sunlitgarden

Got this as a lab frimp in my recent order. In the imp: Sweet grapey-wine, and a bit of leather... the "sexual musk and body heat" kind of smells like sweat to me, unfortunately. And I think I can smell that darn violet again... giving it a bit of a chemical-y smell. (I don't like violet; was hoping I wouldn't smell it here, but alas, I do, a bit.) Small skin test: Sweat and grape-bubblegum-fakey smelling "wine". Yikes, this is not good on me. O_O

Got this as a lab frimp in my recent order. Imp: This makes me think of a rum-raisin dessert. I often seem to have "raisin" association with the BPAL red wine note (wine = grapes = raisins? I dunno.) On my skin, I'm starting to get a bit of the cocoa. It's not a foody, desserty cocoa - it's somewhat dry and bitter. Overall, this scent reminds me of some kind of cocktail or fancy liquer. Smells good - but not something I want to wear as a perfume.

I received this as a lab frimp with my recent order. Imp: Nutty, mildly spicy. It's not boozy, but otherwise kind of reminds me of some kind of fancy liquor. On my skin it's mostly nutty and sweet. I don't really like nutty notes, though. It's not to my taste...

Updated with Smoky Moon and Fraggles! I've also been putting in some review impressions of the note-less protos, starting with the 2011 ones. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ash3e75IebiZdE9JTWJYUmllU3p1X1VJT25ZTWEwRWc#gid=0

In the decant: Mm... this is sweet, fresh, and lightly fruity. The blueberry smells very true. Even though white musk isn't a listed note, the blend has the white musk "feel", if that makes sense. On my skin, I'm still getting the blueberry, yay! With the blueberry, white tea and bergamot, this actually smells drinkable - like a yummy tea blend. The orris gives it a soft, almost "fuzzy" edge -- I love it in blends like this. As it dries more, it's a bit like Silver Phoenix with the orris note. I'm a big Silver Phoenix fan though, so no complaints here! It starts to smell a little violet-y, but orris works far better than actual violet notes on my skin. This is my favorite of this year's Metamorphosis so far.

Has anyone here played Tales of the Abyss? It's no secret that I have the MAJOR hots for Jade. And there's a skit where the characters are in the middle of the desert and complaining about how hot and sweaty they are, but Jade smells good, and they ask if he's wearing cologne, and he replies "Scent is the essence of a gentleman." The question is, what would he wear... Something refined, definitely. I don't think he'd go for tobacco or booze notes or anything like that. Purely for his personality, I think one of the "deathy" scents would fit (Days and Nights in Vaults and Charnel Houses? O_o) but he would probably not actually want to wear something like that as a cologne.

In the decant: Honey with a bit of astringency. You know, what this reminds me of, weirdly enough, is the scent of the Pike Place Market here in Seattle. It's a tourist attraction, but I also enjoy going there despite being a local -- it's an open-air market with all kinds of stalls, meat, produce, flowers, honey, crafts, etc. Something about this - possibly the honey mixed with the other combination of notes -- is reminding me of there. (Incidentally, it's also the home of Tenzing Momo -- sniffing their essential oils taught me to recognize quite a few different notes.) On my skin: Sweet honey and floral-ness. The dragon's blood isn't cherry-like as it sometimes can be, but is more resinous (at least on my skin). Fortunately, the turmeric isn't making this smell like curry - they just add a bit of spice to the scent. I think it, along with the gingergrass, is largely contributing to the Pike Place Market smell though, as there's also a large spice and tea shop there (which is another favorite shop of mine.) All in all, I don't think this is bottle-worthy because it's far too evocative for me, and smelling like the Market is just weird. But it's a fascinating blend!

Was frimped a decant of this! In the imp: ....bubblegum? o_O Wet on my skin, it's still bubblegum-ish, though the sweet part smells a bit more floral now. It's not a bad scent, but the florals are VERY sweet here -- too much so for my taste. Sad I'm not getting much incense here at all. Mostly just flowers.

Beautiful and Adored: I received a sniffie of this as a frimp in a sale package. Hoping there's enough to test... In the decant, it makes me think of tea with hibisicus making it tart, and some honey added to sweeten it. Tea isn't a listed note, but that's the overall impression I get. This is pretty much dry, but I rubbed the imp wand on my arm and did get a bit to test. The florals are going soapy in a big way. I'm getting powdery, honey-sweet, soapy florals. This smells like a nice soap, but still soap. It's a pretty scent, but I don't think it's something I would really wear. Would love it in a soap though! *pokes Puddin*

I was frimped a partial decant of King Cobra in a recent swap. I am excited to try it because I am a Snake Oil fan and orris, frankincense and copal are all good notes on me. In the imp: Snake Oil, but with the orris giving it a bit of powdery sweetness. Wet on my skin, it pretty much is Snake Oil, but again, a bit sweeter. Even though I like Snake Oil, sometimes it's a bit too strong for me. But King Cobra is a softer, sweeter version. I think I'll need a bottle of this once the Carnaval comes back (along with Green Tree Viper! They can be snake buddies with my Boomslang.)

In the decant: My first thought is... lemony? And sweet, with some freshness from the mint. Kind of gum-like - a lemony-mint gum. On my skin, it's still gum-like. Kind of reminds me of melon, though it's not a listed note - that same sweet-fresh quality. Mostly, just gum. That said, I actually really like this and am considering a bottle! It's very refreshing. As it dries, I'm getting a teeny bit of an incensey smokiness from the brown musk. Not detectable to my nose: orchid, ozone, juniper, cypress. When it's entirely dry I am mainly getting an incensey, sweetish brown musk. I really like this stage!

I received a tester of this as a frimp in a sale package. I like rose, and most "dust" notes, but the more ozoney snow notes don't always work on me and neither does linen. In the decant: Oh, this is the piney snow note. I like this one. On my skin, it's a "soft" pine, if that makes sense. Not sharp or harsh like some pine notes can be. It reminds me a little of Old Moon 2007, which was sweetened by berries. I actually like this much more than I was expecting. I'm not really getting any rose that I can distinguish, although there is something sweet here. A little bit of a soapy note starts to creep in as it dries. It reminds me a little of a men's body wash. I still like it, though! I might track down at least a decant's worth of this. Edit: Unfortunately, when it's completely dry this is *very* soapy. It's not too bad - actually kind of comforting in a way - but yes, definitely laundry soap.

Preconceived Notions (concept borrowed from Penance): I was expecting it to be aquatic based on the "Sea" in the name. Imp: Very lemony. I think there might be a light white musk or something here as well. On my skin, it's light, lemony, fresh... It smells like tea with freshly squeezed lemon in it. Not that there's really a tea note, but the overall impression is the same. Very tart lemon. It's not unpleasant, but I prefer my lemon scents a bit sweeter. Getting more light musk as it dries down.

Got this as a lab frimp, which is good, as I've been on a quest to test ALL THE ROSE SCENTS. Imp: This is sweeter than I was expecting. Rose and sweet musk. On my skin, rose is still the dominant note but I'm getting a bit of spice as well. It's going a bit soapy/powdery on me, though. This smells surprisingly feminine on my skin. I like it, but it's fairly unremarkable on me - I have other rose blends I prefer.

Imp: This is a little on the bitter side from the woods, with a bit of freshness from the white tea. On skin: Woody, bitter. Turns more towards a dusty powderiness as it starts to dry. I'm mainly smelling sandalwood here, and possibly oud? It's a woody smell that's almost varnish-like. I haven't tried oud on its own so I'm not sure exactly what it smells like. Yeah, this is going furniture varnish on me. Argh! EDIT: With a couple years on the imp and possibly a different chemistry at the moment, Half-Elf actually smells great! It's a nice woody musk with a sort of leafy, almost oakmoss-type base (but this note is fairly light). Possibly a scent that needs aging before use -- so I may buy a bottle now to use in a year or two...

In the decant: Dessert-like, sweet honey-hazelnut. Little bit of berries, but in the imp they're pretty faint. The berries start to come out more on my skin. This is reminding me a lot of Halfling, actually, but with a bit more berry. In fact, this makes me think of a halfling more than Halfling. o_o This is a little too sweet and foody for everyday wear for me, but I think I will be holding onto my decant for possible gaming sessions if I ever make a halfling.

Received as a frimp from the lab. Imp: Honey? I guess maybe beeswax, but it smells honey-like... On my skin: more honey-beeswax. I was hoping for a bit of candle smoke here, but am not getting any. There's something "perfumey" about this... It kind of reminds me of some honey/beeswax soaps I've used before. This is pretty linear on me, from imp scent to drydown.

Received as a frimp from the lab. Preconceived Notions (concept borrowed from Penance): Man, I don't know. I like cinnamon and almond, but fig can go bad on me. I guess I'll just have to try it. Imp: Smells like a sour-sweet candy. Sour gummi worms in particular. As soon as I apply it to my skin, the cinnamon blooms and makes it much more spicy. Unfortunately, now it smells like cinnamon gum or candy. I like it more as it starts to dry - it becomes a warm, baking-spice type cinnamon, with what smells like musk underneath (I'm guessing this is the spikenard as it's supposed to have a musky smell.) It's not bad, but there's still kind of a candy-thing going on, and I have other blends (especially Spicebush Swallowtail) that I prefer for this sort of scent.

I received an empty bottle of Western Diamondback with a teeny bit of oil (only a couple drops really) as a freebie in a forum sale about two years ago. Don't know the exact age, but it must be older than that. In the bottle, this smells kind of musky and sweet (the tonka I assume). If I received this blind without knowing it was a Snake Pit, I wouldn't guess there was Snake Oil in this. Managed to get a couple drops onto my skin... the leather is coming out now. It's mainly a sweet musky leather - not much Snake Oil, at least not at the very dreggy bottom of this bottle. I think I smell the sandalwood as well, giving it a bit of dustiness. I would say this leather note is closer to the "brown leather" than "black leather", and "black leather" tends to be sweeter and better on my skin, with "brown leather" being more chemical. This is pretty masculine, but I do like it. Leather, powdery sandalwood, sweet tonka. Still not really smelling the Snake Oil (and the oil was light, whereas the other Snake Oil-containing blends I've tried have been dark red.)

Preconceived Notions (concept borrowed from Penance): I was looking forward to trying this because I pretty much hoard anything I like that has a lychee note. Bottle: I'm almost getting gin/juniper from this, but I think it's just the "bubbly" note. Sweet and fruity as well. On my skin I definitely smell mango - fresh, juicy mango. The lychee is less obvious, but I find it to be very floral smelling (and tasting) for a fruit, so I think it is just adding to the sweet, bubbly fruitiness of the scent. It's not too boozy; it actually kind of reminds me of a Ramune soda. To me, this is one of the blends that could be part of the Atomic Luau Lounge (which is a good thing). Unfortunately, as it dries this starts to get a bit of a... cleaner-y note to it. I will be keeping this for now, but I'll need to see what this note does as it ages.

Just tried Ginger Skulls again and I have to say, I don't recommend it for ginger. Lightly spiced Asian pear and quince, but the ginger is barely perceptible. But, I really like spicy, zingy, hot ginger, which I know not everyone does.

So, I bought a bottle of Ginger Skulls when it first came out and I sold it, but I don't remember why I didn't like it, because the notes sounded good to me all over again! I re-bought it (this time in a partial with only a small amount of oil remaining), and am determined to actually review it this time. o_o In the bottle, it's fruity. Almost boozy. I'm not familiar with quince as a fruit, although I have tried other scents with it as a note, and I think I recognize it here. The fruits here are definitely in the apple/pear/similar category, yellowish-green. Yikes, I just dabbed a big blob on my arm, more than I had been planning to test with, but it'll do I guess. I think what I was disappointed with last time was mainly the lack of ginger - and, indeed, I'm still not getting much ginger in the sharp and spicy sense (I really like "hot" ginger), but there is definitely some spice underlaying the Asian pear and quince. It reminds me of a mushy cooked fruit with spices sprinkled on top. I think this may just be a blend I need to slather, because I recall it being pretty light on me, but I can smell it well now (although, like I said, a big blob of oil came out). Overall, I don't think I need to seek out more than my new very low bottle, but I'm glad I got the chance to re-test it and actually record my impressions this time.

I love almond, and that cherry-almondy note, so this is the Puddin' of the three I was most excited about. In the decant it's mostly that cherry-almond note, boozy, though a little nuttier than in some other blends. On my skin, that nutty note comes out more, and makes me think of a flaky pastry crust. This is the only one of the three Puddins that I've gotten any kind of pastry or crust note from. It makes me think of a sweet cherry pie. This is definitely my favorite of the three. Yum!

I like plum (although it's actually not a listed note, I was hoping for plum accord maybe), but.... in the decant, this kind of smells like alcoholic prune juice. O_O Fortunately, once applied to my skin some spice starts to come out. Still pretty boozy, though. It's better on me than Figgy Puddin', and I do like it. I'll probably hang onto this decant to use once it gets to be fall/winter.

Figgy Puddin' was the one out of the three I was most worried about, because fig often turns bad on me, but I like spiced scents like this, so I decided to give it a try. In the decant: Boozy. o_o A little spice but mostly booze (rum more than cognac.) On my skin I'm getting a bit more spice, although the booze note is still very strong. As it dries more it starts to turn into a slightly dry, spiced fruity scent. The fig here isn't going rotten-smelling on me like it sometimes does, but the initial boozy phase is still way too strong for me. Spicebush Swallowtail is still my favorite of these types of scents, it seems.