bellumed

Bright and powerful first impression! Yuzu and lemon and eucalyptus, a scent that says “get the hell up and start moving!” I'd been looking for a wake up scent recently, so that makes me happy. Freesia and jasmine are much more present later on, though still backed up by a whiff of citrus. A nice fresh floral. I like this one, and the yuzu makes it just different enough.

Slightly sour-bitter fruit and white musk smelling like laundry. On me it becomes very soft, lovely fruit (mango and orange are favorites of mine!) and gentle, clean musk. Keeper for sure!

The label on my imp is very worn and tattered and has an old design. I would love to test a fresh one and compare, but here's my feedback for a probably quite aged version: It's a much more light and clean scent, but it reminds me a little of Dorian when wet-- I suppose that's the lemon-vanilla-musk combination. God this would be a lovely laundry spray! It already smells a little bit like soft, fresh sheets. Unsurprisingly, this fades very quickly (maybe a blessing, as either the sandalwood or the florals are threatening to butt in less pleasantly). I think I'll smear some on my pillow and see how that comes out...

Super sweet fruity bubblegum. The strawberry is in there, but it’s surprisingly not doing the normal pre-teen strawberry lipgloss thing. This has potential! Uh, oh. Rose doing its typical amp-y job on my skin. I do not care for you, rose. Shoo. Apple does its best to hold on with its sticky-sweet goodness, but it starts fading shortly after. This becomes slightly appley rose (and very light) after an hour. This definitely isn’t bad, but I’m not particularly enthused, so this will be a swap.

A bit like a cream cheese frosted sweet bread. It reminds me of those pastries that are meant to be pseudo-healthy by including nuts and raisins. Pleasant, if not a favorite of my foodie blends.

I am sad that my Tremulous Song decants are not in my hands right now… but what I do have is a testable amount of Lilith Victoria, so let’s go with that! Dark and sweet and just a touch herbal. This has great potential. LV smells Dorian-licious and a lot like baked goods sooooo pretty much everything I like. As soon as it hits my skin, though. Oh, uh. Fennel. Hi. You were the guest I was least interested in at this party… As it dries, it continues to smell super herbal and clean. All fennel and florals, all the time. Where is my beautiful Snake Oil and Dorian and PASTRIES, dammit? I am displeased. It’s really not a terrible scent, but it smells nowhere near as good as in the bottle. I suppose it’s for the best I only have a couple tests-worth of this, because my skin does not play very well with it. If I ever come across any more, and y’know, actually get a scent locket, I’m totally putting Lilith Victoria in it. EDIT: have to say, this smelled much better and much more like the bottle when I woke up. Lasted for most of the next day too, I didn't even feel the need to apply more perfume.

I got this decant as a frimp, and I would've never ordered this for myself. Jasmine! Sandalwood! Booze! Leather! Amber! It’s a parade of things that make me a bit nervous… particularly as all the reviews say this is Jasmine City. But hey, we’re experimenting, so it’s cool. Opened the vial and holy sweet baby jesus that is some stanky floral! Leather and wood support it noticeably but really jasmine stands on top and screams. Well I’m going to put some on anyway, so here goes. Thankfully it isn't as glaringly loud on me. I think the amber here is helping tamp down the jasmine. Actually, I’d say it improves significantly on my skin, a nice soft leather coming out more. Unlike other reviewers, I can certainly see why this would be considered a studious blend. It dries down to something surprisingly soft, the jasmine cooling down and allowing amber and leather and wood to help carry the day. I could see Hermione Granger smelling like this, is basically what I’m trying to say. I wouldn't call it particularly sexy or flirty. After a while, even fig starts to poke its head out a little. But much as Iole has improved from its dubious beginning, this is still not my sort of perfume. Add my voice to the Greek chorus of “no”s I think.

Despite the fact that I currently list Third Charm as one of my top ten and have it in my signature, I've never actually posted a review. Let’s fix that! I had special feelings about Third Charm. I didn't know much about any of the notes, especially the more obscure ones, and it is very unlike my typical “instant yes” oils (super-foodie dessert blends). But I was absolutely sure it was going to be a winner. I don’t normally mention color, but Third Charm is probably the darkest oil I have: it looks almost purple until I hold it up to the light, when it shows up as a dark red-brown. Ohhhhhh nice. Deep and earthy incense, but also noticeably spicy-sweet. So tasty! On my skin, something does occasionally threaten to go to a powdery or too-woody place. But no, for the most part it plays fair and smells damn good. I have to agree with some of the comparisons above: it certainly does remind me of Snake Oil, and to a lesser degree, the best parts of Dragon’s Heart. Be careful with this one, it throws like a mofo! The amount I normally apply is far too strong for Third Charm.

Mmm, I definitely smell cinnamon and the dough. And something else… what is it? Like cookies with chunks of something in it. A bit like a lemon cookie maybe… I keep getting the feeling that there is something (very subtly) fruity about this. Maybe there really is lemon or perhaps I'm just making some kind of odd scent association (cinnamon = cider)? Regardless, I like Sugar Cookie '12 quite a bit. Not one of my top foodie blends, but I'm glad I picked this up.

I really love lemon and usually don’t agree when people mention it smelling like a cleaning product, but in this case, okay, it kinda smells like a cleaning product. It’s not that bad, I still enjoy the lemon. There’s just an extra… twinge at the end. On my skin, sharp and bitter. Others have mentioned ginger, that's a likely suspect here. Going to bed now, I’ll see if this increases ~psychic sensitivity~ at all. Haha, oh wow. I gave Nanshe two nights to prove itself. Both times it took me a bit to fall asleep, I didn't remember any dreams, and I woke up early in the morning with mixed success of getting back to sleep. I don't necessarily blame Nanshe for that, but I haven't found this to be an effective sleep blend either. Since I wouldn't wear this as a perfume, I'll pass it along.

Hey, would you like any coffee with your sugar? This is more like a coffee-flavored energy drink than Irish coffee. I also smell something that could maaaaayyyybe be interpreted as the paper or dust note, but I wouldn't recognize it if I didn't know what to look for. On me, this transforms into caramel popcorn… and then, when dry, singed popcorn. Oh Misk U, you break my heart, but we are not meant to be.

In imp, hmm, definitely as odd as the description implied. Moss and fruit and perhaps a little peppermint all forced together in a blender. A small pop of citrus as I apply. But instantly it becomes more herbal as the lavender coming out. Clean geranium too. The peppermint is still chilling out quietly in the background, MAYBE waving a bit of chocolate next to it. I’m not getting much fruit here at all. No lasting power-- Schrodinger's Cat faded after a couple hours. Not BAD, but still, another imp bites the dust.

I don't do much for Easter, but I decided to wear Schrodinger's Cat for it anyway. It seems fruity and springy and it even has some chocolate!

In imp: super-yummy, Bliss-like chocolate. Mmm, the chocolate-vanilla-cinnamon combo reminds me of one of my favorites, Pumpkin V ’09. There’s also an edge, pepper I guess? Not as much a fan of the drydown, as it starts to tilt more towards the pepper and annatto and away from my beloved bakery scents. Still, this is a decent one, I think I'll hold onto the decant.

In the imp: very sweet, honeyed wine and florals. On me: OH HEY JASMINE NICE OF YOU TO COME, and rose, hello to you too. Add in some sandalwood for extra blech and no, not good, not for me at all.

I don't have any Passover-appropriate scents really, so I'm going to test Obsidian Widow tonight because, uh, wine?

Mmm, citrus and ginger, yum. I think they did a good job capturing the picure—it does smell bright and fruity like the colors in the original. I like this a lot as a summer blend. Only downside, this fades super quickly. Try this one if you like Baobhan Sith.

Entirely what you’d expect: a field of clover, with sort of a “dewy” or “waterlogged” effect. Quite pretty without being girly. Nice!

I get some prettiness from the sweet clove and the apple blossom, but also that sharpness from the neroli (not necessarily a bad thing!) and that plastic scent that seems to come with sandalwood and anise (certainly a bad thing). Bah, no dice for me.

Hmm, Aeval would make sense too, but I still have to test Host of the Air, so I think that's what I'll put on tomorrow morning! EDIT: Haha, didn't even notice the post right above me...

Soft apple with a little bubblegummy lotus. Sandalwood’s here too, but I’m not a big fan of it, it seems to be taking over and blotting out that nice apple. The orris is also in there, and together they are making this blend smell very powdery and sharp and clean. Not too surprising, the only note that I know I love here is apple—the others are all a little riskier. A no for me, I think.

In Ghost House, I get grapevines and for some reason those dried fruit assortments that come covered in chocolate and candy coating. Not bad, but I'm not in love with it either.

Sweet lemony incense! Yes, please, sounds good to me! On me, huh, very clean—not soapy, but this certain “straight up through my nose” scent that rose sometimes does to me. I remember it from Alice, too. Something leafy is coming along for the ride. Lemon has retreated to the background, unfortunately. A foodlike spice crops up, and not in the yummy baked way. More like a cooking spice, blech. Fuuuuuu, this was promising in the imp, but I think it’s not gonna work for me. Even my beloved lemon is screwy—I don’t know if I’d say it was like a candle, but there’s something not quite right about this.

I give up trying to write a good review of Bread-and-Butter-Fly. It is clearly not going to happen. In short, I really want to like it, and then I almost DO like it, and then plastic. The end.

The first hour isn't champagne but ginger ale! That's not a bad thing, necessarily, it's still nice and bubbly, pretty yummy. Unfortunately, it changes after that. Now I have a little flat ginger ale underneath, yes, a Strawberry Shortcake doll, a plasticky attempt at a strawberry scent. Boooooo.