Sistinas

a review of 13 Vial ~ Okay, someone referred to this as chocolate cake yumminess, well you say tomato, I say tomotto, I am thinking more of chocolate pudding. Wet ~ still lots of chocolatey goodness Drying ~ Ah now I smell some orange. It reminds me so much of those chocolate oranges that cadbury would sell around Christmas. Dry ~ It has now morphed into this tea scent, but I am still faintly detecting the chocolate. Kind reminds me of this chocolate tea that I had picked up at borders "Mate Latte" made by the Republic of Tea. Fade ~ Well this scent lasted about 40 mins on my skin before it faded away. It was lovelly while it lasted. Final thoughts ~ When I deal roulette, I tell players that 13 is one of my favorite numbers to hit. Lucky or unlucky, it does seem to have some sort spell on us all. This fragrance seems to bring out yummy lovely goodness, that lets me remember what is in a superstition is all what I make of it. Scale of 1 to 5 -> 4

Here are the reviews of the chaos theories I have obtained, I hope that putting them all in one big post is okay. 1. CLXXXII (182) - I picked up this bottle via ebay needing an bpal fix. Vial~ It comes across clean smelling and there is this light melon smell to it. Wet~ same light sweet scent as in the vial. Dry~ it has become a bit more buttery and the sweetness has toned down. All in all it is a nice scent. Scale of 1 to 5 -> 4 2. CCXLI (241) - Another one I picked up off of ebay during my need of a bpal fix Vial~ Oh man is this fruity, just not sure which fruits they are. Maybe more . like a Beaujolais. Wet~ I think I can pick out some tartness in this scent, now I am guessing The fruit is pomegranite Dry ~ Unfortunately the scent disappeared on my hand really quick, I am Having a hard time picking up any trace of scent now. Think I need To give this one another try. 3. DXXVI (526) – This one was gifted to me from the wonderful people at BB Vial~ MMMM, red ripe strawberries, nothing else, it is as if you are Smelling them right off the vine. Need to get out my strawberry moon to compare the two. Wet~ I have compared the two and the only thing similar is the Strawberries. This one is just plain fresh strawberries on the vine, So ripe, plump and sweet Dry~ It stayed the same, just tamed down, I prefer this one to strawberry Moon, which personally was just too over the top. Scale of 1 to 5 -> 4 4.DC (600) – This is one of five that I bought from the Lab (I went a little crazy) Vial~ lightly fruity, yet aquatic with a hint of spice in the background Wet~ the fruit goes away, the scent is still very light with just a touch of Cinnamon. If I were to have guessed the fruit I would have to say Guava. Dry~ A very light scent, especially for the summer. Scale of 1 to 5 ->3.5 5.DCI (601) - Vial~ this one is watery and very lightly floral Wet ~ having a hard time placing the scents, maybe some orchid Dry ~ clean smelling, aquatic, another light and refreshing scent for Summer. Not sure if this one will be a keeper. Scale of 1 to 5 -> 3.5 6. DCXXXVII (637) – Vial~ Rich, buttery Rum. But not as cloying as Grog. Wet ~ on my skin it is not as rich, the creamy, buttery scent is staying true. Dry ~ As opposed to the lighter scents I have so far, this one is heavy and thick,It should do well for a winter scent. Scale of 1 to 5 -> 4 7.DCXLVIII (648)- Vial~ Red berries with some pine in the background Wet~ It doesn’t smell anything like it did in the bottle. Now it has an entirely Different fragrance. It is soft and the berries are very mild. Dry~ It has remant fragrance of berries but it also has this warming scent to it At the same time. It is a truly beautiful scent. Scale of 1 to 5 ->5 8. DCLXXIII (673)- Vial~ A light aquatic note with what I think could be citrus and ginger Wet~ The Ginger has come out more and the citrus has died. It is a warm But still holds it aquatic notes. Dry~ Now it has morphed again, the ginger is still there, but slightly and Once in a while it was a bit of fruit. It kind of reminds me of those jelly Sugar drops. Kind of sweet, but also kind of spicy at the same time. Scale of 1 to 5 ->5

a review of Kostnice Vial ~ Initially out of the vial there is nothing attractive about this fragrance unless you like the smell of rotting dirt, which of course I do. Wet ~ not too much has changed Drying ~ As it is drying, some faint flowers are trying to bloom throught the dirt, as if trying to push their way through, it is so faint that it must be a big struggle for them. I belive what I am picking up is the frankinsense and the slight of lily and bergamot rose. Dry ~ It took a while for it to dry, but I think now I can start to make a few conclusions. First off the Frankincense is still there but now in the back ground, the lillies are strong but not overpowering and there is but a whisper of rose. Fade ~ Not getting much throw from it, but when I smell the back of my wrist it is still going strong 45 mins after I applied it. For me and "my ever spongy soak up the scent skin", this is a very good thing. Final thoughts ~ This scent was named after a bone church in Prague and I find it very fitting. I wonder if some people think this would be a scent their grandmother had worn, not sure, but I do know that mine never did. Personally I find it very sophiscated and will be great for nights out. Hmmm, what are those again?

a review of Yog Sothoth Vial ~ Like everyone else has said, a very clean scent, not getting the dryer sheet smell, it is just remniscent of clean. My daughter thinks it smells like shaving cream, but I know well that our sense of smell is completely different. Wet ~ not much different it is still a clean scent. Drying ~ 20 minutes later it is still drying, guess I put on a bit much since it was such a light clean fragrance. It is very hard to detect on my skin. Dry ~ It is just about dry, but I can hardly detect it at all. Fade ~ you really have to sniff hard to find the scent, while I don't mind a clean scent, I do not like to have to hunt it down. Final thoughts ~ it is just meh. Not too impressed. On a scale of 1 out of 5: a 2

a review of Dunwich Vial ~ grassy, mossy, llke being in a forest meadow, I believe there are some florals in there but atm, I am not able to pick out which ones Wet ~ Drying ~ my this is morphing on my quickly, it is turning very floral Dry ~ after 15 mins this scent has dried on my skin and I wish I could pick out the the florals in this, it does smell beautiful and yet it is not too sweet, well at least not to me. Ah I read a review, the floral I am smelling is lillies, I am curious to see how well this will last on me. Fade ~ Half an hour later it is fading fast, very hard to detect that strong beautiful floral that I picked up earlier. Final thoughts ~ I really loved the scent and it ability to morph, unfortunately it has not lasted as long as I would like, but I will still keep my bottle. on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being highest) I give it a 4

a review of Kingsport Vial ~salty, very remniscent of tears, but there is this underlying tone of sweetness Wet ~ the scent does not change much, it is clean and salty scent, also very ozoney.The lab description is spot on. I close my eyes and inhale salty breezes as if I was right at the coast. So far I am in love with this scent. Drying ~ still the wonderful salt breezes, so very refreshing Dry ~ I think it is safe to say that after 30 mins it has finally dried and while the breeze is not as strong, it is still there, whiffs of fresh ocean air. Fade ~ after an hour, it is faintly hanging in there. Final thoughts ~ A wonderful scent, hopefully I will be able to find a replacement for this once I finish my bottle

i got my swapped imp of Midway today. Okay, I am not a big fan overly sweet items, but for some reason I do like gluttony. Now as for Midway, here is a very quick off the cuff review, first thought buttery pastry goodness on wrist still buttery, but has gotten a bit sweeter and wafts of vanilla are coming through drydown okay, until this point, I didn't get the it smells foody, but in the same sense it doesn't. It definitely has morphed more into a fragrance that does remind me of funnel cakes, powdered sugar, etc, but I don't feel like I smell like someone who works at the fair making these all day. it is not overwhelming, it is sitting there nicely. Yeah, I think I am going to be needing some more of this, but i think this is a scent I will not need to slather. Seems the little bit I applied to my wrist is lasting pretty long. this is always a sign of a good fragrance for me.

a review of The Hesperides Vial ~ Wow apples!!! All I did was uncap the vial and scent of apples wafted to my nose, strong and hard. Are there other notes in this scent? Ah, after I bring the vial to my nose I pick up the oak and something else, that I am not sure of. Wet ~ Hmm, where did that apple scent go? I think I can pick it up, and what I am reminded of is fresh apple cider. Drying ~ Smelling the scent on my wrist gives me the same impression that I had when it was wet. An oak barrel with fresh cold apple cider with no spice to it whatsoever. While I am not a fan of Eve, kind of thought it was just so so, I am still a bit reserved on this one. I don't see me falling in love with it. Dry ~ Yes, this one is on the lower end of the spectrum for me. It has dried and practically has no scent on my skin. While I don't mind slathering especially since I have to do it with alot scents that I do like. I just don't have the love for this one. I find it odd that the apple scent that had wafted so strongly from the vial earlier has disappeared. Fade ~ An hour after application, I have a very light scent of the oak, no apple that I can smell. Final thoughts ~ I know I was dissing this scent earlier, but maybe I was being too haste. I am not sure if I would buy a 5 ml of this, but I think I will give it another try with a huge slathering of it and see how I feel about it then. At the moment, I would give it a 2 out of 5.

a review of Storm Vial ~ salty and very watery smelling. You can smell the wetness in the air and wonder when the storm is about to approach. Living in the desert I truly miss the salt air Wet ~ On my wrists it has not change much, but I believe I am detecting grapefruit. There is definitely a tart citrus scent Drying ~ As it is drying, the saltiness lingers but softens and the citrus takes over. Dry ~ For me, this is a wonderful balanced blend of tart citrus and salt. There is still that aquatic scent, but it is not the prominent scent. What a shame that Beth discontinued this scent, I think it makes a great summertime scent and I think it would be rather refreshing to wear on a hot day. Fade ~ After an hour the scent has faded, but I can still smell it's prescence on my wrists. Final thoughts ~ A very likeable scent. But at least for me, it will need some reapplication during the day. I love the way certain scents bring back memories and/or just lift my spirits. this is one of those scents. Due to it's lack of staying power I would have to give it a 3.

a review of Fiery Command Vial ~ Sweet with florals, but not cloying, wish I could note the exact florals, but I am not able to do so. Wet ~ On my wrists the scent has not changed too much. I think one of the notes is Dragon's Blood, in fact I am pretty sure. This is definitely a grounding scent and it is somewhat remniscent of Tushnamatay. I was told that this oil was for use to stregthen spells. I bought it in conjunction with Water of Notre Dame, thinking that if I wore these two together it might help with things that are going on with me personally. Drying ~ The Dragon's blood is still there, but there is still another componenet I am unable to detect, it gives it a bit of spiciness also kind of like Old Morocco. It also seems to have true staying power that Old MOrocco does not have. I am truly enjoying this scent. Dry ~ Spiciness, but not overdone. Still holding onto my skin strong but for me not too much unlike what some of the other reviewers have mentioned Fade ~ It takes quite awhile for Fiery command to fade, which is a major plus in my book. It was a truly enjoyable scent and it did go well with Water of Notre Dame. Final thoughts ~ I would give this one a 5 out of 5. For me this one is a true blue winner. It lasts and for me it is a very grounding scent. I have worn this scent three times already.

a review of the Lady of Shallot Vial ~ tart citrus and ginger scents scream from the vial Wet ~ more aquatic smelling, but after awhile the ginger comes back out along with the water blossums. Drying ~ the ginger hides in the background and the water blossums are still in the foreground, but they are fading. Dry ~ Woah, Ginger!!! No I am not referring to our Gin. Whatever happened to the florals and the tart citrus? Everything except the ginger has disappeared. I at least have to say that this smells better than the Lush Ginger range. *Ducks from throwing tomatoes* This is the scent that I expected Gingerman soap to smell like. Spicy, yet so alluring and yummy. Fade ~ Ginger has gone away and faint floral. Final thoughts ~ This is a really nice scent. Not sure if I would pick it as my one of my top ten. It faded, but not as quickly as some other scents have. I did wonder why it was considered a fresh ozone scent, but the fade finally gave that away. I would give it a 4 out of 5.

a review of Kathmandu Vial ~ light incense of saffron and sandalwood, very light and not overpowering at all. Wet ~ It is pretty much the same, except that I am picking up the slight scent of liquorice. Maybe that is just from the combination of the ingredients, I am not really picking up cedar at all. Drying ~ As it drys I am picking up the cedar, someone mentioned on the lush board the term "pencil shavings" and that seems to be an accurate description of what I am smelling now. Generally I have always been able to detect lotus, as a bubblegummy type scent Dry ~ It is more spicy, but still woody. It is an okay scent, not doing anything to wow me. While I was hoping it would be more spicier than it is and have less of a wood smell. Fade ~ Figures, a scent that I don't care for that much, would have a better lasting power. Final thoughts ~ This is just meh on me. I would have to give it a 2. This could be used in a oil burner and for meditation, maybe being more likely be more enjoyable, but I prefer Tushnamatay more as scent to burn for meditating.

a review of Tears Vial ~ salty, somewhat reminds of what humid air smells like, and since I live in the desert, this is not something I get to smell that often Wet ~ Still more of the same, wet air, I can't decide if it reminds me or just humid air or the smell of the air on the coast. It is a very clean scent, with just a touch of salt in it. Drying ~ As it is drying on my wrist it brings out an urge to want lick my skin as if I have been swimming in the ocean. To me this is the epitome of this scent family represents. Drydown ~ I keep smelling my wrist, wanting so much to move back to California and live near the ocean again. Although this is cleaner and doesn't have the scent of fish to intrude upon it. Dry ~ Oh this is Ozone to the hilt, not much morphing with this scent, it pretty much stays true the vial scent, except it seems to have lost it's salty smell. Fade ~ This one faded goodbye within an hour, barely detectable Final thoughts ~ A nice enough scent, very true to it's scent family but on a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 3. I have hope that there will be a scent not too far from this that will have more staying power.

From the vial, my first thought is grassy, like smelling a fresh cut grass field After it dried on my wrist I was able to detect lavender and could not help but thinking how similiar to veil it was. But now it has morphed and it is spicy now. Maybe there was that scent earlier and I had not detected it, but now it is blatantly there now and there is remnant of the lavendar. I was given Ra and Ahathoor as extras and I think my next order will include all full stations of the sun.

From the bottle- Sweet, first thing that comes to mind is fruity bubble gum, but not as overpowering as jailbait. On me it is sweet, but I have detected some spiciness,not sure what it is, but I do know that it is not cinnamon or clove. After awhile I am finally able to pick out the pineapple the Rheliwen had mentioned in a post of hers. For me i have to really inhale the scent to be able to dectect it singuarly. Very sweet and fruity. In regards to the staying power, Baba Yaga lasted a few hours before it disappeared. I am still up in the air if I will keep this one. It was very nice, but I was not Wowed with it.

In the bottle: Whoa, definitely green, limes come to my mind, even tho there are none listed. I am willing to bet it is the mosses and the lavendar. Smelling Saint-Germain reminds me of my younger years when I loved to wear men's cologne. While I am still a fan of of the Lab's more masculine scents (Typhon most prominently), I have moved on to a few more girlier scents. When I read Belladonnastrap's review I have to agree, this scent does make me think of a the same type of a guy. Hmmm, if my on again/off again shows up next month I will definitely have to test it on him. However, I will keep what I have of it, cos I am finding that as I wear Saint-Germain, I feel comforted and in a rather good mood.

In the bottle- WOW- it came across so strong and so sweet that I had to pull the vial away from me. On me, Grog is sweet, buttery, boozy and a bit tropical. It is not so overpowering on me as it was when I first tried it from the vial. If not for the buttery scent I am picking up I would think I was smelling a Pina Colada. It is very nice, but a bit too sweet for me.

sudha segara: in the bottle, it is soo light I can barely detect anything. But then ginger makes it's entrance and it is light and soft. To me, much softer than it is in Kumiho. When I initially put some of this one, the fragrance didn't change much on me and I wondered where the milk and honey was. Honey on me is generally strong and does not go away. But as it is drying I am picking up more of a creamy sweet scent, that is blending well with the ginger. I think I was hoping for a strong scent since there is honey in it, but that is not so. It is very soft sweet scent, thankfully not a bitingly sweet scent or I would have to give up the 5ml bottle I just got along with my Harvest moon order. Hmm, now there might be an interesting layering to try later.

I got my two bottles Chaos Theory XXV and L yesterday. I had some friends over to drink some margarita's and while partaking of drinks we played guess the elements. Chaos XXV is truly awesome and I adore it. At first I was guessing that maybe it had vanilla and musk in it, which musk it is, I have no idea. My friends agree with the musk and now that I have had more time to inhale it, I don't detect vanilla. The musk is warm and delicious and I believe there is some sandalwood in it also. I cannot quite smelling myself, it is truly fabulous. A male friend who was with us last night really liked it and commented on how this scent did it for him,* mental note to self: NEVER wear this around him, since I don't want his attention. Chaos L is like on the other end of the spectrum for me. In the bottle it is tropical. Coconut comes out, but there is a juicy fruity scent that underlies. I am guessing guava or passionfruit, I wish I could be sure. On the drydown the coconut is still there and the fruit is not so strong, but there is also a buttery smell too. It is making me hungry. It is nice, but I am not into tropical scents for myself. I might try using it in the oil burner, if not it will go up for swap.

Intial thoughts: A dark spicy version of juicyfruit gum. After putting it on my wrist I can relate to the idea that it smells like rootbeer, I was smelling that too. Eventually this tamed down and mophed into a honey scent. Kind of like a more mellow version of O. I need to find a man to see what it would smell like on him. At the moment I am having delusions of honey poured over a man and me licking it off of him. Rahr!!!

Anne Bonny has two of my favorite scents in it patchouli and sandalwood. Frankincense I am not so sure about (note to self to order it as single note). I really enjoy the warmth of the scent and it lasted for quite some time on me. Very nice indeed, for me it is warm, comforting and relaxing.

I exposed a co worker to BPAL the other day. Actually I was wearing Black Widow and she commented on how much she liked it, so I whipped out my 5 ml bottle and let her try it. Of course the next day I brought in some of my other vials and will be ordering a few items for today with my Red Moon. To the point now, she asked me about Egyptian Musk and didn't see any in the single notes, but I am so glad I came across this thread, now I can order some for her too.

Upon first sniff of this fragrance, images of cold glass come to mind. Something that can be broken easily, and it definitely invokes it's namesake. Initially I am not able to pick out much as the individual scents have blended very well together. After smelling it for awhile, the only scent I am able to pick out on my own is the mint. I think I caught some of the grapefruit scent, but it was not was not what I was expecting There was no sense of tartness that I would normally associate with grapefruit. After applying it to my wrists, the scent quickly disappeared, which is just my lousy luck, but I was able to catch a few whiffs of it for awhile, as I was getting ready for work. Shattered is definitelya summer scent, but it is not your typical refreshing scent. I find it cool and chilling instead and I can see myself wanting to use it year around as I prefer colder weather and images. While it did not last long on my body as a perfume, I am defintitely going to get a larger bottle to use in the bath and maybe even as a linen spray. I enjoyed the scent very much, wish it would have lasted longer on me. It is definitely worth trying out.

This is an excellent description for this fragrance. It is light but yet strong at the same time. From the vial it it is floral, but I am not really good at discerning the different components. As I wore it at work I was pleasantly surprised to detect it wafting from me. This rarely happens to me, in fact it never happens with what I consider light floral fragrances. I was a bit nervous that maybe I had put too much on and my coworkers were being polite about it, that I asked a few friends if the scent was attacking them. Needless to say I had nothing to worry about. Szepasszony packs a nice punch, but not overpowering. I have to second JJ_J's comments that it is utterly wonderful. Thank you for the sample Beth, I definitley want to get more of this one soon..

Thank you for the replies. Belladonastrap said it well, You all Rock, this is a great board to be a part of.