Kittyflop

I've worn Hope about six times in the last two weeks. Normally, I wear any given scent about once or twice a month, if that. I just keep being drawn back to it.

 

Sugary rose wet, rose with sweet vanilla dry. I do get a vanilla undercurrent after it dries down. It lasts forever as well - the first time I put it on was at noon, and I could smell it still the next morning.

 

I've always had to mix bpal's roses with something sweet to make them work on me, and this is the one blend that has it all, in just the right proportions.

I'm also firmly in the 'jasmine' camp. It's not straight jasmine, there's something else floral playing there, but I'm one of those 'skin amps jasmine like the dickens' people. Which is sad, because I wish I could get more of the subtlety from it.

What was left was what kittyflop likened to "something sort of green and slimy, but in a good way". It was like a muddled non-food herbal releasing it's odor into the initial liquid.

 

OK, that came out totally wrong, but I admit I did say it.

 

I love Shanghai Tunnel. I was trying (in my poor verbal skilz way) to describe somthing both mineral/stony, and green/mossy/living. The aquatic element is different from what I normally think of as 'aquatic'. It smells like underground. It morphs over time, from the aquatic to the woods/greens to the stony coldness. A very unique aroma.

Since I'm terrible at naming notes, I had to cheat and read through previous reviews. This is a gorgeous, strong, creamy floral. It's gardenia in all it's glory. I haven't found the rose yet, but it may just be well blended, and the musk gives it a lovely earthy feel. It's the best kind of flowery. It has tremendous staying power, too. A beautiful tribute to this city!

First whiff, slightly soapy floral. Like a very high-end, nice laundry soap.

 

As it wafts: I get more of a sweet, clear violet. It has a strong throw. (I have it in a scent locket) . It smells cold. Icy. I don’t get much of the amber. Sadly I can’t remember what orris is like, so it might be showing too.

 

A few minutes later – holy CRAP that is strong! Even in a locket under my shirt it’s making me sneeze. Off off off. I think I like this but must use verrry little. After discarding the felt, about 15 minutes later, I can still smell it faintly wafting up from the locket - and I do like it.

Fruity, lightly sweet. Pear? A bit of green-ness to it. Fresh. Watery. A stream of lightly pear-scented water. As it dries, some floral notes come forward to compete with the pear. (I’m not sure why I’m stuck on the pear – I don’t think it’s in the notes!)

 

Pretty, a bit light for what I’m used to, but it is lasting a surprisingly long time. This will be a lovely spring scent.

Wet in the bottle my first thought was GRAPE! I think that's as much because I was expecting it to be. It's very purple - great representation of a beautiful color.

 

On drydown, it's a very rich, full vibrant floral with a tang to it (cognac?) and also an underlying sweetness. It's beautiful and deep - and is lasting. A small bit goes a long way on me. I will use this one often, methinks.

Fruit. Sweet, candy-like. Not the slightest bit hellish or hellbound.

 

Not sure if it's just my nose, but this is a total miss. It's a nice scent for the fruit fans, but nothing like I expected from the description. Too.... sweet and fruity. Exactly the opposite of hellbound, I'm afraid.

 

*pout*

Candy! Sweet fruity candy. Witha bit of softness. No pepper on me, sadly - I think it could use a bit of edginess. On drydown some soft florals come out, but after about an hour it's all completely gone. Might have to try this in a scent locket when I feel like sweetness. It's a nice scent but the kind that has no staying power on me.

This is the most fascinating scent. It goes on almost powdery and then, still wet, the violet is present as is the ylang ylang. As it dries it develops a dry edge, a deep settled feeling. Grave loam I suspect. Over time as it dries it really does seem 'mossy', although I might not have come up with that on my own.

 

As it dries the florals temper down, and becomes a lovely, lightly earthy, melancholy skin scent. It doesn't waft far but it does last a long time on my skin.

 

Beautiful.

Incense - airy, smokey, dry

Resin - rich, sticky, wet

 

And that probably only makes sense to me.

 

That *totally* makes sense to me.

 

And I've had whiskey, not wine, but I think we're in tune here.

but the reaction(in your skin) of oils that have cinnamon is a normal one. Cinnamon(like ginger and clove) increases the blood circulation and make blood vessels dilate, that's why the skin turns red. The more your skin is sensitive, the more irritation it'll get. (that's how lip plumpers work too). It's not an allergy, it's more like a normal skin reaction toward a spicy ingredient in the oil.

 

That's a great point, thanks for pointing that out. It explains why my test of Phantom Calliope was just fine (back of wrists) but my full-on application, including inner elbows, burned like the devil. It's all in where I put it.

 

I love spicy smells though. I have a special corner of my bpal box for the hot ones - my 'scent locket' collection!

 

tartsquid... I think mint might have similar properties. I think it can be somewhat astringent in concentrated doses, but others might know better?

Have I mentioned my love of vetiver? Oh, right, every chance I get.

 

In the bottle and wet on the skin this strongly verbena with vetiver backing it up. No plum or coconut yet at this stage, but it seems to be morphing.

 

As it dries it does sweeten up - perhaps the plum/fix might make an appearance yet. I know the lavender is in there but it's not scaring me like it sometimes can.

 

Further drying - everything is blending and balancing beautifully. As others have noticed, this is gender-neutral - I can see it working on anyone.

 

Verdict: fabulous!

On wet: something smells like.... celery? fermented celery. yep.

 

Drying down - soapy florals and celery. WTF??

 

Oh dear I am waiting desperately for the scent everyone else is getting to come through. But this is just weird. It is very strong, though. Good throw. I think it's the odd combination of notes that's throwing me - I can't recognize anything specifically and it's turning into this odd bouquet. Oh... ok - wait. Some woodsiness is coming through as the celery burns off. It's settling down a bit. Things are smoothing out and becoming actually quite... tolerable. If this keeps up we may actually hit 'nice' in a half-hour, and if I'm lucky it'll get to 'great' before too long. I think what I need to do is get my nose out of it and see what it smells like indirectly - when I'm not paying attention. Cuz this stuff is strooooong.

 

An hour later. Humm. This will need a retest. It's morphed quite a bit, and is very interesting - but I still can't really describe notes. I'm afraid this may not be for me, as desperately as I wanted it to be. another example of an amazingly talented and complex oil - for someone.

Em, what everyone else has said. Pure sweet juicy honeydew melon.

 

AS it dries down it becomes a bit more complex - what would guess is grape and some kind of light sweet floral note play into the mix.

 

Not my style as a perfume, but I might blend the imp into a shower gel or something like that - this would be lovely in the bath!

Spicy sweet rich florals. Bergamot/citrus twang. Creaminess. A bit of smokiness behind it all. This feels very rich, creamy, and flowery-sweet all at once. Mmmm I loves the carnation, and I can smell it in here!

 

Strong throw! Whew! It hovers all around. I'm not sure why I passed this up twice, musta been out of my head, but I'm glad I finally got to try it. Gorgeous and decadent - not for the faint of nose.

Sugary flowers, some spiciness behind it. Is that the incense? This was the most unexpected of the CDs so far on me. It's like meeting a woman who is wearing an old floral perfume reminiscent of past days - and far off in the distance you can smell the sugary candy smells of the midway and the smoke, grime and incense of the carny booths.

 

This has good throw, too, and isn't fading a bit yet (3 hours after application). I'm floored. Love this.

On first whiff and application: yep, definitely in the 'snake' family of scents. A few minutes later and it was gone! and I slathered, too.

 

So I switched to battery backup (aka scent locket). With a healthy dose nestled in my locket, I jumped in the car to go to my first appointment. The gentle breeze from the car heater blowing on my locket released a wonderful snake-ish scent, but it became more and more plum as it released. The vanilla is less strong, and it's definitely fruitier.

 

However, even the scent locket isn't holding up for me. I don't know if I'm adjusting quickly to the scent, or if it just is a fader. I love this, and it is very unique - but I'll be going through the bottle pretty quickly at this rate.

I'm very surprised - I get very little cherry from this, if any. The first hit, wet on the skin, is cinnamon. Cinnamon chewing gum, specifically. I'm confused.

 

As it dries, it mellows out considerably. After about 30 minutes I'm starting to detect a very light waft of sweetness, which might me considered cherry-scented. It's fading quickly, but I used very little.

 

Yes, an hour later, cherry is definitely making itself known. But it never gets overly sweet or sticky. The spiciness recedes. I think this is becoming quite gorgeous. Must slather tomorrow for a retest.

Antique, dry, dusty wood. The rose is not overpowering, it's very subtle, which is good for me. This is beautiful in a haunted, dark, forgotten way. Stays very close to the skin.

Blood Moon starts out very cinnamonny, but that mellows out quickly. Woods, spice and darkness. Deep red. Very little dragon's blood is apparent, if any. It quickly becomes musky. Feral is an apt description - it feels animalistic, earthy, passionate for survival.

 

Strong, long-lasting. Love.

Chaos Theory CCLXXV

 

On wet - Tropical fruit! Coconut strawberry papaya pineapple fruit salad with little marshamallows mixed in.

 

Drying down – Strawberry pineapple and mango, floating in vanilla cream and topped with a tiny umbrella. Similar to Pink Phoenix but without honeycomb and only a smidge of vanilla. I’m not sure how this can be so fruity and yet not foody.

Wow, this is *nothing* like what i expected. Reading through the previous reviews, too, I almost feel like I got something different. These were my mpressions during the first hour of wearing Two Monsters:

Gender-neutral
Sophisticate
Clear sweetness developing
Strong
Vetiver? (Yep!)
Some kind of floral?
Long-lasting, good throw.
The sweetness is almost cloying, but not overpowering.
Ooh, there's the leather.

This is very clear and sweet after a few hours. Not flowery-sweet, but... hard to explain. I know I've got the vetiver, and maybe a bit of patchouli, but it's not earthy or incensey at all on my skin. The leather does appear after a while, and gets stronger - leather and sweet. Yum.

Edited a month or so later: Today, different day, different time of month - this is allllll leather and vetiver and champaca. I almost don't recognize my own review of it. A morpher. Either this changes with my chemistry, or changes over time, or both - but I still love it.

Voodoo Queen is incense, powder, spice and musk. It's not sweet to my nose at all. There is a bitter spice of some kind in here, in a good way.

 

The incense is a good, soft, smoky kind; not the kind that makes me cringe with memories of college days. This is very mature, sultry and mysterious. Lovely!

In the bottle, it smells complex in a foody way – fruits, spice, sugar. On my skin, however, for the first hour or so it’s candy. Jolly Ranchers. Watermelon, to be specific. Or Watermelon mixed with Sour Apple. Maybe that’s grapefruit and I’m just not recognizing it?

 

After about an hour the candy memories fade out and are replaced with an unusual scent. This doesn’t last long on me as a wide-throw ‘hey I’m wearing perfume’ kinda thing, but it lasts for a very long time very faintly on the skin. It is during this long period of drydown, after the top notes have long since evaporated, that I can smell vanilla. Vanilla and rice wine, reading the description, seem to be the closest to describing this phase. No woods for me here. This is nice, lovely and sweet, but not overwhelmingly fabulous.