marared

This one does indeed have a very high-pitched, bitter start to it - it smells like the white tea was steeped way too long, plus jasmine always tries to go cat-pee on me for the first couple of minutes. It morphs very quickly, though, into a low-key white floral - the jasmine is there, but while it isn't as *loud* as jasmine usually is, it still dominates the other notes to the point that only the white tea asserts itself. (I was terrified of the tobacco flower after Tobacco Honey, but I can barely detect it.) Between the initial bitterness and the soft floral that takes over, it's like getting a brief glimpse into the dark corners of someone's soul just before they put up the barriers of normalcy.

Hm. I tend to like the lab's LE honey blends, but this one really isn't doing anything for me, and I think it's because the red musk simply reminds me of SO many other blends that ... it doesn't really have a personality all its own. I can smell the Smut, I can smell the Snake Charmer, I can smell the Snake Oil, I can smell the Scherezade... the honey is far too low-key here. Maybe layered with O to kick it up... hm.

I got this as a bit of a joke, because my Warcraft character of 5+ years is named Hagrok and my nickname is Hag/Haggy, but I wasn't really expecting much with all those dark notes. To my surprise, a. it wasn't nearly as dark as I thought it would be, probably due to the currant sweetening it up just a tad and b. in six months or a year this might actually have a lot of potential. It's very bay-rummy, with just a touch of musk, and while I can smell the vetiver on first application, it fades into the background very quickly. It's thick and smoky without being eyewatering, and especially with the bay rum I think it will mellow out considerably. Edit to note that even after a couple of weeks, it's smoothed out into something deep and musky and sensual. I couldn't wear this every day, but I'm pondering a bottle now, if the Yules don't eat too far into my paypal budget.

I was all set to declare this my surprise hit of the weenies. It's beautiful on application - wet and green and gold, something I'd expect to smell upon waltzing into a field of marigolds after a rainstorm. Kept huffing my wrist, amazed at how much I liked it. Thought about getting a bottle. So pretty. After about ten minutes, though, all those marigolds are dead and rotting vegetation on my wrist.

Not as ferociously buttery as past pumpkins. I smell vanilla, but it may be vanilla musk as mentioned above, because it's very light. I'm pretty sure there's booze in the mix, too, because in the bottle it's light and sweet and alcoholic, like a specialty vanilla vodka, but on me it turns kinda sour, which is often what happens with booze blends. I'm sticking with using this as room spray!

It's amazing how right on the ball this is - soft sugary gum a couple minutes after you've first gotten it all chewed up and the flavor and the scent are still so ripe that people can smell your gum from five feet away, kinda like Bubbleyum. It doesn't come across as any particular *flavor*, though, just the straight-up bubblegum, like Extra Original. Impressive!

Boomslang! It's made with Snake Oil, which has red musk, and cocoa. One of my faaaaavorites.

Yum, yum, yum. This was the surprise hit of my Inquisition box! It's a wonderful dry, natural apple, not over-sweet or fermented, and the woods add a wonderful autumn touch that makes me long for upstate NY, where there's an actual autumn.

Single note root beer! It does warm up and soften a bit after a while, but the sassafras is sitting pretty firmly on top of the other notes, so the tea and the champaca never really get a chance to make an appearance. Makes me think about going across the street for a six pack of IBC...

Actually, there's much to be said for the smell of a (clean) animal. When I worked next door to a PetSmart, one of my favorite things to do was run next door and huff a kitty. I huff my kitties too. My aunt huffs her kitty. There's just something so ... soothing about burying your nose in your best friend's fur, assuming you can do so without sneezing yourself sick thirty seconds later. Not so sure that could be replicated in a perfume, though... it's as much in the mind as it is in the nose.

If you witch made you something and it didn't come out just right, would you still want it? Flaws have character! Are you a foodie? Not to any extreme degree. If I have the opportunity, I would far rather hike to the farmer's market for local produce, but I'm not the sort who will refuse to eat something that isn't seasonal, etc. Are you interested in mini bottles(under 100ml for hand luggage) of bath and body products? I have SO MUCH bath and body crap in my closet that if I never bought another bottle, I could probably go five years before I ran out. I have an assortment of 3oz bottles for decanting travel supplies. Vampire shows, literature, etc? Yay or nay? I'm really not that much into vampires. What really matters to me in any genre is a good STORY, interesting characters, regardless of what they happen to be, which is why I enjoy True Blood, but don't really pay much attention to any other vampire type shows, books, etc. If you play console video games, what game systems do you have and what games would you love to have? I have a PS2, but I don't play it a whole lot other than the occasional Guitar Hero run. If you could have 3 BPAL bottles fall (gently) out of the sky right this second that you've been looking for or pining for - which 3 would they be? Are there any international treats that you love and have a hard time finding? World Market covers most of my international-chow needs. However, if a jar of Löwensenf pear mustard were to appear on my doorstep, I would squee myself into a puddle, because you can only get it *from* the Löwensenf store in Düsseldorf, Germany. (Other varieties are available online, but not the pear.) Is there anything from the 'Ween BPTP update that you would like but haven't ordered for yourself? I have submitted myself before the goblins and await their decision. Cake or Frosting? Cake. I love cream cheese frosting, but I can only deal with a small amount! Steampunk, yay or nay? If yay, what part appeals most? I like steampunk a lot more than I like goth - it's not a culture I embrace wholeheartedly in face and in fashion, but little steampunky accessories are fun. What movie scared the bejeezus out of you as a child? Beastmaster. It's cheesy as hell now, but it was brand new on HBO when I was very small, and apparently I took issue with Rip Torn throwing babies into flames. Comfort rereads: Diana Gabaldon's Outlander, Dan Simmons' Hyperion, Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince, Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Dart... Will you be going out of town during the round, or is there any other time during the round when it would not be ideal for you to receive a package from your witch? No, I've done my out-of-town foray already and will probably stay put until Thanksgiving or Halloween. What animal would your daemon be? Alternately, your patronus. A river otter. Do you have a special symbol or totem that is meaningful to you? I wouldn't call it *special*, but the reason why I got a tattoo of cherry blossoms is because it's representative of having spent half my life in the Chesapeake region, which is well known for cherry blossoms (and the similar dogwoods). Do you need a box for your bpal bottles? Your imps? Your something else to put in a box stuff? I work in an office supply store - I have storage boxes for EVERYTHING! Although I would certainly not object to a nice painted/personalized storage box for bottles or imps... Favorite Halloween Candy/Treat? It's more fall-specific than Halloween, but one of my favorite treats is pumpkin pudding - I haven't had it in years and I think I'm going to try to make it this year. What are your favorite baked goods/homemade treats? Lemon bars, scones, shortbread cookies... Would you be interested in an astrology birth chart? I have one, actually, courtesy of our wondrous Jarvenpa! What is something you use to comfort yourself when feeling yucky, depressed, or in pain? Hot tea/chocolate, cat, blanket. Who needs anything else? COMIC BOOKS. Do you read them? Are there any series you like, or some you would like to try? You know, I don't really deal much in physical comics - I have about 2/3rds of the Sandman graphic novels, The Crow, and Kabuki, but that's it. I mostly read webcomics, of which there are many I like... Disney movies, Yay or Nay, and favourites if you do like them? Some of them - Lion King, Mulan, Robin Hood, Lilo & Stitch. I actually like Pixar a lot more. Do you have A VCR, DVD Player or Blue Ray or a combo of the three? Just a DVD player. Would you like custom icons as a gift? Of course! Nail Polish: Not really. Once in a while a bottle will grab my eye, but I don't think I have ever used up an entire bottle, and I usually throw the older ones out five years later! My current favorite, for my toes, is China Glaze "Long Kiss." Soft/plushy things: Yes, please! What about [mixed or otherwise] DVDs? Sure! DVDs: Do you prefer widescreen or formatted? Widescreen! Cute or creepy Halloween stuffs? Doesn't matter as long as it's interesting! Picky about WL: Gosh, no. Ceramics? Absolutely! My first witch sent me some, and sadly they didn't survive. Mortar/Pestle? I have a small wooden one that's pretty useless... I don't have much of a need for it, though, except to grind up spices for chai. Squickables? Nothing, really - I can't say as I'd be pleased to find a giant plastic roach in a box, but I'm pretty hard to squick, really. Family Prezzies? Not at all - no one here but me! Bottles/lots of little samples? Yes! I'm not going to paint anyone into a corner in terms of creativity...

I love this. In the bottle, it is a seriously dirty, planty patchouli and hemp - archetypical head shop stuff. The same is true on a skin test, for about fifteen seconds. The vanilla swoops in almost immediately and mellows everything into a creamy yet dirty sweetness. And throughout the day, depending on body heat, it changes in whether the vanilla or the hemp is more prominent. Usually the vanilla, but every so often the green/brown planty scent would be considerably more noticeable. It lasts for quite a while, and it starts out strong, but within an hour or so it's close to a skin. This is very young and fresh patchouli, which I like, but I can only imagine how awesome this will be in a year or two, and I hope I can keep my hands off it long enough to let it age that long.

Pretty floral honey in the imp. Very strong, very sweet, way more flower than honey. Smells a bit green in the background, too. Skin test = soap

I really, really love this in the imp - warm, rich, nutty honey, the kind that makes me long for warm and sunny autumn days. But that "caramelized" thing cfrancesca mentions turns into the Sour Stink of Doom on me. *sigh*

I was really really interested in this blend, but the myrrh scared me a little, as it can sometimes go kinda craft-store-soapy on me. And it certainly tries to do that, but that stage doesn't last very long. It definitely is a cousin to Dionysia, as I had hoped - what it reminds me of, really, is Dionysia + Ecstasy True Love without the patchouli, as it's got that nearly gooey dark floral aspect to it - I can really only specifically smell the orange blossom on immediate application, but then it blends seamlessly into a dark plummy amber that sits very close to the skin but lasts a good long while. If Dionysia is too much fruit and too much patchouli, this would be a good alternative.

#519: When I first opened the bottle, it smelled EXACTLY like the Chaos Theory O I got last year, with a super sweet syrupy strawberry whack. Almost *immediately* it turned to cheap soap. Yay for crappy chemistry!

#32: This has changed rapidly in 10 hours. When I first sniffed the bottle this morning, it was a cologney citrus blast that turned into a non-boozy kind of margarita. Now it smells like citrus *peel*, to the point that I'm pretty sure that the citrus in question is lime. But no matter what the opening stages, it consistently dries down to soapy amber.

Exclamation!

I got a 1/4 decant from the Easter Bunny last month. I hadn't checked the notes before application, and my immediate thought was honey + jasmine. Jasmine is kind of like Denzel Washington. No matter what movie he's in, whether it's bad or good or what other actors are with him, he always strikes the same notes, and you always know what you're going to get out of him. The same is true of jasmine. It always threatens me with cat pee on application, but it settles down into a heady floral which smells the same to me no matter what other notes are in the blend with it. I wouldn't go so far as to say I *amp* jasmine, as it usually plays pretty well with other notes, but it doesn't vary much. And this, despite it being Honey Moon, is definitely more jasmine than honey. Now that it's been on for a while, I even smell more *ginger* than honey. Perhaps it's just the age, because honey - straight up or in musk - is pretty distinctive in every other blend that I've tried.

On immediate application, it's whoa-patchouli-frankincense-peach. As it dries, though, it turns into a resinous, gooey-sweet floral with a fruity background. I'd call it the much older and more mature sister to Depraved - the patchouli in this isn't as dirty, but it's still very similar. These are all notes that do really well on my skin, but somehow the combination just isn't quite as awesomesauce as I was hoping. It's still really lovely, though! 4/15 edit: I've changed my mind, I like this a lot more now that I've actually worn it out for a full day. It's a great gooey summery scent that isn't toooo floral.

This starts out as thick goopy yummy molasses - it reminded me of when you mix melted butter with brown sugar before the cookies. Then - the rum punch came tootling right along, and it now smells like one of those Caribbean drinks where you can't taste any of the alcohol but just two or three is enough to put you on your ass with stars twirling around your head and a goofy smile on your face!

In the bottle, I smell floral honey, although not the loud, sweet, syrupy honey that I've gotten accustomed to in other blends. On me, this is a vaguely sweet rose soap. No currant, no freesia... dratted rose takes over it all.

Picked this up from the Whole Foods in Chapel Hill. Very white-golden-clear kind of scent. Vanilla, check. Amber, check. Lily, check. Apricot, check. I think it's the apricot plus the sandalwood that gives it that cologney effect, but it's so well blended that nothing in particular really stands out. I'm surprised that I don't smell more of the ginger, as that's usually a pretty distinctive scent, but maybe the white ginger isn't so much. Not a huge amount of throw and it doesn't last very long. And despite the floral, I would qualify this as pretty unisex - I think a guy could get away with wearing this very easily.

I have never bothered with Smut in the past, because booze and sugar are typically very definite Notes Of Doom that smell sour or burnt and in general very unpleasant after about ten or fifteen minutes of interaction with my chemistry. So when the easter bunny frimped me with about half a decant of 2010, I tried it with a great deal of trepidation, ready to rush to the bathroom and scrub it off. And after nearly half an hour, it's picked up a faint hint of sour, but only on a very deep huff. I'm amazed. It's a very sweet and musky grape, with significant throw. I like it enough that I might even get a bottle to stash for a year or two; if it's faking me out and I hate it later, it's not like there aren't a thousand people out there who won't take it off my hands!

I like Snake Oil, it's just not that amazing on my skin. I loooove Boomslang, though, and also the CTV Snake Oil that I got that has a very rich and nutty/shea butter/popcorn vibe to it. I love the honey scents, but I can't deal with the fresh Snake Oil - it's going to be 6-8 months before I can tell if it'll really work or if the SO will dominate too much.