Miseraya

In the imp: I'm getting a lemon tea scent out of this. Which is odd... but I really like it. On the wrist: This is fresh, clean, green and citrusy. Like taking a nice hot shower with your favorite citrus body wash and then stepping out into cool spring air in a thin linen sun dress. Light, airy, fresh and clean. Drydown: This is great, it stays pretty true to it's wet phase, but with a hint of light florals. A fantastic spring scent. Definitely a keeper.

In the imp: Odd. It's a bit perfumey, with amber definitely showing through, but the overall feeling to it is sort of thin and green. If that makes any sense. On the wrist: Immediately I get a faint hint of powder, so I am keeping my fingers crossed in the hope that doesn't get more noticeable. Sharp and more perfumey now. Not as warm as I was expecting it to be. Usually when I think amber I think, warm, round and yellow. This is more sharp, thin and green. So far this is not my cup of tea. The powder is getting heavier and more prominent as well. Drydown: Very perfumey and powdery. Powdered perfume. Perfumed powder. You get the idea. Body chemistry strikes again. *sigh* Swaps.

In the imp: Cold, but with a hint of hairspray. WTF? On the wrist: Still getting hairspray from this, like the scented hairspray. It definitely smells cold, but it also definitely smells very much like hairspray to my nose. I think I smell a bit of violet something in there somewhere, under the alcohol smell. It's not exactly a violet note, but it's like violets. Hard to describe. Something a little bit citrus is poking out a bit now.... Drydown: This one is very tough to pick apart. I get a lot of different things in it, but the overall impression is that of hairspray. The hairspray scent fades over time, but never goes away completely. It also goes a bit soapy floral on me as well. All in all this is not me at all, and frankly reminds me of the scent of a bathroom after a high maintenance woman has finished primping in it, hairspray, soap and a hint of perfume. Swapped.

I've been dying to try this one, because, well I've been dying to try all things pumpkin. It's one of my very favoritest notes you see. However, I was so blinded by the pumpkin that I ignored the fact that amber and cardamom were probably a bad idea. And so... dear reader, I must tell you, things did not go so well. Read on. In the imp: Mmm, there's that pumpkin note that I love so much and I think I'm getting a bit of spice as well. Wonderful! On the wrist: Hmm, ok there's the amber. Hoping, hoping..... Drydown: Powder. Damn. The queen hates me. Overall: Swapped. Broke my heart the queen did. *sigh*

This is so amazingly delicious on me. Usually I do my reviews in three parts, but this one stays the same from the imp to the drydown. It's this amazing coffee and butterscotch smell (I assume the butterscotch is the booze in the coffee). It's just... amazing. It has great throw and it lasts for days on my clothes, I rarely say this, but... big bottle. Definitely a big bottle. Did I mention this smells amazing?

In the imp: Faint, exotic and expensive perfume. It reminds me of jasmine. On the wrist: It gets a bit of a green note. Like crushed stems. It also begins to smell much less like perfume and more like flowers and plants. It's a bit like violet. Violets and jasmine with crushed stems. Very feminine. This wears greener and cleaner the longer I have it on, but I am starting to worry about that jasmine-esque note, it has the potential to go powdery on me. This is a very surprising scent! It's beautiful and fresh and green and floral, which I wasn't expecting. This is very bright and springy and pretty. Something I could see myself wearing on hot summer days and in the spring time, when it begins to warm and the flowers are just popping up. Drydown: This has settled into a white waxy floral that I am frankly amazed is working on me. It's gorgeous, lush and thick. It puts me in mind of gardenias, magnolias, maybe a little jasmine. It lost the violet note, lost the green note and went headlong into southern breezes and southern blossoms. It's definitely pretty, but I am not sure I would wear it much. This bears a bit more thinking about, but I may swap it.

In the imp: Patchouli! Very patchouli. Very faintly fig. On the wrist: The patchouli mellows an iota, giving me a chance to smell a bit more fig and a tiny bit of (worrisome) rose. The ginger is peeking through a bit, but it's very close to the patchouli, so hard to distinguish. Figs in a headshop. Gingered figs in a headshop. This is starting to get rather pointy, and it burns my nostrils a bit when I sniff it. That would be the ginger note... Drydown: This has settled pretty firmly in the spicy patchouli world of a gingered fig in a headshop. *shrug* Overall: I never got much rose from this (thankfully), just a tiny bit at the beginning and then gone. I never got much of anything aside from patchouli, ginger and figs. Mostly patchouli with the sharpness of ginger. The figs kept things from getting completely out of control and pointy-ing me to death. Interesting scent, and it sort of works on me, but I don't see myself wearing it... Guess it's off to the swaps. ETA: Fixed a typo.

In the imp: This is really faint, and hard to detect anything specific. Just something vaguely sweet and a little fruity. A bit of fig... On the wrist: This is very faint on me, almost as faint as it was in the imp. Strange. I'm getting honeyed fig and not much else. Which is nice, I wish it was a bit stronger though. Drydown: It went to figgy powder, bugger. *sigh* Swapped.

A paradoxical scent experiment! - tangerine, sugared lime, pink grapefruit, oakmoss, lavender, zdravetz, and chocolate peppermint. In the imp - Citrus! Lots of citrus. Groovy! On the wrist - Mmm, this is a great scent if you like citrus (which I do). I'm not getting anything but über citrus at the moment. Drydown: Bugger. This went from being citrus to the point of cleaning product to chocolate mint baby powder. Damn. Swapped. ETA: Lab description.

In the imp: Buttery pumpkiny loveliness, yum. Hmm, something decidedly not foody lurks beneath. I think it's the tobacco I'm smelling. On the wrist: The other notes start to beat on the pumpkin right away in this blend. I'm getting a lot of tobacco and what must be the champa flower. Not much in the way of carnation or tonka and less and less pumpkin. Oh no, I just made a very disturbing connection. Champa flower is the namesake of Nag Champa incense isn't it? Oh bugger, I hate that stuff! The pumpkin has fought back hard and kicked the ass of all other notes. Huzzah for uber-pumpkin! Admittedly there is a bit of something not pumpkin, but I'm pretty sure it's the tonka and that's fine by me. Drydown: After a while this fades into a mostly tonka scented sort of thing. The pumpkin takes a far, far away backseat, no champa (thankfully) and the tobacco isn't noticeable either.... I may swap this, but I have to think on it.

In the imp: Strawberry is the first thing I smell in this. Then something that makes me think of cough syrup, that's usually orange or cherry.... On the wrist: Sweet and thick and sticky smelling. Strawberry is still the predominant note with the cough syrup scent lingering at a close second. This makes me sort of thirsty, not sure why. I'm getting a lot of strawberry and orange and not much else. It's pretty sharp on my skin. Drydown: This gets very sharp and unpleasant on me. Much though I am loathe to say this, I think I am going to have to pass it on. ETA: Shortly after posting this review the scent went completely to powdery yick on me. I guess that means not all fruit smells like my skin as much as I thought they did. *sigh*

In the imp: Mmm, tea leaf and bamboo are most prominent here. On the wrist: This is great! So far the dragon's blood is behaving (it amps on me usually), the sandalwood is wonderfully absent and this is pure cherry blossom, tea leaf and bamboo reed, which is exactly what I was hoping for! It's sharp and fresh and clean and sweet and wonderful, I hope it stays this way! Drydown: This is a gorgeous scent. The tea, bamboo and cherry remain the most dominant notes with the sandalwood and the dragon's blood hanging out in the background sweetening things up and rounding them out. Love it, love it, love it. Overall: This definitely reminds me of Holiday Moon and Neo Tokyo both of which I love, and it's the only blend with dragon's blood that doesn't go uber blood on me. Keeper!

A sensory jumble, a true cacophony of odors: black pepper, benzoin, blood orange and olibanum. In the imp: Yikes, cough medicine. Bleh. On the wrist: Yep, cough medicine. Not cool. Warming up into something more pleasant. Very orangey. Starting to be not gross. Oh bugger, I just looked up olibanum, it's frankincense! Frankincense is not my friend. Let's see how this works out, so far it's sour orange and something sharp and medicinal.... Still pretty cough syrupy. Drydown: Sadly this did not improve. Sour cough medicine with little variation. There was a brief period of hope, but it was crushed upon the drydown. Blech. Swapped. ETA: Lab description.

In the imp: Warm and sweet, creamy and almost minty. This doesn't smell cold to me at all... On the wrist: Mint again, but a sweet mint. Not cold, still. Almost an ozone note? This stays sweet and warm on me, not what I was expecting. Little girl sweet almost. Drydown: This comes across as a sweet, round and white scent. Very innocent, very sweet. I don't think I can say "sweet" enough because that's the best word for this, the way it wears, the way it smells... It's got great staying power and an awesome throw, but it's not me. Swapped.

In the imp: Hmm, tough. A bit citrusy with a bit of mint peeking through, clean but not in an aquatic way. Clean like a freshly washed and perfumed man sort of clean. Like a very well groomed man has just walked into the room trailing an expensive and unisex sort of scent. Genteel is a good way to describe this and slightly intimidating, though I couldn't say why... On the wrist: Very similar to in the imp, but the notes are even less distinguishable now... A sharpness is peeking through, but I couldn't say what note it is. Still very clean smelling. Anise?? Drydown: This has dried down to a very nice, very subtle bathroom product of some sort. I have to admit, I'm not all that in love with this. Swapped.