Alone

[ABrokenAngel]

A hectic, frenzied pinpoint in desolation: booming, bleak, and dark with the horror of loneliness and reluctant solitude. Patchouli and cardamom with bright mandarin, labdanum, muguet, red sandalwood, angelica and gardenia.

In the Bottle: What’s with the wet dog dig lately? Reminds me of a wet dog that’s been toweled down with a plastic based towel. I think I’ll be swapping this one.

Wet: Ugh…..spicey wet dog. Deffinately a swapper.

Drydown: Appearantly while washing the great pyranese (since that’s what it reminds me of for some reason) I was eating Big Red. Cinnamon for some reason is what I smell. I don’t smell anything else. Edited February 4, 2006 by Shollin

[Miss Lynx]

This was a heartbreaker. Apart from Red Phoenix, it was the one I'd most looked forward to in our recent Lab order. But alas, it does not love me, or vice-versa.

 

It shows just enough of what could have been great about it to be a tease. Tantalizing hints of cardamom and mandarin, faint traces of hidden florals.. But out there, front and centre, dominating the scent in true playground-bully fashion, is patchouli. Or should I say PATCHOULI, since it seems to be screaming its name from the rooftops.

 

Now the thing is, I like patchouli... in moderation. When it plays well with others. I do not like it when it bosses the other notes around or beats them up for their lunch money. If this scent had about half the amount of patchouli it does, it would be lovely spicy goodness. As it is, it's just... patchouli. With just enough hints of the other notes to be frustrating. It does settle down some after a while, so the other notes are a little more identifiable, but it never really stops being patchouli-dominant.

 

Kettu put it on after I did, and got something completely different. She recoiled in her chair, holding out her wrists, and said "Whoa! This is SPICY!", then cautiously leaned forward to sniff again, and got an impish smile on her face. She came over and extended her wrists for me to sniff, and the scent was barely recognizable. It was so fiercely spicy I thought it was Three Witches at first, though it seemed more complex than that one. But no... That was what Alone did on her. I sadly held up my wrist for her to sniff, and she said with an expression of sympathy "Um, yeah. That would be patchouli."

 

*sigh*

 

Grade: C+/B-

[kettu]

wet: This is POTENT STUFF, here. Aggressively cardamommy and spicy. It's wasabi-potent without the edge of oh holy gods, where are my nose hairs!?!!!

 

dry down: much less potent. becoming light and heading towards delicate, but not there yet. mandarin is there now, but faint.

 

I am undecided on this one. I like cardamom, but DAMN! I'll have to give it another go to see what I think.

 

***

Ok, it's been 6 days, so I thought I'd give it another go.

 

Verdict: I really like it. It's like a cardamom train-wreck when I first put it on -- I can't stop smelling it, even though I know I should wait until it's died down. I'm horrified and intrigued by how aggressive it is. But when it dries down, I really really like it.

 

I'm going to keep it around for awhile.

Edited February 2, 2006 by kettu keiju

[Lady_Ell]

I LOVE this. Cinnamon and cardamom and something gingery-hot, and dirt.

 

I love it love it love it love it love it!

 

The gardenia thankfully keeps its stanky self in the background, leaving me wrapped in patchouli goodness.

 

Did I say... I LOVE THIS?

I do. I love this.

[Nadirah]

You stink Alone, your breath is like death and dust.

You reak of peppers and funk

I don’t want you to touch me, no way.

I feel the need to swap you away!

Your rot can bloom far away from me

I will set your liquid free.

But wait, I cannot yet judge.

My nose will not budge

Though, through the bottle, Alone I hate

I promised to try you, its not too late.

I hold you in my hand, far away

In fear of what my skin will say…

Your cardamom spreads to my heart

I want to eat you and scream to the stars!

You smell so good, you do!

I’m so glad I got to know you!

You float to my nose on butterfly wings,

Herbs, spices, flowers~ such beautiful things!

Spanked comes to mind

Another favorite of mine,

I want to keep you for awhile

I love how you make me smile.

So spicey and sweet.

When my skin you did meet!

[arabella]

First Impression: Sandalwood and spice.

 

Dries down to: Vick's Vapo-rub creeps in and smears itself all over the wood, offending the cardamom and chasing it away.

 

Additional Comments: Sandalwood really amps up in this one. I wish I got more cardamom instead. This is one blend where patchouli, usually a favorite, doesn't work for me. Neither do the mandarin or muguet notes that I usually love. I'm not familiar with angelica or labdanum and it's a rare blend where gardenia isn't offensive - this isn't one of them. On the whole I can't complain - this is one of only a couple of DiMV scents that didn't work for me; the rest I loved.

 

Lasted: Quite a few hours.

 

Rating: 2 out of 5

[Astburygrrl]

In the Bottle: Holy crap. Its spicy & almost bitter smelling..must be the cardamom?

 

On the Skin: Sweet spices, hazy mix of resins, extremely sharp..i get a feeling of isolation & of time gone by too quickly..perhaps a feeling of regret?

 

Afterhours: This has dried down well to a hint of spice w/ resins..its quite nice and worth the wait, methinks! I dont know if i could wear this blend everyday though, it really makes me sad & almost wistful of my past.

 

Overall this is a really great blend that captures the mood of "Alone". Good job, Beth!

[fiddlehead]

This was another last minute order for me. Like, after the scents were supposed to have disappeared and then got extended I kept changing my mind and getting put off by the muguet which I don't like *at all*.

 

But I'm really happy with it. It's another really unique blend like Lenore and doesn't remind me of anything I've ever smelled before. It's a rich blend of spice and dirt and wood with some sweet flowers and hmm, not getting orange but maybe some Angelica. After a couple of hours it's mostly dirt/wood/spice with a faint hint of sweetness. Very nice. It's very strange, but on my wrists it disappears quickly and leaves behind only faint sweetness. But in my cleavage it's a spicy, woody, scent with a hint of flowers

I don't get any cinnamon, though.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Cinnamon

 

On Skin: This is spicy, it burns my nose right away… I think that is the cardamom even though it seems to have a hint of cinnamon. This scent smells quite exotic and has an Indian feel. The muguet is light, so it doesn’t seem like a floral scent at all, I don’t smell the gardenia either. The sandalwood provides a deep woody base that gives this scent it’s full power. The angelica gives an earth herbal note and the patchouli adds to that of course. I like that the patchouli isn’t too dirty smelling or strong. I don’t smell the mandarin. Overall, a dark scent with a warm overtone. Not really for me but quite interesting nonetheless.

[silverlilac]

First of all, this is my favourite Poe poem, so whatever the notes, I'd force myself to be more open to it. But the scent itself is wonderful- the dry, quality patchouli mixed with the cardamon is what I get the most. It creates an exotic, balanced blend of earthy wood and warm spiciness.

 

Unfortunately, the cardamom makes my skin burn a little upon initial application, and for every reapplication will turn it bright red. But you know what? I don't care. I love this scent so much, I will gladly take the crimson blotches all over my neck!

[Mofo]

In the bottle it smells of herbal cough sweets, those in the uk should know what I mean but with an added metalic tang, that's an odd one, I imagine that's the 'dirt' ?

 

On the skin that metalic note thankfully vanishes and leaves me with sweet herbal spicey notes. It pretty much stays the same after it dries on the skin for me the dominant note is the cardomin.

A warm comforting scent.

Edited March 8, 2006 by Mofo

[Shollin]

Reposting:

 

First sniff: I wasn’t expecting the spicy. Checking the notes, it appears to be cardamom, but my nose reads it as cinnamon (clearly I haven’t been drinking enough chai). That’s the primary note, and there’s an earthiness underneath. No hint of florals yet.

 

Wearing: Earthy-spicy and a little chilly. I’m still not getting any of the other notes… and over the course of the evening, I never really did. It just stayed spicy patchouli.

[sideviewhotel]

WOW! This is.. really good. I'm not sure what I'm getting note-wise here, beyond the patchouli (which I got straight from the imp), but this is.. wow.

 

It's got a green edge to it when wet and then it gets kinda dusty. Like western flowers in a summer desert? Except, there's a hint of fallen leaves, so maybe, instead of western desert flowers, it's more.. dusty damp leaves in fall.

 

So confusing, but so GOOD!

 

I'm getting a potpourri kinda scent, when everything mixes together, which is kinda uncool, but we'll see how this dries down. I hope it stays nice and the potpourri mixture goes away.

[klio]

In the bottle: Rubber bands?

 

Wet: I badly wanted mandarin and maybe some angelica and was hoping for some flowery overtones. I get sandalwood and... rubber bands.

 

Drying: More cinnamon-ythe cardamom, I think. Still not a drop of mandarin. The cardamom keeps switching places with the patchouli.

 

Dry: Slightly pine-y, and very slightly itchy. When the patchouli is at the top, I get hint of hippie-ness from this, but the other scents mute it and push it aside. It smells like something else I tried recently, but I not one I've written a review for yet, apparently, because I can't figure out what it's reminding me of. Maybe Al-Shairan. Yes--it's very close to Al-Shairan (clove, peach and orange with cinnamon, patchouli and dark incense notes) on me. Al-Shairan, likewise, had no fruitiness at all.

 

After a while: Yikes. It's turned into pesticide. The kind that comes in one of those old-fashioned metal cans with the long arm you have to pump. Okay, not quite that awful, but that is where Alone sends my imagination. If I snort at my wrist long enough, I can almost smell a bit of orange. Almost. Now that I've sniffed a bit of what might be orange, another thing this brings to mind is stale tea--a Constant Comment teabag that's been sitting at the bottom of a paper cup on my desk all day.

 

Overall: No wonder you're alone, you smell like a hippie whose granny skirt trailed through bugspray. I got this bottle through a swap, and I'm sad to say I'll be swapping it onward right away. On the plus side, sniffing these sharp notes cleared my sinuses. Coincidence? Or the spooky magic of bpal?

[QueenFae]

A very vibrant, spicy scent. I would have sworn there was cinnamon in this, because that's what the top note smells like on me. I'm not sure what cardamom smells like, but I can detect the red sandalwood and mandarin. The patchouli really lends to the earthy, spicy feel of the blend, but it doesn't smell like patchouli usually does. This is an intriguing scent, but not quite for me. I think the boy will really like it though, and he'll probably snag my bottle.

[dragonryder]

This is a definitely strong scent. The patchouli is very prominent, which does not agree with me in a normal sense, but the other scent blend well enough to help tone it down, where the patchouli just gives it a kick after wear. Not a scent I would really wear often, but a definite in one of my darker moods.

[Eunice]

Spicy goodness in the bottle and on my skin. It takes a little time for the spice to calm down and let the other scents come out. The sandalwood is lovely with the cardemon and I always love even the smallest hint of patchouli. This is still spicy but it's a wonderfully warm and earthy spice. Yum!!

[edenssixthday]

Alone - This scent is dark, heavy, and masculine. When I first apply it, I'm thoroughly repelled by the scent, and am very glad that it sticks fairly close to my skin. As the blend dries, I try to detect individual notes in it, but my nose must be really out-of-whack because I was 100% certain that when I looked up the scent description, I was going to find vetiver, leather, and spices listed as the primary ingredients. When I looked up the scent description, I was astounded to see there is no leather or vetiver in this blend, although I'm guessing the spice that I was smelling is most likely cardamom (although I wouldn't have guessed that one from the scent on my skin). This scent is just too dark and murky and heavy for me. It's got really great staying power, but that's not going to do me any good since I don't find the scent appealing at all. Into the swap pile this one goes!

[juniperus]

Bottle: cardamom and mandarin, mainly. almost food-y.

Wet: the same, the other notes aren't coming out to play, yet.

Dry: the patchouli is hiding underneath, barely peaking out as of yet. still very fruit, not much from the floral on top, really. very complex - I'm still not sure how well I'm wearing it, but it's really damn interesting.

Later: I'm still just fascinated with the wrist-sniffing. I'm not sure if it's for me, but it'll need more than this one wearing to discover that - it's too complex to really make any decisions about with one try...it's a lot to put my head around, I need time to consider this scent. it makes me..contemplative.

[nevermore]

Alone was a impulse trade for me - I had some bottles I was looking to get rid of, and swapped for bottles of Alone and Devil's Night, neither of which I had smelled before, or was particularly itching to try.

 

I'm glad I did. Alone is mainly cardamom and patchouli on me, with a touch of sandalwood and mandaring. I can't really smell any of the flowers in it, which is sad - I was hoping for a little bit of muget at least (one of my favorite florals). This is a wonderful fall/winter scent I think, though I've been using it very lightly during the summer, and it has been wonderful. I'm very glad I've got a bottle of this - it's one of those scents that smells like "me, but better."

[fairy]

From imp to skin this was pure spicy cinnamon. I like the softer, less harsh scents better. Off to the swap pile so it can go to someone who likes a little spice in their life

[supremegoddessofall]

Christmas-y. The cardamon is predominant, and it's definitely a spicy scent. The mandarin is actually not making me hate it. Patchouli isn't overwhelming.

[nancybridget]

The patchouli and cardamon are the most prominent on my skin. It comes across as an herbal cinnamony aroma, yet very sweet.

[sarada]

You know what's funny, is that I've had this for almost a year and I never remembered to review it. I distinctly remember testing it around Christmas and writing a review on paper and losing it! So this is partially from memory though I'm retesting it again.

 

In short, the reason I keep Alone around is to layer it with Geek. The cardamom in Alone partners with the leather and woods in Geek to produce what for me is a sort of half-assed version of Spanked. And I LOVE it. But I MUST wear them together. I can't wear Alone on its own (alone...heh!) because it's just too spicy. The cardamom overwhelms and is a bit more cinnamony than cardamom usually is. I don't smell anything else in this at all -- well maybe a hint of the patchouli, but not much.

 

The cardamom is grounded slightly by patchouli and sandalwood, but they barely peep out from the spicy swirl. The other notes are lost to my nose, but I think that worn on its own this would garner a lot of "What smells good?" remarks. I seem to prefer it with a little Geek for my tastes though!

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

i was so happy to get a partial bottle of this one...

 

but when i tried it (the other night, decanting some out for someone else) ... i got some on my hand (oops) and.... all i got was cinnamon. red hots. and um....