forspecial_plate

This is quite light on my skin. When I sniff up close, I can smell the most exquisite lit-incense scent ever. The throw of the scent is too light, though. It comes across as light powder, kind of fading into nothingness. It has a 'papery' feel that reminds me a lot of Lurid Library. That up-close scent is soooo promising, though.....I don't think I'm giving up on this one that easily. It really is like the ultimate incense scent when I sniff from about an inch or two away, really quite beautiful. Maybe some aging will help? (so yeah....basically I echo Hayet's review above me.... )

I wore this today and it kind of went into a scent blind spot or something. I could only smelled it if I sniffed right up close to my skin, and even then, I could hardly smell anything. What I did smell was slightly woody, slightly fruity, a little musk......not high-pitched at all, very mellow. It's a nice enough scent, but I can't decide if I should try it again in a few days/weeks, or just let it go. I mean really......with all the imps that I have, I might have to start being a little more ruthless in my testing. This scent reminded me a little bit of Kuang Shi, which makes sense since they share some notes. So I guess I'm picking up on the mandarin, even though it doesn't really smell of citrus to me.

Sugar Skull 2007 I got to try this thanks to the lovely evilmistressoftoast. Thanks so much! I wouldn't have thought of it myself, but those who say this is more of a 'white sugar' scent got it right. I've also worn the 2005 version and that seems a little more like 'brown sugar'. They are very similar, the new one has the same complexities and layers, and the spirit of the scent is the same. It's just kind of....updated, maybe? The difference, to me, is that the newer one seems a little more feminine. And from memory, the 2005 version has a hint of spiciness that the newer one doesn't have.

I feel lucky......Jolasveinar is perfectly balanced on my skin......just the right hints of floral and sweet/spicy pastry, behind the slushy/snowy fir.

I use mild dish detergent from the health food store, with a very light grapefruit scent. Then I use these: .....let that dry and if I'm testing something else, I'll rinse again because witch hazel does leave a little smell behind. Usually after those three steps I'm good to go. The pads are very convenient, if a little expensive (around $7).

If you run across a decant of Kingsport, it's worth a try even though it has an ozone element. Salty sea air with a sweetness that's almost fruity, very nice scent. Lysander has a slight salty element....I think someone besides me mentioned that in their review, so I don't think it's my imagination. : ) And that's GC, so it would be easier to find.

I've worn this a few times, and it smells really good. The throw is light, especially for a scent with red musk and leather. As lots of other people have said, this is blended so well I couldn't pick out individual notes right away. I smell the plant-like notes, sort of green. Then later on the red musk swells and comes forward. I think that this will get better and better as it ages. I think in a few weeks or months, this will be incredible. Right now it has a strange (but not bad) quality.....it reminds me of when you taste soup right after you make it, before the flavors have had a chance to mingle together, and it tastes 'new'. This has that same quality to me. I know that's totally weird but that's what it reminds me of.

The Chilling Cellar has this odd quality, when I try to sniff it up close, I can't find it. But it does fill the air around me with its presence. It's mostly sweet, slightly fruity, but also tangy and slightly powdery. The powdery note reminds me of something in Black Phoenix. This doesn't smell bad on me. I think it's just a little too sweet, a little powdery, and I don't think I would wear it very often. It would work really well on the right person, though.

Not much to add here.....this is a dry and slightly dusty scent. For me it's more papery than anything else, although the musk and incense do give it some weight, I think. There is a slight powdery note that drifts in and out, but doesn't ruin the scent for me. I think I prefer the more incense-y blends, like Midnight Mass, but I also understand that's not what the Lurid Library was supposed to convey. For what it is, it's quite interesting and accurate.

Today I was perusing the CB I Hate Perfume website, and thinking about custom scents. It's something I would love to do, but it almost seems like getting a tattoo.....I would want to make sure I had the perfect idea, and that it came out just right. I know that's kind of a stretch, but I think it's rather pricey to have him do it, and I would want to get my money's worth, definitely. So, I was trying to think of a custom scent for myself. Lately I've been in the mood for snowy scents, floral, and woodsy with fir and/or pine sap. Jolasveinar is very, very good. And I'm real hopeful about Christmas Rose. That's almost the image I had in my head........the description of Christmas Rose, which is: "Bruise-tinted hellebore blossoms pushing through snowdrifts". I don't know what hellebore smells like. The image I had is of a small bouquet of flowers on an icy/snowy mountaintop. The blossoms are perfect and covered with a delicate layer of frost. There are fir trees all around, and a light hint of woodsmoke in the air. And there's a teasing hint of pie and spice in the air, like someone is baking their Christmas desserts and opened their window for a little fresh air. So yeah, I guess that's pretty close to Jolasveinar. I'd like to smell a version of Jolasveinar that's more centered around the smushed buttercups, and with more flowers added, like rose. Maybe I'll try wearing Jolasveinar on one wrist and Rose Red or Peacock Queen on the other, when I get my decants.

I wear the fall and winter scents all year, too. I've been wearing Jolasveinar, Midnight Mass, Devil's Night, and Cloister Graveyard In The Snow (from the Salon), even in the summer (just to name a few). However.....since the weather has turned cooler, I've noticed that I don't like the heavy red musk scents as much. I've tried Fenris Wolf, Bloodlust, The Tell Tale Heart, and Lust (which might not have red musk, but to me it's a heavy, sultry scent)......all in the last couple weeks, in the cooler weather......and I end up not liking them. I do like all these scents when it's hot and sweaty outside. I do like warm and spicy scents around the holidays, and I think I wore Shub for New Year's Eve last year if I remember correctly.

Regret born from ceaseless longing: wisteria, white grapefruit, neroli, green tea, jasmine, white ginger, honeysuckle, iris, and tonka. Both of the Shojo Beat scents have sort of bright colorful qualities (less so with Midnight Kiss but it's there), which makes sense considering their inspiration. Vampire Tears is a bright citrus-y scent, but there's something dusty about it that's turning me off a little. After about an hour, it starts to remind me of another bpal scent......I'm going to say Polyhymnia, I think. It smells like verbena to me even though that's not listed. I will probably try this one more time but I'm pretty sure it's just not doing much for me. I like Midnight Kiss, though.

Yesterday I was seriously considering making a resolution for 2008......decants only. Like, no bottles whatsoever. When I think about it, it makes sense. I've never used up a whole decant. My first bpal bottle, over a year old, would still pass for new if you just glanced at it. I'm really just a dabber. It's pretty ridiculous for me to buy a whole bottle of, for example, Beaver Moon. That was a total impulse scent buy and I really should have just searched out a decant instead of a whole bottle. There's no way I'll wear all that!! I like how it smells, but I know I won't wear it much. So, decants only for a year would make sense for me. Then I think about it. A whole year. That includes next year's Halloween blends and Yule scents. Decants are plentiful, but really.......could I really do that?? I don't think I could. I mean, what if some incredible forum-only scent came out? Or that one elusive scent that was made "Just for me!!"? Well, even though I won't do it for a whole year, I will definitely be curbing my bottle habits, lol. And also I need to seriously do some de-stashing (like everyone else it seems). I'm gradually working on that......testing imps, writing reviews on my laptop, and wrapping plumber's tape around the ones I know I'll be swapping. I'm keeping them in a small cigar box, and when it's full, I'll be posting them for sale/swap. Speaking of swaps......when I look at my wish list, I think to myself 'do I really need to try all those?'. So little by little I'm whittling that down, too.

I was real curious about this scent, not just because of the reviews.....seems like lots of people are reminded of different things when they wear this. For me, I knew it would be powdery, and it is. And it smells just like what it is.....black musk and amber. But oddly, the powdery-ness doesn't bother me so much. I like the throw more than sniffing up close. The amber seems slightly spicy. Other than that, not much else to add. It is what it is. It kind of works for me, but it's not something I will wear a whole lot. I do like it enough to hold onto the imp. A couple hours later, it started to remind me of Snake Oil. Snake Oil has a powdery note that comes out pretty far in the dry-down, and Haunted did the same thing. It smells like the same note, and I think it's the amber (but I could be wrong). Edit.......Hmm, almost 2 years later, and I think this is the same imp.....I tried it again and wow, I didn't like it at all! Very powdery, and something about it seems papery for some reason. I no longer smell the Snake Oil relation that I did before. It was just bad this time, which I don't get because I like amber, and black musk is not horrible (but admittedly, sometimes powdery.....but not like this). I guess it was just the combination of notes that went wrong. Oh well, plenty of other scents for me to love!

The Lab has a few scents that make me think, "Dirty leather". This is one of them. I don't mean dirty like unwashed, necessarily. It's more like......raw and sexy, kind of dangerous. The leather is a little strong for me to wear this a lot. Honestly this reminds me somewhat of Torture King, but darker and more dangerous. I like the mood of this but the leather comes across a little strong on me. I'm not sure I'd wear it all that much. I think leather works better on me when I can barely detect it, like in Count Dracula and Doc Constantine.

Just skimming through the Boomslang reviews (I picked page 5 at random and scrolled down the whole page), I saw a good number of non-commital or even negative reviews of it. I think that scent got a lot of good word-of-mouth hype, and also the unusual look of the oil itself (try holding it up to sunlight......there is NO light coming through the dark part) made lots of folks want to try it. Personally, I like it but don't love it. The cocoa turns just a tad dusty on me, just like in Velvet. I've kept it to let it age, and also it just looks so gloriously dark. I know that's a dumb reason to keep it, but there ya go.

How could I forget Death Adder?? I'm a fan of vetiver, so I like Death Adder a whole lot. However, it reminds me more of Snake Charmer than Snake Oil, maybe because of the coconut. Western Diamondback smells great to me, but it always fades really fast. After less than an hour it's just a ghost of a scent on me, unfortunately. And that's strange because Snake Oil lasts and lasts on my skin. I've held onto it because I do really like it, maybe I can wear it in a scent locket.

I've tried all of the Snake Pit, and the ones I kept are almost a year old now. IMO, none of them are actually better than Snake Oil. However, I like a good many of them on their own merits. I really like Coral Snake, Cottonmouth, and especially Green Tree Viper. All three of those got better and better with aging. King Cobra and Temple Viper are pretty damn good, too. Out of all those, I think Green Tree Viper is closest to Snake Oil. Especially after it ages, the Snake Oil sort of 'pops out' on that one. I personally didn't like Asp Viper or Australian Copperhead all that much, and swapped mine away. But I think Teggy's right....it's all subjective, and depends on what you like. Although I have to say I wouldn't have expected to like Green Tree Viper all that much......it just sounded so odd. Snake Oil with mint?? Then I tried it.

I found this toasty, slightly sweet and spicy. From the reviews I think I was expecting much more sweetness, actually. But this is comfy and toasty. To be honest it's hard to describe this without comparing it to Possets' Morgan Le Fay, because they smell very similar to me. I think MLF is more on the foody side, and this one is more on the woods/smokey side, although not by much. This is a great scent for this time of year! I was afraid of the beer note but I don't really smell it. And from the other reviews I thought the treacle would be more sticky-syrupy. Bonfire Night strikes a nice balance between the sweet and smokey qualities. To me the smoke is just a whisper. Edit! Wow....I wore this again, and I got almost the opposite of my first review. Very sweet, very smokey. Honestly, this time I had to wash it off, because I think I put on too much, and I think I was overwhelming the people around me! Definitely more sweet and smokey than the first time I wore it, and now I can't decide if I still like it! I'm going to set it aside for a while and try again, because I do think it has potential to be something I really like.

Wow....that is definitely a sharp blast of sea spray, and very little else! Over time, something sweet and powdery starts to rise up out of the blend. Mostly though, it's a salty sea-spray/sea air scent, very potent and nearly soapy but not quite soapy. It strikes me that if there is ozone in this, Beth is getting more and more skillful at using that note, because this blend doesn't shout "Ozone!!" to me. But it's definitely the smell of standing at the bow of a ship, crashing through a big wave, feeling the bracing spray hit your face. That powdery note that starts to come through......I think that could be partly the Snake Oil, which sometimes does have a slightly powdery element when I wear it. Otherwise, I really can't tell notes apart in this. I'm definitely going to keep it around and will enjoy letting it age, I bet it calms down a lot and maybe the other notes will come out a bit more.

I wore this yesterday morning and really enjoyed it. It's light, sweet, and slightly 'pink' from the cherry/strawberry, although I really can't tell those apart here. I don't like it as much when I sniff close to my skin where I applied it. Don't try to go huffing after this one, let it come to you on its own. It seemed to envelope me in a sweet pink and white cloud. Kind of reminded me of pink and white Cream Saver candies, with a slight hint of powder. It is similar to Bloody Mary, but does not have the deep, juicy red fruits of that scent. This is more of a creamy, cakey scent touched with a light berry sweetness. I think Moonarcana got it right....it's really similar to Perilous Parlour, except instead of pear it has cherry and strawberry. I did get the same sort of feel from both scents.

I wanted to try this because it seems that Beth has been exploring the 'damp stone' note a lot lately, and I wanted to experience that. What I get here is a lot of sharp floral. Very potent. I couldn't tell you which floral I'm actually picking up, or if it's a blend of the flowers in this scent. Actually, I don't know what a few of those things are in the description. After a while, the scent doesn't change a lot, but the sense of 'floral' transforms into something else. Some people are going to think this has a masculine edge to it. Maybe it's the underlying vetiver giving me that impression, who knows. I honestly wouldn't have known there was vetiver here without reading the description. The scent stays rather sharp, and once I was reminded of the Unheavenly City. This doesn't exactly smell like jasmine, but maybe what I'm smelling is 'hothouse orchids'. That seems likely. I will wear this again once or twice before deciding for sure how I feel about it. I've been craving a good floral scent lately, so this did come at the right time.

I second Antony, and perhaps Oneiroi......lots of lavender in that one. Comes across very herbal on me, even with the other notes.

This is just a general FYI in case someone else was thinking about sending payments with a Blackberry. I made a forum purchase, through Paypal, and tried to pay using my Blackberry. The 'comments' field never appeared, so I had to send a separate email listing my decants, forum name, etc....to make sure she had all my info. Well, I emailed Paypal to ask them how to add comments via Blackberry, and apparently you can't! With a Blackberry, all you can do is send a payment or view your balance....you can't add comments or look at your history (probably other stuff you can't do too). Which sucks!

Over the weekend I tested a number of scents including Kostnice and Sepulcher. Both of them turned horribly soapy on me. I guess lily is the note that they have in common, that caused so much trouble. They both developed a soapiness that got stronger and stronger until it was unbearable, and I had to wash them off. Not only that......both scents seemed to 'ruin' my nose for a good hour or two after I had washed them off. In other words, I tried putting on other scents that I really like, just to 'chase away' the horrid soapiness/memory of it, and nothing smelled right to me. It was kind of like trying to drink orange juice after brushing your teeth......everything smelled off in the aftermath of the soapy lilies! I don't think all lily notes have this effect. I swear I've tried other scents with lily that didn't cause such a violent reaction. But from now on I'll be eyeing that note warily. Already I'm afeared for 2 of the Yule scents (Noche Buena, and the one with candy-charcoal). Now, the candy charcoal one, I was already not real hopeful about because of the violets and lily. But I really want to like Noche Buena. We shall see!! I've already ordered decants of both.