Pincushions

I recall seeing a thread asking for a list of Pirate-themed scents, and I tried searching for Norse/Viking and nothing came up, so here goes: I'm on a hunt! I already have Vinland and Odin (HUGE love for Odin!), and I *just* ordered imps Fenris Wolf, Niflheim, Yggdrasil, Skuld, Urd, and Verdandi. Then there's Brisingamen, which I'll have to have in my next order. Doing a quick scroll through the GC I could probably also include The Raven (probably named for the Poe poem, but ravens play a big part in Norse mythology, too) and Troll. Have I missed any? Also, does anyone have a list of discontinueds/LE's that maybe in the future I can hunt down? I'm having a lot of fun picking themes for ordering, it forces me to try things I normally wouldn't, which makes it interesting, and hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised!

Wow! It's like a foody, and somehow a little fruity (?) smell... It's really strong wet. The almond is like Kick it the face strong! The fruity smell fades fast. (I have no idea what's causing that.) It's quite yummy! The myrrh I think is giving it a bit of an earthy smell. This scent isn't sweet, just wow, strong. The musk and myrrh drown out the almond, and at one point it turned kind of laundry-soapy/candle-y. After it settles, it mellows out. The almond comes back but not as strongly as at first. This scent is one where a little goes a long way. It's a nice smell, but the super tasty initial stage only lasts a minute or two... Overall: it lasts a long time and has powerful throw, very almondy at first, which I love, but then when the musk and myrrh come through, it's too candle-y, which is ok and I think I'd like it more in a different mood. I might get a bottle at some point, since I'm a fan of almond!

Thanks! I didn't know they weren't for perfume use (I'm sure it says on the TAL site but like I said before I haven't really taken the time to really check them out.) Anyways I'll keep the scent in mind but for now, I'll just stick with BPAL.

Very very very sweet... Now, I have a sweet-tooth, but this might be a bit much. Certain moods require this amount of sweet, but not a whole lot! Not to say this isn't a great scent; it sure is! It'll make you crave all sorts of gluttonous foods!! Every note made a strong appearance on me, and like I said before, it lives up to it's namesake... It faded quickly though, but the bitter chocolate, hops, almonds, and a bit of a burnt caramel smell dominated at drydown. The hops, pralines, and hazelnut remain for a bit longer, before it turns dusty and vanishes. While fresh, though, it's definitely the sweetest thing I've ever smelled! Very heavy, and very strong.

Out of the imp it's a very sweet, spicy, fruity smell. Of course, that's what it was intended to be, but I was expecting "pumpkin pie;" it definitely wasn't that at all! On my skin, the peaches dominate, and the nutmeg and clove trail behind, and finally the pumpkin. The pumpkin deepens with time, though. When I was testing my smells, I had Gluttony on one wrist and Jack on the other, and just the test swipes on my wrists made the whole room smell like sugary baked goods and it was great! It's a light pumpkin, although I was hoping for "darker," it's still wonderful. The nutmeg and clove really blend well and it's awesome. Jack is for days when I want sweet, but not too sweet.

Ginger Ginger Ginger! How I love thee! Shub is definitely more of a warm, sexy yummy, as opposed to, say, Gluttony which is just SWEET. When I first sniffed the imp I wanted gingersnaps suddenly... The smell just makes me swoon over myself! It's so deep, warm, delicious and sexy, but I guess it's just my opinion because the bf "doesn't like ginger". Eff him! The ginger is just so delicious and the spices round it off perfectly. The resins and herbs make it dark and brooding, but the ginger is what really makes the scent pop. I love it. I have to convince my bf to like it, too. Crappy shifts are made better by this smell. The musks and herbs make it feel kind of "sluggish," but (I repeat) oh-so-yummy! Definitely on my top 3.

I'm beginning to really love herbal-fruity blends! It certainly does smell like dark woods. The dark musk and sage are strong, followed by the green tea and berries. At first sniff I thought it smelled like a bathroom but once on my skin it definitely doesn't. It could just be power of suggestion but I do picture witches brewing up trouble in the forest! The musk goes really well with my chemistry. The berries aren't bright at first but they turn brighter as it dries, the sage and tea dominates while wet, the musk balances everything out. The fruit almost sours after a while, and eventually dominate the blend, except for the musk. This would be something to wear when I'm feeling mischievous for sure!

I'd like to start off by saying, Bengal makes me want to drink my own wrist: It's Chai tea through and through... It's definitely yummy! One of my favourites, for sure! I never really do get the peppers, but the clove, ginger, and musk is strong, the honey and cinnamon only coming out later on. I don't know what else to say other than I love it, it's warm, spicy, delicious, and lasts a long time. Definitely bottle worthy!

Lilac, blue musk, dianthus, cedar, neroli, ozone, and luminous Eastern herbs. Very lilac, which is what I was hoping for, I also get a lot of the cedar and herbs, it's a very pleasant smell. It doesn't last long on me (ie full shift of work) but I can see it being worn on a summer evening. There's something "sharp" in there that I think may be the ozone. It reminds me a lot of a perfume or something my grandmother wore when I was young. I made a dryer sheet with it and it smells great that way, so fresh! I bought it not only because I love Goethe but also because I love lilac, and boy oh boy do I get lilac! I just wish I was more of a floral person, as far as perfumes go. It's a very lovely smell, I just just wish it suited my skin chemistry.

Hmm, I didn't think about looking through TAL, I'll have to check that out. And yeah, I've seen the up and coming thread and I'm super excited! Apparently Hel smells really nice, too... Sigh. I'll definitely get them when they come out!

Oh, I know! The fact that Skadi is from so long ago makes me sad. But, I think Jolasveinar and Mistletoe will be easy enough to find.... I hope.

Oh my goodness... Fruity fruity! It smells like Mr. Sketch scented markers, like as if I coloured a picture using just two colours, orange, and magenta (I had to google which colour smelled like raspberry because I couldn't remember which one it was, hahaha!) It's a very childhood smell to me. As it fades it starts smelling like those cupcake dolls, but without the rubber smell. It makes me feel like I'm 5 again. Thanks bpal! The other day I was thinking "it would be awesome if there was a smell that smelled like scented toys" (my little ponies, strawberry shortcakes, etc etc) and then I tried Akuma... I'm so happy! It makes me wish I still had my old cupcake dolls...

Unfortunately this is probably going to be my most negative review so far... I got Laudanum as a frimp, or else I never would have picked it out. None of the notes particularly appeal to me. In the imp it just makes me cringe. Don't know if I want to try it... But here goes: Applied, it smells like burning root beer, I'm guessing that's the sassafras. Yuck. I hate root beer. Definitely mostly nutmeg and sassafras. Slightly black licorice-y, and I also happen to hate black licorice. A half-hour later, licorice is hiding, but it still retains the strong burning root beer. Did I mention my hatred for root beer? Some of the opium and myrrh comes through but it doesn't fix the smell. This isn't going pleasantly at all. It's not my skin chemistry. I just hate root beer. Yuck. *is patient* Nope, still burnt, dirty root beer, the licorice returns, and it's giving me a headache. My mom loves root beer, maybe I'll give it to her, so long as she doesn't wear it near me. *washes off.*

In the imp it's very pleasant, I get a bit of everything, but no vanilla. It's a very warm floral, the sandalwood and opium bringing it down to earth, and it's also a bit citrusy. Once applied, however, it turns pure orange soap--mainly it reminds me of cheap Body Shop knockoff soaps... Not too nice. Luckily this goes away after a while, but with it, so does everything but the opium! The longer it dries the more the mandarins dissapear, leaving me with a smoky, sleepy opium, which is the stage I most enjoy. In the end it pretty much smells, on me, very much like Blood Countess, but swapping the plum/berries for sandalwood/mandarin. (Also I don't like it as much as Blood Countess. Then again I *love* Blood Countess.) It makes me discover two things about my body chemistry: I amp opium, and citrus turns to soap/air freshener. The opium isn't a bad thing (unlike what I do to roses---Yuck!) but I wish citrus worked... le sigh. It's a very sleepy smell. In fact, I think I'm going to wear it to bed tonight and see. *goes to search for more opium smells*

In the imp it smells very very very sweet... like "I don't know if I'll be able to wear it all day" sweet. But I decide to put it on anyways and it mellows out only slightly. It's sweet vanilla, heliotrope and almonds when wet, and I do get the frankincense and cinnamon in the background, too. After a while the sweet darkens, as I assume is intended, and the frankincense and cinnamon comes out strong. Stays put at a sweet, dark scent, and I really love it, to me it seemed like it died really quickly but when my boyfriend entered he was amazed at how big of a throw it had. "You've made the whole room vanilla!" I really love how it starts out, but it barely lasts 20 minutes (to me), but apparently it would make a good room scent... And between this and Faustus, I've decided I *love* the frankincense/cinnamon combination. I don't know if it's 5ml worthy, and it doesn't seem to last long on me, but I may get another imp.

All I can smell is licorice out of the imp, for some reason... Or anise? This makes me weep, because I HATE black licorice... Wet it retains the mysterious licorice smell and I get the teas as well. (The licorice might be the earl grey (bergamot)? I never was fond of earl grey myself.) After a few minutes the licorice calms down a bit and reveals the leather. Not getting much of the teas anymore, its mostly the weird leather/licorice/lemon rind... thing. Since licorice makes me want to barf, I don't know if I can handle this smell much longer. If black tea is in there, it's very timid. Completely dry, it even turns kind of powdery. Even though it's much calmer and not so painfully licorice, it's still not a smell I enjoy. And I was looking forward to it, too, because I love tea so much. *sigh* I wish it worked on me... Poo. edit; after a few hours, the black tea starts coming out more and more. But, the wait is too long to warrant regular wear. Again, *sigh*...

I received this as a frimp, I'm generally not a "citrus" type of person. In the imp it's very orange peel and lemon, with that "glittering" heliotrope there too, the honeysuckle gives it a sweetness. It mellows and turns warmer on my skin, this is a very "sunshine" type of smell, like what I would wear to a summer picnic or something. It kind of smells like lemon candies, or sour orange candies. As it dries the sweet flower smells pops through but it's still very strongly citrus. Almost sour, and I love sour candies, to taste anyways, not to smell so much. Turns more floral the more it dries. It's nice and bright, but not a *me* smell, not at this time of year anyways. I don't hate the smell, but maybe I have a friend who'll like it more. Edit: Above was posted before I went to work. By the end of my shift it was pretty much lemon soap, or lemon air-freshener. Ah well.

In the imp, it's very sharp and sweet and green. It has a slight "laundry soap" smell. Hmm... Wet, it begins smelling a lot of car fresheners :/ ...Not liking that bit. On dry down, the car-freshener goes away and in comes the floral! I'm hoping for more berries but we'll see... Oh, there they are! Cold berries, like early fall snow with berries still on some bushes. Definitely getting the maple leaf and birch bark, which really reminds me of the forests near where I live... Wow. I regret not buying a bottle of this now. It actually makes me want to cry. It's not exactly a *me* smell, but it's SO very emotional to me, it makes me homesick even though I am home. I want to go for a romp in the woods now. The throw is very small, though, I really have to fight to smell it on me... But it's very nice. The berries give it a sweet smell that I really like. Once completely dry, the berries definitely dominate. I'm not familiar with most of the individual flower smells but they aren't too prominent anymore, anyways. Wishing I still had the birch but the maple leaf is still hiding in there. Definitely sad I didn't cave to suggestion and get a whole bottle, but since the throw is so small I probably won't be wearing it that often anyways, and the magical-memory-evoking-stage was relatively brief. *sniff* ... *sigh*

I chose this for the lilac note... And, the imagery in the description sounds so spooky! In the imp it's very floral, with the wood notes popping through. It has a sharp note to it which I think might be the osmanthus, since I don't know what that smells like. Immediately on my wrists, it turns mainly woody, with the florals popping through. After a bit it turns sweet and I'm getting some of the lilac. The roses of course dominate the lilac, and even the woody notes. The more it dries it leaves me with an rose-incense smell. Potpourri? That "sharp" smell stays there but my lilac is definitely dominated. It's kind of like a dirty, dusty rose. Very little throw. Nice, but not what I was hoping for. (LILAC! WHERE ARE YOU? This is my second disappointment... Damn that rose! I'll have to avoid all rose in my next order, I seem to just amp it like crazy... and I don't even like rose all that much! Boo.)

This is one of the scents I was really looking forward to, for the lilac... And, aside from not ending up with much lilac, and my coworker commenting on how it reminded her of her grandma's bathroom (it must be one nice smelling bathroom! I hope.), I love it. I applied too much, though, since it was overwhelming to me for the first couple hours! Oops. I wasn't expecting such a huge throw... In the imp it's very fruity, I get a lot of the plum and berries, as well as the lilac and roses, but not much opium. On my wrists, wet, it turns sweeter, but mainly berries and lilac, with a hint of the opium poking through. The scent is a little mean, but flowery at the same time. When it first dries it turns all floral, but morphs into all plum/berries! After a while though, it settles at rose and berries... Not smelling my beloved lilac at all... After reapplying after work, it remains plums, berries and roses. Very whispy lilac if any. I might be getting some of the opium but I'm not sure. All in all, a very nice smell. And I don't care who's bathroom I smell like. Edit: I definitely DO get opium, because after trying Belle Epoque, I can smell the similarity and it's definitely the opium. It's too bad I amp the rose so much but I forgive it for that.

At first whiff from the imp, I thought I would hate it... It almost made me gag at how strong it was. I think it may have been the frankincense or the violet, I'm not sure, but it gave me a bit of a headache. I've yet to try it on myself, but I decided to convince my bf to try it... At first it was VERY strong, almost unbearable for both of us... But, after a couple hours, it turned rather nice. Spicy, but the violet worked very well on him. It's hard to describe how I felt about it, it kind of reminded me of rough sex o.O ... Anyways, I like it on him, but only after a couple hours of drying... It's way too powerful and masculine for me to wear, knowing I would just amp the frankincense, which I think is what caused my initial headache. If I ever do try it on myself, I'll update. Edit: The more my boyfriend wears it, the more I love it. Funny, since at first I found the smell almost revolting. Still don't have the guts to try it on myself but we'll see.

In the imp it has a very strong musky, herbal scent. I accidentally got some on me, and it smells pure musk/wood, like a herbal incense. Dried, it's become completely dusty, woodsy incense... Not something I want to smell like. When I first opened the box the first imp I opened was Odin to apply on my boyfriend, since I chose it with him in mind. It smells very nice on him, completely different... And lasts a really long time! (He says he can still smell it and it's been close to 48 hours!) On him, it turns herby and slightly floral on his skin, but in his beard it retains the musk and what I assume is the amaranth and elm bark, but not incensy at all, which is good because I don't really like that smell. I'm not sure which I prefer (on his skin or in his beard,) but if he wants it I'll definitely get a bottle for him! It's pleasantly sexy on him, but not overpoweringly so (I was afraid he would smell like a cheap date), but all I can say is: mmm, yum! When he first put it on he said he was happy to have the power of mighty Odin in his beard, and I agree! Update: The more I wear this, the more I *love* it. It's a very comforting smell (I'm probably equating it to my boyfriend at this point though.) At first I didn't think I liked the incense, but you know what? It's definitely grown on me, and I have to say that a 5ml will have to be bought. Both my boyfriend and I pull it off, although it smells better on him, it's definitely going on my list of bottles I need to own. Even if I never wear it again it smells so gooood on him! Mmm, yum!

This hasn't been truly "tried", as in, I got it all over my fingers when I opened the imp to smell it... I'll update this when I go the full day wearing it. In the imp it has a very strong chocolate/cherry smell, simply divine; but on my fingers the orange really comes through. Once I actually apply it properly I"ll give it my verdict. For a second it smelled like toothpaste, but it was very brief, only a minute or so... I think it may have been other oils mingling with it (I have White Rabbit on my wrists, and the box of oils in my lap). A couple hours later and the smell just won't leave my fingers! I'm not altogether sad about that though, in fact quite the opposite! The chocolate isn't so strong now, it's a very sweet fruity smell with just a hint of the chocolate. Will definitely be wearing this tomorrow! Slathered! NOM NOM NOM. It may be early to say this but this could be my first 5ml purchase. Edit: I decided, since it was overpowering it anyways, to wash the White Rabbit off and slather the Vice before I went to work. It was a good choice. The throw was decent for a couple hours. Verdict? Awesome.

My first review! (Like this one needs any more reviews, but hey.) It's a very light, pleasant smell; in the imp it smells a lot of the tea, ginger, pepper, and honey, but immediately on my skin it turns really sweet. Fades a bit quickly... I have to practically press my face against my wrist to smell it. Before it faded I caught a lot of the pepper and tea, but the tea went quick. Turned into a baby-powdery smell after a while. Very nice, I like it despite the baby-powder (I assume this is the "fresh linen" smell). After a few hours it has become a vanilla/peppery baby-powder smell, it's still sweet (probably the honey) and it reminds me of a little girl with blond locks and a pink dress. No tea or milk, though. I was really looking forward to the tea note, but its nowhere to be found on me. Still, a very pleasant smell. I can see me wearing this when I'm down in the dumps, or feeling girly, but not every day.

Oh, that gets my hopes up! But, Canada Post is notorious for sending mail all over the flipping country before it reaches it's destination, or maybe that only happens when it's getting sent to *me*. Either way, I'll be waiting. Thanks for the info!