Jilara
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Everything posted by Jilara
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The Antikythera Mechanism
Jilara replied to VioletChaos's topic in Phoenix Steamworks & Research Facility
Ohmigod, the best gentleman's cologne ever! And I'm not even a gentleman... I dabbed some on my wrist, smelled, and was transported into some etheric realm of Victorian refinement. After a deep inhale, I thrust my wrist under the nose of my housemate, who was talking to a friend on the phone, and watched his eyes dialate and him start inhaling deeply. (He said later it was like he was trying to avoid sounding like he was having an orgasm on the phone, while he was sniffing this.) It's light vanilla when it first goes on, nothing special, but then it BLOOMS. The teak comes out and blends with the vanilla, and it turns dark and woody and DEVINE. I'll take tea and ravishment with the wearer any day. -
I have been putting off reviewing this one until I could place which scent it reminded me of, and I finally realized that it's like a light and refreshing version of Ostara. Yes, I know that April Fool has huckleberry and tangerine, and the most fruit that you can find in Ostara is orange, but I can't help but compare the two, as on me they turn out very similar. But I like April Fool a lot better, because Ostara can turn very heavy and overwhelmingly fruity on me, while April Fool has a light touch. April Fool is fruit and flowers, with a light and refreshing background that some liken to parsley, but is something a little more bitter on me, maybe a slight touch of artemesia of some sort. It lightens the fruitiness and keeps it from becoming cloying or heavy. I could wear this a lot. It doesn't seem to change much on drydown. It's fairly heavy on the fruit, when it first goes on, and the fruit stays up front, but becomes better blended with the rest of the ingredients. Like implied by its name, it's a frivilous scent, but seems to have good long-term wear. Definitely a goodie!
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Mmm, wet it's tangerine and tonka. As it dries, it gets a slightly musky quality to the tangerine, like bodies rubbed with orange oil that are getting nice and sweaty, then a green note comes out to back them. It doesn't last, though. I'd say an average wear-length on me is between an hour and hour and a half. Which is too bad, because it's a very nice scent for a spring day.
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Wet, it's all fir trees. It's a sappy pile of kindling in the middle of a conifer forest. A slight softer edge in here, in the beginning, that might be a hint of floral or maybe the amber, far in the background. Gone on drydown. It's turned to Pine-Sol. Herbal and piney-resinous. And it lasts and lasts. Almost enough to give you a headache. Sorry, Hexennacht, you're not for me.
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Limited editions equivalents in the general catalog?
Jilara replied to Absinthe's topic in Recommendations
So I'm not the only one who notices similarities between Tombstone and Love's Philosophy? I like both, but OMG, Tombstone is so marvelous. It makes me think of ghost towns in the desert wind... But there are days when I don't want the desert. -
Sigh, Smut does not work on me. It goes the same weird way the O does, a background of chemical weirdness that reminds me of toilet bowl cleaner. I guess I'm getting an idea of the scents that don't work with my chemistry. It's the ones that supposedly smell sexual. Thank god for "Glowing Vulva."
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Something about this reminds me of a creamier version of Sed Non Satiata. It's weird that I don't really get a teak note in this. I pick up teak notes in things like Jolly Roger, but I don't get it here. It's musky creamy good, and has a lot of throw. Later on, it picks up a background note of --cappucino? I wasn't sure about getting this one, since it had elements that reminded me of BPAL scents I already had, until I put it on and my boyfriend said "Wow, you really smell GOOD! What IS that one?" Um, Glowing Vulva? I said with a sly wink. "Wow, nice interpretation." Okay, I'm getting a bottle...
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I was expecting briney, something with a distinct sea-tang, but this is soft and lovely. Wet, it's a musky aquatic. I almost feel a floral lurking in here. Drying down, the ambergris really comes out, and there is a very sweet note behind it. Somewhere in that sweetness, the mint blends in. I'm not sure about the seaweed. I don't get a seaweed note that I can identify at all. And I know seaweeds of all sorts, having done a research project on seaweed in college. This is just soft and sweet and gorgeous, completely not what I was expecting.
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Mmm, all creamy vanilla, and....oh, wait, there's the saffron blooming out as it dries! A friend says it makes him think of gourmet coffee creamer, and I have to admit he's got something there. Lasts pretty well. A very pretty vanilla scent. Said friend tried some on him, and with his chemistry, it goes to something like a vanilla latte. Must be all the coffee he drinks...
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One of the better shunga scents on me. Wet, the ginger note is up front, but drying down it back off and becomes more musk and cream, with a slight powdery background---but I mean that in a good way. The powder makes me think of some oriental rice-based face powder I used to get. Dry, it's that oriental powder, with a creamy musk base, and just a vague sweetness, which must be the osmanthus and honey.
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The hyacinth really hits out in front on this one, with a green note right behind it. There's an aura of a spring garden full of bulbs, cool and moist and filled with hyacinth and lily of the valley. The rose is only a vague background waft. As it dries down, the vanilla amber rounds it out, as does the heliotrope, which harmonizes well. It's a little warmer dry, like the spring garden has lost its dew and the sun is bringing out the sweet smells of all the flowers now. Less green, more floral. The hyacinth and lily of the valley are really the stars, all the way through, with the other notes just serving to round them out.
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Green sandalwood, rice wine, black tea, tonka, and moss. Clean, fresh and mossy. There is something vaguely earthy in it, too, like the smell of a good humus, and just a tang of something metallic during the drydown, which seems coupled to the alcohol. Once it's dry, it has a creamy, mossy quality, with just a touch of earthiness. Vague gingery undernote. Don't seem to get the green tea at all. Nice, civilized, but not making me gah-gah over it, like some of the other orientals. But definitely wearable.
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Wet, I swear the first note I pick up is cherry bubblegum. Weird. As it dries down, the florals come out, and the cherry bubblegum disappears. It's heavy on night flowers at this point, honeysuckle and wisterial predominating, giving a nighttime feel. Further drying, it goes to citrus, though I can't ID it as grapefruit, just more generic citrus-y scent. Dry, it's lemon and ginger tea, with a slight waft of light but unidentifiable flowers. There is something more substantial, almost feral, behind that note, though, that only comes out later. Gives it a slightly sinister quality, which is appropriate for vampires, even tearful ones. Not really me. I think it would work well on a teenager, though.
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Once upon a very long time ago, my favorite scent was Coty's Clover, from their Sweet Earth collection. The next favorite was tea rose. I think you can see why I had to have a bottle of this. Wow. Oh wow. I am going to have to order another bottle. If ever there was a clover scent to die for, this is it. Rather like how One to Tie, Two to Win was grass and dandelions, this is grass and clover. But it's so much more. Straight out of the bottle, it's a grass-and-clover sort of smell, a spring meadow. But then as it dries, it literally blossoms, and becomes a wildflower meadow. It's making you want to go out and make mad passionate love in the tall meadow grasses, among the flowers of spring. It's amazingly well blended, with a soft floral under the clover, and nothing actually identifiable, in terms of the flower notes. Just a soft lushness of wafting blossoms and damp meadow on May Eve. Love in paradise must smell like this. This has got to be one of the most gorgeous scents ever!
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I keep avoiding posting a review, because I'm having a serious argument with this one. If only it would stay at the wet stage, when the honey, tonka, almond, and honeysuckle predominate. Then, as it dries down, it goes seriously off. It goes nasty, and gets an undertone of stale sweat. Sob. I think it's the Evil Jasmine. Jasmine and gardenia can go seriously wrong on me, and while a few of the Lab's blends can manage with my chemistry, despite either of those components, this doesn't seem to be one of them. I haven't determined to send it on its way, yet, wondering if it might be okay as a room scent or a scent locket, because the wet stage is so nice. However, there are other honey blends that work well on me. This isn't one of them, though I wish it was.
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I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it was definitely not this scent. However, that said, it was a pleasant surprise, anyway. It's very aquatic, very slithery, calling to mind frogs, octopi, and creatures of water. A slight fruity note, and a musky, almost feral note. It doesn't change at all from initial application to drydown. I think it's R'lyeh it reminds me of, but with a more land-based musky note blending in, that must be Ebisu's presence. It doesn't seem to last very long, though, with a little over an hour of scent before it fades out on me. But I like it!
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Heavy duty peppermint with an undernote of vanilla and Sugar Skull. Hmm, that last must be the "extra jolt of sugar." Unlike the earlier incarnations of Lick It/Again, the vanilla doesn't seem to be as strong, and the peppermint is really, really intense. I like it, but it's definitely not subtle (Lick It was fairly subtle.) Still candy cane in a bottle, but more like if Altoids decided to do candy canes...
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Wow. This is AMAZING stuff. Of course, with dragon's blood and red musk, both of which are favorite notes, I had to like it! Wet, it's very in-your-face dragon's blood, wine, and a backnote of red musk. You hardly would think there were other ingredients. There's just a hinting of Mme Moriarty in it at this point. But as it dries, the neroli comes up and tames down the other notes, and then the carnation and tonka start adding depth in other directions. Dry, I also get a slightly aquatic floral note that I suspect comes from the jonquil. This is so well blended that I really have to look for the other notes, and some (like the almond) I am missing altogether. It's very complex, with lots of depth, but still predominantly dragon's blood and red musk. I think this one has hit my top ten list.
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Mmmm, wet, we're red fruit, red fruity jam made with red wine. Yes, distinctly pomegranite, since it reminds me a lot of sipping Pom juice. But there's a red berry-like note, as well. Sweet and thick like syrup, almost cloying. Dry, it gets a tart-er note. There is just a skosh of apple cider in the very background. Pomegranite and apple, with a bit of red currants, I think. Hmm, wasn't it a red currant berry Marioya ate that got her with child and had her giving birth in the stables of Hisi, the negative force? Okay, maybe I'm reading a bit of Finnish mythos into the paradise myth. But red currant would fit. I'm picking up something in background that could be a musk, too, but it's very faint. I think this is one of my favorite fruit scents so far, right in there with Spiked Punch. A lot of the apple scents go wonky on me (Both Persephone and Hymn to Proserpine, mentioned in other reviews, are absolutely ghastly with my chemistry), but this one is yummy, but still has a slight cider note. Definitely a good one.
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I don't think Christmas Rose has a scent, but if it did, it would want to smell like this! Wet, it's very GREEN, with a hint of menthol and wintergreen. Very chilly, but sweet. Drying down, it has a ton of throw. I really like the wet stage. It's different when it dries down. The green note backs off a bit, and a creamy vanilla note comes up. Vanilla? Yep, a hinting like it dropped by over at Clan Lick-It's for some holiday cheer, a hint of mint and vanilla. I don't get that wintergreen note any more. Dry, it's turned more complex and mellow, and warmed up a bit. I really like this one. It may turn into a full bottle before the Yule scents come down.
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This starts out almost as Pine-Sol, it's so resinous on me. Not wooden switches, but woods oozing pitch. However, once it dries down, the musky leathery notes come out and mellow out the pine/fir note, which drops into the background. It's still strongly reminiscent of wet fir trees, but it's mellow about it. I'm pretty sure it's the red musk in background that reminds me a bit of Fenris Wolf, but not as aggressive. I like it in a similar way to how I like Fenris Wolf.
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La Befana in the bottle is all butterscotch kisses with a creamy quality. I sniffed the bottle and thought "Oh no, it's not what I expected!" But not to worry. She bloomed out with application to skin. Something sweet and floral added in to the creamy butterscotch almost immediately, and gave it depth. Drydown brought out a soft bloom of violets and a hint of the winter woods, chilly bark of trees sort of quality, with almost a cotton-candy scent behind it, and the butterscotch went away. Soft and lovely. La Befana is complex, and I love it!
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In the bottle, it's boozy. Rum mostly, though it could have a little brandy quality. Just a hint of nutmeg. Wet, it's rum with a creamy background. Drying down, the nutmeg comes out. Dry, it's definitely eggnog! It's the scent equivalent of a mouthful of something creamy, eggy, and boozy, with a dash of nutmeg. And then it starts to fade out. It doesn't fade as quickly for me as some, but within a half hour, it's as if it never was. The creamy eggy note, being the last to come out, is the first to leave. Sigh, I love this, but it's so ephemeral.
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Wet, this is heavy wisteria with a background of tea. There is something sharp, like a touch of ozone, but I don't see that as a listed note. Maybe something out of the teak note? I don't get jasmine, which is good, since it usually goes wrong on me. Drying down...oh blah. Literally. This has gone to almost nothing, with a background that makes me think of cold cream or maybe soap. Dove soap, I think. Dry: gone, gone, gone. Only a hint of soap remains. I have never had a scent morph out of existance so fast! This one has even beaten Eclipse's record! Too bad, since this is one of my favorite Japanese prints, and I would have liked to be able to wear the scent.
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My housemate and I went through the usual ritual with this one. Pass it back and forth a couple times, in the wrapper, breathing deeply of the lucious fragrance, then slit the wrapper and unwrap it, read every word, appreciate the hearts and skulls, and sniff heavily. Then off to the bathroom with the soap! I actually like the soap scent better than the oil! My housemate says it makes him think of sugar babies and candy corn, more than anything. I think of the old dime stores with wax bottles and lips and sweet treats, and yes, a bit of sugar babies in there, too. The scent lingers on your hands after use. The soap itself is best described as lucious. It's got a wonderful sensuous, creamy feel to the lather. I haven't run into anything seriously gritty, but it's brand new. I also just finished a bar of Al Azif, which is seriously gritty with sandalwood, so I doubt that vanilla bean has quite as much substance. Sugar Skull is one of my top favorites in the soaps, now!