Rhowan

*~ CRYPT QUEEN ~* I was so happy to recieve my CQ today! It is so beautiful inside and out and all the goodies that were included just made it even that much more cool!! In the bottle: Deep, dark, sanguine fruits and lovely patchouli! Wet on my skin: Love, love love! Purple;/black plum and deep pomegranate sit on a base of dark patchouli and blood red musk. I even detect a warm note of amber although it is not listed in the notes. This is absolutely gorgeous!!! Complete dry down: Holy Godesses!!! I am freaking swooning over myself! After wearing for an hour, I was left with a very soft resinous bottom note with heavy red fruits on top- they all blend together to give it an air of mystery and seduction. Just beautiful. Conclusion: I was deathly afraid of getting this because of the rose notes. I amp rose and it's ugly on my skin - plastic rose-old woman-yuk smell usually. I was also aftraid of the Gardenia because I amp it BIG TIME! and it usually overpowers the rest of the notes when I wear any blend with gardenia in it. Not this time! I didn't even detect any type of floral note at all!! I have to say that this is the most beautiful oil to come around in a long time for me! It has perfect throw (right around your personal space!) and long wear! I am wishing that I would have purchased 2 of them now!!! ETA:spelling

~**~ LIBRA ~**~ In the bottle: I had just finished testing Bloody Mary and it's yucky cough syrup taste. I smelled the bottle of Libra and go overpowering rose and thick nasty cherry cough syrup! Wet: Yep! Cherry cough syryp and roses - but I think they are plastic! Dry down: PLASTIC roses.... that is all. My hubby sniffed it and said ,"OLD LADY" I have yet to meet a rose note that likes my skin and plays nice. It just isn't me ant to be!!! Conclusion:As this completely dried, I was praying that the honey, black currant, carnation, plum and fig would take over the roses and the cherry and make this salvageable. Each time I sniffed, I could *almost* smell the dark fruity notes of the plum and currant but they never made thier prescence known. The whole scent was PLASTIC rose smell. This has GREAT throw and LONG wear but for me that was agony!! Libra is probably going to be in my next swap pile!

~~~ THE DEATH OF AUTUMN ~~~ "It... touches something that is old in the human soul. a chord of race memory that says Migrate or die -migrate or die. ~ "Salems Lot" by Stephen King In the bottle and wet on my skin, The Death of Autumn starts out as smelling like a warm amber, patchouli, vetiver blend - Just beautiful! The warmth of the above combination creates a broad base but a earthy, woody type note is starting to come through as this dries down. When I use the word earthy, I do not mean dirt. This is very resinous and cozy. Completely dried down, this is smell of all fecund things waning as autumn's death spreads. It's wood, leaves, mushrooms, dying mums,dried cornstalks and spices. The wood is not a fresh new wood but a dry,dead, almost rotting note (but in a good way) The spices are NOT a bright note, but more like the spice smell that all vegetation gets as autumn comes to a close. This is not the cold death of winter, but the warm spicy,earthy scent of autumn as it goes to its natural death. Conclusion: The Death of Autumn captures quite literally the nature of it's namesake. I do not have to slather this at all and it's throw is terrific. This scent is like coming home for me. PURE AUTUMN PERFECTION!

** HUNTER MOON ** In the bottle: Creamy warm musk with a hint of powder Wet on my skin: Warm creamy musk with a hint of powder. No smoke from bonfires, no red wine or winter cold. Just a very warm, comforting scent - It reminds me of curling up in my flannel pajamas and reading a book by the fire. Complete Dry Down: Still warm, creamy powdery musk! It hasn't changed much except to get warmer and snugglier. Conclusion? This is not even close to what I was expecting!! It's a good thing though since wine notes are very iffy on me. They either go warm and sweet (Blood Kiss) or really sickly medicinal (the Medoc in Montressor -ICK!) Hunter Moon is a creamy, warm musk that turns a bit powdery. It actually reminds me of Smut but where Smut is a dark pinkish red, HM is a warm golden brown. Great Throw and very, very sexy!!!

~*~ AEAEA ~*~ In the bottle: Ozone, aquatics and mens cologne Wet on skin: The first note I smell is a kind of ozone and a beautiful aquatic combinned - it is actually quite beatiful! It smells very clean and clear (the aloe maybe?) Then, the barest scent of sweet wood and a touch of a floral. All swirling together it is beautiful!! Complete dry down: Oh! This is absolutely gorgeous!! This end up smelling to me like berries over a light musk with a hint of clear sweet water. I don't any "electric" "fear" or "clashing" It smells to me like a beautiful spring day with a light scent of berries carried on the breeze. Conclusion: I love this!! I was hoping for a darker, more fearful scent but the spring berries, clean water, and light breeze work really great! Unfortunately, this started to fade pretty rapidly. By 2 hours it was completely gone. It also has only a mediocre throw. It's a bummerm but maybe it will get stronger as it ages. It is definitely worth keeping, it smells so good. Maybe a scent locket would help it!

~*~ OCTOBER ~*~ October is my favorite month, fall is my favorite season, Halloween is my favorite holiday! As soon as I saw the scent description on this I knew it would be mine!! In the bottle: WTHec? Salsa? hmmm, sniff, sniff.... yep! Thats definitely salsa with loads of cumin - this is not good. Wet: When this first hit my skin I was over powered by the cumin odor -but after about 15 second, that disappears and I am left with a cool , wet, and woody scent. Complete Dry Down: This is beautiful!! That cumin I smelled? It is now a spicy smoke note! I am linstantly transported to rainy autum days walking in my aunt's apple and cherry orchards with the woodsmoke from applewood or cherrywood drifting from the chimney of her near by home. *sigh* I miss that! Conclusion: This scent reminds me more of late October, early Novermber with it's cold, wet woods and hint of smoke. I am totally in love with this and I am definitley going to have to order more bottles before they go the way of the season. Good throw, long wear. EXCELLENT!

~*~ VENTRILOQUIST DUMMY ~*~ Try #1: My first go around with this scent earlier was absolutely horrible. I had applied it as soon as it arrived in the mail. I should have know, from practice to let this sit and come to room temp before I tried it - Unfortunately, I didn't wait and what I ended up with was Mens cologne, shellac and rotten apricots. I left it on an hour but finally had to wash it off as I was getting ill. Try #2 (room temp)Ah! so much better!!! In the bottle: Candy sweet wood! Yum! Wet: When first applied, I get warm spices, cedarwood with a layer of caramel and brown sugar on top. 15min Mark: The cedarwood and caramel/brownsugar sweetness is starting to dissipate and the patchouli is starting to take over the whole scent. I can still smell just a hint of spices but no apricot,hazelnut, or butterscotch. End Result: After about an hour the patchouli has finally mellowed and had decided to play well and share with the other notes in this blend to make it a sweet. warm, woodsy scent that has a bit of spice in it. I am getting just a hint of apricot that is adding to the sweetness of it! Conclusion: I am glad I didn't let my first impression interfere with trying this again! Although the throw is only just average but Ventriloquist Dummy ends up warm and inviting, spicy and woody, all at the same time. I have no clue as to where the spices are coming from unless it is coming from the wood? I can't even tell you what kind of spice it is except to say that it is a warm spice -warm like cinnamon and nutmeg . (but it's not cinnamon and nutmeg!) I love this scent as it is so unusual and so warm and sexy! I believe that this will just get even sweeter as it ages!

~*~ HELLFIRE ~*~ In the imp: What the hec? Sweet florals with a touch of smoke Wet: This is smelling like Oblivion with sweet florals or maybe a touch of honey! The only thing Oblivion has in common with Hellfire is the Dark Musk. So, I am thinking that this is pretty weird! 15 Minute mark: This now smells like a very sweet tobacco on top of a wonderfull deep musk! I am just getting a tiny hint of incense -it is blended in so well that to smell it, I have to keep my nose to my wrist and inhale a few times. No leather yet which suprises me because my skin chemistry really amps leather in a big way! End Result: When Hellfire is completely settled down, it is honey sweet tobacco layered over a deep dark musk. Conclusion: I am pleasantly suprised by Hellfire!! Originally, I was hoping for a dark, grey/black smokey incense blend but the sweet honey'd tobacco musk that I ended up with is far more intriguing and complex! If you are put off by the dark and smokey notes in this, I would give it a try regardless - I think it would suprise most people!!

~*~ ENRAGED GROUNDHOG MUSK ~*~ In the bottle: Woa! Musk and Caramel yelling out of the bottle! A creamy warm scent is whispering behind. Wet: Caramel, Caramel, and Musk! I am loving this - granted, it is still STRONG! 15min: Oh! mmmm.... it is starting to warm up a bit. Smells like cinnamon and vanilla cream. I have lost most of the caramel, some of the musk is still there and it is finally mellowing out a bit (it still has a great throw!) 20min: I usually don't remark about a 20min time mark, but something is starting to smell like dirt! It is overpowering the yummy caramel cream scent. I had that same problem with MB: Underbed - I thought it was the cassia. Maybe this is the cardamom this time? I have yet to smell any chocolate covered cherries, which is a total bummer. Complete Dry Down: it took the dirt smell about 15mins. longer to morph and lfinally dissapate. Hours later the scent is a creamy, warm cinnamon. It has mellowed over the past few minutes and now has a very nice throw! Conclusion: While I am disappointed that I wasn't able to smell the chocolate covered cherries, and that it went through a "dirt" phase, I still find iEGM intriguing because of it's morphing!. I am thinking this might be better aged over a longer period. EGM is certainly not something that you should slather!! (at least for me). A little dab will do ya! I promise! This is a keeper - at least another 6mos - 1yr. while it ages a bit more!

Quite a few of you have been wondering what happened to me during my 9 mos. of absence (and no - I did not have a baby! ), and I have promised to blog it. I have to be honest and say that I had blogged a whole novel and as I read it I thought "TMI - WAY MUCH!!!" I erased all of it t and decided to just put it down as simply stated without every single gory detail As most of you well know, I have a rare disorder that is slowly shutting down my digestive system. If you read below, you will know that I have had my gallbladder and colon removed due to their ceased function.(I have also had surgeries to repair a small bowel obstruction, perferated bowel; I have also had hysterectomy, appendectomy and many other surgeries as well) My stomach now taking 4-5x longer to digest than normal, and I have esophageal spasms and difficulty swallowing. To put it simply my digestive system is SNAFU. In late Autumn of last year, the pain from this problem began to escalate and slowly became uncontrollable. We barely made it out of town to spend Christmas with my 2 sons, my daughter in law - my oldest son's wife, and of course my adorable grandson - it was his first Christmas!! By the time we arrive home the pain was so intense that I had to be hospitalized to gain control of it. For the next several months I was disabled by the enormous constant pain - even with a huge arsenal of pain medication!! Sometimes it was easier just to sedate me than try more pain meds. If I had to go to emergency or to the doctors, I went in my pj's. I could hardly make it to the bathroom let alone shower on a regualr basis or even communicate to my close friends on this forum. Just getting out of bed was a huge thing and it was so painful. I was also nauseated most of the time. As July rolled around, I was at my Dr.s for a check up. He put me on a new medication and I started tapering off the huge amounts of pain killers. Needless to say, today, I am feeling much better and it is easier to deal with my pain. I have completely quit 2 of the pain meds I was on and the new perscription (Metformin for Insulin Resistance) has really given me an abundance of energy. I still have debilitating pain but I feel better equipped mentally to handle it. I have only had to reach for the pain killer prescribed for break thru pain twice in the last month. And, No hospital visits either!!! As I made my way back to the forum, I was completely overwhelmed by pms waiting for me - people sending their love and support and wishing me well. I want to thank everyone who wrote me and worried about me while I was AWOL and I want to thank all of you who have welcomed me back with love and friendship. This is truly a forum full of lovely caring people. Thank you!!! NEXT BLOG: Latest pictures of the grandson!!!

~*~ Announcing ~*~ Ryley Norman Leach June 14,2006 8lbs 11oz. 21 inches My first grandchild!! He is so beautiful, healthy and strong! Just Precious! I was so excited to hear that my son Jourdan and his wife Breanne, gave him the middle name that they did. It is in honour of my father whose first name is Norman. It is also my parents first great grand child as well, so that, combined with Ryley's middle name after my father, has made them as giddy as we are! My husband Bill, my other son Marshall and I drove down to be with them for a couple of days and it was such an awesome time! Breanne was in labor for 17hrs!!! I don't know what I would have done if I would have had 17 hrs of labor and 45 minutes of it spent pushing! I am so proud of her. She was such a trooper and I know that she is going to be a really great mom! A very tired Grandma (me) after 19 hours at the hospital! Ryley is the most precious baby - of course I am not partial at all! He doesn't even look newborn to me with all of that hair. You can't really tell in the pictures but his hair is clear down over his ears! As for nursing, he was a hungry boy the minute he arrived and hasn't had a problem nursing at all! He loves to suck on his fingers too! He has been sleeping very well and is really easy going. It takes alot to make him upset enough to cry but once he starts, that boy has a big set of lungs on him!!! Ryley loves to suck on as many fingers as he can get in his mouth! I thought I was pretty prepared for Ryley's arrival but I wasn't prepared for the emotion! Just holding our beautiful grandson had me awash with so many emotions, I just sat and cried and stared at him. He is the spitting image of his father when he was a baby (except the long hair) and it was just like holding Jourdan all over again when he was a newborn! That brought back so many memories and emotion in just the one instant that I was totally overwhelmed - it was such a wonderful moment!!! Spitting image of his father! I can't tell you enough what a joy it is to have him here with us finally. He is going to be one spoiled baby by Grandma and Grandpa! He is so very precious! Grandpa naps with Ryley Uncle Marshall helps Ryley understand the finer points of WOW The Proud Parents! I am so proud of the kids and I know that they are going to be absolutely wonderful parents! Marshall plans on being the really fun Uncle and he just looks so natural with the ba bies! He is such a doll. Bill and I are excited for Christmas already! And now, the real fun begins!! I am so thankful for all of the people out there who sent their loving thoughts and congrats to the whole family! We are so blessed to have a healthy and happy new addition to our family and I want to thank you all for all you do and have done for me!

I hadn't tried last years Lick It, so I was really excited to try this! The big enticement for me was the extra sugar! I have been on a sugar kick lately! In the imp: pure sweet candy cane!! Wet on my skin: Holy hec!! This is pure peppermint oil in my face (no sugar) and I had only put a small drop on!! No one could come near me - they could smell it from across the room and where I was sitting, I was getting my sinuses cleared. Very intense peppermint As it dried down, the peppermint let a bit of the sugar share the scent and that toned the whole scent down a couple of notches. It is still pretty strong and I started to think that maybe this was going to be a fantastic in an oil burner. Complet dry down and 15 minutes later: the peppermint has really faded - so much so that I actually have to put my nose directly to where I applied it! And right there at the application point and lingering about a foot around it, I have the most perfect Candy Cane ever!! It is extra sweet and sugary!! The peppermint is just a whisper right now. Conclusion? This is quite the smell and I will be ordering a bottle of this soon! It is the perfect sugary peppermint candy cany!!!

Thanks to a wonderful forum member for the chance to own this. The minute I saw the scent description, I new I just had to have Treat #1 - I coveted it like no other!!! Finally the day came when I was holding the bottle in my greedy little hand adn I was so excited to open it, I almost dropped it! In the bottle: Beautiful sour fruits and sugar!! Wet: Oh! The fruits are playing tag with each other! First I get watermelon, then lime, strawberry, back to lime, maybe lemon back watermelon - Just the beautiful sour fruit candy morphing in and out. 5 minutes into the morphing, the fruit packs up and leaves *POOF* and it's gone. No crystalized sugar, no fruit, nothing!! It's my skin scent and I am like "WTF?!!!" I waited the rest of the day to see if it ever returned but it was long gone after 5 minutes. The next day, I tested again. This time I slathered it on both wrists, crossed my fingers and waited - Open the bottle, the beautiful sour fruit morphing and wafting around me in a beautiful Halo. This time it lasted maybe 10 minutes before disappearing. I don't know if it is my skin eating up the sugar? But I am so sad that this coveted scent didn't work.

My children are grown but the other day, I was holding my grandson while wearing Desdamona. When my daughter in law picked him up from his nap, she said, Ooo! you smell like grandma! Gives a twist on what "smelling like grandma" means!

My comfort scent has always been Snake Oil - when I am sick or down I have that on and it makes feel better.

I have to say that I had the exact same reaction to this as Bard did. I double checked the vial to make sure it said Vixen and not Snake Oil! If this would have been in a hand labeled vial instead of the Lab label, I would have passed this off as someone mislabeled their Snake oil. From a sniff in the vial, wet on my skin, and total drydown all I can say is that this is an exact duplicate to Snake Oil to me - from wet on my skin to complete dry down - no change at all. Maybe if you like Snake Oil but can't wear it, this one will work for you.

I have to agree with alot of people here - Harvest Moon smells exactly like Mabon! Just on my skin, it was still Mabon but a kinder , lighter scent. After about 2 minutes I could start to smell grains mixed in the fruits - I think what makes me think of Mabon the most is the elderberry, plum and cherry - I gives that light booziness that Mabon has. After about 10 minutes of wearing this, it disapeared. No where to be smelled!! Argg! and we were getting a long so well, I love Harvest Moon but since it won't stay on my skin, I will use it in a scent locket!

Snake Oil dries down to total incense on me for sure and I love it so much. I always feel hippy-ish when I wear it. I have to agree that Gaueko is a good nagchamp scent!

Definitely another vote for Morrocco! Yumm!

In the imp and wet on my skin - WHOA! MINT! That is all. Sure cleared out my sinuses on that first inhale! wow! Drying down and I am beggining to smell the grapefruit - just a tiny tiny amout but I think my nose hairs are totally singed off from the first sniff of the mint. Completely dried down adn now it's not so bad! I am smelling grapefruit floating in a cold cold glass of champagne, a floral boquet of white flowers on the table wtih a sprig of mint on the plate - or something like that. Conclusion: WOW! a little goes a long way but once you get past the initial - burn your nose passage with mint-phase, this is one beautiful scent. At complete dry down I had noticed that it had faded quite a bit. So, okay throw/short wear. I think I will stick with an imp and find out how much I use before ordering a bottle.

In the imp and wet on my skin, I get the vanilla, amber and something that almost smells lemony - at least it has a sharp quality to the note. I can't figure out what it is? Drying down and the sweet pea has blended with the sandalwood to give this a sweet yet solid base with the vanilla and amber taking center stage! Completely dried down, it is the same as the initial drydown yet there is a hint of a "candle" smell. Like this would be a great candle scent and not a perfume. Hmmm. Conclusion? I am going to have to test this again in the near f uture. I am wondering if my nose is off or something. Certainly not the complete drydown I thought it would be. Light throw, light wear. I will post back on take 2.

Desdamona goes on a wonderful floral that quickly goes to soap and then just as fast disappears. I am disappointed because I was looking forward to the sweetpea. I guess this needs to be swapped - bummer.

I have to add O to this list. I finally had to get rid of the bottle because to me it was the scent of sweaty skin along with the scent of an ongoing orgy that never got washed off rather than the seductive scent of of sex and sexuality.

In the bottle and wet on my skin the first note I get is an eye watering pine resin along with a hint of sickly sweet lotus. No bubblegum here. Drying down, and the pine resin is starting to fade. It is still the most overbearing note in this whole mix but at least it is fading! Completely dried down and oh how beautiful this has become! It is a beautiful sweet, almost sugared lotus.The pine resin no longer sticks out like a sore thumb. The rose otto and pine resin give it a wonderful and unusual base. All of this nested on a bed of a wonderful, warm, rich amber. Conclusion? I am so glad I just didn't give up after smelling that pine note so prominent at first. Lotus moon is a seductive warm scent. It is more on the perfume-y side and I feel like Lotus Moon is a perfect dress up scent. Good throw, awesome wear also!

Litha was nothing I expected it to be. I was expecting something more herbally and woodsy perhaps with a bit of honeysuckle. That was not to be... Wet on the skin, Litha was super Lemony citrus with a bit of ozone. My first reaction was "what the hec?!" It stayed that way thru the initial dry down and I kept waiting for some kind of morphing to take place but in those first 5 minutes - Nothing (well, exept lemon and ozone) At complete dry down, here is the honeysuckle with a slight mead note, a bare hint of incense and ending in a dry, herbally lemon. I would have to say that this isn't my favorite. Just too much going on and it's not pulling together for a beautiful end scent. It could be me so I will give it one more try in about a week before I really make a decision on it. Great throw/ great wear.