Ina Garten Davita

Greetings! I have updated the spreadsheet and it's available. It's in excel format. If you'd like a copy please send an e-mail to andraruscoe at hotmail dot com. DO NOT PM ME ABOUT THE SPREADSHEET.

First Impression: Mint and butter. Second Impression: Hmmm, not as sweet and cold as I thought it would be. It's definitely minty and very buttery, more buttery than Jack. Just can't compete with Milk Moon with is creamy, sweet honeymint. Final Analysis: It nice, light and doesn't stick around very long. I hope Lick It is pure peppermint and very sweet with no butter.

First Impression: Apples and sweet red wine. Second Impression: Wow! I'm amazed at how different from 2004 this Harvest Moon is. So much so that I can't even draw a comparison. 2005 is crisp, juicy apples poached in a richly spiced red wine. It smells really good. It stays quite true to the bottle for a goodly while and then the florals start to peek out. Final Analysis: I'm thrilled that my two Harvest Moons are completely different from each other, each wonderful in its own way. Both will be accompanying me on my late October trip to New England as they are just begging to be worn in the crisp, fall air.

First Impression: If you haven't read the story, go read it now. What is in this bottle completely encapsulates every scent and image that Hawthorne meant to convey. Second Impression: This is a rose scent for rose wearers *and* rose fearers. Sweet and slightly creamy and a bit spicy. Totally romantic and yes, graceful as the description says. The roses in this remind me of the roses in Desire and for me that's fantastic. Final Analysis: I have such a problem with roses, but my skin and nose is loving Beatrice. It keeps getting more mellow on the drydown, I love it!

First Impression: Want to eat it! Second Impression: This is Dunkin' Donuts Creamy Vanilla Chai, this is spiced poundcake soaked in honey, this is a scent that would fill and warm you if you were cold and hungry. Bengal smells grand on me, so grand I may end up knawing my arm to a bloody stump. Final Anaysis: Worthy of multiple 10ml purchases. The ULTIMATE fall and winter perfume.

First Impression: Woodsy incense and rose. Second Impression: This scent starts of lovely, with the roses backing off of the woods and incense, lending a sweet dewiness rather than a pure rose fragrance. This gets very dusty as it dries. Final Analysis: I love the way this smells in the bottle and when wet, but the drydown didn't work well with my skin.

First Impression: Rosy woods and warm tonka. Second Impression: If I didn't read the description, I would never have known that there was leather in this blend and that is a very good thing. This gorgeous, warm, romantic, masculine but not in the extreme. The tea rose, tonka and woods blend perfectly to make this a swoonworthy fragrance. The incense peeks out in the drydown keeping Dee from being foppish. Final Analysis: Good throw and staying power with a beautiful drydown, I love this!

First Impression: Golden citrus cream. Second Impression: Oh how can I even describe the wonders that are Versailles? Golden, decadent, langorous, elegant, shimmering delights. This scent isn't sharp edges, it's softness and glowing. I don't get much jasmine, which is good as we all know that jas can something overthrow the whole scent. I don't *any* orris which I'm turning cartwheels over! Final Analysis: Golden citrus cream draped with rose petals with glints of glorious amber, this scent is divine.

First Impression: More violet. Second Impression: Violet can be so invasive to a blend, it just screams on my skin and that's what it is doing here. Final Analysis: For violet floral lovers, Ephemera is a perfect dream. But not so for me.

The red wine is The Black Tower is wonderful!

First Impression: Hot leather. Second Impression: Leather fights with vetiver to be my number one arch nemesis. This scent isn't overpoweringly leathery but it's there taking over all the other goodness. I'm getting flashes of florals and incense, but the leather just ruins it for me. Final Analysis: Les Unfortunes.

First Impression: Cloves and cinnamon. Second Impression: Wow, this is a bloomer! This starts of very dry, all sharp cloves and cinnamon. Then oranges and peaches start sweetening the spices in the most spectacular way. I can smell the incense and patchouli underneath, but it's not overtaking the wonderful fruits and spices. This scent just screams Christmas on the drydown. It would even more so if there were no patchouli in it. Final Analysis: Reminds me of more spicy, deeper Decadence. This is tagged for Christmas Day 2005 and will be making it into the travel pack for our upcoming Disney trip.

First Impression: Lavender, warm and sweet. Second Impression: I don't love lavender, but this scent could change all that. The lavender starts to drydown and is tamed by the rich and sweet tonka. The longer drydown reveals rosewood and patchouli keeping both the lavender and the tonka from getting overly sweet. I'm not getting any amber, which isn't a bad thing in this case. This is a gentle and lovely scent, one that can be appreciated by both men and women. Final Analysis: I really like this scent. It's much more soothing than I would have thought it to be. Anecdote: When ivyandpeony came round with her imp of Old Scratch the other day, I couldn't smell it in the vial or on my skin. Donna said it was Beth's test, if you couldn't smell Old Scratch then you were the spawn of Satan. She's quick, that one. I can smell it in my bottle and I love the way it smells on my skin. Whether I'm the spawn of Satan, though, remains to be seen.

First Impression: Fresh ivy trailing out of pewter challis of deep, red wine. Second Impression: I thought sweaty leather soaking wet from battling in a thunder and lightening storm. It couldn't be further from that. This scent is much more the romanticized version of English knights preparing for battle. It's slightly masculine from the ambergris and leather of which I only get the tiniest breath. The wine and ivy take the forefront intermingled with hints of sweet woods and grasses. Final Analysis: The scent just screams "England" to me. It brings back memories of the travels Rob and I took while I was visiting him when we first started falling in love. It's very evocative of a country that I've enjoyed visiting more times that I can count.

Chaos Theory II DCLI Decanted by malanna. This was a hard one to pin down. It smells like the best of summer and autumn. Creamy spicy vanilla pumpkin blended with the juiciest of fruit. Delish! (Last reviewed by sarada.)

Chaos Theory CVIII This was decanted my malanna for me and the label is written in Walt Disney Script. Gorgeous refreshing green color in the vial and so is the scent. It smells like straight up fresh rosemary at first. The drydown is crisp, herbal, refreshing yet warm and inviting at the same time. Wonderful! Last reviewed by malanna.

Fruit Moon is refreshing and sweet. The smells is that of the taste of a mouthful of those little fruit shaped Runts candies. Love it!

First Impression: Violets and more violets. Second Impression: Violet can be wonderful and subtle as in Veil, Morgause, Flower Moon or violet can be strong, soapy and overpowering. This is one strong violet perfume. Final Analysis: A bit too heavy on the violets for me.

First Impression: Who knew that Hell smelled this good? Second Impression: A gorgeous yellow floral. Asphodel reminds me of the dandelions and buttercups that grew in our yard when we where kids. My sister and I would spend hours picked every single one of them to make bouquets to give to Mummy. She'd put them in dixie cups all over the kitchen. Final Analysis: Sweet, gentle and beautiful.

First Impression: Vanilla embraces the dark side. Antique Lace's evil twin. Second Impression: I don't think Black Opal is meant to be as sweet as my skin turns it. Sweet and dark, this smells like a blend of rich vanilla and tonka. I also smell some type of skin musk. It started off quite dark until my skin got ahold of it. Vanilla is usually so innocent and foody, but this scent is not. Final Analysis: Vanilla suited up for seduction in a deep and shimmering veil with nothing but dark eyeliner and glittering eyes showing.

This is a lavender that even I could fall in love with. Rich, sweet and supremely soothing. This bottle could not have arrived at a better time. I have three trips in as many months coming up. Safari will be accompanying me on all of them.

I Pink Sugar! I wear it often. Pink Moon is the closest to it and it layers wonderfully with Pink Sugar body cream. Dorian more reminds me of Fresh Sugar than Pink Sugar, but also layers nicely with the Pink Sugar cream. Others worth noting are Tamora and Fae. They are lightly sweet and pink in feeling, just lovely fragrances that will appeal to lovers of Pink Sugar.

First Impression: Exremely strong and powdery roses. Wonderful label! Second Impression: Rose is one of the notes that can sink or swim a fragrance and this one is going down for the last time. All roses, powdery strong. I was hoping for something that would be a naughty version of Crucible of Courage but I got a sneezefest of rose powder. Where did all the other gorgeous notes go? Final Analysis: I'm gutted.

As you may have read in my other post about the fertility goddesses, you know that I have two dear friends who are desperate to get pregnant. Do any of you know if any of Beth's magical blends could be used as a fertility enhancement? I know these oils aren't designed to treat medical conditions, but they do enhance mood, confidence, feelings...so why not something that could help bring about fertility enhancements?

First Impression: Lightness of air. Shimmering moonlight. Second Impression: This scent is so ethereal and gorgeous and very hard to describe. Picture Dorian riding Bambi through a field of green on a moonlit night, a warm breeze blowing. Final Analysis: For the people who where expecting Prancer's ass are going to kick yourselves for not ordering this. This scent is a perfect dream.