isyche

No description on the site yet. I was curious about the name, so I went looking for information and found this description of it - "According to legend, this was once a valley ensorcelled by Morgan-le-Fay to ensnare unfaithful knights." Very cool, love it already. As for the scent: In the vial: Fresh, sharp, citrusy and green, like just-picked oranges or lemons with their fresh-cut leaves. On me: At first, orange peel (or lemon peel?), something herbal (lavender?), and clover or green grass. As it dries, the herbal note comes forward more and the citrus dissipates. I really like it, and I don't usually like orange/lemon scents. It makes me think of a quiet sunny orchard in the midst of an open green field.

I love the moss and dirt notes in this, but the rose geranium completely dominated on my skin and reminded me too much of this geranium-scented dish soap that we have at my house. So, I guess I'll have to stick to Zombi, Madeline, and Queen of Clubs for florals-plus-dirt.

I'm always tempted by the awesome descriptions of the aquatic/ocean scents and then most of them don't work on me. Sadly, the Fisherman's Wife was no exception. Seaweed, mint and honey sounded interesting, but all I got was that strong aquatic cologne/soap scent from it. Ah well.

Anactoria was very musky and ambery on me -- at first it was all heavy/sweet musk and traditional perfume-y, and then it dried down to mainly the resin notes. I was disappointed because I had been hoping to get more of the currant and honey, but I guess my skin really amps this particular musk.

Love's Philosophy on me smells exactly like storebought vanilla frosting, and it's really strong...I don't get mint or saffron out of it, just a buttery/chalky sweet vanilla. I like some foody scents, but this was too much FROSTING! for me...I tend to prefer more subtle/natural and less sweet things.

On me, Lady Una is like a cross between Dorian and Bewitched with honey poured over it -- it starts out more Dorian-ish with tea and musk and then gets richer and sweeter with the blackberry and honey, but not too sweet. Blackberry notes sometimes go very odd on my skin, but this one seems to stay under control. It's a really lovely, sensual golden-purple wild-nature scent and my favorite from Stardust so far that I've tried. I want a bottle.

I could barely even open my decant of War because something in it smells so off to me. It's like a thin gingery sweetness over twisted evil. I put some on, but it didn't change -- whatever that bitter dark medicinal note is really does not like me and the feeling is mutual. I suppose it works for the character, though, since War isn't what you'd call nice. I shall send her on to someone who gets along with her better.

On me Shadwell starts as a strong cologne-aquatic smell, then a sweet tobacco scent comes out under it, like someone smoking outside in the rain. I don't get the milkiness or the tea. It's interesting and really works for the character; not sexy, but a comfortably eccentric guy smell. However, I am not a grumpy old Englishman, so I think I shall swap my decant.

Fairy Market was a pretty, delicate incense/grass/fruit combination when wet -- nicely evocative of the different scents of the market -- but it got sweeter and sweeter and more perfumey as it dried on my skin and ended up as something too strong and sickly sweet, rather like Hope did. I adore the book, and I thought this was the Stardust scent for me because I love the grassy/green/more natural BPAL herbal/florals, but it's just too sweet. I think I need to avoid "sugared" anything from now on.

This was totally Evil!Alice on me -- like Alice amped up to 11 and twisted in a bad way -- overwhelmingly burnt and sharp. I thought I was really going to like it, but it turned on me (oddly appropriate for the character, though!). Maybe it's the orange blossom's fault. I already swapped my decant.

All strong almond at first, then almond + Snake Oil, then dries to just plain Snake Oil. I like the almond note, and it makes the Snake Oil a little sweeter/foodier/creamier, which is lovely and comforting. I really like this one, but I don't think I need a bottle because the drydown is just like regular Snake Oil on me.

On me this is a thin, sharp red berry note (neroli + acai?) over Snake Oil, but a lot fainter than Snake Oil usually is -- I can't smell it unless I put my wrist right up to my nose. It's not bad, but Eat Me does the berry + vanilla combination better on me and dries down to something like Snake Oil, so I'll probably swap my decant of the Copperhead.

Haloa starts out as warm buttery cake, rich but not super-sweet, with a fruity/raisiny overtone that must be the wine grapes and a touch of incense smoke behind it. It gets to be less cake and more of a complex rich-olive-incensey combination as it dries, like getting up from the table and putting on olive crowns for the orgy. The first phase makes me hungry and the later phase has my nose stuck to my wrist because it's so unusual and weirdly sexy. Decadent and celebratory indeed. I'm not into the snow/ice/pine scents, so most of the Yules this year weren't my thing, but I adore this. I'm glad I went for a bottle.

I jumped on this one because I love a lot of the purple/dark-fruit-wine-incense scents like Queen of Spades. Alas, on my skin Purple Phoenix is a straight-up powdery sweet floral (violet/orris/wisteria, I think) and stays that way. It's purple, but more of a light pastel feeling than the deep dark purple I wanted. I'll give it another chance, but I might end up swapping it.

Carfax Abbey on me is immediately fresh green woodiness – smells like a hike in the forest, leaves and dirt and wood and grass and pine needles. Like I just rolled in a pile of leaves and got up with them stuck in my hair. I have Brides of Dracula on my other hand, and this is almost the opposite of that – outdoorsy and raw and fresh instead of delicate and refined and subtle. It gets more woody-piney and less green as it dries, and now I'm really getting the abandoned abbey feeling from it. I can't pick out the incense, but I think it makes the wood smokier. I like Carfax Abbey and I get interesting images from it, but I don't think I'd wear it enough for a bottle. I can see how it would be good on a man, or it would probably be a great, evocative room-scent.

This is very light on me -- it practically sinks in and melds with my skin as soon as I put it on. I just get a floaty aura of warm, creamy-white lily-honey-skin musk and something that reminds me of Bastet, which might be saffron. I like it a lot more than some other lily scents I've tried, which have mostly gone to soap or been really heavy white florals. It definitely works with my idea of the Brides as elusive, silent, graceful, sexy creatures, and I like that it stays close to my skin, but it's not a very "me" scent, so I'll hang on to my decant but not go for a bottle.

Honey mead and herbs, very intoxicating and summery. The warm herbal/incense smoke notes remind me strongly of Hexennacht, and Litha has a similar bonfire-ritual feeling to it, only with the sweet boozy mead and lemon added -- like a daytime bonfire party in bright, hot sunlight. It's quite strong on me as well. I like it but don't love it -- Mabon is still my favorite sabbat oil.

Soft, dark red, hazy, rich skin scent – like red velvet. Red fruit and smoky incense. Sunset fading into night, a tent on a hill with blood red cushions, golden dishes. Amber is hit or miss on me, but this one is lovely, and the pomegranate isn't the candy-sweet one of Persephone but a darker, winier one -- the smoky note makes it gorgeously autumnal. I think I really love this.

Hungry Ghost Moon is a very light and elusive grapefruit, like diluted juice, at first. Then there's a hint of ginger candy and something more complex underneath (rice wine and incense smoke?), but it stays light and ethereal. It's a very clear/watery scent to me – sweet but not sticky or cloying, and hard to describe. I keep smelling my wrists to try to define it, but I can't pin it down. It definitely has a feeling of emptiness or negative space to it - transparent, ghostly, floating. I was afraid it would be too fruity-sweet from the reviews, but I really love it.

On me, Eat Me starts out smelling exactly like white cake and red currant jam -- light, simple, and not too sweet. It's delicious and makes me want to bake something for afternoon tea. After a while, it dries down to just the vanilla and smells warmer/thicker, a lot like the drydown of Snake Oil, which is OK because I like Snake Oil too. I don't know if I want to go for a whole bottle, but I'll definitely keep the imp and maybe swap for another one.

I love Utrennyaya, but I don't think there's anything that's too similar to it scent-wise. Shattered had a similar sweet/light mint note on me, but it's not floral. Marie has rose and violet, but it's less delicate. I tend to put The Apothecary, Rosalind, Baobhan Sith, Ode on Melancholy, Neo-Tokyo, The Dormouse, and Maiden in the same mental category of "light pale herbal-floral" as Utrennyaya, so you might like them. ETA: Oh, also, Ingenue has the same fresh, light rose-violet thing, although it's super-rare.

At first the Enraged Bunny comes out very powdery and sweet/vanilla-y.... definitely a white powder puff scent. I like the musk in Oisin, but this one is a little too sweet for me, and there's an odd soapy tinge. I put it on both wrists, and as it dries on one it's reminding me of some kind of lemony bathroom scrubbing powder – not good. On the other wrist it just disappeared. I was hoping for more of a clovery, green, fresh scent from this, as I adore the clover in Dublin and Phantom Queen, but I can't detect it in EBM at all. Ah well, I'm sure someone else will give my Bunny a good home.

I've had an imp of Snow Moon waiting to be tested for a while and finally got to it. It's much sweeter than I was expecting; my first reaction was "This is like a super-sweet Dublin." Then it turns more distinctly pine and sweet citrus with a fizzy/heady edge to it, so that the combination makes me think of pine-scented Sprite or something. Finally, the pine goes away and leaves a sweet candy-fruit scent. verdict: I wish it smelled like the description, but my skin amps up the sweetness and I can't deal with the weird Sprite phase.

Not really a fruity-sweet scent on me – it's like a sophisticated orange/tart liqueur darkened by patchouli and woods. It's really perfect for the character because the lighthearted orange feels ominously shadowed by the darker notes, like Fortunato being walled in. I love the creativity of this and Montresor, but I think a decant of each will hold me, because they're not really the kind of thing I wear.

On me, this is all rich, deep, dark dry wine – claret or port or something very saturated and heady. Dark, dark red and thick and almost suggestive of blood...actually, it reminds me a little bit of the boozy bitter wine/blood combination in Centzon Totochtin. It's not a happy bubbly sweet fruit scent, but more of a menacing dark one, appropriately. Montresor is one of those very evocative and interesting BPALs, and I will definitely hang on to my decant just to sniff because it's so different, but it's too heavy for me to actually wear.