Victoria

try Penny Dreadful.

i got this as a freebie with a purchase at Scarlet Garden.

in the vial: "Gothic floral - Oh my goodness, I love this!"

on me: simply lovely. a very subtle floral - i didn't get any "smoke" but there is definitely something in this that grounds this and makes it a combination of earth and ether, which makes it an earthy yet ethereal floral. of course, this makes no sense to me unless i imagine how an angel might smell if they were masquerading as a mortal. this is a keeper.

addendum: after a few hours, it went funky and medicinal on me. i am so sad - like a doomed love affair, it started out so beautifully and then went terribly wrong.

okay, so i bought this despite the lavender because of all the other interesting ingredients but lo and behold, i put this on and i right away, all i got was the lavender. then i had to run a couple of errands and walked into the hallway of my apt, and i thought, "wow, what pimp-daddy just walked through here? it smells like Brut aftershave!" then as the smell followed me into the elevator, into the lobby, and outside - i realized I was the pimp-daddy! of course, everyone has different tastes, and the interesting thing about oils is that they are never the same on any two people, but i would recommend this mostly for men, i don't think of this as a unisex scent at all.

this is a scent that i like only because it reminds me of going into tack shops; it has a medicinal ointment smell on me that reminds me of horse medicine or equestrian supplies. and campho-phenique. after a couple hours, on me it becomes a very faint mediciney, mossy, floral. not bad, but i wouldn't wear this on a date.

normally i wouldn't have ordered this because normally i don't like patchouli, but i received this as a frimp, and was very pleasantly surprised. this is an evening scent, and what i would call a unisex goth floral - which is exactly what i have been looking for to wear at Convergence 13!

Very sweet apricots, not boozy like i expected. Not a "serious" scent, but something I will wear when feeling playful.

Just adore this! I love anise and to me this smells like the liqueur anisette only more subtle, with under currents of mint, herbs, lemon accenting it quite nicely. Beautiful without being floral.

hmmmm, i like this one, but i don't love it. to me, it was missing something - maybe just this side of too light. i wanted it to be a deeper, darker, richer scent.

so i added a little black phoenix to it and it was almost there and then just went kinda soapy on me. i decided the marquise is too much of a tease, and i could never be truly happy with her.

I'm not sure why they named this scent "New Orleans". I'm from New Orleans and this smells nothing like New Orleans. If I were making a scent called New Orleans, it would be full of sweet fruity rum, Spanish Moss, bougainvillea, a touch of beignet with sweet powdered sugar, and maybe even a smidget of chicory coffee and sweet cream.

i agree. i tested this at Scarlet Garden and i have to say, although it was nice, it didn't capture the true essence of New Orleans. I am curious to see if Vieux Carre is a better match, if it ever becomes available.

just adore this one. my favorite so far. the tonka, clove, and incense complement the violet in the nicest way. if you like violet, you'll love this. and if you're not sure you like violet, this fragrance will convert you.

on me: Bubblicious - this brought back some of the few good memories i have of my childhood and even made me giggle a little inside. but Thaleia smells like something i'd rather have in my mouth, not on my wrist.

this is one i thought i would like because magnolia and oleander make me think of the South, but this and Black Dahlia i fear, are scents I prefer in a more subtle form, wafted by a warm summer breeze in New Orleans. just too overpowering on me.

mmmmmm, cocoa! I want to slather myself in this and lick myself to death. A keeper!

i thought i would like this since i adore magnolia trees and the scent reminds me of New Orleans and the South in general, but alas, methinks magnolia smells better on a tree than on me.

update: i tried this again, 2 weeks after my last post, and now i really like it. i've read that your sense of smell changes with hormonal fluctuations, and that seems to be the only thing i can attribute to my feeling that this scent was too cloying the first time i tried it. or perhaps i had put on too much. still, i would definitely use this scent sparingly, a little goes a long way. and be patient: within an hour or so, Black Dahlia turns into a lovely, lovely dark floral.

I received this as a freebie with a pack of imps I ordered.

To me this smells exactly like Vidal Sasoon shampoo. The next best description I have would be amaretto liqueur. Not something I would wear all the time, but still kinda yummy.

update: turned soapy on me after an hour. but i put it safely on the back of my cat's neck last night (where he can't reach) and he still smells great the next morning.

received this as a free sample with a purchase at Scarlet Garden

on me: grassy, powdery, faded quickly

nice, but a little too generic for my taste