veronicafranco

hee! today i won a wedding dress on ebay, which with some work - but truly not too much, or so i tell myself - i'm going to make into a princess giselle costume for halloween (from enchanted - yes, cheesy. sometimes cheese is brie. and will make my 4-year-old daughter's month if i dress up like that). i've been toying with the idea for a while and waiting to see if the right dress would come along. the bpal of choice? why, poisoned apple, natch!

aw, don't'cha just hate it when something you never would have tried turns out great? i mean, what a can of worms. (little graveyard humor there. rimshot.) those note-less descriptions are particularly sneaky that way. if you'd said amber and myrrh, i might have overcome my nerdy optimistic mommy churchgirly aversion to the whole ars moriendi category just to try it. on opening this, frimped to me by the lovely dpoulsen21, it started out cypressish, for want of a more sure everygreen name. as soon as i put it on, though, i laughed quietly to myself because it just smells good. there's definitely amber and myrrh, the dark green creepy stuff that's in poison apple (hemlock? opium? right?) and a faint cool floral that i reckon is tuberose. as others have said, it's not strong, so one to slather... and i think i might.

mmm. looking at the notes, i can see why i get a vibe in between that of bien loin d'ici and defututa from this one. like both of those, it's very intense when wet (jasmine + honeysuckle + apricot). unlike either of those, i think i'll wear this one. as it's drying, this amazes me with its sophistication. the ones that smell very layered are always interesting to me. here, i am getting the sweet-to-the-point-of-sharp honeysuckle, jasmine, and apricot; softer honey and fig in the middle, presumably the carnation is in there too; tonka and almond at the bottom, and to me they're a darker color (don't ask ) when it's really settled, which took over an hour, i get the nicest sweet wafts from this. with my nose right up to my arm, it still has a sharp edge, but the throw is delish. i am finding i really love carnation for that! in all - this is the first floral i've tried that really says SEXY to me, as well as one of the few supposed-to-be-sexy blends that i seem able to pull off.

to those that hate baby wipe smell... i only use unscented aloe ones on my kids, and they do work nicely. i will now also try the witch hazel pads i have ... don't need them normally.

Standard disclaimer – I have only been doing this crazy bpal thing since april, and while I do ok at identifying the individual notes in blends, I am definitely not as sophisticated as some of you. So you will have to take my best guesses with a grain of salt! also, i am neurotic enough to consider mine a his/hers set, and to name them. [Mods - my 2 reviews keep merging into one post, so please split if necessary.] CCXXXVIII 238 (Pompelmo giallo - per lui) in the bottle - astringent grapefruit (yellow). on, it quickly develops a lot of very rich tobacco, and a note that is probably bergamot/possibly vetiver. the drier it gets, the more tobacco-y and masculine it is (on me, of course), until the grapefruit is pretty well gone (maybe that was bergamot masquerading as grapefruit in the beginning, anyway?). in addition to the color of the grapefruit (pompelmo) i'm imagining, "giallo" also refers to mysteries, and this is one weird lil oil, so that's fitting. Guys/gals who like darker manly blends such as Iago and Incantation might like this one. (not that they smell the same, just that they're dark and unsweet and manly) CCXLIX 249 (Pompelmo rosa - per lei) in the bottle - peach. but on, i'm getting peach, sweet grapefruit (pink), orange, and a candy sweetness i'm pretty sure is lotus, but could possibly be a subtle banana note. it actually smells a lot like the body shop's fuzzy navel stuff, which i used to like (as bath products) in college. very happy and bubbly and girly. in addition to the grapefruit being pink, "rosa" also means feminine/girly, so again, fitting. This one is really quite pretty, I'm just not particularly a fruity girl.

huh. i actually like reading the book of revelation, but i don't remember the guy wearing a light attractive men's cologne, walking around eating a lemon DumDum. will have to check my concordance. (wish i got the other notes. i will be sneaking this lab frimp into my boy's box to see how it smells on him...)

hmm. chemistry is a wacky thing. on me, clemence (grindhouse) smells a lot like opium.... which i always liked, but wasn't sure i could pull off, and that's pretty much how i now feel about clemence! at least clemence is only $20 right now.

i get mostly orris/iris from this one. a little jasmine and a little moss (not that i could tell you which moss). definitely no dead clams. on me, this is iris-sweet and creamy, a touch green, like an expensive "all-natural" spa sort of body product (lotion or cream comes to mind, but i can see where people are getting soap). i like it but don't need a whole bottle...

i agree that the honey + white peach is very similar to what gives les bijoux that beautiful, bright sweetness. i hardly get any neroli, and not much patchouli either - just a hint. this is my first blend with ambergris (nice perfuminess here) or cocoa (which i'd thought might be offputting, but on me it's almost like a cocoa butter instead - not especially chocolatey, but rich and soft). overall, this smells a bit foody for me, especially in the beginning when the peach-honey is very strong. that said, foody lovers should be delighted with this one. it's really very pretty.

yep, i got it!

yup. a lot like morocco, as others have said. a nicer morocco in my opinion... but still, vanilla-carnation-musk is just not my thing.

oh, my, this is delicious on me. a bit like a less-friendly crabtree & evelyn nantucket briar. i get the clove, cardamom, and pepper. what sweetness there is, i suppose would be the carnation, which (happily) is clove-y to me anyway. not really getting much of the tea or patch - i guess it's all blended in, fine by me. it's so hard for me to find oils that are actually spicy on my skin, and this one is! should also make a superb layering scent.... edit - wearing again - not sure where my olfactory lobe was that first day, but o yes, there is tea and patchouli here. also, i wasn't sure i was going to need a bottle of this, but now i am getting that sneaking suspicion...

hmm. put me in the caramel-dipped celery salt camp. where's the sad-yet-relieved-i-don't-need-this-one-either icon?

hey all... an update in case anyone else is ever considering brisingamen for an interview. (i know, you guys said mag mell. but i am so soothed by that slight sweetness and those five, count 'em, delicious mellow ambers. and i needed some soothing here.) let's just say no interview committee will be able to resist your charms! i haven't posted until now because i didn't have the actual offer letter in hand, but basically by the time i left the big bad series of interviews, they had come right out and told me i was their first choice. btw, i used up the dregs of my imp that day, so you bet your apple blossoms i have a 5 ml on the way. (along with an imp of florence!)

yep, pumpkin cheesecake, all right. though i don't want to smell like one. i put this in the "cool that perfume can smell this way" category.

this was a frimp i thought i'd try. first - cherry, but it fades fast. for a few minutes i get to enjoy the clove, one of my favorite spice scents - and it doesn't instantly vanish into my skin like a lot of spicy oils seem to. the other notes make it a sweet, sort of smoky clove. once fully dry, though, it's pretty much just dragon's blood, which is not my fave. this is the best blend containing it that i've tried yet, however.

ooh. sexy. this is quite unisex on me, almost leather-smelling... and fortunately nothing that belongs in a toilet instead of a frimp! i will see what this one smells like on my boy. can't rule out wearing it myself if a majorly femme fatale mood ever strikes.

i agree that this is a more masculine blend and i won't be wearing it myself. the cedar puts it into that category for me. that said, this is very nice, an unusual combination with the dry warmth of the cedar and the bright, juicy citrus. and, of course, the amber, which i seem to love in every single blend containing it that i try! i think it will be great on my guy, once i convince him to dab some on. this is on my short list of faves for him to try.

NICE manly-clean scent. now to get it on the boy, who has a fine relationship with vetiver.

meh? this is just some sort of dark vanilla that i don't care for. maybe it will be great on the boy, for whom i bought this imp, but he is being standoffish and not eager to try his new smellies. i'm gonna go test my own frimps now.

i felt resplendently summery in Hay Moon for the 4th of july... what olfactory representation of fireworks, old glory, mom, baseball and/or apple pie did you guys go with? (actually was not an especially fun celebration for me, long dumb story, but darn, i did smell delicious.)

A stirring yet gentle perfume. The scent of love and devotion mingled with an undercurrent of heart-rending sorrow. A bouquet of white roses, labdanum, and wild orchid. this was a frimp. i hadn't ordered it before, because i'm turning out not to be much of a rose/orchid girl, but i do love mary magdalene, so was happy to give it a try. wow, this is extremely pretty. if sometime i'm in the mood for the rose or orchid family, i might just reach for this one. i consider it a sister scent to queen mab (rose/orchid/sandalwood) and skuld (ylang ylang/labdanum), but on me, this is nicer than either of those. all through my 20s i wore estee lauder's beautiful, and this is somehow akin to that, too (even though it's 2 flowers instead of "a thousand".) which movie magdalene is this for me? (does it ruin it if i say this? heh) definitely monica bellucci in the passion of the christ, with her utterly perfect face and soft, melodious voice.

wow, i have just never smelled anything else like this.* i love honey, amber, and cardamom, like lemon in moderation, and was intrigued to see what the hay absolute from ozymandias might smell like in a different blend. still, this was the one i almost didn't get. it smells very pale yellow-gold to me, almost ivory, with very little sweetness. as it's first drying i get pops of cardamom and lemon. other than that, the amber, hay, and - i assume - mallow make for a very mellow but striking scent. it's a bit expensive-soap-like after a while, but i think i'd like people to think this is what my soap or shampoo smells like...! i think i'll really want to wear it during the hot weather. and dangit, beth, stop with the making my afterthought/whim purchases and frimps smell better than the things i thought i was dying to have. way to enable the heck out of people. ADDED July 4: 1 - galleywest, you're a professional commedienne, right?! 2 - wearing hay moon for the third time today, and i just feel the need to add a note for the lab here. guys, please start to include it in the scent description when one of the notes is CRACK. i know some people experience sensitivity to this one and would appreciate knowing in advance. also, it's highly addictive!!!! i love me this here hay moon. *editing way later to say that yes, now that i've been initiated to the beauty that is yules... i agree with the poster downthread who says this is quite a lot like jacob's ladder... but with a bit of sharpness and brightness - almost a little sparkle - that jl doesn't have.

6 hours? gaahh! hope it goes well for you, ross! tuesday is going to be a big day in this thread, i guess... to the queries for me, here is what i have ave maria gratia plena, baghdad, bastet, bien loin d'ici, brisingamen, cairo, dana o'shee, endymion, gomorrah, hermia, les bijoux, o, mag mell, nefertiti, no. 93 engine, penitence, queen mab, silk road, skuld, tamora would consider for this - ave maria (pretty, classy, not that remarkable), mag mell (soft, citrusy, second-skin, sounds like vultureguy might pick this one for me) or nefertiti (more typical floral/perfumey). endymion and queen mab would probably also be appropriate but they're not as me...

dangit. if only i had florence. (one of my languages being italian!) to paraphrase shrek, it's on my wishlist!