darkling

I agree with others that Grand Guignol is apricot booze. This is the longest-lasting apricot scent that I have tried. The apricot note is very natural and instilled with a nice warmth from the brandy.

Sin is a spicy, viscous scent. I definitely pick up the patchouli (which is not good since I hate patchouli) but it has more of a resinous quality to it as well as an unusual warmth. When I took a deep whiff of this scent, the back of my throat started to burn. I could feel that spiciness in my mouth and I had to drink some juice to wash it out. This is a long-lasting scent. I had to scrub and scrub in the shower to get it off of me.

In the bottle and its primary stage on my skin, Strawberry Moon was entirely syrupy artifical strawberry. It reminded me of that scary strawberry syrup that kids use to make strawberry milk. After half an hour, the strawberry remained artifical but took on a powdery quality. The scent was now reminiscent of a Strawberry Shortcake doll as others have noted. After a few minutes of the powdery phase, the strawberry began to develop a more natural tone due to the mingling of the green tea and sage. At this point, the scent is exquisite. Light, fresh-picked strawberries and a cool glass of green tea in a garden of herbs and gentle flowers. Sadly, this phase only lasts a minute or so before the entire scent fades into oblivion

Oddly enough, Magus smelled like a lighter, more golden version of Cathedral. The resin (frankinscence?) scent was almost identical to my nose.

I received an imp of Chaos Theory CCCLXXII via graycat whose review is below. I had a very different impression of this scent than graycat. I picked up some citrus but even more strongly a juicy tropical fruit like mango or papaya. It was very rich and tangy to the point where the fruit became oppressive and overwhelming. The fruit scent on its own would be fabulous if it wasn't trying to choke me. graycat's review (Last reviewed by roesmoker.)

I had the chance to try the lovely Chaos Theory XXXVI thanks to sihaya09 and I am posting her review below. My impressions were very similar. This blend was a sweet combination of vanilla and fruit. The fruit scent was a bit vague and I couldn't identify it as a specific type. There was a faint edge of white musk that adds depth to the scent. I enjoyed its initial stages immensely. Unfortunately, the scent became powdery on my skin very quickly, obscuring the vanilla/fruit blend. This Chaos Theory remained pure powder with a faint hint of fruit and musk until it faded completely after an hour or so. sihaya09's review (Last reviewed by olympia301.)

Judgement is a blend that exudes warmth. I could definitely detect musk and a whiff of spicy insence combining with the more faint scent of berries. This is a nice blend but it doesn't stand out to me as a fragrance.

I hereby acknowledge jasmine as another of my archnemeses. The citrus and herbs that produced the effect of luch, tropical blooms were utterly destroyed by the jasmine that created a sickly sweet and rancid undertone to the scent. I am also holding it resposible for the scent of plastic that permeated Santa Eularia Des Riu. I am not ordering any more scents with jasmine no matter how appealing the other ingredients.

This is the perfect vampiric rose scent because of the lightly rotting blooms. There is a hint of spiciness beneath the rot that adds some depth to the scent. I can see why this might be very appealing to others but I don't enjoy the scent of anything rotting. I will pass on Lucy's Kiss to someone else

Azathoth is the blind, idiot god who sits on a black throne at the center of Chaos. His scent is high-pitched and screeching, both impenetrably dark and searingly bright with the clarity of madness: tangerine, saffron, vetiver, black amber and cedarwood. Azathoth has the cologne base that I detect in Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, and Whippoorwill at about medium strength. Overpowering the cologne is intense saffron. None of the other notes can get past the strength of the saffron and they never appear. This is an incredibly long-lasting scent. 10 hours after application the throw was dimmed but Azathoth was still going strong on my wrists. The cologne bowed in homage to the saffron over time making me wonder how this would compare to a saffron single-note. While I greatly enjoyed the intense saffron scent, Azathoth is way too masculine for me. I can't convince my partner to wear BPAL, so to the swap pile it goes

To my nose, the Ides of March smelled a lot like lavendar along with a sharp herbal and lemon edge. It is a sleepy, comforting scent. After a few minutes, the lemon started to smell like cleanser and the other notes were diluted by the chemical harshness.

Whippoorwill is a fascinating green scent. It has a light cologne base reminiscent of Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth. The cologne scent fades completely after a minute on my skin. The notes in Whippoorwill are difficult for me to identify. Overall, the scent is a bit watery with something green and sweet. Perhaps the bamboo? It feels very cooling and gentle. I can't see myself using the entire bottle but I definitely enjoy Whippoorwill.

*sob* 13 is my favorite number and I was incredibly excited about this scent. Unfortunately, it didn't work on me at all. In the bottle, it was a faint scent of chocolate with no other identifiable notes. On my skin, the light chocolate was most prominent with a vague orange undertone. The chocolate had an unpleasant artificial edge to it. Adding to my pain, the scent then began to get powdery and the identifiable notes all vanished. No currant. No tea. Very disappointing. Stupid body chemistry

La Belle was a freebie with my Clubs order and not something that I would have tried on my own. This is a lovely, delicate scent. I tend to rabidly dislike florals but these flowers are gentle and sweet. It has a faint aquatic tinge, perhaps from the moring dew. Adding to its beauty is the faint hint of fruit edging up to the florals. There is something soporific about this scent that made me wear it to bed. It was very soothing and I slept deeply and without nightmares. This one is a keeper to add to my bedtime scent list.

Jezebel was a nasty combination of sharp and sickeningly sweet. As others have noted, I also found this scent very cloying. And the honey ensured that a vague powdery undertone was present. This one is going right to swap.

I received a tiny bit of this scent from pranashakti Fiery Wall is a very warm but clean scent. I definitely pick up dragon's blood most strongly with this belnd. It is muted by another note that is crisp and clear that I can not identify. This combination of notes made me imagine a clear plexiglass wall surrounding me rather than a wall of flame. Fiery Wall of Protection has been a lifesaver for me as I am going through an extremely rough time at work. A couple of times when I have known I will have a really gruelling day, I have worn this scent and got through everything without making it worse. The scent itself is not very long-lasting but the idea of the wall has a lot of staying power. I hope that I will be able to get my hands on a bottle at some point.

Penny Dreadful smelled exactly like Graveyard Dirt in the bottle. Once it was on my skin, a spiciness mingled with the rich dirt. As with Graveyard Dirt, the earth scent of Penny Dreadful was too overpowering for my tastes.

The jasmine note in Zorya overwhelmed the scent, giving it the quality of strong generic perfume that I dislike intensely. I could catch a hint of some lovely spice and gentle flowers underneath but not clearly enough to identify them. To add insult to injury, about two minutes after I applied the scent to my skin it developed an undertone of burnt plastic. Zorya is just not for me.

What happened to the fig?! Sandalwood? Almond milk? All I got from Eden was burnt coconut

I received an imp of Temple: Greek in a swap with chopchica This scent is exactly how I imagined Delphi would smell. It is a lovely mix of sweet cloves, herbs, and burnt offerings. The smoke/incense note does not dominate the scent but keeps the clove note from becoming sickeningly sweet. This is an incredibly balanced blend. It puts me in mind of a temple to Artemis and Apollo in its balance of light and dark notes.

Two, Five & Seven reminds me of the freshly cut roses that just arrived from the florist. It is all sweet, pure blooms. I love it!

I am not sure how I could dislike Darkness because I love the scent of opium and I love the scent of myrrh. But I dislike it. Maybe it is the narcissus? On my skin, the scent smelled spicy and dark but with a sour, viscous undertone. It reminded me of the time I spilled Wings of Azrael and it became a swamp of strong, oppressive myrrh.

This was a freebie with my last order and inevitably (thanks to the honey) smelled like Play-Doh. Interestingly, Sudha Segara was lemon Play-Doh.

Wolf's Heart makes me feel like I can handle anything!

I tried this scent after sniffing most of the Springtime in Arkham line. Appropriately enough, Nyarlathotep reminds me strongly of Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth. It has the same ozone-cologne scent at medium strength but is paired with a watery citrus scent. The citrus makes Nyarlathotep appeal to me more than the other Cthonic blends but that ozone-cologne scent just doesn't work for me.