sophia_helix

Dang. I used to think honey was a no-fail scent on me, but so far it's only worked in Tiger Lily and Honey Moon. This, like Delphi, was a gross combo of sweet honey and spicy, musty herbal potpourri. It lasted a while and had decent throw, but I think I really need to keep the honey with the florals.

Yum. Coffee with Irish cream in the bottle, then hints of caramelly oakwood after application, with the slight bitterness of book-paper. It sweetened as it dried, and left me with a powerful craving for a mocha with Irish cream -- which I naturally satisified. Boo, why isn't is this GC?

In the bottle: Cleaning fluid and candle wax. Wet: Still with the cleanser and candle wax. Yuck. Drydown: Gah, this scent is bizarre. I agree with everyone who said this smells like masculine cologne, but that's not it entirely. There's a dry grassiness, but not the nice kind in Coyote. It reminds me a bit of Nyarlathotep as well. Whatever it is, I don't like it at all, which means of course it's clung all evening. Bleah. (I'm 99% certain I'm the person shayelea thinks would like this, given my bizarre predilection for Windex, but I already had an imp -- I'd have been happy to get Windex-scent instead of what I actually got. )

Interesting. At first the strong cedar and vetiver make this too bitter and woody, but the raspberry leaf adds a tangy, sweet note. It's an interesting, balanced scent, with definite layers to it, but on the whole I think it's a bit too severe for my tastes. It's not a green, welcoming grove, but something more harsh and imperious. Fits the inspiration perfectly, though!

This was such a hard scent to pin down that I've put off reviewing it. I think I mostly got metal/red wine from this, like Tintagel without the spicy juniper. There was something a little smoky and burnt about it too. Definitely a spooky scent -- I got the desolation strongly. Not sure if I'll want to wear it.

A Lab frimp. In the bottle: Almonds, I think, and something herbal. Wet: The herbal something proves to be lavender. Almonds still on the prowl. Drydown: Almonds est sum. This smells exactly like Seraglio on me, and I didn't like it either. There's a little hint of greenery/lavender that makes me mourn for what could have been, but this is not good on me. And no one wanted to jump my bones the instant they got near me! Damn.

Not quite sure about this one yet. On the one hand, I love it. It's got a bit of dry, woodsy spice, a sprinkle of smooth brown sugar, and a fizzy apple cider topnote. On the other hand, that topnote makes this scent almost a dead ringer for Mabon on me, only a bit less fruity and more woody/sweet. I don't know if I can justify having two such similar scents, but I can't imagine swapping the Mabon I was so happy to get (thanks again to ivyandpeony!), so it will take some more wearing to see if I can convince the wood and sugar to come out and play a little more.

I'd give Bewitched a try. It's got blackberries, but it's very creamy, sweet and berry on me.

Thank goodness. Samhain 2005 in the bottle smelled different from my hoarded Samhain 2004 imps (more fresh/clove, less apple), but on me they both have that blessed, balanced mixture of apple, pine, clove and that indefinable autumn something. And the label is adorable! ::snuggles the precious::

Yikes. I smell...cheap! It's exactly like Snake Oil with strawberries for the first hour. Sadly, I don't like Snake Oil. Later it develops that plasticky scent, just like that Tinkerbell lipstick for little girls I used to wear when I was seven. Eventually it just evens out to be sweet. Hilarious, but so not me.

A frimp from the lab. I'd been eying Florence, but I have a very bad history with orris in most blends. In the bottle: Rich and sweet, almost like almonds, but with something more earthy behind it. Wet: Now much more strongly floral. Oh, iris, please don't overpower... Drydown: This is one of the most amazing, complex BPAL blends I've tried. The dry/earthy floral of iris is predominant for a while, but there's always a sweetness behind it. The berries aren't sharply cloying as they can be in some oils, but rich and creating a sweet base. After a while the amber and spices appear, and the scent just deepens. This is so lovely. I have no idea why an orris blend actually worked on me, but it's fantastic. It's so rich and luxuriant I just want to be covered in it head-to-toe. It makes me feel like I'm wearing a deep red cashmere sweater and a brown suede skirt and long, soft doeskin boots, elegant but comfortable. I wish it had more throw, but I'll just have to douse myself in it. Mm. ::snuggles into scent some more:: Bottle, please!

In the bottle: Um, yikes. Dirt and forest. Wet: The dirt almost disappears on my skin, thank goodness. I don't like to smell too earthy. Drydown: This had the most unexpectedly lovely drydown. It was a sweet, sharp pine, something like Dublin but more astringent than that (definitely might be eucalyptus like some have guessed), and it's so invigorating and interesting. I wore it while I read, my chin propped on my hand, and I kept getting these yummy whiffs floating up. This isn't nearly as earthy/dark as I feared, probably because my skin tends to sweeten scents, and I'm really pleased. It's a wee bit similar to Dublin, so I think I'll see when my 10ml of that arrives this week exactly what the difference are before deciding on a bigger size of Nocnitsa. Basically, this is everything I hoped Hexennacht would be, except that one was ruined by the fact that skin musk is an "amp" scent on me. Yay!

In the bottle: Salt and cherry popsicles. Bzzt? Wet: Less cherry, but now it's floral, like lilies. So confused. Drydown: My husband and I both liked this immediately, but it smelled so familiar and I just couldn't place it. I was thinking some kind of bath product...and then I realized it smells exactly like the beach. Only it's not just salty air; there's suntan lotion and sweet soda and a picnic lunch and ocean water. It's like a great day at the beach when you're a kid. I think I love this -- I'll just want to wear it on very unusual occasions. Right now it smells like summer in the middle of October. Oh, and I forgot to say, this is STRONG. Nine out of ten BPAL oils fade on me in five minutes, and I'm still catching whiffs of this an hour later.

Hard to describe this one -- dark, feral, and spicy, yes, lots of wood and leather and resin. At least, for the first hour or so... Then my skin's love affair with pine kicks in. I have no problem with that -- I love pine -- but it makes everything from Dublin to Nocnitsa to Wolf Moon smell the same. This isn't as sweet a pine as Dublin, or as earthy as Nocnitsa, or aquatic like Wolf Moon, but it's definitely the same pine. It's also pretty manly for me. Tried it on my husband, though, and yum! Still got that great spice/leather/resin thing going on. Sadly, he doesn't like it as much as I do, but I think I'll keep my third of an imp around for those special occasions. Why have most of the CN scents I've tried worked better on him than me?

In the bottle: Fresh rose with a hint of resin/incense beneath Wet: Almost straight-up rose -- mm! Drydown: Dammit. Rose soap. The soap is less pronounced as the scent wears on and the frankincense kicks in, but it's not a very singular scent, and also quite faint. Someday I will find a BPAL rose that works on my skin. Might hang onto this one as a room oil, or for a scent locket at some point.

Very pretty and red at the start, with a nice burst of fruit. Sadly, melilot turns out to be related to the lotus, which means -- all lotus! Of course, I hate lotus and it loves me. So, no aquatics or autumn winds, the pomegranate and peaches die quickly, and it's sugar-sweet floral. Ick. Hours later it dried down to something very much like vanilla, and I read online that melilot also closely resembles tonka bean. I just wish *that* had shown up stronger and earlier.

This ends up rather sweet, dusty pine on me, without any of aquatics or more icy notes. Actually, it eventually smelled a lot like Samhain, which was weird and made me realize I must be getting more pine out of Samhain than I thought. Too similar and light for me, so off to swaps it goes, though it's a nice scent. I'm afraid I'm not patient enough to tease out the subtleties of this blend.

In the bottle: Pure, fresh peppermint Wet: Now there's a green note in the mint -- cucumber, I assume. Drydown: Drydown stayed pretty true, still just the minty greenness. I wish it was a little stronger and had more throw (my lament with every BPAL, pretty much), but it's very nice and I'll enjoy the imp I've got, since I do love mint.

This smelled exactly like Brisingamen on me -- must be the apple blossom. Too sweet by half, a bit powdery, and the honey-ylang-ylang combo is deadly one for my skin chemistry. Cloying and over-floral -- too bad! Off to someone who can enjoy this more than me.

Same from in-the-bottle to drydown on me -- cloying grape-musk. That gross raisin-scent is exactly how Delphi turned out on me. I think ylang-ylang is a no-no for me, and even though I love honey in some blends (Tiger Lily!), as often as not it will ruin a scent for me in combination with certain elements. Pretty long-lasting. Of course.

Just wanted to say that Aurecacia makes a very nice lavender essential oil which I've been burning for a while. I haven't tried it on skin, so I'm not sure if it would have the same effect, but it's a near-perfect lavender scent for your room.

Whoever called this the female version of Irish Spring is right -- spicy and very fresh/clean on me. I don't get very much of the woody or earthy notes, just that spicy/fresh thing, but since I love sharply astringent smells, that's fine by me. I only wish it lasted longer, because this is really nice. Edited later: On my next wearing, alas, I got all murky wet bog scent (probably the bamboo) and very little of the spicy/fresh. Stupid skin chemistry. Better try it once more before I swap, though.

I've tried so many aquatics now that they're all starting to run together in my mind a little, but this is a really nice balance between citrus, a hint of floral, and a genuine freshwater smell that I really loved, even if it faded away after a while. It stayed more watery than most, didn't get hijacked by the florals, and didn't go to lemontown on me -- I think we have a winner. Add to that the fact that the staying power must be great, given that it was the first aquatic I could still smell the next morning. Yay!

In the bottle: Lots of fresh-plant smell, mostly rose. Wet: Almost all rose, with just some sweet vanilla/tonka behind, and a touch of spice. Drydown: The rose really does have a strange, very fresh smell -- it's almost overripe in its planty-ness. After a while the balsam starts coming up, that tobacco-sassafras-type smell. It's interesting, combined with the sweetness of the rose. I'm not sure how well the two balance, and it does dry into something a little too powdery and soft, but I'm definitely going to give it another few wearings to decide. Edited to add: Yikes. The second wearing was straight-up balsam from five seconds in. It smells very medicinal to me (and actually reminds me of Medicine Show, which I disliked), so I think it's off to swaps with this one. Damn!

Hard to describe this one (I find that's true with all Tarot oils). It isn't as herbal and grassy as other people have mentioned, although there is a small element of that. Instead, it's a complex, sweet scent on me, almost like it's got vanilla except there's something more tangy in there. Maybe honey, except it doesn't have that sharp richness of BPAL honey on me. It's basically a very sophisticated and deep scent, sweet, a bit floral, but more like juicy bulb-flowers than little feathery deciduous ones. It really doesn't fit with my idea of Strength (I guess I'm looking for the lion), but as usual, I can blame it on my over-sweet skin chemistry. This might be a good one to try in a locket, since I really *want* there to be a grassy smell, dammit.