Abbie

In the bottle: If you could bottle up being drunk, this is what it would smell like. Heady, exciting, sensual... but at the same time, confusing, and hard to focus on. It's perfectly named: this would be an ideal scent to wear to a debauched, depraved, glamorous party while outside the doors Death stalks the country. On a more pragmatic note, it's sweet. I pick up honey and tobacco and not much else. First on: It's not a very oily oil. And unfortunately it's OMGWTF CLOVES, which are not my favorites. Plus there's a trace (only a trace, but still) of Myrrh, my old nemesis. I could be picking up a bit of patchouli, but that may be wishful thinking. Dry: It fades into something soft and wistful, redolent of spices. Overall I quite like it, though the drydown wasn't so nice.

In the bottle: Refreshing violet scent... a nice man's aftershave. A silky sort of smoothness, where I can't really pick out any notes. I'm not getting any kind of mint at all. First on: A babypowder scent comes forward, which surprises me, as I typically only get that with roses and lilies. Still the zingy satiny stuff I got to begin with, overall. Dry: This is a strong scent with a lot of endurance and throw. It drew more comment than any other fragrance that I've worn to the office... In future I'll turn down the amount. This is probably a keeper, although I didn't need a whole bottle.

In the bottle: A very light and clean floral, without the overpowering funereal smell I typically associate with lily. Totally not what I was expecting, as the story of Berenice is not all delicate and romantic, but a profoundly unpleasant story of the bad crazy. A lovely green aquatic. First on: My skin amps the lily, but it's still not too much. These are very fresh florals... not even picked. The scent reminds me of the easter lilies in a pot we would give to my mom every year when we were kids. It's maybe a little sweeter and less green. Dry: Unfortunately this is a pretty quick fader on me and leaves only a lingering sweetness... I'll try it in my hair. But overall SO GOOD!

In the bottle: Kind of ucky with a fruit undertone. It's sort of dark and old-man smelling, with the fruit popping out at odd moments. First on: Wow, that's weird... on my wrists, it's all old man uck. On the tip my finger that I rubbed the scent in with... all fruit. Dry: Actually, dry, this is very nice. Sort of reminiscent of scarecrow, which is a big favorite of mine. Very hot, dry grassy scent. However, it's a bit... butch for me. This might be really good on a guy, but it is STRONG and needs someone who it doesn't overpower.

Oooh, pretty bottle. Let's take her for a spin (GOD I've missed doing reviews). In the bottle: Not that strong of a scent. I can't pick apart musks but there's a spicy orange-peel fragrance that I'm getting. It's a bit... chocolatey? Very sexy and appetizing. First on: This is animalistic and kind of seventies smelling. There's a bit of a funk to it, but in a good way, if that makes any sense at all... which it doesn't. Sigh. Let's try that again. It's a very sexy fragrance and smells like something that you'd wear if you took off work at noon to go make love for the rest of the day and night. Dry: No throw at all but it's faded to something that seems mostly like amber to me. Overall: Good! Not something I might have ventured on if it weren't a LE but definitely worth it.

Bottle: Musk, but very green, light, and refreshing musk. And do I detect a hint of mint? First on: Very soft and seductive. Pretty traditionally masculine, although I often wear the boyish colognes. Dry: It faded fast on me, though, leaving behind only a faint, fresh sweetness. Overall: Good! I would have considered big-bottling this if it wasn't a discontinued LE.

In the imp: Sandalwood like whoa. First on: I can pick up the patchouli now but sandalwood is still very dominant. Dry: Yeah, not much of a morph. Overall: I picked this up in a rl swap and I don't know what I was thinking, since this scent is just so not me. It must go back out into the world in search of someone to love it.

In the imp: Roses. I'd say tea roses, but I'm no expert. It's kind of a dark smell... not at all powdery. First on: It seems to sweeten up on my skin and turn a little artificial-rose-scent-ish. There's a pretty chemical undertone going on here. Dry: This is a HEAVY, strong perfume, and while it's not bad... roses, lilies, and powder... I already have Magdalene which is pretty much identical on me. So this one's for the swap pile

In the bottle: Sweet and deep lily of the valley with lilac undertones. Very very rich floral. First on: A hotter smell comes through... this must be the Dragon's Blood, though I don't know what that resin smells like. It makes it rather spicy and sweeter still. Dry: This is a long-lasting scent with a lot of throw. Overall it's a little too strong and heady for me. Probably not one I'll keep.

In the bottle: Pretty much pure aquatic. Sort of halfway between Lightning's salty ozone and Desdemona's flowery water-garden. First on: But this one has citrus! It's very light and refreshing... although more suited to a nice summery day than a day like today where snow is bucketing down. Dry: A fairly good laster with a nice amount of throw. Overall: I do love me the aquatics. This one's definitely a keeper.

This is the last imp from my latest order! Fortunately I'm attending the Denver Meet n Sniff Sunday and can get some more schwag. In the bottle: Definitely green tea... although I've noticed that RL green tea does not smell at all to me like "green tea" fragrance. But this is typical tea-scent as in Dorian. It's very light and not sugary, which I like. On: This is very good... when I use up my current L'Occitane green tea fragrance I will buy a big bottle of this. It is wonderfully light and refreshing.

In the bottle: Jasmine, but it seems more like the American Cape Jasmine than the old world "Official" Jasmine. A little lighter, with maybe a hint of fruitiness underneath. First on: This is quite nice... although it's a darn good thing I love jasmine, because any blend with any of it is pretty hard-core jasmine on my skin and this round of shopping just about everything had jasmine in. Boy it's annoying to repeat jasmine jasmine jasmine over and over again. There's something light under this blend... maybe the moonflower and ylang ylang. I do not detect anything spicy or woody or frankincensey. Dry: A fairly fast fader, with the black currant just providing a faint discuss further. Overall: A keeper. But I'm not buying anymore of the unmentionable flora next time around until I use all of my blends with the nameless plant up.

In the bottle: Unlike a lot of previous reviewers, I get lavender first sniff. There's a bitter, fresh-scented undertone which must be pennyroyal, and I'd swear some geranium in there too. First on: Still mostly lavender, but there's something about this that smells... automotive? Like motor oil and tires? It's very subtle and I had to really stretch my brain to get it, but its def. there on me. Dry: Like, half an hour later? Gone. Overall: I might try this as a shampoo/conditioner and see if its a better laster, cause I love lavender.

Oberon is my favorite Shakespeare character, whether portrayed by the droolable Rupert Everett, or the semi-droolable comic character in the Gaiman/Reiber "Books of Magic". So here goes. In the imp: Soft, sweet, and musky. I'd swear I'm picking up lotus, but no trace of juniper or bergamot etc. First on: Ack! Citronella bug spray! This is a bizarre morph... it must be the bergamot, but usually bergamot smells bitter to me, not insect-repellant. Very weird. Dry: Back to sweet. But Overall? Not for me.

In the bottle: What is it with all of these greek-themed scents that makes them tend to smell alike to me? To me they all smell of olive trees, but that isn't listed in the descriptions for Athens and Delphi. This is MUCH nicer than Athens or Delphi, though... no nauseatingly sweet wine smell. Its quite herbal and kitcheny smelling. First on: It smells like cooking some sort of stew... maybe pasta e fagiole? Lots of spices, but not sweet at all. And a LOT of cedar coming out. Dry: Mostly just cedar now. Not really my thing... although cedar does LOVE my skin and likes to announce its presence to anyone in a ten foot radius. Overall: One for the swap pile.

In the bottle: See, I'd always heard "asphodel" was just Greek for "Daffodil". But this ain't daffodil. It's hyacinth or lilac: I can never remember which is which smell-wise. It's quite nice... a lovely rainy-day-at-the-botanical-gardens, although I think it might be a little heavy for day wear. Very simple. First on: Man, this is lovely... very fresh and floral. I don't know if it's really something I want to smell like personally, but it's SO GOOD. Dry: This doesn't change hardly at all... it always remains very subtle, and is lasting a fairly long time (~5 hours) Overall: Not my usual thing but definitely a winner.

In the imp: This is mostly orange blossom, with undertones of rosemary and very little rose at all. It's kinda interesting and herbal. First on: Whoa, that got strong all of a sudden. And soapy. Dang, I am having no luck with these herbal things lately. Dry: This went back to orange blossom and rosewater. Not bad but not great either. Overall: Swap pile!

In the bottle: A simple sweet scent that to me seems mostly "cherry". Generally I do not do well with the sweet, but we'll see how it goes. First on: This is actually pretty good though! It's not too cloying on, and it's got a nice light fruity fragrance. It reminds me of high school, actually... somehow it evokes the Exclamation and Sunflowers perfumes and the Bonne Bell Lip Smackers we all wore. Although it doesn't really smell like any of that. But if EVOKES them. Boy this'll be a real helpful review to people. Dry: Pretty much more of the same. Maybe a little bit more Bonne Bell and a little less Sunflowers. But very nice indeed. Overall: Keeper!

In the bottle: A very soft and light scent. I can detect cucumber, ginger, and milk...with some richer, lily-like undertones First on: This is very very subtle on. The ginger and lilies get stronger, and there's a darker undertone of gardenia and musk. It's almost a little rank, actually. Dry: Hard to get a read on it... this faded FAST. But it's mostly a spicy gardenia sort of smell now, with still that sort of rank scent. Overall: This might be nice for a room scent, but the combination of it and my skin is not a good thing. I'll keep it unless something really awesome comes up in swaps.

In the imp: Mmm... sexy and rich. Mostly jasmine, but I swear my nose picks up the slightest trace of that stuff, so take that for what its worth. I would not associate this with an unpleasant murder at all... it's like a fortune-tellers booth. First on: Odd, normally my skin plays up jasmine, but this time I'm getting more orchideousness and magniolasticity (I totally just invented those words, W00T!) It's a little sweeter, a little more powdery, than in the vial. Maybe a hint of something spicy... could that be the amber? Dry: Mellow... oddly, this reminds me of Magdalene, which must be the roses coming forward. Overall: Not bad at all. Probably a keeper, though not a big-bottler.

In the bottle: The scent I have come to think of as the "Voodoo Blend Smell". Kinda sweet but not cloying. Babypowderish. Something a little spicy underneath. First on: Oh God what is that? Burning plastic? That is seriously icky, folks Dry: Alright, maybe I jumped the gun. Full strength this is pretty nasty on, but as it dries it's kind of interesting... peppery and spicy. But then when it's totally dry it goes back to "Voodoo Blend Smell" Overall: For the swap pile. I just don't have much luck with the Voodoo Blends.

In the imp: Mmm... soft and aquatic and floral with just a little citrus. Teh good. Not a realistic sea scent at all, but hey, the throne of God is probably not just out in the middle of the Pacific or anything. First on: A little salt kicks in, but that's cool... recently a lot of smells have been going WAY salty on me. This is kind of a mix of Desdemona and Lightning. Dry: The florals vanished leaving the pure "aquatic" scent... what is the name of that note, anyway? It's really nice.

I am a po' grad student now, and have not been able to purchase any of the preciousss for some time. I missed bpal, and wished I could buy some more... and then realized I HADN'T EVEN TRIED about half of my last order. Yeah... ChemE grad students. We're smart. Okay, in the imp: Weird. There's definitely an astringent scent which must be lavender, but I wouldn't have known that without looking at the other reviews. It's sort of... exotic and spicy and the damn cat won't get off the keyboard and I keep having to backspace over his typos. Ahem. Somehow I have the fear: a lot of these spicy scents are evil on me. But let's see. First on: No throw at all, but a very intriguing scent. I think it's really sensuous. Sort of expensive clothing-store in the Garment District kind of scent: a mix of sachet, lavender, chai tea, smoke, and other women's perfume. Dry: Nice! Still no throw but plenty of endurance. And I'd swear I'm picking up a hint of mint. Overall: This one is a keeper. MINE MINE MINE!

Bat-winged, flame-eyed, and possessed of an unearthly, perfect beauty: the Daughters of Lilith, the Succubi, invade the dreams of men and lie with them in rapturous, unholy sexual union. The scent of their skin is bittersweet, dusky and terminally seductive. Mimosa, orange blossom, neroli and bergamot with a drop of sweet clove. In the imp: This scent is hard to get a handle on. I sniff it and think "Citrus" and then I sniff more and think "Herbal" and then I sniff more and think "Floral". But it isn't, for example, a herbally floral with hints of citrus... my nose just doesn't want to interpret it. First on: It's herbal. With orange blossom. And this sucker is strong once you put it on. I still feel oddly conflicted about it: a lot of these herbal/floral blends end up smelling too salty on me, but this one is nice, at least to begin with. It's a nice green garden sort of smell, though. Dry: Yeah, there's that salty soapy smell again. I've gotta try blending these florals with something else and see if I can stop that.

In the imp: Choke, gag. Geez, I just have no luck with these "Greek" scents... Delphi was like this too. WAY too sweet, with a nasty recycled red wine undertone. Normally I go through this whole rigamarole of testing the scents and analyzing them but I can't imagine any possible drydown that would be good enough that I'd want to wear this.