surlygurl

Ummmm.... Ok. Who put Paduan Killer Swarm in my Harigata decant? Come on, fess up. Not funny, people. Yeah. There's something about these 2 scents that don't really work for me. Must be the anise/coconut combo. *sob* eta: Over a year later, I swapped for a half bottle. The dusty coconut backs down soon after application and becomes a buttery coconut. Then the hazelnut slowly comes out, followed by anise. Coconut fades a bit. After about 2-2.5 hours, it is the perfect blend of all 3 (I don't know what white amber smells like). And it lasts! If I can get past the first half hour of dusty musty coconut, this is a lovely scent.

Oh wow yum! This is different! I really didn't expect much out of this blend, but WOAH! First off comes nuts toasted with a little bit of cloves. Quite tasty but not foody. I was expecting crazy amounts of bergamot, but that just give the clovey nuts a background/depth. As it dries, a touch of thyme joins the party. If there is any lavender, it either comes in on the extreme drydown or doesn't show at all on my skin. This is really good! Unisex, slightly spicy, slightly herbal, a little creamy, a little sweet. Depending on what it does in the extreme drydown and how long it lasts (for good or ill), this may be a bottle purchase.

This looked like it would be stronger than it is. It's very soft orris and something sharp-plasticy at first. It then morphs into a clean orris/coconut/iris with a touch of blossoms. It does remind me of Black Pearl. Quite nice, but not spectacular.

This imp lives in my 'aquatics' pile and doesn't get much love (much like the rest of the aquatics). Today, for some odd reason, I put this on. Wet, it's straight boy cologne *cringe*. Almost immediately the sharpness fades and I'm hit with woods (patch & gunpowder?) behind a wall of ocean spray. Also a touch of spiced rum. This is a complex scent! A clean aquatic shot through with dark spices, bright but kinda dangerous. Unisex. Definitely a "mood" scent.

Okay.... I bought this bottle fresh from the Lab way back when. When it was fresh it was a pretty dandelion scent that turned bitter bitter bitter. So away to the swap box it went. Lately I've been going through the swap box to see what's changed. On my skin, this has mellowed considerably. It's slightly grassy, but mostly a creamy dreamy dandelion. Sweet, fresh, summery. I REALLY like this. The bitter is nowhere to be seen. On drydown: Oops! Spoke too soon. There's the bitter. Not much of it, and it doesn't last long. But once the bitter goes away, so does everything else. It's a shame, because the wet stage is so beautiful! It doesn't last very long, but the wet stage is so worth it. I may need a locket, just for this.

While I don't remember how Antony or The Witch's Garden smelled, I do know that Scales of Deprivation is a yummy white sage on me. All the other elements are there as well (not so much the vetiver or labdanum), but the sage really stands out. I should really wear it more often.

When I first sniffed this, I thought it was exactly the same as my 2007 bottle - like the Lab found a stash of the 2007 stuff and repackaged it! *lol* So I did a side by side test. They both start our PINE PINE PINE. The black spruce gives it even more darkness, but there's some warmth, too. But while 2007 is like trees after a snowstorm w/ a little earth thrown in, 2011 is more springlike, when the snow is mostly melted and a stream is running nearby. There's something lightly aquatic in the background (ambrette seed?), and it's slightly warmer. Strangely, this scent fades to almost nothing on the drydown. It's a lovely scent. Lovely enough to keep both years.

Fresh on my skin, I thought it resembled Snow Bunny, which I just bought a bottle of from the forums. It's a sweet slushy scent with a touch of mint and some florals. Okay, there are no florals here, so maybe its damondrops. But this scent has more going on. The hollyberry and juniper berry provide a traditional Christmas-y feel. As it dries, I could smell little "blobs" of sugar. The whole thing wasn't sugared - just small patches. This is very pretty and and I may wind up with a bottle.

Fresh on, this is a mix of gentle spring florals and something green, like new shoots. It smells a little pink from the cherry blossom. It's a strange earth floral combo. There's something there that wants to go soapy on me but does not. The whole time it's on my skin. It's a very pretty blend in spite of my skin chemistry, and I wish the almost-soap would leave, but I know from experience it will not. So if you don't have that problem, try it. You'll like it

Okay. I was hoping for something wonderful and Banshee Beat it did not disappoint. Fresh on, it's sweet warm vanilla & patch. And something a little green. I can see where people would call it hippie-ish. It's more retro-hippy ('cause a bus full of touring Deadheads never smelled this good!). Ya know what it reminds me of? Glowing Vulva. Like this is GV's teenage kid brother. Lithe, playful, flirty in a gender-neutral sort of way. Being so young, BB tires easily and fades to a warm woodsy vanilla after a bit. I can't wait to see what happens when this bottle ages!

This is one of those "there's something really good in here and I *know* (pleasepleaseplease)that it'll get better with age" purchases that I made when it was live. For the longest time, this scent dried down to screaming headache-inducing florals. Now that it's almost 2 years old, the headache florals are all gone. It's clean and creamy, sweet, gently floral surrounded by coconut love. I adore it. It's what Snow White should be.

There is a definite progression here. I have Summer on one wrist and Autumn on the other. This is summer without the ozone or the heat. On my skin I can smell leaves, patchouli and teak. The teak I know from Glowing Vulva and the leaves from many bpal fall blends. I don't get ivy or hyssop (that I'm aware of). No coffee either. This is a pleasant fall scent. Coming from me - who fails at weenies & autumn scent in general - that's a big compliment!

Fresh on my skin, this is hot & dry. The red musk (my nemesis) provides a fruity note, but is calm otherwise. Then there comes what must be ozone & rain, because 'soap' isn't listed in the description . It's a really different blend, and without the soap it would be spectacular. I guess this California girl just doesn't do summer rainstorms....

From all the reviews here, I expected a gingerbread cake with lemon rind. What I got was more ginger snaps and fizzy lemon soda. It's light, it's foody, it's uplifting. It reminds me of other gingerbread scents I have, but this is much better done. I do own an aged bottle of Gingerbread Poppet, but I like this more. Not enough to buy a bottle, but it is very nice.

Fresh on my skin, this is very bright, but in a drug-store-perfume kind of way. Nothing really stands out; it's a blur of clean fruit and generic florals. As it dries, there's a vanilla sweetness that makes this scent (to me) more likable. Still, it's not really my thing.

Fresh on my skin, this is pure almond / marzipan. A bit cloying for my tastes, but I wait. Then something warm and a little tart comes out. I think "plum? There's no plum in here." It might be rosewood, maybe tonka (it is kinda creamy). It smells really lovely. It starts to remind me of a GC blend, but I'm not sure which one. Anyway, just when I think about figuring it out, the rose shows up. It must be rose, because it goes SOUR. The GC does the same thing (whatever it is). So sad. Bye bye Mirlitons.

Hahahaaaa.... I think Little Bird and I are scent opposites! Of all the scents I've tried so far, this is the one that made me *squeeeee!!* silently when it was fresh on, complete with visions of owning a bottle. Florentine Iris! Soooo pretty! Soft & pretty and cool. The champaca (my fave floral note) is right behind it, lending support. Oooh! And there's the tea! I could really like this. I want to smell this way forever. But....what's this? Something dark & sour? Labdanum & patchouli, more than likely. This scent gets darker & more sour as time goes on. It smells like my lovely florals fell in a big vat of sour mud. Eventually, my florals climb out of the sour mud vat, but the smell lingers. Too bad for my pretties.

Oh wow. In this blend I was hoping for a nutty latte spice with leather. Instead, I put it on and it's EEEEWW! Old leather, B.O., stale coffee and cigs. Like a guy in a coffee shop who's been out partying the past couple nights in the same clothes and hasn't showered, just splashed on cologne. Eew. As it dries, the leather sweetens somewhat, and the blend starts smelling a bit like Marquis De Carabas, but not as sweet. Sort of the Marquis' (unmedicated) mentally ill streeter brother. Once dry, it becomes spices & coffee through a haze of light cigarettes. This is sooo not for me

So today I'm testing my *possible* swap bottles, and this was the first in line. I remember it being almost non-existent as a scent, so let's see how it aged..... Fresh on my skin: Where is it? It just sits there, no throw at all. I have to stick my nose in it to get anything. Then I get orris, tobacco flower, and maybe a touch of sandalwood. Like others say, it's a grey scent, hazy and cool. As it dries, there's a little bit of throw (enough for my BF to notice and approve!). The scent sweetens and the musk comes into play. This is really pretty. It's a good scent for those times when you don't want to overwhelm others with your fragrance. So.... maybe I won't swap it.

This one is tough to describe. Fresh on, it's clean & earthy frankincense. A little tart. As it dries it sweetens, but is still earthy. The earth note starts to fade and the fig grows more tart. It dries down to a play of light & dark with sweet/tart overtones. Quite nice, but I won't be needing a bottle.

Oh! Hello lavender! It's a very herbal lavender surrounded by darkness. Probably patchouli. The myrtle & olive give it an herbal tinge, while the white cognac - which I hated in other blends for being sharp & bitter - smooths it all out. I get no blackberry. After the initial dark blast, this scent fades to a dusty dark skin scent. Dry on my skin, it smells sort of like mud.

Brownish purple is right. Neither is sweet. On my skin, it's sour dust. I do get the fruits and the clove, but the sour is overwhelming. So sad.

This must be one of those scent that change wildly from one person to the next. Either that, or it's mislabeled. At first, it's "Ohhhh! Incense! I love incense!" The 'gold coins' warm it up and make it cozy. As it dries, there's something familiar about it, like an Indian Incense vibe. Like a Faces of the Heroine scent. But now it's REALLY familiar, like.... like..... Nag Champa or Super Hits incense. Oh wow. This is so weird. And it doesn't change in the drydown at all. I like incense, but this is too much for a perfume. Maybe it'll age into something else, but right now, not for me.

Nutcake!!! I really like this; it's much simpler than other cakey / foody scents. And as it dries, the nuts seem to darken, like they've been toasted. It's not too sweet. The sugar in this is some earthy unrefined thing. I suppose the "cake" is really the grain porridge. The cream is just the glue that holds it all together. So what is this? Just what the description says - toasted nuts, cream & treacle syrup on porridge.

Ice wine like wow! Pretty and only a bit boozy. Something in the throw is a little sour (hello wine!). The sour eventually fades (in maybe 5 minutes) and I *think* the chamomile comes forward. There's less alcohol now. Definitely the frosty white grapes of The Shivering Boy. I don't know what Balsam of Peru smells like, but something is gently grounding this scent. I really like it. Now for the big question: Does the alcohol smell really go away, or did I just get used to smelling like booze?