desu

In the bottle: Alcoholic wisteria with jasmine stumbling behind.

On the skin: Jasmine tempered by red musk and a hint of wisteria. Jasmine is usually a note that overpowers all others on my skin, so it's nice to find a formulation in which it shares the stage with some of the other players. My boyfriend took a sniff of the test dot and said, "Nice!"

In the bottle: A bizarre lavender smell. It's definately lavender, but there's something else there I can't quite make out.

On the skin: Lavender, lavender, lavender! Like I just got done rolling around in some French lavender. Eventually, as it dries down, the violet shyly makes an appearence. Violet has a tendency to go powdery on me, but not this one -- yet.

Later on: The lavender is fading away, leaving behind a lavender-tainted violet. The musk also starts to become more discernable now.

In the bottle: Woodys lemon balm.

On my skin: Lemon balm.

Later on: More lemon balm with a very slight woodsy hint to it.

In the bottle: Patchouli.

On my skin: The woods and patchouli, mostly, with the barest hints of orange peeking through every now and then.

Later on: The woods are unbalanced now the patchouli and other notes are gone. Ugh.

In the bottle: Floral ozone.

On my skin: Continues to be very sweet and ozoney. Not really detecting any other notes yet.

Later on: The musk and moss come out now. The florals lurk in the background even though the ozone is mostly gone now.

In the bottle: Spicy, sweet florals.

On my skin: Mostly smell the neroli and carnation right now.

Later on: The vanilla joins the action now, really warming things up. So good!

In the bottle: Deep, husky lemon.

On my skin: This turns very curiously into a wondeful incense-like scent once it hits my skin. I can't quite pick out any single note yet.

Later on: What I'm guessing are the white musk, lemon, and carnation slowly become more discernable. There's also a floral running around which is the honeysuckle. This becomes very spicy as the lemon peters out and the carnation takes its place.

In the bottle: Wow! This smells absolutely delicious! The honey note doesn't jump out at me immediately, but the juicy apricot and blood orange do.

On my skin: Apricot and orange -- warm, yet not too sweet.

Later on: It's now all about the apricot as the orange slowly peters out.

The rose note worries me as rose of any sort typically turns to sort, but I love sweet pea, so here we go!

In the bottle: Rose and notes I can't identify.

On my skin: This one can't quite make up it's mind. In one sniff, it smells pretty nice. In another, it smells somewhat like shampoo. Hmmm!

Later on: Ah, the rose has finally turned to soap. Oh, well.

In the bottle: A rush of notes: verbena, mint, lavender, and almond.

On my skin: The brightest note isn't the 'bright mint,' but the sweet orange. The herby verbena and lavender lurk just beneath the surface to round this out, so it's not all about the orange.

Later on: Continues to be a bright, herby scent. The almond has started to come out more as it dries down.

In the bottle: Dar, herby florals.

On my skin: Mostly cypress, but with the mint, lavender, and possibly citrus poking out here and there. Even with the sharpness of some of the notes, this is very brooding.

Later on: Mellows out, not so bright anymore.

In the bottle: I've stuck my nose into some pretty cheerful scents before, but this one is the most festive by far. I smell a really sweet, pure green smell which I guess is the bamboo?

On my skin: The teas kick in to help deepen the sweetness. I usually go for deeper, spicer scents, but this crisp, clean scent is growing on me. It challenges my equating a crisp, clean winter scent with pine, juniper, cedar, and berries.

Later on: A sweet, teaish scent lingers on.

In the bottle: Sweet florals, a little cherry-almond.

On my skin: The jasmine in this immediately leaps upon the other, unsuspecting notes after application and takes over. :/

In the bottle: Rich, spicy lavender.

On my skin: More of that curiously spicy lavender. Not smelling much of anything else.

Later on: What I guess to be cinnamon has come to the foreground, making this cinnamon-lavender now.

Laterlater: The lavender has really calmed down. Right now, this smells absolutely delicious on me. Must... hunt up... more... bottles!

In the bottle: Soft earth and something that smells like a really faint mint.

On my skin: Lifesaver's Wint-o-green mints.

Later on: Still a bit minty, but now it's become more herby.

Later still: The herby is starting to give way to the soft earth I first smelled.

In the bottle: Menthol and little else.

On my skin: Whatever else is in this is now warming up, and the test patch now smells like a cough drop. Yum?

In the bottle: Smoky, firey resins.

On my skin: Smokiness shot with sweetness. Can't really pick out any single note in here. Whatever's in this isn't really getting along with my nose. It bothers my nose in the same way Brimstone did.

In the bottle: Jasmine.

On my skin: Jasmine. My skin amps jasmine, so that's all I smell.

In the bottle: Clean, outdoorsy. I can smell light herbs and florals in this one, yet it is also "sunny".

On my skin: Still faintly floral and herby, but it's taken on a bit of green now.

Later on: It's become a bit more spicy, but this isn't otherwise really doing it for me. Not a lot of substance to this one when it's on me.

In the bottle: Spicy and earthy. Definately picking up patchouli here.

On my skin: Hard to pick any notes out besides cedar. It's woodsy, earthy, and damp.

Later on: Mostly petered out now.

In the bottle: Pennyroyal

On my skin: Pennyroyal and what smells like hyacinith.

Later on: Still smells like pennyroyal and hyacinth. Not detecting much else.

In the bottle: Lemon verbena all the way. I can detect something else lurking, but I can't tell what it is with all this verbena in the way.

On my skin: Lemon verbena with the tiniest hint of the other florals.

Later on: Some sort of florals hiding in the scent, but it's mostly just lemon verbena on me.

In the bottle: Sharp anise with hints of vetivert and civet.

On my skin: The civet comes out to play on application, so now this smells like anise-flavored civet. Even though I usually end up loving civet scents, I don't know how to feel about this one.

Later on: The anise and civet are still going strong. It doesn't smell nasty on me, but I'm not sure I like civet in this particular blend. Not getting much of the moss, leaves, or vetivert at all in this one. These would definately help round out the sweet civet and ground it if only they'd make an appearance on my skin.

In the bottle: The lavender and citrus combine to form something that smells akin to lemon oil.

On my skin: The lavender and citrus components, once bright, begin to mellow out after application as the herbs begin to show up. The effect is clean, cheerful, and relaxing. This is one to wear on a summer's day at the beach, or a day where I need some perking up.

In the bottle: I saw the notes in this one -- rose and frankincense -- and thought, "Why bother? The rose will just turn to soap." But try it anyway I will.

On my skin: The frankincense battles valiantly against the rose, but it eventually gives in to The Soap Rose. Ugh.