starfish327

in the imp: pomegranate wet:...cat pee?! dry: a hint of powder and something sour, and pomegranate i'm going to give this one another chance before i decide its fate

in the imp: wow, this is the first imp in a long time that i actively disliked in the imp. there's been a couple that i've been sort of scared by, but this one i actually don't like. wet: medicinal. herbal. smells like something i'd apply for pain relief. alternately, it smells like old stale incense. dry: still very astringent, medicinal herbal. there's something that i'm interpreting as detergent as well, but i think that may be the lily. it does sort of remind me of dirt, but not so strong that i knew it off the bat- i recognized dirt in jazz funeral immediately, but this was only after reading other reviews. it becomes tolerable after awhile, but i don't see myself wanting to wear this one. i know what i smell like: i smell like an attic.

in the imp: the same bbq note from st john's eve (though this time i'm not afraid to skin test it, so it's not going to take me three weeks to work up the nerve) and cinnamon, with something faintly herbal underneath that. wet: why hi there vetiver, how you doin'? heavy smoke with sweet kitchen spices. i don't know why but it's surprising me since i was apparently expecting this to actually be st john's eve. i think because the smoke note was so similar. but this is all sweetness where that was incense and rose. dry: apparently i amp maple. because now this is all maple and a hint of smoke. i don't know what to think about this one. i like it, but it's giving me a lot of scent memories that make me think 'dirty'- as in a mess. it reminds me of sugaring season back home- burnt sugar, wood chips everywhere, smoke, sticky sappy ick on everything. however, at the same time, it's another really intense scent memory coming out of the lab so i'm torn. beth somehow does bring back the most intense scent memories from when i was younger than 15...

lab fresh, frimped with last order, dated this month in the imp: wine and roses wet: wine and roses dry: this is having a really long drying time on me- most blends are stable by the time i get the review window open to type. this one is still drying and still morphing. wine and roses and sweet tarts- this reminds me really of a mixed drink. it starts pulling rose and musk though. this is definitely ROSE. and not just rose but strong rose. i normally can't do rose, especially amping rose. but this is weird enough that i think i want to keep it around. this is actually really surprising, i thought that i would hate this when i opened the imp. i'm sad that i'm not getting the resin/incense vibe from this however. actually i know what this makes me think of,. this is what i was hoping smut and/or womb furie would smell like, just with rose. this is behaving better than those two however, which is surprising because those were two of my biggest bpal let downs yet.

there have been very few blends that i've tested that i've gone, oh this is really really REALLY masculine, so masculine i can't wear it. this unfortunately is one of them. it's also one of the strongest blends that i've tried. in the imp and wet, i just get a blast of cologne. it's very clean and while i have little to no experience with metallic notes, this does remind me a lot of copper. dry, this smells exactly like a guy i dated in college- this goes straight into axe territory and with all the same problems that i have with axe. it's very strong- i didn't even really apply it so much as sort of spray myself with the imp on accident and i'm in a very clean, soapy, male-ish haze. this actually reminds a lot of a guy i know who's really into steam punk. i just have no interest in smelling like him, personally. it's very fresh and clean and borders on aquatic for me. i could see this working very well on the right guy, but it's going back into a pack on the rehoming thread!

decant bought on the forums in a hunt to replace torture king: in the imp: masculine, sort of generically masculine. similar to tk but doesn't have the high citrus kick to it. wet: i can see where the comparisons are made- lots of leather and light masculine style musk. dry: this is the same family as tk, but not nearly as powerful. the amber lightens it up too much and i do get a slight apple vibe. i'm getting frankencense from this as well. this actually reminds me more of faunalia than tk- it has the same resiny, clean, almost cool masculine feel to it. i may try layering this with doc constantine just for kicks, but this doesn't bode well for this decant. it's a lot cleaner and preppier than what i generally wear for masculine style oils, and my skin seems to eat it.

i have a bag that i put all of my to be tested imps and testers into, and i pick one out every night to be tested the following day. currently the bag almost can't be closed, and i'm falling more and more behind on my testing pile (what can i say? i love circular swaps lol). doublehelix was nice enough to rehome a very full tester of hod (original). in the imp: carnation and rose. strange. i'm recognizing these two notes from the bottom notes of another blend i just tested recently but i can't place which one. wet: almost a carnation sn. very little rose-thankfully, normally i amp it to gag inducing levels. a hint of vanilla very much at the bottom of this. dry: ...and it's gone. or almost. it's very very faint. it's like the far out dry down of something. the carnation is doing odd things on my skin as well, though it may be my hormones- spicy notes sometimes go plastic on me when the sharks are circling. i'm really glad that i got a chance to test this since it's at least a minor bpalicorn, but it's going to be given a chance to be tested by a friend who wanted to sniff it and then it's going to be rehomed to someone who can actually wear and you know smell it.

imps and decants absinthe akuma-3x baobhan sith bien loin d'ici black cat black death black heart block buster-2x blood pearl boo bordello calico jack CD: Blue Pumpkin Floss v3 centzon chimera czernobog crossroad-needs to be relabeled, using as a ritual oil dana o'shee dee 2x dioble en bote doc constantine* dracul-2x Dragon's Heart dragon's hide egle ekhidna el dia des reyes-2007 event horizon fae-2x faunalia feast for the greatly revered ones grief-low herbert west high john hod-original, very low partial incubus intrigue jazz funeral-dated 2007 2x josie lady macbeth lampades Laudanum Le Père Fouettard lilith victoria milk chocolate, coconut, cardamom, rum, and ginger truffle needlework nephilim 2x obatala ochosi (need to check spelling) pele perversion phantom queen prurience (sniff) sapphics sleipnir (spelling?) spooky res st. john's eve suck it sugar skull tavern of hell 2x the coiled serpent the ghost the great sword of war 2x the jersey devil the music of erich zahn 3x tiki princess proto v3 torture king ulalume vampire tears-2x vice-3x villain yew trees yggdrasil yorick the amazing red labeled mystery decant *only willing to trade for something in the same scent family tea party- new, sale only NOT FOR TRADE (wedding favors) queen of hearts high strung daisies the dodo frumius bandersnitch all in a golden afternoon cheshire cat drink me alice sniffies testers smut 2010 tal-decants charisma bptp champaigne bath oil decant (willing to trade, i don't have a tub!) other etailers arcana pax mundi love potions new year's evil possets nevada heat bottles partials spring training empty womb furie fruit of paradise pomona copper phoenix milk chocolate, coconut...truffle adoration of the mi go wishlist: German Expressionist Horror A Bachelor's Dog The Grand Inquisitor's Heretic's Fork -any of the four lick its -any weenies -any of the pumpkin patches AEVAL Anne Bonny Aperotos Eros Archangel Winter BARON SAMEDI belladonna BELLE ÉPOQUE BLACK FOREST Block Buster Bonfire Night chimera clemence Crowley Death of Autumn dee Devil's Night Djinn fenris wolf GOLDEN WAVE GRANDMOTHER OF GHOSTS GYPSY hades Hellfire HIGHWAYMAN Himerus holly king interfector Jabberwocky Kali Loup Garou Love and Pain Mama Ji mata hari MONARCH oak king oberon On Darkness Pais de la Canela philologus POLYNESIAN POP Priala RANGOON RIPTIDE red lantern RED TIDE Rumpelstilzchen samhain, any year Samhainophobia SCREECHING PARROT Sin skadi snow moon Spider Strangler Fig THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM THE BLACK RIDER THE BLACK TOWER the catapillar the dodo the Goblin Ride The Great He Goat THE LIGHTS OF MEN'S LIVES the music of erich zahn THE OBSIDIAN WIDOW Tintagel Titus Andronicus tombeur torture king Van Van vilf White Light wraith YEMAYA

decant bought off of lj in the imp: smoky pine wet: smoky pine dry: smoky pine, a hint of amber, and incense. this is a more piny, slightly weaker st john's eve on my skin. this is very nice. in fact, this is much nicer than what i had thought it would be. i had purchased this one because i liked the name and it was on my wishlist, but i couldn't remember anything about it, and the reviews had me a tad concerned that it would be overpowering. but this is actually a lot lighter and a lot more feminine than i had feared it would be. this is definitely dark, but it's not brooding dark.

oh this is totally not me. in the imp and wet, it's all sugar- bubblegum, cotton candy, something bright pink and that would make my teeth ache. dry, it's cotton candy and flowers. it's...young. it's very very young. it reminds me of something that you would market to a five year old. it's still sickeningly sweet. i could see this on a kid on a complete sugar buzz who's running rampant and getting into everything. this is completely not my style- it's about a 180 from what i normally look for. i was hoping for something springy and slightly sweet, but this is...i'm not sure what it is but it's not all that pleasant.

imps and decants absinthe akuma-3x baobhan sith bien loin d'ici black cat black death black heart block buster boo bordello centzon chimera czernobog crossroad-needs to be relabeled, using as a ritual oil dana o'shee dee 2x dioble en bote doc constantine* dracul-2x Dragon's Heart dragon's hide egle el dia des reyes-2007 event horizon fae-2x faunalia feast for the greatly revered ones herbert west high john high strung dasies hod-original, very low partial incubus intrigue jazz funeral-dated 2007 josie lady mcbeth lampades Laudanum Le Père Fouettard lilith victoria mechanical phoenix milk chocolate, coconut, cardamom, rum, and ginger truffle needlework nephilim 2x obatala ochosi (need to check spelling) octopus and abalone diver pele perversion phantom queen prurience (sniff) sapphics sleipnir (spelling?) spooky res st. john's eve suck it sugar skull tavern of hell 2x the coil- partial the coiled serpent the ghost the great sword of war 2x the jersey devil the music of erich zahn 3x torture king ulalume vampire tears-2x vice villain yew trees the amazing red labeled mystery decant *only willing to trade for something in the same scent family tea party- new, sale only NOT FOR TRADE (wedding favors) queen of hearts high strung daisies the dodo frumius bandersnitch all in a golden afternoon cheshire cat drink me alice sniffies antique lace iganok jewelers jersey devil obatala ostara penis adoration snow angel under the harvest moon testers autumn moon of the mirror stand olisbos smut 2010 tal-decants charisma bptp champaigne bath oil decant (willing to trade, i don't have a tub!) other etailers arcana pax mundi love potions new year's evil possets nevada heat bottles partials spring training empty womb furie fruit of paradise pomona copper phoenix milk chocolate, coconut...truffle adoration of the mi go wishlist: German Expressionist Horror A Bachelor's Dog The Grand Inquisitor's Heretic's Fork -any of the four lick its -any weenies AEVAL Anne Bonny Aperotos Eros Archangel Winter BARON SAMEDI belladonna BELLE ÉPOQUE Bengal BLACK FOREST Block Buster Bonfire Night Brimstone Calico Jack chimera clemence Crowley Death of Autumn dee Devil's Night Djinn fenris wolf GRANDMOTHER OF GHOSTS hades Hellfire HIGHWAYMAN Himerus holly king Jabberwocky Kali Loup Garou Love and Pain Mama Ji mata hari oak king oberon On Darkness Pais de la Canela Priala Red Devil red lantern Rumpelstilzchen Samhainophobia Sin skadi smut snow moon Spider Strangler Fig THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM THE BLACK RIDER THE BLACK TOWER the catapillar the dodo the Goblin Ride The Great He Goat THE LIGHTS OF MEN'S LIVES the music of erich zahn THE OBSIDIAN WIDOW Tintagel Titus Andronicus torture king Van Van White Light wraith YEMAYA

frimped! a very well timed frimp as well. i have a job interview this afternoon and feel like my life have become very stagnant lately. on top of it, i have problems with anxiety (I'm extremely worried about this interview even though i know that i have no interest in the job, but i don't get enough offers to interview for more stable positions than the one i'm in now to pass down a chance to at least practice my interviewing skills). in the imp- wow. sharp melon with an undertone of something sweet and candy like. wet-sharp, herbal candies. it makes me think of something that you'd beg an adult for even as they tell you that you won't like it- and then hate it once you get it. dry- it morphs into apple pie. sweet, spicy, i want to eat my arm. and i have to admit, i'm a lot calmer now that i'm wearing this, it may be entirely a mind game but it does seem to be helping. this does seem to be the most effective of the conjure bags that i've tried so far.

cranberries! nomnomnom. heavy note of cranberry juice all the way through this one. the bottom notes morph though- there's something that goes from herbal to smoke on the dry down. i attempted to wear another blend today and i thought it was interacting with that, but the smoke is still there when applied on a different location. it almost smells like vetiver. eventually it fades though and i'm left with lovely sweet cranberries.

in the imp and wet: ...grass clippings? (looks at note list). okay so i guess i'm getting the fern? dry: grass clippings with lavendar and lilac and something...else. i almost think it's the sugar going strange on me- it smells like latex at first and then something that smells like plastic sugar, like a doll that's supposed to smell like sugar. off to the swap box/imp orphanage. this is just...wrong. i like the upper notes. if i could keep the lawn smell i'd actually like it, it reminds me of summer and is just strange enough to want to wear it. but that weird cast off note from strawberry shortcake is too much for me to take.

i am going to go back to updating the list when i get new oils- so if you are interested in an oil, pm me to see if i still have it.

phantom queen confuses me. i'm having my initial confusion that i have when a scent doesn't line up with the image of the subject that i have in my head. this scent is much too pretty and girly to line up with the impressions that i have of the morrigan- i had a similar issue with queen mab when i reviewed that one as well. the second thing causing confusion is that this really smells like vanilla milkshakes and roses to me. in the imp and wet, i get the impression of vanilla milkshakes from the throw. if i actually pay attention to the scent it doesn't smell anything like vanilla, but if i just catch random whiffs it's definitely creamy, milky vanilla. in dry down, i actually got excited because i thought that this was the only other blend than mata hari with rose that i can actually wear. i can wear the rose in this one...because there isn't any apparently. i still don't believe that though, i amp rose to the sky and this definitely smells like rose to me. it's not bad this time though, because while it's prominent, it's not painful like it normally is. if i try i can pick out the apple blossom. it's another pretty feminine floral that feels like it shouldn't be a pretty feminine floral.

well this isn't going to be much of a review, but my boyfriend says this smells...scarily true to the theme.

lol and i've had people tell me that bliss is too...something for them! I guess it just shows that there isn't a universal. I could just be blanking but I think the only thing close to a true foody that I actually like personally would be sugar skull and that may or may not be a stretch to find. I fall closer to autumn food or fruit and floral if I venture into foody. Actually I'm a foody person and Gluttony just does not work me, which makes me sad. And Eat Me vanishes on me. So I guess they're not that universal. Maybe Bliss would be safer for a sweet foody scent? If she likes tea then I'm going to second Dorian and/or Alice.

straight uncut high john the conquerer oil is one of my most potent ritual tools lately and I was interested in the comparison sine this blend is more likely to be wearable. this strikes me as being a lot weaker with a vanilla undertone. I don't get the same confidence boost with it either. a day's wearing will show what effect if any this has.

my list no longer currant (again) so items listed on the current entry may no longer be there.

the ones that come to mind off the top of my head would be something along the lines of eat me/gluttony for foody, intrigue for vaguely oddball, something like the coiled serpent for patch/incense (but that may be a little heavy), and i actually really like needlework for floral/girly.

this is my statement for full disclosure: i am most definitely NOT a floral person. i liked this one thematically but someone bought me a decant as a gift, because of the theme (i'm a fiber artist that studied sexuality formally for awhile) otherwise i would have avoided it. that said, this is one of the very few almost pure florals that beth has made that i can actually wear. normally i have to have a large dose of something else to be able to pull them off. however, this is almost a lilac sn. through the decant and wet stage, that's literally i get-lilac. however it's a very true lilac and it does remind me of may in my front yard back home. it then goes through a lilac backed a really faint almost aquatic note (i have absolutely no idea what that could be- i've never gotten that reaction from the lab's ginger, but i'm only familiar with about half of the other notes, at least in oil form). it then warms up a little and it's lilac backed by ginger and what i think is the tea. however this is still heavy heavy lilac on me. but it's not overpowering unless i have my nose right up against my skin. it's a very very pretty, light scent and it does strike me as appropriate for spring. this is much more delicate that what i would have picked out myself but i can actually see myself seeking out more of it.

i got frimped a tester this past week. i was hoping that this would be a bpal stand in for another favorite from a different retail in the imp: fruit. sweet sweet stone fruit. maybe just a touch of vanilla. wet: peaches, lots and lots of peaches. a touch of quince. not much else, this really wants to be nothing but fruit for me. dry; pretty much the same. a touch of tobacco far in the background, maybe a splash of booze but more of an impression than an actual note. it shifts more towards the manderin/vanilla spectrum than peach/vanilla however. this reminds me of an avon shampoo i used to use as a kid- peaches and cream. it's nice, and i'd probably pick up a decant for when i feel girly, but this is light years from what i was hoping for. i was looking for something much heavier on the vanilla, tobacco, and booze, but this wants to be nothing other than fruit compote on me.

partial traded in exchange for one of my friend's holy grail scents in the imp: sour, tart sugar- yep sweet tarts wet: grape koolaide powder. this has promise. i love koolaide scents. but this is also waffling with something sour as in, dirty skin. i would say that it's my skin's reaction to violets, but it may be the sweetpea. dry: this one doesn't want to settle, at all. it's alternating between dirty musk and koolaide. the sourness only really shows up close to skin though, it's not present in the throw. this is ungodly sweet. it's definitely a candy scent. i do like it. it's a bit young for me though so i may try it layered with black death at some point.

This will be an ongoing and updated list! Bolded entries are what I'm willing to swap away immediately- bad, bad skin chemistry issues. Italics are ones that I am not interested in swapping/selling at this time. imps and decants absinthe akuma-2x baobhan sith bien loin d'ici black cat black death black heart boo bordello chimera crossroad-needs to be relabeled, using as a ritual oil dana o'shee dee 2x dioble en bote doc constantine* dracul-2x Dragon's Heart dragon's hide egle el dia des reyes-2007 event horizon fae faunalia feast for the greatly revered ones herbert west high john high strung dasies i died for beauty incubus intrigue jazz funeral-dated 2007 josie ladon lady mcbeth lampades Laudanum Le Père Fouettard milk chocolate, coconut, cardamom, rum, and ginger truffle mother shub's toothsome banketstaaf needlework nephilim 2x obatala ochosi (need to check spelling) octopus and abalone diver pele perversion phantom queen plunder pontarlier prurience (sniff) riding the goat sapphics sleipnir (spelling?) spooky res st. john's eve suck it sugar skull tavern of hell 2x the coil- partial the coiled serpent the ghost the great sword of war 2x the jersey devil the music of erich zahn 3x tisiphone torture king ulalume vampire tears-2x vice yew trees *only willing to trade for something in the same scent family tea party- new, sale only NOT FOR TRADE (wedding favors) queen of hearts high strung daisies the dodo frumius bandersnitch all in a golden afternoon cheshire cat drink me alice sniffies antique lace iganok jewelers jersey devil obatala ostara penis adoration snow angel under the harvest moon testers autumn moon of the mirror stand olisbos smut 2010 tal-decants charisma queen of the nile bptp champaigne bath oil decant (willing to trade, i don't have a tub!) other etailers arcana pax mundi love potions new year's evil possets nevada heat bottles partials spring training empty womb furie fruit of paradise pomona copper phoenix milk chocolate, coconut...truffle adoration of the mi go wishlist: German Expressionist Horror A Bachelor's Dog The Grand Inquisitor's Heretic's Fork -any of the four lick its -any weenies AEVAL Anne Bonny Aperotos Eros Archangel Winter BARON SAMEDI belladonna BELLE ÉPOQUE Bengal BLACK FOREST Block Buster Bonfire Night Brimstone Calico Jack chimera clemence Crowley Death of Autumn dee Devil's Night Djinn fenris wolf GRANDMOTHER OF GHOSTS hades Hellfire HIGHWAYMAN Himerus holly king Jabberwocky Kali Loup Garou Love and Pain Mama Ji mata hari oak king oberon On Darkness Pais de la Canela Priala Red Devil red lantern Rumpelstilzchen Samhainophobia Sin skadi smut snow moon Spider Strangler Fig THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM THE BLACK RIDER THE BLACK TOWER the catapillar the dodo the Goblin Ride The Great He Goat THE LIGHTS OF MEN'S LIVES the music of erich zahn THE OBSIDIAN WIDOW Tintagel Titus Andronicus torture king Van Van White Light wraith YEMAYA