Rouge

If rendered phonetically, my response to smelling an imp of this blend would be something like a loud and faintly orgasmic sounding " *sharp intake of breath* GGGGUUhhhhhhh!" It's incredibly sweet, rich, buttery nutty goodness, as if Hellcat and Queen of Sheba ran away together.

In the vial - Very unusual. Normally I gravitate to the cakey, sweet, baked goods-style pumpkin blends. This one is very different and I'm interested to see how the sharp cool green notes work with something I normally associate with warm spice. Wet on the skin - a pumpkin patch early on an autumn morning, the fruits still covered with dew and frost. At first it's the mint and parsley that stand out, along with the sharp sweetness of the citrus notes. As time goes on the buttery pumpkin starts to peep out, as if the sun is warming the garden and melting off the frost. Dry down - This is a gorgeous blend to wake you up on the sort of morning when the clocks have just changed and it's dark outside and you don't want to get out of bed yet.

In the vial - Heady, sweet and intoxicating. For fellow Batman fans, I imagine this is what Poison Ivy's hair smells like. Wet on the skin - Under the headiness of the jasmine there's something sharp and faintly sour, like the stem of a fresh cut flower. this doesn't last long, and it soon dries to a rich rosy powdery sweetness. Dry down - This is a lovely, feminine blend for summer evenings.

In the bottle - Ohhhh. This is NICE. On the first inhale it's a deep and rich, full bodied red wine backed with coffee. A second breath carries just a tiny hint of roses. Third time round I can pick out a sweet, smoky opium. This seems like a decadent and thoroughly disreputable blend, and I like it. On the skin - A wood note, and a smoky dark plum are prominent. This blend has a lot of throw, it's dry, deep and sophisticated. I'm currently going through my collection for a scent to accompany an Anne Boleyn costume; I think I may have stumbled across it today... if Anne was a gribbly cultist who worshipped eldritch abominations from beyond the stars. Though if she was that would explain a lot about English history.

In the vial - sharp and woody, though not particularly rosy Wet on the skin - very plummy but again a little sharp. It mellows a little as it warms, with a tiny breath of sandalwood. Once the blend has had a chance to develop and the rose itself has stepped out from behind the plum and wood notes, it's lovely. One to wear when you feel like being cool and aloof. It definitely smells highbrow and supercilious, like a Victorian lady scholar raising her eyebrows at you when you eat crumpets at your desk and drip butter on her precious literary volumes .

Interesting.Very interesting. This is a truly mysterious blend - it keeps reminding me of other scents, but it shifts so much that it's pull out any one note to identify it overall. I think I can smell some of Scarecrow's oil and dried grass, some of Bastet's deep saffron, and the deep almond of Salome. There's a strange but not unpleasant playdoh note as well. It's a surprisingly attractive and sweet, not at all what I was expecting from the description.

Wow. This is a gorgeously sweet, creamy almond. There's something fresh and bright about it, though, it doesn't give me a particularly cakey vibe. It's not much of a morpher, but it does seem to fade quite quickly. It's very, very similar to Lush's Snowcake soap and would be amazing layered on after a bath.

In the vial, this is deep and resonant. There's almost a coffee-like note which I imagine is the blend of tonka and tobacco. Wet on the skin the pumpkin is drier and less immediately foody than in other blends - more resinous and woody. The carnation also lends a certain amount of nose-tickling sharpness. Not my favourite of the pumpkin blends, but still sure to be a regular in my autumn-winter scent rotation!

This blend is so delicious that I actually did little sex noises. Ahem. In the vial it's sweet mead and rum, but on the skin there's a wonderfully sweet and poisonous little note of almond, like a sinister marzipan. There's a slight sourness and bitterness later in dry down, possibly from the mead, but on the whole it's rich and delicious.

Wet on the skin this is a green and resinous scent with a feeling of great wisdom and age. It's quite calming - the sort of scent that conjures up ancient libraries full of arcane scrolls and magical paraphernalia. Later stages and dry down bring out the sweeter frankincense notes, leaving a soft and pensive air behind them. This is quite unlike anything I would normally wear - I steer clear of green notes ads they often turn very sharp and sour on my skin, but it's nonetheless a keeper.

In the vial, this is surpassingly lovely. it's totally a scent for a pretty pink princess, with fresh, dewy roses with just a little zing from the rosehips. Wet on the skin there's a sharp soapiness to the rose, which takes some time to mellow. Drydown sees jasmine peeping shyly out from behind the other notes, and eventually the vanilla cream emerges to warm the blend. It's almost a journey of seduction. ;-) If you like this blend but are feeling less modest and more openly seductive, try Marguerite.

The first note i pure opium, heady and smoky and ominous. There are strong flowers in the background too, like a floral tribute on a grave. The cocunut is more like evil sun cream than tropical deliciousness - the smell of a crowd on a wild night out in summer in a that could erupt into violence at any point. Despite the sinister opening, the bend soon lightens as the lemon flower becomes more prominent. Later it settles back into smoke and musk. A fascinating blend!

Elegant and intelligent, this is the scent of a Victorian gentleman inventor's study stocked with leatherbound journals, cigars and brandy. The vanilla isn't foody in the slightest, just a tinge of sweetness around the edges of a gloriously refined and woody scent. On me this doesn't morph very much, but it seems to become stronger with wear, with an increasing throw.

This is lovely, but very very light - almost too light to notice. In the imp and wet on the skin the white sandalwood is most noticeable, followed by the most ephemeral of musks and a tiny hint of florals. There's hardly any throw, but it's nevertheless a comforting, serene blend. It would be an ideal bedtime scent.

This is wonderful. Dark, rich and sweet, but with enough of a woody note to stop it from being cloying. It's not much of a morpher on me; it's deep sweet wood and honey all the way. It's wonderfully long lasting, though.