akiko

I'll second Bengal. I got Wrath because it sounded like a kicked-up Bengal, but to me it smells like fruity Big Red gum.

Yay, nice red musk. Red musk is my friend.

Imp: Red musk and spices.

Wet: Same, with a lot of the spice coming out

Dry: Red musk. I can also get the spices if I hold my arm the right way.

Not too keen on this one, sadly.

Imp: Nice, sweet almonds ... which I've learned means it won't work on me. Sadly, because I love that smell.

Wet: Eugh. There's this sharp acrid smell, though it goes away as it dries.

Dry: soft spices, but it doesn't last very long.

Imp: Cocoa. Smells good.

Wet: Cocoa. Smells like Bliss. Please don't be just like Bliss, I don't need 2 cocoa SNs.

Dry: Sandalwood and chocolate. I'm not sure whether to keep it filed in chocolates or move it to woody. It reminds me a lot of Tombstone, but I like it better than that.

Imp: I also got a hint of cherry out of this one, sort of a cherry-chocolate. Which was odd, because I didn't remember either of those on the list.

Wet: HONEY! HONEY! HONEY! and maybe a little something else.

Dry: The honey is mellowed out a bit, and it's got more vanilla to it. I can imagine amber in it, as well.

Oddly, I amp amber like mad, but honey seems to beat it out here.

I've always liked Persephone's story, so I had to try this one.

Imp: Very resinous, with a hint of red sweetness.

Wet: Initially, there's a cloying sweetness, but that disappears within a minute, and it goes to a pomegranate-resin scent.

Dry: I think I'm mostly getting amber, but there's a definite note of pomegranate to it. It blends well.

This is about halfway between Fruit of Paradise and Mme Moriarty: the former is all fruit, the latter is mostly resin.

I tossed an imp of this into my last order, because of the amber. Glad I did

Imp: incensey, ambery

Wet: Goes through a mossy, citrusy/clean stage, then becomes incensey-clean

Dry: softly resinous. I like it.

I also attacked my husband with this, because I like the Pit & the Pendulum on him. On him, it doesn't get the citrus stage, and it goes to a sexy, soft resin or incense.

It's a great unisex scent for resin lovers, much softer than P&P.

Mmmmm.

Imp: Spices & chai

Wet: Spices and some odd soft note that reminds me of Morocco. Please don't go all funky on me!

Dry: All nice and chai. The note that was sticking out faded down or blended in, and it's all lovely.

This is what I wanted Wrath to smell like.

Imp: cinnamon and something sweet

Wet: cinnamon fruity

Dry: Mostly cinnamon. I rather like it.

Imp: it's got that dark fruity tingly smell I associate with dragon's blood, and maybe also the cherry.

Wet: Wow. This smells good. Still lightly fruity and spicy, and it's got good throw. I get whiffs of it as I move my arm.

Dry: Light resiny smell with fruity in the background. I'm not sure if I can smell the cloves or not.

Imp: Fruity. At first sniff, plum, then something vaguely cherry (the amaretto).

Wet: Wow, this is super fruity.

Dry: Hmm, at one point, it goes through a fake-y candle-y smell, but mostly it winds up being a nice mixture of plum and amaretto. Probably currants, too. I can't find the wine in here.

Daytime at the Con is panels with celebrities from authors and artists to actors (and more), getting autographs, shopping the dealer's room, gaming if you're into that, exploring the art show, etc. I call the Con my "creativity recharger" because there are so many creative people all together in one place, and most of them are wonderful sweet people.

 

The website is www.dragoncon.org.

Yay, other D*Cers!

I've only been twice so far, but I'm going this year - got my room, but I haven't gotten around to getting my badge yet. I hear that there was a Meet n Sniff at the con last year... any thoughts for this year?

This is the first bottle I've bought unsniffed and unreviewed. I'm glad I did

Bottle: French vanilla and something spicy, maybe. There's something not-sweet in the background.

Wet: The not-sweet comes forward a bit more, and the creamy vanilla goes all yummy.

Dry: French vanilla, like my current shower gel (ShiKai), but with an added something not-sweet. I'm guessing that's the saffron, since I have no idea what that smells like.

I also predict this will be wildly popular.

Edit, 2/6: Whoa, I got the mint other people talked about. It lasted about 30 seconds, then disappeared. Don't know if it's a hormonal variance in skin chemistry thing or what.

This is nice. I'd hesitated to try it because of the flowers part, but it's surprisingly not floral.

Imp: perfumey linens and a touch of vanilla

Wet: something stingy and acrid, with vanilla in the background

Dry: Nice vanilla with a hint of flowers in the background. It reminds me of Dorian a little bit, except without the heavier elements.

I also got coconut from this. But my arch-nemesis, rose, doesn't make an appearance. Extremely unusual.

Imp: Coconut?

Wet: Acrid Coppertone.

Dry: Vanilla and maybe musk. Very light and powdery. Not at all what I expected from the horrid acrid stage. And, surprisingly, NO ROSE. For me, this is a good thing, as I dislike florals.

Uh, OK... this smells like rose. Seriously.

Imp: An unusual smell I can't place.

Wet: Rose soap. No idea where that came from.

Dry: Still rose soap. There must be some shared ingredients with Delphi, since that turns into rose on me, too.

I can't really describe what this smells like. Orchid, obviously, but that doesn't help, really.

Imp: Floral but fruity-sweet

Wet: same

Dry: Very soft, sweet floral. Not FLORAL!!!! like jasmine or rose, but very subtle and nice. Definitely a floral for someone who hates florals (me.)

Rose is my nemesis, and I amp it like mad. And I turn it into fake-smelling soapy stuff. The result of this is not surprising.

Imp: Pleasant. Reading the note list, I think I smelled some of the florals, softened by the lychee.

Wet: Lemony. I rather like lemon, and it likes me. Then the rose starts to take over, unfortunately.

Dry: Rose soap. Very expensive, all-natural, French-milled soap, but still rose. A nicer rose than Bess turned on me (that was my grandma's Rose Milk hand lotion), but still rose.

I'll be passing this along.

Like so many others, this reminds me of Snake Oil. It's the lighter, younger cousin.

Imp: dark & incensey. I'm guessing patchouli, since that's the note I can't quite identify that everyone else says is there.

Wet: It's viscous and yellow-orange, like SO but not as dark. It definitely smells like Snake Oil. I'm not getting the orange blossom (which is weird; I amp florals like mad.)

Dry: I agree with someone above; there's red musk in here. It's got this candy-fruit smell like in the other red musks I like, but it's got a background of incense. And, thankfully, not in a dirty hippie way.

I'm not sure what I think of this.

Imp: Nice, musky, dark scent.

Wet: WTF, rose? I don't think that's on the list. Definitely something floral. Bleh.

Dry: Reading the note list while I sniff, I can get the honey a bit, and something powdery. There's still a floral note, but it's not overpowering.

This could be a good "floral for people who hate florals."

Tweedledee! It's just so orangey and perky.

I'm just not getting the wrath in this. I like it, but wrath? ...

Imp: Kind of fruity, with some cinnamon I think.

Wet: Fruity and spicy.

Dry: Cinnamon & fruit. Not getting the Red Hots others mention, but there's something oddly sweet in this.

I'm guessing it's the dragon's blood that's the sweet/fruity thing. I know red musk goes fruity punch on me, but it's a different fruity sweet than that.

Lyonesse smelled like cake to me. Not quite sure why, though...

Cockaigne does smell like cakey death, however, at least in the bottle.

The Red Queen. It's not stylish scarves and Jackie O, but it's more Queen Elizabeth (I or II). To me, the imp smells like cherry cordial, but on my skin, it's elegant mahogany furniture.

I was disappointed with it at first, but it definitely grew on me as the day wore on.

I only found out what kyphi was by reading this thread and the google. But it sounded like something I could do, so I got an imp.

Imp: fruity incense.

Wet: sweet and still some incense. There's a stage when it gets a bit spicy. Throw during this stage is pretty high.

Dry: Soft incense, maybe a touch of the soft spiciness in Bengal. I like it, but I don't think I need a bottle, though I could change my mind later.