byrdie

Bottle ~ An almost industrial-strength floral. Wet ~ Strong and floral, but undercut with greenery. These are either tropical or recently rained-on flowers. Drying ~ Uh-oh. I'm getting floral fabric softener now. Pity I don't really like florals. Drydown ~ There might be a fruity note in here somewhere. If so, though, it's getting buried as the fabric softener tries to morph into conventional perfume. Dry ~ Hrm. Now it's turning into a dusty floral, as if someone had just burned some floral incense. Indeed, this could even be a rose. Fade ~ On me, this has turned into dusty potpourri with a strong rose component. Final thoughts ~ So, angels smell like this, huh? I'm so angelic I could just *cough*

Someone who used to work in my office is getting married asked me for wedding-day recommendations as she was placing her first order. Her findings were: Titania would make a great bride's scent for her. Oberon and Lear were a little too girly for her to be happy with on her groom. She's hoping that Jolly Roger will work on her guy. While Villain and Iago smell good on him, she was hoping for something with a more positive-sounding name for the big day. She's considering Dragon's Blood and Dragon's Milk since dragons are supposed to be lucky. Golden Priapus, Scherezade and Morocco are also possibilities. If I were getting married, I'd probably select from my absolute favorites -- depending on my mood and the weather: Aureus Dana O'Shee Dragon's Heart Embalming Fluid Laudanum Snake Oil Though I'd probably avoid Laudanum for fear I'd pass out faster from stress.

Bottle ~ A sweet lemon with an underlying crisp, airy quality. Wet ~ Lemon and ginger, I think. Yum. The crisp air has exited, stage right. Drying ~ It's changing to a powdery lemon, like lemon bars or lemon cookies. Eh, this could have been worse. It's still yummy on me. Drydown ~ The lemon is lighter but the crisp air has returned to the building. woo! Dry ~ The lemon has gotten sweeter, but sniffing my wrist almost feels as though I'm catching the scent of a whisper. Fade ~ It's still pretty much the same. Final thoughts ~ This is my second or third time trying this imp. I wasn't terribly impressed with it before, but that may have been a body-chemistry / time of the month thing. Green tea and lemon seem to do it for me, judging from my fondness for Embalming Fluid. Lovely.

Bottle ~ A warm, sweet citrus smell -- like those Brachs sugar-coated orange jelly candies, or citrus Jolly Ranchers. Wet ~ Lemon pledge and something else, something sharper. Orange? Drying ~ Definitely orange or grapefruit with a musk underneath it. Dry ~ It's fading into a citrus, cloying musky smell. Fade ~ The citrus note is far more cloying now. Final thoughts ~ Either my chemistry is off and I'm turning everything I test into weird lemon smells, or my previous go at some of these oils was a warning to stay away from them. This could turn into a good scent for anyone who does citrus and musk well, and it could be a fun bath oil for me, but not as something for directly on my skin.

Bottle ~ A strong citrus on top of a sharp incense. Wet ~ Citronella. Drying ~ Lighter citronella. Dry ~ One me, this smells like someone dumped grapefruit juice on a lit pile of incense. Fade ~ A light, powdery, musky perfume. If someone made a dusting powder from a standard commercial perfume, this is how I'd expect it to smell. Final thoughts ~ This could be nice in a bath, or as a room scent. On me, at present, it smells like I got into someone's long-discarded perfume.

Bottle ~ Taco Bell Hot Sauce. No, I don't get the association, either; but that's the first thing that came to mind. The only other connection I'm making is overripe fruit, but not of any particular type. Wet ~ Wow. I could imagine the Queen of Air and Darkness wearing, or emitting, this scent. It's airy, yet spicy and musky. Odd. Drying ~ Oh, dear. That detergent/air freshener scent that comes from port-a-potties and honey buckets. oh, fweh. Drydown ~ The scent has evolved to being like a car that has one of those pine-tree shaped air freshener cards in it. It doesn't smell like pine, per se, but a quickly-done approximation of it. Dry ~ Now I'm getting baby powder trying to cover something far sharper. Fade ~ It's becoming a combination of something that's tickling my nose hairs while making its way towards Old Lady Perfume Land. Final thoughts ~ This isn't the first time I've tried Anathema. While it's never been quite this foul on me before, it's also never quite managed to be one of my favorites. It and my body chemistry just don't work all that well.

Bottle ~ A lemony, musky floral. Wet ~ The same, but sharper. Drying ~ At first, it smelled like the notes were blending well. Now more musk is coming through. Drydown ~ The lemon and the musk are still battling it out, but there are spikes of greenery coming through as well. Dry ~ A light, perfumy floral is starting to merge again with the citrus and the musk. After a while, the sharp greenery and musk rose up again, with just a memory of the citrus. Fade ~ Hours later, it's relaxed back into a semi-lemony musk Final thoughts ~ It's okay, but not for me. I'm not a big fan of musk or florals.

Bottle ~ Fall. I'm not certain why, though. Freshly harvested apples and dying roses. Wet ~ Ugh. The floral is much stronger here. It's a bit nasty, like cut flowers that have spoiled the water they're sitting in. Drying ~ Interesting. I've started sneezing. Here's hoping that it's something other than this oil that's causing it. And yep, there's still this stale, cloying rose scent wafting up from my wrists. The murky water scent has faded off a bit. Drydown ~ Oh, no. The murk came back, and the dead-rose is just backing it up. Wasn't this supposed to smell like apples? Dry ~ Again, it's just dead-rose. Fade ~ It's fading to a dusty dead-rose. I remember that fabric color from "The Torn Birds": Ashes of Roses. Perhaps this is Ashes of Roses in Murky Water? Final thoughts ~ blech. Plain rose doesn't thrill me. Lurking, mutated, Lovecraftian rose is just kinda gross. Pity, it had such promise in the bottle.

Bottle ~ Smoky, resin, and a touch of pine. Languid, but sharp. Wet ~ A smoky grown-up perfume. I think there's sandalwood in this. Mature and bohemian. I keep expecting it to turn into a "real" perfume -- dissolving into a diluted, alcohol bite. Drying ~ This oil has turned towards a spicy incense smell in a short amount of time. It does make me think somewhat of hookah smoke. Drydown ~ I really can't describe what I'm smelling past "a lacquered wooden box in a funky/hippie imports shop." Dry ~ It's settling down into a nice incense-ash scent. It's a teeny bit sweet in the way that sugar is used to bring out the flavor of some things -- it's not a sweet scent, but it's sweet relative to when it's wet. If someone made an incense dusting-powder, it'd smell like this. Fade ~ Um. Something happened. I don't know what, though after helping a friend clean up their home, the phrase "bong water" leaps to mind. Oh, dear. Final thoughts ~ This would probably be a very lovely oil for someone who is into strong incense perfumes. It's not doing it for me, though it may make an interesting room scent sometime.

Bottle ~ Boy, am I having trouble describing this scent. If band-aids smelled good and sweet, they'd smell like this? Perhaps the way a good chai spice mix smells before diluted? I dunno. It's nice and sweet, but has a slight medicinal sharpness to it. Wet ~ A very sweet cinnamon and nutmeg scent, I guess. There is something that this is reminding me of, but I can't put my finger on it. Drying ~ For something so sweet and heavy, it's lightening up with a bit of ... maybe citrus, or something similar. Drydown ~ Earlier, I was tempted to say that this had amber or a resin in it, but I resisted. Then I went back and looked at the description because I was having so much trouble describing this scent, and discovered that it contains dragon's blood. That makes sense. On me, though, it's coming out as far more sweet and foody than the description suggests. Dry ~ Interesting scent. When it lightens, it really lightens. I can't even wave my wrists near my face and get the scent. Wow. If I put my wrist right up to my nose, I can still smell this oil on the skin to which I originally applied it. The other wrist, the one I rubbed the prime wrist against, only has the memory of something sweet happening. Fade ~ The stronger wrist is just starting to suggest the plasticy side of a resin scent. The other wrist is still pleasantly vague. Final thoughts ~ Thus far, my favorite of the Wanderlust series. I'd probably get another imp of this one, as it's quite pleasant; but it's not screaming "big bottle" at me.

TMI ~ According to my calendar, I'm ovulating today. This could explain a few things. Bottle ~ Huh. I'm not sure of how to describe the smell. It's somewhat medicinal and sharp, yet sweet. Something also seems rather minty-greenish, but strong. Menthol? Oooh! I just placed it! Booze! Like brandy or whiskey, one of the brown ones that isn't sweet! Wet ~ If pledge came in a taffy scent, that's what I'd be smelling right now. Gosh, that was ... different. Drying ~ Now I'm getting fruit-candy scented band-aids. If "Hello, Kitty" adhesive bandages had a smell, this would be it. Drydown ~ A faint memory of cherry-flavored cough-drops. Dry ~ It's dried down into a mature woman's cherry scent. A little candy-ish, but not terribly. It's also not particularly sinister. Fade ~ Oh, lordy. I'm getting wafts of the make-up sections of chain drug stores. The ones where I walk by and it smells like someone's been into the flavored lip-gloss again. Final thoughts ~ The dry stage is highly okay, but not for me. The rest of it was just plain weird.

Bottle ~ Warm, spicy and green, with an edge of damp, sweet amber. Probably one of the most complex bottle sniffs I've had so far. After a minute or two, I've started to experience a slight head-rush. Wet ~ A dusky, almost anise-like scent. I don't like anise, though, so this may be the only part of this oil that doesn't appeal to me strongly. It's smoky, but not like wood smoke or incense. It's closer to older, worn-in pipe tobacco smell, but it's not quite tobacco either. (My head is still swimming a little.) I seem to have a thing for smoky scents, so this one makes me quite happy. Drying ~ The anise-like scent is mellowing to a dried greenery. It's not strong, but I think it's similar to delivery-day at an herbalist's shop. It might be reminding me a little of sweet grass. I'm still in love, but drinking water is helping the swimmy feeling drift to the background -- no, there it is again. Drydown ~ A barely sweet smokiness remains. The smoky note seems to be coming from something dried and green. If I could ever figure out how to properly burn sweet-grass, I imagine that this is what it would smell like. Can a scent in and of itself be dehydrating? Guzzling water is the only thing that's keeping my head from hitting my desk. Dry ~ At this point, I have to darn near put my nose to my wrist to smell this one, and when I do I get a big snoot-full and feel all woobly again. Is this stuff legal? It makes me think of being snuggled up in blankets by a sweet-smelling fire with someone intoxicating. Fade ~ It takes a while to fade. Hours, in my experience. So, it's wafting power is cut in half to maximize it's staying power. Fair trade, in my opinion. Final thoughts ~ I got this in a swap from sihaya09, and it completely makes up for Persephone getting crushed during transit (*wheeze*). In high school, there were two perfumes in the whole world that I loved. One was a drug-store quality concoction called "Tea Rose" that would have me rinsing out my nostrils now. The other was a standard commercial brand called "Opium." Within the past year or two, I had a chance to sniff a sample of Opium to see if it smelled the way I remembered. Laudanum smells the way I'd hoped Opium would. I suspect that this would be a good evening or weekend scent, just based on the sheer languidness it can bring on. When my co-worker and I went downstairs for coffee the other morning, I invited the shop manager to sniff my wrist. It looks like the head-rush one can get from this oil isn't just limited to women. He also thought I smelled yummy. This could well be my first 10ml purchase, though I'm worried that I'd stay in all day and sniff myself to death.

Bottle ~ Warm, smoky amber. All I'm getting from this one is a wood / resin feel. Wet ~ Wood smoke. That's it. Just wood smoke. Drying ~ It's smelling lighter on the wrist to which I directly applied it than it is on my fingers (from opening the bottle) and my other wrist. Drydown ~ It's powdering down into a resiny incense, perhaps sandalwood. Dry ~ Wow, except for my fingers, it's almost gone; and I have to get my fingers close to my face to smell what oil that's left on them. Fade ~ I think the fading experience made a *wooshing* noise as it passed me by. Final thoughts ~ I'm fond of smoky scents, so this one is pretty nice. It'd be good to wear when I'm not in a sweet scent mood (rare though that may be) or when I suspect that I'll be around a lot of cloying scents. I think this one is a lighter mating of Cathedral and Namasté. Its got a funky holy place vibe to it, like the local botanica. It's also, for reasons I can quite pin down, rather sexy.

Bottle ~ A nice, fruity, sweet scent. The pomegranate, I suppose. Mmmm. Wet ~ ROSE. Drying ~ ROSE. Drydown ~ ROSE. Dry ~ ROSE. Fade ~ Dunno. Scrubbed it off with a peppermint soap and slatered myself with aloe vera. Final thoughts ~ waaaah!

Bottle ~ Either a fruity mint or cherry cough syrup. Not obnoxiously so, but ... the hint is there Wet ~ Somewhat velvety, actually. Velvet, the sharpness of an emerging floral and a bit of cherry, still. Drying ~ Cherry, marzipan, and florals. This is just darned strange. Drydown ~ It's mellowing, but the sharper note isn't making me happy. I think I'm getting the detergent edge that people keep talking about. oofah. Dry ~ The detergent edge is going away as it fades, but ... the fading cherry scent isn't turning me on. Indeed, again I'm getting twitchy nostril hairs. Am I taking too big of snorts from this stuff or something? Fade ~ Almost gone, actually. It's like an after-waft of cherry-scented detergent. Final thoughts ~ Meh. No trips down memory lane, no ecstatic sniffing, no idea of what season this would be great for. It's either simply there and scented, or somewhat abusive to my nose hairs.

Bottle ~ Warm strawberry bubblegum, as if I'm smelling it on a summer's day. Alrightie, then. Wet ~ Strawbe- no, wait: cherry and ... something else. Something sharp. Incense? Lemon? Lemony incense? Oh, for crying out loud; cherries and Lemon Pledge?!? Drying ~ Why is this reminding me of lipstick? Old lipstick? It smells like I'm going through a long-abandoned make-up drawer. *cough* Drydown ~ The sweetness is coming back as it fades a bit. There's still a minor incensey -- almost chemical -- edge to it, though. fweh. Dry ~ The sweet and the incense have merged a bit more smoothly, so the chemical, pledge and make-up associations are gone. Waiting longer, it's pretty much died down into something mildly pleasant that may have happened on my skin. Final thoughts ~ This is so not worth it for me, just for the result of the drydown. I may try again in a few more weeks, just to see if it's a skin chemistry issue. For now, though, this one is just rather foul.

TMI ~ My period is freshly over, and this is the first time I've tried this oil. Bottle ~ A deep, luscious, sweet berry scent. if red wine tasted the way this oil smells, I'd forgo Moscato D'Astis in the name of better health. Hm. It's been years since I've had Sangria -- perhaps that's what I'm picking up on, a sweet, rich Sangria. Wet ~ Sweet, red and incensey, all at once! If you've ever been in a new age or Middle Eastern/African shop in a Western city, you may have encountered the obligatory wooden stand of perfume samples. I've found that, ultimately, there's one that smells like this. Drying ~ All three notes are morphing together and smoothing out. I think the incense/resin note is what's giving Corazon a traditional perfume edge for me. Drydown ~ It seems to be fading fairly fast, though I only swiped one wrist and rubbed them both together. Aha! I finally placed this stage of the smell: scented candles! I couldn’t tell you what type or brand, but this oil is definitely reminding me of sniffing around scented candle displays. Dry ~ The berry wine and the resin/incense kept battling it out. It was like watching a storm pass. The lightning flashes are in the distance now and the thunder has faded in volume, but they're both still obviously going at it elsewhere. Final thoughts ~ If this is the best of the Oblation series for me, I wouldn't feel cheated in buying a big bottle. If worse came to worse, I could wear it to wine shops and ask the stewards to "find me a sweet red that tastes the way this smells."

TMI ~ My period is freshly over, and this is the first time I've tried this oil. Bottle ~ My first thought was, "perfumey." My second thought was, "a minty floral?" Wet ~ Very dusky and incensey. This smells like the sort of perfumes my mother and aunts wore when I was a kid. Not overwhelmingly offensive, but I'm still not seeing the point. Drying ~ I'm mainly getting an incense here. Kinda sweet and rather light, but mainly incense. Drydown ~ There's a citrus note coming out. Orange? Grapefruit? Sweet, citrusy incense. It's not quite as perfumey was it was before, but that edge came back a bit. Dry ~ The same, but a bit brighter. I think the citrus is winning out. Final thoughts ~ It's interesting, but I'm not in love with it. The wet stage reminded me enough of my female relatives, though, that I think that this could make a good ritual scent for certain workings.

Bottle ~ Lemon, with an edge. An almost sinus-stopping edge, actually. woofah. Very clean and crisp, but with a vengance. Wet ~ A mix of citrus. The edge could either be a floral or a musk. I'm not sure. Drying ~ I think that what turned out to be a floral is starting to overtake the citrus. These are either flowers I've rarely dealt with before or a very complex mix of them. Very girly, but I'm not sure if it's me. Drydown ~ It's becoming a powdery or bakery lemon now: light, sweet, citrus and rather uninteresting on me. Dry ~ It's so light now, that I'm barely getting lemon specifically -- just a lingering fruit scent. Final thoughts ~ meh. Good for people who want a non-sweet lemon, or a floral lemon. It's okay, but doesn't really do much for me.

Bottle ~ Either my nose is stuck on the idea of lemon, or there's just lots of it in my current order. Lemon might be the foundation of this one. Wet ~ Lemon and ... caramel? No, maybe a floral. I'm not fond of florals, so when they're mixed with something I like, I'm not great at pinpointing them. It's not an obnoxious floral, but ... huh. It's something from a hot house. Orchid, perhaps? (Can you tell that I try not to read the descriptions before writing my reviews?) Drying ~ Wow. This is a very sweet, candy-like floral. While I'm not smelling violets specifically, it reminds me of going into a sweetshop in San Francisco and trying some violet fudge. I swiped one wrist with this scent, and rubbed it onto the other, and I can smell this scent as I type. Very strong. Drydown ~ *cough* Okay, at its strongest, it's flirting with my nose hairs. Not in a bad, skin-crawly way, but enough to make me back off of sniffing my wrist too often. It's still a sweet floral, but the lemon/citrus note has faded. Hee! Flowers and candy, but Spring-like. Oh, hey -- I wonder if this would go with Lush's Sakura ballistic? Dry ~ This wafts as I move, which is quite charming. I think it'll be a good scent to wear lower on my body or under my clothes. The floral and sweet scents are starting to mingle a bit and calm each other down. Fade ~ The sweet is now the foundation, and the floral is floating above it. Between them is a teeny bit of powdery scent; but now that the initial blasts have died down, I don't mind that at all. Final thoughts ~ Oddly perfect for a floral for me. I didn't think I'd like this one from what I could remember of the description, but I'd be willing to buy a big bottle of it.

TMI ~ I'm trying this one towards the tail-end of my period, so it may turn out to be a different experience than my previous couple of attempts with it. Bottle ~ Dry lemonade mix, perhaps Country Time. Wet ~ Um. Hrm. Lemon spice? Lemon musk? Musky lemon spice? There's still a strong lemonade component, but there's something floating over it. Drying ~ My skin is warming the lemonade to the point of it becoming sultry. Is this like walking through a lemon-tree orchard in the summer, or more like sitting on the veranda with a pitcher of freshly-squeezed lemonade on a hot afternoon? This is odd: it's not the lemon furniture polish smell, and it's not the lemon drop smell. Drydown ~ Okay, the teeny incense note I detected is starting to turn into a plasticy-resin. The plastic smell is winning an argument with the lemon. I doubt that any good can come of this. Dry ~ I'm getting vauge hints of lemonade mix and a teeny bit of incense, but nothing major. Final thoughts ~ This one isn't making me drool, nor do I desperately need to wash it off. It's just ... there. I think that Embalming Fluid will remain my lemony love.

Bottle ~ Sweet and warm. Milk and honey? With a hint of leather? I' m not sure. Unfortunately, the glitter products I'm wearing have a scent to them, too. That's probably where I'm getting a hint of apple from. Wet ~ Definitely milk and honey - perhaps moreso than I noticed with Alice. Drying ~ Now O is morphing into a chocolatey scent. I wasn't expecting that. It's like opening a tin of Hershey's hot chocolate mix. It smells good ... but I'm not sure if I want to smell like chocolate. Drydown ~ Now the scent is more firmly a milk-chocolate, which suggests that the milk and honey have come back into play. Or perhaps the chocolate is what happens upon mixing milk, honey and leather? Dry ~ O has faded from milk chocolate to cocoa butter. Not bad smell, but surprising given what I remember of the scent description. Final thoughts ~ Okay, I wear this to work and a male co-worker comes over to visit with me, asking me how I'm doing and bringing up stuff from weeks or months ago to make sure I'm not feeling conflicted about anything. *blink* He only asks how I am once every two months, so this is new. It's interesting: some scents on my skin don't quite do it for me, but they seem to make other people happy. Maybe I should try to get used to smelling like a Hershey bar. Weird.

Bottle ~ A pungent, musky perfume much like the perfume balmks one can find in Egyptian-themed shops. Wet ~ A chalky, somewhat resiny scent. I want to say "spicy," but ... not in what I'd consider to be a traditional way. More like the spices I'd smell in an Ethiopian restuarant -- muted and heavy. Drying ~ It's starting to turn into what I call a round scent - where it smells like the notes enter the nose and circle 'round upon themselves. There's a somewhat astringent quality coming through, like Witch Hazel. Dry ~ I think I'm getting a strongly spicy resin or incense smell here. Like wooden tables in funky shops that have had years to soak up all of the scented smoke and now simply have their own smell. Final thoughts ~ I don't like this one on me. I think it'll do much better as a house scent than it will as a skin scent. Having a home that smells like a funky imports store doesn't sound like the worst thing in the world.

Note ~ I'm heading towards the end of my period -- I'm past the heaviest flow, but it's still there. We'll see what happens with this oil, as this may be my first try with it. Bottle ~ a very cold, sweet drink. That's all that really comes to mind, and then a bit of grape hits me. But at first, all I really smell are "cold" and "sweet," if that makes any sense. Wet ~ light grape candy. Drying ~ I'm not really familiar with fig, so I don't know if the fact that the sweet edge is fading while the, ah, "purple" foundation remains means that I'm getting fig, or if it means that I've finally snapped. I'm liking it so far, though. Dry ~ It's starting to get a little dull and powdery, or maybe there's a musk coming out that isn't thrilling me. It's a little disappointing, because the scent is starting to smell stale. Not hideous, just ... tired. Final thoughts ~ Hrm. I wonder if a lotion or some other foundation may help to keep this oil in the "drying" stage? Or maybe just slathering it on or multiple touch-ups? I'm not sure, but it'd be worth investigating. It's a fun little scent, otherwise.

Note ~ I’m trying this oil on day 3 of my period, so it may not be the same as the last few times I tried it. My sun sign is Libra, and this is the third time I've tried it. Bottle ~ This reminds me of a tea rose perfume I fell in love with in high school. I soon fell out of love, though, as it was incredibly strong and cloying. This initial sniff is, too. Wet ~ The scent has calmed down greatly, but it's far too floral for me. The geranium may be coming in to calm it down, but I'm not sure. Pity I don’t like geranium. Drying ~ Lighter than when wet, but it's still the same cloying floral. It's tickling my nose hairs in ways I don't like. Dry ~ Huh. The scent is still at the drying strength, but it seems to be maturing. Maybe it's just that it's not crawling up my nose anymore. I still don't like it, but it's not as obnoxious as it was before. Final Thoughts ~ It's my sun sign and it's discontinued, so I'm loathe to part with it. At the same time, I don't like it. Perhaps, mixed with something else, it might work as a ritual scent. Heh. Maybe I should mix it with Danse Macabre and see if it brings out the green notes for me.