allidavie

Bottled happiness. Helps reverse misfortune, brings light and laughter to even the most troubled and discordant place, and aids in alleviating the stress and discontent that accompanies so many of life's daily trials. Cool, I get to start a review thread. I'm crap at picking out notes, but to me this smelled like sticking your nose into a bag of pick and mix candy that has some bubblegum in it - the kind of bubblegum that has the powdered sugar on the outside. There's a vague cotton candy-ish element to it. But it isn't sickeningly sweet, or all that foody. It makes me think of being a little kid at a carnival at dusk in the summer. Definitely a thought that brings me joy. On drydown smells like roasted marshmallows that have gotten slightly gooey but not quite burned yet. And boy does it have lasting power. I put it on last night as a patch test to see if I was allergic and it still smelled yummy this morning! I wouldn't wear this as perfume every day, but when I'm in a bad moon on a grey winter day, you can bet I'll break this one out.

Fig, dark myrrh, amber, redwood, nutmeg, tarragon, black musk, and sweet orange. Thanks so much to Beth and the labbies for giving me the opportunity to be part of the demonic whores, and to Macha who decided I have a little bit of a slaughtering goddess in me to boot! If I could have had a custom made perfume made for me by Beth, this is just what it would've been, even if I wouldn't have known it based on the notes. At first, Aeronwen is quite green and figgy, but it is grounded with a resiny base that makes it less agressively GREEN than, say, Strangler Fig. As it dries, the fig becomes somewhat less pronounced and the amber, myrrh and musk come out more. It is a very close to the skin scent, which I adore, and the black musk in it absolutely behaves on me, which is a relief because in some blends the darker musks don't work on me. I can barely smell the tarragon and sweet orange in my skin, although I assume they're part of what I'm smelling when I smell the initial figgy goodness. This is a perfect everyday scent for someone like me, who doesn't like their perfume to enter the room before they do. It's sexy, warm, and mysterious - no one will quite be able to put their finger on what you smell like - and I think it will work for a lot of different scent lovers. It's fruity without being too sweet, resiny without being too spicy, ambery without being too powdery, and musky without being too animalistic - in short, it's my new signature perfume!

An invigorating, stimulating blend. Replenishes depleted energy stores, banishes fatigue. Extremely useful after intense ritual or prolonged spellwork. Long time listener, first time first-time reviewer. Energy is like Moxie on steroids. It works AMAZINGLY well. I've been exhausted and lethargic lately, haven't been able to get the many many many things I need to do done, in favor of sitting around and reading forums etc. all day. I used some Energy in my plug in room diffuser thing and got more done in one afternoon (I applied for 5 jobs!) than I had in the past three weeks. [Full disclosure - I was also using Concentration - I tend to use the TALs in conjunction with each other, so I'm not sure how reliable my opinions on their individual effects can be.] Can't recommend Energy enough. It also happens to smell fabulous, which while not the point of the TAL oils, certainly can't hurt. Smells like a true, sweet orange oil with a hint of spicy sweetness. There's a note in there that is a little "off" smelling (can't really describe it any better than that) - it isn't terrible, and it's buried in there, but there's just something in there... However, since I wouldn't wear this as normal perfume anyway, no worries.

White coconut, orris root, delicate vanilla, white dammar, papyrus blossom, and osmanthus. Hmmm. This is wonderful, and I love it, but my nose can barely pick out ANY of the listed notes. To me this smells like a tart lemony-sugar with a woodsy background and maybe a slight tinge of coconut. It wasn't what I expected at all. Luckily, it's even better than I expected! Will be a great winter-y energizing blend - it's a bit too sweet for summer, but it's just a great, bright fun scent.

Also, maybe try to track down some Pirate Moon - doesn't say it in the notes, but it is very salty and oceany to me without being completely aquatic (and it also isn't very coconutty either, at least not on me). (Red musk, ambergris, coconut palm, red sandalwood, balsam, date, warm leather, tobacco, ebony, lingum vitae wood, pandanus grass, an' a touch o' lime.)

Thanks so much SSDB!! Mine is definitely teal, but I wanted to be sure.

Hey - I have a bottle of Black Lace and can't remember where or when I got it. My label looks exactly like the one posted in TwilightEyes' Gallery. Is this definitely a bottle of the original that is aged? I can't figure it out from what is posted here, and I'm not super familiar with Black Lace in general. Thanks!

It's a free imp (get it?). The Lab will sometimes include them in orders, as will forumites sometimes when they swap or sell you something. If you place a huge order with the Lab, Frottles have been known to occur.

Ooh yes - how could I have forgotten Goblin!! It's like a naughty, sexy dirty beach romp Man, and to think I have never tried Goblin! Must go update my swaps list and try to get some... RiP (heh), I haven't tried Calico Jack. GingerGunlock - What exit? 63 for me. Going "home" (we sold our house a few years ago, but still rent every year) to Barnegat Light later this summer; can't wait. Screw you, Sandy!

Tiki Princess is what you're looking for. Trust (it's my holy grail scent, so I probably shouldn't have told you that!!! ). Obatala is very close, though, and works really well layered with other scents. I really love it layered with Strangler Fig - that was my go-to summer scent before Tiki Princess came out. And if you layer Obatala with Snow White (a Yule LE that tends to come out every year) you get something pretty close to Tiki Princess. Spider Silk bath oil isn't all that coconutty on me, but it does have a summery, beachy freshness to it that you may like and it is still live on the Trading Post website. You may also want to try Aunt Rosie's All Purpose Cephalopod Bath Oil, which is live in the Trading Post Etsy store - it's notes are Lush coconut, ambergris accord, sweet rice milk, Siamese benzoin, white ginger, and orange pekoe and it is yummeh. I'll keep thinking on it - I have to slather myself in sunscreen all day and the only one I like is Hawaiian Tropic, so I've spent a loooooot of time trying stuff in the "compatible with beachiness" category. ETA: I'm sorry, after looking again I realize that Aunt Rosie's is sold out. I could have sworn I *just* saw it listed again, but I guess I was wrong.

It's not really basil-ly, per se, but Strangler Fig is sort of along the lines of what you're talking about, although it is more sweet, slightly spicy, green earthy if that makes sense.

All three of these tasted wonderful. They do take a second to warm up and really become flavored, but I adore that they are so dense that they are almost impossible to crunch up. They last for a really long time and are great for people like me who could chew through a bag of Werther's in about ten minutes. I was expecting to dislike Ghoulish, because I hayyyyyyte cherry-flavored things, but it turns out I only hate artificial fake cherry flavor. The flavoring used here tasted like actual bing cherries, macerated and soaked in amaretto and Ghoulish may well have been my favorite of the three. Autumn Cider was wonderful, tasted like mulled apple juice (juice more than cider, with a ton of spices but not that kind of thick apple cider-y taste) and I barely got any of the butterscotch, which was fine by me. More like hot buttered apple juice? Blue Pumpkin Floss was very tasty, but the taste didn't read as pumpkin necessarily to me. I got a lot of the blackberry, and a marshmallow-y like sweetness that I think was the cotton candy, along with some pumpkin pie spice-like flavor. But not much of the pumpkin. All in all, I really liked these and am glad I tried them. However, the price is kind of steep and I think part of what you're paying for is the adorable packaging that I'm sure I will save but will have trouble reusing. I'd love to see candies either offered in bulk w/o the tin altogether, or offered in a taller, smaller diameter tin that would be big enough to stand either imps or bottles upright for easy reuse. I realize that's unlikely to happen since Confounding Confections probably wants to use the same tin for the whole line. But I must really like them, since I am totally tempted to get some of their other stuff through Etsy.

Try Aizen-Myoo in Excolo! "Yuzu, kaki, and mikan with cherry blossom and black tea." Yuzu smells like a bitter-sweetish lemon-y grapefruit? It's a lovely citrus/floral and I don't think it gets enough love!

A day of remembrance and intercession. Without the prayers and sacrifices of their families and loved ones, the faithful departed may not be cleansed of their venal sins, and thereby cannot attain beatific vision. On November 2nd, prayers are sung and offerings are made to aid lost souls in transcending purgatory. An incense blend that invokes the higher qualities of mercy and compassion, mingled with the soft, sugared currant scent of offertory soul cakes. This is lovely. I bought this because I burn a lot of candles in memory of relatives, friends and a couple of pets, so I won't be burning it right away. It smells like lovely light incense, sweetened with an almost baby oil like light powdery musk. Not overwhelmingly strong, but beautiful. I'll update my post when I actually burn it.

I second the Dorian rec! I think it will be exactly what you're looking for.

Just found some of this, so it's pretty well-aged at this point. I haven't smelled O for years, I loved fresh O but it would start to smell cloying on me after I had it a few months for some reason. This smells exactly like that fresh O, and it's wonderful - a clean wildflower honey (not sticky at all), amber and vanilla with some sort of light flowery note to balance it. Lovely.

Don't kill me for telling you this but a v. difficult to find bpal is very, very, very close to Baby Doll, which was one of the very few commercial perfumes I ever wore regularly. It's called the Ecstasy of Infatuation, and if you love Baby Doll, it'd be worth seeking it out.

I think Jersey Devil might be exactly what you're looking for: The scent of the wild, hauntingly beautiful Pine Barrens of New Jersey! Pitch pine with blackberry leaf, cranberry, cedar wood and tomato leaf.

Now THAT must be a pretty exclusive scent.

Hope this doesn't come across as self-promotion but myrhh and amber lovers should definitely try out Aeronwen - it's awesome, if I do say so myself. Hee.

Tiki King, from the sadly departed Atomic Luau collection, is just what you're describing, to my nose. Except I want all of it for myself, so forget I just told you that! As usual, must throw in a plug for the coconut green-flowery love that is Obatala layered with Strangler Fig - sound like you might like that one too Beatrice!

The TAL sleep blend, Nocturne, smells very similar to AOBS to me. Does anyone have new suggestions for things that smell like Gavarnie/Flowertub (and Jungle, to a lesser extent)? I still have a sliver of Gavarnie left and I'll be so sad when it's gone, as it seems not to be getting any remake love lately.

Have you tried Pirate Moon (if you can track some down)? It is very salty on me, and the red musk, which usually doesn't behave on me at all, is very low-key. I'm another white-musk-and-no-other-musk type of girl, in general, and I love Pirate Moon.

Y'know when Kramer sells the idea for beach perfume to Calvin Klein? Calvin only wishes he'd come up with this. Instant top 5 for me. This is going to be a summer go-to scent for me, and I may have to break my no hoarding rule for it!

So sorry to hear about your friend. Something you might want to think about - don't wear anything you really love and plan to wear again. I've unfortunately been to way too many funerals in the past few years, and it's amazing how much scents can bring all that back. I can't even smell crucible of courage because I wore it when my dog was dying and I had to put her to sleep - smelling it makes me so sad. But to answer your question, the most comforting scents to me are Chaste Moon (if you have it), Obatala, and Snow White.