goodnightnightvale

I love this. It took a few tries for my brain to figure out what, exactly, I was smelling, but as I read some reviews and sat and thought about it some more, the more I liked it. On me, this is dark, sexy, and smooth. It's sweet with an almost smoky hint, and earthy without smelling like dirt. Good throw and it lasts quite a while, too. I'm going to see if I can get my hands on a bottle.

I actually don't get anything sharp at all. It starts of slightly sweet and very clean, and on me, it stays that way. It's beautiful and light, with a hint of something that makes you keep smelling, trying to figure out what it is. I could see myself using this as one of my everyday scents.

You know what this smells like on my hair? Coral Snake! I'm not even kidding, and I love Coral Snake, so this is fantastic. A+.

Anitkythera Mechanism is great on me as an oil, so when I heard it won the poll, I was completely thrilled. I ordered a bottle and waited (not so) patiently for my bottle to arrive. And I tried it after my shower as I was getting ready for work today...and it's just as gorgeous as I thought it would be. It's smoky and slightly sweet with the vanilla, I foresee using this and Frosty Silkybat a lot. My only regret is not ordering a second bottle of this, so I think I'll need to get another one before it comes down.

I'm not great at picking out notes, I tend to go more with what particular scents remind me of. I got this purely on a whim, because I wanted to try at least one of the Mars scents, and it seemed like this one would be up my alley. So I swapped with a lovely forumite, and...it sat in the box until last night. And I looked it up to remind me of the notes, and apparently this title means 'Mars of the Thunderstorm'. How terribly fitting for someone who loves storms. On me, this smells very crisp and fresh, like the air during and before a storm. It took me a few sniffs to figure out why I liked it, then my brain chimed in with the above. So if you like scents like that, you'll love this.

In the imp, the dandelions reared up and waved themselves in front of my nose. I tested it in the crook of my elbow, and got...mainly dandelion, with some florals in the background. Very spring-y and pretty, but I'm glad I just have the decant, since this isn't really something I'd wear much. But if you like fresh, spring, floral scents, you'll love this one.

So when I saw the notes for Watson, I knew I had to give this a try. I joined a decant circle, but then swapped for a bottle (unsniffed!) because I was sure I would love it. And I was not disappointed. Metallics work really well on me, and blended with the lime and linen, the whole thing is fresh, metallic, and very crisp. (The first time I wore it, I walked the razor's edge of being almost medicinal, but thankfully that hasn't happened since.)

Do you ever put on a scent, figure out that you like it, but you're unable to put your finger on precisely why? Diamond's Gong falls into that category for me. It managed to surprise me: in the bottle, I got a whiff of something that reminded me of Dimetapp (anyone else remember that? that kid's cold medicine that almost knocked you back with how grape-y it was?), but thankfully that passed. Once I had it on, it turned into something...almost comforting, that's a good word for it. Put me in mind of a safe, beautiful space that recently had incense burning. It's lovely.

I really wanted to like this. I really did, since all the notes sounded so nice. In the bottle, I could smell cherries, and I thought 'Oooh, that's really nice'. So I dabbed some on. Less than ten minutes later: ow OW OW. Thus did Liz find out her skin cannot tolerate cardamom. Sigh. And it started off so promising, too...

In the bottle it reminds me of root beer, with a little bit of smoke. I got no pine at all, but that's just me. On, it's sweet, almond-y, and smokey. I loved it so much I bought two more bottles. Top marks from the American judge!

Oh my god, thank the gods it's not just me. If I see rose, or lilac, or anything like that in a blend, 9/10 times I'll give it a miss. I amp rose to such a high degree, and it ends up smelling like such a powdery, old lady perfume. Same with lilac. It just gives me a headache. Oddly enough.I got an imp of Ouija a while back, and it ended up working really well for me. It has both rose *and* lilac in it, but somehow...just works? IDK, I was really surprised and pleased, though.

Ooh, I like these! Maybe Katharina for Alana?

I don't really have allergies to anything that I've tried so far, but cinnamon and cardamom both burn my skin if they're in a blend. Which absolutely sucks, because I found that out the hard way, after tracking down a bottle of Phantom Calliope. Dabbed it on before bed, and within 10-15 minutes, it started to burn. Boo.