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HappyLoveJoy

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Everything posted by HappyLoveJoy

  1. HappyLoveJoy

    El Dia de los Reyes

    I first smell rich, fudgy brownie batter and then something that smells like Mounds coconut candy bars mixed in. (huh?) The cinnamon is very faint and not like red hots but more like a sprinkling of the powdered spice. The coffee smells sort of stinkbug-y until it's been on for a little while and then it reminds me of that sweet gooey ring of coffee with cream and sugar that dries in the bottom of the cup.
  2. HappyLoveJoy

    La Befana

    Mmmmmmm!!! This smells like straight up violet Sugar Skull! I'm not getting any charcoal, lilies or cypress that I can tell. Just a rich, sweet violet with a caramelized sugar and fruity candy vibe. I can't stop snifing my wrist!
  3. HappyLoveJoy

    Ivanushka

    First of all I love this. When I read the reviews before I got my bottle, I was afraid of the pickle note. Now that I have my bottle I do indeed smell pickles---not sour dill pickles but sweet and tangy bread & butter pickles with a fruity quality (olive fruit/leaf?). The good news is that it goes away almost immediately once it's on the skin. Whatever it is that's pickle-y needs to be there or this may smell different and it's perfect just the way it is. I thought I'd have a hard time smelling the fur but I can smell it very well and it reminds me of my little gray dwarf bunny I had years ago. This is the smell of fur and skin that holds life within it. It's warm and sweet, fresh and green, powdery yet juicy like succulent grasses. This dries down to a really beautiful crystalline musk that's sweet and powdery with a suede/leather scent mixed in. I will need another bottle for certain. A+
  4. HappyLoveJoy

    Kubla Khan

    This is like a symphony on the skin! All the notes create an everchanging melody of scents and they are all so beautiful. Initially there is a blast that is reminiscent of Chaste Moon and it's sweet floral caramel but it doesn't last once it's on the skin. A soapy quality does take over for a little while and I think that's the ginger and balsam combined with the jasmine. Remember tasting soap as a kid? The soapy note is like that. Not necessarily the way soap smells but the way it tastes and smells. When the soapy note disappears, I then get a smoky, sweet opium that is rich with deep florals. Kubla Khan and Khajuraho could be very close relatives (I know they have champaca in common---maybe even something else). They both have the same serum-like sweetness and sophisticated full dark body that softens so perfectly as it dries down. The vanilla becomes strongest at the end when it's soft, sweet, creamy and laced with the opium smoke and florals. I knew right away that I needed a bottle and thanks to a swap with TrinitySydney I have one on the way! I'll definitely be ordering a second bottle as this is now in my top 5. Bravo, Beth, this is a masterpiece!
  5. HappyLoveJoy

    Hungry Ghost Moon 2006

    Thank goodness I didn't swap this beauty out! Initially I only got crushed green citrus leaves and sugar out of it but it has since mellowed into a juicy-crisp, tart and sweet scent that's perfect for hot weather. I don't smell the traditional bitter grapefruit but more of a blend of grapefruit, lemon and orange that has been mixed with lots of sugar and reduced to a delectable clear citrus syrup. I'm thinking it's the aloe that gives the greeness I first detected and it's still there but not in the forefront. The vanilla, sandalwood and musk create a warmth at the end that is tinged with the memories of the juicy fruit and ginger. If sunshine had a scent it would be Hungry Ghost Moon.
  6. HappyLoveJoy

    Chintamani-Dhupa

    I almost gave up on this right away because I got the overly sweet clean note that was in Enraged Bunny Musk. Luckily it vanished almost immediately and left me with a beautiful sweet woody incense of pure white smoke. There's something a tad lemony in there but it's very far in the background because I can't say it smells lemony. Maybe it's some other fruity note. I get no pine whatsoever but something more like cedar. This is beautifully blended and I'm so glad I was able to get a bottle in a swap.
  7. HappyLoveJoy

    Pink Moon 2007

    Pink Moon '07 is very pretty indeed! It's like the carnation in Carnivale' blended with the sweet, gooey vanilla of Antique Lace. I can't say I smell the phlox that much if at all because the carnation's spicy personality dominates. It's a soft, sweet and rounded floral with no sharp piercing fruitiness of the original Pink Moon. It's positively sugary and yummy---and pink!
  8. HappyLoveJoy

    The Knave of Hearts

    This smells purely like cake and roses on me. So much so that I'd forgotten there was black currant in there. It has amazing throw and it changes constantly until I'm left with what smells like Sugar Skull with roses. A pretty rose with a sweet and syrupy quality. I'll hold onto the imp because I think a bottle would last me forever since a little goes such a long way.
  9. HappyLoveJoy

    Brown Jenkin

    Brown Jenkins is a gorgeous sandalwood/incense scent. It reminds me a bit of Chintamani-Dhupa's smoky-sweet softness but it's more like Velvet's sandalwood note minus the cocoa. It's like a vanilla Velvet. I don't get coconut but I do get the dry sweet woodiness and yummy musk. Very very pretty for sounding like a masculine scent.
  10. HappyLoveJoy

    Bien Loin D'Ici

    This doesn't smell the least bit good on me and it sounded like it should have. It smells like I've taken some cheap overly-sweet men's cologne and poured it into a toilet bowl that has some old urine in it. That's how badly my chemistry twists these beautiful notes and it never got pretty even hours later. Must be the unguents. This oil is verrrry potent and far-reaching.
  11. HappyLoveJoy

    The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed With the Sun

    The Great Red Dragon is great from start to finish on me. It's foody at first like some kind of buttery pound cake that is soaked in a syrup of sugar, floral perfume and mild ginger-spiced rum. I can't smell dragon's blood by itself in it but I think it lends the warm/woody/spicy quality. The drydown is soft powdery floral that reminds me a tad of Lush's Silky Underwear powder. The funny thing is that I'm struggling with whether it's foody or not. I want to say it isn't but there's something dessert-y here like the way Tiramisu has that creamy-sweet yet dark and robust quality. It's a gorgeous complex floral that fuddles the senses in a good way. I'd better get another bottle before it's gone!
  12. HappyLoveJoy

    Abhisarika

    Abisharika goes on smelling too floral and somewhat like Baby Magic lotion (which I really don't care for) but pretty soon after that it smells like beautiful yellow roses. I say yellow because it's a sunny, sort of buttery sweet rose. The orchid and rose play nicely together and when they step aside, the creamy kashmir musk scent comes out and what I'm left with is a sheer, sweet, powdery musk with a creamy floral edge. It's a warm, sweet floral that's fresh and clean but not overly so. I'm contemplating getting another bottle. (Reminiscent of Tiger Lily.)
  13. HappyLoveJoy

    Tweedledee

    This is going to sound completely crazy, based on the reviews i've read so far, but Tweedledee smells nearly identical to Lush's Blackberry Bomb scent on me! I love it, love it, love it! Granted it doesn't start out that way (more like a sweeter grapefruity Danube) but it doesn't take long to make the transition from a bright sunny citrus scent to a tartsweet deep purple scent. I'll have to use up this imp and make sure I'm not smellucinating.
  14. HappyLoveJoy

    Leanan Sidhe

    Smells like Wind Song cologne. Florally basic and generic. Not awful, but underwhelming.
  15. you want something with a hint of orange in to be like SDM - not sure what that would be. bliss is more like cadbury's dairy milk, velvet is drier with the sandalwood & all I can remember about gluttony was that I had to get rid of it as quickly as possible... maybe bliss layered with an orangey something would be good. Have you tried Ravenous? I think it smells so close to Sonic Death Monkey or at least so much that it's highly complimentary. It's probably been mentioned but the closest thing to Potion, on me, is Carnivale.
  16. HappyLoveJoy

    Chimera

    WOW!!! Okay, right off the bat I have to say that this smells like Snake Charmer Lite on me, and I love it! They are so different in their genetic make up but there's a common rich, sweet, spicy and creamy-smooth end result. Chimera is spicy cinnamon but more like the way that powdered cinnamon smells---the softness of it. Then I get a short transition of Snake Oil blended with O and Dana O'Shee and I can pick out different components. Next is the Snake Charmer Lite phase and that's where it all comes together as one---not too sweet, very sexy vanilla with a warm, golden honey glow.
  17. HappyLoveJoy

    Lump of Coal

    Coincidently I got hologhosts Lump of Coal in a swap. Thank you! In the bottle it smells like chocolate with a touch of something liquory like rum. Immediately on my skin it's like chocolate with a slight vinegar note. Not sharp and acrid vinegar, but just something sour. Luckily that note doesn't stick around long and I start to smell that classic Tootsie Roll chocolate flavor-scent. I never did get the brownie aspect of it but the best part of this oil comes even later when I get these wafts of what I first thought was cocoa powder with confectioner's sugar and vanilla sugar sprinkled in but then realized that in the drydown this smells just like dry chocolate cake mix. It's like when you dump it in the bowl and the cake mix dust makes this chocolate cloud you just can't help but breathe in. It even reminds me a little of sweet chocolate milk with some vanilla. I'm going to keep this one and also try it with layering. (Lump of Coal + Beaver Moon = Chocolate Cheesecake? ) ETA: I layered it with Beaver Moon and found that Beaver Moon dominated. It was like a very pale milk chocolate with cinnamon at first and then a deeply creamy vanilla afterward. S'gooood...
  18. HappyLoveJoy

    Black Opal

    It's true! Very much like American Cream's deep rich vanilla. But wait! That's not all. To my nose and on my skin it's a hybrid of American Cream and whatever floral notes are in Lush's discontinued Tiptoe through the Tulips soap. These vanilla and floral notes are enrobed in a sheer blanket of soft powdery sweetness much like the gorgeous Morocco. I see a bottle in my future. ETA: I now have a bottle and after slathering it on, I can smell that wet rock scent. It's not unpleasant and it doesn't last long. It reminds me of what a porous rock would smell like after a good, clean rain on a hot day.
  19. HappyLoveJoy

    Beaver Moon 2005

    I was a little apprehensive at first because even though it smells utterly drinkable in the bottle, it smelled cheesy on my skin. I don't get the tangy note of cream cheese but the saltiness of mild fresco cheese. My fears were quickly laid to rest when all of a sudden I smelled cinnamon and sweet graham crust. I think I smell a little of a flour note which really gives this a baked goods feel. Then there's a wonderful explosion of vanilla buttercream cupcakes and birthday cake with confetti sprinkles all over it. Now I'm going to put my twisted mental picture out there: It's like a vanilla cake volcano that at first emits the scent of mild, white cheese and then a light dusting of cinnamon ashes followed by a glorious eruption of warm vanilla buttercream lava. It's throw is as impressive and as time passes it just gets more and more voluptous and rich like fondant or nougat. I'm keeping it!
  20. HappyLoveJoy

    Snow Bunny

    Mmmmmm!! Yep! Snow Bunny is very much like Skadi's fraternal twin without the berries and with the sheer, watery mint of Ice Queen. Sniffing both bottles I get more pine from Snow Bunny than I do with Skadi (if any at all). This is bright and crisp and reminds me of what a very cold and icy gin martini with a sprig of pine, a twist of fresh ginger and crushed peppermint leaves would smell like. I'm not saying there's any alcoholic note in there but I can't help picturing Snow Bunny drinking something like this while warming up in front of a blazing fire after hitting the slopes all day. There is somewhat of a soapy/gingery perfume background and it really gives this a nice brisk slushiness. I like this better than Skadi for it's ability to morph more on my skin. A very cheerful and playful scent.
  21. HappyLoveJoy

    Freak Show

    This smells like a spicy vanilla cola with what reminds me of cherry but I know is pomegranate. The fig lends more of a dark scent than a fruity one and might be what it is that makes me smell cola/dr. Pepper. It's nice but it's so mild on my skin.
  22. HappyLoveJoy

    Eden

    ... This oil contains the innocence of the Garden, coupled with the Truth and Erudition found in the fruit of the Tree of Evil: fig leaf, fig fruit, honeyed almond milk, toasted coconut and sandalwood. Eden goes on so very green and tangy. The closest thing ever to crushing fresh green (fig?) leaves in your hand. It makes my mouth water to smell it at first. The green note is always present but not predominant. The honeyed almond milk isn't what I'd call sweet but definitely fresh, much like the coconut. It takes a little while for the sandalwood to peek through but when it does, it ties everything together beautifully and lends it's softness. I wore this while exploring the woods and mountains in Oregon and when I'd catch a whiff of it I'd get this feeling like I belonged there. Almost as if the trees thought I was one of them. It's just so beautiful and sparkling yet soft and gentle. Eden's fig note isn't deep and dark like Intrigue, Gomorrah or Nemesis but more true to it's natural form. Love it, love it, love it!
  23. HappyLoveJoy

    Blood Moon 2005

    I am so on the fence about this one. I don't dislike it but I also don't feel like I can sincerely say I love it. When I first put this on I smell something nutty like almonds in the form of marzipan. Is that orange I'm smelling in there, too? Well, based on the notes listed, it sounded like a winner for me but something in it is keeping me at bay and I think it's the grain. There's a dry sort of haystraw scent, which isn't unappealing but just out of place. After an hour it turns really powdery the way Juke Joint did on me, but with a touch of cinnamon or ginger dust. Whatever that strange note is, it leaves me unsettled. *sigh*
  24. HappyLoveJoy

    Devil's Night

    In the bottle Devil's Night is reminiscent of Samhain but on the skin it's very different. There's a fruity note that smells like a cross between apple, orange, fresh ginger and oddly enough I get the slightest hint of bubblegum a la Jailbait, but ever so slight. The smoke is wispy and not overpowering like wood smoke but more like the essence of burning leaves that are mostly dry with something fresh too, like cool night air. As for booziness, it must just be enough to make this blend the beauty it is because I can't pick it out individually. And there's also something clean like that outdoor fresh laundry scent, but it's buried deep. Overall a gorgeous smoky, fruity and sweet skin scent with the musk standing out for me the longer I wear it. I should add that something about this reminds me of Eden only it's darker and sweeter. I'm so happy that I'll be able to order more before it disappears. My perfect Autumn scent. ETA: I'm getting something like the sweet tobacco and coconut of Elgeba, too. This oil just explodes and unfolds amazingly!
  25. HappyLoveJoy

    Satyr

    Yep. What Trin said. The only thing I'll add to this is that my horse was chewing bubblegum, too. There is a fruity candy note underneath it all but it's just not strong enough to overpower that evil civet, which comes across as horse manure in this blend. It's dark and far from pretty.
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