hlinspjalda

In the vial: Definitely alcoholic. I can't decide if it reminds me most of gin or tequila, and there's a tiny smidgen of something grapey about it too. Wet: Still very alcoholic, with that sharp edge. I t reads a lot like the juniper note in some gins does, but it's more bitter and less evergreen, perhaps more like tequila after all. But it's sweetening even as I write, developing something that's almost woodsy spicy. Hour and a half: This has an odd offbeat note in it, something weird like maybe mastic. I get a dry gum or resin kind of an idea from it, or perhaps something like quinine. The impression of gin or tequila has vanished, and it no longer reads as specifically alcoholic. Three hours: Mostly over now, but there is still that dry gummy, resinous, or perhaps barky quality about it. I'm glad to have tried this one, but I also agree that it wasn't ready for prime time. Four and a half hours: Faint bitterish dryness. My overwhelming impression of this one is the old mixer my parents used to buy in the 1970s that tasted of quinine.

In the bottle: Woodsy and wintergreen. Wet: Even more woody, still wintergreen but slightly less overwhelmingly so. There is a wonderful herby floral involved, too; it almost reminds me of The Host of the Air. This has potential! One hour: Woodsy, herbal, but with a slight floral edge. There's a note in this that makes me want to huff it; I'm not sure what, but I think it's a musk. The impression of wintergreen is almost unnoticeable now. Two and a half hours: Woody and resinous now, it smells as if there is balsam or frankincense in it. I quite like it. Four and a half hours: Woodsy and resiny with a touch of musk. There's a bit of bitterness in it too, rather an enjoyable fillip. I like this better than I thought I would.

In the vial: Rich fruit with both depth and satisfying high notes. This smells really good to me. Wet: Still has that depth, but it's a great deal sharper and more perverse, suddenly. The greenness of the unripe mango comes out now, and there's some herb in the background that's possibly patchouli but not the usual way patchouli behaves on me. One hour: An appetizing but almost medicinal bitterness now, over something chirpy that's either the mango or the tea, I'm not sure. Still perverse. Whereas Tweedledee made me laugh because he was silly and frivolous, Tweedledum makes me laugh because he's pouty and grumpy. I should try layering them some time! Two hours: Ah, now the patchouli is in charge. I'm getting fruity patchouli, a combination I always like. There's still a slight bitterness to it, but it seems to be part of the patchouli now, and the chirpiness has turned more sedate. It will be interesting to see whether it keeps on changing, but I'm guessing this is its more or less final manifestation. Three hours: Yup, fruity pachouli, and less strong now. I like it, and I'm definitely going to try layering the twins together to see how they smell. Four hours: Gentle patchouli with a touch of fruit. Over sooner than I expected; often patchouli goes eight or more hours on me.

In the vial: Fruity sweet! Wet: Still very fruity. It's a similar impression that I get from Peitho, so I guess that's the lily. It is deliciously sweet and mouth-watering. 20 minutes: Most of the fruity impression is gone, and it's more or less straight stargazer lily on me. Three hours: This one died off pretty quickly, which is surprising since I usually have good luck with stargazer lily. It developed a sharp, almost bitter herbal note under a light, wilted-lily kind of impression, with some dry sandalwood.

In the vial: Floral first, I think maybe the mimosa; there's a touch of fruitiness, some patchouli, and a base that reminds me of Mme Moriarty. Wet: This is floral in a slightly bitter direction for my taste, more like mimosa than the night-blooming jasmine that works so well on me. But the rest of it is great, that signature blend of smoky dark fruity patchouli vanilla amber musk. In the dark I would be able to identify this as one of Beth's blends; it's almost archetypal. We shall see how I fare with this one. Hour and a half: I'm getitng the Snake Charmer version of this scent, although it went through a quiet period at about half an hour. But no, I get plum and smoke and jasmine and vanilla and patchouli and amber. I like this, but that edgy floral note at the beginning may keep me from falling head over heels with it. Three hours: Oh, this is so lovely, I think I may have to get a bottle of it after all. It is lighter than Snake Charmer, and a shade more floral on me. Four and a half hours: It's fallen off some and the throw is almost gone, but it's staying true to itself. I figured from the ingredient list that I would love this, and I do. I did wind up getting a bottle of it.

In the bottle: I can't put my finger on it, but this smells great to me. It is resiny, woody, with a green tang to it. If that's tobacco, it's very juicy and wet, not the dried or smoky type. I like this. Wet: Sweet and tangy; I get a very green leafy note, something sweet (opium?), and something woody. Half an hour: This smells good, balsamy spicy greenish wood. It smells sexy like a man. I'm not sure it's actually a boy scent, but I bet I'd love it on a boy. Hour and a half: Oh, cannot resist huffing this one. It smells warm, sweet, and rooty-woody. It's in the Doc Buzzard, Mole, Badger, Tombstone family, although a little lighter. It may eventually go a little too woody for my taste (rosewood is an iffy note), but it's yummy. Three hours: Yes, it's going a bit thin and woody, but I kind of expected that. The notes in it are still very good on me, though, and I like it.

In the vial: Musky patchouli with deep pine. This smells dark all right, dark and a bit sharp, very evocative of those types of movies for which it's named. Wet: Piney vetiver patchouli myrrh with a perversely sweet touch. I wonder if that's the vetiver signaling which way it's going to turn on me? Or maybe that's the black pepper note. Anyway, I quite like this one so far. Hour and a half: Delicious warm musk with some gentle black woody spicy notes. At one hour this was very fabulous, although it's quieter now. Three hours: There's some very charming note in this that I can't quite identify. It's definitely a musk-first scent on me, but it's very well tempered with the other dark notes. It doesn't smell sharp or scary now, it smells somehow comforting, warm and familiar and well-loved like a vintage black silk velvet dress that stays in the back of the closet because there's never any occasion quite right for you to wear it, but you can't bear to ever think of parting with it. It's almost, but not quite sweet. Four and a half hours: Not much change. Musk stays true on me for many, many hours, so I expect this one will do the same.

In the bottle: Milky, with flowering herbs. Wet: Herbal floral, rather sweet. Where did that odd milky note go? This has just a touch of roasted dairy about it, like ghee or kheer or one of the Indian milk sweets based on slow-cooked milk. This is so weird, but it could just work! One hour: Yep, definitely an Indian roasted milk product. This smells like an Indian milk sweet flavored with a less sweet than usual floral. It works on me, and I think it smells nice, but I'm not sure I ever want to smell like an Indian sweet. My husband is already confused enough by all the unusual scents, I'm trying to keep foody out of the equation! Two hours: Still very true to the roasted milk scent. It also reminds me a bit of fried cheese, i.e., the kind of cheese that is hard enough to cook on a griddle and gets lovely and crusty and brown. Very foody, in a quite pleasant way, but definitely not a perfume I need to keep. Six hours: Very consistently roasted milk, sweetish, quite pleasant. Nevertheless, not my style. I bet someone I know will adore it, though.

In the bottle: Ozone and a very herbal fougere. Wet: More ozone than fougere now. But it reminds me of an aquatic too, maybe something in the Lovecraft line. It is dark, herbal, and deep, but wet. Definitely wet. One hour: How can this be so aquatic on me? But it still smells Lovecraftian, aquatic and herbal. It is not as green as before, though, dryer and more blue, ozone-ish. Two hours: I like this more now. It is still aquatic-ozone and herbal, but not in a headachy way. Six hours: Gentle aquatic. This one never did live up to the promise it had on me when still wet, which is too bad for me because I thought it was delightful.

In the bottle: Hmmm. Floral with an anise note, maybe? Wet: Definitely something anise, maybe absinthe? And herbal, possibly lavender. One hour: Stronger herbal now, but still with that anise overtone. It has gone sort of powdery too, the powdery of amber rather than honey. There seems to be a touch of musk in what I'm getting, too. It smells very old-fashioned to me, but I couldn't say why. Two hours: Much more together now, a powdery amber-based scent with musk and something herbal. It is sweet, too, and maybe that's a bit of violet I'm getting? Not sure. I quite like it, but it's very old-fashioned on me and still reminds me a bit too much of Victorian matriarchs. Six hours: This blossomed over the day, turning into a very nice amber-floral that worked well on me, with a fair amount of throw. Of the four Convergence scents from this year, I wound up liking it best.

In the bottle: Aquatic, ozone, and herbal. Of this year's four Convergence scents, I like this one best in the bottle. Wet: Herbal and with a floral note that's almost honey-sweet. It is airier than I tend to like, but it's very pleasant, stimulating as well as reassuring. One hour: There is a delicious green herbal note in this that I really like. It smells sappy and sharp, like something green in the full sun. It's a little reminiscent of Queen Anne's Lace, with that slightly bitter but very green bite only more floral. I like this very much and may have to keep it. Two hours: Alas, somewhat diminished in intensity now although still true to that one herbal note that I like so much. I have not decided yet whether I should keep it. Six hours: The herbal note I like so much stayed true but fell off considerably over the course of the day.

In the vial: Something sweet and rich, then magnolia, then wood. Smells nice. Wet: The herbiness of hyssop reads a lot like celery; the overall impression is fruity-sweet over wood. I like it, it's interesting. Twenty minutes: This is as pleasant as I remember from when I tested it at the meet ‘n sniff. It's a little out of character for me, being so very woody, but it's also fruity and spicy and herby and even a bit floral. Three and a half hours: Mostly wood now with just a touch of magnolia and something sweet. But it's not dry, or tannic, or dusty, just pleasant. Six and a half hours: The complexity, sweetness, and fruit have gone away now. Nothing left but gentle woody notes over a gentle musky base. I'll keep this one, at least for a while.

In the vial: Strongly aquatic, juniper, lavender. Wet: Lavender and juniper, mostly; that aquatic note is overwhelmed. Half an hour: Much more pleasant now. I'd call this a floral with strong herbal background. That aquatic note is out of its depth; mostly I notice the sweet pea and juniper, with lavender and a nice warm base. Three and a half hours: Gently understated floral with a hint of aquatic, resin, and herb. Much prettier than I expected; usually aquatics ruin a scent for me. Six and a half hours: Mostly gone, just a bit of lavender/juniper herbiness and a dash of aquatic. Much nicer experience than I anticipated.

A dusky, yet effervescent mix of pomegranate and black currant candies, with a dusting of sugared pear and white apple. In the vial: Sugar, apple, something tart. But mostly sugar. Wet: Definitely sugary fruit, but high quality sugared dried fruit rather than Hallowe'en candy. Twenty minutes: It's gone flatter now, like fruit paste rather than sugared dried fruit. More dark, too, maybe that's actually the currant. Three and a half hours: Still red fruit paste. Pleasant, better than I expected actually given how little I work with sugar notes, but I don't need to keep it. Six and a half hours: Sugar note has gone, now it's mostly pomegranate. That's very pleasant, it smells like dried pomegranate juice on my skin. But I still think I'll trade this one.

In the bottle: Metal, honeysuckle, verbena, and spicy carnation. This smells lively and heartening. Wet: There's a triumvirate going of metal, honeysuckle, and verbena. Wonder how this will develop? Twenty minutes: Musk, verbena, and at least one floral are all stronger than the metal now. That's good, because I bought this despite the metal, not on account of it! I still think it needs to develop some more. One hour: The first thing I notice is the metal and verbena. But subsequent sniffs highlight the carnation and honeysuckle. This is a little more ethereal than I expected, but interesting. Two hours: Pretty much as before. The metal note reads as almost aquatic, or as gently aquatic, I'm not sure which. This is much more gently ethereal than I expected, without being either sweet or spicy. Three hours: More gentle aquatic (over a very faint musky base) than anything else. I shall have to investigate that metal note some more; it's intriguing if it can turn honeysuckle into nothing on my chemistry. I still get hints of the carnation and verbena that remind me of many Lab blends, but this hasn't turned out to be one of the few blends where the carnation really works for me. Five hours: Barely there, mostly that aquatic-metal note, now quite soft. This one appears to be a fail on me despite my affinity for honeysuckle.

In the vial: Dark cherry, fruity, a little dirt, and something with a snap. Wet: Cherry-musk. This one needs to develop, there are lots of enticing notes in it. Twenty minutes: Dirt, cherries, resin, and something else (floral?). I don't think it's finished developing yet. But so far it's rich, earthy, strong; I like it. One hour: Many of the edges have been knocked off this scent now. That lovely distinctive dirt note has mellowed a lot, and the fruits have ramped down. Mostly it's a very pleasant, warm, woody, earthy blend with no major notes obtruding. I think I'm even beginning to notice the plum and jasmine. I like this and hope it stays this pleasant. Two hours: Suddenly this seems very gentle. I can barely make it out, and all the notes are very smoothly blended. What happened? Three hours: It's amazing how light this scent has gone on me, and with all those notes that really work on me too! Five hours: Almost imperceptible. That's amazing. Six hours: A single note still there. Not fruit, not floral, but something familiar. Maybe opoponax? It's a little bitter. I bought a bottle of this unsniffed, sure it would be terrific on me. My decant proved otherwise, sadly. Someone else will have to love that bottle.

In the vial: Musk plus something warmly sweet (sarsaparilla?), a floral (hyacinth, I think), and some tingling spice. Wet: So far, I love this one. It's sweet-spicy with a nose-twitching aftershock. Twenty minutes: This smells like a lot of things it isn't: lemon, carnation, fruit. But it's delicious, and if it stays like this I'll definitely have to seek out a bottle. This is the one phoenix I wanted most to love but figured I couldn't possibly based on the notes. But here I am loving it anyway! One hour: Wow, I love this. The impression of lemon and carnation has died back some, but there's still a sort of citrusy tartness about it, and a spicy note that might be the hyacinth. Mostly, though, it's hot sweet warmth over musk. I need more of this. Two and a half hours: I like this so much I think I'm going to make a concerted effort to trade for a couple of bottles of it. Red musk always works well on me, but this particular blend is so restrained compared to some (e.g., Glasya)! And the sweetly spicy top notes are just charming. Four hours: Oh, yeah. NEED! I recently wore this on a two-week camping trip. Somehow it was the perfect choice, even though the last thing I expected was to want to wear a fire scent while cooking over campfires during the dog days of summer. Top ten; I may need more backup bottles!

In the vial: Exquisite! Carnation and rose, with a touch of cedar. Wet: Carnation plus cedar make a warm, spicy feeling. I get the rose, too, but mostly it's spicy carnation, like really aromatic pinks. Half an hour: It's matured now. There's a warm base of musk, a lot of woody spicy notes above it, and the carnation rides on top. I can barely make out any rose or fruit impression save that it is a touch sweet. So far, Ysabel loves me although she is not quite as floral as I expected. Hour and a half: And still love. The clove and incense have developed. Together with the cedar, they give an even more spicy note to the carnation. The effect of the musk has diminished some, and the pomegranate is just a tiny hint of something tangy and red. On me, this is a fabulously spicy carnation, not at all the rose scent I was expecting. Four hours: This has just been fabulous on me. It's somewhat more floral now, but still predominantly a spicy one. I anticipated this would be a lot like the Unity Red Rose, and it has been, except that until the last hour or so there's not really been any identifiable rose. I'm very happy with what it turned out to be, though. Six hours: And still going. Never soured, flattened, or went pear-shaped on me. Ysabel rocks!

Repeated sniffs in the bottle made this seen rather dry and sharp. When I opened it in the steamy bathroom, though, I smelled delicious spicy carnation. On my skin this became sharp resin again. The carnation element went away, as it so often does on my skin. The overall scent is moderately strong and seems very tenacious, reading rather like the smoky incense element of the Ysabel perfume. It has a touch more balsam and less frankincense, though.

It starts tart and fruity. Ten minutes later, though, a warm sexy honey note is in the lead. It lasted through the night, too; I could still smell it the next morning. My daughter thinks this works really well on me. Although it is not my favorite Queen in the bottle, it works on my skin better than most of them.

Exquisite in the bottle and as it goes on: cheerful, beautiful, elegant. Loses some of its brightness after 10 minutes, leaving behind a well-blended floral in which I can discern each of the florals, but none obtrusively. It is flat and soft on bottom, too, like orchid; I'm guessing that's the lotus root, or maybe a rose note. This one is a near miss on me.

In the vial: Vetiver, teak, and a sliver of tangerine. Wet: Vetiver, licorice, tannin, and a touch of citrus rind. This needs to blend. Half an hour: The vetiver, teak, and licorice are combining to make this a very strong, dark, tannic sort of experience. I was hoping for the citrus-amber-cinnamon vibe, so it's not working out as I hoped. I'll give it some more time to mature. One hour: Mostly vetiver, teak, and licorice, as before. I don't think this is going to go where I want it to. Three hours: Not much change, and it's simply not for me. I think I know someone this might work on very well, though. Five and a half hours: More teak and licorice than anything else now.

In the vial: It's like a small quantity of intense floral: I get the intense floral, but it seems very diluted by something I can't make out. Wet: Very subtle, just a touch of brownish-white grassy floral. Half an hour: I get the skin musk now; it reminds me of Schlafende Baigneuse and especially Judith and Holofernes, only extremely subtle on the floral. One hour: Oh, it's much nicer now. There is just enough grassy floral in this to offset the musk; it's beautifully balanced and subtle. Three hours: Wow, this one really turned pretty. It reads quite a lot more floral now, but still very light. I'm very impressed! Five and a half hours: Gee, this still smells very nice. I'm so glad I took the plunge and got a decant of this one! I wound up getting more of this.

In the vial: Greenish-floral, very light and refreshing. Wet: Very green, almost minty, but with a strong herbal impression and something citrusy. I like this quite a lot! Half an hour: Less sweet now, more sagey, and the resin is coming out. I may be getting a hint of the wasabi, or it could be green cedar; I don't know. It's not as verdant as before, but is settling down for a long and hopefully pleasant stay. One hour: Definitely a myrrh-frankincense scent on me now, but pleasant in that it's herbal rather than floral or fruity. I won't need a bottle after all, though. Three hours: A very pleasant, light, warm resinous scent with touches of light herb. Five and a half hours: Still quite a pleasant resin-herb scent.

In the vial: Resin and smoke. Wet: Smoke over bay rum. Yum! One hour: Much more resinous than before, with bay rum. Not much smoke any more, and the rose hasn't put in an appearance yet. But this is spicy in that bay rum kind of way, over frankincense with just a drop of bitter myrrh. Understated, but I like it. Two hours: Still understated, mostly bay rum. I am surprised by how light this is. Will probably retest before giving this one up. But if this is its natural state on me, I'll be wanting to trade it. Three hours: Very subdued indeed, lightly sweet bay rum. Four hours: Amazingly light.