Czarina

(Also, since I don't want to be forever known as The Bad Aunt, I need to avoid the ones with things like "harlot's perfume" in the description. *g*)

 

I have the same problem, but as Bad Mommy. My 11-year-old loves my Bordello, which I will not let her wear to school.

I found Victoria to be a very pretty and nicely balanced rose and lily scent with a nice touch of vanilla musk. If she likes those notes, she might enjoy it. I don't think it would be too mature of a scent for an 11 year old.

 

I will have to ask Mademoiselle if she likes rose scents. She might not. Or just let her use one of my roses (Madeline) and see if she likes that, so as not to spoil the surprise.

My soon-to-be eleven year old daughter just loves my BPALs.

 

Her middle name is Victoria, and I'm wondering if it would be too worldly for her or not. If not, I thought I would buy her her very own bottle for her birthday.

 

She really likes Midway Resurrected, and Yemaya, and Sea of Tranquillity. She loves the smell of Bordello on me but I won't let her wear it because her friends ask her the names of stuff. Obviously I won't put her in the sexy musky scents either. She's not really the light floral personality type however, even at eleven.

 

This is also the child I trained to like sushi and Oysters Rockefeller. Fortunately her brother likes only Axe cologne and hot dogs, or my family would be in the poorhouse.

Maybe Cockaigne or Gluttony.

In the bottle: musk.

Wet: dusty books and caraway.

Drydown: leather, musk, dusty books. And caraway.

 

Wonderful, wonderful.

Got a decant in a swap, so I have no idea how long this has been aged.

 

In the imp: sandalwood.

Wet: sandalwood and parafin. Yes, it smells like a sandalwood candle.

Drydown: Very smooth; I can barely distinguish the sandalwood, carnation, musk, and pepper (white pepper I think).

 

I agree with the poster who compared this to Guerlain's Samsara. It has a very similar vibe.

 

Great throw, good wearlength.

Initial review: this is the 2006 Smut, the One True Smut, the Holy Grail of Smut, the...<coughs>

 

In the imp: POW. Man this is strong. It's like Youth Dew (the original version).

Wet: sexy, sexy strong, strong unsubtle MUSK.

Drydown: musky sugary musk.

 

This is not subtle in the slightest.

 

It smells good and lasts a long time, but I don't think I could wear it to work.

 

ETA: I now have a decant of the 2008 Smut, and it smells to me just like the original. I LOVE this stuff, but I continue to believe I would have trouble wearing it at the office.

What can I say that hasn't been said? This stuff is just teh sex.

 

In the imp it is very thick, viscous, and opaque. It looks awful on my skin, and then just explodes in chocolate musky snakey goodness.

 

Because of the Snake Oil in this, it does not seem foody in the least to me. The teakwood balances it out nicely. I can't really pick out the rice milk, but who cares? Certainly not I.

 

I would buy this in a 50 gallon drum if I could.

In the bottle: wet cigarettes. ??

Wet: drugstore perfume floral.

Drydown: aldehydes gradually morphing into baby powder.

 

This one so does not work on me. Sigh. I suppose there will be other takers.

In the bottle: cucumber (not pickles!)

Wet: musk.

Drydown: Musk and dry leaves.

 

Really, quite haunting if you know the story.

In the imp: buttery cocoa.

Wet: chocolate cookies.

Drydown: chocolate, maple, butter, just a whiff of patchouli.

 

More than just a novelty scent. This one is yummy!

In the bottle: mahogany.

Wet: mahogany and brimstone. Very dry wood, no sweetness at all. I was expecting some sweetness from the cognac and rot notes, neither of which are coming out for me.

Drydown: the wood note is turning cedar-y on me, but it isn't quite cedar.

 

Very evocative scent.

In the imp: grape.

Wet: grape, plum, and aldehydes.

Drydown: grape, wine, plum, wisteria, lilac. I can't pick out the African violet note at all, but then my mother grew them for years and I never noticed that they had a smell at all.

 

I don't find this scent "somber" at all, but lively and fun.

In the imp: sweet wine.

Wet: wine, earth, and cloves.

Drydown: amber, clay and earth, wine, and cloves. I can catch a very faint vinegary note.

 

Excellent throw.

In the bottle: peppermint, spearmint, and very faint eucalyptus.

Wet: peppermint and .... lemon verbena! (a note no one else has detected...so I wonder)

Drydown: peppermint, geranium, chamomile. I stand by my perception of lemon verbena.

 

This smells like it could take away a migraine completely.

 

I do hope this gets released someday. In the meantime I will treasure my bottle.

Got this in a swap, so I assume that this is the 2007 version but I'm not sure.

 

This is smoke and sugar and tobacco on me. The tobacco note changes the sugar. From its description, I thought this was going to smell like Sugar Skulls on me, but it doesn't. I can also smell the cactus flower, which adds a faintly soapy floral note.

 

Although I know what amaranth tastes like, I don't know what it smells like and consequently can't pick out that note.

 

Excellent, complex scent in the same style as La Befana, although a very different scent.

In the bottle: papaya.
Wet: grass, cucumber, papaya. Just a hint of the lime. Can't smell the mint at all (yay!).
Drydown: The sage comes up more, but the lime, cucumber and papaya are peaceably chatting together. I want to make a cucumber salad with these ingredients as the dressing! Well, other than the musk and amber.

Over time the amber comes out more prominently. Way cool.

My ten-year-old (going on 25) wore this to school this morning also.

No one has mentioned La Befana yet. It has a distinct violet note, though there's definitely other stuff mixed in there (notably, ashes).

 

I second the recommendations of Faith and Marie.

In the bottle: juniper and hemlock.

Wet: sweet, sweet evergreens.

Drydown: lovely sweet evergreens with a hint of sugar and snow.

 

This one got compliments from people I walked by.

 

Average throw and wearlength.

In the bottle: OMGrape. Pow.

Wet: Grape and STRONG bitter almond.

Drydown: the grape and almond start taking a backseat to the dragon's blood and musk. The grape starts to smell more wine-y and less Welch's.

 

However. The longer this goes on the harder and harder it is for me to pick out individual notes. After a few minutes it just smells gooood. This is all that I expected Prospero to be.

 

Above average throw.

2007 version.

 

In the bottle: ah, coconut sweet floral.

Wet: instant horrible burnt plastic Playdoh. How can this be??

Drydown: the plastic disappears and this again smells like a sweet coconut floral.

 

The horrible plastic-y phase seems to last only about five minutes, but it is scary.

 

I wonder if it will grow out of it if I let it age. I don't get any pine scent from this at all.

 

ETA: Just walked past a staff person who said, Wow, you smell nice today--4 hours after application. So the wearlength is pretty good for such a soft scent.

I really wanted this to wear while reading my new Bohemian Gothic tarot cards and went to some trouble to find several imps of it.

 

In the imp: wintergreen Life Savers.

Wet: Pepto-Bismol.

Drydown: Life Savers mixed with Pepto-Bismol.

 

Ugh. What a disappointment. How sad.

 

This is absolutely ghastly on me. I had to take a shower to get rid of the smell.

 

It does have great throw, but I can't speak to the wearlength.

In the bottle: fireplace ashes.

Wet: fireplace ashes, licorice, violets, lilies, sugar.

Drydown: like violet Sugar Skulls with a hint of Bonfire Night.

 

Exquisite.

Resurrected version:

 

In the bottle: buttered popcorn.

Wet: funnel cakes, cotton candy, salt water taffy.

Dry down: funnel cakes, doughnuts, cotton candy, taffy, buttered popcorn.

 

I AM IN LOVE.

 

That is all.

 

Good throw, average wearlength.

 

ETA: I was able to obtain a precious partial imp of the original Midway from 2005. Today I experimented with wearing Original Midway on one hand and Midway Resurrected on the other. I cannot discern any difference between the two. At least to my nose, aging had little effect, and the formula appears to have remained the same.

I can tell you that this oil smells vaguely of lavender, with a sharper edge to it.

 

I haven't used it as perfume, however.

 

I have used it to anoint the deck of tarot cards that I use for daily reflection (the Buddha Tarot), an oracle deck that I designed myself and use for personal readings and some readings for others, and a gold "Om" pendant that I found in a parking lot and now wear almost every day (when the universe says "om" to me, I figure I should listen). My ritual, such as it was, was to apply a touch of the oil very lightly with the intent that I attune these instruments to me.

 

I felt fairly attuned to these items in the first place, but since the anointing I have been getting really deep readings out of the Buddha Tarot.

 

Over time I will probably anoint all my decks that I use as reading decks.