Leopard403

Ooooo. *sighs in contentment*

The 2009 version: I'm so glad I was brave enough to skin test this. When sniffing the bottle, and while wet on my skin, this smells like cheap men's aftershave. I was immediately transported back to my childhood, when my family didn't have a lot of money and my father wore this gawd-awful face splash every day. Luckily, we grew and his tastes changed, and I was brave enough to put something that smells like that on my own skin. This really embodies Victoriana, just as it is purported to. It's a creamy scent with something slighly spicy underneath; something sort of dusty that kicks you right in the back of the throat when you huff too hard. It's not boozy, but it's not notable as a vanilla either; and the tobacco, smoke, and musk are scary-sounding but turn out very subtle. This manages to feel old-worldly and dainty at the same time it is deep, dark, and sexy. Quite nice.

Emma is the most mysterious and least predictable of the ladies on my skin. When it is wet on my skin it is OMG HEAVY FLORAL! WHOA! It's sort of tuberose-y, which is really heavy and heady to me and must be the jasmine. But then it dries, and it gets confusing. Sometimes I get a lot of patchouli overlaid with the daintier notes; and sometimes I just get pink girly goodness with a hint of boozy vanilla. This needs more testing over time because it is definitely a morpher, and so far I can't find a pattern.

This doesn't work for me, but I was wary of that red musk and ginger to start with. This is a musky, plummy cocoa scent that manages to somehow smell foody and weirdly dirty at the same time.

This is true honey base note with a hint of lemon, though the overall scent manages to be ever-so-slightly spicy on top of the sweet. Moderate throw, and I have to really slather to get this to last, but it's fun and girly nevertheless.

I see people are getting their deliveries for Black Death and Black Heart. Any pics?

I don't have olfactory cells that can discern details about incense. Some people get hints of rose? Lemon? Chocolate? I'm jealous. To me, this is just "incense." That smokey, sweet, head shop-y, sort of boring "incense."

The perfume of a hellbound soul, gleefully lost to iniquity: blood musk, golden honey, thick black wine, champagne grapes, tobacco flower, plum blossom, tonka bean, oakmoss, carnation, benzoin, opoponax, and sugar cane. This is very heavy and grape-y; I think that's the blood and wine. I get more plum *fruit* than plum *blossom*, too, and that's generally a R/O note for me. This is tempered a bit by the florals, but overall is too heady for me to get away with wearing.

No orange in Jabberwocky to me, this is fresh and manly, heavy on the pine and ozone-y eucalyptus.

Katmandu is a "high" scent, in that it hits me high up in my nose and brain rather than tickling the tip like most scents do. (Do olfactory cells work like tastebuds? Are there "sweet" and "sour" places up in my schnoz?) Anyway, it's a high woody scent, slightly sweet light wood, with a hint of spice. Like freshly-cut but very dry cedar chips and incense.

All I get here is cinnamon potpourri. Weird.

Everything I equate with "masculine" combines in Slobbering Pine: It's piney and aquatic and slightly cologne-y. Would be excellent on my boyfriend, methinks.

Oooh, Lulu is bright and fresh (and yes, quite soapy), just like my beloved Dia. Lots of that sparkly tobacco flower up front, but nicely grounded by the other notes on the drydown.

Oh. Um, yeah. Hilma is not good on me. There is something distinctly, uh, circus-like about it; as in wild animals and elephant dung.

I don't get any peach from Josie. None. That's okay, though, because the magnolia is gorgeous and ever so slightly soapy; just like the complimentary toiletries I used to get in my favorite Savannah bed & breakfast. Josie is obviously a very Southern girl, as this is evocative of thick, lush, heavy Southern air. Love! edit on 2/4 to update: Oh, so there's the peach. Lots of peach. Yowza. Fortunately (because I found the peach so strong as to be cloying and slightly offensive), it burns off my skin in record time, leaving that creamy magnolia behind.

Like filigree, Flora has hints of peaches on my skin, though if I concentrate really hard I can see how that comes from the apple and sandalwood combination. I was worried about that mention of musk, but I can't smell it at all. As others have mentioned, this isn't identifiably fruity nor is it an obvious floral, but it lies somewhere in between the two. It's quite lovely.

Wet, Tin Phoenix is very similar to Whitechapel (and Lush's Avobath) to me. As it dries, it turns into something slightly more sophisticated, and there is something masculine and cologne-y there. Quite a nice surprise, and lasts forever!

Wet, Spooky Res. smells like mint chocolate pina colada to me. What's in there that would smell like coconut tropical goodness? On my skin, this smells of after dinner mints and plastic. It's that vanilla creme note of death that turns nasty. Big fail for me.

By far, Lead Phoenix is the biggest surprise of the anniversary bunch for me. I was testing sniffies blindly, with no list as to what notes were in which scent, and I think I should do that more often: I think knowing ahead of time plants a seed, placebo effect-like, as to whether I'll like something or not. This is lovely but hard to describe on my skin, I guess most notable as a clean floral, though not at all soapy or identifiable as a "flowery" scent. This is very sophisticated and gently perfume-y and quite excellent. Not at all "lead"-like on the skin! Damn, I wish I could do better than than in describing it. I'll come back after I've thought on it some more...

Good gracious, this is Alice to the one millionth power, and a little dab'll do ya! Hot, creamy carnation-y goodness, with the amber just slightly powdery. Very sexy, this will be much better on a date than at work. It's too heady and sultry for the workplace, but it's perfect for a steamy night with a loved one.

Why is this so violet-y good when there's no violet in there?!? This is another Phoenix in which I can't discern separate notes, but the overall tone is soft and powdery, and makes me think of the color lilac and dainty fairies and spiderwebs wet with dew. (Insert eyeroll here; I know how that sounds! ) As ethereal as this feels on my skin, it lasts a ridiculously long time. As in: I put it on last night before dinner, and when I woke up this morning and rolled over, I could still catch a whiff in the hair that had been tucked behind my ears. Quite nice, and potentially bottle-worthy.

I can't even skin-test this one. In my sniffie, all I get is old blood and rust and it hits my nose in a wave of hot scent that made my gorge rise. Not for me, this one.

I can't really pick out any separate notes in this scent; the best I can do is say that this smells "bright" and is evocative of orange groves and Springtime. Amber is hit-or-miss on my skin, and in this blend it works as something soft and almost powdery.

This is a lovely little scent. I was worried about the patchouli note, but that part of Copper Phoenixis evocative of Clemence, which I like very much. Over that I can smell a honey-bright orange-y scent, with something unidentifiably floral (the rose?) keeping that grounded and far from citrus furniture polish. As it wears I definitely get more of the sandalwood, but that soft patchouli and zesty scent are still there as well. Unexpectedly good!

Oooooh, they ARE really awesome!