paradoxicaljlb

I made a lemon poppyseed loaf recently that called for sugar infused with meyer lemon zest, and the infused sugar smelled very similar to this blend. It starts off icy, but gets more sticky as time goes on. It stays fairly close to my skin and fades away after 3-4 hours. The lemon is more sweet than tart, and very pure. No hint of any chemical cleaner associations, but the scent is cleansing and refreshing. I imagine it will be in heavy rotation come the dog days of summer. And dare I say it? If you stripped Dorian down to its sweet, citrusy aspects, you'd smell Lemon-Scented Sticky Bat.

For the first few hours, there's something that reminds me of muscadine grapes --- very juicy and sweet --- along with prominent tea and sandalwood. The mate and carnation add spice, but it's in the background. After about an hour, the orange blossom amps up. All of these notes play very nicely with one another. It's been about eight hours since I put this on, and I'm still getting whiffs of spicy, herbal red tea. Overall it's very pretty and uplifting.

First of the Three Spirits smells so much like Giant Vulva on me that I had to make sure I didn't pull it out of my imp box by mistake. Strange, because the only note they have in common is musk, and it's not even the same type of musk. I can pick out the amber but the rest is as bright as it is soft and sweet. Very strong and long-lasting.

Winter-Time reminds me of how, when it snowed, my grandmother would gather some clean snow and add a little sugar, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla extract to it to make snow cream. To me, this smells the way snow cream tastes. The cold of the snow translates to the delicate mint in the scent, and the rest makes it soft and sweet. Very pretty and ephemeral.

Resinous, dusty, charred, earthy, cool, candlelit, stony and drafty. And I think I smell roses, or maybe rosewood? Very evocative.

Evil Egyptian bubblegum incense! I don't know how else to describe this. It's strangely sweet and pink and juicy, while at the same time sleek like a black cat. It didn't last more than an hour on my skin. Not really my thing.

Once again, jasmine or something like it doesn't play nicely on my skin. The sharp, floral aspect dies down after a while, but I still smell nothing in the earth, moss or herb category. I do detect something dark and resinous, but mostly just something I suspect is Doom Jasmine.

The citrus quality others have described seems more like bergamot to me, making the tea note not just a regular black tea but more like Earl Grey. This is the most prominent note, but after a few minutes, it mellows and the vanilla sweetness becomes more prominent. There's also something a little earthy and shadowy ... maybe oakmoss ... that is just barely detectable after a few hours on. Dorian lasts through the day on me, and it doesn't smell strongly feminine or masculine. Bonus points for the occasional whiff of sexy spicy sugar cookie that I get with this one. This is a must-try for tea lovers.

WOW. All this functionality is absolutely stunning.

I adore this scent! The only note that’s immediately identifiable is leather, when I expected I would also be able to easily distinguish the tobacco, coffee and hazelnut. It’s all coming together as warm, sexy, sweet and spicy leather, but in a subtle way, and doesn’t really do much morphing on my skin. It’s my favorite of the 2010 Yules and probably the only one I’ll purchase a full bottle of.

New Orleans is one of my favorite places and I love that I'm able to bring different aspects of the Big Easy into my home via the Trading Post. The gorgeous, rich woods dominate for the first few minutes, but when they settle into the background I notice the swirls of bourbon-vanilla sweetness and smoky, caramel-like tobacco, and something a little herbal, earthy and medicinal. It is a sexy, dark, lush scent that leans masculine, but the sweetness rounds it out and reminds you of what you came to Mahogany Hall to do. I adore it and I really appreciate that the proceeds support Habitat New Orleans. It'll be hard to keep myself from hoarding this.

Boo 2010 is my Antique Lace Lite --- very similar to AL on my skin but without the floral aspect, and the musk is turned waaaay down, if it's even there at all. The creaminess stays way in the back, warming up the vanilla and softening the sharpness of the cotton/linen. I still catch whiffs of it 6+ hours after applying. I absolutely adore it.

The boy's review: "Mmmmm. What is that? Oooooooh. You smell good. Fruity. Like oranges. Mmmmm. I like it." (This is noteworthy because he very rarely comments on the multitude of scents I wear.) Then he buried his nose in the nape of my neck and you can fill in the rest... I applied Amor as a perfume before going to bed (with the boy). Just like the description says, it really is phenomenal and I can testify that it worked like a charm every time. To my nose, this blend smells of wet cherry lollipops, dry almonds, rose, and orange. Throw is a little less than average on me as my skin has a tendency to drink this oil.

For the first minute or so, I get the same caramely-sugary-vanilla goodness that others have mentioned. I love this stage. After that, it turns to pure dryer sheets, something similar to the linen note in Antique Lace. So much that I can't smell anything else. Not even the sandalwood. I'm not sure which note to blame the dryer sheets on, but overall Underpants just isn't working for me the way Smut and Antique Lace do. So I tried a drop in my scent locket. Same thing. Apparently, I can't wear Underpants.

Lovely shot, dragoncharmer...now I want them even more. My bank account is afraid. Very, very afraid. I wonder what's in store for the Underpants label...? *Squee*

I got bananas, pineapple, and coconut, wet, tropical blossoms, and the sea breeze--for about ten minutes. This part is beautiful. I thought I would really like it. Then Manila was nothing but pencil shavings. Like walking through the lumber section of a home supply store. Squick. I think my skin drinks the good stuff in this blend. To the swaps.

Named after the Roman God of Sleep. This blend helps bring on deep, restful, natural sleep. My take on the scent is that it's primarily lavender with cammomile/herbal and very soft floral notes behind it. The lavender is toned down and not at all intolerable--the aroma is calming and relaxing. Somnus works quite well for me. I dot a tiny drop with the imp wand beneath each nostril (don't worry, I'm not swapping this one ) and on my temples. Within 10-15 minutes, my eyelids are heavy. I'm a complete night owl and I have to be drop dead tired to fall asleep, so I was really impressed with how quickly Somnus induced drowsiness. I also wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and when I do I have trouble falling asleep again...but no more. One dot of Somnus under each nostril and I'm right back asleep within minutes. I've also noticed that when I use Somnus I tend to sleep through the night. Good stuff, I'm ordering a bottle as soon as I can. I'm sure Somnus won't work for everyone, but it's certainly worth a shot if you've got sleep issues. For me it's "worked" better than any non-bpal calming/relaxing/sleep aromatherapy blend I've tried--I'd even say it worked better than Ambien. I can't wait to try the other Sominium blends.

Initially, Budding Moon is a dewey plum floral without being heady/perfumey. No funky sharp biting notes to report; I don't get the "green" thing at all. As it dries down the musks and other unidentifiables soften the blend further, adding a powdery, clean quality. The ginger warms everything up. Zen gardenesque. It's a beautiful scent. I'm not sure about throw; my skin drinks this stuff.

Nineveh, you're my heroine!! Thanks in advance.

I love teh Smut is an understatement. I'm about to place an order for a second bottle of this--hell, three's a charm. Instant classic. I feel compelled to start a petition to make Smut a permanent catalog scent. I'd describe Smut as a more feminine version of Snake Oil; it smells like what I'd hoped Snake Oil would be. Smut doesn't have Snake Oil's sharp (masculine) medicinal edge. Smut's vanilla is much more subdued than that of SO with musks that are reminicent of SO and Spellbound, all warmed up by brown sugar and, dare I say it, cocoa? A little boozy, buttery, and golden. Not a hint of burned rubbery plasticy peanut butter squicky oddness on me. Sugar and spice and everything nice. Innocent but a little, well, smutty. Everything about this is just right, including throw. I want to wear this every day. If you're into this kind of thing it is imperative that you buy some Smut while you still have a chance. It's another one from this update that I think might only get better as it ages.

These white roses are sweet and dry. I get that same sense of sour sharpness that others have mentioned but I'm not sure if I should blame the roses. The tang becomes slightly less noticable as the oil dries down so it's not a big squicky problem for me, but it might be too much for some. Overall PoF is a subtle, (as subtle as you can expect rose to be, anyway) delicate rose. The roses definitely dominate the resins. I echo the sentiment that these are middle of the road resins, as I can't identify for certain which can be found in this blend. Lotsa throw. Pretty and simple. I'm not the biggest rose lover in the world and I tend to favor complexity, so I might downsize this bottle by decanting or just sell it outright.

Oh how I'd love to see the other Smut labels or otherwise get confirmation or denial re: multi-Smut-label excitement! Even more reason to order a second bottle.

Cool and aloof. Aquatic. White bouquet with a herbal, fruity edge. The florals dominate all. Blue. Just a touch of resin. Most definitely feminine. Lots of throw; you can certainly smell it from a distance as the lab description implies. There are powdery and soapy associations with some of the notes in this blend, I'm just not sure which ones are the culprits. Night's Pavillion stays true as it fades away (for me it was completely gone about 2.5 hours after application). In Night's Pavilion it's impossible to discern where the earth ends and the sparkling night sky begins. Breathtakingly beautiful.

My nose wonders if it can get any better than Red Lantern... This one morphs and I don't think I can actually write full coherent sentences (well, I usually can't do that anyway, but I digress..). Here's my stream-of-consciousness impression: Caramel, coffee, opium smoke, dark wine, booze, vanilla, cocoa. Velvety. Fruity. Nutty. Red. Coconut and moist tobacco. Lush and dry at once. Asian spices (whatever those are). Leather? Sweet and musky. Sex. Sexy. Exactly in the center of masculine and feminine. Mysterious, intoxicating, seductive. Red Lantern grabs you, pulls you into a dark corner, and makes out with you. I imagine it only gets better with age. Again, when I'm all out of Red Lantern and my heart breaks they will have to pry the empty bottle from my cold, dead hands. ETA: The second time I tested I noticed that for the first 10-15 minutes RL smells strongly of BUTTERSCOTCH. Yum.

On the skin the florals bloom right away; it reminds me a bit of Delight. Tuberose is definitely present. Whiffs alternate between florals and incense...lit incense, as I'm picking up just the tiniest suggestion of smoke. Could be my imagination, but the smokiness is completely plesant. Warm, musky. Ok, Maybe just a teensy bit heady. Thirty minutes or so after application and it's becoming sweeter and more subdued by the minute, but I'm still getting the aforementioned whiffs. Amber and vanilla are coming out to play. Now the smell is creamier, milkier, honeyed. An incensey moist white warm vanilla exotic floral orgy has commenced, as promised. Throw is strong initially but as it fades it clings more closely to the skin. Khajuraho is absolutely seductive. When I run out of it and die from hearbreak they will have to pry the empty bottle from my cold, dead hands.