spoilsofwar

I'm not a fan of lavender, as in the flower, but when it's medicinal like this, there's something about it. Within 20 minutes of putting it on, I could NOT stay awake. I have no idea if it's the fact that it was 4am or the Somnus, but I was OUT like a like in a heavy sleep that pulled me completely under. I might have to try this again tonight but at a normal hour to try again to find out. If it's this perfume, Beth's gonna run out of it. I love things that lull me into a natural sleep; I'm a big fan of melatonin for this reason. I hate taking sleeping pills or Nyquil because I feel SICK and that's what makes me fall asleep. Then I wake up groggy. I even woke up EARLY today, and I woke up ready to COOK. That never happens.

The plum is prominent on me, and it's LOVELY. The second strongest note on me is the vanilla sandalwood, and if there's two scents I love the most, it's vanilla and sandalwood. Combining the two is just heaven on earth. And still, the plum keeps it from going too dark, too foody (which isn't usually a problem for me; I love foody scents). All in all, this is absolutely GORGEOUS.

I'm usually not a fan of woody scents, but this one is simply gorgeous. Black vanilla isn't as sweet as regular and the tobacco gives it an edge. All around, this scent swooped in and made me LOVE it from first whiff in the bottle until now, hours later. Highly recommended!

As a huge fan of sandalwood and musks, particularly pale ones if they're mixed with incense. I was a little worried at first, because I don't know the OTHER notes in this well enough. But I thought I'd give it a go. This scent is so subtle, so sneaky (in a good way!). It's flowery and woodsy and incensey all at once, without being overpowering on any of those.

I'd recommend it for those who like incense/woods/flowers but find the scents usually too overpowering (me, I love the darker VERY incense-y scents, and flowery and woodsy almost not at all).

I wanted to love this. I really, really did, but when I got it, there was something overpoweringly thick. I thought if I let it settle a little, it would mellow. First of all, when I dipped the toothpick in, the oil was almost black. It HAD mellowed quite a bit, so I thought since it's been about two weeks, it would be good to test it. It smells just as plastic and thick (in an unpleasant way; I usually LOVE heavy scents). There's nothing sweet about it to me.

Alas, this bottle is going to go up for sale or swap.

In the bottle, this smells like a gorgeous little farm. Kind of light and fruity. Delightful actually. I was a bit surprised because I couldn't smell any hay at all.

When I put it on, though, all I could smell was molasses. And not just molasses, but BURNT molasses and it was NOT pleasant at all. An hour later, same thing. Two hours later, I had to wash it off. Definitely not for me.

In Bottle: Holy MOLY is that peppermint or WHAT? Oh yeah, it definitely smells like extract of peppermint, so it's a good thing I LOVE peppermint. I went through a phase (and still do from time to time) where I use peppermint body wash. The tingling sensation is nice, and it FEELS clean.

Wet: Like those giant, fat peppermints that my grandfather used to have sitting next to his recliner. Mmm. But after a few seconds of settling on my skin, my skin actually started to tingle and almost burn. I prayed that this wouldn't last because what a damn shame if it did.

DryING Down: Still a bit of a tingle, but not an unpleasant one. Definitely cleared up my sinuses, which is a blessing since I think that's one of the things I love about peppermint so much.

Dry-down: Definitely fat, sugary peppermints, but the vanilla mellows the sting of it for me. The vanilla isn't too prevalent; it's more like a whisper of vanilla. It's nice. It was still fairly prominent on my skin when I went to bed six hours after application.

Vote: Definitely a keeper! Might have to look into the OTHER Lick Its!

I'm not gonna bother to review this by Bottle/Wet/Dry, though in the bottle, it was a LITTLE bit stronger than I envisioned. But it is LOVELY. As a big fan of foody scents, I already knew I'd love it, and I was NOT WRONG. Like my beloved 13 (Oct 2006), I get asked if there's cake, cookies, pastries around because I smell so good. After I told one person what it was I was wearing, she embarrassingly told me that she really did want to lick my arm (where she sniffed). I'm having a hard time concentrating because I keep sniffing myself. It's light and airy, with enough sweetness for a foody like me. But without the in-your-face sugariness.

A++++++ MUST HAVE BOTTLE NOW.

In the Bottle: Cocoa, cocoa, cocoa, coooocoa! Mmm. Yum. There's a hint of some other sort of flavouring, perhaps something in one of those expensive brands of hot cocoa -- like hazelnut, amaretto, etc. Can't QUITE place it, but YUM.

Wet: MORE of the same, and goodness, this smells like I poked my head into a giant tub of hot cocoa mix, and not the cheap kind. It starts to warm up, which I assume is the amber.

Dry: Dry-down is EXACTLY the same as it is wet. GOOD LORD, I want to eat myself.

In the Imp: The frankincense is really noticeable, and I've come to realize how much I love the smell of frankincense and myrrh. I can also smell the sandalwood, which I also love. I was really unsure of the vetiver, but I also knew that all the scents that had labdanum in them, I'd fallen in love so I was more than willing to give this one a shot. In the imp, it smells a bit masculine, definitely, but not overly so.

Wet: Oh wow. I am in love. The frankincense really comes to the forefront, and the sandalwood cancels out anything lemony in this, which I think is good. Citrus might dilute this, and I love how lush and warm and thick if smells.

Dry: The throw on this -- for me -- is amazing. Everything that I loved about it wet is still there dry. And I can smell the lemon peel just a smidgen, which actually doesn't detract because the sandalwood has come out even more. YUM. Definitely buying a bottle of this! Like it's companion The Bow & Crown of Conquest, this is sex for me.

In the Bottle: Definitely dirt. Wow, and I don't think of anything but a graveyard for it, but that could just be my own preconceptions.

Wet: The SECOND it touched my skin, the dirt gave way to flowers and something minty. It's interesting, the combination.

Dry: It dried very quickly, and I have a feeling it's not going to last as long as some of my others, so I'll have to slather it on, but WOW. I really do love this. It smells like fiddling around in a flower bed with cared for soil and plants after a good hard rain. I really enjoy this, and will have to test it out in public.

In the bottle: Mmm. Sweet enough to eat. I won't, but I want to for some reason. Mouth-watering peaches or something other juicy sort of fruit like that. Not citrus though.

Wet: More of the same, but now I can smell the carnation. I never thought I liked the smell of carnations that much, but I'm finding more and more that I DO. Pretty much everything I've tried that has carnation in it, I've loved. Hmm. Something to ponder. And now it smells a little like... you know how at carnivals and fairs, you can get shaved ice? And the scent of all the flavouring? It's like that, only less sugared. Mmm.

Dry: It's mellowed quite a bit, but it still reminds me of shaved ice in the best possible way. Definitely among my faves.

In the bottle: Whoa carnation & rose. You are dewy and lovely, but I don't know if I should wear you.

Wet: Y HALO THAR TEA ROSE. My imagery is definitely a wet meadow filled with spring flowers, and I love it. A bit overpowering, and I hope I don't make anyone's nose and eyes water. :|

Dry: Nearly eight hours after I put it on, it's still powerful, but it's soft and feminine and floral and wet and green. Now, I'm not usually really keen on florals, just because they smack too much of "normal" perfume, but for some reason, four people who don't talk to each other have all said this smells like sandalwood to them. That's amusing, obviously, since there isn't any sandalwood in it at all. Either way, it's one of my favorites, despite the floral.

In the Bottle: When I first got this, it was ALL SPICE, and not a pleasant mixture of it. Hardcore OMGWHATAMESS spices. I set it aside to let it settle a little, let it age a little. The next time I smelled it, I could definitely smell the chocolate where I couldn't before, but it was buried way down. The spices had mellowed quite a bit, which was nice to smell.

Wet: Whoa. Hello warm spices. Lots of them. All I could think of was TOFFEE. Like I'd left a toffee in one of my pockets on a hot day and it melted into my clothing. For an hour or so, that's all I smelled. I didn't think I'd wear this very often, to be honest. It was just TOO much toffee, and I like toffee.

Dry-down: A couple hours later, the toffee smell is still prevalent, but it's much more subdued. And thank goodness, I might have had to never eat toffee again if it didn't. This isn't a particularly bad scent, not at all, but I don't know if it's that much of a keeper for me personally.

In the bottle: I can definitely smell the rose, but it's more than that. It's spicy without being hot. I'm not usually for rose perfumes, but there's something drawing me to this one. So I decided to try it.

Wet: Okay, there's the roses. But it's not strong or over-powering like Two, Five, & Seven was (thankfully). Where Two, Five, & Seven were roses that had been yanked, plucked, stomped on, pulverized, and mushed until it was nothing was a pungent odor, this is soft and gentle breeze of roses. The kind you have to take a deep breath to smell completely. The kind you WANT to take a deep breath to smell. The cinnamon is strong, too, but this isn't the kind that stings. This is cinnamon with a slight sprinkle of sugar.

Dry: Once this dried, it's gorgeous. It reminds me of spring days at a friend's house, out on the back porch. Her mom gardened and baked. She had exotic roses (not your typical roses at all), as well as some other flowers, but the roses really stood out. Whenever I would help her bake, this is what it reminds me of.

Late to the party, but better late than never.

In the bottle, this smelled SCRUMPTIOUS. It came with my first series of BPAL a few years ago, and I was dying to try it. Out of all of the ones I'd gotten, THIS one was the best smelling in the bottle with its orange, chocolate, vanilla notes. Dabbed it on, and proceeded to spend the next few hours at my computer, taking deep breaths of myself.

The next day, I went to work, and wanted to wear it. I'm a receptionist so people have to walk by me all day, and now every time I wear this, five people will make the comment, "Is there birthday cake somewhere? Who's birthday is it?" And I have to tell them it's me.

This has become my signature scent!

In the decant: Got this yesterday, and after unwrapping and sniffing (not opening), I could NOT get this scent out of my mind. Seriously. It haunted me up the stairs and into my shower. When I got out, I HAD to try it RIGHT that instant.

Wet: I've never tried Snake Oil so I don't have much to compare it to. This is HEAVEN in a bottle.

Dry: It lasted for 7 hours, and then I had to go to bed. I think I might have to buy about 15 bottles* of this.

*SLIGHT exaggeration.

I was completely hesitant to try this. No really. REALLY hesitant. But I loved the name, loved the way it made me snicker and remember my band days with Bozo Porno Circus. Fair enough! I got this as an imp from a friend, and I figured I may as well break out of my shell a little and try it.

In the bottle: Whoa. That's some serious sugared bubblegum, and definitely the kind you get with a packet of Garbage Pail Kids. Stick-like, powder on it, and even that slight tang if the gum has been inside the card wrapping too long (LOL plastic/coating sorta taste).

Wet: Cripes, it's like diving into a ball pit where they replaced the balls with THAT GUM. I couldn't even smell the orange or cherry at all, but after a while, I realized that the bite this one has IS the orange and cherry.

Dry: And just like the gum, it faded away until there was nearly nothing left but the powder taste in my mouth about four-five hours later. This could be because I'd only dabbled a little bit on my wrist and neck to test it. All in all, I kind of dug it. It made me feel slightly naughty, and whenever anyone asked what that "delicious smell" was, I just giggled.

All I can say about this one is: SEX IN A BOTTLE! Not even kidding when I saw that I sneak sniffs of my wrists whenever I think no one is looking, and sometimes when they are.

Before getting it: It sounded just heavenly. At least in the way that I'd want a room to smell, long forgotten memories replaying in your head.

In the Bottle: The only surprise is that I could swear there was some baby's breath in this. The rest was exactly what I thought of. Memories, my grandmother's sewing room with all of her fabrics and linens. My mother's living room with her soft potpourri.

Wet & Dry: The exact same. Perhaps a little more baby powdery after dry down, but not annoyingly so. My first instinct is that this seemed like something that would be better as a room spray, than a perfume. Still, I do love it. I wear it fairly often.

In the bottle: Duh. Rose. And it's so soft and lovely, actually. I'm usually anti-rose because it's kind of... I don't know. I love the smell of roses, but I don't want to smell like a rose. But this, I pulled out from time to time to sniff. Finally, decided to test it this weekend.

Wet: Here was my reaction: "OHMYGODGETITOFFMEGETITOFFME! I think I'm gonna be sick. OMG, no. I've got a headache. Ugh. Now I'm gagging. It's sort of... rancid and amonia-y but maybe I just need to let it dry down." It took three hours to dry down on me. THREE HOURS.

Once dry: It actually faded into a lovely scent, but I'm not going through 3 hours of rancid, rotting roses again. BLEH.

In the bottle: Fresh rootbeer. Straight from a tap. Frothy and smooth.

Wet: A little bit bitter, comes on strong.

Dry: A sweet (but not too sweet!) and refreshing rootbeer float. Oh god, YUM. I had gotten an imp of this and only recently tested it. Wish I'd tried it a LONG time ago. This is AMAZING on me, and aside from 13 (October 13, 2007), I'm pretty sure this'll end up one of those tried-and-trues that I wear most often.