roseus

Expensive lightly vanilla-scented candle. Not an intense vanilla cupcake candle. A really light and beautiful vanilla over smooth wax, and a touch of candle smoke. Dry the vanilla becomes more prominent and the smoke fades. There may be some skin musk too. There's a sweet warmth, but it could just be the vanilla. I like the scent, but it's just smells so much like a candle I am unsure how often I will wear it.

Dark, burnished, and heavy. It's a woody tobacco scent. The sweetness is there, but the overall scent is deep and dark. It's smoky but not in an ashtray way. Teak comes across as super slick and polished to me, but the mahogany and tobacco have more dry qualities. I really like it, but it's just a touch too woody and not quite sweet enough. I really like layering it with Paladin and Snake Oil.

I was scared of this one. Salty milk just sounded wrong, ya know? But it was fresh, and creamy and actually really pretty! But then it disappeared! Apparently I scare it but than it scared me.

Sweet, cool, smoky. Like jasmine incense. I love it!

I gave a bottle of this to an ex who ended up being a horrible guy, but I remembered loving the scent and hoped time would eventually soothe the association. Here's hoping.

In the imp: sharp, herbal pine. Much sharper than I remember.

Wet: Still a lot of pine, with leather and rosin. Earthy, warm, with an herbaceous kick.

Dry: The pine is gone, and I'm left with a soft leather topped with with sweet resin and hemp. Beautiful but very soft on me. Luckily without nasty scent associations!

In the imp and wet all I got was wine. It was a nice wine, dark and grape-y. But dry is MAGIC. The pinot noir, rose, and jasmine blend wonderfully into something that's somewhere between fruity and floral, but entirely sultry and mysterious. The myrrh and patchouli add depth and nice grounding aspect, with the red sandalwood adding a little sweetness. Normally these notes read as warmth to me, but not in this blend. It's not cool toned either, but somewhere in the middle. It makes me think of running through the city at night, red lipstick, the adventure not quite over.

2015 version.

A beautiful, velvety red rose. A perfect bold rose.

Oh my WORD. I thought this was going to GREAT. Started off sweet and boozy and went to sweat. Like stale sweat. Nasty stale sweat. What happened? Who turned on me like this? Why? For what gain?

In the imp: Citrus and amber. Zingy, but with a comforting warmth.

Wet: Similar to in the imp, but with a distinct herbal edge from the verbena.

Dry: Lost the herbal quality and the citrus has faded and become considerably less zingy. There is a nice warm, woody incense underneath. It has a lot of depth. Don't know if I need a bottle but it is definitely in consideration...

It starts off cedar and a strong spice (clove? cinnamon?). Dry it stays very similar. A sort of astringent and very raw scent.

This is warm, sweet skin. In a very innocent way. Beautiful, and will likely need a bottle!

This is very light and sweet on me. There is a warmth from the musk and something vaguely floral about it. Very well blended.

This starts off as a beautiful chocolate-mint, but dry the cedar and oakmoss dominate. There is a touch of pistachio as well, but I was looking for chocolate and mint.

Really light rose, maybe some sandalwood? There is something bright about it as well, but it doesn't smell like lemon, or any other citrus. It's pleasant but I have roses I like better.

This smelled lovely in the imp, but the dragon's blood of course went spicy-floral.

Bottle: Super sweet butterscotch.

Wet: Butterscotch and pumpkin.

Dry: Less sweet, bread-y pumpkin with a touch of ginger and maybe nutmeg or clove.

This could be a nice scent for autumn!

Some picks for Syra:

Dee - soft English leather, rosewood and tonka with a hint of incense, parchment and soft woods.

Thalassa, The Galapagos Mermaid - Seaweed, kelp, salty ocean spray, bitter almond, night-blooming jasmine, frankincense, and benzoin.

Luna - Touareg tea, Asian pear, carnation, lime sugar, green musk, armoise, and thyme.

Venus Murcia - Crushed grass, honey myrtle, and dew-touched green musk.

Some picks for Gracklebait:

Philostratus' Phoenix - Rays of sunlight, shining with gold: amber glittering with orange blossom, Calabrian lemon, warm saffron, golden vegetal musk, and honeyed incense.

Tweedledum - Green mango, fig, patchouli and green tea.

Bard - A ridiculously charismatic blend of bay rum, honey, and white musk mingling with the scent of harp wood and lute strings and the twang of horn brass.

Grand Guignol - Our Grand Guignol perfume is a shot of sweet apricot brandy; just enough to settle your nerves after a ghoulish, gory brush with the macabre.

I would like to start off this review by acknowledging Beth's artistry, she is truly a master of her craft. This scent perfectly illustrates the artwork. The apple blossom and grass stand out the most, with the musk supporting them. I have a hard time describing the musk because it's fresh and evocative of water but not quite aquatic to me. It's fresh, clean (but not in a soapy way), and sweet. I get a little mint and pine as well. The pine isn't like sticking your face in a branch, but more like the scent gently wafting down from the boughs. The mint just adds a faint crispness. As others have said this is just like walking through an orchard.

This starts off with rum at the forefront for me, but it is not too boozy. As it dries it is a sweet vanillic-tobacco backed by rum. I can't pick out the mahogany or sandalwood in particular but I do get a sense of warm woodiness and texture in the scent. Overall it's very well blended, a great warm scent that feels perfect for the holidays and cool weather ahead.

In the bottle and wet I get a touch of dry lavender, and in the wet stage I get sweet apricot. Surrounding is a very sweet peony with a touch of fluffy mallow. As it dries I'm enveloped in a pink fluffy marshmallow cloud. It's heavenly! Not too sweet, and has great throw. Much better than Stekk has on me.

A beautiful, sweet, vanilla-rose. The pink rose/rosehips is a nice combination because the rosehips add a bit of a dry/dusty feel to make it more interesting. It was very sweet at the beginning but it tones down a little and the rose becomes fresher in the dry down. I feel like I get a little boost of the headiness of jasmine without ever actually smelling it. Unless you really amp jasmine, I think this is a safe blend for people who just don't care for it. Overall it's a bright, innocent rose scent.

This is more on the unisex side but Palmyra (Golden amber and galbanum with frankincense, myrrh, Balm of Gilead, vanilla-infused sandalwood, sand-smoothed leather, and Ceylon cinnamon) is in the same family as Bastet to me. Though definitely less sweet, it has the nice resin and spice thing going on, with some sweetness from the sandalwood.

In the bottle: Mostly leather, maybe getting some copal, too. The leather is definitely light and 'gleaming'. There is a little smokiness.

On wet: Similar to in the bottle only stronger. The leather definitely smells fresh, but not in a chemical sort of way. Just like new, fresh leather. There is also a distinct sweetness from the resin in this stage. The scent gets a little smokier as it dries.

Dry: The leather and copal fade back. The tobacco comes out, it's quite light and very dry to me. The smoked vanilla sweetens the blend beautifully. This stage is beautiful, though it is much lighter than I had expected but it does linger persistently. Really happy I have a bottle!

(A million thanks to my fairy for getting this to me!)

I get a deep red musk in the imp/wet. As it dries down it calms down and the rosewood and sandalwood come out. But it's not dry or woody, but warm and soft.

Starts off sweet and smoky and then goes straight lemon drop candy. Bizarre!