Tess

This is the first almond blend I've ordered and it makes me sad that it just didn't work for me.

In the vial - A very pure, clean almond scent with a clarifing over tone, like the scent of water spray. It's like standing next to a waterfall amongst an almond orchard.

Wet - Wow, the almond is strong and is coming across almost bitter on me. There's certainly pepper in this and it's battling the almond for domination.

Drying - Okay, the clean misty scent is coming back out, as the almond and pepper calm down a little, making their battle lower key. There's some amber in there, I'm pretty sure, as it seems to lingering around the edges. This has so little throw on me! I have to practically press my nose to my wrists at this point to smell anything.

Dry (2 hours later) - The pepper's fading fastest and is nearly gone at this point. It's mostly bitter almond and that "misty" scent, which I get the distinct feeling is something herbal. I feel like I should know it, but I can't place it...

Overall - Very little throw with this one and the scent just doesn't interest me all that much. No adverse reactions to it, but it's not something I can see myself wearing very often. If it were a little sweeter, I'd be tempted.

Upon opening this, I spilt a bit of it on myself, so I speedily schmeared it onto my wrists and throat. Have to save every drop, I tell you.

In the vial - Musk, musk, musk! I can't smell anything else.

Wet - Musk with just a touch of the currant coming out, I'd say. Not sweet at this stage, just a rich, dark musky scent. (The oil is redder than red, too. *laughs* I had to rub it well in to keep it from being overly obvious on my skin.)

Drying - Ooo, there's some of the fig and the dragon's blood is starting to just peek out around the musk. It's still very, very musky on me, but it's sweetening now. A very masculine scent to my nose, probably due to the musk.

Dry (15 minutes) - Good gods, I'm in love with this scent! The musk has faded back to an undertone and the dragon's blood is asserting itself fully, with fig and currant mingling freely with it to give it a fruity boost that isn't too sweet. Glorious!

Overall - The dragon's blood hung around for a decent amount of time, but by the 3 hour mark, the musk was just gone. =/ I DID really enjoy it, so I'll probably give it another chance before giving it a "yea" or "nay." My skin IS prone to absorbing any sort of perfume...

Edited (5 days later) - I just applied some for work and... it's gone all lilac on me like the other Ars Draconis scents do. I wonder if it's just my body chemistry doing strange changes?

This was one of those scents I was really looking forward to. =) Vanilla and spice? You can't lose!

In the vial - Pure spice, something really strong that reminds me of my old bestfriend's mother's spice rack. The family was from India and used just the most fragrent spices ever. This is like pressing my nose right up to it and taking a deep breath.

Wet - Whoo, there's some strong spices in here. One of them smells extremely familiar, but I can't place it... Some spice used in cooking... I'm sure I'll think of it. The vanilla is just a background hint at this point,

smelling almost "vanilla alcohol"-ish.

Drying - The spices are mellowing nicely and the vanilla is starting to assert itself. On the whole, it's losing that "wham!" hit to it.

Dry (3 hours later) - THERE's that vanilla! It's finally popped it's head out and it's lovely.

Overall - The spice tends to overpower the vanilla in this, at least on me, but it's still a wonderful scent, especially over time, since my body didn't drink up of it. (8 hours later, it was still around.) I think it requires more trying, but I'm grabbing myself a bottle of this!

I actually bought this for a romantic interest of mine, since he fancies himself a bard and was complaining that he doesn't own anything yummy smelling. *laughs* Lucky for me, I have an imp to keep all to myself.

In the vial - This almost smells like a facial toner... In fact, it's reminding me specifically of witchhazel tincure. There's an herby mix with it, but it reminds me of nail polish remover or acne pads.

Wet - astringent with a musky undertone. The herbs give it that slight twinge that I associate with perfume alcohol or other types of alcohol. The herbal is the strongest thing at this stage, with just that hint of musk underneath the astringency.

Drying - Gah! My skin has ABSORBED the herbs! =/ In fact, all that's left is a distinctly sweet white musk... And it's faint. I have to press my nose against my wrist to smell it. It's gone from nicely masculine to distinctly "femme." *sighs* Not that it matters so much, seeing as you can barely smell it on me at all. *pouts*

Dry (3 hours later) - Still a light white musk with sweet forals. It isn't at all like I expected, but I've been finding myself sniffing my wrist constantly. Plus, it seems that, while it's still a faint smell to me, it carries a bit of throw.

Overall - More feminine that what others are describing, but somehow addicting! I can't wait to smell it on someone who doesn't have a body that makes everything "PH balanced for a woman." =P I won't mind giving up my bottle to the boy, but my imp is aaaaall mine!

So many wonderful suggestions! Thanks to you all, I'll hopefully be drawing the eyes of beautiful women everywhere I go.

Wonderfully enough, several of those scents are on the way to me and those that aren't are quickly being added to my June 1st order or wishlist.

You're all darlings!

So, yes, sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere. Searches for "butch" and "picking up the ladies" didn't render anything.

I'm one of those women who comes across as neither butch nor femme, so I'm trying to give myself a bit of "pheramone" to make heads turn when I walk by. I was thinking something slightly musky, maybe a bit spicy, that could give me a waft of power and sexiness. Just don't want to smell too guy, since attracting heterosexual women would make things even more odd.

...pretty much anything that makes you want to pick yourself up, I guess. *laughs*

*kicks the thread back on topic*

After doing some scent pruning, I'm going with an Egyptian musk scent that comes across as very tangy with a splash of juniper. (I'd been forbidden to wear anything sweet by my sister, as it gives her a headache. *laughs*) It's the first Seder with the newly extended family, so I also can wear anything too outlandish, either. =P Like I'm ever outlandish...

voodoobaby - Okay, now I'm REALLY confused. *laughs* From what you've said, it seems that it's a bit like what I do; I celebrate the Jewish holidays and traditions with my family, although religiously I follow an earth-based religion. Messianic people (do I call them Messianic Traditionalists? Messianic Christians? *laughs* So confusing.) follow the Jewish culture, but have Christian beliefs? Although now I'm completely confused, since you're non-ethnically Jewish. =)

I'm learning something, hurrah!

voodoobaby - Okay, I'm totally embarrassed to admit it... but what exactly is the Messianic tradition? *blushes* The only thing I've heard about them is that it's a group of ethnic Jews who converted to Christianity. I heard that from my sister, but I don't trust her in the least about it, at least partially due to her tone of voice at the time. (She's Conservative, trying to take the final steps to Orthodox.)

Sorry if the question seems out of line. *blushes* I'm just curious.

I'm very lucky that my sister is hosting Seder. =D I'm probably going to wear something with dragon's blood in it, since that'll give me a bit of a bite without being incredibly overpowering. Although I DO like the idea of wearing something spicy and herbal. (Great idea, laochodia!)

Call me a dunce, but I didn't think there were other Jews on the board. *laughs* Label me pleasantly surprised.

Chag Sameach! =D