Vicious Mistress

Budding Moon smells very similar to Dirty in my opinion. It's fresh, light, clean, and makes me think of warm weather. Imagine a slightly more floral Dirty, and you've got Budding Moon.

Very pretty. Very appropriate.

Naughty!

In the bottle: Creamy, buttery, with a hint of mint.

Wet on skin: The mint is coming out a bit more, but still creamy and buttery. Kind of like those soft after dinner mints you get at the store.

Dry down: Seems to be the same, lovely vanilla mint. Very pretty!

In the bottle: Beautiful red roses and spices. Something sweet too, like cherries maybe?

On my skin: Wet, roses, roses, roses. I don't smell the spices or the cherries anymore.

10 minutes later: It's going soapy on me. The spices are starting to come out a little bit all mellow and slightly sweet, but I don't know if they will overpower the soapy smell of the rose.

The soapy smell does mellow out a bit, but it still stays soapy on my skin. I love roses, but just can't wear them! This would be a lovely spicy, light rose for someone who can wear it well.

Bottle: Lots and lots of white musk with something fruity/tangy--maybe the champagne?? I'm not getting the hairspray, but I don't use hairspray and my nose may not recognize it.

Wet: Whooo! Made to stand out in da club! Very tangy, definitly smelling the champagne/booze now.

Dry down: Sharp white musk and just a hint of the tanginess. I can see where this would evoke childhood memories for me, but I just can't see myself wearing it.

Ah well, I know many will appreciated it more than me!

In the bottle: There seems to be more of a green note in the '05 blend versus the '04 blend, but still the fresh rose.

Wet: Just like last year, fresh, fresh rose. I can smell the stems and the dew. Beautiful!!!

On my skin: Doesn't seem to be turning soapy like most roses do. I wonder what the difference is?

Definitely a keeper. A breath of spring on a dreary winter day.

In the bottle: Interesting. Reminds me of Hearth '04 but not as strong.

Wet: Can you say maple syrup, boys and girls? Cuz that's what this is turning to on me.

Dry: Still maple syrup. Very sweet. I'm guessing it's the cherry that's having this affect. I was hoping for more leather/tobacco, but I guess it's not to be.

Stupid skin chemistry!!!!

Bottle: Smells faint, seems there's some amber here, and something nutty??

On my skin: There's a nuttiness I get in aged Sin that I'm getting here. However, unlike the sultriness that overpowers the nuttiness in Sin, all I'm getting is the nuts with this blend.

Dry: Strange, but I can't smell anything but the nutty note. I wonder what it is because I'd like to avoid it in future.

Talk about being in your scent blind spot, as I believe Clover once coined it.

Off to someone who will better appreciate you, my lovely!

In the bottle: alcohol and peppermint. Wow! Drunken candy cane!

On my skin wet: Definitely a candy cane. Very sweet peppermint with a hint of vanilla.

After an hour. Mostly vanilla now with a hint of peppermint.

After 4 hours: Poof! Gone.

As much as I like it, it's too sweet and vanilla-y for my skin. Off to the swap forum to find a better owner!

Blood Moon smells like sex to me

There's a wonderful little sex shop in Portland, OR called the Crimson Phoenix, and I used to frequent it many, many moons ago. They used to have some originally mixed pheremone perfumes there, and this smells exactly like the one I selected for my man. I loved that scent on him.

Anyway, so I'm working today, in SALES, and this box arrived. I snuck to my office for a quick sniff, and I've had sex on the brain ever since. My sales are up today too, so maybe it's the attitude. lol

To the review!

In the bottle: Red, musky, with something earthy. It kind of has the earthiness of Sin without being so heavy, so I'm guessing that's the patchouli I smell. I think there's rose in there too, but rose goes soapy on me and this doesn't on the skin. There's also an elusive bit of spice. I can't tell if it's cinnamon or cardamom, because the rosey note seems to be morphing it. Hmmm... Interesting.

On the skin: Same warm, red smell, and we're talking THROW. It's a windy day today, and only a finger's dab is scenting the air around me. Seems to be lasting too, since I've had it on a good 3 hours and it hasn't seemed to fade any. It's getting a little muskier, and there's this yummy creamy note deep down that makes me want to lick my skin. This would be great on a guy too. (There's a neck I'd love to lick!) Sorry, sex on the brain....

Wonderful stuff. I'm glad I bought two bottles, but I really could use 6 or 8 more!

I just tried Sudha Segara this weekend and I'd highly recommend it.  It smells strongly of fresh ginger, and it reminds me, as someone else commented of Origins Ginger Essence.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There's something in Kali that makes me think of Clinique Happy also. You might try that.

In the bottle: Oh wow, this is strong! Lots of fruits and flowers, all screaming for attention. I somehow assumed this would be fruitier than it is, or maybe more tropical fruity. But the flowers seem to be demanding same billing as the fruit.

On my skin: Oh, I can't wear this. My skin takes all those notes clamoring for attention and amplifies them tenfold. This is the scent of gluttony. So many beautiful notes doing their best to outshine the rest until my senses are overloaded and I can't take any of them. I need to go wipe this off.

Definitely need to dilute this one a bit and see how it does.

I recently got this in a swap from a fellow forumite.

First sniff from bottle: Pele, is that you, but lighter? (In fact, I had to get out my bottle of Pele and compare.) But no, it's a little different. However, I think if you like one, you'd like the other.

Imagine Pele without the tropical tanginess of what I think it Pikaki, and throw in a linen scent instead. It smells like my mom washed the sheets with Island Breeze Gain and hung them outside to dry in the sunshine. But it's not nearly as knock-you-over as Island Breeze Gain, so please don't let me turn you off by saying that.

Wearing: Wow, Beth is a genius. I need bottles and bottles of this! She really has captured the smell of summer breezes and sunshine that only clean sheets hung out to dry seem to hold. Oh wow, this is pretty. And perfect for hot muggy days when all you long for is to go home and take a cool shower.

This will also be perfect this winter when it's too rainy or too cold to hang clothes out to dry and I miss that summery scent when I get into bed at night.

Edited to add that after a day wearing this, most of it spent outside, I can still smell the lovely clean smell, so it can take some abuse. Also, a faint bubble-gum note has popped out to join the sunshine-on-sheets scent. Kind of a hubba-bubba (do they still make that stuff?) or Extra bubble-gum kinda smell. I don't like wearing bubble gum scents but this doesn't bother me. It's fruity and light. Quite lovely.

I first tried an imp of this over a year ago. It was too sweet and I didn't like it at all on my skin. I guess times change. I was sorting through my pile of imps about a week ago, randomly sniffing, trying to find something different, and Lust just jumped at me. It's all incensy and sweet in the vial. I had slightly over half a tarted imp left, so I diluted it in an ounce of carrier oil to make it last a while and to lighten up the scent a bit. WOW!

Let me tell ya, I love this stuff now! I work with a lot of guys, and there was a noticable increase in the number of guys coming into my office the day I wore this to work. And they all wanted to know what smelled so good.

So hang on to some of those imps you're not crazy about. In a few months you may be singing a whole different tune!

I'm so glad I gave this a second chance. When I first tried Lampades, all it did was scream CRANBERRY!!!! at me. It seemed so close to mulberry on my skin that I decided it needed to be a holiday room scent more than a perfume.

BUT, I woke up one night smelling cranberry (though there was nothing close in the house), and decided it was a sign that I needed to wear Lampades the next day. I rummaged around to see if I had an imp of it in the pile of imps I rarely wear, and sure enough, I found one. I fell in love. It starts out all tart and cranberry-ish, but after an hour or two the cranberry starts to fade into the background a bit, and this lovely creamy scent starts to emerge. I think it's the spices and lilies and musk. If my skin only did with musk what it does with this, I would wear nothing else. I get all kinds of compliments on it, from my grandmother to my boss to random men and women walking by.

This may end up being my signature scent.

I thought I might add that different sexes seem to detect different scents from Lampades, at least when I wear it. Women seem to be getting the berry scent, although most say it's a sweet tart cherry scent more than cranberry, and the guys smell something sweet and musky, but not berryish. Just FYI.

ETA: Though the cranberry scent does fade after a few hours, the creamy smell lasts all day long. It's more subtle than the berry, but it's definitely there. My nose wants to stay glued to my wrist.

You might want to vary your choices a bit too, and not just get all jasmine scents. Why? Well, as much as I love jasmine, and love jasmine on myself, I just can't wear Beth's jasmine note. Everything I've tried that has it turns kinda soapy and thin on me. I don't know why. It's not nearly as full-blown-night-floral as the EO I have at home. Different sources, I guess.

Besides, there are so many lovely scents to choose from. Why limit yourself to those that all have the same particular note?

Well, I'd like to wear Samhain on Halloween, but I'm not sure it will be here in time. Has anyone gotten a click-n-ship for the LE's yet???

I have to say that I'm very pleased the Yule update will be this week. That way we're sure to get our LE's in plenty of time to wear the whole holiday season.

Yea labbies!

If you like white musk you'd probably like Zephyr.

For berries, definitely Lampades.

I know there are more, but I'm drawing a blank.

Harvest Moon:

In the bottle: Whew! Buttery candy. I'd almost compare this to hot buttered rum. I'm glad it doesn't stay this way, because it's overwhelming.

On my skin: For the first couple of hours, I get the bandaid/plastic scent that others have gotten. There's something pretty there, but the bandaid smell keeps messing it up.

After 3 hours or so it morphs into a very pretty smoky floral. I asked my roommate what he thought of it last night, and he said it smelled like a hippie shop. He said he expected me to show him something he 'could hide his weed in'. That clarified it for me. I have a lovely soapstone incense burner in my room, and the drydown of Harvest Moon smells just like opening up that burner and smelling the ash left over from the incense I burn. Very pretty.

It lasts quite a while on me. I just wish the drydown would happen a bit sooner.

Is that sweetgum resin? I bet that smells yummy!

I got this as a freebie, and I think I'm gonna end up buying a big bottle.

In the imp: pine and citrus and maybe spruce?

Wet on my skin: pine and... ginger! That's it! And something peppery, but I don't think it's black pepper. Maybe it's bayberry or hollyberries or something like petitgrain. It's like walking in an evergreen forest with snow all around. Soon green tea comes out too! Fresh and invigorating!

Drydown: It settles down on my skin, the snow melting and the spicy petitgrain(I think?) coming out with the evergreens and just an echo of the tea.

I think this may be the perfect winter scent for me. I bet it'd smell delicious on a man too.

Chaos Theory CXI

In the bottle: Sandalwood with something faint but sharp peeping out.

On my skin wet: Sandalwood, with an almost aquatic note that's so faint I can barely detect it. I can't decide what the note is.

Drydown: Sandalwood. I think the floral may have been a hint of jasmine, but my skin is just soaking it up. The aquatic note is gone also.

This would be great for someone who adores sandalwood. It just doesn't smell right on me.

Chaos Theory LXXXVII

I've got to give this an edited review after trying it one more time, because my impression is different from my original review.

In the bottle: Cinnamon and spices. Maybe cloves too? Definitely a warm, spicy smell.

On my skin wet: Cloves! And cinnamon, but mainly cloves. No burning like a cinnamony scent usually does. There's something else there that I can't put my finger on--something floral.

Drydown: After about an hour or so, other notes come out: leather? and jasmine. The cloves are still strong, but I'm beginning to smell the leather and jasmine more now. There was a short period where it smelled like the air after you burn sparklers: metallic and warm and slightly smoky, which I'm thinking is the leather note. It's kind of nice, actually, and I'd adore it on a guy.

Final thoughts: I may edit this later, but the scent is staying pretty stable now, or at least what I can smell of it. The cloves/cinnamon adds just a bit of heat to the leather and florals. I said before that it reminded me of standing on the veranda of an old antebellum home with spicy scents wafting in from the kitchen, but this is different. It's more like standing in the back doorway of a kitchen with some spicy holiday clove-and-cinnamon concoction on the stove, and the scents of night-blooming jasmine and the leather of horse tack from carriages carried on the breeze.

I'd like this scent if it weren't for the cloves. Heavy cloves scents and I just don't get along.

O is spiced honey and is lovely and clear, not sticky at all. I can't imagine anyone not liking O!

I have to admit I don't like O. It smells like crayons on me.

I think Old Morocco smells very much like Amber Romance, but it's not as heavy. Maybe your friend would like that.