shriekingviolet

Initial Impression: Definitely floral. You can really smell the roses, which makes the perfume not my style at all. It'd still be a nice fragrance for someone else. I'll try wearing it anyway just to give it its fair try. After Wearing It: I'm really in the minority here. This didn't work on me. I hated this wet. It smelled strongly of musk and roses, two scents that I can only take in small doses. After the scent dried and mellowed a bit, it wasn't so bad. Still smelled predominantly of roses and musk, but you could pick up bits of sweet amber playing in the background. But I really only smelled the amber if I inhaled deeply against my wrist. Final Thoughts: I really, really need to accept the fact that I can't do rose scents. I can't tell if they just react badly with my skin or if my nose is just programmed not to like them. I wish the amber had been more prominent, it might have saved the scent for me.

Initial Impression: More exotic smelling than your usual spicy scents. I don't smell the vanilla right away, but it wafts out when I shut the bottle. Probably would come out more if worn. After Wearing It: On first sniff in the bottle, spices are all I catch. A sweet undertone maybe, but it's definitely spicy. But not spicy in the sort of way I'm familiar with. It's not a cinnamon-y, cooking sort of smell. It's exotic and unfamiliar, evoking images of bazaars in far-off exotic locales. As time goes on, the vanilla becomes more and more apparent, though it mingles and blends with the spices well rather than presenting itself on its own, making the scent sweeter but not in a way that screams DESSERT. It's sexy and decadent rather than just plain foody. Later (*hours* later), the vanilla does tend to dominate the scent leaving a vanilla-y powdery sent with a hint of spice. So in summary, in the course of 10 hours, Snake Oil morphs from Sultry and Sexy to Sweet, feminine and comforting. Nice Oil, def. a keeper. Final Thoughts: I ended up buying a bottle of this. I love it even more each time I wear it. And oddly enough I smell the vanilla in its wet stage more each time I wear it. Which is a happy thing.

Initial Impression: Minty, but not in a toothpaste kind of way. And not exactly fresh either. Complex and woody. I could definitely imagine that absinthe would smell like this. After Wearing It: When this first goes on, it smells of mint in a sticky sort of way then dries in an herby/woody fragrance on that's fresh smelling, though it can easily be pictured as boozy. Definitely what I picture absinthe to smell like. Final Thoughts: Since I'm not big on herby/woody/fresh scents, I doubt I'll wear this much, if at all. I'd adore this on a man though.

Initial Impression: Sorrowful and decaying. Like wilted flowers at an unattended gravesite. After Wearing It: I stand by my original impression. I did like that the roses here definitely smelled like the dried variety, which I prefer, and the earthy background made this one interesting, though mournful. Final Thoughts: It's something that I'd have to be in the mood to wear though, but I definitely would like this as a room fragrance, especially for special ritual occasions. It was nice to find a rose scent I'd wear again as well. Yay!

Initial Impression: The berries are very apparent here. Bright and wild and just a touch spicy. Deep and decadent. After Wearing It: Rich tart berries dominant the early stages of this fragrance, before spicy carnation notes come out to play. In it's middle stage, both the carnation and berry notes are extremely prominent, but as it wears down to its dry down stage which has blended to a single scent: smelling softly spicy, powdery and berry laced. Final Thoughts: Very nice, I'd wear this again!

Initial Impression: Like a fruit laced tea. Spa-like. After Wearing It: Very clean scent. The tea notes are very prevalent, with light suggestions of honey and lemon in the background. Final Thoughts: I'm not really big on tea scents (or really any scent that smells "clean"), but this would be a winner for someone who does. Would probably make a relaxing room fragrance as well.

Initial Impression: Rosy and floral, but not unappealing (to me that is, since I'm not too keen on roses). I can smell the amber and musk in the background. Very nice. After Wearing It: Musky and floral. Not gross on, but it doesn't really appeal to me since rose and musk are two things I can only take in small doses. Maybe for someone else but definitely not for me. Final Thoughts: Blarg. Roses scents really do nothing for me. I need to come to terms with that fact.

Initial Impression: Very floral. You can really smell the jasmine and honeysuckle. There would need to be more of that musty, decaying scent to really capture New Orleans (I lived there for 2 years), but I do recognize the way that the nightblooming flowers smelled in the garden district on late spring nights. After Wearing It: Very pretty and very floral, but very not me. The honeysuckle and jasmine are wholly apparent throughout the lifespan of the fragrance. I don't notice much different from the wet stage to the dry down, it stays pretty true hour after hour. The impressions I get from this fragrance are of wet flowers and humidity. Blossoms being trampled on the ground and releasing their scent from the rainsoaked earth during the ever drenched hurricane season. Final Thoughts: Beautiful for someone who enjoys florals, but I can't imagine wearing this often. It did do a good job of capturing the old southern elegance of the city, but didn't really represent the city as a whole. The old antebellum, dying wealth part of the city was certainly beautifu and one of my favorite parts of New Orleans, but it's only a small fraction of the city. There's the loud, decadent and drunken part (mostly fueled by tourists, but its a phenomenon that infects the locals more than most US cities), its rich jazz culture, and the sort of spooky undercurrent there that fuels literature, multiple haunted history tour companies, a lingering voodoo culture (small as it is), and wonderfully elaborate cemetaries. Plus when I think back to the smells of the city, what I remember most is that musty book smell that nearly overwhelmed me when I first moved there. I wasn't used to the ever-present (but not really awful) smell of mildew that an older Southern city is bound to produce (especially one built on a swamp). Another smell that really sticks in my mind when I think back to when I lived there is the smell of crawfish and tabasco. And then there's that awful post Mardi Gras smell. Perhaps its best that the sort of Garden District themed scent was chosen, since it'd be the most appealing. And looking it at it objectively as a scent, Old New Orleans is very pretty, but it hardly scratches the surface of what is (and has always been, even in its youngest days) an incredibly vibrant and complex city.

Initial Impression: CHOCOLATE! But you can smell the myrrh and sandalwood too. Smoky and sweet. After Wearing It: Smoky and sweet, the sandalwood, myrrh and chocolate all express themselves equally here. It's not a hershey bar scent, you don't smell like a dessert. Possibly like an extremely expensive specialty chocolate, but I wouldn't put too much stress on that. It smells sophisticated and decadent. Like a lovely, heavy velvet robe. I ended up using the whole vial the day I wore it, both wearing it and burning the oil to scent my room. Final Thoughts: I think I'm in the small minority here of people who love Velvet. I haven't tried Vice yet, but this still sounds more appealing. I think it's utterly lovely, but perhaps not for a chocolate lover who wants to smell like chocolate. I bought a 5ml bottle of this.

Initial Impression: Cleaner scent than I usually wear but I still like it. Floral but still vaguely sweet. After Wearing It: Doesn't smell as "clean" on as I first thought in the tube. Goes on very floral at first, the gardenia and violet notes all but drown out the vanilla, though you can still detect a vague sweetness in the background. As I wear it, I notice the vanilla a lot more, though the floral notes remain the most apparent if smelled up close. Like the vanilla notes waft upwards, but the gardenia and violet cling close to my neck and wrists. I definitely don't feel anything dark or sinister about this fragrance, but find it rather sophisticated. Not something I'd normally wear, but something close enough to my style that I could wear to a family function or if I were being introduced to someone whom I wanted to leave a polite & poised impression with (like at a job interview or meeting your boyfriend's parents!). The dry down is very vanilla-y, though it's tempered enough with lingering bits of violet and gardenia to keep it from smelling too foody. My favorite stage for this fragrance. Final Thoughts: I'm not sure I'd buy a whole bottle of this since I'm more into smokier spicy scents, but I'm sure I'll use the sample up to the last drop. It's very pretty and sweet!