empi girl

This starts out as a rich plummy, spicy, scent, with the carnation making it's appearance after a few minutes. It is the same spicy carnation as in Alice, and blends really well with the plum. It is a beautiful scent, and the plum/carnation stage lasts on me about 45 minutes, before changing into a spicy carnation/musk scent that is really nice. It is warm, fuzzy, soft around the edges with a solid core.

In the imp: deep chocolately scent Wet: Chocolate and sandalwood, I don't detect any vanilla at all, and don't think I get much myrrh either. Very nice and warm and fuzzy and yummy at this point, and I'm loving Velvet, and deciding I really do like dark chocolate scents... And then as it dries: no more deep cocoa, left with a very nice sandalwood, warm and soft. No vanilla. There might possibly be a little hint of myrrh here, but it isn't much. It's very pretty however. Sandalwood has a tendancy to take over on my skin, something I am just learning. I love the smell, so that isn't exactly a problem! But for this one, I really like the opening stage. I am going to try it again and see if it changes for me. Otherwise, I might swap it.

I wanted to love this, as I love red musk, and thought I liked saffron, but I think perhaps I like the idea of saffron instead of the reality of it. I get, in the very beginning, the red musk from Spellbound, but it is quickly covered up by the saffron, which is strong, and also perhaps some ginger (says spices...perhaps?). Ginger and I don't get along too well either. Definitly I don't get patchouli or cinnamon, as other reviewers did. The overall result on my skin is similar to when I've eaten Indian food, and then later the scent comes out of my pores. It is definitly the saffron doing it, and it is a note I will avoid in future. So, not a keeper, and a bit of a dissapointment.

Patron of the Aztec pantheon, he is the personification of light within darkness, warmth in the cold, and life in, and after, death. He is a creative and destructive God of Fire and Light, and is appeased only by sacrifice, trial, and the slaughter of his people's enemies. Copal, plumeria and sweet orange and the smoke of South American incense and crushed jungle blooms. This is very soft and sweet and light on me. There is a hint of orange and a hint of flower, and definite powderiness. No real incense. I thought originally it was like orange talc powder, but that isn't quite right. On me it smells like children's chewable aspirin. And that sounds like a bad thing, but it isn't. It's very nice, but too powdery for me.

Actually, for my first imp pack, I did the same thing, tried a variety to start to figure out what works. (I tried Lady MacBeth, Dublin, Dragon's Heart, Jezebel, Snake Oil, Baobhan Sith and Undertow. Got Hamadryad as a gimp). What I would recommend: Dublin-refreshing, clean, herby Spellbound-soft, beautiful red musk and rose Ulalume-light, clean, hint of flowers, hint of wood Florence-warm amber and hint of berry, Alice-spicy carnation, floral but not a bad one Bathsheba-plum and carnation, not too sweet Lightning-ozone, clean laundry hanging up to dry I've tried Hamadryad, and got the cinnamon red hots that a few others get. But that's also how I discovered I like cinnamon. Eidted to add, I second Tintagel! Good luck!

I really like Ulalume...Clean, aquatic, slightly sweet with hints of wood and flowers in the back. I felt like it captured exactly a calm pool surrounded by nature, on a partly cloudy day. Lovely.

I got my Mi-Go today, and opened it with excitement. I have been reading the reviews and hoping I would be blessed with the fruitiness, and avoid the dreaded jasmine. But no such luck. When on, the fruits make a valiant effort to appear, but the jasmine takes over and crushes them to nothing. And the jasmine is strong on me, heavy and perfumy, and smells slightly off (as if they are just past their prime). No more fruits, no pepper, perhaps a hint of ginger, but really, just the jasmine, which hates or loves me depending on your view (hates, I think). So I have finally learned my lesson: don't get anything with jasmine. And this one goes to the swap pile. I did really like the brain though!

I love Alice. It is wonderful, and when I ordered it, I only did so because it was so popular I had to see what all the hype was about. By the time it arrived, I was wary of it. It had rose, it had honey, it had milk, all of which are ingredients in perfumes that have gone bad on me. I anticipated smelling like rose soap! And instead, it is absolutely gorgeous! It starts with the honey, rose and bergamot. The bergamot makes it slightly medicinal, which quickly fades (say a few mintues), and leaves honey and rose with the beginning of a little carnation spiciness. I had no idea what carnation smelled like, and it has become a favorite! In 30 minutes, the carnation and the honey take over, with a hint of cream and it stays this sweet, spicy, slightly creamy fragrance for hours. A big bottle for sure.

Very nice crisp juicy scent. Like berries only richer and less sweet. Very clean and "clear" in tone. Not much alcohol on me at all, just the fruit. And it is beautiful, and long lasting and almost made me decide that I needed a berry-like scent. But even though I really like this one, I don't think it is for me.... I like my fruit balanced with other things, and to play a supporting role, not be the star.

I was excited to get this in a swap, it smelled great in the imp, and made the mistake of trying it on myself, instead of the SO. Leather. Strong strong fresh, slightly bitter and acrid leather. Not the warm scent of a used leather jacket, not the smell of a leather goods store. In fact, a smell that I just couldn't abide having on me, and tried to scrub off. 3 times. Argh! And now, since I tried it first, I just can't seem to even open it to get on my SO. I don't want to smell it again, even knowing it might be great on him. sigh... Undecided what to do...keep it and try it someday on SO, or swap it? Decisions decisions.

Alas, I had hopes for Kyoto, since I love the anise in Absinthe and in Kabuki. But in Kyoto, the anise screams on my skin. It eats the cherry blossom (which makes a brief appearance in the beginning), and must have intimidated the sandalwood, which is a no-show. I did not like this enough to leave it on, so can't speak to how it ages. I scrubbed it off after maybe 45 minutes. And then scrubbed again. And again. Very persistent and strong little bugger! Glad it works for other people, and I will stick with my lovely light Absinthe for anise.

Thanks to the lab for sending this along as an extra...I might never have tried it otherwise, and I LOVE it! Florence stays pretty consistent on me from start to finish, just stronger at the start for the first 15 minutes or so. The amber, berries and spices blend together, with only a hint of iris at the very beginning. Then it is a dead-tie between the amber, berries and spices, each contributing equally to create the most beautiful softly spicy, slightly sweet, powdery in the best way imagineable scent. And for those scared off by the word powder, I hate smelling like baby powder, and this is nothing like that. This powder would be like the body dusting powder of this scent, only incorporated into the oil itself. It is warm, a woman's perfume (not a girl's, not an older lady's), yet not perfumy or overbearing. If it were a woman, it would be a lovely Italian (painted by Raphael), serene, confident, beautiful and comfortable in any setting. And it stays for quite a few hours. A definite big bottle purchase.

I've been looking for one too! So far, the closest I've gotten is Hamadryad, which is pure cinnamon red hots. I've tried Chimera, which was nice, but not much cinnamon (but on my sister, Chimera was the gorgeous sweet cinnamon most people seem to get). I've also heard that Love Me is a sweet cinnamon-vanilla, so it might be worth a shot. Good luck!

In the imp: Yummy rich coconutty hazelnutty goodness! On: Strong Cocolut, hazel in the background, and hint of iris...for about 5 minutes. Then it quickly morphs into iris and hazelnut, no coconut. And at this point, the combination really does smell like violets (so glad others have mentioned this! I thought I was a little nuts!). It reminds me of violet pastilles. Anyway, the violet pastilles thing is nice, not bad, but not what I was expecting, either! I have a feeling this will be one for the swap pile.

In the bottle: Dark, dry soil...very rich, but not quite fresh On, wet: Very "dirt" like (which I like), with the most unusual hint of mint behind it. I not only just barely smell the mint at the end, I can feel the coolness of it too. I really like that, as it is unusual, unobtrusive, and helps reinforce the idea of cool earth. On, dry: no more minty coolness, lots of dirt, with a strong undercurrent of corn silk, the kind you get when you are shucking the leaves and pulling the silk from the kernals. Earthy, natural, but I don't really like the smell of corn silk that I get, even though I do like the dirt smell. It dissapeared completely on me after 45 minutes. In the end, I couldn't accept the corn silk stage, and I swapped it away.

I really thought I'd reviewed this already! Anyway, Dragon's Heart was very incensy, strong, spicy and musty. It had good staying power, and a little went a long way. It strongly reminded me of Global Village, a store we have here in the Twin Cities, with clothing, art, etc.. from all over the world, and which is always burning incense. It smells like that store, with the heavy musky stillness from no open windows in a warm space, and the incense seeped into the clothes. Not for me.

I tried Dragon's Milk because so many people love Dragon's Blood, but it hasn't worked for me in other blends. I thought maybe this would, with the vanilla. And it does, to a certain extent. I get a very thick, sweet, heavy lilac/cherry combination (closest thing I can think to call it) which is definitly the dragon's blood, and which turns my stomach a bit. But the vanilla softens it, adds richness and warmth and cuts the sweetness a little bit. Unfortunately not enough. I kind of like it, and kind of don't. I think I will have to try a DBR blend with non-sweet components, since the DBR is sweet enough already. I swapped this.

Huh, cinnamon, herbs, floral, water notes? They were in there? I'm jealous! What I got was dry woods, and I like woods, but still not what I was expecting. I waited, and it was remarkeably consistent. Dry wood, cedar, and perhaps a hint of earth (fitting). Not bad, but not what I wanted either. I swapped it away, and I hope they get all the notes I missed!

All the reviews sounded so nice, that when Chaste Moon didn't work for me, I swapped for this. I find it to be very "perfumey", in the nose-tingling way, which I believe is jasmine coming out to play with me. However, beneath that, I do get sweet fruit, and a soft richness. On my test q-tip, when dry, it smells absolutely beautiful-floral and fruity and sweet all at once. If it had done that on me, it would have been a keeper. But no, it has the jasmine... I swapped it away again, to a hopefully happier home.

Wet: light lemony sweetness with a soft musky powdery finish. Dry: Sweet, fuzzy, floral powder, no lemon. Overall, this is a very soft, sweet, pretty scent, but a little non-descript on me. I'd like a little more lemon, and for the lemon to last a little longer. Nice, but not a keeper.

I got Spellbound as a freebie in my last order, and was excited, since it was on my wishlist. On, wet: Very strong smell of rose, perhaps slightly medicinal, but this quickly goes away. For the first 30 minutes this is rose (but not rose soap, and not fresh rose, sort of the deepest part of the rose mixed with the green leaves) with a touch of sweetness from the musk. Perhaps some amber here. And then, 30 minutes - several hours later, it becomes a beautiful red musk with soft rose undertone. No soap, just beautiful juicy red musk and gentle rose. I don't really get the amber. I don't think it smells like a hippie shop (except possibly in the very beginning when the rose, musk and amber are all jostling for whose gonna take over), or soap. It is just beautiful, and I love it. I have other scents to wear, and I keep reaching for this because it makes me feel happy to smell so good.

I was really looking forward to this one, with high expectations of cinnamon and vanilla...Unfortunately for me, while it is a very pretty scent, it does not seem show any vanilla on me, and just the barest hint of cinnamon if I sniff closely and really try to find it... On me, this is mainly dragon's blood (a very sweet and slightly spicy floral), and it also reminds me of Sacred Whore... I debated the Sacred Whore, and I like this too, but I don't think I like either enough to keep... Will try once more to be sure...

I got an imp of this from chopchica (surprise! ), and I have to say, it is WONDERFUL! In the imp: Sweet Irish Coffee..so yummy... On: Very true to the imp (which isn't always the case, as eveyrone knows!). It stayed sweet, irish coffee, more coffee than cream, no wood, no dusty tomes. And it wafted! I had one swipe on my wrist, with a fleece over, and as I walked my dog I smelled it off and on for a mile. Delicious. Stayed very true for 2 hours, and has now mellowed into a slightly woody, slightly "tome-y" sweetness. More library, with someone drinking irish coffee nearby... Still very pleasant, but more earthy from the wood. This is a gorgeous scent...Before I tried it, I wasn't sure if I wanted to smell like Irish Coffee or not... I do! A big bottle for sure. Edit: Maybe not... yesterday, dried down to a lovely nutty vanilla (dh said it smelled like coconut, which he likes). But today, tried it out, very dusty Irish coffee. Must be the "dusty tomes". I prefer my coffee without... But still, it is amazing that Beth can get that scent! Will have to try it again for a final verdict.

I'm curious about the sex smell people are getting... I don't seem to get it at all, though what I do get is super! When wet, O is almost a dead ringer for Snake Oil, without the slightly bitter spice that Snake Oil has on me. O has warmth and spice, but not the bitterness. Dry, still like Snake Oil on me, but smoother and a little sweeter. I think of it as a beautiful rich golden color, it is warm, slightly spicy (amber?), and little powdery, sweet and lovely. Lasts forever. Unfortunately, I think my dh is allergic to it! But I'm hoping since it is allergy season, it is just a fluke.

Yummy, I just love Perversion! I get the tonka, and leather with a little tobacco most heavily, with a hint of rum in the background. It is smoky, and sultry, and sexy and smooth and just a beautiful blend. Warm, rich, heavier but not heavy, dusky but not dark.