funkmoppet

Oooooooh yum! Orangey deliciousness with fig - simple and awesome! I was worried that the mandarin note would go to Tang on me, like it has in other blends, but this time it's behaving! The fig keeps it deep and lovely. Wonderous summery citrus, to go hand-in-hand with Baobhan Sith!

Oh, why aren't you working nicely on me Croquet?! You start off with all the luscious citrus joy I expected - but after a while you get that powdery Tang citrus smell I got from Kuang Shi. Something in here doesn't like me. Or I don't like it. Take your pick. There's a nice musk lurking underneath, but I just can't shake off the damn Tang. I hate Tang!

At first, spicy carnation and soft cider and wine. The carnation backs off a little after a while and it threatens to go a little powdery (eyes the amber warily). At this point it's still very pretty, very gentle but not wowing me. Then after a little while longer I get a honey note coming up through the carnation. This is very close to the skin, and quite soft. Overall, I'm not loving this as much as Alice. Possibly it's the amber realising whose skin it's on and rebelling. Alas - the first stage was lovely! But not the dry.

Ooh! This is such a citrusy, ginger pumpkin when wet! I love it! Dry, the citrusy zing backs off as the warm pumpkin returns. Still citrusy and gingery, but mellowed out. Not what I was expecting with this pumpkin, but yummy, nonetheless!

I completely love the way this smells in the bottle. Leafy, green and promises of a great forest blend. It hits my skin and has a scary...corn chip moment. Corn chips? Something odd like corn chips. Whatever it is I don't like it and prepare myself for Cassanova-type rebellion on my skin. Luckily, though, that goes away fairly quickly, and without incident. Then this turns into a pure unisex blend. Yep, there's damp leaves, sodden forest, wood - and as this dries down there's an ozone-like freshness in there, along with the barest hint of spice right behind it all. This would be lovely on a guy. It's a light, misty, outdoorsy blend with a fresh edge. It may well be the smell of Autumn if you lived around this kind of forest smell. But it's less autumn to me - more stumbling across some Nordic hottie in a misty, damp forest. It's now quietening down to a lovely nuzzle-me wood-and-nordic-man forest smell, which has just endeared this blend to me a little more. This would indeed be a fantastic room scent. And after a while on my skin, that's what this would have to be. Why? Because it's now going to doom-powder on me! Bye bye Nordic hottie. *sigh*

This was a wild-card purchase. I like aquatics, love ozone, love aloe, all the notes sound like a lovely blend and it had good odds of me liking it. Plus, it has a pig on the label. But I'm not rewarded with an ozoney aquatic. Other reviews mention men's cologne, and I wanted that! How dearly, DEARLY I adore Thunder Moon and Lightening. I'm not rewarded with anything approaching dark ocean breezes, magic or fear. Actually, no. I get the fear. It's fear of FUCKING FLORALS. This is not what I wanted, but it's what my skin is making of this blend that sounds so much like Funky-porn on paper. Dry, it's a little better. The FLORAL ACK settles down a *bit* and I get just a hint of the salty ocean and those notes I WANT TO SMELL. It's a light and breezy dry, and a decent summer beach blend - but I don't know if I can sit through the BLOUSY, GIRLY wet phase for something that is ultimately a big let-down on my skin. *Kicks things across the room* *Frowns at the pig on the label*

I thought I'd chosen wrong with this Pumpkin, after hearing "chocolate" mentioned. I was hoping for the white chocolate to be more of a cream note, as I'm not a fan of cocoa blends. Wet, this is chocolatey pumpkin, but as soon as it touches my skin there's a wave of sweet red fruit and the chocolate backs right off. This pumpkin morphs about so quickly! The pumpkin is a little drowned out until it dries, and there it is! God how I love Beth's pumpkin note! The sweetness backs off, and it's warm caramel pumpkin with a tang of pomegranate and very faint, well behaved chocolate. Foody and delicious. I'm surprised and delighted by this one!

Oh, I am a happy green fan, I am! The big dark burst of oak and deep, deep moss when wet is so magnificent and lush. It starts with a face-full of wet, ancient forest, and slowly drifts back into the sweet smell of ivy and the distant breath of charred wood. The dry is just glorious! A beautiful, beautiful wood blend that's dark green, damp and cool. So evocative, and so wonderful!

Oh my. Say hello to a world of incense and musk! Delicious, dark and purple. This is not the Library of a studious gent of gentle upbringing - this is a library full of books best hidden, full of things best not known. Delicious and beautiful both. I love this blend! *Fingers the evil books and waits for their tall dark owner to drift around the corner*

This is my second try at Perilous Parlor - yesterday my nose was still broken from flu, and it seemed to be all sweet-sweet-sweet to me. Today, I can appreciate this one better. Yep, it's still sweet - foolish to expect anything else from a blend of pear and vanilla. The wet phase is syrupy and borders on cloying for me. But dry. Ah. Dry is where this one really does its thing - a thing of mellowed foodiness with pie promises and a big poached pear on top. This works. Oh how this works.

Spectacular. Just... Just... *wibble* Woodsy musk perfection. The comparisons to Buck Moon were right IMHO, except this is a deeper, darker musk with the woods. It's a cool, dark sexy forest. Oh yes it is. I am in LOVE. And my twitchy-finger that ordered a second bottle was wise. This is magnificent. Beth, you winner! What a lunacy. THANK YOU!

The Aeaea label is ! I'm glad I've got a bottle coming just for that! Love the Samhain and October labels too.

*scratches head* This one is barely even there. SO light I have to almost concentrate to pick up the scent. Its light vanilla musk with almost undetectable sandalwood. This is SO much lighter than I imagined it would be, and I was sure I'd love this one. With the listed notes, it sounds divine. But it's far more pale and feminine than the spicy musk I expected. There's just a touch of the carnation now, but it's still so faint. This is so disappointing, because if it was only stronger, I think I'd love it.

Starts off with cranberry and pine, with well-behaved cedar and the hint of tasty tomato leaf. It's a sweet, woodland blend. With a slight masculine cologney edge that's altogether yummy. I have wandered into the forest and stumbled on a fragrant man. How fortuitous! He's wearing pants, but I think I see a way of relieving him of them. But he's defending himself with the dry stage. With candy-sweet funkmoppet-repellant. And boy, is it EFFECTIVE. Dang.

The pearl of the Italian Renaissance. Elegant iris, bright berries, gilded amber and velvety spices. Florence, the blend that tried SO hard for me. *sigh* Wet: Iris! Sweet, floral but with a spicy base. Drying: Berries! The same lovely, spicy, tart berries I get in Black Forest, only lighter. At this point, I'm in love. The iris and berries and spice are gorgeous. Then: Oh, hai amber! Yeah, you turn the whole lot to floral powder ick. Thanks. Edited to add lab description.

Wet, this is cocoa, leather and patchouli. And I really have to now admit that I am not a cocoa fan. It's the cocoa note that stops me from wildly loving this - because the leather is divine. Same leather that I adore in Western Diamonback, with wonderful earthy patchouli to play with. As it dries, the cocoa recedes and I'm liking it a whole lot more. The flowers peek out gently and the leather'n'patchouli duet mellow out in a warm and lazy way. Shame about the cocoa though - the wet phase isn't one I'm wild about, but the dry down is lovely. Not a bottle, though I might hang onto my imp. ETA: Nope! Gone to Doom Powder! The resins in this are the kind my skin hates. *sigh*

Ah, this is lovely! From wet to dry, this is a beautifully balanced ozone - light, wet and refreshing. It's got a summer rain feel, not cold rain. This is what I'd hoped for with Tempest, but Lightening is the one! No florals to ruin my ozone lovin'. Barely-there lemon just drifting in the background like an afterthought. Love it. My perfect ozone GC blend!

How the hell did this cheeky little dank bitch escape my notice? It's surprisingly sweet - one of the algaes or mosses used in here is a sweet variety. It's reminding me of SOMETHING that I can't put my finger on - but whatever it is, it's working well with everything else. This one drifts like a current, the algaes and dank mosses wafting about as the wonderful salty note rises every so often. It's dark, and cool, and positively intriguing. I suppose it is murky, but the absence of any dirt note keeps it from getting too earthy. A fantastic aquatic - I'm gonna love it in summer!

Dragons blood. And lotus? This is Juicy Fruit chewing gum. Abso-positively not for me!

I'm getting no freshly cut rose from this. Rose, yes. In abundance. But there's something sharp in here that I'm not liking. Can't pick out what it is, but it was very pungent when wet, and is still there now that it's dry. I prefer Whip, for my fresh rose needs. This rose isn't for me.

In the decant this is sweet cake. Foody and bouncy. On the skin, this goes from cakey crumpets and honey, to crumpets and orange - and dry it's all berry. Very hard berry, like berry syrup bubbling from a turnover, straight from the oven. This is no doubt foody-lovers heaven, but I'm not loving the berry finish. It's got a burnt smell on my skin and none of the other notes to smooth it out. How relieved I am to not fall for this one!

Sweet floral. At first I wondered if this has Dragon's Blood, as it has a similar sweet smell. On the skin, the florals are dominant and sweet. The red musk gets its chance as it dries, where the blend gets a creamy edge to it. Dry, the sweetness of the florals returns, and it's gone a little powdery on me. Not wild about this one. On me, The Witch Queen is a more spectacular musky floral. Very glad to have tried it, but it's not grabbing me.

Wow. Just...wow. Shanghai Tunnel is all aquatic, dark, murky moss. Beth's done a magnificent job at getting that wet, dank stone feeling into this blend. It's earthy, mossy, aquatic, and slightly woody without any one note dominating. This barely morphs at all, except for a drifting sweetness that keeps coming back. Dry, its smooth and creamy without losing it's dank-tunnel feel. This is just glorious! I'm so thrilled to have been able to try it - and I'll add my voice to begging Beth for more wet-stone blends like this!

With HUGE thanks to the volcanic awesomeness that is Ahania - and her C13 sniffing circle for us wayward antipodeans. I'm trying Lydia first, because, like a meal, I tend to eat the things I like least first. And I knew this one was not going to be for me. Wet, this is very much all about the Jasmine. Feminine, floral, pretty, sweet - all those things that jasmine covers. As it dries though, its complexity comes out and there's a definite aquatic note under there. I smell moss, and breaths of other florals. It's lovely, and I do wish the aquatic would dominate the jasmine. And it tries, there's a definite wrestle going on here. The jasmine does recede when it's dry, and with it the strength of the blend. Now it's a languid sort of aquatic white floral, and I like this stage the most. Overall, definitely not a blend for me, but it's a beautiful blend for Jasmine lovers who like their aquatics as well.

In an effort to try as many Carnaval blends as I can, I gave Melisande a go. Yes, it's BIG jasmine, which I don't like, and it dominates. Sticking it out for the sake of violets, I'm fleetingly rewarded by them behind the jasmine on the dry down. The musk is barely noticeable. Dry, the florals are powdery. The musk is now dusty, and it's taken on a bit of a grandma's bath-cubes flavour. Shame, as the jasmine finally settles down at this point, but overall, it's not for me.