forspecial_plate

I'm used to thinking of coriander for baking sweets, to add some spice. When I think of cilantro I think of the fresh leaves (dried cilantro is nearly useless to me), chopped and sprinkled over Indian food or in burritos and/or salsa. I love the taste of fresh cilantro, and I'd be intrigued if it came up in a scented oil. Personally, I think the taste is stronger than the actual scent. I agree with whoever suggested Garden Path With Chickens....it's the first thing I thought of. While it may not smell like actual cilantro, it does have that zingy green herbal scent. Edit: Some people refer to cilantro (the leaf) as 'Italian parsley', but I don't know if that's actually the same plant or 2 different ones.

This smells like very moist soil, and little else. The dampness almost makes me think of a compost heap which I'm not crazy about. Sometimes I get a hint of something peppery in there. I wanted to smell more of the moss. There's something almost decaying about the scent, which seems appropriate. It stays very close to my skin, with almost no throw. So far I've only worn it 2 or 3 times and I look forward to exploring it some more. I do really like earthy scents from time to time. Edit to elaborate some more, in light of the re-release....... I just can't get past a certain very moist aspect of this scent. It reminds me of a freshly turned stone on a damp forest floor. There is a discussion elsewhere about speculating what notes are in what blend. Someone mentioned beets in relation to the dirt note, and when I read that, I thought.....YES.....that's what Graveyard Dirt reminds me of. Dirt and beets. Now I love borscht on occasion, but this just doesn't work for me as a scent. I do, however, love Burial and Premature Burial. Go figure.

Even though it's pretty hard to find, Corazon is worth mentioning. It has sage and lavender, but it's the softest, warmest herbal scent I think I've tried. The red musk and fruit give it a glowing sunset quality, and the herbs just blend in the most gentle way, not sharp or anything. At least....that's how it behaves on my skin. And I got some so it's not impossible to find!

This is all sweet, golden amber backed by vanilla-kissed cream. What makes it for me is the teak running through it, so masterfully blended with the other notes. It took me a couple tries to start really liking this, because at first I thought it was borderline powdery and too sweet. But now.....it reminds me of a golden-vanilla cousin of Boomslang (which is a good thing), without the cocoa. I'm glad I sprung for half a bottle, I'll enjoy wearing this from time to time.

If you love frankincense, run don't walk and get Valentine Of Rome while it's available! For me it's nearly frankincense single note, with lots of loveliness backing it up.

This is so clean and very very light! I know benzoin is a light resin. This scent just teases my nose with little wisps of clean and slightly soapiness (not in a bad screeching piercing way). It's lovely and light, and I could wear this to work because it's so subtle. Not much to say about the individual notes. I smelled the citrus at first but that faded pretty quickly. Now it's mainly light floral with a hint of warmth from the resin and tonka. I really like this.

*sigh* Lily strikes again! This started as a very interesting, perfumey almond scent (I like almond so this is a good thing). Just a few minutes later, it turns very soapy (or what I think of as soapy). Piercing and unappealing. I'm almost positive lily is the culprit because on my skin, some lily notes stomp down all the other notes and shout, "I'm gonna SOAP YOU UP!!!". This blend isn't quite that bad....I can smell the other notes trying to come forward....but it's not working. Oh, well.

Vanilla, saffron, and cream. Completely revising my review......I never was quite happy with my first review of this scent. Ultimately, I just don't get along well with Love's Philosophy. I think it smells good briefly, but when I wear it on my skin, it is too strong, and lasts and lasts for hours (and won't wash off). It's sweet, creamy vanilla, with a little bite from the saffron, which I think is disagreeing with my nose, because it keeps reminding me of something plastic or medicinal.....or both? It still reminds me a bit of Snow White, which also lasts forever on my skin. I can appreciate the love for Love's Philosophy, but it's just not a scent for me.

My guess is the honey note is actually the storax, or maybe storax and myrrh pretending to be honey. At first I thought I hated this, because I don't like honey scents very much, and this seemed to be mostly honey. Give it a few moments, and it shifts slightly into glowing resins. Reminds me a lot of Minotaur, actually, only not as dark as that scent. And if I didn't already have a whole bottle of Minotaur, I would probably want to wear this. Even though I don't love this, I think it's a really interesting scent, and worth holding onto the imp just to break it out every once in a while and see how those resins are aging. Or for enabling another incense lover like me (one who likes the sweeter resins a little more than I do).

Interesting.....for the first 5 minutes or so, this had that 'cola' smell that we talk about from time to time. I thought it was opoponax that did that, but maybe not. At any rate, this very quickly turned powdery for me, unfortunately. I wonder what makes it powdery. I'm guessing it's one of the spices or herbs, because Silk Road does the same thing and that has 'herbs' in the description. I liked the very beginning 'cola' scent, but when it turned powdery I knew this one wasn't going to work for me.

I can't even imagine that. My usual application goes like this......roll the bottle, tip it upside down, take the cap and apply from the little knob inside the cap, tip it one more time and apply again. And that's it. For some scents even that is too much (Snake Oil). My bottles that are getting low are only because I decanted out of them. My favorite scent, Djinn, is still nearly full, and I do wear it! And that bottle is from August of '06. Obviously, these days I go for a full bottle only if I'm reeeally excited about a scent. I worry all the time that these oils will fade before I can even put any kind of dent in them. And I have about a million imps and decants.

I've never tried the scent you mentioned, but it sounds nice! I do have a couple rec's..... Mr. Jacquel.....you can't buy an imp but might find someone selling a decant. "Golden amber, hyssop, North African patchouli, and embalming spices." A warm, golden and spicy amber scent.....but restrained, too. Very calm on my skin. I've been meaning to get more of this for a while. Baron Samedi......bpal's spin on traditional bay rum. A spicy almond scent, also warm, stronger than Mr. Jacquel. You can buy this one in an imp.

Oddly enough I can't smell the champaca either! Usually that's a note that comes out real strong on my skin. Anyway, I do like this scent. Wine and fruit blends can be touch and go for me, but when they're right, they can be oh-so-right. This is a good one. It does veer a little towards candy grape, but not terribly so. It is deep, somewhat dark, but I think the white musk is giving it a refined quality that saves it in the end. Almost like Montresor but cooler, and slightly more.....austere, maybe? The wine stands out above the other notes for me. I think the amber just supports the overall blend in a beautiful way, and doesn't stick out a lot.

At first I got a little rush of what I thought was rose, but someone else said that might be peony so maybe that's what I smelled. I really loved this scent for the first 10 minutes or so. Then, it starts to become soapy, which I was afraid of....I have a bit of history with some lily notes....but this isn't the sharp unbearable soap that some lily brings. I think what I'm smelling mostly is violet leaf and some of the lily, but the moss is valiantly holding its own. It's a wonderful and evocative scent, just not my kind of thing. Something is reminding me of Ostara a lot, I guess the violet leaf. I'm glad I got to try this! Edit: Credit where credit is due...I wanted to say what I DID like about the scent. In the opening stage it's crisp and aquatic, with as I said a rose-like floral element that's airy and ethereal, although there is some darkness here like others said. There's an overall mysterious quality, much like the painting depicts. I also love how so many people amped on different aspects of the scent, judging from the other reviews.

This might be a bit of a stretch, but Blood Moon came to mind for the 'bread scent, even though you said you can't do musks. Blood Moon's description: "... The feral scent of the heat of the chase, deep woods, undulating musks, brushed by forest herbs, crushed grains, and touched by blood-dimmed lunar oils." To me it's a dry and spicy scent with cinnamon and/or cassia, that stops just short of foody, but the 'crushed grains' give it just a touch of foodiness to my nose. Definitely not sweet or cakey, though. Might be worth tracking down a decant or sniffy. I totally second Monsterbait: Closet for the buttercream scent. Yummy stuff!

Very soapy rose for me. : ( I like rose but this one isn't working.

Silk Road reminds me of my long departed great-grandmother, a lot. Something very powdery in there that smells just like she did.

Interesting....I wouldn't have called this masculine, although I do see where the girls are getting that idea. It starts out with a big rush of very crisp tartness, and I swore I smelled lime. For the first 10 minutes or so, the resemblance to F5 is striking. It's a morpher though.....I knew that amber would come out, and it did. After a while I smelled the same amber that I smell in Thunder Moon, which is very sweet on my skin, but not powdery. Okay, maybe a little powdery but that could be the musk. I don't get a lot of musk from this, for me it's there but more of a supporting note. I couldn't really pick out davana here, even though I've tried davana essential oil on my skin (I realize it could be different as a perfume note). Overall this works and I do like it, but it's so much like F5 and Thunder Moon to me that I really wouldn't need more than a decant. Don't get me wrong.....Pollution stands on its own, but it does seem to be in the same category as those other two scents in my opinion.

Mostly woods and a touch of powder that comes across as slightly papery on my skin....but not as much as, say, Mr. Ibis. Still, I'm not crazy about paper/powdery, so at first I didn't like this all that much. Later on as it dries the sandalwood comes out stronger, which almost wins me over. It's a lovely sandalwood that keeps nuzzling my nose, still slightly powdery, but not bad. Still.....for this kind of thing, I think I prefer Chintimani-Dhupa with its exotic twist. I wanted more of the herbs.....mint and lemon peel would be great, but they run and hide on my skin. It's okay, plenty of other herbal/woodsy scents in the catalogue for me to love!

Out of the different lily notes that Beth uses, there are one or two (maybe more) that start out as SOAP and develop into SOAPSOAPSOAP on my skin. Guess what? Witch Queen has that note. It drowns out everything else in the scent and also 'ruins' my nose for any other scent, for a couple hours, even after I wash it off. I think after a long while the other notes might come out, but I just can't get past that soapy lily. It happened with Sepulcher and Kostnice too, if I remember correctly.

The Shivering Boy is lovely.......bright and frosty grapes with some winter greenery and resins. : ) It's in the current Yule LE's.

I really like this scent. It's fairly potent and long lasting, and I would call it masculine, but not completely out of the realm for women (from the reviews, sounds like at least some of the girls around here like it!). It smells zingy to me, with a touch of ozone, rather metallic (I have no idea how Beth does that), and I personally smell a touch of lime in here too. Overall the effect as others have said is cologne or after-shave, with an industrial flavor, which sounds totally weird, but......just read the description. If you think that sounds good, you would probably like it. Comparison time: this reminds me of Scarecrow's industrial counterpart. Metal Scarecrow. I'm not sure if they even share any notes but the feeling of it kept reminding me of Scarecrow, somehow. I almost want a whole bottle of this, even with my new, more strict decants-not-bottles rule. Edit: Forgot to add.......there really is a motor oil note in this. I can definitely smell it. And oddly it works!

Santa Muerte.....this is quite a nice scent, mostly floral for me, but I like it. Mostly what I smell is rose and chrysanthemum, which I recognize from Mum Moon. I'm not getting much else, can't really pick out the vetiver. I like this, it makes me feel classy. I will enjoy wearing this again!

This is quite lovely and if you like the old Hunter Moon, you might really like this. It starts out, in the 'wet' phase, as a bright and lively grape-ish scent, with a delicate frost and a touch of winter greenery. Later on it deepens, and becomes a frosty foresty grape scent with resins. Very nice! It's like the winter counterpart to the older Hunter Moon which I love. Definitely bottle-worthy, this one.

Lilith……this has the same myrrh note as Penitence and Omen, and lots of it. It’s too sweet for me and comes off powdery on my skin. I can’t even smell the other notes, even after giving it time to develop on my skin a little bit. Not for me! (later) Hmm, I looked up the other notes in this. I like black musk, red wine works sometimes, and I’ve been more open to rose lately. So after I read those, I decided not to wash Lilith off. And I keep sniffing my wrist where I tested it. I like it more now, and it might be growing on me. I think the rose is coming out, just a little bit. So, long story short, I might like this enough to keep the imp. (over an hour later….) Okay, the black musk finally overcame the myrrh. It’s still somewhat powdery, but I do actually like this. I guess I’ll keep the imp after all!