Shollin

I got a decant labeled “Experimental Blend (minty),” a dark brownish-red in the vial, from... someone. I got experimental blends in swaps with three different people and didn't keep track of which came from whom, but none of them has posted in this thread, so I can't really check.

 

First sniff: There is a little bit of mint in here, but mostly… and I’m drooling as I type this… it smells like dragon’s blood, musk and vanilla.

 

Wearing: On my skin it smells like Snake Oil lightened with a hint of mint… and as it dries, it smells like Snake Oil plus a heaping helping of The World’s Best Vanilla. Wowie wow. I shall treasure this.

First sniff: Loudly resinous. This isn’t going to work on me… but I have a policy of trying everything on, so here goes.

 

Wearing: Ladies and gentlemen… we have frankincense, or at least something that reminds me very strongly of it. And frankincense bears a deep and enduring grudge against me. Off to the swaps.

First sniff: Cloved oranges! Orange spice happiness. Mmmm.

 

Wearing: Cinnamon and orange and spice and yay. I dabbed a bit of this on my wrists and behind my ears, and used the remaining bit on my fingers to rub on the two dollars I had in my wallet. We’ll see what happens. No visible effect by the end of the day, but my wallet does have more in it now... 'cause I hit the ATM before work. Love the scent whether it works or not!

First sniff: Darkly resinous… not sharp enough to be incense, but the same feel. Deep and earthy.

 

Wearing: Urd reminds me of a particular bit of sidewalk on Capitol Hill in Seattle, where my guy lives. There’s an African-imports store called Cowri that always smells like a particular kind of incense, and whatever it is, I think it’s in Urd. The scent on my wrist is almost too sharp-wood-y, but the aura is wafty and mellow and smells like the sidewalk in front of Cowri, where the guy in the Rastafarian hat always hangs out. Groovy.

First sniff: Sol is somewhat similar to the Tarot Sun scent, but it’s a bit more reserved and quite a bit sweeter. It strikes me as a yellow floral rather than the citrus/wood scent of The Sun.

 

Wearing: A teensy-tinsy bit soapy beneath the yellowness, but it’s wonderfully bright. As it dries it develops a very happy spice note. Good stuff.

First sniff: Searingly bright citrus over warm wood.

 

Wearing: This is The. Perfect. sun scent. It’s bright, it’s warm, it’s very yellow. It does fade pretty quickly, but the base is a fantastic soft warm red sandalwood that sticks around.

First sniff: The Emperor is a very fresh, clean, open-air scent with an undertone of floral sweetness.

 

Wearing: There’s jasmine in here, definitely – hope it doesn’t take over, but at the moment it’s maintaining its status as a nice fresh scent rather than a sweet white flower scent (which are not my favourites).

First sniff: Very loudly herbal, and not in a good way. It smells medicinal.

 

Wearing: The aura is minty, and I can’t figure out why. It shifts into rose soap pretty quickly, and is Decidedly Not Me.

First sniff: Floralujah! With a pine base. Flowers of the forest. I bet I might even be able to get my guy into this one, as much as he loves pine. Sticky resin-sap under a wildflower base… I can’t smell anything in here that’s likely to go weird on my skin. YAY.

 

Wearing: This is so, so pretty. Wildflowers over a blanket of evergreen. I’m very glad the first few reviews talked me into ordering this one.

First sniff: Sweet flowers! Honeysuckle? And running water.

 

Wearing: This is definitely honeysuckle – crisp, clear and sweet. Really beautiful.

Hiya folks,

 

When I have time in the next few weeks/months/whatever, I'll be going through the reviews and editing out most of the Lab descriptions. It isn't uncommon to see five or six reviews in a row that include the Lab description, and it's come to my attention that some people find the repetition so annoying that they avoid reading reviews because of it.

 

If you're seeing 25 posts per page (the forum default), you'll get the description at the top of every page. Those of you who always post the description in your review... you won't be warned for doing so, but I'd take it as a kindness if you'd refrain in the future.

 

Thanks!

First sniff: Yes, this really does smell Spooky-ish! I don’t know why it always surprises me that milk/cream-based scents are so warm, but Milk Moon is warm and furry and wonderful. With a heaping helping of peppermint over top.

 

Wearing: Oh, don’t go sour. Please don’t go sour. I need to learn not to sniff these things directly on my wrist – the aura is lovely, but the wrist-scent is weird. It went to straight peppermint after a couple hours’ wearing. Spooky is similar, yes… and much better on me, so this one is out.

First sniff: In the bottle it’s almost pure chocolate, but there’s something lighter floating around the edges that I can’t quite parse. It’s almost a pale green scent hanging around the outside of the chocolate. (And yes, I know white chocolate isn’t “real” chocolate, but that’s what it smells like.)

 

Wearing: Chocolate and tea. And a little bit of citrus.

First sniff: Strong, dark, growling ginger – more of a cookie scent than straight gingerroot.

 

Wearing: Evil gingersnaps… absolutely. I think the trick is not to sniff it directly – because it’s too spicy on my wrist, but the aura is warm and comforting and very very nice.

First sniff: Some people swear in their reviews. I am not generally one of them.

 

That said… FUCK YEAH.

 

There is nothing off about this scent for me, it’s just gooey, drippy sweetness with a tiny hint of liqueur and maybe the barest breath of flowers to make it more than just sweet. This is going to smell fucking GREAT on me.

 

Wearing: If there were a flower that smelled like honey – not honeysuckle, but real true honey – this would be it. My skin is amazingly sweet and fluffy now.

First sniff: Aha. This is the sharp, woody sandalwood. It’s much more defined and crisp than the red Mysor variety, and smells much less like something I want to wear by itself. Paperdoll sent me imps of both in a swap, and it’s really interesting to sniff them side by side.

 

Wearing: Yup, this is definitely the sandalwood I smell in sandalwood incense… too close to cedar for me to wear.

First sniff: Yup, that’s sandalwood all right… a soft, warm sandalwood with blurred edges. I can see wearing this one solo – the white sandalwood SN might be too sharp for that. Paperdoll sent me imps of both in a swap, and it’s really interesting to sniff them side by side.

 

Wearing: It’s a bit warmer now; otherwise pretty much as it was in the vial. The single notes never seem to morph much on my skin.

First sniff: Does traditional Bay Rum smell like throat-closingly sweet almond and a little bit of funky musk? ’Cause that’s what I’m getting from the Baron.

 

Wearing: Still almond, still very very sweet, and still a weird animal darkness underneath. His Excellency is not at all my cup of tea.

First sniff: Oh, swoon. Gloriously spicy vanilla flowers.

 

Wearing: Hod is so amazingly beautiful… warm and enveloping and carnation-spicy, with a vanilla undertone. Love love love.

First sniff: Not what I was expecting. It’s a bright but gentle lemony-herbiness.

Wearing: There’s no question this is a man’s scent, but it’s not the typical cologney/aftershavey sort of thing. It’s deeper, more self-assured. I haven’t tried on anything with frankincense in quite some time, because it always hates me, but this time it seems to be behaving. I like this quite a lot and will add it to the “try on my guy” pile.

First sniff: In the vial, it’s… not particularly promising. There’s a hint of cinnamon underneath something dark that my nose really doesn’t like.

 

Wearing: Oh, this is better. It’s gone all nutty. Maybe even hazelnut, with still a dash of cinnamon underneath.

First sniff: Men’s cologne, with a lovely subtle freshness.

 

Wearing: I generally feel slightly out of place wearing these sorts of scents, as if I should be wearing a suit and tie. There’s an odd whiff that smells almost like chlorine if I sniff my wrist, but for the most part it’s very nice.

First sniff: Hmm. Apparently swallows and dragons have very similar-smelling blood. Who knew?

 

Wearing: As I may have mentioned once… or twice… a minute… all summer (with apologies to the Weasley twins), I’m moving across the country in a couple of weeks, and I intend to dab this on the St. Christopher medal I have hanging in my car – and possibly on the bulkhead of the moving truck, if I can be sneaky about it. And now that I’ve tried it on, it’s going in my suitcase and coming with me, because on top of its mystical properties it smells Really Damn Good on me. I my dragon’s blood. There’s a bit of powdery-flowery-ness in here too, but it’s not overwhelming… at least until it dries, and then that’s all it smells like. Ah well. I only have a little driblet anyway – I can probably use that up in the move.

First sniff: Many different kinds of soft spring flowers… at twilight, when all the colours wash out and they become the same shade of pale.

 

Wearing: SO very floral, and slightly powdery – here’s hoping that slightly doesn’t go more pronounced as it dries. It’s a me sort of floral, not too girly, and it’s much less pale on my skin than in the bottle. I can pick out rose and jasmine, but they’re not screaming at me.

First sniff: This is very interesting. I was expecting fire and brimstone and I’m getting the Elysian Fields. It’s a light, warm, herbal resin.

 

Wearing: This is really nice – it’s resiny without being too incensey, with the slightest touch of sweetness. Unfortunately, it gets sweeter as it dries, and I’m fairly certain it’s responsible for the headache I had all last night at work.