gravity_always_wins

I'd second Red Lantern from just smelling the bottle, which reminded me of the Pumpkin Patch oils, which must all have a fair amount of caramel in them.

 

ETA:

Also, Bliss smelled more of a burnt caramel rather than milk chocolate to my nose.

Inferno is like Blockbuster on steroids.

Snake Oil was the perfect complement to my gypsy costume and heavy eye make-up on Saturday night- a dramatic "look at me! smell me!" winning combination

I guess it depends on your own associations with scents. For example, you may have smelled a certain flower at a funeral, or have worn a certain perfume when being dumped by a significant other, or just associate a scent with a certain time in your life. It all depends on what notes spark that nostalgia for you.

 

For me, it's Dublin because it has an uncanny similarity and feel to a bodyspray that my ex-boyfriend wore. Also, anything with a strong peach note (Fae, Tamora, Titania, etc) because it reminds me of the perfumes that I wore my freshman year of college and makes me very wistful. I suppose this isn't very helpful given that fruity notes make many people upbeat, but then again, it's about what feels sad to you.

The wet stage of Maiden is very similar to The Dormouse because it's so strong on the tea

There's always the option of layering different scents. On me, Fire of Love was a spicy, musky cedar. Clearly cedar.

Another avid fan of Persephone here. As long as you don't mind a slightly tart/fruity note (which, on me, boost the "freshness" of the rose), then it's just perfect

Definitely smelling the roses but it's difficult for me to identify any of them in particular. Not sure if I'm picking up the green grass, but there's a chemical-like scent which I think may be the same as the alcohol note that some others are noticing.

I really had high hopes for this one from reading that it smelled mostly of rose and honeysuckle--two scents which usually smell fantastic to my nose by themselves as well as on my skin. Unfortunately, I didn't really get the sweet honeysuckle that I'm used to (all around my neighborhood) nor the rose that I had hoped for...somehow, this smelled very watery and a little murky in a green way..once on my skin, there was a note that reminded me of a bog or marsh... oh well, swaps away

An extra imp in my package, I had no idea what to expect. Wet, Dry, and Drydown all had the same blaring message for me: "Incense, Musk, and Woods-- Oh My!" These general notes often don't play well with my chemistry and are best kept far away tucked in the wee background of a sweet scent instead of being center stage. I'm grateful for the extra, and happy that it helps me narrow down my vast list of oils to sample...swaps away!

An extra imp in my package, I've tried this throughout the month just to be sure. With most patchouli blends, my chemistry tends to blow it up to the nth degree, completely overshadowing everything else throughout the entire time wearing it. Somehow, this blend is different; in the wet stage, it was exactly as I had feared, yet when drying, the gardenia managed to keep in step, softening the bitter/musty impression that patchouli leaves on me. Unfortunately, the floral did not totally balance it out and Iambe will join her fellow woody-noted friends in my swap pile.

I can imagine that this smells of fresh tulips and lillies during a sun shower. I must say, my favorite "clean" scent so far. (Now if only I can find a way for it to last over 4 hours..!)

Not sure what narcissus smells like, I can only assume that that's the note that smells very much like patchouli on me. I can see how many people compare this to Snake Oil...mostly because, although I cannot tolerate most patchouli blends, it actually manages to soften a little bit, making room for the sweetness of the vanilla. Definitely still too heavy/incensy for my tastes at this time of year (not getting any orange creamicle smell), but still very nice. Lasted until I washed it off...at least 12 hours later

Similar experience to Originalwacky... didn't get any citrus or fruity notes. Very clove-like. For some reason, it reminds me of a Christmas potpourri and would replace said potpourri very nicely, but it's just not for me as a perfume.

Funny, I've tried Carnal and The Apothecary, and thought that I picked up a spicy clove-like note that I couldn't imagine at the time was fig. Is mine the only nose confused here? If the note was indeed fig, then in Carnal, it's 100% while still very present in The Apothecary.

I love reading reviews (see above). Unfortunately, I wasn't quite as taken with Kuang Shi as others. From the imp to wet stage to drydown, all I got was musk and sandalwood. Apparently, my skin loves them, but I don't. Any hint of fruit or citrus was completely absent on me. :-(

Wet: amazing! I can smell all the ingredients listed equally

 

Dry: Although still mostly balanced, the hazelnut is coming to the forefront

 

Dry-down: I don't know how, but the dry-down smells a lot like Oscar de la Renta, which is a spicy floral. Why would this be spicy on me? Oh well. Swaps away.

It's funny- when I've read that some people commonly get a powdery and/or soapy smell from rose, I can never relate. Except for this blend. I immediately got the smell of cold processed expensive rose soap. Once dry, it became extremely soapy and I had to wash it off with--you guessed it--soap. This is nice, but just not for me.

Imp: very green and aquatic

 

Wet: Parsley dipped in saltwater. Really. It reminds me of Passover. Funny, considering the Christian nature of the name.

 

Dry: Almost the same as the wet stage, with a teeny tiny bit of white florals

 

Generally, a very salty smell on me.

bottle: sharp lime and sinus-clearing mint

 

wet: Yikes! Peppermint Altoid strong with more than a hint of lime

 

10 min: coconut coming out, but still minty, only with more of an Icebreakers strength, where it's more sweet and tasty than numbing

 

20 min: definitely settling into a creamy, albeit minty, coconut with only a hint of sugared lime...funny--according to my mom, it's coconut and baby powder!

 

35 min: creamy coconut with a mild minty bite (think Junior Mints). The bit of sugared lime hasn't faded.

 

1 hour: deep-brown coconut-scented tanning oil with a hint of vanilla ice-cream

 

3 hours later: gone

 

I don't know how often I'll wear this by itself (most scents last at least 6 hours on me) , but given that I bought a 10ml bottle, I plan to try it out with moisturizers, body powder, and hair products (like The Conditioner, by Paul Mitchell)

I LOVE this blend-- I'm big on fruit/floral blends in general, but...wow! The two scents evenly complement each other... to the unsuspecting nose, it's the juiciest, freshest rose ever! I just ordered a 5mL :-D (and 4 more rose blend imps!)

Goes to show that less is more in this case...also, I am dying to know what kind of rose it is exactly?

This one could not have disagreed with me more;

 

imp: musky but fruity rose

 

Wet- very chemical-like and even metallic. So sharp to the point that it started to give me a headache.

 

After 10 minutes- the ylang-ylang and honey distinguished themselves but had a very chemical smoky sourness on me (which didn't smell fruity at all)

 

After one hour- the sourness gave way to a soft spiciness with a tinge of sweetness from the apple blossom and rose (which were definitely masked before by the honey)

 

A few hours later- ylang-ylang smelled more natural and blended; a softly spicy and woody honey was the end result with no floral whatsoever

 

Conclusion- too chaotic a scent for me--the honey and ylang ylang were totally amped on my skin, and I barely got any rose from it :-(

I would swap it, but then again, I tried it at least 4 times this month just to be sure that my chemistry wasn't being wacky (which, by the way, had the same sharp initial reaction to Queen of Sheba, which leads me to believe it's the honey)

Hey I was wondering

1) what rose scents smell very similar to, or have the same feel as Persephone- I have no idea what kind of rose it is exactly (turkish, bulgarian, damasus, etc.) but it is by far the freshest, juiciest rose I've ever encountered. According to previous mention, it bears resemblance to Rose Red and Bordello--one of which is discontinued and the other seems better suited for colder weather.

2) what other fruity scents have the same feel/ level of freshness as Persephone, and are not candylike (i.e., Tamora)

 

thanks!

I'm very sensitive to scents too and received my first pack of imps last month. The far majority of the samples I received were too strong for me, but Pele (muguet and Hawaiian white ginger enveloped by warm, damp tropical blooms) was very mild to my nose. Good luck!