tempete

I bought an imp of Hetairae because I love patchouli, fig and ylang ylang, even though I have had less than stellar experiences with honey and clove. Well, that was not such a good decision. The honey dominates initially, and then the clove takes over during the drydown. I can briefly catch a whiff of ylang ylang as Hetairae is drying down, and there are hints of fig and patchouli in the final drydown. I will try this scent one more time, but I have a feeling that this imp is headed to the swap pile.

WANTED: A scent to wear when I'm in the mood to cause trouble. SOLUTION: Hell's Belle! Hell's Belle is a smoky, yet creamy floral scent that is sweetened by the mandarin note, deepened by the musk note and made knock-dead sultry by the spice notes. It fades to a spicy drydown with subtle hints of the other notes. I would have NEVER picked this scent out for myself, so I am very thankful that the Lab sent me an imp!

I've tried many many violet-containing scents and the only one that was stellar on me was Ultraviolet. My skin not-so-kindly took a disliking (or was indifferent) to Bluebeard, Fallen, Faustus, Le Serpent Qui Danse, Libertine, Morgause, Nocturne, The Raven, Sybaris, Veil, Venice, Wanda and Wings Of Azrael. Can you tell that I'm on a question for another violet scent??? I'm holding out hope that I'll love Marie, Queen Gertrude or Utrennyaya.

Jasmine normally goes soapy on me, and I think that the white musk note prevents this from happening in Kitsune-Tsuki. However, the scent is too sweet overall for my tastes and would need an additional anchoring note like sandalwood or oakmoss to work on me.

I was hoping that Veil would be exactly that, and initially, it was. However, Veil turned sharper and sharper the longer it was on my skin. I suspect that either the the white sandalwood or the gardenia note was to blame, since both of these notes tend to be unpleasantly sharp on me. Still, Veil was so close that I might buy or swap for an imp to see if my body chemistry can play nicely with it in the future.

Urd was initially very musty and woody smelling. This soon died down to an smoky, incense-y patchouli that was sweetened and lightened somewhat by the muscadine. I really enjoyed this unusual combination, but unfortunately, it faded to almost nothing within 30 minutes or so. Given the nature of the notes and the namesake of the scent, I was expecting a more powerful, forceful scent. I guess that Fate doesn't like me very much and we will be parting ways.

Spooky is all about the mint on me. Initially, it smells like a very luscious, full-of-saturated-fats buttercream mint. As the scent dries down, the undertone of booziness becomes apparent under the mint, and a chocolate note begins to hesitantly emerge. These elements are somewhat pleasing; unfortunately, only the minty note survives on me to the final drydown. For me, there's two long phases to this last stage: first, there's a vaguely minty, plasticky odour that hours later evolves into a sharply green scent (that's still minty fresh!). Given the enormously positive reviews for the initial ultra-limited run, I had high hopes that I would love this. The fact that I don't just reinforces my belief that foody scents and I will never really get along.

Woody notes tend to dominate on me, and white sandalwood smells sharp on my skin, so it's no surprise that the wet stage is dominated by a sharp sandalwood note. Light, delicate florals emerge during drydown, but are eventually supplanted by herbs undercut by the return of the sandalwood note (though it's not as sharp as before). An interesting scent, but it does not really suit me.

Like other reviews, I get a very bitter, sharp scent at first. As Akuma dries down, the mandarin underlying the scent becomes stronger and pushes the initial bitterness aside. The final drydown is a mix of mandarin and raspberry. I'm not a fruity scent type of gal, so I passed this imp onto someone else.

I purchased an imp of Libertine because of my love for violet, rosewood and red sandalwood. Libertine starts out promisingly enough, but then the note of Arabian musk gradually takes over the entire scent. Unfortunately, Beth's Arabian musk seems a bit like Liquid Tide on me, so this imp didn't stay long in my possession.

Leanan Sidhe is a well-blended floral combination with an herbal undertone. Unfortunately, it smells fairly perfume-y on my skin, for lack of a better term. I tend to prefer Beth's floral/white musk combinations over pure floral bouquets, so I passed Leanan Sidhe onto someone else.

Red_Hot_Mama kindly gifted me with an imp of Kyoto For a scent that contains three nemeses (cherry blossom, white sandalwood and star anise), Kyoto is, surprisingly, quite nice on me. I'm not too fond of the initial wet stage, which bears a strong resemblance to licorice-flavoured cough syrup (if such a beast exists). However, the three components seem to achieve some magical alchemy in the drydown, which is a slightly spicy mix of wood and cherry. Quite different from the scents that I normally reach for, so it's a nice change.

The embodiment of heart-wrenching loss, torment, of mad, obsessive cruelty and chilly revenge. This is the scent of a frost-limed wedding bouquet, frozen forever in time. I won an imp of Havisham in rhubarbbear's auction. Havisham initially was a very sweet floral that was very reminiscent of Moonflower to me. What seems to differentiate these two scents is the presence of a mint undertone, which gives the impression of something cold and icy. The sweetness gradually fades during the drydown, and the mint note becomes more apparent. Havisham is definitely the scent of a very reserved and haughty and aloof woman.

Danse Macabre is initially a dry woodsy incense scent, with faint hint of dirt. As it dries down, I can smell something vaguely sweet coming through on drydown, probably the hazelnut note, though the cypress note still seems to be strong. The final drydown is a nicely balanced mix of woody, incense-y and sweet notes. It doesn't really suit me, but I enjoyed the experience.

Initially, Blood Countess is a bouquet of smoky florals with a slight tinge of sweetness. It dries down to a plum/berry-dominated finish with a sharp edge, possibly due to the gardenia note. Unfortunately, gardenias give me a headache, so this imp was passed on.

The wonderful ChupaChup sent me a decant of Hexennacht! To get the Samhain comparisons out of the way: Hexennacht is Samhain's less creamy/less foody scent sister. This is a good thing for me, because the pumpkin in Samhain really turned me off (which is why I don't have it anymore). Initially, Hexennacht evokes images of bonfires in a forest. As it dries down, the smoke and evergreen note fade and an earthier note creeps in. The scent then changes again and becomes intensely sweet in an apple sort of way (and incidentally, seems to have the most throw at this stage). Hours later, the sweetness and throw die down and Hexennacht smells like slightly powdery honey mead (and is somewhat reminiscent of O at this point, although not as sexual smelling). Overall, I get a very primal feel from Hexennacht that fits its description perfectly. Do I regret not getting a bottle? Not really, because although Hexennacht is beautiful, it's more of an experience for me than a perfume. It's something I would put on when I'm in a introspective, contemplative mood. But nevertheless, I am incredibly grateful to ChupaChup for gifting me with a decant because when I'm in the right mood, Hexannacht will be perfect.

I would like to find a softer violet scent than Ultraviolet, and naturally my search led me to Nocturne. Unfortunately, my experience with Nocturne was similar to helarctos and darkling's: a sharp green note predominantly initially, and it grudgingly gave way somewhat to the florals but never really disappears. I so wanted to like to this one.

After falling in love with Ultraviolet, I started on a hunt for other violet scents, which naturally led me to The Raven. I thought that I had hit upon The Violet Scent when I first sniffed The Raven while it was still wet on my skin, because it was exactly what I was looking for: a lush violet scent without the eucalyptus and minty bite of Ultraviolet. Unfortunately, it turned really soapy during the drydown, which I think may be due to the neroli note. About an hour or two later, The Raven reverted back to a soft whisper of a violet scent, with a touch of sandalwood. However, the final stage of The Raven doesn't have enough throw for my tastes, and I don't like the soapiness of the middle stage, so this imp will be passed onto someone else.

Red_Hot_Mama generously sent me an imp of one of Beth's Experimental Blends that she got from kimmer ( to kimmer!) Wet, this blend seems to be muskier and less spicy than straight Snake Oil, which I think is because it doesn't contain patchouli. I can catch faint whiffs of something fresh smelling (mint?) as it dries down. The finish is slightly powdery which makes me think that there's a bit of amber or some similar resin in this blend. I find this blend to be a little less "in your face" than straight Snake Oil (probably because of the lack of patchouli), so it'll be great to wear around my mother who hates Snake Oil . [i see from kimmer's reviews that she has a lemony Snake Oil blend, but no minty one. My nose sucks... ]

Of the Love Potions that I have tried, Snake Oil and Spellbound are uber-sexy. If you want something a little more restrained, or don't like musky or incensey scents, may I recommend La Petite Mort, Seraglio or Wanton (the patchouli in this is not overtly head-shoppy). There are others in this category that I like (Maiden, Muse, Nefertiti) but I don't think that they fit your requirements.

What she said. And another vote for Haunted. I can tell that the lemony aspect is there, but it's a minor component on me. I can recommend The Lion with reservations - it is beautiful on me during the drydown, but it has a soapy start for some reason.

Sometimes I get splitting headaches from BPALs, but usually it's a blend that I don't like much anyway. Unfortunately, I realized recently that Amsterdam falls into this category (and on a 4.5 h plane ride, no less). I really, really liked Amsterdam as it was the perfect spring scent.

Unfortunately, my skin likes to amp up cinnamon, as Decadence amply demonstrates. I smelled like a cinnamon cookie from start to finish, except for one phase where a weird plasticky note emerged for a while (but then became engulfed in the cinnamon tide). I'm glad that I got to try this scent before its release, because I know not to buy it when it becomes available.

I ordered from this company and requested USPS shipping, rather than UPS. My order total before shipping was $17.96 (including the small order charge), and I figured out that shipping cost $3.96. There are a few things that annoy me about this company, besides the small order charge. I emailed them to see if they got my order because I never received email confirmation. No response. Also, they didn't send me an invoice, just a packing slip, so I had to figure out what the shipping charge was from looking up the cost of each item, adding up all the charges, and subtracting it from the final charge to my credit card. If they didn't stock items that I couldn't find elsewhere (and believe me, I've looked), I wouldn't do business with them again...

Mimosa adds an interesting edge to Succubus, whose initial stage is otherwise heavily floral on me. Alas, the orange blossom note screws it up for me, as it always does, and turns the whole scent sour. I swapped this one away.