steffanina

Wanton- In Bottle: Floral, but with an amberish spicy note. Wet: The spice comes out more. This will either work for me or go sour, I can tell. Dry: It doesn't go sour but there's a heaviness to this that I just can't bear. Off I go to wash it off. Overall: Not for me.

Machu Picchu- In Bottle: Floral-fruit sweet. Wet: Ooh, sharp lemon verbena scent. Dry: This loses the sharp lemon as soon as it's past the wet stage, and leaves a pretty hint of amber, but that sort of fades into the background. The soft fruit-floral left just isn't very remarkable to me. Overall: Unremarkable.

Rosalind- In Bottle: Mm, very warm and berry-ish. Wet: Very sharp smell like black pepper! Dry: Hmm. This dries back to the berry scent, but it's a quick fader and always has that sharpness underneath. It doesn't do anything for me. Overall: Not for me.

The Ghost- In Bottle: A plummy-berry hot/cool scent. Wet: More of a fruity floral scent now. Dry: This really is a "fruity floral"; it is hard to get more descriptive than that on it. It is a hot ozone-y floral which I don't always prefer--well, let's just say it's conditional. I don't think this scent quite makes "conditional" for me; it's not one I see myself returning to, though it was pretty in the bottle. Overall: I don't think it's for me, but it might make nice sachet material.

Nanshe- In Bottle: Lemon--lemon verbena--and lavender. Yup. Wet: Lemon verbena and lavender. Lavender can be a bit conditional for me. This scent's kind of sharp. Dry: I don't much like the sharpness of this scent, but it's not on my skin long; it fades quickly. But that's a good thing, since I didn't really care for it. Overall: Not for me.

Hades- In Bottle: Very spicy, almost yummy without being foody. I'm hit with the memory of Opium perfume. Wet: This makes my nose wrinkle once it's on. An underlying something-I-don't-like noxiousness underneath. Dry: I'm afraid I can't wait for this to dry down. It's just not very pleasant on me; kind of sour/off. Off I go to wash it off. Overall: Not good for me.

Roadhouse- In Bottle: My god, I can actually smell weeds. If you asked me what dandelion smelled like, I'd say, "You're nuts, it doesn't smell like anything." And it's IN this bottle. Amazing. Wet: Weeds! I can't believe it. It's still amazing. So far I don't smell tobacco or booze--I want to call this scent "Tom Sawyer," because that's the sort of summer vision this scent evokes. Dry: This never did get boozy or tobacco-y, but stayed the scent of summer weeds all the way through. I think it might also have given me the sweeter impression of daffodil, rather than just dandelion. I find this scent more of a novelty than a frequent flyer but I definitely won't trade it away. Overall: Conditional but very cool.

Dana O'Shee- In Bottle: Oh, it's like the faintest smell of almond extract. Wet: Holy heck, this smells exactly like The Body Shop's Milk Cream, which I wear often and think of as having "no" smell, except I'm not wearing it tonight so I can't be mistaking it! Dry: It goes away so fast! Well, it's lovely and subtle. I think I'm going to try another wand swipe and see if it makes a difference...Lordy, it hardly does! Such a subtle faint scent...Maybe I should use it as a lingerie sachet scent, because at least it wouldn't be cloying and heavy for me. Overall: I love but so faint.

Venerable Victorian Tea Rose… twisted, blackened and emboldened with wickedness. London- (A rose scent. Let's see. Rose scents are conditional for me.) In Bottle: Hellooo, rose. Wet: Rose is rose is rose. Not too strong or cloying so far. Dry: Oh, dear, oh, dear, this one is going a bit sour on me, after just a few minutes. Too bad, it was starting out as a nice pleasant version of a rose scent. Overall: Not good with my chemistry.

Dragon's Milk- In Bottle: Light powdery sweet cherry-ish Dragon's Blood, and a richer note, must be the vanilla. Wet: Mmm, so sweet and good! Yummy fruity richness. Dry: The powder-sweet Dragon's Blood smell is so nice in this. So far this is my favorite of the Dragon's Blood-containing oils (though I've only tried a couple). Overall: I really like!

Szepasszony- In Bottle: Very sweet and freesia-smelling. Wet: Lemony-bright floral, sweet. Pretty! I expected something more aquatic from reviewers' descriptions. But this is very light and clean. Dry: What a pretty scent! I stick by the lemon-freesia initial impression even though this isn't quite freesia, but it gives me that same impression; a sweet non-cloying citrusy light floral. It smells like the sorta thing they'd sell you in laundry detergent. Overall: I really like!

Sed Non Satiata- In Bottle: A little honeysuckle, a little musk-spicy. Wet: There's an almost chocolaty bloom on my skin! It's rich and warm and very pleasant...what could that be? I think it's like...dark dark dark dark honey, like buckwheat honey. Dry: This stays quite lovely! Warm and soft and rich, all the way through. Overall: I really like!

Loviatar- In Bottle: Mmm, that smells good--woody and rich without being too sweet. Wet: I smell the leather--not overpowering as it was in De Sade, which is good for me. A hint of wood. Dry: This took a good amount of time--maybe an hour and a half--before this dried down to something I liked, but like it I do. At first it was a little burnt-leathery-smelling, but it's powdery and lovely now, though it's a bit of a long time for me to wait. Overall: Conditional, yes, but I do like.

Dragon Moon- In Bottle: Sweet and powdery and lightly citrus fruit! Lime and orange without being sharp. Wet: A very strong lemon furniture polish bloom (not good) but that's just in the immediate wet phase. I will wait and see. Dry: Not so aggressively lemony on the dry-down, though the lemon still outweighs the powder. Also a fast fader. Overall: Fast fader, not bad.

Khajuraho- In Bottle: Hmm, woody and incensey. Wet: Still that sweet incensey smell, kind of strong Dry: Argh, no, I can't make it through to the dry-down on this. It has that "perfume gone off" sourness note that just doesn't work for me. Going to wash it off. Overall: Not for me.

Fortunato- In Bottle: Smells DIRTY. Like dirty tobacco and spilled booze. Sickly sweet, too. Interesting! Wet: Oh, yeah, we are unhappily debauched here. Though this doesn't mean I don't like the scent. This is an evil and moody scent--there's berry in there but it's not so sickly sweet now. I can't wait to see how the dry-down goes. Dry: It's taken half an hour, but this is such a nifty boozy berry scent. I'm not yet sure if I love it; it might be more of a novelty scent for me, but I do love how neat the dry-down process is. I feel like I'm so far past the drunken debauch that I've gone to a whimpery, "Thank God it's over" next-morning wussiness, with this boozy berry remnant here. Totally cool. Overall: So cool. Must try again, too.

Gypsy Queen- In Bottle: A little sweet and grape-like. Wet: Incense-grape. Much richer than it was in the bottle. Dry: A bit cloying for me. That incense smell is a little sweet and rich. Overall: Not for me.

Litha- In Bottle: Exactly like mead! Honey and boozy, very pleasant. Wet: A little lemony once it's on. Dry: A little flowery, light-pretty and sweet. Pleasant--it's a little too lemony to be a frequent flyer for me. Overall: Not a frequent flyer, but I might try again.

Hungry Ghost Moon- In Bottle: A lovely soft smell like lemon, tea, and white musk. Wet: The lemon comes out more strongly. Dry: This is such a lovely scent! Ever so soft and clean. Not overpowering; delicious. Overall: I really like!

Midwinter's Eve- In Bottle: Mmm, fruity fruity fruity sweet! Wet: Very brightly orangey on my skin. But it falls back into something berry-citrus-grape-plummy sweet fruity. Dry: This is delicious! It's like tropical fruits, almost. I can see this being a great scent to use for lingerie sachets and the like. Overall: Excellent! Very useful versatile yummy scent!

Neo-Tokyo- In Bottle: Very lemony and sharp. A bit aquatic. Wet: Umm...very lemony and sharp! A little soapy. Clean. Dry: The sharpness is a little eye-watering. I never got the impression that this was anything beyond lemony sharpness on me, too bad. Overall: Not for me.

Centzon Totochtin- In Bottle: Wow, coffee and cherry and something burning, but not a bad burning smell. Like something's being toasted. Wet: The toasty smell comes out stronger. Woody. So far I like. Here comes some more of the cherry smell. Dry: The wood-resin-sweet smell of this is interesting. It's a little too sweet, though. The closest I can come is that it's like burnt Dr. Pepper on my skin, which is not completely unpleasant. This one's conditional, but I might try it again. Overall: I want to like it more, but it's a little too sweet.

Ravenous- In Bottle: Ooh, I like. It is a little citrusy. Wet: More citrus, very sweet! Definitely orangey. Dry: I don't think this has Dragon's Blood in it but that's what it reminds me of--orange and Dragon's Blood, because it's powdery. It's not as bitter orangey as Tweedledee, but the same impression of orange is there. And I think I detect white musk as well. This is a very pretty scent. Overall: I like.

Water of Notre Dame- In Bottle: Herbal and floral. Wet: Ooh, this is sharp and strong. Smells almost an aquatic. Eye-watering. Dry: Oh, dear, this is not working for me. It's going sour and rotten-incensey and I'm about to go wash it off. Overall: Not for me.

Phantom- In Bottle: Ooh, a very...how do I put this?...it's a high scent, and by that I mean a high-pitched piercing, in your sinuses and into your brain kind of note. My nosehairs all stand on end and it's not from a mint or eucalyptus scent; it's from a floral, which is very different. Wet: Resinous. Rich. Dry: I don't really like this. It's too cloying and heavy on the resin-sweet for me. It's only been a short while and I already want to wash it off because I feel a little nauseated. Overall: Not good for me.