forspecial_plate

For me, Anaconda had a sugary start, but dried down to incense. Other people smelled tobacco, but to me it smelled like sandalwood. BUT....if it is tobacco, Mr. Nancy might be even better than Sugar Skull as far as what to blend or layer with Snake Oil, to get something close to Anaconda. Just a thought!

moonarcana, you're so organized!! I know I've replied here before, but what the heck.... For testing a new oil, I am careful and just apply from the inside of the lid, or the rim of the bottle. I apply pretty lightly if I'm going out, too. If I'm just hanging out at home and I really want to lay it on, I will upend the bottle against my wrist on the inside. I like how olympia301 applies directly on her palms, so sometimes I do that too. Then you can cup your hands over your nose and really get to know a scent. : ) Some scents like Antonino are a little too heavy to wear that much, though. But Snake Oil is great for that. Even with the bottles I'm keeping, I am careful to apply only where I don't have some other scent on my skin already. I don't want to 'contaminate' the bottle.

I like woods, aquatics, even some flowers. For whatever reason, I just wasn't sure about the notes in Roux-Ga-Roux, so I didn't take the plunge and order a bottle. Turns out I was right! Honestly, I don't hate this scent. My problem is, I'm starting to think my skin amps sweet notes like nobody's business. In short, this is like cotton candy on me. Or marshmallows. I get the impression it's the milk weed and/or sweet flag causing the trouble. Actually, it reminds me somewhat of Midnight On the Midway, but I like the incense in that a lot more. I have to really use my imagination to pick out any woods or aquatic notes in Roux-Ga-Roux. The moss is there at the beginning but it's quickly drowned out by whatever sweetness is going on here. Nope....I will eventually get a bottle of Midnight On the Midway, and wear that happily. This decant will be finding a new home!

This scent is really wonderful. The Masque is not subtle. I smell heavy, sweet florals, made more sweet by the honey. There is some incense smoke as well, and a slight sense of woods from the patchouli and/or tobacco. I think the tobacco is coming out more strongly as it dries. Reminds me somewhat of Chrysanthemum Moon, but I think I actually like The Masque even more. I think this would be great to wear at a party or in a group, because it seems like it would really stand out. I may have to find more than 1 decant of this.

Envy is green and slithering, indeed....I like herbs, mint, and lime very much. This is mostly herbs with a hint of mint, and the lime is just faintly supporting the rest. Lavender is pretty strong here. The mint fades pretty quickly. This scent has medium throw and duration. I think I've been spoiled by Green Tree Viper, because I loooove that scent, and I wouldn't reach for this as much since I have a bottle of that. Otherwise, I do like Envy on its own merits.

I grabbed this at random from my 'imps to try' box, and thought it appropriate since Rose Moon is coming up so soon. I found Harlot to be a very dry rose scent. It reminded me of dried rose petals in the harlot's jewelry box. The cinnamon is just a hint for me. Over 4 hours later, there is still a faint woody note left on my skin, still very dry. I can't say that it reminded me so much of incense, but more of woody dry rose. I do like woods but this has too much of a 'dusty' feel to it for me to enjoy. I didn't find it really powdery or soapy though, so that's good.

This is quite wonderful....I get along just fine with vetiver, and although I'm not crazy about dragon's blood, this is one of the rare blends where it works for me. For the first half hour/45 minutes, the dragon's blood predictably tries to take over, although I can smell the vetiver and definitely spices (cinnamon, mostly) patiently biding their time. Then, for a long while, Serpent's Kiss becomes a swirling, slithering dance of notes, seeming to show off each one at intervals. I know we talk a lot about scents smelling like incense. This is one scent that really tricked me a couple times into thinking I had lit some incense and forgot. Much later, like 3 hours or more, the scent is still going strong. It's mostly spices now, and cassia is really strong. I don't know if it has both cinnamon and cassia, but now I'm getting mostly cassia with, I swear, a smidge of ginger. I can still sense the vetiver providing a solid base for the other notes. I definitely agree with the Blood Moon comparisons, although this scent seems to last longer, and Blood Moon loses a lot of spice as it dries/fades (the musk comes out stronger), whereas Serpent's Kiss stays very spicy for a long time.

Aah, yes....Absinthe....I've wanted to try this since day 1. I have always stubbornly insisted that I love anise as a perfume note. I've been second guessing myself on that one lately....although I do love the smell of the actual herb. Anyway....yeah, this smells like anise, with lemon and some more herbs. I can almost make out the cardamom if I use my imagination. For whatever reason, this scent isn't exciting me all that much. : ( I'm not sure I like Black Annis much either. Maybe I should give up on anise? I still think I would like a heavily sugared, spicy anise scent with a little citrus. Wait, isn't that what Absinthe is?? Well, maybe not heavily sugared. *sigh* I really should like this much more than I do. As usual, I'll give it a couple more tries before I give up completely. edit: I meant to say that I'm getting the faint rubbery-ness that someone else mentioned....also that I don't get much mint from this scent.

Hmmm, I have to honestly say I don't like The Hamptons. I do like sweet and fruity scents (Sugar Skull, Xanthe, etc...), but something about this is sickly sweet and cloying to me. Maybe it reminds me of my drinking days. It does have a citrus aspect, but generally just smells like a too-sweet drink. I've never had a Cosmopolitan, and I think I would like them if I still drank. But this scent just doesn't do anything for me.

Hmm...this is floral, and that's almost all that I can really tell you. I picked this out of my imp box without reading the label, to see if I could guess a scent. My first guess was Somnus, which is also very floral to me. But Languor had a slightly buttery note at first, that I didn't remember from Somnus. But the point is....both are lazy, heavy-lidded scents, I guess. Langour is sweet and clear to me, not smokey. I also thought it might have honeysuckle, but that just shows how well I know florals, which is not at all. So yeah....to me it's very floral and not something I would choose to wear often, unless I was laying down for a nap maybe.

The myrrh just seems to overpower everything. Where is my patchouli and moss? *cries* Much later, it has faded to almost nothing...except faint moss. (finally). I'll try this again but looks like it's not going to work. That myrrh note is nearly powdery and won't let anything else play. edit: Oh, and I can't smell juniper at all which is odd for me.

Amber is what I smell mostly in the Haunted Palace, but that could be the power of suggestion. See, moonarcana gave me a decant of this, and as I was sniffing it for the first time, she said "It has amber!" (we were on an amber kick that day), so immediately that's what I smelled! Anyway, it's a beautiful scent that I really enjoy. Before I knew what notes were in it, I just thought it had a characteristic bpal-incensey feel to it. I didn't guess that it had that many floral notes. Whatever, I love it, and I know I can get away with wearing this somewhere, at some time. Right now it's reminding me a bit of Snake Charmer, maybe because of the amber, musk, and/or vanilla. I have to say, I can almost imagine how this would have smelled brand-new. I bet the orange was stronger (I can barely smell it now), and the notes may have stood out more from each other, whereas now they are all blended together seamlessly. That's just a guess, though...for all I know, it smelled pretty much the same! But I do think the citrus has faded, and the scent really hasn't suffered for that (not that I don't like orange, because I do). I will cherish my decant, but I doubt that I need a whole bottle of it.

From a male perspective.... I like almond a lot too, and Baron Samedi is one of my favorite GC blends. It replaced Demeter's Almond for me. It's a deep, dark, spicy almond scent that I love and it lasts for hours on me. On the other hand, avoid it if you don't like bay rum.

How weird...what I'm smelling doesn't match the notes in the description, at all! And for a long time I thought I must have a mis-labelled imp of Bow and Crown of Conquest. The throw here smells like sweet vanilla to me. If I sniff up close, I can smell something herbal, which must be the patchouli and/or vetiver. Overall, this is a faint, sweet scent, not powdery, but reminds me of vanilla, and without the cedar of Bow and Crown. It smells good, but doesn't have a lot of throw at all. Not at all what I was expecting, and a lot of the notes in the description are nowhere to be found, so I guess they are just supporting. But there's nothing tart like I would expect from yuzu and lime, and I would think I could pick up on the sandalwood, but I can't. So I guess the sweetness is the musk. It does smell good, don't get me wrong, and I have enjoyed wearing it. I think for a 5ml bottle I would pick Bow and Crown over this, and I really don't think I would need both.

Schwarzer Mond has a note of Pimenta racemosa which is bay rum.

I happened upon a decant of this, and even though I have no desire to smell like whiskey, some of the reviews made it sound so good..... Yup, that's whiskey! I couldn't pick up the subtleties, it does smell like good whiskey, but definitely whiskey. After drying a bit, it's a sweet woody smell, and still not something I want to smell like, even though I like a lot of woods. This one just wasn't for me!

This is a very pleasant, slightly fruity floral at first, and I don't really get a sense of 'banana'. It reminds me a little of lotus, maybe a little lighter, but definitely a bit fruity. This doesn't last long....a lot of the floral part fades and then I can smell the woods. Very nice overall, not a whole lot of throw, but my skin is dry this weekend and I've been doing a lot of dishes today, so maybe it just sucked up the scent. It has that characteristic 'bpal scent' for sure, and I do like it a lot. Maybe a little too floral for me to keep but we'll see.

Not to bring the thread down, but....I just read that the original painting was destroyed in a fire in 1945! : ( Okay, on to the review.... This is all about green. On first try, I really thought it was too sharp, and I almost sensed an ammonia aspect. I have tried it a couple more times and have grown to really like it. I don't smell any gardenia, rose, phlox or verbena. All I can smell is grass, leaves, and sharp herbs. I'm sure the other notes are supporting here. I bought this for my mom for mother's day (of course I had to try it, to make sure she'll like it! ....), because she does a lot of gardening, and I thought this would appeal to her. I think she'll like it, and I may have to get some for myself one of these days, too. The other reviews here describe the scent really well.

I was excited to try a discontinued blend, and I tried it without reading the description first. Right away I knew there was civet, and I could smell just a touch of the grape. Pretty soon the civet just took over....and civet is just not for me, I'm afraid. I think I can handle it in Black Annis, but not here....I had to wash this one off and that doesn't happen a lot! Hopefully I will find a happier home for Puck.

This is skillfully blended, light and fresh, fruity and very well balanced. I was expecting a lot more citrus.....the citrus elements are delicate and subtle, and they fade fairly quickly. It's true, the patchouli is Very subtle and patchouli haters should not shy away from this scent. Actually, I can barely pick out the patchouli at all. It's just sweet and lively fruits over a slightly woody and musky base. Really well done.

I almost like Brown Jenkins....somehow it's just not working for me, ultimately. Something about it is too sweet, and almost plastic-y, which is something I've had with coconut before (the plastic-y). I like sandalwood and it almost saves this blend. But the incense note is too sweet or something, and it reminds me of Al Azif, which I couldn't wear (which itself is strange, because I like incense blends, especially Midnight Mass, Pit and the Pendulum....but not Al Azif *shudder* or apparently Brown Jenkins either). I think I'll pass this along to someone who likes it more!

My early impressions, which as usual may be edited: At first, this was like....Whoa!! PINE, EVERGREEN....almost like a single note pine! But I could tell there was some complexity, after a little drying/warming on my skin. I'll give it another chance....... I tried it again today, and I'm very much growing to love this scent! Very dark, and still lots of pine/evergreen. However.....there is more going on here, in the background. There is a sweet note that I love, and I'm not even sure what it is. The damp grass, maybe? Or possibly, the cedar has a sweetness when it's played against the pine. It's not a berry sweet like juniper. I dunno, I'm guessing it's the grass. It plays very nicely with the deep, green pine and woods. This isn't a juicy fir scent, like Nocnitsa (to me!). It's an evergreen forest on a very dark night, with a little wind and smoke in the air, like there's a fire burning in the distance. I CANNOT stop sniffing my wrist right now! I'm afraid someone standing next to me would ONLY smell pine in this scent. But I personally really dig the complexity and subtle supporting notes. I don't know where or how often I would wear this, but I could definitely see myself wearing it on a cool autumn night, chill in the air, bundled in a sweater. *lovestruck* Edit, almost a year later. This is it. This is the epitome of a majestic forest of fir at night, with smoke in the air. I will cherish this bottle of scent.

A lot of times I revise my reviews, but I want to add my impressions of this while it's still available. I may edit later. At first I was afraid Minotaur was powdery. I tried it straight out of the mailbox, even though I should know better. I think the oils sometimes get travel-shock or something. Anyway, I let it rest over night and tried it again. This is utterly gorgeous, and different on me than the reviews so far. For me, something sweet in here is amping way up. Maybe the myrrh is really sweet. The overall effect is close to powdery, but it's more like a luminous honey dust or sweet gold powder....NOT like baby powder though. It does strike me as masculine. It's like a smooth, thrumming, glowing scent with power held in check. I can sense the darkness that the others mentioned here, and agree that there is some similarity to Schwarzer Mond. For me it's more like Penitence than Midnight Mass, if that helps at all. But Penitence was very powdery for me, and this is slightly more....I don't know, polished or something. It has just the right amount of throw, not too strong but definitely there. I just love this.....I really am not sure I'll wear it often. It's more like a special occasion scent to me, not an everyday scent. But I agree that this will most likely deepen and improve with aging. It's wonderful!

My very first thought was... Perhaps something that's very subtle or faint on your skin, or even no scent at all? (blasphemy, I know!) The only reason I say this is, might it not be better to avoid distracting from what you're presenting/talking about? Maybe just something that sticks close to you, to give you a little boost....but doesn't throw a whole lot. As far as specific scents, though, that would depend on what scents behave this way on you, I guess. For me, it might be Count Dracula or Satan and Death with Sin Intervening (but I'm a guy). Anyway, good luck, and that's just my 2 cents!

This is a quiet, thrumming scent. Spicy. Dark. Delicious. For me, it definitely smells like a headshop, but not like incense somehow. It's fruity, yes...but seems dry to me, whereas something like Snake Charmer is more of a ripe fruity scent IMO. None of the notes really stand out strongly...it's all blended into this swirling, delirious cloud of loveliness. Another thing I love about this is that the champaca doesn't take over and clobber everything else, like it usually does on my skin! It gives me hope for the other champaca blends that I'm holding onto, aging, hoping that note will calm down a little. Maybe it will! I love this scent!