tempete

The sandalwood can be quite strong in Velvet and make it smell like wood shavings on some people. Also, you have two scents with strong creamy foody vibes (Dana O'Shee and Velvet), so it might be good to replace one with say, a fruity one that isn't over-the-top-B&BW-fruity. Fae (peach, oakmoss, heliotrope and white musk) and Bewitched (berries, green tea, some other green notes, dark musk) are my favourite fruity BPALs because they balance the sweet fruity notes with other components. Others have mentioned Bordello as a favourite fruity BPAL. I'm not so fond of Neo-Tokyo myself because of the cherry blossom which always turns too fruity and sweet on my skin. I would suggest Kumiho (white tea and ginger) as your crisp and light scent, but I'm a little biased because I think that everyone should slather themselves once a week in Kumiho. Finally, some forumites classify both Snake Oil and Spellbound as headshoppy. In addition, Spellbound can be too overwhelming for some people (not me, I adore it). You might want to go with a floral that contains less or is lacking in red musk (which can be an acquired taste) and amber until your sister has a better idea of what she likes. I'm no good in the floral department in general, so suggestions will have to come from someone else.

I recommend Tenochtitlan: The greatest of all Aztec cities, and capital of their empire. Amber, hyssop, coriander, epazote, Mexican sage, prickly pear and Mexican tulip poppy. On me, it's amber with the green tones of the herbs and prickly pear. I have no idea what Mexican tulip poppy smells like, but whatever it is, it doesn't make Tenochtitlan smell overly floral, if at all. (I think that most forumites who have reviewed Tenochtitlan would agree.)

I seem to be on the prowl for a good rose and patchouli scent, so naturally I jumped at the chance to swap for Rakshasa. It starts out promisingly enough as a very beautiful blend of rose, patchouli and sandalwood, but unfortunately for me, dries down as a duet between patchouli and sandalwood with very little rose in sight. The search continues...

Oh yes, I have to enthusiastically second Fenris Wolf. I hear that it smells wonderful on men (I don't have a boyfriend, so I don't know about this), but more women should wear it. Ardisian described it perfectly, so I won't bother trying to top her , although I will say that it contains plenty of red musk, which I think is Beth's sexiest musk.

Vetiver usually goes super nasty on me, but in The Caterpillar, it provides just enough herbal greeness to prevent the whole blend from sinking into an indolent languor. Unfortunately, jasmine does that soapy thing that it normally does, and turns The Caterpillar into soapy incense. The other notes eventually rein in the jasmine soapiness, and the end result is a delightfully complex mix of florals, mosses and incense. I think that this would work better for me as a room scent rather than a perfume.

House of Night initially evokes an evergreen forest during the middle of a rainstorm. Not a violent thunderstorm, but a constant drizzle where everything is that dark, depressing grey. The green notes intensify and get sharper for a brief period, and then some sort of sweet resinous note takes over and gradually grows in strength, although it never completely pushes the greenery away. It will definitely suit my mood when the neverending rains return to Portland! Now that I've read the other reviews, I can see why other reviewers mentioned a resemblance to Samhain. The evolution of House of Night is not as complex as either of Samhain, but it is a beautiful scent nonetheless.

Earthy patchouli dominates initially, then Dance of Death becomes drier as the orris note takes over, which seems to cause the patchouli note to wither away while at the same time adding a light, violet-like floral (orris is taken from the roots of certain species of iris). It's like an olfactory representation of Lady Death sucking the life out of someone, which is pretty damn cool. After about an hour, the sweetness of the myrrh note breaks through and a slight powderiness also becomes apparent, which is probably due to the black amber note. I didn't like this the first time that I tried it, but on the second wearing, it's growing on me (which is pretty rare for me).

Kweku Anansi is very herbal and spicy when wet, and dries down to softly spicy woody notes. It's a little too masculine for me to pull off, unfortunately.

With Black Annis, Beth has somehow managed to capture the scent of the interior of a cave: lichen, mold and damp, decaying earth. The civet note doesn't smell like cat pee to me (at least in this case); rather, it adds a dark, feral edge which fits the persona of Black Annis perfectly. A truly evocative scent, but not really for me.

It's amazing how much this smells like butterscotch rum. I usually want to drink rum, though, and not smell like it (otherwise people will think that I'm more of an alcoholic than I really am). And as Grog dries down, a weird plasticky note appears - I seem to get it with most of Beth's vanilla scents. Arrrrh, off to swaps with you!!!

The Lab keeps sending me manly scents, but I have no boyfriend to test them on, so of course I test them on myself. Antony smells like generic aftershave initially, but then morphs into a slightly sweet musk with a tinge of leather that is undeniably masculine. While it's too masculine for my tastes, I imagine that it would make most men smell ...

I've been wanting to try Malice forever, but always was a little wary of it because my skin has amped up clove in so many different scents. Turns out my concern was justified - clove is so unbelievably strong on my skin that within a few minutes, I went from smelling like spicy myrrh to smelling of CLOVECLOVECLOVE . Patchouli and ylang ylang never had a chance to appear, unfortunately.

Delphi opened with a strongly acrid, bitter herbal note, which thankfully lightened and allowed the other notes to come through. The end result was smoky honey wine exhibiting traces of spices and herbs. Unfortunately, honey and wine do not fare well on my skin, but I'm sure that this would be beautiful and interesting on someone else.

Spiced dragon's blood at first, but then the vetiver note kicked in... oh dear, I don't think that vetiver likes me very much. That's OK, the feeling is mutual, so Serpent's Kiss will have to find a new home.

Silk Road started out as a strongly spicy, herbal scent, and then quickly morphed into spicy soap. I was disappointed, as I was quite intrigued by the concept behind the scent.

Blood Pearl barely has any throw on my skin, so even with slathering it's hard to pick out notes. There's definitely coconut, and perhaps a touch of dragon's blood resin, but unlike other reviewers, I can't detect any musk (which my body chemistry usually loves to amp up). The orris note is also nowhere to be found as my skin seems to have buried it under the coconut. I was hoping that Blood Pearl would be a edgier, muskier version of Black Pearl, but unfortunately that dream didn't come true. Hopefully someone else will have better luck with my imp.

Aeval starts out as a mix of sage and sweet pea. The sage note dissipates gradually, leaving sweet pea on centre stage. Eventually, the tonka note creeps in and subdues the sugariness of the sweet pea. Like voodoobaby, I can't detect any musk, although a funky note does appear in the final drydown. I ordered an imp of Aeval to see if I could get along with sweet pea, and unfortunately, the answer seems to be no.

Sugared, softly powdery roses... Fades quickly and doesn't have much throw. Two, Five & Seven is pretty, but it's very innocent-smelling and thus doesn't really suit me.

The Oblation Caravan brought Kether my way. Initially, Kether is a sweet floral that is backed by a resin. I must confess that I don't smell almonds at all, although there's an elusive note that my nose can't quite identify properly. In any case, Kether transforms during the drydown into a creamy floral that is ethereal and radiant (to steal adjectives from other reviewers). Eventually, the resin re-emerges and brings that creamy floral back to earth. I wanted to post the image that Kether conjured in my head, but since I have not studied Kabbalah in any way, I don't want to sound naive or to offend. Suffice it to say that the combination of re-reading the description and smelling the evolution of Kether as it dried on my skin did evoke a specific visual metaphor for me, which is always a fascinating experience.

Like scourgeotheseas, I got to try Tipareth because of the Oblation Caravan. It starts out as a resiny scent with some green notes, then gets sweeter and louder as it dries down. Like other reviewers, I suspect that the resin may be frankincense. I also wonder if there's red sandalwood in Tipareth, because I can detect a mellow, harmonious wood note that isn't aggressively dry. I wouldn't buy a bottle of this, but I'm glad that I got to experience it.

I got to try Baba Yaga courtesy of the Oblation Caravan. Initially, Baba Yaga is an extremely light scent. I do smell some kind of tropical fruit, but not pineapple, although it seems to have the same texture as pineapple (watery and fibrous). It's also a tiny bit creamy at this stage. As the scent dries down, the sweetness becomes stronger and more intense, much as dried fruit is sweeter and more strongly flavoured than fresh. I'm not a fan of cloyingly sweet scents, so I'll be passing on this one when it gets released.

I got to try Oisin courtesy of the Oblation Caravan. On my skin, there is something decidedly masculine about Oisin. I think it's because it contains a green note that reminds me of Irish Spring. Oisin fades really fast on me, leaving only a slight trace of an unidentifiable note that eventually turns soapy.

The Lab gifted me with a number of ozone scents with my first order, and I quickly learned that ozone tends to take over scents on my skin. So when the Oblations came out, I didn't really consider Thunderbird at all because it seemed obvious that it would contain ozone. I got a chance to try this scent thanks to the Oblation Caravan. Well, there's definitely ozone in Thunderbird... but it's somewhat sweet and green during the wet phase, definitely different from the other ozone scents that I've tried. As it dries down, Thunderbird becomes almost pure ozone and brings to my mind a grey and forboding sky. It then becomes sweeter again, almost like the sun coming out after a thunderstorm. Overall, Thunderbird is a very clean and pure scent. I might have considered getting a bottle (a first for an ozone scent) if the Oblations were still around.

I received an imp of Cerberus as a gift in a swap, but forgot to review it before I passed it onto someone else. Doh! Fortunately for me, I got another chance to review Cerberus because of the Oblation Caravan. Initially, Cerberus is mostly deep, dark wood notes sweetened slightly by fig. As it dries down, the wood notes soften and I can detect something herbal-smelling (probably the juniper berry?) creeping in. The final drydown is a very warm mix of chocolate and wood notes, with a very faint sweet note in the background (which could either be the fig or rum notes). Cerberus conjures up not the fierce three-headed dog of Greek mythology, but rather a faithful companion dozing contentedly by your chair in front of the fireplace.

I've been wanting to try Brisingamen ever since I read that it contained five ambers - amber loves me and I love amber! Of course, it never hurts to have a scent that makes you irresistable to men... Wet, Brisingamen is somewhat medicinally sharp and spicy, which I attribute to the myrtle note. As the scent dries, the creamy, slightly fruity-sweet apple blossom note pops out. Both of these notes melt into a puddle of ambers, which is very lightly spiced by the carnation note. I don't know what myrtle blossom smells like, so I can't say that I was able to pick it out... The final drydown is lightly floral and amberiffic, with a slight edge from the myrtle note (which I enjoy because it makes the scent less conventionally pretty). My only complaint is that the throw is pretty non-existent, and when I smell this good, I want everyone to know it, dammit! For this reason, I think that I might try making Brisingamen into a parfum spray. Or I could just buy a 10 ml bottle and slather away...