dronzeka

My "slathering": I open the bottle, put my finger over the top, invert the bottle, wipe my finger on each side of my neck. Repeat the inverting and wipe my finger on each side of my collarbone. Repeat the inverting and wipe my finger on the back of my hand and inner wrist. Repeat inverting with other hand and dab back of other hand and other inner wrist. Repeat inverting and dab in my inner elbow and at the base of my throat. Sometimes, depending on the scent and what I'm wearing, I'll also put a dab between my breasts, on the back of my neck, or behind my knees. (I should note that I mostly wear lighter scents and that if I'm using something like Glowing Vulva or Crawdad Dream - which are REALLY strong on me! - I tend to go with SMALL dabs on the pulse points of my neck and back of the hand, and that's IT.) And yup, my fingers touch the oil every time. I figure, they're MY skin oils etc., why should I care if they were in my perfume? (But I've also bought partials that weren't specified as decanted out, because really, I don't care about germs. If I get a bottle new from the lab, I test cleanly from the cap until I know I'm not going to sell it, but if I buy something from someone who hasn't specified how it's been tested, I don't bother.)

I thought Lolita - girly but sexy? or maybe Bon Vivant (strawberry & champagne)? or Jailbait (something about the dress makes me think lollipops)? (The tropical suggestions make a lot of sense, too.)

This is sort of unisex - genuinely so; to me that usually means "smells like men's cologne" but this is nothing like men's cologne; it would just honestly work well on a woman OR a man. It starts out with a burst of black pepper which backs off quickly. There is a hint of honey, but mostly a mixture of the rice flower (reminds me of Tamamo-na-Mae), a little perfumey, with perhaps some sandalwood adding a dryness. I don't get much oakmoss, but I'm not a huge fan of it and not sure I could identify it on its own. It's long-lasting but quiet - not fancy, but with a sophisticated yet comforting edge. This one feels very Asian to me, like the simplicity and serenity of a ink-brush drawing on aged parchment. (Okay, not very consistent with the label! )

This is really lovely - a juicy, fruity red/orange scent, sweet but not cloying. It all blends beautifully, though I do get the peach quite a bit - everything else melds together to give it some base and balance. I have no problem with amber, so I don't really notice it here, except perhaps as grounding the whole (and helping it last - this lasts quite well on me). Super nice!

Like Xanon, I totally get Sweet Tarts in the bottle! Wet: mostly fruit - plum, pomegranate, a little grape, and maybe a little cognac. Very sweet. Drying: getting a little softer and not quite so in you face FRUIT!!! I think the sweet pea and vanilla sandalwood are coming out. I'd love to get more carnation and honey, but you know, I think they're in there; it's pretty well-blended, so nothing is sticking out terribly. Dry: still heavy on the fruit. Sweet red fruits, not especially dark. Overall: Pretty nice. Quite sweet -- if you don't like sweet, you won't like this (but you hardly need me to say that given the notes!). I would have liked a little more of the vanilla sandalwood, but it's definitely pleasant -- and it's also right out of the mailbox, so this may change somewhat as it ages? Edited to add: Hmm, about 4 hours later if I stick my nose right up against where I applied this, I get honey? a little bit, anyway!

I don't get much vanilla from Giant Vulva at all, so am not sure that Regan would work very well as a layering component; on me, they're completely different scent families. However, on me, the beeswax is a significant component of GV, so if you try layering, you might want to track down Lights of Men's Lives (one of the newer Marchens), which is heavy on the beeswax.

For me, anything with red musk lasts FOREVER. Crawdad Dream lasts ALL day on me, as does Lilith Victoria (I think the consensus is that there's red musk in Snake Oil, right?). Other musks can be pretty long-lasting (Bathsheba has Arabian musk and lasts well), but red is the king. (Too bad I don't love being able to smell it much!) Others that last on me - I think cream/milk notes might be good base notes? Milk Moon 2005 lasts quite a long time on me, as does Glowing Vulva (they both have cream), and White Rabbit (which has milk, although I don't really smell the milk in it, and Alice, which has milk, fades terribly on me). Oh, and Obatala lasts a long time, and has milk, too. Honey lasts pretty well, too (which might explain White Rabbit better - although, again, it doesn't help in Alice).

Wet, this is all HONEY and REDCURRANT!! And it's DELICIOUS. As it dries down, I think there's a little more blackberry, which goes kind of muddy on me, so it's not quite as amazing as when wet. It teeters between being too sweet and being wonderful. I suspect it would be lovely in a scent locket. I get only perhaps the slightest whiff of pink pepper, and I don't really get any amber (but amber's not a problem note for me - it always hides in the background). This is quite nice, but on me, at least, it's very similar to Lady Una and Mad Kate, only not quite as complex. So if you have either of these, it might not be worth tracking down a bottle of Tomoe Gozen. But it is a yummy sweet honeyed-fruit scent.

This smells like lime lollipop and green herbs! The green herbs go ever so slightly Irish Spring on me, but that's what they usually do. The lime lollipop seems to be losing out to the herbs, and I'm not sure I could wear this all day (but hey, it would smell GREAT on my husband!).

(I am amused that there are way more recent reviews of the foody Yules than of Hypothermia...) This is gorgeous when wet - a fresh bracing blast of COLD made up of some kind of mint (I don't really think it's peppermint--maybe pennyroyal?), an almost pine-y eucalyptus, and maybe a little cold ozone. It calms down quite quickly to become much more of a skin scent which, on me, goes back and forth between a slightly creamy wintergreen with a little pine and mint, and Irish Spring soap. I think what some people have compared to the Snow White-like throwdown is rescuing it somewhat. As someone said above, this definitely leans unisex for me. (I should go put some on my husband...!) This might well be a candidate for the scent locket because I love it when wet--it might be a wee bit "room scent"-like, but very fresh and energizing!

I get primarily wintergreen or spearmint. Maybe something a little aquatic in the background (almost cucumber-y?). It's quite light, airy, and delicate. Very fresh, if not really quite what I'd associate with snowflakes (it reads as very green to me, a pale watery green). Myself, I love peppermint and pennyroyal but am pretty meh on every other mint, so am not sure that this quite works for me, but it is very nicely done.

I should just quote Venneh's review directly, because I came over here to say the same thing: this is definitely Snow White + rose... ...and Snow White still smells like play-doh on me. And the rose starts off like soap, too (which it doesn't usually on me). FWIW, once it settles down the rose smells very very VERY like Hope from CD (which I love), but I get very little of it. And it can't really compete with the play-doh. If I wait long enough it's a bit more rose, kind of like a faded/diluted Hope. It's less play-doh, but not very interesting. Sigh. And it sounded so good.

Gardenia and peaches (as if that wasn't clear from everyone else's reviews!). I find this super-yummy - fresh, fruity, bright. Thank you for the sniffie, generous formumite!

This is very, very soft on me. I get the same kind of grapefruit that's in Shattered, softened and sweetened by the other notes. On me, this is very well blended--it's difficult to distinguish the notes; overall, it's an elegant, cool sweetness. It doesn't smell like soap, itself, but it is a scent that you might find in VERY high-end (probably French!) bath products. I REALLY like this, except it's such a skin scent on me--I so wish I had a bottle, so I could slather, but all I have is a treasured imp!

mmmmm! at first I'm not really sure what this smells like. But as it dries down: beeswax! and then: something vaguely sweet and powdery! but in a good way. This is very warm and soft. I'm not really getting a lot of - any?- smoke, but it's very comforting and definitely makes me think of candles - vanilla ones, but not in the icky craft store way; the beeswax grounds the vanilla and the two blend beautifully. And I agree that there's skin musk in this, it's a little tiny bit reminiscent of Giant Vulva (but without the resins). This is really, really nice; I think it would make a wonderful comfort or sleep scent. It's not fancy or glamorous, but a wonderful skin scent. (Oh, wait, at the right angle I get a bit of smoke in the throw! It's lovely and very candle-y, not like a bonfire; it's very faint, though, and I kinda hope it gets stronger as it ages...) Yeah, I could go for a bottle of this...

In the bottle: fresh green grass! and a wee hint of flowers. Wet: grass/flowers. Drying: okay, there's a brief moment when I get a whiff of something...sort of yucky. Like, musk gone really bad. Wait, now it seems to be gone... phew! Drydown: pleasant, if somewhat generic. On me, the musk is a little powdery, in a nice way, sort of like a nice baby powder. (Not like Gladdener of all Hearts, though, which has never smelled like baby powder to me.) There's a slight floral sweetness in the background. These flowers aren't big heady tropical things - they're little fresh wildflowers. As it dries further, I get more grass again - which, sadly, goes kind of sharp and unappealing on me, but if you like grass and it works on you, you'll probably like this. In the end everything blends together into a soft powderiness. It is quite comforting and soft.

How strong is the jasmine in The Girl? Has anyone who has a problem with BPAL's jasmine tried it? (I'd love an AL replacement but jasmine is usually a deal-breaker note for me - turns anything bitter and acrid.)

Ooooh - love, love, love! Wet/early dry down, this is very much like Atrocious Attic on me, which is to say mostly rose and lavender, with a powderiness that I think comes from sandalwood (or something dusty) in Atrocious Attic. Here, there's rose and lavender and the dustiness is less sweet, more recognizably amber. As it wears down, I get leaves! It smells like fall! Without turning into bad-men's-cologne-ick on me! (This is very unusual for me!) It really is like one of those late summer days where the day is warm and sunny and sweet, but as the sun goes down and the air gets cool, you can smell the first of the leaves turning and falling to the ground. The final drydown is much less sweet/floral, much more amber, a bit more unisex. I may have to track down a back up of this one (it's even still up on the site, I'm tempted to be evil and order a bottle...).

I find Yvaine definitely conveys cool detached authority - it's lavender and magnolia, very cool and crystal-y without being haughty or snooty. I've worn it when I wanted to appear/feel composed and serene and slightly elevated from the world, if that makes any sense. (Although I'm thinking now I have to try Manhattan...)

I love - LOVE - this. It's a new fave - I actually wore it for 4-5 days in a row when I first got it, and I NEVER do that. On me, it's quite simply honey and lotus - the honey is the rich, sweet, but clean honey of Mead Moon rather than the kind of funky, almost skunky honey of O and Jezebel. The lotus has that recognizable bubble-gumminess, but something about the honey makes it more complex than it usually is on me - it gives the lotus depth and grounds it, I think. The two blend together beautifully into a gorgeous honeyed floral - rich but not too heavy, and quite sweet, but not cloying (mind you, I love sweet, so if you don't, your definition of cloying may not match mine!). Although there's lots of honey, it doesn't come across as foody to me (while I love sweet and smelling like things you can eat/drink - honey, vanilla, tea - I can't do the hardcore foody cakes/cupcakes/sugar, for instance). It's sophisticated and on the sexy side, but more in that I think it would be great for a fancy evening out, not that it reeks of sex or anything (that said, I've worn it all day, happily - I just apply with a light hand during the day). On me, it has great throw and lasts really well - 5-6 hours without any problems. It's not much of a morpher for me, but by the end of its run the lotus burns off a bit and it's mostly honey. I ADORE this. I nearly used up my imp within the week (and I only haven't bought a bottle yet because I'm broke, but am going to break down and do so soon).

That makes sense to me - my faves are generally lighter (I'm not an incense/resin/heavy musk fan), things like Alice and White Rabbit and Antique Lace and Dorian. When I wear Glowing Vulva, I have to remember just to use teeny dabs or it will be crazy! Oh for sure that has to have something to do with it. However, even on the scents that are the strongest on me there is no way I am applying it with a toothpick!! I just roll my eyes when I read that. Hee! No, it's always more than a toothpick for me, too.

That makes sense to me - my faves are generally lighter (I'm not an incense/resin/heavy musk fan), things like Alice and White Rabbit and Antique Lace and Dorian. When I wear Glowing Vulva, I have to remember just to use teeny dabs or it will be crazy!

How interesting! I tend to think of myself as low key/unemotional, but then, I do tend to anxiety, am a bit impatient, and am a a very fast talker... I'm not someone whose skin eats scent in 30 minutes (except certain scents - Severin, I'm looking at you!), but I also put a lot on: upend bottle onto finger, swipe on the two pulse points in my neck, another upend/swipe, dab on base of throat, left & right collarbone, another swipe, back of hand, wrist, and inner elbow, another swipe, other hand/wrist/elbow. Sometimes I then do the back of my neck or my cleavage. The only times anyone's commented on my perfume have been when I've just put it on (my husband, my mom), or when I've got into a warm car with someone! Body-temperature-wise, I'm always hot rather than cold, which you'd think would amplify my scent? Perhaps I burn it off more quickly?

Okay, I'm going to bump this thread and ask, any suggestions for an interview with a judge? (for an internship, not sentencing. ) I'm going to be very very cautious about wearing anything at all, since you're supposed to be uber-conservative when interviewing with judges, and I may end up just dabbing on the teeniest bit of TAL Charisma or Lionheart or the like for inspiration - but I just wondered if any scents - especially all the good light clean ones mentioned in this thread - leap to mind as especially judicial? I'm slightly inclined to Wensleydale, because that has very little throw on me and what throw there is, smells like clean laundry - about as inoffensive as I can imagine. But I'd still love to hear suggestions! (I'm also a good 10+ years older than the average applicant, I think, if that makes a difference - I don't think it will matter too much to a judge, so I'm not worried about looking too old/too young, but I'll throw it out there.)

Okay, since I love Dorian and am indifferent to Snake Oil, it figures that this ....is all Snake Oil on me. Seriously, lavender baby powder Snake Oil. It's not *bad*, mind you, and I think I might grow REALLY to like it. But I was hoping for a little more Dorian! It's got great throw and lasts forever. The waft is really nice and not quite just Snake Oil; when I sniff my wrist, though, it's all Snake Oil again.