PersephonesChild

On first application, this smelled exactly like Perchta to me- that would be the iris. As it dried, it gathered a much more smoky, woody scent from the two sandalwoods. I think the olibanum only serves to underscore the iris, and I didn't get any myrrh at all. The sandalwood came out more as time went along, and eventually it reminded me of another hard-to-find blend-- Autumn, from the retail-only salons collection. Finally, it completely faded in about three hours-- somewhat short-lived.

Honey generally goes very, very wrong on my skin, and this was an exception-- it was only slightly off.

 

I mostly could smell the apple blossom, ylang ylang, and the plasticky edge that I get from honey. All together, it reminded me of shampoo and plastic. My boyfriend said it reminded him of babies-- perhaps baby shampoo. It's not horrible, but it's not what you get into perfume looking for.

I once tried Blood, which was an utter disaster. I later was given some Rage, another dragon's blood blend, and it also failed miserably. So upon finding this frimped in my last lab order, I was slightly less enthusiastic than usual (although I'm still utterly grateful to the lab for the practice of frimping!)

 

But I have a policy of trying everything, so I did eventually put this on my skin.

 

It doesn't go off on my skin, the way previous blood scents have. At worst, my skin is making the amber kind of powdery. It's mostly powdery amber, with a tiny tang of dragon's blood underneath, and a bare hint of cherry-- err, cherry candy, not real cherry. I suppose it's not awful, (after all, Blood smelled like greasy, mangy, unwashed hair on me!) but it's not something I'd ever wear.

Wow this smells NOTHING like I expected it to-- although I love the idea of a Machu Picchu scent, I've been convinced that the amber would dominate, making it a sickeningly sweet and syrupy blend, like when the diner down the street tries to make "tropical" pancakes by mixing pineapple and maple syrup.

 

Instead, this is light! And lush! And damp! I completely smell the wet branches, the mountain air. The fruits are quite faint on me, and there a s little bit of solid sweetness from the amber, but it in no way takes over the blend.

 

*Applying more*

Ok, with this layered on a bit thicker, the fruitiness is slightly more apparent (I find a lot of fruits need a critical mass of oil to show up...) and the blend becomes a prism, a kaleidoscope of scent. A few fruity notes that aren't quite distinguishing themselves, golden sunshine, and a few wet branches in the background.

 

Can you tell I'm really digging this scent?

 

Very nice surprise.

In the imp, the only word for this was bawdy-- a thick, slightly sweet, definitely sexy scent. A kick of mandarin, and a thickness from the oleander.

 

On my skin? Perhaps not so much. Wet, I'm pretty sure I smell honey-- or at least, I smell that plastic edge that I get from honey.

 

As it dries, though, I think that passes, and I get a dusty, sweet smell. Definitely sweet. I wouldn't describe it as magnolia-- I guess there's a faint feeling of it, but I smell magnolia much more prominently in Judith Victorious.

 

I think it's a more accessible blend than a lot of bpals-- a good one to offer friends who like popular perfumes. I think it may be too sweet for me.

 

ETA: I take it back-- I think I really like this blend. At least, I've gotten cravings for it twice this week since I first tried it-- since I rarely go back to the same perfume twice in one week, that's rather meaningful. I like it. And that plasticky scent is completely gone.

Well, I don't know much about chypre, but I'm astounded no one has responded to this yet! The chrypres I can think of off the top of my head are Frederic, an forum-only LE that you should be able to find through the swaps and sales page, and Pollution, which I believe is billed as "a toxic chypre". Here's hoping some more knowledgeable people can help you out!

Yeah, Snow White is awfully soft and pretty, I think-- and I will attest to the fact that it can easily smell less like snow and more like coconut and suntan lotion on your skin. But there are some other icy, cold Yules right now-- Perchta and Frau Holle are some kickass women, although I think Frau Holle smells like vaporub

I get rose from this. Pure rose. Soppy rose. Sickly rose. Now, I love rose, especially tea rose, and my skin tolerates most roses pretty well, but this smells to me like a rose blossom that's been floating in a dish of water for a week too long. Time to throw it out.

I found an imp of Wilde on my dresser this morning-- I assume that I got it as a frimp with my last lab order, but oddly I hadn't registered that I had it, and so it was a complete surprise to find it there, untested, where it must have been lying for weeks.

 

In the imp, this smelled strongly of men's cologne. It wasn't a completely unappealing kind of cologne, though, not too musky or generally gross-- gentlemanly, I suppose. I smelled a tiny hint of tonka, which is what encouraged me to actually try it on my skin.

 

On my skin, I felt that it became much sweeter, and much more floral. It's well-blended, so I wouldn't have named the floral smell as jasmine, or necessarily lavender-- in fact, I hate several of the notes in here, like lavender and patchouli, and I didn't smell them in the blend at all. Moss definitely is what gives it the cologne edge, and I could smell a tiny hint of thyme. Overall, I wasn't in love with it, but it was much better than I would have expected, based on the notes and how it smelled in the imp.

 

Then my boyfriend came over and said, "Why do you smell like my brother's cologne?", the bubble burst, and I had to go wash it off immediately. Amazingly, despite scrubbing my wrists, then taking a shower, and putting on a different perfume, I can still faintly smell it. So I assume it has staying power?

I love the red sandalwood in Belle Epoque-- after a few hours of wear, it fades to just the sandalwood, and then sticks around for the rest of the day. Lovely.

So something very womanly? Maybe the Witch Queen-- I've always heard that's a very strong, womanly blend.

Oh, also Akuma! I know a lot of people have said the sharpness of the blend makes it a good one for a strong businesswoman.

The Red Queen is also very stately.

I love White Sage, as it smells very similar to sage brush, which is the predominating plant where my parents live. When I want to smell like sage, I go to Tenochtitlan, or Pumpkin IV '07.

What I get from this when I put it on is a very white scent-- floral, but not overwhelmingly so. It remind me of Ophelia, which is kind of hard to explain. Also, it kind of reminds me of Libertine-- do they both have chamomile? I think so.

 

As it dries down, it becomes more of a dry floral scent-- I think what I'm smelling her is the wisteria. There's something a little fussy about the scent in this stage, a stiff floral if you sniff at it deeply.

 

Overall, though, this blend is nothing if not gentle. I think it would be a good blend to put on before going to sleep.

Another (not GC but a long-term LE) that smells a lot like bubblegum to me is Xanthe, the Weeping Clown.

I love Xanthe, even though it goes salty on me after a couple hours. It's like tropical-fruit gum. I don't know if I necessarily get strawberry from Floating Brain, just... "pink", heh.

 

 

Um... what about The Blockhead? Isn't it pink bubblegum and rusty nails? I know rusty nails sounds scary, but my (potentially atypical) experience is that metallic notes tend to be light...

I really like this scent-- it has a golden quality without being sweet and gooey. It reminds me of late afternoon light. It amazes me how much the peach kernel smells like peach kernel-- not peach plus nut, but peach kernel. It's the lightest scent that I would ever dare to call a resin. Honey and saffron are two notes that are usually terrible on me, but in this, I honestly can't smell either one-- just a warm, light, resiny golden blend. Wonderful.

 

And it lasts FOR EVER. I put it on this morning at about 7:45 AM. It's not 8:23 PM. And I can still smell it, and it still smells great.

I was just reflecting on how simple some of the older blends were. I have to say, I'm more into some of the newer, more complex, more exotic blends. Delirium is very different-- one would not call it a subtle blend; it's as blunt as they come. The three notes are all sweet and very present. I actually do think they blend together, rather than fight for attention, into a lemony-apply rose. It's actually rather similar to Rose Red, since I'm one of those people who smells apples in Rose Red. But it's much simpler. It reminds me of a scratch'n'sniff I had as a kid that included a rose as one of the scents. It's a scent that makes me feel childishly happy.

 

 

And it also kinda smells like shampoo.

I just re-read the poem for the first time since I got this scent, and I was inspired to review it, since the scent really exemplifies the poem. I find that the scent is very innocent, childish-- it's soft and powdery, in a babyish rather than old lady kind of way. It reminds me a lot of Ophelia, which I suppose is the sweet pea and waterlily kind of scent. It's also definitely a sad scent-- this could be one of the funereal bouquet scents. And while I don't get too strong an aquatic sense from it, it is faintly damp, like a breeze off the water. I don't wear this scent that often, but I definitely enjoy it when I do.

Oh noes! This blend is not working!

 

I bought this blend in a celebratory moment on Wednesday morning. I expected I'd love it-- it would be a sentimental gesture, and I really do think of myself as a floral girl. And some of those state flowers sound amazing!

 

When my box from the lab finally arrived, I ended up tearing into my Party frimp first-- and ignoring E Pluribus Unum for about a day.

 

Today I sniffed it and was... uninspired. It didn't smell bad. But it didn't really smell like much. I decided it needed to breathe and expand on my skin, so I put some on and... was instantly over-taken by a soppy-smelling rose. The same rose that dominates All They Had Seen, and All They Had Lost, as well as Water of Notre Dame.

 

In conclusion: I love rose, but there is a rose note that I amp to the exclusion of all other notes, and it is in this blend.

Like everyone else, I got really excited over this blend when it first appeared, and promptly ordered a bottle. Before my bottle arrived, I got a chance to try some and a meet'n'sniff... and I knew I was doomed. Even in the bottle, it smelled like plastic to me. On my skin, it didn't have a prayer in the world. And I'm not that disappointed (OK, maybe I was really disappointed at the time!) But I agree with the description that it smells a lot like a glazed doughnut-- which just isn't my kind of scent in the first place. It's too simple, and too foody.

 

I'm pretty sure it's the saffron note that killed it-- it also didn't work for me in the The Great Sword of War of Baghdad, although those two both had other notes that didn't help matters.

From reading all the other reviews, I determined that this wood be my favorite-- and lo and behold, it's the one I was given! Thank you, magical labbies!

 

I completely agree with the comparison to Demeter's Gingerale-- which was my favorite pre-BPAL perfume! There definitely is something a little more citrus-y than just straight-up gingerale, but it's sort of layered on top of the ginger. It reminds me a little of Mythos Mixtures' Fizz Pixie, though I would say more gingery. It has some serious throw for such an effervescent scent-- which is great, because my sense of smell is actually not that good. In conclusion... I think I have a new favorite! A new, very difficult to obtain more of favorite...

Persephone76-- my first recommendation for Ormond Jayne Woman would be Coyote or The Lion, for a spicy/woody/amber blend.

I'm kinda getting a rose single note. A light, faintly powdery rose, that isn't going too sharp or sour on me-- kind of like how Waters of Notre Dame smells before it goes on my skin. So it's a nice rose, but definitely not living up to what this blend should be.

It's kinda like a cross between Dance Macabre and The Apothecary.

 

Which is to say, cypress and herbs. It's slightly peppery, and very savory. Also, there's a hint of smokiness.

 

There's some other blend that it reminds me of, but I haven't placed it yet...

I totally get the CK One thing, too, and it lasts on me-- and makes me feel slightly headache-y.

 

Eventually, it melts into white amber-goop.

I got both this and Perchta, so two Holda scents in all.

Of this two, I find this one significantly less "cold". The pine and snow in it are much more subtle. Mostly, I smell a soft musk, which very much reminds me of the smell of fur. I never quite understood how Ivanushka could include "fur" as a note, but maybe it smells like this. The herbs are very light, the florals are barely present, and there's a tiny hint of pine-- like being near a pine tree, but not shoving your face into it.

 

Overall, I think I prefer Perchta-- I think it's because I'm really a floral girl more than I'm into musk. And I worry that this blend may be too much Vic's Vapo-rub without the payoff.

 

Edit: Yeah, definitely too much of the Vapo-rub on the dry-down. It's oddly creamy. Like vaseline. Well, can't win 'em all. At least it's not overtly offensive, or very strong.