coulrophobe

As everyone has already mentioned, Mystery is one odd little blend. At first I thought it smelled a bit lavendery, but mixed with something that made it more tolerable (lavender is harsh/sharp/disquieting to me). But upon reading the other reviews, I found myself agreeing with things I hadn't noticed. Anise, no -er, wait a minuted, there it is. And then I can smell a little whiff of lemon, I hadn't noticed that. And I definitely can smell plastic dolls and dog shampoo. The strange thing is that I'm not finding any of these bad - and lemon and anise aren't notes I even like! Unfortunately, it's not meant to be, as Mystery develops a kind of burnt tone on drydown. A little oily and charred - similar to the feeling I get with vetiver, but not quite that harsh.

Musks are my favorite; some people always say they smell like animal sex... but if animal sex smelled that good, I'd quit my job and breed ferrets in my living room. To me musk smells like clean skin. Black musk = clean men; red musk = clean women; white musk = clean babies. But that's just me. In addition to Antique Lace, I'd try Morocco. And if you can wear patchouli at all, Vechernyaya is a lovely musk and patchouli blend (I'm not much of a patchouli fan, but it's really amazing in Vech.). I had a similar experience with Haunted. I was expecting to love it - amber + musk should = good - but it turned oddly lemony on me. I smelled like a musky lemon bar rolled in baby powder. It was very peculiar.

In the imp: Whoa, that's vetiver, all right. And I can smell the bay a little. On: It's so strong, I only dabbed a little on my finger - and I'd assumed it would be awful on me, as vetiver is rarely my friend, but it's not bad at all. It's a very unusual smell - the dark, oily smell of vetiver grounds it, but the main note I'm smelling is the astringent-pepper smell of bay (nostalgic for me, as my parents have a bay tree in their front yard). The gardenia sweetens up the blend, but doesn't turn it overly flowery or cloying. Ultimately, I don't think it's a blend that suits my personality, but it's an interesting scent and I can stop sniffing.

In the imp: Sharp, a bit astringent, and a bit "heavy," like vintage perfume. On: Jasmine and earthy dried herbs. Also a bit of smoky wood... this is reminding me of the smoky phase of The Magician, but with jasmine. Maybe a dab of patchouli, too. It's interesting, but jasmine isn't a very good note with my chemistry - it has a tendency to turn cloying and allergy-inducing... it's one of the few florals that actually smells pollen-y to my nose. The smoke notes really intrigue me, though - probably not for me, but glad to have an imp of it.

I got Cheshire Cat back before it was discontinued, but put the imp aside because it had a weird kind of funk to it... I liked the smell on the surface, but their was something a little stanky lurking underneath. I revisited it today, and again find I have similar chemistry to Joseybird - it smells civety to me. Dark musks are usually good on me, but I'm catching the tiniest waft of something civet-like - which unfortunately equates to poo on my skin. It's not enough that it destroys the scent, but it does give it an odd tone to my nose. Otherwise? I like the grapefruit and currant, and though I'm not a fan of lavender, that part is almost gone within 5 minutes. It's a strange blend, and one I find wholly appropriate for the character of the Cheshire Cat.

In the imp: A sweet, fresh green smell... On: Initially quite lemony on me - but a sweet, candy-like lemon, rather than Pledge lemon. I can smell something green and almost aquatic as well, and a dusty sweet floral - the poppy, I presume. I don't get any sassafras, which is OK, it tends to go a bit funky on me. When it dries down, Dissipation smells similar to some of the Lunacy blends to me - that same fresh, cool herbal smell that lingers in the background of ones like Cold Moon, Frost Moon, Blue Moon and Buck Moon. I like it. This one's rather pretty once the lemon-fresh note calms down, I'm sad it's discontinued.

In the imp: a bit floral, but with something sharper, like the dreaded almond. On: it is initially almondy on me, but I know that if I sit tight for about 5 minutes, the sharpness will dissapate. Once it does, this blend smells ambery to me. After 10 minutes or so there's a bit of rose, but not too much - it's still mostly warm and powdery amber. I'm not very good at picking out heliotrope, so maybe that's the warm note I'm smelling - I know it's in a lot of the warm, golden-y scents. As it dries down, the rose gets a bit more obnoxious, but that's just my skin chemistry loving roses more than I do. I never smell any jasmine... which is OK.

In the imp: Hmm, a little herbally... and is that rose? On: Why yes, that's rose, taking over and bludgeoning all the other notes into submission. Phooey. My chemistry loves roses and amps the hell out of them - sadly, my nose and my chemistry don't agree when it comes to roses. Goona Goona just ain't for me. Though the name's fun to say. Sounds like one of the random noises I make while chasing the cat around.

I'll second Morocco and Silk Road, though they're already on the list, I see - and I do have to agree with Vechernyaya. Something with patchouli isn't an intuitive reaction to "clean" - but the musks definitely give it a clean-yet-spicy/earthy feel to me. Another possibility is Zephyr - not traditionally spicy, but as others have said, what an individual's chemistry can do with white musk can be spice-like. Zephyr's one of my favorite white musk blends - light and airy as the name suggests, but with a creamy musky base.

Another vote for Yuletide (though as a caveat, I haven't tried '05). I like Nuclear Winter/Skadi/Talvikuu/etc. as well, though I don't find them to be even remotely spicy, but rather icy cold and crisp. Maybe layer one of the more piney catalog scents like Golden Priapus with Three Witches?

Preconceived notions: How can I go wrong with amber and benzoin? This sounds like a predictably good scent. In the bottle: I can actually hardly smell it - just a faint baby powdery amber (which is fine, I like powdery scents). On: Ah, there it is! A lovely, ambery, non-foody vanilla-y (yay, benzoin!) blend. As it dries down, I'd swear there's a little light musk in there, too, because it lasts on my skin like only musk does. I think I'll need another bottle of this, because it's a great everyday scent. And I don't mean that in the monotonous boring everyday way - I mean I can see myself wanting to smell like this all the freaking time. A gorgeous, softly glowing skin scent, versatile enough for work, dates, or reading on the couch. Perfect!

Preconceived notions: Sweet foody scents rarely work on me. Chocolate goes stale, coconut goes plasticky, honey goes uber-sweet and cloying... blends like Midway, Spooky, and Misk. U have all been complete failures. On the other hand, Lunacy blends generally work for me, and even the sweeter ones like Milk Moon and Honey Moon have been OK. So I had to order me some Beaver. In the bottle: Oh my... frosting! If nothing else, I want this around for when I have a frosting craving. Though it's entirely possible I'll drink it in a fit of frosting-induced madness. On: It goes from frostingy goodness to being a bit iffy - threatening to go stale like Midway does on me - but it stops just shy of the staleness. It's not perfect for me, but much better than expected. It's the tiniest bit artificial with my chemistry - store bought frosting, versus homemade - but still pretty good. Lunacies, they never let me down. Does that make me a Lunatic? Mmmm, frosting covered lunatic.

Preconceived notions: I like mint. Bring it! In the bottle: Peppermint, tempered with a touch of sweet vanilla. On: Yep, pretty much the same... hey, where'd it go? Sadly, as much as I love mint, it never sticks around. Instead, I'm left with a soft vanilla-musk scent - which is still quite lovely, of course. I'll have to try wearing a bit in my hair to see if I can get the mint to stay for a bit!

I love the idea of a Blue Meanies scent! Though maybe Bluebeard would qualify (from what I remember of the fairy tale, he was rather mean!). I didn't pick out a scent with Lennon in mind - I wish I'd thought of that. If I had, I probably would have picked The Sun (as in, Here Comes...). Or Sol, for the same reasons. While Peace would have been a good one as well, lavender and I just don't play well together... I just can't give Peace a chance!

I'll add another vote for Loviatar - it's my kicking ass and taking names scent. It's powerful, and femininely seductive - I think it'd be good for sending that "why on earth would he want you when he can have all this?" message. Other good ones - Dracul, Blood Kiss, Sin... basically, I think of things that are dark, spicy and incensy as my "don't f*ck with me" scents. The Cracked Bell from the current line of Yule LEs has that feel to me as well.

Preconceived notions: Well... I didn't have any. Being raised a godless heathen, I have no clue what traditional church incense smells like. In the bottle: Much more woody than I expected - heavy wooden furniture (uh... pews! Yes. That's what they call those benchy things), worn with years of use, furniture polish. On: Now I can smell the resins, rather than just a generalized woody smell. First I get a blast of frankincense - the "soapy trees" smell is unmistakable. Then I can smell myrrh, which always smells a bit like syrup to me, thick and heavily sweet - it becomes the dominant note pretty quickly on my skin. This balances out to a nice myrrh blend - a little too sweet for me, but not to the point of being cloying.

Preconceived notions: I was looking forward to this one, until I heard the early reports of piney-ness - evergreens can be an iffy note for me, as they sometimes turn into household cleanser smells. In the bottle: Yes, piney - but in the cold, fresh pine way, not the cleaning product way. On: As everyone else and their dog has mentioned, it's quite similar to Skadi and Dublin. After it dries down, I can really smell the girlie perfume notes - there's a whiff of florals and something a bit fruity in there. To me, this one's not as "snowy" smelling as Talvikuu, Skadi, or Nuclear Winter - I'm thinking it's closer to Dublin, with its florally forest feel. Nice!

Preconceived notions: I was worried about this one smelling too piney on me - a lot of evergreen scents end up smelling like cleaning products to my nose. In the bottle: I don't think this'll be cleaning-product-esque. Whew! Smells chilly, and rather like Skadi. On: I agree with everyone else - this is in the same family as Skadi, Ice Queen and Nuclear Winter, and I'd say a cousin to Dublin and Snow Bunny, which are sweeter to my nose. They're all scents that smell very pleasant, but I prefer to wear them when it's really hot outside.

Preconceived notions: I was super-excited about this one - I love the name, and bubbly florals usually work on me unless they contain rose. In the bottle: It does smell like hairspray! Weird. On: Stardust starts out smelling like the perfumes I remember my mom wearing in the 70s - I can't put my finger on exactly what it is, but there's a very retro feel to it. The florals in it aren't ones I've very adept at picking out, and they seem to be very well-blended with the other notes. Then it turns into alcoholic honey! It's not a bad thing (this is a milder honey-esque scent, rather than the lab's actual honey note, which tends to be too sweet for me). The florals take over again, but the weird honeyish stage was a nice surprise. It's exactly as I thought it would be - a fun, sparkly scent. My only complaint is that it doesn't seem to last too long on me - 20 minutes after putting it on, I can definitely still smell it, but it's much more subtle - gorgeous, but I wanted the 70s excess to be a bit more pronounced.

I enjoy the lab's minty scents, and this is no exception. At first, this smells like the lovechild of Ice Queen and Frost Moon to me; as it dries down, it tends to take after it's mother and go totally Ice Queeny, with that cool aquatic note that reminds me of a soap my great aunt always used to have in her bathroom (as that association is a bit ambiguous, I'll clarify - it's a good, nostalgic smell!). Nuclear Winter doesn't smell as cold and desolate as I expected; I find it to be more of a fresh, it's-almost-spring kind of smell. Cool, sweet and refreshing - I'm going to like wearing this next summer.

Preconceived notions: Anything described as being a "metallic" or "blood" scent is hit-or-miss on me, so I have no idea how this one's going to turn out. I like smoke and incense, so I'm hopeful. In the bottle: Perfumey incense. This bodes well! On: Stays true to my initial impression. I'm not getting the sharpness or medicinal quality that others have - this is warm, smokey, perfumey incense on me. A definite evening-wear blend... this is one that's dark, strong and confident on a woman, and I bet it would be devestatingly good on a man. *drools* For me it has a similar feel to one of my favorite going out scents, Loviatar. Verdict: This one's a nice surprise, maybe the sleeper-hit of my order.

Preconceived notions: This was the one that grabbed me. The "must have" scent of the update. In the bottle: Oh no! It smells like rum and almonds, gack! Luckily, almonds never last on me... but this isn't a good start. On/Drydown: As usual, the sharp cherry/almond note goes away. I'm left with a muted, papery smell - my mind says "parchment," but the description says "linen." And a slight sweet musky-ness - to me, this is a slightly "off," but still extremely comforting scent. Sadly, I get no leather or tobacco - the main reasons I was drooling over this scent. But I can see myself wearing on those "curl up on the couch and read" sort of days.

In the bottle: mold Wet on skin: mold Drydown: mold I had high hopes for Rat King, because usually, anything that's "feral" is a rather pleasant musk on me. Sadly, this one is all "dust" with my chemistry - and the lab's dirt/dust notes turn to dry mold on me. I can almost feel the spores. There's a slight hint of lovely musk, but dirt notes tend to dominate with me. Just not right with my chemistry.

When Pandora first hits my skin, she's a bright, chaotic... candy store. Lotus and mint are definitely present, as well as something sweet and fruity - almost a mango or melon undertone. But then the gardenia decides to crash the party. As much as I love gardenias as plants, as a note, it goes a bit funky on my skin, the same way jasmine does. Heavy, dusty, uber-sweet - I can still smell minty-fruity-gummy candy underneath, but this one's primarily gardenia. I loved the initial wet stage, but the gardenia-stage is just too sweet and heavy on me.

At first sniff, Typhon is all patchouli and vetiver to me - and while patchouli often works, vetiver usually makes me smell like motor oil. On, however... soft, velvety black musk takes over, with the smoky sweetness of sandalwood. The vetiver still lingers in the background, making this blend a bit masculine to my nose - but definitely a scent that can smell powerful and exotic on the right kind of woman as well. Am I the right kind of woman? Well, usually not - but I'm definitely keeping this for my fierce growly days! Deep, dark, spicy sweet, and mysterious, with an earthy kick. Very different.