lady_pandora

When I first tried Blessing of Isis, I thought I smelled orange in the first few seconds, though I've never smelled it in that oil since. Now I'm inclined to think that was mostly power of suggestion from reading other reviews, because Radiance of Ra is what Blessing of Isis would smell like if it did have orange. Right out of the vial you get a bright, exuberant burst of orange, and then gradually it evolves and reveals a very similar base as that in BoI: warm, spicy, seems to be patchouli/sandalwood/maybe frankincense/maybe musk and I don't know what else. It's both happy and earthy. I can't comment much on the results yet, as I've mostly used it for, well, situations so big that an oil really couldn't make them go away, so the effect I was looking for was mostly of the "just a little lift to help me/them through this" variety. So it's hard to quantify its effect. Will add more as I continue to use it.

Maybe Laughter of Loki from the Ragnarok LEs? "Serpentine green musk with fiery red ginger, sweet basil, alder leaf, white patchouli, cistus, and mistletoe." ETA: Can't find a good GC so far, but maybe Dawn: Cernunnos (Terebinth pine, basil, green sandalwood, fig leaf, armoise, lemon balm, cypress, myrrh, black cedar, and juniper) or Cathode (Ambergris, Spanish Moss, oakmoss and three electric mints)? Death on a Pale Horse (empty white musk and mint seeped with solemn lavender, doleful patchouli and vetiver, scythe-sharp yuzu and lime, with geranium bourbon, white sandalwood and calla lily) comes to mind. I'm probably not a good recommender, as this was actually awful on me, but I think it might be in line with what he likes. He also might try an imp of Orc (Field grey courgette musk, roughly cured leather, and vetiver). It doesn't have the lighter notes he wants, but I mention it specifically because a few people got cucumber from the courgette/zucchini in this. I, um, didn't like this one either! I think your co-worker is my antimatter.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thought Midnight Mass! For me, Mage is Midnight Mass, but burnt. I get that beautiful rich church incense blend, but something is adding sort of a burnt wood or woodsmoke note to the mix. But other than that smoky edge to it, it's so much like Midnight Mass for most of its weartime. One other difference is that I'm noticing the fruity dragon's blood lingering on my arm the next day rather than the kind of musky trace that MM leaves behind. It's close enough that I don't think I'd ever wear it unless I was out of Midnight Mass itself--I like MM better. But I think it's probably worth keeping around in case I do run out of MM before Yules come back.

Water of Notre Dame starts out with a watery floral I don't recognize, along with possibly some lily, and morphs into a rose. It's kind of soapy, and I think it should be! I feel really cleansed wearing this. I don't think it'll be an everyday scent for me, but it's pleasant and I'll definitely keep it for its magical properties. And I definitely appreciate an aquatic that's not an ozone. ETA: In subsequent wears, I've noticed an effervescent citrus note in the first few minutes. ETA 2: Apparently, something in this irritates both my skin and my BF's allergies. Ritual use only, I guess.

For the first ten minutes, Alice's Evidence doesn't quite hang together. There's a dusty note coming from somewhere, and the scent has sort of an "aftertaste" that's verging on being cloying. But! After ten minutes, it calms down, starts playing nice, and doesn't morph much from there. It's boozy spicy plum to my nose. Like a plum cider. It's really pretty, though a little potpourri-y, and I think its destiny might be in my oil burner. It reminds me a bit of Autumn Cider in vibe, if not in actual notes, and that turned out to be a really nice room scent. Definitely one for fall.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to get around to trying Hollywood Babylon. It has scads of notes I like, so why not? Who knows. Well, finally I purchased an imp of it and gave it a shot. This starts out with a bright red cough syrup scent, which mellows quickly into a more normal strawberry/cherry combo. Lurking in the background was an incensey blend that, I swear to God, the first thing I thought was "That smells like BPAL!" Well, duh, right? But it just kind of smelled like archetypal BPAL, the way it was sort of incensey and sort of sweet and sort of earthy all at the same time. And then I realized it's because it does smell kind of like Snake Oil. During these early stages, it also reminds me some of White Witch, which makes sense as they both have amber, vanilla, red musk, and a red fruit. The fruit fades quickly, leaving mostly a Snake Oil clone without a lot of throw or oomph. It may get stronger as it ages--in fact, it probably will. I never get heliotrope from it, sadly; that's a note I really like and was hoping for here. So far, I don't dislike Hollywood Babylon at all, but it's a lot like both SO and White Witch without quite being as good as either.

The sweet sweet peach and a bit of papaya make Mare Nectaris remind me of fruity scents from my teen years, but the musk is absolutely amazing here and keeps it from going too youthful for my taste. It's gorgeous, golden just like the description, and I'd swear it was a white sandalwood if I hadn't read the note list. I think I want to wear this when summer comes.

Looking through the Lupers, Alma Venus was the one that caught my eye the most from a notes perspective, and so I bought a blind bottle. I.Was.Not.Wrong. I love this. Alma Venus starts out with a quick burst of sweet blood orange and amber. This is the same duo that kicks off Haunted Palace, and you all know I love Haunted Palace and talk about it way too much, so this is a good start. It doesn't stay that way for long, but that's OK, I didn't need a clone, and I like the other stages too. The next stage stars the orange flower. This teams up with the amber (the fruity-orange is pretty much gone) to create an impression that's a little baby-powdery, but with a little extra kick of indole that keeps it from being too innocent. Sexy baby powder? Maybe. It eventually settles, on me, into a beeswax-dominant scent. On my wrists it's a close sibling of Lights of Men's Lives. On my neck there's more orange blossom left, giving me lovely wafts of that throughout the day along with the beeswax. I can't pick out all the notes, maybe because some of them have a similar note in the blend that they might be "singing in unison" with. Like, neroli might be hiding behind the blood orange at the beginning, and honey might be helping boost the beeswax in the end, without really coming to the fore by themselves. Or maybe I just amp beeswax a ton, though I don't mind! Like VioletChaos, I get no cedar at all. And now with the analytical thing over with--I'm getting an amazing emotional reaction from this oil. It's sexy, but feels like an effortless sexy, more silk nightgown and less corset-and-fishnets. A comfortable sexy. And at the same time it makes me feel so comforted and loved and cherished. It's exactly what I might expect of Venus's mother aspect.

Wet, this is a mix of boozy bread and herbs. The beer note reminds me a lot of Mari Lwyd throughout. As it dries, it keeps being bready herby beer, and a fruit note starts to emerge. At about the 2-hour mark, it smells a little burnt or toasted for a while, and then turns to a soft bready cloud. This is really close to the progression of Mari Lwyd on me, so I'm concluding that I amp beer and turn it really bready. If you like Mari Lwyd, try Beer from the Marsh Woman's Brewery, and vice versa. The supporting notes are really different, but the beer makes them cousins.

I agree with others that this is a grounded kind of determination, not a wired kind. Very Capricorn. This is the determination to plod ahead with something you're not excited about. It won't make you excited about it, but you'll get it done. I got a giant pile of prep work done for a department meeting while wearing this--more than we had time to cover in the meeting. I did get occasionally distracted by the usual internet culprits, but it was a lot easier to tear my attention back away from them and refocus. The scent is mainly vetiver to me, but it's agreeable enough that I think there's a "silent partner" mellowing it out a bit. It's not as softened as the vetiver in Sloth, but then you wouldn't want your determination to be as soft as your sloth. I suspect there's a resin in here, but one that doesn't have a scent as strong as myrrh, maybe an amber. I applied only a tiny bit--an imp-wand drop on one palm and then rubbed them together. I'd be curious to see if a larger amount might make me even more efficient, but the scent might get overpowering if I put on too much more of it.

Lucy's Kiss goes on pretty much straight rose, and I think it's tea rose, because it reminds me a lot of Fox Sisters. I don't like it quite as much as Fox Sisters, as it's a little more tart and a little more dusty, but it's a perfectly fine rose scent for about the first hour and 20 minutes. And then. Ack. Suddenly, along with the rose, I get something burnt and something dryer-sheetsy. I have no idea what spices might be doing this. It's not doing it for me, though, and the Sisters keep their rosy throne. (ETA: Dryer sheets effect might be from this morning's Talvikuu. WIll retest. Burnt thing still annoying though.)

Scentwise, White Light has three main notes on me. One of them is a white floral that I think is gardenia; it's the first to emerge. The second smells like Dove soap, and I think it's a type of lily that smells like Dove? The third note is sort of incense-dusty-wood, and I think it's the same note that's in Practical Occultism that I couldn't decide if it was cassia or sage. (I know they smell nothing alike in theory, but skin chemistry doth make fools of us all.) They emerge in that order, but once they've all made their appearance, any of them can rise to the top at any time. So I'd be sitting there having smelled predominantly incense-dusty-wood for a while and then I'd have Dove or gardenia again. The Dove is what finally "wins" and is the note that sticks around well into the evening. I decided to try White Light when I was anticipating a stressful day at work. I first noticed its effects on my bus commute. At that point I wasn't really feeling centered or anything of that sort; I was more "Squirrel!" There were just too many thoughts going through my head for the stress to get any purchase. I'd be thinking "stressy thing...Hmm I wonder about the etymology of some word...oooh look the sunrise is pretty...I think I want to go to the hallmark store after work." My muscles also felt really relaxed. Later, once I got to work, I felt calm and centered during crazy phone calls, a meeting I'd been worried about, and a lunch with a higher-up. I got complimented a couple of times on something I'd been worrying I was messing up. Then in the late afternoon, with all the major events of the day over, I had a period of euphoria. It felt like the oil and I had both done our jobs and could take a breath and enjoy the rest of the day. At that point, I was again a little distractible. It didn't matter since most of the office had left, but I'll have to keep it in mind for next time, that eventually it does loop back around to "Squirrel!" for me, and I might not want to use it if I want to still be really focused 8 hours after applying. I'd say this is another success for TAL! Edit, 2/27/15: Last night I couldn't sleep because my brain was running a mile a minute and catastrophizing about something. So I applied White Light in the hopes of stopping myself from obsessing about this thing. It worked--and again in about the same way--it seemed to refract my thoughts into a million random directions, like a prism turning a beam of light into a rainbow, so I started thinking about unrelated harmless things until I actually dropped off. I actually still didn't sleep well in the end, but that's because a physical issue (GERD) reared its head in the middle of the night. White Light worked for getting me to relax and de-obsess, though.

This starts out honey and vetiver on me, with the two notes kind of at war. Honey works well on me, and its lovely sweetness is competing with the vetiver, which kind of smells like basement. The musk joins the party a little later, and it kind of ties it all together. Like TTP, I was reminded a bit of Smut by the way the musk smelled here, and also like TTP, I found the throw better than the skin scent. It smells like honey and Smut and also kind of like basement. And it's somehow kinda sexy anyway? I'm a little baffled by Qandisa, but I think I'm keeping her for now.

This starts out as a combo of leather and what I can best describe as men's grooming products made of spiced rum. Like...I don't think I actually know what bay rum smells like, but this is what it smells like in my imagination when I read about it. It's a little boozy to me, but in a way that also kind of smells like aftershave, and definitely spices and leather. I don't know exactly why this rum effect is happening, but I like it. It morphs to mostly leather and wood, and then gradually a bit of patchouli comes out too, and I think I might smell a little light musk. I can see why people are mentioning Coyote. This is masculine but really really nice. Giving it to the boyfriend. I already gave him Druid--wonder how they'd go together?

The enemy of God smells really nice! This starts out orange/clove/cinnamon on me, then morphs to mostly clove/cinnamon but with the peach hanging around as a soft sweet mist to keep the spices from getting out of hand. Then as it wears on, earthy patchouli rises from the deep and grounds it all really nicely. I like this a lot, though it was not very strong in my initial test. Hopefully that was just from transit in the cold, because this smells quite good and I'd love for it to be stronger. Also, I haven't previously sought out peach scents on purpose, but between this and how well Les Bijoux works on me, I have high hopes for Mare Nectaris!

I recently had the chance to try a sample of Venus, and am quite impressed with it. I'll definitely be buying a bottle. Scentwise, it starts out with the lotus note The_Merf mentions; this lotus note is almost fruity and I actually mistook it for apple at first (which would also make sense in a Venus oil). It quickly becomes more recognizably lotus, but this note fades quickly, and when the scent stabilizes on me, it's a blend of (I think) violet and maybe some kind of lily. It's a fresh, clean floral, a little soapy but in a good way, pretty, and subtle. It could go "undercover" as a regular perfume in any situation where you need a boost of Venus energy. Wearing it while alone, I found that it enhanced self-love and self-esteem; I liked what I saw in the mirror better than I do without it, and felt confident in myself. Wearing it while spending time with my partner, I thought it helped enhance both open communication and a romantic sort of playfulness. ETA: ETA: There seems to be a batch variation on this one. The scent I describe above is from my decant. I ordered a bottle, and the scent from the bottle has rose, and I can't smell lotus in it; the lily and violet are about the same. I like rose and am happy with this.

Disclaimer: I haven't actually smelled either of these things, but a couple of people have compared Psychodynamic Discharge to Loviatar. It's an LE but still up. (black leather and red musk with aged black patchouli, Chinese rose, black pepper, coconut meat, Haitian vetiver, and igneous red ginger.)

I've tested this twice, once a few hours after it arrived in the mail, and once the following night. It did the same thing both times, so I don't think it's a settling issue--it's just being weird. A Rosy Colour starts out with a citrusy, slightly rosy, soapy scent.Then, it moves to mostly rose, but it's rose with a sharp tang that reminds me of an alcohol-based perfume. I'm always comparing things to perfumes I last wore twenty years ago, but this is going to kind of a Xi'a Xi'ang place on me. This is my favorite stage of it, though, despite the sharpness; it's kind of decadent and opulent. Then, after that, it does kind of a weird toasty thing. I have no idea what note is causing this. It's kind of a muddle, with the stages not seeming to really go together. My hope is that as it ages, red musk will ride over the horizon and restore order. Right now I can't smell the musk at all, but we all know it comes out more as it ages, and I tend to amp it, so hopefully once it emerges, it'll all hang together better. For now, though, for my rose/geranium/vanilla needs, Fox Sisters works much better on me.

I don't know if rose-infused amber is a technical term that means something different than just rose with amber, but I can't second this recommendation more. Spellbound is amazeballs.

I'm apparently an amper of the cedar in this; Lear is Woody McWooderson on me, with an undertone of green herbs. This Lear is definitely out wandering in the wild now, rather than reigning in his castle. The wood is a little pencily on me, and the whole thing is more traditionally masculine than I prefer, so it's not for me. It's not unpleasant, though, and it's very stable on me--it smells pretty much the same the whole time it's on.

I find the Dormouse similar to Empyreal Mist.

Alas, Talvikuu's old. You can search the For Sale section to see if anybody's unloading any, though.

I first tried this on New Year's Eve, and liked it, though I knew I wasn't really "testing" it in any real way, since I was smelling it in a crowd of other people wearing their perfume, and in a house full of food smells, and while slightly sloshed. That time, it smelled like raisiny myrrh. The next time I tested it, it was kind of dry and dusty. The two results were so different that I figured I'd give it one more test. So today, it started out with the raisiny myrrh scent. Frankincense joins the party a little later. The dry thing hangs around a little in the background; I can't identify it, but I've read that cassia can give that impression. There's also occasionally a whiff of an ashen burnt-herbs scent that I think may be the sage. Later in the day, one wrist is mostly frankincense and the other is raisiny myrrh with frankincense. It's a heavier kyphi than Cairo, and it's also different in that Cairo mostly unfolds for me in stages, with one note dominating and then another, while the notes in Practical Occultism hang together more. As for skin reactions, I get none on my wrists, but it does make my neck red for a little while after it's first applied. It's quite nice! Incense fans should try it. I haven't decided yet if I need a bottle; it'll probably depend on finances and how Lupers shake out. Midnight Mass is more evocative to me among my Yules--which is odd, as I'm not Catholic and never have been--but it's true, I get more of the "ancient sacred vibe" from it. But I do like Practical Occultism and will definitely hang on to the decant.

I put this on and, no lie, sorry Lab, it was horrible. Like why the hell did I put this on my skin horrible. It smelled like vetiver and vegetables and sharp sweet indistinct perfume all at once, and just smelled wrong, like this combination was just not a smell that should happen. The best comparison I can make is that it smelled like something went bad in the fridge, and then someone dumped perfume on it to boot. The nope was strong. The good news was, it had little to no throw, so I told myself I could get through ten minutes of it if I didn't sniff my arm in the interim. So I waited ten minutes and then sniffed again. Whew. Apparently the vegetal thing burns off quick. It had turned to light leathery musk and vetiver, which left me meh but at least smelled like a wearable perfume. Eventually, it dries down to a vetiver/leather combo that's actually quite nice if you like that sort of thing. It's a little heavier on the vetiver than I tend to like, but it might work for layering--and if you're a big vetiver fan, you should definitely try it. I haven't decided whether to keep this imp or not. The first stage, though it only lasts a few minutes, is just incomprehensibly awful on my body chemistry, and I'm not sure I'll want to brave it again.

The cigarette thing may just be a quirk of vetiver on me. Now that you mention it, yeah, it's worth at least trying the imp.