ladymeag

If anyone is interested, the art on the 2013 Sic Erit label is Charles Joseph Natoire's Cupid Sharpening an Arrow.

I'm going to have to third the Holy Whatness of this scent. This is amazing and beautiful and I want more. In the bottle: Sweet and earthy - like a nice, rich, moist vanilla pipe tobacco On Me: Up front, creamy vanilla - non-foody. I think this is my holy-grail vanilla. As it dries down, it picks up an almost black mission fig sweetness and depth; earthy, warm, a little fruity without being overly sweet.

I think it might say something about me that a number of the RPG scents had a major fail on my skin but the ones that don't work well together or alone. Today, I wore True Neutral Gnome Rogue and it was delicious. Bright, slightly musky but clean leather with ginger and woods. Neutral and Rogue together are also amazing. Gnome and Rogue, also good. Neutral Gnome is so bright and effervescent it's almost painful (in a good way? )

I'm glad I went in to this scent expecting nothing - a friend sent me a decant and I had no expectations at all, I hadn't even looked up notes before I tested it. I don't get the books or the vanilla others get but I adore this scent anyhow. In the bottle: I almost didn't try it because immediately it smelled of Halls cough drops. The yellow/white super-strong kind from decades past. On Me: This starts out smelling a little like wet leaves and then turns into a warm, moist leather scent that I described to my spouse as a "green leather ... spa." When it dries down it falls into that moist scent of a Pacific Northwest fall night - decaying leaves, a light breeze, neither warm nor cold. It's beautiful and amazing and reminds me of mortality itself. Spouse says: Barbasol On Spouse: Wet, it smells like a musky leather-bound Dove chocolate. Spouse compared it to The Seekim. Then after a few hours of wear and dry-down, it picked up a sweet, decaying leaves note. I can definitely smell the balsam here but not the vanilla. It loses the leathery quality in dry-down.

A helpful thing if you are buying in the For Sale or swapping in the Swaps forums - create a wishlist of stuff you want to try in the Wishlist thread over in the Wanted forum and link it in your signature - when I sell to someone, I always take a peek at the wishlist to see if I have something else floating around that they want.

You've got some great recommendations but I'd like to add Elegba (coconut, tobacco and sweet, sugared rum) to your list for something a little deeper but coconutty. For me it's a not-too-sweet fruity coconut scent with a little depth and a darker edge than the usual bright coconut scents. I'd also like to second sunshinedailybliss's comment that many people (myself included) with allergies and migraine triggers have luck with BPAL. I've learned that most florals still trigger migraines for me (especially rose, lily, and jasmine) but a few (orange blossom) are fine. If I avoid florals? I don't have a migraine or allergy issue with BPAL, just scent preferences.

In the bottle: Orange oil, no doubt about it. On Me: This is definitely bright. The first time I wore it, I had just been peeling clementines for my child and had a lot of trouble determining (even after washing my hands several times) if it was the clementines or the King Mandarin I was smelling. I had to test it again another day. It picks up a bit of complexity as it dries but remains very firmly orange-pith. It smells like a million things to me - scraping the pith of orange peels to make candy or marmalade, peeling clementines for eating, afternoons picking up oranges under an orange tree I once had, and holiday boxes of oranges. Sadly, it doesn't last very long on me - two or three hours and it seems to be gone completely. Though, that reminds me of having a box of clementines around - perhaps I'll just peel another.

I was excited to try this - a cinnamon and ginger scent would be amazing and pepper, clove, and musk are all on my favorites list. One problem, though, the honey note. In the bottle, this is exactly what I wanted it to be - ginger spiced musk. On Me: Wet and through dry-down this smells like red hots melted with an apple Jolly Rancher. Sticky-sweet, looses all spice but cinnamon, and adds a plastic-and-powder background. I think I might actually hunt down a scent locket for this one. On Spouse: Spouse says, "black cherry cordial with pie spice." I smell honey and peppered spices. No musk, though, and certainly no ginger. I still hunt for a good ginger but not ginger ale scent.

For saddle leather or something close, I recommend Captain Cully and The Red Rider (this might edge toward your rough suede.) For book-ish scents, you have options. There's The Book (Old, yellowed parchment paper, tattered leather bindings,) which I think will get you closest. There's also Philologus (ancient books, crackled parchment, faded incense, and candle wax,) Trevor Bruttenholm (classic men's cologne mixed with the scent of old, yellowed books, a splash of bay rum, and summoning incense) Miskatonic University (Irish coffee, dusty tomes and polished oakwood halls,) The Buggre Alle This Bible (Crumbling paper and ancient cracked leather with a touch of tobacco leaf and incense.) I have a sad about book-scents - my skin turns them all into a terrible scent.

I can't believe I haven't written this review yet. This is my go-to scent - it's just dark enough for me to feel comfortable, just light enough for others to not be overwhelmed with my dark, heavy perfume. In the botttle: Teakwood, tobacco, and aftershave On Me: Wet this has a general sharp men's aftershave kind of scent - the tobacco keeps it from sweetening up too much in the beginning before the woods can come out some. As it dries down, it picks up more of the warm, deep, non-food vanilla - I don't know what black vanilla is but I'd love a single-note bottle of it. As it gets to full dry-down, it gets warmer with the woods and I can start to pick up the teakwood and oak finally. Additionally, it kind of seems to pick up a leather note. At full dry-down, it's a warm, woody vanilla. On Spouse: Wet, it's green Gillette after shave, according to spouse. It gets sweeter as it dries and goes full-sweet vanilla with a little oak in the end. Not quite as complex.

I've been bathing in Sin long enough that I have two reviews, really, wrapped into one - fresh bottle and aged bottle. Fresh bottle: smells like amber and cinnamon. Aged bottle: sandalwood and cinnamon On Me, fresh: There is definitely sandalwood but it takes a little bit of dry-down to really reach full power, cinnamon fades instead of amplifies. Patchouli definitely present but not annoying. Definitely strong, a little masculine. Spouse says: smells like honeycomb and amber. On Me, aged: Wet to dry, there's a lot of sandalwood here. However, it's a rich, full sandalwood rather than the pencil shavings variety I usually find. The patchouli gets bolder and richer with time so it's more present but also creamier, if that makes sense. The amber seems to have gone but the cinnamon stays constant - it still fades rather than amplifying into cinnamon red-hots immediately. This one gets better as it ages, I think.

From what I gather online, Slice of Heaven smells like sweet yellow/vanilla cakes. In that case, you may want to try Eat Me (notes: Three white cakes, vanilla, and red and black currants.) I couldn't find any notes or info on Sagittarius. Looking at Millenium Hope for Women Jivago, I might suggest Dracul (Black musk, tobacco, fir, balsam of peru, cumin, bitter clove, crushed mint, and orange blossom) or Great Sword of War (Mandarin, tonka, saffron, black tea, cocoa, tobacco leaf, sanguine red musk and five classical herbs of conflict,) depending on the feel you get from either.

A scent celebrating Sir Francis Dashwood's Order of the Knights of St. Francis of Wycombe, also known as the Hellfire Club. A swirl of pipe tobacco, hot leather, ambergris, dark musk and the lingering incense smoke from their Black Mass. This scent in the bottle isn't very evocative for me but it sure is once it's on. In the bottle: Booze and a general incense smell. On Me: Wet, this is lots of tobacco and I have a sudden fear it's going to go soapy or bug-spray, as tobacco scents sometimes do. As it dries down though, it's suddenly a haze of tobacco smoke mixed with incense and musk in a leather chair still warm from the musk-wearer sitting in it. On Spouse: MUSK! and tobacco. Super-strong musk here, barreling over everything. Leather is completely lost. Spouse says: smells like a boozy men's club.

In the summer, this is exactly the sweet-and-light scent I want. I wore it a lot on hot days and even though I usually only drink ginger ale when sick, I somehow didn't make that association here. I think it's a better-smelling ginger ale. In the bottle: Ginger Ale, bubbles and all. On Me: Wet, this is pretty light and bubbly smelling. At dry down it's a nicely peppery ginger ale. On Spouse: Wet, it's very sweet - like orange soda candied ginger. At dry down it's a slightly citrus, very sweet ginger.

In the summer, this is exactly the sweet-and-light scent I want. I wore it a lot on hot days and even though I usually only drink ginger ale when sick, I somehow didn't make that association here. I think it's a better-smelling ginger ale. In the bottle: Ginger Ale, bubbles and all. On Me: Wet, this is pretty light and bubbly smelling. At dry down it's a nicely peppery ginger ale. On Spouse: Wet, it's very sweet - like orange soda candied ginger. At dry down it's a slightly citrus, very sweet ginger.

I can't believe I haven't left a review for this yet. In the bottle: Leather, straight-up but not the buttery leather of Red Rider or the saddle-shop of Captain Cully. This is something else. More like a well-loved leatherbound book. On Me: Wet, slightly sweaty, salty leather. At dry down, the rosin comes in a little more and it develops an incense-and-smoke smell to go with the leather. As the oil ages, the rosin becomes more prominent. On Spouse: Wet to dry down, all sweet leather - like sugar-dipped leather.

This does exactly what the description says - it's a flawless skin musk. In the bottle: This is totally bizarre, I can't smell anything at all. On Me: Honestly, it smells like I just stepped out of a great, hot shower. Completely clean but just... that fresh skin smell. On Spouse: Wet, it's that same clean-from-the-shower smell but slightly different (of course.) However, dry, it's a slightly musky leather. How my spouse turns non-leather scents into leather and loses the leather in leather scents is beyond me.

I was sure this was going to be one of my favorite scents - turns out I was wrong, it's too foody for me. I think I was hoping for something more coffee-beans-and-oak. In the bottle: Coffee, very sweet with a pile of whipped cream on top On Me: This doesn't morph at all. Wet to dry it's, a slightly nutty coffee with a little brandy. On Spouse: Wet, this smells just like... chocolate popcorn. What? I know other folks have gotten corn notes but this is just weird. Dry down adds coffee and brandy but the chocolate popcorn is still there. There's a hint of a White Russian in the background, too.

This is everything I wanted DeSade or Dead Man's Hand to be. It smells like a great leather working shop or a new high-quality buttery-soft leather purse with a little bit of musk. In the bottle: Saddle shop. No, really - all memories of being in saddle shops as a kid and teen in the south came flooding back. On Me: Wet, I can smell the red musk a little more. As it dries down, the leather warms up and makes an appearance. By dry-down it's buttery soft leather with a little musk. On My Spouse: Oh! There's the balsam. This is also very, very sweet when dry and otherwise just plain leather.

This has become one of my go-to scents. When I want a sexy-dirty, manly leather, this is where I go. In the bottle: VETIVER! and musk On Me: Wet, there's the smoky, woodsy smell of vetiver with something lingering in the background. As it dries down, the leather comes out quite a bit and it picks up a musky smell. This is incredibly masculine and very woodsy. On My Spouse: Wet, the vetiver isn't as strong as it is for me and it's a little muskier. This develops on my spouse into an almost vetiver-less musky leather. Less woodsy, less smoky, more sweaty leather.

Like most food-smells, this smells better on my spouse than it does on me simply because I seem to amplify sweet notes. In the bottle: Fruity coconut. It's pretty sweet, very juicy smelling, if that makes any sense. On Me: Wet, it's a nice tobacco coconut without being too sweet. Slightly masculine, picks up a slight coffee aroma that adds kind of a toasted note, I think the rum might be behind this. As it dries, it sweetens up and kind of smells like a macaroon and a wafflecone. On My Spouse: Wet, it's a boozy macaroon. As it dries down it kind of picks up a bourbon vanilla and molasses, with rum. Spouse says "smells like the process of making rum."

I could have sworn I posted this review last year. I so wanted to love Hot Buttered Rum. After all, hot buttered rum is delicious. Unfortunately, something simply didn't work here for me or my spouse. In the bottle: Sticky sweet, like children's Motrin or something. Very syrupy but kind of in an unpleasant way rather than the rich way, say a maple syrup smells. On Me: Did you ever get an ear infection as a child and have them prescribe that awful bubblegum-flavored Clavamox (antibiotic) to help out? It smells just. like. that. On My Spouse: Well, as the spouse said, "Like someone threw a box of Splenda on a car tire fire" and "like when my radiator burst and the antifreeze burned on the engine." Something went terribly wrong and there was a burning rubber smell added. Not good.

This scent morphed a bit on me and turned into something I would have never expected with the notes listed. Once I gave it a try (because someone suggested it, repeatedly and heavily) I was in love! In the bottle: Fir! Is there even anything else in this bottle? On me: Wet, smells like a nice, rich shaving soap - I think the mint and orange blossom are playing tricks a bit and making me think of lavender. It's not too sharp or soapy, just a little more pungent than expected. Then something wonderful happens and on dry down smells like exactly what I hoped Midnight Mass would be - it smells like High Mass at Latin Rite churches when I was growing up. The only thing is, it seems to include the men lined up on kneelers with their aftershave and hair tonic. A lovely scent, all told. On my spouse: Wet, there's that shaving soap smell again. Where's the soap coming from? As it dries down there's wood smoke, incense, molasses cookies, and orange. Spouse says: It's like orange pekoe tea and molasses cookies by a wood fire.

Better late than never, huh? I know that Snake Oil is beloved by most but I, most unfortunately, get a slight powder note out of it. In the bottle: Musky vanilla. This is exactly what I want. On my spouse: Slightly sweet (sugared feels about right, it's not very sweet but there's just an outer edge of sweetness) spicy vanilla. Spouse says: brown sugar, bay rum, spicy vanilla. On my child (an accidental spill caused a scent-test for my three year old ) Smells like a sweet spice market - the vanilla seems to be lost but it's a wonderful smell anyhow. On me: Nearly all powdery light musk, with a sweet vanilla in the background - from application to dry down it doesn't morph much for me.

This is one sexy scent. Anytime I'm needing a boost to my self-esteem? Out comes the Satyr. In the bottle: Red musk, patchouli, and a stronger, spicier version of Sin. On Me: Wet, this is mostly musk and spice. As it dries down the patchouli and maybe sandalwood come out to play. At full dry down, it's an incredible heady blend of spices and musk and primal drive. I get compliments every time I wear this - no matter how little or how much I put on. Shop keepers that lean across counters to ask me what perfume I'm wearing, baristas with an extra shot for my mocha, strangers in elevators. It's almost a little unnerving.