sunlitgarden

Note that I am testing this strictly as a perfume for my own enjoyment. I have no desire to make use of its magical benefits - I don't need random people hitting on me, I am happily engaged. The oil is dark orange. Imp: Wow, floral. Huge blast of jasmine. I doubt this is going to work on me... On my skin: Yeah, no. It smells like bathroom. Thanks, indole.

In the imp: HOLY BANANAS BATMAN! That's literally what popped into my head. Strong, boozy - smells like rum extract being dumped into a banana cake batter. As a note, this imp and Aremata-Popoa, which I just tested on my other arm, were not very full... maybe a bit more than half. On my skin, it's a tropical banana-coconut-vanillay spiced rum drink. It's delicious, and I want to DRINK IT. Drink all the things! I think it's a bit much as perfume, though, unfortunately...

In the imp: Boozy cherry. I know it says blackberry, but it smells more like cherry to me... On skin: More boozy cherry. I was hoping for an anise/licorice note, from the ouzo (which, being Mediterranean, my dad drinks often, and I sometimes mooch - it's good stuff) but I'm pretty much getting straight up boozy cherry. I think I'm getting a bit of tea as it dries. It eventually turns a bit more blackberry-like, but still no ouzo. I wouldn't mind drinking this, but I don't think I really want to smell like it... ETA that this goes weird on my skin once dry. I'm getting what seems floral in here... like some cheap blackberry/floral body spray. x.x

I wore it today and the sweet pea had faded somewhat from when it was new (my bottle is around 2 years old) but it's still there, and the blend lasts a long time as well. I put it on around noon and could still smell it until around 11 when I went to shower (I'm an evening shower person, haha.)

In the bottle, Sprinklecake really smells like a sweet vanilla rainbow chip cake. My partner said that even without knowing the description. On my skin, it smells cakey at first, with a bit of a sweet berry-sugar, maybe strawberry, but that berry note fades away and leaves a sweet honey-sugar. I want more cake, though! The throw smells more cakey than up close.... and I'm kind of getting coconut from it. Deeply sniffing my wrist, there's something a bit off about the honeyish note - it smells almost.... pee-like.... but the throw from farther away is yummy. I'm annoyed at my wacky chemistry, though! I want more cake! Dry, the weird note in the honey or sugar or whatever it is is gone, thankfully. Close up, I mostly get that sweet note, but I keep getting whiffs of cakey goodness here and there.... I want more of that! I might need to finally get a scent locket. O_O

Mouse's Long and Sad Tale (Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood). The sweet pea is pretty strong on me... it's a light and pretty scent. Now I think I might wear it today.

Alice for sure. And Dragon's Milk, while not actually a flower, has the same kind of sweet honeyed smell I enjoy. Also Dana O'Shee, which is more almond and honey to me, but is really yummy.

Playing With a Loaded Gun - but it's hard to find. On me it's like ginger tea and then gingersnap cookies.

I am a big rose fan. So far I have bottles of The Rose, Hope, Peacock Queen and Rose Red and I love them all. So of course I have to try Two, Five and Seven as well. In the imp: Roses indeed! I am getting the sense that there are a lot of rose notes here, just like in the description. On my skin, I am getting a hint of greenery - doesn't smell like grass exactly, not freshly mowed lawn or anything - it's similar to the green stem note in The Rose. This is actually surprisingly kind of weak on my skin... I like it well enough but I don't think I need yet another bottle of a rose-heavy scent. I am curious about what it would be like deathmatched against The Rose, though.

Vice has been on my wishlist for a while, as I love chocolate scents, but I'm beginning to find that orange blossom may be a problem note for my skin (which is unfortunate because I love the actual smell of orange blossoms.) So I'm not sure how well it will work... In the imp, this smells like some kind of gourmet chocolate. Yummm. The cherry comes out pretty strong on my skin, though, and is unfortunately kind of fake smelling, at least on me. It reminds me of those scented markers we had in elementary school. There's still some sweetness from the orange blossom, but I'm not getting much chocolate at all on my skin. The fake cherry note fades out somewhat as it dries. The throw is mainly orange blossom, and it smells remarkably true to life and sweet. Fortunately, the orange blossom is not going sour! It must have been something else in those other blends. I'm sad that the chocolate disappeared as soon as it hit my skin, though.

In the imp: Dryer-sheet aquatic note and flowers...The "hothouse blooms" are reminding me specifically of Angel's Trumpet or Brugmansia which is in the same family as tomatoes and smells kind of like a sweet tomato leaf, at least to me. On me this smells like a Yankee Candle called "Beach Walk" or "Ocean Breeze" or any of many other variations on the theme. Not really my thing....

This is from the resurrected 2010 version. In the imp: Definitely getting the gin note here, and sweet fruit. I smell the blueberry and papaya. This smells super yummy! On my skin, I can smell the lemongrass... at this stage, the blend reminds me of some kind of herbal tea. I would love to drink this as tea, actually. Not really getting the gin/juniper on my skin at the moment. This is super refreshing and I think it will be great in summer. Yum. I'm regretting not getting a bottle of this while it was available as GC.

With my chemistry, Weeping Branches Moon is similar to Titania and Kitsune-Tsuki. WBM has more notes, but the others have a similar "dewy, ethereal" type feeling while being fruity-florals.

Weeping Branches Moon is a fruity-floral scent that actually works and smells good on me, without being overly sharp or soapy (flowers) or overly ripe/rotting (fruits), both of which are hazards with my chemistry. I've had good success with most fruit blossoms, though, so that may be why. It's a pretty, springy floral, definitely feminine but not cloying at all. There's a bit of green, herbal-ness when first applied, but it fades as the scent dries. Similar scents (to my nose) that I also enjoy: Kitsune-Tsuki, Titania, Peach Moon

In the decant: Anise? Fennel? Some sort of Apiaceous note. (I'm trained in botany, I can't help it!) On my skin: Yep, getting licorice for sure now. That's the dominant note in the wet stage. There's also a bit of smokiness (the "hearth" note, presumably). Kind of boozy and sweet as it dries (the mead, I guess). Mostly I get anise and smoke, though, which is a little weird, but not unpleasant. As it dries more, it turns into a lovely warm spiced scent with hearth-smoke. A winter scent for sure, but this is really nice.

In the bottle: Strawberry cake with a hint of coolness from the gin/juniper. Wet on my skin it's mainly sweet strawberry with some juniper. It's not too strongly boozy on me, though I am getting some booze. It's the same sweet strawberry note from Velvet Unicorn, but without the cherry note that has recently turned medicinal/plasticy on me with VU. This is basically like a sweet fruity drink, and to me it could go in the Luau Lounge category. I enjoy that category, and I also love VPK. It's not really something to wear to work though, lest I smell like I just came from a bar.

It's up now!

Is there a review thread up for the April 2012 13? I can't find it, if so o_O

Got this as a frimp in a sale package. I love ginger, so I'm testing it out. In the decant: Ginger! This isn't a sweet, cookie ginger, though. It's more like a piece of dried ginger, which I like to chew on for stomach upset, but it's strong. On my skin: SuperGinger! Wow, this is just like ginger tea. A bit of smokiness is coming out as it dries, which is where the "scorched" description came from I imagine, but it's not overpowering. I don't smell the musk by itself, but it's lending the blend a creamy quality. It's still not like a cookie, but like ginger tea with a bit of milk, maybe. This. Is. Awesome. My sweetie loves it too. I need a bottle!

(Apparently I had already reviewed this and forgot - sorry for the double post!) I'm trying Theo because I love Dorian and have heard the two compared, and wanted to see for myself. I'm not sure how aged this decant is, but I got it secondhand. In the decant: Huh. This is difficult to describe. I'd call it kind of fresh and a little back-of-the-throat astringent. I can smell the white musk and vanilla, but there's something else a bit sharp and harsh here as well. On my skin, it's somewhat Dorian like, but a bit more... floral? (Maybe the jasmine leaf? Not sure what the leaf smells like, but I'm not getting the usual super-strong jasmine here.) And a little smoky. There's something bitter that is giving the blend a band-aidy/plasticky tone, unfortunately. =/ I think I'll stick with Dorian. Edit: After it's entirely dry, the wafts I am getting from the throw are pretty good, but they basically smell like Dorian. And up close, the band-aid/plastic thing is super strong. x.x

In the imp: Gritty, woody, bitter, dark are all words that spring to mind. There's something a tiny bit sweet though, maybe the amaranth? This smells better on my skin than in the imp. That sweet smell comes out a bit more, almost like almond. Odin is very manly, musky, with bitter and "dirty" smelling herbs, but a bit of a sweet edge. It's not really my type of scent, though... too dark and masculine. Edit: Fully dry, this smells REALLY sweet on me. It doesn't smell very... Odin-like.

In the imp: Neroli mainly. Smells sharp and greenish. Something here is a bit headache-inducing, but I'll skin test a small bit... On my skin, still neroli, I think I'm getting a little raspberry towards the background, making it a bit sweet. As it dries a bit more, I think I'm getting the juicy blood orange. Unfortunately, this has "that edge" that a lot of blends get on me and I'm not sure what note or not combination causes it exactly, but it's unpleasant, kind of like an airplane restroom. It's kind of headache or nausea inducing. I think it might actually be the orange blossom and/or neroli because Spanish Dance had orange blossom honey and that went weird on me too. Sad, because I LOVE the smell of actual orange blossoms... The "bad" smell does fade somewhat as it dries, leaving a candy-like fruity smell that's not bad, but I don't think I want to go through the wet stages to get there.

Cathode: In the imp: ...salty mint? I recognize the ambergris note from Lyonesse, but this is kind of weird... On my skin, the Spanish moss and oakmoss notes are giving this a bit of an earthy feel, but it still smells salty to me because of the ambergris. After about 10 minutes, I still mostly smell SALT!, and it's kind of making me ill. x.x

*roots around in imp box* Hmm, Sybaris, I haven't tried this one yet... *looks up notes* Crap, violet... On me this smells... probably much closer to what violet is *supposed* to smell like than what it usually does on me. I keep trying even though it's done horrible things on me in the past (burnt plastic, paint thinner, or nothing at all - even blocking out the rest of the blend.) This smells... kind of powdery and sweet, which is consistent with how other people have described violet. I still don't really like it, though. It kinda smells like a... marshmallow? Kinda like those orange Circus Peanuts, although not quite... and I can't really shake the "old lady perfume" association.

In the imp: Incensey myrrh and patchouli. On my skin the patchouli comes out more. I'm not really getting any juniper that I can detect, or oakmoss, really. It's not the really bitter myrrh that I don't like - it's nice, and incensey. As it dries the oakmoss is starting to come out. I like oakmoss. Overall, it smells good, but isn't really my style - my partner likes it, though, so to her it goes~