Caitfish

Yep. It's leather. That's not very helpful, is it?

 

Well, let me add that I think that it is VERY easy to wear DMH, when mixed with something else! It's kind of like Bliss in that respect. While many people adore chocolate, it's kinda difficult to wear JUST chocolate - although people certainly do. Where I believe Bliss shines is in addition to other scents. It's like the "black" of scents - everything goes with black, everything goes with chocolate (with some exceptions).

 

So - do the same with DMH. If you don't know when to wear it, think of something that would be awesome with just a little leather added. My first discovery to this effect is Santa Muerte. It's an ideal combination. The leather really pulls the rose down a notch and makes it more desert-y. It's also beautiful with Corazon, Hell's Belle, Eclipse, Scherezade and Perversion so far.

 

SO, that's my review. Dead man's hand is so cool, and even if you aren't a cowboy (or a wannabe) it can be worn!

Yay, first review!

In the bottle: Sooo earthy. The vetiver is green and mossy. I can't even smell any of the flowers, except perhaps a soft hint of the white scent of chrysanthemum.

On: It stays pretty earthy for a couple of minutes. It's so earthy that I swear I smell dusty cocoa. It's almost foody the way the sweetness of the flowers mixes with the vetiver. Then, quickly - the vetiver fades bigtime. I don't usually amplify rose scents, so this is an odd reaction. The rose rises to the forfront - and I'm gonna go ahead and say it, even though I know there's a troop of rose haters out there who won't ever give this the time of day because of it - but this is a ROSEY scent for at least a while.

My favorite stage is a few moments after the rose slays the vetiver, about 20 mins into the drydown. That's when the cactus flowers really shine. Cactus flowers are a wet smelling flower... they're much like the cacti themselves. They smell wet, lush and exuberant. In more solid terminology, I would call the scent of their flowers a "white" type floral, but truly like nothing else. They compliment the rose and crysanthymum very well, and make the final (and resting) stage of this blend truly breathtaking.

Final analysis:
Not for those shy of Rose or white florals. The vetiver plays heavily in the initial stages but all but disappears quickly. Its final effect is one that I would define as a "dusty" one. It makes the scent more like the desert, but not by much. The ultimate scent *is* dazzling, and strongly floral. It's in the same vein as kurukulla, I think - but even brighter and definately more unique. It lasts quite a while and has a good deal of throw.

Simply, I LOVE this blend. I am so happy that I bought a 5ml unsniffed!

ETA: Layered this with Dead Man's Hand today - OMG. Simply amazing - Santa Muerte plus DMH IS the scent of the west - cactus flowers, dusty cocoa, herbs and leather. GAH SO GORGEOUS.

My favorite label is the one for Corazon, which is a beautiful picture of the Sacred Heart in full color.

GAH! THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE CATALOG SCENT.

 

I must have a 10ml.

 

The best part is, that this remains very sparkly! The amber warms it, definately, but it doesn't reduce the sparly, glowing gloriousness. It's just - GAH. This is the best peach BPAL evar, and I have big bottles of three of the others. It's breathtaking.

Oh, dear - I was going to buy a bottle of this in a trio with the other graces unsniffed, but I have to say that I am glad that I didn't. When this first goes on, it smells undeniably of burning plastic! How terrible for me! It smells beautiful on my friends, but on me - nope. After a while, the plastic turns into diapers, still burning. I am SO SAD. Freaking skin. I think that it must have been the gardenia/jasmine combo. Probably the gardenia.

Oooh, yay! Q_S lemme smell her premature arrival of the Living Flame. Unfortunately, this is also going to be an itsebitsy review. I can't remember what this smells like in the bottle, but on my skin, it's like a more vanilla-sweet, less spicy version of scherezade. Was there musk in that? I can't remember, but there is definately musk here... no cherry, cinnamon, carnation... to my nose, just sweetness and musk... warm vanilla-y goodness. It's treating me well.

 

Sweet, warm musky goodness. I don't get anything floral. I think that people who like Morocco, Scherezade or Blood Amber will adore this one - it doesn't really smell like any of them, but it's definately the same type of vibe. It's faboo.

Since no one else has done so yet, I'll do a bit of explaining about the Japanese elements of this scent:

 

A yuzu (Citrus aurantium, formerly C. junos; Japanese) is a citrus fruit that grows in Japan. It looks a bit like a small grapefruit, and can be either yellow or green.

 

Yuzu flavor closely resembles that of the grapefruit, with overtones of Mandarin orange but it is rarely eaten as a fruit. It is commonly used as a herb somewhat like the way a lemon is used in other cuisines. Its outer skin is also used to garnish a dish. Yuzu may also be used to make marmalade or a cake. Yuzukosho, lit. yuzu and pepper, is a hot and spicy sauce made with green yuzu skin and green pepper.

 

Bathing with yuzu on Toji (the winter solstice) is a popular custom. (Source: Wikipedia.org)

 

Kaki are also known as persimmons or sharon fruit.

 

Mikans are mandarin oranges.

 

This is a glorious, citrusy, slightly bitter (black tea?) blend that makes me feel so good! I must have a bottle. I'm so happy, as this is the first of the Japanese blends that has really driven me wild. It's just gorgeous! Thanks for the freebie imp of this amazing blend, labbies!

SPOOOOKINS! <3

 

In the bottle, this is a riotous, boozy peppermint. Beautiful, and I haven't liked any mint scents before this one! It's not overpowering, I think that the coconut keeps it down.

 

At first when I applied it, this became kind of dark very quickly, something that I thought smelled smokey appeared, then I realized that it was the unique smell of coconut mixing with the mint and cocoa. That hint of smokiness is about as much chocolate as I ever get from this one.

 

It's not a very strong scent - which makes me rue the day that I only bought one bottle, because I'll definately have to slather and reapply to get the full effect of it.

 

It's lovely.

I'm the exact opposite of Dagger, it appears! I love the apricot in this blend. It's sweet, tart, juicy and gorgeous - but the patchouli - is patchouli. If you love patchouli, you'll love this. It's earthy.

 

This smells very incensy. I don't mean "spicy" or "smoky" or anything else. It smells exactly like a stick of inscense. If that's something that you are looking for, again - you'll adore this one.

 

I'll be searching out more apricot blends (march hare?) after trying this one!

Hmm... In the bottle, I get the same bubblegumminess (what a word) that Q-S mentioned earlier in this thread. It was pretty repulsive to me at first, but I had to give this one a shot, so I tried it on.

 

Almost immediately, the bubblegum scent was annihilated by the sandalwood and myrhh. I'm pretty surprised, but the sandalwood didn't dominate this blend either. All of the notes just melded and softened each other. It was a pretty (and dark?) white floral for a few minutes and then...

 

completely gone. *sigh*

In the bottle, this is fruity (definately grapes or cherries or something juicy like that), effervescent (kinda champagn-ey) and a bit astringent. It also smells a bit musky.

 

On, this is definately pretty synthetic smelling (Hollywood!), but not in a plasticky way. I think the strawberry and vanilla notes are doing this.

 

AMBER + VANILLA = SO SWEET. Oh my goodness, this is sweeeeet. It's a warm sweetness. The musk really softens the blend.

 

Very sweet and girly. Which I am.

I've had safe imp travel experiences (in carry-on luggage) in Albuquerque, Phoenix, San Diego and San Juan. Went straight through the x-ray, no additional searches required.

In the bottle, this smells like sweet cherry cola to me.

 

The minute it hits my skin, it turns into Queen of Sheba with a hint of cherry. Almonds, honey, and a bit of spice mulled with cherries. As the queen is one of my favorite blends, I am very pleased! I adore this scent.

 

Staying power - very good, just like the queen. I could still smell it today when I woke up after wearing it last night.

Sharp, crisp and very lightly green. Perhaps a bit astringent - but not overpoweringly so. It's a super, super fresh blend. Funky fresh. Soo fresh. Okay. As for the peony, I only get it in the bottle. It may be sweetening this blend a bit, but it's not an outrightly identifiable note.

 

As this fades, it becomes more herbal and less sharply-green, which is good. It's pretty, but I think that Neo-Tokyo is my "fresh and super clean" scent - it's a little more complex. If you're a fan of soft, clean scents - you can confidently add this one to your repetoire.

Juniper berry and fig TOTALLY dominate this blend in the bottle and definately for the first few moments on me. It reminds me of the "lemon" phase of Vinland - which is really just amped up loganberry. Luckily, just like Vinland, the juniper berry chills out as the musks start to warm up. I definately get walnut, but it's beautifully blended, not too bitter and not at all rancid. Just nice and... nutty.

 

After a while it becomes a lovely fig/bit o berry/walnut/musk blend - though I never get any cocoa, which was what I was so looking forward to in this. It's very lovely, though I swapped for this decant I don't believe that I will be purchasing a 5ml.

Yay! Quantum Spice gave me a lurvly bottle of this! <3

 

Buttery, carmelized sugar. No fruits - definately get the "buttered pancakes" vibe from this. I worked at a breakfast restaurant for a while, and I would come home smelling like a meaty, less pretty version of this. I adore it! Yay!

 

It made me so hungry that I made carmelized pears with caramel sauce and raspberry topping! <3 <3 <3

Hahaha, I thought that this was an experimental blend at first because Q_S got a bottle of it that wasn't identified, and it doesn't actually have the name on the bottle, so... Yeah.

 

My impressions of this scent are heavily dominated by the label on the bottle, which has a "sacred heart" design on it - you've probably seen it, a heart surrounded by a crown of thorns with a flame on top. I consider this a very Mexican/New Mexican symbol, though I may be mistaken.

 

In the bottle, this smells of wet fruit - not tart or sweet by any stretch, but definately juicy. I suspect that this is prickly pear, as it is very similar to the prickly pear note in Tenochtitlan. The blend is also slightly aquatic - but not salty at all. (Found out later that this was Mango)

 

On, this enhanced by something herbal and green, though I can't place the smell specifically. Then, the most amazing thing happens - I really do think that I smell CHILE in this blend. After making green chile stew tonight, I'm almost certain that there is some kind of chile pepper in this blend. It's strange, because the blend is soft and almost sweet, but there is a definate bite to it. Perhaps it's just my preconceived notions talking. (Sage, but I still suspect a bit of chile)

 

Lasts and fades for hours, ultimately becoming something remenicent of amber with a kick of chile. How fun, and beautiful! It's a shame that this one probably won't be coming out, because it is fantastically gorgeous! I lurve it!

 

AND NOW I CAN BE SUPER HAPPY BECAUSE I HAVE A BOTTLE COMING IN MY NEXT ORDER!!! YAY!!!

In the bottle and initially, this is all Lotus on me - for some reason, Lotus is all "diaper" to me. Maybe my mom used a strange, lotus scented diaper - but I can't escape the association. After about a half an hour, the lotus fades back and the amber warms up - this becomes a slightly tart, warm, but very light floral - the first half hour is very sickening to me, though - and after that, though it is pleasant - it's not exceptional. As far as staying power - it only lasts for a couple of hours before fading out completely. For a lotus lover, this would be a fantastic blend, though!

Like everyone else has said, this is a VERY tart apple in the bottle, almost verging on a kind of acrid scent, but not quite. It smells like a very tart apple juice with a shot of herbs.

 

Stays pretty true on. Not terribly long lasting - somewhere in the middle. A couple of hours strong with no reapply. It's definately warmed by the amber after a while - a tart, but still warm scent.

In the bottle, I get a big pile of vanilla with a slight, sharp green undertone. No lemon at all yet, thank goodness.

 

On, this is still very very vanilla. I get a touch of lemon, but only for an instant, and only in the very background. There is a bitterness here of the tea - it's very beautiful, but unfortunately it doesn't really stand up against the vanilla.

 

As it fades, the vanilla and tea mingle and eventually decide to give each other some room. It's very lovely, very comforting and definately gender neutral. Unfortunately, it's not very me. Lovely though!

Oddly, Mandarin dominates this scent for me - it is very tart, and I never get the warmth of the amber. It's a pretty scent, but ultimately very light and with very little staying power. Off to swap with ye!

The base of this blend is definately vanilla, and in the bottle I do get a bit of cherry - but once it's on my skin it's all clove and vetiver. Not a good combination for me at all, unfortunately. I could see this as a dark, sexy, sweet scent - for someone else.

In the bottle:

Dominant Notes: Fresh, green (but weedy, not piney), "stemmy" scent that others have described. Plus the yellow, musky, unmistakeable scent of dandilions. This is so pretty in the bottle, a bit sharp, but beautiful and dare I say... fresh? Yeah, wow.

 

Initial on:

Dominant notes: Dandilions persist, the green stemminess fades to the background. I *might* get a whiff of something like hops or tobacco here or there, but only just maybe. At moments it seems foamy, remeniscent of a freshly poured beer. Sometimes I catch a whiff of something dry and smokey. Mostly, this is the scent of dandilions on a balmy, lazy summer afternoon.

 

After a While:

Persistent notes: Dandilion! Beautiful, perfect dandilion!

Staying power: Not exceptional... in fact, pretty disappointing considering how much I adore this scent! After only a couple of hours, it's detectable only at a direct arm sniff, and I put it all over. But you know what? That won't sway me! This is BEAUTIFUL!

 

Overall Impressions: Childhood, summer, warmth - tons of nostalgia. I adore this. I MUST have more!

In the bottle: Very sharp. Rose and something with a lot of bite, it smells very like a sharp alcohol. I guess this must be the "twisted" that the description refers to. This might be a loamy scent, as it IS reminiscent of Zombi, which I really didn't like.

 

On: The sharp note does fade out a little bit - but I wish that this were just the tea rose note, as that element is very beautiful. It's very light and fresh. An indoorsy rose versus Rose Red's outdoor rose. A quiet rose versus Kurukulla's boisterous rose bouqet. But on a very deep inhale, that sharp note remains and unfortunately corrupts this blend for me.

 

Come on, come on, let me get used to that scent.

 

I am SO conflicted. I LOVE the tea rose scent in this. It's gorgeous. But I really hate that other note... I think my initial repulsion may have set me against this from the beginning and may be exaggerating my impressions now. I guess that the problem is... if I can't decide and I'm afraid that I will despise it or not wear it... I won't get a bigger bottle. I'm looking for the perfect Rose scent for my sister, who smelled Rose Red and adored it, but won't accept my bottle because she knows that it is an LE and doesn't want to take mine. I don't think that this is it for me, but I may get a bottle for her, because I don't think this note would detract from the rose for her as it does me.

Yup, buttery almonds. I didn't ever get any of the myrrh. I have a lot of almondy scents, Snow White, Queen of Sheba and Eclipse - and unfortunately Hecate isn't a big standout for me, though it is lovely.