MurderOfCrows

In the vial: Honey, honey, ylang-ylang's sweetness, and more honey with a sprinkle of vanilla and tonka. Only a vague hint of fruit in some sweetness, nothing identifiable. On Wet: ...Ditto. Stays pretty constant for me. I don't get a single bit of fruit! Not all. It stays very warm and sweet, mostly honey and vanilla for me. Drydown: The gardenia makes an appearance, a hint of floral among these heady scents. I never get any fruit at all. It stays slightly earthy, warm and sweet on me all the way through.

In the Vial: Floral, purple. Lots of violets, hints of other things. On Wet: Violets laced with incense. Very potent, with a sort of smokey undertone -- not like the smell of smoke, but I suppose tha's the incense wafting around the violets and other florals. It's a very womanly scent -- not old lady floral. Drydown: I never once get a whiff of the purple fruits that are supposedly in this scent. It's all florals and incense, which is okay. It looses some of it's heady strength and tames itself a bit, turning into a gentler purple floral on me. Not bad, but not as fantastic as I had hoped. I'll probably use the imp, but I don't know if I'll buy a bottle.

In The Vial: Incensey, with an undertone of orange. Very sharp, very aggressive. On Wet: ... I feel like I've been trying on a lot of body sprays at the perfume counter and NONE of thme have blended well. It's one of the first blends I've worn that smells patently 'perfumey'. It just smells -- fake. The incense is fading fast from the initial burst, too. Drydown: It never really loses that artificial smell. The incense fades and the orange blossom and the carnation don't blend well in my nose. I really wanted to like this too, because I love patchouli and orange blossom!

In The Vial: Thick red wine and rose petals. Someone's most decadent bath. On Wet: The wine is heady and the roses are thick. This is not a shy scent. The musk is the barest undercurrent here, as is the myrrh. They're hardly there at all. You catch whiffs of them, tangling up under the roses and wine, if you look for it. If you don't, they're just a background note. Drydown: This goes down to dry wine and dried rose petals -- someone's gotten out of that decadent bath, let the liquid dry on their skin and smells divine. Dark, thick, heady. Someone compared it to blood red, and I say darker -- blood under moonlight, looking black. Really heady stuff. Definitely a winner, and trumped Lady MacBeth big time in the wine scents. I think I've found my wine...

I got this in a gift of several imps from a friend, who knew I liked both foodie and spicy scents, AND knew I had a boyfriend who -- well, he gave his niece a Cthulhu plushie for christmas one year. So here we go. In The Bottle: OMG, Bakery at Christmas! Gingerbread! Spice cookies! Mmmmmyeah. On Wet: Oh my god what is that wet, flat, rotty smell?! There's spice-- and then there's this funny green, mossy river-rock smell. They do not smell good together. I am assuming this is the ritual herb moment. Thankfully... I don't have time to stop and wash it off. I have to go to work, which gives it time to get into the drydown. Drydown: The green-rock smell fades completely. It's very brief, but then it's all ginger again, with a cinnamon dribble and a very faint herby balance. I'm glad I didn't have the time to wash this off, otherwise I would have missed that it drys down into something perfectly good and nummy! We'll definitely have to put this to the boyfriend test tonight, though-- see how well he likes me spiced.

In The Vial: Sweet, sugary -- I get a lot of caramel; I think that's the blended notes of tobacco and amber with it. In Wet: I have just slathered caramel on my wrist... I have this urge to lick myself, and must resist. I love the smell of caramel, and the taste that much more. Drydown: This -- evens out into ... into something with spice behind it. Amber, and tobacco lay behind the caramel; opium and spices keep it -- well, not lively, but from being just another food scent. I'm not sure if I like this or not. It'll probably take a couple more wears for me to figure out. I do know -- this smells golden-brown, though.

In The Vial: Spicy-citrus. Very strange, that. On Wet: I've been attacked by a lime. Srsly. A big, juicy lime just rolled right over me. It's a runaway lime! Ahh, I've been limed! This is why I don't wear a lot of 'green' scents or citrus. IT ATTACKS! Drydown: This calms down a lot, fast, as it dries. The other notes begin to take the citrus down a notch and this becomes a lot more bearable. It might be the only citrus-y scent that didn't have it's root in orange blossom that I like. I think this might be a bottle purchase, but I can't quite nail down a distinct yes or no on that. I think it will require the boyfriend test tonight.

In The Vial: Juicy fruits! Mmm, there's something in there that is going to EXPLODE in your mouth when you bite down. Currant, I think. On Wet: Spilled wine and berries. Take the Ameretto from Bordello, change the wine, and add berries -- and you have Lady MacBeth. Juicy and fruity in a way that Bordello just isn't. On Dry: The wine note fades into a background booziness (which still remains constant), but is there all the same. The currants definitely own this scent, bolstered by the berries. i never really get the thyme at all, which is fine by me. Man, I'm not sure about buying Bordello or Lady MacBeth first. They're both such good scents, but very similar bases...

In The Vial: Spicy. Cloves and nutmeg in a big way. A hint of pumpkin. On Wet: The spices come out thicker here, with the pumpkin taking on a robust body. I can see where people have compared it to that 'pumpkin pie' candle scent but it never goes that 'fake' on me, but it comes dangerously close. The peaches never really appear -- not as an identifiable note, anyway. On Dry: This evens out to smelling like warm autumn evenings -- spiced food, thick and heavy and warm and indulgent. This is absolutely going on the buy list and becoming my autumn scent for Sept-Oct, taking over the summer 'daily wear' from Jezebel (which is summery-spice with orange blossoms).

In The Vial / On Wet / On Dry: This is the most constant single note ever. It is leather. The thick, black leather of biker shops and sexual accoutrement. I bought an imp of it for one reason and one reason only. The scent of leather turns me on in a big way. ... ... so I've worn this once and spent most of the day uhm-- in my happy place, which was actually not very happy, because I couldn't go to my happy place. It's true, lovely leather and I want to rub my boy down with it and shag him blind. So yes, it is true to it's scent and the purpose of pleasure edged with pain.

In the vial: Spicy Oranges. Mmm, smells tasty. On Wet: Sweet, candied-something oranges and spice. Very warm, very heady. Not over-thick or sticky, though. It's orange flowers and sandalwood, mostly. I don't detect much rose and I think the honey is holding the two primary notes together, giving it the slightly candied aroma. Drydown: The roses? Never, ever appear. The orange blossoms fade a little, but it's not gone completely. Sandalwood takes over and gives me a spicy, incensey smell, but a good sexy one, and the honey stays and tempers it from getting too single-note. Definitely a 'I feel sexy confident' perfume. Definitely a bottle purchase in my future.

In The Vial: Sweet, clear, cool -- water, with flowers floating in it. Pale white blossoms. On Wet: Sweet, cool, wet -- again, pools of flowers. Night time. Virgin crisp. But -- there's notthing that really stands out about it. It's actually a little bland. The sweetness is -- just that. Very plain, nothing very stand out about it. Drydown: It dries to nothing. Nothing at all. Will be going to swaps.

In the Vial: Musky, spicy. I'm not getting vanilla in this at all. On Wet: There's only the barest hint of vanilla -- like roasted vanilla beans -- among all the spices. There's more heat here then anything else, spicy and warm... Something to heat the senses. Dry: The scent stays true -- very little changes, beyond it has a slightly smokey tone to it. Not foody in the slightest, not like cooking, but-- something burned; maybe incense, perhaps? The smoke of those Indonesian oils being burned in praise of some God somewhere... This and Blood Kiss are very similar, but I think I like Blood Kiss better. However, Snake Oil is a far less aggressive scent. I may get bottles of both.

Category: Bewitching Brews In the Vial: Mmmmmmmrum. Nothing else. Buttery, sweet rum. On Wet: Mmmmmmrum.... salt? W--what? Where's the salt come from? Well, it's pirate rum, so we'll go with it! Why not? But it's something sharp and -- salty? Yes, I think it's salty. Tropical breezes, maybe? Is that a note of coconut? Maybe... but definitely Dry: The scent stays true even after drydown. This replaces hellcat as my buttery-rummy scent, hands down. It doesn't have that heavy weight that Hellcat has that makes me feel like I'm coated in buttercream frosting--because while I liked Hellcat, it just felt so heavy and thick and was thick and sticky in scent and... This isn't. Grog is better if you want a rummy scent, in my opinion. A bottle will be on my list.

In the Vial: Wet florals. It's a water garden, plain and simple. Wet: It doesn't smell any different-- these are all soft, wistful florals, gentle scents and sweet wetness. Very aquatic, which is appropriate for Ophelia, but the 'vulnerable' just isn't happening. This is an overgrown garden, thick and full of life... there's no fading here, no water-logged corpse. And that's probably good. This is Ophelia a live, when she still was innocent and in love, I think. Dry: Not even after it's dry does this fade. IT stays very strong-- strong enough that when I got up this morning I could still catch whiffs of it on me and I put it on almost twenty-four hours ago. Sure it was just a little whiff here and there, but the faint scent of white florals were still there on my skin. I was pretty surprised at it's incredible staying power. This is very pretty, and I think I will keep it -- I don't know that I'll order a big bottle, but it's very nice and I may, somewhere down the line.