provocateur

in bottle: floral. sweet but not clingy. there's a hint of copal underneath. on skin, wet: gladiolas! irises! copal and some tonka and labdanum. on skin, dry: the florals fall to the wayside and it dries down to something beautiful and warm. It primarily stays copal heliotrope and labdanum. conclusion: this is an amazing surprise. usually florals of most any type and i hate each other. 5/5

Bandersnatch musk, redolent of spicy carnations, wild plums and chrysanthemum. in bottle: carnations! plums! spicy goodness. A very delicate and sweet combination of florals on skin, wet: somewhat hard candy-like, but there are the spicy plums. on skin, dry: absolutely nothing - I got spicy plum, and 5 minutes later, absolutely nothing. conclusion: disheartening. I love Beth's plum blends. This had such promise, and then it got zapped. I can't even rate it on a scale. It didn't last long enough to.

in bottle: apple! iris! on skin, wet: apple, iris and some lime, no mint yet. on skin, dry: man, when this dries, does it morph! It goes from being apple and iris, mainly, to an apple martini (hello vodka!) to peppermint-y (i'm assuming that's what 'white mint' is like?) to just a generic aquatic note. And then aquatic mint. conclusion: it didn't stay very long (less than 90 minutes), and I'm really not a fan of a minty aquatic, sadly. If it had stayed at the apple martini in a garden, I'd be better with it. 1/5

in bottle: sugary sweet. I think it's the rose and peony. on skin wet: very soft and loveable. it smells a bit like my mother's hellebores in her garden on skin, dry: yay, the powder curse of many florals. *sigh* Overall, this had a lot of promise. I was loving it until the powder decided to happen.

in bottle: sharp and spicy, very peppery on skin, wet: pepper, and something akin to burnt aqua velva (must be the bay), lemon and rosemary on skin, dry: the pine starts to emerge with a more traditional, yet subdued bay leaf. The rosemary gets very sharp and punctures the lemon. Unfortunately, like with most lemon blends, it finally rests as being rosemary and lemon pledge. overall: it reminds me more of cooling italian, or my mom's roast chicken dry rub. 1/5

I was, sadly, unable to get past my reaction upon opening and sniffing the bottle. My reaction of wanting to retch was pretty much indicative that the boozy sweet blends just aren't for me. It was just such a strong "WOOMP THERE IT IS" of the buttercream and bourbon that I don't think my senses were able to handle it.

in bottle: Aquatic? oddly enough, it is slightly aquatic with a light floral to it. on skin, wet: jasmine, lots of jasmine. on skin, dry: the jasmine has teamed up with the lily. There is a hint of creamy vanilla, but no signs of the musk, clove or sandalwood. It ends up as a rich creamy vanilla, without a hint of much else. overall: it's a really elegant blend, but it's more for soft romance than say Persuasion, Seduction and Sexual Wiles. 4/5

in bottle: sweet musk on skin, wet: This starts off as a very sweet musk for me. It evolves into a sweeter musk, (I'm assuming the that's partially due to the amaranth). The elm bark comes out and is balanced by herbal goodness. on skin, dry: i'm pretty much left with the musk and the herbs, which isn't exactly horrible. overall: I'll be using this in ritual purposes, given the role that Odin does play in my life, but I'm not sure if this would be a regular wear / daily use blend for me. 3/5

in bottle: A little of that familiar bpal "musty and spicy". There isn't really anything discerning at this point except for a spike of the "splintered woods". on skin, wet: citrusy - the mandarin, which, in this blend almost seems lemony. The pepper also kicks out a bit, and the florals are just a twinge of a presence. on skin, dry as time progresses, it becomes mustier, with an underlying hint of something darker. I'd like to say patchouli but I didn't see anything in the description. It might be an effect of the laurel and white musk together, since I've not tried a blend with laurel in it until now. overall: this blend ended up being pretty nondescript for me. It has a pleasant spicy kick but nothing really spectacular about it stands out for me. 2/5

in bottle: warm, resin-y, slightly soapy on skin, wet: sharp, soapy. I think that's the "perfumy" quality people are referencing on skin, dry: sharp, sharp, resinous and soapy. A bit to strong on the actual perfume based theory. Overall - 0/5, I hate when things give me headaches.

This is the first floral blend I thought I'd give a go in quite a while: in bottle: Fresh cut flowers. It reminds me of working with florists. on skin, wet: The fresh cut smell stays, and the peony starts to come out along with the plum. After a while the reeds and woodiness starts to emerge, however, there's a plastic note underlying the blend. on skin, dry: Sadly, very sadly, this completely turns into hard plastic before fading. It only lasted about 2 hours on my skin from initial application. Overall, the start of it was very lovely; however, wonky skin chemistry just don't like it as much as I had hoped it to. 2/5

Apparently, this acted way different on me than a lot of other people. in bottle: Green, with some citrus. Very bright and fresh. on skin, wet: Almost medicinal, there's a very sharp note of something that reminds me of anaesthesia, but remains very green. on skin, dry: The woodiness has come out with some herbal. It's still bright and green. Later still, there's a bit of that old lady perfume that comes about and it becomes slighty powdery. Overall: 2/5 it's too green and medicinal for me.

Oh Mabon - I have been hunting for you for the better part of a year. The darling zillah37 gifted me with an imp and ended my "I'm too poor to afford ebay" hunt for you. In the bottle: Woodsy apple, blackberries and sage. On skin, wet: It reminds me of harvest time at an apple orchard up in Michigan. Somewhat barky apple, but not in a bad way. There is a strong dark berry mead and sage undertone. On skin, dry: Somewhere along the way, it dried down, out and gone. Now, if I snort my wrist as if it were cocaine or something, I can get a glint of blackberry and myrrh (which is heavenly), but I think I'm inhaling skin follicles at this point. This scent, before it got eaten by my skin, is a perfect fall afternoon for me. It was woodsy and fruity and a little sage like in all the right mannerisms. It's just such a shame that such a long hunt came to such an abrubt end. It's a shame it was so gorgeous for a bit and then nothing. Rating: 4.5/5 (had it not disappeared, it would have been a 5)

In the bottle: Musk with a bit of spice. There is definately something creamy and sinuous going on here. The creamy has almost like a cocoa butter or shea butter type feeling to it, if one could apply touch to smell. On skin, wet: It's very spicy lovey goodness with just a hint of a little floral action going on On skin, dry: The floral is a lot more apparent, but still with the creamy spicy undertones. This is a very lovely scent, but it just doesn't do it for me. I think, perhaps, this is a bit too delicate of a blend for me. It's a bit sad, but I know there are others that will give it a wonderful home. Rating: 4/5

in the bottle: Mmm. dirt. loamy-red goodness wet: There's a sharp tangy note to it - after going through the reviews I'm going to say it's probably the ginger drydown Vintage books! Musty, earthy with some added lovely spice to it. I'm adoring it so far. ... about 5 minutes later there is that dreaded floral powder going on. Oh woes! 30 minutes after application I get a case of the oh.woes! right about now. The "soft florals" have gone a bit hodge-podge on the Vintage Books + Spicy I was giddy over. 60 minutes after application: the powder has faded and there's a resiny earthy overtone (patchouli?) to the powder. Out of 5, 5 being the best, this gets a 3.

I love every single note in this blend so I thought I would give it a go... in bottle deep and heady. *swoon* I can smell thick rich spiced black patchouli (from the amber, sandalwood and cinnamon). wet: mmmm the same as the in the bottle. drydown: the sandalwood is bursting through all the other notes. This is where I start to lose hope. 5 minutes later: it's a sweet sandalwood, I think it's the cinnamon and amber, the patchouli is pretty much non-existant. dry: and this is where I cry. Everything but the sandalwood has disappeared, except for a powdery puff of the amber. It's a beautiful scent, but not for me as it's dry.

I got a lot of "purple" from this one. Not a lot of the herbal-ness that I thought would be in there. It started off as a happy kind of spring berry that you'd smell in the forest as they're just beginning to develop (tart and a little bitter). It then went to the purple scent and powdery-ness. By about 20 minutes later it had just gone to something akin to berry scented powder.

Wow this blend went over and across the board with me. I didn't detect much of any thing listed in the notes outside of the anise, and maybe the lichen and oak leaf. Sadly, I've discovered the evils of anise with this blend. I thought it was a hint of anise. It was complete black licorice and ... throughout the entire process. Wet it was just black licorice. On skin: black licorice and leather (where's the leather coming from?) Dry down: black licorice and smoke/incense/resin, somewhat akin to Djinn an hour later, sweetness - black jellybeans. I was really disappointed in how my chemistry reacted to this after reading all the reviews. Sadly, I'm off to find my own perfect hag scent.

I'm not getting any of the grape/candy/cough syrup that a lot of people are getting from this one.. Wet: Sugared Honey. It smells like the honey I get fresh from the farmers in the summer. Thick and heavy. I'm starting to crave toast and honey... Dry down: the honey gets woody, spicey, with some clove. Maybe some myrrh, but the honey is still strong. During this process the honey gets really cloying and pratically overwhelming. (and not in a good way.) After 10 or so minutes it faded to a mostly woody/resin drop off, with the honey underlying it. It stays at that honey/resin fight for the rest of the time before it fades.