othelloperrello

I get a light, fizzy spiciness - a vanilla egg-cream drank in a sunny meadow.

 

Stays steady for several hours, very nice.

I feel the need to review this oil because it is my card, the one that most often means ME me of late when I do readings.

 

What intrigued me when I sniffed it out of the bottle was that the scent was the most totally repugnant bpal I'd ever sniffed. It was like taking a good huff of that brush-on wet cement you use out of the can, it smelled utterly toxic. It started that way on my skin, but slowly changed. Over about 5 minutes the sweetness grew and the foul stench seemed to dry up. After 10 minutes I am left with a well-blended, sugery floral, still somewhat pensive like those last few summer days that are just waiting to end.

Warm, comfortable, pleasantly spicy, one of those scents that feels like it belongs on my skin. It continues morphing and surging, and seems like it will stay fairly strong with a medium throw (it's been well over an hour).

 

Yay

[Man review]

 

 

What this really is to me, it's the spiced cider I'd been searching for and given up on finding. The pomegranate and the apple, no doubt aided by hyssop, combine into the perfect fresh red fruit note, I get ripe apples from the tree in deep fall. This is my first experience with Massoia, and from what I read of Cryptocarya massoia (Lauraceae) it's a sweet, coconut-milky blender, so I'm sure that works in this profile's favour (i.e., +++yumminess).

 

I'm not sure if this is a common experience or it's just my skin, but all of the honeys add a great spiciness to the mix, as well as the sweetness. It's like when you get REALLY good raw honey and smell it up very close slowly, that spice within it but amped up to an overriding note. So yes, it is enough (with the massoia, I'm sure) to give it that mulled-spiciness on my skin.

 

All in a festive sweet, spiced fruit. Once it settles it's solid, 3-4 hours which is a lot on my skin.

 

:love!:

Othello

Guy review:

 

Here is my problem with this scent, dammit: wet on my arm it smells perfect, all the notes coming out exactly how I want them. It's the drydown that kills it for me, because within 10 minutes everything seems to depart - that coveted chocolate note, that gorgeous golden caramel - and I am left with peppery smoke. Why why WHY?

 

I am going to let this age just another year or so, and see what I have at the end of that.

 

...to be continued!

Guy review:

I love this scent. The overall feeling I get is rare for bpals, it's a sweet, light scent that keeps telling me it smells like something specific but keeps eluding me. This has been going on for over a year, and I think that's just part of its mystery.
I get the cardamom coming out fairly quickly, and I feel it plays an important role in rounding this out against the balsams, the woods, and the hay. Such an incredible combination. The cardamom in turn is deepened by the woods, and the hay absolute adds what I can only describe as a golden glow that makes this surprisingly light, sweet, spicy and wearable.
I am a big fan of resinous, woodsy scents; to me this is the lightest, most golden of my beloved resinous blends. Playful.

Yes, this is as it sounds: wonderfully strong hemp, patchouli, and vanilla.

On my skin, all elements were about equal. This is one of the most forthright oils I've run into. Definitely reminded me of tombstone for the patchouli, but whereas that had some strange subtlety I could not deduce this one comes out clear and strong.

Unfortunately for me it's a little much. So glad I got the opportunity to give this one a try, though, it's exceptional.

 

 

 

I'll call it to my mind's nose rose, violet, and jasmine. Though it has become clear to me that there is, in fact, no rose in here to my way of categorizing the slight musk underlay fulfills the same function for me which is to give it a dignified floral scent, refined yet real.

 

I feel it was caught best when it was said,

"Sweet and gentle. The flowers are lovely and soft without powder. Just fresh and sweet... Slight incense in the background giving it a hallowed ethereal feel.

 

A wonderful contemplative perfume."

 

I'll keep her.

O

 

 

 

 

A beautiful mix of wet white roses, and honeyed-cream. Really well balanced on those 2 sides, sweet and rose, a very nice scent. It reminds me of white chocolate in that I can appreciate it, but not really want to eat it personally.

Someone should have it!

 

think I'll frimp

 

 

O

Guy review:

 

 

Rose, and violets. Both at the height of summer, balancing rather well in power. Overall feeling is majesty, walking the royal grounds, and you feel perfectly at ease.

I feel this is a necessary imp-keeper for the purity of it's scent, even for me.

 

Thanks bpal!

O

Guy review:

 

 

Well, it's deep, it's earthy, it's on-the-line-of-too-much-cedar, but the patouli is there and balances it out. As' said, a good general masculine/cozy scent, not my favorite wood.

 

Gracias,

O

Guy review:

 

 

Ah, a hardy, earthy, swarthy scent - scent of the woods obviously pine maybe fir, coming thru strong and prevailing through along with a heavy vetiver presence. Medium-to-strong throw. Yet there is enough wet rich earth and clove in there to keep it in play and more than just a Pine Scent.

This, for me, is definitely wearable on an evening walk alone or with company, or on a morning flight to keep me grounded and fresh.

 

AND * - * Combined with graveyard dirt brings out the musk (black, brown, earth-musk) and does some interesting things.

 

So the total composition of this, then, would be pine, vetiver, musk of earth, clove . Well balanced, good mix potential.

 

 

Guy review:

 

This continues to be one of my favorites, and as I sit here about to sell my backup bottle for hard cash, I find myself having serious second thoughts. It's so good, and what's more I think it's aging and getting better yet.

 

So the obvious first notes are cocoa and cinnamon, and definitely ginger which gives a nice foody overtone to it. It's a given for me that chocolate notes fade quickly, which is sad, but there's lots of nice spice to fill in when that fades off. I think the maize adds to the wholesome baked foodiness as well, and reminds me very much of when I lived in southern mexico.

There's a sourness over it all that seems to be blending a little better the longer the bottle ages, which is great because it plays really nice now instead of poking out. Looking at the notes I see "agave wine and octli" - well, I've never heard of agave wine perse, so I decided to look up "octli" and found that it was pulque! I couldn't believe that was in there! It was one of my favorite things in Mexico and totally unobtainable in the US. Wow. This really captures it too, because it's very fermented and fizzy, which I feel really comes through.

One of the scent categories I collect are mexico scents, and this one really comes through. All in all, I would categorize it as a warm, foody scent with a lot of spice.

 

Who am I kidding? I'm not selling my backup bottle!

Guy review

 

I get an overwhelmingly strong pumpkin, immediately and irrevocably. Pumpkin so strong it's drunk. Seriously, this is has the strongest throw I have ever encountered in a bpal. It left an oily smear on my hand that is not going away.

 

What I perceive is strong, ripe pumpkin liqueur and cinnamon. I am thinking that the pump + coffee + chocolate combo does this, with maybe the hint of vanilla to mellow & sweeten it out a bit. I can't understand where the sense of cinnamon comes from!

Usually that alcoholic edge dies away on the drydown, but here it does not. So all in all it is to me exactly this: double espresso latte with extra squirts of pumpkin syrup and a nip from the flask poured in for good measure.

 

I think I like it. For a guy this is a very wearable but noticeable scent, and the New Yorkers will know its smell!

 

Guy review.

 

A note on the throw of this scent: My experience was that it faded quickly to the point where I thought it was going to disappear entirely after 10 minutes. Then, strangely, it seemed to settle in and grow in intensity to about medium bpal strength.

Go figure.

 

I think the comparison to condensed milk is a good one. On the drydown I get a nice warm milky froth, slightly spicy (but moreso on my than on my beloved's hand. The chevre makes a stronger cream, and the coffee note is just barely there in the back. Coffee notes never seem to last long on me. All in all, it reminds me of cookies just ready to come out of the oven. Oh Mother Shub, you shouldn't have!

But I'm so glad you did.

 

 

 

 

Guy review:

 

Have to put my two cents in to agree with most on this, it's a sweet/foody blend of hazelnuts balanced with vanilla, sandalwood, and honey.

It reminds me of cozy-warm rooms filled with cooking concoctions, sweet nutty slightly alcoholic things; there's spice in the air and bustling people, friendly chatter, and a mug of something hot and nice in my hands.

 

Great blend!

Would really like to know what wezwanie/hold means. Guess I'll have to watch the movie.

 

 

The combination of these notes intrigued me, and I had to order a bottle immediately.
For those of you not in the know, "kvass" is an olde world russian/eastern european fermented drink made from fruit, berries, and rye bread.

[note: guy review]

First wet sniff yields a number of fascinating notes vying for dominance. There is an overriding sweetness, a sourness (wine), and a spiciness that are very promising.
Unfortunately on my skin these come together and resolve on the drydown into a pleasant, sweet autumn potpourri that doesn't much appeal to me. I recognize a specific note in here that I've encountered in other oils, notably Sugar Moon, which never works on me.

Hopefully others will have better luck with this than I! It's got such potential, I'm thinking it's my chemistry that's not working so well.

Starts out strongly vetiver, gives that nice deep woodsy umph.

After about 10 minutes dries down into a pleasantly sweet coating - sweet milky tea and crumbly cookies, or yes rice pudding perhaps.

Doesn't stray into powdery; a little stuffy but rather nice.

 

imp's enough

Fruity cinnamon. The perfect combo, but has a kind of overbearing saccharine quality to its background that I can’t bear.

 

 

My favorite of the dragon's blends.

The perfect combination and use of dragon's blood's strong sap, with powerful musks and a little slightly-sweet fruit on the vine.

 

bottle

I get this exactly as it is said, that is exactly as I would have been led to believe from the description ("dry, mellow rosewood, crushed rose leaf and the slightest touch of warm hazel", although I would not have picked out the note of hazel I can see how it adds to the mix.

 

Lovely.

 

It's true, this IS a fascinating scent to review.

After ten minutes it's just settling in, so I guess we can start with its throw which is close to the skin (3-5in for the test dab) and dense.

My initial on-the-skin impression was Mystically sweet heavy musks; crunching steps through a holy barnyard or am I among juniper? Definitely pinefloor, but not cedar.

I jive with sarada, who said,

" It strikes me as kind of a menthol scent at first, a strong impression of heat -- but also steam coming off of hot rocks.

Mists shroud a pine forest, but it's not winter -- it's warm, and the air is thick and humid after a rainstorm.

Now it's a block of ice melting in a cave in a tropical jungle. Maybe some sort of prehistoric beast is frozen inside, and coming back to life?

After the menthol scent dies down, it has a sort of damp, mineral smell to it with some impressions of dark greenery...not floral, not sweet, just once again like some sort of evergreen, but not frosty pines.

This is definitely worth trying, for the experience, and I think it could grow on me as a fragrance if I didn't just have so many to play with these days! Abstract, conceptual scents like these fill me with the greatest anticipation and excitement whenever there is an update."

 

5 minutes: After the pine fades, yes hot smoldering rocks and "the rage of the elements over primordial paradise". And perhaps blossoms emerging through the cataclysm, even now.

 

Earth & steam, water and rock. I really like HOW Beth achieved this blend, it seems she went at it with a full range of elements that combine for this unique effect, including a hint of her signature sulphuric note that I saw in Maoi, from the Atomic Lau Lounge 3/2008, which I tried first; I really like how lightly it is used here and I feel it makes it more wearable for me.

 

The lasting scent on my skin is a scent strongly earthy but sweet and light. I could see combining this with stronger scents for a good full effect.

---

 

Like to continue reading the reviews to find specific notes that are in this blend.

 

 

Hi, here's my 2 cents and thanks especially to TygherRayn for the excellent description of this card, so long ago. It was further illuminating to my query.

 

I was doing a reading with the Tarot of the Trance, and my culmination card was the World. I decided to crack my special box and try the one slather I possess.

 

The World is pure and beautiful, on me a strong sandalwood layered with cinnamon, light pine boughs, and cool life-giving mountain air. That's where it takes me: atop a cliff in the sun, amid forested mountains, fresh air and the sweetness of life all around me. It's the holy incense of Nature, of wholeness, contentedness, benevolence. I feel a renewel, after much struggle and much that has been lost, there remains a sacredness in what is before me every day.

 

Great interpretation of this card. Sandalwood amps on me, but since it is my favorite single component I never mind.

 

 

 

 

 

The World card pictures a dancer in a Yoni (sometimes made of laurel leaves). The Yoni symbolizes the great Mother, the cervix through which everything is born, and also the doorway to the next life after death. It is indicative of a complete circle. The Dancer has one leg crossed over the other, just like the Hanged man. She is, in a sense, his opposite, the hanged man right-side-up. As the Hanged Man saw infinitely inward, the Dancer sees infinitely outward. Which brings us to the Lion, Bull, Cherub and Eagle standing for Leo, Taurus, Aquarius and Scorpio, the fixed signs of the Zodiac (these link the ever turning World card to the ever turning Wheel of Fortune), and so symbolic of the four elements, four compass points and the four corners of the universe. All within the Dancer's sight and power.

 

Thus, the World card, very aptly, represents a successful conclusion, all aspects accounted for and taken in. Simply put, this card tells the Querent that the end to a long-term project is in sight, and that it will be accompanied by well-earned praise, celebration and success. With Saturn as its ruling planet, this card can also indicate that the Querent, now an expert in their subject, is likely to become a teacher or sought-after lecturer. And, finally, on a more mundane level, the World card indicates travel, not short business trips, but long, fantastic trips. Maybe a lecture tour, book signing, or just a trip around the world. This is a wonderful card of wholeness, perfection, satisfaction and happiness.

 

In the bottle: Earthy was my first impression. Cinnamon, perhaps. Something a little woody .. but it's not cedar, that's for sure. The cinnamon's tempered by something, making it not as strong as something like, say, mars or Wrath.

 

Wet: Yes, cinnamon. After a minute or so it sweetens, like there's a floral scent in this as well. The World card is a depiction of the cyclical nature of things .. and this scent seems to mimic that. It morphs constantly, I can't pin down the notes except for the cinnamon, but I know there's more.

 

Wearing: This scent makes me happy. It makes me feel connected and grounded. And that's rather what I expected of a scent pattered after this Tarot card. It's warm and soft, it's sweet and woody. It's 'Elemental', if that makes sense. It seems to have all the elements in it, and that's a lovely thing indeed.

 

 

This started out exactly like a pina colada on me. Pineapple dominates, but the other fruits add a roundness to the drink, kind of like a stirred up tequila sunrise maybe. The rum adds a slight buzz to it that's pleasant.

Then I saw the review that mentioned Life-Savers - yes! The tropical ones, just like that. But also alcoholic. (Alcoholic life savers, that's an idea...)

 

after about 10 minutes the passion fruit makes itself known, rounding it out a bit. The alcohol dies off and it's a nice tropical fruit mix. Ebullient and summery!

 

 

 

On first application my impression was mulch, but Having read the other reviews, I have to agree: It's dark chocolate, with maybe a bit of a floral in the background but the cocoa really dominates.

 

After about 1/2 hour the dominant chocolate starts to share the stage with dragon's blood, and it turns more musky. Still chocolat-Y, but more balanced. Very natural.

 

I think it's a great blend if you like the darker scents, like I do.

 

Well, it is what it says: a healthy dose of strong rose, carnation, etc.

It comes too close to the uber-smell of soap products to me. After a while, it dies down enough to be tolerable, but it's a fleeting thing and not worth it to my nose.

 

As a guy, in any case, I just couldn't wear this out. To much of a boquet.