darkitysnark

Pumpkin Patch 2 Once again, my PP disclaimer: I got a set of decant imps for a pumpkin crazy friend (he got both my old and new formulation Jack imps after I figured out I couldn't stand them) but I have been given permission to test before I deliver. I am not a fan of pumpkin, but PP1 proved that I can grow to love it. Plus, in my continuing effort to educate my nose, what better way than to go through a series of blends that have at least one note in common? So, on with the experiment! In the bottle: Very assertive butter/nut note that I also get from Gluttony and Bliss. Gluttony is more aggressive/scary, and Bliss is more milk chocolately than this, but they are what came to mind for similarity. Wet/drydown: Thankfully, the butter recedes and all but disappears. The nuts are really lovely--toasted and subtle but definitely there as a grounding note. The cocoa is very light, dry, and more of a slightly gritty dusting on top rather than a huge honking bar in the middle. But the pumpkin. Yikes! I thought in PP1 that the over-sweet girly cosmetic fragrance I was picking up was due to the spiced apple, but noooo. It's the pumpkin! This is too too sweet cloying fruitiness. Later: This has been on for a little over an hour. The waft is tremendous. I'm still getting crazy sweetness, but as per PP1's late evening surprise, I'll update in a few hours. ETA: several hours later, this was an almost gone, next-to-skin powdery cocoa. Nice, but not remarkable. This one had medium to low staying power on me. The Mr. said "This smells like bandaids"!

Pumpkin Patch 1 First off, disclaimer: I don't really like pumpkin blends. This opinion is based solely on testing both the old and new formulation of Jack. So maybe I don't like butter. In the bottle: Immediately something sharp hits me but dissipates so quickly I can't really place it. Cinnamon? The sharp kaPOW is replaced with lovely mulled cider. Very nice. Wet/drydown: The apple gets sweeter, juicier. I'm not getting a straightforward squashiness, but something is amping up the sweetness. In fact, this is getting really, almost unbearably sweet on me. Later: This smells exactly like a tiny lipstick I used that was part of a "dress up" kit for girls. Sugar sweet with a strange potpourri tang. I'll be testing out the other four blends (thanks to OriginalWacky!) and maybe I'll be able to finally decide how I feel about Beth's pumpkins. (Hm. Sounds a bit lascivious. ) ETA: Four hours later and HOT DAMN. This smells sooo good. It's all spicy dark yumminess with only a hint of the super sweetness from before. I'm even getting a slight incense note. Maybe my skin eats pumpkin and makes the incense? Am I gonna hafta rethink this whole pumpkin thing? Can't stop smelling my wrist = must be a good thing!

Megaera I've tried this one a couple times now and am still undecided... In the bottle: Juicy, dark, tangy fruit. The plum and the grapefruit must be fighting it out because I don't get a strong impression either way other than: juicy, non-berry fruit. Wet/drydown: Overwhelming fruit mixed with a sweet, light floral (the orris? I'm not familiar enough with flowers to pick them all out). Very, very sweet. Too sweet! I seem to always regret putting on however much of this I did... hindsight always tells me to go lighter with this one. Very strong! Later: Still extremely strong. I'm not sure of my throw, but I'm wafting like a fiend. The amber has warmed up enough to be noticed, but it's almost drowned in the fruity, floral fisticuffs going on higher up. When I sniff directly from my wrist, I get plum sharpened by tangy grapefruit, that pugnacious floral, and in the background, lovely amber... and some sort of sharp feral note at the very end, right at the edge of smelling. Ouch. Sounds like I don't like it, right? But oddly enough... I feel really outrageously feminine right now. Like I have discovered the power of my sex and aren't afraid to use it. Suggestion? Probably. Still.. I'll most likely hang on to this one for days when I need a little oomph. Just gotta remember to use half-a-swipe next time.

Bearded Lady Got to try a bit during the Oregn Meet 'n' Sniff too ( Hi Emu!). Every time I say something like "I don't do rose/florals/etc. etc." just... just tell me to shut my mouth. Or better yet, waft a little Bearded Lady my way. Because this? Was lovely. No particular floral stood out for me (which is surprising as I throw rose like a fiend) but rather blended very nicely into a soft yet persistent "pretty". Kind of like Queen Mab, in effect, but less exotic, more comforting. The amber/vanilla/warmth underneath really grounded this. I could see how this could be interpreted as a hermaphroditic blend as well with this earthy bottom. But the florals are just so darn... pretty. Really love this. Dangit.

Voodoo Yowza. This is a very complex blend. Looking back over the notes, I can see why I'm having mixed feelings. It's got notes I love love love ( clove , vanilla, myrrh), notes I don't love so much (patchouli, pine), and notes about which I am deeply ambivalent (lime, almond, vetiver). So... In the bottle: sharp, green, bitter, spicy, aggressive, just a little scary Wet/drydown: This blend morphs quite a bit at this phase. At first it's just a more intense POW of my "in the bottle" impressions, then it gets sweeter. Way, WAY sweeter. Then spicy. I should note that I also have Lush's Pied de Pepper foot creme on my hands, which is probably amping up the clove. There's also a very animalistic bottom to this, the vetiver? I'm almost afraid to kiss The Mr. good bye as my sudden aggressive pungentness might set off his sore throat. He seems to be OK/oblivious to it. Later: This is a STRONG one. It's been about three hours since I applied and shows no signs of waning at ALL. It has calmed down to a sweetness that makes me want to change the androgynous pronoun to a "she". She's still sharp and spicy, but the sweetness rounds off the pointy bits. I would probably use this (very sparingly!) on days I need some more courage/chutzpah to face whatever challenges may come. In other words, this is my sweeter, darker backup for French Creole.

Shub-Niggurath Tempete was kind enough to pass on an imp to me since I've been slow to take on any LE's (for fear of falling in love with one/all of them). This one almost got me. Almost. In the bottle: Sharp ginger and nuts. Yes. I know there aren't any nutty notes in this, but there's something to the foody quality of this oil that makes me want there to be nuts for some reason. Maybe not the astringent tang of almond, or the earthy base of hazelnut, but there's just something there that says... nuts. Wet/drydown: Gingered Tapioca. Spicy, foody, yummy! Later: It's more gingery than anything else, but I can pick up the spices underneath. It feels like this is all top notes and bright colors without a base. I took an afternoon bath which wiped out the oil I had on my skin and in my hair, but up until then, this blend seemed to have medium to fairly strong staying power on me. In conclusion: I liked it. I didn't love it, but I'll definitely use up this imp. The Mr. gives this a "that's interesting", which is high praise from him as he normally can't tell the difference between my oils. I do want to seek out more ginger blends now, though. Yum!

Kuang Shi Hm. I could not for the life of me pick up on any of the individual notes in this blend. Either I've lost what ol factory sophistication I had, or this is just another one of those absolutely perfectly blended oils that comes at you in swirly waves of mingled colors and textures, or, option C: a little bit of both. In the bottle: Hm. Sweet and sour. Not that gelatinous dipping sauce at the Chinese buffet, but something homemade with orange zest, simple syrup, and vinegar. Something that gets your gleekers going with a weird mix of anticipation and dread. Wet/drydown: Whoa. I do NOT like this. It's sharp, bitter, attacking the back of my throat and... hm, not so bad, in fact, I like sniffing my wrist for those woody/musky undertones but... eeeesh, I'm still kind of... scared? Where'd that come from? Later: Medium staying power, this one doesn't waft much, but it's there. Lurking. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Compelled and repulsed at the same time. If I can think of a moment/mood in which I would actually wear this, I'll keep it. But... it's also just as likely for swaps. Interesting side note: I usually assign gender automatically to my oils. This one is beyond definition of he or she. It's definitely an "it".

Envy Another one of my "now where did this one come from?" imps that I tried before the move, but never posted about... I'll update from my spreadsheet when I get home. In the bottle: Everyone else seems to be getting lavender. Not sure if it's the cat's litter box in the bathroom that's been throwing me off, but I'm not getting lavender. I'm picking up a green, vegetable garden scent. Wet/drydown: Green! Green green green green GREEN! I have a very clear mental image of a slightly woody stalk snapped in half, sap on my fingers. It seems like this should be a sharp green, but it's not. The lime is not turning into Pledge like lemon does on me... it's not really in the forefront, but it's there, keeping the green from getting aggressive. I really like this! Later: Hm. Green is gone. Now I have a very, very light (read: will fade away in a few hours) clean soapy smell. This is a different soap from what I get from blends with "ozone" notes, it's more earthy, a little sweeter... but definitely soap. I'll followup with lasting power notes when I get home and look up from whom I received this imp... but it looks like this one is not for me.

Hellfire I've had this imp for a while, it was a swap from the ever thoughtful minilux (hi! ). Didn't realize I haven't reviewed 'til now! (nice WSYWYG reply feature, btw, me likey). So... In the bottle: Heavy, manly, a little fruity (I always get fruit from leather). Wet, drydown: Incense and musky BO. Can't really put it any other way. I'm a little frightened by it. This oil has incredible throw on me, and I keep glancing sidelong to all the other bus passengers to see if they are picking up on my bizarre funkiness. Later: Leather and I have an interesting relationship. I want to love leather, but leather does weird stuff to me. Leather goes all sweet and berries and just. Not. Leather. I want leather to just be who he really is, he doesn't have to hide! Anyways, I'm getting leather like leather is around me, and baby powder, and still that funky spicy BO, with a dry incense in the background sort of holding it all together. Not immediately something I would glom onto, but... but... I felt dead sexy all day long. Sure other things might have attributed to this, but every time I've worn a "smoky" oil from The Lab... I just feel very rawr. Like I could grab the next person walking past by the ears and just ravish them. And leave a good smelling corpse. And this oil lasts and lasts and lasts. Summing up: Not an instant hit, but it's grown on me. Anything that gets such a strong emotional response needs to be on hand for exacting medicinal purposes.

Van Van Woo. I'll have to get back to you on the Voodoo qualities of the oil, though I am striking out with more confidence at work today. In the bottle: Green, but not bitterly so. Bright and lemony without being Pledge. Wet/drydown: I was in a rush during this phase, but I think it went straight to baby powder on me. The throw on this blend is amazing. I kept wafting myself on the bus all the way to work (about 45 minutes). I can still smell myself now almost four hours later. So... Later: Yes, this is a strong one with great throw. Unfortunately, what's getting thrown about is pure baby powder on me. There's a harshness in the back of my throat that I also get with Crossroads during the drydown phase. If I sniff deeply, I do get a darker layer of ... something, under the powder. The vetivert other people have picked up, maybe? Off to swaps!

There's a great discussion thread up on amber here. I've just recently discovered that I like certain ambers too (though it can sometimes get too sweet on me). Good luck in your search!

Undertow In the bottle: Fruit and... fruit? I'm not getting any sharp juniper or cool mint at all... just a sort of tart green fruit. Someone else mentioned green apples, and this is the closest to what I'm getting. Wet/drydown: The fruit is still tart, but also very, very sweet now. Like green apple candy. Later: It's only been about 1.5 hours, so I'll need to update with notes on how long this will last... but I seem to have settled into a green apple bubblegum (thanks to the lotus). As I've stated before, time and time again, lotus and I aren't in a happy place together. I will digress a bit to say even though I seem to be getting a lot of misses lately, I'm thrilled to pieces that there is this much variety in Beth's oeuvre that I can satisfy my latent mad scientist skillz by testing out the viability of certain specific notes on my flesh in all these infinite combinations. So even when it's a "boo" it's a "yay"!

Black Lotus Ok. So I've figured one thing out. Me + Lotus = bubbalicious. Dangit. The instant bubblegumminess of Paris must've been due to the lotus. This isn't as shockingly bubble gum as Paris, but I just can't get past it to pick up anything else. No myrrh, no amber, no sandalwood. Ack. I'm about six hours in, and the practically single-note lotus is still here. It's not as obnoxiously candy-like, but I'm still gonna hafta say, this one's a swapper. Ah well.

Bliss In the bottle: Slightly bittersweet chocolate. I'm a bit wary as the other chocolate scents I've tried (Vice, maybe?) went kind of bitter/burnt on me. Wet/Drydown/Later: OMFG! Chocolate in a bottle! Chocolate captured! Pure, lovely, sweet, milky chocolate. I want to eat my wrists off. I want to <censored> the Mr. I want to pour this all over me and smell like this all the friggin' time! A little later, after the drooling stops: Hm. This one faded out on me after a few hours. Not sure if it was the allergies or the distractions (saw Sin City with some friends and didn't really keep my nostrils to my wrists during all the flinching). This is a keeper, but maybe I'll try antimony's chocolatey hair idea to see if it'll last longer...

Gah. While the forums were down I managed to convince myself that I would still be able to review blends without having to write any notes down anywhere. Because I'm stoopid. So... hm... Hellcat In the bottle: Butterscotch Schnapps! Very buttery and boozy. Wet: There's a brief spark of undistinguishable fruitiness, then Drydown: Overpowering... something. (Very helpful, I know ) It's just a very strong, overpoweringly sharp "perfume" scent that is creating a harsh feeling in the back of my throat. I can still pull sweetness out of it too, but the harsh whatever-the-heck-it-is is almost hurting my nose. Yikes! Later: About four hours later Hellcat calms down to a smooth, slightly over-sweet honey creaminess. I've tried this one twice, and have gotten the weird super harsh phase both times. I'm right in the middle of my spring allergies, so hopefully that's got something to do with it (that and the dust/cat hair/miscellaneous detritus that we've been unearthing during the packing up process). I'll give her one more try after the move to see if she needs to move on.

Jezebel In the bottle: What is that? Orange, only not exactly orange... must be the orange blossom. And something very light and floral. To me Jezebel actually starts off pretty innocently. Very innocuous and unassertive. Boy am I in for a surprise. Wet: As is my skin's common reaction to anything with even just a hint of rose, I can't smell anything but rose. Drydown: Rose, rose, rose, rose, darker rose, sweeter rose, dark and sweet and secret rose. The whole time the rose note is fluctuating between budded innocence and full-bloom lascivious, the perfume as a whole is getting stronger. And stronger. And STRONGER. Later: I'm not sure Jezebel is throwing all that much, but I'm definitely wafting to myself. Every single breath I've taken today (and we're going on to hour six at this point) has made me very aware of her. I'm dressed fairly mannish, and yet I feel busty and ultra-feminine. For a long, long while all I got was baby powder. Not a bad medicinal powder, but something sweeter and a bit more quiet. Still, the combination of the rose, honey, and sandalwood (the orange blossom seems to have vanished completely) were combining to a pretty straightforward baby powder. Not my cuppa. But. She shifts. Every breath, every wave of my body heat insinuating up from my linen button down shirt takes on a shade more rose, or a shade more honey () or veers darker into sandalwood territory. This is not a scent for the office or everyday. This is a scent for seduction. For dressing up, maybe even when buttoned up from ankle to chin. But by letting this scent waft from any opening in that elaborate costume, it's the ol factory equivalent of parading around in lacy unmentionables in impossibly high heels. Yowza.

Crossroads In the bottle: Light florals, predominantely jasmine. Being away from my spreadsheet (mommy?) when I tested this, I was trying to remember the description of the blend and didn't recall the florals. (but rechecking the site description has set me straight) Wet: JASMINE! Drydown: I put this on right before a mini-roadtrip. The Mr. made me roll down the windows because it "smell[ed] like a head shop in here". I still get mostly jasmine at this point, but there's also that blended incense, slightly soapy green note that does conjure tapestries and soapstone stash boxes. (sarada's right... this is Hobbit Head Shop!) Later: It's been about six hours and all I get now is the same yummy, deep, warm incense blend that Nefertiti, and to a similar (albeit slightly different) extent Danse Macabre turn into. This is what I have shorthanded my "skin" scent. In fact, Nefertiti tends to start out Jasmine on me and then calm down to this utter deliciousness. I'll have to do a wrist by wrist comparison to check on this... I'm sure there are nuances I'm missing. (For example: Nefertiti never goes headshoppy on me.) This is a perfect spring scent for me. Not too perky and bright... just the right amount of flowers (after the first blast) and it calms down to what's become my favorite intimate just-for-me scent. ETA: Hm. Oddly enough, the perfect floral blendedness has changed to a sharp green sting in the back of my throat! Not sure if that's a seasonal thing, or something to do with getting off of BCPs, but there you have it. Crossroads is no longer good on me (except for the lovely skin phase at the end. Mmmmm.) Up for swaps!

Kyoto I had to test this one twice as I was distracted the first go 'round. My friends (the distractions) did note that the initial hit after applying was "almost too sweet". In the bottle: Thick, dark, woody cherry. Cherry wood, I suppose. Very mellow. Wet/drydown: This happened pretty quickly. The cherry bubbled up over the darker notes and exploded into the front of my mouth in a bright red candy-like POW! This is crazy cherry syrup YIKES with incredible throw. Eventually, maybe 30-45 minutes later, the cherry subsides and I feel like it's safe to go out. Later: Four hours in and the sandalwood takes over. Mmmm. I'm beginning to understand incense notes are my "skin" notes. All warm and natural and close to my body. This is something that asks the sniffer to come hither and rewards the intimacy with a delicious, private blend of slightly fruity, mostly dark comfort tinged with the potential for more strenuous activity later. Conclusion: This seems to have medium staying power on me. Even with the lovely "later" effect, this is one for the swaps for all the loud fruitiness at the beginning. I'm beginning to wonder if there is such a thing as a mellow berry/cherry/fruit note in relation to my skin.

Jack II I've got Jack I and II thanks to gimp happy forumites () so I'll make sure to post my impressions of the original Jack here as well... In the bottle: Super buttery! I can pull a high, green peach note after all the butter with successive sniffing. Wet: This is a one-two punch of Butter! Then Peach! Drydown: The peach is really taking over. This is an underripe, slightly green crunchy peach, not a soft, squishy, sugared peach. The note is sharp and a little aggressive on my nose. I'm getting a bad tang reaction in the back of my throat from this. I think I might be one of the few that Jack does not enamour. Later: I spent the rest of the day (about 6-8 hours) wafting peach. As the day wore on the peach became less aggressive and almost palatable. Almost. Funny thing was, wrist sniffs gave me all the spicy, nummy goodness that everyone else seems to pick up. But the waft. The waft is killing me! At the end of the day Mr. Snarky had this to say about day-old Jack: "Smells normal to me". I have no idea what that means either. Alas, Jack II, I believe you are off to swaps. If I get a chance I'll review Jack I this weekend.

Lampades This one reminded me of Kabuki somewhat, maybe just because of the color. I'm getting the same mouth-filling fruitiness but this is much less candy-like. In the bottle: Berries? Fruit and dark musk. Wet: Bright fruity explosions, the musk recedes. Drydown and later: This one pretty much stayed the same after initial application, not much morphing at all. It's a fruity scent with a touch of something darker to curb any candy-like tendancies. Loved it in the bottle, but on me this is a little flat and uninteresting. Up for swaps with ya!

The World I'm going to forego my usual review style because this one defies catagorization for me. It is the perfect yin-yang scent, absolutely balanced between extremes. In the end what I got was a dark, resinous, incensy and yet light, airy, and clean scent that was very gentle and persistent. Not a favorite of the Mr.'s (he's become a chocolate scent lover) but this is not something I would wear for him or anyone else. This is a private "me" scent for tumultuous days. Something to steady the boat and give me a chance to realign. Beautiful.

Vice This one went completely weird on me, and I will try it again to see if I can reproduce the strange effect, but I'm putting my initial reaction up as a place holder for now. In the bottle: Sweet chocolate covered cherries. Wet: Jasmine?! Huh? I don't get it either, but I'm getting some sort of strong floral, and I think it's jasmine. Drydown: Still floral, and not even the strange tobacco/chocolate I got with Gluttony (which is what I was thinking how "chocolate" in general must react to my skin). Later: This one didn't last too long on me. About four hours later all I could get was "sweet". Not a foody sweet or a floral sweet... just sort of a sugar sweet. The Mr. gave it a "meh". I will try this one at least one more time. I spent the day around my MIL and she's got a whole other ol factory thing going on with her that might have crossed my wires.

Gluttony A swap from amrita () that wasn't on my wishlist, but I just had to try. In the bottle: Strong, overpowering, covers all other smells butter! The Mr. took a step back and give it two "whoa"s. Wet: Butter, butter, butter, herbs? Maybe I'm picking up on the hops. Drydown: The butter subsides to make way for a burnt chocolate smell. I'm not getting the sweet nutty gooey chocolate, but a more bitter scent... like the nibs of cacao beans that haven't been ground and heated into smooth chocolately cocoa butter yet. Later: The burnt chocolate smell hovers right at the edge of going tobacco/cigarette smoke on me, which I do not care for. This is a very strong scent with good throw, but it's throwing all the wrong notes! Conclusion: I wish and hope and pray that this burnt cigarette wonkiness is due to funky cyclic chemistry issues and will try again one more time in a few weeks... otherwise this will go back into the swap pile. :crosses fingers: Edited to add: Great googly moogly. It's now twenty hours later and my left wrist smells like nothing more than chocolate dipped gloriousness. The right one is much more faint, but I can also smell chocolate there. This definitely gets at least one more try.

Bewitched My first swap faux-pas (in that I accidentally swapped with two generous forumites for the same thing, sheesh) that naturally didn't agree with me... so I'll have twice as much to swap out. In the bottle: Berries and that generic perfume smell that you get when going through a section of a store with lots of different perfumes. Wet: Strong, sweet berries. I'm not getting dark berries, as I had hoped, but the bright reddish berries I also got in Tintagel (minus the leather). Drydown and later: This pretty much stayed the same for the rest of the day (now going into hour four). It's a strong, straighforward red berry with a cologne aftertaste in the back of my throat, and at the very end of a deep nose-to-wrist sniff, even a little BO. Conclusion: I love berries. I love eating them, I love wearing makeup in their hues, I love surrounding myself with all things berry-licious. But apparently it looks like berries do not like me, or at least they just don't like my skin. Off to swaps with ye (and yer sister too!).

Perversion A gimp from ivyandpeony (go Tigers!) that I could not resist. I'm still waitin' for someone to ask me what I'm wearing. This one has morphed and changed on me more than any other blend I've tried. This is a really hard one for me to pin down. In the bottle: Leather and coconuts and also a sort of generic perfume smell, which is a bit dismaying. Wet: Spicy, fresh coconut musk. Drydown: This is what I wanted Grog to be. All manly, spicy, dark, boozy, coconutty, swarthy, yum! Right now this is the men's cologne version of Grog. There's no buttery foodiness, just salty yummy pirate. Later: Over the last five hours I've gotten pirate, businessman (sort of a traditional aftershave), S&M (the leather?), boozy schizophrenia. I really like this in its non-aftershave moments but can't pin down the exact reason why. It's a gender neutral scent that sometimes skews femme, them homme, then back to the middle again. I can't wait to try this out in a sweaty club setting.