theandorran

I was frimped this by the lab. It's always funny to me how the lab sometimes frimps me things I never would have thought of for myself, but I end up liking. In the bottle: It smells like gummy fruits to me. I'm not sure why. I love the lab's dragon's blood note and it doesn't usually smell fruity to me, really. But it definitely smells like those gummies you get in individual packages and take in your lunchbox when you're young. I imagine it's the red wine and dragon's blood doing something funky together. Wet: More or less the same to me. Dry: The rose comes out and it smells dark and heavily floral. A dark, damp red rose. Next to some gummies.

I got Season of Ghosts because, save for the mysterious rose geranium, every note in it is a love for me. And I'm in no way disappointed. In the bottle: Citrusy, though I can't quite place which of the citruses that I'm getting. They're all sort of blended together in a bright, sparkly scent. There's also something else lingering there I can't quite place. I'm guessing it's rose geranium. It's flowery but not floral, if that makes any sense. Wet: All I really get wet is blood orange. Ripe, juicy, bright blood orange. Not complaining, though. Dry: Soft, bright, and smells like lemongrass. Softened somewhat by frankincense and the rose geranium. It's so happy and bright and it kind of smells like sunlight.

I'm with Xanon that this is a 'cool' peach scent and I was actually rather surprised. I was expecting something much warmer and juicier and... peachier. On me, the magnolia and peach blend together into this one sweet, planty, fruity scent. It's hard for me to describe what Josie smells like because it reminds me of something I might have smelled at my grandma's, but I'm not sure of what. I get peaches, and this odd note I can only describe as planty. It's not herbal and not floral... it's not precisely magnolia. It's... the way I'd picture peach branches smelling, I guess. I'm a little disappointed, because it doesn't smell the way I pictured it, but then, I also really love it. It gets better and peachier for me as it dries down.

I'm with MillieCurie. This smells like a candy cane in bottle form. Fresh, minty, cool, sugary, and yummy. It doesn't have much staying power on me, though, unfortunately.

In the bottle: Flaky pastry, sweetness, and cherries. It smells like cherry pie to me. No apricot, and if there's any spijs, it's not really coming through. Wet: Same as above, more or less. Dry: Mmmm. Buttery, vanillay, and fruity. The cherry isn't as prominent. More apricot, I think, though to be honest, I'm not 100% sure I could tell you what apricot smells like. Still not sure about the spijs. I'm not getting almond, but that might be the pastry-ish sweetness I'm getting. I'm really glad I went for this one with my Yules. It's really lovely.

Oh, Morocco. How I love you. You are like the pajamas just out of the drier of perfumes. No, it doesn't smell like that, but that's the feeling that smelling Morocco gives me. Warm and cozy and clean. Someone else said that it was a pink scent to them. To me, it's a soft, creamy white color. Like many others, I smell vanilla, but it's not too sweet. It's just slightly spicy. Creamy. Also kind of dry. If I close my eyes, I can picture a warm, dry Arabian wind licking my face. One of my all-time favorites.

I wanted to try all the Haunted House scents -- looooved the concept. The decant of this I have is probably not enough. Because I love this so much. Normally I don't like florals that much. But I don't get florals from this, oddly. It's a scent that evokes feelings more than notes. I get feelings of old linen, dusty sunlight, broken china... This is just so beautifully blended and gorgeous. The most prominent notes to me are vanilla (huh?) and sandalwood -- I think that's what's giving it a certain warmth.

For me, the best blends that Beth makes don't morph. They don't have super strong notes. They just are. And this is definitely one of them. The only thing that really stands out is the peach blossom, but I can sense how the other notes come into play. It's soft, light, floral, and slightly creamy. Really lovely, girly, and summery. I love it.

In the bottle: I can't place what this smell is. It's very odd. Maybe it's the benzoin? Or unguents? I'm not sure what either of these would smell like. But it's odd notes I can't place. No feeling associated with them, either. Sorry, this isn't very helpful. Wet: Florals? What? A woody kind of floral. Cypress vines, maybe? Annnd... a touch of caramel. I was hoping for more caramel, more musk, more honey. But the sweet caramel accord is just barely there. Dry: As it dries, the sweetness disappears. It becomes something that I think I smelled in a magazine sample or a department store once. Very generic men's cologne. Chemically, with weird, can't quite place it notes. Sad. This sounded promising, but I think my skin turns it into a mess.

In bottle: Herbal notes are always strongest to my nose, no matter how prevalent they seem to be to everyone else, and what else is in the blend. That's why the Conjure Bag is a huge no for me even though I want to love it. But anyway. In the bottle, this is a green, herbal smell. It conjures up the image of a fuzzy sage leaf. Definitely the sage is most prominent, and I'm not getting much else. Wet: Still herbal, though not distinctly sagey. A lot of the time, when I put an oil on my skin, all of the notes get muddled as they morph, I've noticed, and I can't pinpoint any notes, just feelings. And the feeling I'm getting is green, mountainous, and airy. Dry: Ahhh, here comes the jasmine. Unlike a lot of others I've seen on the forum, jasmine is a floral I like. Rose and lily I can take or leave, but jasmine has personality to me. Heavy, heady jasmine, with a kind of woody base note. It's a very warm, distinctive smell. This isn't what I would have expected from something called Ave Maria Gratia Plena (I would have thought... rose, and incense, but that's me). It's a nice blend on my skin, if not in the bottle, so I'm going to keep the imp, though I don't think it's bottle-worthy.

In the bottle: It smells kind of like Big Red to me. Cinnamony and sweet. Wet: Still Big Red to me, though sweeter. Dry: The dragon's blood really comes out, and though it's still cinnamony and peppery and yummy. I don't know if it's bottle-worthy, but I love it.

It's funny, when I smell this in the bottle, it smells exactly like the color red to me. Maybe it's the cherry, but it's not something I would have automatically identified as cherry without looking at the notes. Unfortunately, it turns soapy floral on my skin, which is less than nice. Edited to add: Okay, I thought I had this scent pinned down, because normally scents don't morph on me after they've dried. However, after only five minutes, I sniffed my wrist and got something completely different from the soapy floral there was there five minutes ago. It's a really strange scent and I have been sitting here, trying to figure out what the scent reminded me of, because it was FAMILIAR, but I couldn't place it. And then I realized it smells exactly like the beach house my parents rented in South Carolina for years. The scent of sunscreen and salt water rubbed into furniture along with one of those strange but not unpleasant 'other people's house' smells, if you know what I mean. It's a nice memory, but the thing that my skin turns this into is kind of bizarre considering the notes listed.

In bottle: Sweet, not really spicy, but lots of what I think is magnolia. Wet: Still sweet, not really floral, but definitely a planty aura. It's not a sharp herbal, but definitely herby to me. Dry: Mmm. The oleander really comes through, with lots of sweetness. A heady sort of scent, probably a little too sweet for my tastes, but still nice.

In the bottle: I was both cautious and optimistic to try this, because honey and bergamot are just some of my favorite things. But then... anything overly floral and I run for the hills... Not because it necessarily smells bad, but because they never seem to fit with my scent "personality." Luckily for me, I don't really get florals from this. In the bottle, it's sweet and citrusy and yummy. Like Earl Grey with lemon. Wet: On my skin, it's more or less the same as in the bottle, but slightly creamier. That, I'm guessing, is the milk coming through. Dry: Ahh, on the dry-down, everything really starts to come together. Alice is sweet and creamy and citrusy, with a hint of spiciness (carnation?) and yet girliness (the rose?). I don't really pick up the notes of the florals, but more of a feel that they give the scent, just a touch of sweetness and femininity that makes it really lovely. I have to consider whether I want a big bottle of this or just want to hoard imps. HMMM.

And suddenly, I am overcome by a strong urge to layer this with my brand new bottle of Shub. Anyway, on to the actual review. Suck It came to me exactly as promised. Sexy, yummy, delectable. Loooots and lots of cherry in the bottle and wet. I get a really genuine, fresh, black cherry, the kind that my brother and I used to eat as kids -- we would have contests to see who could spit the pits the furthest. It's safe to say that this scent brings back fond memories. On me, the booziness comes out when it dries, and it's faint, but there. I love it, love it, love it.

Florals, florals, florals. Not really worth the trouble of dividing it up in stages because this isn't a morpher on me. It starts floral and stays floral. I'm not very good at picking out individual floral notes when they're all together like this, but I get lily of the valley, maybe? Some jasmine. Not really rose or carnation. I'm not getting any of the citrus, either, which makes me sad. No tangerine or bergamot.

I was really interested to compare this to New Orleans, because I really wanted a scent that worked for me and had that damp Southern feel. In general, I found Bayou a lot more agreeable to me. In the bottle: Very heavy florals, with just a hint of sharpness. I'm getting lots of magnolia, but a damp, wilted kind of magnolia. Lazy magnolias that no one has bothered to prune. Wet: Whoa florals. The sharpness is mostly gone, replaced by very, very heavy magnolia. Like a wafting southern breeze. Right next to a magnolia bush. Almost too much floral, for my taste. Dry: Okay, the florals are dying down some now. Which, for me, is good. The magnolia was very overpowering to my nose. Now it's slightly sharper, with the cypress coming through, but still mostly damp, lazy magnolia. It's just a little better balanced. I'm not getting any of the green or aquatic from the description in any stages. Not sure why. It's probably good because green and aquatic usually don't work for me. As for what I've got, I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it yet. I like the way that it smells, but I'm not sure I can picture wearing it. I'm not sure if it's my scent 'personality,' but this is how I feel about most florals. Edited to add: On me, at least, this stuff is STRONG. Most bpals and I'm lucky if the scent lasts until the end of the day without reapping. It's been 24 hours and a shower since I put Bayou on and I STILL get magnolias when I put my wrist to my nose. Wow.

I've really wanting to try Ecstasy of Infatuation -- it sounds so divine. I'm looking for something similar in the GC because I'm looking at the ebay auction right now and the price just keeps going up and up and up. Any suggestions?

I was looking forward to this because I loved the name... I think I need to learn right now that the Conjure Bag scents are too herbal for my tastes before I go through trying them all and end up disappointed and short of money. In the bottle: Herbal and a little plasticy. This is the impression I get out of a lot of light, herbal scents. I always wonder if that's the notes of the perfume or if I'm smelling the imp cap, because the smell of plastic always seems so strong to me. Already not wild about it, but I'm going to try it on just to see. Wet: Still herbal, but suddenly it's really sweet. Like, sugared herbs? Not that anyone sugars herbs, but I don't know how else to describe it. Dry: Okay, now the sweetness is gone... It's like that note appeared and then evaporated when it hit my skin. Now I'm getting a kind of sage and rose mixture, maybe a hint of lavender. Very floral and herbal at the same time. It smells like these air fresheners that my church used to have in their bathrooms. Not a pleasant association. I can see why other people would like this, but really, it's just not for me. :-\

I swapped from a friend with this in my Find An Aquatic that Works On Me Search, because almost ALL of my first order were aquatic, and they were... nice in bottles but less than successful on my skin. But I think I've found one! At least this doesn't turn to soap or bugspray as soon as it hits my skin. In the bottle: Definitely an aquatic scent, with the tingle of a cool sea breeze and bay rum. Lots and lots of really bay rum, which gives it a slightly boozy sweetness. It's what I would imagine drinking a rum and a coke on the beach would smell like. Very nice. Wet: Getting lots more of the sea breeze. Still sweet, but slightly tempered. I'm guessing that's the driftwood and leather just undercutting the bay rum. Dry: This is exactly what it smells like to stand on a beach. Smelling the sea air, light and wet and salty. The bay rum is just barely there now, with just a hint of sweetness, which is nice. This is what I'd wear if I wanted to smell like I just came home from the beach (and now I'm reminding myself of that Seinfeld episode ). This is the first aquatic scent that I've tried and liked on my skin, so it's definitely a success for me. Not quiiiite sure if it's bottle worthy, but I'm finding that I never smell leather in blends, it just does really nice things on my skin.

In the bottle: Very strong tea rose, the same kind of rose that I smelled in London. It's nice, but I'm not sure that it's that exciting. Wet: It turns a little soapy on my skin wet, which had me worried. The rose is still there, but it's melding with something else (resulting in the soapiness? I'm not sure). It's hard to describe what it is, exactly. I'm sure that that's the leather, but it's not really recognisable as such. Dry: Okay, the soapiness is gone, which is good. I was concerned all I'd get was soap on. Now I get a muted rose, darker and more dramatic than a standard rose scent. It's almost musty-smelling. Nice, but I'm not sure it's a favorite.

In the bottle: Very lemony, with a touch of sweetness. Not getting lemon pledge at all, just a nice, lemony sweetness, almost like lemon meringue. Wet: Same as in the bottle. A nice, fresh, clean lemony scent. Dry: The sweetness dies a little bit now, and I get the white musk in an earthy sort of undertone, but the lemon is still there. A very nice surprise. A*

Was frimped this by the lab. So far I've been trying to avoid overly sexual scents because I'm nervous my parents will discover I'm wearing something called Jailbait or something and freak out. And this does not really smell like an attractant to me. :-\ In the bottle: I get this really weird, industrial, plastic smell from it. I'm not sure why. I'm not really getting any of the herbal or greenery or floral anyone else is talking about. Just... plastic. At first I was wondering if I was somehow just smelling the imp cap, because I couldn't believe I was getting plastic from BPAL. Very unpleasant to my nose, but I'm going to try it on anyway, because hey... you never know. Wet: Pretty much the same as in the bottle, except now it's on my skin. Still not liking this at all. Dry: Okay, the plastic is gone and instead I'm getting something very soapy and slightly floral. Maybe like Dove soap? It's definitely more pleasant than the plastic I was getting wet, but it's definitely not a favourite of mine.

I got frimped this by the lab. It's not something I probably would have tried on my own, and now I understand why. All I get is Vicks, Vicks, Vicks, Vicks. It's really sharp. I like the pretty green color in the bottle, but that's about it. Definitely putting this up for swaps.

In the bottle: Wow. I don't know how Beth does it, but somehow this scent manages to perfectly touch on my scent memory of New Orleans. Lots of jasmine, and other things that I can't quite place... Just a hint of citrusy tang, maybe the honeysuckle coming through, but there are lots of other things just under the surface, mingling together and creating that wonderful scent that isn't any placeable thing, it just is New Orleans. Wet: It turns sharp just as it hits my skin, and I'm getting a bit of the insect repellent vibe. Far too sharp to my nose, I had to turn my head away while waiting for it to dry. Dry: It's better once it dries, the bug spray vibe dies away, but instead all I get is the jasmine. Slightly decaying, mossy jasmine, but jasmine none the less. It's VERY strong at first, almost too much so, and I still can't decide if I love it or hate it. As I keep sniffing, there's almost a kind of aftershavey scent to it. I love it in the bottle, but I don't think this is a scent I can really wear. I've worn this twice now and I keep sniffing myself, trying to decide if I love it or hate it on, but it's died before I made up my mind both times!