hipslike___cinderella

I love this! I love it so much, that after being frimped Hairy Toad Lily, I ordered a bottle a week later. I even brought it to work so my co-workers could oogle it. This is a sweet, slippery, bright, silly lily. Juicy and loud. Not headachey or brazen and hi-pitched, like some lilies. It's a little bit green on my skin, but otherwise it's the same in the bottle and applied. As exotic as it is, it smells so real. As people have said before me, it is REALLY strong; one of few oils I own that I could go to sleep wearing and still smell the next morning. This is definitely a spring staple, and maybe my favorite lily scent!

The Nine-Headed nemesis of the Nutcracker Prince. Dust, wood and feral musk with a fang-sharp undertone. Based on notes alone, I had to grab Rat King while I had the chance. Dust? Feral? Woods? Yes, please. That in combination with such varied reviews made me very excited. It's at first a non-descript meld of woods and musk, with a precise dirt note. Not bad so far. Once I with this on my skin, I am taken immediately back to last Fall. Rat King would work perfectly alongside Samhainphobia or October. I smell crunchy and damp outdoors, murk, and stale dust. In fact, this reminds me a whole lot like my beloved Samhainphobia (and that's a wonderful thing). I'm tickled that people described peppery notes, cologne, or jalepenos, because to my nose this is so far from that. I would guess this contains vetiver for sure, dust, maybe a black or burnt sandalwood, and something slightly aquatic. Pretty lovely, ah, for those who love dirty, dank scents- although I can say there are a few blends that are nearly just like it. I'll still covet my little bottle!

I snagged The Cracked Bell very quickly on the forum sales page, as it seemed like a rare thing I wouldn't come by often, plus, my oldest oils date back only to Yule '06, so I was really curious. I seem to have lots of luck with the lesser-popular Yules. First, it's very mild in the bottle. It's a little elusive and hard to pin down, past a general "incense" feel. On my skin, it's just as mild. It makes me wonder if there was much more of a metallic tang before it aged. I recognize some of the smokiness that reminds me of Parliament of Monsters. Over time, I'm left with sweeter scent, perhaps what is left of the blood note. It's very pretty and I'll keep it, although I'm not swooning. It's certainly evocative and a still, dark, foggy night.

I could barely contain myself when I received Frederic today, and I sniffed it without the lab description in front of me. I forgot what was in it, and it was simply patchouli single-note to me... a good patchouli, mind you. A little lighter than I had expected. On my skin, it's still singular patchouli, so I assume I must wait awhile. The first thing I notice is the similarity to this past fall's halloweens- someone else has pointed this out. Especially Samhainphobia, which is awesome, because that's like, my second favorite LE. It's a slighty damp outdoor scent. It's funny, tea rose and red currant had me apprehensive about getting this, but so far I have NO HINT of either of them. Huh. This is surprising soft, musky, and just a teeny, weeny bit masculine. If I huff hard, there's a hint of cologne-like something lurking in there. It's sort of like the nautical Luperci... but I suppose that's a bad comparison since they have totally different notes. It's just seemingly familiar. No sight of tea rose and red currant, which is just fine with me. Nice!

Oh, the quest to find the perfect violet. This smells to me identical to a Bath & Body Works lotion my mom gave me from a couple of years, a violet scent. It's sweet and tame, and doesn't go powdery like some violets do. It is just fringing on that sweet plastic thing, though. That's violets for you- either powder or plastic. I like Hope better, and this is nice, but not amazing.

I just had the ridiculous luck of someone frimping a decant of this to me (thank you samarablackcat!!) I don't know why I haven't yet gotten around to trying Hope and Faith. Hope is just what I... erm, hoped for. Deliciously, lightheartedly sweet sugared rose. It's like a candy rose, like a little-girl's rose. Sigh! It's making my mouth water. I want to be drenched in this. My wishes confirmed: I need the Hope and Faith set.

The Lantern Ghost is one Salon imp that surprised me. As a rule I don't usually like the Lab's light tea scents, but this turned out nicely. In the imp, it's crystalline, a little sweet, a tiny bit floral. As with many Salon scents, there's almost no use in trying to separate the notes. On my skin, this is so yummy. I'm struck by two things: the ho wood, which reminds me of the imp of Habu I had tested a couple of weeks ago, and the mint. I LOVE mint! It stands out well on me, and the tea isn't not too obvious. There's a clear, light cherry blossom and Calla lily. The darkness hinted by the painting itself is definitely not shared here. Sure, this is a light blend, but it's just... so pretty. Stands out from an other tea blend I've tried (and I even didn't like Tamama-No-Mae!). I want to test this a few more times, but this could be a bottle for me at some point.

Oh, this is so pretty and what I had hoped for. To me, this isn't OMG PINE like it could have been. It is a fresh (really- fresh), crisp sprig of pine, a chilly whirl of wind, and creamy, understated florals. I hope this doesn't cause a clamoring, but, I sincerely see similarities between these flowers and the creamy flowers in Snow White, except for me there is an added tinge of green very much like Christmas Rose. It has medium-to-light throw, but it's too early for me to determine wear time. I'm just so pleased about Moon of Ice... I'm gaining a hefty collection of "cold" "winter" blends, and this is up there as a favorite. I'm armed with two bottles!

I loved reading reviews for this one because everyone got something so different. I immediately and foremost smell civet. I'd lay down money on saying it's in this blend. I also get a powdery impression; leading towards allllllmost resinous. It's like... civet, musk (lots of musk), and maybe a very light myrrh. This is definately a skin scent, and yes, incredibly evocative of sex. I personally love this... it's somehow familiar, and kinda naughty. I don't find this spicy in any way, or woodsy. So many reviewers don't like this one... maybe it's my skin chemistry? I'm almost afraid to wear this in worries that people around me will think I reek. Leave it to me to love the underdog. For now I'm marking this as a possible bottle purchase, but I'll need some further testing.

This could be one of the greenest blends I've ever tried. Not the "stem" variety of green, but "clean grass" variety. Big, fat, green clovers in a Crayola-green field. On me, this gets paler and even a little heady. It's so realistic. Tea rose as a note scares me a little, as it has a tendency to scream on my skin... for the most part it behaves here. I'm not too sure I get the carnation. In the end, I felt... hhmm. I don't know. Unfullfilled? This didn't change much, and the throw is considerable, but I think maybe it's just too clean for me. It's incredibly bright and grassy and, uh, shower fresh. Methinks I need my greens to be earthy and dirty. Someone at sales will love this, though!

Oh boy. The Clod and the Pebble is the surprise hit of my Lupercalia order. This is interesting from the moment I twist the cap. In the bottle, I can only interpret this as a complex and layered incense. For sure, patchouli/sandalwood/cedar. At this point I'd never know there was rose otto in it. Applied: this is... nearly dusty? And I still want to call it resinous. I didn't expect this to be so "incensey", and I know the notes don't exactly spell out incense, either. Both clove and rose otto still incredibly faint. At this point (15 minutes) I start making associations to The Lurid Library and Pit And The Pendulum. 5 minutes later, I'm writing this off as being too similar to other things I've owned. Then about 10 more minutes later, something amazing happens. I forget about it for awhile, and I catch a whiff or some beautiful and rich woods. I don't know what happened, nor what took so long, but this turned into the most CAPTIVATING spicy, dusty, resinous woods scent. Just... so good. Oh man. Anyone who likes woods OR resins cannot pass up at least trying this one. This could be multiple bottles for me.

Reviewing this makes me sad, because I so badly wanted this to be a perfect violet-narcissus blend, but this so barely misses it's mark. Initially- yes m'am, that is a wallop of lavender alright. A light, crisp lavender... it's hard to find anything else but lavender at first. A couple of minutes after application, it's like a single-file line: There's the balsam... oh! Aaaah. Narcissus. So pretty. Okay, now I'll just sit and wait for the lavender to calm down a bit. Buuuuut it never happens. I have nothing against lavender, but I don't like it dominating. I want my powdery violet and fresh white flowers. If anything, the last fade-out is pretty... true, almost "sour" white flowers. It's just not exactally where I want it. To the sales page for this one. ETA: Why is this so !#$&$@$%ing sour on me? I gave this a couple of weeks, because by note description I SO should have liked this, so I tested it once more. It went even worse than the first. I got this sour, dare I say it... dirty diaper smell. I've heard tales of the fabled "dirty diaper" smell, but never believed it would happen to me. So rarely do oils turn rank on my skin. I suppose I can't win them all. SIGH.

This review is for Luperci '08. Altogether, Luperci '08 is very similar to Luperci '07. There are notes in my new blend that made me remember the masculine feel that was once is the former. It's the oakmoss and juniper that makes this, and they are just wonderful against the backdrop of patchouli and musk. This patchouli/musk combo is reminiscent of Oblivion, plus the added oakmoss/juniper give it a playfull, boyish, Pagan feeling. Always evocative. What's left of my old Luperci is strickly honey, beeswax, and patchouli; I'm curious to see what will become on my new one.

A chilly, bright perfume: flurries of virgin snow, crisp winter wind and the faintest breath of night-blooming flowers. I've been waiting a while to review Snow White 07 from my decant. First of all, I built up anticipation for this wildly. Second of all, as much as I tried not to, I just had to compare this to Snow-Flakes. I know it's not fair... but some people have been noting comparisons, and I love Snow-Flakes so much it could make my heart jump... so naturally anything NEAR it gets me way excited. So, disclaimer aside, here are my thoughts: Snow White 07 (I've never smelled any other year, btw) is EXACTALLY Snow-Flakes, if you subtract that icy, phenomenal mint note and replace it with something to the tune of vanilla almond. All the night-blooming flowers are identical to my nose. Seamless, and I could never name the flowers for you. Maybe it's just me... but this blend isn't cold at all. There's a fluffy, airy, whiteness, but it's... not cold. I expected something chilly, and I got ultra-creamy, feminine vanilla flowers. Most unfortunately, I am no lover of vanilla/almond/coconut. It's still pretty for what it is. Maybe I'm judging poor Snow White harshly? It's just not what I expected. Seeing as I don't like popular hits like Snake Oil, and Dana O'Shee kinda makes me ill, maybe I should have held reservations.

Just like I was surprised that there were not so many reviews / so much love for Samhainphobia in the Halloween 07 line-up, I am surprised that there's not a lot about Krampus. Maybe it's because everyone's already tried it and made up their mind with previous incarnations. Leave it to me to swoon over the underdog... and holy CRAP I LOVE Krampus. It's my favorite of my 14 Yuletide decants. There's not much else I say that hasn't already been said... this is THE perfect, sexy, sweltering red musk. One of my most favorite notes ever. Each time I've tested it, I noticed a few different things. The leather wasn't predominate the first time, then it made a strong introduction the second time. It's never overwhelming, and this remains a delicious, sexual, red musk and woods blend. Very dirty, very dusty, very musty. It's like a strange whirlwind mix of a dank Halloween scent and a very malicious Love Potion blend. It really makes my knees weak. I'm thinking two bottles.

Oh, how I love, love lily. Lily of all kind. What took me so long to try this? This is sweet, delightful, pure white flowers. The notes sing on my skin and seem so realistic. There's not a whole lot to detail here; it's simply crocus and lilies, yes. I was afraid at first that it might be faint (that's me... over-slatherous extremis) but here's some testimony for you: within a couple of minutes, my boyfriend literally came into the bedroom, paused, and then sniffed me out IMMEDIATELY and said "mmmm". I live with the guy, and he goes through head-spinning amounts of different smells, I'm sure. And he RARELY reacts like that for any specific scent. Then, later at work, (far later, I didn't expect it to last) my co-worker was standing next to me and suddenly stuck his face near the area behind my ear and said, "Mmmmm! You smell goooood!". Yeah, two male-based compliments in a day... never happens. Might need a bottle of Prague in my future.

Well, this is quite the unique oil. My first thoughts upon reading the notes in this, before ever opening the imp, was "OLIVE?!??? OH NOES!!!". I hate the smell of olive. So much. Olives are one of the single most pungent and despicable flavors to me, thus I hate the scent. But... olive, with incense? Intriguing. So I was happy to see frankincense in the forefront of this blend. The olive is there, but it's... not... so bad! Hey! It's like a fascinating, herbal resin. Later on... this is good! The galangal is so strong, I love it (I'm beginning to believe, after a couple of trysts, that I in fact LOVE galangal). This actually smells like olive-incense, like an incense stick meant to be scented as olive. Perhaps that doesn't sound so tempting, but I think it's very nice. Not a bottle in my future, but I love when the least expected notes work for me!

Phoo. I'm at the point where when I read any blend that has verbena in it, I'm already skeptical. Then when I see a tea note is in there also, I start thinking "yep, smelled that before". I go into imp-testing with an open mind, nonetheless. So my first thoughts with Phantasm were "yep, that's it. Green tea and lemon verbena". Couldn't be simpler. That damned verbena is all-encompassing. I wait a long time, wearing this throughout the afternoon. Only in the end does a sweet, flowery jasmine barrrrrely appear. Barely. That's all. Not something I dig too much.

I have a little crush on sweet pea. It reminds me of my mom, for she went through a sweet pea-wearing stage in my youth. I was actually frimped this, although this was on my To Try list. This is very, very creamy vanilla, a little woodsy. This is one of the lightest amber notes I've tried, also. A sweet, innocent, creamy, woodsy vanilla. That's about what I have to say about it. It wears on me as mostly vanilla and sandalwood. This isn't really my thing in the end, but I've always wanted to try it anyways.

A perfect, lovely, gleaming red apple whose sweetness masks a swirl of narcotic opium, oleander, and hemlock. I came into this with reservations. Generally I do NOT like apple scents, ever. I remember when Poisoned Apple first came out and lots of people got very excited- I had less than zero interest, I had negative interest. I guess what I'm trying to say is, this was a frimp. But there is no BPAL I will not try once! So anyways, I was SHOCKED by how good this smells. I recently tried the Hemlock blend, which I liked, and I'm pleased to see it in here, too. Most everyone here is right, this is RED RED apple, not sweet or fake or even fruity. It's almost earthy. I have mild citric acid allergies and smelling this actually makes my throat strain a bit, it's that real. The opium makes this swirly, potion-like. The first moment on my skin is the best. It's raw aple, sinister flowers. Then the smoky opium clouds up. Eventually, the apple fades and it's mostly hemlock, opium, and orchid. I must say, the ending notes made me decide against any further pursuit. The best is the beginning. Still, this is a work of art, and I always enjoy being taken away by the least likely choice.

I gotta admit, even though Lightning was on my wishlist and I'm always overjoyed to be frimped anything from my wishlist, I had no idea how much I'd like this! My first impression, in the vial, is that this is incredibly light and not anything exceptional. Incredibly clear, and almost, barely a hint of undefined citrus. This gets so pretty on my skin. It's cool, fluid, airy, and is that... cotton blossom? Something in here reminds me so much of cotton blossom. This is somehow the "cleanest" BPAL scent I've ever smelled, and has a euphoric affect on me. I picture myself stepping out of the shower in the early afternoon of a lazy spring day, slathering this on, wrapping myself in a fluffy blanket and sitting in the sun by an open window. So pretty, and reminiscent of my parent's house and childhood. It never gets soapy or high-pitched, and has exceptional throw and wear for such a crisp, clean scent. Although I hate to say it, I really can see where people get the immediate dryer-sheet thing, but it makes me sad. I wish everyone could feel the layers I feel from this. It's not characteristic of the kind of scents I love, but I see a big bottle in my future someday.

Yow! This is strong. I have to admit, when I first opened the bottle, I had my initial, characteristic "foody" reaction: I sniffed, gasped, snorted "guh!" and pulled my hand back. I smelled that weird popcorn-foody smell I get from Miskatonic Univeristy. Luckily, I let the bottle sit and came back a couple of days later, open-minded. Well, it was definately cocoa, blood musk, and dragon's blood. Not a foody cocoa like I initially experienced, but a RICH cocoa that are in some Excolo blends. Dark, dark, dark, fitting for a big, frightful bloody heart. This morphs and rounds out on my skin. Very strong, a musky, juicy vetiver and dragon's blood leaning towards dusty (I always associate dragon's blood with dustiness). I appreciate the peppering of spice in this, too. I'm so glad the foody fear has disappeared, and dare I say, it even sweetens. It's kind of hard to describe, really. After quite awhile this smells sensual. Kinda along the vibe of bold, throbbing reds, like something in the Love Potions arena. Not too bad!

Well, this is quite frankly the most realistic "garden" scent I've sniffed. That's what it is to me, a real flower bed. Dirt note, but the dirt note I love best- the calmer, creamier dirt note like in Death Cap, as opposed to something strong like in Zombi. Orchid, cypress, teakwood, it's all there. A little light, slightly romantic, cool in temperature, somehow dusk-like. Nice!

Well, I give up trying to think of how to write a review for this. To me, this is a golden, creamy almost almond-like incense. I keep associating this in my mind with Egyptian blends. This is arcane smelling. There's something in it that reminds me of real ambergris. That's about as much as I can say. It's moderately intense, and especially good for layering other incense blends.

I've been waffling on making a review of Lenore for quite some time because it is so damn hard to describe. But it is SO wonderful! Lenore is oddly fresh and dark at the same time. Vetiver and white musk prove to be a winning combination. The lemon peel is so light and barely there. On my skin, this must be the lightest vetiver ever. I do like vetiver as a note, but it's very hard for me to find a vetiver that I think is totally wearable on me. This is perfect. I know there aren't floral notes, but there is a floral feeling to me. And the smoke that poofs up is just... mmmph. Smoky, musky shades of grey. I even can't believe there is plum in here- I normally hate plum and can smell it a mile away. Saffron comes in quite later on, cementing my love for this. The sexy, doomed fade-out it leaves on my skin is huff-worthy. This feels like a mature woman, quietly contemplating in a dark room alone, almost depressing. Just gorgeous. This has the complexity of a good Salon. If I didn't have a million more things to think about buying this season, I would purchase a lifetime stock in Lenore.