amrita

This blend reminds me of laying on the forest floor after a rain, stretched out and in full contact with the life-giving humus. It evokes that feeling of being in love with the earth, safe and resting in sanctuary.

 

On me this blend smells like patchouli and bark (like a sharp cedar?), and it has a strong curious smokiness like the ashes of a wood fire that were put out by a heavy rain. It's a very unusual and strong scent, but I find it beautiful and soothing.

 

I have some serious fear/safety/abandonment/vitality issues, and I plan on using the blend in meditation to focus on this stuff. I can say right off the bat that for me, it imparts a feeling of being safe within the earth...

When wet, I get the same beautiful sweet flower notes that I do from the Hermit, but this soon turns to very soapy flowers on me-- smells like perfume counter stuff. :/

Oooh, this is so pretty! There is a lovely scent of greenery when I first apply this-- greenery and fresh white florals. The flowers do not smell overly-perfumy, as is the norm for me. I wonder if this is the Egyptian iris note?

 

This starts to go soapy after a minute, and other notes emerge which I can't identify, but are not pleasant on me.

 

I'll have to swap this away, but I sure do love the first few minutes of this blend...

Wet: candy sweet lotus. This smells pretty plasticky on me. It's a very rich, sweet floral; it almost reminds me of perfumed hard candies. It dries down to sweet and smoky plastic. What's up with the plastic?... hmm.

Wet, this is sweet like berries, or wine. This is a sweet, gentle, warm, woody, patchouli musk. Ten minutes later, this is warm and slightly masculine, but sweet and woody and comforting. It's totally wearable by a female.

Knowing that this blend is supposed to smell like mint, lime, and lavender, I think this imp must've gone bad.

 

I can barely pick out the lime, if I try. It's a very gentle lime, nothing puckery or fresh or citrusy about it. I smell no mint at all; there is nothing cooling or minty about this blend.

 

My husband said this smells like a good version of Dove soap's scent. I dunno. I would like to try Envy again, because I just can't believe that this is the same blend that everyone in this review thread is talking about. Weird...

Wet, this is sweet, smoky, and astringent. I smell cinnamon-- something spiced like a baked good, but without being foody. I get that weird rich smell I associate with the perfume an old babysitter used to wear--I am still trying to pin down what that note is. (It kind of creeps me out... man I wish I could figure it out.)

 

I do get the "baby skin" smell--strange. I'm also getting some woods I can't identify, and masculine oakmoss.

Wet: red musk, rootbeer (sassafrass?), incense. This is a lot like Sin. I really like it.

A half hour later, I smell mostly red musk and incense; it's very, very similar to Sin at this point.

This is one of my favorite Sephiroth oils!

Wet, this is straight up jasmine, gardenia, and baby powder on me. Although it fades very quickly, I don't think I could get past the baby powder to use it for meditation, so I'll be swapping it.

Wet, I smell spruce or pine, and something dark and astringent. I smell earth. This is dark-- a strange, nondescript darkness, which just kind of disappears and fades off my skin...

This is strange...not really my thing...

Very, very bitter. It reminds me of one of my failed attempts at tincture-style "absinthe" and makes me want to gag. Is that wormwood? I smell something sweet, also.

 

A few minutes later, this completely morphs into something sweet and woody, almost like berry cinnamon. It reminds me of Hamadryad.

 

I don't smell blackberry, but I wish I did! Damn.

Wet, this smells like pickles and smoke. It took me a while to figure this out. (My first thought-impression was of smoky BBQs and hamburgers with relish. (Not to say that this smells like hamburgers. At all.))

 

I can smell dry, sharp sandalwood, and myrrh. I am not sure what mastic or benzoin smell like.

 

I'm not really interested in this; the pickle/rose thing is too weird.

Wet, I get myrrh, and something makes me afraid this is going to turn into powder.

 

I smell fresh fennel root.

 

The fennel fades within ten minutes; the myrrh is also long gone; I just smell powdery florals (probably lilies?). A rose note is starting to emerge.

 

The rose fades within five minutes, and I'm left with just powder.

 

The rose/powder is too distracting to use for meditation purposes, so... off it goes...

Neroli flavored sugar and grass. A spring day in a sunny candy shop, grass stains on my knees. Very light, pretty, sweet, and girly.

 

I don't usually go for scents like this, but I keep reaching for it when I want something silly and sweet.

 

Incidentally, I never get any sandalwood from this blend. *shrug*

Red musk, sandalwood, cinnamon. Bloodlust reminds me a lot of Blood Moon, only woodier and drier. I'm not sure where I'm getting the sandalwood, but it smells very strong to me.

 

The dragon's blood is very faint-- it's almost undetectible, but it adds sweetness while the oil is drying, and then disappears.

 

After a while this is mostly vetiver, patchouli, and red musk. It's very dry, warm, comforting, and sexy. I love it... it's in my top 10.

When Phantom is wet, the combination of myrrh and ylang ylang are too sweet and unctuous for me. Once the ylang ylang evaporates, it smells very incensey and I swear that I smell sandalwood. At that point it swings from being too sweet to too masculine.

 

The rose is very subtle; it's usually a problem note for me, but not with Phantom. In any case, this blend is definitely not me.

I have a sad story about Tombstone. I tried the imp and thought it was beautiful. The only note I could pick out was the vanilla; it smelled like vanilla and light musk on me. It seemed like it could be worn by a man, so when my husband came home I tried it out on him. His first reaction was that it smelled like scented paint thinner! I sniffed his arm, and it was indeed paint thinner-esque. Now Tombstone is ruined for me... whenever I smell it, paint thinner will haunt me...

The first time I tried Kumiho, I thought it smelled *really* good: the light, fresh scent of sweet candied ginger and tea. It smelled very simple and natural.

 

When I tried it again a few days later, it started wafting incredibly strong soap. I think it has to do with what area of my hand I put it on. Very bizarre... I don't usually hesitate to swap something away if I have a soapy experience, but I think Kumiho warrants further experimentation.

I tried the Unicorn for the first time over a year ago, but swapped it away without making notes... I received it again as a frimp, and decided to give it another go:

 

Wet, this smells like greenness, like the unripe skins of exotic fruits in a grocery store. I smell a floral note I can't identify. ("White flowers?" ) Just a moment later, I catch a whiff of soapy rose-- and then it's all over-- it's going completely soapy.

 

I have smelled a linden essential oil, and *love* it, but I don't detect anything like that in this blend, boo hoo!

I suggest the Hermit. On me it's a beautiful soft unassuming floral. (I can only do light florals, also.)

Wet, the caramel and tobacco hit me. My first reaction is that this smells really weird. It reminds me too much of Hearth, which I didn't like.

 

As it dries, I'm hunting for the coconut, amber, currant, opium, and delphinium, but can't pick them out. This is still a very foody, sweet tobacco blend. Eventually I smell something very sharp, sweet, and fruity; I think that might be the black currant.

 

An hour later, I'm finally getting the amber-- but at this point Red Lantern is still primarily tobacco. Man, I was looking forward to this blend the most, but the caramel and tobacco notes took over everything and just didn't let up.

I don't get flowers or linens from Antique Lace. (In the same sense that White Rabbit (one of my favs) smells like linens, that is.) Antique Lace is a very simple vanilla/white musk blend on me, and I don't like it so much. White musk and I generally don't do well together. This blend is so very not me.

I get very strong cinnamon and pepper. Al-Shairan is quite potpourri-ish on me. It's sharp and makes my nose twinge. 20 minutes later, the potpourri is still going strong.

Wet, I smell tuberose, champaca, and high dry sandalwood. This is so beautiful and unusual! I think this might be an exotic floral that I can actually wear. On the drydown, the florals fade back a bit and the notes balance. I do eventually smell vanilla, but I never get honey or amber. Another missing note is the Damask rose-- I was fearful of the rose but don't detect it at all. I think this is just a really well balanced oil.

 

Khajuraho tugs at my emotions. It makes me feel nostalgic, peaceful, hopeful, and loving. *happy sigh*

Wow, I don't know what happened. Sed Non Satiata turned more soapy than any other blend I've ever tried, and stayed super soapy for a long time. Eventually I thought I smelled rosewood and currant, but...well... I don't think those notes are really in this blend. Holy soap.