skyelyric

This was one of those things I had to get against my better judgement, because lemon verbena can go painfully harsh on me, and lavender, while I love it, is also pretty sharp. Amazingly, they kind of cancel each other out here. This is a very bright, clean lavender and citrus scent--I had to look up elemi, which, from the descriptions I found, is probably adding to the citrus vibe.

The overall feel of Light and Swift is sunny and clean, and it seems to last a reasonable time without being overpowering, and without morphing much. Very pleasant surprise.

In the imp and wet, this is a beauitful woody, green herbal scent, like that sharp weedy smell of crushed plant stems, but underlaid with a hint of powdery amber sweetness. I love amber, but I've never come across an amber scent that smells like this, it's fascinating in its greenness.

As it dries, the sharp herbal scent fades back, and the amber takes center stage. I catch some faint wafts of neroli rounding this out, but overall it's a beautiful sweet amber (my skin chemistry does a little bit of a powder trick with amber, but I actually like it) with a hint of woodsy cologne underlying. I'd say Bright Flame falls just on the masculine side of unisex.

In the less detailed and more poetic reaction category, this is remarkably comforting. The impression I get is snuggling on the couch late at night with my boyfriend's arm around me.

Unlike earlier reviewers, I got very, very little in the way of white tea, and not much in the way of distinct wax. This was almost single note LILAC, but as Ashmedai said, it's like fresh on the shrub lilac. On, it doesn't morph much on me, but in later stages I get faint wafts of a creamy, waxy scent that's not present if I huff my skin. I actually love when the air and skin components of a scent are different, so that's a plus for me. Also need to try this one around the beloved, since lilacs are one of his favorite flowers.

I don't know if I'll want to hunt down a bottle since I don't wear florals very often, but I will enjoy the hell out of this decant, and probably try blending it with some other scents as well.

I was really hoping for a more refined, subtle version of Delirium from this, with the rose and lemon. Sadly, this was not to be with my skin chemistry.

The florals and the aquatic notes combine to turn into very elegantly scented dryer sheets. I get almost nothing of the lemon, and while it's not a bad smell, it's one I would much rather have on my laundry than my skin.

I was recently gifted a decant of this, so here's a slightly aged review.

This is one of the biggest morphers I've tried, for sure. In the imp and wet this is a very green scent, a little herbal-medicinal, a little citrus, a little whisper of floral and sandalwood just to weirden it up...It's not aquatic, but something about the wet stage of this one makes me think of waterlogged ground and trodden weeds. It's not a bad smell, just very odd, and it doesn't last long at all on me.

The halfway stage turns into a beautiful floral, reminiscent of flowering orange groves, I'm guessing mimosa plays nice with my skin chemistry, but once again, it doesn't last.

The final drydown settles into a soft, incensy sandalwood, like the smell that lingers in your hair after you've wandered around an import shop for a while.

I don't know if I'll try to track down more, but I will definitely enjoy my decant for something a little quirky.

Clearly, my skin chemistry is having a party with this. I get a sweet, syrupy, candylike violet impression, mostly likely from the orris, and the overall *feel* is the same rich syrupy vibe I get from O, though the smell is completely different. It's rich, complex, a little fruity, a little spicy, sweet in that syrupy, oozy sort of way...

And then I realize I smell EXACTLY like Dr. Pepper.

Cytherea doesn't have fantastic longevity on me, and it fades to a faint incency powder.

In a weird way, I love this, and I'm glad I swapped for a bottle unsniffed, but it's definitely not what I was expecting from the notes.

In the imp I get some patchouli, and a dry, tangy hint of apricot, but the overwhelming impression I get is the vetiver (which I was afraid of, I amp vetiver). On my skin it starts off bitter, nasty, fruity vetiver (think vetiver plus what Depraved would smell like with rotten apricots). It settles down pretty quick and loses the rotten soured fruit aspect, but the vetiver never mellows enough to blend on me, and the overall effect is unsettlingly menacing, it's like having a party with one guest who just looms and stares threateningly at everyone else. Not quite the perfume impression I was hoping for.

Ah, skin chemistry fail. In this imp this was a very pretty complex, woody scent, but on me it starts out as a very licoricy scent with a bit of citrus...I finally get rid of the licorice and then the patch and tea meet and do something...garden soil-like. It's not an offensive smell, it's dirt with some patchouli mixed in, but not my first choice for a perfume.

It morphed! Thank gods, the first day I got this it was oddly mock-citrus, reminiscent of those towelette things in the foil wrappers. Not unpleasant, but definitely not something I want to smell like, as a general rule. It had a little bit of the same juicy, fresh-cut ginger root I get from Nanshe, but that's about it.

Retesting today, a few days after I got my decants, I get the heat and sharpness. That fresh juicy ginger now makes a beautiful clean base for the spices, and the combination of pepper, anise, and probably the cedar give a very cinnamon-like impression to my nose. The amber's trying to sweeten this up, but I'm not sure I can smell the poppy at all. Overall this is an enjoyable, very spicy scent that stays close to the skin.

eta: tried it today in the crook of my arm, and Boom! skin reaction. Alas, off to swaps.

I have to say, my Ragnarok decants changed character pretty significantly over the couple days since they were rescued from the mail.

Laughter of Loki started out as a very patchouli scent, but this is like the sexy smirk incarnation of patch. Smooth, sweet from the musk, with a slightly green herbal backdrop, absolutely gorgeous.

Over the last couple days the dominant patch has mellowed, and it's shifted into an incensy musk, very reminiscent of an Indian import shop. Although I preferred the patch-heavy aspect, this is still really lovely on me.

I have noticed that a little goes a long way (like a light impwand swipe to the crook of my elbow and I'm enveloped in scent) and lasts forever. I can smell a sweet musky haze the next morning; even a shower doesn't completely erase it.

I need to snag a bottle of this one before it's gone.

I really wanted to love this, right up until it settles on my skin. Apparently green musk does to me what white does. Other than the chemical muskfunk, I get a slightly salty, fresh green fruity scent. Fresh and clean without leaning to one particular note. The evil muskfunk is turning it into the old fashioned perfumed soap smell. It reminds me of the fancy guest bathroom in my grandmother's house, so a nice scent memory, but not something I'd want to smell like.

I was thinking of Liz for a nice neutral vanilla with subtle hints of floral but a nice smokey/leathery undertone - have you tried that one?

Liz is my favorite vanilla ever, but you have to like that incense-y leathery note.

White Rider is gorgeous if you like a bit of a woody note with your leather; it's definitely a lighter, more unisex leather. Prince Lir makes no mention of a leather note but it's a beautiful leathery cologne scent (from the reviews I'm not the only one that gets that--it's the masculine version of Liz, to my nose). Rogue is a really nice stright-up leather scent, Ranger is a very herby/woodsy leather.

eta: I haven't tried it, but Captain Cully sounds like a promising scent, too.

I love this. I definitely get the leather vibe that a lot of other poeple have mentioned, with a light clean cologne. To my nose, Prince Lir is the masculine version of Liz.

 

The Temptation was really peach rice candy to my nose. Not nearly as sweet or heady as Aglaea, but quite nice. Maybe Josie might work for Aglaea? I really haven't got a clue about most of the others!

 

As for me, hmmm.

 

1. Kumiho

2. Lilith's Feel-Better Flowers

3. The Lilac Wood

4. Holiday Moon

5. The Unicorn

I completely missed The Temptation, might have to go poking around for that. Josie I think I tried and the floral notes amped to hell on me (yay). I just hope Aglaea never gets discontinued, since it's *the* peach scent that really works on me.

Regarding your list, have you tried The East? To me it's got a very lovely true flowering-meadow-in-spring scent to it, might be another in the same family as The Lilac Wood and The Unicorn for you. =) Summoning Stone Play Structure was similar in feel as well.

The only rose I can wear reliably? Delirium. The apple and lemon somehow balance it out and I get a really pretty rose in there. It also lasts all day long on me. I can wear Kali, but I don't get any rose out of it particularly. Black Hellebore when I tried it settled into a pleasant rose, but it was pickles first, so not sure it's worth the drydown period. Moon Rose was actually ok, too, but that's long discontinued.

I seems to favour a somewhat different scent profile than most of the people already playing along, but what the heck:

 

1) Spinning Multicoloured Metallic Pinwheel

2) Embalming Fluid

3) Boober

4) Strawberry Moon '09 (with the grass and dandelion sap)

5) Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat

 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

 

skyeleric:

 

Based on Aglaea, what about Peach II or Tamora?

 

Have you tried Kumiho? It's not got the citrus feel of Embalming Fluid (which is actually one of my warm weather faves) but it has the same light clean vibe to it. Shattered might work as well.

Ogun has a distinct melon note just like Twinkle...Bat, but the other notes might disagree with you--I can wear Bat but not Ogun.

For Boober, maybe Dirty? Or Paranorman's Salma (Crisp linen, a smudge of ballpoint pen ink, soap-touched skin, apple shampoo, and effervescent science fair experiment residue)? And for one more random fruity thing, how about Bon Vivant (effervescent blend of crystalline champagne notes and sweet strawberry)?

I actually own Peach II, it is really pretty; Tamora, sadly, like most of the female Illyria scents, ends up shampoo/hairspray for reasons I can't figure out.

1. Hellion V.2

2. Our Lady of Pain

3. A Thought From Propertius

4. The Soul of La Traviata

5. Coyote

 

 

 

 

Based on those, can you think of some I should try? And what is your top five for us to base our recommendations on?

For Propertius, maybe Tanuki no Orai, Fae, or Aglaea? I love Coyote, but I really can't think of anything similar to it that I've tried.

And just for grins, my top 5 at the moment:

Sin

The Butterfly

Aglaea

Miaiphonos

The East

Hesiod's Phoenix is amazing, if you can find it. Barring that, if you do the hair gloss thing at all, Implacable Beautiful Tyrant is very similar.

I haven't tried them, but Hope and Fear Set Free and La Lugubre Gondola seem like they might also be wins.

2012's Punkie Night was a gorgeous spicy tart apple scent.

I never smelled The Unicorn, but for a light, sweet, true floral, I love The East. It's like standing in a meadow in early summer. Elf is another sweet clean floral-esque scent to me.

Croquet is a very pink scent to me--a very bright pink. High-pitched, slightly fruity, very sweet.

This is stunningly beautiful, and on me it's also a dead ringer for Implacable Tyrant hair gloss. It's a very sweet scent, it reminds me a bit of The Lion but without the spices, just that pure comforting sweetness. On me there's minimal throw but incredible staying power. I wear my oils in the crooks of my elbows, and all day I will get light wafts of scent when I straighten or move my arms.

Backup bottle, here I come.

This was a lovely scent in the decant, very much warm, sweet grasses. To me this is reminiscent of Traipsing Through Crop Circles from the Black Helicopters update. Unfortunately there seems to be something in here that's either white musk or behaves exactly like it on my skin, and the supersweet chemical funk overpowers everything else.

I was another of those who came way late to the party to try the original, but this was one of the past Yules that I very seriously wanted to get hold of.

Oh. My. Dog. THIS is the scent I have been trying to find since my first introduction to the Yules. In the bottle I get an almost effervescent fruity mint scent, distinctly cold but uplifting. When first applied the mint turns into more of a cold, menthol-y sensation than a distinct minty smell, the pine beomes evident, and the berries pick up a citrusy vibe and kind of twine through everything. As it dries, Skadi stays very well blended on me, nothing seems to overpower or disappear. Chilly, sweet, and absolutely gorgeous. Sadly it doesn't seem to last more than 2 or 3 hours on me. One word of caution though--if you have issues with mint, be very careful about applying this. I have contact sensitivities to mints, and although it's not breaking me out or anything, I can still feel where I applied in the crease of my elbow (half an hour ago). When I tested a little on my forearm though nothing happened.

Skadi totally lives up to my hopes. This is what I hoped Woods in Winter would smell like in the 2010 Yules, and much as I love Woods for its own unique scent, it's sweeter and sharper with berries, a little soapier, and not as cold in comparison.

very late eta: although the orignal applied scent only last a few hours, the Ghost of Skadi lasts a *really long time* on me, like 12+ hours later I get faint delicate wafts of this gorgeous delicate scent that is reminiscent of clean laundry but 100 times better.

Seconding Misk. U.