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malanna

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Everything posted by malanna

  1. malanna

    King of Diamonds

    I didn't expect this to be as pleasant as it was, and I thought that this would be more "masculine." Basically, this is glittering musk with bright citrus, and something smooth that makes me think of peach. It's a scent that sort of reminds me of Tamora....
  2. malanna

    Malice

    At first, this smells like a really red scent and is dominated by ylang ylang. Then it smells red and soapy. I think the soapy part is the patchouli, as patchouli tends to get a bit clean on my skin. After two hours, Malice is all about the dark myrrh and clove, with a bit of ylang ylang to keep it red.
  3. malanna

    Belle Époque

    This is weird, but I kept on thinking I smelled lavender. Belle Epoque was had that humid heat I associate with lavender. I love vanilla, but I did not like this. I think the vanilla was drowned out by the sweet opium and lily of the valley (is lily of the valley a humid heat sort of scent?). The red sandalwood comes out a bit more later.
  4. malanna

    Gingerbread Poppet

    When this first hits my skin, it's all spices. It smells like the spices in Sugar Cookie, but with less cinnamon, more nutmeg, and more ginger. It gets a bit buttery (very slight, not as much as Sugar Cookie) over time and it really does smell like gingerbread. It's a very comforting scent. However, this Poppet fades fast. It gets really soft in two hours, and it's nearly gone within four hours. I can still smell it in the sixth hour, but it's smells like a gingerbread spices soap, which is why it seemed like it was gone (I have to stick my nose to my skin, though).
  5. malanna

    Sugar Cookie

    This really does smell like snickerdoodle! I was hoping for a more straight up sugar cookie scent, though. When I was testing it to do a review the day before, after an hour at snickerdoodle, Sugar Cookie hit a stage (and remained there) where it went rancid. Like stale used washing cloth. However, today, when I was testing it again to confirm, it didn't hit that stage. Instead, Sugar Cookie got softer and more buttery, with the cinnamon a lot lighter, so it really was more of a sugar cookie scent (more like a lovely cross between the two).
  6. malanna

    Ice Queen

    A majestic blend of precious pale musks, brittle winter blossoms, spruce, and frozen winter fruits. Ice Queen is really nice. I kept on expecting pine from this, but I guess I got it confused with Skadi. It's clear, cool, with a bit of aquatics and citrus. A bit of something like ozone comes out. Before the ozone part, it has the same tone as Frost Moon, except sans mint (or not as much of). Overall, it's a really calming scent. I was starting to regret letting go of it, until I hit this weird stage that made my love for Ice Queen die. I can't remember what that stage was (that's the problem of not doing reviews the same day you have it on). Maybe it was something musky and stale?
  7. malanna

    Crossroads

    I kept on thinking this smelled like warm buck skin, I think because I thought Crossroads' description included that. But still, it does smell like warm buck skin, radiating it's musky heat. In any case, warm buck skins aside, there's definitely a lot of moss, a tiny bit of green dirt (green, as in, mixed with the moss), and some herbs, enough to add a tiny bit of sweetness to it. But it still smells like warm buck skin to me. I know, I'm a broken record.
  8. malanna

    Othello

    White roses with some pale musk and a bit of spice to keep the roses from really being all rose-y and everything. This just makes me think of what the bedsheets of a young, mother in a lovely English estate would smell like. The throw on this is pretty big. After several hours, the scent gets softer and sweeter and more wearable. It's not so spicy and the rose, which wasn't very detectable begin with, doesn't stick out anymore, but just blends in with everything.
  9. malanna

    Mistletoe

    This pretty much remains the same scent on my skin, just getting softer over time. Mistletoe is a sharp, green scent, with a hint of tart, somewhat acrid berries. I get a bit of pine from it, a bit of spicy pine, sort of like the spices in gingerbread, but less foody. Well, just holiday spice, that's warm and comforting. On the other hand, there's a cold layer to it, like another reviewer said, something that's almost like ozone.
  10. malanna

    Midwinter's Eve

    OOh, this is berries in a bottle! On, I wholeheartedly agree with what everyone said about this being hard candy. It makes me think of a sweet drink or candy I had as a kid, but I don't know what. It sort of fizzes--not in a coke way, but with oomph. Definitely plummy, but not so much like Bordello, in that it's just candy sweet and not so wine-y. this fades away after three hours.
  11. malanna

    Haitian Lover

    At first, this is dark and spicy--what I expected from the "Haitian" part of Haitian lover. There's a bit of cinnamon and licorice (I normally hate licorice, but it's sort of nice). However, it gets musky, goes to a musky and clean stage, and back to the muskiness. jj_j was right, this really is like the masculine version of O. It really does have that whole sweaty, sweet sex quality, with amber and honey. Actually, after several hours, it just smells like O to me, but not so heavy and headache-inducing.
  12. malanna

    Yuletide

    This initially smelled like a craft store during the holiday season, but then the holly berries came out to play, with a bit of green from the leaves and some pine. The pine makes the green a bit spicy. It either makes the green bits compatible with the craft store smell, or it makes up the craft store smell. Yuletide is more of a room scent than a body scent, but it's still great as a comforting scent either way.
  13. malanna

    Verdandi

    At first, this smells like The Hesperides to me: sweet, honeyed apples. Over time, the herbs come out, and it reminds me of Queen of Spades, with the blackberry, and a bit of Mabon, with the apple hops. The black amber comes out in the snuggled-deep-into-my-skin stage, with the apples and herbs very much in the background.
  14. malanna

    Frost Moon

    At first, this is primarily mint and eucalyptus. However, this quickly fades away to be a cool and refreshing scent, yet not apparently minty. It's a cool scent, so there's obviously mint and eucalyptus there, but when I sniff it, I don't think of those notes, just that it's cool and green. There's a hint and it's just really smooth (aquatics), slightly floral, which makes it a bit sweet.
  15. malanna

    Arcana

    Whoa, rosemary and lavender. Lots of lavender--I feel like I'm in a humid greenhouse. Shortly after, I'm picking up some frankincense and lemon verbena. This stage, which lasts for half an hour, at the most, smells like the lemon sherbets Dumbledore keeps offering everyone in Harry Potter. Then, in less than an hour, Arcana smells like sweet incense. Literally. The burning of incense, but less smokey. The gone-into-my-skin stage happens relatively quickly after application--less than four hours. It now smells faintly of sweaty, warm musk/person.
  16. malanna

    Nine Mysteries

    Nine Mysteries starts out minty, then the minty fades and there's a soft floral coming out. In less than an hour, there's a sweet herbal powder (but not very powdery, which is quite calming. Sniffing this again after four hours, I get a sweet orange with a slight hint of mint. I think this is one of the scents which has morphed the most after application.
  17. malanna

    Hunger

    I can't believe I've never reviewed Hunger. Hunger nearly made it to the "I like it enough to keep it" circle. I mostly get black narcissus and orange blossom in the beginning--dark, slithering, spicy orange--then, the vanilla comes out a bit more, lending it the orange creamsicle scent. However, the vanilla isn't as prominent as the dark, spicy side, which is front row and center. It's a nice seductive scent, but I think the black narcissus is too strong for me to completely love it.
  18. malanna

    Magus

    Upon application, Magus is woodsy--sandalwood with cedar. There's a bit of kick, some spices, which I'm thinking is the frankincense and galangal (a Google indicates that it's a ginger-like spice native to Java and China). However, a little while after, I keep on thinking that there's something a bit minty/eucalyptus-y to it, a bit of that cool smoothness to it that keeps it from being purely woodsy. I'm not sure where I'm getting this from.... It recedes into the skin nicely (some scents just get weird in that stage), but it's still not for me. Woodsy scents and I don't get along.
  19. malanna

    Madrid

    Madrid is just red and musky on me. I pick up on the wine and the mimosa, but not so much clove. I think the red wine is stronger than the mimosa, which contributes to the muskiness of this. The first part of the scent, when it was sweeter and juicier, did make me think of Madrid, but over time, it just got musky and the association faded.
  20. malanna

    De Sade

    This is straight leather. It didn't ick me out as much as I thought. It seems to be a mix of sweaty leather and clean air. I liked the cleanness of De Sade, although it got muskier over time.
  21. malanna

    Ultraviolet

    At first this smells like lavender and sandalwood--a humid, green and brown scent. Once this settles into my skin, it's primarily mint with a hint of eucalyptus and a dash of violet. It definitely does seem like ultraviolet, although I expected it to be more purple, because of the violet in the word (I know ultraviolet isn't actually purple ).
  22. malanna

    Rose Red

    This is the smell of a rose on a rose bush, vibrantly red and just bloomed. It has that smell with a hint of the spray that florists spray on rose bushes to keep it smelling "fresh." Over time, that spray smell gets stronger. A nice scent, but I don't like roses.
  23. malanna

    The Lady of Shalott

    The Lady of Shalott reminds me of Queen Gertrude, which is why I keep on thinking there's violet in this scent (there is, I swear!). Basically, I get a hint of gardenia, with clear, pale white musk with lovely aquatics and what I think is violet. This is a really lovely scent.
  24. malanna

    Undertow

    Argh! Lotus, my mortal enemy! The juniper and mint makes me think I might be able to bear this--it gives the lotus a cool, almost citrus-y feel, but the plastic feeling of lotus manages to overcome all. Bah!
  25. malanna

    Blood

    Whoa! Cherry coke! The cherry fades a bit with time, and after two hours, Blood gets a bit of a clean scent with a hint of sweetness from the dragon's blood. Very bizarre, considering the name is Blood. In the clean stage, I get a hint of clove.
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