pekeana

To me, Theodosius only bears a superficial resemblance to Dorian. It has the same fougere, and a breath of the same musk, but that's where the resemblance stops and Theodosius becomes its own scent. The tea is strong and blends with the musk and jasmine leaf to create a deep, sparkling river of clean green waters -- it almost smells like a version of China Musk + the smell of the beginning of a calm rain. Once it settles on my skin and melds with my chemistry, it smells like the cleanest spring shower over a meadow. And yet, somehow, it retains a thread of threatening malevolence that leads me to dub it "Satan's Shower" -- step up and take your chances with this rain, because it's going to drown you in it. I LOVE IT.

Chrysanthemum Moon is just happy. It's a deep, thick haze of resins and smoke, with just the barest hint of floral over the top of it. It's smooth and strong, lots of throw, and brilliantly melds with my skin and projects a simple, decadent sensuality. And as it fades away to nothing, I'm left with the smell of opium smoke lingering upon my skin: a fitting end to a sensual experience within the Chrysanthemum Moon.

Xanthe, Xanthe, ye poor, poor clown... I'm scared to bits of clowns. Always have been. Kicked one in the nuts at the circus when I was about 8 or 9 because he scared the bejeezus out of me. That was the last time we went to the circus... I wonder why? So I'm not sure why I ordered Xanthe, what with the whole kabuki clown thing going on. But I did. In the bottle of clown-like doom, this scent is very astringent. I mainly smell guava rind (not to be confused with guava juice -- this is bitter and not at all sweet or fruity) and sugar dancing across the top. Nothing else is identifiable to my nose, just kind of a mismash of fruity-floral eh playing around. On my skin, it's bitter rind and sugar. As it rests and interacts with my chemistry a bit, I can pull up apple blossom and the barest touch of what might be orange peel in with the guava rind, but I don't get any pepper. It's a little frustrating that something that could have been overwhelmingly lovely has been thwarted by my skin going "bitch, you WILL smell like bitter peels!!"

I kill mint. Well, my skin does, anyway. So... There is no mint to this for me, just verbena, tea, musk, aloe, and lime. It's very similar to Embalming Fluid, but just different enough because of the lime to make me go "zOMG" and want to hoard my bottles. F5 is a winner and I can't wait to make my co-workers smell it all day long.

Shiiiiny. Gennivre is just shiiiiiny. My skin chemistry eats mint, so what I'm left with is a deep, rich, beautiful floral tea with honey. It's strong and not particularly sweet on me, just very mellow and beautiful. (On my skin, it's the perfume equivalent of this fall's "tea & honey" by Yankee Candle, which is just peachy keen jelly bean with me!) Definitely multiple bottles of this one! (edited for spelling mishap -- I was too excited and should learn to type)

Two more bottles of glee! CMLXX: This is very medicinal in the bottle, eucalyptus and heavy leather. But on my skin, it's lighter -- still mainly leather, but with hints of skin musk, honey, and incense. This one might take some layering or a little more time to really hit my brain, ya know? MXXXVI: HOLY HELL, THIS IS THE SCENT I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR ALL OF MY LIFE. Literally, this is my perfect scent. You open up the bottle and it's so sweet you want to step back and put it away, but then, eventually, I plucked up the courage to try it on. Cotton candy + dragonfruit + coconut musk + clover + peach blossom. It's light and sweet and fruity, but it has a complicated depth to it that you know you'll never be able to explore completely. Definitely not a fruity scent for a teenager -- this is holy hella sexy. It works so well with my chemistry, and I thank my lucky stars for it.

Chaos Theory III: CCLXX I've been on the CT train since the beginning, and every single first bottle I've gotten has been perfect for me in every way. This one is no exception. It smells kind of, well, funky-ass in the bottle. Heavy resins with a liberal dose of spicy incense and something sugary and green. The spicy stays with you and infiltrates your nose and then you put it on, because you're honestly curious as to how it's going to smell. Truth be told, it smells like the most beautiful offering to the Sun-gods ever. It's the Sol celestial base (or something very, very similar), with a touch of clove and ginger, wrapped up in either champaca flower straight up or Nag Champa, and liberally doused with sugarcane. This is literally the most perfect sun scent ever. And I love it like whoa.

Ohmygoodness... Scales of Deprivation is just godly. It's very soft and close to the skin, but projects fathomless despair and sadness. At the same time, it also has an air of desperation and almost a will to survive and push forward about it. I don't know how to describe it, really. I get a little bit of wood and a little bit of frankincense, and a hint of lemon, but it's all just so smooth and softly warm.

Red Lantern makes me smell like I spent days wandering around a Yankee Candle shop. Literally. It smells on me like what happens when you open the door to Yankee Candle and first step inside -- a huge rush of all kinds of conmingled scents. And it just... it smells like Yankeeland. Alas, not quite working for me.

I hesitate to compare Smut to Snake Oil, because, on me, it's more like Scherezade than Snake Oil or Snake Charmer. It screams red musk, with just a hint of siberian musk and what could be skin musk or black musk in the background. The other thing that hits me upside the head? COGNAC. The deep, thick cognac note from Formula 54 mixed with deep, sensual musk. I don't see Smut as being very smutty to me, but I can see where it would be on other people.

Chaos Theory DLI I've been remiss in not reviewing this before -- I got it from pkwench who got it from someone and, ya know, methinks I'll keep it. Much precious, yes, yes... The first smack of this one is eucalyptus and lavender, very aniseptic smelling for quite a while. Then a warm hay and grass blanket descends over all of it and the herbs float away... And then, BOOM, pina colada. Pineapple, coconut, coconut husk -- ohhhhhh... *bliss* It ends up drying down and smelling like eating a fruit salad outside in a field of prairie grasses. For some reason, it's very comforting and manages to work with my chemistry. Yay! Previously reviewed by Eros.

Oh my word... I love this for scent alone. Lavender + fennel + a touch of floral that I can't ID = slightly sweet, gentle, sexy spice.

Ultraviolet to me is all violet. I get the barest hint of mint and eucalyptus and what may be neroli at the very beginning, then BOOM, "Violet, you're turning violet, violet!" Similar to Numb and City in the Sea.

Mercury is very intense lavender and similar herbs as what are in Sol, with a smattering of cassia on top of it all. It's very calming and centering, and deeply moving. I put some on the other night to test before bed, and I had the first dreams I've had since Christmas with its help -- now I can't shut the dreams up. LOL

Dear Skin -- Oh, today, how I love you. You love Holiday Moon in a way that's unholy. Green, sweet, edible bamboo and tea, delightfully subtle and good for everyday wear. Thank you. ~mlle. becky, owner and proprieter~

Alas, all (and I do mean all) I got from this was neroli -- I didn't even smell the other components even in the slightest. *is sad*

Very strong blood scent -- not really dragon's blood straight up, but tainted with something else -- and wood. Very strong, very heavy, and totally sinus-wrenching to me. It lasted about an hour before I had to wash it off. EDIT: It's 2012 and I got a bottle of this off of Etsy, not remembering why it had been on my death list. I really should have kept it and let it age because, 7 years down the line, The Cracked Bell is one of the most beautiful incense + blood scents. The intense perfumey note from the initial blast has aged almost into non-existence and it's a deep, warm incense/wood/blood scent that pretty much smells like contemplation, deep meditation, and warmth now. I feel like a fool for not having kept it. Thank god for the BPAL etsy shop and my bad memory.

Holy crap, this is sooooooooo beautiful. It's very slightly floral over fir needles and the gentle scent of wood, and completely slathered in snow flurries. It's just the most beautiful scent.

Holy sword indeed -- warm, juicy mandarin atop a slightly musky tobacco base, with just a hint of toasted cacao bean. My skin does beautiful things to The Great Sword of War -- warm, powerful, and strong. Usually, citrus goes away quickly on me, but this is sticking around. It's shot to my top ten list of catalogue blends.

Mitzvah is like the bastard sibling of Sugar Skull, Trick or Treat, and Grog -- sweet, delectible, and goddamn lickable. (But don't lick it or you'll get sick.) It melds with the skin in such a way that you can distinctly smell the cream and the sugar, and right before it disappears, it's just the barest hint of warm sugar. Brilliant!

THIS is what I was hoping Lick It would smell like on me -- thick, mint candy. Not a lot of creaminess, just peppermint. GUH. MORE PLEASE.

A celebration of three years of decadence, determination, death and rebirth. Red musk, tonka, Chinese cassia, mandarin, patchouli, benzoin, wild plum and tobacco. At first, Red Phoenix is all "holy mother of patchouli" in my face, but then it settles down into a smooth, sultry spice blend. When I sniff it up close, all I can smell is patchouli, but farther away, I smell all the spiciness and soft fruit.

BPAL's strawberry note hates my living guts. All Pink Phoenix is is strawberry -- strong and overpowering and my skin adds a plasticky undertone to the strawberry and whoosh: holy Starberry Shortcake doll, man. *shudder, twitch* My skin and I do not get along.

A chill, crystalline nocturnal perfume: moonflower with oriental poppy, fairy lily, orris and night gladiolus. This is a very soft, white blend. In fact, of all of the blends I've tried, this is the only one that I would classify as white. It's soft, sweet, floral, but with the dry undertone of the orris to give it balance. I like it well enough (again, Beth makes me like flowers, and damn it, I'm not a girly girl!), but I don't know how often I'll wear it.

In the bottle, I smell sage, peony, and sweet pea. On me, Annabel Lee turns completely disasterous. It hits my skin and becomes a sickening combination of rotting hothouse flowers, rotting vegetation in a compost heap, *and* something vaguely pee-like. I can only begin to wonder where this went wrong -- cucumber, peonies, sweet pea, and sage usually love me. On the other hand, lilies and oakmoss usually hate me. I guess this is just one of those blends that I'm meant to admire from afar, and not actually like myself.