Eemia

I really can't do many foody scents. They just don't work with my chemistry. But this I can do. It smells exactly like caramel to me, with a musky undertone. Thankfully I don't smell anything that reminds me of popcorn. I hate popcorn in any form---it has an odd taste and smell to me. So when that aspect was missing from this blend I was over the moon. This stays sweet and creamy and unmistakably caramel-y. It even seems thick and sticky. That musky scent underneath is more visible as it dries. This doesn't want to leave my skin once it's on there. I only need a dab or two on my wrists and it's incredibly strong. I can smell it forever and then some. I have to say I feel kinda sporty when I wear this.

A decadent, deep perfume, lusty and luxuriant. The scent evokes images of velvet-lined Old West cathouses, tightly laced corsets, rustling petticoats and coquettish snarls of pleasure. Bawdy plum with amaretto, burgundy wine and black currant. Water, Saponified Organic Palm Kernal Oil, Coconut Oil, Soy Oil, Fair Trade Organic Shea Oil, Sodium Lactate, Jojoba Oil, Castor Oil, Pink Rose Clay, and Bordello. First off, this is a very pretty soap. It's milky colored with a slight pink tint and little red flecks. I left it out in my soap dish because it looked nice in my bathroom. Very old-fashioned and kind of genteel. I had tried an imp of Bordello a few months ago and I wasn't crazy about it...but I love the smell of the soap. Seriously, I am hooked. It smells much more soft, with a creamier version of the amaretto than the actual oil. It is more of a vanilla/almond, with the brightness of the plum and wines in the background. Almost foody, but still beautifully sexy. It feels very feminine. Despite the rose clay, this doesn't dry me out at all, or feel like it is stripping away moisture. It has a nice sudsy lather, and rinses completely clean. I thought it has a softer texture than some of the Trading Post's other soaps, such as Perversion or Snake Oil (which I am also crazy about, but in a different way). So this is now my soap of choice for the days when I am in need of some extra femininity, and some girly pampering.

I got an imp of this and I already know I'll go through it in a day or two. I need a bottle. This is gorgeous and sultry and sexy. I love the sweet woods and the softness of the vanilla. Those are the strongest notes on my skin. But the tobacco prevents this from being too tame and predictable. It has a rich smoky quality that I'm swooning over. It lasts and lasts on me too. I woke up this morning and could still smell it on my wrists. This is sooooo good!

I was putting off trying this for a long time because of the metallic notes, even though I've owned it for awhile. The idea of a metallic fragrance was just creating images of being shocked by metal door handles (which happens to me a lot), or of having metal dental tools in my mouth when I go to the dentist. But after trying some of the metallic scents in the Steamworks collection (which I loved!) I decided to come back and give this a shot. I think I finally am realizing that metallic smells aren't sharp and acid-scented on my skin. They're very slick and beautiful. This is smooth and bright, but there is nothing hard edged about the brightness. It is masculine, but I can still pull off wearing it. This is probably the most masculine fragrance I've ever worn. But I don't think it smells like cologne. All that bright, slick, golden fragrance gives way to a completely different tone as it settles. Later on when it dries it becomes a musky, nearly powdery scent. I'm happy I finally wore this one, and I'm absolutely going to keep it.

I'm obsessed with violet. So this was my most coveted from the Steamworks. I can smell a slick mellow quality that reminds me of the original Steamworks oil. The violet is the most dominant note though, and it's a beautiful violet. I can't compare it to the violet in any of my other violet fragrances because I honestly don't think it smells similar to those at all. This violet stands out. I have always thought of violets as smelling delicate but sort of thick because of their powdery quality. But this is more like a transparent violet. I was worried that the mint would have a sharp, crispness that might ruin this for me. But I can only smell a vague hint of soft mint here. Sort of cool and alert. The sandalwood is slightly sweet and musky. Surprisingly the ylang ylang is extremely quiet. Everything is playing to the violet. The feeling I get from this is elevated, light, and modern. I have to put this in with my favorite violet fragrances because it's breathtaking. I love it.

Frothy and delicate. Seems incredibly light, like it just floats on my skin. Not the strong aquatic I expected. I can't even place what this smells like to me, and I can't seem to label what I'm smelling. I can only get an impression of fragility. This seems more air than water. I wouldn't have even picked this one out for myself when I first saw the notes. But the minute I tried it I just loved it. I don't think I own a lighter, more gentle scent.

I love the 2005 version so I had to have this. The 2005 version is all soft, powdery, and heady florals on me. The 2008 version is like a shock of freshness. All green and lively. It just has a spark to it that I wasn't expecting. The mint is so sweet and bright and lingers for much of the wear length. It adds this feeling of vitality. I didn't think I could wear mint so easily. But it really is fantastic. The jasmine is easily noticeable as well. It's so appealing, and has a soft perfumey quality that rounds out all that crisp mint. It becomes less bright and intense as it dries and I notice the wood notes more. I love wood notes and while it's not very strong in this it's still enough to make an impact. There is a muskiness at this point too that's really pretty. Warm and close to the skin. Everything seems more gentle and mellowed down. This is a perfect spring scent. So beautiful and festive.

This is such a sharp, biting green. Like a thick stretch of bamboo that has been snapped open. It's so fresh and bright. It leans towards juicy or citrus but it doesn't ever quite get there on my skin. I think it's all the sharpness that makes me think of citrus. Mostly it's just a gorgeous green/plant/natural scent. The hibiscus isn't very noticeable but there is an underlying softness that must be the floral note coming through. I can't help but use this as a pick me up. It's just enough scent for hot days and it never overwhelms me. I could pile this on and it wouldn't be too much. Love it.

My apartment is very, very small. And it can hold onto a smell like no other. It doesn't even have to be smells from my apartment (curse my bacon-cooking upstairs neighbor!). And since it's San Francisco it's sometimes so cold that opening a window to air it out isn't even possible. We rely on incense a lot but when you're shut into a tiny space the smoke can sometimes feel suffocating. And traditional room sprays smell like public restrooms to me. So I was over the moon about these atmosphere sprays and wanted Down the Rabbit Hole from the first. I can't even say how thrilled I am with it. It's very powerful, so a little goes a very long way. It lasts a good couple of hours. I go around the apartment and put one spray here and there on curtains, the comforters, the living room rug, and fabric chairs just so it has something to cling to. And it actually smells real. Nothing fake at all. It's fresh and crisp...like being outside in an open space. And I can spray it without that moment of stinging assault when the usual room sprays bombard your nose with a cloud of sharp, thick scent. The smells amazing and is beyond what I hoped it would be. It's sunny and tangy from the marmalade. Very citrusy and bright but with a little sweetness too. And then you notice all that fresh green earth. It reminds me of that soft black dirt that you plants flowers in. Sort of wet and alive. Something you could see earthworms poking out of. Absolutely perfect.

My first thought is to call this sultry and seductive. And it is. But it's also light enough and simple enough to wear during the daytime without feeling like I'm oozing perfume. It's light enough that I have to reapply every couple of hours. The ginger blossom has a little bit of a bite. It works really well with the sweetness of the vanilla. Vanilla can go odd on me once in a while, though generally I don't have problems with it. Only when vanilla is the main note or front runner do I have to worry. But the vanilla here isn't candy sweet or plastic or unnatural. It's very smooth and mild. This is perfect for when I need something stunning and feminine but subtle. Beautiful.

I was so torn about buying this one because I LOVE blueberries, but I'm not crazy about fruity fragrances. So I wanted to try this one at will call before I decided. And this ended up being my favorite of the tikis I tried. It's actually blueberry! I guess I thought it wouldn't smell like real blueberries, but it's unmistakable. It's a sweet, natural blueberry without the tartness I expected. It's mild and and very smooth. I think the papaya has this sort of creamy quality that goes so well with the other notes. The creaminess reminds me of yogurt almost. And everything else seems more exotic with the papaya. I don't detect the lemongrass that much, which is so good because I'm not crazy about lemon. That and the gin are hard for me to find in this but there is a light dryness that I imagine is the gin. This is so pretty and it feels really feminine. It smells great even when it faded. This is now my favorite fruity fragrance and I love it. I rarely want backup bottles because I can hardly get through a bottle let alone two or three, but I would get another bottle of this in a second if I could.

Very mellow and sort of slick. It has the tinge of metallic but nothing that I would call sharp or tangy. Feels glowing and very warm. There is a depth that reminds me of musk, but it's clean and light. I can smell some sweet greenness in there that adds softness, so that must be the sage. I did think it had a bit of a masculine scent to it but nothing overtly so. I like masculine fragrances that aren't obviously masculine, if that makes any sense. Something along the same lines as His Station and Four Aces, which is masculine but in a subtle way. That's one that I can wear anytime and not even have to think about it, because it always smells good to me. This one is the same sort--I could wear this anytime and not have to consider it at all. I'm actually pretty thrilled with this one, and I'm so happy that it works on my skin. I never thought I'd appreciate anything in the metallic range but this has changed my mind.

This is for the 2008 version. I'd never smelled any of the previous versions so I have nothing to compare this to. It's beautiful in a slightly masculine way. It has that perfumey aspect that keeps all the notes together so that I can't really pick them out individually. There's an overall grounded, sensual feeling. Sort of natural and sweet despite the perfumey quality. Sweet in a non-sugary, non-cloying sense of the word. It's a little clean too. This feels unobtrusive---I don't notice it when I'm wearing it. It smells like something I could wear for any mood I'm in. And it smells expensive to me. I really like it!

I love this! It smells like a creamy sweet wood. But complex. It's very sexy without being overly feminine or obvious. Just a smooth, almost earthy fragrance that stays close to my skin but still manages to have a nice throw. I guess that warm creaminess is what makes this seem like a skin scent to me. In truth it really does have a nice, strong impact. It reminds me a little of Haloes, which is one of my favorite scents of all time (in my top ten). So I was bound to love this. It makes me feel like I'm leaving this sexy trail behind me when I walk aound. The amber really is perfect here. It dries into a soft musk that doesn't turn to powder at all. It's still beautiful after a few hours. I can still smell it on my scarf that I wore this morning so I'll have to wear this perfume whenever I pick up that scarf because it's too tempting to resist.

I was worried about the cinnamon but so far, so good. I tend to have reactions to some spices but this has behaved on my skin perfectly. This is a lusty and grown up rose. Very deep and sensual. But it hasn't suffocated me with florals. It's very refined. Something I would wear at night because it seems almost too heavy for the daytime. I rarely say that but in this case I think it would be too powerful for daytime wear. The rose geranium is the strongest note, followed by the cinnamon. There is something clean underneath. I'm not sure what's creating the clean scent but it's pretty nice. Sort of unexpected with all those heavy/spicy/floral notes. It actually becomes a lot less floral and feminine as it dries. It's more of a pure spicy scent at this point. Maybe slightly musky too. It has extremely strong throw on me, even after a few hours. I think this is a head turner. I got some compliments when I wore it to work the other night.

Electric ozone, opaline notes, moonflower, white amber, beeswax, and three roses. This is perfumey and sharp in the beginning. Not an unattractive sharpness, just something that jumps out a little. It smells like a sheer, feminine floral. It's a pale version of flowers....it feels bleached and colorless. But it's still unexpectedly alluring. It doesn't seem heavy or overly luscious. More like a thin glaze. With the roses in this I thought it would be much more rich. Maybe even cloying. But this was a surprise. I can't distinguish the notes very readily. I just get an overall transparent flower feeling. The sharpness fades quickly and when this dries it smells more dry and musky. There's a sweetness that comes out at this point too and makes it seem a little thicker. Unusual and very pretty.

Incredibly girly. I want to wear a frilly dress and heels (even though I can't walk in them) when I put this on. It's feminine and innocent. It feels classic somehow. Not to say it's predictable or uninteresting in any way. It just seems timeless, like I would always find it to be pretty. It's light and airy and very fresh. A little perfumey, which I adore. The sakura is stunning--it smells like actual petals. Not that synthetic, common sakura that other companies try and push as sakura. I really can't pick this apart because the notes are just seamless. It's the perfect, cohesive fragrance. As distant as that description sounds, that's accurate in my mind. Without a this is incredibly beautiful. It has a lot of throw and lasts an amazingly long time considering how mysteriously light it is. I can't imagine a more perfect feminine fragrance. I am over the top in love with this!

I can't even detect a whiff of fruit on my skin. None of the fruit notes appear at all, even in the initial stage. Instead this is a beautiful and exotic dark scent that is mainly focused around the violet. Not to say that this is an overpowering floral. Despite being mostly violet on me it doesn't feel like a floral fragrance at all. It's complex and interesting. And the violet itself isn't a classic violet by any means. It's not the feminine, vaguely powdery violet that I'm used to. It's a lush, deep violet made even more intense by the addition of the patchouli. The patchouli is strong and even a little masculine. I love it in here---it's like a familiar smoky, earthy, natural touch. Nothing dank or heavy about it. The ylang ylang and the amber are warmer notes but I only notice them after this has settled into my skin. Usually ylang ylang can really amp up on me but it hasn't so far. I don't notice the change as it dries down. More like it's there and then it just fades from my skin completely. It did last a few good hours though with a nice amount of throw. This is absolutely a keeper for me.

I've never heard of green sandalwood before. But it could only be good since I'm a fan of sandalwood in all forms. And damn it is! It smells so beautiful, but with less of the sweet dryness that I associate with sandalwood. This is definitely a lighter version, without sacrificing any of the depth. It has a newness that I love. Overall this is a little fresh, though I'm hesitant to use that word. The tinge of green keeps this on the lighter side of woody. I love woody fragrances but this is something else. The tonka adds that borderline vanilla scent minus the sweet. Its rich but not heavy. It must be the tea that makes this sort of lifted. The tea note is noticeable but not as prominent as I thought it would be. It stays in the background. This has a good amount of throw, and the woodiness adds a lot of lasting power. It dried down to a really pretty light wood. No powder scent at all (not that I would have minded even if it had). This is stunning.

This is clean and musky and light. I guess I expected something more savage and possibly difficult to wear. I was picturing this as a very sharp aquatic with many strong notes fighting it out. I'm so blown away at how great this is on me. Surprise surprise the red musk is gentle. It's making me drool a little I admit. Paired with that breezy/misty wet note it's so pretty. The greenness in this is powerful too. More so than the wood. There's a little bit of dry sweetness but it's very refined. Underneath everything is the barest tart bit of lime. This dries down into a clean musk. I have to kick myself for waiting so long to wear this. Glad I finally pulled it out and gave it a go. It really is one I'll wear a lot.

This smells like rich cake at first. Thick with a familiar butter note. It's a little boozy too, like a dessert drink. That's my favorite part--it's like the most delicious liqueur. It's interesting how many different smells I am getting from this at one time. I'm smelling something fruity too. It's like little candied fruits. Very sweet. But mostly it stays within the cake realm. And it dries pretty much the same, minus the fruit. This is an awesome foody fragrance. Yes I'm actually saying that. I usually run from foody blends, but I've had this one forever and I love it.

This is crazy-strong spices on me. Cardamom is the only note I can smell for a very long time. Surprisingly I'm not having a reaction to it. I think this might be one of the only fragrances with cardamom that I can wear without sensitivity. I can soon smell the florals coming out, but they are still heavily coated by the spices. I think I can smell jasmine and something slightly soapy...maybe lily. I can't find the rose that other people have mentioned. The florals are really lovely and very robust. I do want them to amp more than the spices but for now they're staying in the background. When this calms down some I like it much more. The cardamom and nutmeg aren't taking over everything else. The florals are more musky and even a bit powdery. It's very pretty at this point. And the throw is very strong--I only needed a dab on each wrist and I could smell it everywhere.

... Ozone, white sandalwood, crystallized white amber, verbena, oakmoss, clary sage, and a hint of white citrus rind. I didn't look up the notes before I tried this. On my skin it smelled so creamy and sweet that I could swear there was a strong vanilla or sweet note in there. It smells so good. Like vanilla woods with a hint of citrus. The citrus is bright but not very powerful. It's a nice balance to the deeper notes. I love the sweet earthiness. It's addictive. I keep smelling my arm over and over. When I did look up the notes I was surprised to see that ozone was listed because I don't smell anything sharp like that. There's a light, lifted quality in this that's beautiful, so maybe that's the ozone coming through. It seems more noticeable as it dries. Slightly more perfumey at this point. This stays fairly consistent as it fades without a lot of morphing. And it lasted a good amount of time too. I'll bust this out more in the summer time b/c the brightness in this just seems perfect for sunny weather.

I knew without question I would love this because it has rose and ylang ylang. Two of my favorite notes that I adore in any form. Together?....it's just perfect on me. Simple, beautiful, and classic. The rose is lush and heavy, and pairs so well with the warmth of the ylang ylang. It's very sensual but in an elevated, disembodied sort of way. I don't think of it was sultry or seductive in a tactile sense. I really love this. It's just a perfect, classic fragrance that I can pick up without over thinking it.

My skin usually amps rose like crazy but this time the rose is staying firmly in the background. I only smell glimpses of it once in awhile. It's a soft, fresh rose. This brings to mind a tightly closed rosebud, rather than the ripe, wild scented rose of Peacock Queen or Whip. I really love rose and this one is exceptional. But the green notes in this are the ones that are really capturing my heart. It's a muted, overgrown green. It's not bright or grassy or intense. It's more of a dampened down scent. Like tangles of clover are everywhere but the scent of them is being blown away. I have no idea if I've smelled heather in actuality, but I love the imagery it brings to mind. Not to lesson the beauty of the notes, but they make me think of rolling layers of lushly green weeds with tiny spots of pale flowers sprinkled across them. As this wears on my skin for awhile (with incredible lasting power btw), it becomes more perfumey. All the notes blend together so prettily. I feel wonderful wearing this and I think it's one of the best fragrances I've tried in a long time.