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Candy Butcher.... And perhaps Midnight on the Midway? I think that's the sugary one...

In the imp: Varnish On Skin: Lemony plastic On Drydown: Sharp pungent floral, with a citrus edge. Verdict: Not for me. I thin the violet is what gives it such sharpness.

In the imp: Cologne On Skin: Leather, wood. The way I would expect a classy, high-powered office to smell like. Drydown: It goes very very faint on me and returns as a cologne. Verdict: Yes, it does make me think of rich, hoity-toity Manhattan. Very well done.

In the imp: Cinnamony On Skin: Very faint cinnamon, sweet On Drydown: I guess it takes a while for the cinnamon to bloom on my skin. It's pretty cinnamony right now and kinda reminds me to cookies. Verdict: I'm surprised and delighted. I like this more than I expected to given the notes and the fact that I'm not really a "spicy" kinda girl. Very pretty.

In the imp: Aquatic floral On Skin: Rhododendron explosion! It's pretty fragrant and with the cool aquatic notes. Drydown: Again, blooming rhododendrons by the river. Verdict: At least, I think what I'm smelling is the rhododendron note. Thats the impression I get when I smell it and it's what popped into my head, as opposed to saying, bellflowers. In any case, it's a blooming floral on a soft aquatic bed. Very pretty.

In the imp: Herbal and mediciney On Skin: Herbal, mentholy and smoky. Fairly woodsy. On Drydown: Smoky patchouli. I smell like a head shop. Verdict: I smell like a hippie. The patchouli is very strong in this scent. Nuts.

In the imp: Floral soap On Skin: Apple blossom? Fresh and clean floral but still soapy. On Drydown: Still soapy but I can smell the lilies. Pretty big throw. Verdict: This smells like soap or a detergent on me. A nice smelling soap and detergent. The hubby seems to like it but I don't quite fancy it as much.

Jewelbug let me try her decant. Hee... In the imp: Chocolately. On Skin: Chocolate and kinda minty. It reminds me to an after dinner mint. On Drydown: It just turns musky and the chocolate goes away. After an hour: The chocolate came back! Woo! And now it's got that hint of vanilla to it. Verdict: I think I need my own decant. There is something in the chocolate that kind of reminds me to the Candy Butcher but CB ended up too floral for my tastes. This on the other hand is quite a smashing hit and caught me completely off guard. I am off to hunt my own decant now.

Jewelbug was kind enough to let me try this from her bottle. In the bottle: Cucumber and florals. It smells fresh and aquatic. On Skin: Aquatic floral On Drydown: Floral and something that has a vegetable like smell and a tiny hint of soapyness. Verdict: BWHAH! This little aquatic creature does not like me at all. It started out to promising but ended up like a scratch and sniff that smells like synthetic pickles according to my husband. While I don't necessarily think it smells pickle-like, we both agree that it doesn't work on my skin. Ah, return to the sea my friend, for you are breaking my heart as you leave.

I got to try this from jewelbug's bottle. Thanks doll! In the bottle: Floral and cheap On Skin: Floral and something that smells like lettuce. Is it the tuberose? Drydown: Chick floral. Verdict: I agree that it's got the same vibe as Stardust and it has that vacuous sort of feel to it, glitzy and seductive and while it's all flash and glam, it seems like the florals lack something to sustain them. It's a pretty thing though.

I got a decant from the loverly jewelbug. Thanks doll! In the imp: citrusy and floral On Skin: Floral and yuzu sweet. Very juicy. On Drydown: Juicy citrusy fruits and something floral and something that kinda reminds me to mango. Verdict: I didn't think I would love this piggy, but I do. It's full of fruity cheer. Lovely!

In the imp: Warm and woody and slightly incensey On Skin: Incensey, with a hint of wood and red wine On Drydown: Incense is still the strongest note, I get sometimes whiffs of wood, ivy and something almost metallic. Verdict: Very true to the concept but I don't think this works for me. It kinda reminds me to Tintagel and I remember that the hubby wasn't too crazy about that one either.

In the imp: Ozone! On Skin: Ozone explosion. It smells almost a little too masculine. On Drydown: After about half an hour the ozone just about vanishes and I'm left with a mildly aquatic floral that has a masculine edge. Verdict: It's like a masculine version of Tempest for me. Pretty but I already know this won't be up the hubby's style.

In the imp: Fruity and floral On Skin: Fruity, very juicy and just slightly floral On Drydown: Fruity floral, but pretty generic. Slightly muskier now. Verdict: It's pretty, clean and generally a pretty juicy. Not strange alien here.

In the imp: Coconut and a caramel varnish. On Skin: Coconut lime cookies! This is what I had hoped Mr. Nancy to smell like On Drydown: Slightly creamy, with a hint of cinnamon, the lime and coconut aren't as predominant. Verdict: Pretty and gooey. Very foody. I'm glad I got to try this but I'm not sure that this is my cup of tea.

In the vial: Ylang ylang On Skin: Ylang ylang with a hint of lilies On Drydown: I get ylang ylang, a tinge of lemon and some jasmine. Verdict: Okay, maybe I don't love ylang ylang after all. This is very very ylang ylang heavy. It's pretty but it's almost too much for me. Sad.

Not my cup of tea but I love the Dresden files My version of the Dresden Files: Magus, Fenris Wolf, Blood Kiss, Fae, Fallen and Arcana The Black Tower series by Stephen King: Black Tower (duh!), La Belle Dame Sans Merci (for Susannah Dean), Love Me, Eternal, Rose Cross (for the Rose), Spider

I think I might have to wear Severin for this. .... I can't believe I admitted to it...

This is a scent that I've been waiting to own forever. I do have a sniffie of Blue Moon 2004 In the bottle: Wet, green, sharp, very complex On Skin: Really complex again. I get a 'lunar' feeling amongst the swirls of something lightly floral, a whiff of something woody, a whiff of an aquatic. In general though, it's a lightly herbal tinged floral with an aquatic, airy tone to it. And I truly suck at picking any distinctive note on this. And yes, I do think there is a slight asian feel to it and perhaps my mind is incorrectly correlating it to the oude, but I think that might be it. And yes, I do smell a certain similarity to the Evening Star, and I think that's the moonflower note. On Drydown: A fragrant clear floral Verdict: Really, this is nothing like I've ever smelled before. When I put it on and made my husband sniff it even HE said that you can just SMELL the complexity and that was mindblowing to him, like how all these smells were packaged into this teensy wheensy little bottle (at what he thinks is a bargain price). It doesn't smell anything like Blue Moon 2004, in which the cucumber and mint were very prominent on my skin and that was a clean aquatic in comparison to this complex floral scent. But I have to say that I'm not disappointed in the least because I really do love this incarnation as well. The husband and I went shopping today and as we walked by a department perfume counter a sales lady asked me if I wanted to try some perfume on. I shook my head and kept walking. I looked at my husband after we were out of earshot and said "Even if they could get something that smells THIS complex without the alcohol, I doubt they could get it for under $35 bucks". And yeah, for what we're paying, this is a phenomenal product.

Another empty sniffie. In the imp: Ginger On Skin: Ginger and tea On Drydown: Lemony sort of asian floral Verdict: Hum... I don't quite think this is for me. But it was nice to try it out!

This is just an empty sniffie In the imp: I smell ozone and something that almost smells like varnish, but very green. It's sharp On Skin: I think there is enough residual oil on the wand to swab at my wrist. On the skin its sweeter and yes, I do smell the slushy snow note from the lab in there. On Drydown: Sweet florals Verdict: This is pretty. I don't know how feasible it is to try and get some but it's a pretty scent. I'm glad that I got a sniffie to try it! ETA: So I swapped for a bottle of Cold Moon 2004, and tested side by side with Ice Queen. They smell almost identical except that Cold Moon has sweet spices, and a certain warmth as opposed to Ice Queen which smells more berry/snowy to me. It's like a warmer version of Ice Queen. Very interesting, but I actually like Ice Queen better.

I was thinking perhaps something to smell beforehand to calm the nerves/boost confidence? I've got rescue rememdy, but it diesn't seemt o do much for me... Haha. For me, that is totally High John the Conqueror. It makes me into a superhero. Things just don't faze or scare me when I wear it. Maybe its a placebo effect but I don't care. Plus, it smells grapey and I found out, I really enjoy that smell.

In the imp: Chinese cooking sauce. Soy, salt and something else. Perhaps the saltiness is coming from the lavender? On Skin: Limey/lemony, a tinge of lavender, and again... something that smells like soy sauce to me. Drydown: Soy sauce. Verdict: No lavender/lime goodness for me. Instead, my skin chemistry does not like Quietude at all. Maybe it likes to be frenetic and crazy and stressed. I don't know. SAD.

In the imp: Roses On Skin: Rose soap On Drydown: More rose soap. Verdict: Alas, roses continue to love me. I, however, can't be in love with them. It is really a sad state of affairs when my skin seems so amenable to them. *Sigh* It is however, a very lovely rosey scent. Clean and pure. Pretty.

Man, I totally forgot to post about my interviewing experiences this fall. High John the Conqueror rocks. I usually put just a teensy bit on around my chest area so I'm the only one that can smell it. Others: Anthelion (TAL), Horn of Plenty