Caitfish

Yay! I'm from the Southwest, so I am glad that I get to be the first to review this! The greatest of all Aztec cities, and capital of their empire. Amber, hyssop, coriander, epazote, Mexican sage, prickly pear and Mexican tulip poppy. First, I was unfamiliar with three of the notes here, so I went and found out what the are like. I'll share those first: Hyssop: funny, the origin of this is listed as Mediterranean, but I've seen it around. It's kind of a purple weed. Apparently, it's a member of the mint family, and is supposed to be bitter. Similar compounds are found in sage and rosemary. I do actually have some personal experience with this plant, and from what I can recall it is bitter. It's a dusty scent with a bit of bite. Coriander: Oh, CORIANDER! This is Cilantro, it's a spice commonly used in Pico de Gallo, a kind of chunky salsa thing. It's a little like parsley, but it has a fuller flavor. Another ingredient that should compliment the sage well. Epazote: From Gernot Katzer's killer spice page: "Epazote's fragrance is strong, but difficult to describe. People would often compare it with (in no particular order) citrus, petroleum, savory, mint or putty. I think it smells like epazote." Haha, well, that's helpful. This also refers to the pretty purple flowers that grow on the plant. This plant is actually native to Mexico. Okay, now that we've all had a botany lesson, on to the review! In the Bottle: Dominant notes: I can definately smell the juicy prickly pear, with a bit of something minty (not in the fresh, brisk way - but a wild mint - probably the hyssop). The amber dominates, it's sweet and warm, a good base for these natural smells. Impresisons: Smells sterile and sweet. Something almost like bubblegum - then it turns green and herby. Very strange. Initial On: Dominant notes: More of the herbs now. Amber is still on top, but this is much more dusty - it smells very much of wildflowers. The prickly pear makes this sweet and a bit juicy. Impressions: It just smells natural and real, like all of the myriad life in the desert. After a While: Persistent notes: Amber, prickly pear, general herbs. Notes that fade: Anything that could have been construed as minty is completely gone. The bubblegummy smell has faded and the poppy is has replaced it. Staying power: Decent for such a natural, juicy blend. Several hours with throw. Apparent on arm-sniff after that. Overall Impressions: This is a beautiful, completely unique blend. I love the addition of all of the plants that grow in this area, and especially in Mexico. The scent itself is incredibly beautiful. Sweet, warm, and herby - all in the most natural way. Like walking through a field of desert wildflowers, munching on a freshly picked (and carefully peeled! ;D) cactus fruit. Gosh, I love this. I love all of Beth's Mexican blends, and this is definately up there with Dia de los Muertos - though they smell completely different. Good Show! Big Bottle! ETA: Seriously, people - try this one. I think Beth's found her niche in the Mexican blends - it's breathtaking, warm, savory, juicy - delicious!

The Seventh Daughter, Daughter of the Oath. She was King David’s lover, and the mother of King Solomon. Her scent is breathtakingly lovely, exotic and powerfully sensual in its innocence: carnation, sensual plum, and Arabian musk. In the Bottle: Dominant notes: Carnation and plum! Impressions: These notes are suprisingly beautiful together! The carnation is a beautiful, spicy floral, and the plum is lush and juicy. I couldn't imagine these two together, but really they are perfect in the bottle. Initial On: Dominant notes: Carnation and musk. Impressions: The plum has taken a strange hiatus, and the musk and carnation make this a very spicy blend all of a sudden. It's still lovely, simple, straighforward and sexy. After a While: Persistent notes: Carnation, musk, and the plum does come back, making this spicy, juicy and warm - very sexy and luscious. Staying power: Very good - I think that the two strong base notes create this effect. Lasts for hours with good throw. Overall Impressions: A beautiful, simple, in-your-face blend. Because the major note is Carnation, the floral in this is spicy and subtle. The arabian musk is very spicy after it warms, and the plum adds a lush, sexy dimension. Damn, yeay - this is downright sexy. Simple, warm, and attractive. It's fantastic.

The Gnostic goddess of Wisdom. A solemn, deeply profound draught of lavender, soft musks, star jasmine, black rose, delphinium, and gentle spice. In the Bottle: Dominant notes: Lavender right away, I don't know if it's the star jasmine or delphinium, but something makes this seem fairly tart! No spices or rose yet, and lots of musk softening all of the flowers, though it isn't "woah musk." Impressions: a much stronger blend than I was expecting, floral with a bit of tart - we'll call that Sophia's incisiveness. Soft, graceful, and surprisingly dark. Reminds me a bit of Black Dahlia. Initial On: Dominant notes: The musks warm up and become more apparent right away. The tartness described earlier remains. Still overwhelmingly lavender, and there may be a bit of rose poking out. No spices as of yet. Impressions: From darkness in the bottle, this emerges as a very fresh kind of musky scent, like a softly perfumed musk soap. It's strong and has good throw - those wary of strong florals should avoid it, if the description wasn't enough to make you do that already. Those who adore darker florals should bathe in it. After a While: Persistent notes: The undefined tartness, Lavender, musk, and finally a *very tiny* bit of something that might be called spice. My skin usually takes anything that could concievably be construed as a spice and turns it into spice hell, so it's saying something that this is very subtle. It probably won't be apparent on most people. Notes that fade: It's pretty consistent. After the initial warming of the musks, the blend stays balanced as described above. Overall Impressions: This is a very lovely floral. I love the mysterious tart - this reminds me of the function of the lush magnolias in Black Dahlia, if not the scent. If you love lavender, the musk does wonderful things to warm it up and bring it out. Overall, this is a lovely floral, but not different or evocative enough to warrant a big bottle purchase from me (I already have piles of florals.) It's a beautiful imp that will be treasured, however. ETA: Damn, there are those spices. Troops of them, as usual. So, if you were in this for the spices, go right ahead. They just take a while to make an appearance. Freaking Aries blood.

Santa Muerte, Saint Death, is not a harbinger of doom and symbol of entropy. She is the Queen of Mercy, a source of motherly comfort, and a symbol to all sweethearts that love lasts even beyond death. She is a vision of beauty in her own right: glittering rings adorn every bony finger, she is draped in a cloak of the finest satin, and her grinning skull, beneath her cowl, is crowned by a bejeweled tiara. A deep, resonant scent, both comforting and soft: lovers’ roses, solemn chrysanthemum, dark vetiver and dazzling cactus flowers 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.

The House of Mists, a land of icy fog, shadowy darkness and soul-chilling cold. Dark, damp blossoms winding through an impenetrable, murky gloom. In the bottle: Pretty standard aquatic base here, think the water in Dragon's Tears or Tears. The florals are... darker... carnation perhaps, white florals. No rose here. Nothing sweet or cloying. Initial On: This is a very strong blend when initially applied. It's a floral with the same kind of melancholy as Black Dahlia. It's not lush, and not sweet - it would almost smell like dried flowers if it weren't for the aquatic notes. After a While: This remains a very strong aquatic - but it *is* gloomy, and very dark. It smells deep and mysterious. There was a very odd moment while wearing this where I thought that I was wearing Samhain. That's right - apple cider??? One of the floral notes here is rather spicy - that's why I lean towards carnation. Overall: I'm afraid that this review isn't very helpful - this is a difficult blend to pin down. It begins as standard aquatic fare, but then darkens considerably. It settles on a kind of spicy, gloomy, dark aquatic with just the barest hint of something that might be called a floral. It's a very odd blend indeed. Pretty, but a bit dark for my tastes. ETA: If there is one thing that I did not expect, it's the warmth of the blend. It was described as ICY, and perhaps it is in the beginning, but as this mysterious spice rises all I get is warmth. Please take that with my usual disclaimer: I'm a full-blown redheaded Aries. Anything with a hint of spice turns into my own personal spice hell, so this blend could be very different on someone else. I can't wait for another person to review it!

Wow, first reviewer! Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav'n. This is our song to Lucifer, Lucis Ferre, Heosphoros, the Morning Star, the Brilliant One and the Son of the Morning. He is equated with Samhazai, the Heaven-Seizer, and Azazel, one of the 200 Fallen Angels of Enoch. The essence of overweening pride and unearthly angelic beauty. A regal scent, glowing darkly, elegant and patrician, but unfathomably desolate. Cherubic white sandalwood and golden musk with a dark halo of amber, a breath of imperial florals, unbending woods, and the shadow cast by vetiver and violet. In the Bottle: Dominant notes: Sandalwood and musk overall. The sandalwood is soft, but definately present. I think that the musk may be softening the other elements without making an outright appearance. The amber is definately there, also - it makes this blend almost sweet. I can't really detect any florals or vetiver at this point. Impressions: Patrician is the right word for this blend. Initial On: Dominant notes: Suddenly, the musk has control. Amber and sandalwood in the background. The vetiver has now made an appearance - it's bitter and mossy, but not overbearing as in every other vetiver blend that I've tried. This smells like any number of musk-based colognes, but a bit sweeter. It must be the amber creating the illusion of sweetness here. Impressions: Very warm and clean. This smells decidedly comfortable with itself, as any satanic blend would have to be. Haughty - like a male version of Pride. After a While: Persistent notes: Musk, sandalwood, and a bit of amber, as above. The vetiver sticks around and gives this a slightly bitter edge. I don't think I ever detected any florals or violet. Overall Impression: Very evocative blend here. It's the blend of a powerful, haughty, devestatingly attractive man - the kind that men and women both flock to. Overwhelmingly seductive. I must enter a disclaimer - I don't usually wear blends with patchouli or vetiver, AT ALL. But the patchouli here is very cleverly tempered. Personally, I don't think I'll ever wear this again - but if you know the kind of man I described above, buy that man a BIG bottle. And watch his head swell three sizes!

“The Beautiful One Is Come”. Egyptian iris and olibanum with red and white sandalwood, soft myrrh and a breath of North African herbs. Disclaimer: I don't think from the start that this will be my kind of scent, I'm not a big fan of sandalwood or myrrh. I'll try to make my review fair and objective, but take it with a grain of salt! In the Bottle: Dominant Notes: Surprisingly difficult to distinguish any notes but Iris at this point. Initial Impressions: This is a surprise, I thought that the sandalwood would make this very dry, but in the bottle it smells lush - almost wet! Also, very floral. I'm sure I'm about to be slayed by Sandalwood and Spices, as my Ares blood almost always makes sure! Here goes! Initial On: Dominant notes: Iris still. A lush, white floral. A bit of sandalwood and myrrh rising. Impression: This is becoming dry, from being so wet. The sandalwood is sucking up the extra moisture without killing the beautiful Iris at the center. I can definately smell herbs now. I have Sophia on my other wrist, which is only very slightly spicy, and Nefertiti makes her smell so spicy in comparison! This is... fertile. That's the only way to put it. After a While: Persistent notes: all of the above, they seem to be balanced very well. Staying Power: Not exceptional, fades after about an hour or so, of course I applied this very sparingly. Overall Impressions: This is evocative exactly of a very lush oasis in the middle of a scorched desert. I usually hate using flowery metaphors to describe these things, but that's it! The herbs make this ever so slightly green, the Iris is ABSOLUTELY lush, and the myrrh and sandalwood create a halo of dry warmth around the whole thing without crushing any of it. This actually kind of reminds me of Dragon's Tears in a way. It's lovely, but I'm really not a fan of Sandalwood. If you are, you'll worship it.

Mania, Roman Goddess of the Dead, Matron of Madness, Governess of the Ancestral Spirits, Bestower of Divine Frenzy. Her scent swirls with a high-pitched tumult of laurel, stargazer lily, splintered woods, peony, mandarin and white musk, and is spiked with pale pepper. In the Bottle: Dominant notes: this is a tumultuous blend indeed! Many, many notes competing for attention here. Lily, definately. I'm afraid that I don't know what laurel or peony smell like, but the effect is of sweet florals. This is heavily spiked with mandarin, it raises the pitch of all of the other notes, and yes - a bit of pepper is apparent. It is sweet, tart - and yes, high pitched. Like a banshee. But pretty! Initial On: Dominant notes: Mandarin overall, mellowed florals, a bit of a dry wood scent now - not cedar or cherry or rosewood or anything that would interfere with the other notes, just a dry, woody addition. The pepper has faded into the wood, I believe. Impressions: Hmm, the screaming tumult of notes has mellowed a bit. I think that that must be the musk. It seems that whenever I wear musk, it serves as the "calming" element, just making everything softer and bringing it all together. The woodsy notes make this pretty dry. It's still mostly sweet and tart, with a bit of a dry bite. After A While: Persistent notes: Mandarin mostly, but it's not overpoweringly orangey. Just tart. The musk keeps it soft and the woods make it dry. A small bit of sweetness contributed by the flowers, which are no longer distinguishable on their own. Notes that fade: That pepper didn't last long at all! Not what I expected! Staying power: A pretty ghostly blend in this respect. It didn't last long. Overall Impressions: This isn't what I expected at all. I guess I expected something a bit more haunting, but this is truly maniacal - more like a banshee than an insubstantial phantom. Quite a few morphs, though always tart at the core. A very interesting blend... I think I must wear it a few more times before I reach a verdict on her.

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!

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!