hadaverde

I'm pretty sure I found what you're looking for. The description you gave rang familiar to me so I did some digging -- unfortunately it was only a scent suggestion, not an actual scent: Hsi-Kai.

In the imp, this is the scent of deep fuchsia-red rose petals -- not the bitterness-laced bite of the darker-red blooms, but the sweetness of the darkest-pink-edging-into-red variety. On my skin, it remains the same rosy note, but a billion times larger. I smell like a 500-foot-tall rose bush. My sweetie, who is typically incapable of smelling anything other than musk, cinnamon, or citrus, can smell my uber-rosy self from all the way across the room. This is, unfortunately, what my skin does to rose -- amplifies it exponentially until it drowns out any other notes, and, in fact, any other scent in the room, more often than not.

In the bottle, sweet clove evokes memories of a freshly-opened packet of Djarum Specials. A high, sweet, tongue-numbing scent. On the skin, it warms, and some of the sweetness subsides, revealing a deepness and an almost smoky overtone. This oil remains strong with a great deal of throw for quite a long time -- one of the longest-lasting notes I have encountered thus far.

In the bottle, this is a vivid purple grape-soda scent to me. Grape soda not being my favorite smell, I was doubtful as to how this would wear on me, but I was quite pleasantly surprised! On my skin, it immediately lost the bright soda-pop aspect, and became instead dark and leafy. Drydown brings out the scent of a full-fledged grape arbor more than it does grapes alone. There is assuredly a touch of the fruit, but also the soft, dusty, woodlike smell of grapevine and the deep green of leaves. Lovely.

In the bottle, this is a light, sweet floral with a subtle undertone of spice, lending it a rather effervescent quality. On the skin, my first impression is cream soda, but in a subtle, not-sickly-sweet way...a hint of vanilla, and more of that fizzy quality. I swear i can detect this particular note in Morocco, although Morocco's official description contains no mention of heliotrope. I got very little change between wet and dry with this oil -- the only difference was a slight deepening of the scent, and a mellowing (though not disappearance) of the effervescence.

In the vial, this oil smells dry, pale, and herbal, with the faintest hint of almost-floral sweetness. Upon application, it is still a faintly sweet herbal, clean-smelling and extremely light. Reminiscent of fresh air over a clear brook in a spring meadow. After drydown, it turns slightly aquatic, very pleasant and soothing. It retains its crisp, clean quality and subtle sweetness, with none of the heaviness I typically expect from evergreen scents.

In the imp, fig is rich, warm, and sort of earthily fruity, without smelling dirty. Applied to my skin, it is triggering a deja-vu for me, but I can't nail down where I've smelled this scent before...perhaps some scented candle I've had in the past, though I know I've never owned anything specifically fig-scented. This scent wears very close to my skin -- not a great deal of throw, but it smells very pleasant. It is almost berrylike, lacking only the sunny, "bright" aspect most berry scents have. Dry, the quality of the scent really doesn't change. It becomes just the slightest bit more mellow with time, but aside from that, I smell no difference between wet and dry.

In the vial, this oil is sweet and tropical without being oppressive. Upon application it amps up a little, though not a great deal...it is still not what I would describe as "heavy". It reminds me a bit of honeysuckle, but not as cloying. Pikaki has a very clean feeling to it. After drydown, it remains light, clean, and sweet, with a subtle pale-fruit quality. I don't recognize this not specifically from any of the blends I have tried, but I would be willing to bet that this note is one of the "white floral" notes in Jessica McClintock No. 1.

In the vial this scent is a warm, wet, yellow-green floral, with an herbal edge. Wet on the skin, it remains a warm but lightweight herbal sort of floral. It is reminiscent of freshly-cut green foliage and a light spring floral scent fresh from a warm rain. As the oil dries down, the scent also loses its wetness and becomes more of a pale whitish-green. It loses some of its warmth and becomes sweeter and less herbal than it was in the imp. It ends up a lovely light sweet floral.

In the imp, this oil is VERY sweet, almost overpoweringly so. Upon application it is still very sweet. Very golden and sugary and slightly musky. It is more like an apricot canned in heavy syrup, than a fresh apricot. As it dries down, it mellows -- not so sugary now. It is still very musky and deep golden-amber, a very rich scent. As it ages on the skin, it begins to resemble the scent of a dried apricot rather than canned.

In the vial, this oil is a sweet floral with an undercurrent of mild greenness. It is reminiscent of a perfume I remember from my childhood, maybe something my mother or grandmother owned, but didn't actually wear. On, I definitely recognize this as a note present in some of the blends I have tried. It is very strongly floral during the drydown phase. Once drydown is complete, it turns a bit greener, somewhat lighter and sweeter, and the tiniest bit soapy.

In the bottle, this blend is primarily melon, with a rich tapestry of more subtle fruits in the background. Wet on the skin, melon remains the most identifiable note -- honeydew or canteloupe. There is an array of red and purple fruits behind the melon scent, particularly blackberry and strawberry. As drydown progresses, the melon remains at the forefront for a long while, but overlays a lovely backdrop comprised of various berry notes, plum, pomegranate, and cherry. There is a short period of time during which the peach steps forth, giving a slightly overripe cast to the fragrance, but it is not a long-lasting phenomenon. Eventually the melon retreats enough that the notes are able to meld into a velvety-rich deep-burgundy sort of scent.

When I sniff the bottle, I am getting a cool, delicate, slightly herbal, lightly fruit-sweetened scent. It almost seems there could be a bit of cucumber in there somewhere. On the skin, this blend warms up considerably, and the florals come to the fore. The citrus notes are surprisingly muted, rather than sharp and tangy as I've come to expect from grapefruit, especially. I believe this may be in part due to the fact that my skin tends to amp up florals to one extent or another, and rose, in particular, to extremes. Luckily, the amount or type of rose is not reacting with my skin to completely overpower the blend, the orchid is quite noticeable as well, and the citrus notes are apparent, though nicely tempered. The final result turns out to be somewhat more citric than it was when wet, but the citrus notes remain balanced well with the florals. A cool, soft, feminine scent, very reminiscent of spring.

In the bottle: Sharp, powdery, and nearly identical to the smell of Desenex foot spray. It honestly doesn't strike me as a "cold" scent at all. When applied, it turns a bit cooler, but aside from that, there isn't really any change to speak of. Extremely powdery and vaguely medicated...not pelasant to my nose at all. After drydown... Desenex. And more Desenex. Definitely not for me -- my tummy is queasy from smelling this oil, and all I can think about is foot powder.

Chaos Theory 2 - CDLXII In the bottle, I smell peppermint like that in Spooky, backed up by a candylike sweet pink scent. Upon application, this blend is very pink and bubblegum scented. It's warmer on than in the bottle, but at the same time there remains a touch of chill sharpness. I'm sure the sharpness is caused by the presence of the peppermint, but oddly, the peppermint scent is no longer readily identifiable. There is perhaps a mild floral note present here as well -- very subtle and not strong enough to put a name to. As it dries down, the peppermint comes forward again. Unfortunately, as was the case with Spooky, this peppermint and my skin chemistry do not get along. A very deep inhalation with my nose pressed right up against my wrist reveals the continued presence of the sweet pink bubblegum note, but it is very far in the background, overridden by the peppermint (which smells like fake-peppermint-scented plastic when combined with my skin, unfortunately). Far back behind the peppermint, mingling subtly with the bubblegum, there is still a hint of floral or possibly sweet herbal notes, as well. Definitely not for me, thanks to my chemistry's ongoing feud with peppermint, but I imagine it would be quite nice no someone else.

Just poking through this thread, I didn't notice any pics of the Springtime in Arkham labels/bottles having been posted or linked, aside from the Brain Canister. I was gifted a Gibbering Madness Pack for my birthday, and took pics to post in my LiveJournal, so I'll throw them in here, as well. The images are larger than the 480-width limit, so you'll have to click through to view them. The entire Gibbering Madness Pack, plus the Mi-Go Brain Canister and squishy brain for the sake of completeness. A closer view of half the bottles -- the one on the far left is Al-Azif, which is not labelled in English. Closer view of the other half of the set, plus squishy brain. Enjoy!

The 5ml bottles I have are two inches tall, and the 10ml are two and a half inches. The 10mls are about 15/16ths of an inch in diameter, the 5mls slightly smaller (about 7/8ths inch). (Yep, I just pulled out my clear-plastic ruler and measured.)

I've worn Tommy Girl off and on in the past, and on me, Embalming Fluid is a very close match -- not identical, but similar enough for me to make the comparison immediately the first time I sniffed an imp of EF.

I can't speak to the similarity between Skadi and Dublin, as I haven't gotten around to acquiring an imp of Dublin yet -- but, to my nose, Nocnitsa layered over just the smallest touch of Jester is a pretty good approximation of Skadi.

I'm reviving this old thread in the hopes that one of you lovely people can hook me up with a current spreadsheet...? Excel format would be splendid, if you have it, otherwise, CSV would be just as easy for me to work with. Thanks in advance for any help!

Having never been in a Lush shop, I wouldn't be able to compare to that, but the description of the color, the list of notes it may contain/doesn't contain, and the staining-the-skin aspect, my first thought is that it sounds an awful lot like Snake Oil...

This oil starts off as a floral with a slightly musky undertone. It is all well-blended, it has a very unique scent, and is nearly impossible to pick out and identify the individual floral notes. It is not an overly feminine floral, I would think this oil would work equally well for a man or woman. As it dries down it remains very much teh same as it started out -- not detecting a great deal of change in the notes. About an hour after application, the vanilla really begins to bloom, and somewhat overshadows the floral notes. The florals are still present but the vanilla lends them a previously-missing sweetness, though not one so sweet as to remove the oil's gender-neutral quality. This blend is nice, but it doesn't seem to really "grab" me...it smells fine on me, but it doesn't smell *amazing* on me, so I don't think it will be seeing much use if it remains in my possession.

Yep, I say bee-pal too. My sweetie has said it a few times now, as well.

I'm kind of surprised no one has mentioned this yet... I recently got an imp of Tarot: The Star, and on me, it smells exactly like the Trichomania shampoo bar in full lather!

At application, this is bright, vivid lilac, which is how my skin tends to translate dragon's blood in all but the most miniscule quantities. As it dries, it mellows a touch. It is still rather floral in nature, but the spices kick up enough to make themselves detectable. Shortly, the cinnamon and clove come to the fore, with the red sweetness of the dragon's blood immediately behind. After about an hour, the pepper note emerges, with the clove and cinnamon remaining strong. The sweet spiciness of the dragon's blood is still present as well, but not as prominent as when wet. Mmmm, spicy goodness! It is going to be a hard decision to choose between Wrath and Three Witches, but the dragon's blood gives Wrath that tiny bit of added edge that Three Witches is missing.