northatlantic

A highly time-dependent scent, but Spirits of the Dead smells VERY grassy to me, so maybe keep an eye on the swap forums if you don't feel like making another order again before it goes away? So does The Apothecary, maybe there is the same tea note in both? but The Apothecary is sweeter (the fig probably) and spicier, and Spirits smells fresher to me, more just green.

Glasgow is AMAZING in the bath. Sea of Glass is also good, but seriously, get you some Glasgow. Best bath salts ever.

noticed you have Phantom Queen in your 'want to try' list--love. LOVE. rich floral but with a clean sharp note underneath, female but not girlish. And the Morrigan is definitely someone I'd rather have on my side than be facing! Neo-Tokyo might be another one where softness hides the steel beneath and you just get a hint of clean bamboo and sharp ozone beneath the cherry blossoms, enough to know it's there without being strident. For something more resin-y but still work friendly, Mantis is something I always get compliments on; it's a bright, light amber and neroli, with just a sniff of red patchouli to ground it [and I usually hate patchouli, but it really works in this blend]. It smells like confidence to me, like someone who shines.

I saw someone selling an aromatherapy remedy online for stopping smoking that was bergamot for positivity and frankincense for purification; on some other sites I saw recommendations that when you're trying to keep resolutions, you should pick scents that make you feel energetic and confident--rather than "stop" scents, scents that encourage you to be positive, that you can do what you need to do without the crutch (am trying to cut back the caffeine too, just to in general feel healthier/sleep better, and I know, eek it's hard.) Ginger and mandarin/tangerine were the specific recs I saw but I'm betting probably anything that makes you feel energetic and confident would help. Good luck!

In the vial: Rich and sweet. Can't smell the lemon or jasmine at all, just honeysuckle and spice. Wet: WOW. just, wow. It clings to my skin and breathes this complex sweet tartness, all the notes just blending into one. I don't get decay from this at all, it smells...warm, but still clear and bright, like a cup of jasmine tea with lemon and honey. As a matter of fact, that is EXACTLY what it smells like to me. It has killed the headache La Belle Dame Sans Merci gave me. Fabulous! Drydown: As the honeysuckle fades, the scent as a whole gets a little sharper and stronger, the lemon and jasmine not quite so perfectly balanced any more. Because of that, New Orleans doesn't quite manage to climb into my Top 5 but it's still beautiful and I'm glad I tried it. I have the feeling this is one of the scents that may achieve its fullest potential on me scenting lotion or bath stuff, something to extend the life of the top note and keep that wonderful period when everything's balanced going a little farther.

In the vial - sharply green. very, very sharp, and whoever said about the voodoo blends, I agree, there's something here that reminds me of Water of Notre Dame--not the whole scent, but something about the greenness... Wet - Soap. Not nice sweet Palmolive either, full-on industrial-strength dishwashing-detergent soap. Immediately headache-inducing. But, in the interests of science, I perservere. Sometimes you have to suffer through wet to get to the good stuff... Dry - Rose. 100% rose. Not nice rose either, very rose-perfume rose, thin and sharp. This is everything I disliked about WoND to the nth degree. Whatever my skin hated in that and the rose that my skin loves too, too much combined to make thise absolutely unwearable for me. off to someone who'll love you better, pet.

looked over a few aromatherapy websites, and they say lavender, neroli, sandalwood and frankincense are all good for sleep and relaxing. As someone who HATES lavender with a passion, I don't have any recs there but for neroli and sandalwood, Lorelai is very soft and soothing, I've worn it to sleep before, although not specifically for nightmares/night terrors.

I should preface this by saying that my three favorite notes are ocean/aquatic, leather, and sandalwood/woods in general that are not pine. So I was HUGELY excited to try this. In the imp: sharp, very fresh and salty. Mmmm, promising. Wet: WHOA salt. And then...sob. The dreaded cologne effect described upthread. And not even good cologne, like, very alcohol-laden designer imposters' version of Escape for Men or something. Maybe the combination of the bay rum and aquatic note together went bad on my skin? whatever it is, it's bad. whoabad. Drydown: I couldn't wait for the drydown. I couldn't stand it and had to wash it off. I gave the imp to a coworker who is usually my scent anti-twin, and true to form she loved it and it smelled like a stiff sea breeze and slightly...floral, weirdly enough? but much, much better than on me. Alas for my skin chemistry--I wanted to smell like a pirate, dammit.

In the vial: tangy, a whiff of ozone. So many of my faves begin this way Wet: oooh pretty. Sharply green and I agree with the people who said this is freshwater, not ocean. A still pool full of greenery. Drydown: The lilies peer out over the green water for about a half hour--and then the coolest, weirdest thing happens; it turns brackish and alive. Like, the wet stage is dawn, when eveything's fresh and cool, but as it heats up on my skin it gets a "lake-y" smell, of things drying and decaying and it does smell like the slough out at my grandparents' lake house. It's a really wild effect, but as it progresses it gets this weird metallic tinge on me, something starts going overripely sweet and it's just a little too real. I think I'll keep my imp for meditations on watery things, for ritual purposes, but I can't picture this as a daily wear scent for me.

In the vial - very, very sweet. Cherry-sweet. In a nice way, pie filling, not cough syrup, but...cherry. Weird. Wet - Yep. Grandma's cherry pie filling, and just a tiny hint of pine. Um, delicate spring blooms, where be you at? Maple? Dry - Still cherry. Faint, but still very fruity. Sweet, syrupy fruit. Not unpleasant, but soooooo not me off to the swap pile with you, pet.

my first bottle purchase unsniffed, and I'm glad I did - thank you gingersnapp In the bottle: the jasmine and calla lily jump out at you, very floral, almost headachy floral and as noted by leahcat above kind of musky. It made me think 'yikes, what have I gotten myself into?' and I adore jasmine and lilies. Hang on, not-big-floral fans, that's not all there is to it! Wet: The orchid pushes to the front with the jasmine and calla lily, and for a second it's WHOAfloral. But as it warms on my skin the ylang ylang and plum start to work their way through, lightening the blend considerably. The florals that a split second ago were TOOSTRONG now temper the sweetness of the plum and ylang-ylang, keep them from getting cloying. From "ew" to "OMFG" in 2 seconds, who knew? Nota bene, however, the early stages this is potent stuff. on me at least, more than a drop--and that's between wrists, behind the ears, and cleavage--and they'd be able to smell me in the next county. Drydown: The throw mellows quite a bit over the next hour, but I'm still getting occasional wafts a couple hours later; my skin seems to drink most scents really quickly, so I'd say that's better than average staying power. The lily of the valley doesn't really poke her head out on me until almost the end, probably because it's the lightest note and it gets a little buried in the bolder flowers. The ylang-ylang was the longest-lasting note on me but that's probably because my skin loves it--and this blend adds enough complexity to it that it doesn't go too sweet. Not quite as yummy to me as my lovely Loralei, but definitely a keeper. I'm glad I got a 5 mL.

In the vial: lemon/ozone, sharp like that whack of wind that sweeps before the rain. Wet: the ozone comes out more over the lemon, and this is the first few raindrops falling, the grass rippling and leaves bruising. Very, very fresh. A lot of throw at this stage drying down: the grassy smell remains, a meadow beaten down and glinting with droplets. Doesn't last very long, though, after an hour I can't even really smell it where it was applied any more unless it's really humid--when it's sticky, it stays on better, so maybe it would be a good fresh summer scent? Verdict: Beautiful, but not going to replace Sea of Glass in my heart any time soon. Sometimes it makes me headachy, and I don't have that trouble with Sea, not sure which note does it.

In the vial: Pear. Very much pear and sweet pea. Almost candy-sweet. Wet: The pear is still there, but heeeeere comes the honeysuckle and the musk. Which is okay, because I like honeysuckle, but it's an entirely different vibe--like, the fresh, young, girl-next-door candy-coated scent has just shaken out her hair, unbuttoned a few buttons, and given you a Tallulah Bankhead smile. Rich and heavy and evocative. Drydown: The vamp fades, and she's tender again, and a little sad, the sweetness still there of the pear and the lilies emerging from beneath the honeysuckle. Much softer now, have to be right next to my skin to smell it. You know, I write this, and I think--wow. It's the evolution of Juliet, from carefree teenager to woman in love to mourning bride. How do you DO that with a perfume?

Okay, so you're never supposed to say what you'll never do, right? Because amber? I hate amber. Amber is awful on me, it turns into this thrift-store cleaner smell. So is patchouli, it just smells dirty--and not in a good Mother-Earth way, an unwashed way. If someone had told me I would like a scent with amber AND patchouli, I'd've said they were crazy. And then I got an imp of Mantis from a friend and. Dammit. I should know better. In the bottle: Yep, that's amber. Definitely smell the amber. And something that smells like dandelion milk, that very bitter-green scent. Why in God's name am I about to put this on my skin? Wet: It burns! but only for a second, and even as I'm getting up to go wash it off, there's a burst of tart complex warmth. Oh. Hello neroli. And I agree with the person upthread who said they got mint in the herbs, I do too, but a lovely soft spearmint, not MINT! like the mint in Undertow turned on me. This is just a hint, a cool breeze mingling with the spears of sunlight through the branches of the neroli tree. I can't smell the patchouli at all, just neroli and the cool herbs and for one glorious time, the amber doing what it's supposed to do and glowing golden, sweet and warm. Drydown: The neroli fades first, alas, but the amber is still sweet without the musty quality it usually has, almost vanilla-y, and the mint is still there. I can finally smell patchouli, but it's just a hint of spicy darkness, not acrid the way it usually gets on me. I wonder if this is the same patchouli that's in Depraved? that's another one where the patchouli doesn't hate me, but just provides a little background darkness. Overall: The neroli doesn't last long enough for me, but while the neroli and amber are in balance, it's glorious. I don't know that I would get any more, but I'm glad I had the chance to try it. On someone amber and patchouli are kinder to, I'll bet it's amazing.

Was not expecting to love this, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. 5mL on the way. In the vial: Very sharp, the neroli leads strong and the sandalwood behind it, an almost astringent smell. Something good for you, but not GOOD. Wet: Softens immediately, still very citrus but the sandalwood becomes...warmer? and you start to get the sweetness of the ylang-ylang. Houston, we have wearability. Drydown: My skin really amps the ylang-ylang; it becomes almost the same sweet-salt scent as Sea of Glass but just a little bit gentler and more floral, a tropical lagoon with blossoms dropping into it instead of the cool wide beach of Sea. Love this. Love it love it love it.

Upon the Sea of Glass, glowing with the perfection of spiritual union and the radiance of true wisdom, rests the throne of God. A scent of inimitable purity, crystalline grace, and limitless light. This and Lorelai were the scents that made a BPAL believer out of me. I can't even try to clinically determine what the notes might be; it comes out of the imp the scent of a stiff breeze over dunes and seagrass, the glitter of a clear morning after a storm, cool and tangy with just a hint of salt, and it sweetens into waves sparkling in the distance and the thick hum of sun on a sheltered spot in the sand, serene and removed from everything. I love this. I hope I don't manage to go through both my imps before I get my 5 mL.

In the vial: a strong, sharp smell; the juniper is the first thing that hits my nose and then the mint. Can't smell lotus at all; it's a very cold smell but clean, promise is definitely there. Wet: MINT! leaps out, it's all I can smell at first. Dry: The MINT recedes a little, but that's not a good thing. Apparently, juniper goes REALLY sour on my skin, alcoholic even, it smells like trying to cover up stale gin with mint mouthwash. ~cry~ dammit! I really wanted to like this! Note: I gave it to a friend at work, on her dry it smells yummy, like Christmas trees and just a hint of mint. Alas, body chemistry. ~sniff~