phoefromelsewhere

Snow White 2004: In the bottle: This smells like frosting made out of snow (which someone else said but I forget who). Wet: Coconut. Big time. Here’s hoping it doesn’t go horrid on me like Black Pearl did (am beginning to think I should stay far away from the coconutty blends). No, it develops into a coconutty vanilla. Somehow this has turned very warm and comforting, like a big vanilla candle with the fire going. There are the lightest of florals in the background, and I sincerely hope they stay there as it is already bordering on too sweet for me. Drydown: Now it smells like freshly baked macaroons…huh? I’m not getting any snow, wind or anything vaguely cool. Which is a bit of a bummer. Later: I’m trying to stick it out but my skin just amplifies coconut to icky proportions. Well bum. I wanted to adore Snow White in her winter world but she seems to have stopped off at the Carribean to work on her tan. Not for me. Off to the swaps to someone who loves her.

This is one I will have to try a lot more before I reach a decision on whether I like it or not. In the bottle: Fresh, clean, lightly floral. Smells like the green parts of a rose. Wet: At first I think this is going to go dreadfully rosy on me and I’ll have to run and wash it off, but instead the floral notes mellow out and the vague greenness comes up – I have no idea what the notes are but it’s really heavenly. Drydown: Mild green and… fruity! For a few minutes it did smell like baby powder, but now it’s just a really soft, utterly clean fragrance. I can see wearing this as a lighter everyday scent. Smells vaguely honeyish on my skin by never gets too sweet. Later: I like this one. Am not sure on a big bottle yet (will have to try it a few more times) but I will definitely use up the imp.

Maybe I can help...have pmed you.

This as a freebie from the lab, which is great because I probably never would have gotten it on my own. In the bottle: Tea, citrus (lemon/lime) and a darker note (leather). Wet: Lemon tea. This is the first oil my husband ever agreed to try because he liked it in the bottle so much. That’s worth a big bottle right there. Drydown: Oh, this is just lovely. Very nice after the Persephone Debacle ( ). Smells fresh and light, with a hint of darkness to keep it from floating off. Later: Just gorgeous. Utterly clean, cool and warm at the same time. Like hot naked flesh getting goosebumps from a ice cube being trailed along the skin…sexual in a strange way. It doesn’t seem sexual…but it is, in the best way possible. Doesn’t last to long, will have to slather on my big bottle when I get one.

Aw bum. I REALLY wanted to love this one but alas, my skin hates rose to the point of making me feel ill. In the bottle: ooh, red rose and fruit Wet: Ooof, it got everywhere. (Anyone have a technique for NOT getting oil everywhere when opening imps?) Quickly run to bathroom. Got all the excess off now. *sigh* slightly less oooh fruit and rose. Mainly rose. Drydown: The pomegranate disappears completely, leaving me with a horrid rose smell. Smells like those smelly flower dolls they had back in the 80s or cheap rose bath beads. Later: I’m gonna cry. This is AWFUL on me. It’s given me a headache and makes me feel ill. I washed it all off and put a bit on a cotton ball to see if it retained it’s fruitiness…nope. Just awful nauseating rose. I am sad now, I wanted to adore this on me.

Another one that just doesn't like me. I should really get it that if it's sweet in any way it will most likely hate me. In the bottle: sweet, fruity cosmo Wet: Same as in bottle. Pomegrantate martini, all the way. Drydown: Air freshener. Nice but I don’t want to smell like bathroom air freshener. For some reason it is making me think of the summer camp I went to for 3 summers. Which is a nice memory but I keep thinking of the bathrooms there…erm… Later: I tried this on a cloth to see if it worked better off my skin. Nope, in fact, now all I smell is booze. *sigh* Just not me, off to the swaps with it.

I got this as a lab freebie but I also have an imp on the way (which means more to swap). In the bottle: meaty, freshly opened coconut, sweet light florals Wet: The coconut fades really fast and there is nothing sweet or light about the florals now. Smells like a combination of suntan oil and little girl sweet flower perfume, stuck in a hot car with no A/C. I am not getting ANY hazelnut. The musk is coming out awfully strong. Am really unsure on this one, it is awfully sweet. Drydown: Oh no, this is just horrid on me. It’s all musk and iris and just a teeny smidge of coconut. It’s so sweet that it makes me feel a bit ill. Must wash it off. It started out lovely and coconutty but then it just went sweet and kept getting sweeter. Sadly not for me. Off to the swaps to someone who will love it.

This is AMAZING! And I am in love. In the bottle: cherry, clove, stg spicy yet sweet…dragon’s blood. Wet: Cherry and clove. Smells like a spicy cherry lolipop. Now the dragon’s blood and myrrh come through to spice things up. Drydown: The cherry fades into the background, leaving a lovely spicy sweet smell. This is pure seductive sensuality, blood in all it’s forms and guises, from metaphor for life to the actual liquid pulsing through veins. Sexy, dark, warm, dangerously sweet. I accidentally spilled some on my hand and it’s not too strong, even when puddled. In fact. It’s just heady and delicious. Does the lab make gallon sizes? Everything just blends exquistely and then each not floats langorously to the top for a few seconds and then fades back into perfectly blended bliss. It’s like coming up for air from a kiss so dark and dangerous that you have to hold on to keep from spinning off into space, and then plunging back in again. Later: I was bound to like it because of the name alone, but I just LOVE this. It’s now gone from sultry to the bpal equivalent of a warm, comfy fluffy blanket. I fell asleep almost immediately after testing it and when I woke up this morning, I could still smell it. Lasted a good 12 hours, through hand washings and lotion applications. I am definitely getting a big bottle.

Got this from Damask Rose... In the bottle: mint, oil of cloves, earth, dry grass Wet: Cloves, cloves, cloves. Smells like the oil of cloves I used to put on toothaches. Slightly minty? Fresh. Smells like dry grass or the high desert after a heavy rain storm. Drydown: Very sharp, tickles the back of my throat and makes my nose tingle. Dark yet playful. Smells like a dry landscape…when it’s so hot that you see heat shimmers and your nose gets burnt just inhaling. There is nothing wet in this to me, just spicy and dry grass. Later: Now it smells like burnt sawdust. There is stg in this that is keeping it way to strong for me, maybe the thyme or pepper? Now it’s turned into a scent that reminds me of the high desert on the hottest part of the day when the power’s been blown by a thunderstorm and a nearby tree was struck in the storm and the earth is drying off rapidly. It’s nice but too strong for me.

She just doesn't like me... In the bottle: Rose. Lilac? Something really sweet and floral. Wet: Rose, mint? Something warm and sweet…ah, this will be the musk. That’s all I can smell on my skin. Drydown: Really sweet, almost sickeningly so. This is doing something very very icky on me. I was hoping that the black orchid would kick out a lot more but nope, it’s all about the musk and sandalwood. I smell like a really cheap stick of incense. Later: Musk, musk, musk. Ick. And sandalwood. Nope, not working. I washed it off and put on some lovely lotion to get rid of it. This just doesn’t like me at all.

This was heavenly after the Venus and Erato disasters (my skin hates soft rose). In the bottle: Jasmine, honeysuckle, something spicy like burning pine and lilies? YUM! Wet: Oh. My. God. I am in love. I smell honeysuckle, jasmine, a slightly rotten, spicy note. Cinnamon? I don’t know but it’s divine. And here’s the lemon. Unless this turns to vinegar on me in the next few hours, I am so buying a bigger bottle. I love this, it’s decadent and lazy, sweet and the vague smell of decay just adds to it. I could bathe in this stuff. Drydown: I’ve never been to New Orleans but this is certainly how I imagine it would smell. All southern flowers (which I love) in the humid air, lemons and spice. It makes me want to sit on the veranda in a rocking chair with a fan in one hand and a mint julep in the other, and just watch the world go by. Later: Somehow it’s gone all nice and clean smelling (the honeysuckle?) but it still smells like decay so I don’t get that at all. It’s very floral and sweet, slightly powdery but in the best sense. For a few minutes there was an after note that burned my nose, like rubbing alcohol. But that’s gone now and it’s just fresh and soft and a wee bit like this gardenia soap I once had. Not a huge fan of gardenia but I’m still in love.

Another one I just can't do. In the bottle: Rose. Maybe lilac or jasmine? Wet: Soft rose and lilac…no, orris. Can also smell the something sweet. There is a slightly darker note, which has to be the myrrh. Drydown: Uh oh. A very sickly sweet note is coming up. I smell like soap. No, wait…I think my nose is confused again. Later: Nope, not me. I have a feeling that all these softer rose scents are just not going to work on me (Venus didn’t work either). All I can smell is powdery rose and something headache inducingly sweet. Must wash it off. Just not me at all.

I wanted to like this one, but sadly, it's just not for me. In the bottle: Whoa, a rosy, minty, mentholy smell. Wet: Soft rose and mint. Possibly some eucalyptus or menthol in it? Smells like mentholyptus cough drops and rose. Drydown: Really powerdery, soft rose. Minty end note. Definitely pink & green, as others said. My sinuses are nice and clear and I can smell it wafting from here. Kind of smells like overblown roses and mint being pummeled by a rain storm and letting off the scent from all the crushed boughs and flowers. Later: I think my nose is confused. I love mint and rose but…this has gone just horribly wrong on me. I smell like 200 year old rose powder, old and musty.

Elizabeth is a complete and utter genius. How on earth she got an entire pirate ship and it's captain and crew in an imp bottle is beyond me. I suppose I don't have to know, just be grateful and buy lots! In the bottle: Booze and driftwood. Interesting, very piratey, at any rate. Wet: I can definitely smell the patchouli and frankincense now. I am still getting a really sharp alcohol note though. I’s making my nose tingle. There is a sweet note in there, that to my nose smells like the sweetness of driftwood and that vaguely rotting smell it can have. Really strong at this point. Drydown: This has blended more and the boozey note is gone. It is spicy, yet feminine. I can definitely see a kick ass female pirate standing at the top of the mast and laughing lustily into the face of a storm. She’s a woman at home in a traditional “man’s” world. Sexy and spicy. Would be excellent for when I want to feel that kick ass vibe. Later: Amazingly evocative (how on earth does Elizabeth do it?) It’s softer now but retains it’s spiciness. Now our lusty female pirate has retired to her quarters and is wearing a silk dressing gown, sitting at her desk writing down the day’s events in the captain’s log. There is the faintest wisp of leather in the background…must be her boots lying where they were kicked off by the door. There is an even fainter wisp of rum (not boozey though). She must have a cut glass tumbler near by. Dark, candlelight, storm howling outside. I love it, definitely one of my favorites so far.

I got this one solely for the name and I'm glad I did! In the bottle: YUM! Pepper! Pepper and the men’s cologne counter. Wet: Watery? Like big trees by the ocean with branches blown down from a strong wind and are now scenting the air. I can smell the frankincense, vaguely. There is something else in this but I can’t place it. Drydown: Erm, it smells like a generic men’s cologne or really nice soap on a rope. Shame, I really liked the peppery phase. I’m getting a faint nutty note as well. Later: I really like this now. It’s got just a whiff of sweetness, nut and a bit of spice. Very warming and comfortable. And it lasts for hours. Lovely!

Another review from me...beware, they seem to be mainly stream of consciousness and metaphorical (I am a writer tho, so there you go.) In the bottle: I smell incense, tiger balm and a sweet note mixed in. I can smell gentle wafts of cinnamon, frankincense, musk and myrrh. Then they blend seamlessly. Wet: Heavenly. Warm, dark. My skin is really pushing a high, sweet note – must be the ylang ylang. Blended really well, it’s hard to pick anything out at the moment. Has a sweet yet masculine edge. If Rhett Butler were European, I think he’s wear this. Drydown: Smells like burning cloves. I also get an old feeling with it, like I’ve stepped into another time. Oooh, I like this. There is a mild soapy smell but it fades quickly. It smells autumny (must be the cloves). Definitely a cold weather scent for me. There is a note that is warm and familiar but mild, it must be the red patchouli but I’m not too familiar with it. It’s similar to the strong hippie type but much softer. More like subliminal messages rather than screaming at the top of your lungs. Dark, sexy and soft. I can imagine a woman lounging around in this wearing nothing but a red satin sheet. Later: This has gone completely clove on me. There is a mild sweetness to it as well. The spiciness makes my nose tingle, I love it.

My first ever review! So please bear with me. The first time I tried this it became old lady powder within seconds. This is the review for the second time around. In the bottle: Orange...Lemon...Pledge. Um? Wet: Same as in bottle, more citrus than anything else - very pledgy. Light flowers come out. Smell a slight whisp of mint? Drydown: Lovely soft floral with lemon in the background. Bit powdery but not too much. Smells like a cottage garden in the evening after a really hot day when all the flowers are sort of burnt out and putting off a feeble yet warm smell. The citrus is lovely and crisp, if very faint. Finally: Soft and clean smelling. But nearly gone. For some reason my mind is calling up an image of snuggling into cool linen sheets that still retain the feel of being dried in the sun in the country sunshine. But they were brought in hurridely during a brief thunderstorm and that's where they get that ozone crispness. Very lovely am comforting but seems to be one to slather as opposed to dab (I'm a dabber.)