waternight

In the imp: Quite herbal and fairly dry. Hints of snow and blue musk, but mostly herbal.

Wet: Heavily herbal. It's somewhat bitter - almost minty, but really green and gritty mint leaves with none of that cold minty blast. Blue musk is really trying to hold its own, but it's struggling against the dominant mugwort. This is not a sweet scent at all.

Dry: Not much of a morpher. Stays heavily herbal. Quite an odd scent.

In the imp: Sweet, honeyed floral, heavy on the rosehip

Wet: Same - lightly honeyed rosehips. After a minute, I get a liiiiitle bit more jasmine and a tiny hint of ginger.

Dry: This one doesn't morph much, and stays fairly consistently sweet, lightly honeyed rose, with just a hint of jasmine. I was hoping for more jasmine and ginger, so I will be retesting at various times of the month to see if my skin chemistry affects note prominence later. As it is, it's VERY pretty, but if I can't get more jasmine out of it, I don't think I need yet another rose-dominant scent.

In the imp: Lush, bright floral, lightly spicy, a hint of light resin.

Wet: Yummy...just...yummy. Lush lilac and carnation, a bit of benzoin, a subtle thread of aniseseed...this blend is just heavenly.

Dry: Benzoin gets a bit more assertive. This is a very rich scent - lilac and carnation supported by benzoin and little hints of tuberose and aniseseed. Full, rich, lush...mature and confidant and womanly. Absolutely amazing.

In the imp: Fresh green florals

Wet: As in the imp - wet, green, gardeny flowers. It's definitely a wet and dewy scent, but it doesn't read as "swampy" to me as it does for others. Very reminiscent of being in a lush conservatory. Just lovely.

Dry: Doesn't morph much at all - stays a beautifully fresh and green floral. I will enjoy my decant greatly.

Yup - deep, earthy, gritty, rooty, dry. Loooooooooove. This puppy sticks around for a good while, too, and without morphing. Some days I just want to huff straight-up patchouli, and this is perfect for that. I will definitely use my decant, and may even have to track down a bottle.

Sniffing from the imp and wet on my skin, this is a truly glorious scent - bright, airy frankincense, dry and light, with just a hint of warm and wonderful bourbon vanilla that's not too sweet or cloying. Amazing. Sadly, the bite of the resin fades and the vanilla becomes more prominent the drier this gets. It's still a beautiful and calming blend, but I wish the way it smells wet stayed longer. I will definitely keep and love my decant, but I will not hunt down a bottle. Then again, if I ever get a scent locket, this would be MAJORLY bottle-worthy.

Oh, Siren. We had so much potential as a couple....

In the imp: um...nail polish?

Wet: vanilla spiked eith ginger, but with an undercurrent of something overripe and stanky, which I have to assume is apricot, since jasmine loves my skin. This smells almost like camphor, with a strange root beer note. Very much not what I was expecting in the least.

Drying/dry: The root beer note never goes away, but the apricot has lost its rottenness, and everything smells much smoother and more cohesive. Quite sweet - vanilla and...stuff. I want the ginger to be spicier, the apricot to be drier, the jasmine to be, uh, jasminier. This scent is unsettling and strange, and yet there's something that keeps drawing my nose back to my arm. Not in an "I want to smell like this" wagy, but in a bewitching and almost reluctant way...very evocative of the inspiration. Without the apricot this could be a killer sexy scent on me. *weeps*

In the imp: White floral. When I sniff deeply I get the sandalwood and fig underneath.

Wet: Green! Much less floral. A base of lily, with creaky fig and cheerful apple blossom floating on top. I really like it in this stage.

Dry: Sad face - the fig and apple blossom are totally dominated by sandalwood and lily soapiness. Not for me.

Black Opal, definitely.

Glasgow. Out of the hundreds of blends I've tried from the Lab, Glasgow still remains my number one favorite. Gorgeous, light, gentle fruity-floral, not overly sweet at all.

For a light, clean berry scent, I highly recommend Glasgow. Blackberries and the suggestion of light rose...just gorgeous. Seems like it might be up your alley.

Imp: Anise! And something dark and spicy.

Wet: A loooooooot sweeter than I was expecting, considering the notes! Strongly anise, though there is also something cool and minty to this - damp lichened cave walls indeed. Not getting vetiver. Possibly some oak leaf. Strong throw!

Dry: Strong, sweet anise. Slightly spicy. Not my style.

In the imp: Resinous and spicy-sweet from the red current.

Wet: Sweet, spicy musk, juicy red current, and heady kush. A slight drizzle of honey. Yummy! Sweet but spicy, slightly smoky, thick and resinous but not sticky. Really sexy!

Dry: Sweeter. Sweet incense, with an edge that is red musky. Sadly, red musk haaaates me. Sad face.

Edit: About 8 hours later I woke up and caught a whiff of my arm where I'd applied, and HOLY CRAP if all the iffy notes haven't burned away, leaving behind the most drop-dead-sexy musk ever. This is what I wanted Smut to be like.

I admit, I did NOT have high hopes - or hopes at all - for this blend. Vetiver is usually a note of doom for me, and most fruits don't work on me at all.

Oh how wrong I was.

Imp: Cedarwood and olive leaf. Very woody, with the light oily creaminess of olive leaf. A light sweetness running through it that might be raspberry leaf.

Wet: Initially, almost identical to as it is in the imp. I get the raspberry leaf, and it's definitely sweet and fruity, but it's not going all sticky-candy like so many fruit notes do on me. I also get a thread of vetiver's dirty darkness, but it's behaving for once.

Dry: I'm very pleasantly surprised with this blend! Based on the notes, I would've sworn this wouldn't work on me. But it's a beautiful dry, woody, slightly dark-spicy, planty-sweet blend. If you're a woods lover and generally shy away from blends with fruit notes, try this one out. She breaks the rules.

I love Sudha Segara for a soothing, calm mood. Great for sleeping.

In the imp: Fresh, green, pulpy, slightly astringent.

Wet: Extremely light. Sharp mandarin and...sweat? This takes on an off-putting sweaty/cat pee smell. Ack. After a few minutes, the sweat/cat pee goes away and this becomes predominantly a lovely freesia scent, with a current of watery honeydew underneath.

Dry: I loved the freesia stage, but dry this is a pretty nondescript aquatic floral on me.

In the imp: straight up peach, slightly boozy, barest hints of resin and myrtle.

Wet: Yup. Sticky sweet peach. Globs of it overripe, starting-to-ferment peaches. Extremely sweet and sticky. Smells like candy. As it dries, the musk and ambers show up a bit more.

Dry: A bit deeper and spicier due to the resins, but this stays a very very sweet candy peach on me. NOT my cup of tea!

In the imp: Yeah. Nail polish, as others have said. And, wierdly, sour ylang-ylang.

Wet/Drydown: Much gentler and less sour/acrid than in the imp. Actually... wow, actually really awesome and unique. There's something very fresh and outdoorsy about this, and normally "outdoorsy/fresh" does NOT translate well on my skin. I smell... lemon? Something quite crisp and citrusy, but in an understated way. Like lemon juice sprayed over wet lettuce. This is not barren, scorched, or desolate to me at all, though there is definitely a slightly dusty, dirty, earthy quality to it. The image that comes to my mind is a dry, unwatered field that's been sown and is waiting for the spring rains to start. This doesn't smell like plant life or a garden, but the POTENTIAL of a garden. The possibility of growing things. There's also, oddly enough, something that reminds me of the way humans smell. Not stanky BO, nor the personal scent of someone you really, really want to jump. Just... person smell. This is INCREDIBLY evocative and unbelievably unique. I'm in awe of the artistry of this scent.

Dry: A really unique and different skin-scent. I love this so much. So, so, so much.

In the imp: Musk! Lovely, light China musk and white musk, which are my favorite musks. Maybe a tiiiiiiny drop of vanilla. No lemon to speak of, nor neroli, which I'm hoping will be a trend, as neroli tends to ruin blends for me.

Wet/Drydown: Very light. Very similar to how it smelled in the imp, with just a touch more powdery vanilla. Ahhh the powder is most likely coming from the sandalwood. I still get absolutely no lemon from this at all. After a few minutes, something a bit more robust and spicier starts to amp, which I think is the bergamot. It blooms briefly, then settles back down.

Dry: Light musk, slightly powdery, slightly vanilla-y, slightly sandalwoody. Pleasant, but probably not something I'll reach for much.

GLASGOW.

 

Seriously. Utterly fruity-floral and absolutely organic and non-synthetic. As a person who has a problem with a ton of scents going to sweet/sugary on me, I can vouch for Glasgow's awesomeness.

Hmm, on the other hand, if other "green/leafy" scents go bad on you, Glasgow may not be the best choice. I wish I got "absolutely organic and non-synthetic" from Glasgow but it was straight-up fresh glacier meadow rain mountain air dryer sheets on me. But all green or "grassy" scents do that to me.

 

OP, if you can get a decant of Cupid Complaining to Venus, that is a fabulous floral with peach and apple. It does have honey, though, and maybe that's what makes Les Bijoux go too sweet on you?

Huh... interesting that it does that in your skin, because I, too, usually get straight-up synthetic out of "green/grassy/leafy" scents, but Glasgow doesn't do that at all on my skin.

GLASGOW.

Seriously. Utterly fruity-floral and absolutely organic and non-synthetic. As a person who has a problem with a ton of scents going to sweet/sugary on me, I can vouch for Glasgow's awesomeness.

In the imp: Sweet jasmine

Wet: Definitely a strong jasmine scent, but with a gentle sweetness that tempers the sometimes-overpowering intensity of jasmine. The honeysuckle adds the sweetness, and the skin musk adds a lovely soft warmth. I love this - I'm one of those people who actually adores jasmine, and this is an absolutely gorgeous blend. It has that strong jasmine that I love, but it's gentle enough to not overpower those around me.

Dry: The jasmine softens even further, and the honeysuckle comes out more. They blend seamlessly together - I smell them both, but not as separate elements. This scent is like a snuggly soft sweater and a gentle smile. Win!

I've had this and loved this for a while, and I love to wear it, so I figured I should get around to doing an actual review...

In the bottle: Sharp floral - orchid - with a tangy musk.

Wet/Drydown: Musk blossoms immediately - a heady sweet musk that's quite lovely. Rose is the dominant floral now, blending with the orchid, but the florals aren't overwhelming. A touch of cream, but again, not overpowering, just helping the musk smooth out what otherwise could be very sharp florals. Mainly an exotic musk scent with heady flowers underneath. After a bit the scent softens, and the notes kind of melt together a bit more. This scent is utterly feminine, in a very womanly, sensual way. An erotic scent.

Dry: Smooth creamy musk with a lacy edge of floral sharpness. Utterly delicious.

In the imp: Sweet plants, touch of herbalness. Not what I was expecting!

Wet/Drydown: Same as in the bottle. Sweet creaminess! Almost a vanilla-cakey smell. Much sweeter than I was expecting - not swampy at all! I get no woods, no water, no rot. Vanilla cream over juicy, lightly crisp plant stems. This actually reminds me of biggerCritters. After a bit, it takes on a hint of spiciness that's very nice, but what's this? Do I detect a hint of sweet pea??? Sweet pea does not love me, but luckily this note is barely a suggestion in the "after-scent". After a little more time, this takes on a light nutty quality.

Dry: Still thick and sweet. Gets a bit perfumey after several hours. It's nice! I don't know how often I'll reach for it, but it is nice.

I didn't actually put forethought into a scent for the Inauguration, but I had Illustrated Woman in my purse today, so that's what I'm wearing. Thank G-d it seems to work even when I'm on my Lady Times!