torischroeder9

In the imp: Ozone and aquatic, like salty sea air. On my skin: Wet, it's definitely salty aquatic. I can almost picture seaweed along with it. As it dries, I get something that smells decidedly like lily, with just a touch less sweetness. (If I had to guess, I'd guess lily -- it's quite prominent -- with another note that cuts the sweet floral edge.) Given time to develop, the lily note becomes both more distinct and stronger in throw. The longer I leave this, the stronger -- and more lily -- this becomes. It's a little strange since ozones and aquatics don't usually work on me, and neither does lily. But it's a little surprising that an ozone or aquatic doesn't work on me because lily.

In the bottle: The patch and spiciness of Snake Oil, plus honey, plus the sweet, spicy resin of dragon's blood. On my skin: Wet, it's very patchouli, with an almost cologne-y afterwhiff. As it dries, a rich honey sweetness comes to the forefront. At this stage, the honey plus patchouli reminds me most of Third Charm, though Dragon-Smooched Snake Oil seems to have less distinction between the sharpness of the patch and the smoothness of the honey, to which I attribute the dragon's blood and probably the vanilla in the Snake Oil. I also think that what I'm reading as "cologne-y" is the resinous quality of the dragon's blood. Given time to develop on my skin, both the patchouli and the dragon's blood come out more, though the honey and the Snake Oil spiciness (snakiness?) remain apparent as well. This is... absolutely amazing. It's simultaneously sexy, powerful, warm, and snuggly. The throw and wear length are also pretty great on me. A+++, would snek again.

I was frimped this with a bottle purchase on eBay, so I really did not expect to be the first review, but here goes. In the decant: Immediately, it's sweetness and a hint of char. As I keep sniffing, I can also pick out the patchouli itself as well as vetiver. On my skin: Wet, it's a hot mess for just a moment before deciding to be sweetness and vetiver in this stage. As it dries down, the patchouli also becomes detectable. Given additional time to develop on my skin, the blackcurrant surfaces as a background note, keeping the blend from developing the... funk... that woods, vetiver, and fresh patch can all get to on me. Interestingly, this settles down to become mostly patchouli on me, with a hint of sweetness and a whiff of grassy vetiver. I say "interestingly" because on me, it's really not like death at all. I'd probably look for the patch to mellow over time, possibly playing up the blackcurrant, but overall, this is already a softly mellow woody scent, not super rotting or festering or charred or anything.

Super happy to receive a frimp of this with a recent eBay bottle purchase. I love the concept and inspiration for this scent. In the decant: Sharp, thin lavender. I don't know what mercury smells like, if it even smells, but I would believe this is mercury and lavender. On my skin: Wet, the metallic note I got in the decant doesn't really materialize. This is lavender and soft musk. As it dries, I have two thoughts: One, this smells like lavender soap on me. Two, I buy really nice lavender soap. It's a delicate lavender, and the musk is still present, but at the moment, it's trending decidedly soapy on me.

In the bottle: Spicy and sharp and tough in a good way. I get the leather first, followed by cardamom, then the patchouli and bourbon almost at the same time. On my skin: Wet, leather and cardamom is almost peppery. If you told me it was cinnamon red hots without the sugar, I'd believe you. Oh, and, good times. Cardamom is definitely causing a skin reaction. As it dries, it's still cardamom and leather, spicy and not sweet but just the tiniest bit fuzzy from the leather note. This actually stays pretty stable on me. I do occasionally get whiffs of bourbon rounding out the scent. That I don't explicitly get patchouli isn't too odd given the scent's age and the strength both leather and cardamom usually have on me. It's a very tough kind of scent. The spiciness reminds me of Plunder, but it doesn't have Plunder's softening tea note. This is all dominance, all the time.

In the bottle: I smell Bliss's chocolate first, followed by the frostbitten note of Snow White. They're both fairly distinct from one another, yet they blend well together. On my skin: Wet, it's much the same. The chocolate Bliss is most prominent, but Snow is very much present. As it dries, the balance reverses itself, so that Snow is covering soft milk chocolate. Given some time to warm and develop on me, it stays snow-dominant but with a little underscore of chocolate that I'd describe almost like dry cocoa now. I don't get that note from either Snow White or Bliss on their own, but the combination is definitely creating that on my skin here. I kind of like it since it gives a little more substance to the very soft Snow White scent. Huh. I was super excited to try this bottle (received in the recent Spring Cleaning Circular Swap) but was equally ready for it not to work on me. My skin tends to eat both Bliss and the frostbitten note. This is still a low throw scent on me, but it remains very much present after I'd expect it to be gone (based on its component notes). Not sure if I have room for another chocolate scent in my collection, but I really like this. I'll have to keep it around for a bit and see what happens.

In the decant: I get a lot of amber, frankincense, and myrrh. Since I'm rose-hesitant, the resin-forwardness of the initial sniff bothers me not one bit. On my skin: Wet, the rose does start to come out, but at this stage, it's far from dominant. Rather, I think this is what "rose-infused" amber, frankincense, and myrrh should smell like. Like, the rose is in them and is part of them, rather than being separate note, but they are still very much themselves. As it dries, the rose does become a bit stronger, but it remains really softened and grounded by all the good, resiny action going on. The layered quality of the resins is also great since it's richer and deeper than having a single resinous note. Sadly, it starts to fade rather quickly after that. Which is too bad as it's a lovely scent.

In the decant: Strawberry candy. On my skin: Wet, it has a brief moment of fresh strawberry but goes quickly back to the candy-like state. As it dries, I get an almost floral note along with the berry. I'm not sure if strawberry blossoms smell like this, exactly, but it seems that this is what they should smell like. After that, it's back to strawberry candy. And that's where it stays, a skin-close strawberry candy. It's a pleasant enough scent, but I don't think there's anything about it that will keep me reaching for the decant.

In the decant: Cognac and tobacco. On my skin: Wet, it's tobacco and cognac, tempered by absinthe. Absinthe and my skin usually aren't friends, but if tonight it wants to take on domineering tobacco, it's welcome to try. As it dries, something powdery -- maybe the lace? -- begins to emerge as the tobacco strengthens. At this stage, I cannot detect absinthe. The absinthe does make itself known for a few minutes before the scent starts to fade into tobacco and vanilla on me. It's nice but not amazing.

In the imp: Cold rain on dark leaves. On my skin: Wet, there's this note in it that... well, when I tried it in Orc, I described it as something like rotting zucchini garbage. This is maybe a much nicer version of what might be a type of vegetal musk. It's like if a zucchini or a cucumber -- a plant with dark, tough-ish skin -- were, while still on the vine, trapped in an unseasonably cold summer downpour. It's a sharp and unpretty scent, but this is not fetid or repulsive the way the first hour of Orc is on me. Yeah, but this is weird on me. It's cucumber skins in the cold rain. I don't know if it's imp age or whatever. Probably not what the scent was going for. In fairness, my skin does weird things with aquatic scents at the best of times.

In the imp: Frangipani and a hint of jasmine. I don't get either the rose or tuberose at this stage. On my skin: Frangipani also when wet, though now I can detect hints of the rose but not jasmine. (Rose-jasmine note wars can be epic on my skin.) As it dries, the jasmine comes back out and, yes, tries to dominate the rose. At this point, frangipani is a little confused, and it's making that note go a little humid and wilty and decompositional. Rose is losing this round. The combined jasmine and frangipani scent is a little like cut flowers kept in a vase just a little too long.

In the imp: Juniper, orchid, bergamot, and lilac. I'm missing the woods and the musk. On my skin: Initially, it's lots of juniper, with a whiff of bergamot. I think I get the barest hint of sandalwood's bite in the background, but it's fleeting, so I can't be sure. As it dries, the sandalwood does come out a little more, with juniper on top of that and bergamot and lilac gracing the edges of the scent. This is where the scent seems to stay for me. Overall, it's a very clean, balanced scent on me. The sandalwood grounds the juniper nicely, and the bergamot and lilac help round out the juniper and add accent. I'm not sure I'd call it "passion-rousing," but I might if the red musk had ever made an appearance for me.

In the imp: Lots of frankincense. When I close the imp, I can smell the ylang ylang, but I'm not detecting it from the went scent in the imp. On my skin: Wet, it's still mostly frankincense in the base, though other notes are flitting around in the background, deciding what to do with themselves. As it dries, I do get a bit of ylang ylang, but just around the edges. I never can detect violet or hyssop. Also, and perhaps this is due to age, even the bit of ylang ylang fades pretty fast. Within forty-five minutes of application, this is floral-tinged frankincense on me. Not, I think, what this scent was meant to be when it was in its ripeness.

In the imp: Violet and dark fruit (probably including plum) as well as other notes I can't currently identify. On my skin: Wet, it's fruit-forward, and a little tarter now. I wouldn't be surprised if the fruits included pomegranate or currant as well. As it dries, violet reasserts itself, and some of the other floral notes -- jasmine among them, I think -- start to peek out. Ultimately, the jasmine takes over the violet, so it's jasmine over dark fruits. To be fair, it's a very wearable jasmine on me. On the other hand, my personal scent preferences run much more to violet than they do to jasmine. That I get violet and fruit in the imp but jasmine and fruit on my skin makes it too disappointing from what I hoped.

In the decant: Soft rosewood with another light, sweet note. It's almost floral. If I didn't have the list of notes, I'd be more apt to say apple blossom than apple. On my skin: Rosewood is the main note I get when the scent is wet. I can still smell a light, sweet note -- but again, I'd be more likely to call it apple blossom than apple. As it dries, the scent even takes on that airy quality I associate with orange blossom -- not that it smells like orange blossom, just that the quality of the sweet note is very light and dry, not like I'd expect apple-fruit to be. The mahogany is also coming out a little more as well, so that the woodiness of the blend is a little more prominent. It's still utterly smooth, gorgeous wood, though. This is a very pretty scent. It's simple, clean, and grounded. I read it as feminine, though the woods in it could play very differently across skin chemistries. Alas, I have a tester decant with not enough in it, probably, for a full day's wearing. But there's probably enough to send it to someone else to test. Super glad I got to try it, though!

So many notes of win. But also so many notes of great trepidation. Here goes: In the imp: Predominantly almond with a high floral note that I presume is jasmine but could well include the lily. On my skin: Initially, it's almond and jasmine, but almost immediately saffron and cinnamon work to make their presence known. I also start to get a warm, earthy note I recognize as fig leaf. As it dries, I get fig leaf, spice, almond, and... something that smells like unwashed body funk. I hate to blame patchouli for this, but perhaps the red patchouli is not playing nicely with one of the other notes? Fortunately, that seems to go away, and I get almond with spiced fig leaf again. Not sure what happened to the jasmine, but in all honesty, the current manifestation of notes is so nice and so coherent that I don't miss the floral. I'm at least going to hang onto this for future testing.

In the imp: White grape and pear. On my skin: Wet, the same sparkly light fruit scent as in the imp. As it dries, I get a little roundness of peach. Given additional time to develop, I can start to piece together the florals -- particularly sweet pea and moonflower -- that give Titania her sparkly notes. It's very pretty and ethereal but also very sweet and light on me. I'm not sure it would stand up to a full day of wearing.

In the imp: Definitely patchouli. And something wispy and airily sweet. I cannot decide what that might be. On my skin: Wet, I can detect the earthiness of patchouli, benzoin, and the hint of rose geranium. Weird, but it does evoke "night" to me, even at this stage. If you've ever smelled fresh, sweet grass grow damp with increased evening humidity (a fresh, cool moisture, not stagnant swamp feel), then you might get what I'm talking about here. Also, the overall impression I get from the scent is more than the sum of any individual notes I can pick out (except maybe the patchouli, which is both identifiable and clearly contributing to atmosphere, though not in any head shop kind of way this time around). As it dries, I get a soft, earthy scent, graced with accents of rose geranium and jasmine (both of which are surprisingly subdued on me) and occasionally sweetened by plum. I'm not sure what indigo musk should smell like as a single note, but I'm getting the soft purple of a new-night sky (you know, well after sunset at the far edge of twilight, just before the sky turns full night-black). Given time to develop, the jasmine and plum both gradually become stronger. If this is the scent's main battle for dominance, I'm kind of hoping the plum wins. Huh. Unfortunately, what seems to win this scent battle is time. After about an hour of wear, the whole scent starts to fade -- indigo musk first, jasmine hanging on until the last. Too bad. I'm intrigued by it when it's on my skin, but I probably won't find much use for it if it's just the scenic route to some jasmine.

In the imp: Honeysuckle, jasmine, and a bit of spice. On my skin: Wet, I get the same jasmine, honeysuckle, and spice. I actually get a fair bit more spice than I was expecting from the scent description and my concept of a "New Orleans" scent. I'm not sure if this is due to the imp's age (indeterminable, except to say not Lab-new) or not. As it dries, the honeysuckle strengthens, and the spice fades; it's not gone entirely, but it's much more what I envision a "hint" of spice to be like. I don't get a similar hint of lemon although I can't tell if it's blending in with the florals or being eaten up by the florals -- or if it's a factor of age. Both jasmine and honeysuckle are often overwhelming on my skin, so I'm very pleasantly surprised by how wearable I find New Orleans. I'm not sure how often I'll find myself wanting to reach for it, just because of my personal scent preferences -- and thus it may find its way to my swap box eventually -- but I'm interested to keep it around for now.

In the imp: Something almost like a fruity red candy. On my skin: Wet, it's still fruity candy, but now with a bit of spice -- a light spice, like ginger, which is often almost lemony on me. As it dries, I still get something sweetly fruity and gently spiced, with just a whiff of something powdery -- but light and powdery, like frankincense (though I'm not necessarily suggesting it is frankincense), not something like smoke or ash or char. Ultimately, however, this is very cloying on me. I don't necessarily get flames, but it's a hell of a different sort with my skin chemistry.

In the imp: Champaca and orange blossom, grounded by sandalwood in the background. On my skin: Wet, it's mostly orange blossom. As it dries, the orange blossom stays in the foreground, but I can start to detect some distinctive champaca behind that and some sandalwood behind that. Both of the secondary notes start to add a richness and depth to the scent. The champaca slowly develops and warms the blend so that its heart is rich and spiced. The sandalwood and champaca remind me a lot of Matthew 18:6 (a blend I love and wear regularly), with the orange blossom giving it a feel that's less sweet and more airy. Orange blossom also has a lot of throw on me, though it's not necessarily strong throw, if I'm describing that understandably. The scent quality has a lot of lightness and airiness, but the scent itself reaches far. I definitely like this scent a lot and will keep the imp around to at least try again. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether I already have scents that are sufficiently similar to this that it may not fill a unique perfume void.

In the bottle: Cinnamon, clove, and something sweet. The spice notes, in the bottle, are so forward that I cannot get the specifics of the sweetness. On my skin: The cinnamon-clove-sweetness combo remains much like in the bottle, at least wet on my skin. The best comparison I can discuss is something like a cinnamon spice tea, though I'm definitely not getting a tea note here. As it dries, the cognac becomes more identifiable as the bright, sweet scent I'm experiencing. It lightens and brightens the spices here, making this a more spring- or summer-like cinnamon and clove scent than many others I've tried. It takes a while, but as the blend develops on my skin, the powdery, resinous frankincense also becomes apparent. It's a nice addition to the blend, softening the powerful notes of cognac and spices. The end result is almost one of clove and cinnamon incense smoke. I'm not sure it will end up being the most wearable, multi-purpose clove blend that I own, but -- I never don't love clove.

In the bottle: I can pick out elements of linden blossom, passion flower, and narcissus. On my skin: Wet, it's all calla lily to start out, with elements of narcissus and linden blossom also becoming detectable. As it dries, the florals remain prominent -- lily, linden, narcissus -- but I can start to detect an inkling of the Snake Oil as well. Given time to develop on my skin, the Snake Oil gets stronger but still remains well in the background, showcasing the floral notes but also adding a touch of fullness and roundness as well. I hardly ever detect the vanilla in Snake Oil, but I'm assuming that is at least part of what's acting here. This is probably not my most favorite Snake Oil blend, as the Snake Oil is taking a big backseat to the other notes on my skin, rather than actually having them blend together. But it's still a Snake Oil blend, and it's probably one of the few ways I can actually wear lily of any kind. I'll have to think about this. Edit: I find myself using this for an after shower/sleep scent quite a lot. On me, lily alone reads as a very "clean" scent, but it's overwhelming. Here, lily and the other florals add enough "clean" to the Snake Oil, so it seems to fit, but I don't get headaches, so that's good, too. It's not something I reach for for every occasion, but it does have its purpose.

In the bottle: Yes, almond, but also something musky, something floral, and something honey-sweet. On my skin: Wet, it's a cacophony of notes. I get, in whiffs, distinct almond, cedar, peony, and something that's almost cherry. As it dries, I get musky, heady orchid. There's a hint of almond, and maybe the cedar is providing additional grounding, and maybe the other florals are rounding out the scent, but the orchid is really the main player at this stage. As it develops, the florals come out stronger, with both almond and honey lending a sticky, almond-tinged sweetness. I'm not sure I love it. For me, this is showcasing floral orchid with notes that would make it deeper and richer. Unfortunately, almond and cedar are not notes that typically work well on me -- and they're not working well on me here -- so I suspect the intention is not having the desired effect on my skin.

(Bottle purchased in eBay lot. Year uncertain.) In the bottle: I can pick out honey and beeswax, but I can also tell that I'm not picking out all the notes. On my skin: Wet, it's honey first, with beeswax quickly dominating the scent. Dry, it's still mostly beeswax, with a bit of patchouli funk and a bit of well-behaved ambergris (slightly salty ocean, not rancid whale bile, as it often goes on me) around the edges. Unfortunately for me, as the scent starts to develop, the beeswax starts to fade, and the patchouli and ambergris both fight for prominence. Huh. Maybe this was a false alarm, or maybe the scent is going to be a continuous morpher on me. A half hour later, and it's back to honey-tinged beeswax with a whisper of patchouli and ambergris. I'll definitely have to see how this wears for a whole day and then update.