Trish

Ok so maybe I'm weird or a little obsessed (although I suspect I'm not the only one around here!), but I'm already trying to work out what I should wear on July 21 as I devour the last Harry Potter book. So far I'm thinking Dragon's Blood, although Severin is also in mind merely because of the name (it makes me think of Severus Snape). Anyone else have any suggestions? Or am I the only one who is already dwelling on this?

Does anyone have any suggestions for what to wear to a wedding in a few weeks? The wedding is on a boat followed by a reception at this place. The dress code is cocktail. I'm wearing a flowing low cut long black layered top and black pants (the not wearing black at weddings thing really isn't followed here at all. Last wedding I went to 75% of females were), and a floaty pink scarf. I don't know the groom's family but I'm very close with the bride's entire family so I can pretty well guarantee that no matter how formal or fancy anything appears the atmosphere will be very relaxed. It will be early autumn here and likely to still be warm, which makes me start having second thought about the majority of my collection as I naturally gravitate towards the warm/musky/spicey/resinous scents. Also the ceremony is at 2:30pm so I need something that will work for afternoon and night and last that long. I want something that's sexy - or rather sultry - but not too heavy. This immediately counts out most of my lighter scents - much as I love Kumiho, Lampades, White Rabbit etc I wouldn't say they're sexy or sultry! So far I'm seriously considering: Snake Oil - the stand by, but I wore this to the last wedding (which was the bride's brother's wedding) Hunter Moon - my number one Bpal but it doesn't last long on my skin Snake Charmer - possibly winning (today at least). Intrigue - probably a bit heavy for the day part, especially for the first 30 minutes or so as the throw is overwhelming. Also not sure I want anything quite so incensey. However the feel of it is definitely what I'm after. Havana - keep going back to this one too Scherezade - and this one, especially as this along with Snake Oil is the one I get complimented on the most. However I'm probably going to wear it the night before. Zephyr - I only have an imp of this but I wore it a week or so ago for the first time since I tested it and it's gone on the list now too. Because most people have to travel for the wedding (in my case 600kms or so) they're making it a wedding weekend so I have to work out what to wear Friday night for drinks and for Sunday brunch as well. That's easier though - probably Scherezade or Snake Oil on Friday, and definitely either Lampades or Eat Me for brunch. And then I'll have to help Ray decide what he wants to wear! Eh... I'll chuck a red musk or leather one at him and it's bound to please everyone. Sorry for the essay, I just wanted to give as much info as possible! Also the list of what I have is in my sig, but I also have various random imps as well.

I always wear Bon Vivant to weddings. Strawberries + champagne for the celebration of lurve!! Bon Vivant is something I will definitely not be wearing as I found it way too sweet and pink for me. Pity, because it would be ideal. Hmmm.. maybe Blood Countess....

I wore Havana for Valentine's Day since we both love it. I'm going to a wedding next month and I'm already trying to decide which Bpal to wear. At this rate I'll have to take the whole collection with me and I'll still be deciding at the jetty! I keep swithering between Snake Oil, Snake Charmer, Scherezade, Havana, Bordello, Hunter Moon, and Temple Viper. Today Snake Charmer is winning. Yesterday it was Havana. (Yes, I know it's still 5 weeks away, but this is IMPORTANT! )

Havana is one of my new loves, and confirms what I already suspected - I do indeed love tobacco. Especially with that touch of leather and with that muskiness (I know musk isn't listed for it but I would swear it's there). However tobacco does have a tendency to turn dusty on me in the early dry stage. I just have to control my slathering urge, as the more I put on the dustier it is and the longer it lasts. Now... Hellfire you say? Why haven't I tried it yet? I have nothing against the other notes in it that's for sure!

Woah you could be my scent twin! Except for the amber (which I like but it hates me) your likes are identical to mine, and I don't go much on florals either. Schezerade is the first thing I'd recommend, followed by Morroco, and I see they're already on your list. I also second Snake Oil and it's spiced vanilla (and if you don't like it at first - I didn't - age it for a bit and try again). Also Plunder which I am wearing right now. I don't get tea from it, just dried spices with a little sandalwood behind it. It smells like a spice rack! Oh and Chimera! It doesn't have vanilla listed, but it has that feel. Sweet cinnamon, warm smooth and sticky. It is foody, but it's good spicy foody! As far as Ars Draconis the ones that immediately spring to mind are: Dragon's Milk - dragon's blood and honeyed vanilla. It's not foody at all but is beautiful. Dragon's Claw - dragon's blood and sandalwood. A very nice combo of two of my three favourite notes. Dragon's Musk - db and musks Dragon's Heart - db, musks, fig, blackcurrant (I think, going by memory here). Similiar to Dragon's Musk on me but a little sweeter. It's sexy as hell imho. That's probably enough to go on with for now

I love tea and spice scents too, and Plunder is the first thing that sprung to my mind! On me it's far more spice with a touch of sandalwood though. Kumiho is another - ginger and white tea and it's another of my faves. It's fairly simple and refreshing.

I like Black Tower a lot, but I love Two Monsters. However it's a Salon so not available in imp form (unless you can get a decant from the swap/sale forum). The best way I can describe it is an incense musky leather that's a bit men's cologne as well due to the ambergris. It's damn gorgeous. I have no idea if it's the same leather note as in Black Tower though, but they're both among the few blends where my skin doesn't end up eating the leather (along with Dragon's Hide, De Sade and to a certain extent Loviator).

Blush goes very nicely with Lampades, they've both got that tart yet sweet berry thing going on.

This was a freebie from the lab that I would never have bought myself as rose and I have a love hate relationship: I hate it and it loves me. The first thing that hit me was that it was unexpectantly spicy! Wet it was nearly all cinnamon but with a touch of floral. As it dried the cinnamon gradually faded and the sandalwood emerged, so that it dried to a spiced incensy woody subdued rose. After an hour or so it was sandalwood/rose with just a touch of spice, and quite nice as I love sandalwood and spice. Unfortunately with more time it does what every rose scent (bar Blood Countess) has done - become almost straight out rose. At least this one takes far longer to get to that stage than most!

In the imp: Oh that's nice! Sweet tobacco and leather, and a bit cologney but a damn good cologne! Wet: More cologne now, along with tobacco. I need Ray to try this one!! Drydown: Mmmm the leather's coming out now. Not an overly strong leather (but my skin tends to soften it a lot at times), but a soft warm sweet leather, mixed with tobacco and date palm. I have no idea what snakeroot smells like. Definitely on the masculine side, but not so much that I can't wear it, and more than just a bit sexy! Dry: Not nearly so cologney or sweet now. Damn but this is good! The tobacco is dominating, but there's enough of the other notes present as well. Warm, smooth, sultry, smoky. A bit musky and woody too. It makes me want to sit in a crowded, dark, smoky bar with a strong drink and a cigar, and eye up attractive strangers. And I don't like crowded bars or cigars!!! I can't stop huffing my wrist. Neither could Ray when I stuck it under his nose! It's only got very soft throw, but that's ok. It's the sort of scent that you want people to just get the slightest whiff of, just enough to intrigue them and draw them in closer... I love this!!

2007 version. The only way I wasn't going to like this was if there was too much dust, because I love the other notes. Thankfully this is more Lurid Library's hint of dust rather than Misk Uni's starting to choke me dust. It starts off with a powerful burst of red musk, followed by leather and then the woods. As it dries the leather fades quite a bit (my skin sometimes does this to leather *sigh*) until it's barely there. However this doesn't disappoint me too much because the musk and woods are soooooo good, along with that sprinkling of dust. It's dry, warm and softens quite a bit after an hour or so, but without fading. It has pretty good throw and last, and as a bonus my partner likes this a lot too (not surprisingly, he loves red musk as much as I do). It's on the masculine side, and more than a bit sexy. I think this will age particularly well, and I'm considering getting a second bottle.

Bpal has taught me that I do like mint as a perfume, especially when combined with vanilla. So I ordered a bottle of this straight out. I'm rather glad I did! In the bottle it's most definitely a peppermint candy cane, sinus clearing and cool. On my skin it doesn't change at all, except to become a little softer and when dry the vanilla peeps out a little. I was hoping this would be a summer mint (as opposed to Tokyo Stomp which to me is more of a winter mint) and it is indeed! It has average throw, and unfortunately isn't a long laster. That's ok though, I rather enjoy reapplying this one, especially when it's stinking hot. It makes me feel cooler!

There's really not much I can say about this one but that after 10 minutes it turned to dusty stale cocoa on me. Definitely not for me!

In the imp: Mainly cranberry, sweet and tart at the same time. There's also some lily. It's soft and very nice. Wet: Oh yum! Cranberries and a little floral. This is delightful, I just hope the lillies don't end up smothering the fruit. Drydown: Oh dear Lord, I've never worn cranberry before but no matter how this scent may morph it is definitely something I'm going to be seeking more of! This is wonderful! Soft warm cranberries with a touch of floral and musk, and a hint of spice way underneath. The best word I can think of to describe it is inviting. There's nothing bold about it, it's just, well, inviting! It's the sort of scent to draw people in with (well, me anyway lol). Dry: The lillies are more apparent now, but they are far from taking over thankfully. The musk is blending with the cranberry beautifully and making this a tad darker and sexy, and that slight tartness is fading. Warm musky fruit with a touch of floral - beautiful and intoxicating. The cranberry is getting a touch stronger and a bit like red wine. I don't mind this in the least, as long as the musk sticks around too! There's some soft throw wafting around my nose yum. Hmmm... it's getting stronger and more fruity the longer it's on! That's a bit weird. Normally I'd LOVE this, but I prefer Lampades when it's a bit softer and muskier. However the throw is still perfection and it's not too strong or sweet still. Overall this is lovely indeed and is going onto the most probably a bottle list. It's different from my other fruit scents - not as strong or sweet as my beloved plum, nor as foody as Eat Me. Now.. is there any other cranberry Bpal.....*goes off to look*

When I first tried Pirate Moon I liked it except for this note I describe as "wet reeds" - salty wet grasses that grow along the shoreline. And of course this was the most dominant note and almost completely smothered the wonderful musk and ambergris I could detect underneath. A few weeks later I tried it again and was pleasantly surprised to find that note wasn't quite as strong and was starting to fade a bit when dry. A few more weeks later and wow! That note is far more subdued from the start and starts to fade as soon as it starts to dry. The musk has come to the fore, and there's a decent amount of ambergris, soft woods and tobacco as well. I don't get date or lime at all, but to be honest that doesn't worry me too much! I do really like this now, it's soft and warm and masculine with average to good last and some soft throw. I'm quite eager to see what a bit more aging does to it! And although I'm not sure if I really do need that second bottle yet, I'm definitely hanging on to it for now.

This is nearly all tea on me - Earl Grey tea to be precise with it's distinctive citrus note. There's also a little vanilla and musk, but the tea is very much the most dominant note. Luckily I rather like tea a lot! However I would like more of the vanilla and musk also, but I'm hoping a touch of aging will help. It is rather like Dorian, but less creamy, less lemony and more masculine. It's also stronger, although it only has average throw on me. I do like it a lot, but at this stage I prefer Dorian still.

As soon as I saw this I bought a bottle without a second thought. There was no way on earth this was not going to work for me, not with my love of spices, sandalwood and tea. And I was right! It changes very little from wet to dry on me, except there's an initial burst of sweetness that quickly fades, and the sandalwood gradually emerges as it's dries. Otherwise this is just a lovely wonderful dry spiciness. I can pick out mainly cinnamon and cassia, with nutmeg, clove and allspice also apparent. The tea and peppercorns remain in the background, plus a little sandalwood. In short it smells like a spice rack! And I adore spice racks! It only has average last but that's longer than all other cinnamon scents on me (besides Chimera), and has average throw. I have cinnamon proof skin (except straight after a shower), but even I sometimes get a slight tingling when I put this on. I would definitely advise applying with caution if you tend to be sensitive to cinnamon at all!

In the imp: Very sweet plum and sugar, candy like. Also some florals just stopping it from going completely into candyland. Wet: Same as in the imp, but with a lot more florals. Drydown: The florals have backed off and it isn't as candy like. Sweet plums, much softer than those in other plum scents, and flowers. Dry: Sweet sugary plum floral - the description is spot on for this one! Excellent throw (as plum always has on me) and average last. It's a bit too sweet and sugary for me though as I find plum sweet enough on it's own. I also have Blood Countess when I want a plummy floral (lthough they are quite different), and I prefer the boldness of the plum in it and the slightly darker undertones it has. However I do like this and am glad I tried it!

Not on me it's not, it's very light indeed. I hate the drink tea but I've discovered I love the scent! I'm slowly but surely making my way through all the tea scents - or at least the ones minus dealbreaker notes. I have bottles of Dorian, White Rabbit, Theodosius, Plunder, Green Tree Viper and Dragon Moon, and have a bottle of Kumiho on the way. And an imp of Tweedledum. Of those Dorian is my absolute favourite, but I also love White Rabbit and Kumiho. I've also tried Embalming Fluid (ok, but green tea seems to be my least favourite), Bewitched (very nice but for the sage) , Phantasm (nice but too floral), Euphrosyne (too floral), Cordelia (pretty), Maiden (rose took over), Severin (would be bottle worthy if it were stronger and lasted longer), The Dormouse (similiar to White Rabbit on me but minus honey and more floral) and Manhattan (amber is my nemesis). I think Shanghai is next on my list.

I've tried 6 of the Snake Pits, and Temple Viper is without doubt the winner. Do I like it better than aged Snake Oil? Uh.. maybe not but damn it would be close. So very very close. It's also quite Snake Oily on my skin, just lighter and more sugary, and with the added incense oils. It's not as sexy - kind of day to Snake Oil's night. My scale: 1. Temple Viper - as above. I love this and it gets smoother and yummier with age. I am hoarding this. Oh and it lasts on my skin longer than Snake Oil! 2. Saw-Scaled Viper - I adore spice so this was always going to be a winner. It also ends up very Snake Oily after an hour or so, but with spice. 3. Green Tree Viper - My only quibble with this is that it doesn't last all that long on my skin. But yummy mint tea with vanilla underneath. Not overly Snake Oily on me. 4. King Cobra - Thought it was just ok when I first got it, but this REALLY gets better with age. Mine's 8 1/2 months old and it's much richer and warmer now, and seems to have melded together more. Plus the orris isn't powdery now and the frankincense is more apparent (and I love frankincense). 5. Habu - The most Snake Oily, but with green woody undertones. The throw is pure Snake Oil. I like enough to keep my decant, but not enough to get a bottle. 6. Western Diamondback - This is the one that just didn't work for me, purely because of the sage which I simply don't like much.

Sweet pear, complete with syrup almost from start to finish. The sweetness does subside a little as the vanilla warms up, but the pear still dominates. It's rather nice, but a bit too sweet for me. Actually I'm not really a white fruit person - I'd rather my purple and black fruits thanks! However I will be keeping the decant.

2007 edition. In the imp: The fir needles are the first thing that hit my nose, and that's unfortunate as it immediately turns me off. However lurking underneath is something sweeter and smoother. Wet: Pretty much the same, fir needles and menthol with just a hint of something sweet and rounded underneath. Drydown: It hasn't changed at all. I want the spices! Dry: After a good 45 minutes or so the fir eventually dies down enough to reveal a soft spiced vaguely pumpkin scent. It's nice enough but like the other blends containing pumpkin I've tried it seems to fall a bit "flat" on my skin. Besides, I don't think I could put up with the fir very often as it irritates my eyes.

In the imp: Pumpkin and vanilla with a tiny tinge of spice, But mainly pumpkin. Wet: Ginger, with the pumpkin and vanilla behind it. What was very sweet and foody in the imp has become less so on my skin. Drydown: The ginger starts receding and the orange pops out. This was the thing that worried me the most in the list of notes (and why I only got a decant) as it doesn't always work on me, but in this it does! Combined with the vanilla and pumpkin it's a sweet smooth creamy orange. It's become quite sweet and foody again, and the vanilla reminds me of the vanilla in Eat Me which can only be a good thing. Dry: Mainly creamy pumpkin now with some vanilla and orange, and a hint of spice. I like it, but I'd much prefer it if it stayed in that early drydown stage, or if the ginger was more dominant.

In the bottle: Musky smoky sweet red wine with a hint of spice. Absolutely gorgeous. If my skin decides to reject this it is so going in my scent locket. Wet: Oh YUM! Rich warm deep red wine that is neither sweet and fruity nor dry and tart, but beautiful balanced. There's musk and a bit of spice too but omg the wine! This is THE perfect wine. Drydown: Mmmmm musk. I'm getting a little red musk out of this, but there's another lighter musk as well. There's some woods emerging now too, just soft ones underneath the musky spiced red wine. This is seriously sexy. As it dries a bit more it sweetens quite noticeably and then just as quickly the sweetness backs off, along with the red wine. Dry: Smoky musky woods, with a touch of spice and just a tiny bit of red wine. The woods are soft and subdued, not sharp in the slightest. It's warm and dry, and the smoke reminds me a lot of the smoke in Priala which I adore. It's not quite as smoky as it though. There's a bit of incense in it too, or at least my nose is saying there is. This is beautiful and I wish I had got a second bottle now. I would perhaps prefer it if the wine had stuck around, but I love musky woods and smoke and incense and spice as well!