Iceblink

I've got Sugar Skulls 2005-2008 and have always found them all fairly similar. 2010 is as well except that it's...*lighter*. SS has always been a very strong fragrance on me with crazy throw and 2010 is airier and less in-your-face. This could be a good thing since I'm sometimes hesitant to wear SS for fear of sugaring up a whole room! I'll give this another whirl in a few days and see how long it lasts.

Raw pumpkin with a lot of cinnamony spice. I'd love my kitchen to smell like this. But NOT my arm. I do get a little blackberry on the drydown but the pumpkin overpowers all.

SMOKESTACK CLAW POLISH Metallic Pearl Sooty, gunmetal-tinged billows of opaque, near-black shimmer. The description of Smokestack is dead-on. There's a touch of blue to the gunmetal-grey in this--very nice. It has some shimmer but it's not sparkly like Bordello is--it's more subtle. This is a more elegant, non-emo way to wear black nails.

ROBOTIC SCARAB CLAW POLISH Metallic Pearl Oil-rubbed bronze. Yes, this is bronze--and SO shimmery. It goes on a little thin and will need a couple of coats to look like it does in the bottle. Really pretty. All of these new polishes are so gorgeous!

I tried a decant of Snow White back in 2006 (I'm not sure which vintage it was) and got nothing but plastic air from it, yet I kept thinking I *must* be missing something since it's always so popular. After seeing Tiki Princess (which I love!) get compared to Snow White by so many I jumped at the chance to try her again. This is the 2009 version, and I can actually smell something from it this time! It's almost all almond at first but I am getting more and more of a chilly lily/cold note emerging the longer it dries. Very pretty! Almond notes can go funny on me, so I'll give this another run to be sure, but if it stays as nice as it is now I'll be rooting for it to come back for Yule 2010.

Very watery on me at first, with a hint of violets. Then I get a LOT of white sandalwood, which always is a little soapy (in a good way, mind), and a lot of magnolia. Oddly enough I don't get much musk here and I'm someone who usually amps up white musk to eleven. I agree that magnolia lovers will really like this. Me, I'm not so sure yet, although I do love the mental image this creates--it's very "white" and does make me think of moonlight!

Hard to describe! I'm not a fan of Black Hellebore on its own; it's far too herbal for me, but I don't get much of an herbal note from this, although there is a green-ness about it. It dries down to something a bit like...soapy O. A little floral, a lot of honey...and that green note is probably what's turning to soap. I still like it better than plain Black Hellebore, though.

Sweet, fruity honey--I almost get a passion fruit note from this. It goes on crazy sweet but calms down after a few minutes into something a little less in-your-face. The fruitiness ends up being a little stronger than the honey...but it's still very, very sweet!

The chestnut in this is really, REALLY strong on me; when it's wet it's almost overpowering and it's slightly stale/musty...not good. This blend does get better and better the longer it dries as the honey steps up. Very VERY nutty though. I think this would benefit from some aging so I may revisit this imp in a few months.

I love this; it's wonderfully simple--sweet, slightly spicy tobacco. It has that little metallic hint to it on and off that tobacco sometimes gets on me. It is pretty sweet but I don't find it too sweet...and actually, I wish it was a little stronger! Lovely, though.

LOVE this. Really gingery ginger ale, so fizzy that you expect it to bubble right out of the imp! The orange is fresh and bright, and the rum gives this a bit of a heavier base so it doesn't fizz right off of your skin. It's a happy, perky tropical blend and even with the rum note, not overly alcoholic-smelling. Win!!

Woe. This has that almond in it that turns to burnt nuts on my skin. I do get a bit of peach, but it's mostly just old stale almond. Sniffle!

Blackberry is almost always a good note for me and this is no exception...it's boozy blackberry with anise (that seems to get stronger as it dries) and it's delicious! And unusual...blackberry blends tend to be very sweet but this is much more balanced thanks to that anise. This is wonderful, and I will need more of it.

Mostly cranberry gin (not that that's a bad thing); this is very much like The Hamptons, but a little sweeter and fruitier with the raspberry note mixing in there. The gin is crisp and refreshing, and it's a little more tart than The Hamptons was on my skin. Might be a keeper; I'll need to test this further to be sure.

Beautiful!! Soft, sweet coconut with just a breath of tropical flowers to keep you from smelling like a Mounds bar. This is summer in a bottle, people! Great throw, too--it gets even stronger as it dries. LOVE it.

Banana never seems to play well with others...it jumps all over the other notes in a blend and then vanishes completely, in my experience. Pahoehoe is crazy strong banana when wet (my mind was yelling "GO BANANA" in a Ralph Wiggum-esque manner) and it's a stale, old banana smell, not like the banana candy of Manila. Very bleah. But on the drydown, this blend improves; the coconut comes out and a bit of boozy sweetness from the grenadine. And the banana's mostly gone, leaving just a fruity trace. This is not something I'd want to smell like...but it's interesting once it dries!

I knew I had to try this when I saw "woody oranges" in the description, as one of my favorite books (Waking The Moon by Elizabeth Hand) has a main character who always smells like "sandalwood and oranges" and I love trying blends with wood/citrus notes for that reason. The citrus here is fresh and zesty and doesn't fade too quickly like orange sometimes can. The catnip comes out more as this dries and gives the deep wood note a nice herbal quality. Underneath it all there's a dark moss note grounding everything. I really love this! Beautiful.

Berries with a bit of mint at first, drying down into what smells like boysenberries with a whiff of pastry crust. Nice enough but this is doing that Yankee Candle thing on me (i.e. starting to smell like potpourri).

This is beautiful--lime sugar and pear, with the tea and a slight herbal tinge coming out on the drydown over a background of light green musk. It's not overly fruity or sweet thanks to the musk and thyme. Wonderfully summery! It does seems a bit faint and fleeting so I'll give it a longer test before I decide if it's bottle-worthy or not, but it is very very pretty.

VETIVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR drying down into tangy, fruity vetiver. Sometimes vetiver plays nice but it's just too overpowering for these lighter fruit and sugar notes. It was worth a shot but does not work for me.

YUM! Bright sassafras to open but this mellows into a spicy, plummy brown sugar that is just delicious. It's a bit heavy for summer but hey, buy it now and it'll have time to age a bit before fall, right? If this will stay nice on my skin (clove can be a bit irritating on me), it's a bottle for sure.

Sweet pea is the most prominent note here, but the huckleberry isn't far behind (shades of Jester!), and the longer this dries the more the candy/sugar is amping. I'm not wild about sweet pea on its own but this is getting better and better. Very candylike and sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. I love Jester but have found it to be a bit too sweet to wear and this therefore may be my way to finally wear huckleberry! And I get a Candy Phoenix vibe from this too, although it's lighter (Candy Phoenix on me will clear a room!) and not as in-your-face. Nice!

Oh HAI sexy Velvets...I love this. Lots of musk and rosy amber with violet and iris wafting on top. Ylang-ylang tends to amp on me but I don't really smell it at all here. Dry sandalwood is the grounding base. Absolutely gorgeous!

I smell spicy herbs and citrus. This is SO foody...that bit of wasabi peeking through just makes it even more so. Like walking into an international food market! Good but I don't want to smell like a buffet.

They're not kidding about the "earthy" in this...it smells absolutely grimy! There's something sharp floating on top that had me thinking ozone at first, but looking at the notes I'm seeing it must be a very sharp lemongrass. I'm not picking up any fig here to soften this dirty patchouli up at all. This is very brown and ratty-feeling...if you like that patchouli note, you'll love it, but it's much too much for me.