Elemcee

Le Serpent Qui Danse starts off as being purely a floral, with emphasis on Gardenia. Eventually, though, it's more of a spicy vanilla. It's a pretty, girly, warm and cheerful scent, but it's still womanly; it's not a sugary little girl scent. It's a fifties style dress with a fitted bodice and full skirt, rather than a frilly pinafore.

Laudanum (or Laundanum, since my bottle seems to be sporting a rogue N;)) makes me think of being in a place that's alluringly warm and cosy, yet dangerous. The danger creeps up on you, though, maybe seductively, and that makes it difficult to escape. It is a lovely, warm, spicy, unisex scent.

Hamadryad, when wet, is rather medicinal. Unfortunately, it never changes on me, and eventually just fades away. It's not something I mind smelling, but it is something I mind smelling like. Oh well...

Queen Mab is darkly fruity and creamy. This appears to be the scent of a lovely young woman, at first, with long dark hair, but there's a streak of darkness. She's mischevious, but knowing. It's a gorgeous scent, definitely. It takes some slathering, though.

#20 Love Oil is odd. It's not unpleasant, it's not really anything at first. Then it's this sharp, green scent. I think it's one I might try layering. I might try it at a different time of the month.

Sea of Glass is Tempest when the sea has returned to calm. It's all cold aquatics and a sweet cleanness. This is an oil for when I feel tranquil, I think, rather than tense.

Glitter is sparkles and bubblegum (which I understand is heliotrope?). It's a very young scent and reminds me of when I was about nine or ten and went to a party wearing loads of sparkly and multicoloured plastic bracelets. At that time to me, that was the height of cool. Another thing that was cool was brightly coloured bubble-gum. It actually smells like something a younger teenager would wear. Having said that, it isn't tacky like those sorts of scents.

Kabuki is sweet, dark cherries. Not marashino cherries, but real cherries. Despite this sweetness, it's a very womanly scent. It also makes me think of red velvet, thick, plush red velvet, like curtains. A dark room with red velvet curtains.

O is lovely. She has two sisters: Smut and Sed Non Satiata. Smut is overt and possibly somewhat devious, SNS is quieter and a bit more romantic, whereas O is just pure sex. No trimmings or seductive trappings. Just flesh on flesh, and the warm afterglow. It's definitely a feminine scent, all musky honey sweetness. It's gorgeous.

Lust is warm, red and sensual. It's not straight-up sex on me, it's more like the seduction, as well. The inspiring of lust. It conjures the image of stockinged legs and stilletos, a corseted waist and red lipstick. It's pretty dark, and very musky.

Swank is sweet and fruity yet with a tang. It reminds me a lot of a body shop fruity scent. Except it's like a more sophisticated version, like a fruity cocktail, indeed. It's like a girl's night out, all that sort of grown-up giggliness in strappy heels.

Bed of Nails smells like a very clean man straight of the shower. It's not a bad thing. In fact, depending on the man, it could be lovely. It's a perfect evocation of the name: sharp, clean and steely, and it's generally true that, when sniffing the perfume samples in fashion magazines, I prefer the one labelled 'for men', rather than the usually chemically flowery, overly sweet scent that's assigned to my gender. Bed of Nails might still be a bit masculine for me, though.

Zephyr smells like a pleasant cloud of lemon and vanilla. It's lovely, calming and soft. It's like sitting in a fragant green field on a nice warm day. It's nice.

Envy certainly is green. A bright, clean green, like olbas oil, except not quite so sinus-clearing. I don't feel jealous, but I do feel quite restless and unrelaxed. Don't know if the oil is to blame for enhancing that, but it definitely isn't soothing. It's nice, though, a nice cool Spring-day sort of scent.

All Night Long is very sexy. However, it is differently sexy to the warm, soft (not-so) vanilla honey-sweetness of Sed Non Satiatia or Smut. This is hot, with pepper and cinnamon. I've not got anyone to try it on, but I'll say that it certainly made me wish I did. It smells nice, I think (I like both pepper and cinnamon), but it seems that it should just be for what it is meant for, because of the effect it has on me. Only quam: it didn't last long, so maybe I should be a little more liberal, and in a few more places, too, which means I should put in an order for a bigger bottle next time I place an order .