Undertow - Dark Elements

Notes: lotus, juniper and mint

This smells like the listed notes – lotus (floral, slightly bubblegummy) with a blast of mint. The juniper adds to the coolness of the mint and offsets the florals. As it wears, the mints gets stronger and is crisp and refreshing. This might make a good foot lotion, cooling and soothing.

From the description, “dragged up from the depths of the Stygian shore” I expected something a bit murkier and darker, but then I realize I don’t know what exactly the Stygian shore is, so that’s a bit of research before I can really make a judgment.

I’ve had some great mint scents, but I realize that while mint does have its place, it’s not what I want in a perfume. Lotion maybe, but not perfume.

edited for clarity

Lilith - Excolo

Notes: red wine, myrrh, black musk, attar of rose

I’ve been wanting to try this scent forever, so I was thrilled when Lilith in the GC swap reached me. In the imp, it smells like corrupted, ruined fruit. Not wine, but fruit in general. Once on, the musk comes out to play, as does the rose. This is a dark, murky scent. I’m not getting much wine, I wonder if this is an older imp? It reminds me more of red musk rather than black musk; black musk always seems to go powdery on me but it’s not happening this time around. I’m liking this scent. After it’s been on a bit, the black musk does go a bit powdery on me.

Overall impression is that is reminds me a bit of a commercial perfume, sophisticated, and naturally dark brown in color. It remains mainly musk, with a touch of spicy myrrh and a touch of rose. I never see the wine at all.

Huh, I just got it. You know what, for some reason it reminds me of Youth Dew by Estee Lauder. I know there’s a YD oil, I wonder if it’s similar…

Othello - Illyria

Notes: arabian musk, 2 roses, middle eastern and indian spices

Once I looked at the notes of this imp, I was really excited to try it. In the imp and first applied, I smell mainly roses. After it’s been on a bit, it still remains strongly rose, a rich, deep rose, but becomes slightly powdery. Based on the powder I would think this was a dark or black musk, instead of arabian musk. I'm not getting any of the spices here. Overall impression, I like it but I'm not crazy about it. There's a few other rose scents that I adore so I'm not included to pursue this one further.

Whitechapel - Wanderlust

Notes: white musk, lime, lilac, citron

In the imp: citrus

On the skin: citrus initially, mainly lemon. This is a really light scent, and although I only applied a small bit to my skin, I have to sniff really hard, right next to my hand to smell anything. There’s a touch of fuzzy white musk. Now this is reminding me of Satan and Death with Sin Intervening or some of the older, discontinued scents that had lemongrass as a component. There’s a strange scent here that’s a combination of the citrus and musk I think that I just don’t care for. The citrus smells like lemongrass, which is never a good thing for me. This scent and I do not get along. And I don’t think we ever will. <0 stars.>

Love Me - Voodoo Oils (reviewed 1-16-06)

In the Imp: dry bubblegum-type scent. Its an orangy-red color which makes me think that there's dragon's blood in here.

On the Skin: Thank god, the bubblegum note vanishes once I put it on. Instead, I get an almost ylang-ylang scent plus cinnamon and an underlying note of musk or civet. I don't think it's jasmine as jasmine hates me, and this is pretty good so far. It's warm, spicy, and very sexy. When I first applied it the other day, immediately out of the shower, I had a wee bit of a reaction to it - my skin turned red where it was applied.

As it Drys: Vanilla comes out, wow - this reminds me a LOT of Dragon's Milk. This is just fabulous! There's definitely both dragon's blood and vanilla in here. It has an underlying musky edge to it. The cinnamon mellows out a lot and there's also a touch of incense here.

Overall Impression: Warm, spicy, sexy, sultry scent. I don't know that it works for it's intended purpose but it certainly makes me feel sexier, so from that alone it's being effective. I think it's fabulous! I have to get a bottle with my next order. Yum!

Magus - Bewitching Brews

Notes: galangal, high john essence, frankincense, cedar, sandalwood

Wow – I don’t know why I haven’t tried this one before. I love these woody scents and this one is no exception. It starts out as a wonderful cedar scent. It smells like there could be a touch of incense in the background. Its like Aureus and Midnight Mass mated and this is their child.

This is a lovely scent and I like it quite a bit. The only problem is that it doesn’t last at all on my skin. I applied a good swipe about an hr ago and it’s totally gone. It reminds me of Aureus, Cathedral, Jupiter and Midnight Mass.