cranberry

The GC swap has made me pull out my Dragon’s Musk imp and give it a whirl. In the imp, it smells a bit musty and a slight note of dragon’s blood. Once on, it’s nicely balanced between the musks and the dragon’s blood. It’s not a sweet scent by any means. The dragon’s blood is here more to accent the musk rather than play a starring role. It’s a very masculine scent. The perfect compliment to Dragon’s Milk. Dragon’s Musk and Smut share some of the same musks. For someone looking for Smut, this may be a good substitute. It evokes the same kinda vibe to me. It’s a long lasting scent – hrs later I can still smell it. As it wears on, the dragon’s blood resins seem to come out, but still with the musks dominating the show. As it wears on, I’m not getting the Smut vibe as strongly as I was earlier. Overall, pretty good!

I’m trying this courtesy of the General Catalog swap. I’ve tried this before but it was a long time ago and didn’t have a good response to La Petit Mort, so I passed it along and didn't bother to review.

Initially, I smell honey, that same top note as I smelled in O. Roaring up behind the honey is ylang ylang. It’s a good combination and it smells a lot better than I remember. It’s grounded by the myrrh. As it wears it’s not changing much, from wet to dry. It is a good lesson to me in that even if you have a bad reaction/bad chemistry with an oil, it doesn’t hurt to give it a second chance. I’m liking this quite a bit which is a shocker to me because I can remember distinctly not liking this much at all.

Tried via the General Catalog Swap.

I've been wanting to try this one for a long time so I'm thrillled to have gotten the chance.

On the skin wet, it smells like a dark red fruit - pomegranate, fig, or plum. It has a slight soapy note, and I’m getting a whiff of ozone. It’s a fruity, clean fresh scent. After it’s been on for about an hour, all I’m getting is a fig or plum note, the same one that I find in Queen of Clubs. My overall impression, is that it’s a strong, plum scent. I like it a lot - very nice!

Tried via the General Catalog swap.

Wow – this is all florals. A light pretty floral scent. I can’t identify the flowers, maybe lily of the valley? It wears pretty well, doesn’t change a whole on me. There could be a touch of carnation (must be the lavender) with a touch of white musk underlying. I’m glad to have tried it but it’s not my style at all.

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap.

When I first apply Jabberwocky, I get a sweet, pine scent. Sweet sugared pine. It smells very fresh, with an almost juicy type scent. It is reminiscent of the 2005 Yule pine scents – Snow Moon, Snow Angel, Talvikuu. It has a similar note without the florals, but instead an almost fruity scent. Upon review of the notes, that must be the orange making an appearance.

As it wears on the skin, the pine disappears and I’m left with something that reminds me of a candle. It would be a fantastic room scent, but I am unsure about wearing this as a perfume.

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap.

When I first put Mock Turtle Lessons on, I smell mint, something vaguely aquatic, and something that smells fruity. It's a light scent, but I did only put a touch on, but it blends well into my skin. Is there pennyroyal in here? Overall as a wet scent it would make a great body lotion.

As it wears on I get a scent that smells almost mossy in combination with a fruity scent, apple or fig I think. Although it’s a light scent, there’s something here that’s fairly sharp. It’s giving me a bit of a headache. After a few hrs, it turns kinda soapy. My overall impression, it goes through an interesting evolution on the skin and it's good for warm weather. I could see a man or woman wearing this with no problem. It's not my style but it's been interesting to try it out.

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap.

In the Imp: cranberries and lime.

On the skin, wet: fruity, cranberry, lime. It smells very fresh and crisp.

On the skin, dry: as it dries, the fruit is subdued by the smell of gin. I generally like booze but I don't care for this. I think bourbon is more my speed.

Overall: it was interesting to try and seems very good for the summer season but this is not a scent for me.

Tried courtesy of the General Catalog swap.

I’ve been wanting to try this one for a long time.

In the Imp: pine, juniper

On the Skin, wet: On wet, it smells just like it smelled in the imp, predominantly pine and juniper.

On the Skin, dry: As it dries, the black musk appears and turns a bit powdery. The juniper and pine hang around in the background. The longer it wears the more powdery it turns. I’m glad that I didn’t order this one. After a couple hours, the powder is still with me, but that’s it, only powder.

Overall impression: The Black Forest is not for me. It turns way too powdery. I like the initial notes but there’s other pine – juniper scents out there that work with my chemistry.

Courtesy of the General Catalog swap. I’m been wanting to try this one ever since it came out.

In the imp: bananas, mango.

On the skin, wet: fruit, hint of red musk. mainly banana.

On the skin, dry: the apples come roaring out with banana keeping pace. The red musk stays around but isn’t an “in your face” –type red musk. Instead it provides a gentle warm backdrop to the yummy fruit. There’s also a trace of something sharp, which I presume is the chili pepper.

As it wears longer, the fruits meld and the red musk becomes more prominent. It becomes a much more sophisticated scent and reminds me of Corazon (although my memory of Corazon is very, very hazy).

Overall impression: Yum! Warm musky fruity goodness that really sticks around.

I gotta share this. I have several bottles of Devil's Night. The initial bottle I got was musky, clear smelling, and reminded me a lot of Buck Moon. I've been wondering because very few people, if any get this reaction. I checked out my other bottles and did a wrist-to-wrist comparison, and they are totally different! They smelled very different in the bottle and on the skin confirmed it. On one wrist I now get the boozy, fallish scent that most people are taking about when they review devil's night. It has a lot of similarities to Samhain (05) and it clearly links it with the Yule series. Whereas my other bottle displays more light musk (and again, super similar to Buck Moon). It's just stunning to me that this one bottle (and perhaps another to tiny degree) are soooooo different.

I don't think it's a matter of aging or having a mislabeled bottle, but it really illustrates to me just how different batches can be. I've never run across an oil with this much difference from one to another. It's really quite amazing!

In the bottle I smell wood, maybe a touch of cedar, resins.

When I first apply this, it's slightly sweet, resinous, maybe elements of sandalwood? It's really quite nice and I like the wet scent quite a bit. It's a rich, warm, sexy smell.

Where did my sandalwood (or whatever that was) go? As it dries, it dries to a dragon's blood scent. There's a touch of spice back there.

I like it and I'll keep the bottle but I did like the wet scent a bit better.

<snip>ETA: I really slathered this one on last night and wore it to bed... and it really, really reminded me of Buck Moon. It smells on me the way that I wanted Buck Moon to, the way that my Buck Moon smells in the bottle. So, for anyone who wanted to try the Buck or anyone who wishes they could get more - you might want to try Ochosi

I totally agree. Ochosi is an amazing scent and as I wear it, it reminds me so strongly of Buck Moon that it's shocking. Wonderful really as I love Buck Moon dearly and have always been very careful about using my bottle.

OK, on to the review.

In the imp: fresh, herbal, a bit like what I remember Yggdrasil smelled like (going only on my memory here, it turned on me so I got rid of it quick before it had a chance to tempt me again).

On the skin, I smell the same creaminess that is present in Obatala, that must be the shea. Beautiful, smooth, creamy.

As it wears, the shea recedes and it becomes deeper, richer, herbal, grassy, touch of woods. I'm smelling musk, the same musk and elements that are in Buck Moon. There's similarities here too to Devils Night - not boozy but that same wonderful velvety musk. I want to roll around in that musk, it's so amazing. There's touches of wood and the forest, and it evokes clear night air.

This imp is not going to last long. I am in love.

This is a beautiful, fresh green fragrance to me. It is very refreshing and spring-like. I get predominantly bamboo and tea, the oude is not present much so I’m sure that its presence here in the blend is for grounding and fixing the lighter notes. It’s almost floral but not quite, and I do get a touch of lemon. I’m usually avoided the lighter GC (and LE for that matter!) blends so I don’t have oil to compare it to…

As it wears it softens and the oude makes itself known. Just lovely!

ETA review on 3-27-08

For a long time, I thought this and Dragon Moon smelled identical. And that maybe liked Dragon Moon a tad more. Well I finally pulled them out and tried them side by side. Now I’m not so sure.

On me, both wet and dry, but especially so wet, this smells like the lightest, brightest white tea and bamboo. As it wears, there’s a sharpness too, but it’s not offensively sharp, just sharp in a very bright, clean, fresh way. This is the palest of green, almost white in color. There’s something here plant-like, I guess that would be the bamboo. When I compared this to Dragon Moon, I called this a stem scent and that makes sense. After all, bamboo is just that. This is just lovely.

As it wears, it’s taking on an almost citrus smell – that sharpness is there and now I’m thinking I do prefer the sweet floral tea of Dragon Moon to this sharp high-noted scent that is getting a bit too fresh and bright for me. Dang.

When I first put it on, it smells light, tangy and fresh. I smell sage and light powdery florals – mainly iris with touches of orris. I don’t smell any civet, it remains a soft, gentle scent.

As it wears, it doesn’t change too much. This is really pretty. It’s quiet, refined, subtle and subdued. This would a great scent for body powder or linen spray. It stays close, not really any throw to speak of. If you slathered I still think that someone would have to be close to get a sniff. There’s something special and sexy about scents like this. It’s definitely a second skin scent. Last time I tried this I remember that it didn't last long - we'll see how it wears this time.

I’m torn between ordering a bottle or not, I don’t know that I’ll use it that much but I actually like this quite a lot.

eta:

so I'm trying this again through the civet sniffing circle. god, I love this scent! what I am smelling most are the sage and orris. simply lovely - this actually reminds me of a great lotion I got from Ginger's Garden, the scent of that lotion and morella are quite similar. I'm guessing they both have sage and orris.

this smells smooth, slightly powdery but not in a bad way at all, a touch of sweetness, and so fresh and pure. this is a very different type of scent from what I normally wear, but I think I need to track down a bottle. everytime I wear this I remember how much I like it, and it's perfect for those times where I want to smell unobtrusively good.

Wowza - yes this is plum all right!

This is a yummy, plummy, rich scent, that is slightly spicy. When I first put it on, it's definitely purple fruit but then the spices come out. I smell the carnation and am getting a touch of clove. I don't know what chrysanthemum smells like so maybe that's what I'm getting, I couldn't tell ya. The carnation gets stronger the longer it wears. It does smell a bit like a candle, but a good candle. This would be an amazing room scent! It doesn't change a whole lot on me but it doesn't last a real long time either, however I did only put a couple/three swipes on too, so that's probably not a fair statement.

It smells edible, like a rich pie pulled out during a lunch at non-so successful florists shop (that only contains carnations ). I've been craving sweets lately so this is a good substitute.

Overall, I like it a lot. I'm not sure I'll be needing a bottle but I'll hang onto the imp and enjoy any more that come my way.

2005 Version

I've tried to love this blend; this is the 2nd bottle that has found it's way to me. On the skin, it stays very true to it's smell in the bottle, mainly roses.

As it wears, it becomes slightly powdery on me and I'm not getting any resins. Maybe they are there acting as a base but they are pretty much overwhelmed by the powdery rose.

I was hoping for more incense and resin with touches of rose or florals. Ah well, can't win them all and there's plenty more BPAL to love.

In the Imp: buttery rich milk. It jogs my memory of Milk Moon. Which didn’t work for me and I ended up passing it on. The smell in the imp is not promising.

On the skin: milk, hints of coconut, but with a twist. At first it is very similar to Milk Moon (or as I remember it).

As it wears, the coconut milkyness recedes and I get what I think is shea. It’s slightly sweet but it remains cool and refreshing thanks to the aquatic note. It’s almost a bit minty on me but not quite. Milk Moon was very heavy on me and turns a bit sour, this does not do that at all and I’m so thrilled. It’s a soothing creamy scent, it evokes feelings like those I get from Snow White, my ultimate soothing scent-wrap-yourself-in-fluffy-towels or a great big hug scent. It's completely different but just as soothing. Just beautiful. Yes, this is a very white, pure scent.

In the imp: loam, dirt. It reminds me of dark, moist woods, cool temperatures. This is no tropical scent.

On: the oil is very thick and viscous. It was hard to rub in. I only put on the tiniest amount; the dirt note was quite strong. First on, I still get a strong dirt smell, but it’s soft smelling.

As it wears, it becomes resiny or incensy while still retaining the dirt smell. The longer it wears though, the less dirt I smell and the incense and amber are coming out. It reminds me of the musk in Buck Moon or Devil’s Night – warm, velvety. So far I’ve only had this on for about a half-hr, but WOW!

It’s slightly sweet, soft, warm. I’m convinced it has some of the same components as Buck Moon and Devil’s Night, absolutely convinced. I may have found a replacement for when I run out. I really like this one, I can’t wait to try it in a more proper fashion and I’m seriously considering getting a bottle (like I need any more bottles of anything, but this one has me thinking about it). Very nice.

Peony Moon is a very pretty spring floral. To my nose in the bottle it's very sweet, a bit soft, overall very nice floral.

I too see similarities to Budding Moon, which has similar components. As it dries down, the pretty soft floral changes and becomes a bit sharp. I'm not liking this part of it. The sharpness stays with me as I wear it. Is this a bad reaction to the woods and reeds? I hope not but I'm not getting those, just a sharp floral. ah well, I've got some great florals already that work with my chemistry.

Wow! This is very pretty floral - not too sweet, very sunny and fresh smelling. I agree with the likeness to bamboo pulp. I see where the fizzy lemon scent description comes from, but I'm not getting real lemon, but something close. It has a fruity aspect to it and it almost reminds me of a hard, powdery lemon candy - dang it, I'm forgetting the name. For some reason, as I smell really hard, I'm also getting similarities to Black Opal or Jacob's Ladder - I have no idea why. Maybe there's a touch of tonka in here buried deep.

It's a beautiful scent, and reminds me of summer, wildflowers and fresh breezes. Wonderful!

This is from imp that I’ve had for a long time.

In the imp I get smells of dirt, moss, then flowers and a smidge of herbs. The predominant scent is loam and soil.

On the skin, wet, the dirt, moss and dust disappear and I get flowers, possibly gardenia or jasmine, or maybe both. It has kind of an Aveda type smell, which I love. It’s a beautiful floral. It's a lot more lush on the skin than in the imp.

As it dries, incense peeks it way in. The strong jasmine note remains but it’s blended with other element tempering it a bit.

As it dries further, I’m picking up a dusty, smoky note; that was a total surprise, I didn’t expect that!

Overall, I like it but I'm not sure if I need a bottle or not. I tried it when I first got it and I think I got more earth, incense and moss, and I fell in love and immediately wanted a bottle. Many months later I'm getting mostly a beautiful heady floral. If you're a jasmine fan try it! I will hang onto my imp though.

Casanova may work on you. when I tried it, it started off more traditional mens cologne but then as it dried it turned into this most amazing scent....I really liked it. It has a similar vibe IMO to Dee, Old Scratch, etc.

Have you tried Smut or Enranged Orangutang Musk? In EOM, I find the florals/woods to be fairly light and dominated by the musk and amber...I know that they're both LE but you could probably find some on the swap boards.

I've always thought that the Sephiroth oils smell a lot like Aveda scents, especially Hod, Malkuth and Kether. Of the three, there was one in particular but I can't remember specifically which one...but there's something about that series...

part of the unreleased sniffing circle...

In the Imp: Yum! Herbal & spicy.

On the Skin: Still a spicy herbal and the vetivert comes out. Man, this is amazing! There’s a touch of citrus there and moss. As I wear it, the citrus becomes stronger yet melds beautifully with the spice, moss and vetivert. This scent makes me think of the woods in the Pacific Northwest or Southeast Alaska – lush, moist, mossy, yet dark and cool. In some ways, it reminds me of Torture King without the leather or bourbon. It has that same citrus - spice - vetivert vibe.

Overall: I have to agree that this is truly a gender neutral scent. It is very clean and crisp – it would smell amazing on a man yet still smells wonderfully on a woman. This is the scent I was dying to try and I’m so glad that I had the chance. It’s fabulous!

Part of the unreleased sniffing circle.

Initial Impression, on, is fruit! It made me think of Fruit Moon. A bit cologne-ish, there’s something there that I can’t identify that is bringing that in. But it’s predominantly fruit, a tropical type fruit. I’m not really getting pineapple, maybe guava? Kiwi? It’s very well blended and I have a hard time picking out specific notes. The closest I can nail it down to is tropical fruit.

As it dries, it turns a bit soapy. I liked the initial stage better than this. There may be a touch of something floral there – overwhelming the fruit. There’s a bit of spice too. The soapiness remains.

Overall, it’s a complex scent, but not one that I need a bottle of. The spicy fruit is interesting (I like that part of it) but the florals combine to give it a soapy aspect that I doesn’t particularly work for me. It was great to try it though!