isyche

First sniff: grapes, must be the wine. Second sniff: violet. Then - oh, there's the leather. After that, the notes sort of settle into layers with the cool floral on top and the warmer scents underneath.

This is really different and sexy, another one where I can't stop smelling my hand. I love this; it's so complex and Beth seems to have really captured what she was going for. The cool violet over the other, more sexual scents suggests the cool control of a dominatrix. It's kinky in an elegant way.

This is woody/patchouli on me at first - I don't really notice any floral and I'm not sure what copal smells like. Later, it acquires some sweetness on the surface but keeps the deep woody undernote.

It's oddly metallic, especially at first, and does suggest money. If this is golden, it's heavy gold, like bullion, not light sparkly gold, and quite masculine. I can see powerful businessmen wearing this.

 

It's not really me, but it's a v. interesting interpretation of the sin of greed.

On me, Siren starts out as warm apricot-ginger-vanilla, sweet but not horribly so, and the ginger isn't biting at all - more like ginger cookies than fresh ginger. The apricot and ginger kind of clash, and the combination is like some odd kind of baked good. Then, the vanilla gets stronger until it ends up as lightly spiced vanilla that's vaguely coconutty/tropical.

I don't think it's working for me - the apricot/ginger combination is too weird and tropical scents aren't really my thing. Another to swap.

First impression: really sweet and bubblegum-like - that must be the lotus.

 

On me: After it sat on my wrist for a bit, the dragon's blood started to take over, but the lotus was still there making it all syrupy. I do think sweet-fruity-scent fanciers would like this, but Blood Rose works way better for me. I'll probably swap Blood Lotus.

This was worryingly sweet and candy-like in the vial, and I was afraid it was going to turn out uber-sweet like Persephone did on me.

Happily, however, as soon as I put it on, it dried right down to become something like a combination of Dragon's Heart and Black Rose. I couldn't really detect the wine at first, it was mainly the dragon's blood with the rose as backup - a dark dry red smell, like a dried red rose instead of a black one.

Later on, the wine started to come out and made it slightly sweeter/juicier (like the rose was coming back to life?), but it never got cloying at all. Another one I really like.

ETA: the more I wear this, the more I love it - it's a beautiful dark gothic-y blood-red scent that makes me feel like Drusilla from Buffy or Phedre from Kushiel's Dart.

first impression: the sea! I bet this would be great on a guy.

 

on me: At first, it smells like light salty sea spray with an undertone of bay. After a bit, the wood note starts to come out. Yum, this is the sexy - can't stop smelling my hand.

Anne Bonny is more of a hardcore piratey smell, but this is a more casual pirate who isn't really in it for the violence, pillage and plunder. Not Captain Jack Sparrow though, it's too simple/clean/fresh - more like Will than Jack.

 

I got the imp for my brother, but if he doesn't like it I'm so taking it back. Love it.

This is another one that really matches its description - cold, austere, definitely.

In the bottle: I can smell the lily, it's sweet but not sickly.

On me: Dried grasses on a chilly day, or the remains of a wreath on a gravestone in winter. I love grass smells, so I quite like this - it's an interesting variation on the theme.

As everyone has said, this is a lovely sweet fresh pear at first which fades to soft lily of the valley/rose. On me it fades very quickly - the pear is mainly gone within a few minutes - and the floral is very soft, I can only smell it when my nose is touching my wrist.

It's very pretty though, and I do love that this is a fruit blend that doesn't go all cloying on me. It has a pale freshness similar to Baobhan Sith, which I think I prefer, but I'll use this up.

This is all cinnamon on me - I've tried it a few times but I can't detect any rose. And it's like cinnamon gum, not really like the spice (I think the rose may be what's making the cinnamon sweeter). Anyway, not for me, another to be swapped.

"Vegetatively feral," I like that - it's exactly how this smells on me as well. Very earthy and green/brown, I don't get any violet at all. (which is sad, since magpiedee's review was so intriguing.)

 

I was curious about how vetiver would smell, but based on this I don't think I get along with it either. The initial wet smell was the most intimidating part, I had to wash it off the first time I tried this - after drydown it became more tolerable, but still too masculine and wet soil/angry vegetable for me.

Just got this in a swap. At first sniff, it strikes me as fresh, purple, dusky, and somehow masculine - it actually reminds me a lot of my dad for some reason, especially when it wafts up. Closer to my skin, more of the sweetness of the florals comes through.

This isn't one where the neroli overwhelms everything, for which I'm grateful. I quite like it. I don't know if I'll wear it much myself, but I'll save it.

When I tried this, all I could smell was the same bitter/sharp note that disagreed with me in Succubus - which I have deduced must be neroli. No vanilla or lemon or floral, just that. Oh well.

At first, I liked this a lot. It reminded me of a darker Rosalind, which is one of my favorites - dark green and blackberry instead of grass and flowers/berries.

However, there's something in the musk/sage/berry combination that goes vaguely stomach-turning on me after a while, and I can't deal with it, so it's been swapped.

The first time I tried this, I could barely smell anything, just a faint sweetness. When I tried it again, it was soft, milky, sugary carnation - like Maiden, only even younger, because of the milk. Very little-girl.

I like it, and it's a great evocation of the name, but I don't think I want to smell like a rosy-cheeked eight-year-old in a party dress. If I knew one, I'd give it to her, but I don't, so I'll swap it.

I just got this in a swap, and I really like it. It's all honey and roses on me, a warm golden smell, sweet but not too sugary, and very feminine but not weak. After a while, it seemed to separate so that the honey wafted up every now and then, but when I sniffed my wrist it was more rose-y.

Lovely and long-lasting. It's not precisely "me," since I don't think of myself as much of a Jezebel, but I'll definitely save it for when I want to feel like one.

This is another one of my favorites so far. The grapefruit at first is refreshing, but not as sharp as the grapefruit in Tempest, for instance. It fades to a cool, light, white apple blossom/tea scent that's brightened by the remaining faint grapefruit. I can't really smell the ginger, and it isn't very long lasting, but I still love it.

I wanted to like this, but it just smells like maraschino cherries on me at first (and I'm not really a fan of them), then it fades to the musty-old-potpourri sort of smell that some other people got. Darn. Guess I'm not a Hellcat girl.

At first, all I got from this was very bitter lavender/incense. It eventually faded to a softer, more interesting scent, but I couldn't really tell what that was - and then it was gone. I'm still not sure what I think of that phase, but the initial bitterness is too much for me.

Carnal isn't as super-sweet as some of the other fruity scents I've tried (*ahem*Persephone) - I think the fig grounds it somewhat. That said, it's still too orange-candy for me.

All I can smell in Succubus is a sharp/bitter note that must be the neroli - no flowers or orange or anything. I guess neroli doesn't like me.

I was afraid this wouldn't work on me, since a lot of the other popular scents haven't, but it does! warm, sweet-but-not-overly-so, vanilla-spicy goodness and it lasts a long long time. I'm glad to have a "sexy" scent I can wear even if that isn't my usual mode.

This was an overwhelmingly strong resiny-rose smell on me and actually gave me a headache about 10 minutes after putting it on, so I had to wash it off. Not for me.

At first I tried this on a cold/rainy sort of evening, and I liked it, but it was more a "very nice laundry soap" smell than a "perfume" smell to me...probably because of the lemon. Then I pulled it out again on a recent hot, humid, icky day, and it was exactly what I needed to cancel out some of the mugginess. Definitely a great summer scent.

Ophelia is extremely sweet on me, in a candy way, not a floral way- it almost reminds me of Hawaiian Punch. (My little brother liked it, probably because of the candy association.) I wish I could have gotten the water/ivy/rose smell others described from it, but no.

I really like this - as others have said, the image I get from it is of running through a wild, grassy, clovery field at night...or riding... maybe the initial charge across a battlefield?

The orchid is a bit too sweet and heavy for summer, but I think this would make a great autumn scent. And it stays on me for a decent amount of time, too.