kakiphony

In the imp: Cake batter. Wet on skin: Boozy vanilla with the hint of something almost fruity behind it. The slightest hint of plastic sweetnes -- like the old, scented Strawberry Shortcake dolls. Early dry down (10 minutes): Vanilla, but there's something scorched in the background. Can this be my first experiece with the dreaded burning plastic scent so many have fallen victim to? It will make me feel more a part of things, but I'll also be awfully sad. I was so hoping this imp could replace that beloved Underpants that I was forced to sell like a ruthless capitalist when I was working part time last year. Late dry down (1/2 hour): As usual, my left and right wrists have done totally different things with this scent. On the left wrist, I have something smokey and vanilla (rather like Arcana's Devilish, but a bit sweeter) with the barest hint of plastic behind it. On my right wrist the scent is much sweetier, much creamier, and the back-not is powder rather than plastic. This has turned out to be pleasant, but with any real WOW factor. It's the kind of scent I could see layering, but not having my husband swoon over. On the whole, I'm no longer sad I failed to buy a bottle. It's nice, but probably not so "me" that a bottle is necessary.

In the imp: Hmm. This is way more traditional cologne than I was expecting. I'm a bit scared that it may be a sneeze trigger. Wet on skin: Holy musk, Batman! This smells like an old man's cologne on first application. I'm really hoping that the amber starts to round this and I get some wood notes. But if it doesn't develop quickly it may be a wash-off on me. We'll see how long I can hold out. Early dry down (10 minute mark): Thank goodness, this is toning down some. The throw off my wrists smells like a "chypre" style perfume -- specifically is reminds me of Ma Griffe by Carven, which I used to buy in Canada and wore in high school (it's not available in the states). I stopped wearing it because of the sneeze factor, but this seems to be playing nicely with my sinuses so far. Holding my wrists up to my nose, however, produces a slightly different scent. I'm getting cedar mixed with powdery amber on the left and almost straight-up musk on the right. The saffron has not yet appeared unless it's adding to powder whiff on the left wrist. Late dry down (half an hour): Hmm. I thought this was starting to work, but I was wrong. All the right notes are there (amber, woods, saffron), but somehow the musk is winning and making me smell like a middle school boy drenched in the celebrity perfume du jour. The waft is pretty strong and it's making my throat feel tight. Sadly, this is a wash-off scent for me.

In the imp: This strong, strong ginger. Not foody ginger exactly either, but an aggressive medicinal tincture of ginger. It smells like the inside of a Chinese apothecary hole-in-the-wall place I used to sell ad space in the student newspaper to in College. It never smelled good exactly, but it smelled like something in there would clear out your sinuses and make you better. Wet on skin: The aggressive ginger/tincture is the immediate top note, but underneath I can barely pick up some musk and pepper. This is not sweet at all at the moment, and the honeysuckle I feared as not yet made an appearance. Early dry down (after ten minutes): The musk is rounding this out and the honeysuckle has started to sweeten it. Interestingly, the sweetening is taking on fruity tones rather than floral ones. (Someone below mentioned berries and I concur. It's a dark dry berry smell, like a cranberry or a pomegranate -- not a strawberry smell.) As usual, my left and right wrists are reacting differently. On my left wrist the fruit and ginger are predominant (like a pomegranate tea with ginger) while on the right the pepper is playing nicely with the musk. The right wrist is a more "me" scent, but the left is pleasant and summery. The left is also throwing more than the right. Late dry down (after 1/2 hour): All right, this is bizarre. My left wrist smells like gin. Dry, fruity, a bit junipery, gin. My right wrist smells of lightly sweetened pepper and musk. I may need to try this one and revisit this review because... GIN?! Edited the next morning to add: J came home about an hour after I finished this, hugged me and remarked, "You smell really good today." I sniffed again, and suddenly Lady War was the spicy fiend advterised. She was all playful and sweet ginger, rounded out by red musk with just a hint of extra spice. Very, very nice. I'd say bottle worthy nice. The only problem is the rather long amount of time she took to settle down on my skin. And the gin note still throws me for a loop.

2006 version This was gift to me ages ago in a SW round, and until today I had only sniffed it and loved it. But I accidentally slipped it into my pocket rather than the imp of Samhainophobia which I meant to grab. (I usually don't apply bpal until mid-morning when my allergy meds have kicked in. First thing in the morning it results in a sneeze-attack.) I decided to try it on my skin rather than go scentless. Here's the results. In the imp: Oddly floral and sweet. It is makes my nose crinkle a bit, which is why I hadn't yet tried it. Wet on skin: Well now, that's better. The floral is gone and I get sweet, sweet, sweet smoke. Rather like caramel when it's really dark, just before it burns. I like this, yes I do. Early dry down (10 minutes): Smoky and sweet on my left wrist (application point), but musky on the right. Late dry down (60 minutes +): True to its usual behavior, the musk amps on me. I smell something like an old man wearing Aqua-Velva, standing in front of a fire chewing caramels. It's not a bad smell, just a bit masculine and...feral...for me.

In the imp: Sweet hazelnut liqueur with an undertone of sandalwood. Wet on skin: The hazelnut is dominant, but the myrrh provides a slightly bitter back of the throat tang behind it and the sandalwood is rising, rising, rising quickly to dry the lush sweetness out. Early dry down (less than ten minutes): There's something in this taking the hazelnut and giving it a strange spicy food twist. I can't quite place whether this smells more like Indian or Thai food, but it's definitely foody in a non-dessert sense and definitely spicy. The more I smell it, the more it reminds me of being in a very small Indian restaurant where the aroma of food combines that of the waittress's perfume and some Sandalwood incense on the altar. I'm picturing gold and red embroidered linens, a haze from candles and the steam of hot food, and cool, sweet rice pudding against hot, masala tea in my mouth. Dry down (after about an hour): The myrrh is really apparent for me in this one, but I can't quite wrap my mind around whether it's a bitter smell or tangy smell or... Really it's some word that I can't quite think of. It smells like the myrrh in the original (brown) Nature's Gate conditioner, which I have always adored. On me, the hazelnut isn't the dominant note that it seems to be on lots of other folks. It's there as an elusive top note. At times I can smell it and at times it runs away to play hide n' seek. The Indian restaurant feel is fading, but only because the scent is fading on me. I have to lift my wrists to my nose to smell it, which isn't a bad thing for someone with allergies and reactive sinuses. It makes the scent more intimate and personal for me. Overall, the way the notes blend is giving me a base of sweet woods and slightly powdery amber, layered with the myrrh I can't quite decsribe and a sweet/nutty/aromatic top note that is neither quite hazelnut nor quite honey nor quite vanilla, but some wonderful melange of all three. Verdict: Yum. I knew just by reading the notes that this would work one me, but I'm still amazed by how comforting and comfortable the scent is. It smells more exotic to me than the painting would imply, and I see much bolder colors than the painting. Still, an excellent blend and one that absolutely "works".

Just a note, I seem to get EXTRA mauled (by both cats and dogs) whenever I wear patchouli blands (Samhain, Samhainophobia, etc). Last time I was at a friend's house wearing Samhainophobia the cats literally started swarming me the minute I came in the door and draped themselves over me for the remainder of the visit. And when I wore Spanked last week another friend's dog couldn't be made to take his head out of my lap for the duration of a Scrabble game.

In the imp: Deep, earthy patchouli. Wet on skin: Very deep, woody patchouli with an undertone of sharp vetiver. Early dry down: In its early stages, this is very masculine with no sweetness at all. The fig and amber have run away, but the scent is still nice. Again, this feels really dry to me. Late dry down: The patchouli does that amazing thing on my skin where it begins to smell spicy at the same time it is dry and woody. (How can patchouli morph into ginger cookies? It is a mystery.) The amber surfaces to soften the scent and lend a powdery background. This is very assertive, very dark, and very dry. I'd almost call it dessicated. It's certainly a very powerful scent. Verdict: Not an everyday scent for me, but definitely a keeper. I'm intrigued to see how it ages, and also to see how it will layer over something with a bit of sweetness -- maybe O or the Lion...

Ditto on the Lucifer love and the gutted feeling knowing I'll never get my hands on it. I'm smack dab between the two with no hope getting either place...and haven't the funds for bribing others or buying on ebay. Drat. Mad kate looks awesome too. I really wish there were more retail locations if the lab is going to do retail exclusives... In the mean time, I'm hoping for decants. (Hear that coastal people?...)

I don't exactly get it, but it made me laugh.

In the imp: Golden amber with saffron. As I sniff, I'm oddly reminded of Monsterbait: Underpants. It must be the saffron note. Wet on skin: Golden and spicy with a hint of something light and floral which I think is probably the chamomile. I don't smell the walnut at all. Early dry down: This goes a little powedery on me as ambers usually do, but I still smell the spice under it. It's turning a bit sweet. IT's very light, not at all heavy, and it still remind me of Underpants, just less foody. Late dry down: This scent is subtle, golden and regal. This is not the in-your-face roaring lion, it's the seductive Leo actress who woos you with understated sensuality. A real summer winner for me. Wish I'd bought a whole bottle rather than splitting...

In the imp: Mmmm... Dark and woody, with a hint of smoke. Wet on skin: Vetiver and balsam. Very deep and dry. Something that is not quite smoke and not quite leather, but almost like wet leather steaming in front of a radiator (I wonder if that's oakmoss?) Early dry down: The patchouli is heating up on my skin and lending this the strange, spicy molasses richness that the best patchouli blends do on my skin. Paired with a very subtle vetiver and the smallest bite of clove, this smells like something I would happily smoke in a pipe. Late dry down: Wow. This is gorgeous. The patchouli is a thoughtful, woody yet sweet base, and the other notes waft alla round it like smoke in the night air. The clove is spicy and the vetiver darkens it, while the leaves add that smokey tang. I LOVE this. Why oh why did I not buy a bottle of this last year? Oh that's right...No money and vetiver scared me. RATS! This is like a dryer, scarier Vixen on me since the patchouli is behaving in exactly the same beloved way. This would have been a perfect cold day scent. I hope it comes back in 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh dear Bard, I know how you feel. But even worse than knowing how it feels to not be creating is the realization that days and weeks go by when I don't even miss it. Sometimes, I look at my life and wonder just how I got here. I don't even look like me in the mirror anymore, let alone on the inside. I used to be a writer. I didn't just want to be one, I was one. I wrote every day, filling journals and disks and spiral notebooks. I wrote in pencil and in green pen and blue pen and with the keyboard. I wrote poetry, fantasy, romance, essays, memoir, stream-of-consciousness, fanfic and plays. I kept a file on the computer filled with nothing but random lines that didn't fit into anything I was writing, but which would pop into my head, fully formed, and screech at me until I wrote them down. I'm not sure when I stopped. I could figure it out based on the last things on my hard drive, but the truth is that I had stopped internally long before I stopped trying to go through the motions. I don't know what happened... Law school, my awful job, illnesses, getting married...life. I talked to a resume coach about a year ago when I decided to reassess my job and my life. She pointed out that the one thing I sounded truly enthusiastic about was the YA novel I had in progress. She was right...but I still couldn't work on it. I open it and the file stays just as it is. There's nothing in me to pour onto the page. I mourn for what I have lost and wonder if I'll ever get it back. Some days I mourn with tears, and some days I mourn with apathy. I'm not sure which is worse.

In the imp: Soft coconut with sandalwood's dry dust. Wet on skin: Musk, with something perfumey under it. I really this develops well, because right now it smells like odd men's cologne... Early dry down: When I sniff my wrists I'm getting something floral and musky, but when I leave them alone I keep smelling whiffs of coconut suntan lotion. I'm disappointed in this one so far. Late dry down: Unfortunately, this one just doesn't work on me. My right wrist has developed a sharp, musty odor and the left is all musk all the time. Rats.

What department are you in at NYU? Have you considered a more self designed program like the Gallatin school there? Or maybe Hampshire college? If you got into NYU, you must quite an intelligent person...but it sounds like the school "format" just isn't working for you. There are other ways to learn -- and even good colleges to explore them in.

We lovingly referred to spring as "Mud Season" when I lived in Great Barrington. I think spring flowers on a base of wet earth would sum up the season very well.

In the imp: This is the most true to the original of the (admittedly few) variations I've tried. The spiciness is the first thing I smell, and then the sage. This is a fresh version of snake oil. It's also more perfumy than the others I've tried. I'm the most dubious about this. Wet on skin: Hmm. The leather is definitely present along with the sage. Together, they're kind of masculine and a bit like cologne. I'm not loving it so far. Early dry down: The sandalwood quickly develops in this blend on me and it goes from being sharp, herbal and fresh to quite dry and rounded. The sandalwood and leather together are masculine, but kind of sexy on me. I'm beginning to like this, although it feels more like a summer blend than a snow February one I think. Late dry down: Several hours later, the tonka has risen to sweeten and ground the dry sandalwood and leather. It has become faintly powdery and the spices of Snake oil have made the blend more complex on my skin. It's pretty.

In the imp: Unsweetened cocoa powder. Appearance: This is the most separation prone oil I've ever seen from the lab. It's very viscous and separates into a dark, chocolate colored oil which is heavier and sinks to the bottom, and a golden oil which floats to the top. Rolling the imp gently seems to work well to mix them, but shaking resulted in odd bubbles and the darker oil almost looked like sediment floating in the lighter oil. Wet on skin: Cocoa powder with a hint of something spicy in it. Almost like a dark hot chocolate mix with cinnamon. Early dry down: This is a very powdery cocoa scent on me in the early stages. It's not doing the burnt toast thing that chocolate/cocoa often does, but neither is it the rich, creamy scent that others have described. Instead, this has an almost dusty note on my skin. It's like brownie crumbs left in the sun for a really long time and then pulverized. Late dry down: This has gotten sweeter as it has developed on my skin, but it is still a very dry, powdery scent. The cocoa has morphed with what I suspect is the teak, and as I sniff I smell dry woods (almost burnt they're so dry) and cocoa powder. It's a bit like opening a really old, dried out cedar chest and finding that someone spilled unsweetened cocoa powder in the bottom twenty years ago. It's a resin richened by the cocoa. Very nice. My husband's take: "It's nice, but doesn't make me swoon the way Vixen does." He's so darn loyal.

In the imp: High, but dry (rather than sweet) almonds with a citrus tang. Wet on skin: The almonds are dryer and deeper (more toasted) smelling than they were in the imp. They're the dominate note at this point with the citrus being detectable only when I hold my wrist to my nose. The citrus isn't quite as sweet as the mandarins found in Chinese chicken salads. It smells more like a tangelo to me. Early dry down: As this settles on my skin the almonds get drier and more toasty. It's almost a desert scent at this point. The mandarin is almost completely gone in the backdrop of hot almonds. Late dry down: After about an hour and half the myrrh has made an appearance and the mandarin is completely gone. What I'm left with is a the hot, dry-roasted almond smell paired with a slightly bitter/herbal myrrh. It no longer smells edible to me, and instead seems very regal and sand-swept. I get the feeling that this is something with which an Egyptian priestess might have been anointed. It makes me feel very poised and unattainable. I like it, but am not sure if I need a bottle. I'll have to see what the boy thinks of unattainable and mysterious...

SQUEE!!!!! That sounds so amazing and romantic. I'm so happy for you!!!!!!

OMG. Cutest things ever. You've now made my biological clock tick two ways. My husband thanks you (seriously) while I'm freaked.

In the bottle: Patchouli is the top note, but there's something very sweet and resinous mingling with it. It hits me at the back of the throat as a sweetness much like good (unlit) pipe tobacco does. (Note: It doesn't smell like pipe tobacco, but the sweet quality is the same thick, resinous type of sweet.) Wet on skin: Sweet patchouli. This is immediately even sweeter on my skin than it was in the bottle and has the deep, thick, sweetened molasses quality that my favorite patchoulis from the lab tend to develop on me. Early dry down: This isn't developing into a particularly dark scent on me at all. Instead, I'm getting a very sweet patchouli with a little bit of bitter herbs underneath it. I'd say it's more playfully secretive than it is dark. Late dry down: As this one lingers on my wrists the amber rises to the surface and the sweet patchouli ends up almost powdery. The aged patchouli is very mild, and has much less throw than the patchouli in my daily-wear bpal (Vixen). The overall scent in this seems to fade fairly quickly too. It's very pretty, but I imagine I'd need to keep an imp of it with me at all times for reapplication if I wanted to wear this frequently. This reminds me of a small, smoky grey kitten that likes to hid under sofas and then jump out at random occasions and attack your ankles. It's sly and secretive, but also sweet and soft.

That's just really ratty. The only way that break-ups can ever proceed with some degree of ease is if both people are careful and compassionate. I'm so sorry that he failed in this regard. Now advice here, just more

I'm very, very bad about the "How are you feeling" thread. I don't read it every day -- I think I average about three days of reading it per week. Granted, I post there even more infrequently than that (mainly when I think how I'm feeling is interesting or can be made somehow interest), but I think that maybe my replies can feel inadequate or seem to play favorites...even though that's very much not my intention. Mainly I respond when something resonates with me because I've felt similarly, or when I think I have something constructive to say. I rarely just give there. I probably should. After all, I know I like receiving the hugs and comments. It would probably also help me make more friends here, which while not a huge goal for me would certainly be nice and quite welcome in my fairly isolated existence. All that said, I am here, I do read your blog and I'll start to comment more. I know that when I went through my roughest patch of depression (I've never been medicated or diagnosed, but in retrospect it really was a minor break-down) the fact that others reached out to me made a huge difference. I ignored most of them, but I appreciated all of them. I'm here and I'm rooting for you.

I am currently very bummed as my friend Carrie bought my DH and I tickets to see Inland in Chicago on Sat. with David Lynch there. But since DH will not be home from Florida yet, said tickets have been scalped. In my experience, most Lynch fans are: a) Hipsters or Very buttoned down types (some used to be hipsters, but somehow grew out of it...I'm that kind).

My husband likes me best in very sporty, almost schlumpy clothes. I have NO idea why. He just likes that look. He claims it's more "natural."