Bagfish

Well, I am very suprised. I am not a floral girl, but Khajuraho seems to have made me change my mind a bit as I am completely in love! I thought I hated tuberose, lumping it in with jasmine as the source of all floral evil, but this oil is beautiful. I seriously can't smell the sandalwood and a jasmine scent is only present in the first minute or so (which is just about bearable to my jasmine sensitive nose). There is a little bit of smokiness underlying the beautiful tuberose/rosey note and I can smell a little bit of honey and possibly a date smell too (brown and sticky, if a scent can be described as that!). This is completely amazing, warm, beautiful, rounded, not too sweet: all in all, totally delectable. I would never have thought it would work apart from the Lupercalia series has challenged and grown my scent repertoire which is what encouraged me to try Khajuraho. The only problem is that DH doesn't think it suits me as he is so used to smelling me wearing amber/masculine scents. He'll learn!! Now the hunt is on for a bottle as I have a horrible feeling my imp will run out shortly the way I am slathering this on.....

This is a MOST amazing scent. In the bottle: scary scary 100% caramel, a little like Gluttony or God forbid, Jack. Had I made a mistake in going for this? On wet: The caramel almost instantly fades out and the coconut comes to the fore. This is better. I also get a smokey incensey smell, like tobacco or joss sticks. I don't get much fruit or floral which is a good thing as I can't wear either in any great quantity. I get just enough of both to temper the smoke without ruining the fragrance for me. Dry: This gets better and better. The smokey coconut scent remains and added to that there is a dry down to a similar 'base' scent as what I love about Luperci. I can't see how any of the constituents are the same, but maybe its what Beth used as the basis for the Lupercalia oils. Yeabutnobut also mentions a similar scent in Kajuraho and Perfume Garden. I now want to try those Red Lantern and Luperci have been the Lupercalia hits for me rather than Smut which just didn't work. Verdict on Red Lantern: Absolutely stunning Bravo, Red Lantern is a work of olfactory art

This was unexpectedly sweet on me. I was expecting something more like The Lion. The scent was almost floral/fruity in its sweetness and was far more feminine thn I was expecting. I couldn't pick up any of the dry grassiness or woodiness that the scent was supposed to have. So unfortunately with the floral edge and sweetness, this just does not suit me. The Trickster will be confined to the swap pile!

Scherezade's storytelling wiles just don't work on me. In the vial the oil just smells sweet, and then when applied all I can smell is a sweet non-descript sort of smell, I can't pick out any of the notes. After 20 minutes or so of wear, the red musk (at least I assume that's what it is) starts to come to the fore. However, it does exactly the same as Smut did on me, and starts to turn plastic-y. To be honest I can't smell any difference between Scherezade and Smut, neither of them work on me. They start off smelling like they could be quite pleasant, but both dry-down to plastic I must remember to avoid red musk. Off to swaps - I'm sure S will find the love she deserves as so many people have written raving reviews, but she is yet another girly scent that doen't work on me

Golden Priapus is an absolutely amazing scent on me. But what is it with me and male scents?? On to the review. When first applied, Golden Priapus smells slightly pine-y and possibly slightly antiseptic, but this stage only last for ten minutes or so. I can't smell any juniper. After the short wet stage, the top notes start to mellow down and a wonderful vanilla-amber smell starts to waft around What is most strange is that the throw of the oil smells stronger than actually sniffing at my wrists. This glorious vanilla-amber oil smells quite similar on me to Tombstone without Tombstone's marshmallow smell. In some ways I actually like this better than Tombstone as it has that gorgeous amber waft to it that Tombstone doesn't. Gutted that this arrived after I ordered 5ml of Tombstone. I'll have to have 5ml of both I think!! Anyway, after 2 or 3 hours, Golden Priapus starts to smell slightly almondy on me. It smells a little like L'Artisan's Jour de Fete which is a GOOD THING! The scent lasted all night on me, I applied at about 7pm and could still smell it at 8am when I got up in the morning. What a fantastic scent. All in all I love everything about this perfume apart from the name. Its slightly embarassing to say that the wonderful scent that I am wearing is called Golden Priapus I don't think that this scent is at all masculine, and DH certainly wouldn't try it as he said it smelled "too girly" for him. I'm beginning to get a complex that my "girl genes" aren't working properly as I seem to love all the masculine and gender neutral scents and can't wear most feminine ones. Oh well I'll have to start calling this Golden Yoni or something like that!

Paris didn't love me and I certainly didn't love Paris Wet in the imp the oil smelled of lavender which I liked, but within about a minute of putting Paris on my wrist, I began to smell what seemed to me to be like really bad breath, like when someone has halitosis I can only assume that this is what lotus does on my skin, not having tried a fragrance with lotus in before. Note to self: avoid lotus oils if I don't want to smell of bad breath. It is SO not the way I want to smell.

Smut I really wanted to love you. I can see that you are trying hard, and parts of you are beautiful. But your sweet, slightly plastic smell, whilst not offensive, just somehow doesn't smell like "Smut" should. I was hoping your similarities to Snake Charmer would woo me with Smutty charms, but it just isn't going to happen as your musks hide behind a sweet exterior and never really make an appearance. I am heartbroken as I so wanted to love 'teh' Smut Edited to add: having now tried Scherezade which I recently got as an imp, Smut and Scherezade smell exactly the same to me.

This isn't me unfortunately. I thought I would give a citrus fruity oil a go, and I really liked the sound of the grapefruit in the oil. However, this is too strong and sweet and generic fruit for me. I could smell the oil before I opened the imp. It almost smelled slightly rosey and was quite exciting! However on opening, a sweet fruity bubble bath or shampoo smell made its self known. This really was a little scary. I put a dab on my wrist and the sweet fruit scent was overwhelming. I smelled no tea unfortunately. Aizen-myoo isn't 'dry' enough for me, if it was drier, I think it would have worked. So this one goes off to the swap pile, reinforcing my knowledge that I can't wear fruity perfume....

Thick, sugared and bloated with sweetness. Dark chocolate, vanilla, buttercream, and hops with pralines, hazelnut, toffee and caramel. This does not really work on me at all. From wet to drydown, it smells the same - burnt sweet butter with a little bit of "fake" vanilla (like in cheap room scents). I only dabbed a drop on and it is really quite overpowering - I imagine if I had put on more I would be suffering a headache by now. DH said that I smelled like burning incense sticks Gluttony is almost like a "base scent" for Jack and Gingerbread Poppet. It certainly isn't as objectionable as I found Jack to be, but certainly doesn't sit well on my skin. I'm sure other people will love Gluttony so off to the swap pile it goes.

This should work on me but it doesn't. I even have a second imp just in case the first wasn't what it said it was. But to no avail I love all the elements of Thanatos separately, but put them together and it just becomes a bit of a sharp "meh" on me from wet to drydown. I think this is the rose in the oil. I love rose (Rose Red being a favourite) but in this blend the rose just spoils it for me. I smell no incense or benzoin, just sharp florals. Skin chemistry is a killer for me on this one. Off to the swaps with both of the imps......

Wow. This is lovely. It reminds me of a sweet vanilla pod in a fragrant wooden box. I only get a little bit of cedar right when it is wet. It is a very "dry" scent too and my goodness it lasts. I'm on about 11 hours of wear now and it has lasted all day, and is still wafting from my wrists. There is something else wafting up as well as the vanilla and sandalwood - it may be sassafras, but being an English-type person I have never had the pleasure of drinking root beer, so I wouldn't know if that's what it smelled like. Anyway, this note whatever it is is soft and rounded and marshmallowy. I was thinking of splashing out on a 5ml of Velvet (which has real similarities with Tombstone, but is slightly less 'rounded' and has more of an edge) but I have now been thrown into confusion as I love Tombstone as well - which one should I choose? Reposted after 1st March post lost

This is a Luperci that I didn't buy - I got Smut instead, but after the wonderful reviews, I managed to snag a bottle on Ebay (hurrah) and I am SO pleased that I did. In the bottle Luperci smelled a bit scary - very much like the herbal oakmossy drydown of Yggdrasil and I did wonder if I had made a mistake. However as soon as it touches my skin (or clothes) it dries down into the most wonderful soft patchouli/beeswax/amber/musk. I love, love, LOVE this part of the scent. it reminds me just a little bit of the smell of a Lush shop as you walk past it, like it's been bottled by Beth! Anyway, the disappointing bit of this scent for me is that after about 2 hours the lovely soft beeswax/patchouli disappears and the scent becomes sharp and juniper-y This lasts about another two hours and then the softer beeswax-y sweet smell comes back which is a relief. Where the oil got on my sleeve, the Lush/beeswax/patchouli/musk accord has stayed true all day, so maybe this is a candidate for a scent locket. Anyway, Luperci has smelled great for the rest of the day, although it doesn't have much throw, so I have been sat in a meeting all afternoon with my sleeve pressed against my nose. I must have looked rather odd Glad I took the chance on an Ebay purchase! Repost after 2nd March post lost....

Someone further up the thread used the best word to describe my experience with Eden. Acrid. On me, Eden SHOUTS its sweet, overpowering, almost-poisonous greeness. It is truly awful on me, both wet and dry. I'm not good with most of Beth's honey notes and in Eden the honey mixes with the fig to produce a scent which utterly overwhelms my sense of smell I smell no coconut or sandalwood, both of which are scents I love. The imp has been quarentined inside two baggies as the smell was contaminating my wardrobe I'm desperate to swap it to a better home as it is not getting the love it deserves seeing as so many people really like it.

The amber necklace of Freyja, Norse Goddess of Love, Sex, Attraction and Fruitfulness. Her magnificent necklace was bough from four Dwarves [Alfrik, Berling, Dvalin and Grer] at the price of four nights of her passion. When Brisingamen graces your throat, no man can resist your charms. A glittering mantle of rich golden notes: five ambers, soft myrtle and apple blossom, myrtle, and carnation. Amber is a funny one isn't it. On me, Brisingamen when first applied smells of floral baby powder. However, I know the secret of amber on me which is that after about an hour it stops smelling of baby powder and starts smelling wonderful. Brisingamen is the strongest BPAL amber I have tried. To start with I do get florals (which I find quite difficult to wear) and the amber is incredibly strong and powdery. In fact the second time I wore this, I spent an hour trying not to smell it because it was TOO STRONG, but the magical drydown thing happens and it turns into fantastic amber skinscent on me. Brisingamen is a keeper, possibly bottleworthy if I can learn to deal with the floral powder that comes at the beginning. edited to add description

This is too fruity/floral for me even though fruits and florals aren't listed It is also a bit sweet and headache making on me. I *can* smell tea if I push my nose to my wrist, but its sweet milky tea and I like my tea black and fragrant. I also get a hint of the pepper. I can't however smell the linen which is a shame. White Rabbit certainly isn't unpleasant, but its really not me which is a shame as I liked the concept! Off to swaps Mr Rabbit.

Got this in a swap a few weeks ago. I tried it in the first flurry of dabbing myself all over with new smells and it really didn't wow me the way, say, Bengal did. So looking through my box of imps this morning, I thought, hmm, I'll give Morocco another go. I really thought this one would be a definite winner on me, instead, I can hardly smell it in the imp and when on my skin, its just a bit, well, meh for lack of a better word . Its certainly not unpleasant and I don't recoil from it like I have from some oils I've tried. I can sort of smell a creamy spicyness, but I have to cram my wrist against my nose to do so, and I do get a bit of a soapy sort of smell underlying the creamyness. So, Morocco is not unpleasant, but its nothing that makes me want to wear it again which is a shame as I thought it would be a winner along the lines of Sri Lanka or Bengal. I reckon someone else will like it more than me so its off to swaps.

I have tried Silk Road a few times now. When I first put this oil on it is sweet, herby, slightly green and fruity all at once . Wet, Silk Road feels a bit confused like it doesn't really know what it is supposed to be. I suppose if the Silk Road is the meeting place of traders, then a market-place of the near east and the far east would seen pretty chaotic! I don't particularly like this stage of the drydown as it sort of makes me feel a bit headachy as all the different scents swirl around each other. However after about an hour, the most delicious spices emerge from the fruit/herb/green morass - they are totally not obvious to start with and they are a wonderful suprise. The spices are very similar to those in Snake Charmer, and this oil is definitely made worth-while for me by the Snake Charmer spices without the musk and the vanilla found in Snake Charmer. So, I do like this oil, but find the first hour of wearing it to be quite difficult because of the fruit/green smells. The drydown makes it all worth-while though, so I will just have to apply and ignore for the first hour!

This is a curious scent, it's not like anything else I have ever tried. When I first apply it I get quite a sweet chocolate/cocoa like most other people. As far as I'm concerned this is a *good* thing! As Velvet starts to dry down, it becomes dry and extremely woody. In fact it reminds me of a Sandalwood chest, or one of the Thuja root boxes Mr Bagfish and I were given as a wedding present. It's not pencil shavings, its MUCH better than that! After about 2-3 hours wear I also get a slightly sweeter note for about an hour which remonds me just a little of the drydown of POTL after it has gone through the almond/cherry accord to the dry dusty grasses and incense smell a long time after you have applied it. Velvet is extremely dry to the nose. Wearing it is a little like the experience of eating Lindt 97% cocoa chocolate. It makes your mouth pucker and feels a little unpleasant to start with, but is completely addictive and you keep coming back for more. I really can't smell the myrrh, this is sandalwood and chocolate and is very nice too!

I have an imp of Dragon's Blood currently up for swap as it did NOT suit me at all. It's much too floral, but people who like creamy spicy scents have been raving about Dragon's Milk and so I thought I ought to try it. In the imp, it does smell very floral to my nose and I thought that it may not be for me. However, I took the plunge, dabbed it on and sat and waited for the metamorphasis. Wet, it smelled like Dragon's Blood warring with Dana 'O Shee with a milky overtone thown in. However as it dried down it became very similar to Etro Heliotrope EDP, which is a perfume that I have and like a lot. Dragon's Milk comes across as a slightly almondy/marzipan scent with a little bit of a floral overtone. On me the oil is very strong and very long lasting. I also find it quite disturbing, it is a scent that is telling me to sit up and take notice I do like it, but I think I will have to be feeling brave to wear this out. It suits my skin, but makes me feel twitchy! The oil also stung a bit for the first hour, but I didn't notice any redness on my skin. Wow, I think this is one of the most disquieting oils I've tried from the lab so far, which makes mine a very different experience than most of the people who have reviewed Dragon's Milk.

To me, Dee is very distinguished. When first applied, I can definitely smell cedar. Its strong and to my nose is almost a little 'menthol'. This dries down to a soft semi-sweet benzoic incense, which I love. Dee is quite masculine, but I prefer scents that aren't screamingly floral, fruity or sweet. However, when I put too much on at once, the tonka (I think its tonka, but it might be Frankincense, I thought I *liked* frankincense) appears. To my nose Cathedral and Anne Bonny both have this sharp note which I'm thinking is tonka or frankincense which spoils the blend for me. Dee is much, much better on me than both Cathedral and Anne Bonny though, and I think as long as I don't apply too much at once I will be able to wear this very happily

Boo. This just does not work on me. I get the same sharp note in Midnight Mass that darkling mentions above. I also get it from Aureus, Cathedral and Anne Bonny. All of these oils sounded perfect as I love commercial incense blends. To start with I was gutted that I hadn't ordered Midnight Mass, but when I got a decant, it just did not work on me. Wet, it was slightly incensey, but the drydown just bcame sweeter and sweeter. I couldn't smell frankincense or any other resins, I actually got a fruity scent which really disagreed with me. I am really quite upset about this as I really had my hopes up for Midnight Mass

In the imp Black Opal smelled slightly musky and there was a faint hint of earth, slightly mineral, like a freshly turned spade of soil in the garden. Wet: it smelled great, I kept getting wafts of a really pleasent warm musky smell. Drydown and dry: unfortunately this has turned into the Body Shop's White Musk, but stronger. A little like Antique Lace, but far far more musky. I've had it on for about 2 hours and it is beginning to make me feel nauseous. The musk componant is getting stronger and stronger and far too sweet. It appears to have lost any other componant to the smell, and unfortunately this means that it is not for me. Starts well, but finishes badly Off to the swap pile with this l'il impie.....

Oh God, this made me gag when I opened the imp I had so wanted to try Delphi, the oil sounded wonderful. Anyway, I steeled myself to try it on my wrist. It was less gag-making on my wrist, but something still smells slightly rotten, and sweet - a proper sort of decomposition smell I have worn it all afternoon and it's not got any better so I'm off to wash it off my arm. This one really isn't for me, I don't know which element makes it so unpleasant on my skin, possibly the honey and wine as I love the smell of bay, and didn't actually manage to smell it in the oil. Boo. Off to the swaplist with Delphi. B

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Snake Charmer I recieved an empty bottle of this as an extra in a swap from Cranberry. I was able to wipe enough oil out of it to wear it a few times, and each time I wore it, I became more in love. I have managed to swap for a 2/3rds full bottle from the delightful Blu and I am SOOO glad. So getting down to it, I really can't smell the individual notes in Snake Charmer. I know there must be amber and musk as both notes are well rounded on me and give the Snake Charmer a full body. These two mix so well with the spices, that there is just no way for me to tell which spices they are, just that they are there. The vanilla isn't too vanilla-y as I often don't get on so well with it. Its just there enough to sweeten the blend. The plum, which meant that I would never have considered this oil (and how wrong I would have been!) just doesn't make an overt appearence - it possibly lightens the blend making it brighter than it otherwise would have been. The throw is brilliant. I have put SC on my wrists and can smell wafts of it whilst typing! It lasts six or 7 hours on me before I need to reapply. And I only need to apply a drop, which is a good thing or I would be soon be staring at despair in an empty bottle Wow. I have been trying lots of other oils recently, but coming back to Snake Charmer is like coming home, it feels right and comfortable on my skin, like it was meant to be there. I love it SOOOO much and I really hope that Beth will re-release this one or I will be most upset when I finish my existing bottle! B

This smells quite similar to me to the Body Shop's White Musk, which was a favourite of mine when I first started wearing perfume as a teenager. It is more vanilla-y than White Musk and is not overly strong smelling, but has a good throw. I have been getting really pleasant wafts of Antique Lace whilst wearing it, and in fact the wafts smell better than when I press my nose against my wrists. What is great about AL is that it is not a super sweet vanilla - any sweeter than it is would mean that I wouldn't be able to wear it. As it is, the dry, powdery vanilla smell suits quite well. I can't see myself getting a big bottle of this, as i prefer more spicey scents, but I really can see what all the fuss was about! B