scarletgenesis

Echoing the unisex sentiments. It starts out more masculine with pretty much all metallic and musk notes. Not a problem, because I like some of the masculine BPALs. But now after it's been dry a while, it is taking on a hint of floral, though thankfully not OMG FLOWERS RUNNNNNN! It's more of a quiet floral that just hangs out in the background and lends a hand to the blend as a whole. I do get something that I think is the balsam.. Overall, this is like coming across a rusted engine in a forest. It's very outdoorsy, without losing the metallic edge (but it is not sharp at all). It's more of a soft metallic, much like Phoenix Steamworks, though that one is more incensey and this is more forest-y, if that makes sense. I think I'm liking this one alot.

So far, it's Mort de Cesar, which is good b/c it's one of my favorites (and what I'm currently wearing)

Going with Western Diamondback, Crowley, Dee (for in the classroom), Mechanical Phoenix, and Phoenix Steamworks (for the dusty incensey temple smell)... Hmmmm....I'm a girl and love all those scents on myself....do I smell like Indiana Jones?

Musk, violet, and lavender. Those are the three notes I get. In the bottle, it was all super sugary violets. Different and nice, but maybe a bit too sweet. Once on and upon drydown, it becomes much more complex and less sweet. It is turning a little powdery on me, but I definitely get a little sharpness from the violets. So, much like Purple Phoenix, this is a 'purple' scent. But it's very different than Purple Phoenix, so don't think I'm comparing them other than the purpleness! I'm not sure about it yet. I generally like it, but am thinking it may not be 'me'. Time will tell. I'll hang onto the bottle for a while either way.

Perversion stalked up behind Glowing Vulva like some great cat, slipping between the high grasses in the hot, moist air. He snaked one arm around her and she shuddered as he whispered in her ear...."you are mine".... They worshipped each other for hours, there on the polished floors of the great hall. Bodies entwined, and their sweat scented the air around them with vanilla and tobacco. Their legacy came nine months later.... ...Ladies and gentlemen, meet the union between Perversion and Golden Vulva.......I present Antikythera Mechanism! (This is like what I'd imagine the best parts of Perversion and Glowing Vulva would meld together to make in a bpal blend....totally beautiful, with a bit of softness, but an undertone of danger- I assume that's the tobacco note!)

In the bottle: ALLLL Root Beer! But a more complex root beer... like one from a micro-brewery. Once on: This is like Love's Philosophy with Root Beer added to it on me. I get some creamy vanilla with the sassafrass note. Also, I think the oak leaf serves to make the 'root' part of the root beer scent more pronounced, because there's a not-as-sweet note in here that is earthy and gorgeous. SO happy I got this. I predict a forum favorite out of this one. Also glad it is GC! And oh.....I can only imagine the gorgeousness when this ages.

Really long wearing and beautiful! I'm getting full-frontal resins here. It's like all these resins and herbs got cooked down into a golden syrup, and then strangely, spread over a copper pipe. Sounds sort of weird and obscene, but it blends together so well that it is as if the notes in this blend were all trying to find themselves, and realized their true purpose when they came together as one. So glad I got a bottle!

If you're worrying about the bpal getting warm, is it possible to pack them in a cooler or one of those insulated bags like Trader Joe's sells?

My friend had me sniff her arm when she tried this at a MnS, and it was gorgeous on her. So today I decided to try my imp of it. In the imp, it is incensy and resiny goodness, with something slightly sweet, but not overpowering. Wet, and on drydown....ok remember a second ago when I said the sweetness wasn't overpowering? I was wrong...It morphed into something like decaying roses, which I hate b/c I used to be a florist and have to smell them all the time. I'm not sure what is making it smell like that on me, because resins, and myrrh and such are usually great on my skin. I guess it must be the embalming herbs. It was so strong and nauseating that it started to give me a headache and I needed to wash it off my skin. I guess I'll give my imp to my friend who's skin doesn't turn this to scary rotting roses.

I got this imp from a friend of mine. It caused welts on her skin, yikes! In the imp: cinnamon, peppercorn, and something mildly floral? Wet, on skin: Cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon, and......wait for it......cinnamon! Ok, I love cinnamon and it loves me back. But this is just silly! Where are all the other notes? Drydown: Oh there it is! Now, while cinnamon is still the obvious main note here, I get clove, allspice, nutmeg, and yummmmy sandalwood. Glorious. I'd like the tobacco to come out, but I'm not complaining. This has alot of throw on me and I really think it's gorgeous. This would be fantastic on a very cold day, a smoky autumn night, or a blisteringly hot summer day.... I may try layering it with something smoky to give it even more depth too!

I was really wary of smelling this because the very first note is red musk, which normally means disgusting scary clown vomit (or something else equally as horrible) on my skin. Someone convinced me to just try it and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised. I don't get any of the fruit yet, but the red musk is blended and tempered by the vanilla (really subtle and beautiful) and the patchouli leaf into something kind of relaxing and calm. The more I smell this on me, the more I like it. Could Mme Moriarty be the red musk bottle scent for me? Time will tell, as I need to test it at least one more time before committing to a bottle.

Holy Smokes! And I mean that quite literally...I instantly get lots of ashy smoke in the imp. And once on, there is an incensey smell to the smoke, like in church; I assume that's the myrrh. There is a slight abrasive spiceyness that really lends itself to something amazing here, and I'm pretty sure it's the cinnamon bark. Honestly, even though this has some of my favorite notes, for some reason I didn't expect to like this. I even passed over the description the first few times I read it. Glad I got a decant, though I'm not sure my wallet is. I will likely want to get a bottle of this at some point before CD goes away.

So this 'should' be a fantastic scent on me....not sure about it yet. In the imp, it was sort of musky and medicinal. Stayed that way at first on my skin. As it's drying, I think I'm getting mostly moss and patchouli, and something almost smelling like Carmex. It's sort of waxy and vapory, if that makes sense. I do get a tiny hint of vanilla flower, but none of the spiceyness I wanted yet. It's really ok if I don't love this, because I have so many other blends to choose from. But it is odd that I usually amp cloves and amber, and I'm not getting any of either yet. It is a very 'wild' smelling scent, but the notes I really want to smell don't seem to be there. I will try it again at some later date to make a final determination.

In the imp and immediately upon application, Te Po is ALLLLLLL alcohol. I can pick out the rum and vodka (I intensely dislike vodka smells but was hoping it was a minor note here). I also get distinctive orange and cherry notes after a few minutes. It is definitely fizzy and somewhat sour. This smells on me how I imagine the taste would be like if you took an Alka Seltzer and held it between your teeth while downing a concoction made up by a truly sadistic bartender of cherry coke, orange crush, rum, and vodka. Gives me a headache, and is definitely NOT my thing! I normally like everything in here except the vodka, but this was just too much for me.

Light coconut and LOTS of lemon. I must amp citrus like crazy, because in the imp, I got about equal amounts of coconut and lemon, but once applied to skin, it's all "helloooooooo LEMON! " As it starts to dry, I do get the tinyest hint of musk, or what I think is musk. I'm not familiar with black musk as a note by itself, but there is a definite 'musky' note here so that's what I'm assuming it is. There is also something slightly spicy here, almost like ginger. I know that's not one of the notes, but that is what I'm getting. I first sniffed this (but didn't test it) last week when I was sick and it totally nauseated me. Glad I waited until I was better to actually test it. Verdict: I really love the strong lemon I'm getting from this. It doesn't have a ton of throw on me, but I suppose that's ok. It's very tart. I wish I got a little more coconut, but I really like what I do get from this blend. It seems to fade fairly quickly on my skin though, so I'm glad I just got a decant.

Mmmmm.... Like vanilla wedding cake. I got very little currant at first, and now, almost 5 hours later the currant is completely gone from my skin but remains a bit in the scent locket. But I'm ok with that because I smell like lusciously vanilla wedding cake! This wedding cake is totally decadent and whimsical in my mind, something like this: But the cake itself is all vanilla flavored. Yummmmmmmmmy.

This is uber-juicy apricots that have been soaked in rum and then thrown in a blender with some ice and ginger. I get a twinge of grapefruit as well. Actually the grapefruit adds a really nice tart-ness to the whole thing. The ginger adds a spiceyness that keeps Screeching Parrot from being too sickeningly sweet for me. It is definitely a tropical drink. Perfect execution of this concept, Beth! I am trying decants of a few of the Atomic Luau scents in the hopes of finding just one I can wear to our friend's annual Christmas in July Tiki Party. Unless another one jumps up and wows me like this one, I think I may have found the winner on the first try!

Atlantian spires host arcane rituals and scientific feats In the bottle, Phoenix Steamworks is faintly metallic, with mostly incense. Once on my skin, it's like I rubbed copper and gold all over my arms. The metal is definitely there but it's a soft, warm metal, not teeth-achingly cold metal. Sage and incense blend together to give this an overgrown green feeling to it. I get very specific images with this blend. An old civilization, with gold-topped, crumbling buildings. The city has practically been taken over by the surrounding vegetation, the vines and trees growing into and througout the ruined architecture...and in the center of it all, a scientist has set up his lab inside the remains of a cathedral. I love this, and am in BIG trouble if all the Steampunk blends work on me this well. But I already knew that!

Dancing naked there bodies glisten, moonlight shines fir trees whisper prayer sooo.....can you tell I really like Hex? Like the buildup of a dancing frenzy, this scent starts subtle and builds in intensity as I wear it. At first, I get faint, soft skin musk and a hint of fir. As I wear it, the amber and incense start to come out, and there's a definite green herbiness as well. The barest breath of florals settles around the other notes to round this out on my skin. This is a blend that evokes dark, wet, green forests at night. While to me, it is a cool scent (as it reminds me of cool fall nights), the skin musk should allow this to be worn year round.

Here's some pics of the Moai Bottle. I'll be trying and reviewing it tomorrow, but I love the great label!

At first, Bengal is alot of cinnamon, but also something almost cream/milk-y. Like Cinnamon ice cream! After a while, the ginger and honey come out to play. They all blend together in a creamy chai with a tiny tiny bit of the musk, and an even fainter hint of pepper. This is beautiful and calming. The cinnamon starts out uber strong (ok by me b/c I love cinnamon) but does fade and blend with the other notes later. So for those worried about overpowering OMG cinnamon...give it a few hours to meld with the rest of the notes.

In the imp, this is quite dusty, with a bit of tobacco. When I first applied it to my skin, I could barely smell anything. After a few moments, though, I started to get more tobacco and lots of sweet incense. There is something floral here...maybe the tobacco notes? After a bit, the dusty note comes back. I have a bit of a cold it seems, and the dusty note doesn't agree with my sinuses today. This is nice, I guess, but not amazing. I think it would smell better on a man though (and I usually like 'masculine' scents alot). I don't believe I need a bottle.

I was luck enough to buy a decant of this off of a forum sale. In the imp, this is very strong, almost sharp tobacco. In fact, it was so sharp, I actually wondered if I was sent something other than Black Lace on accident. But after a few minutes, it was definitely tobacco, and 30 minutes in, it was no longer sharp. Now I get some lovely sugary vanilla, and maybe a hint of the incense smoke. I don't get any cognac, which I would have liked. The tobacco is actually the dominant note on me, with the vanilla serving to soften and sweeten it. Black Lace is a gorgeous blend, but due to its rarity, I don't feel the need to try to hunt down a bottle of this. I have plenty of other lovely blends, and I think with some effort, I might be able to get close to this scent by layering. Too bad there's not a tobacco single note, because that over Antique Lace seems like it would be awfully close. I would definitely buy a bottle if this was re-released though, because it is quite beautiful! I'm pleased that I've gotten to try it, and will treasure my (partial, now) imp.

I'm working my way through the Snake Pit, to decide which blends I want to order full bottles of before CD goes away. Today's contender is King Cobra. King Cobra didn't smell like anything but Snake Oil in the decant. Once on, and after drying, it is basically a softer, more resinous version of Snake Oil. It's also a bit musty (which I'm assuming is also the incense making itself known). It doesn't have as much throw as regular Snake Oil on me, which is fine. While it's nice, I don't see enough of a difference between King Cobra and regular Snake Oil to warrant an entire bottle.

In the bottle, Frederic is all men's cologne. Luckily, once on my skin, it gets much more complex. I get lots of notes here, bay rum, woodsyness, and something spicy (which may be the bay rum). After a bit, something sweet and soft tempers the sharpness; I'm guessing this is the amber. I don't get any tea rose, which is fine, since I'm not a huge rose fan. Also no patchouli for me, also ok. I love the woody smells, and wish there was more of it in this blend. I don't seem to get any currant either, which I would have liked. All in all, this is quite nice. It's sort of a more rough version of Dorian to me, but without the vanilla. It is very much a romanticized piratical themed blend.