alhbooks

Hmmm. Yardley's English Violets comes to mind. Pleasant, but not as distinctive as other floral blends. No sign of the chrysanthemum so far, but i guess the secondary flowers serve mostly to expand the violet range. After a few minutes, the overall effect becomes more like my grandmother's face powder...

Dry, yes, like a hot sunny day in an evergreen forest. I love cedar, and the undertones of sandalwood with the tiniest hint of cinnamon are very soothing. Not much rose, and very little patchouli from my sample, but I've always had a soft spot for unisex scents, and this is a good one...happily, a full bottle is now on its way to me.

Lovely crisp, clean scent...I'm really looking forward to it in warmer weather, but even on a chilly night, this is gorgeously refreshing. The oil is very silky and excellent during the dry season.

Blood orange is one of my favorite notes, and Kunstkammer uses it to good advantage. I bought a bottle recently on hte Forum and I've been very happy with it...it's aged to a rather thick, golden oil, and the pepper only serves as a grounding note to me (other pepper blends have overwhelmed, so I was grateful to find this didn't). It's rich and warm and quite comforting. A real keeper for me.

Like those above, I get a swift hit of Juniper first , with a soft sweetness beneath. I love the faint woodiness and the floral blend is delicious, so I'm very happy i got a whole bottle. Vanilla isn't a note i seek out, but here it does seem to add a touch of warmth as the notes settle in and blend.

I had high hopes. After all, I love fresh nectarine. sadly, this was bitter on my skin and that never faded. Sigh.

Cherry blossom, blue lilac, lavender monofloral honey, white sandalwood, and Asian pear. It doesn't hurt that I love the label art (I'm a sucker for packaging, no question), but the clean mix of cherry blossom and a hint of lilac with the pear slowly sneaking in underneath makes for a delicious spring scent, which is extremely welcome during this week of snow.

Vampire and Teenage Cannibal just arrived and although I expected to love Cannibal best, the complexity of Vampire in the bottle sucked me into trying it first. So far, no one note dominates, although I get a soft, soft clove fairly consistently. Wet, the melon and citruses seemed stronger but as it dries, everything is blending into a warm, strong but not overpowering combo. I'm surprised at how much I like this and delighted that I got a bottle.

The Panaceas all come with a triple dagger in heart label, like the BPTP locket. Ars Draconis has purple labels with pink writing, but I can't remember for the life of me what kind of design was on them, if any. The Muses that were recently discontinued had really pretty pictures - I especially loved Erato's label, but sadly not her scent. I remember Night-Gaunt, Shoggoth, and Miskatonic University having parchment-colored labels and their names really large in a cool looking font. And... that's all I can remember at the moment. =) The Ars Draconis artwork includes a profile of a dragon, at least on the two I've got. Very handsome.

Oh, bliss...lilacs are my favorite flower and there's nothing so clean as an armload of damp blooms in spring. This is the next best thing, and the deer can't chew up the buds. Strong family resemblance to White Moon, but gentler; perhaps the sandalwood and cypress are subduing the florals a bit, but whatever it is, I'm delighted with my bottle.

If I hadn't gotten the imp collection from the lab I would never have sniffed this...love tangerine and mandarin, not so much for pepper, vetiver and tobacco. That would have been very sad, because this is a perfectly lovely blend on me, starting with the holiday scent of tangerine, but not too sweet, and softening over time so that just a whiff of the citrus flashes up as I type but disappears when I try to chase it down. I'm so glad I got a bottle at the last Will Call. A relatively fast fade, but worth it to me.

I'm not picking out any single note in Madame Tracy, but overall, I'm finding it quite delightful...old-fashioned garden blend, I'd have to say, with a hint of cool fog rather than hot sun. Not especially long-lasting, but very comforting.

Juniper and pine, definitely, and certainly chilly. Not as sweet as Snow Maiden or as icy as Snow Storm, but a good middle ground. I don't get any citrus or mint, but every now and then a hint of cucumber...the florals and herbs show up a little later, but it doesn't last as long on me as the other two.

Hmmm...I just got an imp set of the Elementals and started out with Salamander before reading any of the reviews. After two years of aging, it may have softened, but I don't get the hot, harshness noted above. Definitely a dragon's blood feel to start and as it dries, I'm getting something like sandalwood and cinnamon, but not enough to overpower. My boy walked in, sniffed me, and said "You smell nice," which is praise indeed, as his usual response is "did you spill a bottle of that perfume in here?"). Not too sweet, not too hot; I wonder if I could find a bottle of this somewhere?

I honestly wasn't expecting to like Krampus 2007 (or any other) but the reviews here gave me the nerve to give it a try. It's just arrived with my third order of Yules and the amazing label art made me try this one first. In the bottle, I got a flash of that wet ashes scent that I hate. Then I tested a tiny bit and it disappeared. Deciding I was going to have to keep it for the bottle art alone, I went ahead and put on more, and I'm very happy indeed...the dust, the wood, and the merest hint of sweetness in the background really makde Krampus appealing, especially for a leather jacket kind of day. Not remotely girly, but yummy just the same. Another hit from the brilliant labbies!

After my disappointing experience with the Ice Prince, I was relieved to find the Winter Maiden my perfect bath oil...the woods here are a gentle background for the fruit and floral and the amber (I'm guessing) adds a lovely warmth. The blackberry and bergamot give the rose some extra depth, but mostly the scents seem evenly matched here. Just lovely.... ETA; Just went back to have another bath at looked at the bottle. Oddly, the notes listed are different from the ones on the BPTP site: "snow-dusted woods, fig, white rose, ambergris, balsam, sandalwood and blackberry." But I still love it, no matter what the components are.

I so wanted to love this, but all I could smell was PINE with a side of mentholatum. I love lily, bergamot and plum, but I didn't catch a wiff of any of those things. Fortunately, there were plenty of other good homes for it to go to.

I fell in love with the bottle art before I opened it (the phoenix is composed of green leaves...gorgeous!) In the bottle, very subdued, with the papaya dominating, but faintly. On my wrist, a very soft green indeed, with the fruitiness fading into the background and the greeny-gray scents taking over. I can't pick out the mint or the lime rind, but they're in the background somewhere. Clean, in a late winter tending into spring kind of way...cool but not cold. I really love this. I may need another bottle.

Thanks! I'm impatiently waiting for my shipment, so this helps stave off the frustration!

I don't really get the buttery note others do, and that makes me happy...this has a sharper edge than the rest of this year's harvest, but I like the undertone of leaves (damp tea leaves?) and the now-you-smell-it-now-you-don't pear whiffs. Happy to keep a bottle of this one.

In the bottle, I get the strongest whiff of seaweed and damp vegetation, but I like it. Once on, the violet and lily get stronger, and this is not a drifty, Elaine-the-Lily-Maid wimpy scent. It's got throw and power, which I didn't expect. But it's definitely worth the partial bottle, especially for the gorgeous label. After 10-15 minutes it backs down from the aggressive beginning and settles in, assured of its welcome, letting more of the greenery in.

Got my 2007 Alone today, and sadly, it's not remotely good on me. Winter vegetables? Dirt? Not getting any of the mandarin at all, at all, and none of the sweetness others get. oh dear, oh dear. Straight to the swap pile.

In the imp, a mildly pleasant floral/fruit blend. On the skin, the peach flavor comes out immediately, and starts getting stronger and more interesting. I'm not getting any of the lavender, which is fine, although it might be grounding the fruitiness a bit. Peach brandy is the best description for me. I might actually need a bottle of this.

The orange scent everyone mentions is in the background, but happily it sneaks in and around the blended florals, no one of which is standing front and center. Losing my ability to articulate beyond "ooh, niiiice...." but as it dries down, the floral mix is softening to more iris than anything else.

Straight to almond extract on me, unfortunately, at least the aged version I just tried. Sigh...