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Freshly applied, this oil is a rush of the same coconut note from Snow White 08 and White Rose. I love that note and am thrilled to bits. After ten minutes or so, cedar becomes the predominant note but the coconut is still floating just offstage. The frankincense blends into the cedar and coconut, balancing things and keeping the scent from going too sweet or too woody.

I feel relaxed and fairly calm even though I'm huffing my arm trying to sniff up every delicious bit of this oil. This one is definitely a keeper.

Bat of Health

 

Wow, HELLO sassafras! After 10 minutes or so, the juniper and fig poke up but the sassafras hangs out in the background. There's also a medicinal tang, but it's not entirely unpleasant.

This stuff works. It gets me to sleep about as quickly as Melatonin or Tylenol PM, but without the side effects of those medications.

 

That being said, I don't actually enjoy the smell of TKO when it's fresh on my skin. I can smell the sugary vanilla and mallow in the background, but there's something cold and hard in the forefront for the first thirty minutes or so of wear. I keep sniffing, trying to figure out WHAT that note is (eucalyptus? no... not quite) and wrinkling my nose in disgust. I keep wanting to turn it into the cold, hard lavender of Yvaine (my other go-to scent for sleepless nights), but no, I can't pick out the lavender either. So for the first thirty minutes, I read my bedtime book and keep my wrists away from my nose.

 

Around minute thirty-one, however, the hard coldness goes away and the scent is soft, fluffy vanilla sugar and something else I can't identify. This is a calming, protective scent. This helps me drift off to dreamland.

 

Yeah, TKO is my weapon of choice in my arsenal against insomnia.

Motley

 

Oh my god. My wrist smells like a sushi restaurant.

 

No, seriously. Motley, on my skin, smells like the blend of ginger and wasabi and spicy mayo and fish (but not fishy-smelling fish) and green tea and rice and seaweed.

 

That's the most unsettling thing ever.

Of the three Fools, I thought Marotte would be my favorite because of the pear and amber. I think I may have issues with oakmoss, though, as it's pulling the blend into heavier territory. There's something fiery in here which reminds me a tiny bit of the effect of Fire Phoenix. No idea what's causing that.

 

This is a sophisticated, adult blend. Nothing foolish here.

Coxcomb

 

This. Is. Gorgeous. It's a medium sweet berry and frankincense and a little bit of musk on my skin. It hasn't morphed over the past hour. You can bet I'll be haunting the swaps and sales looking for more of this oil.

Blood Countess

 

I love the plum and berries in this. The florals are extremely sweet, almost tooth-achingly so. I'm definitely amping the rose and, like another reviewer said, I can almost smell dragon's blood. What is that??

Aelopile

 

A world of no. So many of the notes in this oil are sure bets; the only questionable ones are labdanum and oud. Guess which ones are the only notes to leap out and assault me? Where are you, amber and verbena?

The Great Sword of War

 

Whoa. The first blast of this from the imp was a blast of strong black tea and cocoa. It was so strong as to be almost painful. On my skin, however, the cocoa fell back and the mandarin bloomed up. Mmm... citrusy tea. The barest whisper of tobacco keeps the citrus from going too screechy.

 

 

Mmm... citrusy tea.

Velvet Dogs Playing Poker

 

I want this to be sweet pipe smoke and coffee. Instead, it's polished wood and something astringent. Maybe with a little rest and a little age, the smoke and coffee will appear.

 

Added 4/17/09: Okay, it's been a week and I finally get this scent. After she dropped out, my sister worked in a bar across the street from the university. The place was fairly old and had worn wood floors. I'd occassionally visit her in the afternoons before happy hour started. When the bar was empty except for my sister and another employee, it smelled like the worn wood floors, stale cigarettes, and burned black coffee. That's exactly what this perfume smells like. Unfortunately, I do not want or need to smell like that bar.

I usually give my oils a week or so to rest after their harrowing trip through the USPS, but I'm too excited about the Velvets to wait this time.

 

Velvet Tiki may benefit from another week of rest, though. I really did not like it when I first applied it to my wrist and I'm just starting to enjoy it now that it's been on me for a couple of hours. The tropical fruits and flowers are beginning to peek through that throat-burning hairspray smell which first assaulted me. My hopes are high for this one based on the above reviews. I want this to the be the Tiki scent that I hoped last year's Tikis would be. I'll be back in a few days.

 

Added 4/17/09: Oh yeah. This baby just needed a week to recover from its cross-country trip. Now it's all glorious tropical blooms and fruit. Can't stop huffing my wrist long enough to place a 2nd order...

Did you like I Fell in Love with a Floating Brain? Do you wish you had more? If so, stock up on Velvet Pink Kitty. This is sweet strawberries and cream with the barest hint of gin and is soooo close to Floating Brain that I'm doing a happy little butt wiggle dance on my sofa.

 

Must not gnaw wrist.

Must not gnaw wrist.

Must not---

Nom nom nom...

Epistrophia

 

This one reads as dry white flowers to me. It's very pungent when wet and makes the back of my throat tickle. As it dries, it lightens a little but the tickle is still present. Reminds me a lot of White Moon.

Water Phoenix

 

I'm not a fan of aquatics, but I still had to try Water Phoenix. I don't care for the "salty oceanic note;' luckily that fades after 30 minutes or so. The rain note remains and is joined by a touch of lavender and sweet pea. After an hour, this oil is mostly sweet pea with a hint of musk.

 

I'm a slatherer and there's no throw whatsoever. It's very soft, very light, very CLEAN.

Ol' Roswell Cemetery

 

Yep, it's dirt. But... ooh, those flowers are awfully nice. There's a rose in there that's like a Crabtree & Evelyn rose (which works on me). This isn't something I'd wear often, but I'm VERY happy with my half imp.

The Host of the Air

 

Ooh, this is pretty. It's clover and dandelion in perfume form. So happy and full of springtime. Mmm... and juniper berry. Lovely. Absolutely lovely.

The Dole of the King's Daughter

 

This smells sooooo good in the imp: fresh and green and delicious.

 

This smells sooooo bad on my arm: red rose and blood and ugh. Get it off! Get it off!

 

But wait a minute... where'd the ick go? It's gone to lilies and, oh wait. There's the blood again. Ick!

 

Oh well.

Eanach Dhuin

 

This one has a gorgeous blackberry leaf/white rose phase that I wish would stick around all day. The the clove rises up and turns the fruity floral to spicy woodiness. This isn't a traditionally masculine scent, but I can tell it'd be yummy on the right man.

 

Om nom nom.

The Ides of March (2009)

 

Wow, this one goes through a lot of changes! The first blast upon application is standard men's cologne and lemon. After a couple of minutes, those notes fall back and the lab's metal note rises to the top. Another few minutes and it's just GREEN. And then it's bergamot. I think I smell the iris and rosemary as the bergamot fades. Now it's "green" again, but different from before. It turned to standard male cologne for a moment and then it's a light floral. Not STOMPY FLOWERS FLORAL, just... floral.

 

And all that is within twenty minutes!

 

What an interesting ride. Do I need a bottle of this? I don't know... But this is fun!

Apple, apple, and more apple. Then creamy apple. Then vanilla apple. Then vanilla and a hint of sweet pea. Very pretty and girlish.

Mad Kate

 

I can't do honey scents. O and Agrat, fail. I can, however, wear Mad Kate because the waxiness of the honeycomb keeps the honey from strangling me. The rose geranium and gardenia were fairly powerful as this scent dried down. After thirty minutes or so, this scent is mostly vanilla and freesia with a light honey background. I think this will be a wonderful warm weather scent.

Dia

 

This oil has many of my favorite notes, but the blend is making the back of my throat tickle in a distressing way. That's probably the tobacco flower. The coconut is the predominant note, but it's not a suntan lotion coconut. This is the same gentle coconut in Snow White but with a splash of musk to keep from getting too airy.

 

I'm not wild about this perfume, but I'm going to give it a few more wearings before I decide whether or not I should keep it.

Lune Noire

 

I usually test new-to-me oils when I work from home but today, I splashed the untested Lune Noire on before heading out the door. The first ten minutes or so were unpleasant. You know that feeling when you accidentally get hairspray in your mouth? It was exactly like that. But then it mellowed into a very soft pear and gardenia mix.

 

It's been two and half hours and my left elbow smells like pear while my right elbow smells like gardenia. I can't smell anything on my wrists at all. I'm slatherer and the scent is nearly gone. This is a pretty scent for spring, but sadly a VERY quick fade.

Melainis

 

I admit it: I purchased this oil for the name alone (Melanie... Melainis... you see how it is). None of the notes appealed to me, save the potential of the red currant. And with my first whiff from the bottle, I was less than impressed; I was thoroughly underwhelmed. I set it aside to mellow a bit.

 

It's been a few weeks since that disappointing first meeting. I pulled Melainis out this evening to make a surprise decant for a friend. Wow. What a gorgeous smell. On my skin, it blossoms into this amazing sweet tobacco, caramel, frankincense mixture which is simply intoxicating. Despite the presence of caramel, it's not the least bit foodie. It is sultry without knocking you over the head with its sexiness. This is an adult scent (dull surprise, being as its an Ode to Aphrodite), but not so "adult" that it must be worn only in the evening.

 

Darn it. I should've ordered a backup before the Odes came down.

Black Opal

 

This is a grown-up, "traditional" perfume scent. I have no idea what notes I'm smelling and as I read through the reviews, I would think to myself "Oh, yeah, I smell what that person smells. And that person. And that note!" So yeah, dusty vanilla and hints of other things.

 

Sadly, this is fading after only an hour. I have to press my wrist against my nose to even get a whiff. Mmm. More slathering!