vthesiren

For the first few moments, this is wonderful - it's fruity and happy-making and fun. In the decant, it was fantastic. I put it on my skin; still pretty great, not too different... And then, everything went HORRIBLY WRONG. Under the surface of the fruits lies something... not-good. Sour and acrid, like something left out to rot for a while. Are those the florals? The Snake Oil? I thought SO was all right on me when I tried it. Why is it doing this?! I was having such a good run with the Carnaval. Poo. I'll definitely retest this, since I was looking forward to this so much. But for now, I think I need to wash this off. :/ So bummed!

Testing this out again after a month to compare with Lucifer (both woodsy figgy scents). This is really nice out of the imp, and the wet stage is GORGEOUS - I get a bit of everything, really well blended! It's woodsy, slightly sweet, and calming. And then it EXPLODES into tamarind. Really pungent tamarind... with a bit of fig, lavender, and rosemary. This was in my "like/retest" baggie, but I think I'll either swap this out or give it to a friend - it's pretty overwhelming and I just can't see myself wearing this very often.

First impression: Wooo-wee, that's gin all right! The citrus is very faint. Wet on skin: Immediately upon hitting the skin, the tangerine comes out. It's then beaten back into submission by the gin. Throw is minimal, I have to sniff very close to my wrist to smell it. Dry: There was a moment of lovely fruitiness, but now it's mostly gin again. Still very faint - my skin is threatening to eat it at any time. This was a half-bottle purchase from a forumite, and I'll hang onto this for more testing - it's still great for summer.

I've been testing this imp vigorously since I got it. On some days, this is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I get a burst of apple; the rose behaves itself; and on especially good days, the honey wafts up midday, and I think, "Damn, I smell good." But there have been days on which the whole concoction goes totally sour for a few minutes upon hitting my skin, and it's rather unpleasant to sit through. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it's a bit ech. I learned this the hard way after Two, Five & Seven - the imp smelled SO GOOD that I got a bottle immediately, but ever since, it hardly works anymore. :/ Damn you, rose! I'll keep the imp, but I don't think I'll be getting a bottle soon.

Oh man, I think I know what my next bottle order will include - this fades so quickly on me, but it's SO GOOD. I'm getting perfectly spiced hot apple cider - I can't really pick out individual spices because it's so well-blended (though there might be cinnamon in this, it doesn't seem especially prominent like in the other ones I've tried). It's sort of candle-like on drydown, but not in the same way that Al-Shairan was on me. It's comforting and really, really nice. Actually, you know what? This reminds me more of glögg than apple cider. Yum.

Okay, wow. I smelled this in the imp, thought "huh," and put it away. Today, I dug it out and tested it on the back of my wrist. Yup, SCREAMIN' JASMINE. I promptly set the imp aside, planning to do away with it. Twenty minutes later, I got a waft of something sweet and thought, "What is that amazing smell?" I smelled my wrist... and it's exactly like some of the other reviews said. LEMON POUND CAKE. And the florals have settled down and become... pleasant. What is this, I don't even. I guess I'll hold onto this a bit longer...

Whoa. You get me. That's a superb list, I actually just added a few of those to my ever-growing Excel wishlist. I just found out about Lucifer last night and was heartbroken that I'd never get to try it, but then you posted that it was still available! I've ordered so much perfume in the past few days, though... but if there isn't much left, then... /waffles Thanks for all your help!

All these suggestions sound great, thank you! I had Serpent's Kiss and Goblin in mind -- the honey in the description of Blood Kiss put me off, but since there's so many other notes in that blend, I'll track down an imp anyway. And layering something vetiver-heavy with Snake Oil is giving me a total "duhh" moment, haha. I'll definitely have to try that. Thank you! <3

Reviving this thread to ask... Recently, I've found that I'm somewhat of a vetiver-lover -- I especially like it when it's blended into something sweet to kinda balance it out. Two of my most recent loves are Death Adder and The Great He-Goat, and I won't be able to stock up on one until CD comes back and the other is Salon and seems hard to find. Does anyone have any recs for something similar in the GC catalog? Here are the notes for reference: Death Adder: Snake Oil with vetiver, black coconut, vanilla, and opoponax. The Great He-Goat: Haitian vetiver, Egyptian amber, carnation, black musk, pomegranate, patchouli, and smoked ginger. GC blends with vetiver that I've tried include: Saturnalia, Brimstone, Voodoo, Nephilim, The Caterpillar, Spider, and Anathema.

My eyes! My eyes! This smelled really nice in the vial, but when I applied it it became JASMINE JASMINE JASMINE - I hadn't tried many other scents with jasmine, but I definitely recognized the note from The Caterpillar. It's very herbal and medicinal, and STRONG. I wound up having to wash this off because it started giving me a headache. Oh well, I know a friend who'll love this.

Wow. Wow. I was a bit worried about testing this because of my last failures with one vetiver-heavy blend and one ginger-heavy blend, but this one. THIS ONE. It works so well. It starts off as mostly vetiver, but when it dries, it backs off and the ginger comes through. And then the patchouli. It's dark and earthy, but also smoky and sweet. It's spicy, but never threatens to turn into cheap cologne. If I concentrate, I can make out the pomegranate rounding everything out. This scent is pure sex and makes me terribly weak-kneed. LOVE.

I got this in my Quest for the Perfect Apple Scent. On me, the rose amps liekwhoa, but the lemon and apple are still discernible. It's a bit too bright for me, so I don't reach for it very often, but I apply it whenever I need to wake up RIGHT HERE AND NOW. It's rather good that way.

I'm not getting "masculine" from this at all! When first applied: cinnamon. Cinnamon cinnamon cinnamon. Did I mention cinnamon? But since this was my first cinnamon blend, I was pleased that my skin didn't burn or turn red. Yay! After a while, the violets come peeking through and threaten to turn it into soap. Now? It's back to CINNAMON EVERYWHERE (and some incense). I keep getting wafts of it even when my hand is nowhere near my face. I think I'd like this if it were a soap, but I'm not sure how I feel about wearing it -- the CINNAMON makes it a tad too foody for my tastes. To Google!

Started off as a very powerful rose scent with a hint of darkness. Sweet, very feminine, something that a strong, confident woman would probably wear. After an hour and a powdery phase, it's pure incense. All the rose is gone. How strange.

The Lab's description is so spot-on that I'm not sure what else to say. The leather note is subtle and divine. It makes me think of being coiled around by a guardian dragon. It's very comforting and makes me sleepy. If I got a bottle, it'd be so I can dab this on before heading to bed. Love it.

At first, I was disappointed that I wasn't getting more of the frankincense/myrrh/resin - it was just a soft, somewhat soapy rose/lily floral. But the more I sniffed my wrist, the more I liked it, and I've just re-applied it! It's a very pure, clean, unobtrusive scent, and one that I can imagine would be great for everyday use. Not sure if it's bottleworthy quite yet, but I'll definitely hang onto my imp. eta 6/15: The more I wear it, the more I get of the incense when it dries down. It's beautiful. This has become one of my everyday go-tos, and I've just ordered a bottle last night.

Gosh, this is strong on me. I'm not sure what absinthe smells like, but I definitely got the rosewater, lilac, and scorched sugar cubes (mmmm). After about an hour I'm just getting the smokiness. I am really, really liking this, and if it continues to dry down nicely, this'll be on my bottle list. eta: I had to go out of state for some work last week, and in a small baggie, I packed my imps/decants of Hymn, Dragon's Hide, and this. I just nabbed a bottle of this on Etsy. Can't waaaaait.

This smelled SO GOOD in the decant I received (I actually wrote down "this is hot" as a first impression!), but on me it dries down to cheap cologne. And not just any cheap cologne, but the kind that young teenage dudes use in locker rooms. Like Hadewig, it gives me a headache if I sniff it for too long, only I'm amping the ginger and bergamot. Alas! I might age it a bit and try again.

I bought a very full imp of this from someone on the forum, and I'm glad I sprung for it. After a worrying track record with some of the scents I was hyping up, this is VERY satisfying. The mint note worried me at first, but the apple smells fantastic, and now it's dried down to a beautiful sweet musk. I'm so glad I got to try this!

This is the most beautiful smell in the imp, and when it's wet, it's rather wonderful! But after a while, it dries down to something odd. I can see where the "peanut butter" remarks are coming from, but to me it's something powdery and almost clay-like. Booo.

This is so nice. I really dig the fir resin in this, and combined with everything else, it makes me feel like a fairy in an enchanted woodland or something like that. Also, the label art is awesome.

Ack, I was hyping this up so much in my mind, but even during drydown... vetiver. Vetiver vetiver vetiver. I don't really mind vetiver (I like Saturnalia and Brimstone!), but this is smoky, bitter, and completely overwhelming. Where are the clove and leather I was so excited about? D: I'll come back to this in a few weeks and try again, but for now, I has a sad. eta: An hour and a half later, I can sort of get a whiff of leather if I sniff indirectly. Still no clove to be found. I'll throw this on a family member later and see what happens.

Snake Oil with vetiver, black coconut, vanilla, and opoponax. I bought a sniffie of this as an impulse buy on a recent forum order, and I'm so glad I did. I've never tried Snake Oil because vanilla's hit-or-miss on me, but I might have to give it a shot, because this is wonderful. I get vanilla, coconut, and spices when first applied, and then the vetiver comes out to round it out with an earthy base. I wish I had more of this now! If this is in the rumored CD comeback, I'm definitely buying a bottle or two.

Yeah, I just looked into Eve a few days ago and am bewildered at how it passed me by for so long! I'll check it out.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a similar BPAL to See by Chloe? I got a sample card at Sephora a few days ago and it's a really lovely honeyed-apple floral, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to drop a large amount of money on it yet. Perfume pyramid according to Fragrantica: Top notes: bergamot, apple blossom Middle notes: jasmine, ylang-ylang Base notes: musk, sandalwood, vanilla