sunlitgarden

Fledgling Raptor Moon This is well blended. It's spicy, kind of dry, with woods. I can't pick out vanilla or carnation. The scent reminds me a little of dried grass or hay. Season-wise, I'd associate it with late summer. I'm not sure whether or not it's a keeper... will have to let it settle and try again.

Wet: Coconut with a bit of a spicy herbal edge. The florals come out more as it dries, but it still smells herbal to me. I can see how Beth described it as "cool" - it feels almost minty. Restesting this 5/19/12 to decide whether or not to keep it: I really like the sweet coconut here, but that spicy herbal, almost dry-woody, note is still here and I'm not fond of it in this blend. It kind of gives me a headache. I think this just doesn't work great with my chemistry, alas.

#505 In the bottle, this is a rich butterscotch. Once on, I get a little bit of cherry-almond, possibly dragon's blood. There's a hint of sandalwood or another wood at the base. I like it a lot! Edit: Oh no.. there's a sort of weird sour muskiness in the drydown. Don't like this stage so much. D:

Red Devil Cinnamon and maraschino cherries.... turning into fruit punch. Mostly cinnamon though. I accidentally got a bit on my face while sniffing my wrist and it buuurns.

Athens Smelled like raisins when first applied, but quickly turns into gorgeous sweet honey and spiced wine. May go on the bottle list.

Imp/wet: Fresh strawberry!!! This smells like a strawberry smoothie, or the strawberries in strawberry shortcake. The white chocolate is in the background, but I am getting wafts of it, and it's sweet. Not getting the pepper. This is delicious! I may need to acquire more than just my decant.

Gaueko Mostly warm incense, wisps of tobacco with wood in the background. I don't get the lavender very strongly, but there is a very slight astringent effect that may be it. This reminds me of walking into a new-age incense shop. It's a really nice scent -- warm, inviting, well-blended -- but not really my style as a perfume. It would probably be nice in an oil burner, though!

Phoenix Steamworks In the imp and wet, the main impression is minty, herbal. I can smell the sage and incense as it begins to dry. This is a fairly masculine scent. I like it a lot! It's herbal and refreshing. I don't really get metal from it. It gets sweeter as it dries.

Nanshe Whoa! Astringent! Although I can pick out the lemon and lavender if I think about it, this really smells like ginger to me. Almost like pickled ginger you'd find at a sushi restaurant. It has a similar "palate cleansing" effect, except on my nose. Really clears out the sinuses!

I Died for Beauty I mainly get violet from this and a little bit of frankincense in the background. When I say I get violet, it's more like I get the violet EFFECT. This scent is very faint, I can barely smell it. I have violet on my disliked notes because BPAL violet seems to somehow blot out all the other notes. I think it's my nose, not my skin chemistry, because almost all blends with violet are VERY faint to me, even in the bottle/imp. So, I don't think my judgment of this is necessarily fair. It's just so faint.

Love-in-Idleness Floral! My first thought was daffodil, then I got a whiff of something jasmine-like, then neroli? (Something a little sharp and green.) SO says it smells "rosy". This smells very spring-like. It's a pretty scent, but I don't think I'd really wear it... still, I might hang onto the imp and see if I change my mind.

Lolita This is a bright, sparkly floral with a citrusy, verbena edge. Very light and cheerful!

Harimise Warm, soft and sweet, almost foody. I could smell the rose geranium while applying, but it isn't dominant. It has a bit of a menthol-like edge as well. This scent has a powdery quality, in a soft and comforting way. It makes me think of being cleanly washed and fresh, wrapping up in a warm towel or blanket to guard against a slightly cool morning. I periodically get whiffs of soft florals. Unfortunately, after sniffing my wrist, the scent that lingers in my nose is very faintly sour/'soapy. I'm really hoping that's just because I'm on my period right now, because I love the scent other than that. Edit: as it dries down more, the sour note faded. I get more florals now and very light khus.

The Hanging Gardens Frimp from the lab. This is a ripe, bursting fruity-floral. I meant to sniff it in the imp first, but got some on my fingers so I just put it on. First I smelled fig and then a floral mixture that smells sweet but a bit overly heavy. A bit later, plum. I like it better when the plum comes out. I smell a little rose in the background as well and there's almost an incense-like quality. It's a pleasant scent, but not really me - there are other fruity-florals I prefer. Will probably swap, since it's just not really a standout to my nose.

Snooty Rose Despite the name, I'm not getting much rose in this blend. Snooty Rose has an edge of dry woodiness (presumably the oud/red sandalwood) and citrus (bergamot). I can't pick out the plum. The sandalwood doesn't have the dry, almost powdery feeling that sandalwood often does in other blends; it smells spicier, which I imagine is the "red sandalwood" (a note I'm not familiar with on its own.) It's a little bit sharp, and almost makes my eyes and nose burn when I inhale deeply. Rose comes out more in the drydown but overall this blend gives me a headache.

White amber, coconut, white musk, oakmoss, and tobacco flower. I love love love this! It's a smooth musky coconut with a cool edge, almost minty. It has a bit of a cologne vibe (oakmoss/tobacco flower?) which makes it more unisex than I was expecting. It doesn't feel tropical to me, unlike most coconut scents I've tried.

Kitsune-Tsuki I really love the plum and fresh daffodil in this. I actually ordered it before I knew about my skin's Jasmine Fail, but the jasmine behaves better here than in some other blends and actually smells nice rather than going all ammonia! It's one of the blends that reminds me how nice florals can be. White musk is also a favorite. Overall, I love this! I have a 5ml:D

Spicebush Swallowtail Brown sugar and clove, with the plum lending a fruity background. It's a little holiday candle-ish, but delicious! It smells like baking spicy cookies, or plum pie. It's really nice, but today is a warm summer day, and this is more of a fall/holiday scent. Spicebush Swallowtail is my favorite of the four butterflies, though (not a surprise, since I love warm spicy scents!) I think I'll be picking up a bottle for fall! Edited 10/3: I did get a bottle of this and I'm loving it as a fall scent.

Monarch Wet: Pumpkin and spicy ginger with the mandarin and sugar sweetening it out. This is definitely more of a fall scent. When first applied, something (ginger + mango?) reminded me briefly of Indian curry, but that note has more or less dissipated, thankfully (curry is delicious, but I don't want to smell like it!) I apparently rubbed a bit of this on the skin above my upper lip while sniffing my wrist, and it burns! x_x Fortunately it feels okay on my wrists. I do like this, but there are other spicy scents I like better (Bengal, Plunder, Morocco.) I'll keep my decant, and see if a few months of age (and season-appropriateness) make a difference. Retested 8/22/10: Still getting a blast of Indian food at the beginning. Unfortunately I think that's enough to disqualify Monarch from a bottle purchase with all the other competition abounding currently.

Paper Kite Wet, Paper Kite is mainly coconut with a bit of a sharp green edge, which I'm guessing is the angelica (I'm not sure what it smells like on its own, though.) The greenness fades as it dries and Paper Kite becomes predominantly coconut with a dusty-spicy background. It's sweet, but the pepper adds spiciness and keeps the sweetness from being totally overwhelming. I do have to sniff my wrist itself to get the pepper though, I mainly just get whiffs of pure coconut. I love coconut, though, and I like that this blend is less tropical than many coconut blends - it adds an interesting variation to the note.

Grog Boozy butterscotch (like the Buttershots schnapps) and a little coconut with a smoky undertone. Unfortunately, I get the "Play-Doh" smell from this.

Common Jezebel I was worried about the vetiver in this, but there are enough sweet components to this blend that it balances out. The sweet apricot is dominant, with the vetiver grounding it and adding a dryness. I can't pick out the lemon sugar, coconut or red currant. I think this would make a nice late summer/early fall blend, although it's not really "me".

Metal Tiger In the bottle: Fruity-floral. The dominant note is orange/mandarin, with a slight hint of something aquatic underneath. On, it's a strong bubbly orange with a bit of salt/metal. I like it, it's sweet and fruity. I can smell the lychee if I think about it. My SO thinks it smells like "orange soda and artificial cherry" (the dragon's blood?) She doesn't really like it at this stage, though I think my skin amps citrus and brings out the sweetness (lemon = Lemon Drops candy, orange = orange soda). The salty/metallic note fades as it dries and the orange finally backs off. It becomes a melding of florals and fruit, but it's difficult to pick out individual notes. I keep getting whiffs of a sweet flower which smells really nice! SO likes it better at this stage too, yay.

King of Hearts In the imp: Cherry, but with a hint of astringency. I smell a bit of wood immediately after putting it on. A couple minutes later I can smell the lavender, which then comes out more and more. Overall it smells very powdery. I don't really get rose or musk - the lavender becomes dominant as it dries. This has the potential to be nice, but I don't think it works with my chemistry.

Paduan Killer Swarm Creamy coconut and licorice with a woody bite. The combination of the other ingredients smells somewhat smoky and vetiver-like (which is not my favorite note). I mainly smell the smoke when I sniff my wrist, but I keep getting whiffs of the coconut, which I really enjoy. Still not sure what to make of it, but my SO likes it, so I'll probably at least let it age for a bit before deciding whether or not to keep it. Edit: once it's dried more, it's settled into licorice + sandalwood with hints of coconut and tonka. I like this stage better!