reynardine

Tested from an aged imp. In imp: ORANGE!!! with a touch of something else, maybe the neroli. Not getting the raspberry at all. Wet: ORANGE!!! and more ORANGE!!! Drydown: ORANGE!!! A few hours later: Okay, it has calmed down a bit and smells a bit like a tart blend of orange with a touch of raspberry. Very sweet and fruity. Will try this out a few more times. Seems like it might be a good summer scent. Might be worth a bottle, but I'm not sure yet.

In Imp: strong spicy scent with a touch of vanilla Wet: getting some vanilla and a LOT of spice (which I'm guessing is the Dragon's Blood? I thought that was more floral?) Drydown: Vanilla is coming out more, but still very, very SPICY. Still going strong on me several hours later. Has quite a throw, also. Not sure about this one. I'm kinda meh about spicy scents, but the husband really liked it on me. Will probably use up imp and dither about getting a bottle.

Wanted to try this one out because of all of the notes sounded good to me. In imp: plum and wildflowers. Didn't really pick up on the cream. Wet: A bit of plum and a lot of wildflowers! The wildflowers are dancing around! Drydown: But the plum comes out more and the wildflowers start to settle down and take a seat in back. An hour later: The cream note finally came out and this was what finally made the deal. The plum and cream together are HEAVENLY. The wildflowers still stay in the background and peek out every now and then, but plum and cream dominate. This has stayed on me so far for four hours. Lovely scent, not overwhelming. I am certainly going to order a bottle of this!!!

Had to try this because everyone raves about it, although it's really not my style. Imp fresh from lab. In imp: spicy vanilla Wet: SPICY!!! And more spicy!!! Drydown: Still spicy!!! Hour later: And here comes the vanilla, finally. The spices have blended into it and it's a nice scent, although somewhat masculine for my taste. Going to age the imp and try it again to see what happens--the spicy side was okay, but I preferred the vanilla. Also want to try some of the Snake Pit to see what comes up with that. Also, I want to see what happens when my husband tries this. I like Snake Oil, but it's not the OMG LOVE that I hear so much about.

In bottle: vanilla and rose, very soft. Wet: the rose is coming out more. It's a red rose smell, but the vanilla is still there. This is light and pretty. Drydown: Candy Rose. I swear, it's like candy, but with a touch of rose. An hour later: Okay, more of the vanilla is coming out, which seems to be making the candy scent richer and less "sweet". The rose is still there. Some questions have come up whether this scent is like Katerina van Tassel. IMHO Kat van Tassel is more creamy and white rose, this one has more of a red rose scent and is less cream and more vanilla. They do sorta resemble each other, but this one is more candy-like and Kat van Tassel is more creamy. I think if you liked KvT, you'll enjoy this one as well. Might have to pick up another bottle before the Yules come down!

In imp: soft floral, touch of herbs, very nice. Wet: very pretty, the peony shines out with a bit of herbs (can't pick out which ones). Drydown: My skin is amping the herbs. The floral has faded into the background. An hour later: A faint herbal smell. Spring/summer scent, for sure. Pretty, but not quite me. My husband really liked it on me, though. Said he thought it smelled "spicy". Will probably use up the imp because of that.

I requested this imp because I wanted to try an aquatic scent and this one was recommended. In imp: very, very pretty. Light citrus, fresh. Wet: Everyone keeps saying "blue" and now I know why. That's exactly what it smelled like to me, too! Can't pick out exact notes, although there was a touch of floral, but mainly a "wet" citrus-type scent, very fresh and clean. Drydown: No, no, no!!! It's turning to soap! Within 30 minutes, this went to complete soap on me. A nice-smelling soap, but soap, nonetheless. Something with my skin chemistry just doesn't work well with it. Off to swaps with you, dear Danube.

Got this as a frimp, and as I am a great fan of florals, decided to give it a try. In imp: very pretty, but lotsa flowers there. wet: OMG STRONG STRONG STRONG!!! drydown: It's not letting up! It's kicking my butt! Lily of the Valley and maybe Plumeria? Not getting much of the rose. I had to wash this off. First time I've done that with a floral. I don't know exactly what note in this was annoying. Not rose, I think, I wear that all the time. I've worn various Lily notes with success. One of the others. This imp gets passed along to someone else to try. Sorry it didn't work out.

This is from a very aged bottle of London. I think I bought this in 2004 or 2005. In bottle: sharp rose scent, very dry. Wet on skin: same thing, sharp rose scent. Almost a single-note fragrance. Drydown: Remains single-note rose. Very old-fashioned and feminine, womanly, not something a young girl would wear. Several hours later: Still there. This one has staying power on me. Obviously, I liked it because I got a bottle! More of a winter or perhaps early spring scent. Great if you like florals.

Imp from lab. In imp: ripe scent, plum? With some floral... Wet: plum and I think jasmine, very nice. Drydown: Here's where the transformation takes place--Kitsune-tsuki keeps evolving between fruity and floral, never quite settling down on either one. An hour later: It still hasn't made up its mind. This one is a winner! I'm certainly going to order a bottle!

Someone passed me on a frimp. In imp: light, floral scent, touch of grass. Wet: again, grassy floral. Very light, fresh, pretty. Not picking up any berries. Drydown: Wait, there are the berries, just a touch, barely there. Faded on me within an hour. Not for me, obviously. However, I did like the scent generally. It would be a lovely fragrance for a young girl! Very fresh and innocent!

I'm not the biggest fan of pumpkin, but the husband is, so I thought I'd get an imp of Jack to try to see if it would work on me. In imp: Don't get much pumpkin. Smells like butter. Wet: Mmmm, butter, maybe a bit of nut. Still no pumpkin. Drydown: Still butternut goodness. Pleasant enough, but not pumpkin! An hour later: Well, that faded fast. Did not last long at all. Going, going, gone. The husband is still intrigued by the scent, so he is going to try out the imp on himself to see how it works with his chemistry. Jack, alas, just did not agree with me at all. [EDIT] Well, the husband tried Jack today. It started out like butter on him, but within a couple of minutes that faded and morphed into pumpkin and spices. Amazing how the same scent works so differently! He thought it was pleasant but too light a fragrance for him, so into the swaps it goes.

I tracked down a bottle of this because I love roses and had to try this one. In bottle: White rose and cream. Wet: The same. The cream note was a bit sour on my skin. FEAR--would this not work on me? I haven't experimented much with foodie scents. I do know that I personally don't like the smell of milk. Drydown: Not to fear, honey is here! The sour note has faded into a rich smoothness. Very sweet, gentle scent. Two hours later: soft rose cream scent. Absolutely lovely. More for winter than summer, though. Too rich for warm weather. A winner! Especially for those who like floral and very sweet fragrances.

In bottle: reedy, green scent. Wet: fruity, still green (bamboo, I think?), a touch of floral Drydown: florals coming out, still a bit fruity. An hour later: Still there, well mixed, difficult to pick out specific notes. I keep thinking "green". Very pleasant, uplifting scent. Fun! I'm glad I got ahold of a bottle!

From imp: Light, fruity/floral scent. Wet: a hint of rose, maybe peaches? Very refreshing and pretty. Drydown: And it's GONE. That fast. 10 minutes max. Not even the powder scent. Nothing. It just disappeared. My skin must just eat this blend. Too bad, I had high hopes. Off to the swap pile with this one.

Samhain '09 So much of what I have is floral (because that is what I like) that I thought I would stretch out this year and get some seasonal scents. I picked out Pomona and Samhain '09 from this year's Halloweenies since they looked like they would work best with me and also seemed like they "smelled like autumn". Pomona I adored (see review). Samhain...well... In the bottle: Me likey. Nice blend of woodsy scent. I'm getting the fir and spices especially. And patchouli. Wet: The woods are screaming! Or maybe the patchouli! No, it's my nose! Drydown: Dang, but that patchouli is STRONG. Everything else bows down before it. orz More dry: Okay, that bad boy settled down some and let the others come out to play. Getting some fir now. And a bit of the spices--my nose isn't sophisticated enough to pick out which ones, but they are on the floor playing in the background while Fir and Black Patchouli sit at the kitchen table and talk. Yet more dry: A bit of sweetness is coming out now. Nice. I like sweet. Well, that was an adventure in fragrance! Verdict: Samhain '09 really does smell like autumn. But I think I'll let the oil age a while to see if it softens the scent some, as other reviewers have claimed. As it is now, the patchouli is way too strong and I don't care much for patchouli.

This is the one Halloweenie I've been waiting for, so I had to try it on right away when I got it! In bottle: Uh, oh. Nail polish... ;_; Wet: No, wait, it's Jolly Rancher! I haven't had one of those since I was eleven! But I can almost taste it now! Drydown: Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Apples must amp on me, but the pomegranate is coming out. Sweet and sweet and sweeter still. This is so fruity and so sweet. I can see why some other reviewers were getting an alcohol jibe. Not quite at that point, but... An hour later: Sweet apple/pomegranate with a touch of berry in the background. Very autumnal, although I could see this in late summer as well. Too rich for spring, too ripe for winter. Love it! EDIT: It's now 5 years later (2014) and the nail polish smell has aged out. It's much softer now, but still has that lovely apple/pomegranate scent. And it is still one of my go-to autumn scents.

This will be kind of a strange review. I got Catherine as an imp years ago, ADORED IT, and bought a bottle. 10 ml, because I loved it so much. This would have been in, oh, 2005, so I'm still working on the bottle because I don't slather much. And I never reviewed it. So I'm going to try to remember my old impressions and now give some impressions of how it has aged. First impressions: In bottle: Very sharp. Authoritative scent. Heavy on the roses. Wet: The rosemary starts to come out. Still very strong roses. Drydown: Now we're getting a bit of orange blossoms, but just a touch. And the scent stays fairly strong, for hours. A little goes a long way. Four years later: In bottle: Still sharp, much more rosemary this time, though. The roses have faded. Wet: Rosemary. Roses are coming out to play, though. And the orange blossoms are still there as well. Drydown: It's a much softer scent than it used to be. More subtle, absolutely gorgeous, rich floral/herbal blend. Brilliant. If you didn't like it before, hold onto it for a year or so and try it again. You might be pleasantly surprised!

This is my favorite scent of all time. I can't believe I never got around to reviewing it! Okay, here goes. In the bottle: Rich, deep, almost too strong. A lot going on--almost too much. Wet: It starts sorting out pretty quickly, though. I'm getting the roses, berries, something else... Drydown: Still roses and berries, very rich. There IS something else that I don't have the experience to place, but my skin is amping the berries and I'm loving the rose notes. And does this stay? Yes it does! ALL DAY LONG!! (So many of these things fade out on me, it's very trying...) I tried this back in 2005 as an imp and got a 10 ml bottle. Still working my way through it (fortunately, I don't slather). It has aged beautifully--the scent is richer and deeper than ever before. I cried when I found out this one was discontinued. If you run across some and have a chance to try it, please do. I think you'd be pleasantly surprised. But like the Viking Settlement in Newfoundland, this scent was not destined to be with us long. Skoal! to the Northland! Skoal! " --Thus the tale ended. --The Skeleton in Armor, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This is from an old imp that I had gotten, so it has aged. I tried Neo-Tokyo back when I first got it, had a general "Oh, that's nice," reaction, then put the imp away and forgot about it. Dragged it out today for "Wear Your Rares Day" and realized I'd never bothered to review it. In the bottle: Ozone, metallic scent. Very sharp, almost piercing. Wet: Settles down a bit, still sharp, but loses some of the ozone, which is a relief. I remember thinking that the first time as well--I was afraid of the "Nail Polish" smell. But no, it doesn't do that. Drydown: Crisp, clean, very green smelling (if green had a scent, this would be it--light green, though, not dark green). There's a touch of floral in here, too. Almost smells a bit herbal. After a couple of hours, it's still there. Very light, not obnoxious at all. Did not go to powder. I think this is a lovely scent for summer, and a good urban scent. Would work well for business. I'm so sorry this was discontinued. I would have liked to have gotten a bottle. I should have paid more attention back in the day!

A frimp came into my hands--this isn't in my usual line. But I'll try anything once! In the bottle: Peppery? Sharp! Wet: Lime. And Mint. Still sharp. Not unpleasantly so. Drydown: Now I'm getting a hint of lavender, but the lime and mint are still there. This is a very cute, herby scent. A hour later: Still there, though very soft. Didn't go to powder, but my skin doesn't amp this, either. Probably won't get a bottle, but I'll certainly use up the imp, and recommend this to anyone looking for an herbal scent. This is a nice one.

Got a frimp. Got two! Lucky me. I am so allergic to most woods (cedar, sandalwood, and yes...YEW). But what the heck, I'll try it! In bottle: Is that pine? I think? It isn't yew. We had yew trees in our front yard for the longest time and I know very well what that smells like, that lovely sharp scent that hits just before my nose stops up. Wet: What IS that? It's not pine. Something woodsy, though. Had my husband, who likes to work with wood, take a sniff and he couldn't place it either, but it wasn't pine we were getting. Not berries, either. Earthy smell. Clean. Drydown: Pleasant, crisp, woodsy scent. Would go nice in winter, I think. Cannot place it, though. However, it did NOT make me sneeze, tear up or start wheezing, so whatever it was didn't set off my allergies. Good staying power, too. Still around several hours later. I don't think Yew Trees is really for me (I'm a floral girl), but it was nice to find a woodsy scent that didn't create havoc. I like the idea of a previous poster to try to layer this with one of the pumpkin scents. Might experiment with that and see how that goes.

Got this as a frimp. In bottle: strong, sharp, almost like nail polish Wet: Okay, Lavender and roses, very strong. It reminds me of an Lavender soap that my late grandmother used to use. This is not a bad thing, as I was very fond of my grandmother. Drydown: Pretty much lavender, with a bit of something behind it. Jasmine, maybe? Powder within 30 minutes. Sorry, I'm not tired at all, but lavender never did have that affect on me. It's nice, but not for me.

Floral all the way. I didn't pick up a fruit scent at all. In the bottle, wet on the skin, dry on the skin, early, late, anywhere. This scent was pure, flowery goodness. Picked up mainly lilac and gardenia with a touch of rose. Which is fine as I adore flowery scents and this one didn't kick off the allergies or anything. A very light, gorgeous floral. Went a bit powdery, but then came back and stayed for hours! I'm ordering a bottle. Love this!

Got a frimp of this, quite a while back. Just got around to trying it out. In the bottle, it was cloyingly sweet. Too much so. First on the skin, the same thing. Very thick sweetness, like candy. I don't do candy scents at all. However, it dried into a very nice, rich floral. Sweet, but deep. Not too strong on me, either, just right. After about an hour, it still had a nice scent going. I'm not the best at identifying scents, but I think the lotus is what was coming out the most, with something richer underneath that I couldn't quite make out. Not quite sure if it is me, yet. But I'll keep the imp and try it a few more times before deciding. This might be worth a bottle.