jessu

Woah. In the bottle it's all citrus green tea- very fresh. After about an hour though, it smells exactly like Curve for men. Luckily, that's one of my favorites, and what the boy wears, so I have a feeling we might share this one! (And thankfully the mint never makes an appearance.) So weird. I can't get over my smell right now.

I acquired a bottle of this in a random swap, without ever having smelled it before, and I couldnm't be happier! Now, keep in mind that I love lemon, lime, and anything that smells like cleaner or furniture polish. In the bottle, it was harsh and astringent- so I knew it was for me. On drydown, it's more like lemon curd. It's def. citrus, but soft and creamy from the musk. And the tiniest bit lilac. I'm so glad this is GC, because now I will be wearing this constantly instead of my dwindling supply of J. Harker and Yuki-Onna!

I'm from Ware! (next town over from Palmer) And c'mon, Springfield is a city! Or, as close to a city as we've got around here.... Now I've moved somewhat westward, 'bout an hour away from the Berkshires. (Other half commutes every day to Pittsfield). My seasonal scents would be: Fall: Samhain, hands down. To change it up I'll wear Count Dracula, or maybe Pumpkin Queen- very Thanksgivingy. The Carpathian Mountain smells like hiking on a cold morning to me- crisp and woodsy. Winter: Cold scents are not my thing. Jolasveinar smells like the Yankee Candle flagship store in Deerfield, which has a definite Christmas vibe, and Yule is so comforting and makes me think of sitting by a fire in big fuzzy socks. Spring: I love Aizen-Myoo. Even though it's not light and springy and fresh, the sweet youthful fruitiness is so optimisic, it makes me think of all the good things to come. I think this past spring I wore Kindly Moon an awful lot, and I wore it on one particular trip to Shelburne Falls, so now I identify it with the Bridge of Flowers. It has the same happy vibe, I think. Summer: Anyone who has spent a Summer here knows no matter how cold it may get in the winter, it is HOT in the summer. For that reason I like lemon scents, like Lolita and Yuki-Onna. I predict that I'll be wearing Selkie for the rest of the summer, because it has a cool melon quality and reminds me of the lake I grew up on. If I were going to go to, say, Lenox tomorrow, I'd wear something with rose, because I think of all the big, beautiful gardens.

I've just moved on to a new tracking system- one of those rolodex things (the flat kind, not the kind that goes around. Does that make sense at all?) Anyway, I am just way too scatterbrained to sit down in front of my computer and write reviews. It works a lot better to just carry around those little cards with me, so I can scribble notes whenever I feel like it (work, car, wherever) and just file them later. The switching over process is a little tedious, though. I have to write down (and consequesntly read) all my computer reviews, and that means a lot of "Wait! no! How could I possible not like that? Test again later."

Ugh. Sweet, sour, and acrid, it reminds me of the feeling you get in your mouth when you've eaten too many sweets and desprately need to brush your teeth. Somewhat hazy and medicinal, it does remind me of the character. I will never wear this, but will keep it to complete my OotD collection.

I lovelovelove water scents, but so far I've been disappointed with all the BPAL scents in that category. Lightning is the closest I can get. I can't stand Undertow (juniper... blech) and Hurricane (vetiver). Tempest had more of the sweet "dryer sheet" quality than Lightning, which I could live without. There were other GCs too, but none of 'em did it for me. I haven't tried Kingsport or City in the Sea, because I didn't find BPAL until after they were long gone, and I'm scared of loving an old LE. In all honesty, the only ocean scent I will wear is Ocean from Woobie. It's salty, salty ocean air. I'm really hoping for Thalassa, though!

In the bottle I got a strong whiff of Dragon's Blood, but now that it's on and dry it's musty resiny incense. I can't even tell what it is, 'cause it's so NOT my thing. It's very dry.

There is a mentholy note here that sets the cold, outdoorsy mood- I'm guessing the juniper. Don't get the wintergreen really, just cold juniper. It went on earthy-cold, and morphed into something very chilly, a little flowery, a little green, and a little earthy. Just when I thought I was going to get something really good- *poof!* It's gone. i can't put my finger on it, but something here reminds me of gum. Teaberry gum, I think. I like this, but I have no idea when I would want to smell like it. I'll hang on to it- maybe it will appeal to me on hot summer days.

Yummy! Patchouli and spices at first, and in a few minutes the pile of spices overwhels the patchouli, and the neroli & tonka poke their little heads out. The spice is what drew me to this, and I love it. It's not really christmas spice, mostly just clove and ginger. Boy smelled it on me, and said it's too girly for him. He just doesn't get it. This is a pile of spices laying on top of old, dusty, black brocade.

Oh no... where is the pear? Where is the lotus? I love these things, and they are nowhere to be found. I get the lemon note too, but not so much citronella. I smell powdered cherry kool-aid, before you add water and sugar, all sharp and biting. Still, I'm not ready to let go of it. I'll try it again eventually.

2004 Version I feel like the odd one out here... but I don't love this. I smell burnt sugar, not actually all that sweet, and no fruits. A little spicy, a little maple-y, but... I dunno. Doesn't do it for me. I think I'd like to try a more recent version.

Silliness in the extreme. Vanilla bean, honeycomb, sugared pear, sweet pea and a dribble of strawberry. Pink Phoenix yummy, light, and very sweet, but loses all its depth after about three seconds of skin contact. I'm left with fluffy spun sugar, which is nice enough, but not something I'm likely to wear. So sad, the description sounded right up my alley!

Very grown-up, and very regal. I feel like this is what you would get if you crossed Kindly Moon with Bordello. I was getting worried about the relationship between my skin and violet, but they behave themselves here, and I'm loving it. I get mostly fruit, wrapped in a flowery cloud. I should have bought a bottle and not a decant.

Ditto! My first thought was PLUMERIA! My second thought was WITH MUSK! Sweet floral, thought not overly so, backed with musk. I feel this musk really compliments the florals, which is unusual for me. (I usually feel like I'm caught dead center in a battle between the two, and end up with a migraine.) It's a little to powerful to be an everyday scent for me- too strong and heavy for office wear. I also made the mistake of slathering before an hour long car ride, and it made me queasy. However, if I were going out for a walk in the spring, just as the trees were budding, there's nothing I'd rather smell like!

It sounded so nice, and I wanted to love so much, but it just wasn't meant to be. The narcissus is sharp, and the orange blossom (which I'm quickly finding out NEVER WORKS for me) is floral, and when you throw in the sweet vanilla... nothing good happens. I end up with bitter plastic. I'll just have to get my vanilla fix elsewhere.

Going on, this is powerful stuff! First, I get the verbena, then the tea, with light lavendar and even lighter sandalwood. It stays bright and crisp on me for less than an hour, then begins to mellow out and fade away. The tea is the first to vanish, followed by the verbena, and I'm left with dusty sandalwood/lavendar until I reapply. Overall, it's cheery and non-offensive in close quarters, so I'm waiting on a bottle to replace my nearly empty decant.

This is my number one favorite, hands down. It just WORKS for me. This is also the first time I haven't been able to separate the notes despite infinite attemps at critical sniffing. It's a deep, smooth purple-burgandy scent. Rich, fruity, sweet, decadent, luxurious. That's all I can say to describe it! I have found that it's far to rich to wear during the day- it's a going out scent. It's for nights when I curl my hair, put on a pretty dress, lace myself into a corset, and slip on a pair of heels. The other day I dumped half an imp in the bath, and when I got around to blowdrying my hair- woah! Amazing. I felt sultry for the rest of the night.

Initially, I got spicy pine and a hint of pastry, with a little slush in the backround. After drying for about an hour, the flowers came out to beat the pine into submission. The boy says it smells like Yankee Candle. I asked if he could be a little more specific, and he said "No. It smells like ALL of Yankee Candle." He's right. It smells like the flagship store. We'll use this as a home fragrance for sure, but I don't think my nose can handle it as perfume.

I'm no help at all, but this topic is fabulous! I'm also ISO a Midsummer's Night/Drakkar scent. I'll try Vicomte. Thanks guys!