k00kaburra

In bottle: Spicy in a warm, fresh-baked cookies way. Cinnamon and milky vanilla. Or...as I resniff and skim other reviews, I can almost detect carnations and honey, instead. Perhaps all of these notes blended together, somehow? On me: Hmmm, this is going a bit floral. Definitely we've got some carnations growing here.The milkiness remains too, as well as something golden which I guess is the amber. Very pretty, but also this is a very light, faint fragrance.

In bottle: Bergamot and lavender. On me: My skin just drinks this up! It's gone. Reapplied - it's a very manly cologne. In a way, it's too commercial; it doesn't smell different enough to me to justify purchasing it. Then there's this annoing disappearing factor; my skin isn't holding the scent long enough for me to even attempt to figure the oil out. There's definitely bergamot, and I think I get hints of tonka bean, but the jasmine is invisible and on my skin, that's most unusual.

In bottle: Very musky and sweet syrupy honey. There's a fruity, almost berry-like note here, but I suppose that may be labdanum, which I am unfamiliar with. On me: Ylang ylang's rather muted in this blend, but the honey's quite strong. Very pretty. It's like a very heavily floral bottle of honey, but without the stickiness. This dries into a very light, subtle fragrance that turns heads. A customer at work asked, "What is that awesome smell?" but she just couldn't figure out what it was.

In bottle: There used to be a western lifestyles store in downtown Campbell that my boyfriend doted on. It closed down a few months ago, but this scent immediately takes me back to it. The scent of all the leathers in that store as you stepped inside immediately surrounded you, and smell just like the liquid in this bottle. On me: This is wild leather, mmm. What I mean is, this is the leather miniskirt stomping down the runway and this is not a leather Gucci purse. This is leather that was made to do some tough labor; this is leather for cowboy boots and saddles. Cowboys wear this, all right. There's almost a layer of dust here, and the green scent of stomped grass clinging to the edges. One damn sexy scent!

In bottle: A very strong baked-pumpkin smell. There's a strained, almost green note, but it's immediately dominated by spices and the actual pumpkin. On me: There it is again, that greenish note. It's an elusive fruity note - perhaps the peach? It adds a very distinctive fresh flavor to an otherwise almost pure pumpkin pudding. I'm not quite sure this is jack o'lanterns on an autumn night, but it certainly is a definitive pumpkin scent. As the scent dries and the pumpkin and the peach blend together better, the jack o'lantern or at least a pre-baked pumpkin scent are much more fitting to the description.

In bottle: Crystalline. D'Anjou pear and plumeria blossoms. This is a very bright fragrance, light but sparkling. On me: On the skin, plumeria erupts into prominance. The champagne gives the notes a bubbly feeling, although the bubbles aren't nearly as potent as Bon Vivant. This is a very 'cute' fragrance; it is the sort of thing I expect a giggling little girl to wear, vs. a sexy woman in a low-cut red dress. Very happy and a bit innocent. Definitely the personification (scentification?) of Good Cheer.

In bottle: Very creamy. It isn't as buttery as Milk Moon, but the cream's quite thick and heavy regardless. There's a definite hint that there is more in the blend, but it's so well created you cannot detect the individual notes. On me: The sharpness of the 'traditional lunar oils' is a beautiful contrast to the rich cream. The slightly spices liven up what would otherwise be a very gentle, almost invisible blend. I am a big fan of the lunar blends, and this is one of the best yet.

In bottle: Tulip, violet, dewdrop, daisies...this is a beautiful spring bouquet. All the loveliest flowers in the world gathered together to be celebrated. There's the green hint of leaves that makes me think of the hills surrounding Santa Clara Valley...in the spring they're bright green from far away, and when you get close up the hills are dotted with thousands of little flowers. This is absolutely gorgeous. On me: Beautiful - nearly perfect - spring floral. Fallow_deer's description of 'succulent, bulby sweet floral notes with a greenish spike' is dead on.

... Milk Moon is Flower Moon's warmer, gentler cousin; it is a scent that emulates the closeness of child and mother. In it, cream and warm honey soften our traditional blend of lunar oils. In bottle: Very rich and creamy - almost like a cheesecake, but without the graham cracker crust. It's jam-packed with butter and milk and sweet honey. On me: The mint other people mention appears on the skin. It doesn't really remind me of Spooky, though - Spooky's got a delicious mint macaroon flavor, while this is more of a light cream fragrance. The scent is very subtle, and is a good scent for 'naked skin.' Exciting it isn't; comforting it is.

In bottle: Powdery fruit. Apricot and plum, roses and musk, orchid and definitely something almost woodlike - the roots? On me: This definitely isn't a juicy fragrance, although the fruit is quite prominant. The apricot and pomegranate are beautiful, and the way the musks and roses blend in - just fabulous. I'm waiting for the apricot to die down a bit, so that I can actually get a clear read on the other notes. Loving this so far. A gentle spice remains after the initial fruity burst fades. The fruit is still there, it just has been joined. Very mellow.

In bottle: Cedar; I recognize it instantly because it doesn't get along with my skin at all. I am hoping the lotus will brighten this, and that the spices will diffuse whatever causes cedar to twist into a horrible shrieking note on my skin. On me: It reminds me of a Buddist temple I visited several years ago. I believe the incense they burnt contained many of the same ingredients - saffron and sandalwood certainly were in the blend. For the incense/wood fans, this will be a real treat - this smells like fancy wood, the sort carved by dedicated craftsmen to decorate palaces.

In bottle: Lime and white musk. Mostly lime. Lime like yummy candy lime. Wait, there's some lilac floral bit. Eh. I still say it smells like candy. On me: Lime - citron extending the life of the lime, so that it is blending most wonderfully with the white musk. It is difficult for me to describe the effect white musk and lilac have on lime - it softens it but does not sweeten it. Unfortunately, like all lime scents this disappears quite rapidly.

In bottle: Dragon's blood, juniper, and many assorted woods that I am mostly unfamiliar with. There's a slightly metallic edge to it. It's a very warm scent, like golden sunshine shining through the trees of a dusty forest, when there's a haze over all you can see. On me: Cinnamon; cinnamon and wood. The mulled wine is where I assume the cinnamon comes from. The juniper's probably the strongest wood note; or, at least it is the one I am most familiar with. This is a comforting 'home' scent, but it doesn't work as a perfume for me at all. Too stuffy.

In bottle: This is one of those scents that is so complex I can't really pick out the individual notes. This is just a delightfully fragrant floral and fruit combination. I detect the plum of Bordello and petals from Rose Red, but this is mostly a jumble of incredibly sweet, fresh things. On me: The richness of this blend keeps the jasmine in check, which is wonderful - I hate when it's so screaming I can't detect anything else. This is a bright, happy fragrance, all sunshine and romance and lightning-bright smiles. The plum is very stong, with the lemon and currants making this fruit combination a perfect compliment to the assorted florals. The sandalwood is there, but extremely subtle; it acts as a grounding base for everything else to leap off of.

In bottle: Crisp. It's the fresh-yet-slightly-metallic scent you get as you run one of your knives through a melon, cutting it in half. Honeydew with a hint of steel. The aquatics are strong and dark, but the fragrance itself seems rather light and airy, except for that sharper edge that clings to it. On me: I definitely get more of the grapefruit and spice notes when this is on the skin. Too bad, I was really liking the bottle scent. This certainly isn't a bad scent, though; on the contrary I quite like it. Salty grapefruit is how I would describe this. It sounds a bit odd, but man does it smell good!

In bottle: Tobacco leaf and some bright tropical flowers. This bay rum is excellent - I've smelled many over the past few years and most tend to gross me out, but Beth's is actually one I would want to smell on my man. The mingling of this and the florals is very exotic and intriguing. On me: The scent remains tobacco-strong on me, but the rest of the notes all go powdery. Interesting enough, something rather leathery comes out on the skin, but it does not blend well with the powder. Too bad!

In addition to the original imp I ordered, I recieved this as a freebie two or three times from the Lab. I guess Beth feels very strongly that I should try this. In bottle: Bright flowers and ripe fruits that have been reduced to a somewhat watery state because of the constant rainfall where they're located. It's like you know they're aromatic, but the constant soaking of their surroundings prevents the true strength of that aroma from coming through. On me: Richly fruity. This is definitely a tropical fragrance, and everything in it seems to be at the bottom of a crystal-clear pool, so that everything is filtered through clean pure water. I love this one so much; it takes Empyreal Mist and moves it down south to give it a super-tropical treatment The green in this is very fresh and juicy; again it is watery. Everything in this is quite soaked, but remains crisp - never once is anything soggy. Did I mention I LOVE this?.

In bottle: Super-jasmine that has been darkened by a spicy note. Honeysuckle really amps the florals up in this blend. On me: Corruupted blossoms. The jasmine is strong, but piercing; the honeysuckle is high-strung and both hang heavy in the air. This fragrance seems very crumbly, like a headstone that's been worn down to a blank slate. That's what this perfume evokes to me; an overgrown graveyard where the stone is being corroded and the plants can't be controlled, so that wild vines coil and buds burst into bloom everywhere.

In bottle: The spices make me think of when you open up a cupboard of spices you haven't used a while, and the scent of them hangs in the air. This is definitley peppery, and the carnation provides a slightly floral twist to a mostly dry, somewhat sandy-textured fragrance. On me: This is very weak and difficult to smell. The pepper note is still there, and the musk, but something in the way they twist together makes me think of licorice. It's a warm scent, evocative of Morocco to be sure, but it isn't for me.

In bottle: Cherry cherry cherry, and did I mention cherry? There's also the definite peppery-licorice note of anise here; although it isn't a principle player. On me: White sandalwood emerges on the skin, mellowing and silencing the cherry syrup into something much more subdued. It's almost like cherry ice cream, but instead of whipped cream it is topped with delightful anise, which adds a unique little kick to the blend. As it dries down the creaminess lessens but never completely disapppears.

In bottle: A solemn, venerable fragrance. It is greener than I expected for a bone church. It is like the dust from the bones can be smelt in the air and all around you - in the walls, in the furniture, on your clothes - but inside all of these bones something still grows. Like grass, struggling up in the spaces between a ribcage, or vines tangling out the orifices of skulls. On me: The geranium rose and rosewood are strong but hold lily in check, so that it is there but not overwhelming. This is another room fragrance, like Cathedral, to be used in your sanctuary. It smells like cathedrals I have visited; the incenses so often burned over hundreds of years they are a permanant fixture, like the alters or the pews; the dustiness of creaky age as you walk over ancient floors and paneled walls; the lilies arranged about the sanctuary and the roses draped upon the graves.

In bottle: Wet, trodden blossoms in mud and soaked grasses. This is dark and brings images of a murky wet day forward; a dull winter's afternoon where the land isn't cold, but the sun can't be found. In fact, it brings to mind camping in late October in the Santa Cruz mountains, when the fog rolls in over the wet evergreens and permanantly soggy oak trees, and the drip formed on branches from the fog's moisture rains on your head all day. It isn't at all cold, but you'd want to wear a sweatshirt anyway. On me: The blend sweetens. The heavy earthiness is no longer there; the flowers haven't been stomped into the earth. They're still very wet, and the chill of the fog has kept them blooming several days than they otherwise would. It has become a pretty aquatic floral, but still dark and somber.

In bottle: Wet like light spring rain, and mint. There's the green of the bamboo and orchids, and a sweetness I attribute to the fruits and blossoms. In the bottle, this reminds me somewhat of Blue Moon. On me: The resemblance to Blue Moon is still there, but this is greener. The bamboo stalks are fresh and growing in fog; flowers delicately litter the ground. The beauty of Old Japan is here, and it is wonderful. Close your eyes, and when you open them the Bamboo-Cutter's Daughter will smile at you in her moon-maiden glory. Swirl the bottle and inhale again and the dizzying pace of Tokyo life will dance before you, as schoolgirls and salarymen bustle past you on crowded streets.

In bottle: The strongest note is the tangerine, followed by the rose and amber. I think the bergamot helps amp up the tangerine considerably. I can definitely detect the jasmine, too. On me: The fruity notes fade to the background as this becomes a powerful floral. The combination of rose, jasmine and lily isn't working for me - it's too strong and just too generic. Even the carnation, trying desperately to fix things up, fails to improve and diversify the perfume. Too bad - as described by someone else, this is definitely 'dripping wet florals,' but without pleasant aquatic notes.

Is anyone else tail-twitching excited by the promise of honey-wine? In bottle: Oh, funky foody smell! Bay leaves drizzled in honey, with a bottle of rich red wine sitting nearby. This oil actually inspires a real craving for Italian food. On me: It still smells like an Italian kitchen to me. I picture a rich honey sauce and dark red wine in a goblet, waiting to be consumed. This might make an excellent room scent - get people hungry and anxious - but it doesn't work as a perfume for me. The greens in this blend - laurel, bay, etc - grow stronger as it dries, but it never becomes something I want to wear.