AstraeaSophia

One of my first imps directly from the lab. Having heard such good things about it, my bar was set pretty high. With Snake Oil as with almost all my BPAL scents, I had to give myself a full 24 hours with the scent on before I could make a decision. Decision: I fuggin' love this stuff. For real. In the bottle: It smells a little woody, like a thick incense. Don't get any vanilla quite yet. Wet: The spicy notes are starting to come out, and based on its evolution so far, I think I'll love it when it totally dries. Drydown: Snake Oil is evoking images of gypsies for me. I'm sure it's a mixture of the name with the smell, but I love it. It's getting more "red" as it dries, if that makes sense. And the sweetness of the vanilla is rounding out the woody smells of the spicy Indonesian cocktail that makes up the rest of the scent. Totally dry: Holy crap, I cannot stop smelling my arm. If I would have known how awesome this would be dry, I would've bought a whole bottle. Well, maybe not, because I'm totally broke, but I would have definitely tried to rationalize the urge to snatch a full 5 mL. The vanilla finally comes out and seems to amp more and more on me the longer I wear this scent. Snake Oil is not particularly complex, 'tis true, but I think that's part of its appeal. It's direct and full-frontal. The longer I wore it, the richer and sexier it became. A scent that unfolds on your skin. This is a definite keeper and a fine addition to my wishlist. Maybe this rating is undeserved for so simple a scent, but any aroma that gets my attention like Snake Oil did deserves accolades. Five out of five yummies! :yum: :yum:

The magnanimous trailertrashprincess sent me just enough of Fairy Market to give it a single test. In the bottle: I actually got this in an imp, and the level was so low that I didn't get much of a whiff. What I could smell was delicate floral. Wet: All the sudden, I can pick out a sweet note in the florals. At first I thought I was smelling pear, but it must be the "sugared candies" component I'm smelling. It doesn't smack me in the face. There's a very soft sort of balance that's been struck between sweet and flowery, and this scent is starting to grow on me. Drydown: The florals step into the spotlight again while the sugared candies step to the side, not totally out of sight but certainly not the focus. I can finally pick out the "green" and the golden incense. I love the incense note in Fairy Market because there's enough to notice it but not enough to knock you over. Just lovely. Totally dry: I just keep falling in love with Gaiman scents, one right after another. This scent is gorgeous. The sweet rounds out the floral in such a way that when it's totally dry, there is no single smell that stands out. It's just this lovely concoction of fruity floral that does very much evoke the fae in my mind's eye. It makes me feel comfortable and relaxed to wear it. For someone reason, smelling it reminds me of a bookstore. :-P A very lovely smelling bookstore indeed. Conceptually, I'm a bit mixed on this one. I remember one poster saying this scent didn't remind her so much of a fairy market as what she would imagine a lady wandering through the fairy market might smell like, and I find myself in that camp. I think the people who feel this way are maybe just unconsciously associating fairy market with the movie version, where there's drums and torches and deep, vivid colors. The book version of fairy market is daytime, bright, and a little more pastel in my mind. My brain was expecting the movie version. My nose detects the book version. And all in all, those road bumps aside, I'm really quite pleased. I'm adding a full bottle to my wishlist. 4 out of 5 yummies (although, as with every Gaiman scent I've tried so far, I'd give it 4.5 if I could)! :yum: :yum:

The Heavenly One is the Muse of Astrology and Astronomy, and guides all those who look to the stars for knowledge. She wears a flowing cloak embroidered with her beloved stars, holds a staff and a globe, and her eyes are skyward. Her scent is that of endless, star-clad space: glittering, cool, vast. Moonflower, Moroccan jasmine, benzoin, white musk, iris, moss and a flash of ozone. With a username like "AstraeaSophia," which I formulated specifically to mean "wisdom of the stars," there's no way I could get by without nabbing some Urania. :-) In the bottle: I get a lot of white musk out of this at first. It reminds me of what my dad's cologne smells like. Just a little nervous... Wet: I smell like I'm in orbit. This is awesome. The ozone is more obvious to me now. Drydown: This has softened out into a perfume as opposed to a cologne. It is a floral, but by no means a altogether delicate one. It definitely brings nighttime to mind, which is good considering the idea it's invoking. It makes me wish I were outside in the cool autumn weather, stargazing. Totally dry: I like it. It's not an every day kinda scent for me, but I could see busting it out from time to time when I feel like using my telescope in the backyard. It's a possible swap, as I have other scents that...how do I say this...evoke a more emotional response from me. This one was right in my mid-range, being not awful but not totally awesome. Three out of five yummies. :yum: Edit: Edited to include scent description.

I got an almost-full bottle of this from fellow BPALer TrailerTrashPrincess. She is teh awesome. I've been wanting to try the Stardust scents for ages. Sniff: Nighttime florals, for sure. The lavender is practically licking my face off. Wet: I can finally smell the magnolia in the scent. It's rounding out the sharp edges of the lavender, which is good news. I love lavender, but just not that much. The magnolia makes it feel warmer. Drydown: OMG SO MUCH BETTER. The difference between bottle and dry is very noticeable. The lavender is still a big player, but magnolia makes it more rounded. This is not the cold, crystalline scent I expected from the description, but I'm almost glad it isn't. Yvaine may be a star, but she's too fiery to come off as totally cold. The drydown is almost like sitting on a hill in the nighttime and catching a whiff of flowers on the wind while you're stargazing. Totally dry: Yvaine. Totally Yvaine. Fragility emulating strength and succeeding. Like a mouse pretending to be a lion and getting away with it. I had to wait until drydown was totally finished to feel that this was a fae scent, but now I am convinced. Verdict: This scent makes me feel strong, but not in a masculine way. I'm glad I have a virtually full bottle of this, because boy, will I be taking advantage of it. The smell is enveloping me, which is good because I don't really want something light and unnoticeable. However, I do wish it evoked "star" just a little more. I think I have my own biases with lavender scents that keep me from associating that smell with anything astral. Still, like I said, I will get much use out of this one and will most likely buy another bottle when this one's finished. I feel like this is the "casual" star scent where as the others sound more serious, and I like that about Yvaine. Four out of five yummies (I'd give 4.5 if I could). :yum: :yum: