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This is a warm dark scent. I remember being initially surpised that it could be both, but apparently the Dark Maiden is a mistress of contradictions at times. On my skin it goes soapy within moments, but it is an excellent room scent for meditation.

At any time of year I am a sucker for verbana. i guess that was why I was so anxious to try this blend. It is a beautiful white floral, but I get no trace of the verbana I was looking for. I could see this as something my mom (who has very good floral taste) would really enjoy though. I can't see myself wearing it other than on warm summer evenings.

Wet this seemed like attack of the patchouli. I am not a fan, so I thought that this might be the end for me. Within minutes the patchouli faded to the back and fig came out more prominently. There is a slight sweetness to it, but not at all saccrine (from the currant?). This scent stays very close to my skin.

In the bottle this is bubblegummy, but not in the way that lotus usually is. Rather it is like that powdery, slightly touch to chew pink bubble gum that was popular to give out on Halloween when I was little. On it is slightly less fruity and a little spicier. This may not be one of my top ten, but it was still nice.

I have been wearing this scent more and more often. There is a brief burst of mint when it hits my skin, then the cucumber rounds and softens it out. I find that I actually miss the stage where you get both together the most. A drop of peppermint single note makes for a perfect scent (elegent but different) that lasts all day.

I love both mint and coconut, so I was keen to try this. It definatley had both, but as a cacaphony of scents that left me feeling overwhelmed at the mixture. I could detect mint and coconut first, then almond/cherry, and then some sort of citrus. The funny thing is that I like all of these notes, but together they get loud and noisy on my skin apparently (hey turn it down over there!). I am a little disappointed, but it was really nice in the bottle so the amping is probably me. Maybe a scent locket would help...

I didn't want to order this one myself, but got the chance to smell it at a meet-up recently. From the descripotions I had her before I thought it would be heavy on the salt and butter but not so much with the actual popcorn scent. Let me tell you: I was wrong. there is a definate underlying scent of popcorn under the salty butter top smells. Interesting, but the boy finds the smell of movie theater popcorn nauseating so I will not be ordering this one.

Maybe I'm just a freak or something, but Brimstone was in no way "campfire-y" to me.  It was cloying, heavy, and didn't bring to mind anything like being out in the woods (or even a backyard) hanging around a campfire.  I haven't lived in the city so long as to forget what a campfire smells like.

 

Sadly, though, I have no recommendations.

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Brimstone didn't smell like a campfire at first (it is very gritty, ashy), but after dry down it smells like I do after I have been sitting around a campfire for a couple of days (slightly different from just smellling like a campfire; does this difference matter?). At first I didn't like it until the boy pointed that out. Since then it has grown on me, but still needs to be used in moderation.

Wet: This is overwhelming at first, and I found myself wrinkling my nose in dismay. There is a strong incensy note (pale pepper?) that is strongest now.

After 10 minutes: There is definately some white musk here, but surprisingly it does not immediately turn me off. The peony adds a softness, but without being really floral. If anything this strikes me as (unsurprisingly) very gender neutral. I could see it being great on either a man or a woman. The woods, laurel and pepper really make this intriging, and I find that I really like this although I thought I wouldn't.

Edit: What I was really amazed by was the throw on this. It is a soft scent, but I could smell it for hours even without holding my wrist to my nose.

The orange blossom does not add "orange", rather a slightly sweet scent with a bitter under note. As mentioned by a few others Hunger did remind me of Snake Oil a good deal. Both have a creamy vanilla quality which after a few minutes is cut with an inscency note. From the scent description though I am not sure what that is from, perhaps just my body chemistry though a few others say that they smell something similar.

This strongly reminds me of Helping Hand. They have the same mint (and yes not all mints are created equal. I am a bit of a mint snob). Other than that Juke Joint is boozier but has a similar feel to it. It doesn't go to baby powder on me, but there is definately a powdery element after dry down. This kind of reminds me of those pastel mints you often see at bridal showers, etc. The slightly powdery ones that melt in your mouth.

I let the boy smell this and he *loved* it. In fact *he* asked *me* about trying to wear it. Ah I love my little earth sign. That boy is a Taurus through and through. So we sat side by side during dry down smelling the differences on our skin.

In the bottle:

It smells like dirt, more speciically potting soil. This is dirt with great potential, but no life yet

During dry down:

On him - loomy dark earth

On me - a little sweeter and has a lighter slightly dry vegetative smell like earth that has been turned over that is full of roots

Dry

Interestingly on both of us, this really blended with our own natural scent. We each picked out a slight spiciness in the background on the other person, but not on our selves. Later when we were going to bed, I momentarily thought that he was wearing some sort of cologne/aftershave. He just smelled particularly masculine if that makes any sense.

I have to say that I really like this. It is such a grounding scent for me, which is great for focusing during finals. It is absolutely fabulous on the boy though, and he actually enjoys wearing it. I will have to get my hands on some more.

I didn't get any cherry at all, but that doesn't surprise me too much. My skin tends to absorb any cherry or almond scents until they are non-existant. Instead this was a heavy aquatic floral. It some ways I thought from the reviews that it would remind me of Ophelia[*b], and it does to the extent that they are both aquatic florals. Ace of Cups[*b], however, strikes me as having more depth and being less meloncholy. Where Ophelia[*b] smells like shady, cool water along the banks of still pond, Ace of Cups[*b] smells warmer like a pleasure garden in the summer with a small ornamental pond filled with blooms. It definately has more sweetness (jasmine?) as well.

This could definately be worn by a man, but the label "masculine" is somewhat misleading. It could definately be worn by a woman. Normally I am not a a huge fan of musks. They tend to amplify on my skin and take over. The amount in Whitechapel is much more moderate to me though. The lilac adds that something that I can never name, but that always appeals to me. The lime and citron keep this from getting cloying. After drydown I get a slight, but pleasent, powderyness underneath the scent. I was extremely surprised and pleased by this blend. I wouldn't have ordered it because of the musk, but I could see myself possibly buying a bottle of this.

I usually find patchouli and frankincense completely overwhelming, though I am not overly fond of either. So I wasn't thinking that I would like this blend, but I thought "hey give it a shot" since I was looking for something a little darker than I usually wear.

OMG FIGS! I love it though. The grounded sweetness of the fig: the spicy edge to the scent (clove, cardamon, etc): it is not overly sweet, just well rounded out. I would never have thought to order this, but now I can definately see myself getting a bottle.

Weird.... this smells like Christmas. I had no idea what mistletoe smelled like, but this smells like my aunts house at Christmas time (her home is always filled with green boughs etc at that time of year). There is a piney quality at first, but after drydown it mellows somewhat. The is a very green smell with a sharp edge. I am glad I got a chance to try this LE, but it isn't something I could see wearing all year round.

The first time I tried this I didn't like it. I said "the lavendar and the lemon are just too discordant!" Fortunately I tried it again. I don't know what was wrong with me the first time. I love this scent! It is clean and light, with just a hint of almost an herbal tea quality. This has become the scent I wear whenever I can't sleep. When I wear it I find my body just relaxes and the rest which had been eluding me sneaks back before I am even aware.

Wet: very cedary (sandlewood?)

Drying: nearly disappears for a full minute

Dry: returns briefly as a white floral

about 5 minutes later: a slightly soapy white floral, very clean smelling at first but picking up more of a sandlewood scent as it wears

I am afraid I am biased against poor unsuspecting Penitence[*b]. It isn't her fault really. I never really got along with either myrrh or frankinsense. She never really had a chance, but I try to experience everything the lab has to offer even if is something that does not strike me. Having said that, I found this blend very incensy. The myrrh is fairly bitter, and the combination with frankinsence makes me think of Easter vigils with my dad. Interesting, evocative, but not something that I want to smell like on a regular basis.

I love roses so the reviews of of Empress[*b] certainly perked my interest. And the reviews were right. It is quite rosey, but there is something that I just do not care for in this blend. Going through other reviews it might be violet (which tends to give me a general stomach turning sensation) but it is faint enough to be hard to identify. After a few minutes it also gets a bit soapy (though that is more pronounced at different points in my cycle).

The sweetness of the apricot had me hooked, but I am afraid that the patchouli drove me away. I have never been a fan of patchouli, but didn't think to check to see if this blend had any before trying it on. I think I will check out March Hare[*b] next to look for an apricot blend that is more wearable for me.

At first this has a slightly sweet, slightly green smell. The tobacco isn't cherry-ish like Hearth, but still adds a sweetness to the nearly bitter dandelion. After several hours, however, I began to smell like I was sweating off a hangover, which while an interesting scent is not one that I was keen to smell like at work. If it weren't for this final stage I might be tempted to wear this one more often.

At first the dragon's blood is very strong. After dry down it pulls back a little bit. Then the lilac comes out. This reminds me of early summer/late spring at my childhood home with the lilac's all in bloom.

Wet this was mostly ylang-ylang. As it dried it went to a mixture of plastic (think VOCs aka new car smell) and patchouli. Whew that was a weird failure mode... I am afraid chemistry will keep Malice and I from getting along.

This is by far my favorite lunar moon so far (I started with Red Moon). Heavy on the ozone and aquatics, this has just enough floral for me to feel comfortable wearing this as a perfume. Although I don't usually slather, I did this morning and I think I am in love.

This is incredibly cool and clean. I bet it will be wonderful when it starts to get muggy in the summer. I guess I can see the similarity made between Cathode and Storm Moon, but of course completely lacking in the mint. It does have a similar "cool" feeling.