greenranger

I pretty much only ordered this to go with, "the sea foams milk." Dragon's blood blends, though I have liked several, don't always agree with me.

This was much nicer than I expected.

This is a light, delicate scent on me. I *had* thought that I only liked dragon's blood in a blend where it mostly dissapeared, but this is nice. Very delicate dragon's blood with just a hint of sea air.

It is never strong. It lasts on me over twelve hours, though.

Milk with the slightest sea salt tang.

It dries down to warm milk, and though it is never a strong scent, nor did it have much throw, on me it lasted for about 12 hours.

Warm and comforting, if faint.

So far, a light fresh peach, and the woods. It is definitely a natural peach, and not a peach flavoring. I am not smelling anything flowery, nor is the vanilla in evidence yet. It is nice....I'm really hoping for the vanilla to show up soon, though.

I think the osmanthus is showing up instead. It is still nice...but not quite the thing yet.

I'm going to have to give it some time to see. It did get more blended, and it is a pretty scent, but, I am still hoping for just a little more...

2008 version.

Sugar cookie dough. There might possibly be some cinnamon, or maybe it's just left over scent from a prior batch of snickerdoodles.

The only question I have, is whether I need this and the rum cookies? Or just the rum cookies.

2008 version.

Hm. *looks for the leather she is smelling on the note list and doesn't find it* Well, maybe it's the musk, which would explain it; I smelled leather right off...and usually when leather is in a blend I get a perfumey start till the leather note settles down, which sometimes takes a while. I suppose musk can smell like leather. I wondered why it was being so straightforward, and now I know it wasn't. =)

So far I really like it. I'm not picking out individual notes...but...this smells like a villain. Someone not out in the sunlight, but, back in the shadows, moving his pieces on the board, and possibly knifing someone in the back.

No florals, so I don't need to worry about the musk+floral problem some blends have for me. Unless this fades in too short a time, or changes dramatically, I think I am happy to have the bottle.

~edit~

I love this one, actually, and my only complaint is that it does settle down to a skin scent where I have get close and sniff to smell it. Not a large amount of throw, but, I can't stop sniffing this...It starts off very nice, and just gets better smelling on my skin as time goes by. What is left at the end is an amazing myrrh and spice scent. *sighs*

I may end up ordering a second bottle before it goes away.

2008 version.

This started off a golden resin scent...and then it faded. It is a faint golden resin scent. Clean and expensive smelling but, faint.

This is a fresh 2008 bottle and I suspect that I will need to let this age just a bit before it shines.

~edit in August of 09~

I got this back in November of '08. It is now August of '09 and the scent is a little richer. It is still not terribly powerful nor does it have much throw. On me this is a skin scent; I'll probably wear it when I want to smell like me, but, a little more golden and warm. I like it, and I'll likely take it out of the aging box now and put it in my scent rotation, but, I really wish it were stronger.

Maybe next year?

Sweet, light, and smooth. The cream helps the plums last on me, because usually, fruit fades fairly fast. The wildflowers barely even show up. I will need to apply it with a slightly heavier hand, since it was light, but, it lasts fairly well.

I love this one. I knew I would love this one, and I really really do.

This is not the scent of decorative candles gathering dust on a shelf.

This is the radiant and comforting scent of candles meant to burn, to comfort with their glow, to cast a pool of peace around a room. The smoke isn't very apparent, except as the hint that these candles are lit, making warm pools of sweetly scented wax.

It is a light, but warm and comforting scent, and I could bathe in this.

Really, I adore this. It has a nice throw without being in your face, and it is lasting a decent while on me; 6 hours and counting.

~edit~ 10 hours and counting, and this scent is still going strong. I haven't ever had a beeswax scent last this well on me before. I've even tested a couple other scents and I can still smell the golden pool of light and radiance that is Hanerot Halalu.

I might possibly need another bottle...

Rose infused amber, with a backing of straw, salty tears, and gold...The rose is strong on me, but, not amped all to heck and actually wearable. The amber and salty straw are the next strongest notes, with the gold as just a hint in the back.

The rose fades, and the amber, straw, tears, and gold are what is left.

It's a kind of nice enough scent while the rose is there, but, I don't really like it till the rose burns off completely. What remains is a sweet, golden, hay scent, edged with shimmery crystals of salt.

Wet, peaches, cream, honey and gardenia. Ah, the neroli is coming up now.

The neroli seems like it is attempting to amp...However, it seems that the honey and cream is keeping it in check! Yay! I thought there was a possibility for this working, if the honeyed cream in Katrina van Tassel could make roses work.

The honey is not really apparent on me past the flowers, fruit, and cream. However, this is a floral I think I can wear.

Wet, this is ripe strawberries, sliced into just a little bit of champagne.

Drying, it becomes sweet champagne infused with a bit of strawberry for color.

It's still very nice, and wine scents do seem to like me. I'll keep the imp, but, so far, no bottle needed.

This is a freshly made oak box, filled with sugar cane shavings dribbled with molasses and honey. This is exactly what this is.

It's tasty!

Drying, it is blending more into a full, sweet, woody, scent where the individual notes aren't as apparent. It's also becoming lighter...and, very sadly, fainter.

It has potential, but, I'll have to try a few times and see how it lasts on me.

Tobacco, mint, and orange blossom...with spices. Ah, the fir is drowning out the rest.

Drying, this is mostly a fir scent on me, with some dry tobacco and maybe the spices, in the background. The orange blossom and mint are both gone.

It's nice...however, I'm not in love with it.

Although, perhaps aging will help it? I'll hold on to it to see.

Yeah, yeah, I got this in spite of the ambergris. I couldn't resist the lure of coriander.

Wet on me...fizzy Coca-cola?

Drying, faint metal and resin, with spice and wine in the far, far background.

Usually, ambergris kidnaps any scent and makes it vanish after about a half hour on my skin.

Except that I tried Lyonness again about 4 months after I sadly put it away due to ambergris' bad habits...and it didn't fade! Or, it faded slightly, and I could live with the fading as long as I got enough of the scent. Soooo....although this is, very sadly, very faint on me. I will put it away and try again...in about 4 months or so. *crosses fingers*

Interesting. I didn't get flowers. Mostly what I thought I was smelling was bay rum cologne, and leather, with some wood behind. It lasted well, and had moderate strength and throw. It did seem like a fairly open scent: Instead of the scent of a dim dark library, this was a bigger, more open room or house, with room and mabe a certain sense of restlessness.

It was a nice scent, but not something I love or would wear much.

Fruit salad. Fruit, fruit, and mooooore fruit. =)

It isn't too sweet, there's some rind and such to give it a little structure and keep it from heading into punch or juice land.

Ten minutes in...

Some of the fruits are already fading. I can smell the bamboo and maybe the pine resin. It's still nice, but, I'm not sure that I love it without the fruits. Fresh, light, and invigorating, though.

Unfortunately, most fruit doesn't last very long on me.

Cocoa...without the slight floweryness that most of the chocolate blends have on me whether or not they have any flowers at all. This is straight cocoa. It didn't shift at all from the bottle to my skin. It was rich cocoa in the bottle and on me. =)

I'd gotten a little more on my hand than I'd planned to test, and that spot smelled like I had spilled chocolate on it...for at least 6 hours. This lasts very nicely on me.

Strength and throw is moderate.

---------

I've tried this a couple times now, and I've ended up with a couple unpredictable results. The first time was lovely chocolate, the second time the amber went weird on me(weird is about the only way to describe it. It was like it wasn't even the same oil I had tested before), and the third time was still much heavier on the amber than I expected, but, still fairly cocoa and not so strange. I haven't experienced such changes with skin chemistry and amber or chocolate scents before, but, I suppose I'll have to start paying closer attention.

I got a chance to try this one today. =)

On me, this is a very little bit like a buttery, spicy, Sugar Skull, with maple candy. It lasts a very very long time, and is quite strong. I can't find the orange rind, or the rum, and the almond is not overpowering.

2008 version, purchased in swaps.

Sniffing the bottle I had my doubts. The juniper fairly jumped out at me.

On me, wet, it starts off as a very green scent. Bushes and trees and leaves...and then something peeks out from behind all the green....Oh, yeah, this one has honey and beeswax.

Sniiiiiiiiiiiiifffffffffffff.......*inhales hand*

MMmmmmmm! Honey and beeswax and musk and spices with a hint of patchouli to ground it.....Winner!

2005 version.

Linen, leather, and a bit of tobacco. The wood will probably show up later on me.

Dad's jacket, or, considering how the linen note amps on me, Dad's closet.

This was a very dark oil on me. Wet, I smell the musk and the vetiver...but the vetiver isn't being overwhelming. It's actually a softer scent, starting off, than I expected. I do smell the frankincense and the lavender as well.

Drying, it has blended. It has also sweetened up quite a bit, and I wonder which of the notes is causing that, the fruit gums? Possibly the musk, on my skin.

The orchid is coming forward(I think? something floral), and the effect of Lunar Eclipse is actually aproaching more of a "perfumy" scent than most BPALs that I pick.

I bought this on the sales page partly because I saw it on someone's sales page, wanted to fill the order out slightly to make the shipping worth it, and then looked up the notes. It hails from just slightly before I found BPAL. When I was new I probably would have passed it over, as well. However, these days, that list of scents looks very likely indeed. Musk? Frankincense? Lavender? Myrrh? Spices? Tobacco? Tea? sign me up. =)

It's working better than Penumbra did on me. I'll have to give it a few hours to see how it changes.

The "perfumy" stage is gone. This is settling down quite nicely into an elegant and soft scent. I don't feel like I am whacking everyone in the room in the nose with it, but, it's strong enough for me to get whiffs of, which I like.

I've been tracking this one for a while and finally got some to test. I knew I had to have any scent that had hazelnut, vanilla bean, red sandalwood, amber, myrrh, and honey.

I wore it today. It lasts about as long as I expected, meaning, that I put it on at 5:30 am and it is now 5 pm and I can still smell it.

Anyhow, when freshly applied it was lovely smooth resiny sweetness, with a rough bit of wood at the base. Not having the notes with me, I was left guessing what that note was, but, it was most likely the red sandalwood. Sandalwood doesn't always start off so rough with me, so it might be that it was red sandalwood? Anyhow it eventually settled down into almost almost a cinnamonny note, about four hours in and then around 7 hours in just blended into the rest. To me, this is not a foody scent.

I got lots of wafting scent during the day. The scent up close had a bit much wood, but, that was only close, and only for the first few hours of a terrifically long lasting scent.

I'm going to guess that this has some notes in common with Tushnamatay, somewhere. The hazelnut and the red sandalwood could be different, but, the rest smelled fairly similar.

A nice aquatic...sweet and clean.

When I say a "Nice aquatic" please realize I don't usually like aquatics. Sturgeon moon is the closest I have had to any aquatic that I wear relatively often(I wear many scents in rotation, and have no daily scent yet)...and this is just slightly further along to the ocean. Saltier, and less fresh water.

Carnation...peony?....maybe the hibiscus....There are definitely flowers there, and they aren't the ones I am accustomed to. I can smell the woods and juniper as well. It's still very flowery on me.

Very flowery isn't usually my thing, though for carnations I can make an exception. The woods are promising as well.

I'll have to give it a few hours to see.

Floral....floral something and mint.

Dry, I think I get just a bit of something "cold."

I don't think snow and sleet smells like me much.