lady_pandora

To me, the scent of Astral Travel oil is a soft citrusy scent, I'm going to guess neroli, followed by the creamy ambery note that's in Charisma, which I think is ambergris. I'm not sure if my astral practices are as advanced as what others have talked about, but I will say that I'm able to go deeper into trance when I use this oil. I get further down the rabbit hole--the corollary is that it takes longer to come back up afterward. It's a valuable addition to my practice and my TAL collection.

Initially, Morgause is dominated by ylang-ylang, but settles down to a scent that is violet-dominant with a bit of fruit (I think mostly plum, maybe a little grape) to round it out and a soft cloud of incense to deepen it. This is a purple velvet dress in scent form. It's really a lot like Purple Phoenix but less grapey. This...is AWESOME. Because I'm almost out of Purple Phoenix and it's an LE from back when dinosaurs walked the earth and now I can get basically the same thing as a GC.

On me, Harlot is powdery rose and cinnamon and...for some reason something that reminds me of the linen/clean laundry note? It's also really faint on me. I had high hopes for this one, but it doesn't stand out among my rose scents. :/

A traditional Voodoo recipe: a fast-acting, efficient uncrossing oil. Scentwise, Flying Devil is peppery; if you've tried Bengal, it's that same warm, sweet spicy note. It didn't irritate my skin, but I only got it on my fingers, and I'm thinking it could cause a welt on more sensitive areas. I tried this out last night because I'd had a Day From Hell and felt like I needed to change my luck. Handy that it was the waning moon too. I improvised a little ritual using both this and Jinx Removing. I first put Flying Devil on a black tea light and focused on banishing all the bad stuff, and then Jinx Removing on a white tea light while focusing on cleansing; while I know Jinx Removing is also a banishing oil, it has a very soothing character to me and seemed to fit in this way. (FWIW, the Flying Devil candle burned higher and was consumed first.) And then I knocked out a massive, gross cleaning project that had been nagging at me for months. I've noticed that these oils sometimes prod me to do my own part in fixing a situation, and Flying Devil appears to have spurred me to banish one of my own "demons" in the form of this task. Now to see what effect it has on the other things that were troubling me...that'll be a more gradual thing.

Cicuta is a really lovely scent in any case. I've never sniffed Eve, but I'm glad I have Cicuta. I should remember to wear it more often.

Oddly, I never really thought of wearing a specific BPAL for exercise--but it sounds like a great idea! I wonder if TAL Energy would be good for that.

Oh, this is fantastic. It starts out cherryalmond and is a lot like As Above. Then the leather comes out, until leather is the dominant note. This is big sexy leather, a little smoky. Then a little more almond comes back, and then it gets incensey with the patchouli. The vanilla shows up more in the throw for me, while it's more patchouli close to the skin. Love it. Haute Macabre is 4-for-4 with that imp set!

White musk, we need to talk. Bow & Crown started out really nice. Cologney wood with something edible, then incensey vanilla leather, mmm! (I literally have "mmm!" in my notes.) A bit of wood comes back out as the scent evolves, all fine and good. And then it goes cloying at about the half-hour mark and never recovers. I've had white musk fail on me multiple times lately. It doesn't always, so I need to experiment and figure out what I can and can't pair it with, but this one isn't working on me. Sorry Lab.

Oh, this reminds me, I also wore some Sinus Amoris last summer. I have some "beat the heat" scents, and then I have "can't beat the heat, might as well join it" stuff like Sinus Amoris, which feels like it just sort of goes with the flow of being sultry and steamy. (I'm the same way about winter really--I have "illusion of warmth" scents and also "it's cold, let's just embrace the cold" scents, depending on my mood.)

I've got on Symmakhia right now and it's a great one (Vanilla, heliotrope, red sandalwood, pear, black lily, white wine grape, and white rose), but it's an LE from some years back and I don't know how easy it is to find at this point. I second Lady Lucille and Persephone. Another big love of mine is Les Bijoux (Skin musk and honey, blood-red rose, orange blossom, white peach, red apple, frankincense and myrrh). The latter two are both GC and so can be tested pretty inexpensively. Sjofn was off-the-charts sweet for me, like bubble gum. La Belle Au Bois Dormant didn't work for me in particular (I amped the wrong thing and just didn't dig it), but I can tell it's pretty.

Rose, lavender, and...sweat. Stupid skin chemistry. This doesn't work on me in the same way Whitechapel doesn't work on me, so I'm going to blame it on the white musk. I smell like a guy who's just been for a run. I smell like my dad when he'd just come from a run. ...My dad and I don't get along so hot. This one's a nope. Damn skin.

I ended up wearing Mare Nectaris a lot last summer, and there was one day so hot I couldn't stand anything but Dormouse, which isn't even really my thing most of the time. In the meantime, I've also acquired Carnaval Diabolique, which really shouts "summer" to me too!

Lullaby (Crimson Peak), Esbat (Haute Macabre)--evidently ethereal is spelled "moonflower" in my head at the moment

The first few minutes of this are kind of harsh and floor-cleanery, but it settles quickly into leather and cherryalmond. There's a hint of floral, but it never really comes whomping out. I keep feeling like there's tobacco here, even though it's not listed. Maybe it reminds me of somebody's cherry pipe tobacco? There's a slight resemblance to TAL Black Cherry Love Oil. It becomes even better in the late hours, smoky leather with a bit of cherry. I am not sure this one is "me," but I'm keeping the imp at least. Because (a) I really like the super-late stage; ( it smells a little like BCLO, so I can use it to smell a bit like that without invoking the TAL intent, if I so desire; and © it's one of the very few miracle jasmine blends where I don't amp the jasmine. That in and of itself is worth a medal!

I never did get to try Nocnitsa, but have you tried Burial? Given the similar notes, I should try it but I'm wanting more woods than dirt. Maybe I can layer Burial and Black Forest... It depends on your skin chemistry, I think--I got more woods than dirt from it. But YMMV.

I never did get to try Nocnitsa, but have you tried Burial?

Mmm, this is dead sexy. It's dead sexy in a unisex way, and in a very non-vulnerable way--I feel badass in this, but also really comfy. It's like the best pair of jeans you ever had. First couple of minutes I weirdly get a chocolatey scent with coconut and something non-foody that I can't identify. Then it's kind of a musty wood for a few minutes. But once it settles, it's an incensey smoky wood with occasional slight wafts of whatever is chocolatey. Later on, the "wood" note seems like it might actually be coconut husk. Someone upthread mentioned Brown Jenkin and I agree, though I feel like I've been comparing too many things to Brown Jenkin lately! Anyway, it's a gorgeous incense/spicy/wood scent, and way more complex and luxe than those three words can really convey, but I can't break it down any further than that. Keeper!

Al Azif is super sweet on me. Beeswax is dominant in the first few hours, and early on, it's super sweet and smells kind of like bananas in some sniffs, and oatmeal at other moments. Then it goes to just smoky beeswax, and then in the later hours there's maybe some skin musk and maybe a wood note? Something in common with Brown Jenkin. Oddly comforting. I might have too many scents like this; I'll hang on to it for a while and see if I find myself reaching for it.

I was a little worried about Esbat based on other reviews, but at least on me, it does have an unpleasant stage but it only lasts a few minutes. Right when it's first applied, it's kind of harsh and chemical-y, like a cleaner. The only individual note I can make out at that point is oakmoss. It develops really quickly into oakmoss with an ethereal floral haze of moonflower, and as it continues to develop, the oakmoss recedes and the moonflower becomes more prominent. The eventual effect is a really nice, refreshing, maybe slightly soapy moonflower with a little bit of moss in the background. I like it! It does become faint within a few hours. I'll probably buy a bottle of this when it comes back. I could see wearing this on a hot summer night or in ritual.

My current sandalwood faves are Sinus Amoris, Brown Jenkin, Mini Magdalene, and probably something I'll kick myself for forgetting.

Oh yeah, how did I miss Bewitched!? I wear the heck out of that in spring.

Definitely going to start wearing Fairy Thorn again! Do the Dancing Maidens Sleep is also screaming spring to me. Persephone is always a bit of a tradition too.

The Waltz has it--the scent didn't quite work on me, but it's pretty and a lot of people really love it.

ETA: 2008 edition. Wet, Luperci is green and masculine, kind of aftershavey--I would have said pine and vetiver if testing blind, so I think it's the juniper and oakmoss amping up at this early stage. I was about to file it under Boyfriend, but then that wily wolf threw me a curveball--starting at about 30 minutes and then continuing on as the scent settles, it started to really remind me of Brown Jenkin. One of my favorites. There aren't enough notes in common to explain this, but I'm guessing it must be because they both have musk, a sweetening component (the coconut there and the honey here), an incense component, and a dry woodiness. Soooo now I really like this on me. But I also still think it would smell good on him. And he's into wolves. I'm probably more likely to wear it--he wears the same two things all the time while I'm a perfume slut. Maybe I'll buy a bottle and give him the decant or vice versa... Anyway, definitely a keeper, even if I haven't yet decided who it's for!

Well, I seem to amp the "tree" quality in Burial more than the flowers or dirt, but YMMV!