isyche

Lolita was a frimp from the lab in my last order...I wasn't expecting to like it, as I usually don't like candy sweet teenybopper smells, but I tried it. in vial: Sharp, not sweet, like vinegar or pickles or something. Odd. on me: I can tell it's a spicy floral with a touch of lemon, but something about it is still reminding me of pickles. Then it dries down to a weird musty nose-wrinkling scent. Something about this really does not like me, which is strange, as the separate ingredients have worked fine before, but that's OK since I wasn't invested in liking it. Off to swap with you, Lolita!

Hunger was a frimp from the lab that I'd been curious about, so I was glad to get it. On me, at first, it's a sweet creamy orange blossom/narcissus, then the vanilla comes out more strongly as it dries. The vanilla is like the vanilla in Snake Oil, so this ends up almost like a floral Snake Oil (as others have said, looking at reviews now). It's nice, but ehh...I prefer Jezebel for a sexy sweet orange blossom scent, and I like Snake Oil by itself.

Miskatonic U in bottle: hazelnut coffee, yum! exactly like opening a bag of coffee beans and sniffing it. Miskatonic U on me: Rich sweet coffee with an undertone of dark polished wood and a little of that dusty book smell—it's the smell of the ideal cozy little bookstore/cafe. I don't know how Beth does it, this is amazing. I find this scent incredibly comforting, because bookstores and libraries have always been happy places for me. I ordered a second bottle before I got to smell it because it sounded so good, and I'm glad I did! Now to settle down with a copy of that infamous book by the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred...

Arkham Revisited in bottle: pretty, sweet green/floral, nice. Arkham Revisited on me: Still fresh and green, but the wood notes come out to deepen it, and it ends up as a lovely balance between leaves, branches, and wildflowers, just like a springtime deciduous forest. It's sweet, but not too sweet, and delicate, not overpowering. (This is what I imagined Hamadryad would smell like before I got it and found out it was cinnamon.) I really like it.

Oisin in bottle: very light but fresh. nice. Oisin on me (hee): Ooh, now I can smell the herbs...light green herbs and fresh air and sunshine, a breezy meadow on a hilltop. OMG, love. I thought this might be too manly or cologney for me, but it's completely not; it's sexy/androgynous kind of in the same way Dorian is, and the musk isn't heavy or perfumy at all on me. My nose is glued to my arm. I'm so glad I ordered some before it went away.

Cathode is strongly minty at first....then the mint settles down and the mosses comes out a bit more, along with a a little bit of aquatic/ozone, and I'm guessing the ambergris is underneath. It's very green and fresh, but a deep green. I get an image of having a cup of mint tea on a mossy riverbank in a forest, after it's just rained. I like it, it's interesting and refreshing - a little like my beloved Apothecary but more masculine. This is another one I might keep for myself or give to my brother.

When it first touches my skin Oberon is a light spicy floral, like carnation, but is there carnation in it? No. Hmm, maybe it's the juniper and orchid. There's just this light spiciness and maybe the musk underneath. As it dries the bergamot becomes more distinct, and it reminds me of a masculine counterpart to Alice. It's nice. I'll either keep it or give it to my brother.

I agree with Rosalind and Phantom Queen -- both make me think of open fields, but Rosalind is a sunny cheerful daytime meadow and Phantom Queen is a mysterious nighttime one. Also, you might like the Apothecary, which I find outdoorsy but calming, more like a quiet forest clearing.

I've been hunting for this and I finally got an imp on ebay. Ingenue is very appropriately innocent and light and girly. Violet is prominent in it - sweet, dewy violet, very pretty. I can also detect the clover, which backs it up with fresh greenness, and I think the melon is making it cool and a little watery. I like rose, but I don't get much rose from it. I love it - I totally want more if it comes back.

Damn, this is sexy. It starts out as fir and mint, a chilly old-forest scent, then warms up and gets smoky-spicy-musky later on. Masculine, foresty, dark green and brown with a touch of fire. I agree with Macha that this is so what Strider smells like. It's too manly for me to wear it, but I wish I had a man to test it on.

Belle Epoque, first sniff: vanilla and sandalwood? A bit more perfumy than I usually like at first, and it goes a little soapy on my skin. I think I get the opium note after a little while, but I don't get any mandarin. Overall, it smells like a fancy French soap in a vintage box, or like an exclusive antique store, for some reason. It makes me think of high-class old things...I know Antique Lace is a different scent, but I associate this with the same sort of feeling. Toulouse-Lautrec posters and aging off-white lacy gowns. Evocative, but not really me.

On me, Hell's Belle is warm, sweet, creamy sexy floral with touches of smoke and spice...the mandarin stays in the background. I agree with the 'caramelized magnolia' description. Wow, I wasn't expecting this to work on me since gardenia and jasmine hate me, but apparently magnolia likes me. This is what I wanted (Old) New Orleans to smell like. It's very Southern-belle-crossed-with-femme-fatale. I feel like I should be giving sultry looks, batting my eyelashes, vamping it up and showing cleavage I don't have. It's not very “me,” but I like it.

Yep, Ides of March is green and herbal. I usually associate green scents with coolness, but this is a warm green -- maybe because of the spices? On my skin, it strongly reminds me of hot herbal tea, like chamomile, except that's not one of the notes listed. It's definitely gender-neutral - doesn't smell strongly masculine or feminine on me. I agree that it would make a nice work scent, because it's sort of no-nonsense, un-frilly and straightforward. I like it a lot. I'm glad I got a bottle while it was still available.

Ooh, Rose Cross is a gorgeous pure, sweet, fresh rose. Like the platonic ideal concept of rose, high and spiritual. It's similar to the red rose in Whip, but with incense instead of leather...this is the sacred to Whip's profane. I really like it, but I already have so many rose scents on their way!

Soft jasmine, moss, carnation, incense, earth notes, complicated swirly smokiness...like a headshop in a forest. It makes me think “hippie, psychedelic.” The vetiver and jasmine aren't taking over like they usually do on me, which is nice. This completely evokes the Caterpillar sitting on his mushroom smoking his hookah, and that's so cool, but it's not really my kind of scent to wear.

Oh, this is nice. Light spice and something like dry grass? It actually resembles Sudha Segara on me, but with that grassy note added. I agree that the spice might be carnation. The Lion is warm, golden, and much lighter/more innocent that I expected, almost like this might be a lion cub rather than a big lion. I really like it. ETA after reading other reviews: I think I get tea from this, too. Yum.

Green grass and rose are two of my most favorite smells ever, so I was in love with the description of this. On me, it's crazy multicolored rose, rose, rose...like rolling in a bed of sun-warmed fresh petals from a hundred different types of rose. 2, 5, & 7 is a bit like Rose Red, but warm, sunny and chaotic instead of pure and chilly. The grass scent stays underneath the roses but adds to the outdoorsy freshness. In short, it's really lovely, and I want a bottle.

wet: Beltane is light, floral, green, citrusy, springy, pretty! very nice. drying: Oh wait, I strongly suspect there's a lot of jasmine in this...it's coming out stronger on my skin and doing that funky rice thing it does. damn. I love the wet scent, but jasmine hates me. I think it needs more testing before I decide what to do with my bottle.

Pink Moon, first sniff: strawberries and brown sugar...reminds me of the strawberries and cream and brown sugar they used to serve on May Day at my college. The initial wet phase smells a lot like Sugar Skull with strawberries in it, and the strawberries smell nice and real....I quite like this part. However, after that my skin morphs it into a pink cotton candy-frosted-sticky-strawberry-syrup-floral smell that's just too PINKSWEET! for me. People who like Sugar Skull, Bon Vivant, or candy smells in general will probably love it, though.

Wow. I do think Hexennacht is similar to Samhain, only with much less foodiness and more smokiness. However, I like it much better than Samhain, which smelled like overwhelming fake holiday spice candle on me. This is indeed the scent of forest bonfire in a bottle. fir branches, woodsmoke, incense, herbs, flames leaping against the night sky...I love it, and I don't usually go for the dark woody blends. Brilliant. ETA the next day: Also, it's really strong and long-lasting, a little goes a long way.

Yummy. I like this. The lime/coconut combination is great. As in Spooky, the mint starts out a bit too strong, but the coconut note that wafts away from my skin is lovely, and the mint calms down later. It's also a bit like Snow White without the weird plastic note I got from that. This is a sharp-but-soft, white, bright scent with hints of green, very summery. Spooky is like hot minty coconutty cocoa and The Star is like a cold coconut-lime-mint cocktail, but they're quite similar otherwise.

I've had an imp of this lying around since it was discontinued, but never thought to wear it until now. I usually don't think of the voodoo blends as having to smell nice - I've used them more for their particular functions - but wow, Crucible of Courage is so yummy! It's sweet, floral, a little herbal, and I think it has honey and rose in it because it's a little reminiscent of Jezebel on my skin. Darn, now I want more of it.

The Hierophant is spicy-foody. Another Tarot with cinnamon, but it's like cinnamon cookie dough or something – there's another note backing it up that gives it a sweet heaviness. Almond maybe? It makes me think of an orangey-brown color; there's no green in this on me. I can't think of an association to the card at present, but it's a nice enough scent.

first sniff: cinnamon and something fresh. on: is that mint? yes, definitely cinnamon and mint. then the mint subdues the cinnamon until it's mostly mint and maybe some lemon? then, after a while, a floral note comes out and dominates. The Lovers ends up as a quite sweet floral scent (gardenia? ylang-ylang? plumeria?) with minty/cinnamon undertones. I guess I can see cinnamon and mint as the two opposites – warm and cold, red and green – and the drydown as their synthesis. it's interesting. I don't think I could wear it, but I like it as an evocation of the card.

first sniff: oh no, vetiver! I'd recognize your evilness anywhere. But I shall persevere. on: woody/spicy/bitter. cinnamon and vetiver and sandalwood? it's reminding me a bit of Wolfsbane crossed with Hamadryad. appropriately foresty/earthy, but not my favorite thing. The World isn't morphing on my skin; I just get a strong earthy cinnamon/vetiver mix that isn't really working for me. no aquatic or floral or fruit. ah well.