Ahania

I hate rose, and yet I love Les Fleurs du Mal. It would be cruel if it weren't so uncaring. I like it for days when I want to feel like a powerful bitch-queen.

Oh my. I got CMXXIV off ebay and talk about luck! In the bottle it's sexy, super-dark chocolate with red wine and a hint of cherry- very like Vice with wine instead of neroli. And in case that wasn't heavenly enough, as it dries on my arm, there's a very subtle touch of a delicate flower coming out, and some creaminess, but it still keeps those original notes. I can't tell what the flower is- maybe violet? It is - dare I say it?- possibly even better than MB Underpants. I think this would satisfy both foodies and anti-foodies.

Dark, decadent and incomparably exotic: the rich scent of buttered rum flavored with almond, bay, clove and sassafras. Whee! I've been making my way through the recommendations for people who want clove, and I finally hit the jackpot! In the bottle and sniffing my scent locket, there's a yummy creamy almond. The throw is CLOVE! Oh, how I loves it. There's just enough rum to give the scent some body and complexity. Fortunately, I don't get any sassafras, which ruins things for me. Sooo num-num.

The only scent I can pick out in here is the jasmine, but it's not that strong on me, it's just that all the other notes blend so smoothly that I can't distinguish them. The jasmine is creamy and soft here, not aggressive. (I do love jasmine, but sometimes I find it pushy.) It smells absolutely lovely, but it's so sophisticated, I feel strange wearing it, because that's just not really me. I'm going to keep the imp, though, for the occasional days when I feel like faking chicness!

I found Lampades to be very unsettling. I've worn it several times waiting to get used to it, because it smells so good, but it still makes me uncomfortable. I'll probably end up buying a 5ml just to keep trying to make up my mind whether or not to keep wearing it!

Hooray! In the imp, I get the powdery spice of the carnation, and that's about it. On, I get the milk and honey coming about to balance the carnation, but no rose. As it dries, the carnation wears off and the sweet honey comes to the forefront, but it's a very different honey than in O, which I find a little quease-inducing. The milk and honey suit the innocent girl in the blue dress, while the carnation is definitely someone who goes down holes she shouldn't!

When I take very light whiffs of the bottle, I smell luscious, juicy tropical fruit, no patchouli or tea. I would have guessed ripe mango, not green. With deeper sniffs it turns to pure bubblegum. The same thing happens on my skin, unfortunately - a teensy amount is delicious fresh fruit, enough to smell without putting my wrist to my nose, I smell like an obnoxious teenager. * It smells so good in small amounts, though, I'm going to have to keep the imp and set about combining it with other things that may need some fruitiness. * (Apologies to any teenagers here, as I believe that teenagers who visit this forum are quite unlikely to be the obnoxious sort I'm talking about!)

I got it too! I love amber, and while that and the black currant were the only things I could pick out, I didn't really love this blend. Wearing it made me very agitated. It's anti-relaxation aromatherapy. I can think of a few situations I'd wear this, but not many. If I win the lottery and get to quit my job without needing a reference, this is what I'd wear on my last day to tell the managers that I dislike exactly what their problems are. If I got dumped, I'd totally wear this while dividing the CD collection. For regular life, though, this scent is a definite no on me.

I like lavender, and lilacs. Actually, I really like all of the notes in here, so it sounded like a definite winner. Instead I got violent, floor-cleaning citrus. I hoped that if it went citrusy on me, that it would smell really limey - I used to have some lime oil air freshener that I loved and would spray on my hair but it just went sort of generic Pledge on me. I didn't really notice any changes with time, though after about an hour I got crabby and scrubbed it off.

This reminds me of my grandma- it smells like something she would have picked for me, and she was generally right about such things. It's delicate, sweet, and cozy but also a bit sophisticated - it reminds me of a nightgown that's been worn and washed enough to get really soft, but is still pretty. I don't really smell the florals, but I can tell that if they weren't there, I'd miss them.

This was warm, mild, and lovely. It's something I would wear when I know I'm going to have a wonderful, happy, relaxing day. I don't really get the honey note, but I do get the milk and subtle ginger. My only problem is that I had to put a ton of it on to get enough throw for it to get just to my nose, let alone anyone around me. I guess I'll just have to buy a bottle- it's definitely worth it!

Wet, I get the heavy musk and a hint of cumin and orange blossom. No clove. On and dry, it fades into a solemn, pine incense sort of scent. I love it, but it's not something I'd wear regularly, it's just too ritual-smelling for daily wear for me. I still have to pin down the chappie and see what it does on him.

I was nervous when I smelled the bottle and it just smelled like strawberry gum. Still, I figured, lots of things smell very different on, so I gave it a try. This smelled exactly the same on as it did in the bottle - fake, rubbery, over-sweet gum. Off to the swaps.

How much good can I say about Elegba? It actually smells like coconut rather than coconut-scent (ie Malibu). The rum sweetens it up more, but the tobacco is just right to balance and ground it, so that it's sweet but never too much so. After while the coconut mellows down and the rum and tobacco really come into play. It lasted on me longer than most scents, too- I woke up this morning and could still get a whiff. It's a very friendly scent.

Wow, I think I found my sexy, sinister scent! The freaky part is that I don't like roses, and that's about all I can smell. I definitely don't get the lilac. I may get the wisteria, but I don't know what that smells like, so it's tough to say. Here's what really gets me- it goes on like dark, lush roses, and over the period of a few hours, I can smell them withering and dying, and eventually I end up smelling like dried roses. It's amazing. This reminds me of the story of Sleeping Beauty- the massive, overgrown roses surrounding the castle, and the princes trying to get through but being caught and dying in the midst of all these blooming flowers.

Oooh, I love this, and I'm usually a citrus-hater. (I didn't read up before ordering to find out what the fruits were, I just ordered it for the tea.) I agree with the reviewer who noticed guava - I smelled something familiar in there, and when I saw her post and took another sniff I knew that was it! I love how the citrus is balanced out by the flowers- it's got a bitter zing but at the same time is soft and delicate. Pure magic.

I found this to be gentle and mildly fruity, but not really muchof anything. It smelled almost like a peach-apple mix, with some greenery and earthiness in there. Unfortunately, it had absolutely no throw on me, and didn't last - I ended up using over half my imp in one day, and I couldn't smell it more than a couple minutes after putting it on.

Creamy pudding with cherries - definitely cherries, not the cherrish smell a lot of the almond scents have - and a little pineapple. It's freaky and tasty smelling. (I didn't get any turkey smell, and I can't complain. I was a tiny bit concerned.) This would be a good pick for fans of Miskatonic U or Hellcat (fruit instead of coffee or liquor, but the same creaminess). ETA: Oh, no- my first skin reaction to BPAL, and with one I love so much! I woke up this morning with terribly itchy red bumps on the insides of my wrists. I look like I tried to annoy myself to death.

I'm not a mint fan at all, so this was definitely on my don't-buy list. Well, I should know by now not to have something like that. The lab in their wisdom sent me *two frimps* of this (I got 14 frimps in my last order! ) I got a bit of mintiness, but that faded quickly and left a clean, clear scent. It's not on my favorites because I go for richer smells, but I was very pleasantly surprised. There are definitely times when this would be just the thing, so even though I'm not getting a bottle I'll probably keep one of my imps for those just-so moments.

Sweet, cozy and good. It makes me want to wear it and snuggle up in my jammies with a good book while the wind roars outside. At first I got a tiny whiff of almond but that was gone as soon as it was dry, and it turned into pure rich creaminess. I don't really get grain per se, but it does smell wholesome.

Voluptuous magnolias strewn over orchid, star jasmine, black amber and smoky rose. I love jasmine, and amber, and I like magnolias. I don't know what orchids smell like, but none of that matters, because when I put this on, all I smelled was roses. I'm not a rose fan but at first it smelled pretty and I was pleasantly surprised, but in a couple of minutes it turned into flailing sneezies.

I had to get this since I read a book with the same name years ago that I really liked. This oil is a great match for Bathory. I don't get much floral here, and definitely not the roses. It's mostly dark fruit with just a touch of sinister smokiness. A touch on the sweet side for me when I first put it on but that fades off. My only problem is that there's very little throw unless I'm really warm.

It's not really Nag Champa-y, but I think The Masque smells like a bottle full of headshop!

Uruk reminds me of my cat napping in a warm sunbeam. Warm, happy luxury.

So boozy, it made me a little dizzy smelling it until I adjusted. This is what I'd wear if I were on the prowl at a bar, figuring that out of all the men who got dizzy from being near me, at least one would misattribute it to me instead of the scent, and then I'd bag him! (So, I don't actually go looking for one-night-stands. But if I did, this would be perfect. And I bet it would work.) Heady, rich almonds, buttery goodness, and hardcore liquor. Yum, yum, yum.