Sheila

This was a giftimp from the lab (though it was on my wish list also--eventually I would have ordered it). Thank you, lab, for letting me try this! I really thought I'd love this scent (I love the imagery and I love frankincense), but unfortunately, it doesn't agree with my skin chemistry. In the imp it smells lovely, but on me, it smells like a dirty rose. (The same thing happened with Spellbound, Black Rose, and Rakshasa, too--all strongly rose scents.) I think I need to avoid dark rose scents. Off to swaps where hopefully it will find a happy home. ETA: Layered with Dorian, this is sweeter and more "wearable" for me. Yum!

This was a giftimp from the lab. Thank you so much for letting me try this! Unfortunately my skin chemistry totally destroyed this one. I like tobacco, and I like "heady" and "sultry" blooms, but this just smells flat on me--herbal and earthy rather than floral. Ah well--I'll swap it to someone who will hopefully have better skin chemistry.

This was a freebie in my last order (though it was on my wish list--I would have ordered it eventually). Thank-you, lab! In the imp and on wet, this smells like honey. I love honey. As it dries, the spicy-floral scent of the lilies emerges. This is wonderful! It's very, very floral, but the honey adds sweetness, and the slightly spicy quality of the lilies keeps this from becoming too "sneezy." I think I need a big bottle.

First stage: in the bottle and on wet, this reminds me of Chaste Moon, but with sweet fruit instead of cream. Second stage: I see the comparisons with Sugar Skull. This has the same burnt sugar smell. Luckily, on me, the strawberries kept this from becoming maple syrup (which is what happened with Sugar Skull). It's a sweet, smoky scent--almost like magnolias (is that the dogwood?). I don't really like this stage--it's too heady for me. Third (final) stage: dries down to a gentle, sweet, fruity scent. It's like mild, sweet candy. It's nice at this stage, but it reminds me a lot of The Living Flame (but with sweet fruit rather than sweet flowers). Conclusion: I think I'm going to swap this, but I'll try it again in a week. The Living Flame is a similar pink scent to me, but I like it better. Maybe if the oils age and blend a bit more, Pink Moon will smell different.

This is one of the first imps I ever tried. I got it in my first order, liked it, but set it aside because new scents were coming in. I decided to try it again--it's aged 6 months, and it's absolutely glorious. First, I smell violets. Not sure if they're in here, though, or if it's another sweet, dusty flower that makes me think violets. Then I smell rosewood and myrrh. This scent is a lovely combination of floral scents and woody, resiny scents. I'm not a huge wood-scent fan, but the rosewood and sandalwood in here are wonderful--they add depth and mystery. As it aged, this became less powdery and more deep and spicy. If you're unsure about either florals or woody-resiny scents, try this.

I think O, La Petit Mort, and Skuld are sisters--honey-scented sisters, each with a similar basenote but with different attitudes. If you like one, you should try the others. O is the experienced big sister. She's been around the block, she's tough, she's sensual, she's brazen. La Petit is the romantic middle sister. She will have sex ("make love") only if she's in love. She keeps a journal and writes wistful poetry. Skuld is the little sister, barely in adolesence. She chews grape gum and snaps the bubbles. She's just learned to flirt, and can't wait to do more.

The scent of warm, damp skin flushed with the glow of passion, touched by the luxuriant potency of ylang ylang and myrrh. This is like O's little sister on me--they're both primarily honey scents. The honey is lovely in La Petit Mort, and the ylang ylang gives it a "glowing" quality, a lightness that is missing in O. However, the amber lends O its staying power, which is missing here--this fades quickly on me. This is nice, soft, and sweet--but I think I prefer the uber-honey of O.

This smells exactly like leather and rose. In the imp and on wet, the rose is dominant. However, as this dries, the leather comes out and adds a bit of dustiness and...well, corruption to the rose. It's not really my kind of scent, but I'm glad I got to try it. Thank you, lab, for giving me this as a giftimp. *hug*

This is very strongly a white-floral scent to me. It reminds me of dryer sheets, or of Yankee Candles' "Wedding Day" scent. Nice if you like that sort of scent, but I'm not a white-floral person. Off to swaps! ETA: This was a giftimp from the lab. Thank you, lab! *hugs*

I had high hopes for this one...I love ivy, blackberries, myrrh, and apple blossoms. Unfortunately, every time I tried Mabon, all I got was sour wine, with a drydown that smelled like a generic Christmas candle. Stupid skin chemistry.

I think Malediction smells exactly like Middle Earth.

Amsterdam (watery tulips) and Rosalind (light grassy flowers) are both fresh-green-growing-things scents.

This is lovely, and thank you jj_j for letting me try some. On wet, this smells like plum--but less strong and animalistic than the King of Spades. When it dries, the blossoms come out, and so does the myrrh and the muguet. This is a lovely, deep, almost-spicy floral layered over rich plum. The King of Spades is decadent and depraved; his Queen is more regal, with a core of strength and majesty.

In the bottle: something burnt and sharp: flame-like. On: A very sweet floral that dries into a very posh perfume. I can't really pick out notes, except that I'm pretty sure there's sweet pea in here and probably musk. I see where others have smelled vanilla, but I think it's a sweet floral (?) rather than vanilla. But I'm not sure! It's taken me three wearings to really come to like this. It is sophisticated and worldy--womanly rather than girlish. And it's gotten unsolicited compliments from my husband, who usually says "that smells nice" when I shove my wrist under his nose but doesn't otherwise notice my perfumes.

Thank you so much, jj_j, for giving me an imp of this. It's so lovely, and I'm grateful to have a chance to try it. In the vial and wet: fruity and sweet. Grape? Blackberry? On: honey! Honey and...is that musk? Maybe not...but something sexy and deep. As it dries, the sweet honey becomes slightly spiced. It's almost incensey, but still sweet and simple. This is lovely--add me to the list of people begging for this to come back.

This was a giftimp from the lab (but it was on my wish list too). Thanks lab--I'm glad I got to try this! In the vial and on when wet, this is heavenly--honey and toffee sweetness. However, after about 15 minutes, it does the same thing Sugar Skull did--turns to pure maple syrup. Skin chemistry strikes again. I wanted to love this.

I didn't order this at Yule because, at the time, I was scared of the berries and the pine. Since then, however, Dublin convinced me that not all piney scents were bad. The very sweet jj_j gave me some Skadi in a swap--thank you! I'm so glad I got a chance to try Skadi--she's like Dublin's softer, less sharp, more fruity sister. It's a beautiful, frosty yet warm scent--pine with the sweetness of berries. I'm pretty sure there's some musk in there too. If this comes back next year, I'm buying a bottle.

Personally, I think Dorian is more like Butterball (but not an exact match)--they both have a vanilla musk scent. I love Regan, but find the orchid to be really strong (yum), and that component is missing in Butterball. I wish there was an exact match to Butterball--that would be heavenly!

I first tried Kali as a giftimp from the lab. Thanks, lab--I don't think I would have ordered it on my own (the chocloate and tobacco would have scared me off)! I recently swapped for a bottle of this. This is so well-blended that I can't pick out any individual notes. First, it's a very sharp scent--very dark and deep. As it dries, the florals (again, I can't pick out any specific flower) come out. This is very sophisticated and a bit sinister (as a scent named after Kali should be). It's lovely--perfect for when I want to feel kick-ass and confident.

In the bottle this smells like melons to me. (I think it's the cucumber plus some other note that reminds me of melons?) On my skin, the orchid, juniper, and light florals come out. (Do I smell apple blossom? Or is that the "wood aloes"?) This is very light and soft. It's slightly herbal, slightly aquatic, slightly floral. In other words, hard to describe! It's very beautiful, though, and I'll treasure my imp.

Thank you, lab, so much for this giftimp! I feel honored to try it. I love you guys. It's been fun to read everyone's reviews--they're all so different! In the bottle, I smell orange tootsie roll pops (like Black Phoenix smells like cherry tootsies). Sweet and orange--yum! On, it smells like orange liqueur. Then it smells like a chocolate orange. Then it smells like a spiced orange--is that clove? Then it's gone. An hour later, and I can barely smell the last traces on my skin if I press my nose into my arm (however--TMI alert!--this may be a PMS thing. I'll try it again in a week or two). I never smelled any almond or cinnamon (which is good--I don't usually like either). What I can (barely) smell, though, is a slightly incensey orange--the orange version of Black Phoenix. This is very yummy, and those who love foody scents are going to go nuts when/if this is released. Edit: me can spell.

I'm almost sorry I got a bottle of this because I will miss it so much when it's gone. (Oh well--'tis better to have loved and lost, right?). Antique Lace is warm, sweet, soft vanilla. It starts off not really smelling like anything on me--but after an hour or so the scent really blooms. It becomes warmer and softer. It's very comforting. At the very end of drydown, I get a touch of soft, faded flowers. It has shot into my top-five list. sigh.

My Snake Oil has gotten tons sweeter and more vanilla-y through age. *shrug* Everyone's skin chemistry is different.

...and there's little bats on All Saints' and a jack-o'-lantern on Samhain....so cute!

The Rising Sun. She is Ostara, Easter, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of fertility and the dawn. She is a protector and friend to all children. Her scent is that of softly glowing skin, jasmine, buttercup and honeysuckle. This was a giftimp from the lab (though it was on my wish list). Thanks, lab! Eos is very, very pretty. It's a girly, light floral scent that really glows. I smell mostly buttercups, with a bit of honeysuckle. The jasmine shows up a bit at drydown. The perfect scent for celebrating spring.