lightgatherer

On application I get grapefruit and a flush of dark cherry. I'm optimistic that the cherry will come forward, the grapefruit will die back, and other notes (like ginger!) will come into play, but it is not to be. After about an hour the cherry dies away entirely, and the grapefruit starts smelling rotten on my skin. If you've ever smelled rotten citrus, you know it's not the worst smell in the world, but it isn't pleasant. Fortunately I didn't apply much and the throw is very light so I didn't have to wash it off. After another couple hours, the scent dies entirely. I never got any of the other notes.

At first, all the notes play nicely together - I can pick out fruit, wood, and the patchouli all in balance. After a little while the pepper pops up and demands a short period of dominance. Unfortunately, after the pepper settles down, it's all patchouli. By the time I got to work I had to go wash my wrist to get rid of some of the overwhelming patchouli, but that patchouli still haunted me for the rest of the day.

Citrus-scented Dawn dishwashing soap. I hate to say it, but that's what it smells like to me for almost the entire wear. At one point the coconut pokes out a bit, and I get coconut citrus-scented Dawn. Later in wear, I get this yummy vanilla throw, but I still smell Dawn if I get too close. At the end of wear smells like a yummy candy, but this is a faint stage and not worth smelling like Dawn for so long.

Sugar and flowers. I'm not sure exactly which flowers, but flowers. After several hours the florals die away leaving a slightly musky and smoky sugar smell. I love this stage, but I'm not as fond of the floral stage. I think for my sugar fix I'll be looking to Sugar Skull as I much prefer its fruits to this blend's flowers.

I accidentally ended up seriously slathering this one. Even given that, though, I never really got much throw or a strong scent from this. I end up getting a tiny hint of chocolate and a less than tiny plastic note when I sniff my wrist closely. This is not a winner. After many hours of wear I get a sweet, vanilly skin scent, but I have much better options for getting that scent.

Yum. Sweet, resinous cinnamon. This reminds me of Blood Moon only it's resinous rather than creamy. The myrrh threatens to go powdery at several stages, but overall it's good enough that I can forgive those powdery moments. I'm likely to pick up a bottle of this at some point, but I want to try aging my imp a bit to see how that affects the powdery moments before I do end up buying.

This is nothing like I expected it to be. Also, there is patchouli in this, and it works on me. I'm floored. This is what I was expecting Trick #2 to be like. I don't get so many of the notes in this - what I get is a woody note (is that what patchouli leaf is like on me?) with hints of fruit, musk, and vanilla around the edges. This isn't a scent I would reach for all the time, but I just kept breathing myself when I was wearing it. I'll be picking up a bottle or two of this before CD comes down.

I really expected to love this one, and it came so close. The vanilla in this I absolutely adored, and the musk was very nice too. While I'm not a jasmine hater, it didn't work for me in this blend, and I'm not sure how I felt about the tea. At one point the scent developed into this warm, delicious, almost foody, musky vanilla, and it had me swooning, but there was this edge in the background that ruined it for me. I'm glad I got an imp before I went for a bottle.

Citrus and sharp - likely the bergamot and perhaps a floral or two? The sharp edge dies back after a while, but the scent is still overwhelmingly citrus. After several hours it blends into a general sweet-ish scent - the blending is so complete that I'm not able to pinpoint any particular notes. This stage isn't bad, but I don't like it enough to make up for the hours of citrus.

At first this smells like the old Victoria's Secret apple shower gel I used to use many years ago. It's a sort of fake, perfumey apple smell and one I'm not terribly fond of anymore. After a while the perfumey smell dies down a bit, and the herbs come out a bit. This is a better smell, but it smells to me like a fall-themed apple candle from a craft store or somesuch. It's a bit overwhelming and fake, and I'm afraid I really don't like it. After a couple hours the scent dies entirely so at least I didn't have to spend the day smelling like a bad candle.

Frimp from the lab. A bit perfumey and floral at first, but it quickly settles into this yummy dry white wine musk smell on me. It smells floral when sniffed closely, but the throw is all the yummy white wine musk. I like.

Lotus Moon! Seriously, I think I'm going to have to wear them side-by-side for comparison. Given that they both have amber and golden lotus notes, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I think this smells a bit warmer whereas Lotus Moon smelled a bit sweeter and more like vanilla. I never really get any significant spices out of Bastet, but that's okay. There's already enough there to love.

Ugh, this does not smell good when I first put it on. After a while the almond starts to come out, and I get a bit of musk and oddly enough, a floral note. The floral note dies away after a bit. About 90 minutes after application I get the most delicious buttery almond musk drifting up from my wrist. I was in a meeting at work when this scent hit, and I was eager to get out of the meeting to give my wrist a good huff. Sadly, by the time my meeting ended 30 minutes later, the lovely scent had died utterly. While I loved the way this smelled during my meeting, it's too short a nice period to make up for the icky starting smell.

Mmm, honey! This is odd given that there isn't a honey note listed in this, but I swear I smell honey very clearly and strongly. The dragon's blood starts to come out more, and I get a bit of the rum. The chocolate and the wine may be in there, but they're lurking in the sweetness of the dragon's blood. I like this scent, and I think I may need a bottle at some point.

This is a bit perfumey when I put it on, but it's not a terrible and overwhelming perfume. After a bit the perfume dies down a bit and becomes slightly spicy, and the plum peeks out a little. I love this spiced plum stage and wish it lasted a bit longer. Unfortunately, after a bit it turns into plum soap. Off to swaps.

Ugh, department store perfume. I can tell something is lurking in the background wanting to break free of the perfume, but it's so faint I can't even tell what it is.

Shub on my skin is initially ginger incense. I think the resins amp a bit after that and threaten to go to baby powder, but something, perhaps the yummy ginger, holds them in check and makes them bearable. After a while it turns to gingerbread. It's a lot like Gingerbread Poppet on me, but it actually has staying power. Score!

There is so much to love in this. At the beginning, I get a caramel throw and can smell the most perfectly crafted sweet, creamy coffee when I sniff my wrist. As time goes on, the caramel throw mellows out into a sweeter vanilla throw. This smells like the parts of Sugar Cookie and Treat #2 I actually liked but without having to deal with smelling like plastic or dish soap - yay! At this stage when I sniff my wrist, I can smell just the barest memory of the coffee, but I can pick out the polished oak floors (though my mind pictures them as library tables). This scent is uncanny, and I will definitely need more.

I do get incense from this, but it's definitely not one of my favorite incense scents. This isn't bad like Cathedral was on me, but it's definitely not inspiring. I swear I kept getting whiffs of baby powder here and there in with the incense.

Oh my yum. Warm, rich vanilla caramel…I'm in heaven. This is sort of like Sugar Skull but whereas Sugar Skull is sugar and fruit, this is sugar and vanilla. During the wet stage I catch a waft of the florals, and they add a bit of interest without seeming out of place. The florals disappear during drydown, and the sandalwood gradually creeps into the caramel smell. The patchouli does its job in this blend by adding just the subtlest darkness and weight; I'm generally a patchouli hater, but the patchouli in here doesn't bother me at all. This dries down to a sweet sandalwood and is gorgeous from beginning to end. I'm so glad this is GC so I can wear it as often as I like.

So it seems that I like dragon's blood. I know that I love musks. Together, though, I really don't like them. When I got close to my wrist I could separately smell the dragon's blood and the musk, but the combined throw reminded me of baby powder, oddly enough. I would be interested in trying dragon's blood with another sweet note, so I think that I'll put Dragon's Milk on my wishlist.

Mmm, green. Unfortunately, the green stage doesn't last. After a while I start getting that Dawn dishwashing soap note that made Treat #2 totally not work on me. I wonder if BPAL's fig doesn't work on me? After several hours the Dawn smell goes away, and I'm left with a yummy sweetness, but it isn't worth smelling like Dawn for so long.

This is a lab frimp I accidentally put on when I was actually looking to try Bengal, so I was a bit surprised by what I smelled from it. At first, carnation. Then, carnation. After a bit, more carnation. Hours later, carnation cookies. Yes, really. The carnation cookies start to venture into the realm of plastic cookies, and that's where I'm not bothering to sniff any more. This is a nice scent if you like carnation, but I don't, so it's not for me.

There are no specific notes listed for this scent, and I couldn't begin to tell you what's in here. I get a slight hint of spice, a touch of something musky, a bit of fruit, and a fair amount of floral. This all goes together well, and it does indeed make me think of far-off travels. Given that there isn't anything that stands out here, though, it doesn't have a lot of appeal to me. It's not a bad scent, but it's not me.

Incense. I believe floral incense. I like incense blends, but the more I try, the pickier I get about them. This one doesn't have anything special about it, so I'm swapping it away.