Mantis

[bloody sore]

Crushed herbs and sweet amber resin with a streak of patchouli, neroli and golden musk.

I won this bottle in one of the lab's recent ebay auctions. So long have I wanted to smell this one. The description sounds perfect!
Sadly, that is not the case. I mostly get the 'crushed herbs' and not much else. I threatens to turn into the dreaded bell pepper note of great mystery. Hardly a trace of the amber of patchouli, and only a slight hint of the musk. *sigh*

[changeling]

I found this in my stash.

 

In bottle: A cool herbal citrus

Wet: Cool herbal

Dry: Low throw, the herbal citrus continues. It lasts a few hours (three or four). This scent doesn't change much on my skin. I like that. It's quite different from the first time I tried it. I would say that aging has made it more true to its description--or perhaps it is just alterations in my skin chemistry from that time. A fine summery scent.

[SophieCedar]

This is exactly as described, on my skin. The golden musk is amping a bit more, so this smells like vanilla herbal grass with a bright touch of neroli. Pretty frikkin awesome..especially in the morning. I feel so plucky that I could clean the whole house.. but belgian waffles and smelling the flowers outside win instead.

[Invidiana]

This started off as a sheer herbal scent with a slight sweetness, and I was hoping it would dry down to reveal some golden gloriousness from the amber and musk but it ended up drying down into all the gloriousness of Palmolive. Which is nostalgic in a way because that's all my mom ever washed dishes with when I was a kid, but I still don't want to smell like Palmolive.

[FathomBelow]

To me, this smells like bleach with an undercurrent of sweet spices and flowers. The bleach gradually fades as the scent dries, but still...I'm not sure what's going on here, as I usually like all of the notes listed! Oh well, the fact remains - this one is not for me. Which may be a good thing, seeing as it's discontinued.

[maika]

In the imp, this is herbal with a little citrus undertone.

 

Wet: still very green and fresh, with a tiny hint of musk peeking through way up the back somewhere.

 

Dry: Pretty much cologney herbs. Fresh, and gender neutral, but not for me.

[sunlitgarden]

Discontinued since 2007, so I really don't know where this imp came from. Possibly the Trading Post, Puddin' is known to throw those imps in sometimes, lol.

 

In the imp: No particular notes are standing out to me, but it smells fairly "cologne-y", as well as having a dry wood, old-book type note.

 

On my skin: still fairly cologne-y, though a bit sweeter. A tad bit dryer-sheety.

 

As it dries it starts to smell a bit incensey, though also kind of unpleasant. It smells a bit ashy, and also a bit... poopy. Clearly not a match for my chemistry. O_o

[flaer]

Initial Thoughts: Seems pretty fresh, green and herbal-esque.

 

Upon application: I get citrus - specifically lemon and after the citrus note dissipate, I'm left with amber. Normally, I would be raving about how awesome it is, but the amber in here doesn't seem to work that well with my chemistry. Amber, in this instance, is overwhelming sweet and insists on broadcasting its presence to everyone.

 

Unfortunate, indeed.

[achildoftime]

It's mostly herbs here with a bit of amber and patchouli giving it some depth when it's wet. As it dries, though, the patch ramps up a bit and it no longer smells that herbal. It does feel a bit brighter than patchouli usually feels, so the amber and musk must be doing their job. It's nice enough, but I'm kind of relieved to not be enthusiastic about this one.

[Lucchesa]

Weird: I get no patch at all and none of the bitterness I tend to associate with neroli. The amber resin is VERY sweet, as if the crushed herbs were trapped in corn syrup. It's pleasant but not wowing me, and as achildoftime says, I too am relieved not to have fallen in love with another HTF discontinued blend.