shahrazad

Wow, this surprised me. From the description I was expecting something mysterious/austere, but this is warm and really lovely. It starts out with the honey note that many have mentioned, which on me is sweet but not sugary, and a grassy, gently herbal scent. About an hour later it develops a note almost like wine that adds some refinement. The throw is good and it lasts a long time on me (i.e. overnight).

CMLXV (965) My first Chaos Theory, and I've struck out I'm 99% sure this is opium. It reminds me of Laudanum but without the smoke. Heavy and dark, with strong throw. About 2 hours later, a hint of wood - maybe mahogany? - comes out, but it's still dominated by the OPIUM. This would be fascinating on the right person, which is not me. To the swaps...

Another happy frimp accident: based on the notes, I never would have ordered this myself. For some reason I don't get any funeral connotations from this scent - it's actually very refreshing on me. The salt-spray smell dominates, with a faint floral/resin undertone, and it lasts for several hours. No aquatic headaches or overpowering rose, yay! When I want a "wake up" scent, but not the eucalyptus blast of Ultraviolet, I'll reach for this.

A frimp and an immediately huge favorite. I'm not into florals, but this is unique and wonderful. The plumeria and orange balance out into a lush, wet scent that's never girly-fruity or perfumey. I don't get any smoke or resin notes from the copal, so if my skin hasn't eaten it, it must be holding things down in the background somewhere. It's sensual but also refined, almost cool (!), so I find myself wearing it to work fairly often. On me, it lasts upwards of 12 hours and never goes powdery or soapy. I can't wait for my bottle...

Tombstone morphs a bit on me. Wet, there's a little root beer with a whole lot of cedar. Then the cedar disappears, leaving that warm, spicy/herbal root beer scent. About 3-4 hours later, it smells exactly like vanilla extract - there's a very, very faint medicinal or alcoholic quality that keeps it from smelling like straight-up vanilla. I love this and would wear it anyday except in the heat of summer, when it would probably be a little too rich. Great staying power also.

This is very OMFGBANANAS!! out of the imp, but once it dries down, all I get is the scent of young, green wood, like cutting into a sapling. It's pleasant, so I'll finish it off eventually, but I was hoping my skin chemistry would allow for more complexity.