tealight

Straight to powder every time! ARGH! Like a full bottle of baby powder upended over a campfire. I've never had a scent turn completely into baby bottom before and the only unfamiliar notes in this are smoky vanilla and pine pitch. I'm getting maybe a touch of vanilla and skin musk, and I feel like this would be truly lovely if it weren't for that overwhelming powdery top note.

I put a couple bottles and a few imps into a little black, velvet bag and threw it in with the rest of my toiletries in a sealed plastic bag. It went through check-in just fine, but something leaked nooooo nooo no no. I can't even tell which one's the culprit! They all look innocently sealed and at the correct level, but my labels are ruined. They're all bottles and imps that are never leaving my hands but I am mourning my Snow White '08 and Tamamo-no-Mae. They both look deep fried.

This smells almost exactly like Vera Wang's Princess on me. I couldn't place it at first, but I wore Princess today out of laziness and a ha there it was! I amp the lily and aquatic notes in Lyonesse, which makes it very similar to the water lily in Princess. I've had three stressful weeks of deadlines, lack of sleep and all that good stuff, so I'll give it another again once that's all settled down. I'm sure I can borrow it back from a friend I've been enabling into BPAL for just a little while at least.

In the vial this is sickly sweet, rotting fruit and sour wine. What. I love most of the notes in this, and they start to blend gorgeously on my skin. Vanilla, honey, cherry and earthy vetivert ...but sweet baby Jesus that rancid wine note is just throwing everything off. Will try this again when my cycle's at a different point and hope the wine doesn't go all cheap and nasty on me.

I ordered a bottle from 2009 on an impulse and started getting antsy about it after it arrived! I've had a streak of winners with untested bottles and I was so sure this would be the combo breaker. Gut instinct you have served me well. I absolutely LOVE this. It's a curl of woodsy smoke from a clove cigarette lathered in smooth red musk and sweetened with peach blossom and currant. It's suprising how warm and pretty this is, but three years of aging has made this velvety smooth and complex. Nothing Jack-in-the-Box about it. The toothpick I used to test smells incredible too, much more redwood on than on me but just as nice. People we've got a winner. Ironically, 14/15 imps I've tested in the last few days were a resounding meh.

UGGGH ALMOND, why won't you love me? This smells exactly like Eden to me, except it's gone in twenty minutes with a residue of Morocco left behind. I love almond, but it's turned into an odd, creamy single note both times I've tried it. Smells exactly like this nutty Asian leaf vegetable. I love a big plate of steaming veggies, smelling like one - not so much. Edit: Tried it again after a long shower and it is much better. I still don't get honey, but the almond has more dimension to it now. I am never going to be able to wear it without thinking of vegetables though, so off to the eventual swap/sale pile it goes.

In my stash notes: - OMFG VANILLA AND AMBER AND SANDALWOOD MMMM - somehow fresh and resinous and foody at the same time - eats my arms Vial: YUM. Wet: STILL YUM. Dry: CONTINUES TO BE YUM. This is like wearing a cute dress and eating cake and frolicking in a field of flowers. Verdict: BOTTLE.

Mmm this has a lot of promise in the vial. It's sweet, dewy fruit softened by skin musk. I'm picking up the rose and honey too, but they're being shy. As soon as it gets on my skin though, there goes the fruit, off to the hills. I'm getting a top note of rose. The skin musk is the same lovely, heady stuff in Tamamo-no-Mae which my skin loves. I'm not too crazy about rose as a top note, but at least it's a soft, well-behaved rose. Oomph, this one's a morpher. Twenty minutes later the rose fades away and in comes frankincense and myrrh ...and then it turns into a game of hide-and-seek. The rose can't decide whether it wants to stick around! I kind of wish it wouldn't hur hur. I'm getting a very slightly sour, slightly green note too. It settles very much into a skin scent on me. Skin musk. Skin scent. No surprises there. Les Bijoux develops into a soft, pretty, impeccably blended fruity floral. It's a little more perfume-y than what I'd normally go for, but perfect for spring. (◡‿◡✿) Edit: Tried it again and ooo, this is gorgeous. Less floral and more of that honeyed apple-musk I was craving. Might be a bottle contender if it stays this way on me!

I spent last week shaking my bottle of Snake Oil and sobbing WHY WON'T YOU LOVE ME. I bought an aged bottle on a whim and I literally smelled like old man and carpet. As it turns out, Mother Nature came around a few days later and I decided to give it another go. Oh what a world difference. It was all head shop incense and nothing else the week before, and now I'm finally getting that warm, dark resin-y vanilla people rave about. I love it! It does seem to be morphing on me still, so I'll have to try it again in a few days to see if it warrants a full bottle. Edit: Ok, this definitely deserves a full bottle. The more wear it, the more I seem to love it.