Category: Excolo
I pretty much smell lots of lilac and myrrh mixed together. I don't know if there is an actual wine note in the 'honey wine', but Eros manages to go sour on me pretty quickly, much like Athens did. It's not as obnoxious as Athens was, but still not for me.
Category -- Rappaccini's Garden
Oh God, this is gorgeous. Beautiful, sweet lily, smooth and velvety. It has a cool darkness without being damp, more an essence of the shaded light that surrounds the flower, rather than the earth it springs from.
If only it projected. It hugs my skin and really does not throw much, and this is disappointing.
(And, unfortunately, the only day that it really seems to amp -- is the day right before my period. I can't really justify wanting a bottle of something with such a...limited window of usefulness. )
Man...what a flippin' cocktease.
I get a brief, teasing whiff of orange, and then a pine branch smacks me in the noggin. But I like the orange...so I keep coming back to sniff again...and keep getting pine needles shoved up my nose. And then amber and incense come around afterward to douse my wounds in a medicinal bath, and prep me for round 7,531 of this endless cycle.
It's an exercise in sadomasochism for me.
Limited Editions -- Halloween 2009
Crisp, green, slightly juicy apple, paired with the tang of rum and with a wee bit of slightly-toasted caramel (with perhaps some nuts on it). It's a really fun initial whiff; unfortunately, it dissipates pretty quickly on me.
Category -- Rappaccini's Garden
I wasn't hoping for much from this one, but was pleasantly surprised. This really does smell like rich, juicy red berries, with maybe a teensy splash of wine. Unfortunately, it doesn't have all that much throw or longevity on me; otherwise it'd be a keeper.
Go ahead and try this if you normally don't like lotus. I think you'll enjoy it for a change.
Category -- Bewitching Brews
There's a strong whiff of pine, and then it quickly becomes tempered by the smell of cranberries, which helps make it sweet and tart as well as robust. Not me, but it was a fun experience nonetheless.
Category: Wanderlust
In the imp I could tell that there was some sandlewood there, with maybe a hint of something sweet, like the mandarin.
Once it gets on me, that sandlewood really amps up. At first there is a sharp, woody tone, but it quickly mellows to something that has sweetness around the edges -- bergamot and orange, it seems.
It's a lovely scent, though like all the sandlewood scents before, it doesn't last too long.
Category: Excolo
Oh...oh yum. Sweet luscious fruity YUM.
Could be apple in there...could be pear...could also be some melon...definitely very moist, juicy scents, incredibly wet and tempting, with just a hint of florals -- is it sakura blossom that continues to make it so sweet? In any case, hot damn.
I don't get any spiciness from it at all...just lots of seductive sugary sweetness. I know now how hummingbirds feel.
Category: Excolo
I definitely get lots of grapefruit from this one; the plum gives it a sweet, rounded edge after the initial bite of the citrus. To be quite honest, it reminds me of Cheshire Cat, only without that creamy, ultra-sugary note to it; while Cheshire Cat hunkers down and grins at you, Meg is higher up, sulking jealously. If you thought that CC was too sweet or thick somehow, you may want to try this, instead. Also, I feel it's a perfect sort of perfume for the height of the summer months.
Category: Bewitching Brews -- The Conjure Bag
As many others have said, this is very cinnamon-fruity, like a liberally-spiced apple treat. It works better than, say, All Night Long on me, and is very similar to Alice's Evidence. In spite of its aromatic components, it tends to have very light throw, and dissipates after a few hours.
Limited Edition -- Yule 2009 -- Miskatonic Yuletide Faire
I didn't have much material to test, so this one sort of got lost in the shuffle. I'm rather regretting it now, as it's pretty yummy-smelling. As many others have noted, it has a slightly-buttery almond pastry feel. I'm not getting a lot of fruit, though there is a very sweet aspect to it, so I wouldn't put it past the cherry to be present right now. It's throwing pretty well just from the tiny dab I put on. This turned out to be my favorite of Mother Shub's creations.
Category: Limited Editions -- Samhain 2008
There are definitely dry, dead leaves here, but they are accompanied by sweet, warm apple cider and poppies. It's a very nice autumn scent -- right smack in between the earthiness of Chant D' Autumne and the warm deliciousness of Fearful Pleasure. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long on me, which is why I'll just content myself with an imp.
It's not floral, and only a bit fruity -- it's mostly a smell that could be termed 'foilage'...various leaves and branches and twigs, gently stirred by a night breeze. The fruit note does smell like apple, so I agree with the 'apple orchard at night' images that others have noted. It's actually pretty impressive, because it comes off as cool and airy without being an aquatic scent, and on the dry side without being dusty. Even though it doesn't suit me, personally, I'm impressed with it, as these qualities really stand out as being unique to me.
Category -- Bewitching Brews
I do smell coconut and orris. It's nice, but even with the musk, it's just so darned meek that I really can't put it on my list of keepers. Light throw, average longevity.
Category: Bewitching Brews -- The Conjure Bag
Why do you want me to come to you? Because you just cleaned and disinfected the room? That's sort of what it smells like. Oh, okay, well, there is something that smells pretty nice, here...jasmine, maybe, or a lily. It's pretty enough, I suppose, but as far as being amorous, let alone sexually commanding...I just don't get it. Fire Of Love fills that niche for me.
Category: Bewitching Brews
It was hard to review this one, simply because I'm not sure how to describe what I was smelling. Ah well, here goes.
In the imp: I am wanting to say it was more floral than anything else, though there was a certain...solidity to it. An edge. A razor-thin one, however, as the scent was not strident in any way.
Wet: Still floral, getting a lighter quality to it. It's hard to really, truly catch a whiff of it...it's as if the scent rises just short of my nose, and then darts off to parts unknown, leaving only a ghost of itself for me. I told you this review was hard!
Dry: It gets very faint, fairly quickly -- a couple of hours after application, it's barely detectable. It did leave behind a faint, woody scent, almost like cedar.
Verdict: I'm afraid this doesn't do anything for me; I'll keep an eye out for a loving home for it.
What I liked: It was a pretty scent, if a mystifying one.
What I didn't like: It had no throw, no lasting power...I want to reek of smelly goodness, gosh darn it! I have no idea what notes might have been in it, so I couldn't tell you anything else specific.
Category -- Bewitching Brews
The sad part is that I can smell the clove, vetiver, and cherry all working together, but their resultant team effort is just not a harmonious one to my nose. It just kinda smells like burnt, bitter cherry with a side of ass. I blame you, vetiver. Thankfully, it doesn't broadcast very much to the world.
If you already know that the components work on you, then feel free to give this a try, and enjoy.
Category: Excolo
This is lovely.
The juniper adds a very nice, grounding effect for the other woods, because for some reason sandalwood seems to do odd things on me that are not always pleasant. Together, the woods form a nice base, and there is a bit of spiciness from the juniper, I think, that creeps up every now and then, as well as bergamot. The florals lurk in the background; I can detect just a hint of lilac, just enough to make it especially sweet and pretty.
A very pleasant, romantic scent, in my opinion.
Category: Doc Constantine's Pharmacopeia
I don't really get a 'dirty' vibe from this (when I was initially reading reviews, people were all (OMG it smells like dirt and mud and violets!)...it's more of a *sweet* violet, perhaps one that has been squished to make, well, bruised violet compound. It's a pretty straightforward violet scent, IMHO. Has a wee bit of throw once it dries (and it is especially lovely once it does), and has good staying power.
When first applied, I get frankincense and a hint of amber -- very lovely. I can see how people get the 'fizzy' feeling, though, because I quickly detected it there, as well. Then the incense morphs quickly to something sweeter; while I didn't get out and out 'grape' scent from the wine, it was vaguely there. After a bit, it just goes generically perfumey. Just not my thing...
Category: Limited Editions -- Lupercalia 2007
I received this as a decant from my Switch Witch.
This...is sex and decadence in a bottle. The earthy pleasures of opium, tobacco leaf, and liquor -- yes, liquor! I'm wanting to say bourbon -- are all I can detect, and it is AWESOME. It's as if someone had captured the essence of a long night in a bawdy bar, sans the less alluring scents of, say, sweat and actual tobacco *smoke*, and put it in a bottle.
If you want to smell like you've been out all night partying, with the smug satisfaction of not having a hangover, then wear this. And don't be afraid to slather it.
YUM.
On me it's a really resinous, dirty-hippy sort of scent, all teak and musk and patchouli. Then it gets a high, sweet-sour scent, almost like furniture polish...I suppose that's the star anise trying to work its magic. Its best phase is when it's completely dried; then it is a dark yet gleaming scent, like an intricately-carved teak chest, glistening with polish and the adoring care of generations of hands.
As aggressive as all of the notes sound, this one doesn't throw at *all*. Really strange. It's not for me, yet if I were to smell it on someone else, I think I'd really like it and be coming in for lots of close, intimate sniffings.
Limited Editions -- Halloween 2009
Primarily, this one is like a spiced bread or cake to me. The beer gives it a sweet sort of nutty aroma when I inhale *super* deeply. Alas, I really wanted to like this one, and it's not a *bad* scent, but it just can't hold a candle to my favorites from last year, Huesos De Santos and John Barleycorn.
At first Grandmother and I didn't get along; she smelled like baby powder with a very unpleasant biological crotch-sweat edge to it. Eww! Over time, however, she mellowed out, did a 180, and smelled like a bouquet of dried flowers that had been saved over the years in a wooden drawer, age and dust giving them a peppery sort of aura.
Not really my thing, but I'm relieve that it had a happy ending, at least.
