Splendid Molerat

Whippoorwill is an idealized marshland. Very much still water and water weeds, wet woods and gentle decay. It's in the neighbourhood of Bayou and Silk Road.

Succubus is a combination of wafting air (neroli and bergamot), dry flesh, and a long curtain of perfumed hair. Beautifully sinister.

Baghdad is a cloud of freshly ground nutmeg and saffron when I wear it. I smell wealthy, in an old Old World way. Someone should be fanning me with a palm, and feeding me dates and almonds.

Nocturne reminds me of an odd moment -- when you wake up too early, and the sky is still purple-black, except for a colour change in the East. Going outside, you can sort of see, but looking for detail is as slippery as trying to read in a dream. The violets and lilac are dewy-cool, and the tuberose is a soft pulse in the background.

Not much to add on Tulzscha: cold green fire, a nice progression from mint to cucumber/pepper. Cool and humid night air, just a bit of earth at the back. The flickering flame sensation also adds to the atmosphere.

Tempest was very water-and-ozone fresh. I'm getting a dusty note, what you'd find in the air with a strong North wind and tall thunderheads blowing in. It's like the kind of September day when you step outside and smell winter coming. Somewhere, it's snowing.

Eden was fresh green fig leaves and sunny warm coconut. It wears beautifully on the hot and humid days we've been having. Summer in a bottle!

There isn't much I can add about Kingsport. Grey skies over a salt marsh, crisp wavelets under an increasing wind. This is a lovely, brooding atmospheric scent.

Vinland. It's a cool scent, like the spring chinook has just started blowing.

Arkham Revisited. I was expecting a tree-and-flower distant cousin of Vinland, and happily this does have the same kind of complexity. Much darker and thicker woods, and a warmer array of wildflowers. I'm finding this can be strongly masculine or strongly feminine, depending on which notes you focus your attention. Beautifully done.

Cthulhu has a creepy. slithering beauty to it. Like wading into warm and murky water, through thick flowers and plants giving off scent, with streams of moss swaying from the trees, and the leathery, gelatinous fronds of seaweed caressing your limbs. You hope that's seaweed.

Mi-Go Brain Canister (& squishy brain toy, aw, thanks!) Opens with a cold scent much like that of an empty metal container (the peony!) Accompanied by a fleshy fruit/melon wave, and then all the sparking synapses of ginger, mango and pink pepper. Dries down to the scent of a cool summer evening. Perfect for watching lights in the sky.

Quietude. I put a few drops on a handkerchief and draped it over my face. There's a sinus-opening lavender, lemon, mint combination (lemongrass? catnip?) I could feel the tension rolling off me, and got up refreshed. I'll be getting alot of use out of Quietude. Thanks, Beth!

Blood is a stylized, but recognizable version of its namesake. The initial fruity/almondy notes burn off after a few minutes, and I'm left with smoky heat and a coppery flavour. As a close-to-the-skin scent Blood has some intriguing possibilities, but I would be more likely to use it to add weight to a cooler scent.

Viola is a brilliant rose scent. It has rose and moss in common with Zombi (one of my favourites), but it's very sunny and clean by comparison. I prefer more green with my sunny florals, but I can see this being perfect for anyone who was disturbed by the earthy notes in Zombi.

I wore The Hanging Gardens mixed with some unscented lotion, and walked around in a light cloud of summer day all morning. This is one that I can only wear diluted, since some of the fruit notes come out very sharply on me otherwise. I like the overall waft, which has a very authentic combination of greenery and flowers, ripe and unripe fruit, humid earth. I'll need to revisit this in a few weeks, and see if the high notes mellow out for me. If so, this could be my summer version of Vinland (which rocks BTW, try it out if you haven't already...)

When I was very little I adored the smell of Pine-Sol; to the point that I would wait to be unobserved, steal a capful, and then go furtively wash something in the house. I also loved Vicks, which came in heavy glass pots. It was a treat to be given the empty container, and lie on the floor looking up at the light through cobalt glass, getting a little high off the residual eucalyptus. Jabberwocky has all that, and a generous dose of orange peel. This would be suitable for the oil burner, to generate some happy childish energy.

Tushnamatay Wisps of white smoke rising through spruce branches. There's a background sweetness, and a general feeling of cool air. This does remind me of Kathmandu, but the smoke is more distant.

Zephyr is another one of those fragrances that gets pushed to the back of the queue by flashier blends, only to get noticed later when you have time to focus. It's dainty and pretty, faintly ozone and floral -- a cool and rain-tinged breeze being pushed ahead of a spring storm.

Aeval did need to sit and rest for about a month before I could get a proper feel for the blend. Like the other fairy fragrances, this one just wafts lightly, smoke and air. Sage and sweet pea are fresh green, calming, and the musk and tonka are like a warm presence. It's sexy, but the sex is once-removed from the business at hand. I like the ambiguity. ETA: It turns out I really, really like this one -- just ordered another 5 mL bottle, first one is nearly gone...

Sugar, sticky-sweet flowers, crackling flames. Compelling, but I don't believe I could sustain the level of mischievous-ness required for Hell's Belle to be a convincing fragrance on me. My niece, on the other hand...

The lemongrass in Namaste is very clear and pure, like a glass bell. Spiritual. The patchouli is anchored to the earth, and between the two are trees and flowers. I think this fragrance well reflects the sentiment, "I honor the divine within you". It's gentle and beautiful.

I've just added Silk Road to my 'next order' spreadsheet. 'Swirling' is the best adjective for this fragrance. I can't pick out any one note, they all come together so seamlessly. I am awe-struck at the skill that went into this.

Dragon's Milk is a creamy, comforting floral. This would be an ideal "warm skin" scent for days when O would simply be inappropriate.

Dragon's Hide is subtle, clean, and very expensive leather. Almost has an iridescent, scaly quality to it... This hide was acquired after a ten-year quest, and cured over a slow bed of embers fed with rare flowers and woods.