stardreamer

First impression: Cedar, but not strong; lots of musk. I got much more cedar out of Dee, which is otherwise rather similar. Drydown and wearing: This is a little too reminiscent of the various "fougere" scents for my taste. It's fairly masculine, and the strongest components on me seem to be the lavender and musk. I don't even get much of the vanilla, and normally that comes out strongly on my skin. Staying power is moderate to good. Bottom line: not bad, but not for me. This one's a swap.

I ordered this one on the basis of the amber and cinnamon. Sadly, what I seem to be getting is almost entirely the sandalwood and patchouli. I smell like a NewAge store. After a couple of hours, the amber peeks out of hiding a bit, but the cinnamon has still not put in an appearance. I haven't worn this long enough to gauge its staying power, but I'm going to say good to excellent, because resin-based scents usually do last well on me. This isn't a bad scent per se, but it's definitely not to my taste -- headed for the swap pile.

First impression: Wintergreen! Sadly, that doesn't last long. The woods are very much to the background, which was a disappointment. Main impression: soft, inoffensive florals, fading to a green note at the end. Staying power is poor-to-moderate, it was mostly gone after only 5 hours. I'd be more tempted to keep this if the wintergreen scent had hung on longer, because I like wintergreen; as it is, I think it's a swap.

I hate descriptions that don't give components, and would never have gotten this without having a chance to take a whiff of it. So I'm glad it showed up in a meet-'n-sniff, because it's lovely! Fresh on, it's extremely aquatic with a citrus tang -- grapefruit, I think, rather than lemon. As the drydown proceeds, the citrus fades back (Beth's citrus notes never last long on me), and something light and sweet comes out to take its place -- some sort of white floral, I think, though I can't pin it down. It continues to be very aquatic all the way thru, which is good. Staying power is moderate to good; I topped this off after 8 hours because I was going out for the evening, but I could still smell it before I did so. Bottom line: Nice, relaxing, summery scent, light and sensual without being overwhelming. Definitely a keeper.

This goes on a touch floral, which is probably the iris. After an hour or so, it's more like a sweeter take on The Lion -- spiced amber lightened by the berry note. I'm starting to collect as many amber scents as tea scents! Staying power is pretty good; it's still quite present after about 10 hours. This one's a keeper, though it may go into the second-rank rotation.

Not at all what I expected from that description. What I seem to get mostly from it is amber-laced pumpkin, with a little vanilla and spicy cinnamon to lighten it up. If there's any musk in there, it must be only a teeny bit -- and whoever suggested red musk, I don't think so, because that one always jumps out and overwhelms everything else on me. It reminds me a bit of Snake Charmer, but does have more of an autumnal feel. It's nice, not too heavy even for warm weather. Staying power is only moderate -- after 10 hours, it's completely gone. I'll enjoy using this up, though I'll probably wait until next fall to put it into heavy rotation.

The description pretty much says it all. This is Fruit City -- it's like standing in the middle of the fruit section at the Farmer's Market on a good day. Fresh on, I notice peach, melon, and a tang of citrus; later on, the citrus fades and the subtler aromas of apple, plum, and pear peek out a little more. This is a lovely spring and summer blend, but if you don't like fruity scents it's probably not for you. Staying power is moderate to good; after 8 hours it's still present, but after 12 it's pretty much gone. Definitely something I'll be wearing a lot during the hot weather!

I got this back in May, but am only now getting around to posting a review. Since it's being re-released for January 13th, my timing is fortuitous! In the bottle and fresh on, this is CHOCOLATE -- almost as thick and rich as Bliss. Sadly, the chocolate note fades out after less than half an hour, and what's left is sweet, soft, and mostly coconut with a bit of fruity undertone. I never get any citrus, but that's no surprise; Beth's citrus notes fade very fast on my skin, and they're probably buried under the initial chocolate blast. Nor do the tea and floral notes put in much of an appearance. I think I'm left with coconut and currant, but that doesn't bother me a bit! Now I'm wondering whether the chocolate would hold out longer if I layered it over Bliss, which does have decent staying power on me. Speaking of staying power, this is pretty good; 12 hours on and it's faded but still present. Bottom line: definitely a keeper.

This is a dark, reddish oil, and I was afraid it was going to have red musk in it. There is indeed something sharp on first application, but I think it's more an evergreen/resinous note than a musky/incense one. I wasn't sure how well I was going to like it; it seemed as though it was going to be too strong. A lot of the reviews for this one talk about civet, but if there is any of that in here I never found it. After about half an hour, it was Vanilla City (my skin amps vanilla like crazy) with a dark undertone that I think may have been patchouli. It reminded me quite a bit of Snake Oil, only without the incense-y base note. I'm still not quite sure about this blend; I think I'm going to have to wear it a few more times. I do like the similarity to Snake Oil, and the way the vanilla lasts -- it's taken close to 12 hours to fade away. I don't like the first 20-30 minutes all that much, but it may be worth that to get to the vanillafest. As far as the claimed effect goes... I don't feel anything different, and R. is too scent-averse to even think about trying it on him. He'd have a headache for sure! Bottom line: Undecided. Keep and test again.

This is a very sharp scent; my first thought was camphor, it had a bit of that mothball-y quality. Then I went and looked up "bay rum" on Google, and discovered that it's an extract made by soaking bayberry leaves and berries in rum. Aha -- the sharp note is bayberry, I recognize it now! It's not pure bayberry, but I can't identify any specific other component, I can only tell that they're blending and muting it down a bit. At least I don't get the burnt-sugar smell that rum sometimes develops on my skin, and it doesn't smell like a Christmas candle either, which is good. A lot of the Forum reviews mention all sorts of other things -- almonds, cloves, cinnamon, citrus, vetiver, wood, leather, you name it -- but I never got anything specific except the bayberry. I could see this being a masculine scent, but it strikes me as fairly gender-neutral overall. Staying power is moderate; after 7 hours, it's pretty well faded. Bottom line: Nice enough, but I can't see myself wearing it very often. I think this one's a swap.

This was a Lab freebie in my last order. I don't tend to order the voodoo blends, because I don't use scent for ritual work and the descriptions don't give any information about the ingredients. First impression: Oh-oh, this is going to be too floral. Fresh on: Yes, very floral. Lily of the valley? Maybe gardenia, or magnolia, or white violet. Strong, light-colored flowers with a hint of green underneath. Drydown: Continues to be floral, with a slight powdery undernote. Staying power seems pretty good; I only put on a little, but I could still smell it fairly clearly after 7 or 8 hours. Bottom line: Not an unpleasant scent per se, but very much not me. Swap pile for this one.

I get exactly one note from this blend: Pine-Sol. Very sharp, very evergreen (must be the juniper), very much I don't want to smell like this. Doesn't change much over several hours, either. Off to the swap pile it goes!

I've tried this twice; the first time it seemed to be all incense, but on the second try the other notes started coming thru. The cinnamon is quite noticeable especially early on, while the fruits come up a bit later. As usual with incense on me, that note is the last one to fade, but there's something else in there hanging on for quite a while too, either the clove or the cinnamon. Bottom line: it's a nice, sweet fragrance with an incense base; probably not a heavy-rotation scent, but definitely worth keeping.

This is my first go-round with Samhain, as I've only been doing BPAL for a year or so. I get no wood, smoke, or evergreen from this at all. Fresh on, it's a little too sharp for comfort, but that mellows out quickly. Mostly I'm getting the pumpkin and spices, with just a bit of earthy note underneath which is probably the patchouli. Sort of a "dark pumpkin pie" smell. I like it well enough, but it's not going to be a top favorite; a good scent for the foody holidays, though. It'll be interesting to see how it ages, too.

I ordered this largely because of Andrabell's review -- and if you haven't seen it, you really should go take a look! (It's the very first one for this scent.) First impression: Maybe a little more masculine than I would prefer. Fresh on: Yes, it's fairly masculine; I'm starting to be a bit wary of that term "fougere". I can definitely see this as Dorian Gray's scent in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (movie version). Drydown: I don't get much tea from this at all. It's more of a "milky" scent on me; I'm betting that's the combination of vanilla and white musk. I'm having a rather ambivalent response to it -- while it doesn't exactly either reach out and grab me or repel me, there are elements of both going on here. A few hours later, my skin has done its normal vanilla amp-up and it's more appealing. But it certainly isn't the "sex on a stick" I was half-expecting from the review! That honor remains with O, still the undefeated champion. Bottom line: Not ready to give it up yet, but I think I'm going to have to try it again in warmer weather before I make up my mind. It feels a little out of tune with the winter chill.

It's starting to look as though lotus is another note that drowns out anything else on me. All I get from this is a slightly sweet floral -- no spices, no woods. It's not an obnoxious floral by any means, but it's definitely Not Me. In the very last stages of the fade-down, some of the spices finally put in an appearance, but by that time it's much too late. Another candidate for the swap pile.

Normally I stay far away from patchouli, but a sniff of this at a swapfest seemed promising enough to swap for it. Fresh on, it's very woody, with a smoky/incense note underneath; a little on the masculine side, but not enough to make me uncomfortable. I get a lot of juniper and something that seems like pine. Over time, the juniper fades and the piney note gets stronger, but there's still enough incense to keep it from turning into Pine-Sol. As usual with incense notes on me, that one is the last to fade, and after 7 or 8 hours is all that's left. This one isn't going to be a top favorite, but I think it's a keeper; it's a nice darker scent for chilly winter days.

Sweet/green/floral, much too floral; at times it seems that there's a waft of decaying-flower aroma underlying it, like being under the bush where all the petals have dropped into the steamy mud. At least it doesn't smack me over the head with ROSE. It's not a bad or unpleasant scent, just not something that appeals to me at all. Swap pile for this one.

I thought I was nuts, because most of what I get from this scent is aquatic, and that's not at all what I had expected from the name or description! But looking at the rest of the reviews, I see that a lot of other people have had the same reaction. It starts out rather sharp and piney, and I was briefly afraid it would turn into cleaning solution. Instead, the aquatic notes appear after a few minutes and pull the piney smell sharply into check, so that it's more like standing in a damp, foggy pine forest. I never get any sort of floral note, just aquatic and pine, but that's fine with me! Staying power appears to be moderate to good, and it stays a nice, clean, damp scent all the way thru. I think this one's a keeper.

First impression: Oh-oh, this is awfully floral. Fresh on: Um, yeah. VERY floral, probably too much so. Lily of the Valley is one of the few florals I can usually wear, but this is strong. There's some soapiness under there, too. Drydown: Hmmm, it gets greener over time. The vanilla isn't putting in an appearance at all, nor is the mandarin. It is, however, quite evocative of late 19th-century France; there's the same sort of "preciousness" about it -- and I mean that in both the positive and negative senses of the word. Bottom line: Too floral-soap and old-ladyish for my taste. Swap pile for this one.

In the imp, this is very fruity. Once on, it darkens a bit, but it's still very light and sweet for an amber scent. There's a hint of floral which is probably the myrtle, but mostly what I get from this is peach with a little amber underpinning. Staying power appears to be moderate to good, but that can be affected by the weather being hotter or colder -- everything disappears faster when it's hot out! I like it enough to keep, but I'll probably wear it more during the summer months -- it's a bit out of tune with the current weather.

I hate descriptions that don't include components, and wouldn't have looked at this without having a chance to sniff an imp. Mostly, what I get from this is a light tea scent with a bit of citrus that fades fairly quickly. (The citrus fades quickly, that is; I have trouble with Beth's citrus notes not lasting on me.) It's pleasant enough and would make an excellent warm-weather scent, but I don't know if it's all that different from Embalming Fluid. I really need to do a comparison of all the tea scents I've collected and pick the top 2 or 3 to keep!

This is a nice blend that doesn't change much with wearing. I mostly get the coconut note, with an underlying rich sweetness that could be the fig (comparing with Carnal -- yes, that's the fig). No sandalwood at all, and if the other notes are there they stay very much in the background. It's not too strong for daytime, and the holding power is excellent -- 10 hours after application, it's still very present on my wrists. This is a definite keeper.

Got this in a swapfest several months ago, and I'm finally getting around to trying it out. First impression: Pine? Cedar? There's something sharp in the way of a woody scent here. Fresh on: Ah, yes, that's pine, enhanced by the lemon. Something incense-y, too, probably the sandalwood. It smells a bit on the masculine side, but not overwhelmingly so. Drydown: This veers oddly between something floral and the strong, sharp pine. I could do without the floral bits. As it settles, the final impression is after-shave -- a piney, Christmasy men's after-shave. Not at all unpleasant; it makes me think about cuddling with my sweetie in front of a fireplace on a late December evening. If he wore scents at all, I'd try it on him! Staying power is fairly good; 6 hours after application, it's still noticeable on my wrists. Bottom line: I think this will end up being a gift to or for a guy. I could wear it, but I'd rather see it go to someone it suits better.

First impression: Fruity/flowery. Not a heavy floral, though. Fresh on: Hmmm, sort of apple-ish; this is what I wanted and didn't get from Hesperides. I guess that must be the Asian plum. Drydown: The orchid and jasmine come out later, but not strongly, just as an underlying sweetness to the fruit note. It gets a bit greener after several hours; I suspect that's the daffodil remaining after the top notes have faded. Staying power is moderate -- 5 hours and it's mostly gone. Bottom line: A nice, light spring-and-summer scent, a little out of place in this cooler weather. I'll have to reapply it every few hours, but that's no hardship. A definite keeper.