valentina

Well. With great anticipation (and probably expectations), I tested Dragon's Milk. In the bottle, it was very sweet Dragon's Blood with an additional touch of creamy vanilla. Once it hit my skin, and upon initial drydown, it was Dragon's Blood and vanilla, and reminded me a teense of Snake Oil, only sweeter. Then the Dragon's Blood blew up and took over. And then it blew up and took over some more, until it was really overwhelming. After about a half-hour, it was pure Dragon's Blood. I'd received a frimp of Dragon's Blood from the Lab with my order, and I dabbed a bit on my other hand to compare. No difference. My body chem simply allowed the Dragon's Blood to nuke out all the other components of the scent. I was sooooo hoping this would be another classic scent for me, because it is for so many people, but this wasn't the one. Unless you're someone who has similar "issues" with Dragon's Blood, this is a lovely scent in the bottle and I'm sure, on the body. It's just not for me.

In the imp, Salome is jasmine, but with something else cutting its power, and I can't quite figure out what. The color of the blend is rather dark -- not as dark as Snake Oil or Smut, but still, a rather dark, resinous looking blend. Once it hits my skin, it's mainly jasmine with almond. Almond and jasmine are often monsters on my skin, and almond really likes to take over, but bam! Jasmine pins almond to the mat! After a few minutes, a dark, resiny background begins to form, probably a result of the sandalwood and musk, and it begins to smell very much like a jasmine incense. The oakmoss is alos really there, and while I normally don't care for oakmoss in a scent, here it really works to add some depth and a bit of a darkly green-outdoors scent to the fragrance. This will probably sound weird, but on me, Salome smells like Snake Oil if the vanilla in Snake Oil was removed and replaced by jasmine. I did not expect to like it, but it's really very exotic, very nice -- I am a fan of both Siren and Snake Oil, and this blend has elements of both. Amazingly, it's going on the "buy a bottle" list.

I first received a decant imp of Pumpkin Patch 2 as a frimp in a swap, and then I swapped with the Divine Ms. Sookster for a bottle, because I love it that much! It starts out as a chocolately, nutty, pumpkin. After a bit it turns spicier on me, but remains rich, dark and completely yummy. It's not a tremendously sweet scent, I think because the pumpkin cuts the sweetness of the chocolate and hazelnut, but it's very "round" and warm, with a certain richness. It's rather hard to describe, except it's a nice comfort scent that still has a certain lickable sexiness to it.

O is my "second skin" scent, so I thought La Petite Mort might be second skin with a little oomph on me. In the imp, it's much more of a floral, powdery scent, rather genteel and femme. When it hits my skin, it's pleasantly floral and sweet at first, but then what is apparently my nemisis, myrrh, kicks in. For a resin, myrrh seems to go very powdery on me -- it really overpowers the round, buttery floral of the ylang-ylang and what I think is honey and maybe pale musk. It isn't terrible, but because the myrrh is such a bully, I think La Petit Mort won't be the "second skin plus" scent that I hoped it would be. My body chemistry does terrible things to my expectations! For anyone who likes O and can wear myrrh, I think this would be deadly sexy.

I love the Love Lies Bleeding plant a great deal -- I've planted it a lot over the years, and I know that the "flower" itself really doesn't have much of a smell at all, so this scent is evocative of the visual nature of the plant and maybe also of its history. It's impressionistic rather than realistic, and I love that notion. But as a result of being so into this plant and knowing a bit about it, I'm going to over-intellectualize this review, so here goes:

 

Since Love Live Bleeding blooms were worn by Swedish knights on the front of their armor to symbolize fidelity, I expected to smell Dragon's Blood, since knights and dragons just go together in my head -- and I do pick up a bit of Dragon's Blood, but not to excess. I also expected to smell a bit of amaranth, since Love Lies Bleeding is an ornamental amaranth, and I do get an undertone of a slight grainy smell. (A prior review mentioned a smell of roasted grain, and I have to believe that's the amaranth in the blend.) There's also a whiff of dirt, but again, it is slight. What I mainly smell on my skin when this scent dries down is akin to a blend of rooibos tea that I drink, which includes the red rooibos tea, but also rose petals, sunflower petals and blue mallow petals. I also smell iris and maybe a little violet -- flowers that might all be growing around the Love Lies Bleeding. It's a red-blue-purple-ish smell, very deep and velvety, but also very organic.

 

I think it's a wonderful olfactory picture of the plant -- very vivid, very lovely.

In the bottle, 13 smells very complex, for there's chocolate, vanilla, citrus and floral/herbal elements present, but no once scent is predominate. When I first put it on my body, I get a lot of chocolate and vanilla, but it's not especially sweet -- this is the smell of the beans, not of the sugared confections. Then the orange element kicks in and I have a dark chocolate orange smell, with a dusting of nutmeg, for 10 or 15 minutes. That is nice -- it smells like a gormet dark truffle. Then my body starts amping the sandalwood, geranium and lavendar, and everything goes sour. Bummer, bummer, bummer. My body just can't hold the sweet and tart contrasting elements of this scent, and the complexity is muddled into something that just doesn't work for me. I love the simplicity of the label art, I loved the look of this bottle sitting on my shelf, but my bottle of 13 will find a new home where it can be properly worn and loved for its complex beauty.

Wow, is this a crazy blend. ( Bad joke! Bad joke!) In the imp, Mania is sweet and musky, a lot like Hollywood Babylon. And I had two different reactions to Mania on my skin. At first I put on just a teensy bit, and I got a nice warm voluptous red musk with a sharp fruity, almost spicy, undertone. I thought I was in love, so I put on more than a tiny dot, but not that much -- just a small swipe. Uh-oh! The evil fruity scents just sit there and scream. Seriously -- on me, they really scream -- it's strawberry and grapefruit in some sort of a "Crossfire" debate. The musk sits there and steams away in the background, but that's only evident when I sniff closely enough to get past the dueling fruits. My tendency to be unable to wear fruit, unless it's in just the right blend, continues to hold true, and I do so wish Mania would have smelled the way it did after I used just a teeny tiny dot. I think that for lovers of both fruit and musk smells, this would be a gorgeous, sexy scent full of great juxtapositions.

In the imp, Horreur Sympathique is redolent of honey and wine. Very heady and sweet. Once it hits my skin, it's very round, sweet and grapey. This scent has a lot of elements that I very much enjoy in other blends, but this combination simply morphs in an odd way on my skin. Honey can turn a bit sour on my skin and wine smells can go heavily sweet, and this happens with HS, and the other elements of the scent are simply overwhelmed. I smell like really sweet skunky wine, not too attractive unless I'm out courting a wino. I think for skin types that hold all the elements of the blend, this would be a rich, sweet-fruity-winey smell that would be deep and intriguing.

In the imp, Miskatonic University smells like boozy coffee to me, or something like a cross between hot buttered rum and coffee. Once it's on my skin and through initial drydown, it smells like a caffe latte with a flavored syrup. After it's had a bit of time to thoroughly dry down, all the components of the scent are there, and I smell a dusty library in an old building with a lot of oak woodwork, and someone nearby is drinking a caffe latte with a shot of hazelnut syrup. For once, my body allows all the components of a scent to stand together without one dominating the others. Misk U is an amazing juxtaposition of scents. It holds together and doesn't morph, and it has good lasting power and throw. It's very much a bookish scent, but not austere -- it has warmth and richness. Love it!

I agree with olympia's suggestion of Ravenous, it is a beautiful blend. I didn't see Vixen mentioned above, and it has orange blossom, patchouli and ginger. It's very pretty.

 

I never considered myself a florals sort of person, and I especially eschewed jasmine. But I really love Siren. It has ginger, apricot, jasmine and vanilla in it and I consider it in the same family as Ravenous and Vixen. I always thought it was very strange-sounding combination, and then I received it as a frimp from the Lab and tried it. Wow, it is wonderful; no one element of the blend stands out; it's very mysterious and wonderful. I actually like it better than Ravenous and Vixen, and I like them a lot, and it actually gets more of a reaction of the males of the species than the other two.

I am a Leo and I can't believe all the Leos haven't come rampaging over yet, to carry out about being a sun sign. What, Leos, carrying on about themselves?

 

Anyway, on others, I tend to like dark, earthy scents (vetiver, patchouli), leather, tobacco, chocolate and musk. I also like vanilla. And some green scents, but moreso when they are combined with earthy scents. Generally, really warm-to-hot scents, like cinnamon and ginger aren't my favorites unless they're mellowed with something. I think it depends on how much fire is in your sun sign person, but the really "hot" scents tend to make me wince. I'm not big on aquatics, on me or anyone else.

I don't see mention of Dorian yet, and that is a most yummy light musk in him!

In the imp, Quincey is leather, but in a buttery, buckskin sort of way. No hard black leather here. When it hits my skin, it's again soft leather that quickly dries down into a really nummy rush of pear and vanilla. Then after 5 minutes, it's back to the soft leather smell that's backed up by the mild sweetness of the pear and vanilla. If my body would not amp leather to degree that it does, Quincey would hold greater potential, but I do largely consider it a manly-man scent in a good-guy sort of way. Absurd as this sounds, it's how I imagine Marshall Dillon on "Gunsmoke" would have smelled.

In the imp, Follow Me Boy smells like jasmine, and once it hits my skin, it is similarly jasmine, but in a good sort of way. There is also a slightly herbal smell; maybe lavendar? There is also something in the blend that gives it a slight powdery quality after a bit -- maybe a light amber or pale musk? But the jasmine-herb-powder smell is really very nice and pretty; and it lasts. I put it on my wrist at 9 p.m. and it's very present about 10 hours later! (Why do I write reviews at 7 a.m.? Can anyone tell me that?) Anyway, as to its efficacy, I haven't worn it out in public, but I'm sure that any male who's roused by jasmine would love this scent.

 

ETA: I layered FMB under some Siren (very compatable scents) and went forth into my day. It has its effects, because I left home feeling rather growly and not at all pretty, and I've had an inordinate number of people tell me that I look great, or that there's just something about me today...

In the imp, Has No Hanna is gold and floral -- a buttery, rich, round sort of floral. On my skin, it is again floral, but not in a cloying, unbearable way; to me, it seems to have ylang-ylang or some exotic smell that is rich and nectary. There must be something else in this blend to cut the extreme floral aroma, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what it would be -- maybe a bit of ginger or pepper? I wore a few drops of Has No Hanna for the first time simply to test out its power on an evening when I felt a bit troubled and dark, and it certainly had the intended effect. While this may not be a scent that I would wear simply for its fragrance, I am keeping my imp because of its brightening and uplifting qualities.

 

Edited to correct my whacky spelling.

I've found that if there's a sweet/milky/foody element to a scent, there also needs to be something to cut the sweetness -- such as the lemon in Dorian or the ginger in Sudha Segara. Maybe in Midway, it's the salt that gives the edge and the contrast? (I've never tried it, so that's just a guess.) Scents like Hellcat or Cockaigne are OK on me at first, but then they get cloying and overwhelming and vaguely nauseate me, so I know of what you speak!

In the bottle, Trick #2 gets a big "mmmmmmm..." for its depth and smoothness. You could simply fall into this scent by sniffing it alone; I can really pick up the oak-aged vanilla in the bottle. On my skin, the pomegranate and pine intially fuse to create a bright scent that for a moment almost seems a bit citrus-like; but that calms down very quickly and everything takes it place within this blend. I find a great similarity to Mme. Moriarty, obviously because of the patchouli and the pomegranate. However, this is how Mme. Moriarty would smell if she was a fortune teller in a secluded cabin in the midst of a dark forest -- the muskiness of Moriarty is replaced by pine, berries and smokiness. This is a beautiful, wonderful fall-winter scent that's very sexy and arousing!

 

ETA: To me, this scent is the love child of Mme. Moriarty and Golden Priapus. H.O.T.!

In the bottle, Theodosius is very strong, masculine and not at all sweet. The initial application on my skin, before drydown, is where the resemblance to Dorian most strikes me -- the fougere, musk and vanilla really bloom and I get a shot of that tart-but-sweet Dorian essence. Then Theo dries down and it becomes something altogether different, because the bergamot essence of the Earl Grey tea leaps out, but most pleasantly so. It's crisp and clean. After an hour or so, I detect the undertone of the jasmine leaf, which seems like a greener and less heavily floral jasmine. I am so lucky, this is a scent where the balance of the components holds on my skin, so I can't say that any one element is dominant. Theo also has a nice amount of holding power -- I put some on about 4 hours ago and I can still pick up its crisp, clean scent.

 

Theodosius is my idea of a "clean" scent -- it's not too sweet or too citrusy or too musky or too vanilla-y or too floral; I do sound like Goldilocks, but this one is just right.

In the imp, I smell Dragon's Blood and rose, but very little wine, at least not to the extent that I smell wine in scents like Wanda or Urd. Once it's on my skin, I do smell all three elements, a first the wine and blood, with rose in the background. When it dries down, the rose does its monster thing on my skin and takes over the scent -- damn my body chemistry and rose! I was hoping that the Dragon's Blood and wine might muscle their way in, but this scent stays predominately of rose with a bit of Dragon's Blood (and just a bit) in the background. Once th rose finally burns off, there's very little of the Dragon's Blood or wine remaining. I am simply not a big fan of rose scents, but I think anyone who enjoys rose and whose body chemistry could hold the balance of this scent, would enjoy it greatly.

Mme. Moriarty, in the bottle, has that same musky scent as Smut, only not as strong, with some very fruity-plum undertones. Once it hits my skin, the red musk amps up, again very much like Smut. Then the patchouli leaf takes over, and I do think that the patchouli leaf scent is different, because it smells the way a patchouli leaf smells when you pick it off of a live plant and break it open. It has that patchouli oil smell, but there's also a lot of green leafiness. I also pick up the vanilla bean, and it's not a sweet, creamy vanilla, it's the pungent bean. I'd agree with kakiphony's prior review, that this brings an almost sandalwood-like smell to the mix.

 

What's fascinating about this scent is that it can smell very different if I catch a quick whiff of it, or if I hold my arm up to my nose and take a longer, more detailed inhalation. The quick whiff brings more musk and plum, and if I smell it at closer range, the patchouli leaf and vanilla bean take over my impressions. While this scent has been frequently compared to both Smut and Snake Oil (and Snake Charmer, but I've never smelled that one), it's very different to me, because it doesn't have the sweetness of either blend. Everything in Mme. Moriarty has a bit more of an edge.

 

I never write reviews that are this long, but damn, this scent is fascinating, and to get to the point, I do like it! It has layers in it that intrigue me, and it's a multi-bottle keeper!

Normally I do really restrained reviews in a certain sequence, and I'll try to be that way again, but doods, I have no idea what is happening to this scent on my body. In the bottle, I adore Chrysanthemum Moon; it's dark and smoky, but there's an undertone of green. Just lovely. Then I put it on my body, and at first the scent is predominately floral, but it's very spicy, opium-laced way. Then it morphs...into something. Whatever my body is amping smells just like body odor. It's not a warm, round musky smell (as in Smut or Fenris Wolf) or a white musk smell. I'm thinking that the "body warmed perfume" in the scent description is something that turns pretty pungent on me. Heck if I know, but my farmhand body chemisty shoots this gorgeous scent all to hell. Someone is going to be getting my bottle so this lovely scent will be worn properly!

Queen Mab is one of those scents that I was frimped about a year ago and refused to even test, because I was so easily frightened away by florals as a BPAL noob. With a year of testing and the discovery that florals need not always send fear into my heart, I ventured forward with the Mab. In the imp, it's rich and complex; there's a real depth to this fragrance. My body is a rose-amping machine, and I can tell there's rose in this blend, but there's so much going on that the intensity of the rose blowing up is held down. After a half-hour or so, the rose calms down (or burns off) and what's left is a very calm, sandalwood-skin musk smell with a basis of floral. I can't really pick one particular floral out of the mix, they all work very well in concert. Queen Mab is really very discreet and understated; it is not a girly scent, but rather one of a full-blown woman.

In the imp, Endymion has a nice pear whiff with a floral/soapy undertone. When it hits my skin, I do get a big hit of pear and lily of the valley for about 30 seconds, when the rose then takes over. Rose always takes over on my skin! Then, after about 10 minutes, it turns to a fabric softener smell. Not unpleasant, just soapy/fabric softener. This is how Dirty was supposed to smell on me, and it didn't. While a fresh soapy smell isn't especially my style, the scent on its own (without my skin interfering) would be nice either as a household scent or as a fragrance for dried flower petals. It's very lovely and feminine.

In the new GC release category, be sure to check out Cockaigne! I have been pimping that scent all over the forum today, but it certainly has its share of honey, for all those Poo Bear hunny lovers!

In the bottle, Midnight on the Midway is mainly a dusty, sugary floral. Once it's on my body, it initially turns into that same dusky floral with a bit of sweetness. I'd assume the night-blooming florals might include lily and maybe cereus, because it's sweet, but not brightly floral or extremely heady. I keep coming back to the word "dusky," because that's the mood of the floral scent that I'm picking up. This is the aroma that lasts for about an hour, and then burns off so the sugary incense kicks in. It is yummy! On me, unfortunately, my body eats up the sugary incense smell the way I'd eat cotton candy and it's largely gone after another hour. This is a dark, mysterious sort of scent with very intriguing layers. It really is like a darkened circus midway on a summer night, with the flowers in bloom and the overtones of the circus smoke and sugar lingering in the air. It's pretty, yet a bit foreboding and mysterious, and I love that; I only wish my body chemistry didn't do such silly things with the scent.