Northernminx

Dark and smokey, lots of incense like herbs that I can't quite identify and a dry down of sweet fig. This start off full of opium and smoke and currant underneath and fades into sweetness. Very decedant and utterly sinful, this was gorgeously complex but really never really had any staying power on me for some reason.

Crisp and cleansing citrus, lime and maybe a touch of grapefruit? It's difficult for me to tell since my skin tends to sort of jumble up citrus notes. This was strong without being unpleasant and dried down with a faint green, herbalness to it. Very refreshing and it very much helped me refocus and slough off all that mental baggage for a bit

I'm not honestly sure why this was fruity on me, maybe the iris interacting with my chemistry? It's one of the few scents where sandalwood behaves itself and is a nice soft undertone to the florals. Sweet, refreshing and lovely, very feminine without being wishy washy or soft, it's an unusual mix of scents and makes no apology for it.

Soft, masculine amber to start this was deep, strong, and distinctly male but oddly dried down to a powder on me. I didn't get any civet or even really very much musk before this was just gone. Fortunately I was more testing this just for fun so off to swaps it goes.

Soft and sweet honeysuckle fading into spicey Jasmine. Gorgeous, feminine and light, this lingers on me and then just suddenly dissapears a few hours later. While pretty, it didn't do anything spectacular on me and I wish there had been some more notes that stuck around other than the Jasmine with my chemistry.

Well hello there Ms. Chrysanthemum, Ms. Rose how are you? I"m doing fin-

Mr. Vetiver what are you doing?

No... put the axe down Mr. Vetiver...please?

AIEEE RUN! RUN! Nooo not the flowers! AGH! PUT THE AXE DOWN!

...

If Santa Muerte were a horror movie on my skin, it would read something like the above wherein the initial burst of lovely flowers is massacred in a horrible bloodbath by vetiver - which doesn't even have the decency to mellow any and let any of the other notes through as it usurped my chemistry.

Off to prison with this one. Next.

Earthy and almost over-ripe in the imp I was glad this settled down into more of an incense phase rather than the hot summer alley-way smell that it started out as with my skin. Smokey and almost burnt in the end on me, this one just didn't work and I ended up having to wash it off. Pity.

Feral, wild, masculine and wierdly sexy as all hell. I get a touch of leather under cinnamon and patchouli and a dry down of cedar. Biting the heads off chickens not withstanding, this one turned my head and _I_ was wearing it. I'd love to sniff test it on the men. Very earthy, but not dirty, spicey but not middle-eastern, this is just a touch exotic and a lot intriguing. Mmm nummy

Fruity floral. This was all lily to start but the plum started coming in as it dried down. Light and not heavily fruity this was gorgeous and sweet, bright and charming, a very happy, relaxing good summer scent. Pretty but it didn't fill any niches or needs for me so I'm swapping it off.

Like Graveyard Dirt and Rose red, this is one of those blends where Beth seems to have put something in a blender and poured it into a bottle and said 'here ya go!"

Pure, buttered popcorn. It's been said, I'll say it again. I don't want to wear this perfume because it's just not perfume-like to me but it's amazing, true, dead on - to the point that i had popcorn tonight and was sniff-testing it on my skin. This was long-lasting and hung around all day as well. Yummy!

Love and worship and adoration... fresh and clean and springy. This was floral without being too floral, innocent without being naive, and fresh as a spring day. This never went powdery on me, just a soft overlay of roses and a touch of carnation spice, and a little bit of white tea. Gorgeous. Love this. Going to BATHE in it now...

Balsam and rosewood in the bottle and while wet, this was fairly subtle on me and a little green and herbal and medicinal to start. It starts to sweeten as it dries, turning into mix of tobacco and opium on my skin but alas it also fades quickly on me. I adored the drydown, sort of sweet and smokey and soothing but it's just being eaten by my skin so I'll send this elsewhere.

I barely smelled anything in the bottle, but on it went, thick and viscous. This reminded me of what I assumed Djinn would smell like but never did - rich, smokey spice, a warm banked, glowing fire waiting to roar to life. This dries down into not so much floral as a peculiar scent I usually associate with sandalwood with my chemistry, even though I do not believe it IS sandalwood. Soft, a little floral but mostly just that soft powder scent as this fades. It's gorgeous, warm, and understated but not quite me.

Sharp and tangy citrus, mostly orange, while this is wet. I was afraid the citrus was going to take over but it quickly morphed into a soft layering of lavender and jasmine. Floral but not cloying, this was soothing and sultry and lovely.

Cool and aquatic with a drydown of soft white flowers. This was gentle, somewhat feminine on me, but lovely and very ethereal and light and one of the aquatics that doesn't go all wierd and alcohol-headache-inducing wierd on me. Not quite to my tastes but I will offer it to one of my aquatic loving friends.

Le sigh. I really wanted this to work on me as in the bottle this is glorious sugary carnivale fried dough (ooooooooooo) but it interacts wierdly with my chemistry and I end up with, voila, melted sticky coconut. This one gets to go find someone with normal skin. So sad.

Warm and spicey, definitly exotic, but there's a touch of something to this that really unsettles me. Incredibly well-blended I have a hard time identifying any single note out of this. The amber and vanilla were prevalent when I put it on, but the spice has really started to come out in the dry down. I don't get anything plum like or coconut like at all, but it's still warm and sexy. Very nice, not quite mem but still very nice.

Frankincense and Lime were the predominant notes in the bottle for me, a sort of more smokey version of Villain, soft and far more subtle than I anticipated. The metallic first touches of clove came in and as this dries down it's incense, clove, and a touch of leather. Vetiver starts to creep in towards the very end. Amazingly complex, herbal and woodsy and masculine. This was a lot less powerful than I feared and while not quite me, also was interesting to experiance.

Wow. Given all that I expected this to be stronger on my skin I suppose. In the bottle a riot of notes, honey musk and vanilla and a little cocoa I was certain this was going to be foody and sweet. Then I put it on and smelled pomegranite.

...

::insert several minutes of staring at wrist before recalling there was pomegranite in there. Procede sniffing.::

My skin sadly swallows this and while the dry down is a touch of tonka and cocoa bean, everything else is gone and I have to put nose to wrist to smell even that. I loved it but it's just not sticking around long enough to keep it.

Seems to be one of those scents you either love or hate. I love it... sharp green dandelion in the vial and for the first hour or so reminds me of the green note in rose red without the rose. I never get any hops from this, just dandelion and a touch of tobacco on the drydown making this sweet and clean and fresh. Somewhat at odds with it's name I adore this one.

Light, shining amber almost vanilla but not quite, and reminiscent of Oisin's brilliant clarity. This is amber without the oppressive weight and intensity that some ambers can get. As this dries down it gets a faint earthy note to it - vetivert or patchouli I'm not sure which. For me that's dissapointing as it's souring the blend with my chemistry but it's an intriguing mix that makes this both complicated and elusive. Still, not quite me so this one is off to a new home.

Lemon verbena overpowered this on me. As much as I'd like to say more about it...verbena, more verbena, and even more verbena. Oh well

Vanilla and floral, warm and cheerful but not overly strong, this was a great light scent and surprisingly beneficial in terms of a bit of a good luck charm. i'm not sure I'd wear it as a perfume given that the scent was nice but not head-turning, but it really gave my day a positive kick (or at least gave my mood enough of one to turn my day around.)

Candy sweet and fruity, this one completely surprised me. Blood orange was a predominant note, sweet and sticky and a touch spicey as the pepper worked its way in. This smelled a lot like orange jam or marmalade at points, but in a scrumptious yummy way. Different, intriguing and a touch edgey, I'm still deciding if this will be a keeper but I"m having fun figuring it out.

Spicey but not cinnamon to start and a touch of floral in neroli and the spice of carnation. This is another subtle, close to the skin scent for me but I adore it. As it wears on, it turns smokey and incensey, still a touch of spice but more sweetly smokey. This is dark and mysterious and a great evening scent at the dry down. Exotic. Love it. (Carnivale Noir and I are getting along much better than I did with Cthulu. Yay!)