Mary Mayhem

He must, indeed, have been that Voivode Dracula who won his name against the Turk, over the great river on the very frontier of Turkeyland. If it be so, then was he no common man, for in that time, and for centuries after, he was spoken of as the cleverest and the most cunning, as well as the bravest of the sons of the 'land beyond the forest.' That mighty brain and that iron resolution went with him to his grave, and are even now arrayed against us. The Draculas were, says Arminius, a great and noble race, though now and again were scions who were held by their coevals to have had dealings with the Evil One. They learned his secrets in the Scholomance, amongst the mountains over Lake Hermanstadt, where the devil claims the tenth scholar as his due. In the records are such words as 'stregoica' witch, 'ordog' and 'pokol' Satan and hell, and in one manuscript this very Dracula is spoken of as 'wampyr,' which we all understand too well. There have been from the loins of this very one great men and good women, and their graves make sacred the earth where alone this foulness can dwell. For it is not the least of its terrors that this evil thing is rooted deep in all good, in soil barren of holy memories it cannot rest. The essence of nobility, brutality and true Will made flesh and propelled through the eons by an ever-burning hatred: black patchouli, neroli, tonka, cinnamon, bitter clove, leather, black musk, coffin wood and fiery ginger. This is the one and only scent I've purchased from the Order of the Dragon line, I had to try something that had patchouli in it with black musk and leather! Overall impression: On a man I can imagine this a fab scent to wear to a dark, gothy type club. It has a "come hither, little girl" flare with a bit of "If you think you can handle it" type of appeal. It's dark and smug and makes no apologies for it's arrogance and yet still has a touch of softness that perhaps gives you a false sense of security. It makes me want to submit to his smirking, sly self or have me running to the safety of someone not so dangerous. (the more I smell it, the more I like it. Allow ample dry down before heading out and test it's throw! -keep a little on your person to re-amp it as the evening wears down if you want to keep it's sharp side, otherwise it may be too soft for your intentions.) In the bottle: I smell spice. Namely the bitter clove, some of the coffin wood and the ginger. Wet on the skin: Clove and ginger and maybe a bit of that black patchouli. I believe I amp clove. As it dries down the clove fades back a bit, for which I'm thankful. I'm all into clove, but I want my leather and black musk! I can smell a bit of the coffin wood and what I'm assuming is the neroli. (It's a bit light and the tiniest bit floral). I don't slather so this is very close to the skin on dry down but it has plenty of throw when first applied. It dries down to a soft scent with sharp undertones, the dark patchouli wafts up and bites. The clove never really goes away but it doesn't knock me out like it did first applied. It's a very dark and sexy scent, but I'm forever picking scents that are more apt to be masculine than feminine so I'll have to try this on my husband to see how it works for him. I think I'm going to put this up for about a month or so and see how it ages. There is just something in there (Black musk, I'm thinking) that makes me tingle and I'm hoping it'll amp itself up as it ages! Keeper? I believe so, we'll see after aging. (: Buy again? Not sure, we'll see how it is on the monster man of the house.

This is in close competition for me with Snake Oil. It's not that they're the same scent, but that it's so damn nice I usually pick it over Snake Oil (which is quietly aging as we speak) There is snake oil in the background, but it's not as.. intense, it's cleaner, but still a bit heavy. My husband prefers this over Snake Oil too and he actually notices and comments when I wear it. My son does as well. THAT IS A FIRST! I'm not really picking up much leather or sage, maybe in the background, I just get a less of a "knock your head off" vanilla in this scent. Will most likely buy another bottle since it's the only one I'm wearing out of all my oils.

In the bottle: Fresh wood, I'm not getting a huge pine scent which is great for me, but there is definitely something fresh in there. ALMOST lemon, but not. Wet: About the same, but it morphs and I smell more of the florals and an incense, not a smoking incense, a dry, sweet (not cloying) one. Drying down: there's a waft of smoke as if you just fired this baby up, I hope it goes away, I like it wet! Downward Spiral: This would be a nice spring scent for me, wet, it's outdoorsy and pretty without being FLORAL and WOOD, if that makes sense. I almost smell dandelions, or some sort of wildflower and maybe a little grass, a tiny hint of dirt. There is some pine in there after all and it's starting to turn dirty and darker than I'd like.

QUINCEY MORRIS Having read the description a million times I refrained from buying this oil, but the reviews gave way to my instincts and I had to try this leather scent. In reality, I'd have nothing to do with this sort of man, just not my type, nor is this scent. Beth describes the mood of this scent aptly, it is not an offensive, nor does it pack a punch. It has a sweet leather smell. I smell the leather, and I smell berries. I smell a man who doesn't have a hard bone in his body. He's sweet, simple, and senstitive and I'm going to walk all over him. This smells like leather. It does, but it's just such a sweet leather that it makes me punchy. "Miss Lucy, I know I ain't good enough to regulate the fixin's of your little shoes.." You're damn straight, you aren't, though I give you points for being on target. I suppose I need a mean leather scent to satisfy my needs, and unfortunately this does not fit the bill. Like I said before, it is aptly described, and if you are looking for a sweet leather smell, you will NOT be disappointed. It's just not my speed. Well done, Beth. A most apt capturing of this character in a bottle!

Straight out of the bottle I smell a creamy and heavy chocolate. Very yummy smelling. As it dries I swear it turns into something similar to Midway. It's almost like it turns into cotton candy. I say this after returning from the circus and having cotton candy. That's how it smells to me! The chocolate goes away and leaves a sweet, sugary smell, which I happen to like very much. I don't get plastic or anything like that.

Divine! This is the one I wanted too! (though I was torn, this appealed to me most because I fear the coconut). Watermelon Jolly Rancher with a tiny kick of pink lemonaid. Mmm, it also reminds me of Watermelon Pop Rocks as it dries just because of the sugary factor over/under the tart. I'm really glad it's not overly citrus because lemon is woe on me. As it dries it turns more into a sugar mix with the fruity-ness taking a back seat, but still hiding and waiting for a closer sniff. It's not heavy, it's bright and clear and cheery not at all obnoxious. Crushed hard candy, indeed! Spot on, lab! (I also really like my tee too, pink ink with glitters!) I'm not a slatherer, but to test it better, I may do a little slathering. It seems to have a decent throw with the few dots I applied from the cap. This is PERFECT for Halloween and it will be uber cool with my "Pop Rocks" tee I got ages ago. Yay!

MONSTER BAIT: UNDERPANTS Who doesn't want a monster in their pants? Sexy sugar-smeared saffron sandalwood over lickable vanilla cream with a splash of butter rum. In the bottle it's too sweet for me. I'm feeling a bit sad, but I dab a dot on anyway. (incidently, my husband thought it was very yummy in the bottle). I dabbed in on my neck (for reasons I do *not* know.. hello, hard to sniff there!) and I am now constantly fanning my neck to move the scent to my nose. AMAZING! It's all heaven and love. Butter cookie? I think it's a bit like a butter cookie with a dash of sex. I LOVE THIS! Now I might have to call myself a foodie girl, and that's just insane. I was only just ok with the other two Monster Baits, but with this and Tell Tale Heart.. I may have to rethink the foods. So far it's lasting a good while on me, and if it didn't I'd just put some in my hair and see how that went. YAY!

I like putting a little dab of Roadhouse on my 2 year old. It's so dandelion chain flowers. I love it! I'm actually hoping for a scent that's apples and cloves. Reminds me of one of my holiday "projects" we'd do, pushing cloves into apples to make eyes.. with marshmellows and er, I can't even remember what else. *tries to find appropriate thread*

Dark and spicey wood. And that Myrrh. I srsly gotta start checking the forums before I dab these on. It's not as demanding as the other myrrh scents I've tried, but it's still there. This smells more like a mans scent than a woman's. It's.. very odd.

Oh, lovely root. scary root. This goes on silvery gold. I can smell mulch in here and dirt and root. It feels weird on my skin. The oil is slippery and malign. My skin doesn't drink it like it does other, it just hovers there, wet, smirking. An amazing earth smell, but it freaks me out. The feel of this oil takes the cake. *squirms*

I get lemon pledge with berry undertones. They're both fighting each other for who is on top. I am really not having a good time with my skin chemestry here.

I believe this must have been a frimp. Myrrh and I do not get along. I'm opening the imp.... Smells a bit like medicine. A sweet, but tart medicine. This is such a weird scent! I can't even describe what this smells like.. root? Medicine? (olord, my husband is laughing at me everytime I pull my arm up to my nose and then type this stuff up..) It's almost got a dirty smell to it. It reminds me of a licorish/medicine jar of honey. Very odd.

o, nice! This starts out as a nice light scent. It's not overly floral. As it dries it warms up and I can smell something a tad spicy.. violet? You know, this is the third violet scent I've tried this evening and they've all turned out different. This is definitely my fav of the three. Very fresh and pretty. I think the mint really plays up nicely to the violet. It *almost* smells lavendery to me. I really like this one.

The violet is spicy on me, and then mellowed and sweetened by the Gardenia. The spice softens as it dries and the vanilla comes out to play. The three scents like to banter back and forth on my skin through different stages, I smell all three fairly equally. The is pretty decent too! I just can't do florals. This is too sweet and .. cloying on my skin.

I don't know what it is with me and these sour roses. I smell the roses, and it's nice, but there's this tart.. sour smell going on with it. Once on, the sour scent fades away some and I'm left with a nice, light rose smell. I can still smell the sour under there, though. I'm wondering if Violet is the culprit, but I have no idea.

... The Master of Lightning's ofrenda contains red apples, banana, chili pepper, coconut, pineapple, pomegranate and sugar cane. Oh, how can I not want to try this, it SOUNDS amazing! This is a dark oil. I smell fruit, lots and lots of fruit! Pineapple is the most prominant. Wow, just amazing! It starts off a big fat pineapple. When it starts to dry some, I get a big juicy red apple. Further drying has pomegranate peeking in. A tad tart, but not much so. All of them together, amazing! I don't smell any coconut, and the banana serves to mellow out some of the tart some. Mmm, I love this!

At first I thought this was a caramel scent, and now I see it's a coconut scent. I don't know if I should read the descriptions while I'm trying or not. I'm usually off on what I think the notes are. I smell coconut and shea. Very nice summer scent. It takes about 20 or so minutes for the shea to come out after the initial coconut. Creamy and delightful!

Osun ... Her ofrenda is thick with honey and herbs of love, passion and desire. First Impression: This smelled *really* sweet to me, and fruity. I can place the honey, now that I see that's what it's supposed to be, but it's not something I would have guessed. I can't figure it out. A green, wet, tart floral, I guess is how it smells to me with a sweet undertone. I'm going to have to try other honey scents to see if I can pick it out of here. (:

Definitely some dirt going on here, and something sweet.. I'm assuming vanilla. Which is just *odd* to me.. Spicey on dry down. I smell a bit of mulch too. I had high hopes for Death Cap, and it's pretty keen, but not my ideal dirt scent. I think I like more of a herbal floral in my dirt than a sweet underlay. Very nice, though! *covets Premature Burial*

Flowers and something a bit like.. butter. Kind of like a buttercup! This is definitely one of the nicer florals (I'm usually not a fan, but hey, you gotta try until you find one, eh?) Sweet! I almost smell some moonflower in here too. Very pink. I see where that's coming from now. Fluffy pink. As it dries down, It smells like it rained all over my pink flowers. (doesn't smell ozoney or anything, just like wet flowers). Oddly, I swear it smells like a wet tangy rose... but not. It definitely has a tangy smell. We'll see how it ages in a month or so. (:

I was most excited to be able to get this one. I'm not collecting the celestials (though I may kick myself later) but really wanted Uranus and Pluto. Uranus because it's my planet, and Pluto because it's so darn cute. In the bottle: Oh, hello Clove. MMm, pure clove. On wet: Still clove, nice, warm and spicey. This is almost a single note clove. I don't get cinnamon in this. Maybe I'm not thinking clearly. Could be straight cinnamon stick, but it's so much more like clove to me. Stays true through drying. The cinnamon does kick up a bit more, but the clove never leaves. (so far) So far I'm not experiences the usual skin rash either! Reasonable throw. Pretty keen!

This was a much ligher musk than I expected. I even detect floral in it. Nothing you know, cloying, but a light prettyness on top of SEX. You only need a dab of this stuff. Gary says three dabs is WAY too much, but it does quieten down quickly enough, so you won't die from overkill. I love love this! *hoardes*

Wee! This is such a neat scent! Not at all something I'd wear, but very cool! My official description is "The sour sweat beneath your "good intentions".". Neat, eh? That's what it smells like. Sour on top of rose.. tart on top of rose. Really WEIRD! Magdalene reminds me of this too. Luckily there's not much throw and you can just remind yourself of your little perverse side by doing a quick sniff of your wrist. The rose of course gets soapy in the end, but not terribly so.

Fortunato broke my heart. But Premature Burial made up for it. I guess I can't do apricot or whatever this is. It's really neat smelling, but not what I want to smell like. I smell a sweet currant berry and apricot (or peach?) in the bottle and first on. As it dries, the apricot fades away some. There's a soft patchouli underneath which I really love, but the apricot kills me.

In the Bottle: Bubbles! On wet: Light floral and a little herbal. Sage? (I don't read this stuff before I post because it messes me up.. it's keen to see if I was on or not later. ) I think Sage makes me sneeze. Lovely, not for me.