ismene

This is the perfect clove scent, the one for which I've been searching for years. And now it's discontinued! *sob* It's sweet, it's spicy, and for the first hour or so it's faintly musky. In short, it's wonderful. Smells just like a jar of ground cloves. Unfortunately it doesn't last that long on me, so I'll probably go through my bottle fairly quickly.

I'm beginning to think that all florals hate me. Desdemona gives me a headache, even though none of the usual culprits are listed in the description. I can't pick out any individual floral notes - they all blend together into one sweet, strong scent.

At first this one's almost equal parts fruit and floral. I was a bit apprehensive about the floral segment since it was mostly rose, but it quickly faded away. I couldn't pick out any specific fruit; the candy sweetness of the lotus was predominant. I'm still not sure how much I like this one. It's nice and pretty, but it's a somewhat bland prettiness. It's also a very young scent, which doesn't seem quite right for me.

I had no idea what Mistletoe would smell like. I don't think I've seen any mistletoe that wasn't plastic. It's a very fresh green scent, somewhat sweet and rather piney. After it fades a bit, it smells almost exactly like last year's Yuletide. It's nice, but I don't know if I'll keep it, since my bottle of Yuletide 2003 is still good.

This is the cherry that's used in scents like Hearth and The Red Queen. I can easily identify it as such, but it smells somewhat different on its own. It's very sweet, with only a hint of tartness, and it does smell a lot like Kool-Aid powder. It also smells somewhat synthetic to me even though I know it's a naturally-produced oil, I suppose because it's so very strong. The only other things that smell that strongly of cherry are cough medicines, so I think I'm subconsciously associating the two.

Hearth begins with the bright red cherry licorice scent that's present in The Red Queen, but after a few minutes it's joined by the tobacco. It's kind of an odd tobacco, very sweet and wet. It's definitely tobacco but it doesn't quite smell like the scents I associate with tobacco. The blend smells very different than I expected, not like cherry pipe tobacco at all. This is a strong and heady scent, not for the shy and retiring. In fact, it's too strong for me - it gave me a headache. It does have a lot of staying power, as the headache-inducing oils invariably do.

I hate it when perfumes are described as "clean" or "fresh," but that seems the most apt way to describe this oil. It's minty, but not overpoweringly so. I can smell a hint of florals that I assume are the lunar oils; I can't really detect the lotus. This is a bit similar to Blue Moon with mint instead of cucumber, but it's also one of those icy florals like Snow White or Ice Queen. I don't know if I'll wear it a lot as I'm not a big mint person, but it's lovely. It seems like the thing to wear when you need some minor personal cleansing. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who had trouble getting the bottle open - I had several bottles which required the (careful) use of pliers.

Ah, Somnus. I had such high hopes for you. Unfortunately, it didn't work out between us. Not only did you not help me to sleep, but you gave me a headache. It was very kind of the Lab to include you with my order, since I have such severe insomnia, but it wasn't meant to be. Lavender is a scent I can tolerate only in small amounts - I'm usually ok with the flowers but often get a headache from the oil, particularly if it's a strong oil. Since this is more of a medicinal-lavender than a floral-lavender, the sharpness was even more pronounced. I can't tell if the floral notes are jasmine or rose or possibly both, but I have trouble with both of those oils, too. I'm glad everyone else had such good experiences with Somnus, but being mildly allergic to its main ingredients meant I had to wash it off after a couple of hours before the headache got worse.

Wow. This is an egg nog to get you wasted. I've only had non-alcoholic eggnog, and that rarely, so I was surprised at how very boozy it was. I could pick out the rum and brandy notes without having to look up the ingredients, which is a bit surprising since I'm not much of a drinker. I get a hint of the nutmeg, but that's it. Nothing of the cream of sugar, nothing sweet. I'm still unsure about my feelings on this one; I guess I'll have to try it a few more times to figure it out if it's a keeper.

I can't really tell what this one smells like because it sends me into sneezing fits. I know it's floral but...*achoo*!

The Vampire Lillith gave me an imp of this as part of my swapfaery package, which was very kind of her as it was on my wish list. It's a rather bizarre mixture of muskiness and candy sweetness. The resins give it a dark, incensey smell that I at first mistook for a musk, overlaying the lotus. After a while everything fades but the candied, almost fruity sweetness of the lotus. I really, really like this one. Yummy.

Oddly enough, this smells like nothing on me. I mean, I can tell I'm wearing perfume, but that's it. I can't describe any of its characteristics at all, let alone any notes.

This smells more like a highly spiced snickerdoodle to me than a sugar cookie. Part of why I love sugar cookies is their bland sweetness and this oil is definitely spicy. There's a very strong cinnamon note, and there's enough of this that my skin burns for a few minutes. I also smell something dry and slightly bitter after a while, perhaps cloves or nutmeg. They're sweet-swelling when ground, but smell quite different in their solid state. I like this, but I doubt I'll wear it much, especially since it burns my skin a little. I've been using it a lot as a home fragrance and it's lovely that way.

I smell almonds and...cherries? Definitely candied fruit of some sort. Everything's all been covered with sugar and heated till it carmelizes a bit. It's a nice sort of sweetness, but I'm not sure if I like almonds enough to wear this one a lot. I also get really hungry when I wear it.

Lightly spicy, with a faint hint of wood. It's also a bit sweet, though not overpoweringly so and not sweet in the same way that fruity or vanilla-based scents are. I quite like this one; it's great for people who like resinous or incensey smells.

This is like standing out in the garden in the evening, pure white moonflowers craning their stem-necks up to the stars and roses mysteriously opening up to bloom as well, the white roses that have traces of pale green about the edges. The rose is heavier at first, but as the oil dries the 'dew' scent and the other flowers are more prominent. It's very pretty and it actually stays true on my skin, unusual for a floral. Still, floral scents don't really suit my personality and I always feel a bit weird wearing them.

The first time I wore Kabuki, I thought it was the pure, unadulterated scent of cherry blossoms. After a couple more wearings I decided it was more like a cherry Snake Oil. Lovely. Unfortunately, it fades away in about an hour on me.

At first it's sharp and fairly sour, though I can't pick out what's causing it - maybe the wine or sour apples. Once it dries down, it's very earthy, capturing perfectly the scent of fallen leaves with their musty, slightly moldy smell. I get just a hint of spicy mulled wine after an hour. This fades unusually fast fast on me, and I'm speaking as someone on whom most BPAL oils don't last long. It's nearly all gone within two hours. I kind of like it and it does smell like fall, but it doesn't really seem like it's right for wearing. I'll probably keep it around for ritual purposes.

Help! I'm drowning in a bottle of maple syrup! It's quite syrupy for the first hour or two, but after that I can smell just a bit of brown sugar. Mostly, though, just the maple sickly sweetness and it is simply too much for me. I've scrubbed my arms, taken a shower, changed clothing, and I can still smell it somewhat. After this many hours I'm beginning to feel ill from just how sweet it is.

Kathmandu's almost exclusively saffron on me. Faintly bitter and smelling so brightly yellow I can almost see the strands in front of me eyes. After a couple of hours it mellows out a bit, becoming slightly sweeter and the other notes come into play somewhat, but by that point it's faded so much I have to press my nose against my arm to smell it at all. Sniffing it really makes me want Indian food, though. Mm, curry.

Bayou is very strong, with a heady sweetness that's like standing next to a honeysuckle bush or a bowl of jasmine blooms on a hot day. I can only pick up a hint of moss and other greenness. It doesn't really smell like the bayou to me; there's just not that sense of murkiness and mud there. It's more like sitting on the porch of a plantation that was carved out of the middle of the swamp. It's very pretty (and I'm not much for florals), but gets overwhelming after a while and gives me a bit of a headache. Going into the swap pile.

Patchouli's the predominant note on me, though I can smell a bit of orange and perhaps some spice (clove?). Really, it's pretty heavy on the patchouli and I find it difficult to smell anything else.

At first it's all peppermint, sharp and strong, but after a minute I can smell a hint of what I think is chocolate. Another couple of minutes and the lavender starts coming through; the drydown is pretty much all lavender on me. I feel like I should be able to identify several other notes - this is Nine Mysteries, after all - but can only pick out those three. After about ten minutes this is very cold on those spots where I've appiled it, like Icy Hot or something similar. After another few minutes it's started to burn, so I had to wash it off. I wish I knew what was in here so I could figure out what's bothering my skin so much.

I was a bit nervous when I saw others describing this as a floral because, as I've perviously mentioned, florals and I don't get on. My fears were taken away when I first sniffed the oil. It's ever so slightly floral at first but dries so that the dragon's blood and orange are the predominant notes. Hints of the herbs peek through, especially the marigold, but I think I can catch chammomile at times too. I never sniff the amber straight on, but I'm sure that's what makes this blend so sweet. It's bright red and gold to me, with a very distinct character. This is obviously a blend for magical use but it's also one that can be worn frequently, too. Blue Moon felt less wearable, more exclusively ritualistic to me. As a bonus, Red Moon has one of the longest staying powers of any of the oils I've tried.

On me, this is cinnamon and honey in a milky base, with just a hint of cloves. I don't smell fruit at all. It doesn't really morph on my skin, just slowly fades away. Lovely and spicy, yet mild enough I can wear it to bed.