cupide430

Storm Moon

Strong ozone with a citrus tinge. I slathered this a bit and so I can't tell if its strength is because I applied too much or because it really is that strong. It smells like a scented candle called "Ocean" or "Storm" might smell. It really smells very commercial and a bit masculine to me. Off to the swap pile.

Hunter Moon

I sniffed the imp of this one and considered not trying it on at all. It smells very masculine in the imp. I can smell the slightest touch of dark citrus and anise. It might just be the name, but I'm just picturing a red plaid flannel when I sniff this. It dries down sweeter. It is a very autumnal scent but unlike Harvest Moon I'm not smelling the lunar oils and feeling like they don't fit in with the autumnal part of the scent. This is all autumn. Warm and a bit fruity. I got a smokey note from it at one point. Now its warm smokey autumn berries. Its thisclose to becoming a wine note, but it is stopping just short of being too heavy.

Harvest Moon

Starts off sweet and warm and a little bit like corn at first. I get the warmn autumnal thing from this loud and clear. But I'm also getting a sort of ozone-y component that I read as the "traditional lunar oils" and they don't fit with the autumnal components of this. As it dries down a wine note comes out more and it gets even warmer. The ozone-y bit is still there, which makes a bit weird to me. It just doesn't seem to get along with itself.

Centzon Totochtin

It started out okish with this deep coffee chocolate berry scent. Seemed like some sort of flavored coffee blend. It reminded me a bit of the German Chocolate Cake flavored coffee I sometimes get at the place downstairs from work.

Then it got smoky. And just kept getting smokier. Right now it smells like smoke and berry jam. Mostly smoke. So much smoke that it seems like my left wrist is a smoldering pipe.

Berries and pipe smoke. I had to scrub this off.

Madrid

Starts off just like a grape lollipop. Very sweet smelling in an almost medicinal way. A light spicy scent has come out now, its almost a little bit like Lush's Potion and Santa Monica in terms of the spice. Under the spice is a faint kiss of the grape lollipop. I'm not running into the bathroom to scrub it off... but I don't think I'll ever wear it again.

Whitechapel

Very strong lime scent at first, with something sweet behind it. It smells like lime candy. But a bit more bitter than a lime lollipop would smell. I'm sniffing the part of my arm where I first applied this and I smell sweet-ish baby powder. Weird. So I reapplied in hopes of figuring out exactly what happens with this scent. Right now it smells faintly of bitter (but sweet) limes and powder. I might be picking up a teensy bit of the lilac, but that might be wishful thinking. Ooh just sniffed again and here's the lilac. Welcome to the party. Now we've got a very faint hint of citrus, lots and lots of powder with some white musk and a gentle dusting of lilac. The end stage, while pretty, isn't really worth smelling like I rolled in lime candy in the beginning though. Ultimately, it really smells like pretty powder that is a mix of white musk and lilac. I'm not sure the beginning is worth it but the end is damn good.

Bordello

A frimp with my most recent order from the lab.

Smells sweet and fruity. Like cherry chapstick or twizzlers. Its a soft sweet scent. There's a touch of citrus behind it but it is mostly soft and sweet with a strong berry note. Its a very innocent smelling sweet. It is getting a bit deeper as it dries and a touch more incensy. I get a slight boozy note from it but overall its cherry chapstick to me. It isn't cloying but I don't imagine I'll ever have any desire to smell like this. I'm not really a fruity scents sort of gal.

The Coiled Serpent

When I initially sniffed e=mc2's imp of this I was so turned off I wouldn't even try it. Then the lab frimped me with it and I felt like I should at least give it a chance.

I sniffed my imp and then gingerly dabbed a bit on my hand. Its earthy, very earthy. It has a sort of mossy earthy smell to me at first. Now it still smells earthy plus a bit plasticky. The plasticky part has been replaced with a musty note. So not for me. I really get the musty thing with a lot of the earthy scents. This might be good for people who really like earthy scents...

New Orleans

A frimp from the lab, but I did order it in my Milk/Flower Moon order after hearing it was similar to my beloved Eos.

Of all the jasmine blends, this smells the most like Lush's Flying Fox to me. It has a sweet fresh honeysuckle note which is absolutely lovely. It is the closest to the way that honeysuckle smells on the vine. There's some heady note hanging out with the lovely fresh honeysuckle, it makes the blend a bit heavy and makes it smell sort of ripe and fruity. I think it is maybe a lily note? If not it has that lily ripeness going on. Looming in the background taunting me is a smoky/cigarette/ashtray note that is threatening to ruin this for me. I think I'm going to need to try this again to see if it is a skin chemistry issue or something else. I really want to like this and I'm so close... Wow, this is really really strong. I did put a good dab on, but wow. Major throw on this one. Might be a bit too strong for me.

Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo

At first fruity. Really fruity. Like fruit punch with a pinch of a bubblegum kick. It is now starting to mellow... into stale bubble gum. Reminds me of bubblegum flavored Trident. This is fading really fast on me. Now it smells very faintly of the opening notes of Bordello. But very very faint. I don't know how well it will actually accomplish its intended effect. I'll have to try it again on its own to figure that out. My nose is practically glued to my wrist and I can barely smell this. Maybe I didn't apply enough?

The Apothecary

Another frimp

Starts off light, cool, fresh. Cucumbers and a touch of melon-y fruit. Seems a touch similar to Blue Moon to me. But lighter and less fruity and without the minty note.There's a note that is deepening this and warming it up. Its still very cool and fresh but with a bit of depth. I think it might be the fig note. This is super gentle and very refreshing. This seems like it would be a great scent for a very hot day. Its light enough that it wouldn't be overpowering and it has a very serene vibe.

La Belle au Bois Dormant

A frimp from the lab

Sweet cherry tinged floral. Its ozoney and has a heady/ripe undertone. There's something here that also smells like burning hair. Weird. This is another one that is fading fast. I tried it sorta near Tushnamatay. Maybe that part of my arm is just eating scents tonight? I can smell some tuberose, which just keeps getting stronger. Tuberose plus powder plus burning hair. This so isn't for me. I should've read the notes before I put it on.

Tushnamatay

Soft, gentle, powdery and spicy. This smells like a lighter, more powdery version of Hod, but less sweet. Its so gentle. I didn't really slather this, so I can't tell if that's the reason its so faint... but it is very light.

Ok, I just slathered a whole bunch more on. It has a faint cedary touch to it. But just the slightest cedary touch. I can still barely smell it, but what I can smell is cedar plus powdery and a bit of sweetness.

Is it this light on everyone else or is my skin just eating it up? There's nothing offensive about it at all... but I'm not sure it is exactly for me-- I can barely smell it!

I waited a while and now its back! Now it smells like sweet, creamy, Nag Champa incense. Its still a very light scent, but lovely. I think this is about as much incense as I could take. This scent still has no throw, I have to pretty much stick my nose to my hand to smell anything at all, but what I can smell is quite nice.

Block Buster

At first, light, sweet cinnamon with a touch of something fruity-- maybe cherry? The cinnamon is deepening and getting stronger as it dries. Now it smells like cinnamon-y potpourri with a touch of something sweet. It smells something like cinnamon apple potpourri, emphasis on the cinnamon. Just a hint of the apple. Sweet potpourri, that's all this is.

Red Devil

Starts out very very sharp and green. I think it might be a sharp green rose scent. And there's some powdery bit in the background, but the powder and green sharp bit are very distinct from each other such that they seem completely separate. Eventually the sharpness fades and it smells more like fresh roses and the powdery part sweetens and it gets a touch of the O honey-like sweetness. I think I like this one.

Phantasm

In the vial it smells very lemony with a bit of a tea scent. Really, it smells like Lipton's Brisk Iced Tea or some other iced tea you might make from a powdered mix.

On it smells very lemony at first and then begins to deepen into a citronella scent. The citronella scent is slowly fading off leaving lemon tea. Still smells like a sort of powdered iced tea mix. There's a hint of a floral peeping out. I started reviewing this before I looked at the notes, now checking them I see:

This delicate, spectral perfume gives rise to an eerie distortion of of the senses. It bestows an ephemeral, ghostly, and truly haunting quality to your presence. Green tea, lemon verbena, jasmine and neroli.

Lemon Verbena, check. That's the citronella.

Tea, yep we've got that.

Jasmine, yep I think that's you fighting your way out.

Neroli, hmm. I don't know if I would even recognize you, but I'm sure you're there.

Oh hey, there's the jasmine. This is actually pretty nice. The jasmine sweetens it and is really doing a number on the lemon verbena and keeping my hand from smelling exactly like a citronella candle. Go jasmine go! The jasmine just keeps getting stronger.

Now its all jasmine and green tea. Lovely. Just lovely. Not too strong. Its just right. This is a sweet citrussy sexy floral. I like.

Yerevan

Starts off fizzy peach with a citrus/orange tinge. Its a bright fruity tone with something clearly deeper and richer behind it. It is getting incensy and creamier as it dries down. There's almost a touch of coconut behind it. In sum, creamy, incensy and peachy.

Al Azif

Starts off syrupy sweet and very incensy. I can pick up a hint of that maple syrup scent someone else mentioned. Something about it is similar to Has No Hanna for me. Its got a touch of that brown sugar thing going on. It is like sweet sugary incense, but also very powdery. At some point it came to remind me of the Burberry perfume I got for my dad for Christmas-- Burberry's Touch. I read the review of it as syrupy sweet and wanted to like it but the powdery incense notes are pretty much killing it for me. After the sweet incense phase and the powdery sweet incense phase, the cedar comes out. That's where the similarity to Burberry Touch comes in. The cedar sorta fades in and out for me switching off with a sweeter scent.

Juliet

Starts off with a harsh green floral scent. It is sorta similar to that strong green scent you get from Lush's Tiptoe through the Tulips soap but with a very different floral behind it. As it dries the harsh strong green note dies down and a light powdery floral comes out. There's a touch of fruit to this. I looked it the notes, it lists pear. It could be the pear I'm smelling. Every time I sniff my hand, I get a combo of the harsh green note, powder and a sort of ozone-y floral. It doesn't smell quite as fake to me as ozone-y florals do. This is in general a nice light scent. Now its very sweet and it seems the pear is really coming out. Its still floral and the strong green note is completely gone. Another one in the Amsterdam family, though Amsterdam is still my fave amongst the scents that seem similar to it.

The Dormouse

Starts off light and a bit fruity. It smells almost melon-y and has an ozone-y floral tinge to it. That must be the peony. It reminds me of Neo-Tokyo. It is definitely in that light Amsterdam/Neo Tokyo family but its the fruitier version of the three. And possibly the lightest. It has almost faded completely away now and I've been wearing it less than an hour. It is inoffensive and light, but not necessarily a keeper for me.

Viola

There's something sharp and harsh going on with this floral. I can smell rose, but it isn't a sweet rose at all. I think the harsh note is the Red Sandalwood. It has a citrus tinge to it as well. It starts to open up into a sweeter rose as it dries. With a big powdery kick as well. I think the powdery-ness is a combo of the sandalwood and the lilac. The lilac in this mainly contributes to the powderyness (I think). You don't get any of the good lilac in this, only the not so exciting drydown parts of lilac. There's something else going on in addition to the lilac and the rose and the powder, but I can't pinpoint it. The harshness is gone. I'm left with powder and roses. It smells like old lady now. Oh well. Viola got two tries and I'm done with it. Away to the swap pile it goes.

Hod

Sweet, creamy and spicy. And I usually hate spicy scents. It smells sorta like generic Christmas potpourri to me, but in a good way and then dries into a sweet spicy scent. It is like a spicy Snowcake scent to me. Or maybe its a little bit similar to the spicy sweetness of Santa Monica.

Its getting sweeter and more powdery as it dries but retaining its sweetness. Oh yes. Sweeter and sweeter for Hod. But not in a sickly way. The spicyness and the touch of powder in this keep it from being too sweet. Or perhaps it is the lack of a buttery note that keeps it from being overwhelmingly sweet. Either way this is gentle and comforting. Mmmm. Definitely a keeper imp. Not sure if it is bottle worthy, especially since it would have to be a 10ml... Who knew "God's Judgement" could be so comforting.

Neo Tokyo

I've gotten frimps of this with two of my orders.

Fresh and grassy plus something very perfume-y/cologne-y that has tinge of citrus. The grassy note-- I'm sure its the bamboo-- is absolutely gorgeous but the cologne-y note is overpowering and sorta headache inducing. Its drying and blending together so that the citrussy cologne and the grassy notes aren't as distinct or as strong. Its a fresh and fairly clean smelling scent. Its also pretty strong on me. It reminds me of the perfumes the Gap used to make (Grass, Earth etc). It is ok, but when I want fresh, pretty and green I'll probably reach for Amsterdam not Neo Tokyo. Neo Tokyo is getting smoother and gentler and better as it dries longer. It isn't my favorite, but it is pretty good.

The Caterpillar

A frimp from the lab.

At first it smells very earthy and very soapy. It has that violet = Mr. Bubbles thing going on for a bit. I checked the notes, no violet is listed so it must be something else. As it dries down there's still a soapy note plus an incensy note and a touch of something ozoney. It is getting more and more powdery as it dries. Its a big mix of a lot of things... but I don't like any of them.

Midwinter's Eve

I've been putting off trying this one for a long time. I don't usually like fruity smells so I'm not sure why I got an imp.

It smells like bubble yum bubble gum. Maybe strawberry flavor? Definitely a strong berry bubble gum flavor. It reminded me of those pieces of bubble gum that were so big and soft that it made me feel like I was going to choke on the giant blob of gum. Another one for the swap pile.