Gin

51 Well... I'm not sure what I can say about 51 that hasn't been said. It really is spectacular. What does it smell like? I don't know. It just smells good. It's kind of light green--like a cool, whitish light green, not a vile chartreuse. It's fresh and sort of floral, without really smelling like flowers. I think this will be in heavy rotaton now that the weather is heating up.

MVJBA : Dog Days of Summer I admit, I was a little disappointed when I went to finally order my Fan Pack and this was the oil listed instead of Mother Shub's peanut brittle popcorn confection. I mean, wildflowers and grass? That's *so* not me. Except that it's fantastic. Like DigitalCoyote, I feel like this is my childhood in a bottle. I lived with my grandparents in the summer, next to a hill of amazingly tall grass, weeds, and whatnot. I would get up in the morning and run out to the garden to pick berries for breakfast and would then roam around in the "meadow." Dog Days is the smell of that. It would be hot already, and humid. Not terrible at that point, but you knew the day was going to be a scorcher. The long yellow grass would look dry, but it was all bent over on itself, so it was still wet and mushy underneath. The sharp/sweet grass dries down to a soft, sweet floral, much prettier than I expected.

Ecstasy of Infatuation Yay, black cherry! Sadly, the cherry is only prominent for a moment before the grapefrut and the musk (?) come rushing forward like overenthusiastic cheerleaders. Then it goes high-end soapy (not unpleasant, but not what I had hoped) and then it's mostly gone.

Velvet Unicorn I was so looking forward to this one! My first test left me feeling as though I were trapped in sticky pink frosting on top of a giant buttery vanilla cake. Unwilling to give up, I tried it again a week or so later. Much better. It's still OMGSWEETFRUITYPINK, but in a good way instead of a suffocating one. It's somehow "fluffy"--I guess that's the meringue's influence. Very sugary, red-fruity, and fluffy. It's great on its own, but I'm really looking forward to layering it with Snake Oil.

I bought this soley on the comparison to Lush's Avobath. I can smell the comparison, but they're not as alike as I had hoped. Boo Bam is fresh and green with just a bit of hibiscus. Very refreshing in the heat!

Upa Upa I don't usually re-read the descrpitions when I try a new oil, I just slather it on and then try to identify what's in it. Upa Upa: pineapple definitely, and something warm and spicy... spiced rum, I'd wager, annnnnd... oh! there's coconut! I missed the vanilla, but 75% isn't terrible. Better than my average, I'd say. Anyway, Upa Upa is just what it says, and it is fantastic. The 'spiced rum' isn't boozy, it's actually more 'spice' than anything. Specifically, it smells cinnamonny to me. Cinnamon + coconut, which is both interesting and delicious.

Blue Fire LOVE. Fizzy blueberry gin. I put this on without remembering what was in it beyond blueberry and gin, which might have influenced my perception and reaction a bit. All I can smell is syrupy sweet blueberry (and I mean that in a GOOD way) and gin and fizz. This is DIVINE. It's making me go all CAPPY. I hope this makes another appearance sometime, or that I can get ahold of another bottle.

Rangoon Riptide Fruity! I don't get the rum at all, but mostly raspberry and orange with the pineapple peeking through. I don't smell the passion fruit per se, but I think that might be what's keeping it all in check. This is very nice. I feel like a lot of commercial (ahem, B&BW) fruity scents are so loud. This is not only distictive but it's not overwhelming.

Velvet Tiki What the hell? What's in this? Nothin' but gorgeous ingredients. What does it smell like on my skin? Generic men's cologne. I seriously cannot believe this went so wrong on me.

Diary of a Lovestruck Teenage Cannibal Sweet fruitness over vanilla-ginger cake.

Candy Phoenix Black currant and pomegranate, apple and pear? Was this made just for me? My heart fell a little, though, when I opened the bottle and it screamed, "Creamy Candy Bubble Bar!" (from Lush). I didn't let that deter me, though. On my skin, it does still kind of remind me of Creamy Candy, but Candy Phoenix is so much more and so much better. Where Pink Phoenix was pink and sweet and floral, this is pink and sweet and fruity. I mostly get black currant and powdery candy (like Pixi Stix, maybe? or the sugar that's dusted on those hard candies so they don't stick together). There's a hint of something floral that goes dangerously close to dryer-sheet territory, but the fruits keep it pretty well in check. Both the throw and the lasting power is amazing.

Velvet Pink Kitty In the bottle - gin and strawberry candy. On my skin, helloooo juniper! Two minutes later, I feel like I have a big cloud of pinkness floating around me, even though close up, it's still supergin. An hour in, it's powdery-sweet (not like powder, but like powdery candy--Lik-M-Aid Fun Dip powder) over gin. I wasn't sure this would work for me--the gin was a little overpowering for a bit there--but now I'm really diggin' it.

Chaos Theory V: Recursive Self-Similarity v2: The O Series</i> - CCCLXXXII / 382 Flowers, flowers. Lilac? Gardenia? I don't know. The flowers are overwhelming and I'm not sure I can even smell the O. ETA: I gave this Chaos another try. I stand by my initial guess of lilac, and I might even add carnation to that. And lily, maybe. But there's definitely a spicy bit here, which led me to carnation, but it could be something else. I like the spicy edge, it makes the honey seem more 'whole' and doesn't go powdery as soon as usual. So. There it is. Surprisingly nice, especially after my initial reaction, but still not a favorite. Edited again to add further possiblities: dandelion, sweet pea. I'm feeling more sure of the carnation, though. Or maybe it's sweet pea.

Chaos Theory V: Recursive Self-Similarity v1: Dorian Series - CCCXXXVII / 337 My initial impression was Dorian + Ouija--there's a hint of wood, incense, and rose in the bottle. On my skin, it's rosewood and Dorian, drying down into something akin to Death + Dorian.

Butter Rum Cookie This has been sitting on my desk for months. I've kind of been evil-eyeing it because I swear I tested a bit of it when I first got it and didn't like it. Needing to cull the herd, I figured I'd give it another try and then I could put it up for swap. WTF? I *LOVE* Butter Rum Cookie. I don't know what was wrong with me before, but it's so spicy-gingerbready-cookieish. NOM! There is an initial almond/orange blast that I don't especially care for but that's gone within seconds and after that, it's so amazingly good.

MVJBA: Spring Training I skipped this one initially. Popcorn + peanuts didn't seem like a good idea. But then my curiosity got the better of me (of course!) and I'm glad it did. A bit like Gluttony, this is caramelly with a whisper of peanuts. Good throw, good lasting power, this is a nice alternative to my usual chocolate/candy/fruit scents.

Tokyo Stomp Vanilla and mint and... what? Graham cracker? Butter cookie? Sugar cookie? Chocolate cookie, maybe. The Thin Mint and York references are pretty accurate. It reminds me a bit of Spooky. Then the mint fades and I'm left with a soft foody vanilla. Yum!

Well, it's true to its name. I'm undecided on this one. At first, it's all white chocolate and coconut--mostly coconut--and while I love coconut, it tends to not love me. It tends to go a bit smoky and artificial-smelling. However, once the coconut gets tired, it settles down and I get a nicely balanced, sweet marshmallowy scent. I can envision store-bought marshmallows dipped in white chocolate and rolled in shredded coconut. I just don't know if it's worth the wait.

Love love love love LOVE. Brown sugary sweetness over autumn fruit.

Milk Chocolate Buttercream MCB is like the spawn of Bliss and Lump of Coal. It's more intense, IMO, than Bliss, but not quite as fudgy as LoC. It's a perfect balance of baked chocolate goodness. The downfall? It's amazingly short-lived--it lasts maybe two hours on my skin.

Dark Chocolate & Cherry My first test of this didn't go too well. Dark Chocolate and Cherry was all, Dark Chocolate and Cough Syrup. Ew. But then I ran out of White Chocolate and Strawberry so I had to do something. So I turned to DC&C and it was much better than my test had led me to believe... and pretty much what the name says: dark chocolate that's just a touch on the bitter side with a cherry-cordial center. It's not a favorite, but I'm glad I gave it a second chance.

Dear White Chocolate & Strawberry, I love you. I love you so much, I slathered my way through an entire 5ml in a few weeks. At first sniff, I thought you were kind of fake and dirty, but then you showed me your true self. The luscious, chocolatey, strawberry-y side. I wore you to the roller derby and the security guy thought I was smuggling chocolate bars in my purse. When I said, "oh, no, that's me," he said, "Whaddya wearin' a chocolate perfume or somethin'?" I laughed and said, "Yes! I am!" I look forward to seeing you again next February, Gin

Halôa A friend sent me a slew of bottles to test, and this one happened to be on my desk this morning. I didn't remember even reading about this one, so I figured I might as well give it a try. At first, it was a crazy mishmash of fruit, honey, and spices, but it quickly smoothed out. It goes into a honeyed cake scent and then the frankincense comes to the fore. Oddly enough, after a few hours, this smells quite a lot like Dior's Hypnotic Poison--but a nicer, softer, subtler Hypnotic Poison.

Herr Drosselmeyer 2006 In the bottle and initially on my skin, I get a STRONG cherry/almond. Then anise, followed by pipe tobacco. This is a Ginbane if there ever was one. After a few hours, it's a kind of sweet-spicy blend that's not bad, but no way could I go through the first three stages again.

The Snow Maiden Ylang ylang, osmanthus, spring berries, and daffodil cloaked in hoarfrost. Love it! It's a softer Skadi-like blend. Not quite so pine-y on me as I remember Skadi to be, but bright and chilly with a lovely almost(?)-minty edge -- quite refreshing on this humid spring day! (I can't believe this has ylang ylang in it. I can't smell it at all, and yy usually gives me a headache.)