Invidiana

Wild English roses, French gardenia, vanilla, honey, golden ginger, blood orange, pine resin, pink pepper, crushed berries, tuberose, bergamot, and geranium. I was pleasantly surprised by this one. On me it's mainly a mix of the roses, oranges and sweet notes wtih a soft floral undertone and a zing of pink pepper. It's a stirring and vivacious scent; not sure if it's me, but still pretty.

Argh, I don't think lotus and rose mix well on my skin. Either alone in a different blend is fine--Bastet has lotus and worked on me, and I have many rose blends that work on me as well--but the two together just don't agree with my body chemistry and take on a certain steaming-dog-poop undertone when mixing with it. Oh well.

This is sexy, golden and fierce. The combination of amber and musk is just a win-win all around, which probably accounts for most of the reason why this is so sensual. The additional fierceness is probably the saffron, which I've never actually smelled on its own, and the undercurrent of sweetness is the almond and lotus talking. I get just a hint of cardamom, which is a lovely complement. Bastet really is fit for an Egyptian goddess!

I could have sworn there was anise in this, which I love, but the blend of these notes probably comes out to something similar to anise but more woody. It really does make me think of those old-school saloons, and there's a leathery feel to it as well even though there is no leather note in the description. The sarsparilla adds a nice root beer type of feel to everything else. I definitely get the feel of wood, leather and sweet booze...this is probably another imp that's turning into a bottle...

This is another imp that's eventually going to turn into a bottle after all the holiday mayhem dies down. It's actually a really great summer scent for people like me who don't do the typical "summery" banana, papaya, mango, pina colada etc. The first note that comes out immediately is the salty and refreshing sea spray, and it dries down still retaining that vibe but also the richness of the leather and woods and that wicked but not overbearing splash of bay rum. Yarrrrr

This is thick, rich and divine. It's definitely true to deep dark coffee, and the booze is there but just a complimentary accent, not overkill. The mocha touch works out great on my skin, but my skin tends to do well with chocolate blends in general. Like with Gluhwein, I'm going to seek out a recipe for something similar to this too.

Wow, this is just wonderful and totally worth the wait. I lost it not once but twice on eBay (which I'm quitting for a couple months because I just have issues with eBay) and finally found a kind forumite who put her bottle on the chopping block. It was everything I hoped for and more: I was expecting spiced wine for sure, and the wine is not boozy at all but just a red-fruity base for the spices and pleasant hint of tartness from the citrus rind. What really came to the forefront on me that I just loved was the honey; thick, rich, golden honey that just blended perfectly with the rest. Thanks to this I've been inspired to hunt down a recipe for real gluhwein! It's going to be a very merry Christmas indeed

This was an extremely kind gift, you know who you are, and though I know none of us are mind-readers here, by a really lucky chance you definitely hit the nail on the head that I love clove! I adore clove, and to my delight I amp it too (as I found out with Samhainophobia), which only makes it even more beautiful mingling with the resins and woods in this blend. Those three are the prominent notes for me in Zenobia, and in addition there is also a certain earthy fierceness that comes out, if that makes any sense, which makes me think of a warrior maiden running through the woods to hunt down the enemy. I am so happy I have a bottle of this, and maybe I should give it a go when hunting those of the male persuasion...

I almost cried when I sniffed this one because it reminded me of a certain evergreen potpourri that we had in the house when I was a kid and my grandma was still around in the days before dementia got the better of her. But it is quite lovely; sweet evergreens, the evergreens of which I'm guessing are sweetened by the florals, covered in a chilly blanket of winter-minty snow. Grandma passed on a couple years ago, but I'm so glad I have a scent that will forever remind me of her.

Ha, I am not "nice", and you could probably guess what's on the way to my doorstep from this year's Inquisition. However, there are many "nice" scents I adore, and this is one of them. I'm not getting any lemon or florals at all, really; what comes to mind when I wear this is a sparkling winter scene of snow-covered evergreens with the added candy sweetness of spun sugar. Now I love evergreen scents, but for anyone who's afraid of them this is a good one to try as it's more of a background evergreen. I'm also a dessert foodie, and I think this is a great holiday choice for dessert foodies who want to try "icy" winter scents. Even though Santa will probably put a lump of coal in my stocking, I still think I deserve this!

Oborot starts off pungent at first, to the point where I was seriously wondering whether I should swap it, but the trick with this one is that you have to give it a chance to dry down. It is strong, so just a little will do for women at least. But once it dries down, you reap great rewards. The pungent haze clears and you can really feel the entire scene through the scent; the dark evergreen forest, the salty spray of the ocean, and the resinous sweetness of the incense that balances the first two out. There is also an unmistakable feral quality reminiscent of that in Wolf Moon, a fierceness that I can best describe as seeing this entire picture through the eyes of a wolf. I can imagine this was probably a very difficult scent to blend, but it was done with a great accuracy that really brings out its complexity and beauty.

Trust me, this is definitely not the scent of soggy leaves! Falling Leaf Moon really was everything I hoped for and more. It starts off initially cool and dries down to a beautiful scent of warm, dry fallen leaves and wood with just a hint of aquatics in the backdrop. For anyone who fears patchouli, I'm not getting a prominent patchouli note; it blends in very smoothly with the rest of the notes. I can swear I'm getting a hint of cinnamon in the drydown, which must be a part of the "fallen leaves" accord to give that warm crackling feel and just adds to this scent's autumnal beauty. Absolutely gorgeous!

This is an absolutley lovely beryy suitable for any time of year. Anyone afraid of rose, I didn't really get any in this blend--maybe because my skin amps sweeter notes and the rose is on the low end of sweet in this instance considering the note list--but even if it's there it just melds smoothly into everything else. It's just a lovely pinkish-purplish mix of wild huckleberry and strawberry warmed up by the frankincense and just a whisper of anise. Juicy and delicious

I love anything with molasses in it, to eat or smell. I was crossing my fingers for the molasses to amp on this one, and since my skin tends to amp sweet notes, it did Wet, it's a very dry and woody scent reminiscent of an actual stable, but quickly dries down to a delicious blend of the molasses, maple oats and apples with a cozy backdrop of hay, grain and wood. The musk warms it up more and further adds to the coziness; I didn't get carrot peelings but that's probably because carrot is pretty sweet and blended harmoniously with the other notes. Gunpowder is delicious!

This blend evokes a sinister Christmas tree. The musk, wood and leather are the standout notes; the wooden switches must be made of pine or some other evergreen, because I definitely am getting evergreen and the red musk warms it up and makes it more animalic. There is also a resinous sweetness to this which is a welcome surprise I didn't expect, probably brought on by the mingling of the musk and wood. I'm relieved that the leather is subdued and wearable for a woman, not prominent masculine leather like Iago or De Sade, which are both sexy-as-hell man scents but would just be too butch on me.

This is a lovely, haunting scent that manages to blend an icy winter breeze and boughs of frozen evergreen with the tangibility of musk and warm woods. The mingling of the musk and wood notes creates a soft and eerie blend truly evocative of soft black feathers. The florals are not very prominent on me, just a "feathery" bed for the other notes. As this dries down on me, the warmth of the woods and musk slowly comes forth with just a hint of chill wind and evergreens in the backdrop. This is cool and mysterious, and at the same time has a raditating come-hither warmth.

This takes a while to settle on me, but I'm real glad I gave it a chance. For the first 5 or so minutes I had it on, the booze and musk and sugar rabidly competing with each other so I was getting something different every half a second and it confused me to death. I gave up and let it go for another 5 or so minutes, and then I got what I was hoping for: the three entwine in a harmonious blend that's equal parts boozy, musky and sugary, and a hundred percent downright sexy. It gets even better as it dries down more--a really steamy and "touch me" scent. Smut indeed, heh heh

I usually hate--and I mean hate--lemon verbena as a dominant note, and it looks like one of the dominant notes on the list here, but strangely I didn't get any at all I sniffed this without looking at the note list, and I got a sense of plum and/or cherry blossom that dries down to a hazier and very slightly spicy version of itself as time wears on, like a road in the red light district of Shanghai lined with blooming plum and cherry trees. Guaranteed it's my skin that worked this unique magic, so no one take my exact word for it unless you have the same DNA, because I see it came out as a lemony floral on most people. In my case, I'm pleasantly surprised!

Very peculiar, this (I think I have Yoda syndrome today). Starts out as a bright pepermint gum scent that dries down to something smoky and still slightly minty. Maybe when leather mixes with either frankincense or star anise on my skin, peppermint gum is what happens. It's an interesting and well-blended scent that really does evoke a scintillating scarab in some weird way, and I'm glad I tried the imp, but it's just not one that screams my name.

A dusky moonlit peach on me; I believe the jasmine, musk and ho wood are mainly responsible for adding a shroud of mystery to the peach, which on its own can potentially turn cloying (bad body cream experience). For me, this is a good summer scent, because I dont do the pina colada/mango/papaya thing. It's lovely and ethereal.

At first, when this is wet, there seems to be a sharp lemony undertone, but give it a chance! I was a little wary, afraid it would go all lemon verbena-ish on me...until the drydown. It just turns into the most wonderful honeyed-golden-fields scent...the lemony undertones go away and the honey intensifies with the drydown. This is absolutely wonderful and the perfect summer scent for people like me who don't do scents (i.e. pina colada) that are stereotypically "summer".

This is like a sweet, almost fruity smoke with added body from the leather. Like a non-flowery tropical city in a haze of cigar smoke, overshadowed by something sinister (that must be the snakeroot, whatever that is--how can something called snakeroot not be sinister?). I've never been to Havana, but this scent goes hand-in-hand with how I imagine it.

I'm not a huge orchid fanatic myself--I don't hate it, I'm just not insane about it--but I resolve to try every imp that comes my way, so I gave this a chance. If I was to wear an orchid-dominant fragrance, this definitely beats the pants off any other orchid scent I've ever come across; it's got an intriguing purplish darkness to it. While it's not my holy grail, I can tell it would be for diehard orchid lovers.

This is another dark floral along the lines of Midnight, with all manner of tings that don't bloom until the moon comes up. I wanted to love it so badly, especially since New Orleans is the birthplace of Anne Rice and the setting for many of her novels. Like all of Beth's blends, I can tell it's extremely well crafted, but unfortunately something--and it's probably the combination of two or more notes in this, because none of the ones listed react like this on my skin in other blends or individually--turns into a cat pee undertone with my body chemistry. *sigh* At least I have my Midnight.

I could have sworn there was clove in this (which I love) but I guess that's just the leather and incense blending together, and I'm sure the rosewood and tonka are responsible for a bit of it. A lovely, mysterious and intriguing scent; reminds me somewhat of Samhainophobia.