roseus

I've been lurking here a bit but haven't had a real solid exercise habit over the winter - when it's cold I just want to curl into a ball and not move. But now that it has been warming up the husband and I are attempting to get into the habit of running again, and so I'm using scent as fun motivating part of the ritual (hoping I won't start associating certain ones with running and dread them!) Today I put on Psionicist and found it nice and bracing, just the pick me up I needed.

The Illustrated Woman from CD might work: Skin musk, smoky vanilla, pine pitch, patchouli, Indian resins, golden honey, and tobacco

In the imp I get mostly popcorn, just a bit buttery with a little cranberry tang at the edges. Fresh on it is pretty much the same, with the cranberry slowly advancing. The notes blend together quite a bit by the end and it is really interesting. The cranberries become less identifiably fruity and more just bright and tart. The butteriness fades a bit. It reads very festive but in a atypical way. Really loving this.

In the imp: red musk, amber, and whiskey. Billowy, warm, and just a tiny bit fruity. On my skin everything melds together more, though I get a tiny bit of hearthsmoke and maybe the tiniest hint of pine. It's a cozy, comforting scent. @groovyrooby mentioned it smells festive and I totally agree, though I can't really say why? It smells like being in a cozy holiday party (one with people you actually like) but I can't pin it to any of the notes. It smells like golden memories, and makes me really nostalgic for gatherings.

In the imp this is super moist (buttery? Idk how to describe but like a super fresh gingerbread cookie straight outta the oven). There's a bit of hazelnut behind it. On mu skin the gingerbread fades way way and this is a powdered sugar and nuts scent. Very warm and gourmand. Eventually they balance out a bit. Sweet in that rich, warm, brown way of holiday baking.

In the imp I get a warm, fuzzy brown musk with a chilly note surrounding it. If I sniff deeply I get a bit of that rose sap from Rose Red. I already see why it has gotten so much love. I get more of that chilly snow on my skin (Not minty, but not the pine-y snow either. Just cold. How does Beth do it?) It's sort of fluffy and the fuzziness of the musk amplifies it. It's a strange scent experience both cold and warm. I do just get a bit of rose hanging about, can't quite pin the type but I want to say red.

In the imp the first thing I get is sweet, breezy linden blossom. I get just a tiny bit of soil underneath that. There's a chill around the whole thing. On my skin it's similar but rounded out more with amber and musk. It's a bit sweeter, and has a soft musky resinous base to it now. I get a bit of iris, and luckily it's not going musty on me this time. The soil is barely there for me (which is fine, not a preferred note for me). It's cozy in a grey, rainy day sort of way. It smells like a sweater (but not like the sweater note from some recents BPALs if that makes sense). It's in the same family as Sapphics to me. It's very elegant. I really love this, and it will def get upgraded.

Okay I'm having a bit of a different experience. In the imp I'm smelling sticky weed and sweet whiskey (I want to say bourbon) and something that smells adjacent to banana taffy. On my skin the banana thing goes away and the weed gets a bit spicier. It reminds me of a fancy cannabis candle I sniffed one time. I rather like this, but don't know how often I'd wear it.

In the imp this is the spirit of holiday baking: sweet, rich, and spiced. On my skin the date, fig, and rum are most prominent initially with almond following closely. Luckily it stays more nutty and not cherryish. It's rich and chewy and just about the coziest thing I've ever sniffed. As it sits I get more orange and lemon brightening things up. This is a bottle and I'm definitely making Cucidati next year

In the imp this is all sweet syrupy pomegranate and cranberry, with just a hint of tartness that is mouthwatering. On the skin the warm, doughnutty goodness comes out. Fresh and just rolled in sugar. So delicious. This aspect takes over the jelly for a minute, but it comes back. Delectable.

I was worried about how burnt these would be but no need. In the imp this smells like Tootsie Rolls, but like if they were made with a bit fancier chocolate. On my skin it's a bit more dry cocoa-y with a smoky, bitterish edge to balance the sweetness.

I get the same impression sniffing this in the imp as I do Cathedral, chilly gray stone with faint whiffs of incense. On my skin it warms up a bit and get more of that resinous oomph. Overall a soft, almost woody, incense. Quiet and contemplative.

Mod Note: New topic for Lick It With Consent created due to different color copy/description. You can find the 2014 Lick It With Consent review topic here. Considering the current sociopolitical climate, I felt it was important to bring back this specific incarnation of Lick It. Proceeds from Lick It With Consent will be donated to RAINN. (For a spot-on dissertation on what consent entails, please visit Erika Moen and Matthew Nolans VERY NSFW infographic. Oh Joy Sex Toy is not a sponsor of Black Phoenix, or the other way around. Er, whichever. This is just a damn good link, and I wanted to pass it on!) A sugar-crusted vanilla peppermint stick! The peppermint is very soft, and I feel its coolness very lightly on my skin as I wear it. The vanilla is very strong underneath, and I get the sugar too. A beautiful soft, sweet candy cane scent with a good amount of throw!

Very very spicy carnation out of the gate. Almost clove-y. Made me think of Christmas for a moment. It gets creamier and the vanilla comes out as it settles. A delicious relative of Morocco for sure.

Can't believe I've went through 3 or 4 bottles and have never reviewed! To me this is a rich, flowy vanilla tea. The vanilla orchid has a light airy quality that lifts the richness of the vanilla tea. It's scrumptious and maybe my favourite bath oil of all time.

Not too long ago there was a bit of chatter about beloved autumnal gems that could be found in the trove of the GC and I'm wondering if anyone has winter favorites among them? Two in my collection that leap out are Morana and Alisz (coincidentally both CD!)

This is the for the 2019 version (label says 2020 but was in the 2019 collection) In the bottle it is a very comforting jumble of leather, beeswax, a bit of chocolate (just the tiniest whisper), and a haze of wood smoke. Like sitting in a very cozy living room or study, with a bague sense of baked goods in the air. On my skin it's the same notes but feels more organized and recognizable somehow. I get the dry, fluttering paper note as well and it reminds me of a library. So comforting and cozy

From the name I was expecting straight dirt but when I opened the imp I got a sweet floral with a bit of earthiness. On my skin I get more mossiness and the geranium I now identify has started to get a bit sharp as it tends to do on me. Luckily it stops there, and becomes more of a soapy rose. The dirt never really shows up on me.

In the imp I just get a really beautiful sweet pine. On my skin it's a beautiful jumble of evergreen smells and a soft, sweetish leather. Gorgeous forest scent!

Soft poofs of chilled marshmallow. This to me is a combination of sweet snow and a pine or fir snow. It has a chilly edge at first but then is just fluffy marshmallow snow and sweet greenery. Very festive!

In the imp this is cold, sweet florals. Something is sort of syrupy. On my skin the syrupy thing goes away and it's sort of a swirling purple floral-incense. Very hypnotic. I get edges of heady white blooms but nothing is screechy or loud. As it continues to dry I get some deep green herbalness and a bit of salt from the ambergris. This is really interesting! Very gender neutral, and dark without being heavy. Very mysterious.

In the imp I get musky black leather and a cool edge of steel. The steel seems to help with the sharpness of the leather, making it very sniffable. As soon as it touches my skin I'm pretty sure I get DBR, which often increases in pitch and sweetness, or dulls down everything else. We'll see. The DBR sat like a thick syrup over everything for a bit, just letting some leather peek out. But everything eventually balanced out. It's a sort of sweet leather with that cool steely edge back. Softer than I expected but really cool.

Really gorgeous, mind-clearing fresh ginger and grass scent. Soft freshwater aquatic with the fresh, clean elements of lemon verbena and ginger. Soothing and restoring, like the new growth of spring.

In the bottle I get a very soft salt, with a bit of floral. On my skin it becomes identifiable, a very soft rose with salt and blue musk. The rose fades back and it's like a super gentle sea breeze, with just a tiny hint of rose and amber. Beautiful!

In the bottle this is all fluffy buttercream and white cake, sweet sweet sweet! On my skin the cardamom really comes out, I consider the smell sweet in itself but it also cuts the sugar sweetness. In the end it's like cardamom cake with vanilla buttercream frosting, with that wonderful fluffy marshmallow note like a halo around it. But, somehow not cloying. I think this is what heaven would smell like.