msbcozad

Velvet This smelled sooooo good in the imp and soooo bad on my skin. I don't know what went wrong where, but I cannot wear this oil. Sadness.

The Hesperides Oh god, no. An entire world of no. I don't get apple. Maybe I get bark and damp leaves, but I definitely don't get apples. I recoiled from the test spot on my arm and immediately washed this off. No.

Snow Bunny 2008 version Where have you been all my life? I dabbed you on my arm and thought you were softly pretty while you were damp. I forgot about you as I played a video game and then when I sniffed my arm an hour later, OMG yum! Soft and sweet and girly and wonderful and oh holy crap you're about to be discontinued must order bottle NOW. I like this one.

The Winter of Our Discontent I was in an odd mood this morning and decided to try a previously-untested scent. I couldn't tell you what the oil smells like in the bottle, but it was much better than the scent I got after I applied it to my wrists. Oh no, thought I, I'm going to have to scrub this off. And then I got distracted with something else in my morning routine and forgot to wash my wrists. A couple of hours later, I rested my chin on my hand while reading the Forum and smelled a warm incensey clove wafting up. The throw practically non-existant, but the incense and clove are perfect for a winter day when the sun is piercing and the temperature is below the freezing mark. I have about half a bottle and that should get me through my own winter of discontent.

The East Lovely soft florals with a dash of tea and the barest hint of mint. Unfortunately, it's very, VERY light and has almost completely faded after an hour. I'll give it another go in the spring with a good slathering and see if that improves its longevity.

I had high hopes for O, being the amber whore that I am. Oh, hey, I have a new death note: honey. And on my skin, honey equals cat pee. Trade pile.

Hazelnut, vanilla bean, red sandalwood, amber, myrrh, and honey. Wezwanie / Hold The ingredients looked soooo delicious. Vanilla, amber, sandalwood are great on me and I like eating hazelnut-flavored things and honey. I made grabby hands and a kind soul frimped it to me. Great was my delight as I applied the oil to the crook of my elbow. Great was my horror as the delicious-sounding oil turned into cat pee in my elbow. Great was my speed as I yanked my head back and held my arm as far from my nose as possible until the foul liquid dried down. Great was my trepidition as I took another tentative sniff several minutes later... Cat pee. It's been an hour since application and I've scrubbed my arm repeatedly and still cat pee.

Iago Iago has been in my trade box for a very long time. Leather + vetiver + black musk = YUCK in the imp and YUCK on me. Leather + vetiver + black musk = the opposite of YUCK on my husband. We'll just say that a good time was had by all and he wants me to order a bottle of Iago. Obviously, the imp is no longer in the trade box and he's not allowed to wear this scent outside of the house. Nnnnngf.

Crimson Christmas I can smell the smoke and peppermint in the imp, but my skin completely absorbed all smell. How completely and utterly bizarre. No matter how much I slather, there's no scent. Trade pile.

Mutant Hot-Rodders from Hell High It's standard men's cologne. It might smell good on my husband, but we've already got Iago and Lucifer which I like so much more. Trade pile.

That! The Terror from Over There! Ooh, it's all kiwi deliciousness when wet. This is fantastic and I love it. But wait. What's that? Ow ow! Wasabi is stomping all over the sweet kiwi! Ow ow! Wasabi is stomping all over my nose. Oh oh! Wasabi is going directly to the trade pile. Do not pass Go; do not collect $200.

I Fell in Love with a Floating Brain I got this one as part of a decant group and figured it'd be my second-least favorite because I'm not into food scents. Boy was I wrong. It's strawberry cake with a touch of spice and I it. How'd that happen? It's fantastic and I ordered a bottle.

Invasion of the Flesh-Eating Reindeer from Uranus Holy spiced gingerbread, Batman! I couldn't stop sniffing my arm -- I barely controlled myself enough not to lick my wrist -- until that "gargantuan squirt of musk" popped out. *cough*hack*wheeze* No.

Spawn of the She-Demon I get very little musk from this oil; instead it's tea, tea, and more tea. It's a tall glass of iced mango tea and it's absolutely delicious. After an hour or so, the musk quietly creeps up but it stays behind the tea. My decant isn't enough; I need a bottle of this.

The Gibbous Moon HYACINTH! I hyacinths. After an hour or so, this turned into a fresh green scent, like freshly cut flower stems under running water. What a fantastic foil to The Sportive Sun! This is definitely a late spring/summer scent and I cannot WAIT to wear it again next year. I am smitten.

Upa Upa I wanted to smell like a fruity umbrella drink during these dark and dank days of late fall, but all I got was hot, spicy rum. Sadly, the coconut and pineapple never showed up to the party. The spices in the rum were so strong, my husband actually jumped away when I waved my wrist under his nose. I'll keep looking for the perfect umbrella drink perfume. In the meantime, Upa Upa goes into the go-away pile.

Yvaine Wow, what a sharp scent when the oil is first applied! I know it's lavender, but my brain keeps yelling GRAPEFRUIT until the oil settles down. Then the other lovely notes come out and gently caress my skin. I am absolutely, positively in love with this scent.

Swank This is fantastic. Cool. Sparkly. Brilliant. My imp will be upgraded to a bottle with my next order. You know, this review just doesn't say enough. Swank is my new pick-me-up scent. It's my Grrrl-powah scent. It's my favorite. WOW.

Rat I desperately wanted to love Rat. DESPERATELY. It smelled sharply astringent in the bottle and the pine nearly socked me in the face when I applied the oil to my wrists. After a while, the pine faded and the orangewood popped up, but the astringent never left. I'm so disappointed.

Purple Phoenix This bottle's existance in my collection is a mystery. I don't remember purchasing it, I don't remember receiving it as a gift or a trade. I have no idea why I have it. Plus, it's been languishing in my collection for a long time because I never liked the smell of it in the bottle. Today, though, I felt brave and gave Purple Phoenix a test. Oh. My. Goodness. It's fruity and floral and playfully feminine. It's working as an autum perfume, but I bet it'll be just as yummy in the spring, too. Plus, it has staying power: six hours since application and I still catch whiffs of the Purple Phoenix as I move about. I can't believe I was tempted to toss this bottle in the go-away pile. I don't know what it smelled like brand new, but it's a gorgeous and glorious two-year old.

Fairy Market This oil evokes images of sugared flowers, like candied violets which decorate wedding cakes. Light and refreshing, not the least bit cloying. After three hours of wear, it's gone wispy on my wrists but it still present in my decolletage. Thank goodness this is a GC scent; I want to bathe in this stuff.

Haunted This a gorgeous oil, although it tickles my nose a bit. It was extremely musky when wet but the amber rose to the top as it dried down. After 90 minutes of wear, the musk and amber are dancing to and fro but becoming lighter and lighter. There's allmost no throw and I fear this scent may disappear completely in another hour. This one is going to need a heavier application, I fear. It's good for a sunny November day such as today. I think it would be too heavy for spring or summer and, despite the golden amber, too sad for an overcast day. ETA: Haunted has been on for two hours now and has turned into a soapy cologne. *cough*hack* Trade bag.

The Sea Rat As the other posters have noted, there's very little "sea" in this rat. I found the Sea Rat fairly masculine when wet; the musk was a heady player. But as it dried down, the the musk softened into incense. After two hours of wear, Sea Rat morphed into a soft, feminine scent and the berries came to the top. There was also the tiniest hint of mint, but it's very thin and subdued. In three hours, the scent was completely gone. Beautiful, but short-lived morpher. Edit (11/23/08): Today I wore more than a tiny dot on one wrist to test the scent and that made a huge difference. The perfume was strongly masculine again, almost alarmingly so, but it settled down into more feminine territory. It's now been six hours since application and not only has The Sea Rat stayed with me, but the sea notes have finally come out (around hour four). I can definitely smell the berries, but they've taken on a salty chill. It's like standing on a rocky beach on a chilly evening. Looooooovely.

Mouse's Long and Sad Tale Vanilla, amber, and sweet pea = This one's got serious staying power and stays pretty true to the original scent as it clings to the skin. This is my everyday scent. LOVE IT!

No. 93 Engine A kind soul (Wwindy) force this bottle under my nose at a Meet-n-Sniff back in August and I jotted the name down as a must have. A couple of months later, a bottle of No. 93 Engine joined my collection. I was expecting, when I applied the oil to my skin, a warm and golden scent, perhaps leaning a bit on the masculine side. What I got was a cool, white scent. I pictured a field full of tiny white flowers in the early spring. The scent is soft and gentle and feminine without being sugary sweet. This going to give Mouse's Long and Sad Tale a run for being my favorite perfume.