mermaidrage

Did I seriously NOT review Dorian? Must have been too busy swooning. I don't even know how to describe it. Dorian is intoxicating, just a whiff of it is enough to make my head spin a little bit. Okay, for the first minute or so, it is overwhelmingly lemon-y, but that settles down quickly into a lush, sweetly musky lemon tea cookie orgy. It's like I'm baking in the kitchen, swaying a bit in my stilettos, when all of a sudden there are arms circling my waist and a devastatingly gorgeous man with a beautiful British accent purrs sweet nothings in my ear. And he nibbles it. And we forget the baking and uh... yes. That's it. Dorian is more than lovely. And no, I don't want to slather it on a boy. I just want to wear it and appreciate the beauty that is me.

I can really see how people get a scented candle out of this one. I do as well, for the first 15 minutes. Once it hits the perfect point, it's a rich plum that's fruity without being in my face like berries tend to be, and beautifully spicy from the carnations. There's not much musk, but there's enough to make me feel warm and glow-y. This will be such a gorgeous fall scent.

I seriously amp the vanilla in Euphrosyne, to the point that it competes with the gardenia (which is always strong on me) so that's my pretty-close-to-perfect vanilla. Other than that, Dorian is utterly fabulous for a non-overwhelming vanilla.

I absolutely love gardenia, so I had to snag this. At first, it scares the hell out of me. It is overwhelmingly vanilla which, while I like vanilla, is not what I wanted at all. After about 10 minutes, the rose and jasmine come into play. After 20 minutes, the gardenia finally shows up and takes center stage. The jasmine's still quite strong, with the rose and vanilla in the background. Thankfully, I like the gardenia-jasmine combo quite a bit. There's a LOT of throw -- my mom keeps wandering into my room, standing in the doorway and commenting on how she likes the scent I'm wearing. Once I get past those first 10 minutes, this is a lovely scent. However, if you don't like florals, STAY AWAY. This is floral to the nth degree.

Lovely, lovely, lovely. I'm so glad I ordered a bottle unsniffed. I was a bit nervous about the grapefruit -- I don't even enjoy eating them -- but the apple blossom and ginger, combined with tea (a must-have note) swayed me. Baobhan Sith is a lovely scent, fresh, crisp, clean, spicy without being heavy at all. It's VERY grapefruity at first on me and comes a bit close to going soapy for about five minutes, but then it settles down into a gorgeous apple-ginger scent that's grounded by the tea and made more interesting with a citrus zing.

I don't know what version I got as I bought from a fellow forumite -- all I know is that it's in an amber bottle. I also know that I absolutely love this. I mean, love it in a one-true-scent, want to bathe in this, feel like this is my scent personified. I love it and it loves me back. I love it in a way which is going to make me stalk sales and trade posts just to find more because I NEED it. It's a little bit spicy and incredibly creamy. For once, the rose, jasmine and violet notes stay nicely in the back ground (I love those notes but I was afraid they'd amp on me in this blend), providing a lush backdrop for the honeysuckle and lillies. I barely get any amber, but it is there in the sense that it warms everything and makes it glow. There's something... different about it to. Like it's built on a men's fragrance blend. There's something in here that just barely reminds me of something my ex-boyfriend used to wear, a bit of citrus... and I think that really keeps the florals in line. In summary, this is an amazing scent. It makes me feel so beautiful and SO happy.

In the bottle: Fruit! Fresh lemons, maybe green apples. Something herbal but nothing so distinct as to be named. Tea. Where's my peony? Wet: I got a little bit of peony, which reassured me that I did, in fact, have a bottle of The Dormouse. It's very crisp and settling down too quickly to describe. Drydown: This finally settled on being a lovely, bright peony and light tea. More descriptively, it's a sunny, breezy tea party with freshly-cut peonies, sugary tea and lemon cookie crumbs. It's exactly what I thought it should be.

I love, love, love, love the turtle. I bought a bottle unsniffed off someone on the BPAL LJ community -- that's how much I adored the description and the notes. In the bottle: VODKA. Maybe a bit of mint and lime. It's overwhelmingly vodka and I start to get nervous. It smells like college and a bunch of us sitting around a bottle of vodka, getting ready to take shots until we pass out. On skin, wet: Still vodka, but the apple comes out a bit and the mint amps up and... oh... this is nice. And then the mint backs down almost immediately and settles in with the lime and it's lovely. I'm not sure what iris smells like but there's something I don't recognize and I LIKE it. Drydown: This is lovely. It's cool and crisp, like biting into a green apple and an iced vodka tonic with extra lime crossed with a mint julep. Summer is finally here and I want to go lie out in the backyard and slather myself with this. It doesn't stay strong for very long, but I get the occasional whiff for a couple of hours and, considering how much I love it, that's good enough for me.

I don't know what to think about Aeval. I really don't. In a way, I don't like it at all, but at the same time it's soft and makes me feel nostalgic. It's a bit comforting and other people seem to like it on me. It's one of those scents that's hard for me to break down. It's candied sage with a bit of smoke. It's a little bit too warm and sweet for me, but I can't quite write it off yet. Aeval is so intriguingly different. I think I'm going to hang onto it and see if it grows on me. I don't think I'm going to want a big bottle though.

I totally agree with rabid hauteur's 'naughty alice' opinion. That's almost exactly what Jezebel is! Jezebel is perfect for those days when I can't wear Alice for fear of corrupting her but just can't handle O. In the imp I got oranges. Juicy, perfectly ripe oranges dripping down my chin and fingertips and getting messy and a sunset that paints the sky that fabulous dark orange/flame red. There might have been a bit of honey, maybe some rose. All I remember is orange and firey light. Wet, the orange was nicely tempered by the sandalwood and rose. Not much honey yet, or I'm not really noticing it. It wasn't until the 30-minute mark that I really got a nice whiff of honey. The sandalwood seems to have morphed into antique furniture shops and crushed black pepper, which I don't mind AT ALL. Now, six hours later, Jezebel is honeyed roses with a bit of sandalwood (it returned!), a smidge of pepper and an undertone of orange and cream. I love this. Really. ADDED June 12: I tried Jezebel after determining that O is just never going to be me. Jezebel, on me, is the most wonderfully decadent slightly spicy (must be the sandalwood) honey. The orange blossom and rose are definitely there, but just enough to cut the honey and keep it from feeling heavy.

I received R'lyeh as a very generous frimp and, given the EVIL CTULHU GRAPEFRUIT vibe going on in this thread, had to make it one of my first tests. In the imp: Grapefruit. And that metallic bloody taste you get when you bite your tongue. And salt water. Strangely enough, I LIKE it. I like it a lot. Wet: Oooh, this is... umm... this is interesting. It's sharp and biting but at the same time, rather intoxicating. I sniff and get assaulted by grapefruit almost instantly followed up by the aquatic note that reminds me of why I used to love The Body Shop's Oceanus before they changed the formula. Dry: This went SWEET and dark. I guess it must be the black musk and the ozone mixed. The grapefruit's still there but it's mellower. I really like this. I might need a bottle.

In the imp: Thick orange syrup, sugar crystals and the tiniest hint of raspberry. Wet: Sugary-sweet, fruity, CANDY. Oh, this is candy! Or maybe dessert. The bakery near my childhood apartment used to have a fruit tart that this smells similar too... oh... wait. It's getting darker. I don't know what it is or what it smells like precisely, but I'm assuming it's the neroli. It's like the lights dimmed down to almost nothing and you're left with sexy, jazz-club citrus and berries. Dry: It's still dark citrus and berries, but it's almost smoky and definitely dark. This is lovely. Fruit with a vengeance.

Oh, Saturnalia. I want to like you. I really do. I love violets. I want to find a violet that will work on me. The idea of a deeper, darker violet is SO encouraging. And I promise I will try you again another time. But, oh first sniff all I can think if "HOLY FUCK WHAT DIED IN MY IMP"?!?!?

I think I should preface my review by saying that I've been to Venice several times. I love Venice. This scent does NOT make me think of Venice at all, but I still love it. From this scent, I get a lovely creamy lemon, a sharp tang of redcurrant, jasmine and plenty of rose. Oh, and the faintest hint of violet. This scent makes me think of waking up in a hotel in Florence and throwing the shuttered windows open. It feels like that perfect light felt, spilling across crisp white sheets and flickering on the canals. This scent is rich and gorgeous and unlike most rich scents on me, is NOT overwhelmingly amber which is lovely because although I like amber, I like having a break from it as well.

Spring is here, and I'm having my cocktail cravings. I was mixing up mojitos for me and the boy tonight and, when the mint leaves hit, I realized how much I want to SMELL like a mojito on hot summer nights. Think, light rum and sugar, mint leaves and lime, lime, lime! Are there any bpal scents that replicate this? Any oils I could blend to get that perfect combination? Thanks in advance!

In the imp: Instead of peach, I get apricots and LOTS of vanilla. It's almost syrupy-smelling, if that makes sense. It's definitely not what I was expecting to smell, but it's intriguing. Wet on skin: OMG PEACH! And something that reminds me of medicine, cough-syrup or something. Maybe buy spray. I don't like this. I hate that I don't like this. Dry on skin: The medicine smell has gone down a bit, but the peach it still a bit too sharp. It tickles my nose and NOT like champagne. I keep wanting to rub at it to make the itching quit. 15 min post-dry: This has really come into its' own. All the medicine is gone and the peach has mellowed beautifully. The vanilla came back a bit but seems more like a toasted, nutty vanilla than the syrupy sweetness of before. Also, the hint of sandalwood holds it together beautifully. This is a lovely spring scent. EDIT: Had to add that the boy I'm trying out loves this scent. He keeps burying his face in my right elbow where I tested it and threatening to lick my arm off. He's pouty. I think I have to take him out for peach sorbet tomorrow. Also, he's been very patient with my OMGFIRSTORDER!!! insanity in general. He might be a keeper.

In the imp, I get black tea, pepper and vanilla. On me, I get a creamy black tea with pepper and a creamy lemon, maybe a bit of ginger. I never got the linen although it might still show up. Either way, a larger bottle of this will be coming my way.

At first Alice was all carnation and I was sure I was going to have to wash it off immediately. Then the honey snuck in to sweeten the deal. And the carnation and honey combination ate the rose petals and they started growing. This scent makes me feel incredibly intoxicated. At the very end of the development, the milk comes out and ties everything together and it's just lovely.

A misty, almost luminous perfume: wispy linden blossoms, white flowers, and a touch of sweet herbs. In the imp it smelled like old herbs and dust. No florals, no linden blossoms. On me, this is innocence and light and wonder and hope. It's definitely light and I can tell it's not going to be the type of scent I'll notice hours later, but it's beautiful. The herbs never quite go away, but they do fade wonderfully into the background, letting the flowers blossom and sweetend on my skin.

I received this as a frimp, which thrilled me as it was on my want list. All I could tell from my in-the-imp sniff was that it smelled expensive. I know, that's not very technical but my nose is still learning. It smelled expensive and a little bit old-ladyish, something I'd expect to smell on Upper East Side widows or something like that. I dotted it on the inside of my wrists, patted them together, waited a moment, sniffed and DEARSWEETJESUS BABYPOWDER. Must be the amber. I tried to focus on something else. Made a cup of coffee. Sniffed the grounds. Forgot about the amber. Half an hour later, I tried again. Took a quick, cautious sniff. It's gold! Sniffed again. It's rich and sumptuous gold! It's still a little bit powdery, but it's acceptable, especially mixed with the citrus which makes me think of blood oranges and the faintest hint of florals. It's sweetened up a little bit, the roses and jasmine coming out a bit more, but it's still lush and full and heady. I think I like this, but it's a special scent, not an every-day one.

When I sniffed it straight out of the imp, I got an overwhelming nose full of candy. Like, that pure sugar powder in neon colours that you put on a stick and licked off. I admit, I was confused. I ran to my mother who also agreed on candy. I was all ready to be disappointed when I figured I might as well put a bit on my wrists and check back later. 30 minutes later. WOW. If cold, hard, clean wind and air, electric lightning, harsh rain and wildflowers could be combined and bottled, it would be Szepasszony. Nearly two hours later, I'm still catching whiffs. I love this. It reminds me of growing up in the tropics during typhoon season and feeling the apartment building sway in the wind.

Mmmmm... I think Envy and Juke Joint are going on my must-have list. They sound delicious. Grog sounds nice too, but a little dark for this particular craving. But, sometime. Thanks!