Shollin

First sniff: Lavender and green. Most of the lavender scents smell very similar to my nose – the other three dream formulas (minus Baku, which was all licorice) and Psyche fall into that category too.

Wearing: I’m yawning already, and I’m not sure if that’s because I’m wearing Nanshe or because it’s four in the morning… oh, hey, there’s lemon in here too. That’s new. This blend of herbalness is the sort of thing I always think would taste great as a tea.

First sniff: Oh yeah. Liquid butter-rum Life Savers.

Wearing: Grog is exactly what I wanted from Hellcat – butter rum, warm, sweet and slightly nutty, without being too boozey. This is a fantastic cold-weather scent that will be worn often and quite possibly slathered on my guy.

First sniff: I don’t think I would have guessed this was grapefruit if I hadn’t read the description. The fruit stands out above the swirling dark base of the scent.

Wearing: The sharpness of cedar pops out immediately. I liked the idea of Lex Talionis, but it just doesn't work on my skin.

First sniff: Blood Kiss is richly cherry-sweet, with a swirl of vanilla.

Wearing: Cherry vanilla, very warm and sweet. It dried down to pure vanilla honey… just wonderful.

First sniff: Bright and sweet – it smells like berries, though I know there aren’t any in here. I do catch a hint of the pale citrus bergamot – very nice.

Wearing: The deeper notes come out right away, sandalwood and musk. Libertine is very warm and enveloping. A keeper.

Zephyr is a fantastic white musk with just enough vanilla to make me hungry. It's one of my favourites.

First sniff: Softly glowing, clean and pure with a hint of saltwater.

Wearing: Sea of Glass is a lovely, soft, calming scent. It reminds me of a non-green version of Water of Notre Dame. Pretty, but not something I’d wear often.

First sniff: Dusty and spicy. Dried wine.

Wearing: I’m having a hard time figuring Dracul out. It’s faintly fruity-wine-ish, but distant, like a memory. It’s a very soft, subtle scent that clings very close to my skin.

First sniff: Purple flowers bathed in darkness. Velvet-soft and mysterious.

Wearing: Deep purple, almost black, crushed velvet draped in heavy folds on a stone floor. Medea is regally beautiful, but oh so dark.

First sniff: Gentle, sweet, slightly sad flowers twirling slowly down to float on the river. (Yes, I’m thinking of that scene from Fantasia.)

Wearing: The water is more apparent on my skin, very crisp and fresh around the floral. Pretty... but I don't think it's quite me enough.

First sniff: Just wonderful. Bright cherry, almost a liqueur, over deep wood and curling smoke.

Wearing: Purr, purr, purr. On a blanket by the fire in a room paneled in dark wood. Hearth is a log cabin scent, an outdoorsy man sipping whiskey by a blazing fire as snow falls in the woods outside. I really do smell alcohol in this, even though there’s nothing alcoholy listed in the description. It's fantastic.

First sniff: Green and feral and … weird. Slightly sweet, maybe?

Wearing: Yeah, it’s definitely a little bit sweet in the topnote, a dry summer sweet… the thought of the witch’s candy house immediately came to mind. Dry and sweet. I certainly wasn’t expecting dry and sweet from civet and vetiver, but my first thought in the vial was licorice, and now I see there’s anise in here too. It’s a weird scent – despite the sweetness there’s something not quite right, something forbidding and eerie. And, twenty minutes later, I know what’s not quite right. The civet has asserted itself with a vengeance, and now I smell like… civet. Which hates me and always ends up as a thick black animal-in-heat funk no matter what it’s paired with. Oh well – this is why I try everything on.

First sniff: Gaueko reminds me of the clear, warm, tigereye-brown sandalwood of Tushnamatay, softened with a dusting of lavender buds.

Wearing: The lavender gives it a bit of a sharp edge, but it’s warm and woody and wonderful and just dark enough. I really enjoyed this one.

First sniff: Fruity and bright – I agree with the pineapple verdict, that’s definitely what it smells like.

Wearing: Baba Yaga isn’t the sinister old Bad Witch I was expecting – the scent is bright and golden and almost giggly. There might be ginger in here too. I’ll be interested to see the real description when she’s released.

First sniff: Cold, bright, sharp lavender. That doesn’t sound complimentary, but I really like it.

Wearing: Very herbal and cool and green. It’s not quite as instantly soporific as Somnus, but I did sleep very soundly and remembered my dreams.

First sniff: In the vial, iris is all I can smell.

Wearing: My skin grabs the coconut and amplifies it to the nth degree. I LOVE coconut, so this doesn’t bother me at all. The iris is still very apparent underneath. I think I need to wear Black Pearl again – the iris and coconut kept switching places all night, and iris isn’t my favourite.

First sniff: Mmmmm. Plummy-fruity, bright and cheerful.

Wearing: Oh, hey, wow. Hell’s Belle hits my skin and goes RED and dark and sensuous. After a minute or so the flowers start to show up – huge lush magnolia, bright white and sweet. I was worried that it would get too flowery, but it stays sweet and liquid and gorgeous.

First sniff: Yup, grapefruit! It’s quite a bit lighter than I expected from the concept and the colour of the oil.

Wearing: Ooh, ooh ooh ooh. R’lyeh is simply gorgeous. Sections of white grapefruit floating in a clear crystal bowl of water… and crystalline patterns of frost tracing the outside of the bowl. It’s lightly fruity, aquatic, and cold. I like.

First sniff: Somehow Ahathoor seems darker than Khephra, which doesn’t make much sense. It has the same sort of warm enveloping presence, but shadowed.

Wearing: Darkened amber (I think it’s amber, anyway), gentle spice and an edge of sharpness. And… ooh. A few minutes of drying and the aura is just fantastic – I feel like my skin has a soft bronze glow. It develops an incensey undertone once it dries completely, but that’s only apparent right on my skin.

First sniff: Fruity! Bright yellow-gold fruit hanging heavy in a sunlit grove.

Wearing: Yerevan smells like summer, like juicy honeyed sunlight filtering through the trees. It’s raining cats and dogs here at the moment and this is a great comfort scent.

First sniff: A clean, softly sweet, indoors on a rainy day scent. I get the same “politeness” from Saint-Germain as I do from Wilde.

Wearing: A clean-laundry sort of comforting, a cool breeze on a muggy sticky day.

First sniff: I’m having a very hard time figuring out how to describe Khephra. It’s… a big scent. I don’t mean strong, or overpowering… but it has a certain presence. I think the main note is amber, but it’s hard to be sure.

Wearing: Warm, deep, musky and almost dark. It’s still just defying any attempt to describe the actual scent. I can’t even put a colour to it, and usually that’s where my mind goes when it can’t figure out the notes. I know it reminds me of The Lion, and I know I like it, but that’s all I can pin down.

First sniff: Baku smells, to my nose, almost exactly like Badger’s Sleep Balm – mostly lavender, with a deep green undertone – but a hint of mint above that the balm doesn’t have.

Wearing: Licorice? Where did that come from? Hrmph. Licorice and I don’t get along – it messed up Kabuki for me and I’m hoping it stays in the background here. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be doing that, and it’s darkening the rest of the scent into a stormy grey. Grrr. That said, I’ll keep it around to use if I find myself in need of warding nightmares off, as its main purpose isn’t just to smell nice.

First sniff: Cool, wet blue-green. Very aquatic… most appropriate for Neptune.

Wearing: Even when wet this doesn’t have much throw, but the scent on my skin is lovely and soft, slightly powdery and very calming.

I’m sorry more people didn’t get to try the outer planets – the two I’ve worn so far have been great.

First sniff: Ra makes me think of marigolds, though I don’t really know what they smell like. It’s a warm, soft, golden scent with a touch of floral sweetness.

Wearing: Ooh. Instantly there’s a wonderful deep – almost animal – warmth that reminds me very much of The Lion. I suppose that might be amber. It’s sweet and lightly floral and gold gold gold.

and then...

ARGH! After drying down for just a few minutes it turns into nothing but flowers… powdery girly flowers. Stupid flowers. I think I’ll be sticking with Tum – sunset is much more my speed than dawn anyway.