Lyzz13

In Bottle: Soft, dusty floral. Wet on skin: Still soft and floral. Lavender is sweet, and not medicinal, roses are not overpowering, violets are tame, sandal gives it a nice solid base. Lily is playing nice. Drydown: AAAAAAAAAAAND, lily turns to soap. Dammit. I really want to love this, and all the other florals are lovely, except my nemesis lily. Similar: n/a Final Verdict: Lily hates me, that's all there is to it.

In Bottle: Wet, green, with tons of mast. Wet on skin: This is what forests should smell like. Chrysanthemum peeks through, but this is still strong on the vetiver and leaves. 5 minutes in, the amber shows up, making this more powdery and perfumey. Drydown: This one is a serious morpher. It starts off with the forest smell, but burns down to spicy amber with oud after a few hours. It's also has a serious lasting power. I still smell it on my wrist the morning after. Similar: n/a Final Verdict: It's really strong to start off with, but I'm in love with the drydown. I can't really see myself wearing it on a regular basis though.

In Bottle: APPLES!!!!! Touch of spice, orange an smoke, but dominated by apples. Wet on skin: cider, orange peel, bit of smoke, it's a comfy scent. Makes me want to hunker down, wrapped in a comforter with a book. Drydown: The warm comfort of cider never gives up. The smokiness never gets overpowering, wood note is there, but subdued. Similar: Punkie Night (tart apple, not cider), Poisoned Apple (Again, more of a fresh apple, but smokiness is there) Final Verdict: One of my favorites. You will need to pry it out of my cold dead hands.

In Bottle: Grapefruit, ginger and florals. Doesn't say "Autumn" to me, but it's gorgeous all the same. Let's roll. Wet on skin: Oh. My. God. Full blooming of the lotus note, while the yuzu provides tartness and the ginger note is bright and clear, preventing the flowers from being overpowering. Orris, with its dusty-vanillaishness is actually detectable. This is simply beautiful. Drydown: What drydown? My skin's eaten it within an hour. *sadface* Oh, and I had such high hopes for you! Similar: n/a Final Verdict: In the decant, I love it. Just on, I love it. It's got a lot of my favorite notes. Disappears way too fast though. I may try again in a scent locket, and see how it goes, but I am currently disappointed.

In Bottle: Incense, roses and cloves Wet on skin: All church incense and roses, bb. And I'm ok with that. Drydown: Initially during drydown, the roses amp, but there's still a tiny undercurrent of clove, tiny hint of frankincense, but mostly, it screams ROSES. Thankfully, that calms down after a bit, and the fruity dragons blood comes out to play. Thankfully, it doesn't pull its usual trick of turning onto cherry-hell on me, but is thick and red. Don't really get the vetiver or the mate, but all in all it's a lovely roses/incense blend Similar: Cathedral (what it says on the tin) All Saint's (2006 version seems a bit harsh to me, this is smoother, haven't tried 2010 version, so YMMV) Final Verdict: Like I said, beautiful blend, but I'll stick with the decant, not hunting down a bottle.

In Bottle: Kinda spicy, kinda boozy, kinda sweet. I would drink this. I would drink this until I fell over. Wet on skin: The sweet-spicy is still there, but why do I smell of butter? This is not ok. I'm starting to think that that's just how bay rum just likes to be on me until drydown. The musk starts coming out to play, but not enough for me to get over the butter. Vetiver with its almost dirty note is playing nice, and gives this a good foundation. The only part of the black currant I'm getting is the sweet, but that could easily be the rum note, which tends to run to sweetness. Drydown: Butter finally goes away after 30 minutes. I'm left with a dark bay rum that stays very close to the skin, with just a touch of the galangal. Almost no throw, and my skin's eaten it within 2 hours. Still no sign of currant to be found. While this is a very dark scent, the galangal and whatever's providing the sweetness (I'm pretty sure it's a musk/rum combo at work) give this enough uplift and smoothness to make this wearable and comfortable. There is no harshness like you would expect for something called The Hag. Similar: Port au Prince (More rummy/spicy), Jolly Roger (bit harsher, with an ocean note, no sweetness), Kill-Devil (all sweetness and rum), Devil's Night (dark sweet/smoky rum) Final Verdict: While I'm a sucker for bay rum scents, I've got others that can do this for me for longer with more throw. I still wanna drink it though. ETA: I fail at UBB

When I first got this bottle last year, all I got was overpowering smoke. I decided to let it sit for a month, and try again. Of course, I promptly forgot after sticking it in the back of my BPAL drawer, and *just* found it again while reorganizing the smellies. In Bottle: Smoke's barely there, I can actually smell the myrrh and rose now, yay! Wet: There's that smoke. There's something meaty about this scent. The resins are the most prominant, with a hint of the rose for back up. I have no idea where the bay rum went. Dry: There's a bonfire here, but it's a bit more distant. The bay rum finally comes to play with the frankincense and myrrh, with the rose glideing in and out. I love this.

As if, with beasts' eyes, angels led The way, I slip back to your bed, Quiet as a hooded light, Hushed by the shadows of the night. And then, my dark one, you shall soon Embrace the cold beams of the moon, Around a fresh grave, the chilling hiss Of serpent coiled shall be my kiss. When morning shows his livid face Your bed shall feel my empty place, As cold as death, till fall of night. Others take tenderness to wife: Dread gives away your youth and life To me, to be bride of fright. Spectral white musk and the heart-stopping chill of sheared mint, fanned by caramel-touched body heat, and the diabolical sensuality of black musk, nicotiana, and sage. Am I really first? Eeep. In the imp: An almost numbing mint is the first thing to hit, followed by a backer of caramel. On, wet: Very, very mint still, but much more sweet. 15 minutes in: Mint has mostly disappeared. This now smells mostly like sweet pipe tobacco, and well, I guess the best way to describe it is MAN. A very, very sexy man. The sage is there but very subtle. It doesn't change much from there. Verdict: While not something I'd ever wear, I plan on attacking the boy with this later. It's a very masculine scent, and I'm more on the girly side. However, I would LOVE my boy to smell like this. And he will. Even if I have to hold him down to do it, he will.

In the bottle: The hell did I buy? Very herbal and bitter... I'm more of a sweet floral girl. And there's also a tinge of the dreaded licorice in there. Very, very skeptical about this one. Wet: It gets even more bitter. But the smoke is coming out, with a bit of, how odd, wet rocks... I will stick with this through drydown, and see how it plays out. Dry: I grew up on the Pacific coast, somewhere in between San Francisco and San Jose. One of my grandmothers lived on the ocean in Half Moon Bay. We visited her often, and I always loved to walk on the beach. I even found a sea cave. That is what this scent reminds me of. The wet stone, the salt, the wildflower crown I was usually wearing... Nostalgia! I now live about 5 hours from the ocean, so it's no longer an afternoon visit, or a short drive over the hill. I miss the ocean like nothing else. Final: Not something I'd wear regularly, but definitely something for those days where I miss crashing waves.

I love the smell of this in the imp; it's a bright citrus/mint, with a touch of dreamy lavender. However, This is how I figured out that verbena is my nemesis... It amps until it screams "LEMON PLEDGE!!!!!" It's a scent I'd love to wear while working or writing. Maybe in a scent locket, or in my burner?

This stays true from the imp to the skin on me. Honey and cream, with something powdery. Not nearly as honey and powder as O, and definately not as sexual. Something I'd wear when I want a sweet scent, that's not the "OMGZ SEX!" that O turns to on me. This is going on the bottle list.

In the imp: This is a very herbal scent. Almost medicinal. It's all rosemary and mint. Wet: The citrus comes out. It's mostly orange/mint with a hint of florals in the background. Tea rose mostly. On drydown: The roses have come out to play. This is a gorgeous scent. It's a complex floral, with the mint and orange keeping it light, and not overpowering at all.

In the imp: Very dark, animalistic, and for some reason, I get a hint of chocolate... Wet: I get a warm, spicy-musky vanilla... This could work on me. 15 minutes in: Oh. My. God. This stuff AMPS. and not in a good way. I feel slightly sick to my stomach, and I get an impression of marked territory. I had to wash it off. I'm generally good in musky sents, but this was a bit much. I still think it could be something that might work for me, I'll just have to use a tiny drop, or layer it.

On me, Bakeneko is all orange-spice tea. The musk gives it a bit of depth, but all the other notes seem to disappear. Still, very yummy. I'll probably end up trying again in a week, to see if the skin chemistry changes things.

In the Bottle: Melon and Aquatic flowers. Melon? Aquatics? So not for me, but I'll give it a shot. Wet: Still rather aquatic, but the florals are coming out. The jasmine is most prevalient, and the ylang-ylang, while there, isn't too heavy. Dry down: A perfect light floral, with the blue musk giving it a nice staying power. Very much a girly perfume. While I prefer a more substantial floral (Desire+Lyzz=OTP), this is the perfect girly-girl scent for me. I've got a date tonight, we'll see how he like it...