sarada

Received via swap circle. I'm just reviewing these as scents, not taking into account their symbolic meaning.

This one particularly interested me because I thought it might be earthy.

I like it the most of the Sephiroth on first sniff, but that might just be because I'm drawn to the dark brown color. On my skin it's an earthy spice...becoming more and more cinnamon but fortunately it doesn't make my skin hot. Perhaps it's clove, which I vastly prefer to cinnamon anyway. It's kind of a gritty, dark spice, and as it fades it makes me think of mixing batter for some sort of spiced raisin bread. It's got an almost gritty dried fruit quality to it as well. As it fades I think more and more of thick, dense fruitcake or raisin bread (neither of which I like at all so that's not something I care to smell like).

Nosferatu is my favorite for wine, but there's a strong earthy element as well so if you're not into that then it might not work. Lady Macbeth was like a light berry wine for me. Tintagel was almost all cinnamon to me.

I love wine as a scent component though I don't drink -- Nosferatu is definitely winey but a lot of people have problems with the mossy/earthy layer.

Perhaps the new scents 21 and The Hamptons would work?

My personal autumn scents are probably different from a lot of other peoples' -- for me, Lilith, Depraved, Lust, March Hare and Nosferatu are favorites (and I only have them as imps!). Red wine, red musk, apricot, patchouli, clove, dirt...those are my autumn smells. Dragon's blood as well is very autumnal for me...and Dragon's Milk is working out to be a good fall scent for me even though it has a certain gourmand quality (something I normally loathe). I had expected that fall would be when Snake Oil would work for me but instead I'll be reaching for Snake Charmer.

I've been saving Djinn for the fall as well because it smells like a bonfire. Brimstone will also probably come out this year in the fall.

Hopefully my imps will last me through the season because I don't think I'll be able to get any bottles before the seasons change again.

I never thought I'd like this, although I love dragon's blood...I just hate honey, vanilla, and honeyed vanilla in almost every blend that I've tried them in so I didn't see how it could work together.

But it does! And marvellously so. The dragon's blood keeps this from getting cloyingly sweet and sickly foody, and it doesn't get lost in a syrupy mix the way I thought it might. But it reminds me of Snake Oil in a good way...I found Snake Oil to be a little sickly sweet, maybe there was a spice in it that didn't agree with me. But this is just dandy. And when I put a single tiny drop on, my bf immediately said "What's that smell?" and I gave him my arm, upon which he said "Mm, I like that." He doesn't like much.

I'm so glad I got a frimp of this; I am going to grab a bottle in my next order unless I find one somewhere else sooner. This is the only way that I can stand honey/vanilla so far, but Dragon's Blood makes it work...it's got a touch of that musky, dusty glowing red resin that I adore.

From the CT2 Circular Swap:

VIII - Faintly minty...an aquatic mint, I'd say.

XXV - One of those fruity lotus smells...almost like an artificial candy

banana scent at first.

XXXVIII - Very fresh-smelling, clean, herbal-ozone-white floral. A

floral rainy scent but the flowers replace the ozone quickly...very

nice.

L- Something very pungent that does not agree with me, almost

chemical-like (turpentine?). Eucalyptus maybe, and some sort of heavy

thick boozy turpentine. Didn't test it on my skin, just sniffed.

LXXVIII - I actually get almost no impression from this at first. A

distant whiff of spicy herbs but almost too faint to tell. Something

like cinnamon comes out a little later and gets stronger with time, I

like it more and more as I wear it. yeahbutnobut's review

CXX - A fresh, crisp wine scent -- not a boozy wine, but sort of light

and fruity. Almost identical to my own #CXXI but lighter and less

fruity.

CXCIII - This smells like sweet mint tea. With fresh sprigs of mint and

not too much sugar.

CCLIX - This smells like a movie theatre. Not like buttered popcorn, but that might be in the distance...it's more the overall smell of the theatre.

CCCXVII - This also smells like sweet mint. Very similar to the other one like this but I like this one better.

CCCLXX - Pink grapefruit peel. Wanna put ice in this and drink it. quikslvr's review

CCCLXXXVIII - Grass and dirt, but also something floral. This is like a

much stronger Mantis with more of a floral aspect. OriginalWacky's review

CCCXC - Kind of fruity butterscotch?

CDXVI - Slightly citrusy at first but really it makes me think of walking into a Pier 1...a perfumey potpourri.

D - It's aquamarine-colored! Lovely lavender-herbal with a touch of

lotus.

DXLVIII - Another aquamarine! Lavender-mint with a touch of creaminess.

I wish this had been Milk Moon, there is barely any of the sickening

(to me) creamy smell in this at all, it's mostly lavender and mint to me

but without being too overpowering.

DCLI - I like this one. Slightly spicy, resinous and herbal, but very light. The spicy element is strong in this but doesn't make my skin hot. Kind of a spice rack smell though a bit like one of those department store potpourris.

(Unless otherwise noted, all scents were last reviewed here by OriginalWacky.)

Along with Gypsy Queen and Queen of Clubs, Love in the Asylum is another fantastic example of how to make roses work on me. They each have something dark or smoky in them to keep it from being a headache-inducing sharp floral, and when roses work, they really work and come to life on my skin.

Other than the fact that I keep misreading "tolu balsam" as "tofu balsam" the other ingredients intrigued me as they suggest something smoky and sweet, which is a combo that has worked for me before. Predominantly a sweet rose, the tobacco makes this a sultry incense, and the perfect mad companion to Gypsy Queen, without the candle smoke.

It lasts and lasts on me, but it doesn't change much, which is fine since I like it so much to begin with. Rose, when coupled with amber, tobacco/smoke, resins, is a marvellous thing. Now I have three LE rose scents that I like enough to wear regularly, and another one or two in the catalogue. Lucky me!

ETA: I just need to fully express my love for this blend, which is becoming a favorite of mine as the weather turns toward fall. None of the catalogue rose blends quite capture this kind of smoky rose scent so I am going to have to hold on for dear life to this one. I am hoping and praying that something vaguely similar will enter the permanent collection, because I neeeeed roses and tobacco!

This is really amazing. I am not in top sniffing form because I am having some sort of allergy or cold thing right now but the beauty of this oil comes through anyway.

Thanks to the above post which compares it to Mantis, I am able to place where I recognize these herbs...this is definitely similar to Mantis, which I loved but never quite found a reason to wear. I think I will wear this more because the musk really amplifies it and gives it a feeling crisp, clean night air and warm fur. It reminds me of some of the winter scents like Ice Queen in its ability to both chill and warm at the same time.

This is the kind of starry, crystalline, sparkling night air scent that I've been dying for, but it escapes being a pure air scent with that comforting, gentle frosted musk and the flourish of golden green herbs. I think I sense something like bergamot or verbena in there giving it a slightly sweet and sunny glow.

The moon oils have really been wowing me lately, I wasn't into them at first but with each month I am amazed all over again. Buck Moon is definitely a favorite, and I think I will be wearing this a lot in the winter, when I need a breath of something slightly warm, comforting and clean as I head out into the cold.

A forumite was kind enough to give me a sniff of this before it goes away!

I was intrigued by the blood orange, but citrus scents tend to be very light and fleeting on me. I put this on my birthday list but I won't know if I'm getting it until November!

Well I like it but I don't think I'll need a bottle, though I won't turn it away if I get one! I concur with the orange Jello/KoolAid comparison, it's very much a sparkling sweet bright orange, and I don't get much of the other ingredients. The pepper is probably what it making it sparkle with life, since otherwise it would probably fade instantly on me.

I think Torture King suits me better as I get a much stronger orangey sensation from that, but all the other ingredients help to anchor it and keep it from getting too sweet/powdery.

Straight orange isn't really me though, so while I'd like to have an imp around I don't think I'll need a whole bottle if I do get one.

Blood Countess is, to me, a garnet or a dark, dark ruby. Though it could be an amethyst as well, depending on my mood.

Nocnitsa is emerald.

And then of course there are the opal and pearl scents!

I'd love to see a line of jewel scents. That would be my fondest wish!

I have a very strong synaesthetic reaction to colors and scents, but those are the strongest for me.

Gypsy Queen, definitely. It's that smell, plus some floral incense, for me. Some people get the blown-out candle smell from Cathedral as well...I get that a bit, but it's more resiny than anything.

But I would definitely say that Gypsy Queen is the way to go if you can order it before Sept. 1!

I've never smelled that, but the BPAL that best fits the description of spicy, cedary sandalwood would be Sri Lanka, in my opinion. Even though I don't think spices are listed it strikes me as having a very spicy quality, and the sandal and cedar are definitely there.

I first tried this a long time ago, perhaps late last year. I had been prepared to order a bottle unsniffed because I am mad for woods. Mad, I tell you! But when I tried it back then it was just cinnamon on me, in particular the type of "I just walked into a craft store" cinnamon that I don't like. Since my tastes have developed a bit since then I'm glad I got to try it again to see if it's any different to my nose now.

However, it's still just cinnamon bark on me. Now, I like cinnamon bark in cooking (curries) and I can enjoy it in some perfumes if it's not in the forefront (I like Geek...and I like Silk Road, but cinnamon burns my skin in almost all other cinnamon blends). But in this it is really overwhelming any other notes and I can't smell anything else. It really smells to me like something I'd get in a craft store and I know that's just because my skin is broadcasting the cinnamon at the expense of everything else.

I do catch a hint of the vaguely spicy scent that is lingering in the background of Dublin, but this just isn't the woody scent that I was hoping for. I don't smell anything at all but cinnamon. I think a lot of people would like this, but it's definitely not for me.

I would have never tried this if the lab hadn't frimped me one!

First I should mention that Florence is the name of the town that I am currently moving to (everything but my computer, TV, bed and BPAL collection are there right now!). It's, er, not the one in Italy. But I'm quite tickled to have a scent with the same name as my town nonetheless and I'll probably order a bottle just because of that!

In the vial this really knocks my socks off. The amber is rich, golden and glittering, absolutely one of the best I've tried. I have no idea what iris smells like except that there was something I liked in 13 that I think may have been iris. Everyone grows irises around here but I've never noticed any kind of a smell coming from them. I definitely get the berries though, and I like berries. But the strangest thing is this green, crisp, herbal smell in the background, almost like very green grass.

On my skin, this kind of fragrance doesn't do a whole lot and tends to fade rather quickly but it's still very nice and I could see reaplying throughout the day. It reminds me of the original Carnivale, which I recently tried, but I like this more because the berries are sweeter and the amber is richer (maybe it's because this is brand new). It's definitely the one to try, if you like amber and berries together.

I wish that my skin could project this kind of fragrance more, it just eats it up very quickly and there's no throw at all. But because of the name and the amazing in-bottle scent I will have to get a 5 ml one of these days!

Gypsy Queen could be my favorite CN scent on some days, but it would depend on my mood, as it packs a powerful smoky flowery punch that works best in the evening or outdoors. This is a lovely, lovely blend that evokes a small room filled with velvet scarves, tapestries and beads, a little round table covered in Tarot cards and all of the other trappings of the archetypical carnival gypsy tent.

This smells like burning or freshly extinguished candles, and it's simply amazing how that smell could be captured in a bottle. It is especially nice when I wear it outside, all of these smoky scents really go nuts when I have fresh air hitting my skin. I really feel like I was in a room filled with incense smoke and not it has infused my hair and clothes. But it's not the strong hippie incense that I normally favor, it's more the scent of an occult store with dried herbs and floral incense. It's definitely a rosy, floral incense but the smoke masks the perfumey floral scent.

Rose only works on me when it is darkened by earth or smoke, or frozen in amber, typically, but this is a perfect example of how smoke, incense and flowers can work together. I initially thought I'd put this at No. 3 on my list of favorite CN scents but on the right day it could be No. 1. These are all SO good it's hard to decide! This will be an all-time favorite for me.

Like some other people I had trouble smelling this in the bottle, possible because I was still overwhelmed by all the other things I have been smelling!

When I put it on I have a hard time telling the difference between this one and Geek except the tobacco aroma I thought I smelled in Geek is on top in this one (obviously, since this one actually contains tobacco!) and I get a little of that "dad's pipe" smell that I really love (even though I hated it when dad actually smoked a pipe....it's the lingering aroma of smoke-stained wood that I like).

It's fairly elusive though, it's not a scent that really blossoms on my skin and I like things with a lot of throw that hover around me like a cloud of incense. I have to sniff my arm really obviously to get a good sense of it...and it's nice, it's smoky tobacco combiend with something a little lighter, almost medicinal. This will work nicely in the fall I think, along with its cousins Geek and the King of Clubs...all very masculine, dark green, slightly woody and smoky. I don't know how other people might perceive these scents on me, they might be a little too manly, but I like them and they'll have a place of honor in my collection.

I'd say this ranks fourth or fifth out of the seven I've tried, but to be honest I pretty much like all of the CN scents equally so far except for the aquatic-tinged ones!

Geek in the bottle is my favorite CN scent, an incredible mixture of pine and wood with just a hint of spice. It's dark but not oppressive, more like shadows in the forest. This is someone creeping through the woods on the edge of town, watching the carnival from afar.

On my skin, leather dominates, and I don't much like leather unless it's in the back where I can't smell it. I have to wait it out and hope that something else comes to the forefront.

In a little while, it takes on a very tobacco-y tone...kind of the sweet tobacco in Perversion, though I think my nose is being fooled by the cinnamon bark. Most of my favorite woody piney notes fade very quickly but there's a lingering dark, sweet aroma like pine needles on the forest floor.

In the bottle I could sniff this all day -- I like it a lot on my skin too but the leather puts me off a little at first. I'd say this is my second or third favorite of the seven I've tried...if there wasn't leather it would probably top my list!

I had wanted to try Loviatar for ages as part of my red musk quest, since I love everything in this blend except leather (and leather seems to blend well with other things when I wear it, as long as there are lots of things for it to blend with and none of them are roses). For some reason I thought this had dragon's blood in it...

But I definitely get the red musk, and I immediately wanted more of this when I smelled it. I didn't test it right away though and after time the leather really dominates (appropriately enough).

Ahh, but that amber, musk and myrrh combo is fantastic and I'd like to keep trying this into the colder months of the year.

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this but it also makes me think of a character in those Terry Goodkind books -- it's been years since I read them but I remember there were these sort of dominatrix/torturess characters and one wore a tight red leather bodysuit as her uniform. This is definitely her scent. That's not exactly me, but I still like all of the dark red and black associations that this gives me, I just need to keep the leather in the background.

I never even thought about trying this until the lab surprised me with it -- I despise coconut (though occasionally it slips into a scent where it doesn't turn into awful sunblock on me) and I'm kind of "eh" on orris, but blood musk...hmm. That sounds interesting.

I'm a notorious red musk freak so I'm wondering if this might be a combo of dragon's blood and red musk -- a combination that goes great together, and the scent/color of this blend do suggest dragon's blood and red musk to me.

The second I sniffed this I added it to my 5 ml want list -- it's not what I would typically like but it makes my nose happy. I don't smell my hated coconut, but I definitely get a certain dry sweetness from this. I don't like beachy smells at all, they make me think of heat stroke and car sickness, but this manages to capture what I wish a trip to the beach might smell like...a pearl found on the shore with waves crashing around your ankles and the light of a blood red moon hovering over the horizon.

The orris adds a certain powdery, gritty touch to this -- orris really dries things out, but I kind of like it sometimes. It keeps it from getting too sweet. But that luscious bloody musk is really the star of this blend, and I must obey its command.....blood musk.....mmmmmm....

I might be over this little love affair by tomorrow but I hope the romance is still there if I pick it up again in a few days!

This is the real House of Mirrors -- and it smells very much like what I remember from Sea of Glass, as other reviewers have said.

I knew that it would probably be aquatic because of the glassy notes, and I agree with olympia301 that there does seem to be a kind of grapefruity element to those. The main impression that I get from both this and Sea of Glass was a sort of green aquatic though -- not of seaweed or ocean, but a pool tiled in shades of green and blue, with water reflecting onto the walls and ceiling.

The fact that most aquatic/ozone scents make me think of commercial perfumes puts me off a little bit but I like the imagery that they create in my mind sometimes. I can't smell the amber but this is a bit stronger and less fleeting than most aquatics so perhaps that's how it's manifesting.

As always, I think the imagery that Beth uses to describe scents really adds to my enjoyment of them. If this had been called something else, like "Flip-Flops" or "Beach Bag" I wouldn't have any interest in it at all but the thought of warping crystalline mirrors is very compelling to me! I don't know if I'll keep it, I might like to swap it for something else that I missed out on but it's interesting and it might be especially appropriate on icy cold days in the winter or on rainy days in the fall since I like to match my perfumes to the weather and time of year (among other things!).

Incidentally, Penance's review really captures this well!

My initial reaction was that this was one of the cologney scents that don't suit me, which I figured might be the case but just couldn't resist ordering it anyway. And yes it does have a lot of that aftershave/cologne/ozone scent that just doesn't seem to work with my incense-lovin' skin.

But I was testing this at work today, when I had my window open to enjoy the rain outside. I love that summer afternoon rain. It's just warm enough out that the sidewalk and the tops of cars start to steam and that wonderful mixture of damp ozone and greenery from the woods and park that surround my office compel me to throw open all the windows (safety be damned! i don't care if the computers get wet!) and keep the lights off and just inhale that scent. And I realized that Bed of Nails really mirrored that scent for me, as I alternated between sniffing my arms and sniffing the window (god, they must think I'm on drugs).

It's a slightly green, succulent ozone -- damp wood, the hissing mist that rises from the asphault when a torrential summer downpour unexpectedly splits the afternoon sky.

The cologney impression I got made me initially think I'd swap it but then when I found out my mom would be willing to get me the thing I wanted to swap for I decided to take it off the block for now. I'm not sure how much I'll wear it but I like to have some rainy scents around and I haven't really been able to find the right one yet. This might fulfill that need, since it really captures the hot green mist of a summer thunderstorm to me.

This is very happy-making in the bottle. Bright, bold tangerine-orange with something slightly darker underneath. Ah, I definitely smell lime, and I think saffron -- okay that's not listed, but maybe that's clove I'm detecting. There's a smooth, comforting warm layer underneath that reminds me of King of Clubs...the leather, amber and musk notes make you want to rub your face up against it. A very passionate, living combination of scents.

The orange and lime remain fairly strong though those kinds of scents always fade very quickly -- but the rich array of seemingly disparate components play together very nicely and one never overpowers the other.

I love vetiver but I don't smell it at all -- still, it must be contributing to the overall feeling of warm comfort that I get from this, which is spiked with points of citrus. I think of a man with a furry chest and a face full of piercings who is still somehow a warm and inviting figure that you'd want to hug. It's very different on my skin from in the bottle, as that initial super-tangerine burst dies down very quickly and it becomes a different take on the same kind of masculine theme that King of Clubs started.

It's very manly though, and while I anticipate keeping it and wearing it, it might be more of a bottle-sniffer than a wearer, for me, even though I favor masculine blends. This might put hair on my chest. I suppose I do have a male sitting around that I can dab it on too though! And this will be another fabulous one for the fall!

I passed on Snake Oil after I tried it because the vanilla was too strong and my bf said it smelled like Play-doh (his words, not mine...he wasn't aware that others have reported that phenonemon). But I knew there was something in it that I liked and wished I could wear it.

And here it is. And it's called Snake Charmer!! Even though I dislike vanilla and coconut they are so well blended in with the other ingredients, they come out as a nice, full, slightly sweet incensy blend on me. And I love plum with a passion...that adds just a touch of earthy sweetness to this even though I can't pick it out on its own.

Amber and musk in general go well together on me and they really sing in harmony with the other notes. My usual hated coconut works in this as well, and it's not just making me smell like sunblock. Coconut blends are especially bad on me when they dry down and I feel like I can never get them off of me. This, on the other hand, just becomes more lovely with every passing moment...the amber and musk simmer gentle and it's more and more of an exotic, slightly spicy sweet incense. The kind you might smell swirling from a colorful, decorated tent in a desert town with piles of pillows and tapestries.

Since this is my answer to Snake Oil I wouldn't mind having an extra bottle in reserve even though I use oils very sparingly.

I love roses in the garden but only a few scents in bottles can make the cut with me...too many just give me a headache.

At first, this comes closest to Rose Red for being a fresh from the garden rose scent to me...and when applied it really turns into a wild rose rodeo! I can actually see them in my mind, pink and red and white and yellow, like I'm flipping through a rosebush catalog and looking at all of the names and the colors. Nice! Definitely a touch of greenery as well, though not as sharp and pungent as Rose Red was.

Strangely, it goes a bit winey on me. Roses can do that too from time to time when I try them out...they turn to an almost sour wine for a bit before they fade. And yes I do get a bit of a rose headache but it's not as bad as some of the other ones I've had.

I think this is a rose scent I could wear if I was going to be spending a lot of time outdoors so it would disperse around me nicely and not become too overpowering. That's the odd thing about florals scents -- when they work on me (rarely) it's invariably only when I wear them outside, and the fresh air does something to them that my skin can't do on its own. I will probably keep this around so I have some roses in reserve if I need them.

I'm rather embarassed to be reviewing this from memory to satisfy my need to complete my Mad Tea Party reviews, but my impressions of it were clear and I don't think I'll need to test it again. I'd love to love all of the scents in this series but there's just nothing I can do about cherry and lilies -- while lilies can work in a small handful of blends for me, particularly liilies of the valley and calla lily, that drop of cherry just turned everything into an almondy cherry adventure in cloying sweetness and mild nausea for my cherry-sensitive nose. Funny, I love them as fruit. This is a perfect embodiment of the Queen of Hearts, all white and red, something that would be loved by little girls at a tea party even though it is haughty, bold and regal. Alas it's not for me!

Another one of the first imps I ever tried and I was happily given another imp a little while ago by the lab and I realized that I should have gotten a bottle of this a long time ago! This would pretty much be a perfect fall scent. Since I love clove but hate cinnamon this is a great spice scent for me, and I love love love the lab's apricot -- Depraved being another favorite. There's not much else to say except that this is a perfect vision of golden-orange autumn spices and fruit for me and it never ceases to light up my eyes and wake up my brain when I sniff it. I asked for a bottle for my birthday, which will still be in the middle of the fall season and I think it will play nicely in the winter too, a warming blend on cold nights. This is the kind of thing that I could just never get sick of, and its simplicity is absolutely perfect.