steffanina

Psyche- In Bottle: Lightly floral, a little eye-opening. Wet: Sharp and bright and eye-opening. Dry: This fades quickly but it wasn't really doing a lot for me, being this pungent floral. Overall: Not interesting to me.

Eden- In Bottle: Ooh, milky, sweet milk and just a hint of grass. Wet: Fig and grasses--I'm glad I know what fig smells like, after Treat #2. Just a little bit musty but we'll see what happens to that. Dry: Very figgy. I find I like fig best when it's mixed with the orange and chocolate of Treat #2, though. It's a little cloying without. Overall: Conditionally like.

Temple of Dreams- In Bottle: A lavender that's so strong it's almost menthol-y. Wet: Aggressive scent; the lavender almost gets lost in its sharpness. Dry: This doesn't work on my skin; it's noxious. But I liked it in the bottle, so I think I'll likely try it as a sniffer when I need something to clear my head. Overall: Conditional; will use only from bottle.

In Bottle: "Perfume"-y, but rich, and I can smell the sweetness of the benzoin. Wet: A strong pine-like bloom. Dry: The benzoin overpowers this one and it just doesn't work for me. Overall: Not for me.

The fiery, volatile scent of cinnamon, thickened by myrrh, honeysuckle, and copal. Chimera- In Bottle: More sweet that cinnamony. Though there's a hint of spice. Wet: There's a...plaster of paris scent in this. Dry: This is a mild scent, not too strongly cinnamony, and there's definitely a...Play-Doh kind of thing going on with it, but I kind of like it. Overall: Conditional. Interesting.

Djinn- In Bottle: Smoke. Oh, yum. That's so cool. Wet: Smoke and sweetness and lime. Dry: Very sharp smelling, not one that I'm going to want a lot, but interesting. Overall: Conditional leaning to not so much for me.

Oblivion- In Bottle: Light and spicy, pretty but rich. Wet: Hmm, the musk risks being cloying. Possibly a bit masculine, this, but I still like the impression. Dry: Definitely masculine and musky, but I like the overall feel when I wear this. It's not a sniff-at-your-wrist kind of scent for me, though. Overall: Conditional.

Port Royal- In Bottle: Sweet, a tiny bit floral, and rich-smelling. Wet: A hint of clove, and maybe a hint of that rum? I wouldn't have called it that if you hadn't told me, though. Dry: This doesn't last all that long and isn't very strong, and if it were stronger I might think it's too much, so, go figure! Overall: Wish there were more to it; my skin ate it up.

Vixen- In Bottle: Sweet. Floral and a hint of resin. Wet: A chocolate-and-wood note--sure there's no vetiver in there? Hmm. This smells rather masculine to me! Dry: Powdery; there's that roasted-potato smell I get in Masquerade and Krampus. This one's quite a morpher! It's almost a little amberish after about half an hour. Overall: Interesting; will try again.

Penitence- In Bottle: Woods and sweetness and something almost pine-like. Wet: Wood and lemon and something like rose and resin. Dry: Hmm. Resinous, yes...not bad, but nothing that really sends me. My descriptors seem to have dried up.

Two, Five, and Seven- In Bottle: Rose scent, very complex but sourish. Wet: Complex roses, which unfortunately do tend to be sour on me. Dry: Sour rose. Not unexpected. Pity! Overall: Not for me.

Devil's Claw- In Bottle: Wood, peanuts...very masculine but not too sharp. Wet: Wood and smoke. Dry: Hmm. I might have liked this under other circumstances, but those would involve me not actually sniffing my wrist. It's a little too strongly masculine for me, even though I like a lot of masculine scents on me. Overall: Not quite for me.

Haloa- In Bottle: Mmm, foodie! Sweet and fruity. A hint of that sweet orangeiness there is in my favorite suntan lotion. Wet: Powdery, light fruity. Dry: Whoa, interesting. It doesn't smell like anything I can name, it's powdery sweetness and I can't say I love or even like it so much as that it interests me. Perhaps it's one of the incense components that's balancing this. Overall: Conditional. I would like to try this again.

Lick It- (I tried this having tried Lick It Again the day previous.) In Bottle: Peppermint but with that vanilla musk hint detectable right away. Wet: Peppermint, not so much of that vanilla musk. Wow, this is at odds with the newer version--I smell more of the vanilla musk in the bottle but not so much on my skin! Dry: This dries down to the vanilla musk, which is pleasant in its own right even if I could wish for longer peppermint smell. Overall: I like! Verdict on differences between Lick It 2005 and Lick It Again 2006: On the dry-down they are similar. I don't notice any long-term difference.

Lick It Again- (I tried this one before I got to try the previous year's Lick It.) In Bottle: Pure peppermint. Wet: Peppermint but with a hint of vanilla musk. It reminds me a lot of the scent in The Candy Butcher, which I do like a lot. Dry: This doesn't last quite as long as I'd wish, as far as the peppermint goes, but it's still a very nice scent. The vanilla musk is what lingers longest. Overall: I like! (Verdict on differences between Lick It 2005 and Lick It Again 2006: On the dry-down they are similar. I don't notice any long-term difference.)

Knecht Ruprecht- In Bottle: HUGELY pine. Wet: Pine, very pretty. Dry: This is not as long lasting as Jolasveinar; I can't help but compare this to Jolasveinar since I just tried that one the other day. But it is a very nice pine in its own right. I don't really get other scents off if except that there must be others because this isn't just straight Pine-Sol, it's a really nice pine. Overall: I like, wish it lasted longer.

Black Ice- In Bottle: Strong perfumey-cologne-y aquatic, and there's a hint of spearmint. Wet: Aquatic, not too strong, and that bit of spearmint in the background. Dry: What a lovely light aquatic! I'm so pleased that it's not too heavy on me. This is one of my favorite aquatics now. Overall: I like!

Jolasveinar- In Bottle: A sweet, very much pine smell. Wet: Pine with the merest hint of floral, and something lightly aquatic. A little lemon to offset the pine. Dry: This is a very pretty Yule scent, full of pine and the hint of flowers. It's long-lasting, too, and really evokes winter for me. Overall: I like!

Krampus- In Bottle: Hm, a little musk, a little aquatic, a little foody. So far nice. Wet: Oh--the dust! Not must, but dust! How did she do that? Yes, I smell the wood, too, not like cedar, but a delicious woody smell, and yes, there's just a hint of leather. The whole thing smells like roasting potatoes. I like! And I really don't get the musk so much any more. Just a hint. Dry: One of the things I really like about this scent is that the leather in here is that same leather in DeSade and Spanked, which I don't like in those scents because they smell like, "Help, my car interior is on fire," but here it's so subtle it's just another delicious hint in the scent. The same thing with the red musk. Overall: What a nifty scent! Yum!

The Winter of Our Discontent- In Bottle: Something spicy-foody, piney-herbal. So far I like. Wet: Herbal-soapy, a little masculine bloom coming out (that dark musk, I think). Dry: This scent feels a little dark and dangerous, ever so apt. The musk is a little bit cloying, but I think this could be one of those scents that I like as long as I don't keep sniffing and sniffing at it, just enjoying the overall aura this scent gives me. Overall: Will try again; I like it conditionally.

Skadi- In Bottle: Pine and berries, just like it says! Wet: Pine and berries on my skin too, very nice! Dry: This is a lovely scent. Pine and berries and it really feels like a wintry scent! Overall: I really like!

Smut- In Bottle: Musk, yup. So musky-sweet it's a little off-putting. Wet: Oh! When the sugar hits, this is actually much nicer! Yes, it's a little cloying, but it's also strongly moody--not sexy to me, actually, but...You know what this smells like? It smells like what cigarettes would smell like if cigarettes actually smelled good, if that makes any sense. Dry: It is a little cloying. Not bad, I think; just conditional. So I'll have to see. Overall: Conditional.

Forbidden Fruit- In Bottle: Ugh, there's a soiled-diaper smell to this one. Is that the lotus? I don't know. Wet: A little softer, not so much soil-smelling. Dry: The dirty-diaper smell does not come back; it reminds me of those flowers that smell like rotting meat to attract predators who will carry their pollen, and though it's not noxious, it's cloying. It's not going to work for me. Overall: Not for me.

Delirium- In Bottle: Rose and lemon, a nice sweet lemon. Wet: Lemony rose. Dry: One of those scents that stays true from bottle to dry-down, a lemony rose. Unfortunately it's nothing that appeals to me, as the rose sourness just doesn't send me. Oh, well! Overall: Not for me.

Peony Moon- In Bottle: Very brightly floral and fruity. Very pink-smelling. Wet: Hugely floral. Kinda nice! Dry: This is sweetly floral-fruity and I really like it. Not candy-fruity but still sweet and delicious. Overall: I like!