ramblingrambler

I want to love this, I do. And, to be frank, off me, in the imp, it's perfect. But once I put it on me, my skin makes it turn into lavender beer with butter and cream. Those are likely the components that in the vial smell incredibly good together, but for whatever reason my body decides that it likes them in their own categories and wont let them play together. If you like lavender or pastry scents, this will absolutely wow you if your skin is unlike my own.

This was my third favorite Yule (Raspberry Suf and Peppermint Cream Cupcakes topped it, sorry!). It's such a unique scent---frosted, sweet, and floral. It's gorgeous! In the imp, it's exceedingly sweet and cold. I think it's plum and maybe (spear...mint?), which sounds like an odd combination, but it works very well. Wet, it maintains this chilly, frosty plum, for a few seconds, but then the florals kick in too. As it dries, the brrrrr factor fades away and leaves the wearer with a plummy floral scent. Very, very pretty. As noted above, you only need a small dab, as this is LOUD and ECHOES FAR AND WIDE.

This is considerably aged, so my guess at the notes will be entirely based off what is present in my vial. This is absolutely, without doubt the scent I would pair with its namesake card in the imp and wet on skin (I'm using my imp to channel the sun from here on out ). Wet, it is slightly citrusy, with [myrrh, amber, frankincense, and/or sandalwood] in the background. Citrus is in the forefront, and rightly so, but it is glowing and warm due to its support. I smell this and think marigold. As it dries, the dominant citrus fades—and it's gone, melded into the background notes, mingled and indistinguishable as a line note, within twenty minutes. The result is a beautiful, slightly woody, slightly powdery (the "good" kind!) scent left over. It's lovely, calming, and grounding, inspiring peace and confidence. I hope this is not the last of it.

Agrat Bat Mahlat, you devil. I purchased two of you hoping we would jive, only to be led on and let down! Tsk. I know you and someone else will work out, however, so I am letting you go free. In bottle: Mostly a creamy, musky scent. I'm hoping the cream (which is dominant over musk) recedes to let musk breathe out. Wet on skin: Slightly sharp cream and teakwood muddled by the caramel feel. Do not like the cream and caramel so far—not that they're not beautiful notes, but a RamblingRambler does not smell like these notes. A RamblingRambler smells more of teak and musk and amber (of provided notes)! I hope they come out soon. Dry down: Fifteen minutes: Ahhh, there's the honey and slight apple notes, but cream still dominates. Thirty minutes: I feel like this is mostly a cream and honey and caramel scent so far. Please make it stop. It's too round and welcoming. I wanted something much more crisp and sharp from this! This is definitely a warm scent, and on me very heavy with good throw and sillage for the first two hours (when I would have preferred less, as I want not a fan at this morphing stage!). After, it does die down a little, but it carries itself through to hour six before it begins to fade away. Around hour three is when my magic begins as the cream and honey fade, but the magic ends much before I feel satisfied hanging out with it. Pretty fragrance to be sure, but excellent in the last half of dry down. Tbh, if I keep it, I would probably layer with Antikythera Mechanism for the teak I'm missing in the first three hours, but AKM is perfect all on it's own, so I don't know why I would do that.

Port Royal is a woody, spicy, aquatic all the way through. Wet, I thought I smelled a hint of patch, but it might have been a strong musk of some type. As it transitioned from wet to dry, it became more woody, almost overtaking any other notes. After about ten minutes, spices came out and played with the wood. On drydown, it's mostly salty and spicy with a hint of wood. Lovely, truly---slightly reminiscent of Our Hearts Condemn Us (on me, at least) in some ways---which is why I have to say that, although another gorgeous blend, it isn't for a RamblingRambler to wear.

I don't know what's wrong with my skin chemistry, because I did not get any of the above. Diligent Instruction for the Bridal Night, on me, is strawberry-flavored... popcorn. Who knew? Purchased for its Stekk acclaim, Diligent Instruction made me very, very sad. In the bottle it smells like it would absolutely rival Stekk---with a bonus of strawberries! Wet, I get strawberry milk, like someone said above. After that, as it begins to dry, something goes terribly wrong. It begins to get salty... and buttery... and popcorn-y. And that's where it stays from there on out. I don't mind popcorn. I really don't. But I don't like strawberry popcorn. Such high hopes have been dashed with this bottle! Off to swaps!

Love Lies Bleeding is interesting, that's for sure. In the bottle, it's floral and chocolate-hazelnutty. Wet, there's no floral to be found at all. It's pure cocoa, caramel, hazelnut. This stays--potently so--very gourmand for at least twenty minutes, past its prime in the wet stage. I am not a fan of deep gourmands, as they often make me nauseated, so I impatiently waited it out hoping to get to the good stuff: spicy floral goodness. Nope. None of it. Florals either aged out of my bottle or my skin devoured them. After the twenty minute of deep gourmand, the only other notes that came out were possibly amber and/or myrrh and/or bitter almond with its whispery cherry breath. Those who said chocolate-covered cherries are dead on. This is chocolate covered cherries on a velvet blanket with a bottle of unopened champagne nearby, and the recipient is in for a dirty, delicious treat that isn't just dessert...

For some reason, this wears as a deep, dark men's cologne on me, something my father would have worn when he dressed up to go dancing with my mother when I was a kid. I contemplated giving it to him to try, but he is way past his prime in wearing cologne (doesn't seem to wear anything anymore, not me projecting an age thing here ), so off to swaps it goes.

On me this was pretty terrible, mostly grass and soil and leather. I got no lemon candy, and that was the only thing aside from the leather I was looking forward to. However, this was purchased for my other half, so I didn't think it would smell very good on me. On him, it's very much the same, unfortunately. Leather is thicker and grass is deeper, and he gets a hint of lemon. The soil/mud spoils it for both of us, I think.

A perfect, lovely, gleaming red apple whose sweetness masks a swirl of narcotic opium, oleander, and hemlock. Whoa. In imp and wet, this is a realistic apple blend, both as a fragrance blend and as a bushel of multiple types of apples. I'm getting green and red apples, tart and crisp and juicy. As it dries, it gets sharper with a different green note than the green apple. Maybe that's the hemlock, maybe that's the oleander, or maybe that's the poison working its way through my system, because I was sooooooold on the apple and devoured my arm. I'm still loving it as it's drying down, but we'll see how it finishes off (or finishes me off ).

I received this as an obviously very aged frimp from a lovely member who did not like this fragrance. She gave it to me because I have been a fan of spicy berry scents recently. This did not disappoint. It's too bad it's DC'd, otherwise I would probably get a bottle, and I don't think many people are willing to give up theirs. This is very feminine: floral, spicy, and fruity. It's simply gorgeous! Wet, it's predominantly gardenia with some... carnation, maybe? There's a hint of spice and something sweet. As it dries, gardenia anchors everything together, but the plums and berries swell with the spice, and they mingle together creating a juicy, dripping... something. I keep thinking of---and this is going to sound crazy, but bear with me---the Disney World "Snow White" ride, at the point where the rider's outside and bursts through the door painted with the witch holding the apple... and then you're plunged into darkness. I have NO IDEA why this image keeps hitting me, but it definitely captures the "feel" of this fragrance. It only gets better with the hours. As it fades away, it's a spicy gardenia. Fruit has left us. I can see this love affair ending very badly for me. I will be left wanting more when my imp is gone. DISO list!

Hmm. I don't get any grape or roses as others do. For me, this is mainly a "dead leaves and..." fragrance, oddly enough. There's a slight smokey sweetness to this, but I can't quite put my finger on what it is. I'm not particularly a fan of forest/leaves/etc., so I'm off to swap.

When I first opened the imp and applied, I thought for sure I was in a puffy cloud. I don't know why my mind went there, but that's where it went. Then almost instantly I was firmly planted on the ground. This is very woody, very figgy. I was hoping for more patch, but it's nowhere to be seen (or smelled). Fig and frank are present throughout longevity of scent. Lovely, but not for me.

Mostly frankincense and heliotrope throughout its wear for me. Wet, I'm hit with a woody herbal scent. As it dries, it opens to more floral notes with angelica prominently on display. As it moves toward drydown, I'm smelling more carnation, but then, just as suddenly, everything fades. Like I said, frankincense and heliotrope are there throughout, but they move toward the background as other notes come out. It doesn't last very long, but it's a tame, low-throw, close-to-skin scent, suitable for days you're just hanging out around the house doing chores (okay, that's me projecting; this is precisely what I'm doing today!).

Wow. As soon as I opened the imp and applied it, my nose definitely transported me to the first time I drank *good* absinthe. This is the stuff. Yowzah. I wanted the green fairy to take me away. It stayed true to its namesake for about ten minutes, and then as it dried, it became more black jelly bean/black licorice, but the real stuff, not the knock-off generic flavor. You know what I mean. I'm absolutely keeping this, though I probably wont wear it alone, but as a layering note it would be beautiful.

I had stayed away from this fragrance for a while because I wasn't sure what to expect from it. I got an imp, and I figured it was time to try it. This is a crazy carousel of scents for me--it's a morpher, but it morphs circularly! I'm reminded of walking into, say, Teavana and being hit by all their different teas at once, then walking to one side of the store, smelling fruity/minty teas, then the other side, smelling earthy/herbal teas. It's fun and whimsical and definitely made of winning combinations! On opening, it's like a bag full of jelly beans (mostly I smell orange and black beans with a few purple, white, and red tossed in), then it moves toward minty freshness, after a while heading into herbal territory, then back to anise/licorice and tangerine... then some more minty herbal... it zigs and zags, back and forth, and I'm left wanting more. Wonderful! I'm getting a 5mL with my next order!

I had no idea what to expect with this. Certainly not something I've ever sought out on my own, Phoenix Steamworks intrigued me. It was a lab frimp, likely randomly tossed in since it doesn't jive with most of my order, but it was also greatly appreciated. Love new smells! It's beautiful. I can see why some people say it is slightly cologne-y, as it smells like a unisex scent in the imp, but it doesn't wear as cologne at all on me. It's light, fresh, and sharp. Brilliant. Dazzling. I can't make out the notes, but whatever they are, I'm digging them in this blend. More, please.

I really wanted to love this. Half the notes I really love, and some I can tolerate... except for the honey and clove, maybe the vetiver. On me, clove turns to horseradish or wasabi, and honey amps to hell and back. Vetiver is a hit or miss. I thought perhaps with this blend, the honey and vetiver would play nice together, tempering the other. I was right with that, but it's a stinky tempered smell--and muddled with rancid horseradish. So, so sad it didn't work.

This is a fabulous addition to all my sleep aids from the lab. I'm notorious for insomnia---has been an issue since a child---and get very little sleep. When I do sleep, it's fitful, restless, and typically full of dark dreams. Using TKO, Somnus, Baku, etc. has definitely calmed me before bed, and I'm out like a light when I use them. I can't say I sleep soundly the whole night, but I am, indeed, led to the land of dreams, and they don't all terrify and agitate me, as advertised by the lab. Thank you, Beth and company, for these blends. Lavender, eucalyptus, and other soft herbal notes float around in Baku.

Wet and in the imp, I'm not a fan of Dee. I don't especially like it dry, either. It's parchment through and through while wet---and for some reason, the lab's parchment note, whatever that is, doesn't work for me. Dry, the parchment is still there, but I smell some tonka, and that's about it. Maybe some rosewood here and there. I'm deeply reminded of The Library of John Dee, which makes complete and total sense, but The Library of John Dee is much sweeter, honeyed and full of tobacco. It also does not work for me. I know many love this and its companion fragrance, so off they go to get more love!

Were I to regularly use this, I would prefer it to stay in the wet stage its entire wear. It's sultry and chewy and sexy, a different fragrance than what I'm accustomed to wearing, but I would probably take this baby out for a spin on nights drinking and dancing at a beachside cafe. It's pretty unisex wet or dry, though as it dries it begins to feel more cologne-y, maybe the bay rum and tobacco swelling in the face of the heady blossoms. It's sweeter and sharper dry, and it would work very, very well on a sweaty, dancing man. For a RamblingRambler, it doesn't work so well dry, so I'll be passing this to someone who can pull this off or give it to their partner!

This smells exactly like my nightly face oil application, but it could be that most components are in both this fragrance as well as my moisturizer (which I make every few months in a huge batch). Curious to know if Beth's blend has anything added to it, or what quality oils she's using, as this could easily be slathered on the face for the same benefits mine should provide. (Bergamot is photosensitizing, however, so if you try this, though at my extreme caution, don't go out in the sun without sunscreen! ) My partner comments every night that my face smells *so* good, so clearly this fragrance smells just as good! To my nose, it smells like rose geranium is the most prominent note followed by palmarosa in almost the same quantity then bergamot. White Sandalwood is there, but it's a background to temper this bright, bright (he did come in radiance, after all!) yellow-green-gold scent into something not purely grass and citrus. Lovely, and good for the skin and heart (amyris is indicated for depression and anti-anxiety), too! For me, this is an aromatherapy scent more than a perfume. Recommended for anyone who wants/needs peace and joy.

I'm not typically a chocolate-fragrance kind of gal because I feel like they dominate most women's perfume cabinets in my area (hot, humid weather breeds lots of tropical-inspired fragrances, many of which highlight chocolate as a companion note), but holy wow, Bliss is bliss. I've had my bottle for a little over a year before even opening it (that's how little I wear chocolate-based scents!), but I'm so glad I decided to go on a review spree this week, because alone and sad it would have sat for who knows how long without me picking it up and paying it any attention. The only way to describe Bliss is... milk-chocolate chocolate bar. It's like unwrapping a high-quality candy bar and stopping a millimeter before sinking into it. I do detect a hint of caramel(? it's slightly buttery and fatty, very sugar-laden, so caramel is my best guess), but not anything over the top, as caramel usually makes me nauseated. I am not feeling ill at all wearing Bliss. Yummy all the way through.

Fir is one of my death notes, but I'm surprised and pleased to say that although extremely present, it hasn't set off a migraine yet, and it doesn't seem too overwhelming in the overall feel of the fragrance. In the imp, it's very resinous, incensy, and spicy. Wet, it retains the same scent, but there's a woodsy undertone with a prominent fir. As it begins the dry, the myrrh and ambrette soften it, while the massoia bark (I imagine?) gives it a somewhat stiff feel. The bergamot gives it a slight citrus high note, but it's buried under the resins. It goes back and forth between soft-and-incensy and woody-and-stiff, until I think it settles into the happy medium, a spicy, woody fragrance through drydown. It's lovely but not for me. To the imp swap box!

Often I have to close my eyes to experience a scent. I think this is because my nose isn't as developed as many here, but that's okay with me: I have a long, pleasurable road ahead, honing my olfactory palate. I say this because with Harlot, I have to close my eyes to know what I'm smelling. And it smells good. In the imp, it's quite subdued, and doesn't have much of a smell to me. Wet, it's all cinnamon, but not Red Hots cinnamon, just a warm, tingly spiciness to an overall subtle fragrance. I can't tell yet that roses are blossoming until they do; they literally blossom petal by petal, one by one, on the skin, and open to dewy earth and sky as they journey through their life into death through wear. It's beautiful, the full arc of life here, moving from birth to death from opening to close. Wow. The three roses are blended so well here---there's a hint of green stem, but it's otherwise a bouquet of rose---and the spicy, sharp hint of cinnamon throughout. I'm in love. The imp is lab fresh from a few weeks ago, so I'll have to revisit once it has aged some. I've a few Harlot imps from swaps, but I can't properly review them without knowing how aged they are. I've marked the date on this one, so I'll come back in a few months to update.