Alaeidrel

Ohhh man. This is amazing. I don't get a lot of leather out of it - it's all musk and sage and cedar, with one of the few vanilla notes that works on my skin warming it up just enough. It's not overly sweet, and there's a little bit of leather hiding underneath, but it's more like the smell of sun-warmed leather from a couple of feet away than sticking my face into a saddle. I didn't imagine liking this one, but it's a really good neutral, every-day clean and snuggly scent. YUM.

I love every note in this and I thought it would be a hit. Right off the bat, strong, dark coffee. But the more it dries the more it gets this weird, sour, bitter note like the coffee oil went rancid in with a bunch of flower petals. Yuck!

Dear god. I had no idea I would love this so much. Generally anything with Brimstone is immediate 'hell no'. I sniffed it at will-call and got a little on my fingers and was huffing them all night. So when my weenie order went in... a bottle slipped into my cart and I might need a backup. This is sexy, smoky, smouldery musk. A little cloying when wet on my skin, but it dries down into the perfect winter scent. Spicy and reminiscent of my favorite part of the winter season - camping out by fires and enjoying the smoke and the heat.

This is softly floral greek musk with a bit of wood. It struck me immediately and so I bought a bottle at will call and I love it, but it doesn't love me. Something about it brings on giant migraines - I don't think I agree with anything that has violet in it in any form. :'( Off to swaps.

Dust, tumbleweeds, cedar, and tobacco. Mmmm. Smells like home - dust, tumbleweeds, and cedar wood. I don't get much in the way of clothes wet or dry. But it's a great close, soft, snuggly skin scent that's incredibly nostalgic.

This is such an incredibly evocative scent! I got an imp but I think I need to write the person back and see about the rest of the bottle... Wet, it was almost too much. The ginger was too sharp and pungent and kind of nauseating for the first 15 minutes. But dry... This is raw, fresh, sharp ginger that hits you with a punch in the gut the way a good ginger beer should. There's this lovely herbal quality under it that I can't put words to, but it's spice racks and pepper and cozy. It's a dark, sinister scent that has all the best associations on me. I don't think it's going to lighten up anytime soon and I'm completely okay with that.

Wow! This really is exactly like a ginger/citrus creamsicle. Wet, dry, in the bottle, on skin, on clothes... it's not a morpher for me. Unfortunately it's not a scent I'd really wear, but it's decadent and delicious if you're one of the lucky few who can wear things that smell this tasty and not go crazy with cravings!

Apparently even as much as I like rose, rose otto and I don't get along. Whatever it is - incense or something? - just gives me an instant migraine. I loved all the other notes, but it's just overpowered by the otto. Sigh.

Auuugh! I really wanted to like this, but all I get is floral baby powder. Ick. I have no idea what note is doing it, since all the notes in the blend generally like my skin. Off to swaps.

This turns to pure honeysuckle on my skin, with a little leather. It also smells exactly like the fragrance in the air in Apricot Lane stores, except minus the insta-headache. Intriguing, not something I need a bottle of.

I think I'm mostly getting the hibiscus, and machta - the lime comes through, but it's neon-green and juicy and not sharp at all. I'm really loving this scent for summer - it's a tropical, light floral that doesn't get heady the way some of the others I've tried has. And! It last through immersion in salt water (which is important because I work at an aquarium). Definitely a keeper! I'd buy a big bottle... if I didn't already have 5 imps!

This is such an incredible scent. I was lucky enough to have someone offer me a bottle in response to a totally different DISO, and it was so worth it. Dark ginger and spice and sugar... not the sort of scent I normally wear, but I can guess it will be wonderful for when I want foody comfort on colder days. "Evil Cookie" indeed.

By all accounts and purposes, this should have been an insta-love. All the notes work beautifully on my skin on their own or in other combinations, and yet... this was such an uber-fail. In the bottle it was delicious, but the moment it hit my skin it turned into rancid almonds and leather - viscerally enough so that I was actively distressed and nauseated by it for hours. Finally, eventually, it dried down to almond-tinged leather but at that point I was already so far gone that it just wasn't worth keeping. I braved another skin test a week or so later, just in case of body chemistry, and it was exactly the same. Not worth keeping for a vaguely pleasant drydown after hours of keeping my wrist as far away from my nose as possible.

Definitely sweet, grassy cucumber. Very wet and juicy, but not watery like actual cucumber flesh. When wet, it's very bright and fresh. Dries down to something a little less light - more soapy now, which is okay, but not my favorite. I wish this would stay exactly like it was when it was wet - it was such a perfect scent to combat the disgusting muggy humidity today. Pleasant, but probably not a keeper.

White tea and citrus? I don't get a lot of the violet, which is fine, but it's pretty and floral and a nice alternative to my other white tea scents.

This is really strange. I first tested it when I was in the middle of a horrid cold, and all I could smell was the beloved rice wine note from Loosening of the Obi. Now, on retest, that's still the first whiff I get. But then if I really huff, there's definitely a green undertone mixed with black tea. I guess it's the sandalwood? It's a little funky and weird, honestly, but I like the basic notes enough to let it settle and maybe try it again.

Now that we've gotten into summer - I'm really sensitive to bright sunlight and will get migraines from forgetting my sunglasses for five minutes - every scent and it's brother has decided to be headache inducing. I'm having to be really careful about what I apply and how much I put on. So far sticking to my light tea scents like Kumiho and Sudden Invitation seems to work, but I don't have many that are very distinct and I'm getting bored. Even my darling Loosening of the Obi with it's light musk is just too much to wear. I'm working in an aquarium now and spend a lot of my time running touch tanks, so I really want to wear things to counteract the salty-fish smell I end up with at the end of the day... but everything is just stabby pain throughout my brain. Any suggestions? I normally have to avoid heavy insence/smoke/patch/vervain scents because of headaches anyway, as well as overly sweet scents. With as many weird skin reactions as I get, I'm really lucky to not have run into issues with any of the cinnamon scents (and I love me my Inferno, so thank god). Unfortunately, I still can't figure out what note in Fire of Love makes me break out in giant welts where it touches the skin...

This is such an interesting blend. Straight out of the imp, the bergamot made me sneeze and it took a lot of nerve to skin test it. I'm glad I did, though. It's all bergamot and spice, with a creamy base. It smells brown and furry and it has a strong but wonderful throw. I think I might need to find a bottle!

I love this when it's wet. It's all bright, juicy pear with a little bit of florals. Unfortunately as it dries it just goes... sharp. Not like tea sharp, but rancid sharp. Let's hope it's just my imp, but it smells like badly made soap and I'm thinking that might be the Lily of the Valley come out to play.

I get mostly the smoke, sage, and patch from this. I can't seem to find the vanilla on my skin, but that's fine by me. It's dark and gritty and reminds me of the smell of a fire after you've burned ceremonial herbs in it. The base notes that I can't differentiate remind me of Sunbird, for some reason. I'd guess the clove, saffron and smoke? It's beautiful, whatever it is. Definitely one for the dark of winter.

Ginger, currant and cream(?) on me. Maybe the cream is the squash - I've no idea. It has a bit of a note that I register as 'summer' and interpret as 'sunblock'. It's explody and sweet and really great, bright red and blue based in dark green. Om nom nom.

Cannabis blossom, tonka bean, tobacco, frankincense, galangal, juniper berry, lantana, spiky aloe, green and white teas, and salty sea spray. It was absolutely and completely worth hunting down this bottle after I missed one on ebay. I'm a west-coaster, so I just totally needed this scent (it's as close as I'll ever get to a pacific tree-octopus). I can't tell the notes in this, it's so well blended, but it's a funky, mossy aquatic every time I wear it. I have to slather a bit since it stays close to my skin, but it's soft and delicious.

You might find Dog Days of Summer interesting. It's not a 'fruity floral' but it's wilted grasses and wildflowers and might fit your tastes, if you can find some. Otherwise, I'd second The Temptation. To me it smells like fruit that's just fallen off the tree, ripe and sitting in the sun. You could also try: La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente - myrtle, sweet meliot, wild rose, pomegranite juice, peach blossom, deep aquatic notes, autumn breezes Lampades - cranberry, smoky dark lilies, musk, ginger, mediterranean spices The Raptures and Roses of Vice - red roses, moroccan musk, cinnamon, lobelia, coconut flesh, magnolia blossoms, tobacco tar (fruity in a coconut-flesh sort of way, very heady and rich and unlike the normal rose notes) Zarita, The Doll Girl - white carnation, iris, orange blossom, sugared cream

Mint mint mint everywhere! And something aquatic that I've never learned to identify. I guess that's probably the ambergris? Wet, this is sharp chilly mint. It gets softer and smokier as it dries and is just absolutely lovely.

This is so delicious. Same gin note as Golden Wave, but foodier and sweeter. Yum yum yum. Definitely need to hunt down a bottle.