torikitty

I wish my nose translated neroli like everyone else. I had a Bitter Orange tree, and loved smelling the blossoms. Neroli from the lab doesn't smell like those blossoms. It smells more acrid to me, like a dying plant, or branches and leaves that are being cut from the tree in the hot sun. And then mown over with a hot lawnmower. But I was hopeful with the patchouli. Going on wet, the neroli takes over. As it dries, the patchouli starts to come out. There's a woody quality to it now. The patchouli balances out eventually, but I'm still getting the acrid neroli in the background. This just solidifies for me that I don't like the lab's neroli. If you smell neroli differently, and enjoy patchouli, this could work for you.

My immediate impression is rooibos tea. Ugh. I think my nose interprets that scent up a bit weird since it seems very monotone to my palate, but it seems like no one else experiences it that way. They seem to be able to assign chocolate and nuts notes to it, but it ends up smelling/tasting the same way to me no matter what flavoring is used. I know smell and taste are too different senses, but I am floored but how utterly one-note this is to my nose. I do feel an apple/cinnamon note starting to peek through, but the rooibos tea really overpowers.

I guess I can see candy strawberries and peaches, but like, the gummy candies. I can see how it would lean more towards fruit roll-ups, it's got that sweet, mascerated fruit smell, too. I don't know, I don't have one thing I can point to. It's just incredibly comforting in a sweet, dull, fruit sense. It's not over-the-top or super bright. It's not trying to get your attention, it's just a lovely bowl of ripe strawberries and peaches. MOAR PLZ!

Immediately on the skin, this totally reminds me of these little bath pearls my grandma used to have in the 80s. This being the rosy one. It quickly morphs into a salty ozonic smell. It reminds me of the smell of my skin after spending hours at the beach. Salt, sweat, and slightly sweet skin musk leftover sunscreen smell. Nothing atrocious, and keeps very close to the skin. The rose smell is just about gone, but I think changes to what I'm perceiving as skin musk. ETA: A few hours later this reminds me a bit of Aegir. Definitely not the same, but that salty, skin musk is nearly identical. I would allllllmost say that this would be a good replacement for Aegir, but I'm sure lavender fans would completely disagree.

Gothy cherry? I don't know how else to describe it. I wouldn't say musky. It's not dry. I guess it's got that tea note. What's interesting is that the cherry feels like it's sitting on top of Dorian, so the image on the bottle is very apt. I don't know why I was thinking that this was lime and poundcake for the longest time, and failed to review this. Must have been another Lilith I got it mixed up with. This has been sitting in my swap box for ages. Who wants an "aged" Dorian variant? 😄

This smells like THE BEST LAUNDRY! Sandalwood and sage, sweetened by the vanilla. Much different than the other trios I've tried. This is sweet and approachable. And from a simple skin test, I feel like this has a pretty good amount of throw. I might just amp the sandalwood, though. This is a really great blend.

I initially didn't enjoy this, it leaned too dry and masculine. I think the vetiver overpowers in the imp. Once on, the spiced rum sweetens up and mellows things out. This would be a great room scent for fall, but I wonder if it's my skin that is allowing things to blend together better. Maybe I'll experiment.

I didn't realize that this was Twilight Alchemy, so I don't know if these are meant to be reviewed differently or not. I just tried this on a bit of my wrist. I've been sitting on this for a while, I didn't realize no one else had reviewed it. This is so lemon baaaaaalm to me. I could be mis-interpreting the lemon peel and the passion flower, though. This very much smells like a good herbal tea with chamomile and lemon peel. It's got that overall herbal vibe that makes me want to spend some time in the garden.

Super good: I started off with a nearly empty bottle of Harigata II, added an imp of Blood Pearl. Added a small vial of OHWTO of Lost at Sea. And threw in another imp of Alkemia County Fair and Irrésistible. Bottle 1: (sweet, musky, sexy, currently labeled "Great Underpants for Womb Furie and Sinning) Great Sword of War, L'Enlèvement, Womb Furie 2012, Aelophile, Mag Mell, Sin, Solstice Scents Blueberry Violet Truffle, Arcana Bawd, Arcana Frilly Underpants, Alkemia Bohémiens en Voyage Bottle 2: (going for orange and tobacco): SN: Sweet Orange, Centzon Totochtin, Blodughadda, Only a Sip, The Antikythera Mechanism, Kali, Dee, Possets Ego, Pumpkin IV Bottle 3: (wanted to see if I could make Mischief wearable, currently labeled "weird") Mischief, Alkemia Carmen 7, Alkemia Echoed Ecstacy, Possets Chichicastenango, Possets Chivitavecchia, Possets Silver Carnation, Solstice Scents Rose Sugar Cardamom Bottle 4: (based off the theme, we've lovingly dubbed this "Halloween at Heidi's") Bordello, Yipe, Haus of Gloi Risque, Sin, Perversion, Scary Cat, Alkemia Trick or Treat, Alkemia Black Magic Woman Bottle 5: (berries, citrus, and light things): Bewitched, Bones of Capys, drop of Horny Panda, Delirium, Dead Leaves + Blackberries, Golden Priapus, The Dodo, Night-Gaunt, Dia de los Muertos 2012, Possets A Poem of Villeneuve St. Georges Bottle 6: (Red apples and red musk) Daruma Doll, Love Me, Veil, Tushnamatay, Skuld, Ogun, The Ifrit, Bard, Autumn Cider 2011, Arcana Apples Crave Cake, WoobieBath.com Hocus Pocus

I decided to try this on a whim in a swap. First impressions are woody, like maybe dried, woody lotus root? Not quite pencil shavings. Or maybe I'm amping the fir and sandalwood? I'm not getting anything sweet or bubblegummy. After a bit, the woodiness calms down. The fig starts to make it's way out. Then it has this clean smell of woodiness in a massage room. Half a day later...the woodiness is gone. It's like a sweet, creamy, kinda clean "floral". "Floral" makes me think really harsh, headache-inducing, but it's not. It's actually really wearable, but not very much sillage. I'm impressed with how long it stuck around, though.

I hate to say this, but my first thought is "Bath&Body Works". This smells similar to some of their summer coconut scents. Tropical and sweet, slightly creamy and clean; very approachable. I think the fig lends the "cream" and "clean" note. I love coconut scents, but this doesn't seem particularly nuanced. As time wears on, the coconut calms down a bit, but it's not interesting enough for me to keep.

This smells as great as everyone else notes, but once it hits my skin, there's something floral that turns and takes over. I'm going to guess the bergamot or broom flower. So, there's also these beautiful notes, but the amber and the acrid floral note are what dominate on me. After a while, the floral note goes away. It ends up being a strong amber on me.

Strangely enough, this one doesn't last very long on me. Maybe 2 hours. Spicy strawberry. I think @starbrow nailed it above. Kinda like an herbal Eat the Strawberries. It's great while it lasts on me, I just wanted it to stick around longer.

Totally smells like butterscotch in the bottle! Once on, it's strawberry candy. The marshmallow makes it very alluring, though. I want to keep sniffing my wrist. It lasted about 4 hours on me. After a while, the strawberry did go a little plasticky on me, but the marshmallow makes up for it, so it's not a huge turn-off.

This is gorgeous, but super light. I like my HGs with a bit more oomph. Sweet and pink, but not too heavy on the strawberry.