isyche

The Empress is rose and something else... it's reminding me of Silentium Amoris or Spellbound or Seraglio...ylang-ylang? amber? sandalwood? It's a warm, heady, soft, womanly rose – I can see the grounded maternal quality of this. However, whatever is under the rose is going a bit headachey/soapy on me, like Spellbound and Silentium Amoris did. I love rose, and the Empress is nice, but some of Beth's other roses work better on me.

I really wanted to love Aeval, but something about the sweetness of the sweet pea and the astringency of the sage combined on my skin keeps bringing up unpleasant memories of some kind of medicine. I can't put my finger on what it is, but it's giving me hospital flashbacks, so it must go. Sigh.

Leanan Sidhe: fresh, green, watery. I can see how one could get soap from this, but it's not soapy or powdery on me. It is very clean, though. It's a bit like a greener Szepasszony – the same clear water note, but this is like a clear pool with reeds and other plants growing in it. As it dries the aquatic softens and it starts to feel more like mist over the pool. I like.

Hetairae is honey, fig and patchouli on me, in that order. Sweet and spicy-woody, like some kind of dessert involving honeyed figs and spices. It's also very much like a sweeter Nemesis on me – Nemesis but with honey. I like it, but the honey makes it a bit too heavy-sweet and I think I like Nemesis better.

wet: BERRY sweet, augh. drying: Spicy powdery berry. The powderiness makes me think of SweetTarts, but the spice makes it less like candy. a bit later: The berries have backed off, now it's a lovely, warm spicy-amber-iris mixture with berry in the background. After it dries, Florence has the same swirling rich golden-purple feeling I got from the discontinued Carnivale. I quite like it.

at first: Brisingamen is a bit more perfumey/grown-up than the usual scents I like - I was expecting something lighter/cleaner. I can pick out the apple blossom, though, it's pretty. later: Hmm, this is starting to smell weirdly burnt and heavy. Is that the myrtle? The floral is gone so I guess I'm just getting amber and myrtle. I thought I liked amber, but maybe this is just too much of it. Damn. I wanted to love this, but the drydown is too resiny/woody/dry; on me, it reminds me of some kind of expensive conventional perfume that older women would wear, which is really not me.

On me Languor is like white lily petals and opium, sweet, waxy, dense. It's a bit like a daytime, not-so-bitter version of Noir (Blanc?). It doesn't smell dark to me, it smells very white, but it's a heavy, lazy whiteness, definitely languorous. It's interesting, I like it.

Chaste Moon is buttery in the bottle, as everyone before me has noted, and that reminds me of Harvest Moon. On, it first turns minty and creamy and reminds me strongly of Spooky or Snow White, then settles down to a soft, sweet milky scent with just a touch of mint for sparkle, and never has that weird plastic phase I got from Snow White. I don't get any floral or fruit from it. Chaste Moon does kind of smell like a baby's milky breath. It's very nice, cozy and innocent, probably my favorite moon that I've tried.

A gift imp from the lab. I wasn't expecting to like Delirium because of the lemon and apple, but I do! It's like a really fresh, tart rose, or a sliced apple with lemon juice on it and roses nearby. I think this would be an excellent spring/summer scent, it's so refreshing and the lemon isn't cleaner-y on me at all. A surprise hit! I may want more of it.

On me this is green, herbal, a little rose, slightly soapy but not in a bad way. Water of Notre Dame actually reminds me of La Belle Dame Sans Merci, except this is a bit sweeter and not so sharp/standoffish. It's nice, and I am finding it relaxing.

Ahathoor when wet makes me think “bright yellow” and I can pick out lemon in it. It's got the same dry warmth that Khephra has, but this has a sharp astringent note that makes it feel bright instead of smoky—lemon and sage together maybe? (I think there must be sage in it, because it makes me think of sagebrush in the Nevada desert where I used to live.) It's very sharp on me, like the sun rays are shining right in my eyes, ow. As it dries down it gets drier and more sage-y. I don't get any sweetness or softness from it, just blazing hot, dazzling, harsh afternoon sun. As a shade-loving creature, I can appreciate the art of this, but it's so not me.

On me, Khephra is a dark, warm, smoky, resiny scent with some dry spices and herbs I can't make out. It's a black-and-gold/bronze-feeling smell, very appropriate for the midnight sun. I like it, but I think I'd be more comfortable burning than wearing it – it has more of a ritual incense feel than a perfume feel.

Crossroads started out smelling like wet-garden and dirt on me, but jasmine quickly popped out and took over, as it tends to do -- it ended up as a very-slightly-dirty jasmine, and I'm not a big fan of this jasmine note. So I swapped it.

I got a freebie of Paris in my most recent order, so I'm trying it although lotus isn't my favorite note. In bottle: that lotus bubblegum/candy smell mixed with lavender. it's an odd combination. On me: sweet sweet sweet sticky candy, with a little spice behind it from the lavender, like lavender-flavored fruit snacks or something. lotus just goes crazy cloyingly sweet on my skin. off to swap with you, Paris!

Blood smells dark red and thick/viscous, appropriately...I smell mainly dragon's blood and clove, and the cherry makes the dragon's blood fruitier and richer without jumping out and turning to red candy. It dries down very clove-y on me. I like it, and I think it might be good for layering with other things because it's relatively simple.

Tombstone is all cedar and vanilla on me - it's actually quite similar to the drydown of Velvet without the chocolate, it has the same "sweet dusty warm wood" feeling. It does make me think of Western ghost towns with old wood cabins, but the cedar ends up very sharp and pencil-shaving-ish on my skin and it isn't really me.

Lavender and jasmine...no honeysuckle. This smells just like Somnus and Oneiroi on me. I like those for their intended purpose, but now I associate the combination with sleep. Also, jasmine hates me and tends to take over and go all rice/soapy. I'm going to stick to the dream oils for lavender/jasmine – off to swap with Twilight.

Hmm, this is really strong on the gardenia, very similar to how Sacred Whore of Babylon smelled on me. Vanilla + gardenia = really sweet and heady floral, and gardenia tends to go slightly “off” on me in a way I don't like. I can't really smell the violet in this. It's all humid strong Southern-belle gardenia, threatening to give me a headache. Off to swap.

In long-ago Arabia, harem girls rubbed an herbal poultice formed from a blend of sensual, luxuriant herbs and oils onto their bodies to prepare themselves for the Sultan’s pleasure. This lush, indulgent perfume is based on that ancient formula. Sweet almond and Mysor sandalwood enveloped by a heady veil of Bulgarian Rose, neroli, nutmeg, clove and orange peel. Seraglio is all golden almondy almond at first, then the almond disappears and it morphs into rose, a drier rose kind of like the one in Lucy's Kiss, which may be due to the spices. After that, the clove and nutmeg and sandalwood come out and push the rose back, so now it's a lightly dry, spicy scent - the rose has gone a little soapy, so it's like spicy rose-sandalwood soap. It stays close to my skin in all the phases. It's pretty and exotic and I'll keep the imp, but I think I prefer Bastet for a golden-almond-spice scent. ETA: Hmm, now the sandalwood has gone really strongly soapy and it's not so nice. I might swap it.

Rome was another lovely gift from the lab that hadn't caught my eye previously. It's a soft rose with something oddly sharp/astringent mixed in, which must be the juniper. then the rose fades completely all of a sudden and leaves a really faint herbal scent – the chamomile? It makes for an interesting combination, a fresh herbal outdoorsy rose. I think it might make a better room or linen scent than a me-scent, but I like it.

In the bottle, Grog does smell like butter rum Life Savers. On, it's very sweet, and it has a little of the burnt smell I got from Gluttony and Sugar Skull, but not as overpowering as those two were for me. It's not boozy on me, just sweet butterscotch like you'd put on ice cream. It's a yummy smell, but I'm not sure I want to smell like it. I might put it in a burner or use the imp to layer with other things.

Oh, nice! It smelled just like lavender in the vial, but on my hand I'm getting a sweet light floral that I'm guessing is star jasmine/ delphinium. It's not like the usual jasmine note which tends to take over blends on me - this one is delicate and subtle, and with the lavender, it's a bit tart. I thought it was apple blossom at first. Later on, there's a little spice, and as it dries the rose comes out, so it ends up as spicy rose. Sophia's lovely, fresh, and almost smells like a younger sister of Phantom Queen on me, which I wasn't expecting. It's quite an innocent smell at first, and it makes me think of childlike spiritual wisdom rather than old-books wisdom. The drydown is more grown-up, but still pretty.

Czernobog was another gift from the lab that I wouldn't have ordered because it looks like a definite man's scent, but I'll try it.. It's scary and dark in the bottle. On, it's dark heavy musk and something sharp and eucalyptus-y over the top, very masculine/animalistic. It makes me think of a big, black, snarling dog or wolf. If you want to smell like the wolf from “Little Red Riding Hood,” this is for you, and I find it interestingly evocative in that way, but I couldn't wear it myself.

Antony smells like fresh, clean, green grass and herbs and leather. For some reason, I think of brown leather, not black – an adventurer in faded leathers resting in a sunny grassy field in the late afternoon. Antony could be sexy, but it's not trying to be. It's more innocent than the other BPAL leather scents I've tried – it's a daytime, not a nighttime scent. I could give this to my teenage little brother and not feel weird about it. Or I could wear it myself, as it's one of the few masculine scents I've felt comfortable wearing. A definite keeper.

Iago was a gift from the lab that I probably wouldn't have ordered, because vetiver is my nemesis. So, in the bottle: all vetiver, ick. On me: It's very dark and masculine, definitely not me. I like the leather, but I just can't stand the vetiver on myself - it very well might smell good on a man, though. It's a macho-manly-man sort of scent. Verdict: You're too much man for me, Iago - I shall send you off to someone who can handle you.