Invidiana

This is a true fresh coconut with a plenty of sweet rummy goodness and a light smoky background. I can't stress enough that tobacco in an oil is very different from cigarette smoke; it just gives it an ethereal hazy quality but doesn't reek of smoke. Of course, I also love anything with rum, especially sugary rum, and the rum in this is just that without being too alcoholic. Then again I'm personally just a sucker for booze notes in general, so take that as you will.

Hearth 05 is as cozy as Hearth 04, just with different notes. This one is more sticky, buttery goodness; I definitely get the rich candied chestnuts, deep oozing golden honey and just a hint of a smoky, woody background. I'm not really getting any pine out of this one becasue my skin tends to amp the sweet stuff so whatever pine there is isn't showing up. Not that it matters, because it's still delicious.

This is beautiful. It goes on a s pure tangy cherry goodness. Over time, the cherry remains predominant but darkens into something of a black cherry, and the whole blend deepens and develops rich woody and smoky undertones with just a hint of leather. The leather just blends smoothly into the background; it isn't a butch leather like that in Iago or De Sade at all (both of which are guy-sexy but just not for me). Hearth 04 is just warm, cozy and delicious, kind of like a yummy cherry dessert by the fireplace.

This is actually what I was hoping for Black Ice (which went terribly wrong on my skin) to smell like. If I smelled this without knowing what it was I'd probably call it Black Snow, because that's what it turns out like on me; not "dirty" at all but a darker version of the concept of snow. It's actually minty, sweet and creamy, and the earthy notes don't come out as dirt or earth or anything green at all but give it a sinister depth. I'm so glad I took a chance on this one because it's lovely on me.

I seriously think this is the sexiest, smuttiest Christmas scent I've ever smelled. I definitely get the red musk (which is one of my favorite notes) giving it a hot-sex-when-the-relatives-aren't-watching feel, along with a whirlwind of other favorite notes: red berries (definitely some hollyberry in there) warm spices (must be cinnamon, cardamom, clove), sugar cookies baking in the background, a faint whiff of evergreen from the Christmas tree in the distance. It really does encapsulate being naughty at Christmastime. Thank you to a very lovely forumite for this--you know who you are!

It's so sad that the jasmine in this does not play well with my skin, because I can tell the other three notes are lovely. Most types of jasmine just pull a cat-pee thing with my chemistry. It's a successfully done spicy-foody floral, but unfortunately, that particular floral doesn't like me.

Libertine definitely made me think of a Victorian dandy. Most of these ingredients were popular during that time, so the blend makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't say it's masucline--more like unisex. It's not really a "me" fragrance, a bit too perfumey/cologney for my personal taste, but I can appreciate the authenticity, because it really does bring to mind velvet smoking jackets and gold-tipped canes a la The Importance of Being Earnest.

Surprisingly, despite the mango (I just don't like eating the things) this actually worked really well on me. Apparently mango as an oil on my skin smells very different from the taste of actual mango in my mouth. It's actually somewhat reminiscent of a more lighthearted version of Mircalla, especially with the red musk coming into play, and if I hadn't known the fruit was mango I would have thought it was plum, one of my favorite notes.

I love the scent just as much as the label art. Once it dries down, it's a gorgeous golden honey musk with a hint of creaminess from the milk note. My nose is also detecting what seems to be a gentle background of warm woods and just a hint of spice, which is probably the "fuzzy brown" part of the honey musk in the description. There's also a touch of what I can only describe as night air--this is probably the whole trampled flowerbed element, though thankfully it doesn't come out green or distinctively floral on me at all, just like a night breeze wafting in through a crack in the window. Thankfully my chemistry doesn't turn this one all cloyingly powdery like it did with Ivanushka. It's a warm and comforting scent, perfect for giving me the illusion I'm just a little warmer in the freezing office I work in. It's right up there with Cake Smash and Lilith Victoria in my book. Hey Lilith! *waves from NJ* Keep inspiring your mom to make more fantastic scents like this!

This is a light, ethereal greenish floral, with the pear probably adding to the "green" quality. I appreciate the rendering of the concept--I imagine this to be the fresh innocent Juliet before her twisted venture into that whole pseuicide potion thing--but it's really not my type of scent.

This is mostly red fruits on me, and made me think of the Queen of Hearts' heart tarts for a moment till I realized this was a totally different queen in the same book (d'oh) with a background that reminded me more of piecrust than polished wood, thankfully.

I dont' know what Beth threw into this, I don't know why it's never been released, but it is just the most heavenly thing ever on me! In the bottle it's very woody, but once it dries down on my skin it turns into...wait for it...a buttery spiced fruit pie, think a blend of apples and dark woodland fruits, with a crackling fire in the background. I was huffing my wrist till the smell of dinner cooking actually convinced me to unglue my nose.

I don't know about black waters and eternal evil, but my skin at least turns this into pure cantaloupe Not only does it come out as cantaloupe, a note of doom for me in itself, but cloyingly sweet cantaloupe. I'm clearly not a chosen one of Cthulhu.

I wanted to love this one so bad, so bad....unfortunately it didn't love me. My skin amped something very, very pungent that came out like rancid dirt on me. It was possibly the mix of pine and patchouli that didn't do well with my chemistry, who knows. Hopefully someone else won't amp whatever I did and get a chance to enjoy it more.

I know this is both difficult to describe and actually believe till you smell this, but it actually is a "pink, lank and warm" scent. I'm so glad Beth chose that route for this Dickinson poem instead of taking the "worm" literally as an earthworm because I am not into very earth-heavy scents at all, lol. Being the lit nerd I am, "worm" can also mean "dragon" (i.e. Tolkien's Glaurung whose name literally means "Gold Worm") and this scent actually does match the image of a dragon more--a sleeping dragon--because while it isn't fiery, it's still warm. It isn't an astringent grapefruit at all, and not a candy grapefruit either, just warm, slightly tart, slightly sweet, kind of like gentle heat in a bottle. I think the tonka and frankincense really add to the warmth, and my skin amps frankincense more than grapefruit which I'm glad about. It's a gold-pink type of scent (there goes the synaesthesia again). I told you it was difficult to describe!

I was actually expecting this to be more honey-musky, and the spices to come out more, only because my skin tends to amp honey and most spices. I guess it's all about the proportion of the oils used here, which I have no idea about. Make no mistake, this is a beautiful scent, and the richer elements (honey, spices, musk) are there and add that voluptuous quality, but it may be a tad too floral for me. I'm wondering how it would be layered with something that has more honey and/or spice, though....

No, no, there's nothing "nuclear" about this scent, it's a gorgeous frosty wintermint with evergreen in the background The ozone gives it that particularly wintery quality, and the mint reminds me of those pink wintergreen mints , so if you put those in the fridge and threw in a Christmas tree you have Nuclear Winter. Love!

Wow. I've fallen completely head-over-heels in love with this scent thanks to a sniffie with just enough to test, and now there's no looking back. It's just gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Wet I got a hint of something faintly head-shop-ish, which worried me, but that goes away in a second once I put it on. Then it just turns into this absolutely intoxicating dark, sweet blend--some foodniess in there though not completely foody-- where I know each note is there but they all blend so well together that the combination seems to become one note all its own. I'm another one of those annoying people with synaesthesia and I'd characterize this one as a deep purple with reddish undertones--go figure, but that's what came to mind. It's a very mesmerizing and memorable scent, and I will not give up hunting it until I snag a bottle!

This comes out temptingly foody on me, probably because I amp honey (not that I have a problem with that!) and myrrh gives it more body. The patchouli isn't too strong but just enough to give it a dose of sexiness, and the cognac is there but not overwhelmingly boozy. The musk gives it that "come-hither" final touch. Thankfully I'm not getting any geranium; on skin like mine that amps sweet notes, they just overpower it. I love Baudelaire, and I think this blend definitely does that poem justice--sexy adn delicious!

This is simply a delicious creamy sweet almond--delicious! I'm not really getting any other notes, just the almond, and anything else just blends seamelessly into it. The fig probably adds to the richness. I'm very, very pleasantly surprised that the jasmine in the background didn't come out like cat pee on me (as it usually does when it's a dominant note) and ruin the whole thing.

There is no fungus/black incense/lichen in here at all, because if there was I would have scrubbed it off stat. It's actually like ripe fruit (no melons, thank goodness) and Christmas tree, with the evergreen-type note stronger wet and the fruit coming out more dry. It's sweet and festive, and I'm pleasantly surprised!

This is very, very sharp and peppery on me. I know pepper isn't listed in the notes but it really does seem like there's pepper in this, at least on my skin--the background is sweet and sinister, two things I love, but the peppery overtones my chemistry gives this are just too strong for me to wear. It does quiet down after it's dried down for a while and takes on a lot more of that sweet and sinister quality I mentioned before, but there still is some lingering sharpness--I'll have to try it again, maybe in a smaller dab this time.

This is basically the most indulgent, fattening dream dessert orgy ever possible in a scent. It's sweet, thick and downright mouthwatering! The vanilla, buttercream and caramel are the strongest notes, but the others definitely are evident. I don't really get a sense of the hops that much, but my skin amps sweet stuff and probably went crazy with all the sweets in there. This stuff is scentgasmic

This is very smoky and incensey with background of cedar and definitely does bring to mind images of a mountain village in the Himalayas. It's not really a "me" scent, but I can appreciate it.

Aaaack, this one is just not me. It's my two least favorite types of notes combined into one: dirt and green. Very, very much like moist earth and rotting plants. I know some people like that stuff but I'm on the other end of the spectrum.