crebbsgirl

Ok, I need to preface this review by stating that I don't think I've come across a rose blend yet that I really liked. Or rather, that liked me. That said, this is freaking gorgeous! I think it's the lavender/orchid combo that provides a tempering nature here, but whatever it is, the rose smells like rose, not the overpowering, in-your-face ROSE I normally get. I can definitely smell the orchid, and the lavender comes through in wafts. This is truly achingly beautiful.

Holy almonds Batman!! This is unreal! (Let me just state I'm not really a fan of foody scents). Wet this smells remarkably like pure almond extract on my skin. As it dries, it takes on a spicy mixed nuts kind of vibe. I'm blaming skin chemistry here, but Queen of Sheba and I do not get along!

I have fallen in love with Mr. Jaquel. On my skin, the patchouli takes a backseat and the amber and spices really predominate. That's not to say that the patchouli is undetectable, but it's definitely not at the forefront, which for me is unusual. It's a very warm and earthy blend.

I am going to blame skin chemistry here. But I get a WTF Kettle Corn smell. No red musk, no patchouli, no ginger, no honeysuckle, and no black spices. Kettle freaking Corn.

This was a fairly overwhelming scent in the bottle. I was a little frightened of the mandarin and the tea leaf, as these are two notes that notoriously don't work on me. Wet, this was pretty light, breezy. A golden incense as opposed to the dark and smoky kind. As it dried, the rest of the notes really seemed to develop beautifully. I get a touch of leather and champaca. The dark vanilla is rather predominant. I don't get any mandarin and the jasmine stays soft and subtle. This blend is really growing on me.

I really like coffee scents so I was pretty psyched to try this. Unfortunately, once I did, all I got was rose. Sigh... I think I may have to resign myself to the fact that I just can't wear rose scents.

Thank you!!!!

my keyboard broke last night, so I couldn't post, BUT I did do a lot of poking around to help =)

 

Ode On Melancholy (Keats)

Victoria (haha)

Black Tower (Yeats)

Absinthe (haha again!)

Hymn to Prosperine (Swinburne)

La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente (Wilde)

La Belle Dame Sans Merci (Keats)

The Raven (Poe - American Vict)

Deep in Earth (Poe)

Lucy's Kiss (Stoker)

The Ghost (Baudelaire)

Phantom Wooer (Thomas Lovell Beddoes)

Reaper and the Flowers (Longfellow, so maybe?)

Bien Loin d'ici (Baudelaire)

Lady of Shallot (Tennyson)

Ulalume (Poe)

Alterosen! Thanks so much for your help! Yeats, Swinburne and Dickinson fall into the Victorian period. Coleridge, Keats and Shelley were all slightly before. Her favourite authors are the Bronte sisters, the Brownings, Dickens, James Joyce, Thackeray, George Elliot, Thomas Hardy, etc. She also loves Sylvia Plath and EA Poe. So maybe I should include the Raven?

If we stretch your parameters to 19th Century literature, there's a bunch of things in Bewitching Brews:

 

Coleridge - Kubla Khan

Dickinson - I Died For Beauty

Keats - Ode on Melancholy, La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Shelley - Ozymandias

Swinburne - Hymn to Proserpine

Yeats - Ephemera

 

That's just in one category - I know there's many more

I'm feeling too lazy to check dates to see who qualifies as Victorian.

I'm trying to come up with an imp pack for my sister-in-law who is way cooler than I will ever be. She's doing her masters in Victorian Literature. I was thinking of Wilde, and Dorian, but I need 4 others to round them out. I was hoping not to concentrate solely on Wilde. Any suggestions?

This is amazing! Wet, it's very musky and vetiver was predominant. I was a little afraid to try this because of the cocoa. I'm pretty frightened of scents with foody notes, but my love of musky resiny scents won out and I took the plunge. Boy am I glad I did! The cocoa here was the farthest thing from foody. It really lent a warm sweetness to an otherwise dryish blend. As it dried, the vetiver calmed down and mellowed out, giving an earthy overtone. It didn't go head-shop on me at all. In fact, this is the first blend I've gotten comments on. (At this point, I've tried about 65). All in all, a definite keeper!

Thanks so much Eoife! I'm looking at Christmas presents, so I really appreciate the help.

Hi! I love Princess too, and I found Haloes to be Princess's awesome older sister. It has that pretty vanilla fruity love but the oak and apricot gives it a very comforting, warm feel.

 

Definitely stay far, far away from GSoW and Carnival Diabolique, they are both very dark, gritty, incense-heavy blends. Privilege looks like it would be good, too, judging by the notes, but I've never tried it.

 

Definitely Haloes, though. Hope she likes it!

Wet, I don't get much more than patchouli. But as it dries, whoa momma! The spices start coming out. I get an almost cinnamon vibe here. It's vaguely reminiscent of Sin. But an earthier version of that scent. This is truly a beautiful, warm and inviting blend. I don't get "Big Red" at all. I get something much more complex and deeper. I really love this one!

This has become my new favourite. I absolutely adore The Masque. It is by far the most complex scent I have ever worn. Almost all of the notes are distinguishable individually, but they are so well-blended it's truly amazing. Wet, I get carnations and honey. As it dries, the sandalwood and incense come out, but don't chase off the flowers and honey. A couple hours in, the patchouli makes a very understated appearance. Its truly a beautiful scent. I had trouble with Masquerade going sickly sweet on me, but this is wonderful, so they weren't very alike for me at all.

Ok, I think I'm gonna blame my weird skin chemistry on this one. All I got was lemon soda crossed with sweet tarts. No resins, no incense... just lemony candy. On the other hand, I used it as a room scent and it's beautiful! No candy there!

I've been looking for a similarity to Princess by Vera Wang (my mom's favourite), and I'm wondering if anyone has tried Great Sword of War, 51, Les Bijoux, Privilege, Siren, Canaval Diabolique, or Haloes? The notes look to be fairly comparable:

GSoW - Mandarin, tonka, saffron, black tea, cocoa, tobacco leaf, sanguine red musk and five classical herbs of conflict.

51 - green mandarin, neroli, honeydew, white amber, guava, freesia, white and green musks hovering over desert scrub, smashed wood, and the dry, biting scent of night air over the Groom Lake salt flats.

Les Bijoux - Skin musk and honey, blood-red rose, orange blossom, white peach, red apple, frankincense and myrrh.

Privilege - Armoise, tuberose, white citrus, rose absolute, oakmoss, tiare, tuberose, vanilla, linden, and lemon tree blossom.

Siren - White ginger, jasmine, and a touch of vanilla and apricot.

Carnaval Diabolique - opium smoke, lemon flower, heliotrope, tuberose, black musk, vanilla, coconut, apricot flower.

Haloes - Oak, tonka, vanilla, white sandalwood, lily of the valley, white ginger, amber, and apricot.

Princess - Water Lily, Lady Apple, Mandarin Meringue, Golden Apricot Skin, Ripe Pink Guava, Tahitian Flower, Wild Tuberose, Dark Chocolate, Pink Frosting Accord, Precious Amber, Forbidden Woods, Royal Musk Captive, Chiffon Vanilla.

Thanks everyone!

Alright, I am not getting ANY smoky vibe here. Wet, Hecate is pure almond extract. The kind you use for baking. As it dries, I get a distinct amaretto smell. The almonds seem to be sharp on my skin. I cannot detect the myrrh or the musk in this one. After about an hour and a half, the almond finally chills out and I can smell the myrrh floating around in the background. All in all, this is too foody for me.

This is a very golden scent. Warm and light. The amber and honey combination is very reminiscent of O. This is slightly lighter, more floral. But not overly so. On me, the florals hung out it the background. Unfortunately, my skin seemed to eat this one right up. Even after slathering - twice. It hung around for maybe an hour and then totally disappeared. Stupid skin chemistry. I really, really enjoyed this one, it's just too bad it has no staying power for me.

Okay, even though it shares absolutely NONE of the same notes. On me, Wilde smells exactly like Cool Water by Davidoff. I can't explain it. I was sitting here for most of the day wracking my brain trying to figure out what this smells like and that's it! I can smell a little bit of the lavender but the rest of the notes are pretty indistinguishable for me here. I'll try it on my SO and see how it reacts on him. Overall I like the scent, I just don't like to smell like it.

Wet, this is spicy honey. Very thick, not over sweet. Attention-grabbing, but not too in-your-face. I really like this. But I like it even better dry. It softens and the musk comes out a little more. As it settles, the spice remains and the sweetness of the honey dries a bit. I really, really like this one! I'm not normally one for foody scents, but I think this one is a keeper.

Alright, all I'm getting on this one is indiscriminate sweet. I can't seem to detect any of the individual notes. It smells like everything and nothing, all at the same time. A little fruity, almost berry-like? Obviously not for me.

This is wonderful! When I first put it on, its all honey and musk goodness. It kind of reminds me of O but a little darker. Throughout the wear, the myrrh and patchouli come out. I don't get any florals. I can detect them slightly, but hardly at all. I love it!

This smells like something I have smelled before and I can't for the life of me put my finger on it. This is truly a beautiful floral blend. On me, I smell mostly jasmine, but there are other notes present in the foreground I can't identify. I can barely detect the musk or spices. Overall, this stayed rather light on me. I agree this is definitely a sophisticated and refined scent.

I will admit that I was quite frightened to try this because the last scent I wore that had ambergris in it induced such a nauseous reaction. (I think it was Masquerade). As for Lyonesse, I was pleasantly surprised. Wet, this is very vanilla musk with lily overtones. Floral, but warm and creamy. As it dries, more herbal notes come out. Still sweet, but not as much as it was when wet. Overall, I really, really enjoy this blend. I'm very glad I tried it.

This is yummy! All ambery goodness here. I don't get much spice, and I certainly can't detect cinnamon, as other reviewers have been saying. On me, this is a light, warm amber. Not powdery in the slightest. I've been trying to unglue my wrists from my nose since I put this on.

Mmmmm... I love this! I want to cozy up to myself. The lavender jumps out first, rather sharply in fact, but the amber makes its appearance soon enough and warms up the lavender. The carnation is fairly present as well, lending a spiciness to the mix. Awesome!