lady_pandora

I second (or third or tenth) the mention of Yemaya. The BPAL one (not the TAL one, which I haven't tried); it can be found in Excolo. It's fresh juicy melon all the way.

Wet: Chocolate-flavored lip gloss. Like the kind I used to wear when I was 12. 20 minutes later: Gone. Poof. *scratches head*

When I first put this on, it smelled disgusting on me. I can't put my finger on exactly what it smelled like, just that it threatened to be as big a disaster as Depraved or Coiled Serpent was on me. Ten minutes later? Warm yummy ginger and cinnamon. These two spices drown out pretty much everything else in the blend, turning it into a slightly less-sweet version of Bengal on me. I really like this. Not sure if I need a supply, though, given the similarity to Bengal and the fact that I kind of like the more-sweet quality of the latter.

Mmm, I love this. Dark juicy berries plus something soft and sensual that's registering as a floral with my nose but may be the musk, tinged with a hint of green. It's not strong on me--I'm going to have to slather--but yummm. I know this may sound like an insult to some, but this is sort of Bath and Body Works in the best possible way. It reminds me of one of their good scents and not one of their lame ones. I think it's Black Raspberry Vanilla that's specifically coming to mind, and I love that stuff. Bewitched is like that, only better.

I almost didn't try this one despite my love for the play and the character, because lemon and I often don't get along. It came as a frimp with my last order (Thanks Lab!) and I had forgotten what was in it until after I tried it on. Lemon, happily enough, is content to watch this one from the sidelines. Yay! What this smells like is a delicate flower in a garden at night, surrounded by damp greenery. It's very subtle and very green, and the floral is almost imperceptible at first. Much like Cordelia's true worth... Regan is more overtly "sweet" and "pretty" but that's kind of the point, isn't it? Now all I need is Goneril to have the full set... Anyway, though, I like it. Very spring, very comforting.

Vasakasajja goes on like the freshest, most delightful "clean shampoo" smell imaginable. I don't know exactly which notes make me think of shampoo and freshly washed hair, but when I say an oil smells like shampoo, I mean it in a good way. These are the kinds of light fresh scents I like when it's hot out. And it's been unseasonably warm around here for several weeks. It settles down to what smells like a mingling of floral and honey. It reminds me a lot of my Lush Flying Fox body wash (which is mainly jasmine and honey) and so I initially thought the dominant floral note was jasmine. After reading the notes, though, I've concluded that what I'm getting is orchid, and that both the floral and the honey impressions are probably due to the orchid. This is the same note that was so dripping-with-nectar in Shadow Witch Orchid and so honey-ish in Regan. Yummmm. After a few hours the throw remains floral-honey-shampooish but if I sniff my wrist directly there's a somewhat cloying "perfume counter" sort of smell that seems to be a mixture of musk and something "green" that isn't vetiver but kind of reminds me of it. However! I love the throw, and my BF actually complimented me on this scent (he rarely likes my BPALs, at best he's usually indifferent), and so I'm willing to put up with the fact that it doesn't smell quite as good when I mash my nose right up into my wrist. Just need to keep in mind it smells better at arm's length. This is VERY similar to the unreleased scent Baba Yaga, but slightly better on me, so YAY. Definitely very sensual, and it's a hot-weather sort of sensual as opposed to the heavier scents I wear when it's cold out.

Penthus!

Right out of the vial I get the scent of honey and something citrusy. Orange, I think. Don't see what in the notes is creating the orange impression, but it's there. This settles down on my skin into a lovely, feminine floral with just a hint of fruitiness in the background. The musk and the honey are barely discernible, but I think they're there, because I'm reminded vaguely of Les Bijoux, which contains both skin musk and honey. But while Les Bijoux is definitely a fruity scent on me, Brides of Dracula is dominated by the floral. The floral note is something I recognize but can't name. Maybe this is the osmanthus and/or the lily? At any rate, it's very pretty, very delicate, and very fresh-smelling. It makes me want a lacy dress and sausage curls. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether it will induce headaches if I slather it, which sometimes happens with sandalwood. I suspect it'll be fine, because as far as I can tell I can't even smell the sandalwood.

This is a LOT like Talvikuu--the watery/piney/minty note is exactly the same on me. What makes Thrush different from Talvikuu is the amber in Thrush, which rounds out the scent and makes it golden while blunting some of the masculine effect of the piney note. So if you thought Talvikuu was just a shade too masculine and aftershavey, you might want to try the Thrush. The amber also evokes the image of sunshine. Talvikuu will always remind me of snowstorms, not just because of the notes but because there was actually a snowstorm going on when I was given my imp of it. Thrush, then, is the day after the snowstorm. It's still colder than a witch's you-know-what and the snow is two feet deep, but the sun has come out and maybe the snow is melting just a little, but not enough that it's all gross and sludgy, and the sky is blue and cheerful despite the cold. I've got it! Talvikuu is the blizzard and Thrush is waking up the next morning and finding out you don't have to go to work.

There's this store I love in St. Louis. On the ground floor it's a head shop. In the basement they sell sex toys and BDSM gear. I like to go there and buy saucy lingerie, and everything I bring home from there has a wonderful aroma of headshop/leather/musk wafting from it. I love the smell so much that it's almost a shame to wash the clothes and get rid of it. Krampus is that store in a bottle. This is a mixture of a very animalistic musk, leather, and a note that reminds me of patchouli, but I kind of think it may actually not be patchouli. It flirts with mustiness but never crosses the line. I can't really describe the overall effect except to say that it smells like a kinky headshop! I can't decide whether it makes me want to get it on or mellow out. Definitely give this one a try if you like Smut. Krampus is a little heavier, a little more masculine, but there's definitely a familial resemblance between the two scents. Beth definitely evoked an appropriate image here, reminding me of shopping for the sort of things a bad girl might put on her wish list...

Hee, I love how we're all posting the Heroine scents in all caps because we're copy/pasting them from the site. I was doing the same thing on my LJ. Congratulations to Beth on coming up with blends I can't spell!

Les Bijoux, definitely. Now that I've tried it, I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Hymn to Proserpine is a good match, at least on me.

I wore Les Bijoux to the family gathering. Both because I wanted the yummy apple goodness and because I can say the name of it in polite company.

Sin, Anne Bonny, Sed Non Satiata.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm developing more of a tolerance for aquatic/ozone notes. Initially, they all gave me a headache. Over the past few months, I've found a few aquatic blends that don't. And with Penthus, I've finally found one where the aquatic note does what it's supposed to do--which is make me smell like water. This is a very good thing because I love all those candles, etc., that smell like "Rain" and have been saddened by the thought that I couldn't wear things like that as perfume. I get mostly the aquatic note, with a slight undertone of rose that vanishes after half an hour or so. In the throw, it's pretty much all aquatic. And it's lovely. It's reminiscent of tears, yes, and is a little melancholy. But it also makes me think of a gentle rain. Pardon the personal woo-woo stuff, but I've always found rain comforting when I'm in emotional pain; it's almost like it infuses me with power and gives me strength. Or maybe it really does. So this is not just the scent of sorrow to me, but also represents the way sorrow yields to--if not happiness--a wistful sort of acceptance. It's lovely, and I must thank Beth for creating a "rainy" blend that I can wear.

This is a very elegant, gentlemanly cologne. Oddly, I get mostly lavender from it, plus a little bit of what I assume is the moss, and between the two of them, they smell slightly minty on me. The reason this is odd is because my skin seems to have forgotten it's supposed to amp amber. Definitely a masculine blend, but it's one I can wear without feeling like I've doused myself in aftershave or slathered on Speed Stick. Yay for a sophisticated masculine blend without vetiver!!! Emotional impression: I feel like it's good for clearing your head. It feels like a blend that would be good to wear when you need to do something intellectual. If I were still in college, I might wear it to take exams. Lots of BPAL blends (and oh, how I love 'em) center you in your body and envelop you in intoxicating sensuality. Saint-Germain is the opposite; it centers you in your head.

This turns to 90% patchouli and 10% sandalwood within minutes on my skin, with the rose vanishing as rose tends to do on me. This is a very earthy, almost musty patchouli. It doesn't smell bad per se. (I'm not at that time of the month when patchouli turns to rancid garbage smell on me.) But I rarely feel the urge to smell that strongly and that exclusively of patchouli. And for those days when I want a patch/sandalwood blend, I have Anne Bonny, which balances better on my skin and smells more like a 50/50 mix of the two notes. Sadly, I don't think this one is "me."

Golden Priapus starts out with juniper and pine dominating the blend. It smells sort of medicinal and sort of camphor-ish. As it dries down, my amber-loving skin chemistry amps up the amber to eclipse the juniper and pine. The camphory note is still there, but the golden quality of the amber is the predominant note. I'm not sure if this scent is "me," but I do like it, and I think it would smell even better on a guy. Then I start getting Play-Doh. I don't particularly want to smell like Play-Doh, and I've put way too much on anyway, so I go to wash it off. Big mistake. I apparently washed off all of the notes except Play-Doh. I try to wash my wrist 5 or 6 times with no success, and I don't have any alcohol handy. Still Play-Doh and amping like whoa. I doubt that I can inspire anyone to any sort of priapism while smelling like Play-Doh. I'm going to end up making all the guys reminisce about their childhoods instead. After I wait out this scent for about 5 hours, it starts wafting O at me. WTF? I do like this final O-ish stage, but if I want to smell like O, I'll just wear O and skip the camphor and the Play-Doh.

OMG YES. Death on a Pale Horse was strong enough on me to kill, well, a pale horse. You could smell it from a mile away. I couldn't seem to wash it off, either.

I second the mention of Bengal; it's much spicier than O, but it has the same yummy honey note. Also Jezebel might be up your alley. And Regan--no honey in that, at least according to the site, but on me it was very honeyish.

I've heard that Lyonesse is close. Which is why I'm coveting Lyonesse at the moment. I had not thought about comparing the two - I would say that Underpants is thicker and more syrupy to me, whereas Lyonesse is lighter, a little more perfumy than foody in nature. But Lyonesse is absolutely gorgeous regardless of whether you like or dislike Underpants! I think everyone should try it, and vanilla fans will especially love it. Oh, and another one for Underpants fans. This may sound odd, but Hymn to Proserpine. It has a very similar sandalwood. I thought I was on crack for thinking they were similar, but there are 3 or 4 other reviews saying the same thing.

I wait until I went to work today to give this one a proper testing. Why? Because my boyfriend hates it. I put it on last night and he was "ew"ing in about ten seconds. This is not a slam against Beth. The BF hates flavored coffee, you see. Fortunately, I am not afflicted with this problem. Right out of the bottle, this is very buttery. It settles down into the aroma you get when you brew hazelnut coffee. I don't know why I'm getting hazelnut and not Irish cream, but there you have it. You know how flavored coffee never tastes as good as it smells? This is the smell of flavored coffee brewing. Which is a scent I love so much I could use it as incense. As Misk U dries, the scent close to my wrist remains coffee. There's a slight burnt note there as well. But the throw is something else entirely--the coffee note isn't detectable, and instead I get the exact scent of my mom's seven-layer cookies. It's sort of butterscotchy, sort of sugary, sort of nutty, sort of coconutty. I like it, and it's a very nostalgic scent this time of the year. This is reminiscent enough of Christmas that I may not have the urge to wear it as much at other times of the year, plus there's the boyfriend-hating-it problem, so I probably won't end up buying a big bottle of it. But I will definitely be savoring the imp!

When I first put this on, I get a brief, sharp citrus note. Apple appears next, with maybe a slight hint of honey rounding it out. It dries down to a blend of spicy apple with a sort of woodiness to it. It actually makes me think of my grandmother's potpourri. I don't mean that in a bad way; it's a powerful and comforting scent memory. Though it doesn't have much in common with the naughty poem that inspired the blend. Over the course of the day it actually does become sexy. It takes a while for the honey to arrive on the scene, but when it does, it's gorgeous. Between the honey and apple on my arm, I want to lick my wrist. Just yum. The throw is mostly fruity with a sort of fresh, shampooy scent. I love it. Edit, six years later. What has happened with aging Les Bijoux is that the apple note is nearly gone. I get mainly peach, honey, and orange blossom. It feels like a close sister to Jezebel now. I think I love it even more now, and I have roughly fifty gallons of Poisoned Apple (another favorite) for my apple needs. Another edit, oil aged 8 years: frankincense has really stepped forward. It's frankincense/apple/peach/something vaguely spicy. And still lovely.

Wet: Red Hots. Drydown: Still very heavy on the cinnamon, with a tiny hint of red fruits underneath. This may be the pomegranate. It may also be the dragon's blood, which sometimes goes fruity. An hour later: Still mostly cinnamon, though the dragon's blood is now rearing its head with a juicy, almost fruity smell. Two hours: Patchouli has arrived to smack down everything else. Where's my cinnamon! It's not a bad patchouli, really, but it's a little musty on my skin and I've lost the rest of the notes.