kashmira

Red was my favourite Fraggle when the show was on tv -- though she was a bit impetuous at times, she always was willing to try something without hesitating. In some ways, I have a similar personality. Regardless, this scent is absolutely amazing on me. It doesn't turn to candy -- instead, it is deep wonderful red fruit -- somehow, the combination of currant and cranberry just turns to absolute win on my skin. I think the pink pepper and musk help "ground" the fruit scents. It is truly 'red" in scent: it is happy, effervescent, full of life and happiness. It makes me feel as though the world is truly ripe for the picking. It has decent throw and lasting power: I can put it on in the morning and only need to lightly touch it up in the mid afternoon. Definitely a keeper in my book.

I recognise this note from other perfumes that I have sniffed over the years. It is comforting and kind, like being gently touched on the forehead with a kiss from the ocean. It is perfume smelling without smelling like perfume. In a touching way, it reminds me of how my mother smelled when I was a child(due to her own love of scents).

This is a poignant-smelling scent for me. While the violets mostly dominate, they have a darker undertone that keeps them from going too floral. This scent reminds me of days gone past and ethereal moments that have ended all too quickly. It is the embodiment of memory eternal. I'm so glad I have a bottle.

Maybe it's my decant or maybe it's my skin chemistry, but this seems to settle into a pencil-pushing patchouli lovefest on my skin. No sweetness, no honey, just a massive pile of patchouli and pencils. While this isn't exactly a great scent on me now, I'm willing to give it another shot after it has spent some time in a dark drawer.

For Smut 2013 Oh Smut, how I love thee. On me, it turns into a sexy wine-musky scent with lots of staying power. Though I detect the grape notes, they are kept in check by the musk. Definitely bottle worthy!

I really love how this smells on me and it is one of my favourites. The blood orange makes its presence when i first apply it, but soon it becomes tempered by geranium. After about 30 minutes, it simply turns into golden orange incense. When I wear this, people tend to listen to me and take notice. This blend represents a scent of power, strength and wisdom.

In the bottle: slightly-resiny, mostly wood. Uh oh, this might not be good.. Wet: Dark cedar 30 minutes later: Cedar boards with a side of pencil shavings. I smell like a freshly built cedar chest. I'm scaring away clothes moths from 3 counties away. A few hours later: I still smell like cedar and resin in an unpleasant way. Okay, this really doesn't work on me.

This one morphs on me like no one's business. In the bottle, I smell cake and lots of it! On me, it starts as red velvet cake and then the cream cheese comes out to say hello for about 10 minutes. A strong almost cologney-type smell comes out about 15 minutes later, only to get squeezed out by the ever amazing Snake Oil. Snake gets trampled by something woodsy-ish and finally, they all decide to end up at the table again, eating Red Velvet Cake and drinking tea. A most curious blend and one I'm glad I have in my collection.

I received this as a decant in a swap. In the decant, it is all red musk all the time. On my skin immediately it turns into myrrh-madness. Apparently, my body loves myrrh way too much. 30 minutes later: The carnation and red musk are having a little tussle with the myrrh; no winner is being declared. They're all on the mat in a pile of notes. an hour later: still no winner, but red musk is twitching a bit more than the other two. There is a sweetness that is making a brief appearance ringside as well. Two hours later: Myrrh is declared the winner by default. Overall, I like it. I'm glad I have my decant, but I don't know that I would try to find a bottle.

In the bottle I smell my much loved red musk, with a hint of orange and patchouli. I'm in heaven. But this scent does different things depending on whether I'm in the bath or after the shower. In the bath: red musk, hints of other things, but mostly red musk. After the bath, I mostly have red musk solo, with the patchouli, orange, pomegranate, currant and vanilla singing a beautiful chorus on me. The bathroom smells divine and so do I, apres bath. After a shower, though, I get a completely different reaction: Using this oil as a post shower moisturizer, all I get is The Mighty Patchouli. It seems to amp on my body to high heaven, beating red musk into utter submission. The orange decides to tag team with Patchouli, so in the end all I get is OrangePatch Wham! The currant, pomegranate and vanilla decide to stay away entirely. I think I will stick to using this oil in the bath.

I received an imp almost 3 years ago and it has been aging quietly in my imp box since then. Wet, all I smell is myrrh and ylang ylang. Dry, it fluctuates between sweet(right wrist) to floral(left wrist), but overall, has that 'je ne sais quoi' that makes me want to keep smelling both of them at the same time. I think this one would work marvelously in my hair -- it's a scent that would make people want to get closer for a second whiff. It definitely makes me want to consider getting a bottle to age.

I received Sugar Skull '05 in a sale(thank you again arsinoe9!) Sugar Skull '05 is everything I wanted Sugar Skull '10 and '12 to be: deep, sugary, rich, strong but restrained. I have all 3 bottles and comparing them is like comparing 3 different vintages of the same wine. Instead of hitting one's nose with a shouting voice 'Hi, I'm brown sugar" (the way '10 and '12 do), the '05 version instead extends a hand and says in a husky, southern sweet caramel voice "Delighted to meet you." From the bottle I smell sugared fruit -- luscious sugared fruit. Like all sugar scents, the one amps on my skin, but not in a displeasing way. It reminds me of a candy from my very early childhood -- those foggy memories we all have where only scent and few glimpses of our past still shine through. The drydown on Sugar Skull '05 ends up having a caramel and fruit bouquet, but not a fruit I can pinpoint. It almost has a slight sweet incense feel to it -- not the typical incense one thinks of like frankincense or myrrh, but more like a scent with similar 'resonance.' I only put a tiny dot on my arm and the scent is still going strong over 2 hours later. Among the many other things that I adore about this cobalt blue bottle is that it has a label that is the *same* picture as on Leonard Cohen's first album(the Anima Sola). The picture and album have great significance to me, so this simply is perfect in every way possible.

Even before I read the note description, I *knew* I needed a bottle of this one. Anything named 'Eldrich' is just awesome in my book. Once I got it, I knew I made the right decision. From the bottle, I get a sexy musk, with a teeny bit of leather. I use this as a moisturizing oil on my skin(as this is far too precious to use in the bath) and the scent just wafts all over me. Honey+ musk = awesome on my body. I don't really smell rose, much to my surprise, even several hours after application. I *heart* this scent. I would gladly take a 55 gallon drum.

When first applied, all I smelled was ginger. Fresh ginger with perhaps a little sweetness underneath. An hour later, it bloomed onto my skin into something sweet and sugary with a hint of fruit -- absolute heaven. After about 3 hours, the scent died away and I was left with only a ghost of a scent. *sob* I'm hoping that aging this bottle for a long while might allow it to have better staying power on my skin.

I bought this bottle unsniffed. However, based on the notes and my general ability to handle unusual scents, I thought this would be a winner. From all the reviews and the scent description, it seemed like it would work like a charm. It does..but only after about 2 hours. For the first two hours, this scent just becomes a pervasive funkadelic smell -- I can't tell if it is the tobacco or the black musk(or perhaps their powers combined), but whatever it is, my body is wafting Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch for 2 hours. I've never become nauseous due to a scent, but this one does it to me. But then, just before I give up hope, the scent just turns into this wonderful combination of despair and desire and utter sensuality. I receive so many compliments 2+ hrs after applying. It really captures an 'old school' goth club scent. I'm hoping that 6+ months of aging might reduce the funk and increase the sultry-ness.