meaganola

This didn't thrill me too much, but I'm actually happy about that. After reading all of the raves, my heart was sinking because I only got one bottle. Then I tried it last night. Honey baby powder, with a smattering of herbs when wet. Memories of my childhood, when my brother was a baby, and my mom used to take us for walks to the neighborhood honey factory. Yep, we actually lived within walking distance from a place where they processed, bottled, and sold honey. It's pleasant and nice on me, but not OH MY GOD NEED MOAR NAO! I'll be tucking this one away for aging and see what a few months does before I decide whether to unload it. Normally, I make up a little sprayer a day or two after I get an oil, but I'm waiting until it ages before I do that this time around. It's just *that* pleasant-but-not-thrilling to me. On the up side, it looks like this one already has a cult following, so it should be super easy to rehome this bottle.

Yikes! My first OW OW OW BURNING oil! Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal. I'm hoping that it's just a reaction between the oil, the alcohol (I use perfumers' alcohol), and the fact that I was *sweating* all night due to the fact that my apartment hot (high 80s, which is hot for this area) since I used this one a *lot* in January/February when I first received it with no problems. I haven't worn it since late February just because I have many, many imps to test and just haven't gone back to wear old favorites. The burning and redness went away after an hour or two, but it still makes me nervous that this is going to be an issue in the future with more and more oils. At least I do have a couple of scent lockets (White Rabbit! Clocket!) so I won't have to go scent-free, whether it's a weather/sweating issue or a newly-developed skin sensitivity.

Ahhhh ok, that puts my mind at ease. I was worried I somehow goofed with the actual PayPal transaction.

My experience is that as long as whatever you did resulted in you receiving a PayPal receipt, you're golden. In fact, the only time I had an issue with things missing from an order was a CCNow order (I think I just ordered so much that the screen/printout that had my ordered items listed cut off the last few items), and Bill got everything sorted out for me.

Hmm. I really, really wanted to like this one. I love root beer, and I love wintergreen, so I was operating under the theory that whichever one I got would be great, and a combo would still be great. Alas, I am ending up with a weird band-aid-and-slightly-buttery-linament combination. I wish I could swap this one, but I already mixed it with perfumers alcohol and put it in a little sprayer, so it's just going to sit there and taunt me until I think, "Well, maybe I was just having an off nose day," and give it another shot. I'm still waiting for a day where I really like (rather than merely tolerate) Love's Philosophy, though, and I have a feeling SSS will be the same way. On the up side, it doesn't last all day. Oh, it's still hanging in on my shirt, but on my skin? It's long gone.

This is mostly violet with a teeny bit of citrus and maybe some nectarine (I don't get much ylang ylang, amber, or pathcouli), and there's this distracting almost buttery note (it's not *butter*, but that's the only word I can come up with to describe it) that I keep trying to identify. It also shows up for me in Oval Portrait and Thalia, but I don't see anything that is in all three, so I don't know what it is. I like violet, but that butter thing just sort of breaks it. It's not impressive on me at all. The rest of this bottle is definitely going on the swap list. I have too many other scents I haven't tried yet or just *love* to bother using the rest of this one.

Oh, man, words cannot express how much I love this one. All of the notes listed just kind of dance around in a fizzy dizzy wonderfulness that I wish was an actual drink. I think my favorite part is the black cherry. No, wait, the almond liquor. No, wait, the rum. That's one of the best things about this one: Everything shifts around and is wonderful in its own turn, but then things overlap and become even more awesome, kind of like a kaleidoscope. And as it has warmed on my skin for a while, it just gets better (the mint makes my skin a wee bit tingly where I applied it, but in a good way). Another second (at least) bottle oil for sure! This might even be my official film festival scent, although I still have five more Luaus to try before I will know for sure.

Of course, when I had a coworker sniff this, she made a disgusted "Eww!" noise and face like I had shoved her face in dog crap because it's not All Floral All the Time, as she believes perfumes need to be. I'm very glad the Lab does not agree with her (most florals are a one-way ticket to Headacheville for me), and the fact that she doesn't like this scent -- not even as a hypothetical drink -- just reminds me once again that she and I live in completely different worlds.

My spreadsheet notes for this one: Weird bitter/sour note upon application fades pretty much immediately, leaving a gorgeous fruity/slightly boozy/slightly spicy scent!

Non-spreadsheet details: Love love *love*. I think the weird note I initially pick up is the grapefruit, and then once it hits my skin, I get this amazing all-of-the-other-fruits combination, with the ginger peeking out every once in a while. I get the booze, too, although it's not the *alcohol*. It's hard to describe. Maybe something like a flambe where the alcohol is gone, but all of the flavors of the brandy and rum are left behind? I don't get any flowers, which is a Very Good Thing, and I do get a bit of the candy-ish thing, which is also a Very Good Thing.

Verdict: I'm going to have to buy at least another bottle of this. Maybe even more, depending on how the rest of the Tiki Testing goes (one down, six to go). I know my coworker will *hate* this, but she believes perfumes should be All Floral All the Time, and that sort of thing gives me screaming headaches. Fruit and booze? That's my style.

(As a side note, for Seattle-area residents, there's a new tiki bar coming our way at Lake Union Cafe on 05 May! Unfortunately, I'm going to be in El Mundo del Raton when it opens.)

Le sigh. I had such high hopes for this because foody scents are usually *wonderful* on me (Gingerbread Poppet! Egg Nog! So cake? Lemme at it!), but I just can't handle it. And it's not my body chemistry: I tried it in my oil warmer, and I could smell it through the baggie I stored the pipette in (I finally just decanted the rest of the bottle so I could just toss the pipette and not have to smell it again already), and both ways just set off The Quease. I wish I could figure out what I'm reacting to so I could avoid it in future scents, although it's most likely whatever this has in common with Chanukkiyah since that one does the same exact thing. On the up side, it's an LE, so I should be able to swap this at some point (I feel weird frimping LEs unless it's on someone's wishlist because I want to make sure they're going to a home that really *wants* them, and if I hold them back from the frimps, I will have them for someone who can't get them any other way. Weird logic, I know, but, hey, I'm an Aquarian. We like logic and weirdness equally).

The notes sounded so promising: I *love* citrus, amber is lovely, and one of the major notes in one of the few department store scents I can stand is tobacco (still trying to figure out what vetiver does for me). I now understand what it means when someone says their skin amps something. In the imp, I smell pure tangerine with a tiny bit of spice. On my skin, I get nothing but pepper, although after about ten minutes it shifts to powdery pepper. Do not want! Off to the swap stash, and I really hope I can scrub all traces of this off before I go to bed since I put it on my wrists, and I've realized that I sleep with my hands tucked under my head/face. On the up side, between this, Bengal (no *wonder* this one set off a queasy headache!) and White Rabbit, now I know to avoid white or black (pink seems to be okay) pepper at all costs.

Wacky. I don't get much floral at all. On me, this is straight-up incense. Maybe it's floral incense, but it's not heavily floral. Not a bad scent (I happen to *love* incense), but not quite what I was expecting. And I think it's giving me a headache, although that might be due to the fact that I just realized it's 5:30pm, and I haven't had anything to eat since about 10am.