ralenth

Minty aquatic floral. No leather here, sadly.

Knick knack smells like a clove studded orange, with a slight tinge of tea on the drydown.

Pine cake. What? As it dries, the pine recedes into the background and it becomes a peppery cake scent. Interesting.

Syrupy, sweet cherry. It vacillates between fountain cherry coke and cough syrup.

In the bottle, Dragon's Musk is lovely and deep darkness. Unfortunately on my skin, it becomes sharp, pungent floral. Boo, skin chemistry fail.

Icy evergreen with plum. It does seem a little more feminine than Winter Maiden, but they pair together really well. I bought another bottle this year as it's my favorite of all of the bath oils.

Icy blackberry. I especially love this mixed with Ice Prince. I will continue to snag this every year.

Dark, resinous and gritty. It's a delightful tumble of vetiver and frankincense with a dash of myrrh. As it dries, Sol Niger becomes even smokier. Oh, this is heavenly. It's like what I wanted Labores Solis to be.

Quicksilver Phoenix is like sexy TKO cologne on my skin. It's bright and lavendery with a tinge of masculinity. It's zen and lovely. Definite winner.

Sweet strawberry candy. Tasty, but it disappears after ten minutes.

Imp: Incensy, sweet floral. At first, Seraphim is a soft, powdery floral on my skin, but as it dries, rose rears its ugly head and the sharp, green that I associate with my nemesis takes over. Sadly, this one is another victim of skin chemistry.

Imp: Apple and soft powder. Not at all what I was expecting. Wet: Juicy green apples with something biting in the background. Drydown: Very softly floral and fruity. Dry: Clean, fresh, gentle apple scent. I really wasn't expecting any dragon's blood scent to smell like this one me, but it's quite lovely. Drydown: Lovely and simple. Not my usual fare, but I really like it.

12/2009 version Boozy and perfumey, very strong throw. This Black Lace is a little more overwhelming than I remember the older version being. I'm hoping this bottle settles down, because I'm getting drunken old lady here. BINGO!

Aged bottle, 1-2 years Bottle: Sweet and sandalwood. Not much else from the cold sniff. Wet: Sharp, almost pungent floral and powder. Drydown: As it dries, the sweetness takes over again. Still sharp, but I guess this dragon is a bit grandma-ish for me. Dry: Old maid with a bit of attitude. Overall: I am starting to think my skin eats Dragon's Blood. I don't seem to be picking it up in any of the Ars Draconis blends.

Initially, Silver Phoenix is sweet and ephemeral. She's clearly the pretty, pretty princess Phoenix. Thirty seconds later, something scary and vegetal rises from goodness knows wear. Swamp Thing Phoenix eats the shiny tiara and everything delicate goes out the window. I'm really hoping this is a strange hormone reaction and that a retest will prove positive. However, I'm still a wee bit terrified.

I had a lot of hope for this one, but sadly it didn't work for me. Both times I tested Lambs-Wool, it was like Yankee Candle Autumny Harvest scents nommed on my arm. Potpourri, do not want.

Bottle: Cobalt, aged ~3 years. Wet: Salty floral. It reminds me of the belling florals in Danube. Drydown: As it dries, DT becomes a little more aquatic. It's incredibly salty (seriously, I am salivating here). Dry: The floral has come to the forefront. I don't get much dragon's blood, sadly. Overall: Interesting, but I prefer Danube as an aquatic floral.

Imp: Heavily floral, funeral. Wet: Strongly baby powder. Drydown: Sharp green and baby powder. As it dries, it becomes more etheral, but it doesn't agree with my skin. Dry: Soft powdery floral. On my skin, it's a bit like my grandmother's dusting powder. Overall: With two of my nemeses, roses and lilies, it's not surprising this didn't work for me.

It's a ridiculously chilly day and I am so pleased I reached for this one to review first. Hermes Trimegistus v2 is warm, delicious myrrh with soft hints of lavender and sandalwood. It's so delightfully complex as it dries down. I get a bit of evergreen too when it's dry, but it doesn't dominate the blend like usual for me. Overall, love love love.

I was generously frimped this with an ebay purchase from a forumite. It's like robo-Snake Charmer, sans vanilla. This is ridiculously good. There just are not words for this.

Imp: Vetiver, cocoa and floral. Wet: Vetiver, woodsy floral. Sharp, smoky and yet feminine. At least, my rawr idea of feminine. Drydown: As it dries, Queen becomes sweeter. Lavender bats up against the smokiness, almost taking over. I'm getting naughty TKO, which is totally not what I was expecting. I'm not sleepy, at least. Dry: Oh yeah, vamped up TKO. Overall: Sexy, seriously confident. I had batted this aside originally, because I generally associate BPAL Queen-named blends with my arch nemesis, rose, but thankfully I gave this a whirl. I will need a bottle.

Imp: Rose like whoa. Very reminiscent of Rose Red. Wet: Sharp green and heady rose. Quite a bit of throw. Drydown: Still keeping the quintessential roseness (which is really surprising on my skin) and the greenery (which is my skin's normal reaction to rose blends). As it dries, I get little wafts of baby powder, but it remains dominantly the rose & thorns combination. Dry: Mostly green with bits of overblown rose peeping through. Overall: I wonder if this is a blend of multiple roses. Maybe there is one out there than can play nice with my skin chemistry. Snooty Rose is the closest I've come so far to a rose blend that actually smells like roses on my skin. I'm happy that I tried it, even if it doesn't quite work for me.

Imp: Smoky vetiver. Mmm... Wet: Vetiver with a hint of sweetness... orange blossoms? Drydown: A sharp sour citrus takes the stage (it's kind of lemony for me too). The vetiver still does its sexy thing underneath, but I'm predominantly getting the citrus note. After a few minutes, the white sandalwood peeps in. Dry: Candied lemon drops with teensy whisps of the sandalwood and minimal vetiver. Occasionally, I think I catch some smoky goodness, but this is predominantly a citrus now. Overall: Love's Torments is far more playful than I was expecting. I was hoping for misery and vetiverliciousness, but alas, Love's Torments knew just how to torture me. I'll think I'll have to retest this in the hope of better results after some aging.

Source: Tested FelicityTwitchell's bottle. Bottle: A tumble of incredibly well blended notes: cinnamon/cassia with faint herbal tinges and something else slinking in the background. Upon testing: Warm, close to the skin, dragon's blood and cassia dance tantalizingly. It tingles a little on the drydown, which makes me think cassia. Blood Moon doesn't seem to have much throw, but this seems fitting for its soft musky warmth. It's not coy by any stretch of the imagination though. Blood Moon wants to do dirty things to you, you can just tell. Overall: I bet this would be really fantastic layered with some aged Snake Oil. This incarnation of Blood Moon would probably vamp just about anything up, you included.

I was very excited to try this, as it has long been on my wishlist. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me: Bottle: Sweet citrus with a hint of musk. Yum! Wet: This reminds me of sugared grapefruit. Light and sweet - delightful! Drydown: Dirty mop water with Lemon Pledge - where did this come from? Heartbreaking and disgusting at the same time. Dry: Lemon pledge crossed with grungy lemonheads. Overall: Skin chemistry fail. Lovely in the bottle.