yellowrose

Chaos Theory XV

from the Chaos Run Amok circle

In the bottle: Juicy Fruit gum.

Wet: Juicy Fruit morphs into pineapple. What? Vanilla cookies? What’s happening? This is one playful scent! I want to bathe in this!!!

As it is drying, it becomes more reminiscent of a foody-candle. It’s now cocoanutty. Is there some sandalwood hiding in the background? A very fun scent. Wishing it would stay in the delightful pineapple-ish stage, but … I like the other stages, too. Wishing I had more to play with, but I’m being good. Want a gallon of this for summer. It’s the perfect summer scent! Beth?!? We neeeeeeeeed this!

Later, that same day … it’s an utterly divine skin scent that is ... sigh. Did I mention that we neeeeeeed this to be produced in mass quantities tomorrow? Whoever has a drop left needs to send this back to the lab! Stat! Educated guess is that Beth, like any good mad scientist, kept her blending notes somewhere. This is too good not to have again. Honest.

Previously reviewed by Red_Hot_Mama, hypothermya, with coffee spoons, harlequin, quantum spice, inkstone, andrabell and Tesseljoan.

Experimental Blend III

from the Chaos Run Amok circle

In the Bottle: jasmine. My skin does funky thinks to/with jasmine, which makes me apprehensive about smelling and applying this.

Wet: All jasmine, but wait ... there’s something else in there. Hello lavender. Wow. Pretty astringent, crisp.

As it dries, I’m having some problems breathing, so it’s probably best to scrub this off. Even so, this has staying power. The scent – especially the jasmine -- continues to be assertive. The overall impact is very in line with what you might expect from an aromatherapy scent – assertive and bold -- rather than a perfume

RunsWithScissors:

Tamora IMHO is softer, creamier if you will, than Katherina.

Endymion is a crisp fruit scent, softened with musk (but I don't get the musk so much). Nice, juicy pears and muget. Mmmmmm! So summery!

You might want to dry Tombstone, which is woodsy-creamy -- at least on me. Also check out Carnal and Intrigue.

Storm was a gift from a faery helper.

Read the description and citrus ... YAY! Daubed on back of hand and it's lemon verbena. Lemon. Lemon.

As it dries … headache! So sad. So very, very sad that something appears to be turning everything I try these days into single note scents rather than letting them be odiferous melodies.

The Red Queen is very cherry at first. This is an almost medicinal cherry.

As it dries, more of the woods come out. At this stage, it's iffy as to whether this might be an appealing scent. It's not unpleasant.

Overall: Eventurally morphs into Eau de Head Shoppe. Evaporates into a whisper within two hours. The SO was decidedly not enthusiastic. Sadly, The Red Queen is not for me. I may hang on to it to try again, but with so many other scents I want to try, the experiment seems moot.

Must say that it does combine oddly well with Blood Rose for those experimenters among you.

An imp of Blood Rose was hiding. Why not?

Wet: cherry-roses.

As it dries, becomes incense and roses, then more incense and less rose until rose is negligable. The overall scent is barely detectable as well. All this in the space of about 15 minutes, sadly.

Not smitten.

Hey ... combines with The Red Queen quite well. Who knew?

Bewitched was a generous extra, so I have no expectations other than the scent description provided by the Lab.

Wet: sage and a hint of tea. No berries. Pout. Yow! Berry blast within five minutes, but not when sniffed up close. Wha?!? There's a sophisticated fruit scent that seems ready to develop.

Drying: What?! The SO says it smells like PEACHES. Where did the peaches come from?

Later: Starting to smell like a candle. Drats. Swap time.

Soft and bramble fruit doesn't seem to work with my body chemistry, but I still have yet to experiment with plum so there is still hope.

Even Later: Whilst in an embrace the SO said I smelled like a whole peach tree. "Not berries?" "Mmmm Peaches." But I already have my peach scent. This is supposed to be berry-sage-tea-wonderful. Pout.

Just as a bit of preface, when Carnal arrived for the first time, the imp had shattered somehow. It was graciously replaced and now tested.

Carnal just isn't getting a fair break by the immediate universe. In attempting to decide what to wear today, I think I had some other oil on my fingers when I applied it, so this might not be a clean test. And the residual of Black Cat, too.

Warm, spicy and non-descript. No notes pop out immediately. Eh. Later ... get mostly fig. Wish the orange were more assertive.

Figured out why "eh" later in the day … all the previous smelling from the breakage! Doh! My schnozz "knew" the scent or was used to it. When it dried, this was quite nice. Didn't stick around for the entire day, however.

ETA: In further testing, those scents with fig notes commonly become single note fig. I think I'll stick to eating my figs rather than wearing them.

In the bottle: cherry-apricot with a hint of cough syrup.

Keep sniffing.

Wet: Interesting, but seems to be a scent more for a young woman (teen). Would have thought the musk would have made it headier. Cheery scent. Young and vibrant. Reminiscent of apricot stilton at times. Bit of orange peeks out now and again as it dries.

I'm having difficulties with this because I'm not feeling like what this scent is projecting: bright, sunny, and cheerful.

The crisp, green scent of a D'anjou Pear picked at the very peak of perfection. Nothing more. Nothing less. Perfect.

Did not really get to test the lasting power yet since, when applying, I found Vanilla Bean leaking and had to rescue some of those dribbles. A nice pear-ing.

Truly sad I failed to splurge on a gallon of this.

Where is the love for Bergamot?!?!

This is THE best. It's a clean, sexy citrus scent that I love, love, love. Just as jj_j wrote, this is indeed very lemony without actually smelling like a lemon. Not the herbal lemon of verbena or lemongrass either. Very distinct. Not at all like a cup of Earl Gray. Just clean and ahhhh!

Sad that I didn't take the big giant step and order 10 ml before this was discontinued. Very sad indeed because Bergamot is one single note I would use unrestrained in copious amounts.

Finding a dark enough vanilla has been a chore. Vanilla Bean is a nice single note vanilla, but decidely not dark. It is sweet and fun. I'm not as enthusiastic as others about it as a single note. Found it's best when layered.

Sandalwood has long been a favorite component, but I've never really smelled it apart from a blend, which is why I decided to order sandalwood from Beth.

This is wonderfully earthy and alternates between soft and sharp.

Layering is fun. Other scents with vanilla and sandalwood-ish combinations (Dragon's Bone, Nadina's Cremes) led to experimentation with that combo. The yummy combo du jour is White Sandalwood and bergamot. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Had high hopes for Regan to be a good scent on me.

Wet: scary plastic scent. Floral dominates.

Very much, almost too much so, reminiscent of Tamora as it dries. Some artificial smell continues to linger. Probably opt for Tamora over Regan since they smell almost identical on me.

Jury is still out. May have to try again.

The search is still on for a deep, lush, non-baked goods smelling vanilla.

Vice had so much promise. Chocolate. Cherries. Orange.

In the bottle smells like it contains almond component. No real chocolate scent comes through.

Wet: more orange than chocolate. Cherry-ish scent comes through within a few minutes on the skin. Not unpleasant, but just not chocolate.

Drying: Turns plastic within about 10 minutes. Time for a scrub.

A gift from the lovely Therevada of a scent I'd been wanting to try.

Just as advertised: dragon's blood and amber. Not that markedly different from any of the Ars Draconus scents. Amber is not peeking through, but tempering the mix. Will use up imp, but there are more interesting scents that use dragon's blood as a component. (See: Dragon's Bone, Dragon's Milk.)

ETA: eye kint spel gud

Oberon is very puzzling. In the bottle: earthy spices, musky and smelled somewhat comforting. Comforting, but sexy. I thought the spice might be nice for an overcast morning. Katharina was just too cheery, or so it seemed.

Wet: Patchouli and a bit plasticy. Morphs to spicy.

What the notes are don't really come through clearly. I get absolutely no bergamot or orchid, for example. The scent is spicy and almost masculine. Very heady and headache inducing much on the order of Morocco.

My friend sniffed well after it had dried and said, "Smells like grandma's drawer. It's definitely not you."

Became mustier with time. And more masculine. Headache vanished with some tea and a smoothy ... and a couple of good arm scrubs.

And that's it. I did say I might not keep it, but my mind might be changed if used successfully otherwise.

ETA: The smell IS comforting once it settles down. Might make a good room scent if used sparingly. Smells like an old room indeed. I won't go so far as to say "library" because I know that's what MU is supposed to bring to mind. --yr

The review here is tempered by several facts that should be seriously taken into consideration before basing your final assessment and a possible purchase on the following statements. First, I have been wanting Belle Epoque so very, VERY badly. Two, Therevada was kind enough to share some with me. And, finally because of those two factors, who cares that it's being applied on well scorched skin? The latter could change how it reacts with my skin.

Is it the sunburn? Why does this immediately remind me of being at the pool in summer? Not just ANY pool but a specific public pool. Something about the scent just reminds of it. This is a very odd experience. I can see the entrance, the cages, and I vivdly smell this smell. It's a good smell and a comforting smell. I can't describe this accurately because the sense memory is too strong. I think it must be the Lily of the Valley, which I did wear back at that time.

I love it, however it fades within an hour. I will try again and report back when skin problems have subsided, if I can make the imp last, that is!

Wet: freshly cut pears and a smidge of rose. Clean. Minutes later muget peeks through.

While drying: Sweet and subtle, not too strong at all. Very much a spring scent. After several minutes, the pear wafts forward, but remains very much a pear-muget scent with a touch of rose. Sometimes, the rose is dominant depending on the breeze that's wafting the fragrance around. Can't smell the musk. Delightful. Had to reapply within the hourish. Or rather WANTED to reapply.

Will enjoy the imp.

Big bottle? Maybe. I've got lots of scents in larger bottles I'm already enjoying, but since they are fallish scents, who knows?

Very much a fresh citrus scent in the bottle.

Wet: Clean and bracing gingery-lemon-lime.

Drying: As it dries, teeters close to eau de Lemon Pledge/cleaning products. This becomes more dangerous as time elapses. The scent also becomes more herbal with time. Like pressing the leaves of lemon geranium. This stage passes. The green tea scent is very much implied and found only when wet.

Conclusion: Will probably use up the imp this summer, depending on how much I really want to smell like the aforementioned cleaning products, but will not pursue a bigger order. Whether the imp is used also depends on public comment. None as of yet.

From the description of Calliope offered by the Lab I was hoping for much! OK, I could skip the almond ... Orange and some of my favorite aromatic herbs, yum

In the bottle: yum.

Very room-fresheneresque going on, but very me. Lots of lavendar. Subtle.

Sadly, the scent fades instantly. Applied twice within several minutes. Fades to almost nothing. Got a melange of herbs. Never got orange. Pout.

I will keep trying. I want Calliope to have more staying power, but it could well be that my chemistry won't allow that. It is a very lovely scent for this writer.

yr

ETA: Over time, this bottle has matured into a scent that is exclusively lavendar and almond with a scant hint of citrus-herbs. I've been wearing it as a night scent in lieu of the almost-gone Black Cat. It is well-suited for that purpose. Very subtle. Lasting power is not an issue unless you're prone to sleepless nights.

Not sure how I got Nine Mysteries, but I got it!

When it goes on it is all yummy mints and flowers initially. A touch of green and softness. I cannot determine specific floral notes -- some descriptions mention lotus, others lavendar. I just don't know.

After a few minutes … yowch! It has a tingling sensation that lasts for hours. Tested on the crook of my arm, which is a sensitive area. The upside is that should prove very cooling on a hot day.

After several hours, the mint is less pronounced. The scent is nice and light. It doesn't fade entirely.

Nine Mysteries is a very spring-y summer-y scent. I'm looking forward to using my imp during the hottest weather. It'll be perfect.

ETA: With the latest wearing the SO immediately pronounced it melon-y. It does have some element of cuke or some such as well. And violets. Doink! I had a violet-scented doll back in the Dark Ages and yup, that's been evoked.

ETA Part Deux: It's come to my attention that this oil is for ritual use rather than for use as a scent. The description: Aids in overcoming all domestic and financial woes and is frequently used to bless the home or business. I'm not adding the description for any reason other than that it seems to have been lacking when this thread was started. Had I known this was for ritual use, I would not have used it for any other purpose. And, had I known it, I would have busted it loose and used it like crazy during my own domestic and financial woes.

The Queen of Hearts may be some people's best bet, but I'm laying money on The Queen of Diamonds.

This is one scent I was very excited about because I LOVE white grapefruit. Here, it's a beautiful white grapefruit with a hint of flowers. Not harsh, herbal grapefruit, but very distinct from pink or pomelo scents. This is a very sophisticated and lovely creation from start to finish. Very citrusy when wet. Dries to a lovely bouquet in about two hours. This queen is haughty perhaps, but not cold.

I LOVE THIS!

! THANK YOU BETH !

ADDED Jan. 6:

News flash!

I have been advised by the SO that Queen of Diamonds is THE ONE scent I need to wear. Most of what was said, frankly, cannot be repeated in polite company

Beth, um, can we talk about a vat? With or without spigot?

Tamora is a peachy-scent with vanilla and sandalwood.

I'm eager to try Belle Epoque -- described as "Sweet opium, Lily of the Valley, vanilla, mandarin and red sandalwood."

Still doesn't give you the rose or jasmine pairing.

Desire contains the rose-vanilla combo.

What I've noticed with the BPAL vanilla notes is that its frequent partner is honey. On the site, there are 20 scents listing vanilla as a note. A fifth of those also have a honey note. Ditto amber. Perhaps some new formulations might have these in combination. I wonder what vanilla and rose would smell like?

The scent you posted sounds amazing. I honestly can't imagine what that might smell like!

Best of luck!

In the "suggestions" section there's a thread on Aztec-inspired scents in which there are pleas for xocolatl in a scent. Gotta have it, Beth!