Elrianra

Oh! Now this one I like. In the bottle, Hunger Moon is sharp and clear with a minty-orange sort of tone that leaves the taste of peppermint leaves in your mouth. Very refreshing. Applied near the inside of my elbow, the amber, citrus rind and verbena come to the surface and smooth out the sharp ozone and sage notes; I'm not getting the sandalwood or oakmoss distinctly right now but there's a dusty flavor to this that I think is the oakmoss muddying the verbena a little. On the dry-down, there's a rich citrus-y shadow across my skin. Also, very short lived but soft and sweet and delightful.

In the bottle, clean and crisp - too clean, more like cleaning detergent than perfume. All cedar with a touch of pear. Blech. Applied to inner wrist, still strongly cedar but with a wash of vanilla and pear. No leather, no musk. My disappointment abounds. I had high hopes for this gentlemen. On dry down, still far too cleaner-ish for me, the cedar smells like bleach almost it is so pungently raw. I wanted to like this scent, I wanted to love this scent! Warm, the leather and musk slightly show up for a brief appearance before the cedar washes over them again in the die-down. This scent lasts only a few hours on my skin and - more distressingly - smells like I've been cleaning a dining room all day long. The tobacco never made it's tangy bitter appearance, the vanilla and pear were only hinted at on my skin, the musk and leather were and afterthought in the grand scheme of things, and the cedar - dear gods the cedar - ate my poor arm

To this day, that night of foolishness is still celebrated! This is a light-hearted scent: apple orchards, bright cranberries, and a touch of warm cider. In the bottle, there is a warm buttery scent of cider and apple pie: spiced and sweet and honey-sticky. Wet on my skin, the fresh green of apple leaves and the crisp note of fresh apples comes slithering out; the cranberries are tart and saucy as they mingle with the apple. Drying, the cider warms up nicely and starts that soft spicy-dusty tone; like breathing in the delicious steam from your mug. YUM. As it warms up, it gets more and more foody and dusty. It smells delicious. But it's not exactly what I was expecting... too foody almost, too much like desert and too little like an orchard or basket of fresh fruits. This thing LASTS however, it's still softly there more than 5 hours later... if it were one I loved, I'd be so thrilled right now.

In the imp, lemon verbena and lemongrass: citrus with a twist of white musk that ices this over. Once on my skin, it's all citrus and clean cool sharpness. Not at all terrifying on my skin but smooth and sexy like a good lemon drop martini. This is just so heavenly citrus crisp! Keeper. I need a bottle.

In the imp, dark musk and earth swirling around like muscles coated in sweat and dust. This is strong, as soon as it's on my skin, it coats like honey. Only far more feral. Dark dark dark musks just slithering up and down my hand. Sexy but too male for me, as it dries, this gets a touch of spicy pepper - or something - to it. Sharp and overbearing, this has too much throw in the "SMELL ME NOW" commanding sense.

In the imp, sweet honey - ah how I love golden amber! But just a little bitter, that's the musk. Wet, this is a heavy honey with a touch of dust to it, delicious but a hint on the 'perfumey' side for me... As it dries? HONEY. Sweet, sticky, let me lick it off your skin honey. Yummy. This is warm with just a touch of wild dark musk that reminds me of fireweed or basswood honey. Sweet and warm but spicy/bitter. Mmmmmm! So a keeper.

In the imp, this is glasslike; the water notes are sharp and resonant while the florals liven it almost to shards. On my skin, this is all florals. Sharp, crisp, in your face fresh picked florals. Ick, this is just taking the route of FLORALS'R'US on me. Dried, the sharpness has faded to a semi-sweet floral arrangement. Not exactly what I had in mind... hmm. No.

In the imp, berries and currant - playful and sweet. On me wet, this is almost candle wax scented: sweet but dry and extremely herbal, like a tart berry tea. Tea, tea, teateateateatea!!! This is lovely wonderful fresh hot herbal tea! Drying, the neroli has a bit of a show, but the huckleberry keeps sitting on top of it. After it's fully dried, this loses a lot of it's charm, the neroli is out in force. Making the sweet berry/red herb notes brittle and sour. Like stale tea leaves almost. Hmm, not so much. *sigh*

In the bottle, this is a sweet breath of just harvested fruit and berries. Wet on me, pomegranate, apples, wheat and sugar with the sharp overnote of the hickory. Very tangy and tart. Drying, there's a musky scent in this - with just a dash of red fruit. As it warms, the rice milk and tea begin to take a nice stroll along the base of this, mellowing and toning it; everything is settling down to a mellow base with some sharp mid notes and soothing high notes. Yummy. On the die down, this is very mild and soft. Definite keeper. Yay for 5mls!!!

In the bottle, very fruity with a nice blending of the musk and aloe and herbs to make this green and minty. The ho wood and ti are lively but mild still. Wet on me? Citrus and berries with a green tea overture. Oh. Yum. As it dries, this gets sweetly lemony with a very smooth herbal tone, there's woods in this but I don't get any resins. Oh, that's ginger! Goodness yes, that's ginger. With a nice sweet vanilla and musk flavor. Actually quite pleasant, just don't sniff TOO closely. *sneezes* Dried and warmed, there's a gingery citrus with musk and tea to this, it's delightful. Very smooth and toned with a slightly spicy-sweet note to it, this is a definite winner!

Tea and cherries in the bottle, with a faintly woodish note. Wet, this is sweetly floral with a tea and fresh bamboo undertone. As it dries, the sandalwood in this one comes out as a nice smooth smoky essence that mixes quite well with the dragon's blood, keeping this from getting spicy or sticky. Dry, this is warm green tea with cherry mints and bamboo mats... now where's the sushi? This is a bit tipsy, very delightful and disjointed but in that fun "crazy for the night, sane at work" (yeah right!) way. This is clear and yet so well blended that after a while, as it dies out, it all fades into an experience and not explainable ways.

Green sweet cool fresh... all of these and more. On me, there's a sharp aloe and lime with verbena high note, based by seaspray which gives it a crisp high clear scent. As it dries, this one goes lime and mint green tea, which is lovely and so softly cooling. The aloe in this really stands out in a cooling effect on the back of the nose, keeping it all subtle and pleasant. Dry, the verbena and mint stand out and then suddenly pass for the musk to lift up, toned and evened by lime and aloe... This just keeps shifting and changing. Oh so lovely. A shame I only got the one bottle.

- Blend #LXX (70) - Candy in the bottle, buttery-sugar and caramel... frankly, it reminds me of butterscotch or caramel corn. Something sweet... Wet on me, there's a tangy but bitter-ish note that mixes and tones out that sweet candy smell nicely. As this dries, it gets a sharp smoky resin in it that throws this one all to hell... *sigh* Mlech, this is like rotted candy, too artificially sweet to stand. Definitely NO. - Blend #LXXVIII (78) - Floral and soft in the bottle, very sweet and gentle. On me? Ooooh, green and frosty smooth with a definite "green thing" tone, almost earthy but not a "ground" scent. Like water reeds over a stream. Drying, this one becomes a soft sweet boquet, floral and green with a fresh crispness to it. Me likey. Dry, there's a surprising depth to the range of floral and plant notes to it. A little overpowering for an indoor scent, but definitely a good spring-time perfume by all accounts.

Thank you so much! For some reason I couldn't get this one to go into one box...though I am very excel stupid sometimes. Ooooh! I finally got it to work for me. YAY

3 Musketeers may be a better name for this one in the bottle, it reminds me strongly of a nouget and peanuts in chocolate concoction. Wet, the cocoa smoothes slightly leaving a bitter myrhh blend. Where'd the peanuts go? As it dries, the sandalwood takes a subtle prominence. Oxymoron anybody? This is playful and interesting but there's nothing classy or "velvet" about this to me. It is just too candy for me. (What is with the Bewitching Brews going candy on me these days?) I think I'm going to have to say no thank you to this little impy. But thanks for playing.

Nutty and sheer in the imp, this is buttery smooth and tangy with a dry sweet finish of floral wood. Wet on my skin, roasted honey hazel, very nutty and sweet. After only a few moments, very candy-like and hard. Similar to hard-toffee candy with nuts in it. Oh good grief, I want to smell perfume and not junk food on my skin!!! There's no metamorphosis of this blend so far to remind me of a somber night. This is an orgy with the easter bunny. Cavities waiting to happen. Dry, this is sticky and nutty, there is no floral, there is no wood... just nuts. This is entirely disappointing!!! I was hoping for something soft, subtle... at the very least defining and instead I got a great topping for vanilla ice cream! Blech.

Plum and jasmine with a breath of violets in the imp. Very evocative of a summer evening in a lush garden... on me wet, this transforms into smoke and petals, sharp, tangibly smooth and cloying. Although not the sickly sweet of some "floral cloys," Morgause has that same sticky self-same base note. I think it is the fruits but I can't be certain just yet. As this dries, the florals really come out to play - there's a rosey note and something honeylike, a very gingery floral as well and then of course, incense smoke wafting over the florals as though I'm smelling a boquet of dried flowers. Dry, the florals are tamed and yet sensualized by the incense; the fruits are faint, like stains on your fingers and lips... this is delicate at a distance but iron clad up close. Unfortunately, this is vague and warms into a powdery smoke and florals stage from which it disspiates without notice. Lovely during the warming process but entirely too short lived! Where it go, this was so nice I want it back! I WANT IT BACK NOW! ... Well, you get the idea.

Wood and smoke, very masculine; sharp high resonating maleness in a vial. On me wet? Oh dear that's too strong... this is cedar and high john with a sharp and very viscious frankincense. As it dries, this loses not a single iota of conviction: masculine and powerful from the very first, this breathes a fiery essence of hard-headed testosterone. Warm, the power of this blend has faded to a musky herbal woods, reminiscent of wood smoke and firelight in inflection. Still very masculine, this is sharp and almost pee-ish. Unfortunately, this is not something I'll be keeping around.

Fruity/floral with a soft sweet kiss of aquatic notes in the imp. On my skin, this is sweetly floral... I can't name anything specific - clover or maybe thistles. Yummy. As it dries, there's a very faint almost citrus-y note... rosemary perhaps? Thyme? Whatever it is, it is delightful. I haven't encountered something so vaguely direct in a long time. Warming, there's a dryness to it, it reminds me of Lady Grey tea, a rich black tea with cream and sugar and just a faint touch of florals. This is incredibly versatile and classy. On the die down, this was mild florals again, with just a dusting of aquatic sweet notes, very pretty.

In the imp, there's something incense-ish about this. Not much by way of the florals I was expecting. On me wet? Soap and frankincense. It just keeps getting better and better... this is the most soapy blend I've encountered in a very long time. This is not at all likable. Ech. Drying, it gets an incredibly distinct roses and smoke flavor... Ironically this smells a lot like a rose soap bar I used to have. Unfortunately, this is a lot sharper - it makes my eyes water. This... this grows on you, it's powdered petals and soap resin; sharp, tangy, extremely powerful. And yet... ech. Echechech. Just... too strong. Warmed and aged, it is still floral-soap but is finally taming out to someting tolerable. However, this just isn't for me. This one died off after a final blasting of "I'M SOAP FEAR ME!!!" at which point my nose shut down in revenge for being subjected to that.

In the imp, this is like apple tea with lemon zest - it's very strange but playful. Wet, there's next to nothing on my skin... a very light apple - golden apples with a sweet "apple pie" type note; and then, all of a sudden, it's lemon zest roses; shifting and morphing, this is amazing! Drying, it's very... strange. The roses are prominent in this - which is what I had hoped or at least expected from a rose blend. Albeit the most disorganized rose blend I've ever encountered, but an interesting one at the very least. Ironically, I was hoping for a bit more apple and lemon and not a robust rose blend that this became. This one was really a shocker in that rose note... I knew it was there but somehow, it wasn't important to me in the wanting to try this one phase... *sigh*

Very sharp mints with a bright clear amber and moss over note in the imp. Wet, this is sharp cold mints - very clear, very hard. This is incredibly sharp and icy. Dry, this is powdery but sharp, like crushed peppermints snorted up my nose. It is very precise, very direct and very interesting and yet it's not at all pleasant to me. I like the clear sharp mints of Nuclear Winter, but the mosses in this make it a dusty green mint-dirty smell. Reminiscent of Zombi but colder, similar to Nuclear Winter but dirtier... this is a difficult blend to reconcile. I don't like it very much, sadly.

Pepperish with a sharp sweet tang in the imp. Wet, it is sharp and very robust; with an herbal bite. The dragon's blood is very clear in this, sweetened - sensualized - by the cherry and clove. Like a spicy-sweet candy but more basic. Dry and warmed, this is a slightly bitter, still very sharp - the dragon's blood and clove make this dark and thick, very potent. The myrrh is murky, with a slightly smoke/incense note. Not exactly how I would personify blood, but a brilliant blend in and of itself.

Wet, soft and sweet - almost candylike - floral. No greenery or actual petals in this imp, just ... candy florals. Wet, still sweet candy florals, this is a bouquet of pink and yellow and white candies... very... strange. As it dries, it becomes roses. Still very sweet but tentative, very gentle but pleasant. Warming up, this becomes a velvety red-white tinged rose with petals and more precise. It is now decidedly rose with a very soft wet note; and yet, it is entirely sweet - like it has been sugar glazed. Very sweet, very ... foody. Ironically. Edible roses. I really wanted this to be another "My god! It's pure unadulterated roses!" scent... which it wasn't. Alas.

In the bottle, sharp pine sap with a touch of amber. On, deep rich rose otto with a light heady lotus layered over hardened amber and sticky sweet pine resin. Overly sticky, pretty but too heady, too sharp. Not at all the whimsical, soft lunar oil I expected. As it dries, this goes straight into soapy-floral, which I was afraid of as soon as I smelled the pine... very medicinal floral soap. *sigh* What a let down. After the soap starts to fade, this gets dry and dusty, bitter actually... like rancid perfume.