Gin

I've been looking forward to trying this since it sounds similar to Tamora, which I love. When I applied it, I wasn't disappointed. It's the peachy-amber playfulness of Tamora combined with the musky sexiness of Vixen. This is so beautifully blended!

All I can smell is gardenia. As it dries, I can smell that there's other florals in the background, but the gardenia still dominates.

Bitter almond jumps out of the vial. The vanilla and cinnamon stay in the background, and I only caught the most fleeting impression of heliotrope. Then the cherryish scent recedes and Eclipse becomes very creamy and subtle.

Dear me, this is delicious. Cinnamon with a dash of milk and honey. This, to me, is very much like Dragon's Milk, but with cinnamon instead of cherry. Absolutely delightful.

LXXX Also reviewed by xoe, who passed an imp to grrrlennyl, who passed it on to me. Very sweet, I thought I smelled cherries, and maybe I do, but this mostly reminds me of my beloved Tamora. I think there's honeysuckle and amber, with something dry and powdery underneath. This is very pretty and I'm glad I got to try it.

LXXXIII Also reviewed by grrrlennyl, cuervosueno, and fairywingmaker. Fruity! Banana, pineapple, cherry, with a hint of strawberry Twizzlers. Then bubblegum! ...and anise. Anise is kind of a deal-breaker. At first, I can imagine that it's part of the bubblegumminess, but it's relentless. I'm so disappointed, since this started out so nice!

2003 - Sharp acrid smoke over sweet apple. This is *the* scent of autumn nights spent outside with friends around a roaring fire. 2004 - Very similar to 2003, but a bit sweeter. It made me feel a bit sneezy when worn on the skin, but it has a fabulous throw and made a wonderful room scent just by sitting in a closed bottle in the dark corner of my bedroom.

This is not the smoky, ashy fire scent I expected. It's a little green, a little floral, but what I notice the most is an almost metallic tang. It's like a piece of metal heated until white-hot. And then the rose come out to play. And what a gorgeous rose it is! It's the clear, fresh-cut, dewy rose of Rose Red, but softened a bit. I'm *so* glad I got a chance to try this!

The violet and the gardenia are both very apparent in this blend. I don't really smell the vanilla, but I suspect it's lending some sweetness, and this is very sweet. Boiled-candy sweet. This is very nice, considering I don't particularly care for violets or gardenia. I'm glad I got a chance to try this.

This is perfectly lovely. Very floral--a sweet floral with a faint hint of the violet. I thought it was a "light" scent, but it's not, it gets darker as it dries and the incenses peek out for a moment. It's still very sweet, the violets aren't as sharp as in some other blends, but my skin is very kind to night blooms so I'm sure that helps.

I don't know what I expected when I tried this on, but this wasn't it. I think I was thinking dark, vanilla, resins (obviously, I didn't read the description before trying it). This is light, warm, lemony. Grrrlennyl once asked if anyone had trouble distinguishing ginger from lemon, and I thought she was mad. Now I know what she was talking about. This reminds me of Kumiho, but it's warmer and creamier, like tea with lemon and milk. I like this one a lot, but I wish it wasn't so subtle and short-lived. I put it on and reapplied twice and only then did I feel like the scent had some staying power!

I smell the iris, and something like pine. How odd. The pine scent lifts a little and I can smell the berries. As it mellows, I think the pine I was smelling was actually a combination of the spices and the berries, and now that I recognize that, I like it much better. It reminds me of the incense at a Catholic Mass.

Before this arrived, I couldn't get it out of my head that this would be milky in color, but when it did, it was a clear red, not a bit milky. I was in a hurry and slathered it on. At first, I was worried I made a mistake. I got a big, bright, red cherry note. Not unpleasant, just loud. In the car, the cherry faded, and oh my goodness! Honey and milk and almonds and vanilla. So gorgeous! On my second wearing, though, I think it gave me a bit of a headache (Dragon's Heart tends to do the same). But I'll give it another try, 'cause when it's good, it's fantastic, and I could have just been having an off day.

Wow. I smell green leaves and trees and herbs and cinnamon (?!). The cinnamonny note is the dominant note on my skin, with what smells like maybe raspberry leaf in the back. This is very nice! However, I had to stuggle to get the imp open--the top had started to crack--and when the oil touched my fingers that were holding the top of the imp, it stung a little bit, and it looks as though it's made my skin a little bit pink again today. I'm not particularly bothered, but those with sensitive skin may want to take extra care with this oil.

This smelled very chaotic when I applied it, but after a few moments, it calmed down. The pennyroyal is dominant, giving it a minty scent that conjures images of the French Mint candies my mum used to buy and then mint tea. I don't smell the black musk on me at all, which I think is a good thing. This is definitely more soft and subtle than I imagine the Mad Hatter to be. What a pleasant surprise!

That's kinda ironic, eh? No kidding. I've also found that pregnancy can affect the sense of smell and skin chemistry, so scents that a woman usually loves might not be as appealing to her while she is pregnant.

Probably too late to help you, madame royale, but I thought I'd post this in case others had the same question. In October, Nella told me that the only BPAL they strongly advise prenant women to avoid is Pain, because of the pennyroyal, but it's always a good idea to double-check with a physician/midwife.

This is a cold scent, almost minty for a bit, but I think it's the spruce. I get the impression of fruits and flowers, but Ice Queen doesn't strike me as a fruity or floral scent. I can only describe it as icy and crystalline. Very beautiful.

This is a fabulous sweet scent. I don't smell the flowers, but I do smell the gorgeous sugared plums. As others mentioned, this is similar to Bordello, but not quite so thick. It's divine.

This is beautiful. At first, there's a very sweet note over a sweet herbal, over a sharp herbal, but then it goes right into a beautiful floral sweetness. I definitely feel confident when wearing this.

Lobban! Lemons jump out of the vial. This is a very "bright" scent. Under the lemons, there are flowers, and I have a brief worry that it's going to smell like a household cleanser. It ends up smelling like lilacs, though, which is fantastic! I'm not sure about spiritual purification, but this makes me feel cheerful.

Goona Goona is very herbal and earthy, with a faint hint of spice. Moss and tiny roses. There's something dry and sharp, too--vetiver maybe? I can see how this would be a good oil for meditation.

Strength The scent of this reminds me of a florist's shop. Not so much by the fresh-cut flowers, but the area with the more crafty items--dried grape vine, eucalyptus, etc., not that I smell either of those things in here. There's a floral and an aquatic, or at least an aquatic (not marine) feel. I get a bit of bubblegumminess, which leads me to believe there's lotus or maybe sweet pea here. Like Laurel the Woodfairy, this is more like the maiden than the lion on the card. It's warm and feminine, very pretty and not at all what I had expected.

This is a lovely powdery jasmine scent. I'm quite surprised, since I expected something more bold, but maybe that's the point? Innocuous on the outside, fierce on the inside?

Sweet and smoky, this is very familiar, but I don't know why. Fruity, like grape wine? Herbal? I thought I caught a whiff of leather and coldness. Now it's gone soapy and clean. Very calming and comforting. This seems like the perfect scent to wear when I need to feel confident and clear-headed.