Atalanta Pendragonne

Oh woe. Woe! In the bottle this is lovely, thickly sweet, caramel and peanut and popcorn, flat-out edible.

 

On my skin? Nothing. It vanishes.

 

I know it's my skin being finicky, and it makes me sad.

I'm not quite getting the grape that most reviewers are describing, but there's a definite winey undertone. I can get a faint whiff of carnation, but sadly it goes to cherry cough syrup the way most dragon's blood blends do on me.

And to think I almost didn't get this! On me, Chanukkiyah as a beautiful honey-amber with rich, almost winey fruit undertones. I loved it so much I had to get a second bottle. The hit of the 2007 Yules, for me at least!

Very, very sweet-foody. That's just the sort of thing I like, so Pumpkin III is a winner in my book. The pumpkin note I'm getting from it is more fresh raw pumpkin than pumpkin pie, and the caramel seems to be going to a not unpleasant burnt-sugar smell.

To me this smells almost exactly like the smoke from burning autumn leaves, with just a hint of a soapy undertone.

 

It makes me homesick for somewhere with a proper autumn. Texas certainly doesn't have one!

Wet, there's an odd note to this... sort of scorched plasticy? It fades rapidly as it dries, leaving a very true marshmallow smell with impressive staying power. It's a shame I don't adore marshmallows... gonna try to swap it to someone who does!

Scent-wise, Nine Muses is all astringent lemon to me. Not unpleasant, but nothing to call out to me.

 

But action-wise... I've been struggling with writer's block for a year and a half. I dabbed a little of this on today and wrote a (admittedly rather short) smutfic in less than 12 hours.

 

 

:D

 

 

I never want to be without this one in my box of tricks.

I can certainly smell the resemblance to Hungry Ghost Moon here, and I'm glad; I ordered it hoping it would be similar. It's brighter, though, almost effervescent, and as it dries I'm getting that apricot note too. It's defintely lifted my spirits on a dreary, dismal day!

This is nearly straight cardamom on me, the other notes just making it richer and more rounded. The cardamom of my dreams! Layered with Hope, it smells like gulab jamun. Oh, heaven.

Very smoky/woody on me. I'm definitely smelling the patchouli everyone else is noticing; a good thing for me, since I like patchouli. There's a sort of acrid note too, I want to say... red sandalwood? Because that always goes kind of acrid and scorched on me.

When I was a kid maybe once a year, in the fall, my mom would take me to a pick-your-own apples orchard. The first sniff of Punkie Night on my wrist was like a just-picked, just-bitten-into apple. Soon, it got a bit rounder (the cranberry?), and then the warm-and-spicy came into play.

 

This is Autumn. The kind of autumns I grew up with in Connecticut, with the leaves turning and the weather getting chilly, not the Texas autumns I live with now (still in the 90s now!). It's beautiful and I love it.

Don't worry, although my first thought was SQUEE as well, in the big pics, they don't look at all confusingly similar.

 

Although that would be an *awesome* cobranding opportunity, if anyone knows Johonen...

 

 

I had to change my avatar, just for that. Am now once again fantasizing about JtHM scents.

Lycanthrope posted one here, about midway down the page. Hard to see, but I think it's little Squee from the JTHM comics!

 

 

It really does look a lot like Squee! That was my thought exactly. The pose, the huge eyes!

 

*Squee love*

I'm glad I was swayed by the early reviews into ordering this one! The woodsy/spicy combo works really well on me, and there's a richness to it that's somehow comforting.

 

My cat Hecate seemed to find it intriuging as well, sniffing my wrist intently.

Not much brandy here for me... What I'm getting is apricot, fresh, ripe and juicy the way they hardly ever really are. Hours later, I still want to bite my wrist.

The thyme was most prominent on me; the florals and the honey were strictly background. A bit of a surprise, really.

I seem to be an odd one out here. Some reviewers mentioned a lemony undertone... on me, that's what dominates, and when I say dominates, I mean if it were any more lemony it would be writing books about Count Olaf.

Ok, I wanted to try this for its voodoo associations; I'm dreadfully prone to writer's block so a literal "block buster" would be a major boon to me! I can certainly attest to being more creative at problem-solving since putting it on; I can't think of where else I got the nerve to call a casual (as in, met once) acquaintance to ask foe help when a thunderstorm zapped my computer!

 

But as to the oil itself; maybe I'm projecting from the other reviews, but I am getting an undertone of banana here. The main smell, though, is cinnamon. Not like cinnamon red-hots, but like fresh-grated cinnamon. The overall impression is a bit like Bananas Foster (mmmm). I might just have to get a bottle of this.

In the bottle, the dark-fruit smell is very prominent. On, the earthy note shows up, and the incense-y notes are stronger. I wish I could get more of this, it's delicious.

This was all vetiver on me, as well. Not an "eww, vetiver!" like some blends, more of an "enh, vetiver". I think I picked up a hint of the cedar as well. Very much a masculine scent. I wouldn't mind this on someone else but it is not for me.

Well, I've been pretty happy with the SiA scents so far, and I was very much looking forward to this one; so many rave reviews! When I got mine in today's mail I was a very happy little addict.

 

And?

 

Bailey's Irish Cream, straight up. Lovely, utterly lovely, and I'm very glad to have a bottle, but I'm not heartbroken over not being able to order more. I didn't get any wood or dusty-book odors, just yummy boozy coffee.

Ok, this is essentially what I already said in my LJ, but...

 

Ohhhh, it makes me want to be a gibbering cultist dancing naked around a bonfire all over again. Deep shadowy ginger and smoke, perhaps a hint of molasses? I would go on a multistate crime spree with this scent.

 

I'm not getting any lemon here, just rich deep spicy goodness. And when I say "spice", I mean I half expect this stuff to make my eyes turn blue-on-blue. I'm that blown away.

 

 

If I'd smelled this in time I would have ordered more than one bottle.

 

The pepper and cardamom are prominent on me, more so than I'd dared hope. The warm woody undertone mellows the bite of the pepper and turns it into something smoother. This is going to be one of my all-time favorites.

I must be a minority.

 

I was very hopeful about this blend... I'm a lifelong insomniac, and hardly any of the "foolproof" remedies or even prescription medications seem to help.

 

Well. Got an imp a few days ago. It smells nice enough, sort of sharp-herbal. I've tried it the last two nights.

 

I had even more trouble sleeping than usual. Trouble getting to sleep, waking early, and very disturbing dreams.

 

 

Definitely some crossed wires in my brain.