Lycanthrope

Caveat: I amp rose and turn amber occasionally into baby powder, depending on which kind it is. Ifrit / Sparrow / This Blend = powder.

So... this goes completely and utterly to a powdery rose on me in no time flat, and then amps to the point where a tiny dot on the back of my hand is overwhelming a coworker or two. Initially on application there was a golden sparkle that was promising but my chemistry doesn't play well with this scent.

Can't do.

Wet, this reminds me very much of the LEs Faue Boulanger and Moana, in that it has that wet, greeny splort of quasi-aquatic. Where those fragrances take a subtle turn towards both slight violet and seaweed, respectively, SwGEaFT (bllaaarh!) tends towards rindy, pulpy green fruits. Not quite honeydew, but with that same sort of squishy, aromatic essence.

I'd say this falls in the line of fruity wet melony scent.

I like it. If I ever run out of Moana or Faeu, this is where I'm turning next.

Interesting.

This sparrow starts off very high pitched and sharp, there's mostly this strong cologne-y mishmash of initial non-seedy, floralness, that seems to settle towards a very bright, persistent amber with more powder than I usually prefer. As it dries down I'm getting more 'dryness' to the scent and can start to get a sense of the seedy, slightly grassy sedgy note, but there's still that very strong powdery amber that is over the entire aroma.

Whoa, strong. The powder does not recede. This again remains chirpy and high pitched like a tiny flitty bird, but a no-go on me. I'm sure it'd be a hit on folks whose skin does not mutate amber occasionally into this bizarre perfume.

Used on the palms of my hands, I've been having horrible fortune on the roads in Chicago (being cut off, basically running into bad situations where it's tiny car vs. large buses and just bad, bad judgments all around. Plus snow). So I thought I'd see if I can increase my on-the-road fortune and used this with Crucible of Courage.

On my palms, this is super pepperminty, like the essential oil, with as stated above a mild herbal aroma. Definitely as time passes, this goes towards cinnamon or cassia. Basically, this smells like the best toothpaste ever, in a good way.

Mmm.

The drydown is still quite potent, herby, cinnamony. No skin welts (yet) but cinnamon is unfriendly, I'll have to see if I get 'em.

Today the weather sucks and I have to drive in the afternoon on a Chicago weekend. Let's see how much trouble I get into.

What? It's fizzy, a little different, peppy, and very headstrong.

Like Alkaseltzers! Effervescent.

USPS says pakkit was delivered on 11/24. No such package at my doorpeople. Usually they're pretty good about getting the orange-taped packages to me.

It's got stuff that is going to other folks other than me... when do ya think I should start to panic?

Brruuuh.

Each time I put this on, my brain goes 'Estate Bath oil!" It's a slightly twingy peach pulp with a hint of vanilla-cream, but not overpoweringly so. Don't really get much neroli, but it sits together quite like L'Estate does when I drip it into the bathtub. No marked supergardenia to me, it's pretty tame, sweet, innocent.

If you like Tamora or the Estate bath oil try this one.

Initially on this is the scent of cocoa, and old people. Kid you not, I have no idea, but there's this dry papery smell that I've come to associate with old folks. So, I can see the chocolate coins spilling out of grandma's hands.

Thankfully with time this goes into a very pure, straight up cocoa absolute aroma. If you liked Boomslang but couldn't take the Snake Oil, go for Gelt. It's not too similar to things like Candy Butcher, though, it's fairly 100% cocoa single note. Which is awesome that the grandmas burn off after a few moments.

Seriously, I can't stop slathering this on myself. It's wonderful. Such an unassuming description but this blend is one huge winner from the recent Yule update. Initially it starts off quite cologney, almost like Irish Spring in that there's a fresh, grassy burst of aquatic mist, tickling at my nose a touch, but definitely dewy, swirly, light fog (not peasoup fog), over a base of that same pretty grass note as in A Blade of Grass but with less leaves and overt mowed lawn. Over time as the scent evolves it deepens just a bit and goes from a misty aquatic into a sweet, light misty apple. Fairy Apple. There, I said it. Yes. It's quite subtle, so not like SGA apple or Hesperides apple, but this is a pretty, misty, night-picnic with sliced apples aroma.

ETA: In locket after 12 hrs this is a grand failure, probably because by the time I've worn it for 12 hours it's changed its balance. In my clocket, it kept amping the 'soapy note' and it was quite verdantly aquatic sharpitude in the AM, at the end of my night float shift. Oddly enough, on skin, it gets eaten real quick and that's why I got more apples before.

Mmm, this is grand. Also of note, this bottle came at a much lower 'default' fill level (like a good mm or two below the neck) - it's a somewhat denser, darker appearing oil in the bottle, dunno if I was the only one.

Back to the fragrance. In the bottle and wet, it's a very strong, moist dirt note for sure, and I was concerned that Badger was going to be all dirt, all the time. On my skin, it's a sharp, mushroomy dirt like Graveyard Dirt / Death Cap, and there's a touch of these darker, streakier woods (definitely cherry - mahogany - dark, burly woods) swirling around underneath. The dirt on me definitely burns off quick and then this becomes a fairly strong, pungent in a good way, teakwood aroma. There's a very, very slight dryness to this which may be the cedar, but it's not leaping out and strangling me with HAI I'M CEDARWOOD PLZD TA MATCHA.

It shares a similar but darker wood drydown to a compatriot scent, Mole, but I like this fuzzy critter better.

ETA: This smells to me a lot like Aureus.

Echo above. This is not an aquatic, in the strictest marine/ozone sense of the word. This is soft, sweet, musky, and there's the spirit of ships in the background, but as the Sea Rat says ... this guy is a swinger who loves the coast! The buckthorn is what I'm assuming gives this the tiniest of fleshy berry punch, but for the most part this is a dashing rogue's musk, cuddly pirate. The dry down is sweeter, and I feel like it's creamy in that resin/amber way.

Strong herbs at first. Sharp, almost like a related scent Parentalia, except that the floral drydown on this beauty is quieter, more subtle, and smells like the most wonderful, rich, luxurious creamy European soap ever. I have no idea. I keep smelling my snuffbox (er... that little divet behind your thumb) where I placed this, and it's unmistakeably, singularly, uniquely beautiful. It's not jumping out as a single floral, but a definite united whole.

I admit I'm one of those people who will go to Marshall's and embarrass myself as a grown man smelling boxes of fancy soaps as children look on quizzically.

Now I have another outlet!

Oh my.

I wasn't expecting this kind of smell, it's very much initially a lot like Christmas Rose, that sort of sweetish effervescent lemon-lime aroma, which does not to me pull out rain and dusty temple incense. As it dries down on my skin it starts actually smelling more like cola, as there is an undercurrent of something... spicy... but overall totally not what I was expecting.

Not quieting or calming to me, it actually is a very perky scent. I dunno. It's definitely running its own niche with Religious Soda!

Reminds me a lot of Talvikuu - this is a much more piney, sappy, boughy aroma. I think there's a slightly different herbal background but my brain keeps thinking 'whee! Talvikuu!' I'm sure there are very subtle differences I'm not quite picking up.

All in all, it's a true pine forest scent but not as dark or deep as Hex, it's a quieter winter where the revelry and ritual isn't swathed in darkness, bonfires, and madness.

Was most looking forwards to this scent because of the amber and violet leaf... sounded like parts of my beloved Darkling Thrush.

Wet in the bottle this has a slightly peppery warm kick to it, on my skin there's a shift immediately to a cooler pine-like aroma, not quite minty but there's definitely a green herb in this mix. I can start smelling the violet giving a little bit of a rough push to the green base, and underneath it all there's a creaminess. This does smell somewhat similar to The Darkling Thrush of past years except without as much frank mintiness - this is more of that deep violet-like floral, with a hint of peppery bite from the smoke at first, evolving into a dusky floral hanging out over a sandalwood amber that is more on the lighter side.

It's nice. I'll keep my bottle but I don't know about hoarding... yet.

Didn't see the topic open yet. Maybe I missed it? Searched a few times.

Anyways, TOAD! I've never had a fragrance named after toads... there's a pic of a dapper Geicko-Gecko-esque amphibian on the front looking sly, as if he's holding a cane, quite the rogue, eh?

First sniff from bottle, it smells a lot like fierce tobaccos, like those in Hellfire (new formula). There's a bit of an effervescence to the aroma, something just slightly on the edge of spicy (like cloves?) and then there's a whole burst of more and more metal components, a grumbly undercurrent of functional metal. I'm not getting too much linen or burnt aroma from this, but this is a machine that is well-used, it's got oil and grease that is hot and working.

This kind of smells like what I would imagine the penultimate sexy mechanic would smell like, all grease and a touch of filthy tobacco, pipemetal...

It's good. I'm keeping my bottle.

"No."

That's what I told Jack, when he came back to my door, this time dressed in fine green livery.

"I told you, I'm not interested."

He shuffled around a bit in his garish outfit... just a bit over the top - too green, too leafy, very sharp in more ways than one. But underneath that initially crisp outside appearance I knew that his pumpkiny, buttery oozy skin was lurking below. Even now I could see the diffuse orangeness seeping everywhere, and I could just tell nothing was going to be different this time.

Impression: Very sharp citrus and an initial leafy mint that quickly fades, leaving the buttery strangeness of Jack-on-my-skin that I cannot escape. The combination of citrus (which does not play nicely with me) and pumpkin is not a good one for me!

I've already passed off this would-be salesman to throw his pitch elsewhere.

I've always felt that Rosalind is very similar to the long-long-long discontinued scent Refreshing Garden Mint (which smelled nothing like mint, but hey, it was watery and green).

Hrrrm.

I dunno about this one. I'm not a huge foodie.

Wet, this is a slight tinge of that red-gingery goaty aroma from Shub and a little bit of War, then definitely PANCAKEZ, over time the bready cake scent fades to a very light berry, almost a touch like MB: Closet. All this over a slightly cooked steamy aroma.

So, yes, this is Pancakes. I just don't know if I'm going to reach for it much... but I may just get a bottle to hold onto for the sheer strangeness of it all. It's like my Shill, heh heh.

Looking forwards to this oil the most as I am a fire sign. Great texture, slip.

This is a spicy, deeper grounded scent along the lines of Terrae, there's the smoky myrrh and patchouli but this oil warms a bit when it strikes the skin and has a spicier tone to it. There's lemon-that-is-not-lemon (hallo palmarosa!) which amps over time and in the end I get a slightly lemony myrrh with a hint of depth.

I'm actually not horrifically head over heels in love, but lemon/palmarosa scents don't play well on me. Overall this is a pleasant, warm, smoky blend. Definitely smoldering with flame.

Texture again is amazing like all the other oils.

This is definitely a mishmash of more strongly scented florals when they hit the skin. There's the slightly pungent aroma of chamomile that is twisted up with the signature scent of rose geranium, which appears to be the more persistent, central note of Aquae. This is most definitely an aromatherapeutic blend, it's a touch sharp to be a perfume. Over time there's a hint of resins and it starts to smell like... Well, it's smells like Aveda!

The rose geranium starts to intertwine with the sandalwood/frankincense and I swear I'm getting a scent just like one of their now discontinued (long time...) 'Chakra' perfumes.

I may use this as a replacement for when I want a more natural herbal fragrance.

Great texture.

Starts off a soft lavender aroma to me, followed by the citrus of grapefruit but it's not overtly sharp or too single-notey - there's a slight woodsiness without being woodsy (does that make sense?). Herbal in the brighter, less cooking herbs, more mint-lemon-blossoms, less sharp rosemary-esque.

Over time this goes more towards orange blossom/neroli which is marvelous.

Feels like I'm expanding my space just using this. It'd be awesome for yoga.

One: Texture is very good. Nice slip and it definitely absorbs well. I had been using my Estate Oil as a makeshift massage oil but it was not designed for it, and it wasn't absorbing in. This massage oil glides on quick and absorbs fast but leaves skin still slick enough to not drag.

The scent is absolutely evocative of the aroma of earth. Initially it has a slight mentholated tinge, which is probably the spikenard oil burning off, it's earthy but not 'Dirt,' you can definitely tell that this is a more of a functional, aromatherapeutic blend versus a perfume, but it still smells great, a burst of patchouli and gritty rooty herbs, followed by a soaring mint that is just bright enough, which fades to a mildly vetiveraceous (in a good way) and persistent, calming, soothing plant-resin scent.

Deep drydown is a glittery myrrh.

If you're a fan of Beth's grittier, earthy aromas you should give this a shot for scent and function.

Tezcatlipoca is a very nonfoody chocolate/cocoa. Slightly smoky, not too foody.

I love this!

On me it goes to mostly gardenia-violet, sharp but good, has power on the way home while driving.

On my scarf, it's woodsier and the white sandalwood remains longer, gardenia amps less, and it is a magnificently regal and complex floral mix. I will dub this my fabric scenter.