Brianna Gemini
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Everything posted by Brianna Gemini
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This is an intoxicating ride. Deep, warm, spicy sexy opening that dries down into a beautiful woody champaca. The patchouli isn't stompy either. Gorgeous
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This my favorite red musk to come along since She Sauntered Slowly Downward & A Demon and Her Unholy Basketball. If you love bpal violet & red musk... just get Poet's. It's not even a question. This is not foody sweet, but it does start out with a lovely sweet (but not sugared) violet. The Porcelain note definitely hardens to last year's A Doll's Doll, another surprise sleeper hit for me. It's such an interesting utterly Beth evocation. The dry down brings the red musk and it unfurls in a beautiful rolling almost smokey wave, staying all the way to the very last notes. Medium throw, the musk is still on my skin 19 hours in. This is a wonderful surprise, with all the fabulous Lupers this year I almost overlooked it and boy would I have been sad.
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The Jasmine incense is very subtle in this one. Sugared lilac is instantly identifiable (part of iris in a vase, hope & faith family for sure) with a heady fragrant fresh cut lily. So pretty for spring and summer.
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Test today: Wet. heliotrope STOMP & powdery hint of honey Dry down... heliotrope champaca sandalwood This has that soapy champaca vibe. reminds me of Sam + heliotrope. Close throw. heliotrope, champaca & sandalwood vibe. Hay, frank, honey dust, and tea are very minor players. This one might need to age a little
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Fracas. My fave commercial tuberose. TTGS evokes Fracas on me in the best way and I'm here for it. I mean you gotta love tuberose because she's prima ballerina in this act, the sweet amber definitely keeps this light & bright.
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Portrait of Princess Marthe Bibesco
Brianna Gemini replied to doomsday_disco's topic in Limited Editions
Giving me 100% Bit o Honey candy. I never get rose. Toffee and Honey dust front & center. Drydown, spicy powdery sweet comes in some... I think that's the musk...., but it's still a candy girl. I was hoping for more ooomf from the silk/musk notes. Will try again in a few weeks after it settles. If you liked the Honey taffy offerings in the past you should like this one. Definitely candy foodie varietal. -
I came here to say the same as "Frills"... Iris in a Vase is the triplet to Hope & Faith. Simple but beautiful. if you love the twins and Iris snag this one. ♥️
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Vampire Milk (like Ghost Dragon's Mama) starts so lovely but veers into a sour discordant wall that I can't overcome. Starts off lovely as expected from the description then PSYCHE!! MWAAHAHAHA curdled sadness for you! No different in locket or diffused, so it's a nose/brain problem for me. Oh well. Can't win em all. Noted that Ghost. Zombie, & Mummy Milk are all full of win. Zombie in particular was a revelation this year, unexpectedly gorgeous.
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Ive determined something specific to "blue" candy cane varietal is slightly sour on me. Maybe it's rooted in my pickiness about dark fruits, IDK. Pulled this HG out of aging for the holidays here almost a year later... whatever that "blue" accord is (same with the fume version) has significantly faded/calmed down wet AND burns off pretty fast leaving the sweet chill minty vanilla-mallow. I'm a total harlot for the labs marshmallow vanilla mint so this makes me very happy. FWIW I'm finding pairing the HG with Alisz is a beautiful combo. Layering the Blue Cotton Candy fume with Pink Lovebird or SN marshmallow, vanilla, or white cake is also lovely.
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Surprise love this year. My new fave Monster Milk tied with Ghost Milk. This is a surprisingly fresh, alive? scent for a Zombie, like Beth's cheeky habit of naming- convention opposites like Dirty smelling clean. It harkens to me on drydowm to Cemetery Creep, I'm sure picking up the orris (a note luv ❤️ 😍 and tend to amp) If you like the Cemetery offerings and orris grab this one. And don't judge it wet, let it take you on the dry down journey. Medium throw and wear.
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Wet: chewy dragons blood and red musk POW dry down: dragons blood settles, slightly powdery champaca blooms with a very subtle darker vanilla (not foody, not strong). I had a different chemistry reaction from others, the red musk is center stage on me in this dragon. I will say like Ghost Dragon Mama on me this starts off with an almost sour note, but that burns off almost immediately.
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Wet, Gioco immediately brought Vag Tales of The Nocturnal Palace to mind. Very similar. On the dry-down however, Gioco goes its own way and becomes quite different from Vag Tales. It becomes greener and the pear punches through, almost a bit tart? Anyway, if you liked Vag Tales IMO this one is worth a try. YMMV
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I am getting the sour haze some have mentioned, even after giving it a month or so to rest. Here for the sugared cream & pink lotus, which is a promise but not a reality from this oil for now. soooo... back in the aging box. Will check in 6 months.
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Wow This one transported me back in time. so atmospheric. I stan for Wet Moon: Putney Road and this one is in that category but alot more complex. Wet you get that misty rain walk along cobblestones, with the amber invoking those gas lamps they have in down town San Diego. The dry down brings the leather of my boyfriends well worn leather jacket against my nose circa early 80s , with that good tobacco aroma baked in (fresh rolled or pipe tobacco, not the acrid cigarette smoke) and the hint of for some reason old spice aftershave (I think the wood and sandalwood?). I can't find the tuberose surprisingly. Damn this got me in my feelings a little remembering 16 year old me. Close to medium throw and medium staying power.
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Air & Ether + Lady Reading Poetry The story is "Thief of Joy" but as Beth is often given to being perverse I find this more contemplative. purple-ey ambergris is out front wet, with the heady champaca orchid center stage on the dry down. The parchment and incense are subtle..more a suggestion on the Air then in your face. The inspired by paintings offerings are starting to have a distinctive signature for me that I really like.
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This goes incense & amber on me, basically amping the frank & Amber. HQV, like Kon Kurabe from this drop, smells very different bottle v skin on me. I smell the honey ,& almond strong in bottle but none on. (Surprisingly). soft and incense dominant, a little powdery which I actually like. Wasn't what I expected but a nice addition to the hoard.
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Wasn't sure what cherry musk would bring. Personally I usually like maraschino cherry but never the lollipop/cough drop strident version of cherry. This is marachino all the way....muted by the sandalwood, grounded by the musk, slight powdery haze around the edges probably from orris root?. This actually smells how I thought the cherry incense would. Surprisingly i can't pick out honey, just a general mid-range sweetness.
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Super sweet marzipan pistachio wet. Presto chango 5 minutes after application it almost seems an entirely different oil. Sweet fades to savory vanilla custard, very spice forward.. I wouldn't have immediately placed the cinnamon or clove had I not known they were there, very subtle. My brain is actually conveying nutmeg and cardamom interestingly since neither is listed. (Happily No cinnamon 🔥 on my skin either as sometimes can happen.) Medium throw and wear. this is a cozy creamy kitchen spice gourmand for me. ( really making me crave some creme brulee I'll tell ya that. )
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Premonition is an under dark, loamy earth, foreboding vibe to me. The violet is not shrieking, and comes out more as it dries and fades. From the bottle it immediately brought the wet graveyard dirt in Laura to mind. Very little rose. I find the flowers muted overall...and the cold vibe is there but not the minty or citrus brand of frozen or cold. I feel this one needs to settle a bit to be properly appreciated. all the graveyard dirt fans should check it out for sure.
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Caveat: I have loved everything Beth offered with "Shepherd" or "sheep" in the name, and i am a big fan of ambergris, lilac, frank, and pink tea roses. also this is fresh out of the mail box. I'm not great at reviews but Tom asked us to try to help out with honest reviews so here goes.... I find Shepherds Dream a beautiful champaca with depth. It stayed true on bottle to skin to diffuser today, not a big morpher. It's ...cozy. For me, the journey starts frank forward, then a long stint of champaca, with the tea roses shining in the dry down. The lilac & ambergris give it the mist vibe and are very very subtle to my nose. I feel some may find this powdery and/or soapy from the champaca and frank and if you are one who doesn't like those vibes I'd say test before you go for a bottle. For me, The ambergris harkens to The Air & The Ether, and the "grey" reminds me a little of Crossed Keys. The pink tea roses are the lovely note I pull from Love Let Her (one of my absolute faves of late) The lilac mist you might have sniffed from several of Beth's recent offerings (eg Houses at the Back) but here I don't think i'dve picked it out right away if I didn't know already it was there.
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Fresh from the mail wet this reminds me of F U said the Raven. Wet it has a dark, brooding vibe and a sharp edge. The stone doesn't have the powdery edge of 13 Hours, but it is prominent. Interested to see how this settles.
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See How They Flash is a fave (lilac violet blue musk plum lime). I bought this to see if it was the same family and it is. Also love the Labs sea salt note. This had bad mail.box shock syndrome and wss a huge let down until it had a few weeks to rest. It was very faint and muddy. Now... I definitely get the Flash Lilac/violet top notes I was looking for. The roses & lavender bloom in the middle and sea salt /clean mineral comes through nicely on the dry down Im.very picky about lavender as it can read soapy/commercial on me, but it's lovely in this one and we'll blended. Bruised violet is definitely the star, with lilac the understudy. Once it settled I really love this one.
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Air and the Ether. Very very similar both to sniff & on. When I 1st opened Wreath of Snow I instantly recalled Air & Ether, but for the life of me couldn't remember the actual name of it. Hopped on here to see if anyone else sniffed the same, bless you all I was so happy to see it A&E mentioned was driving me crazy. Anyway, I can see why wreath is so popular. I can't do better than others above. I can only say if you like AIR &. ETHER grab this one.
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Agree this definitely fits into the laces family, which was exactly the hope I had for it. Super soft and feminine.