pekeana

IXHV37:

 

I have a Chaos Theory that's somewhat similar to this, but fruity instead of buttery. I love both with amazing intensity (for reasons I can't quite fathom, but okay then).

 

For what it's worth, I get the black current cake note from Eat Me, mixed with a hint of pumpkin, a dark milky note, and something similar to clover in the background. There's also something kind of floral but you can't quite put your finger on what precisely it is. When it dries down on me, it becomes a deep, milky pumpkin with just a hint of black current.

The Phoenix smells just like taking a swim in the Pacific just before dawn. You can smell the seawater sluicing off of your body, and the kelp, woods, and other seaweeds tangled around your ankles as you climb out of the water. It's very cold, not at all warm or inviting, but bracing and invigorating. (And damn sexy.)

"Teenage Cannibal" reminds me of Monsterbait: Bloody Mary a lot, and it's very similar in the wet stages at least on my skin. As it dries, though, it becomes dustier and more reminiscent of cotton candy, lemondrops, and ginger Altoids.

 

All in all, it's kind of like crack in a bottle. YAY CRACK! (No cannibal should smell this good. I'm just sayin'.)

I got my Yule order and immediately sank my proverbial teeth into Fruitcake.

 

Dear goodness, I wish real fruitcake was this nice! I get spices and a little bit of candied fruit and a lot of almond cake, the kind made with fresh almond flour and almonds and almond extract to amp up the flavor. It's divine and so wonderful that I'll treasure the giftie imp -- till it's all gone.

Poisoned Apple is just that -- apple dipped in the dark herbs of poison. I get more of a green granny smith edge from this apple, though, than red. Of course that could be because of the narcotic herbal swirl of the other elements of the blend, driving the apple into sour ripeness. This is The Hesperides x 1000. Instead of sweet and tart, it's tart and herbal, and it's definitely hypnotic in its scent.

 

BIG A++ for this one, though -- it stays on my skin and confuses the people at work.

Dear mint;

I love you so much. Why don't you love me? You stick around for just a little while, and then you vanish.

WHYWHYWHY,
becky


So, anyway -- Tokyo stomp is like a Thin Mint cookie. This is what I wanted Spooky to be. And then the mint vanishes and I'm left with a weird combination of vanilla, anise (wtf?), and chocolate. I love it, don't get me wrong, but I know this is not what it's supposed to be. HOWEVER, that being said? It's still incredible and I love it! I just wish my skin wasn't so sucky about mint notes.

I get a chillier version of Dorian out of Hunger Moon. It's got that smooth roundness of the oakmoss/verbena, mixed with the chill of snowy ozone, a hint of pine, and creamy but slightly spicy wood notes. To my nose, it's very similar to what I get with Dorian, but without the vanilla tea aspect of it, and darker, older, wiser, with a smack of "hi, SMELL ME, bitch!"

 

I thank pkwench most gratefully for the bottle she swapped me.

None of the other 13s have really, really worked for me, so this is me being shocked and surprised.

 

When I first put 13 on, it's all chocolate and peaches with just the barest hint of nutty-wood base. After a while, it just kind of melts into my skin and does its magic. Chocolate, and ginger peaches, and then eventually the peaches fade and the white chocolate (creamy milk & sugar vanilla) comes up and tangos with the honey and clove. And then it fades away to pure, undiluted honey.

 

So much happiness.

Mostly ambergris for the first hour or so, but then the aquatics come up and lift it up into tolerable territory -- and then disappear completely. My skin, boy, I dunno.

I get iris, lemongrass, lime, and just the barest hint of coconut. Alas, the way the iris plays in this is just too much for the rest of it to balance out. And there's an odd afternote to it that's kind of powdery but bad musky that you register after you inhale it deeply, then move away. It's very odd, and, ultimately, not for me. *siiiiigh*

I love it.

 

It has a bit of the same quality as Strangler Fig down at the very bottom, then it builds orris and floral (I'm not good with IDing flowers, alas) on top of it, and somehow, the entirety of it ends up coming off as a nutty chocolatey floral. Very complex, very sensual, very inviting.

I love to throw the Lantern Ghost on when I don't feel like wearing anything, because it's just a gentle, soft cherry blossom and tea scent on my skin. My skin eats mint alive, so I don't get any mint from it, and the wood is very, very light and in the background of the beautiful tea and cherry blossom. Loves it, loves it, loves it!

I think you'd like Night-Gaunt. Very citrussy over light floral.

Sundew is one of my favorite GC scents. It's lightly floral, lightly green down beneath the big bright yellow sweet ball of happy sticky warmth. It makes me feel happy, it makes me feel alive, and it's a good replacement for the sun on a cold, snowy winter's day.

I love the way Priala works with my skin -- the myrrh isn't at all powdery, just very dark, strong, sweetly resinous, and I get a lot of the smoke, and down below it all, there's a gentle bite of warmth from the cinnamon. I never expected it to work at all for me, but I bought it anyway -- and I'm ever so glad I did because she's beautiful in the most introspectively transformative way.

Boomslang is pure happy smutty smutty goodness. That being said, if I don't get it mixed up enough, it smells like unwashed ass. And rolling it doesn't always work, so my precious -- alas -- must be shaken.

 

At first on my skin, it's just straight Snake Oil with just a hint of smooth creaminess that must be the rice milk. But after it's melded with my skin and melted in, the cocoa comes out and plays.

 

It's sexy, smutty happiness in a bottle.

Oh, hello -- happy happy joy joy!

 

In the bottle, Enraged Groundhog Musk smells like Mitzvah went boozing with Smut and Miskatonic University and stopped in to watch Kabuki get its groove on with Bliss. Seriously, dude.

 

On me, at first, it's all butter and musk. Eeeew, butter. But then it mellows out and becomes this beautiful creamy, slightly sweet musk with a light dose of cardamom. Once in a while, the chocolate and cherries come up and make it a little fruity, a little chocolatey, but...

 

Love the creamy musk.

I've been hesitating about reviewing Black Moon, tell the truth.

 

On my skin, it's very much jasmine and cucumber with orchid and something a little acrid beneath. It kind of smells like the unholy bastard lovechild of Blue Moon and Danube to me. It's very strange, and slightly flat on my skin.

 

HOWEVER:

it is perfect for its intention -- this scent is not warm, nor cold, not sweet, nor savory, not floral, nor fruity. It is all that is and all that is not: the void. The space between. The silence and the darkness and the absence of all being.

 

I don't know how Beth does it.

Oh. My. God.

 

So wonderful. *gasp, flail*

 

Schwarzer Mond, to me, is kin to Shub-Niggurath. It's the dark ritual incenses beneath the offertory ginger that Shub has. Schwarzer Mond is smooth, dark, and infinitely fathomless.

 

Completely dark.

Mme. Moriarty... oh, you are such a card.

 

Every time I put her on, she immediately reeks to high heaven of patchouli and fig leaf -- it's dark, earthy, and overwhelmingly green. But then, after an hour or so, the pomegranate and musk peek out and tame the patchouli and fig leaf to a gentle scent reminiscent of Snake Charmer: but with patchouli instead of amber.

 

But to give you an idea -- my skin amps pomegranate to the point that that's all you can smell in a blend. For the patchouli to beat it out at any stage in the game tells you just how much my skin amps patchouli in comparison.

To me, Theodosius only bears a superficial resemblance to Dorian. It has the same fougere, and a breath of the same musk, but that's where the resemblance stops and Theodosius becomes its own scent.

 

The tea is strong and blends with the musk and jasmine leaf to create a deep, sparkling river of clean green waters -- it almost smells like a version of China Musk + the smell of the beginning of a calm rain. Once it settles on my skin and melds with my chemistry, it smells like the cleanest spring shower over a meadow. And yet, somehow, it retains a thread of threatening malevolence that leads me to dub it "Satan's Shower" -- step up and take your chances with this rain, because it's going to drown you in it.

 

I LOVE IT.

Chrysanthemum Moon is just happy. It's a deep, thick haze of resins and smoke, with just the barest hint of floral over the top of it. It's smooth and strong, lots of throw, and brilliantly melds with my skin and projects a simple, decadent sensuality. And as it fades away to nothing, I'm left with the smell of opium smoke lingering upon my skin: a fitting end to a sensual experience within the Chrysanthemum Moon.

Xanthe, Xanthe, ye poor, poor clown...

 

I'm scared to bits of clowns. Always have been. Kicked one in the nuts at the circus when I was about 8 or 9 because he scared the bejeezus out of me. That was the last time we went to the circus... I wonder why? So I'm not sure why I ordered Xanthe, what with the whole kabuki clown thing going on. But I did.

 

In the bottle of clown-like doom, this scent is very astringent. I mainly smell guava rind (not to be confused with guava juice -- this is bitter and not at all sweet or fruity) and sugar dancing across the top. Nothing else is identifiable to my nose, just kind of a mismash of fruity-floral eh playing around.

 

On my skin, it's bitter rind and sugar. As it rests and interacts with my chemistry a bit, I can pull up apple blossom and the barest touch of what might be orange peel in with the guava rind, but I don't get any pepper. It's a little frustrating that something that could have been overwhelmingly lovely has been thwarted by my skin going "bitch, you WILL smell like bitter peels!!"

I kill mint. Well, my skin does, anyway. So...

 

There is no mint to this for me, just verbena, tea, musk, aloe, and lime. It's very similar to Embalming Fluid, but just different enough because of the lime to make me go "zOMG" and want to hoard my bottles. F5 is a winner and I can't wait to make my co-workers smell it all day long.

Shiiiiny. Gennivre is just shiiiiiny.

 

My skin chemistry eats mint, so what I'm left with is a deep, rich, beautiful floral tea with honey. It's strong and not particularly sweet on me, just very mellow and beautiful. (On my skin, it's the perfume equivalent of this fall's "tea & honey" by Yankee Candle, which is just peachy keen jelly bean with me!) Definitely multiple bottles of this one!

 

(edited for spelling mishap -- I was too excited and should learn to type)