Medici

Oh dear - I am a fan of sweet scents but Chimera proved to have a much stronger kick than I anticipated. A word of caution: use sparingly! In the bottle: Vanilla and cinnamon. Sweet, heady, dripping with sugar. Wet-Set: Exactly the same as in the bottle. For the life of me I can't pick off the notes - so to confirm my cinnamon suspicion I went to check the description. Well... it looks like I've been decieved. Hello copal? Is that you? Dry-down: Talk about a build-up, as it wears it only gets stronger and sweeter almost to the point where I need to water myself down. Overall, a lovely, sweet scent. I'll be keeping the imp around with a little note attatched that says: "one drop only". Otherwise it's over-powering.

*gurgles* I'm so happy the person who got this before me didn't like it, because this is such a happy, bubbly fragrance - and I am so very very glad to have it in my arsenal now. In the Bottle: Candy floss! Pinky pink pink stickey sweet and sugary. Miam. Wet: A hint of strawberry, pale floral, still sweet - again, pinky pink pink pink pink. (In a non-redundant way of course - or at least when it goes on it isn't.) If it were possible, this would give me serious tooth decay. Dry-down: Nice budding floral peeking through and gathering momentum, hints of candy again, the strawberry weaving in and out a little. For someone with a serious sweet-tooth, this nails it down nice and hard and I'm so glad that as it wears it builds up steam. I was worried my skin would eat it up, but it's just blossoming around me in a big, fluffy, happy cloud. *coddles bottle*

Motherf$%cker I want to eat my arm! My Gingerbread Poppet came in today - so excuse me while I squee. I had my doubts - knowing what straight ginger smells like, I thought it would be a weird blend that would amalgamate a few scents together. Oh hell no. I smell exactly like a gingerbread cookie. EXACTLY. There's not really any evolution to the scent, but there is a smooth mix of molasses, vanilla, sugar and (sorry for the redundancy) gingerbread. It smells exactly like the cookies my grandmother bakes at Yuletide. I feel like a bloody oven. God this makes me hungry. Oh wait wait... there's the cinnamon and pinch of nutmeg. Oh holy hell this is good. 15/10 for surpassing my expectations. *stomach grumbles*

I came home to find yet another pleasant package waiting for me - a happy little bottle of Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab's Dia de Los Muertos, a Limited Edition fragrance from Halloween 2004. I have got to say - I'm floored. The intricacy of this blend goes far, far beyond my expectations. It isn't a perfume - it's an entire atmosphere, and as its drying down its sweetening up and evolving from just a skin scent into a blossoming cloud that smacks of dirt streets, stucco pueblos, and torches burning brightly on the night of All Hallows - an aromatic experience that's vivid and fuelled by images of a warm night in Mexico when the Day of the Dead festivities are in full-swing. It makes my heart ache - and that's not an exaggeration whatsoever. In the bottle: Chocolate, something boozy, a touch of vanilla sweetness, wilting flowers, that evil undertone that was present in Eris (mimosa I think), spices, and baked somethings. Wet: Chocolate and sugar, a touch of spice, cactus flower (oh it's heavenly), there's something green behind it, incense - the tobacco flower is rising. I want to bathe in this. Dry-Down: The baked goods come out to play, and the spices become much stronger. After about an hour it settles into a very pretty sweetness that isn't cloying in the slightest. It feels candle-lit - if that makes any sense - like I can almost see the torches burning casting shadows as a parade goes by. If I want to keep the sweetness going, I'm afraid I'm going to have to layer this puppy on thick - maybe with a vanilla base, or a bit of straight chocolate. I think it's time I get my hands on an imp of Bliss to see how they would react together. This is bloody brilliant though. A definite keeper – when fall rolls around, Dia de los Muertos is going to be a permanent fixture in my arsenal.

My nose isn't trained, exactly - but some things I can nail at first go while others are going to take some cultivation. I was very nervous anticipating the reciept of Kali. I consider myself very fortunate to have found someone off livejournal who donated an imp before my order came in from the lab. In the bottle: honey, wine, tobacco flowers. This is much sweeter than I expected, much lighter and already I'm amped. I was expecting something very dark from this blend - but the florals! Holy hell. Wet Phase: The wine comes up strong at first, and running right behind it is a strock smack of hibiscus. It's not completely innocent, but it is definately honouring the passionate side to Kali as the Goddess linked with tantra. There is something sexual sitting behind it, which I attribute to the booze. On the first go this afternoon as the dry-down began setting in, I think I was swooning and getting drunk off the oil. Dry-down: Bright hibiscus, other floral notes that I can't identify (damnable nose!) but oh dear - this makes me feel beautiful. I feel like I should be walking in the dusk - it gives me the impression of a rosey, deep pink colour. It softens as it wears, but still - I'm absolutely enchanted. I will be getting an ample supply of Kali. I didn't think I'd like florals, but this sweet, magnificent brew has caused me to turn a 180.

O Sweet Discordia! When I think of this particular Goddess, I have to say this is not a scent I associate with her. This is such a gleeful fruity floral smack upside the head that I think I cackled upon opening the box she came in - candy coated sweetness with an undertone of something... very strange. I want to call it sinister, but it's not. I'd like to say decaying, because there's almost an over-ripened smell to it, but that's not entirely it either. In the bottle: Berries, berries, berries, floral, berries, honeydew melon, bit of watermelon maybe and that underlying "grey" smell that makes me think of moss. It's almost two-tiered: the top is this ripe and lively fuchsia, and directly below there's this swirling cloud of indiscernible grey. Wet: Berries, and melons - the “grey” is gone from my wrist, but it insists on lingering in my sinuses. Although I can't pinpoint the smell, it does leave a lasting impression. Dry Down: My skin eats it up - I'm left with the barest floral, no more fruit, no spices, just an awkward pause of the aftermath. Overall, I'm undecided. I think I'm going to set Eris aside for a week or so, and return to her when I'm not in such a strange mood - maybe towards the end of my cycle she'll come rampaging and take a bite out of something, because right now she's far too tame for my liking.

I had such high hopes for Sugar Skull. I got an order fro ebay in which the seller sent a decant of this at my request (it was very kind of her, and I'm glad she hasn't wasted much on me because this has been my first and only dreadful experience). In the imp: thick, caramelized sugar on the stovetop - it smacks of maple syrup. Interesting, much heavier that I expected and I could very well liken this to real sugar - that's how convincing this fragrance is. So, liberally - I spread out a dollop below my elbow. (I'm wearing Bastet on my wrists and giving Eris a go on my other arm at this point). The Wet: Sugary caramel, ok - smells exactly as it did in the bottle... then... thirty seconds pass and WHAM, scorching plastic rising, and gaining momentum as each minute passes. I can smell lingering traces of the caramelized sugar but its floundering fast. I couldn't even wait for the dry down. As such, I went running for the sink and the soap *sob* Even now - after having scrubbed twice - I feel like my flesh is burning – that’s how potent the lingering odour is. I've neutralized it with Envy, and overall I'm deeply saddened by the experience. I thought this would have been a favourite for sure.

In the bottle at first whiff a few days back I'm pretty sure I shrugged it off, terming Haunted as "nothing special". I was very very wrong. The onset: Heavy musk, very foreboding - as it settles in I thought I caught a whiff of spice. There's nothing fluffy about this whatsoever... though I do consider it ethereal, or otherworldly at least and as such, its name suits it perfectly. Drying off: Incense - roiling, tumults of cloudy smoke lifting and the remnants of extinguished candles. Not just one stick in a burner either - this is years and years of incense smoke that has settled into everything and anything and renewed every day in offerings. It smacks of my local occult shop - a scent that brings up images of dried herbs, the altar set up in the corner at Imbolc with hundreds of votives being put down for the night, the warm spices of the oil counter and the books that have been permeated with the incense set up at the front counter. At the tail end it sweetens up a bit - I can only assume that's the amber setting in. Overall, a lovely lingering, smoky fragrance. I *love* it.

This is a strange brew. It's got a venerable edge to it that I definitely was not expecting, and I highly doubt it's the musk. The onset was a strong lemon/lime - in fact the scent has stayed pretty much constant throughout without morphing too much. It's been about three hours and it hasn't really evolved - it's antiseptic, and I think it would work very well as a cologne on a guy. For me, however, it's a bit too sterile - though I love the concept, and the overall impression that I'm hanging around a morgue is... interesting... to say the least. All I need is a nice, polished, metallic surface to chill out on.

Bastet is brilliant. When I first popped the imp for a whiff - I was immediately struck with this sweet, syrupy, cherry and musk (Edit: which I'd later figure out to be amber. I think. So help me, I'm trying to train my nose). At the time it was setting next to wrath (which is red) and I really couldn't see why Bastet wasn't a red scent as well. Dropped two dollops on my pulse points and went about my day. The Onset: Incese, almond, spices - if I could put Egypt in a bottle this would be it. I leave my house and set off to work - the wind's blowing and its wafting those two delicate drops about. I'm struck with this insane urge to prowl - very feline overall. At the time I kept thinking 'this has civet in it and I am a very bad kitty cat'. The Drydown: The scent's been fairly consistent overall - as it settles I get a bit of that cherry from the bottle back. It's extremely sweet but not syrupy - that slinky, feline feeling it evokes stays true. As it settles the almond becomes more pronounced and the sweetness softens somewhat. The longevity of the fragrance is fairly good as well - it was still lingering after five hours or so. This is a keeper for sure.

Cream, chocolate, coffee, vanilla and sweet sweet candy. A lot of people don't like them - I, however, could roll around in Spooky or Gluttony and I'm looking for more suggestions along these lines. In short - anything that would prompt me to gnaw off my arm - or at least slurp wantonly. Help?

^^ Likewise. This started off so good wet - delicate spices & damp woods - three hours later, all I've got is baby powder. You, my little impy friend, are going to the burner because my skin hates you. Poor thing.

Because of this scent, I've learned I am a slatherer when it comes to foody fragrances. In the Bottle: A dollop of cocoa, a sprig of mint and a warm-coconutty nudge. Potential cookie aftertaste - though that's not the visual I get from it. Rather, I'm reminded strongly of lying on a beach in Barbados, slathered in tanning oil and slurping on some fancy cocktail with a little pink umbrella. The Onset: The mint hits me full-force within the first half hour - trailing behind it is the chocolate. Very lovely - it wears fastest off my wrists, but even in the dry-down on my collarbone the mint endures as the coconut comes out and settles in. At this point, I've spent a good forty-five minutes intermittently sticking my nose down my shirt collar and giggling madly. The Dry Off: Coconut cream on a warm summer's day, the chocolate peeks out once in a while, but after about two hours it's totally gone - as is any traces of mint off my wrists. Now I see the cookie-visual, but it isn't very festive by my definition - to me this is such a summer scent that I couldn't possibly associate it with holiday baking. Overall, I term this a ‘snugly’ scent - very warm, very comforting, and easily addictive if you're a coconut wench. I am *very* pleased overall - and more so because it endured well into the late afternoon after applying it sometime around ten a.m.