patina

In decant: I have no idea what this is except that it's light and I like it. On, I'm getting the impression that this would smell good on a guy. It's a clean sort of scent, though it doesn't smell like soap at all. I suspect a light musk, some kind of clear resin, juniper berries, and possibly juniper branches as well. I don't really get metal. If it's there at all it's very subtle and silvery. Very clean, very fresh.

Musky and dark. I'm reminded both of Haunted and Creature Feature, though this is slightly woodier than both of those. Possibly because of the vetiver and the moss? It's a nice dark resiny mossy thing that's just a tiny bit sweet (tobacco?). It does end up getting too powdery for me. I think a decant will be enough. By the way, layered with Most Magnificent Christmas Tree, this smells like a way more complex and gorgeous Black Forest.

At first I get a scent like lime candy which must be the davana. Almost immediately it turns into mint (later I can tell that it's really eucalyptus but only because mint isn't woody). Anything resembling candy has gone by this time and I smell subtle florals instead. There's still a faint lemon/lime smell that reminds me of a shaving cream. There's some freshness to this scent, like a chill morning. I get the idea of strange greenish morning light washing over everything. Nice enough, but I'd never use a whole bottle. Plus, I'd rather not smell like shaving cream.

The sweetness here reminds me of the sweet sap note in Slobbering Pine. This seems deeper and more complex than Slobbering Pine, though. In fact, this seems deeper and more complex than any lab evergreen scent I've tried. There is cedar, but it doesn't take over the whole scent like it usually does on me. This is pleasant, but I can probably be content with a decant. Edit: As time goes on, this gets sweeter until I can tell what people were talking about when they mentioned confectioner's sugar. Since the pine's gotten lighter, this is really pleasant and may be a bottle buy after all.

I think this is what a florescent light would smell like. White mint, ozone, a perfumy undertone from the white amber and possibly some eucalyptus. The eucalyptus is not the nose-clearing stuff I'm familiar with, though. This is fairly faint on me, but as it starts to dry down, I love the way the amber and ozone turns sweet, but this is really too faint for me. I prefer Ultraviolet.

Without looking at the notes, I smell sweet frankincense and something...spicy? Not cinnamon-spicy or clove-spicy though. I think I can smell orange peel (the bergamot). Warm, sweet and creamy with a festive orange spice component, like Christmas potpourri (but in a good way! ) I'm seriously considering a bottle.

A clean, mossy dirt with lilac and possibly some citrus brightening the lilac up. I don't get drier sheets, exactly, but the floral is not too far from that kind of scent. This would be appropriate for early spring. I won't be needing a bottle, since I have a favorite dirt scent already.

I hope not since I love Yorick. Then again it's mostly damp white flowers on me.

I'm strongly reminded of Zorya, though I don't smell jasmine in this. Instead there's some other white floral. Weirdly, it reminds me of magnolias, though it doesn't really smell that much like magnolias. Champa? Is that you? I do get some chill, dark night sky with conifers off to the side. It's lovely, but I find grassy papyrus taking over. I'm glad I got to try this but I don't think I'll need a bottle.

I found this a somewhat dark scent with a light side too (if that makes any sense: the sandalwood and orris both seem light.) It's powdery and dry in a way that reminds me of old books. Plus the beeswax is a major note. To my nose it's much stronger than the vetiver. The clove I can only pick up as a faint sense of dark wood spice. I picture someone studying in a dim room with candles for light. This is nice and I get an emotionally balanced feeling from it, but it dries down to a flat woody scent. I have other sandalwood or beeswax scents I like much better.

So far, out of the few I've tested, A Wonderful Light is the only clear winner. That's odd because I thought citrus rind would be way too loud and bitter. The amber/beeswax reminds me of Hod Res, except Wonderful Light lacks the carnation note and instead smells like a freshly-peeled orange.

I don't think perfume alone would be enough to stop someone intent on being flirtatious, (you may just have to be direct) but something clean and cool or herbal would probably help you feel detached. I'm dubious about vetiver or civet- you may not like the scents but some people consider them to have aphrodisiac effects. Super-heavy perfume might drive people away, but it also might make it seem like you're laying it on heavily because you want attention. Which in itself might drive people away, but you never know... I second Cthulu or any manly marine scent (unless you are a man. Then you're on your own). For non-work times you want to be left alone I think Nosferatu would do the trick if you can stand the sour fruit "wine" and bitter herbs.

At first this is soft mint and gentle soap. Then the lichen shows up. Think of the smell of a cool boulder. After a short time on my skin, the soap vanishes and I'm left with something unisex and cool. The cold outside air may be helping to trick my brain, but I'm strongly reminded of actual frost, both deep, tamped down dark frost and lighter sparkly frost. It is very evocative of a windswept frosty rock. (I can still detect soft mint, though.) This is very nice and fits the description well, but I think I'll be content with a decant. I can't wait to try it in summer. Light, unoffensive, cool, stony and vaguely spearmint scented.

Strong pine and berries! The pine verges on the medicinal but it's not unpleasant to my nose. I couldn't say what kind of berries are involved. Maybe juniper and some kind of red winter berry? There's also a hint of ozone. The pine mellows out a bit, until it smells more like fir. The berries are still present and I also get the vanilla/snow/white musk I got from Snow White. It verges on feminine perfume, but very few traditional perfumes include fir. This can be compared to Winter Maiden bath oil, except Winter Maiden was more traditionally perfumy with its white rose and amber. Edit: I thought it was my imagination at first but the berries and pine combine to make pineapple on me.

This oil is a bright red in the decant. On, I get honey to the extreme. Also I get the scent that sometimes lingers in the air after I've peeled an orange. It does have a tiny bit of bitterness, but without it the honey/ amber would be too sweet. (I can't smell the amber exactly because the honey's too loud but I get a hint it's there from the sweetness and the "texture".) A nice, bright scent that's lovely for winter. edit: I'm reminded of Hod: Res a little bit.

Hmm. This is a little powdery. Not baby powder, but matcha powder as if everything was dusted with green tea. The patchouli and leather are first out. The leather note is subdued. It's not nearly as rugged as The Traveller, for instance. Underneath everything is some wood. Powdery, dry wood. This is nice, but somewhat one-dimensional for me. Maybe if it had a little spice or something I'd appreciate it more. I'd love this on a guy, but I think it's a bit boring on myself.

Hmm. For rose, Red Rose is sharp but it might work. Wicked (but it has myrrh and jasmine) might work too. Also Spellbound which has three red (I think) roses. Other blends...well, I think there was a Red Phoenix back in '06 but you'd have to hunt. Edit: Also cobra lily is creamy lily and spices, but it smells a little more orange than red to me.

Ohhh, this is good. There's wood, but it's also almost foody. I can nearly smell spices and cookies. I also see where the "berries" thing comes from. There's something down at the bottom that almost smells like tart dried cranberries. I assumed lunar oils would be white, but maybe lunar oils for this moon include berries and spices. It is yule, right? Though considering I got Heavenlyrabbit's bottle, the berry effect may be all in the nose or skin chemistry. I like oak and while this doesn't smell completely like an oak tree (like The Twisted Oak for instance) this is still very good. Aging will probably bring out the wood and cut down on the tartness (I hope.) In the throw, I do get the distant scent of oak leaves. Edit: As my bottle's settled down over a few days the tannins are starting to come out and it's become more like cologne. Still oddly foody to my nose. I know old paper can smell like vanilla, but this seems excessive. But it smells more like wood now.

Cool people don't wear bpal? Just saying James Bond wouldn't. Cause he's all sophisticated and no fun at all.

James Bond would probably be too cool to wear bpal. But maybe Dee? That might be too scholarly though. Try Villian or Whitechapel.

Strawberry lip balm. At first. But then, there's a touch of pine resin rounding things out, and wisps of real spun sugar cotton candy. Maybe a few flowers. I don't notice them much but they give the scent a little light complexity. I'm so confused. I already have Boo! and Faith for all my sugary needs. This is truly lovely but I'll probably stick to my decant.

Great, I'll have to try it eventually. Edit: Discontinued. Heh.

So, does anyone have recommendations for a cold vanilla? Waltz of the Snowflakes and Snow White are some of my favorite vanilla scents.

Cacao, black pepper, and...furniture polish? The hay note is almost lemony. I can pick up a faint hint of inscence. As it is drying, I pick up whiffs of hay in the air, so the furniture polish only happens when I sniff close up. This is seriously reminding me of Black Temple Burlesque without the tobacco. Whoever said "dirty hippie" was right. This scent just feels shaggy, like rolling around in hay. Maybe I'm a bit weird, but it seems melancholy to me too somehow. Maybe it's the prickliness of the pepper, maybe it's the fact that I read the poem. I don't think I'm being unduly influenced by the poem, but this does seem like a scent that describes someone searching for something they may never find. I think I'll skip this one as I have another dark cocoa scent that I like better.

I get some kind of strange, sweet red rose-powder. It's lovely, but the rose smells crumbled. Along with some juicy pom, there's the merest suggestion of some sort of woody spice, which I believe may be the sleight bitterness of pomegranite combined with star anise. I wouldn't have guessed star anise was in this if I hadn't seen the description, though. Oh, and there are wafting clouds of champa. Lovely as this scent is, it diminishes quite a bit with time. Maybe I'll have to pass on a bottle.