gingersnapp

My skin loves roses, but it also loves jasmine (which I don't particularly care for). This is mostly jasmine with just the slightest touch of rose. I really wanted more of the vanilla, fig, tonka, etc. but jasmine took over and that's really all that I smell.

This is a straight up herbal blend. There is a bit of amber coming through making this warm like sunlight on an herb garden. I don't really get any of the patchouli or neroli. I might be confusing the golden musk with the amber, but one or the both of them are really making this a warm, golden, herbal scent.

This is definitely tropical. I'm not familiar with many of the notes in this blend, so I can't really tell which is the most dominant. I'm guessing it's the banana leaf, but there is also this crisp piney smell that I can't figure out. Maybe that's the palm? I'm not sure. This reminds me of Hawaii.

Cloves, with only the very slightest drop of cinnamon. The cinnamon is part of the throw, which is quite substantial; up close, this is all clove, all the time. Very warm and comforting and inspiring. I've gotten so much accomplished today when I had nothing on my schedule. Also, I experienced NO skin sensitivity to this blend.

When I put this on, it was very thick and woodsy, and I was positive there was vetiver in it. I immediately clenched up, because vetiver and I do not get along. But as it's dried, it's turned sweeter somehow. Someone mentioned that dry, this reminds them of a vanilla musk, and I can kind of see that. I don't get any vanilla per se, but I do get some kind of underlying sweetness. And yet, when I put my nose to my skin to see if I could tell what that sweet was... BAM in the face with vetiver. Thankfully, it's not in the throw or I would be miserable right now. The throw is mostly woods and whatever that sweet note is.

This is a dry floral. It starts out very peony and plum blossom dominant, which is almost too much for my nose. There's almost a bitterness or sourness to the flowers that I can't quite put my finger on. But then it dries and the woods take the forefront. They're dry and aged and spicy and deep. And the peony and plum blossom move to the back as an afterthought, only adding just the slight sweetness at the end of a really deep inhale. Very nice and mellow.

Mmmm, cassia and cocoa. This is a dry kind of sweet. The coconut didn't turn to tanning lotion on me like it usually does, but comes out in little wisps here and there smelling thick and meaty. I don't get the angel food cake, but I didn't really get the cake out of Closet either, so I guess my skin just doesn't want these to be as foody as they sound. This is really spicy and dry and not overly sweet, but sweet enough to keep it from being powdery.

At first, this reminded me of Beaver Moon. But it's a bit more... powdery (as in flour powder, not baby powder, if that makes any sense). Not as creamy as Beaver Moon. I think that it's possibly the bourbon and the blackberry making it like that. I don't get buttercream so much as I thought I would, or like I smelled in the bottle. This is almost sharp, and a little bit tart. I've never had red velvet cake, but I do get a little bit of cocoa out of this. I looked up a recipe for red velvet cake and saw that there is cocoa powder in it, so I guess that makes sense, and also explains the dry powdery-ness that I get from it. It's very much like a spoonful of bittersweet cocoa powder. I don't really know how I feel about this blend. For one thing, it's faded very quickly. I think I will let it age for a few weeks and give it another shot when it's not so freshly blended. (FWIW, the bottle arrived yesterday evening)

I am not a fan of the berries. Or at least, my skin isn't. This starts out as plastic strawberry and morphs into lip gloss and then (thankfully) disappears quickly. Not one single other note made it through the berry distortion, or lingered after it faded.

This reminds me of the flower garden my mother had in the first house we lived in. There were gigantic heady roses and big lush carnations, and all you had to do was open a window or just step one inch outside the back door in the summer and you would smell them. It reminds me of summer in that house. Hot and heady and floral.

Spicy cloves with a splash of wine. Not much mimosa to speak of, but that's okay... the wine and cloves play off each other so well that I don't really miss it.

When first applied, the pennyroyal is so strong and minty. The kind of smell that makes everything in your head ice cold when you breathe in. Then that faded and the musk made everything somewhat powdery and dry. And then it was gone entirely. Total time lapsed: about 15 minutes.

This definitely started out fruity, but I couldn't tell what the fruits were. Looking at the description doesn't really help, but I guess they do smell tropical. As it's dried, the florals have taken over and this very much reminds me of my summer in Hawaii years ago. It's heady and steamy and rich and warm. Like walking through a botanical garden on a rainy summer day.

This is a close-to-the-skin very strong citrus. Bright crisp lemon, but with no throw. I can only smell this when I put my nose to my wrist. There's a bit of a herbal quality to it, keeping it from being pure lemonade, but I'm not sure what it is. Some have mentioned lemongrass, but that's not what this smells like on me. I do feel calm and centered, but we'll see how well it continues into my busy day.

Whoa, this is sweet and heavy. Very oppressive. Red musk and myrrh are the most prominent... I'm not really getting the patchouli or ylang ylang at all. This kind of turns my stomach a bit since it is so thick and sweet. I don't feel very lusty at all.

This is sweet and resinous, almost like an incense with a fruity base. I happened to wear this after using Lush's Twas The Night Before soap this morning, and the black currant and lavendar are really accentuated. I don't get a whole lot of ozone out of this, but the musk is light and playful in the background.

Whoosh!!! Tea rose, tea rose, tea rose. It's only slightly dusty smelling, as though the roses are partially dried. This is strong and has a considerable throw. It's a good thing I like rose.

I picked out the orange blossom right away, but wasn't sure what the other notes were without looking at the description. This is a sweet, youthful floral with a citrus kick to it. Tangy and just this side of cloying without overdoing it.

This is warm and dry and spicy. Absolutely to die for. It is so comforting, it's like wrapping up in a blanket in a beam of sunshine and just soaking in the warmth. I cannot put into words how wonderful this blend is. It's just so soothing. I feel protected wearing it.

If you like ozone and aquatics, this is the blend for you. On me, this turns into old, stale Love's Rain Soft. Soapy and sharp.

Quietude. It's a Panacea, so it's a little more expensive, but it is the only oil that has given me a solid night of sleep. I've tried Somnus and a few of the other sleep blends, but not as much luck as with my beloved Quietude.

This started out sweetly floral, but the oakmoss (which is always dominant on my skin) has toned it all down to soft and dusty. Not powdery, though... just kind of dusty dusky musky. I don't get any leather, but the amber and the rose are swirling around delicately with the oakmoss. I can see this being used as an incense. It is very reverent.

A bit of background: I've been married for 2.5 years and with my DH since 2001. My libido has been almost nonexistent for about four years. I have since come off of hormonal birth control, and while things are a little better, it just hasn't been enough. From a smell standpoint, Sexual Energy is, at once, woodsy, peppery, and sweet. I can't tell what any of the individual notes in it are, but it is a very unique smell. To me, it is the smell of sex. Even my DH picked up on that. I applied it to my belly and my heart, and rubbed the remnants from my fingers on my throat. We laid down together in bed and took a nap (unplanned), but when we woke up about an hour later, WHOA! It definitely unleashed something in me that had been sleeping for quite some time. Everything felt better, and I had a lot more energy for it, for lack of a better word. I think it's almost like it allowed me to relax enough to focus on the sex and intimacy with my DH, whereas usually, my head can't clear enough for me to enjoy everything and I usually end up staring at the ceiling wishing he would just finish already so I could go and do any of the list of things running through my mind. I think that in the future, I would also like to try to incorporate annointed candles into the mix to keep the scent around a little longer. Not that it faded entirely, per se, but as I mentioned before it is definitely the smell of sex and I kind of lost in on myself during the act. Not that that's a bad thing. Very highly recommended! Thank you so much for helping me in this very sensitive area, Lab!!!

The rose base is most noticeable, but it turns powdery with the lilac and wisteria. This definitely throws off a bit of a "grandma" vibe, but it is soft and pretty. Just not me.

This smells like straight up dragon's blood on my skin. Some sort of spicy, resinous floral. I can see why some people are picking out lilac, but this definitely turns into dragon's blood when I wear it. Very nice, though.