Lady_Ell

This smells like those little yellow-green low-lying weedy things that look like fuzzy tiny strawberries, and grow in the dry grass/fields in New England. I don't know what the name is, but when you rub the flowers that look like little fuzzy strawberries or acorns, an herby pineapple/mango smell comes out.

 

Tzadikim Nistarim smells just like that. It's really good - a bit too fresh/green herby for my usual tastes, but still really good.

 

And then... I forgot I had it on and layered some O over it.

Hooooooooly shit. It smelled amazing. Completely amazing. Made the fruit part settle down into a mellow fruity smell, and O became less sex-fluids, and the green part disappeared. It smelled like the best dessert ever, but not foody. Hard to describe and completely heavenly.

I'm pimping this one all over the place because I LOVE it:

Aureus - goes sweetish spicy on Mr. L and my Aureus-loving friend, goes woody-spicy on me... it's great all around.

 

Also...

Old Morocco

Scherazade

Old Kathmandu

Haunted (I've yet to try it but it should be arriving soon)

Three Witches

Kali

 

ETA: oh, and Bloodlust is great, too. Spicy and red and warm and mysterious.

Lixolux, I'm glad you had such a nice day with this oil!

 

I only wore it for a little while, because it was SO strong (just one dab on my right wrist and I was reeling, and it lasted all night) and it contained some kind of floral (I think it was jasmine, maybe?) that just overwhelmed anything else that was in there. I'd get hints of something apricoty/fruity, but it was always in the faaaaaaar background.

 

It was very pretty, but not for me.

I am wearing this today because Mr. L just made out a huge check for 2 months rent for his new apartment, and we are poor. Hoping this will send some good $$ luck my way...

 

Wet, this smells very "red" - kind of artificial and a little plasticy. But not in a bad way. It reminds me of cherry-scented plastic toys, and the memories it invokes are pleasant and nice.

 

Drying, a hint of a smoky smell comes out, and the plastic smell fades. It smells like Carnal, but smokier. I really like it so far.

 

Dry, it still smells red and smoky, with a hippie head shop edge that I really love. And vanilla peeks out at me every now and then, and goes back to hide. This is like smoking weed while wearing Carnal and burning Nag Champa.

 

Final Thoughts: this is really great, but I already have a big bottle of Carnal and it smells so similar that I'll probably just stick with Carnal, and maybe fiddle around with some layering if I want to recreate the smoky aspect of Horn of Plenty. Then again, this is some STRONG stuff - I don't anticipate needing to reapply any time soon. So the imp will probably last for a while. Very, very nice.

Damn, glampyre! I wish it did the same for me!

 

Alls I get is baby powder with a hint of cocoa. I ascribe that to red sandalwood, which goes powdery on me the same way this does. It smells nice after about 2 hours of wear, but the first few hours are overpowering POWDER. This is very strong on me, and the sandalwood overwhelms anything else that might be in the mix. Oh well.

Hmmmm. I like the idea of smelling like apples, but trying this one out made me realize that I don't actually like smelling like apples.

 

This does indeed smell like Granny Smiths, like the juice that dribbles down after that first bite. Problem is, it's SO strong on me and it doesn't settle down. It overwhelms me after a while, and meanwhile feels very young and bubbly and crisp - but not in a way that I associate with myself. It's how I imagine a stereotypical cheerleader would smell, for some reason. It smells good, but it's not really me.

Old Athens had the same wafting honeysuckle/floral sort of smell that Red Moon has on me - maybe layer it with some Dragon's Blood to get that reddish Red Moon undercurrent?

I like Red Moon a lot. It starts off like cherry syrup (real cherries, not fake cherries) and that immediately fades as it dries. I don't know why, but I get a strong honey and honeysuckle smell when it hits my skin. Like Shollin said, this is a very red perfume. I feel like it's got a red base (the dragon's blood and amber) and a translucent golden top with a lot of throw (the honeysuckle/honey/golden floral type smell that I get).

It sounds silly, but I'm finding Red Moon to be really comforting for when I'm having my period. A lot of things smell "off" during that week, and this smells lovely. I also like wearing something called Red Moon for that purpose - just seems to appropriate.

Aureus is very ambery, but not particularly sweet - at least not in a vanilla way. It depends on your skin chemistry if it's going to sweeten up or not. It goes sweetish spicy on my friend, and just a tiny bit sweet and woody on me. It's one of my favorites.

 

Old Kathmandu is very ambery, too. It's not as strong as Aureus and has some mellow spices (rather than spicy spices, like cinnamon). She might like that one, too.

Wow. I was not expecting to be into this, due to the patchouli, but this is wonderful! It's red and bracing and deep and intense. I feel very womanly in this one.

 

I can visualize this one more than almost any other - as red chiffon draped over dark maroon slippery satin. The cinnamon is the red chiffon, which floats and dances up over the more earthy, heavy, darker, clingy satin (the myrrh and musk and dragon's blood).

 

This is really really good!

 

ETA: I wear this on the day I want my period to start. Works like a charm! Within a few hours I'm bleeding like a stuck pig... in a good way, of course. The powers of persuasion of one's self are amazing... but then again so are the powers of the birth control pill and I tend to know ahead of time when I'm going to start anyway. But it's a nice way to recognize my femininity.

Gotta give a quick props to Aleve (naproxen sodium).

I don't get bad cramps, now that I'm on the pill, but when I do I've found that one Aleve works wonders. Cramps come from when your uterus contracts to get rid of the lining (well, somewhat more complicated) and Aleve is a low-level muscle relaxant, so the cause of the cramping is eliminated or reduced, and therefore the need for painkillers (such as Advil) in and of themselves is reduced. One Aleve will work all day for me.

 

As for sinus stuff, I've never been a chronic sinus sufferer but once I had a terrible sinus infection and went to a homeopathic doctor and she gave me a remedy called kali bichromium and I started draining within a few hours and felt fine. My nose got a little irritated from so much blowing, but that was nothing compared to the sinus pressure!

 

If you're interested, I'd get a book on homeopathy and read up - I've found it to be incredibly useful. I don't recommend taking general remedies over the counter - like one that just says "sinus pain" - because homeopathy is very symptom-specific and a lot of the general remedies are combinations of ingredients. It's better to go one at a time and then your immune system doesn't get confused. Best of luck!

 

Also - I don't know how feasible it is for you, but I also find chiropractic care to be a blessing for sore muscles and bones.

I know this isn't super helpful because it's a Limited Edition, but Snow White smells just like white cake batter to me once it dries.

I love how this smells in the bottle - the sage makes the cedar softer and more interesting.

 

On me, though, it smells just like cedar and a dude.

Another vote for Lemon Pledge. Then the jasmine comes out in fits and starts. And then it goes Dial soap. This one gives me a raging headache, to be honest.

 

It's more synthetic smelling than the other lemon blends. I much prefer Severin and Old Shanghai and Embalming Fluid.

I've tried Succubus twice and neither time has worked, but for completely different reasons.

 

Time 1: went straight red-flavored candy on me.

 

Time 2: now is powdery orange blossoms and something chemical, like those wax lips you get at penny candy stores.

 

Oh well... this will make someone else very happy.

This is a strong, green soapy smell, as any_old_actress says, and something about it reminds me of Mr. L's old neighborhood in Hawaii - way back in a rainy valley full of flowers. That, and fabric softener.

 

Something about this goes chemical and powdery on me. It's got strong flowery and damp associations, but I think it's the aquatic smells that always go "dryer sheets" on me. This would work on someone else, but it's not for me.

I have Chaos Theory XXI. It's COCONUT and maybe a little chocolate and maybe a little honey and something that's warm and wraps-you-up, like dulce de leche or something. It's similar to Perversion, but w/o the leather and tobacco. I looooooooove it! It's really perfect for me.

I can't believe something so perfect for me would come out of such chaos, though. I think that my bottle really wanted to be with me and snuck it's way over to where my order was being packed and jumped right in.

Queen smells astringent and cherry-coconut-chocolate in the bottle, with something that I recognize but don't know the name of that's kind of metallic and herby. As it dries it's got an evergreen/holly berry background and a warm sweet sugary smell on top. Very Christmasy. It's got a high topnote thing that I recognize in the Tarot blends (High Priestess, Ace of Swords) that mostly fades on the drydown but still wafts off and keeps it from being a sweet smell. It's very complex. I'm not sure if it's the right thing for me, even though I like all the components I can recognize, but I'm really intrigued and will try it a couple more times to see.

India Bouquet smells just like coriander seeds and fennel seeds and other Indian food spices when wet - as it dries it goes all fennel seeds and smells like those teeny pink and white fennel seed candies that you eat after you have Indian food on your way out of the restaurant. After a while the coriander comes back and makes it a bit more bitter. A little unusual but I think it might become a favorite in time.

The other thing is, if it's just one oil and you can't figure it out, wait it out and try it again later. Sometimes it's just something new and you have to get used to it.

 

I got the horridest rash when I put on single note coconut, and was pretty miserable and itchy and burning, but I rode it out and 20 minutes later I felt better (still a bit itchy, though). The next day I said 'screw it, I love how this smells, I can deal with the itch' and lo and behold, the itch was minimal. And a few weeks later I have no problems at all with it.

Wow. This one's a morpher!

 

The first time I tried it, three weeks ago, I was on my period and it smelled completely different than how it smells today.

 

Three weeks ago - a metallic ashy scent that settled into a metallic cinnamon scent which I really liked a lot. It reminded me of High Priestess but with cinnamon.

 

Today - a metallic LEMON scent with an undercurrent of mint. No cinnamon at all. The metal goes away after a few hours I have a fresh, lemony, soapy smell. It's very pleasant and very clean smelling, but not too interesting.

 

I like this, but it isn't something I'm going to reach for. Swap pile, I guess.

DeSade, DeSade, DeSade. Did I mention DeSade???

 

And Severin.

 

Loviator comes in third.

Wet this smells "generic BPAL sweet" to me, which I assume is due to the fig. I'm getting very bad at picking out notes out of the bottle for some reason.

 

Drying - the cedar makes a grand entrance with a chocolate chorus

 

Dry - all cedar and chocolate.

 

Dry 1+ hours - the chocolate is fading a bit, and something very sweet is peeping out from under a heady cedar fog.

 

I asked Mr. L his opinion of my arm and the smell coming out of it, and he said that it smelled like Christmasy craft stores that old ladies go to... not in a bad way, but that's what he thought. I kind of agree with him - the cedar is SO strong on me and the cocoa has by now faded into general yet strong and a little bit spicy sweetness that I smell kind of like a holiday candle. I do like it, but it's not something I want my body to smell like.

... based on coconut-laden prototype...

 

It's so awesome. SO awesome. Coconut and leather and tobacco and vanilla (I guess it's actually tonka bean). Morphing beautifully and becoming sweet yet sophistocated. The only sophisocated coconut scent, I think, because it is not beachy/tropical in any way. Even though I tried it on while I was about to make some sort of culinary mess in the dining room, and was wearing old dirty clothes, I felt glamorous and ready for a night on the town with cigarette holders and evening gowns... except I would be dressed in drag in a man's suit. This has very cross-dressy, 1930s Weimar associations for me, for some reason. I love it.

 

The only thing is, something about it reminds me of a car air freshener thing that my uncle used to have hanging from the rearview mirror of his pickup truck. I can't get that vision out of my head when I smell this. But it's still very, very good.

 

ETA: I just got my Chaos Theory which smells a lot like this but without the leather or tobacco. I realized the leather and tobacco in combination with the rest of everything is what was making me smell like the pickup truck air freshener.

I'm going to give this one a second try during a different time of the month, but for now there's something in here that's not working with me. I can't figure it out, because I looooove everything that's listed here. But there's a weird kaopectate-like undercurrent and a very sharp, high noseblast of something like galangal or ginger on top of the honey/almond base. Something about it is reminding me a lot of High Priestess, but not in a good way. In a sharp, astringent way.

 

This really might just be due to hormones, though, and I'll be giving this another shot next week.