Miss Lynx

Interesting -- considerably less floral than it sounds from the list of notes. This actually comes across as pretty gender-neutral to me -- the florals are there, but they're counterbalanced by the other notes which add a bit of a dry, astringent feel. This could actually be a very old-school (Victorian or earlier) men's cologne, though it wouldn't exactly be a typical men's scent today. Grade: B- P.S. I believe this may actually be my 500th review. 500 reward points, anyway... How on earth did that happen? I do have a life, really I do!

In the imp, and at first sniff when applied, this smelled way too floral for me. But after it settles in a little, it's actually pretty nice -- the spiciness and smokiness begin to come out, and there's a soft incensey feel to it, toning down the florals a bit, though it's still more of a floral than not. It actually has just a hint of the same feel as Gypsy Queen, though not nearly as musky - which given its insiration, I'd have kind of thought it would be. It's definitely got a bit of a sexy feel to it, though not as overtly so as some of the other Ars Amatoria scents. But it's got a bit of a nose-tickly feel to it, which I think is probably the champaca. So, not bad, but not really for me. Grade: B

I like most of the notes listed in this, apart from initially not being sure what litsea cubeba was, so I ignored the penisy aspect of the description, because it sounded like it ought to work fine on me. But on first contact, it really does smell pretty definitely like a men's scent. A really nice, dead sexy men's scent, of the throw-anyone-who's-wearing-this-into-the-bedroom-NOW sort, but still a men's scent. After a little while, though, it smells less overly masculine, and a lemony sort of scent comes out -- I guess that's the litsea cubeba? I googled it and apparently it's supposed to smell lemony. Now it's kind of like amber with lemon drops, though still not a bad scent. Eventually it fades down to being more of a generic amber-musk, a little like haunted. All in all, not bad, but not great. I have enough amber-musk scents that work better on me than this one does that I probably won't be keeping it - at least, not for myself. But I may keep it around to dab on the boy on occasion... Grade: B

Whoa -- in the imp, this smells most unpleasant. As in, wrinkle my nose and hold the imp out at arm's length sort of unpleasant. Of course, since the point when I ordered this decant, I have discovered that green musk is evil. At least, I think that's what wrecked Pollution for me... On, though, it's not too bad... But not too good, either. It's got a very men's-cologne sort of feel to it, much like Pollution did, though thankfully without the overtones of killer florals. It's definitely got that "green" feel to it, but unfortunately on me that ends up smelling sort of like some kind of deodorant soap. Not exactly bad, but really not something I'd want to smell like on purpose, either. This phoenix will have to fly on to another home. Grade: C

Wow -- I want to drink this, not wear it! It smells delicious, like sweet sparkling wine with an overtone of fresh-cut grass or something equally green. I suppose that's probaby the dandelion. It's a bit reminiscent of Glitter, but with more of an outdoorsy, fresh feeling, and a subtly mind-altering spin. It smells like something that would taste deceptively sweet and innocent while knocking you on your ass in no time flat. You'd have a sip, then another, then another, and then next thing you know wake up under a hill somewhere, and when you finally found your way back to your own world, a hundred years would have gone by. Unfortunately, it doesn't stay entirely nice on me... It's not bad on my wrists, but anywhere where it doesn't get as much air (cleavage, crooks of arms) it dries down in a less pleasnt way. There's a soapy sort of note to it that emerges, which I've found in a lot of the scents that have "green" or grassy elements to them, which smells kind of cloying and artificial. If it could have stayed the way it was at the beginning, I'd like it a lot more, but as it is, I ended up finding it sort of annoying. I guess this is another like Three Gorgons, that seems great at first, but hasn't got a very happy ending. Then again, that's true of most of the tales about fairy wine... Grade: B-

The first thing that hits me from this one is the almond - strong and pungent and cyanide-like. Almond is one of my all-time least favourite scents, but thankfully I know it usually fades fast, so I've never let it stop me ordering something. And sure enough, the almond is gone within a few minutes. What remains is really quite nice -- warm and rich and sweet and slightly spicy. The wine grapes are pretty strong in the mix, with the other notes blending together to give them a rich, incensey backdrop. Thankfully, despite there being several different flowers in it, it doesn't come across as a floral scent, at all. The florals settle really nicely into the mix, adding a light sweetness but not overpowering the incensey notes. It's actually quite similar to Purple Phoenix -- maybe a touch warmer and less sweet, but very much in the same family. There's also, unsurprisingly I suppose, a strong resemblance to Blood at certain stages of its development, and a faint similarity to Urd. On the whole, I very much like this one, though it's not quite as unique as I'd hoped -- given that I already have a bottle of Purple Phoenix, I don't know if I need this one too. And yet, I'm going through my decant imp pretty fast, having worn it about four times now, so maybe that's an indication that I really do need it. We'll see... Grade: A

This is really pretty -- soft, ethereal, and not too sweet. It is a decidedly sweet and feminine scent, but nowhwere near as overpoweringly so as it could have been with those notes in it. The musk and sandalwood are strong enough to ground it in a soft, gentle warmth that keeps the flowers from going into overkill. The overall feel is a bit reminiscent of Antique Lace, and maybe to a lesser extent Ouija, but without the Play-Doh edge that the vanilla in Antique Lace takes on, or the slightly-too-floral aspect of Ouija. It does get a bit baby-powdery eventually, but not to a really bad extent. It's an extremely gentle scent, with very little throw -- it would probably be a good pick to wear anywhere where you didn't want to come across as too perfumed. Grade: B

I got this as a frimp in a decant circle, and I have no idea why I never noticed this before or put it on my wish list -- fruit notes + musk generally = love on me, and carnation is one of the few floral notes that actually works on me and doesn't get amped up horribly. So as soon as I looked up the description, I was looking forward to trying it. And sure enough, it's really nice. Sweet, heady, a little spicy, and kind of intoxicating. Definitely dead sexy -- I'm not surprised it falls under Love Potions. It's actually a little bit reminiscent of my beloved Red Phoenix, though a bit lighter and less complex. Interestingly, it didn't particularly remind me of Frumious Bandersnatch until I saw reviews making that comparison, even though if you think about it, they have almost the same ingredients! Different types of musk, maybe, and the Bandersnatch has chrysanthemum as well, but from what I recall, FB comes across as spicier, and this one as muskier/sexier. But I'll have to try FB again and compare. Anyway, Bathsheba is a bit sweeter and has less depth than most of the scents I usually like best, but it's still quite nice. And it occurs to me that were I to layer it with Plunder, which smells like the other half of Red Phoenix, I'd probably have a dead ringer for that most-loved scent. So, definite keeper! Grade: B+

Although I dislike the idea of wearing anything named after Pollution -- I even have trouble with ozone notes -- amber and musk are sort of my holy duality, so I tend to think that anything involving those two can't possibly go wrong. Apparently, I was mistaken about that. When initially applied, this smells very, very decidedly like a men's scent. It's odd, because even black musk usually turns sweet on me, but apparently the green variety packs a big men's-after-shave punch. I can wear a lot of very gender-neutral scents, but there are a few that just have too much of that men's cologne vibe, and this is one of them. For the first few minutes, any way. After that, my skin gets hold of the davana, and as with so many florals, amps it to the point where it obliterates everything else. So it goes from men's cologne to overpoweringly sweet floral. The fact that it still has a subtle trace of the after-shave scent lurking underneath the floral onslaught does not help, not one bit. It only makes it smell horribly wrong. Which, given the scent's inspiration, is absolutely perfect, I suppose. I certainly feel polluted. Now I think I am going to wash it off before it gives me a headache. I never thought I'd give any scent with an amber/musk base this grade, but... Grade: F

Oh, this is really nice! It's kind of like a lighter, more ethereal version of Bewitched, which is one of my all-time favourites. There's a bit of a similarity to Maenad and Glitter as well, that slightly intoxicating edge. The blackberry leaf gives it a definite element of fruitiness, but it's a little less... juicy, I guess, than blackberry fruit would be. The tea adds tartness, the vanilla and honey musk soften it, and then there's just a soft kiss of spices to enliven it a bit further. Lovely! I don't quite so much like how it dries down, though -- there's a certain note in it that comes out after a while that smells a bit waxy and vaguely synthetic, kind of like scented crayons. I get that in a lot of scents with fig in them, but there's no fig in here, so I'm not sure what it might be. It doesn't overpower the nicer elements of the scent, but it does detract from them a bit. Really, that's the only thing keeping it off the A-list. Grade: B+

Wine grapes, myrrh, frankincense and olive leaf, and the warm scent of offertory cakes. This one didn't originally interest me last year, as it sounded too foody, but then I started reading the reviews as they came in, and kicking myself for not at least picking up a decant. So I was pleased to see it made a comeback this year, and of course did decide to try it this time. And I'm very glad I did, because it is indeed really nice. Yes, it does have a bit of that buttery/cakey element to it, but only a little -- it's a bit reminiscent of All Souls in that respect, and that's one I really love. It's as atmospheric as that one, but less ethereal and more rich and earthy, suitably enough for its inspiration. The wine grapes are not too sweet -- they definitely smell more boozy than fruity in the usual sense. The incense resins give it a rich depth and a hint of darkness, and while I have no idea what olive leaf smells like, there does seem to be a a hint of something a bit herbaceous or woody in here that might be that. There are stages to it here and there as it evolves that I'm not entirely crazy about -- moments when the foody aspect is a little too present -- but they're only occasional, and fairly minor. On the whole I quite like it, and the eventual longest-lasting phase of it is mostly a nice warm incense scent, a little like Cathedral. All in all, probably my favourite of the Yule scents this year, although Diwali does seem to be growing on me with repeated wearings. Grade: B+

Sharp, wintery, very foresty -- kind of reminiscent of Nocnitsa and Loup-Garou. The notes seem to harmonize together fairly nicely -- I was worried the mint would stand out too much, but it really doesn't. It just sort of adds a touch of coolness to it. I don't mind it, but it's not really me. I don't do so well with cold scents - there needs to be some warmth to them for them to work on me. Wolf Moon worked well as a forest scent on me because it had the warmth of amber and musk, but this one, while not bad, is really not the forest scent for me. Grade: B-

On first contact, this is quite nice. The fruit notes are fairly strong, and there's a slightly foody element, presumably the sufganiyot (which I had to Google to find out are a kind of pastry). Not getting too much amber or beeswax initially, but I think they're lurking in the background a bit. I can pick up a definite similarity to Queen Alice, which also has fruity and sugary notes over amber, but in this case without the spiciness of the carnation. It's a very warm and comforting scent, and the pomegranate gives it a bit of sharp, tart sweetness, like the wine note in Queen Alice. It lasts a fair length of time, and stays pleasant through all of it, with the amber coming out more as it settles down. On the whole, quite nice, but very much like a non-spicy Queen Alice, and since I'm already planning on getting a bottle of that -- and like the spiciness -- I decided to make a gift of this one to Jewish friend, since the day I tried it was the first day of Chanukah, and she was coming over that evening anyway. Grade: B+

There's really not much to say about this one other than: yep, that's pomegranate. It's pretty much like a single note -- there may be traces of other things in it, but they're very faint. I like pomegranate just fine, but this doesn't have the complexity I want in a scent. I guess I'm just not a single-note kind of person. Grade: C+

I like this -- it's a soft and gentle scent, very musky and woodsy but not in an overpowering way. It doesn't come across as overly masculine at all -- more gender-neutral. I'm reminded a little bit of Coyote, but it's less sunny than that one, more shady forest. It does get a bit powdery as it settles in, but never unpleasant. It's a bit reminiscent of the Body Shop's white musk powder, but with a little more warmth and depth than that one. Oh, and BTW, I get nothing remotely resembling pickles from this. I have no idea what in this scent could possibly resemble that. The only down side to this scent is that it's not very long-lasting -- inside of an hour, it's down to a very soft skin-scent I have to put my nose right to my wrist to smell. Grade: B (B+ if it lasted longer)

I'm not generally a fan of foody scents, but for some reasons I ordered decants of several of the foodier Yule scents this time around. I think it was the cocoa and cinnamon that tempted me with this one. And I can definitely smell both those notes, but it also has the evil coffee note from Miskatonic U that smells like nasty artificially-flavoured edible-oil-product to me. But thankfully, as it settles in, that note fades a bit, leaving the cocoa and cinnamon more in the foreground, which is much nicer. There's still something a little "off" about it the way there is in most foody scents -- they generally smell very synthetic to me. But this one is at least less that way than many. It lasts for a fairly long time, and all the way through its development it has that part-nice, part not-so-nice character. The nasty synthetic coffee scent never completely goes, though at times when the cocoa and cinnamon are dominant I almost want to love it. But I can't quite. I guess I will have to continue to rely on Midnight Kiss and Boomslang for my cocoa fix. Grade: B-

As I've mentioned in a couple of my other recent reviews, I'm not generally a fan of foody scents, but for some reasons I ordered decants of several of the foodier Yule scents this time around. In this case, brandy and spice kind of appealled to me. On first contact, it thankfully doesn't smell very foody at all -- there's none of that nasty fake buttery note that kills a lot of the foody scents for me. There's a bit of booze and a bit of spice, but it's a very light, gentle scent. And inside of ten minutes, it is completely gone. So I've now reapplied it, and am paying closer attention. Very nutmeggy -- it smells like sweet, spicy booze, with a bit of that ever-popular sugar note from Smut, Devil's Night, etc. There's an element to it that's a bit like Chimera, one of my favourites, but it's somehow lacking in substance -- it could use a bit of musk or some kind of resin to flesh it out a little. As it dries down, there is a trace of that unpleasant synthetic fake-foody note that kills most of the foody scents to me, but that's just before it pulls its disappearing act. So on the whole, not a winner, despite little flashes of appeal here and there during its Mayfly-like lifespan. Grade: C+

On first contact, this is very much a fruity floral, a bit reminiscent of Yerevan, Blood Countess, and others in that general genre. But as it begins to settle in, it gets very, very feminine and perfumey, more so than either of those two - definitely not getting a whole lot in the way of strength and cleansing fire here, unless it's the strength of screaming floral death. I think maybe my skin is amping the gardenia to the point where it's obliterating most of the rest of the scent. Eventually the florals settle down at least enough that I can detect the other notes a little, but one the whole, this is one very, very flowery scent, and thus very, very not for me. Grade: D

This is the one of this year's Yule scents that I most expected to love, but I don't find myself liking it quite as much as I expected to. I certainly don't dislike it, but at least when first applied, it's an odd and slightly discordant mix of extremely varied scents, with some kind of slightly harsh undertone that's a little off-putting. It reminds me a little bit of Nephilim, which I had a similarly mixed reaction to, but it's nicer than that one is. There are some elements to it that I really like, and others I'm not so crazy about. As it settles in, the harshness does diminish, and the different notes begin to harmonize a bit more. Eventually it settles down to a nice, soft, slightly spicy Indian incense scent, which is pretty likable. But on the whole, this does seem to be a case of like rather than the love I expected. I'll keep the imp, but I'm not going to be ordering a bottle like I'd thought I would. Grade: B ETA: I may have been underwhelmed at first, but now this scent seems to be growing on me. I keep finding myself wearing it again, and it gets more interesting each time. There's such a lot of complexity to it. And just the other day when I was wearing it, my wife passed by me and said "Whoa! What are you wearing? You smell really good!" and leaned in for a closer sniff. So I'm not ruling out a bottle purchase after all, and I think I have to bump this up to a B+.

I ordered this one more out of curiosity than anything... And it' s definitely interesting. The sugary note that you find in Smut, Devil's Night, etc., with a sort of musty wooden undercurrent. I actually found I liked the faint whiffs of it I'd get through the day when I wore it, but I did not like how it smelled if I actually got close to my wrist. I don't mind that sugar note when it's mixed with other things I like better, but woody notes are kind of hit and miss on me and this one is more of a miss. So, on the whole... Interesting, but not for me. Grade: C+

I liked this quite a lot when I sampled it at a meet'n'sniff a while back, but now that I've finally got my hands on an imp of my own, I find myself less impressed. I hadn't initially been all that interested in it because the notes listed looked like it would be too floral for me, but when I tried it back then, I got more musk, honey and amber, with just a light dusting of florals, which was really nice. Unfortunately, trying it on now, I get... lots of florals. Too many florals. Kind of like I'd originally expected. It's not as scary as some heavily floral scents, but it's a bit further in that direction than I'm really comfortable with. As it settles in a bit, though, the floral blast fades, and I can begin to smell the other notes. At this stage, it actually reminds me a fair bit of Desire, which though partly floral I kind of like. Eventually, it does hit the lovely, warm, sexy amber-honey-musk that I remember, but it takes its time getting there. Quite nice at that stage, but I think I may swap it anyway, as I have other scents in that general family that take less time to get to a phase that I like. Grade: B

Polished party-girl sleaze. This is a shameless scent, devoid of caution, regret, or introspection. This perfume reeks of tabloid glamour, and has no substance whatsoever. Armoise, tuberose, white citrus, rose absolute, oakmoss, tiare, tuberose, vanilla, linden, and lemon tree blossom. ... Oh, Gods... I got this as a frimp in a decant circle, and while I very much appreciated getting a rare-ish LE that way, I can't even bring myself to open it, let alone allow it to touch my skin! It's not just the Paris Hilton connection -- I sniffed it in the closed imp, through the cap, before I was about to try it, and -- yikes! Death by Florals! There have been a very few other scents that I sniffed that way that scared me too much to even open the imp - Pride and Eve were the others, I think. I will say that as far as I can tell it certainly succeeds in capturing what it intended to -- overwhelmingly sweet killer perfume! Run away! Run away! Grade: F for wearability, A for accuracy!

I agree that Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo is an excellent mood-lifter. Bastet's Laughter, from TAL is also great for that. But for getting the feel of sunshine specifically (something I also need, as yet another SAD sufferer), I find that scents with amber in them tend to feel the sunniest to me. Aglaea is definitely one of the best for that - warm amber with peach wine! The Lion and Coyote also both feel very sunny to me. Kuang Shi and Fae also tend to be good pick-me-ups for me.

This is an odd little scent -- much less aggressive and/or masculine than it sounds like it might be from the notes, though that might be because dark musk tends to go very soft and powdery on me. It's hard to categorize -- a little bit herbal, a little bit incensey, and with an oddly foody sort of edge to it that I'm not sure the source of. Maybe it's partly the dragon's blood, which can smell kind of fruity at times. But there's also something a bit licoricey as well -- the wormwood maybe? I doubt they'd put real wormwood in a perfume due to potential toxicity, so presumably it's an accord of some sort, maybe based on absinthe which usually has an anise or licorice sort of flavour. It's not a bad scent -- I suppose if I had to pin it down to a simple description it'd be a bit like absinthe poured over myrrh incense (opoponax is a form of myrrh). The musk doesn't do much more than soften it a bit, and the other notes just provide a bit of general herbiness. As it settles into my skin more, the licorice/anise element fades down, and it becomes more of a soft, sweet myrrh/musk, with just faint elements of the other notes. Pretty nice, although a lot softer than I'd expect the "essence of passion" to be. Grade: B

I got this as a frimp in a swap, and tried it even though florals are usually not good on me, because I've had a couple of scents with poppy in them that didn't seem to amp too terribly, so that gave me grounds to think that poppy might be a relatively non-evil flower. And indeed, this scent is fairly subtle and soft, even on my floral-amping skin. Mind you, I didn't put on very much of it, but still -- a little usually goes a very long way with me and any kind of floral. It's delicate and pretty, a little ethereal (slightly reminds me of Ouija). And there is a faint trace of something not-sweet underlying it, a little touch of some kind of bitter herb, maybe, just enough to give it a faint sense of bittersweetness and make you think that yes, this just might be based on something narcotic and/or poisonous. Really, as floral scents go, this is a pretty good one. I'm still not really a floral-scent type of person, but if I were I would really love this. Even as it is, I'm tempted to keep it in case I'm ever the mood for florals without the musk and incense notes that are usually required to balance them for me.. Grade: B