Hawke

In the vial: Faintly fruity, but mostly *air*. This has the same sort of instant impact as Hurricane, to me. Almost chilly. Wet: Maybe it's not fruit and it's sweet flora, like lotus. Whatever it is, it's strong. Dry, many hours later: I'm still not sure I would call this fruit, but I guess that's the closest thing it comes to. Maybe the bastard love child of grapes and lotus. Whatever it is for real, it's very sweet. I still get the feeling of air, even on my skin. It really hasn't changed at all. I don't know about the voodoo potential, as I wasn't really testing it. I'll keep the imp for experimenting, though.

I'm late to try this one, though I've had it for a while. In the vial: Fruits and maybe some light spice. Mostly it smells like apple cider. Well. Exotic apple cider. Wet: I was wrong Pear. I think there's prickly pear in this and while I don't exactly know what that smells like, it's rounder than apple. A softer fruit. It's a bright scent-"color" though. Dry: Oh, now this, this is nice. It's become a hard spiced pear cider scent. I like it a lot, and can imaging this being a celebration drink, or scent. I never got chocolate or tobacco, though I can get a faint whiff of the idea of fall leaves. Keeping my little imp.

Wow. This really is the magical morphing scent as none of us seem to agree what is or isn't present. For me, in the bottle, there's something cool and sharp. I thought it was a wood at first, like cedar, but I think it might be juniper? Citrus of some sort too. I always default to "lemon". Wet, the floral comes forward. With luck, it's not rose. It does soften the bite though but not at all in a bad way, and that's saying something for me, as I'm really not a floral girl. ETA: The more I thought about this, the more I think it might be lily too. It's not at all "girly" to me, though. That sharp edge keeps it away from frill and floof. It doesn't last though. Ninety minutes and it was gone. It's lovely while it's here, though.

In the vial, I got buttery pumpkin and, obviously, the underlying pomegranate. And then I put it on my skin and had my first experience with a scent smelling differently on my wrists. It was very fruity on my left, and more buttery on my right. Odd. Eventually, they balanced out. As it dried, the pomegranate got very strong, very quickly. Who knew pomegranate was so sweet? Dry, there was a sort of commercial candle/plastic smell. And! The appearance of a faint note of dust. It's unique and it almost worked, just not on me. ETA: Many hours later, it faded down to a skin-close spicey fruit scent. If it had done this right away, I would have been in love.

In the vial, this is lemon Jolly Rancher candies to me, clear and hard and bright yellow. Wet, the lemon is immediately muted by a musky vanilla that softens it and makes more a scent and less like candy. It is cheerful, though. It's a very confident, shoulders back sort of scent. And then, as it dries, the lemon all but disappeares beneath the mustier scent and it warms up, actually smellng warm. Like warm skin with just a little sweetness left behind. Definitely reminds me of summer and bright days. Dry, it's a very *dry* scent, in every sense. It's still warm, musty skin, but musty in a good way. This is a cheerful ego boost in an imp.

In the vial, this is lemony, citrusy, bright and sweet. Wet, it's fruits and flowers over something cold. That snow/slush note we keep hearing and smelling so much about. As it dries down, though, it *IS* Skadi. Well. no. It's less pine-ful, sweeter and softer, but it's almost a duplicate. Talvikku is Skadi without the sweetness, it seems to me, but this is pretty damned close. I got a sample of this that (thankfully!) came before the Yules were gone because everyone was raving about it and my worries over the "girly" note were pushed to the side. I may need to order a bottle of this, since my imp of Skadi leaked.

In the vial: Root beer, faintly. Without the bubbles. Wet on my skin, it was yep, definitely root beer. Which means my skin likes the sassafras. Vanilla, I think, took the edge off. There's something that's a little smoky/tobacco-y here too. Interesting. I told a friend it smelled like a really hunky guy drinking a rootbeer float. Dry and many hours later, it's a very faint vanilla root beer smell, but it didn't really change. It just faded but it's not entirely gone. It has the potential to be way too sweet, but it never got there on me. Thankfully.

One I overlooked and shouldn't have. I've discovered that I'm making season judgments in my head as I go through my imps. This is definitely a warm weather scent. In the vial, I got mint and maybe the hint of florals, as well as a shock of something alcohol-like. Maybe that was the eucalyptus. Wet. the mint faded and "felt" like it moved into the background. You know, in a 'late to hit the nose menthol-y' kind of way. Again, I suppose this is eucalyptus. Tangled up in it was a soft, sweet floral which must be the lotus. I thought it was honeysuckle, but it's even sweeter than that. I was just hoping it didn't turn into rose. There was definitely a frosty, chill scent, too. The "air" others have mentioned, which I'm guessing is the ozone. I've had good luck with the ozone/aquatics I've tried, this far. It had a very powerful throw in this stage. As it dried, it faded, over the course of three or four hours, until it was just a very skin-level, soft lotus scent. Nicely done, Beth. Nicely done.

In the vial I can smell the chocolate, for certain. Powdered chocolate, like cocoa powder, not smooth or creamy. And something boozy. Not sure what that is. The scents melded together on my wrists. It was sweet, a little fruity, but I was liking the chocolate scent, actually. Still not a true milk chocolate or anything, but it wasn't bad. Tolerable, at the very least. But in the end, it went to that same musty, dusty place that a few blends have gone (Spooky and Miskatonic University, notably). If I reapplied, that must would be gone until it dried down again, but that final stage kills it for me. I don't know what it is in particular, but without it, this would have been pretty nice.

In the vial: Juniper berry. Must be. It's sharp and sweet at the same time. Drying on my skin it was thick and slightly sticky smelling (not feeling, thankfully.) Obviously sweet. The sharpness faded pretty quickly and it because this fruity-honey sweet, slightly spiced warmth that was wonderful. Round and almost peachy. I'm not sure it invokes dogs sleeping by fireside for me, but that hardly matters. I love it anyway. Like many others have reported, it disappears fast, though. Wish I had more to slather, but I'll make do with what I've got.

In the imp, I get buttery fruit tarts. Not overly sweet, maybe sweetened with honey and only a drizzle at that. Promising! Wet on my skin, I got something fruity that came across as an apple cider-orange, some sort of citrusy-sweet spicey scent, and the very first licks of spice, though I'd be hard pressed to tell you what it really was. I tend to default to 'cinnamon' when I can't name names. Dry, I finally got the smoky, bonfire whispers in the background, under that warm, flaky pastry sort of smell. It didn't seem chaotic to me or pranky or tricksterish. It made me want to curl up under a thick blanket with slipper socks and a mug of spiced cider. In other words, it worked for me.

Again with the failure to trust my nose. Just like with Centzon Totchin, I got peanut butter from the vial, but tried it on my skin anyway. Which led to the initial peanut butter phase (I'm so glad I'm not the only one who smells this. We talk about playdough and baby powder, but I don't think peanut butter is in the standard 'you might smell this if your chemistry doesn't work' list.) The longer it's one, the more the honey note comes out, wafting around some florals that might not be so bad, were it not for the bottom note of peanut. Off to swaps with you.

Oh, I like this. In the vial, I smelled the wine and ivy notes, I think.. Certainly the warm, redness of wine and something sharper and cleaner, which could, I suppose, be the teak, but I'm almost sure is green and thus must be ivy. Wet on my skin, the bite of citrusy-ozone showed up and I, for one, am glad of that. I truly love the lab's ozone scent. As it dried the musk mingled with the blue-green smell and dry, that seems to be wear it's stayed. I can understand why people would call this cologne-y or masculine, but I don't think it works purely on the male body. It's a familiar, not bright, but comfort-in-knowing scent to me, not at all devastated or wrecked. Definitely me.

This smells soooo good in the imp. Good enough to eat or drink or at the very least wear, you know? Almondy, anise-y, spicy sweetness. And then it touches skin. How I wish I was getting black cherries and vanilla. Or amaretto. Or vanilla musk or any of the other lovely things some of you smell. On me? Powdery rose. Yep. That's it. A rose that leapt off the bush, ground itself into a fine powder and sprinkled itself liberally over my wrists. An attack rose. I need rose repellent.

This is one of the Voodoo blends I'd most wanted to try when I made my first of many lists. I have been struggling to get back to my spiritual self and so it seemed like a good one to have. In the vial, this is a bitter citrus musk. Grapefruit maybe, which would account for bitterness, but definitely something else that catches at the back of my throat. I was wary. But on! On is a whole different story. For starters, I tingled the moment I put this on. Not in bad ways, not in naughty ways, but a whole body-wide shiver. I call that a good sign. Then, that musky bitterness blossomed into a smoky, vanilla-laced lemon that is so unique and so good to smell that I keep smelling myself. It is a scent that makes me happy. I do get a little bit of powder, but not in a bad way. It's soft, not pure baby powder, and is very tolerable. That and did I mention that the scent makes me happy. I feel good wearing it. I may have to order a 5ml for daily use.

Somehow, when ordering an imp of this, I missed the lavender note. It must have been in my excitement to get my hands on a new scent. Unfortunately, there's no missing it on my skin. In the vial, I got spices and something that I thought would work for me. I didn't really smell the floral note until, you guessed it, it touched my skin and went chemistry crazy. The good part is that it's very faint, so it's not *terrible* on me, but it absolutely doesn't work. Old Scratch, far from being diabolical or spicy at all, is powdery lavender on me. Too bad.

I am learning, slowly but surely, to trust my nose. Out of the imp, I got a strong whiff of florals, combined with a sweeter honey note. But, as florals are for the most part bad on me, I was nervous. I should have listened to that instinct. Hetairae, I think, would be lovely without the ylang ylang. Unfortunately on me, that's what got amped, and I don't like ylang ylang as a stand-alone scent. The warmer it got on my skin, the more floral it got until I had to wash it off. Which was a feat in itself as this baby likes to stick. Too bad. I like the concept but not the smell.

To be fair, I am a little congested, but, man. If this smells this good when I'm plugged up, I can hardly wait for a clear day. In the bottle: Brown sugar and nuts. Carmelized brown sugar. It's like a bowl of .. pralines. Something equally sinful and wonderful. Wet: The cedar and pine pop out almost immediately, though they stay in the background of the nutty goodness. It evokes fireside snacking to me, too, and makes me smile just sniffing it. Beautifully done. I'm so glad I've got it. I will try to resist the urge to buy more right now.

I got this as part of a decant circle, and though I've been curious, I've never tried it before. In the imp: ... I've seen people mention the smell of Nutella. I'd call it peanut butter. No, seriously, it smells like peanut butter and jelly to me. How. Odd. Wet: Whoa, sharp, right away. Almost a vinegar-y wine scent. At least there's no more whiffs of peanuts. Don't get me wrong, I adore peanut butter, I just don't want to smell like it. Drydown: I get the same fizzyness that someone else mentioned, and it reminds me of Laudanum, not for scent, but for feeling. Not sure what that component is, but it's definitely interesting. The wine/fruity scent has complete hold on me. I get no chocolate, and just a hint of spice. It's not a *bad* smell. I actually sort of like it. Dry: This scent lasts. It's definitely gone spicy mulled wine, one that wafts around me, teasing me with a lick now and then. I wouldn't call this a signature scent for me, but it definitely smells like a mad bunny party.

I could just cry. In fact I think I will. In the vial, this is so gorgeous. It's ginger and cinnamon and *honey*, oh my gosh, the honey. It's warm and beautiful and I am sure that I'll love it. Wet: Cinnamon, honey, creamy, yummy goodness. Drydown: ... and baby powder? What the heck? Dry: Pure baby powder. No, I lie. Baby powder with the occasional lick of cinnamon. Headache inducing cinnamon baby powder. Did I mention the crying part? I may try it again. I want to love it. Well. I want it to love me, but it was a terrible, terrible first date.

I really need to stop having faith that I will find a rose I like. This is *close*, as was Othello, but I'm just not sure about it. In the vial: Citrus. It smells bright yellow to me, if scent can have color. Wet: Lemonade. That's what I thought I was going to get. Maybe a berry lemonade, as the tang smoothed down pretty quickly, sweetening up. Drydown: Oh, how beautiful. There's a sort of creamy almost-vanilla smell that comes out in this. I've heard that amber can be creamy, so maybe that's it. Don't know what orris is. The citrus is still there, in whiffs. But, uhoh, the rose is showing up. Dry: The rose is definitely prominent now. Not 'ohmygoshROSE' but it's definitely there. The creamy scent and the citrus tame it down. Tame down the rose portion, at least. There is something *really* strong in this. Major wafting power that's got bite to it. Maybe that's the orris? I haven't washed it off. That's something. Not decided on whether I'll keep it or not, yet.

Another 5ml purchase unsniffed. I bought it for the spices, before I knew rose didn't work on me. In the bottle: I'm getting floral, though I don't specifically get rose. Almost a commercial smell, with the alcohol bite. And on exhale, powder. This might not work. Wet: Very very floral, but still no rose, interesting. Not as commercial and girly (despite the fact that it's Othello, who's about as far from girly as one gets) but a floral that I don't mind, really. Drydown: It just keeps mellowing and fading, until I'm getting the occasional whiff but nothing solid. Dry: Well, it's pretty much soaked into my skin. I have to put my nose right against my wrist to smell this lovely musky-spicy-notreallyfloralatallanymore scent. Which, some people might not like, but as far as florals go, this works for me. The rose never did appear, so maybe rose scents aren't an automatic no for me.

Bought a 5ml of this, unsniffed. I'm not regretting it at all. In the bottle: I can smell the peach blossom and vanilla most of all, though I think the amber gives it a little bit of an edge. Soft edge, though. It's nice. Wet: Wow, really smelling fruity. I was a little wary that this would go peaches-and-cream on me, which I have bad scent associations with, but it never did. Drydown: Uhoh. This has gone a little playdough-y. Not terribly, not offensively, but every now and then I get a musky, salty whiff that catches me off guard. Not exactly sure what that is. Heliotrope? Don't know what that smells like exactly. I'll be sad if it stays this way. Dry: Nope. Many hours later, the playdough smell is gone, and it's just a warm (very warm) sort of honeyed smell. I'm keeping this one.

You know, I don't read the ingredient list to refresh my memory when I try these. I should have with Harlot. I am not a rose perfume kind of girl. I've said that before. It's got to be *really* nice when it comes to floral for me to do it. In the vial: The cinnamon warped the rose smell just enough that I didn't even catch it. Floral, yes, but I was thinking carnation. On: Powder, almost immediately. Perfumed powder. Oh no. Drydown: Rose. Waaaaay too much rose and not nearly enough cinnamon. It's girly. I don't do girly, so this is very much not for me. I am going to a gathering of friends. I will take BPAL with and if someone likes it, p'raps there'll be another convert.

I tried this twice, as the first time it went floral immediately and disappeared in the space of half an hour. In the vial: Sharp. I thought I got a whiff of something gingery, but it's definitely sharp. Wet: I cannot figure out what floral note it is that comes to the fore right away. It's on the tip of my brain, but I'm so bad about picking out notes. Drydown: Yep. There's the floral. This is like a floral cologne on me, meaning it's too sharp to be feminine-ly floral. But it smells commercial and certainly not distinctive enough to merit wearing. Not me, by a long shot. It also faded within an hour or so again. Someone else will love this more than me.