paradoxicaljlb

Sorry about the inconsistency in size and all that.

For the first twenty minutes it spent on my skin, Holiday Moon smelled like lemon-lime Irish Spring. I didn't think I liked it at all... ...but eventually the citrus calmed down and the tea notes appeared. Overall, Holiday Moon is a clean, clear, vibrant scent. This one has been very hard to review because I keep getting whiffs of notes other than tea, but I have no idea what they are. A lot of people have described this as green; to me it's like bottled jade. Green, but not in a grassy chlorophyll way. Cool green, almost aquatic. Very workplace friendly and not the least bit dark or mysterious. I'm not usually into "green" scents but this one is very pleasant. Lasted about 3-3.5 hours with medium throw.

Remember Jovan White Musk? Antique Lace is similar, but infinitely better. On my skin, the blend is mostly dry white musk and creamy vanilla from start to finish; I don't really get the faded perfume/floral thing that others have mentioned, but there is a little extra unidentifiable something adding depth. Somehow, Antique Lace smells warm and cool, all at once. It is graceful, unpretentious, mature, and undeniably feminine. Very soft and pretty; suitable for daily wear. My significant other and I absolutely adore it; AL is currently my number one favorite and will remain in my top ten, I'm sure. This one doesn't morph on my skin, has a moderate amount of throw, and typically lasts 4+ hours. I have a 5ml and I've decided that I can never go without Antique Lace. I'm so thankful that Beth brought it back so noobs like me could discover it.

Pink Phoenix reminds me very much of O and a little of Perversion (why Perversion I have no idea, because I don't think the two share any notes, but I could be wrong, tonka maybe?). I don't get any florals or the dreaded plastic from Pink Phoenix at all, it's nothing but bubble-gummy sugary cotton candy strawberry honey syrupy sweetness on me! It smells the same in the imp as it does on my skin and didn't morph much at all. Something like a licked (wet) lollipop. You need to have a serious sweet tooth to appreciate this. Pink Phoenix doesn't last very long on me...I'd say 2 hours at the max. Very pretty and girly, tempting enough for me to start looking for a bottle on the forum.

Ditto on most of the other reviews: Whip really is fresh red rose and black leather. Wet on the skin, all I can smell is the rose. After about 15 minutes or so, the rose and leather begin to take turns wafting by my nose. The two seem to be perfectly balanced, but then again my skin doesn't have a tendency to amp up rose notes. Whip was a frimp and I probably never would've elected to try this on my own; however, I'm keeping the imp and considering a bottle.

I agree that if it's foody or contains vanilla, most boys will love it. My love likes Beaver Moon, Antique Lace, Morocco, and Black Opal the most (and in that order). If I'm wearing any of the aforementioned scents, he's sniffing me. Maybe that's why those four scents are my top favorites, too.

Three Witches (resurrected) is just what it claims to be. The white pepper serves as a dry top note, with the cinnamon following closely behind. The cloves don't become apparent until the cinnamon has burned off a little. To my nose, the last stages of this smell like an unsmoked clove cigarette. All in all, on my skin it smells very much like Yankee Candle's Home Sweet Home. I like Three Witches, but it lacks the complexity that really turns me on, and it burns off very quickly (within 2 hours). I think it's going to be awesome in my oil burner.

For the first 30-45 minutes, all I get is itchy skin and cassia (cinnamon, whatever) with something a little more tart behind it. Things get a little fruity (plum) and citrusy (mandarin) for the next 15 minutes. But after that's burned off, I adore the smell of the ashes. It reminds me a little of how Love in the Asylumn dries down: sweet, spicy, warm, and a little powdery. Like others I can't pick out the notes. Red Phoenix lasts about 3-4 hours on my skin. I'm keeping my bottle.

While on vacation in New Orleans last year I picked up a dram of (very effective) love oil from a voodoo shop. To my nose, Follow Me Boy smells almost identical to that oil: rose, lavender, and a touch of lemon. Fresh, herbal, floral, and soapy. I can understand how this would have been effective in a time before indoor pumbing. When I walk into a room wearing Follow Me Boy, people either ask what is that smell or what smells so good? It will turn heads, and you'll either love it or hate it. The same goes for the people around you. Personally, I love it, and aspire to have a 5ml soon.

When I first sniffed Dreamland, my VERY FIRST thought that it would be absolutely gorgeous for a bride. When I read the first lines of your post, I thought, "I hope she's got Dreamland in this list." And you did! I can't begin to tell you all of the reasons why I thought that (soft, feminine, romantic, etc. etc. etc.), but...at any rate...my vote is on Dreamland, 100%. This is coming from someone who's always been the bridesmaid, never the bride...but if I do get lucky and find Mister Wonderful before my Dreamland LE goes bad...that's what I'll be wearing.

Talvikuu: Pure, snow-covered woods in a bottle; one component in it reminds me very much of a fresh Christmas tree. However, it's not overly evergreen. To my untrained nose there's also a clean, aquatic component akin to but infinitely more delicious smelling than Irish-Spring-Cool-Artic-Blast-Chill-Extreme-Whatever aftershave. We all know Beth takes our senses of smell to that other level and this blend is no exception. Whiffs of Talvikuu evoke visions of moonlight twinkling in icicles and silent, snow-blanketed landscapes. Cold and empty, but peaceful. This is definitely a masculine scent that you could give to someone unfamiliar with the bpal concept and it wouldn't scare the pants off 'em. It's a little too masculine for me to wear but I'd definitely use it as a holiday room scent. Be careful though, Talvikuu might upstage your Christmas tree. Wait...now that it's dried down more, it's a little less "whoa, aftershave!" but still smells the same. I might have to rethink that too masculine thing...

Herr Drosselmeyer: warm leather, like how an old leather chair smells after someone's been sitting by the fire for a while; fresh pipe tobacco, unsmoked; just a tinge of woods that puts this at the edge of masculine; spiced and sweetened by something that smells just a little like sugar plums or candied fruits, rum or maybe brandy, and, dare I say it, a drop of licorice? Somehow, Herr Drosselmeyer is warm and cool at once, maybe the clean linen smell is what registers as cool to me. A gorgeous blend; I can't wait to see how it smells after it's melded in the bottle and aged a bit. I was hoping this one wouldn't turn out to be overly masculine, and I really think it would work as well on a man as on a woman, as long as she likes it deep and rich. =)

Of the five Yule blends I ordered, Jacob's Ladder is the one that I can see myself wearing the most, and needing another bottle (or ten) of. As a Leo, this one seems like it was made just for me. Wet, Jacob's Ladder is warm, golden, glowing, and creamy. Obviously, the amber and tonka stand out, with something akin to spiced oranges tinged with a drop of rose, but that aspect passes quickly--or rather, wafts by occasionally. On drydown, Jacob's Ladder gets more dusty and earthy, but still has something keeping it sweet and round. I personally wouldn't dare call it incensey, but there's something airy about it, too. Jacob's Ladder goes strong for about 4.5-5 hours on me, and has a bit more than average throw. All in all, I can see this working well on men and women. Furthermore, I can picture myself wearing Jacob's Ladder in the heart of winter as much as the dog days of summer. If you're a resin lover, you will perpetually kick yourself in the butt if you miss out on this one while it's available. I could cry over the fact that this is an LE.

On me, the Haunted Palace starts out as rosey creamsicle, then mellows out to spicy sugared amber. Lovely.

On me, Kali smells of chocolate covered cordial cherries (must be the wine and chocolate notes), florals (but I never really smell rose), honey, and just a wiff of tobacco. From when I first put it on until drydown, those scents swirl around me. It's a very complex perfume.

I, too, got the band-aid smell for the first 10 minutes or so of Languor. It's so much better dry; I can't attempt to identify which floral notes I'm smelling when, but the scent seems to be in a state of flux. It's a very slow, lazy state of flux, but there are definately sweeter perfumey moments and smokier, spicier, more dusky moments. A dark, creamy and sophisticated floral. Loves it. This imp is a keeper.

Mata Hari is hiding something from me. The coffee, for one. And all of the lovely notes mentioned in other reviews. The only thing I can smell is jasmine, jasmine, and more jasmine. If I could turn down the volume on it, I might get to know this lady a little better. An hour or so later, I get occasional hints of coffee, a whiff of fig, the teeniest little taste of something warm. The jasmine is still center stage all the way to the end. Verdict: I'm glad I met her, she's a beautiful stranger, but we just weren't meant to be. Two ships passing in the night and all that.

Jasmine is a gamble. I tried Mata Hari earlier today, and the jasmine completely drowned the other notes out. :boohiss: Needless to say, I was disappointed enough to suspect that I wouldn't like Delight, either, due to its jasmine content and the sour patchouli smell of the oil in the imp. But I was wrong! YAY! Love it when that happens. No one floral note stands out. I smell an exotic eastern bouquet and incense, no smoke though, and I think I get a whiff of opium every now and then. Very Kama Sutra. Delight is sweet and spicy; soporific and stimulating. It might be a too incensy or too floral for some, but it completely suprised me. I'm keeping this imp.

so here goes it... How does one format her paypal order as a list rather than paragraph? I ask because I'm typing my list in the notes box as shown below, but when I continue, the notes appear in sentence (i.e.:hard to read paragraph) format. Here's my itemized order list cut and pasted from word into the notes box in paypal: 1-Beaver Moon 5ml $15 1-Devil’s Night 5ml $16 1-Dreamland 5ml $16 1-Herr Drosselmeyer 5ml $16 1-Jacob’s Ladder 5ml $16 1-Midnight Mass 5ml $16 1-Stardust 5ml $16 1-Talvikuu 5ml $16 1-Dee single sample $3 Your help is greatly appreciated. I've looked all over for the answer to this but I can't find it, and it's such a simple question...maybe I'm trying to hard, but I want to be sure to get my first Paypal order right...could someone point me in the right direction?

Wet on skin: Dragon's blood, cinnamon, honey, and soap (lily?). I'm not sure what to think of this--It's a very strange mix of warmth and florals. I did get a hint of the dreaded plastic smell for the first few minutes, but that burned off, thankfully. Dry on skin: Pretty much the same. French Love gives me visions of an octaroon mistress soaking in a hot bath--so much so that I added a few drops from my imp to my bath last night for ambiance, and it was great, but I don't feel compelled to upgrade to a bottle.

Wet on skin: London starts out VERY strong on me; pure dried tea rose. The image of a rose pressed between pages of an old book comes to mind, as it has for a lot of people who've tried it. Dry on skin: After 20 minutes, London began to fade fast. I can smell something purple, maybe violets--I'm guessing this is the wicked side. There's also a little TINY bit of a dry-woodsy smell, sandalwood, maybe? I must say I enjoyed the faded version a bit more; my nose and eyes aren't burning. Final impression: London is a simple rose scent, and I tend to like morphing, complex blends. I think this might be good for someone who's looking for an everyday-wear scent, but I don't think I'll buy a bigger bottle.

This scent is the perfume the crazy lady in the asylum uses to fragrance love letters she writes to the man that drove her mad. In bottle: Fresh-cut-florist-rose meets bathroom cleaner. Mediciny, a bit sour, but this just goes to show that you should never judge a bpal scent before putting it on your skin. Wet on skin: No more icky sour bathroom cleaner smell, just fresh cut rose meeting a sexy, spicy rose for the first time. They get along. Dry on skin: 30-45 minutes after applying the tobacco and vanilla notes start to bloom as the roses fade into the background, but the roses never completely disappear. After 7 or 8 hours I can still smell this one; it's ambery and powdery on its last legs. I got a bottle from the swap mines and if I see any more pop up, it's going to be hard to resist hoarding LITA. The coolness of the roses and the warmth of the other notes blend together to make a manic, warm, foody floral that I LOVE.