the pumpkin or apple, just the fir and woods with spices. It's not bad, just not perfect. That's why I passed on getting Samhain Atmo Spray the last time it was offered. But being an eternal optimist, I decided that this year I would get the Samhain Atmo Spray, because I thought, maybe I will get some pumpkins and apples from the room spray. Well, at first spray "maybe" was all. That being said, the Samhain room spray is definitely autumn in a bottle, and it's going to work out much better than I thought at first! I have last year's Knock-A-Dolly for sharp fall leaves and spices, and comparing them, Samhain is definitely a sweeter spicy fall scent. Also by comparing them, I finally detect the apple. I am definitely glad I bought a bottle. edited: now that I've had a chance to use this several times at home, and brought it to work to spray my office, I can definitely detect apple first with all the other spices and notes listed. I sprayed my desk chair, and several days later I can still detect it. Several co-workers who have walked past my office have stopped and said that my office smells wonderful. A little goes a long way, so my bottle should last for many Halloweens to come. Those who love the perfume are really missing out on something wonderful if you don't snag a bottle of this while it's available!

This is definitely full-on patchouli, but I do not at all get the "head-shop" or "dirty hippie" feeling (not that there's anything wrong with that! ) It's a very woody patchouli, outdoorsy, with almost a pine note at first, but which fades into a smooth patchouli, probably helped by the honey. This oil is much thicker than my other Trading Post bath oils, but it still spreads easily and smoothly and soaks right into the skin. (I use my bath oils as an after-shower moisturizer.) The ingredients list is in very fine print, and even with my reading glasses I'm having a hard time making it out, but for those who dislike mineral oil I don't see it listed as an ingredient on this one. However, don't hold me to that, because I can haz bad eyesight. I'm very happy I ordered a backup bottle, as I can see that this will layer perfectly with so many of my perfumes!

Centzon Totochtin! Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood. Even though red musk isn't listed specifically as one of the notes, I think it's part of the blood component. I love Midnight Kiss, and found that Centzon Totochtin has a very similar feeling to that. It's in Excolo, and it ages so beautifully I have a backup bottle stashed away to age. The bottle I'm wearing is from 2006, and the boozy notes from the rum and red wine have smoothed out and it's all very well blended. Also, it sounds like your tastes have changed, if you now like Smut and Mme. Moriarty, so if you can find Midnight Kiss I'd retry it, too.

In the bottle and at first on my skin, this is overwhelmingly cherry-almond. In fact, sniffing it from the bottle made my nose twitch (not in a good way) but I know that you have to apply the scents to truly experience them. So at first on my skin, there was a strong maraschino cherry mingled with the almond, but I am surprised at how quickly it softens and fades to something wearable. Then after drydown, all of a sudden there was this beautiful scent that is exactly like a cherry tobacco that my husband used to smoke in a pipe when I first met him! I know there are no tobacco notes listed, and no one else has mentioned this, but I swear it was the perfect cherry pipe tobacco scent. It stayed that way on my skin until the scent completely faded. The overall scent is not long-lasting, and after the initial burst it doesn't have a strong throw, but it was beautiful while it lasted. I am definitely keeping my bottle.

Espresso, pumpkin syrup, smoky vanilla bean, milk, raw sugar, and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. When I first tried my decant, I got such a strong COFFEE!! note that I thought this wouldn't work at all, because there was nothing else and the coffee almost gave me a headache, it was so strong. I'm glad I waited it out because my first instinct was to wash it off. But after the drydown the spicy cinnamon pumpkin latte is really there. It dries down to a creamy spicy pumpkin latte, just as the name says. I don't think I'll wear it enough to warrant a bottle, but this is a really nice fall scent for the coffee lovers. Don't be afraid of the initial coffee burst, because its not strong enough after the drydown to scare off those who want a creamier coffee blend.

This is a very "green" scent, much more than I expected. Light citrus, mint, and pine- all just wisps over the musk. In many ways it reminds me of the forum-only F5 from a few years ago. Not at all a frightening howl, but a decant is plenty for me.

I decided to order some bottles of Halloweenies unsniffed, based on notes I love but with hope of finding scents that are more wearable in the 90 degree heat we're still having. Blue Pumpkin Floss sounds like the perfect scent for that! I Iove pumpkin and blackberries, but all I really got from a skin-test was pumpkin and red hots! After about an hour, there was a strange unpleasant undertone that I can't identify, as the red hots faded. I never did get the blue-ness. I'm going to wait a few days for this bottle to rest from travelling and try it again before giving up. If anything changes, I'll edit my review.

I ordered a bottle of this hoping for something that would wear well during the remaining 90 degree days and into the late summer as we slowly cool down. September is usually quite warm here in southern Ohio, and even though I'll wear my dark "Halloween" scents any time, I was looking for a change. Pom IV does not disappoint! This is an interesting blend. Immediately on my skin, there is at first a sweet-tart, fruity scent immediately followed by the red musk. No cocoa (thanks for the reminder to be sure it's blended in the bottle, Aldercy) but there is a sort of dryness that I can tell comes from the cocoa. Pom and red musk remained the main notes on me until about two hours in, after which the thyme poked its head up. Altogether, a nice blend and it serves its purpose, but one bottle is plenty.

The Infernal Lover is the perfect red musk scent and I agree with Mattie that it's very nearly a single note red musk. It is exactly what I had hoped Smut would become: where Smut is "slam you down, dirty sex", this scent is the kind of sex that is slow, seductive, and builds to a climax. It definitely has a strong throw, and the honey is barely noticeable until later in the drydown. This is a very sexy scent and I need to order multiple bottles!

In anticipation of a long-awaited vacation to the beach with my daughter, I ordered two bottles so I could slather if I wanted to. Due to my bad timing, my order arrived the day after I left for vacation. Fortunately, hubby stayed home and brought it in from the mailbox, so it had a week to rest up from its trip. I arrived home yesterday and couldn't wait to shower after the 12 hour drive, and slathered Tiki Princess, barely sniffing it in the bottle first. This is as I'd hoped, I a great scent for summer and would have been perfect at the beach. It's definitely reminiscent of a pina colada and has none of the Snow White similarity others have described, which makes me very happy. The coconut is strongest, blended with a fruity mixture that is not totally pineapple. It has a similarity to the Bath and Body Works Coco Cabana lotion that I packed instead for my vacation (disclaimer: not a worthy substitute) and will layer very well over that. I definitely think of this as a frothy coconut drink applied to my skin. I see myself using this a lot over the next few weeks, while it's still so hot here.

I wrote this in my review but just noticed this thread so I thought I'd mention it here. I think Knock-A-Dolly atmo spray is very similar to Death of Autumn, though a little sweeter from the cinnamon.

I took a real leap of faith to order Clermont, because rose is a note of doom for me, though I adore opium. Rose Cross was just too soapy on me, even though I love frankincense. But I work in Clermont county, and this is the first (and likely the only) time I've ever ordered a scent based only on its name. I might have finally unlocked the key to wearing rose. The opium is definitely the stronger note on me, and it wraps around and mingles with and tames the rose into a beautiful dark floral. This is just a beautiful scent, rose or not, and I'm happy I bought it.

OMG Gula I can't believe I waited so long to try you! I expected this to be mostly chocolate to the detriment of the other notes, so that is why I didn't really have this very high on my list to order. I was in the mood for a chocolate oil to use as an after-shower moisturizer with my chocolate scented perfumes (Centzon Totochtin, Midnight Kiss, and Chocolate, Whiskey and Cognac Truffle in particular) and this is amazing! The chocolate is rich and not too sweet, and the caramel, vanilla, and especially the currants are so well-blended with the chocolate that this is just heaven. Well done, Puddin'.

I love clove, and I love annis. All I can say about this is that it is clove and annis, but not in a good way. Glad I only got a decant. Big disappointment.

This is the first scent that has ever tempted me to drink it right from the bottle! (don't worry, I know better). Exactly as the name says, this is a boozy chocolate, whiskey, and cognac blend. Pure chocolate booze when first applied, on the drydown it softened, blended, and faded quickly enough that I will even be able to wear it to work. I am able to wear strong scents without a problem though, so YMMV. Now if I can only find a drinkable version of this at the liquor store! Suggestions, anyone?

Sour strawberry jolly ranchers with a touch of chocolate. And sour enough on my skin that I had to wash it off. I don't know if it was the strawberry or the white pepper, but it has the same sour note from Milk Moon that I couldn't stand.

First of all, I love to drink Cabernet, so I had to try a decant of this. It's a gorgeous dark fruity wine scent, and I agree with another reviewer who mentioned a similarity to the fruit in Centzon Totochtin. It ends with an almost incense note on the drydown. Gorgeous! Recommended for those who love strong grapey wine scents: Centzon Totochtin, Prospero, Urd

This one is like a much gentler version of 13 from February 2009- the one with the black label. It has a lot of similarities, but in a greatly softened version. I would recommend this one for people who, while liking the notes, found the Feb '09 version of 13 to be too strong and too spicy.

I don't care for apricots or apricot scents, so I wasn't sure what to expect with this. But this is a lovely fruity chocolate scent! Very heavy on the raspberry and chocolate, which is surprising because to me, white chocolate is the same as nothingness. It's sweet, but not overpoweringly so. For fruity chocolate, I much prefer Midnight Kiss, so a decant of this will suffice.

Very strong on the patchouli, juniper, and balsam. As others have said, it's very woodsy yet still has a sweetness to it. Even though it's a dark, more masculine scent, I really like this and would wear it. However, a decant is enough for me.

Oh hai vetiver! Yes, it is right out in front, but that's not a bad thing to me. But this is an unusual scent... the patchouli and vetiver are sparkling, and lighter/crisper than usual. Must be the grapefruit. This really reminds me of something but I cannot wrap my mind around what it is. There's almost a leathery tang to this, too. It's ok, glad I've tried the decant, but not something I would wear. And definitely not something my hubby would like so no sense in having him try it either.

Oh my stars! I have a bottle of 2008 Smut, which I don't wear often. Although I should adore it- musks, particulary red musk, sugars, and booze all love my skin, but the "smut" part of my 2008 Smut both attracts and repels me. I have received compliments when wearing it, but save it for going out to a bar, something of that nature. So it was almost an afterthought that I added a decant of Smut 2010 to the decant circle I joined. I just received my decant today, applied it, and WOWZA! Now this is what I wanted Smut to be like! It's still a gorgeous boozy musk, but it's sweeter than the 2008 version and is missing the "dirty raw sex" note that makes me so nervous about wearing 2008. Not only do I love this, my husband got home from work shortly after I wrist-tested my decant of 2010 and leaned in to really sniff and asked what scent I'm wearing today, because he loves it! Believe me, he never notices my perfume. That alone makes this multiple-bottle worthy. I'm so glad I added that decant or I'd never have experienced this version. Now.... two or three bottles??

When I saw Beth's post about the proceeds from several scents going towards the Haitian victims, I checked my spreadsheet to see if I already own any of these as imps and hadn't gotten around to trying them yet. If so, I want to test them out so I can order bottles for this cause. Lo and behold, there was Elegba on my list, and it was color-coded as untried. I love coconut so I took a chance and really slathered it on after my shower, just to get a real sense of how this would wear on me. (I feel decadent when I slather my frimps- but that's for another thread ) Elegba is, as others have described, a coconut rum, very much like Malibu. I even sniffed my bottle of Malibu just to be sure. On my skin, the coconut is very predominant and it's not at all boozy. Coconut is a summer scent for me, so I will definitely be ordering a bottle and look forward to wearing this in the summer months.

I used to wear Fendi ALL the time. I find it to be more like a spicy,leathery oriental. You may try The Caterpillar and Hand of Glory. Thank you so much for your reply! And yay, I have both of those for her to try! Fendi was one of my all-time favorites, and I wore it a lot and always received compliments on it. I don't have either of lookingglass' recommendations, but I can say that I still love to wear spicy dark scents. If you can find some Chrysanthemum Moon, it's a fabulous spicy oriental, and one of my BPAL favorites. I also love and get a lot of compliments when I wear Snake Oil. I've never gotten the playdoh note in Snake Oil that so many others describe. On my skin, it's a very spicy vanilla with lots of throw, so if your friend can wear Fendi, she might love Snake Oil.

This was a frimp from the lab. Upon initial application, all I smelled was orange- huh? Then I realized it was the neroli. It quickly dried down into a dark scent that was somewhat citrus/floral. It's ok, but not something that I would wear often.