Elrianra

Something sweetly floral hovers in this imp... tender green shoots and dew-drop sheathed blossoms braving the dawn for the first time. This is a very young scent, it reminds me of early spring when it's still cold but starting to be beautiful. Wet, ooooh. I smell carnations and lilies and sweet peas (errr); there's honeysuckle and clover blossoms and I honestly call that pansies. I want to say poppies and geraniums as well... oh this is gorgeous young blooms with a sweet aquatic note that hovers in and out, mixing with a soft green grass and leaves and stems smell. This is honestly a very gentle mist swirling in an early spring garden. So delicate and so sweet... oh this is just CUTE. (which inherently makes it not ME but I can't fully blame it for that) Dry, it's faded to a barely there floral blend that is nearly indectable. A shame, this was so pretty and complex and now it's not even there. With a lifespan of twenty minutes, this blend just isn't all that feasible for wearing.

In the bottle, honey with a dash of myrrh and balsam in the background but prominently - notably - fresh sweet honey. This is not even a little surprising due to the fact that honey was the base of most of the embalming ointments used in mummification by the Egyptians. It does, however, surprise me how strongly it plays from the bottle and makes me a bit hesitant to try this one on. Wet, this is herbally infused honey, sweet and sticky but with a bit of grit to it. Once it begins to dry, this gets a nice tangy myrrh and herbs mix that really livens up the honey - which is a relief because I like honey but I don't want to smell like it and I was afraid this would take the O path and just go foody on me... Dried and warmed, the honey is muted with a breath of bitter herbs bringing out a very archaic comprehension of this scent. It IS lovely, and it breathes a dusty potion of timelessness, but it's entire too sweet for me. As it begins to really breathe out its life, there is a sweet tartness to this that I recognize from multiple other blends and believe is the myrrh finally making a prominent appearance, very lovely on it's die-down and not as much throw as honey typically makes on me. Very nice, as I've said, but a bit too girly for me.

This one, in the bottle, gave me a fit. Minty with a berry-ish note. Mom and I agree it smells like Wintermint gum. On me, it keeps that crips cool minty note but I can pick out pale florals and a hint of something leafy. This is... well... FOODY. Dry, the mint is gone and replaced by soft berries and gentle florals. Namely, rose and iris. Very cool and mellow and untamed but gentle... this is LOVELY. It warms up to a nice murky green leaves and florals with a dry golden woody note as the base and a soft sweet berries note to tarten it on the top. This continues to meld to woods and grasses and florals and berries, constantly shifting like a fresh breeze playing through a garden and flower bed before reaching you. Essentially wild and pure and untouched, with just the slightest warmth of tilled earth to it. This is just... lovely.

I smell Lysol in the bottle. Just sharp, chemical citrus with a high note of something bitter-sweet... very... soapy. Hrm, this is new because I've all but proclaimed my loyalty to the lab's rose notes. On me wet this is just a citrus soap... no floral whatsoever. The rosemary sharpens this, gives it that soap-like tang. Like a really good hand made soap that uses essential oils and not a store bought, factory produced in bulk soap... but still, it reminds me of soap!!! Dry, this turns right around and goes from citrus-soap to a bouquet of roses in a crystal vase while you suck on a creamsicle... the rosemary has faded, leaving the creamy and slightly citrusy orange blossom note behind - and it smells actually CREAMY to me. The roses are, well, quite plainly, a timid half dozen white roses from the local grocery store's florist. Pretty but designed for a short life and a brief drying spell to make them last longer. Once this warms up, it turns all over on me again: soapy florals with a touch of herbals, it reminds me strongly of a few shower gels and massage oils I have. How infuriatingly coy!

CDXXXVII(437) In the bottle, this is all florals and very super sticky sweet. Wet, a blast of creamy cinammon and I think ginger plays up a blend of florals and berries. As this dries, a nice creamy-dusty blend of cinnamon and florals tangos up and down my skin. YUMMY. This is a luscious blend of slightly exotic berries and cream but the florals and ginger keep this from going TOO foody. Somehow, this just stays mildly tangy and sweet and ... well, downright friendly all the way until it fades out. There isn't much change, really. It's just good.

In the bottle, very... perfume-y; the crystal and glass notes are high and sharp and extremely resonant of shattered champagne flutes in my mind while the amber is a husky aged tone. Wet on me, the amber tones up to a darkish thick red/gold hue and the glass notes turn that bizarre sweet-glass scent they do on me while the crystal stays cold and cracked. Oh, I'm not sure of this one at all. Drying, the amber fades, but proportionally as the entire scent tones down from that original "BAM" to a subtle wisp of amber over crystals. This is coming together nicely as it begins to warm, no longer sharp and disjointed; the glass and crystal are melding into one cool tangy note while the amber lays muted beneath - and above, oddly - to add a faint rich color to this. This has a very "classic" perfume smell to it and reminds me strongly of an old ladies perfume and a boys cologne all at once - it's refined but misinterpreted. Absolutely lovely but a bit too strong and vague for my tastes.

In the bottle, oversweet florals and wine with an acrid smoke overtone. On me wet? CAT PISS. I had trouble believing others when they encountered this but NOW.I.DO. This is rancid, sickly sweet, acidic piss with a feral musky male cat spray flavor. I must have been in a self-punishing mood because I left this on and prayed it would change. Eventually, it did. After about an hour, the horrible cat piss smell faded into over ripe fruits and underaged wine, still in my mind rancid but not as unbearable as before. It doesn't die quickly, another fault I give it. If it's going to be torture, let it be swift, aye? However, on the plus side, this retains an aggressiveness that I just HAVE to admire. Even in cat piss.

In the bottle, this is gritty and very smoky... it reminds me of ashes and sand and there's a bitter wood note in this. Wet, my skin tones down the harsh chemical bitter smell so this isn't pesticide anymore (that's what it reminded me of, mesquito repellant!!!) and has that odd smoky/sandy wood note. Somebody said cedar but I don't think so... it's more like aged cypress. As it dries, oddly enough, the smoke dies out almost entirely and leaves behind a grey grit that rubs at my nostrils like I'm scrubbing them with sand. There's something tart in this, not citrusy, but bitter-sharp-sweet. How very strange. As it warms, this reminds me a little of my dad's mechanics soap that he always kept around when I was a kid - gritty with sandstone or something ground up in it... it lacks the citrus notes that stuff had, but the gritty smell just evokes that image. Reminds me a little of paint thinner as well, very sharp and acidic. This is definitely something that reminds me of sitting outdoors and watching a camp fire - no, a bonfire - die down after hours and hours of burning. The smell of scorched earth and the last wisps of flame from the embers before a gentle breeze churns up the cloud of dark smoke that signals the death of the blaze... This is harsh and direct. It stays hard and gritty hour after hour - did I forget to mention this is strong?! A tiny dollop on my wrist and all I smell on my arm is charcoal and embers.

In the bottle, this is a soft whisper of chamomile and tea rose with a faint geranium or violet overture. Wet, this is violets and lilies and tea roses, there's a vague touch of autumn to this but not leaves... more like the smell of autumn rain. Yes, to me the rains smell different but again, it's something so perceptual (is this a word?) that I can't actually sit down and describe it to somebody else because they don't GET it. It stays light and delicate once it has dried and warmed , lots of slight chamomile an violet moments with a good balancing dose of the other florals mingle over the autumn smell which has turned to red leaves still on the tree, before they've quite lost their life. This is very pretty and very sweet and innocent. Which makes me think it's just not for me. I don't see the somber side of it so much as I get the image of a shy girl hiding behind a tree with her most beloved book, too afraid to join in with the other kids on the playground at school. This is very pretty but not at all me because I tend to be more robust or boisterous, my "quiet" scents are the sultry, sulking, stewing and brewing mayhem kind. Still, I'm glad I got to try this. This isn't a wet scent, as it dies down, but from the start was faint and dry... like dried flowers really. I think that's what makes this so interesting is that to me it smells like loose leaf tea in the bag still. It's quite pleasant and swirls around your nose like a good tea should, kissing my skin goodbye in a whiff of rose and violet.

In the bottle, this is dry and dusty and mildewy... ick. Wet, it has that sticky gross moldy smell to it, like something decaying. This is not boding well, still, let's see where it goes, hmm? As it dries, a whiff of cinnamon... no, cloves I think... comes out and spices this up which refreshes it. Warm, this smells like smoke, heavy thick, sap-drenched pine, no! not pine, it's a softwood's smoke. That was the resin that was overwhelming before, that sticky green-grey resin smell of wood in a firewood stack, drying and the sap hardening, that slight decay smell the wood takes on for a while... yes, that's what I smelled. This one lingers in a sticky-smoke resin for a while and then fades off on that decay-note again. I'm not sure why this hates me, but it does.

In the bottle, honey and... something reminiscent of florals. My reaction was, and I quote, "Oooh, this is... NICE!" Wet, there's something dramatically mellow about this; a rose or peony, possibly tulips... with a sugary note. Very nice and very sweet, almost foody in a garden sort of way. Others have said apples and berries and after it dries, I agree that there's a tart apple in this and the floral is toning out to a golden lotus and honeysuckle blend. This isn't a perfume-y type of oil blend, but is very thoughtful and precise. I agree with this one for the hanged man card essentially because there is a specific note of everyday struggle involved in it, I think. There's something base in this that has a slight conflict and repercussions sensation to it. For me, this is especially tactile and not simply olfactory. There is something so... commonplace in this and it's driving me insane, I keep going back for another sniff, hoping to identify it. But still, I can't. After it warms, still that mild un-namable note... fantastic! This doesn't have a long life on me... I may have to get a scent locket for it because it's so pretty but so shortlived...

In the bottle, this has a very powerful and yet familiar floral note... I can't think of the name of it for anything... People mention dandelions in relation to this and, yes... that is it. Dandelions when they're just starting to flower. How odd. Wet, there's a mild fruity note to this as well that I think of as plums both others called cherries... not sure yet. Possibly neither. As this dries, the fruity goes away and ... WHAT THE HECK? This fades to dandelion fluff in a matter of minutes and then disappears. Noooooo!!! The first Tarot I've tried and LIKED and it has a ten minute life span on me? I could throw a tantrum for this one. This is another one I will likely get a scent locket for.

In the bottle, this is cinnamon coated rose petals... delicious. On me, the wet roses are dew-kissed white buds: faint and gentle while the cinnamon is like a spicy candy slathered underneath to hold the petals in place. This almost has a honey-ish sensation in the back of my mouth, I bet there's lots of light amber in this! Dry, this is softly spicy and very smooth, like cinnamon sticks and dried roses. This is a lot softer and fainter than I expected, very gentle and soothing. Not at all sensual in my mind, just very luxuriant and pretty. It breathes mild cinnamon and faint roses for hours, gradually losing it's spice until it's just white petals slipping away from my skin. This is SO delicious, why didn't I try this one sooner?!

In the bottle, this is slightly musky like an animal's hide - as in, still on the animal. Very warm and very sexy. Once on, this turns slightly peppery, a fresh new barely out of the shop leather. Very thick and heady, very very raw. This is leather that hasn't turned supple from wear, hasn't learned the curves of it's owner, hasn't experienced the wear of the seasons. Wet, this hasn't got as much throw as I anticipated which make me love it all the more. Dry, oh my! Dusty well cared for aged leather - this is a well worn and well loved saddle, soft and supple from use but still strong and beautiful; this is a leather bomber's jacket that's seen years of wear and survived stunts that left the wearer cringing at the memory of it, with the fleece so worn that it even smells like leather; this is a heavy overcoat to keep off the rain or tough chaps to protect the legs from the cheese-grater damage of concrete meeting flesh at 80mph. As it warms and begins to breathe, oooooh. The saddle analogy comes back strongly, as sun-warmed leather surrounded by a veritable haze of other leather tones, new and old and somewhere in between, live animals and drying hides and windbroken old tatters of leather so worn they are no longer soft at all but stiff and unusable. Oh this is HOT, there's no words for how extremely sexy this is, how sexy I feel in this. This scent here is the garb of a dominatrix, that tight dark burgandy leather that glistens, so accustomed to her body that it doesn't question anything she does. Just before she draws out her whip, before the pain starts - this is the hot sensual anticipation of demand and retribution for failure. This is... leather, in it's raw, untamed, physically empowering, sexually stimulating, grossly underestimated form. This... this is spicy, sexy, tongue-in-cheek porn in a bottle, ladies and gents. This is something I'd bathe in, if the opportunity arose. This one is a full out 10, it had just the right amount of throw, it made me weak in the knees, it was sexy and tough and very very snarky about it all.

In the bottle, minty juniper; very herbal with a soft tang of a waterlogged wood. Wet, the lotus plays with the mint, making a tangy floral and aged wood blend. Very cool and at the same time very impressive in a moody sort of manner. Dark and tangy with a faint overtone of light floral. Dry, the lotus is lighter and faintly salty-sweet as the juniper and mint mingle in a deep-water smell that I've only encountered on a few occassions. This is dark water, shadowed by high cliffs and unfathomably deep with jagged rocks layering it's bottom while the surface appears smooth and calm. Very turbulent and misleading. Warm, well this doesn't "warm" as a scent but it breathes soooo smoothly. This is like a thick blanket of icy deepwater plants plastered over your skin, herbal and tangy with just the faintest trace of familiarity. Oooh, did I finally find an element I like? YES, I DID IT! YAY!!!

In the bottle, cypress and lilies with a soft watery note. On me wet, crushed leaves and oak, faintly cypress and aquatic notes tickle the back of my nose and the lilies have disappeared. Dried, this is dried woods and crushed leaves, very dusty; the florals are over sweet and musky while the aquatic note adds a damp sweet-rot overtone to this. As this warms, the florals are washed by the aquatic not and toned, but this still makes my nose itch. Another hour or two and it hsa faded to wet oakwood. Rather mossy in all reality.

In the bottle, buttery smooth gingerbread. YUM - I don't typically want to smell like cookies, but if the cookies are this good, it's ALL good. On? This is just out of the oven, buttery melt-in-your-mouth, gooey gingerbread waiting to be painted with frosting or just consumed with a huge glass of milk. The spices are bright and lovely and there's REALLY REALLY a buttery sensation to this one. My mom even liked this one, although she's not a huge perfume fan due to her allergies. Dry, it's cooled to cookies being frosted; the spices are mellowed by a sweeter note that I'll lovingly call frosting because there's no other words. This breathes cookies for HOURS on end, delightfully innocent and loaded with mischief. This is a scent that I'll wear for months on end without tiring of it. I smell absolutely edible in every sense of the word - the good, the bad, and the downright naughty. Frankly, with this scent, I'm okay with that. The cookies don't go stale like I was worried they might, they just very slowly go away - like when kids get their hands on them. Slowly they disappear and finally there's nothing left but a faint breath of nutmeg which finally fades away too.

In the bottle, the roses are pale and the chrysanthemum is smooth and velvety while the cactus flower glitters gently; no trace of vetiver. Wet, the vetiver and roses take front in a waltz of floral beauty and sorrow. Dry, the roses are dusty and soft, layering over the other florals in a smooth gentle manner while the vetiver darkens this just very slightly. Chrysanthemums and roses meld sweetly into a cool and soft blend as this warms up and begins to breathe; the cactus is reserved and covered by the vetiver so that it is at once detecable yet unnotable. On the die down, this remains dusty florals with a trace of vetiver. I was surprised, normally vetiver takes a far more prominence than it does in this blend. It's incredibly soft and soothing, if a bit less grief-stricken than I anticipated. Rather this is very calming, I'd call this this ultimate "break up" blend, it really does just relax you. I honestly wasn't sure I'd keep this when I first put it on, but it's like a relationship band-aid really. I like it!

Faint grassy and floral notes with a very very fine touch of berries comes breathing out of the bottle. Wet, this disappears into the softest caress of berrie leaves and unopened buds. Dry, this is dusty florals and grass, incredibly vague or light - I can't tell which. Warmed, this becomes sweet berries in your mouth with flower petals in your hair and grass stains on both knees of your new pair of white stockings - delightful and oh so very innocent but damning. If mom's not going to spank you for ruining the stockings, you'll have a tummy ache from too many berries. This isn't foody at all, and it hardly is fair to call the green note "grass stains" in the sense of how most people represent grass stains. I'm talking about those dainty green dots little girls get when they sit on their knees during the tea party in the back yard - sweetly green and tender, not dark and irremovable stains so much as a breath of grass over skin. This fades classically, going from berries over petals and grass to petals over berries with grass hovering in the background. A final kiss of flower buds and this is gone.

Super sticky sweet like dried apricots with a heady kick of spices. Wet, the apricots tarten a little but the spices are hardly identifiable as cloves. Dry, this is sugar sweet and a bit overwhelming - throw like none other going on here. Warm, the cloves begin to finally show up, though the apricot is still sickly sweet; luckily the throw is calming a bit as well and I may be able to survive this one for a little longer. Whew, on dry down, this FINALLY loses it's candy-cloy and gets a little spicy; foody from start to finish with a strong resemblance to fruit juice gone syrup in the sunshine, this is bright and playful if you like small children. Entirely too foody for me.

In the bottle, a thick sweet musk and tangy plum with a soft breath of carnation. Wet, this is carnations and ripe plums on the branches with a dot of musk to deepen this. Dry, dark juicy plums pour over thick musk and dainty florals in a heady swirl. Warm, the carnation has lost some of it's cover and is simply strewn over plums and musk in a sensual and soft blend that is at once vixen-ish and child-like. Sensual and innocent is not an understatement, this is beautiful but designed to maintain a naive plainness in it's own eyes. Yum, I could just drink this up. Ooooh, this is so very nice. On the die-down, the plums sweeten just a tiny bit and the musk gets smoky. This is a sweltering summer day sort of scent - or just a good one to lay down in front of the fire in during the cooler months.

A very soapy blend in the bottle, high and mid-note florals with no base. Wet, the florals are pale and soft, the soap tones gone in an instant. As it dries, however, the soap notes come back to the top, overriding the florals one by one. By the time this is dry, it's a floral-scented laundry detergent and within minutes of that, there's no floral left. A shame really, this sounded so lovely but is so overwhelmingly floral... I'm afraid I need a base note for anything with moonflower in it these days.

Lavender, orchid and musk in a heady blend similar to a few vodkas I've encountered comes pouring out of this bottle the moment I pop off the lid. On my skin, the frankincense and musk make a spicy base that the orchid is prominent over. Dry this is a faded musk with roses and orchids, the lavender supports the other florals gently while the frankincense is a blunt and direct base note - smoky and spicy. Once warmed, this becomes so soft and whimsical, a light rose and lavender blend over musk while the orchid and frankincense meld into a smooth soft base note. Yum.

Orange and rose blossoms and thick golden honey pour out of this bottle the moment the lid pops off. Wet, the sandalwood makes a vague appearance and the honey and orange blossoms make a citrus-sticky haze. Where'd the rose go?! Dry, honeyed sandalwood and a vague floral overture that lightens this from moody to sensual. Warm this is sun fresh honey on my lips with florals all around me. The sandalwood is a base now, as though I'm resting in a chair made of sandalwood and drinking sweet honey. Decadent and self-emboldened, this is a proud scent that borders on arrogant without quite crossing the line. Very self-aware and loud, it has a good throw and somehow avoids smelling foody despite being prominently honey!

In the bottle, almonds and amber with a soft musk and a spicy saffron-bathed lotus. Once on me, the almonds fade a bit, letting amber, cardamom and musk tangle together while the lotus and myrrh overlay that in a smoky light floral. Dry, the saffron is a spicy note that mixes well with the cardamom, myrrh, almonds and musk to make a heady base that the lotus and amber can sweep over and soften. Both fierce and gentle, this blend warms to something exotic, spicy, and familiar and almost a tangible mental image comes with this scent. Oooh, yes, we have a winner!