patina

Ah, Romanti.Goth. The one I figured out I'd like far too late. Heh. You know, I'd heard of Chrysanthemum Moon, but I thought it was pure chrysanthemum or something. Definately some things to try here.

I really like the opium note in On Darkness (at least I think it's the opium that I love) and I'd like to try other opium scents. Any recommendations? I've tried Darkness, but narcissius is a bit off, somehow (too perfumy?). I've also tried Anathema and loved it...until it dried down and turned into eau de cardboard box. What are your favorite sweet, dark opium scents?

I second Madame Moriarty. There's also the Snap-Dragon Fly which some people don't like due to the holly. It smell like gorgeous rich stewed plum on me, until it turns sour and soapy, but that happens with all plum scents for me, I love plum, but I can't wear it well. If you can find Mother Shub's 13 for sale on the forum, that has plum, flowers, fudge and black musk among a lot of other ingredients and it smells lovely- at least until my chemistry kicks in.

I was confused about whether to try Rose Red, The Peacock Queen, or The Rose for the smell of a real rose off the bush, so I smelled them all. I had to compare scents from different years, so keep in mind that aging might be a factor. The Peacock Queen (2007) smells like wine. Fresh from the bottle it smells fermented and acetone-like, but it soon settles down. Rather than the fruity true-red rose from Rose Red (2005), this reminds me of a dark maroon or burgandy. It is velvety. Unlike both The Rose and Rose Red, Peacock Queen doesn't seem to have greenery. I think I can smell some bare wood in there, but it doesn't smell like leaves. I don't amp roses and Peacock Queen is a fairly light scent for me. It does have good throw, though. With my hands at my sides I catch whiffs of a faint rose scent sometimes. Peacock Queen is darker (in tone) and more enduring than The Rose and lighter (in intensity of smell) than Rose Red.

Sybaris. Definately. The tonka gives it a sweet, candylike smell. Or Faith, which has sugar.

In the decant, this is strongly patcholi and wormwood. On, this evolves into HEMP. As in "HI, I'M HEMP. I'M IN A ROPE." There may be a little cowering patchouli behind it. It's not actually bad, just not good either.

Impolight posted a picture that captures the colors I get from this scent. I don't actually get that visual. If one came to mind, it was more of a tangled swamp. But anyway, it's got the blue of a twilight sky with dark, murky woods. I have no idea why I get a bluish element to this one, but I do. I like black cypress, it has sort of a gnarled, spicy-wood smell. Pine is evident, though it doesn't take over. I can't separate the smell of sassafrass from anything in here- rather it sweetens the whole scent a little. The dirty-vegetation element here probably comes from the comfrey leaves. If anything bothers me about the scent, it's the sunflower. There's the greasy scent of sunflower seeds which is distracting, but it eventually dies down. All in all, I like this. This is a true "dark forest" scent and I find it more complex and evocative than most. Though dark in tone, it's a fairly soft scent on me. (I don't amp woods.) It can be compared to Schwartzer Monde (though this doesn't have patcholi) or Arkham (though this is far darker).

Ahh, I love violet. It makes me sad that it's not the longest-lasting oil. (I had a bottle of Faith that went bad once. Not saying all violet does that- it depends on the blend.) Hmm. I don't know much woody violet. Saturnalia and Faustus come to mind, but those are probably too woody for your purposes. (And Saturnalia has vetiver which bothers some people.) I like The Raven. It has sandalwood, and the ylang-ylang isn't exactly sugar, but it does sweeten it a little. It does have black musk, so be warned. But it's a true violet- violet to me, with a little bluish tinge from the Iris. Sadly the sandalwood makes it dry rather than creamy. Some people really like Marie, though to me the tea rose takes up more space than the violet does. As far as LE's Silver Phoenix may be too delicate for what you're looking for, but it's a lovely dewy violet-and-silver scent. It's also hard to find, but the past Yule The Darkling Thrush may work (I've never smelled it) The hope of springtime penetrating winter darkness. Snow, darkness, and icy air illuminated by the thrush's song: warm amber, soft orris, and melancholy violet. Really, your best bet may be to layer a woody scent with Faith.

Ooh, that's some smooth musk. The pepper and clove definately have a kick to them, but what surprised me is the sweetness of the scent. The neroli is powerful and citrusy. The tonka is very helpful in smoothing things down, though occasionally a bit of pepper will kick it out of the way. If the scent had a color scheme, it would be yellow, orange, and black, with a hint of clove-brown. Smooth and sweet, with sharp claws and teeth.

Thanks! Moonflower smells very dewy to me and it tends not to get too sharp. I'll have to try Gibbuous Moon, for certain. I have tried Evening Star and I love it, but I'm allergic to some component. Sob. I didn't know Titania had moonflower. It's like a giant peach that likes sitting on things.

oh wow. I don't smell apples right off. Not crisp ones at least. What I do smell is pastry, honey, reisens, and assertive florals that blend into the musk. As the scent sits on my wrist for a while, the florals die down, but they're still noticable. It's lily of the valley, which is much softer and less soapy than the standard lily. It smells red, if that makes any sense. Cooked, red apples and honey and glazed pastries, and golden liquid amber, and musk and bold lily. This is good and I don't normally like pastry scents. Best for people with outgoing personalities who like being seductive. I don't know if I'd personally wear it for fear of overwhelming people, but it is good to sniff.

For a dry moss, I like Danse Macabre. But you've got to like cypress and frankenscence too for that one.

It's really sad that smells don't translate into words that well, but reviews can be a tiny bit of help. All I can suggest is to read the scent notes. If you happen to get extra frimps or sniffies, practice on those and look up the notes even if you don't like the scent. I don't think anyone except professionals can pick notes out all the time, but I've definately developed a more educated sense of smell.

Samara from The Ring? How about J-Horror? Why, that's perfect!

What about Samara? I know Undertow would fit, but I don't like it very much.

Bright, happy plums and brandy. I was scared of the suet, but I shouldn't have been. There's some woody holly and some pastryish foodiness, but this is mostly plums, rasins and booze. Very Christmassy. I'm happy I have an imp.

For spicy florals, I really like Cobra Lily Sundew also, though it is dewier and less spicy.

Oh wow. This is night time. This is great big dripping boughs of greenery and huge swaths of purple flowers. There's something like tobacco smoke (a wood?), and a breath of gardenia. Other than that, I can't pick out individual florals. This is not for people that don't like wood or are absolutely opposed to florals. I'm not a huge fan of floral blends myself, but this is probably going to be my go to nighttime scent. It's that good. Edit: I can't get the idea of a very posh funeral parlor out of my mind with this one.

To me, this is a very, very near relative to On Darkness. The rose (in Darkness, it's rose geranium), lavender, and dark inscence make them near-twins, but I do believe Odd Portents is a little better. It has a lovely throw.

In the decant, I really don't like this- the bay leaves and vetiver seem to be at odds with the sweeter elements. Worn, it's a fairly light black musk (if that's not a contradiction.) The vetiver and bay persist, but I can see why people compare this to pecan pie- pecans have that sleight bitterness to them. It is very much like The Hell-Gate of Ireland, minus spices, but I really prefer the Hell-Gate. Still, this isn't bad.

I get a bit of the cypress that was in Raven Moon, though of course there's no vanilla or chocolate in the House. It is sweet, though! Sweet, musky, woody, with an almost (but not quite) spicy smell. It's not for those who don't like wood or are bothered by a little bitterness or a lot of smoke in their perfume. EDIT: This review isn't quite right, because I realized I'd accidently layered this over The Unsteady Gravediggers. Alone, on the drydown, it's thick, choking tobacco in the back of my throat. Ugh. Not a favorite.

At first sniff, I get green bananas. Applied, it's the cousin of Black Forest, Hemlock and other bpal forest scents. The trees aren't sharp, though. They're a medium intensity and sweetened by the booze. There's some dirt thrown in too. I like this, but a decant's probably enough.

A large part of my brain screams "PLEDGE!" I bet the cleaning product is scented with sweet olive too. Other than that, this is a civilized floral, with a tiny bit of oakmoss. Not for me, but nice enough. EDIT: Also, HOLY COW the throw is strong with this one.

BPTP? I don't have a working camera right now, but the oils simply have the name of the oil in colored ouija-style lettering, with a fancy border around them. I have Licorice bats (pink lettering) and Sluagh (orange lettering.)

I can't really pick out the champaca much, except in the bottle. This smells like a sweet, dry, almost woody rootbeer. There's some tea in the background and what may be champaca- a dark, soft smell, but not CRAZY CHAMPACA. The whole thing reminds me of the Paduan Killer Swarm ( Except with sassafrass, not spices and minus the nose-stinging nettle and ginger). I don't need any more, but this is very nice.