gdogs

oh, i so wanted to love this one! the notes are all beautiful! and, for the first 45 minutes, i DID love this one. i thought it might replace tamora as my to die for spring scent. . . peachy and soft and warm. after about an hour, however, all that went away. i was left with a fairly generic perfume scent, with just the tiniest touch of peach. i had to concentrate hard to pick out any of the warm peachy goodness. so i ordered tamora!

i thought i would like this one a lot. . . it has some lovely notes. it starts out green, in a sharp way. when it was wet i distinctly smelled the oakmoss and the juniper. as it dries, however,the scents weave together, and i can't pick out any signular note. it becomes brittle and harsh. i don't know what it is that does that on my skin. . . this is not bad on me, but not noteworthy, either. into the swap pile it goes.

Warrior, Trickster and Goddess of Magic and Poets, she is one of the Tuatha De Danaan and the Queen of the Faeries. A very complex scent, both shadowy and fierce: black orchid, sandalwood, night-blooming jasmine, osmanthus, Somalian rose, and Chinese musk. i don't know what to think of this queen. she started out with a strong cherry/acetate scent, like fingernail polish remover, but with something green under it. i didn't like it at first. it dried down to a somewhat more intriging scent, but i can't pick out any of the notes. its a sweet floral, staying real close to my skin. this scent is baffling me. it reminds me somewhat of the red queen on me. .. . which baffles me even more. . .

i really, really like this oil. it is what i wished all those lavender EO's i've tried would smell like. for some reason, lavender EO's have a bitter, sharp tang to them. this is perfect. i think sandalwood softens and grounds just about any scent on me. so in oneriroi, the lavender comes through true and beautiful. during the winter days, i only think to wear it to bed (and i sleep great when i do) but i imagine as spring comes, i'll wear it more during the day. this is going on my big bottle list.

well, i guess some vetivers work on me, which throws my latest resolution (don't even TRY anything with vetiver in it) right out the window. this is delightful! i get cedar and cinnamon. . .and i thought it was sandlewood until i looked at the description and saw patchouli. the cinnamon fades out after a while, which is too bad. but it is still beautiful. this may become my favorite woody blend. . . this is a sexy, warm heavy scent. i want to curl up with it. umbra is thick and heavy. secretive. i'm feeling somewhat vulnerable right now, and this comforts me immensely. i'm really surprised that the vetivert doesn't make this dirty and gritty on me.

this was a generous gift from the lab - thank you! wow. hard hitting florals at first, and i can't identify the notes. then i get roses, roses, and something woody. i wonder what it is until i check the description. duh! rosewood. after a while, it dries down to just roses, and stays that way. its nice, i'm just not fond of rose scents on me. i'll be sending this on to someone who can give it more love than i can.

i completely agree! wet, and in the early stages, it is pure lemon pledge. after a while, more lemon and less pledge. but i can smell something like citronella, which sorta upsets my stomach. as it settles even further, i can pick out the lilac, which when is a very nice lilac, one of the nicest i've had! but i have to concentrate to keep it from going back to lemon pledge/citronella. this one is going into the swap pot.

wet on me, this one is very woody - first it is eucalyptus, then cedar. it feels good on my sinuses. as it dries, there is a sweet tone to it, vanilla or amber, and maybe a touch of cinnamon. then some sandlewood jumps into the mix. . . or is that just cedar with an amber back? i don't know what wolfsbane smells like. . i imagine it smells like horehound, which has a minty scent. maybe that is what i'm smelling as eucalyptus. . .that menthol, minty scent. i like it quite a bit, as the sweet wood is unusual. Not my favorite woody scent, tho.

this gave me goosebumps when i first put it on, actual shivers down my spine. it is sharp and high. reminded me of fabric softener, but not in a bad way. would have been big bottle worthy, but it dried too sharp and brittle for me, and tickled my nose. however i will gladly use the imp, which was a generous gift from the lab!

i received this as a gift from the lab, and never would have ordered it on my own. thank you so much!! shattered is a very intriguing scent - i feel it in my eyes, and on my tounge, like menthol. wet and during drydown, i get mint, but it is mint over sweet tarts. i think grapefruit becomes sweet tarts on my skin. and maybe there is a touch of (the dreaded) ginger, but not enough to make it bitter, which is what ginger does on my skin. as it dries more, i feel it more in the front of my sinuses. i get the feeling that i'm hitting off my grandma's oxygen tank. . . (shhhh!! ) i feel this scent more physically than i do most. crystaline. bright. clear. cold. high. those are the words that come to mind. it is a blinding white scent, with just a touch of green. i like it, but think i will wear this much more in the summer, as it makes me feel kinda chilly. . . .i also think warm skin would amp this up more than my current cold skin.

i've haven't had trouble with domestic or international travel. i carry my imps in an altoids gum tin - perfect! not as perfect for a 5ml bottle, but i do the same with those, and cinch it with a rubber band.

i can't believe how much i love this scent. . . .it is perfect. i was thinking today that if i could only wear ONE bpal scent for the next year, snow white would be it. hell, maybe for the rest of my life. it is such a calming, suede scent (not suede as in leather, but as in smmmmooooth). i can't decide if it is coconut or almond, if it is warm or cool, if it is complex or simple. i do catch just the bearest hint of flowers under the smoothness. someone described it as "frosting made out of snow" and that is right on. i only wish it would last longer on me. . . within a few hours, i'm hunting to find it on my skin. on the other hand. . .i spilled some (*sob!*) on my wooden desk a few weeks ago, and the entire room still smells like snow white. mayhaps i should create a wooden talisman for me to wear, and soak it in snow white. because i could smell like this every. single. day.

in the imp, othello smells divine! like a very sweet spice shop. when i put it on, it is a beautiful, creamy rose scent. .. surprising, since i expected it to be more masculine, and because i didn't get any floral from the imp. although i couldn't pick out the musk, there was definitely something solid backing up the rose and making it creamy. it was one of the best roses i've smelled. on my skin, i didn't get much spice, tho. . . disappointing because it smelled so yummy in the vial. 2 hours later, i can barely catch any of the scent on my wrist. . .just the faintest touch of lavender (?!). it was nice while it lasted, but it wasn't long enough.

jezebel. . . oh my god i wanted to love you! you teased me with whispers of honey and orange blossom and sandalwood, all the things you know i can't resist. . . when you first open up to me, i catch a glimpse of what you could be. . . you are orange sherbert, sweetened with honey. you make my head swim. . . when you touch me, however, you turn on me like a banshee. you are no longer sweet, you are no longer honeyblossomthickresin. you are fried chicken. oh. . . so you've decided to come back to me, eh? after two hours of tormenting me with your fried chicken, you come back singing a different tune. . .trying to lure me back into your web, with soft, whispered promises of things to come.. .promising me hours of spring time scents, nilla wafers and milkshakes. jezabel, i may gaze at you longingly from across the room, but i shall never let you under my skin again. . . .the pain is not worth the pleasure.

uhm. i did not like this in the vial. it smelled like the cleaner they use in the bathroom at work. i didn't want to be a wimp, however, and so i put it on. . . . uhm. i do not like this on me. . . . . the scent isn't calming down any. but still, not wanting to be a wimp, i'm not washing it off. . .i'm just holding my wrist as far away from my body as i can. i give it a sniff every once in a while. after about an hour. . . it is not as bad now. it is starting to mellow out and i'm getting a candy scent. the vanilla is starting to warm up, and i think the fizzy, smarty candy scent must be the ginger. . . although i wouldn't have expected ginger to smell like this. i think i just don't like ginger on me. i didn't like sudha segara or pele very much, either, and i'm just now getting the connection. . . of to the swaps pile with ye!

i think perversion smells a lot like absolution massage bar. it must be the tonka. and i think the lion, in the wet phase, smells a lot like floating island. could it be the sandlewood? both the lion and perversion are fantastic!

so odd. i tried fire of love this morning, and had to stop myself from running to wash it off. i swear it smelled like used baby diapers on me. and then i come here to check the reviews, and how strange that two other forumites had the same thing happen. i think part of it was initially a powdery scent that overlayed the funk below. the diaper smell faded away after a while, but the scent still is no good on me. i don't know what it is because my sniffer isn't sophisticated enough yet to pick out the notes i don't like. i thought there might be vetivert in there, but i can't be sure. it is a very wiley smell, too. its almost as if there are physical layers to it. . . the first layer, i get with the first sniff, is a cedar smell. the second layer, with the second sniff, is something herby. the third layer is a strange, animal cave smell. sorry. i just can't like this one on me. and since i can't wear purfumes around my gf, i can't test whether it would have the intended "rekindling" effect.

the peach doesn't really come out of the bottle for me, but once i put in on, it is deliciously peachy! i don't pick up the peach blossom part. straight out of the gate, this is peaches in cream. but not fresh peaches. ... . those wonderful peaches that someone you know has canned. and sweet, fresh cream. it takes a little while, but then i begin to smell the amber and heliotrope, which gives it great depth. i am learning that amber and heliotrope smell great on me. after a few more minutes, the scents have blended together beautifully. i pick up some sort of spice. . .but i can't place it. over all, i really, really like this scent. it will be a staple come spring!

oh, heaven! i received aureus in a swap this week and do i ever like it!!! this is a wonderful mixture of sandlewood and cedar. beautiful, sweet sandlewood, with a touch of warm amber under it. heady and thick and devistating. perfectly balanced. very earthy and it makes me feel like i'm home - safe and vulnerable. really, this is the best sandlewood scent i've smelled so far. as it dried down, the sandlewood mellowed and the amber became more prevalant, softening into a slightly powdery scent. but in a good way. some spicyness to it, like morrocco. i think this will be a wonderful scent to wear to bed on a cold rainy night, because of the sandlewood. or out to the fields on a beautiful spring morning, because of the amber. . . or walking in the leaves on a crisp fall afternoon, because of the cedar. there's so much goodness in here. damn it! again, i am in love. . .

this morning i really stumbled over what oil to wear. i picked sybaris out of my "to try" box. usually i test a scent at home before putting it on to go out for the day, but this i just slapped it on. oh. love. i hadn't read description in a long time, and had never the reviews, so it was all impression for me. definitely a spicy sweetness. i got clove and chocolate, but not a foody chocolate. more of a florally chocolate. just now, after reading the reviews, did i realize - oh! VIOLET!!!! this feels very sophisticated to me. sexy and strong. and it lasted 8 hours, still smelling strong. i re-applied it only because i wanted to. not because the scent had faded at all. i had a big meeting today, and i felt clear and intelligent and articulate. so it MUST be the sybaris!!!! i'm putting it on my big bottle list. thank you, beth and lab!

this is beautiful!! i received this as a gift from the lab. although i had a little star by it on my wish list, it would have taken me a long time to have worked through the two and three star scents to order this. today, i picked it up for the first time, without re-reading the description. in the vial and wet on my skin, i was a bit taken aback by the sharp, intense florals of this blend. i don't think of myself as a stong floral gal. put it on and went straight to work. . . didn't smell anything on the way as i was on my motorcycle. i'm at work and wondering what that lovely, delicate but full scent is. its me!! on me, veil is a perfect blend of lilac and violet, with a slight chocolatey undertone. it is not sharp, nor is it overbearing. the scent smells like its coming from my skin, rather than from my perfume. it is heady, like the scent is wafting over hot summer air. . . odd, because neither violets nor lilac are hot summer flowers where i live. i can't pick out the sandlewood, lavender, or gardenia. but i'm sure they are part of the chocolatey undertones that keep this blend from being sharp on me. i really like this! i think i will wear it through the winter and long into the summer. and for that, i will need a big bottle! thank you so much, lab, for sending me this wonderful gift!

this is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!! golden, warm, rich. this is what i've always wished honey would smell like. it smells like wild honey, not tamed honey. it smells like honey that's been sitting in the hive in the sun in a summer meadow all day. it is a scent that goes right to the top center of my brain, and spreads out from there, almost feeling like it is dripping down the inside of my skull. this is definitely one of those scents i can feel. oh, how i wish i had ordered 7 bottles before it got discontinued.

well, it's pretty much been said: CHOCOLATE! lovely, divine chocolate. the hints i get are cocoa, as opposed to milk chocolate, with a little vanilla and a little nut. in the bottle, i was really taken aback at how strong it was, and was a little worried about wearing it today. but this scent really warms up on my skin, and has stayed true and delicious for 7 hours. its different than velvet, definitely. velvet is more complex, deeper. bliss is like a mainline of chocolate. yup. goes on my "i never want to run out of this" list. but i love the sweet scents.

baba yaga: i can't tell if its more fruity or florally - it is both. very sweet, in a "tropical flower garden in the rain" sorta way. i think i smell lilac, and rose, (neither of which are tropical, i know) and tropical fruit. . . and sea air. . .with buttery undertones. i'm usually wary of heavy florals, but this one has just the right amount of both zing and base to it. it has remained pretty true to first sniff, getting just a little less sharp and more heady through the drydown, and into an hour later. lots of staying power. i really, really like this! nobody better touch my imp! i am so amazingly fortunate to have received this as a gift in my last order. . .

i think this is my first review. i'm not very good at them yet, because i don't have the technical "nose knowledge." i smell in abstract, rather than specific or artistic terms. so i lurk. but this one i could not help but review. i am smelling this on me and growling. yes. growling. in the vile, i smelled mostly booze. on me, this is the perfect combination of cherry/berry, honey, vanillia, almond, maybe amber? and, dare i say it? sex. this has got to be the sexiest scent i've ever worn. it travels through my whole body from my lungs, even after a good dry down. this scent turns me on. the individual notes are clear, but at the end of the whiff, they all merge to become sweet without cloying, airy but grounded, and thick but not overpowering. i'm glad i don't get the vetivert as some do, because vetivert is usually too gritty on me. i love this. i want to breathe it. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.