sarielswish

In the vial, it's all gardenia and orange blossom. I'm can't even put this one on. It's already starting to make my head hurt.

In the vial, it's very herbal. Then again, there's supposed to be nine herbs in it! Color, yellow.

 

Wet on my skin, it's musky, herbal, and almost sweet. I don't know what those herbs are but omg, do they smell good.

 

10-15 minute drydown - *sigh*.... And Odin just turned to generic men's cologne on me.

In the vial, that is just plain odd. Cocoa, patchouli, oakmoss, and juniper. I really don't know what to think about this one yet. Color, bronze.

 

Wet on my skin, Well. That is *very* masculine. Not unpleasant, just very masculine. Mostly patchouli...

 

10-15 minute drydown - Huh. Now it's patchouli, cocoa, oakmoss, juniper, and balsam. And it's quite nice. Not *bottle* nice, but not bad.

In the vial, it smells kind of like cherry cough syrup or really concentrated koolaid. Color, blood red.

 

Wet on my skin, it smells like ultra-sweet red wine and suede. I <3 that. The violet note is nowhere to be found and I'm perfectly happy with that.

 

10-15 minute drydown - Now I'm getting just a tiny bit of the musk and roses and I think this is, so far, the only blend with violets and roses that hasn't made me want to dig my sinus cavities out with a dremel tool. I <3 it muchly. Definitely on the bottle list.

In the vial, I *think* I'm smelling gardenia, pear, and lavender, but for some reason it seems to be hitting an olfactory blind spot of some sort. Weird. Color, pale lavender.

Wet on my skin, I'm almost afraid of this one. I think it's going to be a bit too floral for me. Very distinct pear, frankincense, and gardenia. Odd combination, I must say.

10-15 minute drydown - Yup. Floral floral floral frankincense. Not for me.

In the vial, it's very resinous. I'm going to give it a chance, but I don't have high hopes. Color, copper.

 

Wet on my skin, I smell beeswax, saffron, hyssop, lemon balm, and sage. Reminds me of a new age shop - that would be the white sage. Problem is, 99% of the time saffron will turn to melted plastic with my body chemistry. Here's hoping it doesn't.

 

10-15 minute drydown - And there's the melted plastic. Damn. It smelled quite nice, too. I'll try it out on the hubby - the Steamworks stuff seems to work on him quite nicely.

In the vial, it smells like wildfire honey I used to buy from a merchant at Pennsic. Spicy and sweet. Dunno what kind of flower it was from, but damn it tasted good. Color, crimson.

 

Wet on my skin, I'm getting honey, clove, cinnamon, and ginger. I smell thoroughly edible, but in a good way. It's spicy foody, not sugary foody.

 

10-15 minute drydown - Ohhh.... There's the musk..... Ok. I need like 5 bottles of this one, STAT.

 

In the vial, I'm getting bitter herbs and crushed blooms. Unhappy is definitely a good descriptor for it. Color, pastel green.

 

Wet on my skin, I'm smelling strong, bitter flowers and herbs and maybe moss or greenery. Someone else had mentioned an ammonia smell in a review and, unfortunately, I have to agree.

 

10-15 minute drydown - Fortunately, that ammonia smell is starting to taper off, but it's still not me.

In the vial, the bubblegum lotus is the first thing that pops out at me, with just a hint of mint behind. Nothing of the juniper yet, but that may come when I put it on. Color, sea foam green.

 

Wet on my skin, there's much more mint. It's a pretty even balance of the lotus and mint. Still no juniper, but that could be in the drydown.

 

10-15 minute drydown - THERE's the juniper... I'm starting to get a slightly herbal/resinous note under the sweetness - juniper berry! At least, what I associate as juniper berry - the distinct 'piney' note in gin. Not something I'd wear on a regular basis, but not unpleasant.

 

In the vial, *waaay* too much vetiver and I actually *like* vetiver. Color, bronze.

 

Wet on my skin, the amount of vetiver in this actually makes my throat itch and my nose burn a little. Oof. Too much for me.

 

10-15 minute drydown - I dunno about Skin-Piercing, but Nostril-Piercing is definitely accurate. The vetiver starts to take on a resinous, almost pine-y smell that I like, but it's just overpowering. I'm not getting any grapefruit at all. No thanks.

In the vial, odd. It smells like nothing so much as a pizzelle to me. Question is, what will it smell like *on*? Color, pastel yellow.

 

Wet on my skin, I'm getting honey, slightly sour milk, ginger, and white pepper. Not exactly what I want to smell like.

 

10-15 minute drydown - Now it's white pepper and ginger and nothing else. Eh, you win some, you lose some.

In the vial, wow. That is unpleasantness in a bottle. Something in this is actually making my throat want to close up some - I think it's the combination of cypress and orange blossom. I'll not be trying this one on my skin.

In the vial, it's highly resinous, sweet and heady. Very nice, but hopefully not too strong. Color, flame red.

 

Wet on my skin, I'm mostly getting amber and ylang ylang, which is a pleasant surprise. It's a very womanly scent - something I'd imagine a Chinese empress wearing or something. :-)

 

10-15 minute drydown - Slight powderyness coming from the amber, but that is expected, especially with my chemistry. Now I'm starting to get a little more of the cherryish sweetness of the dragon's blood and the depth of the poppy. So far, I have to say that this is my favorite of the Ars Draconis line.

In the vial, hellooo cocoa. Straight out of the box cocoa powder. Color, chocolate brown.

 

Wet on my skin, much better. This smells like caramel, milk chocolate, and just a hint of black currant. I could definitely bathe in this. :-)

In the vial, of course it's lavender heavy. But I'm also picking up juniper(?) and maybe sandalwood or something a little woody. Color, lilac.

 

Wet on my skin, it's a little greener than I care for. Kinda makes me want to sneeze, actually.

 

10-15 minute drydown - I'm thinking there might be some lilac in here as well. I'm smelling something very similar to Needlework that I didn't care for. I like lilac, but only in certain blends.

 

30 minute drydown - I don't think I care for the scent of this one. Unfortunately, I don't get any of the jasmine anyone talks about, because I love jasmine.

In the vial, that smells like pure myrrh. Color, dirt brown.

 

Wet on my skin, GACK! Nothing but myrrh. It smells almost like spicy dirt. Mind you, I *like* myrrh, but not by itself.

 

10-15 minute drydown - Ok, not nearly as offensive now. I'm starting to get the jasmine and rose. It's not painful, but it's not me.

 

30 minute drydown - It's very... perfume-y. Like old lady perfume. Not my thing.

In the vial, it's a pretty heady floral. Lots of carnation, frankincense, and chamomile. Color, gold.

 

Wet on my skin, it's mostly chamomile and carnation. An almost sickeningly sweet floral. Not liking this at all.

 

10-15 minute drydown - And now the frankincense comes out and becomes overpowering. There's also a sickly 'rotting flowers' scent to it. Not pleasant at all.

 

30 minute drydown - Not so nauseating now, but still not something I *want* to smell like.

oops, wrong thread.

Personally, Mme. Moriarty is gorgeous slightly plummy patchouli on me. She's one of my favorites.

 

Depraved is simply patchouli and apricot, which keeps it from being dragged down into mildew territory, which IMO straight patch can often do.

 

I'll also second The Illustrated Woman with the caveat that, on me at least, there's a very strong pine note.

in the imp: incense and soap. odd. must be the amber.

 

wet on my skin: incense, opium, smoke, and there has *got* to be some clove in there. very rich. i'm not getting any frankincense, b/c frank gives me migraines and i don't feel anything. and and if there's myrrh, it's sweet myrrh, i think. the amber is still decidedly soapy, though.

 

30 minute drydown: slight bit of the plum peeking out now, but i'm still getting amber-incense-resin soap.

 

2 hour drydown: i spoke too soon about frank, because the scent is emerging and the headache has confirmed it.

in the imp: this reminds me a lot of some strawberry candies i had as a kid that came in a tin. they were kinda tart and made your mouth water just at the smell. same reaction here. sweet, but not overly so.

 

wet on my skin: i don't know why, but i'm getting strawberry scented shampoo out of this.

 

30 minute drydown: i just realized why i got shampoo. Iris, how you vex me... invariably, iris/orris turn a perfectly good blend into soap/shampoo on me.

in the imp: smells like my leather jacket and pool water... that is to say, worn black leather, tobacco, and chlorine. weird.

 

wet on my skin: leather and tobacco immediately, which is awesome... and the oil, which isn't. it smells like pool water on me. i'm afraid this will immediately amp to either bleach or gasoline, like Robotic Scarab did.

 

30 minute drydown: still leather and chlorine.... and i had high hopes for this one.

 

2 hour drydown: no longer chlorine, but it's just your run of the mill high end men's cologne now. smells very nice, but not very distinctive.

in the imp: it *does* kinda smell like cherry chapstick. lol.

 

wet on my skin: cherry, vanilla, and egyptian musk... i am in love. i could seriously bathe in this stuff.

 

30 minute drydown: it's official. i've found my one true BPAL. why did it have to be one i'll never be able to find a bottle of, though?! the cherry is sweet and sensual without being cloying, the vanilla rich without being too foody, and the egyptian musk is well, egyptian musk. it's perfect, period, in my book.

 

2 hour drydown: my only qualm with this is that it fades fairly quickly on me.

in the imp: super fizzy Bawls. you know, the caffeinated version of Sprite. so fizzy and sweet and tart it almost hurts your nose, like drinking a half frozen one too fast.

 

wet on my skin: surprisingly enough, no difference. still ultra fizzy and sweet-tart. hell of a throw, too.

 

30 minute drydown: still super sweet and heavy on the lime. lots of the effervescence left too, which kinda surprised me.

 

2 hour drydown: mostly sugary lime now. kinda reminiscent of the drydown i get from Serpents with Glittering Eyes and Forky Tongues.

111.

 

Got to try a friend's bottle. In the bottle, it's Skittles. Dead on berry Skittles. Very sugary and fruity, no amber to be found on the initial sniff. On me, it starts off Juicy Fruit gum and dries down to some horrid Victoria's Secret lotion reject - Amber Vanilla Berry with a good strong dose of melon on the back end that took me forever to figure out. It took me all day to figure out that it was the same note I didn't like in Yemaya. On her - started off berry Skittles, turned to melted vanilla ice cream with a hint of amber.