theshapeshifter

Wow! From almost the moment I ordered Parlement of Foules, I wondered 'what was I thinking?' Because really, rose and I are usually real enemies. I was just sucked in by the medieval concept.

But what a surprise!

In the bottle: Hmm, pretty, but that's DEFINITELY rose. Worrisome.

Wet on skin: Suddenly it starts to turn promising. The rose is definitely a 'white' scent, and rather... sharp and spiky, somehow. Like a few roses amongst a lot of thorns. The resins are just perceptible underneath it (although I'd be hard-pressed to identify which resins), and seem to keep the rose in check so it actually keeps smelling like a rose - instead of 'old lady rose dusting powder' or 'rose soap', which is what my skin usually does with rose scents.

Drydown: Eventually, the rose fades waaaaay into the background, letting the resins take centre stage. It winds up as a mellow, incensey scent with just a hint of rose.

I'm reeling in delighted surprise - this is definitely a keeper! And beautiful label, too.

In the bottle/wet on skin: Very similar to Snake Oil, except with a kick of musk.

Drydown: Hmm. It seems like one of the musks doesn't like me - it sort of wavers between this darkly sweet scent that I really like, and something just too raw-musk for me.

It's just not quite me - it'll go to the swap pile and hopefully find a happier home.

Personally, I like to seek out scents that relate in some way to the people or places I'm writing about. For instance, for a character of mine who's strongly linked to the element of fire, I had some great ideas while wearing The Living Flame.

In the imp/initial application: At first, I'm just bowled over by the caramel. It's intense to the point where it makes me thirsty.

Drydown: At first I was thinking I smelled something vaguely reminiscent of sandalwood or very mild patchouli, but after refreshing my memory on the official description, I'm thinking that must be the tobacco. The sweetness really dies down into the background, and gets overtaken by this incredibly complex tobacco/opium/coconut tango. The coconut isn't the dealbreaker I usually expect - perhaps because it's black coconut, it's not making me think of suntan oil and pina coladas, thankfully, but it's still not quite 'me'.

A really fascinating scent, and I'm glad I got to try it, but not quite my style; I'm glad I listened to my instincts and just got an imp of this one.

Both wet and in the drydown, Budding Moon perfectly embodies that pale, pretty green that was used on the t-shirt. On my skin, it's hard to pick out individual notes - probably because a lot of these notes are ones I'm not so familiar with - but overall it's a very fresh and bright scent. Green but not herbal, juicy without being fruity.

Gorgeous, perfect for a "when will spring get here?" pick-me-up.

Disclaimer: I do have a cold, so if I find later that it's influenced my view of the scent, I'll come back and edit.

Initial application: Sweet plum and spices (something cinnamony), with an undertone of incense. It's actually almost... chewing-gum-like.

Drydown: The patchouli and sandalwood make their presence known a bit more, but the sweet-spicy plum is still the most prominent note. I'm getting a bit of a plasticky-waxy note to it that makes it seem more like a room scent than a personal scent, but I'll try again when my cold goes away.

So far, I like it, but I think an imp will be enough.

Which ones have the most throw or staying power is liable to vary a lot from person to person, but one general tip... I find if I apply a little scent to my hair (just run the imp wand through my hair, or put a little on my fingers and run them through my hair), it lasts far, far longer than on skin, and typically has a little more throw.

I received this as a generous frimp, and the timing could NOT have been better! I tried it on today, since I felt the need for some extra 'power' in dealing with a work situation.

Initial application: For a few moments it's very herbal, almost medicinal, with a sharp metallic edge that reminds me of Djinn.

Drydown: I obviously have no idea what's in here, but I suspect vetiver - which, on me, is a good thing; that dark grassy edge to it always makes me feel strong. And yet, there's also a rich, almost-sweet depth to this as well, something cocoa-ish. To use other scents as a reference point, this makes me think of a sort of Freak Show/Djinn hybrid. (Clearly, this really does different things on different people, scent-wise!)

Effects: So far, this has proven incredibly effective; I feel more grounded, confident and powerful than I have in weeks - as well as magnetic in a kind of 'hands-off' way. EXACTLY what I needed right now.

Thank you, Beth - I might never have tried this on my own!

Initial application: Cassia, cassia, cassia - did I mention cassia? It's cinnamon-like, but neither a red-hots candy smell nor the really woody cinnamon-stick smell. I can't make out any of the other notes, really, but there's a strangely... plasticy?... undertone to it, that I can't quite place.

Drydown: After about 15 minutes, I start to get the other notes, but this just doesn't seem to agree with me. They're all notes that in theory I love, but somehow on my skin it just seems like they're all fighting with each other here.

Eventually, after about an hour and a half, I start to get a mellow, lovely patchouli, but it's hard to find under everything else that's going on.

Woe. I really wanted to love this! From all these positive reviews, though, I'm clearly the anomaly, so hopefully it'll find a happier home.

This arrived in the mail just as I was leaving for work, and I was so excited to try it, I just went ahead and dabbed some on without even sniffing the bottle first!

Wet: Helloooooo, cardamom! And a bit of dry woody cinnamon. I hadn't been sure how cardamom would work on me as a scent, but I really like it.

Drydown: Thankfully, the bourbon seems to be a bit player on my skin, which is a good thing since I didn't want a super-boozy scent. The cardamom continues to be the predominant note (especially in the throw), but as it dries down the leather comes up to almost equal prominence, with the patchouli (and what a gorgeous, woodsy patchouli it is!) giving it all a lovely undertone.

I only put a relatively small (well, for me anyhow) dab on, and I'm impressed with the power and throw of this! Love it, love it, love it.

Wet: This doesn't smell 'dry' to me at all! I get the sharp musk, and an almost aquatic scent. It's fresh and dusty-herbal, and quite masculine.

Drydown: As it dries, it becomes a little closer to unisex, but I'd still group this on the 'masculine' end of the spectrum... but in an accessible way. Like you've borrowed your boyfriend's jacket with a hint of his scent still left on it, not like you've doused yourself in the men's cologne aisle. This is still not as 'dry' as I'd expected (which is a good thing, since the dryness was the element that had worried me). It's surprisingly comfortable - although I get the "fang-sharpness" of it, it's a small fang. A little spike of light musk above pale dusty woods and a whisper of dried herbs. I think I'll really enjoy this in the early spring when I'm looking for a fresher, lighter scent.

Initial application: Although I can smell the vetiver straight away, the China rain note predominates when it's wet. For a few seconds straight out of the imp, I was worried it might be too mens-deodorant, but it calmed down quickly.

Drydown: The vetiver takes over, and it's all smoky-grassy-earthy. Thankfully, vetiver tends to work really well on me, so I'm enjoying this very much. I wonder if this is the same vetiver used in Highwayman, because it's very similar to my nose. Every once in a while - interestingly - I also get just the tiniest hint of sweetness from it in the throw, like a very, very burnt marshmallow.

This is the sort of scent I wouldn't wear every day - I'd have to be in the right mood - but I'll definitely enjoy it.

My first impression was that this was like a very faded, less-minty version of Lick It - the vanilla note is similar. As it dried down, it went to vanilla-y powder, with a bit of mineral sharpness; nice, but a little too... pale... for me.

In the imp: Something muted and cologne-y.

Initial application: Ugh, at first it's a bit too men's-cologne on me. After a minute or so it gets nicer, but still very masculine.

Drydown: As it starts to try, it quickly becomes less overpoweringly manly - although I'd still love to smell it on a boy. It's reminiscent of Cathedral on me: very woody-incensey, but with a twist (I guess the parchment note) that makes it much more 'library' than 'church'. It's a very comfortable scent. It has very little throw on me, though - I need to put my nose right to my wrist to find it.

In the imp, and initially on skin, I get a mix of chocolate and fruit that triggers an amazingly clear memory of being a kid and rifling through a bag of Halloween candy, all the different kinds of candy mixed together.

As it dries down, the mandarin takes over and dominates the rest of the scent... it's a bit like "13 on steroids". It's nice, but 13 and Tezcatlipoca fill a similar scent niche and work a little better with my chemistry, so I think this one may go to swaps. Sad, though, because I LOVE the name so much!

My one disappointment when the raft of Yule scents went up was that Skadi had not returned... but when I saw some initial hints that Snow Bunny might be similar I - with some nervousness over the 'girlie perfume' - ordered a bottle. It was the right decision!

In the bottle: Very piney, but not that aggressive, astringent pine that sometimes gets associated with floor cleaner or scented candles; this is a cold, natural forest.

Initial application: Yay! The slushy berry note that I remember from my imp of Skadi comes out... but this isn't a ripoff of Skadi; it also has a bright sweet 'zing' to it like a lemon wedge dipped in sugar.

Drydown: The initial citrusy bite calms down a little, but otherwise it's staying much the same - a fresh, cold, sweet-berries-and-evergreen scent, with just a little lemon zest for good measure.

I LOVE THIS. This might even be a second-bottle candidate, which is rare for me.

CLIO

I've never been first before! Oh, the pressure.

In the imp: Bright and herbal - my immediate thought was that "this is more of a spring than winter scent".

Initial application: The lavender and orange are the first things to jump out - it's quite a tart orange, initially almost coming off more like grapefruit. It's quite bright, almost astringent.

Drydown: After a few minutes, the patchouli and woods are making their presence felt; the initial 'kick' of the orange has faded after just a couple of minutes, giving way to a sort of incensey-woody-lavender. (As a note - lavender can often overpower a scent for me, but it's behaving quite nicely here so far) I'm not getting a really overt sense of the benzoin and amber, but I think they may be what's slightly sweetening up the blend and helping keep the lavender from going too medicinal.

I haven't had this on very long, but knew people might be waiting for a review. If it changes dramatically after a while, I'll update. So far, it's not super-strong, but quite fresh; seems like a nice down-to-business reserved daytime kind of scent. Maybe the Muses concept is influencing my perception, but I feel like I'd wear this to do research.

Wow, it seems like this is one of those scents that gives people very different impressions!

In the bottle: This is going to sound odd, but there's something reminding me of Snake Oil - like Snake Oil, minus the vanilla.

Initial application: Really complex! It's hard to pick out individual notes, more impressions. The Snake-Oil-ish component is less prominent, more like a whisper in the background (maybe the 'faded incense' has some components in common?), and there's an almost tangy metallic overlay, plus an edgy, smoky note (a bit reminiscent of Djinn).

Drydown: It doesn't change too much in the drydown, actually. It doesn't have a huge amount of throw on me, but I can't stop sniffing my wrist. It's smoky without being warm, and metallic without being cold - a very intriguing scent.

Really, I hate to review a scent just by saying "it's like...", but I have to say, on me, The Cracked Bell can almost be summed up by the following equation:

Snake Oil - vanilla + small amount of Djinn + metal.

Given that Snake Oil and Djinn are two of my faves, that makes The Cracked Bell a definite winner in my books!

Hmm. I got a little of this on my hand when I just intended to sniff it, and even from just a drop I immediately (alas!) got the 'peanut butter' note a few others have described. For about ten minutes, I get a mix of powdery florals, something that must be the 'body musk'... and peanut butter. It's a bit jarring.

Now that it's dried down, I get honeyed musk (quite reminiscent of O) and a bit of fruitiness that I think must be the cognac. It's pretty, but still a little powdery for my taste, and between that and the 'peanut butter' phase, I think this might be best suited for someone else's skin chemistry.

I'd been wanting to try De Sade for ages, since Dead Man's Hand is one of my all-time faves, and lots of other leathery BPAL's seem to work well for me.

In the imp: Leather, but definitely a hard BLACK leather, unlike the warm natural leather of Dead Man's Hand.

Initial application: Oh dear, this is a very harsh leather! But I have faith it'll settle down in a minute or two.

Drydown: Alas, my faith was misplaced. I don't know why my skin hates De Sade when leather usually works so well... but oh gods, does my skin hate this. After about two minutes I started to get a chemically/industrial/rubber kind of smell, like the 'back shop' at my dad's office (he's an electrical contractor) where they store the giant reels of wire and conduit. After a few more minutes... it turned into road tar. And stayed road tar.

Definitely off to swaps with this one.

2005 version

In the bottle: There's a bracing blast of sharp greenness, a strong holly smell that I never got from my imp of the 2004 version. In fact, it was so strong it scared the cat away!

Initial application: That sharpness is the first impression, lasting for a few minutes, but I can start to detect the scent I remembered from my imp.

Drydown: Just like Yuletide'04 - on me it's a blend of holly and warm dry spices (cinnamon and clove, mostly) and something just slightly waxy. I assume the waxiness is the holly berries, but overall it gives the impression of a beautifully scented Christmas candle. As I think I said in my review of '04, I'm sure that some people might prefer this as a room scent, but I find it totally gorgeous for wearing, and very comforting.

Not sure what I can add that hasn't already been said, but WOW! Astonishingly accurate, and just gorgeous. A rush of eye-opening mint on initial application, then a bright, sugary, slightly-vanilla mint as it dries down. This is just gorgeous, and I'm so glad it arrived in time for Yule!

I bet this will be lovely next summer, too, in hot sticky weather.

In the bottle: Heady perfume, the sort you don't really find these days, with an overlay of that 'hairspray' note others are picking up. At the initial sniff, there's something reminding me vaguely of The Living Flame, as though Stardust is the moonlight-white counterpart to The Living Flame's luminescent red.

Initial application: Perfumey, and at first it's a little... "prettier" than I expected. Nice, but where's the decadence? I do get the bubbliness of the champagne, but at first it's all flowers and champagne, more like a posh afternoon wedding than a nightclub.

Drydown: Here's where Stardust comes into its own, and really lives up to the concept. I'm having trouble picking out individual notes, because it's so well-blended, but it somehow gets darker without losing any of its brightness and flash. I get a hint of the "blown-out-candle" note that I love in Darkness, which I think must be the poppy, and there's a slight fruitiness that another review suggests might be the hyacinth. This is definitely a scent of getting dressed up, all over-the-top and glam, lots of skin showing, and then going out and letting yourself get messed up on the dance floor.

It really does embody the concept beautifully. I was unsure when I ordered whether the notes would work on me - and they do! It's a departure from my usual, but perhaps that's why it works so well. I only wish it was a tiny bit stronger - I don't get a huge amount of throw with this on my skin. However, a few dabs on my hair has remedied that nicely. A total triumph - I can't wait to wear this on New Year's Eve!

In the imp: A fresh-cut Yule tree!

Initial application: A BURST of evergreen, but with a bitter edge to it - just enough that I can see why it's in the 'poisonous plants' category. Not sure about the bitterness, but it's intriguing. And strong.

Drydown: Here's the shocker... it was SO strong in the imp, and initially on the skin, but after about 15 minutes my skin ate it. All of it. Leaving nary a trace, even though I tested it pretty generously. Woe.

So... a promising, interesting scent, but it'll go to swaps since it's just too fleeting on me.

In the bottle: CHEESECAKE. So accurate it's uncanny, from the cheesy 'tang' right down to the graham cracker crust.

Wet on skin: Here's where I got nervous, because after about 5 minutes of lovely cheesecake on my skin, it seemed to fade right away... however...

Drydown: After about 10-15 minutes, it made a bold resurgence, and in a way I haven't really experienced with too many other scents. If I put my nose to my wrist, I get 100% graham-cracker-crust, with just a little hint of spice for good measure. But the cheesecake bit seems to be all in the throw - I can't smell it next to my skin, but it's wafting around me.

It's not the strongest scent ever - at about 3 hours in, it's fairly faint now, but still present. But I absolutely love it! Even though I have quite a few sweet, foody scents already, this one is quite different, and a definite winner.