alterosen

I love the blood orange aspect of this but am not too sure about the rest. Rather than the usual warm fuzz I'm expecting from the amber, I'm getting something kind of aquatic. Not the dryer sheets clean type of aquatic but more like the wood in the amber was actually driftwood & a little salty. Perhaps it's the tea/amber together - they've just gone to the seaside. It's actually rather nice & the combination does smell like a deluxe pricey salon product. I'm just not sure it's me.

Lovely! Like Haltija, I'm finding this addictive - my nose keeps returning to my wrist. This is the best possible combination of warmth (pink pepper, sandalwood, vanilla) & freshness (tea, osmanthus). A must try if you like pink pepper - this is reminding me a little of what I liked best about the discontinued Hermia, without the amber. This has turned out to be my favorite of this year's Lupercalia & now I'm bottle-hunting!

I hadn't realized I wear so many with strawberry! Love, Strawberry Sufganiyot & Golletes are all great, as well as L'Essence de L'Engouement (French vanilla, pink candies, strawberry sugar, and orange blossom). I probably need to seek out some Sticky Eyeballs, too, since marshmallow is usually good on me.

All blueberry, all the time, with just the right amount of sweetness (& perhaps a tiny bit of vanilla) - I love this & must get more!

I actually quite enjoy this one though I can't see myself wearing it often. It's predominantly thyme on me with a brief pickle-y phase.

I seem to be amping different notes than most people who have reviewed this one. It starts out quite perfumey & red smelling - quite a bit like Red Lace, then it develops a grape or wine note & runs with it. If this is cognac, it's a very fruity one! After a while, that fades & I get a little spice & some brown sugar (lots & lots of brown sugar) but no pumpkin or sandalwood worth mentioning. Once dry, I get coffee for some reason & a hint of the Lace vanilla base buried underneath the sugar (now caramelized) & perhaps some booze. I can see the maple syrup comparison but it's more like a fancy coffee with liqueur on me. Pleasant & foody but not at all what I was expecting from the notes! My husband says it smells like sexy Tia Maria

I love SawScaled Viper (Snake Oil with cinnamon, cassia, and red ginger)! It does start with a blast of spice but sweetens up quickly & the Snake Oil is present but not overwhelming. Many of the reviews describe it as quite dry & light on Snake Oil but it's perfect on me (possibly because I find SO too much of a good thing on its own). I quite like Boomslang but am not much of a chocolate wearer. I remember liking Coral Snake, too, (Snake Oil with blood orange, red apple, lemon peel, plumeria, and gardenia) but gave away my decant. Most of the resin- heavy Snake Pit blends seem too incensey to me or go powdery/cloying but that's because my skin chem doesn't play well with Snake Oil itself. I'm hoping for some new Snake Pit offerings! Especially more things with fruit - I have a Snake Oil Chaos Theory with dark fruit including strawberries that is amazing & I like doing a layering combo of SO & Fae quite a bit (dabbing them on different wrists & smooshing together).

A couple from the Picnic in Arkham category: Miskatonic University (purely caramel on me) & Shub-Niggurath (very spicy gingersnaps). From Wanderlust, Bengal (honey & cinnamon) is a must try, as is Morocco. Bard is a nice honey & vanilla combo. Thieves' Rosin is also a good one. You'd probably like Ivory Vulva (LE: Lupercalia, creamy coconut, marshmallow & cardamom) The only one that's coming to mind that's maple syrupy is Herr Drosselmeyer (LE:Yule, notes are pipe smoke, sweet leather, woods & linen but it's sweet rather than smoky).

Half bottle of #173 The most perfect ginger spice cake! Lots of ginger, bit of burnt sugar & vanilla behind, no molasses thankfully. Delicious!

#191 (decant) Strong citrus & pine - kind of orangey at first, then more pine, then something peppery, really peppery - I'm almost thinking chili rather than black. Possibly some resin under it all but I couldn't say what kind. It sounds chaotic alright but it actually works together well. It's not a pretty scent but it is very interesting - my nose keeps returning to my wrist!

This seems quite fruity to me - not what I was expecting, yet somehow familiar. I was thinking it would be stronger on the evergreens with the juniper but I'm getting more fruitiness with an icy/snowy feeling & something slightly herbal in the background. It's not as citrusy as expected either, despite the tea & citrus rind. I think I know what the fruitiness is reminding me of now - Juicy Fruit gum! Bizarre how my nose manages to take this combo of notes & interpret them as slightly banana-like. So it's like I'm chewing a piece of Juicy Fruit in the forest with a winter wind whipping around me. Nice but I was hoping for something a bit more foresty.

Beautiful red roses with a smidge of musky incense spice & then something a bit waxy sneaks in. It does actually make me picture yellowed glistening bones in flickering candlelight rather than dry clean white ones & creeps me out a little bit if I dwell on it. This is a brief phase & then it continues on being voluptuously rosy. Overall, a lovely rich rose atmosphere spray.

I get a warm pumpkin with light violet & moss. A good year round choice for me rather than autumn or cool weather. I find it very pretty & not at all menacing but YMMV

I'm going to be obnoxious & quote myself because I think it's amusing that nothing much has changed here from my list from a couple of years ago. Not going to drop any of these but I will add Aristocratic Couple & Parlement of Foules because they are also appealing right now. Joyful Moon should really be on there, too. I going to dig out my imp of Kumiho for a test, too, because so many people are mentioning it. I also made myself a Dorian room spray that I use as a body & clothing mist if I think I'm going to need some extra oomph during a hot day.

I'm going to throw some Lunacies in the mix that all have grapefruit in them in case that's what you like about Baobhan Sith: Hunger Moon, Hungry Ghost Moon & Cheshire Moon. They last pretty well on me, too. I adore Hunger Moon especially! The notes only list citrus rind but it seems like grapefruit. Nice light apples: Glittering Apple of the Stars & Rapunzel in Ballpoint. Dorian & Tattered Lace are fantastic on me in hot weather. It's the tea with the vanilla & lemony mystery notes combo (the fougere in Dorian, something fresh in Tattered Lace).

#52 Also not a typical fougere - this starts out with strong charred vetiver-y wood & something a little nutty behind. Then it starts getting a bit brighter & fresher: citrus or some other kind of fruit maybe with perhaps a hint of lavender or herbs. This must be the fougere coming out but I can't really identify the notes. It's not mossy, musky or lilac-y to my nose. There's still a bit of vetiver lingering in the background. I don't dislike this as much as I usually do these kind of burnt scents. It's oddly compelling. eta: I think there's some strawberry in the fruit - what a wild mix!

#187 This is pretty much all white florals on me - I'm not really sure what kind, maybe a little jasmine. They're melding into a soapiness that is reminiscent of what floral gums candy tastes like (for the record, I do like to eat those, but not smell like them). Strong & long lasting.

#136 Coconut & pineapple - yup, it's a pina colada!

#31 Not getting any fougere when wet. It's faint & sweet - reminds me a little of lotus perhaps? Ever so slightly bubblegummy, becoming more candied but less Hubba Bubba as it dries. Only when it's totally dry do I sense the fougere in a bit of moss & pale musk.

I seem to have the plummy incense version - quite pretty! Not too fruity, not too woody, only the slightest whisper of mint: it's rather nice!

I almost put this in my trade pile because I didn't find it all that interesting when I first got it. Nice enough but a bit light & I have Fae & Philommeides for the rare times I feel like wearing something peachy/apricot-ish. Then I thought I'd try it one last time before listing it & wow, is it ever great now! The vanilla is much more pronounced & it just smells fabulous in the heat we're having at the moment. So I'm keeping it after all & doing some slathering!

I had a very similar experience to theseagrows. This scent ended up super woody on me - I thought for sure there was cedar in here & not just as a supporting player. Sometimes patchouli & sandalwood do that to me. I was looking forward to a rosy vanilla tobacco fest but it was not to be. For the record, I tend to like rose & resin blends but this just didn't work.

I like fruity florals so my apologies if you find some of these a bit on the sweet side but try Sjofn, Titania, Elf, Fae, Zephyr, Phantom Wooer, Baobhan Sith, Sea of Glass, Amsterdam. From the un-impable section (but you should be able to find decants in the Sales/Swaps): Door, Lady Una, The East, Jasmine Cottage, Coraline Jones, The Ghost Children, Blithe Hollow, Lady Amalthea, The Last Unicorn.

I was concerned about this because smoky scents rarely appeal to me but I took a gamble & I'm glad I did! My nose gets sweetly smoky wax with a hint of maple rather than roasted chestnuts (but it's not cloying or overly foody). This is what I was expecting Candlelight to be like but that wasn't nearly as appealing. I use this often, especially in cooler weather.

Awesome pictures, nathanielhebert! At first, I was just focussing on the labels & then I noticed all the great stuff you included in the background - so fun!