tartchef

Oh, this is really cool....On me, Clio is predominantly dark patchouli, but with a pithy bitter orange note & a touch of spice - the benzoin & amber, no doubt. If I really concentrate, I can tell there's a bit of lavender in here, as well - it reminds me of the lavender in Safari, very deep & earthy & dry. Overall, it's an incredibly light scent, for all the patchouli - it does, however, last for hours, releasing gentle wafts of orange peel & scented earth. It sounds like a odd combination, I know, and had Clio been descrived to me that way, I'd likely not have snagged a bottle... but it's really growing on me, a quiet & unobtrusive scent that very much captures an industious mind at work... Whereas Calliope spurred me to physical & creative pursuits (namely cooking & gardening), Clio is prodding me towards a long day of research & reading, mechanical pencil in hand & cold tea at my elbow.

Oh, this is SO close to working... the amber & litsea cubeba are unfortunately not playing well together, and I'm lost in a funk of powdery sweetness & harsh lemon/pine The two are in fisticuffs, drowning out the cedar & musk, and saffron's cowering in the corner somewhere... The maddening thing is, I can tell that this would be gorgeous if the two top notes would keep it down - I mean come on, amber & cedar? With musk & saffron? I'll stash this away for a few weeks & see if a bit of aging brings things into perspective - right now, I need to wash this off...

Oh goodness... I'm going to get nothing done today, not with both wrists smashed up to my nose. Freak Show is indeed freaky, but freaky-amazing. Like Mme Moriarty, the individual notes pop out from an incredibly well-blended base - I'm a sucker for tart fruit & deep smooth notes together, and the pomegranite/bergamot combined with the cocoa/tonka just kills me.... It's juicy, but not cloying; tart, but not sour; velvety yum but hard to classify as foody, exactly... In short: Yes, please, and more again!

OK, I can see how some folks got cat pee... the blackberry & sage combination is very astringent & dry, and I had about 10 minutes of touch-&-go with this one. Fortunately, the faint whiff of ammonia was just that, and we're back to berry canes & herb gardens baking in the hot summer sun When I first applied, I got a big cloud of soft, powdery citrus - the lemon blosson & lime, apparently. Pretty, but not quite my thing, at least not this early in the year... The drydown is really something, though - Sarada's right, the patchouli is what pushes Heartache into the realm of the divine, providing a beautiful deep earthy base that contrasts so nicely with the sharpness of the sage & the tannic sweetness of the blackberry. A summer gardener's scent, just the thing to drive away the grey gloom of early March

We've got a thread on rec's for small children over here - not a lot of babies mentioned, but a few scents have come up repeatedly for the wee ones: Dana O'Shee, Alice, White Rabbit, Dragon's Milk... Personally, Sudha Segara is what reminds me of when my son was tiny - sweet & glowing skin Depending on your chemistry, you might get powder from amber or orris, which could suggest freshly-diapered baby bottom... Maybe Dragon's Bone or the Darkling Thrush for orris; Haunted, Jacob's Ladder or Brisingamen for notoriously powdery ambers... out of all of them, the Darkling Thrush feels like the best fit - it's a sweet, quiet scent, very close to the skin... one of my favorites.

Guh. This is glorious.... Straight out of the vial, the jasmine is elbowing its way to the top, a bit shrill & mouthy. Given a few minutes, though, the smoky champaca gets it to calm down & go have a drink, and the olive blossom peeks out in its sweetly pineappley way. The vanilla & sandalwood & honey envelop the lot in a beautiful haze that cuts through anything cloying & makes Defututa an incredibly well-blended, round scent... equal parts smokey, fruity & delicately floral. This is a floral for non-floral-lovers - even the jasmine behaves. Undeniably sensual... mrowr! ETA: This was feeling really familiar to me, so I did a quick champaca search... aha! Defututa is the feminine counterpart to Dr John Seward - that same smoky champaca/sandalwood/tonka/vanilla feel...

Mm, this is so close... a very green, clear scent, but with a trace of grounding woods & moss. Alas, the moss is throwing it off for me - it's a slightly funky vegetal note that just doesn't work with my chemistry. I'll try it on the husband, but I suspect this will go off to the swap box - I can't imagine him trying to explain Men Ringing Bell with Penises to his largely conservative Christian officemates... ETA: Late last night, this suddenly revived itself into a fantastic citrus & bamboo scent... I kept catching whiffs of it & couldn't figure out where the hell it was coming from, hardly expecting it to be Men Ringing Bell - it was over 12 hours since I'd applied! Arg, now I'm torn...

Seaweed, honey, white mint, and ambergris. Steelxrose's initial thoughts on this mirror mine - wet, Dream of the Fisherman's Wife is an overbearing smack of classic aquatic cologne, very "man-fume". Luckily, this phase burns off in about 10 minutes, and the deliciousness I was hoping for starts to emerge... For such a fresh, seaside scent, the musky feel of the ambergris & honey are very heavy - the throw is almost exclusively an almost sparkling honey musk. Not cloying, in the least, but very seductive... Up close, I get just a trace of the mint & seaweed, enough to add a coolness to what would otherwise be a very warm scent. That frisson is the genius here - that friction between the down-&-dirty honey musk & the fresh breeze gliding over the top. This is actually very similar to the Darkling Thrush, in my mind - in that same quiet, warm-&-cool family... just beautiful. I highly recommend Dream of the Fisherman's Wife if you've had previous trouble with aquatics - I usually get nothing but Ocean Fresh laundry detergent, so this is a very welcome surprise. If you loved Selkie, give this a shot, as well...

So light, so pretty... I'm getting a faint hint of peach, too, and traces of a lovely, almost milky floral - the tea & sandalwood are beautifully underscoring things, just a bit fresh & just a bit smoky. It's very similar to Tzadikim Nistarim, to my nose - that same pale botanical feel, but with a bit more sweetness behind it. Just lovely

Oh man, this is so close to fabulous.... Wet, there's a quick little smack of manly aquatic, but then a glorious thick tobacco & sweet milk scent unfolds, with the barest hint of coconut biscuits. There's an outdoorsy element keeping things from getting too cloying, damp air & wet paving stones. This is undoubtedly from a trace of oakmoss, because there's that funky back-of-my-throat reaction that I get from most mosses. It is just a trace, thankfully, and doesn't outright ruin Shadwell for me - it just keeps him squarely in the "fun decant" category. Which is a shame, really, because without it, I'd be all about a bottle... Shadwell is England personified - not the Arthurian/clashing swords & shields England, but the tea & biscuits in the potting shed on a wet day England. Which is the England I love best

Oh yes, this is a proper chef's scent - not baked-goods foody, but kitchen-garden-in-the-sun foody... Wet, there's lots of lavender & thyme, with the verbena, bergamot & orange zest jockeying for position - it's a sharp, zingy, nearly medicinal scent, prodding my to get off my duff & do something. Once it dries, the roundness of the almond comes through, and the wet herbs give way to a drier scent, like an herbes de Provence bouquet hanging from the beams of an old farmhouse kitchen... there's a mortar & pestle on the bench, with orange zest & blanched almonds ground to a chunky paste. This is a scent of focused industry & creativity - Calliope makes me want to turn off the phone, open the windows & spend the day poring over recipes & making a riotous mess in the kitchen.

Woof! Wet, Riding the Goat is heavy library furniture in deep dark mahogany wood, with generations of pipe smoke permeating the leather upholstry... someone's been in to give things a good polish, and there's a sharp, lemon/lavender edge to things that sets my teeth slightly on edge. At it dries, the sharpness dulls a bit, revealing the dark woods again. There's an odd vegetal note lurking in the background, akin to the weirdness I got from Christmas Rose... This needs more incense for me, I think... would it be sacrelidge to layer it with a bit of Anne Bonny?

Rick Astley?! Ahem. More votes for Luperci & Intrigue, plus perhaps Strangler Fig, Oblivion, or Greed... all heavy woodsy scents. If you wanted more woodland-in-springtime, Bewitched, Hesperides, Caliban & the discontinued Hamadryad come to mind... If you can do violets, Crow Moon would be lovely...

Mmm, OK, I can see what all the fuss is about There's that lovely buttery pumpkin, with a hint of glittering peachiness... This is definitely akin to Jack, but much lighter - the amber & citrus cut through what would otherwise be a pretty heavy scent. I can also see why folks are eyeing Pumpkin #5 from the 2007 Patch as a possible replacement for Pumpkin Queen - but to my nose, the Queen has more of an effervescent sparkle to it. The red ginger adds a touch of smokiness, but overall, this is a lovely haze of pumpkin & peach, all Indian Summer & glowing sunsets...

Wulric wasn't even on my radar until very recently - vetiver was once a certified deal-breaker. I've been having better luck with it in the last few months, though, and the promise of chocolate & lavender proved too much for me to resist... Oh hot damn, this is wonderful stuff! Just the texture in the bottle is amazing - all the cocoa settles to the bottom, requiring serious rolling to blend properly. Wet, the lavender is front & center, elbowing the cocoa out of the way for the first few minutes. Once everything settles down though, Wulric is incredibly well blended - the lavender, cocoa & vanilla in TKO-ish harmony, with a glorious musk intertwining... Beth, don't smack me for this, but the musk note is nearly a dead ringer for a bottle of Avon or Jovan Musk I had when I was 12 or so... it was an amber bottle with a teeny little cork stopper, and I thought I was the cat's pajamas when I wore it At any rate, Wulric's a lovely sweet gourmand musk scent, but I can sense the vetiver & sage lurking at the edges & dirtying things up perfectly. It's not something I can see my other half picking out for himself, but I'll have to get him to take Wulric out for a test-drive - I suspect this will be absolutely huff-worthy on a guy...

I agree with Dymphna - this is definitely similar to Black Lace's musk, which made me a bit Fortunately, BL's cotton note seems to have been the main culprit that made it all wrong on me, because Anactoria is much better... There's that same slightly sharp, soapy intro, but it fades qucikly in Anactoria, leaving a really interesting musk - lightly perfumed, with a bit of honey, & something that makes me think of tobacco, but not - that must be the kush. This is really similar to O on my skin, minus the honey overload - the grassiness that I'm getting really cuts through the sweetness. Researching daemonorops, I get the feeling this note refers to the leaves & stems, rather than dragon's blood resin - there's none of the choking floral that dragon's blood tends to morph into when combined with my chemistry. It's funny, but Anactoria reminds me of Caliban - that same botanical feel, but instead of verdant ferns & undergrowth, Anactoria is dried tropical grasses. No currants in sight, just a trace of clear honey... like lying on a reed mat in the middle of a field of tall dry grass, nibbling on a honey stick, with your hair spread out & warming in the sun... ETA: Wow - hours later, this has shifted & mellowed to a gorgeous honey amber, akin to the Lion, with the tiniest hint of currant...

Hi, Kat, we've got a lot of rec's floating around that might be just your thing: try the tea thread, or the chai thread for starters. For my money, the Lion & Plunder feel like your best bets, especially Plunder - it has all the tea & spice without any extra honey/vanilla notes. The Lion has a heavy dose of amber, which may go powdery on you, but on me it's a beautiful tea & spice scent - it's particularly fine aged... Other thoughts: Bengal (but beware the honey), Baghdad, Morocco & Scherezade... not tea, exactly, but with that same feel... If you have the wherewithall to track down LEs, Bakeneko is a tea-lover's favorite.

I'd hoped that aging might tone Black Lace down a bit - alas, the sharp, highly-perfumed-fabric-softener note still clobbers me out of the gate... It's a high, cottony scent that pierces my sinuses. It does calm down after a bit, allowing a nicely smoky blend of vanilla tobacco & cognac to come through, but that nearly-hairspray note is still lurking, like a particularly tenacious gnat... Oh Black Lace, we tried to make it work, didn't we?

Swapped for this on a whim, but am so glad I did... In terms of a scent, it's lovely - like someone just blew out a really good blackberry-scented candle. I've been feeling a bit put-upon by my son & husband lately, not really feeling like a team player, so I've been using Temple: Norse at night to help bring my mind back to hearth & home. It's made a discernable difference in my role as mother/spouse - I'm feeling much more connected to the family spirit, and am starting to see the positive effects on my relationships with my extended relations. Oddly, I think it's also affected my interactions with dogs, of all things - suddenly I'm The Dog Whisperer, getting very hands-on & quietly but firmly she-wolf authoritative with them...

Agreed - this is lovely spring in a bottle... I'm in the camp that's getting more florals than fruit, and thankfully plum flowers & cherry blossom are two of the few floral notes my skin can handle... Wet, there's a distinct effervescence from the sake, but that fades fairly quickly. The red currant is barely perceptible, adding a vague sweetness like a thin red glaze of jam over the flowers, all palest pink petals brushed with the Lab's fabulous green tea note. There's an obvious similarity between Amorous Love & Dragon Moon - that same cherry blossoms-against-blue-skies feel - but Amorous Love is the more feminine of the two, adding red currant where Dragon Moon has the more woody & watery notes...

Haha, funny nose! But seriously, I've got them side by side on my desk... Midnight Kiss is very grape & cocoa, with a salty red musk undercurrent. Red Phoenix is all Big Red gum with a trace of plum underneath, way spicier than Midnight Kiss. It does even out a bit on the drydown, though, I'll give you that... I think Blood Phoenix & Midnight Kiss are much more similar. If you're looking for a Red Phoenix sub, maybe layer Mme Moriarty & Bengal, or Chimera - something cassia-heavy...

Same here, to my dismay... I amp moss, apparently, because right now all I'm getting from the Passionate Shepherd is the dried stuff they use as a potpourri filler. Phooey.

In the bottle & wet, this is dewy clover perfection - fresh, green, with just a hint of sweet & spicy carnation... oh I swoon It's very similar to Mag Mell, minus the lemon verbena... raindrops glittering on verdant fields. Alas, on my skin, the heather & moss conspire to warp The Passionate Shepherd into a mess of soap & dry potpourri. Amazing, as I'd pegged the tea rose to be the only potential issue... I'm going to pull out every trick in the book to try & get this to work for me, because it's just too beautiful in the bottle to let go just yet.

In the bottle: um, hello, suntan lotion, who invited you? Wet: ah wintergreen, I heard you were coming... definitely vanilla wintermint LifeSavers at this stage. Not bad, just... odd. Once it dries down a bit, the medicinal notes fade, and I'm left with a thick, creamy vanilla frosting note. It even has that slight salty tang that commercial frosting has, straight out of the can. At a different stage in my cycle, I'd want to dip potato chips in this I'm not going to make a final statement on Love's Philosophy until I've worn it a few more times, but I think this will be passed onto a better home - I was a pastry chef back in the day, and spent enough of my life smelling like icing that I don't feel the need to anymore...

Dawndie's right - this is super dry & dusty at first, strange for a scent with red musk & so many fruits in play. I also get a heavy dose of violet & orchid, which alarms me somewhat - I got Lunar Eclipse in spite of those notes, not because of them. 20 minutes later, we're making spectacular progress - the dust has died down & o frabjous day! Wine gums! Blackcurrant wine gums! Underscored by clean, bitter tea & tobacco, with a trace of musk grounding the lot. It's still not a heavy scent (the vetiver is thankfully keeping mum), but a clear deep red, like hibiscus black tea. Holy moly, this is fascinating... it keeps shifting from fruity to dry smoky tea to dark spiced lavender & back... It feels very much akin to Death of Autumn to me, with that complex, smoky dryness, so DoA lovers should give Lunar Eclipse a try, quick before it's retired... ETA: Hm. This fades a lot faster than I'd anticipated - barely 5 hours later & I'm reapplying. On the retread, I'm getting a lot less dust & more of the moss, vetiver & tobacco - very deep & leafy...