Diana

Out

 

Most bottles don't come with them anymore. It's bascially a bit of plastic that fits over the opening of the 5ml (and presumably the 10mls as well) that only allows a drop or two of oil to escape at a time.

 

Ah! Thank you very much.

 

NP! And if you are interested, I believe there is a thread somewhere about where to buy them, if you'd like. It makes it a lot harder to spill a bottle with them on! But then again, I'm a slatherer, so I like to get a lot out of my bottles.

Out of curiosity- what is a "reducer" I saw the question asked- but didn't find the reply.

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Most bottles don't come with them anymore. It's bascially a bit of plastic that fits over the opening of the 5ml (and presumably the 10mls as well) that only allows a drop or two of oil to escape at a time.

This is one I've been really excited to try. I got a 5ml unsniffed, again, for the name!

 

In the bottle it smells slightly floral and "murky." I can't put my finger on it. There is a bit of an aquatic note.

 

Putting it on, wet, the floral really comes out. Similar to some the Lunacy oils... white pale blossoms, maybe lotus? Then something else creeps out. It smells like a cross between plastic and motor oil. Oh no. It can't be! Yes, it is. Are you sure? Yes, yes I am. It's VETIVER. Ughhhhh nooooooo. Nausea sets in. =x

 

Letting it wear (because I'm stubborn and I want to make this work!)... The florals remain in the foreground. The vetiver is becoming more subtle and slightly spicy (almost like pepper!) and less like a wayward chemical (though I still HATE it and I know it's there!!@). There is an overall aquatic note that kind of works with the flowers in drowning out the vetiver.

 

Unfortunately, while this isn't terrible on me, I don't know if I can get around the vertiver (it's not you, it's me). I'm not a huge fan of aquatics either, so this is giving me a mild headache. It does really quantify Niflheim very well though. I'll probably keep the bottle to sniff on occasionally, but I can't forsee myself wearing this often.

 

Also, probably not the best scent choice when I'm already severely depressed.

This is a 5ml I bought unsampled, purely for the name.

 

I put on some after I showered last night, about an hour before I went to bed. I could still smell it when I woke up!

 

In the bottle, it is hard to pick out a note. It smells sort of cedary and herbal.

 

Putting it on, the cedary scent becomes rather piney, and slowly picks up a citrusy note. Juniper perhaps? There is also a slightly minty smell at this stage. I can't make out any specific note, and not for lack of trying.

 

As this wears on after a few hours, the cedary note kind of dissapates into a generic "wood" smell. The herbal stuff in the background kind of becomes a sweet, dry, grassy scent. This blends together in a really beautiful way. Wow. I really want to know what went into this!

 

This is one of my absolute new favourites. I am amazed! I also think 5ml is not going to be enough! I predict this one getting a lot of wear.

 

This is also really gender neutral. This smells fantastic on me, but would be so drool-inducing on a guy!

Urd....Uuuuuuurdddd....try Urd!

 

It's the best, most dry, dark, incense smell I've yet encountered! 

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I second this. It's very dry woodsy-incense. Lovely.

This is the third Norn, Skuld : Being. She represents becoming, the future, the unseen.

 

Opening the vial and putting this on, I'm struck by the fruity quality that erupts from the sweet notes of ylang ylang and honey. It is so sweet. Not sugary sweet, but just ... sweet. Sort of like a very high floral note, but not so cloying.

 

I have to keep smelling it out of the bottle. It reminds me a bit of Mabon on first inhale, even though there really are no berries in here.

 

This is one I feel I have to slather on to get it to waft off enough for my tastes. Then again, it could be the dry winter air. But it's a light scent, not as heavy as her sister Urd.

 

As this wears, it remains sweet, but not so intense. The musks begin to emerge and mingle and temper the sweet. It is a soft blend of honey and musk. It sort of reminds me of Salomé now, but without the jasmine note.

 

YAY. This is totally lovely. I reaaallllly like this one. I'm completely happy with all three Norn scents! Glad I grabbed all 3 in 5ml bottles. I actually should have gone for the 10mls!

 

Verthandi is one of the three Norns. She is usually represented as the Present or "becoming:"

 

"Urd is one called, Verthandi the next, and Skuld, the third. They mark on the wood, they ordain laws, they allot lives for human children, speaking their fates."

 

Urd means "became," Verthandi "becoming," and Skuld, "shall be." Their names come from a very ancient Indo-European root meaning "to turn, to spin, to become. "

 

Working through all three norn scents, today is Verdandi day!

 

Smelling Verdandi out of the bottle the first time, I got WOW APPLES. The next time I smelled it, it was more floral. And there are no floral notes listed. Wacky.

 

Wet and drydown, this is a clean smelling scent with an underlayer of fruit. It actually reminds me quite a bit of Frost Moon sans mint! The Black Amber isn't all that noticable to me (and I LOVE amber), but I think it contributes to the background "softness." The apple has a bit of tartness to it, but it's not pungent at all, just softly fruity.

 

This is fairly light, I wish it was a little stronger. But it is really soft & nice & refreshing, and to me a very "in the moment" kind of scent. Another hit for me!

I could not resist an oil named for the Norns, so I bought 5mls of all 3 as soon as they were released.

 

In the bottle, this is incensey patchouli heaven. LOVE.

 

Putting it on, some of the winey-grape fruit notes come out, but it's still tempered by the patchouli. I'm digging this so much.

 

Drydown: I've been wearing this for 10 or 11 hours now, and it's still going strong. The fruit notes have pretty much gone away, but what is left is a super dry, woody scent of patchouli and nag champa.

 

THIS IS SO GREAT.

From the vial, wet, and through drydown, the scent didn't ever really change much. It was sort of a smokey-incensey spiced vanilla. For some reason it was really similar (to my nose at least) to the sweet vanilla in Blood Kiss. It was not super sweet like Sugar Skull, and the complexity of the vanilla wasn't like anything I've ever encountered before.

 

I really like this! I think I'll wait to get the big bottle, as my list of 5mls is rather embarrassingly long.

What oils are similar to Snake Oil (spiced) that are just as sweet or near it?

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I think Blood Kiss & Snake Oil have some similarities. Snake Oil doesn't have the clove or vetiver, though (thank GOD).

I just finally got around to trying this Yule blend that's been sitting on my BPAL shelf for almost a month now. I'm easily distracted, what can I say?

 

In the bottle, it's really true to its name. It smells like yummy sugary gingerbread.

 

Putting it on, the spice scents take off running. It starts to smell a bit like gingersnap cookies, then as it dries it starts to smell very similar to the cinnamony Sugar Cookie.

 

Oh no! thinks I... Sugar Cookie smelled terrific in the bottle & initially but went all wonky playdoh on me!

 

But behold! no playdoh scent! The warm, sugary spicey scent remains even now, 7 or 8 hours later. Of course it is nowhere near as strong as it was hours ago, but it is definitely still there. It is really delicious & comforting. The scent in the bottle stayed pretty true to form throughout drydown on me, which is always a nice bonus. Glad I got a bottle of this one! YUM!

I've gotten a noticable reaction with Cerebus, Dia de los Muertos, Sugar Skull, Samhain...

 

 

... er, actually, pretty much any oil.

I am another who thought it might smell a bit like Hellfire. Nope! It doesn't.

 

In the bottle, it is really smokey-cherry. Like smoked cherries. Not cherry tobacco. I mean like if you took dried cherries and smoke them like you'd smoke sausages. Weird, I know.

 

Putting it on, the smokey-woody-cherry scent is super strong. And the oil starts to burn my skin. OW OW OW OW OW OW. Seriously, I'm getting red welts on my neck, insides of my elbows & cleavage. Determined, I wait for about 5-10 minutes and the burning & red marks subside. I've never had that happen with any oil before! That HURT.

 

I've been wearing it now for a few hours. I'm somewhere between liking it and not liking it. I do like the smokey-cherry, with the slight leathery background, but at the same time, the cherry scent is a bit too cloying and syrupy. Not fruity fresh sweet, but goooopey, or sort of like overripe fruit when it starts to rot. I have a bit of a headache, but I don't know if it's the scent or being put on mofowing speakerphone twice already this morning.

 

This is one I might try again, but I am not really sold on it, especially considering the painful reaction.

I can detect the citron & lavender in the vial, hiding under the pennyroyal.

 

As I put it on, the Pennyroyal takes off and running as the predominant scent. There is sort of a bitter undertone to the pennyroyal (mint! mint! mint!) but that fades away after 5 minutes or so.

 

However, the minty quality of the pennyroyal stays on. And on. I was hoping the citron-lavender would make more of an effort to be smelled, but they were fairly subtle in the background. After a while the musk & pennyroyal become a powdery soft scent with a hint of mint.

 

This is quite nice, but not what I expected. I was hoping for more of a Gemini substitute. While this is slightly close, not close enough. Though, I still really like this and may buy a bigger bottle at some point in the future.

 

Also, was it just me, or did anyone feel kind of funny after wearing this oil? I'm hoping it was the breakfast of pizza and not the pennyroyal.

There's just one thing that makes me so sad about the King... He's gone in half an hour. Just nothing. poof. But he smells sooo good at first! 

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I had the exact same thing, unfortunately. I put it on and 20-30 minutes later, it was all but undetectable!

 

In the bottle it was a lovely musky-citrus. Going on it had a piney, almost juniper-smelling note to it, with a nice grapefruity underlayer. It was divine. Then it was gone.

 

I'll give it another shot, but if this doesn't want to stay on me, I'll just have to swap it. This royal couple didn't like me too much.

This is one I've been meaning to actually put on my skin and try out for a while. I knew I'd love it just from sniffing at the imp, but as I've experienced, one can never be too sure with these things.

 

In the vial, it's highly reminiscent of Demeter's Dirt. It is the smell of freshly upturned earth, or a flowerbed after a thunderstorm. There is a hint of rose underlying it all, but really it just screams DIRT. Cool with me, because I love this smell.

 

Putting it on & wearing it all day, it doesn't really change too much. The roses alternate from that weird "flower arrangement in a funeral home" to "dried out roses." They also take turns with the dirt smell for attention. One minute it smells a bit more rosey, the next, more like dirt.

 

The staying power is incredible. This isn't an overly pungent scent, so I didn't expect it to last more than a few hours. I was totally mistaken!

 

I do enjoy roses and dirt! So, needless to say, I reaalllllllyyyyy love this.

I put this on last night about an hour or so before I went to bed. I'm trying to test out every imp I have (ha!).

 

In the vial, I got the impression of deep, dark piney scents. My initial notes on this oil was "oddly comforting."

 

Putting it on... HOOOOOOOEY LAWDY. The pine/evergreen scent is impossibly strong, almost to the point where it smells like eucalyptus! My cat tries in vain several times to lick it off of my wrists.

 

... waits ...

 

Ah yeah, it faded. It softens nicely into a tolerable amount of pine. The musk blends with it. It smells rather reminiscent of sandalwood to me. But I think I have an affinity for making everthing turn into sandalwood. It is my superpower.

 

The scent is rather on the masculine side, probably neutral-to-masculine, if I were to rate it. Not unwearable by women, in the least, but I think most girls tend to go for slighly softer scents (except ME, heh!). Overall, it's a rather lovely scent. Not something I'd personally wear everyday, or something I'd need in a bottle in any great quantity, but I like this imp.

I really like all these notes, so this seems promising. Ylang^2 can be a bit overwhelming for me at times; I find it to be pink & waxy smelling in certain blends.

 

The oil in the imp is dark... this can only mean good things! The vial scent is deep & musky & sensual.

 

Putting it on, the ylang-ylang makes a brief appearance to say HI CHECK ME OUT I'M A FLOWER! It's light and almost fruity and contrary to the other ingredients in the mix. After a few minutes it settles in and blends with the other three notes.

 

All I can say is WOW. I am so totally digging this with the biggest shovel in the toolshed.

 

I've been wearing it for several hours now, and it still has nice potency and the wafting fragrance off my skin is totally devine. I'm trying to resist the temptation of sticking my face down the front of my shirt so I can get a bigger whiff.

 

This oil is totally a winner for me! I LOVE resins and spices and deep, mysterious, warm, murky scents. This has a bit of a sweet top note from the ylang-ylang so that it's not overbearing. Perfection!

 

Bigger bottle required!

Somehow, in the vial, this smells almost fruity. Almost a grape-like quality. It's the jasmine. Yum. Sweet, but a bit on the delicate side.

 

I'm somewhat apprehensive about this one, becaues I'm not a huge fan of orchid. It's one of those floral scents I find to be perfumey and cloying.

 

As I wear it, there is a definite orchid note that rears its head, becoming more and more apparent. Somehow I'm not that annoyed as I would be. I guess the scent is tempered by the musk & sandalwood, though I must admit, I wish they were stronger.

 

Overall, it's nice and pretty, but a little too floral for me. I also think it's a bit too soft compared to the deeper & stronger spice & resin scents I generally prefer.

In the bottle, there was very little scent. Kind of piney, but hard to describe.

 

As I put it on my skin, it erupted into a scent of winter berries (something red & pungent, maybe bayberries?), PIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!@!!!! and cinnamon.

 

As it started to dry, the cinnamon became really prevalent, along with something I can only say was the overpowering scent of a really strong soap on me. So I smelled like really burninating combination of cinnamon & soap. When I say burning, I mean, it actually hurt my eyes and nostrils. I had to wash it off. And I typically adore cinnamon in blends. Something about this was physically painful.

 

I really wanted to like you, Yuletide 2004, but I think it's best that we see other people.

 

 

edited because i did.

In the bottle, and wet it is overwhelmingly floral. I do detect a slight citrus note, but it's very subtle to my nose.

As this dries, this does me no favours. The florals are really too perfumey and cloying for my tastes. I'm not getting any citrus notes anymore, and no apparent rose. It's all very reminiscent of the drydown of Black Pearl, which went totally Iris on me in a really not-so-good way. I'm thinking there's Iris in here as a "pale flower" along with the Orchid.

It is not really all that strong, but this is really not my cup of tea. So sad, I had really hoped for a more citrusy blend.

Wah.

This reminds me of a candle scent that I've used to make xmas candles around the holidays. I'm not sure what the notes are in that either, though. Kind of a foody-floral mish-mash of smells.

 

In the bottle, this is a wet, oily floral scent. Slightly buttery. Odd.

 

Putting it on, a really odd note appears, and I have NO idea what it is. It's not agreeing with my nose at any rate. Thankfully that isn't the predominant scent and is mostly hidden by the weird aquatic-butter flowers.

 

Drying down, a slightly minty scent appears and this softens up. The weird funk smell is still kind of there, but only if I stick my nose up to my wrists and really inhale deeply. The floral note reminds me of a note in Frost Moon... lotus perhaps? I'm not getting coconut so much, but I see how some people would get that out of this oil. I think it is masked by the floral scent on me.

 

As odd as my description sounds, it really is a soft, lovely scent. I probably wouldn't get a second bottle of this, though. It's nice, but not something I'd envision myself wearing very often.

 

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ETA: months and months later...

I didn't like this because it smelled "plasticky," but after I let it age for a few months, it is WONDERFUL. The mint kind of dissapated and now it's a creamy, sweet, wonderful cacophany of coconutty musky pineapples.

In the bottle, wet, dry, it all smelled like long stemmed red roses with a bit of foliage.

 

Very intense, deep rose smell. This lasted a long time and did not change at all on my skin. This is not a soft & powdery rose. This is full-on in your face rose action.

 

I like it, but probably not for everyday.

I bought this 5ml unsniffed. Ooh mystery!

 

oh, and in case you're wondering what cubeb is; it's a pepper: Pungent and bitter with a strong terpene aroma. The aroma is variously described dry-woody, warm-camphoraceous and spicey-peppery

 

In the bottle, it is a deeeeeep murky fig scent. Slightly chocolately.

 

Putting it on, the figs really come to the foreground even more. Not fresh, sweet figs, but the heady smell of dried figs. Dare I say it, somewhat similar to fig newtons.

 

As it wears, a lemony scent appears and mingles with the fig. Fruity and light and dark & deep at the same time. For an unsniffed scent, I done good! I really like it.

 

I don't think it lasted more than 4-5 hours, but that could be my boyfriend's fault.

Midwinter's Eve = Bordello

 

Bordello has a bit more depth to it, but there's a very strong plum similarity in both.

 

I've yet to try out all the Yule LEs I have, so I may have more later.