coulrophobe

In the bottle, I smell nothing but smoky opium. Wet on my skin, the honey starts to make an appearance - and after about two minutes, has completely taken over.

 

I never get any hints of plum or berry - on me, this isn't dark or mysterious at all, but a light, golden, slightly powdery, honey skin-scent. Quite nice, but not at all what I was expecting based on the other reviews! Chemistry is a weird thing.

In the bottle, this was a bit alarming to me - smoke but with an odd food note - not sweet foody, but more savory and sharp. Sort of like burnt cumin.

 

On skin, that strange note is nowhere to be found - instead it's a burnt sugar scent with a bit of spice. As the blend continues to dry down, it becomes more rounded - a bit of apple and cinnamon, but not so overpowering that it smells like a fall candle. Scents like Samhain are a bit heavy for me, this one winds up being a bit sweeter, lighter, more airy. 

 

I really like it - I'm not a fan of the season, but this blend manages to make autumn more likeable for me!

 

 

In the bottle, the lavender is pretty sharp and dominates the blend. Lavender doesn't tend to last long on me, so I am not deterred!

 

On my skin, initially lavender/violet combine and the result is straight up soap. Very nice soap, but soap nonetheless. Luckily...I kind of like smelling soapy. Given a little time, the orris and sandalwood make themselves known, and the blend smells more complex. Still a bit soapy, but more of a "freshly showered and now I'm burning some incense" feel. Not my most poetic review, but I'm out of practice. 

 

I like this Fog, soapiness and all.

Leaden Fog somehow manages to be both smoky and clean on my skin, with the sandalwood becoming more prominent as it dries down. It's a fascinating blend and I'm liking it quite a bit. My chemistry often tends to sweeten things up, but this one stays pretty gender-neutral on me.

Initially this one is way too jasmine-y for me, but once the night-blooming flowers calm down a bit, the orris/coconut comes out. That combo reminds me a little bit of Black Pearl, which is one of my longtime favorites. The lemon peel and eucalyptus aren't detectable on my skin - I was hoping they'd bring a cool/airy feel to the blend.

 

Not a win for me, as even after drydown the jasmine is still a bit strong and makes me headachy.

I'm one of the ones who amps litsea cubeba, apparently. In the imp, Lemon Pledge. Wet on my skin, Lemon Pledge. After 30 minutes or so it starts to settle down a bit, but the sharp lemony madness in the beginning is a bit alarming.

 

That said, it's not one I got for myself - I got this for a boy (I'm trying to convince him he should smell like something other than just "boy" once in a while - he seems to be humoring me in this endeavor). Maybe it will work better with his chemistry? If it's just as lemony to his nose, I can't really imagine him having the patience to wait for the dry-down, though.

Incense - airy, smokey, dry

Resin - rich, sticky, wet

 

And that probably only makes sense to me.

 

That *totally* makes sense to me.

 

And I've had whiskey, not wine, but I think we're in tune here.

 

Bwahahaha... great minds think alike, my dear Floppy.

 

*hijack* What kind of whiskey? I almost busted out the Redbreast tonight, but had some dry Gewurtz that needed to be finished off before it went off.

Maybe I'm just overly literal... but I bifurcate the incense/resin conundrum (oooh, look at those big words! I've had wine and I'm trying to compensate for my resulting stupid) along tactile/sensory lines:

 

Incense - airy, smokey, dry

Resin - rich, sticky, wet

 

And that probably only makes sense to me.

 

In my scheme, something like Al-Azif would be an incense; things like Sloth or Jacob's Ladder would be resins.

If you can get your hands on some Montresor (from the Descent into the Maelstrom series), it's the only blend I've gotten a strong blackcurrant vibe from. The description only says "black fruit," not blackcurrant specifically... but it's all blackcurrant and vanilla on me.

In the bottle: Light, herby - green tea and bamboo.

 

On: A hint of fruit behind all the green tea and bamboo at first - then *poof* - I'm obviously in the distinct minority here, but I'm getting no apple or spice.

 

Drydown: There's the sweetness of sugar cane in the background, and a grainy feeling from the wheat - and the green notes have mellowed down a bit. I'm left with a light, sweet scent, with that "lunar herbal" smell the lunacies share.

 

Mabon is one of my favorites, so I got excited when I saw those comparisons - but no, not on me. Doing a direct wrist-to-wrist comparison, Mabon is a much deeper, darker scent on my skin - deep leafy notes, hops, and a hint of spicy-sweet apples and blackberries, and with my chemistry, there's absolutely no similarity.

 

I love fruit, and I'm bummed that none shows up on my skin - but it's a pretty blend all the same.

If you can get your hands on a bottle of Neptune, that one is very orange blossomy to my nose.

 

And I agree, orange blossom is a floral note to my nose - I don't get any citrus or fruity-ness at all.

To me, Mouse's Long and Sad Tale is like Antique Lace without the musk. I don't get sweet pea per se - just vanilla and a bit of floral. Very pretty, but I'm such a musk fiend, I can't help liking Antique Lace better.

 

As for Eat Me... I don't smell any resemblance to the other two. Smells like cake. Which isn't a bad thing at all. Foody scents are iffy for me, since I can't wear chocolate or buttery blends, but Eat Me isn't too bad. Like Monsterbait: Closet, but with less currant.

In the bottle: faint lemony-floral

 

On: This blend amps up quite a bit on my skin, into a perfumey floral with a sharpness to it. This smells very similar to a commercial fragrance I'm familiar with... but I can't put my finger on which one (since discovering BPAL, I haven't worn ANY commercial perfumes, so I'm out of practice). As it dries down I can smell the daisy, and I think the ylang ylang - but not any of the notes I was hoping for (amber, carnation, musk). I end up with a heavy floral that's a bit too commercial smelling for me... curse my chemistry.

 

It's driving me crazy that I can't put my finger on what this reminds me of. It's so familiar smelling!

In the bottle: Sharp citrus

 

On: Ah, that's better! The grapefruit loses it's sharpness quickly, and it becomes a sweet, fruity blend. There's a "roundness" to it that I'm attributing to the musk and vanilla - those notes aren't pronounced, but I can smell them if I sniff deeply. It starts off a bit "green" to my nose, but after it's dried down the color association I'm drawing from it is a mellow peachy color.

 

Basically, I'm echoing everyone else here. HGM is lovely.

I've had excellent luck with Al-Araaf, but it's getting hard to find these days (luckily I have a few bottles stashed away). And I haven't had any guy-feedback on them per se, but I'll second Morocco, Antique Lace, Dorian, Regan and Snake Oil as great "all occasion" scents that are clean enough for the office but still have a little something sexy to 'em (I'm a big fan of light musks and vanilla, obviously).

 

The one scent that had the somewhat surprising effect of making my very platonic guy-friend say, "Um... please don't wear that one, it's making me think impure thoughts" -- Yerevan!? So I guess it just goes to show, kind of depends on the guy when you're talking about what turns their cranks.

In the bottle: Definitely not the wallop of lotus I was expecting - light and herby, with a tinge of lotus lurking around the edges. I don't smell any pine resin or rose - which is actually a bit of a relief to me, as neither of those notes work well with my chemistry.

 

On: Really quite lovely. The lotus does move to the forefront as it dries down - on me, this is a soft, mild, slightly watery lotus, rather than the strong bubblegummy variety. Very cool and calming.

In the bottle: Mead? Where are you? I smell herbs and fruits, but not honey mead! It does smell wonderful, mind you.

 

On: Ah, there's the honey. And I was a little nervous about it, because honey can be a fickle note for me - luckily, this seems to be a honey blend that likes me! I am still getting a mysterious fruity note - maybe it's just in the way that the honey combines with the herbs and florals. Or perhaps my nose is on crack again. Regardless, it's lovely, and the honey-mead scent gets more and more prominent as it dries down, without ever reaching that cloying stage that some honey blends seem to settle into, at least with my chemistry. A beautiful, decadent summer scent.

In the imp: Yep... that's sandalwood, sweetened with a bit of dragon's blood!

On: A very warm dry scent. Woody, but the dry, white, sun-baked variety. For a few brief moments, this smells almost burnt on my skin - luckily that passes. On me this dries down to a very pleasant, smokey-sweet incense blend. It strikes me as a good evening blend - a bit sexy and exotic, but not too overt or in-your-face about it.

First review... eeek, the pressure!

In the imp: a very light, refreshing floral (as a caveat, the Lab's dragon's blood is similar to lilac, to my nose).

On: Now I can smell a bit more of the amber, which grounds the scent nicely. To me, this is a very wearable and sophisticated floral. It's reminding me a bit of Bearded Lady - not that it smells like it per se, but has that same amber-floral feel. The poppy adds a bit of smoky sweetness, but it's not overpowering at all. There's a soft, dreamy quality as it dries down - I think the "reverie" part is captured quite well in this blend.

Verdict: I think this is my favorite of the Ars Draconis category.

For me, the notes that tend to make me think of sex - anywhere from a vague suggestion of it, to being clobbered over the head with it caveman style - are MUSKS.

 

Which one(s) works for you depends on chemistry, of course - I'm partial to white and black, though the ones that are most reminiscent of actual sex (sometimes not in the most attractive way, mind you) are red musk blends.

 

White/light musk scents include things like Dorian, Morocco and Antique Lace (which doesn't have it listed, but I have a whole bottle of White Musk SN to compare it to, and they smell pretty darn similar); and in a lot of more floral blends like Juliet and Fae. White musk is clean, soft, and a little powdery to my nose, but still sexy - it's what I was meant to smell like!

 

Red musk includes the oft mentioned Smut (which sadly, smelled like peanutbutter and dirty sheets on me - not the sort of "sex scent" I was looking for). I also think the TAL Blinding Glory of Love has red musk - and I highly recommend it. Another dead sexy blend containing red musk is Loviatar.

 

Black musk is in Iago, Lilith, Desire - a lot of the "dark" scents, as well as in things like Mad Hatter, which I love. To me, it's a kind of rich and buttery musk. It seems to be the one that goes funky on a lot of folks though.

Scent: Huh... this is one of the few rose-based scents I can wear! There's a minty note that dies down pretty quickly on my skin, and something that I was interpreting as amber, but looks to be red musk, from the other reviews... um, I'm just going to stick my fingers in my ears and shout "LA LA LA LA LA CAN'T HEAR YOU" to that, because if I know there's red musk in a blend, my nose will inevitably start smelling that dirty peanut butter smell.

 

Anyway, I wore it out to my local pub (wow, that sounds like a brilliant idea, no?), and one of my guy friends said I smelled like "really good incense."

 

Effectiveness: Well, yes, I did end up bringing one of the usual suspects home (every single girl should have usual suspects!). Not sure how much of that had to do with BGofL, as he's a fairly frequent chew-toy... that just means I need to do more research on this blend!

In the imp: Without even checking the description, I could tell there was neroli in there - to my nose, neroli is a sharp, earthy floral.

 

On: Like a lot of folks, I get lemon. Actually more of a lemon-candy scent, very similar to what I get from glitter - the common note is lotus (which isn't lemony on me in other blends), so I'm betting there might be unlisted ingredients coming in to play.

 

The lavender doesn't really come in to play, and for me, that's a positive thing (especially in combination with lotus - Paris was not very kind to me).

 

During drydown, it gets a bit powdery/dusty and less noticeably lemon - I find this one quite pleasant and pretty.

In the imp: How odd... I can't really decide what this smells like. A bit floral, but also almost woody. Like a flower bed with a fresh layer of that bark stuff they put on flower beds. Or something. I'm rambling and confused.

 

On: Floral with a bit of a soapy/watery tinge to it - reminds me of lily of the valley. Maybe narcissus. Very light and pretty.

In the imp: sharp herbal/floral, maybe with some resins?

 

On: Turns a bit powdery on my skin (a lot of things do). The sharpness reminds me of neroli, but I'm not quite sure if that's what it is - I can't quite place it. It's a bit perfumey, but the herbal-ish notes - whatever they are - keep it from being too sweet. On me, this dries down to something that's sort of like sun-warmed dried herbs. To me it has the same "feel" as The Sun from the Tarot blends, but without the citrus. It smells like late August.

In the imp: Perfumey, light and clean.

 

On: A very light, slightly powdery rose scent. I'm not big on roses, but it's not bad; most rose blends smell fake and plasticky on me (and are very strong), while this one stays relatively light, and while not "real rose" to my senses, isn't as overtly fakey as most blends.

 

Not my cup of tea, but not bad either.