kakiphony

I don't always do well with musks, so I tried this with some trepidation. (Seriously. A lot of musks make me smell like my grandfather, which is a fine thing to smell like, but not really what I tend to for with perfume.) However, I need not have worried. This "animalic" musk fades quickly on me and never turns into Aqua Velva. Wet on my skin this was very herbal with a bit of rounding and powder from the amber. Oddly, although this NOT one of the blends from this collection with pine, it smelled a little evergreen. It faded very quickly and what's left behind a gentle blend of amber and herbs. It's so gentle, in fact, that I find myself wishing it had a little more oomph on me.  

Wet, the dominant scent of this on me is the nuts (which have a slight butter note to them) with smoke. However, as it dries it becomes a really interesting blend of frankincense, vanilla, and nuts. It actually really reminds of the Lab's sasparilla blends (Stimularting Sassafrass and Tombstone, but even more so the Organ Grinder). It's drop dead gorgeous and a total winner. 

This one really surprised me. While it was immediately citrus heavy when applies, the citrus was spikier and sharper than I expected it to be. It definitely said mockery and guile as in a sharp tongue, and quick witted deception! This is not a gentle citrus. It dries down into a more gentle, incense ash (as opposed to unlit or burning incense) scent with a hint of beeswax and really gentle patchouli. At one point my husband asked me to please some hug him so he could smell me some more. This is a winner.

This is such a gorgeous and perfectly wearable blend. It has become my daily fragrance since Christmas and at the rate I am going, my bottle will not let a whole year.

It's a perfect skin scent on me, subtle with a deeply resinous dry down and just a little bit of ripe, sweet, citrus fruit. Golden is exactly the way to describe this one.

I don't really get incense from this, although that may be because I associate incense so strongly nag champa-type and smoky smells. Instead, the frankincense in this is very much unburned frankincense resin to me. (It smells like the frankincense tears that come on my favorite soap and that I hoard like a dragon.) And don't let my "sweet" comment scare the non-food people. This is NOT a cloying sweetness or a sugar sweetness. This is a golden syrup sweetness that is subtle, but delicious. It's a sweetness I associate with cuddling up under super soft mohair blankets freshly clean from a bath, not of candy.

The throw on this one is mild for me, and that's part of why I can wear it as a daily scent. It sits close to my skin and no one would notice it unless they hug me, but I can smell it and I smell dang good.

Coming in to review after 2 years of aging in a cool dark place to say: Wow. What is soma exactly? Because when I got this two years ago it was all ozone and frankincense wet which dried down to a very slightly green and spicy skin musk. Two years later this has lots of bright, clean, white florals when wet along with the ozone, and they linger. It's something like gardenia and maybe jasmine? Definitely not lilies (thank goodness!). But very, very, very different from when I first tried it. This is one that is aging and opening up in unexpected and interesting ways.

This is the second hair gloss I have tried, after Mitzvah. This scent is MUCH stronger than Mitzvah, really lasting throughout the day and wafting out from my head rather than settling down and just being a kind of subtle "you smell nice" if someone sniffs my head thing. I will definitely need to use fewer sprays than I did with Mitzvah for a subtle effect! The scent on me is very-cinnamon heavy with a lingering red musk. It's a DRY hot scent, like a dragon wallow in the desert, much more spicy than sweet. 

This is very sweet when first sprayed -- all caramelized sugar, a very sticky, childlike sweet scent. After drying/styling it settles into a very subtle much deeper sweet smell for me. It smells quite like the way tonka does on my skin, and is much more sophisticated than the description implies or the fresh spray would lead me to believe. If it were a color, it would be a deep burnished gold.  

OK, I have finally managed to login here despite the captcha madness. I need someone to raise their hand to take the Bath/Body boxes off my hands and organize a round robin for them. They have been sitting in my closet for a year (more?) and I don't have the time, energy, etc to deal with them. I realize I asked this a long time ago and then never followed through. I am terrible. But someone else will be better and I will mail them off (one at a time because I am also broke from borked student loans) and then I will feel less terrible.

Hi, kakiphony! I could take over the makeup round robin boxes at the end of the round if you're tired of doing it. I'm a makeup addict, so I have tons to add to boxes. ha ha

I will PM you as soon as I have the brain cells. I currently have 4 houseguests and am chairing two events at work. I am...not functional. But soon!

Hey everyone. I finally figured out a work-around to get onto the boards from my laptop during work hours. Yay!

But the yay is tempered by the giant BOO! to me for having so completely dropped the ball on the round robin boxes. I have excuses, but they're excuses and no one cares, not even me. The long and short of it is: I still have them.

Em is going to CLOSE the current topics for them. I'll reopen new sign-ups BUT, I would love if someone could take them over for me at the end of the round. My job and life simply doesn't leave me enough spoons to deal with them.

So, any takers? There are two of the large priority mail boxes full of perfume and makeup samples. There is NO nail polish as it was all gross, leaking or dried out, old and did not survive my box clean-up purge after the last round.

I finally went through the two giant round-robin boxes, and re-wrapped all the imps and bottles. Some of them I alphabetized and some I did not... I admit that I ran out of steam at the end. It is a LOT of stuff!!!!

I did make an executive decision and got rid of all the nail polish. All that was left of it were things I had seen more than once now, and all drug store brands. It's the thing that seems to leak the most, takes up the most room, and no one is taking. So, from now on, these will NO POLISH boxes.

There was still enough for 2 large flat rate boxes. They are currently very heavy on the BPAL imps, non-BPAL perfume oil bottles, and non-BPAL perfume oil samples, with judicious amounts of skin care (each box now has sheet masks!) and make-up. There are still a few soap samples and alcohol based perfumes, but not many. And the haircare (aside from some BPTP spray decants) is mostly gone.

It's interesting to me to see how these have changed over time as the group's interests have shifted.

I will open sign-up for both boxes on Monday, after I've had a chance to review and revise the rules.

Both of the round robin boxes are home with me and ready to be sorted. Once I go through them, I'll determine if there's still enough good stuff there for 2 boxes, or if we need to go down to 1 or up to 3. Look for me to post sign-ups toward the end of next week.

The second (first?) of the two big bath/body/makeup circular boxes it out traveling to its very last person. As soon as it lands with me, I'll going through both boxes to send them back out into the world. Look for new sign ups in February!!!!

Citrusy and classic "clean" scent at first spray, but definitely something herbal as it longer in the air. I'm getting mint and/or tarragon rather than rosemary though... This is not super long lasting, but is very pleasant.

As everyone else has said, this is (really good, not cheap-o) Nag Chama in a bottle. It's a golden, thick, incense scent on the skin. There's a little fruity/sweet at the beginning, and then pure incense for ages and ages. Throw is moderate. It smells like the clothing racks at a shop I used to frequent in college that carried hippie skirts and loads of scarves from Indian.

I will wear this loads on the weekend when I can smell how I want, but never to work. If I wore it to work I'd get the reputation of a total hippie!

Still looking for some takers for the second of those HUGE round robin boxes. It is very, very, very full of most indie bath and body, makeup, and perfumes (mainly BPAL). It is a take an item leave an item scenario.

I would love to fill this one up with takers BEFORE I move next week!

I did not pay enough attention to this scent, and I'm afraid this review is not as thorough or insightful as I would like.

In the bottle this smelled sort of mildly aquatic and a little bit floral to me. I did get plum from it. At first application is immediately amped and smell strongly of aquatics and old lady in a way that made me sneeze (and may be the "soap" smell that others have mentioned.) It read as wet rather than cold to me -- like a sleety, slushy mess rather than pretty snow flakes.

Then, I was in a hurry to leave the house, and managed to not sniff my wrists at all during the early dry down phases, so I'm not sure how the top notes bloomed and developed.

Several hours later, it has faded to the point of having zero throw and being a skin scent. It's a very pretty resin, with final powder. On one wrist there is something a little bit sharp, which is probably the last remaining bit of the carnation. It's pretty and unobtrusive, but nothing special. I will come back and edit this post once I have a chance to try it on a day when I can PAY ATTENTION.

In the imp: Not as deep as I would have expected from cypress. Light, with something like mint that I think may actually be birch?

Wet on skin: Total amping here. This was a quiet scent in the imp and is a LOUD scent on me at first application. It's exactly what the title says: The inside of a box where jewelry worn close to perfumed skin has been stored. A little wood (I tend to read almost all wood as "cedar" because it smells like my cedar chest!), a little powder, some florals, and maybe a touch of dry spice.

Early dry down (10 minutes): The amping mellows, but the scent remains large unchanged from first application. This is not (at least on me) an early morpher. Again, it's what it says on the label: The inside of the jewelry box of a rich, perfumed lady.

Late dry down (about 45 minutes to an hour): This is really a very stable scent on me. The only real change was from imp to skin. Wood, subtle perfume (more cologne than perfume -- it has some resins and spice and sin't overtly floral) and a little dry spice. It's golden yet deep, resinous, yet heady. Very pretty.

In the imp: Very faint. Mild even. One of the least aggressive oils I have smelled in the imp in ages.

Wet on skin: A quick sharp jolt of cologne, that very quickly mellows in the nose. There is a bit of high and sweet from the lotus, and then a really soft vanilla-sandalwood under it.

Early dry down (5-10 minutes): This is bizarre to me. I expected something complex and rich, and instead I'm getting something really gentle and mild. I don't get the creamy note others have mentioned, but it might come out with time. As it starts to settle, I am catching more of the floral ylang ylang and a little more sweet bubble gum from the lotus. It's a very poppy bubble gum -- more bubbles than glob if that makes sense. There's also just a tiny bit of something plastic (like a Strawberry Shortcake doll) in there which I have occasionally gotten from vanilla.

Late dry down (45+ minutes): A delicate skin scent, most ylang ylang and sandalwood. This is soft, warm, and comforting. Very pretty and subtly feminine,

In the imp: Very citrusy and bright.

Wet on skin: This applies with a burst of bitter orange and the very quickly there is something sharp and herbal poking up through it. It's loud and sharp, mostly ginger -- and fresh, eye watering ginger at that -- but with a little bit of green spice from the geranium.

Early dry down (5-10 minutes): In the early stages this a VERY strong on me. The bitter orange morphs into something more like lemon scented cleaner (pledge, dish soap, that variety) with a healthy kicker of ginger and a little geranium if I hold my nose right up close to my wrist and huff. I can almost detect some more subtle notes waiting to come out as this wears, but they're very faint and absolutely crushed by the citrus/ginger combination.

Late Dry Down (60 minutes+): For all the amping in the early stages, this almost disappeared rather quickly. I am left with faintly sweet frankincense. It's rather powdery and so subtle that it could be the skin-scent left behind by a scented soap or scrub.

Getting ready to post the sign-ups for the big boxes of doom and had to share this.

THIS is why I am against taping and using cling-wrap around bottles and imps. It was dissolved/melted and just foul.

I think it will work better to actually even out everything between the two boxes -- so each has some makeup, some scents, etc. I actually tried to sort them out by theme yesterday and the sizes of various items just didn't work.

OK. I just spent about an hour going over each of the circular swap boxes of B&B items entrusted to me by Em. They have now been cleaned out of everything leaky, expired, or so leaked-on that I couldn't read the labels. I also made an executive decision and tossed some things that I personally have seen in the boxes for multiple rounds and which had nominal value (i.e. hotel room soaps).

However, I need some opinions...

One box is mainly full of Bath & Body Works and other fairly cheap mass market brand stuff. The other box has a lot more etailer and higher end brands. Further, the second box has about twice the amount of BPAL and BPTP samples than the first box.

My question is: Should I divide things up between the two boxes to make them more equal in value of contents? Or would people rather than I kept each box as-is in case they have been careful about only signing up for one or the other (or alternating boxes, etc).

The other option is to have me divide up the contents between: Smelly things (perfumes, scented lotions, body sprays) and Makeup samples (lips, eyes, nails -- this box would include the facial lotions and hair care items) so that each box is more themed rather than a mish-mash.

Just an FYI to the world that Em has entrusted me with the circular swap boxes she was running. They arrived at my house today. I'm putting them in the spare room unopened to deal with when my house is parent-free again after Christmas. I expect them to go back into circulation/sign ups in early January.

Starts out as an odd combination of dusty pepper (like the really low quality black pepper you find in diners) and sharp, slightly damp dead leaves. Quickly, the dead leaf odor fades and the sandalwood rises up to make this a little spicy, a little dry, and overall a fairly traditional scent. Low throw, very much a "cologne" fragrance on me -- my chemistry has just devoured anything subtle that was there.