sissa125

In the cedar-sandalwood trifecta of Kathmandu, Sri Lanka and Magus, this is the damp resiny variant.

My favorite of the tree was Kathmandu.

The cedar-and-sandalwood base links Kathmandu, Sri Lanka and Magus in my mind. Sri Lanka is the spicy, incensey variant. This is very very nice, but my preference is for Kathmandu.

A gentle, pleasant aquatic. A touch of citrus and sweet mown grass. But if I had to choose one white floral aquatic as my favorite, this would lose to The Lady of Shalott.

Too sickly to be comforting and foody, too foody to be wearable.

This is definitely not a summer-in-alabama scent. I may have to revisit it in the winter. And move to Alaska.

A grass snake. Refreshing lime and icy mint. But strangely, not icy over all. Herbal rather than cool. Unfeminine. Maybe layer with something sweeter? Eventually morphing into something nicer.herb garden. A hint of dirt, tho i prob shouldnt be getting that.

Very harsh.

Bitter bitter almond, poisonous in its malice - is this the fragrance of Bilquis, known for her wisdom and levelheadedness?

Once the almond fades, the honey spice is lovely.

My Great Disappointment. The description was so lucious and I'd not tried lotus before. I was expecting it to be sandy and delicate but it was sickly sweet fruit gum that now gives me a headache if I even think about it. I will swap it away ASAP.

There were some plus points to it...I got a whiff of incense and spice but the lotus and amber were too overwhelming.

I recognize the black orchid from queen mab. i wonder if my skin will make it disappear. It is pleasantly dark and sweet, not at all foody. the other ingredients blend well together. The soil is more an evocation than a smell. Patchouli may be reinforcing it. Cypress laces it, gives it structure.

The distinct coolly resin dragon's blood, with fruitiness that is not overbearing. The "guy's cologne" smell is absent, so either that is not black musk or it is hidden under the dragon's blood.

Yurg. Loud black cherry. Like biting into a rich dessert when you're already full. Correction - it's not that foody, possibly because of the woods. But very *nasal* if that means anything.

Iago is very interesting. Fresh and young. I love the vetiver but the leather is too overpowering and animalistic. Too masculine for my taste.

I think I'd like something slightly less musky than this.

Imp: The gummy syrupiness of amber, wrapped in a warm, dark, satin robe.

It is interesting, but sooo not me. I don't think I will try it on.

Hmmm. This round of imps has taught me a lot about how hormone levels affect one's reactions to smell. When I first sniffed The Lion, I had just started a course of BC pills, and I couldn't get amber out of my nostrils fast enough. My stomach has settled down since then, and I am glad that my reaction to The Lion isn't as painful as it was earlier.

I'm still not thrilled with it. The Lion smells surprisingly foody to me, like syrup going stale in a west-facing window. As this is the closest thing to a single-note amber that I am likely to smell soon, I think i'll avoid amber in all scents in future.

Very sharp and green. Not a gentle herbal - rather a menacing jungle vine that has been hacked through. I notice bits of amber.

It's much gentler when dry, but doesn't really speak to me.

I'm thinking of getting a grapefruit scent but I'm confused by the options. Each of the recontinued grapefruit scents has at least one note that I'm worried about.

I find that I lean toward cool, refreshing aquatic scents - neither too sweet nor too dry. The Lady of Shalott is my favorite and, to my nose, fits this description perfectly. Kitsune-Tsuki is also lovely. (On the other hand, spices, amber, non-citrus fruits and cloying florals have a bad track record with me)

I'm dreaming of the smell of a freshly cut, juicy grapefruit, sprinkled with sugar. The Pink Grapefuit single note sounds perfect, but alas it is beyond reach.

So here's my options:

BAOBHAN SITH -- Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger.

I liked the ginger in The Lady of Shalott, but in Siren it was too foody. I've never tried anything with white tea or apple blossom. I worry that they may be too foody or cloying candy-like.

CHESHIRE CAT -- Grapefruit, red currant, dark musk, Roman chamomile, delphinium, and lavender.

It sounds too fruity/dark musky/floral to be what I'm looking for.

PHOBOS -- Chilling white musk, lemon verbena, white grapefruit and lemongrass.

Although Shalott and Kitsune-Tsuki both had white musk, it was very subtle in both. Here, I'm worried about it overwhelming the whole blend.

SHATTERED -- A blend of white champagne notes, grapefruit, lotus, slivered mint and crystalline aquatic blooms.

The aquatic blooms sound reassuring. The lotus in Black Lotus is much too cloying for me, and the wine notes in Delphi and Tum smelled rancid to me. How do the champagne and lotus here compare?

I'm grateful for any suggestions, either from the above or any others you may have encountered. The last few imps I ordered weren't what I was expecting them to be, and I hope my next order will be a closer match.

I like the layering idea - maybe I should get some Cathode and wear a touch of that with Voodoo.

Khatmandu is lovely - a cedary spice that I wouldn't mind wearing in the summer. And if you want to try a great root beer scent, HennaFairy, try Laudanum.

I've been in love with Voodoo ever since I sniffed it in the bottle.

What I get out of it is a strong Coca Cola scent, with vanilla, patchouli, lime, clove and other spices enhancing the flavor.

Is there anything else with the same Cola feel to it? I'd love to try a cooler version of Voodoo for the summer months - a Coke-on-ice perhaps.

(I hope this post is in the right place. I'll be sooo peeved if I've messed up my first new topic )

In the imp: It's like sticking my nose into the thick of a cypress tree. Medicinal but green and fresh.

Wet: Juicy fresh cypress. Some bright woods standing underneath.

Dry: Alas - it fades in minutes. Don't go away, pretty piney scent! I liked you. Oh the tragedy! The vial smells delightful, but my skin chemistry sucks it all away. But all is not lost. There is the barest sheen of foresty woody comfort lingering on my wrist.

It is quite nice, but I think I'm still looking for my ideal forest scent. One that has more throw than Danse Macabre, but doesn't irritate my nose like Burial.

Red Lantern in the imp: Heady, smoky, sweet, caramelly, cool, fruity, syrupy.

Wet on skin: all of the above, then the fruitiness fades and darkness is there

incenses burning on a silver tray, over a plate of bon bons.

Dry: fades to a subtle sweet incense. Disappears in a couple of hours.

Evokes the color lilac, fluttery silk curtains and dark aged panelling

Looking at the notes, i can identify caramel, coconut and tobacco. The black currant must be the fruitiness i detect, and opium would be what I thought was "heady". I havent had enough experience with amber to pick that out. I may update this in a few days, once I have the chance to sample O and possibly The Lion.

This was my first LE. While the scent itself is too foody and sweet for me to wear, I'm glad I had a chance to sniff it. It is quite complex and evocative.

Imp: Candy-like, dried-fruity, spicy.

Wet: herbal, spicy, less candy. Scratch that - really chalky candy with lots of artificial flavor.

Dry:powdery ginger and apricot. very dusty. Growing on me.

This was an interesting scent. The ginger was foody rather than tart. The vanilla was a bit weak.

Siren didn't have the freshness that I now realize I look for in scents. I was nice enough to finish up the imp, but I passed it to a friend who likes ginger and apricot, and she seems to love it more than I did.

Le Serpent Qui Danse -

Imp: sweet, slightly tart floral. I can clearly distinguish gardenia and another floral, presumably violet.

Wet: A ripe, sweet floral. The dog-days of summer. Eventually the notes blend and seem quite interesting.

Dry: gardenia sweetened with vanilla. very nice.

I love vanilla and I like gardenias, and I always imagined their combination would be lovely. But for some reason this scent didnt grip me the way I expected it to. Firstly, the gardenia isn't quite like the fresh gardenia scent I love - it is a bit sickly and perfumy here. Or perhaps the violet is disturbing the balance - I'm not sure how violets smell.

I guess I'm still waiting for a better vanilla+floral. The drydown here is what I hoped the scent would be, but the top notes take away the appeal of the scent as a whole.

Imp: A sad aquatic floral.

Wet: Lilies, stillness, despondency. A sadder version of Shalott.

Dry:a deep pond with white flowers growing in the shade. Eventually very dark and bitter, though still aquatic.

Wow. I thought I liked lilies more than this. It's much too melancholy to wear often, especially since I already have the aquatic, muguet, water-blossom masterpiece that is The Lady of Shalott.

Imp: sweet resin, not cloying.

Wet: delicate, faintly fruity-floral

Dry: A textured, spicy vanilla. Sweet but not overwhelmingly so. It is something to wear to a gaming tournament, or a comicbook store. Feminine and nerdy.

Imp: resin, aquatic, tart

Wet: A fresh scent, fragrant springs

Dry: the resin comes through. I think would like it, but I am comparing it to the Dragon's milk on my other wrist and the milk is winning. I think I like my salty aquatics separated from my sweet resins.

Imp: gentle tart plums

Wet: daffodils overlaid with tart fruitiness. It's my favorite fruity oil so far.

Dry: The same, fading away slowly

A delicate japanese print of a scent. It is a late spring scent, with blossom laden boughs raining petals in the evening breeze. What I called "tart fruitiness" is, in retrospect, a well-rounded jasmine with a hint of plums giving it complexity. It doesn't last all day, but I enjoy it while it lasts.

Also, I think white musk works well on me. It was a joy in Shalott as well.