Magycmyste

In the imp: lavender and.... Something green and herbal. Wet on skin: about the same... Mostly lavender Dried down: the vanilla's starting to edge out from behind the lavender, but it's still mostly lavender on me. Throw: it's got a little throw, mostly the lavender with an almost-sweetness. Verdict: *** I do like it, but I don't know if I'd get a bottle for myself. I'd consider getting one for my fiancé, though.

In the imp: Leather and sugared honey. Wet on skin: Ok, the black rose is sneaking into this now. Dried down: Mmmm...... gorgeous black leather, rose and sugar. Oh my Throw: Sugared honey, with that sexy twist of black leather. Verdict: ***** Oh yes. Sign me up for a bottle now.

In the imp: Gorgeous jasmine sambac. Wet on skin: jasmine, gardenia, a bit of tuberose, and something darkening it a bit. The black velvet accord perhaps, or the blackened vanilla musk? Dried down: Same as earlier. Lovely white florals. There is the tiniest hint of vanilla if I look hard enough for it. Throw: Very little. This wears very close to my skin. Verdict: **** I really do like this a lot, but I don't think I'll be needing a bottle of it. The decant should be enough.

In the imp: Mint, minty mint. With a hint of cream. Wet on skin: Same as above. Dried down: The creaminess is really coming through now. Still not really balancing the mint as well. Throw: Creamy sugar swirled with mint. Verdict: **** I do like thins a lot. I'm debating whether I want a bottle, though. I may be happy with a decant. Or just wait for a secondhand bottle to show up.

In the imp: Spicy and gingery. Wet on skin: Still a spicy ginger. There is a tiny bit of sweetness coming through, but it's overwhelmed by the spice right now. Dried down: Still gingery-spicy, though I think the Snake Oil is coming through a little bit. Throw: A bit more Snake Oil, but there's still the gingery spice. Verdict: **** I really like this a lot. I think with an aged oil, I could love it. This will definitely be a retest in the future, but I think I need to snap up a bottle. Or two.

In the imp: Soft chocolate with a fruity edge, and a hit of mint. Wet on skin: Mint mint minty mint. Dried down: Fruit and mint. This is now a very weird mix. Throw: A bit of mint. I'm not smelling a whole lot unless I sniff my wrists, though. Verdict: *** This is interesting, but I don't think I'm in for a bottle. I didn't get any of the smoke, fur, and rusty chains...which might be a good thing, actually. But as much as I love foody scents, I don't think I'll be reaching for this one that often.

In the imp: Cherry vitamin. O_o Wet on skin: Juicy cherry vitamin? Dried down: Ok, I'm getting a bit of that cinnamon craft store scent an above reviewer was talking about. Throw: Almost none. Verdict: *** Eh. Not bad, but I could do without it.

In the imp, I can't place this scent, but I'm not liking it, off the bat. It reminds me of belly-button lint. To the point that I don't think I can even try this one on. That is a first for me. Verdict: *

In the imp: Soap. Strongly soapy floral. Wet of skin: Still a strongly soapy floral. Dried down: Still soap, but there's a sweet jasmine tone now. Throw: Little to none on me, and I'm ok with that. I'd have to wash it off if it was strong. Verdict: *** Not bad, but not for me.

In the imp: not quite sweet, not quite floral - a little aquatic. Wet on skin: still, aquatic, but with a hint of rubber - latex, really O_o Dried down: still the salty, aquatic note. This reminds me of dragon's tears. There is a sweet, caramelly throw in the air..... but....I've been smelling that all week, even before the decants came in, and some of the other decants smell like that, so I don't think that's what it is. Throw: Almost none of the salty note. I am still smelling a lot of sweet. Verdict: ***1/* I like this. A lot. There's too much I'm not sure about with it, though. And I wish I could smell some of the other notes in this. This is definitely going to be a second chance scent.

In the imp: pomegranate, both bitter and sweet, just like the description says Wet on skin: The bitter is a lot stronger now. Dried down: A little closer to regular pomegranate, a little sweeter. Throw: Almost none for me. Verdict: *** Not bad, but I didn't really like the bitterness of the pomegranate during the wet stage, and in the dry stage, this just isn't special enough for me to want a bottle. I'll pass on this one.

In the imp: A wet floral, tinged with sugar. Wet on skin: A soft, pretty floral. I wonder if this is the "snow" note I've heard so much about. Dried down: still the soft, pretty floral, again tinged with sugar. Throw: the throw is very soft sugar. The floral is stronger if I sniff my wrists. Verdict: **** very pretty (why do I love so many of these Yule blends?) As much as I love sugary scents, I was afraid this was going to be way too sugary on me, but I love it. I definitely want a bottle - the question is whether I need it now, or whether I can wait.

In the imp: (closed) Salted caramel. (open) Sweet caramel cookie Wet on skin: Caramel cookies. Almost reminds me of gingersnaps. Dried down: Still sweet caramel cookies, but there's an almost watery note that's beautiful. I'm not sure where it's coming from. Maybe it's the sea salt making me think "aquatic, but I think it'd be more than that. Hmmmm....... Throw: Sugar and salted caramel. It makes me happy. Verdict: **** 1/* Yes, yes, and yes. Bottle, please.

In the imp: Interesting. I get a warm, fruity scent, like warm grape juice or apple juice. Definitely not what I was expecting. Must be the Muscat and currants Wet on skin: Still appley-grape in the air, but a more floral scent on my skin. Dark floral. Or actually, after looking at the notes again, the amber. Dried down: The amber is a lot stronger now, but stays close to my skin. Throw: Sweet fruit, with maybe a bit of sugar, but fairly faint. Verdict: **** This is rich and complex, and I like it a lot. I don't see myself getting so excited over it that I think I'll reach for it too often, though. I'll probably keep the decant, and maybe look for a bottle in the future, but I don't need one right now.

In the imp: With the imp closed, all I'm really smelling is this delicious caramel. Open, I still smell the caramel a bit, but I smell something else, too - I'm not entirely sure if it's the leather or the flowers or even the paper. Wet on skin: Caramel and leather, definitely. Gorgeous! I only have a half-decant, so I'm tempted to double-swipe to get a little more on my skin. Dried down: This soaked into my skin pretty quickly, but I didn't have a lot on there. I'm pretty much getting caramel and leather off of this. I was hoping for a bit more paper, but honestly, that's not going to stop me from loving this. Throw: Decent throw. I get faint whiffs of caramel, edged with leather every time I sniff the air. No wrist-sniffing needed. Verdict: ***** Even without the paper (which, who knows, might have ended up being a bit too dry for my nose), I love this! It's definitely not a "usual" scent. I don't know how often I'll be reaching for it, , but I definitely want a bottle. Possibly two.

In the imp: Heck, with a closed imp, I smell sweet pecans! It does look like a little spilled on the label during decanting. Open, hello sugar! I'm not sure what treacle smells like, exactly (I'm comparing it in my head to molasses), but this is definitely pumpkin pie. Wet on skin: Strange...on my skin, most of the sweetness seems to disappear, and I'm left with mostly pecan - without the sugar. Which I could see passing as "grainy" or "vitamin"-like, as some reviewers said above. Dried down: Pecans and a bit of spice - maybe allspice or clove. Maybe a hint of cinnamon. Not really enough there for me to figure out. Throw: Almost none, surprisingly enough, for how strong it smelled out of the imp. Verdict: *** Eh, not bad. I do love the scent of pecans, but it's not something I would wear. Surprisingly enough, although pumpkin and pecan pie are not among my favorite things to eat, I really liked those scents, and wish they'd lingered a bit longer on my skin. If they had, I think this would have rated higher for me. Oh well. This one goes to my growing swap pile.

One wrist swiped only, for the sake of faster testing. In the imp: very sweet sugar cookie with a hint of citrus - this is making me think of a slightly lighter version of Ooky. Wet on skin: The orange comes out much more here. I'm getting a slight hint of spices, but not much. Dried down: Hmmm....... this is interesting. i'm getting the very faint scent of orange gingerbread. Throw: Not much at all. My nose is a little stuffed, though. I'm getting a faint scent of something, sometimes a hint of orange, sometimes a note of gingerbread, and then it disappears. Verdict: *** 1/* Ido like this a lot, and I think I'll be keeping the decant, but I probably don't need a bottle. Hopefully, I can find one later, if I change my mind.

In the imp: Sharp, like REALLY sharply bitter cedar (ugh!) with some orange and something sweet - maybe fig or almond Wet on skin: Mostly orange with some other notes - I know they're there, but i can't really pick them out very well. This is much better than what I was smelling in the imp, though. Dried down: The cedar is coming out again, mingling with the sandalwood, but not enough to cut through the bitterness.I seem to have lost the sweet notes I was getting earlier. Throw: Not much, which I think is a good thing for me. Verdict: ** 1/* Not a winner for me. Too much bitter, and not enough sweet. Which surprises me, as there were many sweet notes in this that tend to do well on my skin. The cedar won out, though, with the bitterness amped up. ::sigh:: I did have higher hopes for this one. Oh well.

In the imp: A little sweet, a lot sharp, with a bit of bitterness at the end (like maybe the pith of the orange). And I definitely get the clove. Wet on skin: Green, herbal, and still very bitter. Dried down: This is still really sharp and bitter. I'm getting faint whiffs of sweetness here and there, of notes I really wish would stand out more, but they stay hidden. Throw: More bitter than pretty. But there's a little hint of prettiness. Verdict: * 1/* No, no, no. Not for me.

In the imp: mmmm sweet and...,, perfumey. All the notes are mixing together nicely. Wet on skin: ooh..... Pretty Dried down: this is gorgeous! Not that this is a surprise but apparently, I LOVE vanilla! And amber. And oudh. Throw: this doesn't have a huge throw on me, but enough for me to catch whiffs of it here and there. Verdict: ***** definitely bottle-worthy.

In the imp: A little sharp and spicy - like the bite of Bengay (mind you, I don't dislike the smell of Bengay - just saying that's what the sharpness reminds me of) or eucalyptus. I do smell the cinnamon and frankincense - they blend well together. Wet on skin: This is an interesting scent, and very pretty. Both the cinnamon and the frankincense are very clear, but they still blend together nicely. I think frankincense is becoming one of my favorite notes, although this one is softer than I would have expected. Dried down: Dried down, I'm getting almost pure frankincense over the cinnamon. It softens quickly, which I like. There's an almost floral baby powder edge to it. Throw: I'm not getting a whole lot of throw as I type. I have to get fairly close to my wrists to get the frankincense. Verdict: **** I actually like this a whole lot, but I think I'll be skipping on getting a bottle this time, if only because there's SO MUCH right now, and I've already got a huge order. Definitely keeping the decant, though.

In the imp: a very green honey, like it's mixed with herbs or lime (but not citrusy, almost bitter). This reminds me of one of the scents from Rappaccini's garden. Wet on skin: Weird, this smells almost medicinal and rubbery on me. Yep, rubber - a very specific kind that my nose can't quite seem to place right now. Dried down: er, yeah, this is just staying the same Throw: fairly strong on me, actually. No wrist- sniffing needed. Wrist-sniffing just brings out that extra-rubbery quality. Verdict: ** I don't hate this. So far, I've only had one scent that I REALLY couldn't stand. If this were medicine, I'd sniff it and think, "well, that's not horrible, and at least it's doing me some good." In this case, though, I think it's going to the swaps. I don't hate this - but I think I'm going to go wash it off now.

In the imp: Myrrh and frankincense, smoky and spicy (honestly, I'm not entirely sure I can tell the difference between myrrh and frankincense - I'll need to smell them separately sometime). There's also a bit of warmth to it, which I'm not sure if it comes from the copal or not. Wet on skin: Definitely heavy on the myrrh and frankincense. This is very pretty. Dried down: Ah, there's the special. This actually reminds me a bit of Heretic now. The frankincense (I think) has faded back just a smidge, and there's a sweetness in the background instead - I get what people are saying about a vanilla-y, tropical-fruit sweetness. It's reminiscent of dried coconut. OR something else, I'm not remembering - it's the sort of subtle sweetness you only get from fruit when it's dried out and jerky-like. Throw: This has some decent throw to it. I get that sweetness more than anything else. Verdict: **** 1/*. I think I want a bottle of this, but it seems like there are so many that are similar to this. And yet, I think I still want the bottle. This only thing keeping this from a full five stars was me wondering - is this really that special that I need a bottle?

Testing on inner elbows because I tested Elegy on my wrists. In the imp: Newly-cleaned leather, like that "new car" smell. I've never really been a fan of new car smell (it's nice to know that it's clean, but that scent gets on my nerves after awhile). I think it's the styrax (benzoin) and juniper giving it that scent, though it's slightly sweetened by the honey, Wet on skin: Still "new car." It's actually somewhat aquatic - like the cleaning solution is starting to overtake the leather. I think it's the combination of juniper and benzoin that's making me not like this, since I tend to like them individually on their own (well, benzoin, at least). Dried down: Still the same. Throw: I'm getting a mild throw off of this - it's a light aquatic scent, with a hint of the honey. Not bad, but not what I was looking for. Verdict: *** Admittedly, ZZ's review got my hopes up that this might turn out to be similar to De Sade, but it's not quite close enough for me. I'm wondering if I would like this scent a lot better without the juniper wood. Oh well. I may try my decant again in the future, and see if I can search out a bottle then, but I don't think I need it right now.

In the imp: Almost pure bergamot, touched with sandalwood. This is a juicy orange, sweet, but not too sweet. Wet on skin: The orange has faded into the sandalwood here, a bit, but it's still strong. Dried down: About the same as wet - citrus and sandalwood. Throw: I think I'm getting a bit of throw here, but it's kind of hard to tell. Whatever I'm getting, it's pure white musk, I think, throwing little hints of scent about rather than surrounding my head with a cloud of scent.Very light. Verdict: **** I actually do really like this scent - seems like it would be a fun one to wear in spring or summer with the bergamot, but I'm not entirely sure I want a bottle. I'm more of a strawberry/apple girl for spring and summer scents, so I don't think I'm going to be reaching for it much. And my holiday order is already out of control. I might see if I can find a partial somewhere, but otherwise, I'll be content with the decant.