Czarina

Sandalwood, smoke, and paper. This is Da Bomb in a scent locket, fades very quickly on my wrists. ETA: after many hours in the scent locket, this has a rose scent, although rose is not listed as one of the notes.

In the bottle: resins. Wet: resins and smoke. Just a hint of rose. Drydown: myrrh. Copal. Smoke. This is a warm, embracing scent. It wafts up from a scent locket like church incense from a censer. I feel like a Gnostic saint wearing this!

In the bottle: poppy and agave, plus an aquatic note. Wet: mmm, salted cucumbers. Drydown: poppy and cucumbers, with a bitter lichen note. A nice cooldown scent for hot summer nights. Glad I sprang for a bottle.

In the bottle: cinnamon and a touch of pine. Wet: pure cinnamon. Drydown: cinnamon and a hint of Playdoh. Honestly, the pine vanishes on me, the clove is undetectable, the vanilla I think produces the Playdoh scent, and this is pure Yankee Candle cinnamon. Tasty, but one-dimensional on me. ETA: After half an hour, this scent is a dead ringer for Gingerbread Poppet, which means that I am smelling cloves even if my brain is not identifying it as such. But why is the pine gone?

In the bottle: teak and vanilla. Wet: teak, vanilla, sweet tobacco. Drydown: vanilla and teak. Not quite like Glowing Vulva, but very close (missing the cream, and the wood is not as strong). Good throw and wearlength. Yummy.

In the bottle: apples. Wet: apples. Drydown: apples and menthol/eucalyptus. Good throw, low wearlength.

In the bottle: berries (I know, my nose is strange). Wet: sweet pear and tonka with a wine/grape note. Drydown: heavenly. I can't pick out the individual scents without looking at the description list. I also get a very faint wood note. I know that grape/wine is not one of the listed notes, but this has a very sweet note to me that is very reminiscent of how Blood Phoenix/Prospero smells on me.

In the bottle: peaches and cocoa. Wet: peaches and cocoa. Drydown: cocoa and peaches. A touch of honey. If I concentrate really hard, just a hint of the ambergris and neroli. Not a hint of patchouli can I detect. Not much throw, not much wearlength, but lovely while it lingers.

In the bottle: anise, rose, sugar, and a distinct "boozy" note. Wet: Sugar and a hint of roses. Drydown: bitter lilac. ETA: The opium emerges after about half an hour. This is a very subtle scent.

In the imp: cedar shavings. Wet: cherries + cedar. Drydown: cherries + cedar.

In the bottle: honey, cream, and teak. Wet: honey honey honey, apple, and teak. Drydown: Granny Smith apples. Honey. Caramel. Morpher. Nice. Very nice. Not really, however, the equivalent of Glowing Vulva I was hoping for.

In the bottle: blueberries. Wet: blueberries and coriander. Drydown: the blueberries and currant meld to a more generic "berry" scent. The coriander adds spice. The vanilla and benzoin join forces with the ginger and tea. I can't pick out the squash blossom (not sure what that would smell like anyway) and one other note listed (can't recall what). This is BEAUTIFUL.

In the imp: SweetTarts. WTF? Wet: white floral. Drydown: floral with complex spices. Not at all what I was expecting to convey the essence of this card. I will have to think about why this scent is an expression of the Hermit. I agree that it does smell a little like White Light.

It isn't really a GC, and the notes don't sound like they would be the same, but I find Haloes to be quite similar to Glowing Vulva. I assume it's still available at retail locations?

The woody note in Haloes smells to me not like sandalwood but teak, and the creamy vanilla means that this scent smells to me like a close sister to....Glowing Vulva, my Holy Grail of totally unavailable scents. Absolutely gorgeous. Stays consistent throughout the hours.

Brief scent review: In the bottle: thyme with an undernote of...cod liver oil? Out of the bottle: thyme/lemongrass/cod liver. Effects review: I ordered up Aegis because I am in a phase of my worklife where I frequently feel drained by the people to whom I provide services, and so I was looking for a way to strengthen my ability to shield myself. My first basic ritual was to anoint myself while visualizing a shield of white light around myself. The day I did this, I felt calm and able to draw boundaries easily. My second ritual involved a small Saint Michael the Archangel retablo I purchased on impulse in New Mexico last month. I anointed it with Attuning to make it "mine," so to speak, the first day I wore it, and on the second day anointed it with Aegis, setting the intent that the retablo would symbolize my shield (note: if I could have found a retablo with Medusa on it, or Athena, that would have been even better, but I was using what I had), I have been wearing the pin over my heart center for the last three days. Here's the odd thing: I have been chronically ill with a flareup of cough-variant asthma for about a month with no letup. In the last three days to all outside observers I have become dramatically better. Yes, associating this with the retablo and Aegis could be a post hoc fallacy. But. I've been sick for a long time, and I haven't been resting because of a commitment I made that requires me to work 7 days a week right now. I also used Aegis in connection with space clearing--too soon to tell if it is enhancing its effect.

You'd have to pray that no one insists on knowing the name of the scent, but Glowing Vulva dresses up very nicely for formal occasions. I always get compliments when I wear it.

Black Lace has a smell of cigarettes (not unburned tobacco) in it to me.

Wonderful dusty wood scent with an underlay of bitter herbs, but almost zero throw and zero wearlength on me. Alas.

Sexy sexy sexy. The musk, vanilla, and pomegranate boss the patchouli around so this isn't just a head shop scent.

I can't even tell you what this smells like because my sense of smell has been temporarily knocked out by my illness (bronchitis triggering cough-variant asthma). I've been sick for weeks and needing to feel like there was something I could do other than gulp down steroids. Yesterday I anointed my chest and throat with this oil. It made them feel warm. Today I dressed a small white candle with Healing oil, working from the bottom up to draw healing to me, and then dressed the top in a clockwise fashion (I'm in the Northern Hemisphere). I've now lit the candle with intent and will let it burn until it is done. I also anointed my chest and throat. I feel better that I am at least marshalling spiritual forces to assist me in healing. We'll see if I get results.

Moai.

The predominant note is sugar cane. I can't smell the violet or the blackberry leaf at all. I also can't differentiate between the mahogany and teak notes. It just smells like wood to me. Nutmeg isn't listed in the notes but there is a definite scent of something like that.

This is an insanely delicious scent on me. The initial impression I get is pencil shavings/cedar (the wood). This immediately recedes as the amber, leather, honey, berries and musk emerge. This is like a sweeter version of Intrigue in some ways. Masculine? Oh, no no. Not on me. Definitely bottle-worthy.

Wishlist frimp from a decant circle. I had high hopes for this. I love the commercial perfume Bal a Versailles. Alas! Within two minutes this turned into baby powder on me. Sophisticated baby powder, mind you, but baby powder nonetheless. Might be the orris.