mari4212

On wet: green, very green. This smells like tomato vine, when I rub my fingers over the vine to get to one of the ripe tomatoes, very fresh and green.

 

Drydown: More of the same. This is just utterly green stems of plants. While I enjoy smelling them, I don't think I want to smell like them. Off to my swap box.

From the ones I've tried, these three are definitely very, very similar to Antique Lace:

 

Mouses Long and Sad Tale

Morocco (on me it's almost exactly like Antique Lace)

Black Lace

 

What, you mean I'm not the only one for whom Morocco is an Antique Lace clone? Good to know.

In the imp, and on wet: This is warm and rich florals, but still somehow soft. I think it's the amber undertone here that's keeping it nice, as amber loves me as much as I love it.

Initial drydown: I can pick out the rose, but the other notes are blending so much that I can't pick it apart and say what is playing out. It's just a warm floral that doesn't start yelling at me.

Later drydown: Yep, roses with a warm undertone.

Wet, it comes on soapy. Doormouse did this as well, so I think part of it must be the same tea note in both that just goes straight to soap on me. I think there's a hint of citrus behind the soap, but right now all the citrus is doing is turning the original soap into a citrus-scented soap.

 

Drydown, about ten minutes on: The soapiness is gone, and I'm getting a lot of the cherry blossom now, with perhaps a bit of citrus underlying it. It's now sweet and light, a good one for a mid-spring day like today.

Amber, Honey, and Vanilla are all notes of win on me.

 

So it's no surprise that O works marvelously on me. It's strongly honey, but the amber is underneath, grounding it a bit, and making it a little less like I just slathered myself with the clover honey in the kitchen.

 

I don't so much get sex out of this, just something warm, soft, and comforting. Like a warm soft plush blanket you wrap around yourself when you're sitting on the couch and watching a movie like The Princess Bride, one you've seen hundreds of times but still enjoy. O is the smell of that coziness.

At first, there was an almost bitter scent to this.

After the first ten minutes or so, the bitterness fades away, and I'm left with a rich caramel note. Though, there's something else in here, something that's keeping the caramel from getting overly sweet. This isn't the smell of my mother's caramel sauce recipe boiling on the stove, there's something more smooth and dark behind it. Possibly the teak.

I can see why someone might classify this as sexy, but it's more in the comforting end of the spectrum for me. Something you'd enjoy on a crisp fall afternoon, trying to block the chilly breeze with your favorite incredibly soft sweater, the one that fits you perfectly and makes you feel gorgeous.

I got gifted this in an Orphanage package.

 

Wow. I really get why this is so beloved. Like Boomslang, this skips the Snake Oil component straight into the aged aspect on me, which is an instant win. The honey just lingers as a bit of warmth and sweetness.

 

I just want to huff my arm. Love it. I'm going to relish this decant.

In the decant: light, very light floral.

 

Wet: Green and white floral. Not picking up any distinct notes, but nothing bad.

 

I think this is one I need to keep as much for the name as anything else. And it'll be a useful everyday scent during the summer.

In the imp: Light, sweet, a mix of flowers with something underneath.

 

On me: Ugh, Jasmine. I was hoping that the jasmine wouldn't pop underneath the other florals and the musk. Unfortunately, jasmine loves me as much as I hate it, and it takes over completely. I scrubbed this one off.

 

Swaps, definitely.

Gift imp from SophieCedar.

 

On wet: A very straightforward light rose. Sweet and light.

 

Drydown: similar to above, with perhaps a hint of spice. Unfortunately, this does what rose often does on me, and dies down a lot after an hour. I can barely catch it on my wrist.

 

ETA: I tried this on my mother, who had the same bloom-then fade of rose. But her response to the spices part? Was to remember when she was a little girl and she got to go to the penny candy shop. It smells like the inside of that store to her, and it brought back wonderful memories. I gave my sample to her.

Imp decant gifted to me by greylin:

 

I've got a friend who is working on selling various candies. He uses me as a guinea pig a lot, since I live relatively close by and have several people around that I can have help give feedback.

 

One of the recipes that he has down perfectly is a dark chocolate raspberry truffle. This smells exactly like taking a bite from one of Richard's truffles.

Beckie, I looked through some of your recent reviews. I'd really suggest Snake Oil or Black Lace, as you seem to love both of them, and they're both wonderful smelling and great for when you want to feel a bit sexy.

 

And as a fellow long-red-haired person, do you have any hairsticks that you could pull your hair up with into a bun of some sort? I think that dress would work wonderfully with an updo, plus it keeps your hair off your neck when the dancing makes you sweat. (Plus, people tended to catch my hair a lot when we were dancing if it was down, which was never fun.)

In the imp: Pumpkin, just the flesh of it while you're pulling out the seeds before you can cut out your design.

 

On wet: There's five seconds while it's on where it smells like a buttery pumpkin. Then, wow, the peach takes over. At which point it's all "Hello peach single note, how are you doing? Wow, do you ever waft up to my nose."

 

Initial drydown: Still very much peach, but I'm getting a hint of nutmeg.

 

After a bit: Yes, peach and nutmeg, relatively balanced. This isn't what I'd expected, and I don't think I'd wear it so much in the fall, but it's a great summer fruity scent.

In the imp: a soapy green scent. Herbal, but I can't place anything in specific.

 

On me: That same soapy green herbal. Light and innocuous.

 

I'd have to try it out and see if this works as advertised on guys. It's at least a pleasant light scent.

On wet: Peppery violet is right! I'm getting a violet and gardenia mix at first, which makes for a sharp smelling floral. My mother came through and got a hug while it was still at this stage, and she said it smelled nice. Different noses, I guess, because this is rather sharp for me.

 

Initial drydown: still rather strongly violet/gardenia, but I think the vanilla is starting to surface.

 

After ten minutes or so: Huh. If I keep my wrists away from my nose, the vanilla will waft up and play nicely, turning it into a very pretty scent. If I get too close in to my wrists, I get the gardenia instead, and it makes me want to sneeze. The violet seems to have disappeared, but it's never a strong scent on me anyway.

 

After a few hours: It's died down to a skin scent, vanilla/powdery. The gardenia seems to have finally given up the ghost, and what remains is very nice. This is probably a keeper.

 

I think gardenia is one of the notes I amp, because this is the third perfume with gardenia listed where it has either started off the strongest note, or stayed very dominant throughout. And of course, it seems like you always amp what you're not fond of, because gardenia tends to be too sharp and makes me sneeze. At least in this blend, it's not overpowering.

In the imp, I get a touch of saffron and a light rose.

 

On me: for some reason, this turns into department store perfume, the kind where you smell the alcohol and the chemical undertone before you get any of the real notes. Darn it, I was hoping for the sandalwood, amber, and the rose to be wonderful together.

 

Off to my swaps box, I guess.

I had such high hopes for this one. *sighs*

 

Soap. Instant soap, and it made me sneeze.

 

Off to the swaps box.

In the imp: Sweetly floral, the lily of the valley and the rose playing off of one another.

 

On wet: Lily of the valley for one brief, shining moment.

 

Drydown: Wait, what? Lily, where did you go? Who kidnapped you away from my adoring nose? Instead, I have a light, balanced mix of pear and rose that lasts all day.

 

...If I hadn't known there was lily of the valley in this perfume, and if it hadn't vanished a moment later, I would be straightforwardly in love with this perfume. The rose and pear are brilliant together, they give each other a balance and sweetness, without being expected or boring. It's a perfect light scent for spring and summer, and I'll happily wear it a lot. I just mourn the beautiful glimpse of lily of the valley.

 

Moreover, I mourn the fact that on my mother, it's almost single note lily of the valley. It's like my mother's skin stole all the lily that was in the perfume, and left me to console the pear and rose.

 

White musk is Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Perfume.

Imp received from a swap, not sure how old.

 

In the imp: Sweet, but with a harsh undertone.

 

On wet: This starts off feeling very harsh to me. It reminds me of nothing so much as Snake Oil in the first month or so, before it starts aging into goodness. Not bad, exactly, but nothing I'd exactly run out to get.

 

Initial drydown: Yes, this is the spice edge to SO, without the vanilla to smooth it out. There's a bit of the sweetness from the imp coming back in, which might help soften this to something I can wear.

 

After an hour: This does settle down, with the sweet aspect helping to temper out the spices. But it's very similar in feeling to SO, and Snake Oil works a lot better on me after it's had a chance to age, so I don't think it's a keeper for me. Toss it in swaps.

I haven't tried any of those, so I can't say for certain.

 

You might also try Gluttony, which includes caramel, and has the bonus factor of being an easily impable GC. On me it was very treacle-ish, rich and very sweet, with both caramel and chocolate overtones.

In the imp: warm dusty wood, a hint of shellac.

 

On wet: Shellac comes out fast and strong, with just a hint of the raw cut wood underneath. It's starting off very harsh and chemical to me, the section of the hardware store I work in where painting and wood staining supplies are after someone has done a demo.

 

After about 5 minutes, the chemical aspect starts to fade, and what I'm assuming to be privet is coming more to the fore. It's bringing in a mild floral undertone and a bit of sweetness to the mix.

 

It's an odd scent, but not a bad one. I'm just not sure if I like it on me well enough.

In the imp: Sweet and resin heavy, not bad.

 

On wet: Pinesap, and some other green resins.

 

Initial drydown: This is definitely strongly fir trees. Not the imitation pine sol or other cleaners, but the actual tree scent. And there's an earthiness to it. This is the tree in the middle of a forest, not the scent of pine when it's brought inside and decorated for Christmas.

 

There's a hidden brightness to the scent as well that lightens it a bit. I don't know a lot of the notes in this well enough to break them down, but something is lightening it a bit, just enough to make the pine sap smell fresh, not dirty.

 

It's a nice scent, but it's both a bit too masculine and a bit too pine heavy for me to wear. If the warm sweet resins from the imp had remained dominant, maybe, but not what it turns into on me.

Wet on: watery, with a green undertone, and a bit of gardenia peeking through. It's a lighter scent, almost crisp.

 

Initial drydown: very similar, a wet gardenia smell, but a lot lighter than Sacred Whore of Babylon, and minus the vanilla warmth and sweetness. This is a cooling scent, with an undertone that reminds me of traditional perfumes. I think it's the gardenia, it just automatically makes any scent a traditional floral perfume on me.

 

And after a few hours, it's faded until I can only smell it if I really huff at my wrist. This one's nice enough, but still a probable swaps. I'm just not a huge gardenia person, and that's the most dominant note on me.

Aureus wet on me starts out with a sandalwood/cedar tang, almost harsh. I was a bit worried that it was going to be the second oil that I was going to try and then wash off, but I got distracted then by the kids asking me to take them on a walk, and I decided to leave it on until I got back.

 

I'm glad I waited. About five minutes into the walk, it stopped smelling harsh, and amber peaked it's lovely head out. Amber loves me, and I smell good wearing it. Now Aureus smells like The Lion and Haunted, that same warm, velvety soft golden amber. This is, I think, somewhat sweeter than the Lion was on me, less dry. And it's a bit lighter than Haunted is, but all three of them are very close in character on me. Definitely a keeper!

Frimp from the lab.

 

In the vial, and wet on skin, I get a very strong blast of floral. As it's not immediately killing me the way jasmine does, I'm assuming that this must be the gardenia.

 

After a half an hour, the dry-down has softened, and I'm getting an edge of vanilla or something else lending a powdery sweetness to the scent, at least when it wafts. When I bring my wrist up close to sniff, I still get a floral blast over the sweet powder.

 

And that's pretty much how this one stays. I'm a bit torn on it, because gardenia is not one of my favorite florals, but the drydown is okay.

 

Actually, when my end response to a perfume is "it's okay", it probably means I should just go ahead and toss it in my swaps box already. Meh and perfume should not go together.