lothien

Some things just don't work on ya, and this was one of those. Honey and cat pee. Or rather, honeyCATPEECATPEEhoneyCATPEECATPEEhoney. CATPEE.

I can finally wear this! When I first got this bottle, I knew there was some risk involved, since I was untried with Snake Oil, and had no idea how it would smell on me to begin with. And when I first opened the bottle, it certainly put me off. It had the sharp almost astringent smell I know now was the Snake Oil, not the comforting herbal woody leather scent I'd read of in reviews and was hoping for. I tried wearing it a couple of times but couldn't bear the medicinal smell, and it didn't burn off. But I did know enough to put it away. I put it away somewhere out of my perfume box because it was fouling up my lovely co-mingled BPAL smell. That was a couple or 3 months ago. Today I took it out and tried it on again. And, lo, it is lovely! Rustic, as others have mentioned; SO, some nice leather, yummy sage, without the cloying sugary vanilla of the (admittedly old) Snake Oil I tried. It does not threaten to go to play doh, either, like the other. It seems to have the parts of SO I liked without the parts I didn't. Maybe the leather and sage is enough to balance the vanilla, because while there is a sweetness to this, I definitely get a scent I would identify as tonka over vanilla, at least for a long time at the start. The longer it dries, the more I get little wafts of vanilla, but if I put my nose on my wrist I smell non-sweet SO and sandalwood and tonka. The sage is distant background. This has turned out really really yummy, with more complexity than I expected. I have a partial bottle of Temple Viper on the way, and it would be awesome if it is equally successful. ^^

Ooh, I love all the Phoenix labels! ::covet covet covet:: I hope one/any of them work for me because now I want the bottle. I just bought Brisingamen and got one of the new GC labels. I think they are very cool! My pic's not super good either, but here: (ETA the text around the brimstone symbol reads "hand blended perfume oil")

How have I not reviewed this? Maybe I got so busy looking for more that I forgot? I was gifted a 60% partial bottle of this because the woman I bought from a couple of times had a delay in shipping, and she sent it along to make up for it. It was unsniffed to me, and I was wary of the flowers, since that tends not to be my general direction... but !!!Dayum!!!- she can be late anytime! This is amazing. I'm an enormous fan of red musk anyway, but most of the CD's that folks recommend with red musk also have a patchouli component that would, at my house, offset the desired effect of the red musk (the boy sez "ew ew ew"). I cannot for the life of me identify or separate out the different flowers in this. Nothing screams flowers, or cloves, or vanilla. It just blends into a lovely succulent scent alongside the musk. As it gets farther into the drydown there is a little more spiciness and vanilla, but it doesn't change dramatically from the imp to dry, and it lasts quite a long time. It calls to me. ^^ And my husband seems to like it as well, or there is a peculiar correlation between me wearing this and the out-of-context carnal attention. I have since managed to locate another partial bottle that should exactly top off the one I have, and I am thinking it would be wise to grab a bottle from the Lab to tuck away, while CD is still around. So thank you, generous destasher!

This one hates me. I picked up an imp of it while shopping for leather scents. Some leathers (and tobaccos) I have loved so far. This sounded so good from the description, like a gentleman's study, but as soon as it hit my skin all I got was- I'm not even sure how to describe it - burnt sea salt, maybe? It wasn't gedditoff, but it was unpleasant. Fortunately, I didn't get a headache or anything from it, so it's not one of *those* and I'm really not sure what the culprit might be yet, but it's going to the swaps pile. =(

This is really my first experience with a "snowy" scent, and I was really not sure what to expect. In the bottle it is beautiful - soft evergreens, subtle sage, herbal with with a bit of sweetness. Not ozoney, as I'd feared. On wet, I get all the evergreens first, but not intense like, say, Black Forest, but cold pineiness. As it dries I start to get more berries and the pine starts to soften, so the evergreen top note stage is pretty short on me. Dry, I start to get more of the other things - the grasses and plants, a faint bit of a sort of citrus I'm guessing is the rosehip and or wood sorrel, but overall I get a feeling of berries and winter greenery. It doesn't strike me as either feminine or masculine, either. As time passes, it gets softer and more woodsy/grassy/resiny close to the skin, though I still get whiffs of that tangy sweetness that isn't cranberry, but reminds me of it. The only unkind thing I have to say about it is that while I really like the scent, it will have a limited wearing time. I find that after a while, I'm "full" and I don't enjoy it any longer. I could stand more grass and less berry, but maybe that will change as it gets older. ETA: Unfortunately, the more I try it, the more I am getting bayberry potpourri, which sort of reminds me of the folks' bathroom at Christmas. As cute as the label is, I may have to let this one go to someone who doesn't amp the berry in this. Boo!

I don't think you have a wonky nose, crebbsgirl. I get green from the imp too - it took me a while to place it - like sphagnum moss, almost. (perhaps it's the batch we have? I was just frimped this in an order) As it dries I get more spice, and I get almond, but like almond hulls, not the seed. Dry I get cherry, but I haven't smelled any rum yet. It's mostly almond hulls and cherry with the barest edge of a booze note - my skin must eat the rummy part, because I would never have guessed this was a rum/booze blend if it wasn't in the description. Boo! Eventually it's reduced to just the hulls, and it's kind of blah. I plan to hold onto it, too, and see what it does with some age on it. Or it may be another case of "Don't test things fresh out of the mailbox." I'll try it out in a week or so and see if the rum caught up. ^^

I love Mole! I am apparently one of those that gets almost all gentle mosses, with traces of sandalwood and no detectable patchouli. It doesn't morph a lot from wet to dry. The wood comes in wafts but is very background. I get a sweetness that's almost floral, though there's no flowers here. This is a soft, cuddly, comforting scent on me for as long as it lasts. Either I enviromentalise it pretty quickly, or it doesn't last terribly long, 2-3 hours. Might be nice for bed, or to try in a scent locket. I may have to rub a little into the rabbit fur on my winter boots. Mmm. (I find if they smell nice it helps alleviate that I am wearing them because it's crappy outside. ^^ It's a great use for scents that I like but my skin devours.)

I knew i should have just purchased a bottle of this. I have had really good luck lately with my choices, considering I am venturing into flowers and that scares me, 'cause the oldlady thing happens more often than I'd like. In the imp this is slightly floral and sweet in an ambery/musky way. On wet, a slightly perfumey scent, heady but gorgeous. Feminine, not girly. I wait to see what the flowers will do. There is still plenty of time for them to do something evil. I start to get something gingery, which is the costus, I think? It's a nice balance to the amber. Normally darker ambers like me better. This is a lighter amber - the kind which always threatens to go powdery but doesn't - and I like the gingery scent as a balance. It's grounding, not distinct. As it dries I get more tonka (mmm) and the flowers are all mellowing out nicely (Yay!), and after they settle it's warm, spicy, resinous goldenness. I am loving this. Of all of the Yules it was the one I thought might work best, and I guessed right. Flowery enough to be feminine - but a resin scent rather than a floral one. Absolutely yummy. I got this decant today, and I've already found an unloved bottle in a forum sale. I may have to get another before they leave 'town.' ETA: on following applications, I am getting much more of a honeyed or beeswax scent, both at the very start and later in the drydown. I know there's no honey in this, but I'll take it! Edited again to add that I liked the '08 so well, I found a bottle of '05, and I am happy that there is not a world of difference between new and aged. The "edges" of the sharper notes like that mild citrussy-ginger scent have been rounded off with time, though I have to say I like the drydown and lasting power better on the older model, so it's worth using that one first and letting my new one age a little. It still reminds me a lot of what I like about Galvanic Goggles without the masculine balsam top note that takes forever to fade.

Brisingamen? I did some research on this one because I couldn't find a satisfactory answer in this thread, only speculation. And I think it's Breh-SEHN-ga Men. What I found is that it comes from (Norse) brisinga (glowing or flaming) and men or mene (jewelry). I also found an alternative spelling: Brosingamen or Brosinga Men, which is why I thing it's "breh" and not "bree." I think. Anyone else have an idea? It's been a few years since this one was brought up.

This came as a frimp in my last order. I'm eager to try out roses, so I'm game. In this imp this *scares* me. I get 'rancid.' Smushed rose petals, indeed. I dab a spot. Wet, it's still damaged-smelling and I pray it's one of those notes that burn off. This is not one to apply in the car with others or anywhere public. As it dries it gradually improves, and the majority of the "smushed" scent fades and the multitude of roses begins to come out, and the drier it gets the more it smells like a huge rose garden. It's very pretty, though I still prefer the dark rose of The Peacock Queen and Black Rose, this has a nice depth and not as sweet as I was afraid as it would be. What others are getting as sugary I am getting as the edge of decay (which does make me wonder what others are perceiving when I wear it... sugar or bruised flowers?). Not something I will need a bottle of, but definitely one I will enjoy.

I picked this imp up off the forums because I have decided to get brave and find other flowers besides rose that like me. This one has darker elements that appeal to me. In the imp this doesn't make a huge impression. It certainly doesn't say "Don't do it!" Wet, I get flowers. Distinctly carnation and distinctly jasmine in turns, very strong, almost nail polish... but I have learned to give it a minute or two. Don't panic yet. Carnation has behaved in the past - if the jasmine doesn't turn on me, this could work. In ten minutes, I am totally surprised. This isn't going to go haywire on me. It's gorgeous. It's what I was hoping Languo/our would be. It's soft and complex and I still have flowers, but layers of others things like iris and moss and vetiver that stay close to the skin. The bergamot floats more, with the jasmine and incense. I was worried about the patchouli when I bought it, but it only serves to blend in with the other earthy parts as a base for the flowers, it never says "HAI!PACHOOLEE!" or edges anything else out of the way. I really really like this. I am shocked at how much I like this. If I don't get a bottle I should at least pick up back-up imps - It seems that it would be better to slather this one a bit to start, than to reapply smaller amounts and have to go through the flower burn-off every time... Woot! Win!

Wow - like some of the others have said, this is earthy and uncanny and definitely not a smell one expects to be coming out of a bottle. Earth and roots. The galangal is dominant at first but that definitely mellows as it dries. I tested it while I was walking around the lots for my afternoon duty. I wasn't sure what to think of it at first. It intrigues me because it's a cool scent, but it's not a perfume smell. I'm outside, in the woods, and it smells like it belongs here. Though worn by itself I can imagine the people around me wondering what I rolled in outside. But then I realised that it's a perfect companion to my Peacock Queen and Black Rose! Deep dark dirt and velvety roses. Outstanding. ^^ I think it will age nicely, too.

Too bad. I wanted this to be lovely. Instead, I got sugared tea at first, for about 10 minutes, then everything turned to root-beer-barrels. I think I'll pass it along to my daughter and see what she thinks, since her skin is totally different than mine...

I got this frimped from the Lab, and despite my initial reservations (how masculine would it be?), I love it! In the imp I get leather and a little bit of sweet - date palm maybe? On wet it's mostly leather right away, but that's normal for me with anything with leather in it. I don't get a lot of tobacco at first (which I confess to writing off to the fact that I smoke, so tobacco is an environmental scent for me), and I couldn't identify snakeroot on a bet... As it starts to dry I can distinctly smell it though. It smells like leather and tobacco shop! Not just tobacco, but the smell of a real tobacco shop, with pipe tobacco and cigars and big cases and the whole lot. Maybe it's a woody quality in one of the other notes I'm unfamiliar with, but it's lovely! Later on the leather has gone soft but it's still there and there's still that fresh tobacco smell and it's quite round and gentle. It's not girly - but then neither am I. I got nice whiffs of it even after a few hours applied in a small area for testing. Definitely a nice surprise and a keeper! Woo!

I was prepared for this one to go bad. I've had beautiful luck so far, but if BPAL amber is going to go powdery on me, this will be it. In the imp I get myrtle and carnation. Mm! I used to own a myrtlewood perfume bottle holder in Oregon, and I remember this is what it smelled like. No amber jumps at me. The amber comes up warmly once on the skin, but I still get significant myrtle, carnation. The apple blossom may be lost in the initial intensity of the others. After 10 minutes this is more beautiful than I could have guessed. The amber stays beautiful, and the myrtle and carnation are balanced in a way that I really like. It doesn't change much as it fades (yay!) and never becomes a real floral (also yay!) but I never got any apple blossom, either, on these tries. I can live with that though, everything else about it is lovely. Apple blossoms may show their heads on later wearings. Been known to happen. I am in love with this, and totally did not expect to be. I will have to make sure the couple of tests I've done aren't a fluke, but I think I may be wearing this a lot. And adding it to the bottle list... ETA - I finally bought a bottle of this from the Lab (I like the new GC labels!), and fresh is as wonderful - but a little different - as the imp I have of it that was a year or two old. The carnation and apple blossom are crisper and more distinct and the carnation smells more fresh and green in the new bottle. It almost smells rosy at first, which is a happy new aspect of Brisingamen. The myrtle I enjoy must develop later - it's very backgroundy to start with. I'm glad I don't have to wait around for it to age. I love it at all its ages! ^^

Wow. I can't put this one down! Now, I have to say that I tested this one briefly when I first got it and liked it right away, but this was the first time I had spent any real time with it. I was testing the ones from my last batch that I thought might be masculine (might as well keep it in 'families' to keep my head from being totally screwed up...). I had just tested Fenris Wolf and washed it off because something I'm guessing was the rosewood was too much for me and it was too masculine on top of that - something else I tested with rosewood screamed at me, too - and I was kind of bummed because I'd really wanted Fenris to work. So I tried on Robin. Robin works. Really well. In the imp. Moss! Wet - Moss and greenery. Then more woods. I'm wondering where the musk is at. The brighter green must be the ragwort. There's no sage or heather yet. It walks right up to masculine at this point, but doesn't quite cross the line. As it dries more, the musk comes out and sweetens everything, moss recedes, ragwort virtually disappears and I can smell the sage and heather. They are awesome together. It ceases to seem masculine because musk is sweet, and this is a delicious dark musk. The heather is a soft floral that makes me look for it. I get wafts of moss and heather and sage, but at the skin it is no longer green, all musk and wood. Then later I get more dry moss on the skin... It really does morph in the most amazing ways. I want to put it on again, and start over! The dry stage is sweet and pleasant and seems to last a while, but it's hard to tell how long it lasts when I am so tempted to dot a tiny bit more. It's really fascinating, and I love all the stages of it. If I decide this is one I like all the time, this decant will never last!

Deep burgundy velvet roses. I am in love with this one. I got a partial cobalt bottle of this ('05, yes?). I loved an imp of Black Rose that I got and this sounded like a similar deep rose scent, and it's everything I hoped it would be. As much as I like BR, it has a sweetness from the musk and amber, and I wanted to find a lush, dark rose scent, gothic if you will, the kind with no traces of green or dirt or sunlight. This is it. It seems silly to go through "stages" because it really didn't morph much on me. Intense, heady red rose, except to exhibit a shadow of something dry after about an hour. I have Rose Red coming from this year's Yules to compare it to for a more sunny rose, but I think this I will still like this best - it is a most gorgeous unadulterated rose. Fortunately a little goes a long way, but I will have to be careful with my little half-bottle, and keep an eye out for more. ^^

This was definitely an "Oh wow!" scent for me (over and over). I was prepared for the dragon's blood part to head to cherry-Sucrets-land and ruin it all, but that didn't happen at all with this one. In the imp and wet I get vanilla and hazelnut (does hazelwood smell nutty? this sure smells like filberts...) and something slightly candied, which is probably the DB. It's not what I was expecting at all. It smells like an exotic dessert. As it becomes more dry I get wafts of the sandalwood but if I sniff up close I still get vanilla and nuts. Interesting, and doesn't last very long. A little while later I get a brief, curious whiff of something like buckwheat pancakes that's gone as quick as it came, and then the foody quality is entirely gone... ...and what's left now is clean and woodsy and green with a very soft, appealing floral and amber, and some woods and such that I can't pick out but I really love. I will definitely have to try this one out a few more times and see how consistent the morph is and how long the dry scent lasts, but I have a feeling I may have to find more. It's really a curious and lovely experience.

The Native American Creator / Trickster God of Chaos and Change. The warmth of doeskin, dry plains grasses and soft, dusty woods warmed by amber and a downy, gentle coat of deep musk. How have I not written a review for this yet?! I love this stuff! I got it, unsniffed, in my very first Imp Set from the Lab, and I admit, I had high hopes for it. All of the parts of it sounded good - the sort of thing I'd like my scarves to smell like in winter. Well, it scared me in the imp. Bright and sharp in the imp and wet. I have Loviatar to compare it to, now, which has a primary leather note, amber and musk, and does the same thing: the leather goes like crazy for a few minutes, then it softens to a lovely warm suede scent and stays that way, but the leather here is gentler than the leather in Loviatar. The amber gives it a little bit of a spicy quality, keeping everything warm for a long time. It stays close on me but it lasts for several hours and sometimes overnight. Eventually it fades to dry grassy amber (though, on me, everything with amber in it will leave an amber scent long after every other note is gone). I could say Coyote is a shapeshifter on me; he starts out deceptively human, then 20 minutes later he's not. Mostly. Except maybe the eyes... I also got a hold of an older imp and it's much less intense while wet and has mellowed nicely. I adore this scent. It's the one I go to when I am not wearing something else, if that makes sense. To wear to bed, or when I need a break from trying new scents, or after overwearing something I love but is too intense for all the time. I go back to Coyote for grounding. So I have a bottle of this on order. While I enjoy wearing different scents to suit my mood, this one is a perfect comfort scent for all the time.

So this was on my list of things I was curious about, for the leather. I'm one of those people who stops outside the Wilson's at the mall to smell it as I go by. I've always thought leather should be a perfume. ^^ The red musk can't help but be good, the other things in it agree with me. I'm just scared it's going to scream "cologne!" when I open it. It doesn't. I smell it a second time because I was seriously expecting it to knock me down. I get leather and spicy right away, but once it's mostly dry the spiciness and whatever sharpness is in the leather passes. After that it's just yummy. The leather mellows to a gentle suedey scent on me after about half an hour, then it all stays about the same after that. It could be worn with something softer to make it more girly (I'm trying one wrist with The Lion), though that contradicts the Theme here ^^ But everything about it works for me as it is. A happy surprise that should have been higher up on the testing list than it was! Add another Bad Girl to my list of Yummies.

I bought a bottle of this unsniffed from a forumite, because it sounded so good, and the comparisons to Scherezade made me think I would love it, and I wanted something close and everyday to wear. But it was still a crap-shoot. Turns out this is everything I hoped it would be. In the bottle and wet I get red musk and honey-chai. (This bottle is probably older than a year and a half, I think). Very reminiscent of Scherezade without its very incensey quality; Scherezade screams on me for a long time before it settles down and makes me self-conscious. The spices here are gentle. I get a lot of honey right away (it starts to scare me), then it's suddenly quiet. Once it's dry, neither the red musk or benzoin dominates, and the caramel accord and honey are soft and the spiciness is like the nutmeg in a custard. So while overall this reminds me of foody things, it's not really, and it lasts up close for a long time. It's nice in my clothes outside on a cold day. I also learned not to overdo. Too Much Is Bad. Cologny, overbearing, headache territory. No slather, and let it nearly disappear before putting on more. But that's okay, because it's yummy on me for a long time. I'm really really glad I picked this one up. I am curious to see if someone around me gets an, ahem, 'hemp' smell from it because I don't get that *at all* from it. We'll see if my boss looks at me funny... edited for lame use of articles

I got an imp of this today (well, technically yesterday) in a purchase from another forumite, and I'm so happy I had to review it before I go to bed! It was barely out of the mailbox, and in the process of getting the imp open I managed to get some on my fingers... DAMN! I loved it instantly, smeared some on, and it went on the short list for bottle purchases. It does definitely have a scent reminiscent of the wiccan/new-agey shops - expensive incense and books. It doesn't change much from the bottle to my skin; my nose isn't educated enough yet to pick out the saffron, but the spiciness is just right for me and the musk is lovely with my chemistry. (I will have to make myself a note that red musk is *good*) I have a feeling it will be hard to make the imp last until I can get a bottle sent from the Lab... ETA: This is still one of my favorite BPAL red musk scents a year and a half later. It ages wonderfully and lacks Morocco's kitey (on me) nature, while being in the same family of scent. It doesn't morph much and all the aspects of it stay true for hours. One of my GC favorites! I also know what part of it is saffron now. ^^ ETA(again): I just got a bottle of this that I like even better! Brand new from the Lab, which was a Scherezade first for me, since I ended up finding imps till now, and where I was braced for disappointment, I love it! Less saffron, more sandalwood.

I got this as a frimp and finally got brave enough to test it out, as I was afraid of the flowers, but the boy likes aquatics and roses and such, and I think he'll like the flowers here, so I give it a go... Fresh out of the bottle that sweet grassy smell makes me say "ooh!" in a good way. Wet grass and the smell of stems like cut flowers just brought in from outside in spring. The flowers are gentle enough I don't think it will go all old-lady on me. No sneeziness threatening at all. Dry, the grass is mostly gone, and the aquatics are soft and cucumbery, not tinny, and balance the florals so nicely that I don't smell one before the other. The flowers become a tiny bit spicy after a while - maybe that's the peony? As many others have pointed out, it's pretty. I like it after all; it isn't sweet. This is the sort of floral I can wear and feel comfortable in. (Feels like wearing shorts and laying in the grass in the sun after being cooped up all winter. ^^) So all in all, something I will keep. Fades to a nice background pretty quickly, then stays there for me. Great to wear to visit the parents or in-laws or to wear to a gathering where I have to be up in strangers' spaces. It's not as, oh, let's say "gothic" and heady than a lot of what I wear.

As hoped, this smells a lot like the scent my husband was wearing around the time I met him. He had a little vial of oil in his bag called "Rain" and it smelled awesome on him. This has that same sort of seaside pre-storm feeling to it, and doesn't change much from bottle to drydown (yay!), aside from the initial ozone burn-off. I don't care for it as much on me as I do on him - I'm sure there's something the boy-musk does to it - but maybe I can pique his interest in the perfume thang again...