Shollin

First sniff: Er? This is just… unsettling. The one note I can identify is cocoa, but it’s… evil cocoa. At a closer sniff, I can smell the wine sneaking around in the background – a wine more reminiscent of Formula 54’s bleary staggering cognac than any of the true wine scents I’ve tried. These rabbits’ parties aren’t about getting drunk and having a good time… they’re about getting drunk and having a good time by smashing things and wreaking havoc.

 

Wearing: Seriously boozey on my skin. I don’t think The Bunnies and I are going to get along. And it’s doing something weird now that it’s dried – it smells quite a bit like frankincense often does on me, very sharp. I had high hopes for this one, but I think I’ll stick to Kali for my cocoa/wine fix.

First sniff: Cinnamon candy. Maybe more like sticky buns – I swear I smell icing and dough.

 

Wearing: Still smells like sticky buns. I’m getting hungry, not horny. It’s a nice scent by itself, but cinnamon candy and sticky buns aren’t really things I want to smell like.

First sniff: It’s hard to pin Anubis down. There’s a hint of resin, bright rather than dark.

 

Wearing: Oh, wow. This is warm and resinous and gorgeous. I sniffed Anubis long ago at the Atlanta meet, and based on that first sniff I ordered an imp of my own, but I didn’t try it on my skin there. If I had, I might have gotten a bottle.

First sniff: A soft, bland, clean scent.

 

Wearing: It’s a bit of a laundry scent, but it’s very refreshing and comforting. It’s very light – not much of an aura. I put this on again before going to bed – it grew on me that much over the course of the day. It’s easily overlooked, I think; I know I almost did. It’s not a flashy scent, it’s not going to make anyone sniff me and growl, but it’s wonderfully gentle and soothing.

First sniff: Orange blossom, with a heaping helping of darkness underneath.

 

Wearing: Damn. I was hoping the civet would bugger off, as I almost couldn’t smell it in the vial, but it’s right there taunting me. The orange blossom is a really nice overtone, and generally works well on me, but it just isn’t enough to beat the civet beast into submission.

First sniff: WOW, that’s sharp. And cold. I can’t tell if rosemary or pine is the predominant note, but it’s sharp. And cold.

 

Wearing: This is seriously one of the sharpest scents I’ve ever tried. It’s all rough pointy edges. I keep waiting for the drydown to smooth it out a bit, but no dice… prickly pine needles and prickly rosemary needles and prickly lemon. It’s not as cold on me as in the vial, but still haughty and aloof… content to busy himself with other matters while… well, y’all know the story.

First sniff: Wow. Very, very mint. Bright white mint, not green.

 

Wearing: Bright and chilly! The initial burst of cold fades very quickly, leaving a cucumber aftertaste. It’s different; I like.

First sniff: Meh. Powdery floral.

 

Wearing: Doing little to dispel the “meh” impression. There’s a hint of spice in here, but mostly it’s powdery floral.

First sniff: A very interesting and atypical floral. It smells a teensy bit cleaner-esque if I think about it too hard.

 

Wearing: Warm rose, definitely, with something deeper underneath. It’s nice, but didn’t blow me away.

First sniff: OH yeah. Tea scents, almost without exception, make me very very happy, and this one is a gorgeous fresh lemony tea.

 

Wearing: Just beautiful. It might be a little crisp for today – better in warmer weather, I think. But still beautiful.

First sniff: I’m betting now that this is going to go soapy on my skin. It’s a wet, sweet floral that already has a hint of soapiness.

 

Wearing: At first, this is so very lily. Big, bright lily. And then the sweet pea shows up at the party. Sweet pea turned Aeval into soap on me, and it appears to be doing the same to Juliet. Sometimes I hate being right…

First sniff: You know those scents that are just so impossibly wonderful you make that first inhalation last as long as possible, until your lungs are complaining? Yeah. Sun-warmed honeysuckle is about the only thing I can identify, but there’s more going on here, and I can’t concentrate on it because it smells TOO DAMN GOOD.

 

Wearing: Snrfmfgnnn. I’m in love. This is just sweet enough, and very warm. It’s everything that was good about the single-note honeysuckle, with a wonderful sunny warmth.

First sniff: Vaguely medicinal and more than a little sharp. It’s an almost menthol-y herbal.

Wearing: Aha – I bet it’s eucalyptus. It’s actually quite nice on my skin, and I’m getting the shock-of-cold-water alertness that I usually get from cold/minty scents. It’s a little bit fruity underneath… ooh, this is what I hoped Jabberwocky would be on me. An initial burst of eucalyptus followed by smooth orange. So incredibly much better on me than in the vial.

First sniff: She’s not laughing at us (as I often suspect cats do), she’s laughing because she’s just in a really good mood. This might be the happiest scent I’ve tried yet. It’s bright and airy and citrusy and fresh and fantastic.

 

Wearing: I sniff. I smile. Life is good. I need to buy some candles and use this properly.

First sniff: WOW, is this ever incensey. And I don’t want to jinx myself, but it just might be an incense that will work on me… I think the main note in here is red sandalwood, which is something I can wear by itself. It’s gorgeous and warm and feels like church in a cozy midnight-Mass way.

 

Wearing: I think I’ve found it. A scent that truly smells like incense and doesn’t go funky on my skin. This… this is happy. And yeah, it’s supposed to be all dark and wicked and whatever, but… this is something I’ve been looking for without ever realising it.

First sniff: WHOA lavender! Very sharp lavender, with maybe a touch of lemon. Aquarius reminds me a bit of Nanshe, though I’d have to sniff them side-by-side to be sure.

 

Wearing: Instant Soap. Stupid skin.

First sniff: Ooh. I like this one. Earthy green roses.

 

Wearing: The rose gets softer and sweeter on my skin, and the greenness of the oakmoss keeps it reined in. I always love finding rose scents I can wear, and oakmoss seems to like me. Good all around.

First sniff: Soft florals and a touch of sharp wood.

 

Wearing: Lily of the valley always goes to Instant Soap on my skin, and it’s done the same here. Sigh.

First sniff: Very calm and soothing. I was expecting an aquatic scent (imagine!) but this is more floral.

 

Wearing: This isn’t exactly a me scent, but I really like it. It’s gentle and comforting.

First sniff: Is there fig in this? It’s resinous and dark-fruity, and it seems fig shows up quite a lot paired with resin. I can never identify fig unless I know it’s there though. A bit of powdery floral sprinkled over the top, too.

 

Wearing: It’s decidedly floral on my skin – all the darkness is gone. There’s a tiny hint of something earthy grounding this scent, but the top is all flowers.

First sniff: Wow, this is bubblegummy. It’s the same pink bubblegum from Jailbait, with a heaping helping of bright fruit.

 

Wearing: I don’t know about this one. It’s sort of nondescript on my skin – no aura, and I don’t get much sense of it when I sniff my wrists. It’s still vaguely sweet, but… the Mojo just didn’t grab me.

Should be the last of my back-to-back posts for the moment. A decant labeled "Exp Blend (I)", orangey-red in the vial.

 

First sniff: Berries! Berries and honey? But darker than you’d think. Grapes, maybe – the kind that are so purple they’re almost black.

 

Wearing: Oh yeah. This, I like. There seems to be a little bit of cinnamon in this one too, but mostly it’s grapes and honey. Which sounds pretty darn good, come to think of it… *wanders off to the kitchen*

First sniff: Primarily floral, with a little kick of spices in the background.

 

Wearing: The musk comes out immediately, and the scent goes warm and furry. The florals are still there, underneath, but the aura is musk and spice. I'm liking this one.

Another decant, this one labeled "Exp Blend (?)" and the oil is deep red.

 

First sniff: Someone has clearly made a liqueur out of caramel apples and put it in this vial. It’s so intensely sweet as to border on boozey.

 

Wearing: Caramel apple liqueur. That’s the only way I can describe it. And maybe a teeny hint of cinnamon – I’m not sure if that’s actually there or if I just expect to smell it because I associate apples so strongly with cinnamon. It goes cinnamon-ier as it dries, and the final result is something like a very very sweet Three Witches.

First sniff: Dizzying darkness and bittersweet orange blossom. I know this scent. I’ve been here before.

 

Wearing: I dabbed a little on before bed so I could concentrate on it... This is powerful. I’ve never felt a strong pull to the Egyptian pantheon – I was a Greek mythology nut when I was younger, and have since gotten to know the Celts to some extent – but this blend resonates in a way I can’t really describe. It’s dark, enigmatic, and heady.