Trish

I love dragon's blood. I am not a lover of florals. This could be interesting. In the imp: Floral dragon's blood. Reminds me of Wolf's Heart a bit. Wet: Floral dragon's blood. Drydown: Stronger floral dragon's blood. As it dries the florals get stronger and I can definitely pick out the lilac! Like all dragon's blood blends it has fantastic throw on me. Dry: Yipes, this is getting too floral for me, overwhelming. If it didn't have such great throw it wouldn't be so bad! But I will persist for a bit longer, because it is kind of nice if strong, and well, it's dragon's blood! Now it's got a green tinge in the background, like freshly cut stems. Is that the galbanum? I don't like green normally, but in this it's almost a relief. You know I'd probably like this more if I had put on less. I didn't slather it and it's only on one wrist, but dragon's blood blends do tend to be quite strong on me (and did I mention they throw like crazy? ) Finally after an hour or so it becomes nearly straight out dragon's blood on me (but softer), with just a touch of the floral and galbanum. Much better, but not worth going through the intense floral to get to when I already have a 5ml of Dragon's Blood. Needless to say I won't be getting a bottle but I will keep the imp, merely because it's an Ars Draconis and I want the complete set of imps (3 more to go!).

In the imp: Sweet orange that's almost candy like, with a hint of spice and patchouli. Smells drinkable! Wet: Instantly it becomes less sweet, and the patchouli pops up. But it's very soft patchouli! Drydown: Ah there's ginger, but only a little. Soft patchouli and orange with a hint of spice. Resembles Snake Oil a little which I didn't expect (I didn't read the other reviews before now)! Dry: Well the Snake Oil resemblance has gone! The orange blossom is now the dominant note, with the patchouli laying underneath and giving it a earthy background. The ginger is barely there. This isn't strong at all, rather it's soft and gentle and feminine. But I've found my skin subdues patchouli quite quickly. Five minutes later it becomes almost creamy and the Snake Oil resemblance comes back. It really is very well blended, with the orange blossom and patchouli combining to almost be the one scent. It is sexy too, in a subtle womanly way. Unfortunately my partner doesn't like it (he just doesn't like anything remotely spicy). It has a fair bit of soft throw that is very Snake Oil like, but far lighter. After an hour this smells almost identical to Snake Oil, even when I have my nose right up to my wrist. Snake Oil Lite. I love Snake Oil, but I really don't need a bottle of this as well since it's ends up so similiar. However the imp is definitely a keeper.

On me Malkuth is very similiar to Hellion, especially when wet and then after an hour or so. Then again my skin loves plum and eats spice, so it might just be me! I'd put money on Malkuth containing the same black plum as Hellion though. Of course this mightn't be very helpful since Malkuth is being discontinued in the next few days. Is there anything in the GC similiar to Tokyo Stomp with that wonderful vanilla mint that doesn't contain eucalyptus as well?

In the imp: Soft tea and citrus. I hate tea so I can't tell if it's green, black or Earl Gray. That is I hate drinking tea - I'm discovering I quite like wearing it! On second sniff I can *just* detect a little leather in the background. Wet: The citrus immediately becomes stronger. Uh oh. It's not a category that always plays nice with my skin (unless it's straight out lemon). Bergamot has a particular tendancy to turn sour. Drydown: Oooh leather! Soft worn leather with a bit of citrus tea soaked into it. It's actually very soft and gentle which is the complete opposite of what I expected! Somehow I imagained something more.... aggressive. Possibly because I keep associating it with Severus Snape! Dry: The citrus has now returned and is dominating the leather, but it's not going sour thankfully. Tea with citrus (Earl Gray tea I assume) that's been spilt over a piece of very soft worn old leather. Then for about 30 minutes the Earl Gray and leather take turns at being the most prominant note. Not as though they're competing with each other, it's far friendlier than that. Eventually the leather "wins" (or rather the citrus disappears) and this is where it suddenly becomes quite a bit stronger and a little more what I thought Severin would be. However it's still not exactly aggressive either! Soft leather with a tiny hint of tea that gradually fades until all that is left is leather. It's masculine but not overly so, has a little throw and has average last. I rather like this and the imp is a keeper.

In the imp: Spicy plum. Reminds me a lot of Hellion except spicier. Wet: Woah this is almost identical to Hellion, except not as sweet. The spice has disappeared and it's all plum. Not surprising - plum loves me. Drydown: The spices re-emerge, so now it's like Hellion but with spices instead of incense. The plum is throwing like crazy! Dry: Ah the spice is cinnamon! Until now the plum was so dominant I couldn't even identify what spice it was! But the plum has decided to calm down a bit now, although it's still very much present and still throwing like crazy. Another similiarity to Hellion. However it doesn't smell nearly so much like it now, it's darker and not nearly as sweet. This is warm and lovely, combining two of my favourite notes. I'm glad I got to try it before it disappears.

In the bottle: Sandalwood incense with a touch of pine. Wet: Sandalwood and pine. It's not sharp pine though, it's smoother and sweeter. Woody, incensey, dry with a touch of sweetness. Drydown: This is very dry and woody, but soft sweet woods that aren't in the slightest sharp or harsh. There's maybe a hint of floral but it's only a fleeting wisp. As it gets dryer the pine becomes more pronounced but never takes over completely. I'm getting a bit of frankincense too, or something that smells a lot like it. Dry: The honey has emerged, a soft gentle dry honey that just rounds out the scent while staying in the background. Otherwise it has changed very little on my skin. It reminds me of Cathedral and Penitance, but much softer. I had an idea that this would be a very light scent, but it's stronger than I thought it would be (that's a good thing by me!). It also has a decent amount of throw. I put it on one wrist and I'm getting wafts of wonderful sweet woody incense around my nose. After a while the sandalwood really starts to shine, and as a lover of sandalwood this makes me so very happy. I love this.

This is for the 2006 edition. In the bottle it resembles Snake Oil, but a bit darker and muskier. On it immediately becomes a lot muskier and there's just a hint of booze and also incense. Warm, sweet and sexy. It doesn't seem to be overly strong on my skin but when I walk around I can smell it in the air around me. This seems to happen a fair bit with me and musk (particularly red) unless there's something like dragon's blood to keep it on my skin. I love this, and I am so glad I managed to get a bottle. However I fear one bottle just isn't going to do it! I'd also love to be able to try fresh Smut since this is beautifully aged and quite mellow.

The Bull of Minos, guardian of the Labyrinth in Knossos. A deep, swarthy black musk dusted by a dark, resinous blend of sacred bisabol myrrh, atramentous benzoin, tsori, balsam, and galbanum. I was ready to love this when it was wet, all dark musk and myrrh. But when dry there's another note emerge, a kind of sweet almost green but hard to describe note that I'm not so crazy about. I have no idea what it is because I've never tried benzoin, tsori or balsam before, and I'm not exactly familiar with galbanum either. Don't get me wrong, I still like this but once the imp is gone I'll stick to Priala for my myrrh fixes. This is going to sound bizzare but if anyone here is familiar with Bonox, that's what this strange note reminds me of a little. Just a hint in the very back of my nostrals. I know, weird! It's only present when I sniff my wrist up close though, the throw is nothing but myrrh and musk and there's a fair bit of that.

Three deep, dark myrrhs, smoke, and cinnamon bark. I got my bottle of this yesterday and decided to put some on just before I went to bed as I wasn't worried about any of the notes turning on me. So I put a generous amount on my wrists and throat - not quite slathering but not too far off! Immediately this wonderful smokey dry cinnamon enveloped me and I was in love. 15 minutes later I had to put down the book I was reading so I could close my eyes and just concentrate on the most wonderful smokey spicy myrrh that was surrounding me. And taking over the bedroom apparently judging by the "Fuck that's STRONG" from my partner when he walked in. He also let the dog in who came up to me and then promptly started sneezing! This morning when I got up it was a wonderfully smooth rich myrrh that was still quite strong on my wrists. So I wore it to work, although this time I only put a dab on each wrist, my throat and cleavage (and this doesn't burn straight after a shower either - yay!). But I could still smell it wafting around my nose for about 8 hours, especially when I bent over, and even now 11 hours after I put it on I can still smell it lingering on my wrists. This stuff has great last and incredible throw. The cinnamon is far from red hots or foodie, rather it's warm and dry and smooth, but like all cinnamon (bar Chimera) it doesn't last all that long on my cinnamon eating skin. I was hoping Priala would be the dry cinnamon scent (as opposed to the sticky sweet Chimera) I've been searching for but it isn't. Rather it's the perfect smooth rich incense scent that I've dreamt of but never expected to find. The myrrh is *swoon*. So smooth and slightly sweet and not in the least bit bitter. Forget top 10, this is top 5.

In the bottle: *swoons* Soft sweet woody incense with a touch of pepper. Heaven in a bottle!!!! In fact it's so heavenly I'm almost scared to put it on my skin! Wet: Sweet, dry, woody incense. But it's soft incense, not sharp at all. The pepper is just lending a touch of spice without being overbearing in the slightest. There's a smokey quality to it too which I adore. Drydown: Ooh it's getting more woody now as the redwood warms up. There's the frankincense too yay. And now the blonde tobacco is really emerging. It's not a note I've had much experience of (unlike the others in this which are all favourites) but I do like it. Sweet, dry, somewhat smokey soft spicy incense. Actually it's getting a musky quality on my skin too. Dry: The tobacco has backed off a little and the sandalwood has emerged (yay!). In fact this is now closer to the bottle scent than it has been at any other time, but minus the pepper and less sweet. Oh joy of joys!!!! Wonderfully gorgeous soft smooth sweet dry woody incense with just a dash of musky smokiness. This is not your average scent oh no. Ok, no Bpal is your average scent but this is even less so. It smells very expensive. Needless to say I ADORE this. It doesn't have a lot of throw which I normally prefer, but I don't care. Love love love this. And as a bonus my partner really likes it too yay. Edited to crosspost from from another thread: I was at work the other day and three of us were talking when one suddenly stopped what she was saying and said "who's wearing perfume? It's lovely!". Cari said it wasn't her so I stuck out my wrist for Kim to sniff and she immediately exclaimed "that's it!". It was Carceri d'Invenzione. Later when I went to lunch one of the girls at the sandwich place commented to the girl who was serving me that she could smell incense or perfume and it was distracting her because she liked it. Never said it was me though. This was 4 hours after I'd put it on and she was at least 5 metres from me, and I though Carceri had hardly any throw at all! Guess I was wrong!

At first this is wonderful sweet sugared cherry liqueur. So decadantly yummy and I was already starting to eye off a bottle that's up for sale. However after about 30 minutes it becomes very sweet and somewhat cough medicine like. *sigh* I so wanted to love this, but this is exactly why I only got a decant since cherry is a very iffy note on my skin.

I'm having a hard time working out if I like this or not! I get the honey and milk, both of which do generally work for me, plus some fruit which does smell like pineapple to me. And therein lies the problem I think. I suspect it might be the white grapes and possibly the dates that are putting me off a little as they're new notes to me. There is definitely a warm milk scent to this but it's not sour on me thanks to the honey. Hmmm.. I think I'll hold on to my imp for the time being until I can work this one out.

In the imp: eucalyptus and mint. Wet: eucalyptus and mint with the tiniest touch of violet Drydown: The mint's becoming a bit more prominant which suits me. I'm actually liking this more than I thought I would. It's quite a cool scent. Dry: Wow, I honestly thought I'd hate this, since I don't like eucalyptus and violet often turns soapy on me, plus I am definitely a warm scent person. But I actually kind of like this thanks to the mint. For it's the mint which is by far the dominant scent on me, with some violet underneath. The eucalyptus has almost disappeared and the neroli has never appeared. 30 mins: Mint with violet soap underneath. *sigh* I like violet but it does not like me. However it has told me that I need to check out some more mint blends.

In the imp: Rose with a tiny touch of green underneath. Wet: Rose Drydown: Rose Dry: All rose baby. I can't tell the difference between one rose and another, all I know that this is rose. Unfortunately I do not like rose so this never had a chance.

A misty, almost luminous perfume: wispy linden blossoms, white flowers, and a touch of sweet herbs. In the imp: sweet flowers and herbs Wet: soft sweet flowers and herbs Drydown: Pretty much the same, but it's got a watery feel (or smell rather!) to it. It's gentle and soft, almost innocent. Ethereal. Dry: The herbs have gone but otherwise it hasn't changed at all. This is breathtakingly beautiful, but it's not me. I am anything but ethereal or innocent. This is the type of scent which makes me wish I liked florals more than I do.

In the Imp: earthy, incensey, a little green and sharp Wet: softens immediately, in fact it nearly disappears! Soft, slightly sweet floral incense Drydown: Soft floral with a touch of incense that gets up my nose if I sniff my wrist too closely. This is completely different to what I expected, which as something far stronger, darker and heavier. I'm not getting any moss, patchouli or vetiver. The florals are muted, I can *just* pick out the jasmine. Dry: Huh. Just when I was starting to get some nag champa (which I love) it turned to powder. Hmmm.. there's no notes listed that have gone to powder before on me, although "dark mosses" is new to me. Oak moss works for me though.Hmmm... *resniffs* yep, all powder now.

In the imp: Sweet watery rose Wet: Very sweet rose with hella throw! Drydown: I cannot smell anything in this except watery rose, although it may be the lotus that may be making it so very sweet. This is way way way too rose for me. Dry: Attack of the killer rose!!! I washed this off and I can still smell it in my nostrils!

... His ofrenda is the soft shea he shares with Obatala, forest herbs, and sprucewood arrow shafts. This is nearly all herbs and wood on me, with just a touch of creamy shea underneath. Not bad, but a bit too green for my tastes.

At first this is all lemon, grapefruit and orchid on me, making it a bright clear citrus floral, and very nice it is too. Gradually the leather emerges, but it's quite a subtle leather mingling with the other notes underneath the citrus. It's a far cooler scent than I usually like, but I am quite enjoying this. And then the amber powder curse strikes yet again.

In the imp: Argh rose!!! Wet: Rose, rose and more rose. Drydown: There's a tiny touch of cinnamon in this which I love, but it's still all rose otherwise. I fear this will be washed off quite soon especially if the rose amps up on me as it often does. Dry: Actually for rose this is ok as the cinnamon is making it far more interesting. But it would need a lot more cinnamon for me to even consider wearing it. Even as I type the cinnmon is disappearing and the rose is getting stronger by the second. This would be lovely for a rose fan but I am most definitely not.

In the imp: Patchouli, but with something far sweeter and smoother over the top of it. Rich, resiny and deep. Wet: The patchouli instantly becomes stronger. Drydown: Heliotrope breaks looses and bashes the patchouli into submission - copal and oakmoss don't even stand a chance! At this stage I do not like this at all, even though I've tried heliotrope in a few other scents recently and never had a problem with it. It's a lot stronger in this one though. Dry: Thankfully the heliotrope has backed off a bit, allowing the copal and the patchouli to come through. It's also going powdery which is surprising because none of the listed notes have ever done that to me before. Not for me.

I got this as a frimp from the lab which I was rather happy about. This was an oil that got my attention early on but I've never ordered, probably because I feared it would be too floral for me. I have no idea what laurel or peony smell like, and lily tends to be hit or miss with me. In the Imp: Sweet floral with a bit of wood and pepper Wet: The same, but softer. Drydown: As it dries the woods become far more prominant, with the florals and pepper adding sweetness and spice respectively. I'm not getting the mandarin or musk at all. There's a little incense in there too. Dry: Oh there's the musk! A soft musk that just lends warmth to the woody florals. I don't find this high-pitched or tumultuous at all, rather it's soft, warm and comforting, as well as a little melancholy. After a while the woods fade and the musk takes it's place as the dominant note. Soft warm musky understated florals with a touch of woods. Rather lovely indeed.

In the imp and wet on my skin this smells just like sweet cinnamon cake to me. Yum! Once dry however the sweetness fades and a herbal/earthy type note appears in the background, which although not unpleasant doesn't seem to sit comfortably with the cinnamon either, at least not on my skin. It didn't do anything in the bedroom either, possibly because my partner doesn't particularly like cinnamon (that's ok, Come To Me works very well!). I'm keeping the imp though because it would make a wonderful room scent, although I do have my doubts about using a Voodoo scent in that way.

Very sweet bubble-gum at first, that gradually softened a bit but was still too sweet for me.

I got this as a frimp from the lab. In the Imp: Musk, sweet, wood, floral. Rather nice! Wet: It's nearly all musk and sandalwood, two of my favourite notes, and just a touch of floral. This is wonderful! Drydown: Oh crap. Baby powder. I knew this would more than likely happen due to the amber (and it's why it was crossed off my wishlist), but in less than 5 minutes? Bah.