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.

In the imp: Ooh this is a gorgeous marriage of plum and peony. I love it! I hope this one works on me! On the wrist: Pretty true to the imp scent, the ginger comes out a bit. It's very nice. Drydown: This got very sharp and pointy on me. The musk did that evil thing that musk does on me and ruined everything. Overall: Musk is evil and I am forced to swap this. Damn you musk!

The autumnal blooms of clematis, chrysanthemum, narcissus, sunflower, sage and lily twined with Dionysus’ sacred grapes and ivy, a bounty of apple, pumpkin, and ripe berries, and the amaranth and lingum aloes of Janus, all touched by a gentle breath of festival woodsmoke and sweet wine. In the imp: This is sour and unpleasant to my nose, right off the bat. I think that's the wine, wine doesn't work nice with me. On the wrist: Not improving... Drydown: Washed it off. Something in this (the wine note and at least one other) did not want to play nice with me. Swapped.

In the imp: Sour milk. Yickies. Spices and sour milk. On the elbow: Ok, the sour milk smell is being overwhelmed by the spices and I think I get some fig in this? Maybe that's the massoia bark. The sour milk smell is wafting though. Drydown: This is sharp spices and sour milk. Not so pleasant on me. I blame the honey note for the sour milk smell, but it's possible it's the massoia. Swapped.

In the imp: A very juicy pear scent. Sweeter than I was expecting though, I expected the tartness of a pear to come through, but this is the sweetest, juiciest pear you can get. On the wrist: Almost immediately the vanilla starts to come through on this. I'm thinking poached pear at this point, like an expensive desert of poached pears and vanilla ice cream, the ice cream melting under the heat of the pears a bit. Very sweet and round, no edges or tartness to this. Drydown: This stays a lovely pear and vanilla desert, but it's not really me. I was expecting a fresher, more fruity version of what this actually is. This is gorgeous, but I'd end up gnawing off my wrist if I wore this on th wrong day. I think I'll pass it on.

Let me preface this by saying I have no idea what possessed me to want a scent so thoroughly not for me. Almost none of these notes play nice with my chemistry, sugar cane is the only note that might have worked. In the imp: Soap. Floral soap. On the wrist: Starts out all clean and fresh. Tea and citrus? Green and clean smelling. Drydown: Powder. Awful, cruel powder. Overall: I am not sure what madness I was in the throes of when I put this on my wishlist, but this one was doomed from the start. Swapped.

In the imp: Right now it has a similar note to Jack, something spicy and tasty... On the wrist: Hmm, the Jack similarity is still there, and something else that is much less pleasant. Drydown: This goes all yicky musk on me. Swap.

In the imp: Strawberry liquor. Interesting. On the wrist: Uh-oh, this is all medicinal... Drydown: Pure plastic toy scent. Bugger. Overall: From start to finish this one was determined not to work on me. It's off to the swaps.

In the imp: Rose, rose and rose. I am not sure why I have this one, rose hates me. But I promised to try everything that comes to me so here goes nothing.... On the wrist: Uber rose. Rose, rose and a bit of rose. I suspect this review is possibly pointless. Drydown: Rose talcum powder. Yep, rose hates me. Overall: I suppose I could have skipped trying this, but I like to try everything that comes my way. Swaps.

In the imp: Ok, umm... this may sound odd, but this smells like berries and farm to me. Like someone burning a candle in a farmhouse (a smell with which I am intimately familiar.) I wonder why I am getting that... On the wrist: Well the... farm note has mellowed some. Now it's more just berries. I'm getting a hint of spice in this now, but damned if I could pinpoint what the spice *is*. Musky fruits, sweet and spicy, sharp and dusty. Very contradictory! Sweetening and sharpening up quite a bit and regaining the farm animal smell. Drydown: This has gone (and is showing every sign of staying) all farm animal and sharp berries on me. Swaps.

In the imp: Sharp and '80's smelling. This has that note that makes me think of my mother's punk rock phase. On the elbow: Slightly less harsh, but still pretty unpleasant and still reminding me of the 80's. Big, big throw. Screaming "SMELL ME AND ME ONLY!" Drydown: This is very strong, very heavy, with a huge throw and a very large personality. It's screaming head shop and punk rock at me. It makes me think of my apartment as a kid, full of incense smoke and a parent with a spiky haircut. (Actually it was more poofy than spiky, but the jewelry was definitely spiky.) Overall: This is not doing it for me at all, as a matter of fact it's making me feel a little sick. Swaps!