magdalene

in the bottle: wow, this is a smooth blend. I'm getting a lot of the sandalwood. wet on skin: The bit of lemon rind pops out once it's been applied to my skin, which is quite nice. This is a very clean smell, but not astringently so. Clean and dark, surprisingly enough. dry down: the vetiver has decided to pop its head out and say hello, pulling everything else closely around it. It makes the entire blend smell a bit incense-y, something which I enjoy. Very classical, not for the whimsical. Grown-up, gorgeous.

in the bottle: milk and honey, with a bit of carnation. wet on skin: as above, but the carnation moves aside for rose and bergamot. It's got a smooth quality to it, probably from the milk note. And the bergamot just makes me happy. Reminds me of chilly winter mornings and full cups of Earl Grey. dry down: the milk has slowly disappeared, leaving behind the sweetness of the honey and the long-lasting rose, with bergamot tying the two together.

in the bottle: what a great colour! This is all pepper and clove, with a small sugary smell I'm not sure of. Would that be the dragon's blood? wet on skin: Red Hots candy! This is great. dry down: the Red Hots is a cinnamon smell, which is really pushing for dominance in this one. The clove and pepper have pretty much been pushed to the side for the cinnamon and the sweetness has all but disappeared. This is beautifully sharp.

in the bottle: wow, that's a lot of apricot. I like it in March Hare, but I'm not so sure about this. wet on skin: still lots of apricot, with a hint of vanilla to bring it down a bit. dry down: the apricot has calmed down, but the vanilla hasn't come through any more. I'm also starting to smell some jasmine, but it's not very pleasant to me. I'm normally fond of jasmine, it's a bit sweet for me.

I've got two imps of this, so one is going in my swap bin and the other I'm going to keep. in the bottle: this is such a gorgeous dark colour. I immediately smell the myrrh and the ylang-ylang. wet on skin: still more myrrh and ylang-ylang, with a kicky hint of sweet. dry down: Here comes the patchouli, which I'd forgotten was even in this. Apparently, there's a pretty strong waft on this scent as well. I came up behind my co-worker's boyfriend when I was wearing this, several hours after it had been applied, and he knew it was me by scent alone (and picked the patchouli note out, as well).

in the bottle: glorious soft roses. Originally, I had this in my swap box. But, I brought it out to give it a review and have decided to keep it. wet on skin: beautiful, velvety roses with a hint of spicy sweet lurking behind them. dry down: not getting any sort of green scent, which others have mentioned, just a continous beautiful rose and spice blend. This reminds me of a tea rose perfume I used to wear, back in college.

received this as a freebie imp in one of my last orders. in the bottle: the first time I smelled this, I absolutely hated it. I'm not sure what note offended me so badly, but I made a face and immediately put it away. I've given it a second try, so I can write a proper review, and this time around, it's not nearly so horrible to me. I'm getting a lot of cedar and sage, with a bit of grapefruit kicking around in the background. wet on skin: the cedar warms up nicely on my skin, with the sage taking the backseat. The grapefruit never really intensifies, but it doesn't disappear into the back either. dry down: there's the vetiver, which I've been waiting for. But sadly, no black pepper or violet. Oh wait, there's the black pepper. It's just a bit faint. The patchouli ghosts around for a bit, then slowly fades away. This is a fairly masculine scent, but not of the sort that would be utterly horrible on a woman. It's very clean, crisp and strong. Like a very fine aftershave, without any of the medicinal quality to the scent. It's not overpowering or sickly, just very clean.

in the bottle: straight up oleander, with magnolia brushing up against it. wet on skin: I'm not getting the creaminess others have mentioned in their reviews, or any spiciness. On me, it's all florals warmed up with a bit of musk. dry down: still no sign of creamy or spicy. Wonderful staying power, though. Musky florals smell quite pretty, but I'm not a big fan of them.

in the bottle: gorgeous soft musk, with a slight sweetness to it. wet on skin: is that vanilla? The musk isn't overpowering and the amber intensifies the warm scent. dry down: everything settles down nicely with my skin chemistry, as most musky scents tend to do with me. I'm still unsure if that's a vanilla note I'm smelling or if it's the amber pulling everything together. There's some sort of citrusy scent I'm picking up, but I don't know what it is. This is a great scent, I'm just not overly fond of musky perfumes. It's a gorgeous blend, though.

Received this as a freebie imp, I believe. in the bottle: Very strong iris, with a bit of fruitiness. wet on skin: The iris has moved aside for the fruity scent, which I'm guessing is coming from the berries mentioned in the description. Amber warms it up a bit, dimming the sweetness. But, no spices so far. dry down: The amber has taken center stage, with a slight hint of the iris and berries giving it a bit of a twang. No spices, sadly enough. I like it, but wish the spice made an appearence.

I'd had this on my list for big bottles to get, solely for the fact that the proceeds went to a bat conservation charity, but was unable to order it before the Oblation scents were discontinued. I hunted down a decanted imp for testing. In the bottle: it's all honeysuckle and lavender, two scents that I love quite a bit. But mixed together, they're just a bit overpowering. And the honeysuckle has an odd note to it that makes my nose itch. Wet on skin: more honeysuckle and lavender, with lavender being the more dominent of the two. Still very powerful. Dry down: The lavender's calmed down a bit, but the honeysuckle still smells odd to me. I don't know if it's the addition of the other florals in the blend that's making me sneezy, but it's just too much for me. It's a beautiful scent, just not for me.

I didn't expect to like this because of the apricot, but boy was I ever wrong. Cloves and apricots, over and over again. A slight tea scent also joins the party after a couple hours of wear, which just makes me all the more a-twitter about the scent. Regretting that I only bought an imp of it, currently waiting on a 5ml. Much love for March Hare!

Buttery, spiced pumpkin frosting. This is so good, I want to roll around in it like a cat that's found an interesting scent. Yet another scent that stays true from how it smells in the bottle to how it smells on my skin five hours later. I prefer that to ones that morph, because then I don't get any disappointing surprises when something I initially like turns out to be kind of assy with my skin chemistry. Gorgeous staying power, as well.

Very green and herbal in the bottle, with a quick whiff of anise (that black licorice smell) I don't get any lemon-ness, like other people have mentioned, but the anise intensifies once I apply it to my skin. Clean and light, but unfortunately doesn't stick around for very long. It's been pretty hot out where I live lately, so it could be attributed to the humidity and the heat leeching all good smellies off my skin.

This was the first scent I bought a 5ml of without having already sniffed it first, solely because of the reviews here. In the bottle, wet on skin, and dry hours later: it stays perfectly the same on me! Sugared, vanilla, black tea. Almost an Earl Grey. And so beautifully blended. Absolute sex in a bottle! It's also got great staying power, not to mention a little goes a long way. Something which I appreciate a lot, as some of my other favourites scents drift away in a handful of hours.

in the bottle: wonderfully spicy, exactly ike liquid gingerbread wet on skin: glorious. still holding its scent. dry on skin: holds up beautifully without changing all that much. unfortunately, my skin drinks this one up like its going out of style. It doesn't completely disappear, but it doesn't have the same staying power on me that other scents do.

After reading the description of this one on the boards, I was very excited about receiving it. Got it in a LJ sale and finally had the chance to wear it today. in the bottle: very sharp floral. wet on skin: the oleander is powerful, struggling with the ylang-ylang for dominance. No hint of the black patchouli. Very sweet and still quite sharp. dry a few hours later: doesn't waft hardly at all, still VERY sweet and floral. Every once in a while, I catch an almost fruity note that I can't identify. Still no black patchouli. final determination: I like it, despite the lack of the patchouli and how powerful of a floral it is. I'm not entirely keen on florals, though. This will go in the swap pile, but only for something I'm really dying to try. ADDED July 5: in the bottle: oleander and ylang-ylang. wet on skin: more of the above, unfortunately. I was really hoping the patchouli would calm down the oleander, but I'm not detecting it at all. dry down: the oleander has calmed a bit, but only to make way for the ylang-ylang. I don't particularly care for either of those notes on a good day, so this will have to go to my swap bin. edit: Weird, I'd reviewed this already and didn't realize it! I need to start keeping track.