aedes

Boom! Deep, dark, plum - smells like a timpani sounds. Base note junkies take note. Herbal elements emerge steadily - first tobacco, then cypress, then hemlock as the plum becomes more of a memory. Every sniff seems different from the last. In the end, I think I smell the lettuce as an almost menacing high note in a big, serious chord. This is a scent for war, sh*t-kicking, the final showdown, no more Mr. Nice Guy. If I had to kick down a door with a gun in my hands, this is what I would wear.

 

I love it.

I agree with previous assessments - reminds me a lot of Sol Invictus. A somewhat sharp, assertive, masculine gold scent. I think it's the verbena. The acidity slowly fades and the ambers take over in the end, but I think I'll stick this one on my guy.

Predominantly lavender at first. After a few minutes, a dusty, dry, papery yet acrid, almost musty smell on me. Unfortunately I think my chemistry's just not right for this one. It ends up smelling like moth balls on me.

CDXXXVIII

 

High John Snake! Definitely smell High John Essence, or something just like it, mixed with Snake Oil. I love high john, so this is perfect-o.

A strong shot of fresh, wet pine with hints of some kind of nutty wood and a mild berry behind it. I'm guessing something like chestnut and blackberry or maybe black currant. Not cloying or too sweet at all, just a very subtle, lovely accompaniment to normally harsh pine. This may be one of my favorite pine blends so far.

CVIX - this one is like a cross between O and Aries '07. It isn't half as sweet as plain O. The oil has a pale orange-red tinge and I think it contains dragon's blood. There's something that goes straight to my sinuses. The jury is still out on what it is, but it fades as it dries.

 

The strongest note is a light, clean but sweet floral. Maybe honeysuckle or orange blossom. There's definitely a little dragon's blood, and as the blend dries, I can smell more of the amber and vanilla, which combine to form a nice, round, golden, slightly sweet core. There's a little bit of waxy honey.

 

I'm still not sure what the sinus piercing note was. I initially thought something like pepper or cardamom, but the more I sniff it, the less I feel like there's any spice. There's something a tiny bit fuzzy about the blend that gets stronger and stronger over the next couple of hours. Definitely some kind of resin, I think frankincense.

 

This is really lovely. It reminds me a lot of Khrysee, but softer and sweeter. And with frankincense.

 

And what I get is a big, beautiful blast of lily of the valley. Maybe narcissus or some other spring flower. But, yeah, that heady, springtime, slightly peppery lily makes O its backup singer. Really nice! Perfect for this time of year and I think it was a judicious partnership of notes. I'm calling it "O o' the Valley" in my imp box =)

CLIII

 

Ginger Snake! Definitely got the spicy playfulness of ginger, with what I think is a creamy copal dry down, mixed of course with the spicy smoothness of Snake Oil. What a keeper!

Oh man, I was loving it, then it turned masculine-soapy on me. Shoulda known, what with the ambergris, woodmoss, and naked dude and all. Silly me!

MCCCV (1,305)

The person I got it from described it as bright, possibly resinous and ozone, and I think I agree!

 

It's funny, though, when I sniff it in bottle, I get a prominent note of... mustard? Spicy mustard? Not impossible, I'm sure, but I don't like mustard, so I got very worried. But on, it blends out to a bright solar-type scent. Probably lemongrass or bergamot, amber, and possibly a little frankincense and yellow flower like marigold, sunflower, or chrysanthemum, with maybe a bit of ozone. The sun and the sky.

 

Either it's incredibly faint (it's got to be over a year old by now) or I'm getting a cold, or both. But I like it!

I just get maple syrup. Not evil maple syrup. Not maple syrup poured over dark amber gods and their offerings. Just maple syrup. I mean, GOOD dark amber maple syrup that you buy from the sugar shack up the road but still costs more than printer toner. I don't like foody, but this is off the beaten path enough that I think I'll keep it, especially for when syrup season starts up.

Interesting! I don't like foody scents, but this is pretty good! Apricot-y and warm. A lazy summer afternoon or a cozy sweater. I think the white musk gives the impression of softness and haziness and keeps it from smelling too foody.

I smell cedar, patchouli, and coconut. Now, I love coconut, but I can't get over the dirty smells of the other notes. Earthy scent lovers, take note!

Starts out honey-sweet, then quickly goes playdoh and... spearmint? Weird!

Oh, AWESOME! Total instant classic for a base note junkie like me. Got the black, prickly, somewhat spicy and clean scent of labdanum and benzoin, and the opium and opoponax take it on home to dark creamy goodness. The orchid isn't too strong, just enough to keep it from being too masculine. Reminds me of Hades without the cypress or Laudanum without the sassafrass. Totally stocking up on this one.

I got straight up lavender + patchouli, which makes a lot of sense symbolically. Air + earth. Get you there and back again. Keeping you alert but relaxed and grounded.

 

I love lavender and all, and I travel enough that I really want a scent just for those times, but sadly my nose just can't abide patchouli. I keep trying, but I can smell even the smallest amounts of it from a mile away and it just stands out to me. I would be way too self-conscious wearing this in an airport. All I could do is think "patchouli. patchouli. I smell like patchouli. does anyone else smell it? are they trying to avoid the girl over there who smells dirty? patchouli."

 

So I'll have to stick to my lavender + cinnamon Mercury for traveling.

Can't read the number, it's completely smudged off. But I got it in a swap from Jadys.

 

But wow, this is a weird one. Definitely smell the Snake Oil in there from the get go, but holding hands with the "snow" note. Is it piney? Minty? Ozone? All three? It's The Abominable Snow Snake! Slithering in a winter wonderland. Okay, not abominable, kinda cute and fuzzy. So... a green, legless weasel. Yeah. I'll go with that.

~DLXV (565)~

On me this smells like wood and lime, I love it!! On my sister it turns to JASMINE, lol. She amps jasmine like nothing else.

 

Sweetie666 swapped this bottle with me.

 

It's funny, because I get the initial bubblegum rush of lotus (though I think there's a wood in Ochosi that smells like bubblegum to me) and then a blooming of narcissus, then maybe some other white floral (perhaps you're right about the jasmine) with a gentle white musk or sandalwood base. Very pretty. Good for spring.

LXXIV

 

Holy wow. Foody. Like CRAZY foody. Starts off with a heady berry bubblegum rush with chocolate along side. I liken it to Halloween night, just stuffing all the candy you can grab into your mouth at once. Then, a boozy note creeps up in the backgroud. Chocolate berry martini. Too bad I hate sweet drinks AND foody perfumes. This kinda makes me want to hurl. But I know there are some mad foody lovers out there who will think this is heaven.

CCVI

 

I get linen and/or cream, which is a shame because my skin chemistry (or maybe my nose) turns both of those into rancid white ick. But someone who likes White Rabbit or Alice or something else with linen/parchment/cream in it will prolly love this.

Wow - totally didn't expect to like this. So much so that I didn't even have it on my wishlist. Got it as a very wise and insightful frimp. Normally hate patchouli and sweet foody notes. But this is something else entirely! Spicy and clean. I get mostly clove, anise and frank with the smoothness of teak. Definitely need a bottle!

Whoa, weird! I'm normally Queen Resin and they all smell dark-power-sexy-creamy on me. But this was way sweet on application, like lotus and sugar cane. Not a BAD sweetness, but I almost thought there was some berry, wine or grape action going on here. Maybe it's the Snake Oil? Took an hour to kind of settle down to the normal creaminess I expected, though it's still a little sweet. Reminds me of Hungry Ghost Moon in that it conjures an image of a black-and-pink naughty style that's chic, but is it me? Hrm.

A strange one on me that I think I'll be keeping! I'm obsessed with coconut at the moment, and in that department it did NOT disappoint. That creamy, exotic smell really bloomed in the first few minutes. It was accompanied, though, by an odd sort of semi-bitter tartness, though, that I can't place. Like rhubarb, blood orange or grapefruit (actually, it reminds me of Campari, which in turn reminds me of those things) and I was surprised to find none of those notes in the blend. Maybe the lilac + tonka? Nah, that doesn't make any sense. But I like it! It faded fast, though,and I can barely smell it an hour later. Perhaps good for a scent locket, or just rapid re-application.

Oh yeah, this'll do. This'll do NICELY. Smelled a little caramel and foody in the bottle, which made me worry. I don't like my scents too sweet or recognizably foody. But on, it's an extremely well-blended, balanced and behaved scent. Rugged, but temperate and subdued, like the image portrayed on the bottle. A strong frontierswoman of few words, accustomed to hardship but still womanly. The vanilla musk gets the best of both worlds, without turning plasticky or powdery on me. I normally can't abide cedar, but I can't even pick it out of the blend. I think the amber and myrrh trump all on my skin, rounded out by the vanilla musk and given a glimmer of light by the carnation. What a beauty!

Thick, smokey and waxy, with a warm unisex leathery/creamy/spicy vibe. If you like Dead Man's Hand and Iago, I think you'll faint for this. For me, it's tough to say. It smells great, but a lot like a candle. It would be a strange, but intriguing choice as a personal fragrance, perhaps best if you REALLY like Madame Tussaud's. As it is, I think I'd prefer it as a room fragrance, or maybe on my homme de noir.

I found it to be, unsurprisingly, tangy, aquatic, and quite masculine. Eep! Sorry, guess it's got to be a bit more acidic to work with my pH. I tried to make the guy wear it, but he did a little head-hidey thing. So it's off to swapsville!