jarvenpa

and more thanks. It is interesting how we smell things differently (and how they smell differently on us--late at night, my syntax is getting all fractured). Desdemona doesn't remind me of daffodils really but I should let my daughter try it out. I loved it (the lab sent a free imp of this one) but it was overwhelmingly sad, lovely but very heartbreaking. I did have daughter sniff it (we were talking of the sorrow I felt in it) and she did like it. Note to self: Must not be a selfish mama, share imp. (edit: girl shares her mommie's sensitivity; Desdemona too heartbreaking for her too) Am going to have to go out and sniff crocuses. I didn't recall that they had much scent. Hmmm. Thought I'd update, now that daughter has been testing out various received imps. (thanks for the recommendations). Beautiful daughter thinks Asphodel is right on. (It doesn't smell like daffs to me, but it does to her, and that is what counts. Very nice on her too.) She went "ick" to Kitsune-Tsuki, as being too floral (how, I ask, can you be too floral)--but I kind of like it in the imp anyway; haven't tried it on my skin, but am willing). The girl fell all over a non daff smell though--ah, Jailbait!!!

Blood Kiss came as a freebie from the generous lab (I did order an imp of Blood Amber, and lots of other goodies, but not this one). I loved the red, red color. But when I opened it I found the rush of cherry--if that's what I was smelling--was so overpowering I couldn't bear it. It was sticky and cough syrupy and just too much. Thus, I will confess I handed it over to my pretty 20 year old daughter, who does well with fruit scents (I don't seem to do well at all) and she scampered away with it, coming by yesterday wearing it: it was complex, spiced, fruity, and very very lovely on her (I am having slight regrets, but not many). She reports that her boyfriend, who was initially put off by the cherry rush, really liked it and kept moving closer to sniff. On her skin it also has good throw and lasts well. Thus for those who like their scents with spice and fruit, I think Blood Kiss is a winner. And if I can ever borrow a swipe of my daughter's, I might well try again too.

Thank you all. Making lists. Asphodel was one I wanted to try myself, actually. And Kitsune-Tsuki sounds like it might be something my girl really might like; fruit notes do really well on her skin, so if it goes all cherry it might be okay (I had her try Blood Kiss the other day, which was ever too much cherry cough syrup for me--on her it's all complicated and sweet and spicy and nice). The one starting with S that I can't begin to spell has kind of interested me as well.. anyone have any other daffodilly preferences?

The Ghost wafted into my life as a freebie from the lab. Tried it this cold morning for the first time. (did not check the description first; that always feels like cheating, and I want to see what I really experience without predetermination) Sniffing the vial--what's wrong with my nose? I see the oil. I can't smell anything. Am I coming down with a cold? Didn't think so. Swabbed on wrists: okay, there is a scent here (whew!). Very faint though. Misty (not watery so much as misty) and greenish and cool. So faint that I decide to reapply within ten minutes, and go out with my youngest kid. I stick my wrist in front of his nose "Can you smell this?" He can, but doesn't articulate delight or disgust. An hour later it is almost gone. Never changed much on me from the initial misty maybe-lilies-of-the-valley fragrance. Maybe Ghosts are afraid of me and retreat quickly? Maybe there is something in this scent that either is very familiar to my nose, so it doesn't pick it up well anymore--or that my skin just sucks in and destroys. Well, interesting. May try again on a warmer day and see if there is any difference. For now, thank heaven, I will not need to get a big bottle of this.

I'm in love. I haven't the faintest idea what I'm smelling, but I'm in love... *pulls self together to write coherently* I ordered an imp of La Belle Dame sans Merci in my second order from Black Phoenix, which arrived a week or so ago (glee). Tried it for the first time this morning (I like to space my testing of fragrances, because my naive nose is already too confused). As usual, I haven't looked to see what's really in this blend (though it must have something I believe I like in it, or I wouldn't have ordered it). First sniff on wrist: white and green, sweetness. (okay, a moment of full disclosure here: years ago I walked to stand outside a place John Keats lived for a couple months--he lived there, I didn't stand there that long. It was closed when I got there, but I picked some violets beneath the window of his room, and pressed them. I love this poem dearly, and know it by heart.) So, perhaps I was expecting to smell what I believe I smelled, which was green, crushed grass and those little white musk roses that smell of spice more than of rose. But in a few minutes there was just a wave of loveliness, a mixture I can't identify. I find myself guessing wildly--clover? hyacinth? (sniffs wrist again and sighs). I love this fragrance, and my budget is getting more and more destroyed by the seduction of beautiful perfumes. I've only been wearing this one about an hour and a half, so no clue as to how it will last. But I love it so much that if it doesn't last I will just get an extra large bottle and apply at hourly intervals or something. Purest beauty (but without the little bit of cruelty one might expect from La Belle Dame...)

I don't recall if I ordered this as an imp, or if it was a freebie; certainly it was one I wanted to try (I like roses, I like lilac). In the imp--strange, almost a chemical feel. Daubed it gingerly at wrists. ROSES. also some other flowers. This feels very decadent, very debauched. Is there wine in there? poppies? there is something that is opiate, or langourous (can't spell that), something definitely dark. After a half hour, getting the drifts of lilac. But not fresh, raindrenched, innocent lilac. This is not innocent. Roses still playing. (and what else is in here; this is complex) and still a chemical edge; I don't know quite what it is. I would expect to like this, but am feeling slightly queasy and am going to wash it off. Sad. Later: I didn't wash it off, as other duties distracted me and I thought, well, give it a chance....It faded to a very gentle lilac. I think I will try this again in a few days; I have ambivalent feelings that remind me of my initial reaction to Velvet (actually, my initial reaction to Velvet was wholly negative, so much so that I wouldn't try it; upon second try it has become a favorite. Strange magical maddening perfumes.)

Oh, Versailles, I did want to love you. I ordered an imp of this, because the scent notes all seemed like mine, and because I read everyone's reviews, and I thought "yes, yes, this is my scent, it is". So, this morning, I happily took out the imp. Opened it. Sniffed it. Constant Comment tea, brewed too long: orange and tannins. My yellow lab, meanwhile, started barking at me. Does he have an aversion to oranges? Never noticed this. Maybe he just wanted another cookie. Swabbed it on wrists. Dotted it on hair part for good measure: let's be boldly Versailles and see what happens. Lots of flowers, and some orange. Okay, this is alright. And for a moment, this is strong. But within about ten minutes I can't really smell it. Maybe there is a note in this that my nose is really used to, and just gives up on? I like to smell my perfumed goodness, whatever it is. Also a bit of a headache, which is odd for me. Damn, I wanted golden flowery goodness, but it doesn't seem my personal chemistry is gonna give it. I'll try again another day and update if different, but for now I think my daughter will be the beneficiary of Versailles. (and I never smelled roses. Was I promised a rose garden, Versailles? You heartbreaker.)

This is interesting, this sniffing and musing. I ordered an imp of Desdemona based certainly on one or another of the notes listed in it, but as I tried it this evening I didn't check back to see what those notes would have been (I am drawn to a very random assortment of scents). So: first sniff: oh dear, so sweet, so poignant, so heartbreaking. Am I reading into this scent based on the name? No, I don't think so. There is a certain romantic sadness about it. And a visual (I am surprised at how visual these blends are; this is not a normal thing for me): summer garden, at night, moonlight, white flowers and palest pink, perhaps other very pale colors. But the fragrance isn't pale. Lilies of some sort? I think of the huge white Casablanca lilies I love, but these seem a little--smoother, cooler. Perhaps carnation? Something spicy. And is it jasmine? perhaps sweetpeas, the oldfashioned sort, so deeply fragrant. I take my pitbull for a walk in the cold night air, and am surrounded by summer garden smell. Well, this is nice! It's like a delicate jumble of flowers. Definitely summer (though as I sniff I am also reminded of the scent of paperwhites--but no, this is summer. This is late June, or July. And there is a pond nearby, in which the moon reflects. It's been a couple hours, and it is drying to what seems to be a steady sweetness. I am not clever enough to guess what it is--very floral with an edge of spice. And heartbreak. And nostalgia. It keeps reminding me of something...a place? a time? It's exquisite. update: second try of Desdemona last night. there may have been some Loralei left on my wrists from early morning, but I don't think so...at any rate, in the last, lovely moments before I went to sleep, I thought "aha, that last, lingering, sweet fragrance is bruised gardenias". Very beautiful.

omigod, this is beautiful. I got Loralei as a frimp from the ever so generous lab (oh, thank you). Didn't look to see what was really in it before trying it (I probably should, because then I'd know what I was supposed to be smelling, but it kind of feels like reading the end of a mystery story. Cheating.). So, first whiff: water. More specifically, the ocean on a summer day when the rain is falling ever so lightly. I love the ocean, but don't think aquatics are my thing. Think "well, this probably won't work, but, okay, let's try". Dab it on both wrists with a few strokes of the wand. Yes, the ocean, a lovely day, a slight note of--white flowers? and wood. I think, cedar, a bit sour, but nice. And then it went to spice and flowers and loveliness. I think "gardenia? but not too heavy". It stays with the lovely flowers. Yes, I am in love. I thought, by the way, that I hated ylang-ylang. I do love sandalwood and neroli. Lasted pretty well too. My budget is gonna be wrecked on the shores of this, because I'm going to need a large bottle.

I ordered an imp of Antique Lace with my first order (ah, that first order--driven to it by a friend's gift of Belle Epoque, a scent she hated but which she somehow intuited I love. And need. And I did)...but, back to that imp. I used up the imp of Antique Lace incredibly quickly, and knew I'd need a bigger bottle (which now I have, lucky me). Why? Because whatever this lovely smell is it is beyond fragrance. It is comfort, and love, and being gently tucked in by a perhaps slightly naughty lover. It is "okay, everything in this complicated world is really okay, somehow, somewhere". It clings to my skin, and I put it in my hair, and if I put it on before I go to bed it is still there, sweet, reassuring, and seductive in the morning. It's an addictive and wonderful scent. Vanilla, yes, but a very grown up vanilla, and far more than that. Bouquets of little flowers in a warm room where someone you love is brushing out your long, long, beautiful hair. (and I wear my hair pixie style. Doesn't matter.)

I received an imp of Jester tucked into my recent order, with all sorts of other lovelies, and tried it today without checking the notes beforehand (because I am overly influenced by words, I am, & I wanted to see what my errant nose thought about this). In the vial it smelled of berries, and the first daubs at my wrists, neatly sniffed, make me think--strawberry? raspberry? berries in the sun with a little twist of sour? (I didn't think of huckleberries, though that makes sense, now that I have checked the notes). It's a very happy scent, and very young. Reminded me of a straight raspberry oil I used to unwisely scent myself with, when I was a young 20 something. On my skin the berry scent twisted a little. Cinnamon? Spice? (there is nothing like this in the oil, must be my skin). Reminded me of eating red jello powder straight from the box. Or, possibly, gum drops. But it is not overwhelmingly sweet, more drenched fruit. I am not certain it wafts about the room much (no one is looking around to see where the berries are) but it clings to my skin pretty steadily, even 8 hours later. It is very pleasant, but maybe a little too unsophisticated for my current self. However, I think my daughter is likely to love this--and anyone who loves summertime and wildstrawberries should be really happy with it. (My nose doesn't pick up the neroli, which is a scent I love straight, but maybe that initial slightly sour but pleasant note was the neroli reaching my novice nose.) Update: saw lovely daughter today (she's a vibrant 20 year old) and said "hey, I have something for you to try". She was initially "ew, I don't want to smell like blueberries". I said "wait, I have a feeling this will change a little on you". Indeed it did; while retaining the sweetness of the berries--still more wild strawberry than huckleberry to my nose--it developed a surprisingly mature smokiness on her skin. Very lovely, and it lasted a long, long time. She wants me to get her a bigger bottle.