Circaea

Atlas - Mallow, oak bark, coffee bean, hinoki wood, and khus. Or Boomslang - cocoa and Snake Oil. I think Banshee Beat's vanilla would hold up well with coffee (but might be too sexay for work.) So, tell us, Galkar, what are your imps that go with coffee and still smell good after six years??

Citrus helps me. Lemon Scented Sticky Bats makes me feel better when I'm feeling poorly.

No marshmallow. No vanilla. I get a smokey, cinnamon metallic pancake syrup. It's nicer than it sounds, though. I might need to try this a few more times. Maybe a different time in my cycle; maybe age it a bit. It's a definite maybe. -edited for spelling.

Sadly, for me Joulumuori isn't creamy, plummy or sweet. It just gives me a sharp, evergreen pine/juniper men's cologne, and a stabbing sinus headache, confirming my general preconception that Weenie and Yule oils are not my thing, as a rule.

I got the Obsession impression from Baghdad (amber, saffron, bergamot, mandarin, nutmeg, Bulgar rose, musk and sandalwood).

And an Irene Adler ("always referred to by Holmes as the woman.")

The Girl showed up as a sniffie kindly frimped to me by a forum seller. I'd been curious about it for a while, with all the swooning hype, and was very pleased to be able to try it. Fortunately, for all its rarity, it is a bit meh on me: kind of a light, spicy floral. I don't get vanilla or musk. Someone else mentioned Morroco, and I get that, too. The Girl almost has a carnation-like bite to it. Not for me, I'm very relieved to be able to say.

This goes on dry, sharp and woody, recalling the fresh scent of pencil-shavings. I can detect the tang of leather, too for the first thirty or forty minutes. It's too dusty and biting at first, sort of aloof and off-putting. It warms up over time and sweetens and becomes the pefect soft sweet sandalwood. Very comforting and cozy. It's reminding me of Aziraphale, Hand of Glory, The Buggre Alle This Bible. If you liked those, you will most likely love this one. If you find sandalwood calming and soothing, you will be in your element. I'm very happy I acquired my bottle, and can see myself wearing it often, especially at work, and in stressful circumstances. Despite the provocative label, it's not a seductress scent. But if a guy were wearing it, I might find myself sniffing him compulsively.

I get blackberry and a kind of cinnamony yogurt, over something colognelike. That must be the snow note. It's fruity, a litte tart, and pretty in a perfumish way. Quite similar to Hungry Ghost Moon, and that's a good thing. My first test was iffy, with an aquatic phase that I disliked, but this second test I'm liking it more. The aquatic bite is holding to the background this time, and there's a complex, composedly sensual nature to this scent which makes it intriguing, as if it is trying, and managing, to be both cool and warm. I keep sniffing, but it's hard to come up with an association. The blackberry yogurt makes it foody, but the spicy cologne quality makes it sophisticated and grown up. It's not so much pagan ritual as it is dinner date in a nice dress and heels. I like it, though it feels a little formal for most of my usual pursuits. I might try layering it with something sweet to warm it up a bit more.

GC's: Sed non Satiata, Cathedral, Cairo, Al-Azif. Decants: WILF.

This is like Hungry Ghost Moon (I have the 2011 version) on me. Looking at the notes, I see smoky vanilla and ho wood in common. Both are beautiful, faintly fruity, refined and sensual, but Penis Admiration has a sometimes salty warm skin impression, and no foody initial throw, like Hungry Ghost Moon does (the rice). I like them both. Maybe a slight preference for the initial wet stage of Penis Admiration, but on the drydown HGM wins, as Penis Admiration goes to an expensive, perfumey powder after about an hour. Still pretty and sexy, but less interesting than its initial stage. Okay, it seems like I just death matched these two, but I'm glad I have a bottle of HGM, and one on the way for PA. There's room for both, and they're quite nice layered, too. I got my decant of PA for the name (snicker), but I really like it as a sexy warm, but not slutty, perfume. It's just one of those feel-good scents, and fine for wearing at home alone in my PJ's.

I'm testing Hermia today (pink pepper, golden amber, honeysuckle and passion flower). It seems like a powdery Hungry Ghost Moon. Which is weird, because they don't seem to share any notes. It's really pretty and almost fruity. I like powder too. I find the Possets blends consistently go powdery on me. eta: I'm trying Haunted today, too. Sweet lemon smoke, drying to a soft almost baby powder.

Ah, hell, this is sexy. Wet, it's boozy, fruity, loosely leering. Then it just disappears. Let me slip into something a little more comfortable, it whispers... A hot minute later, Perversion slithers back dressed in smokey leather, dripping in coconut oil, puts its hands on its hips and fixes me with a smoldering stare. Just went on my bottle wishlist.

, Second this. While I haven't tried Panther Moon and Snake Charmer, I am definitely getting the vanilla, champaca and musk, once the Snake Oil first impression fades down. WILF is one Werewolf I'd Like to Find (in a bottle). Must sell some plasma, or extra kidney, so I can get some before it goes away.

About every third purchase from the For Sale forum, I end up with a frimp of something I'd never heard of before, which instantly becomes a Mad Love for me. Habu is that one, this time. It's thick and brown, and I don't know how aged it is, but I suspect it is somewhat aged. My first impression was... huh? Chocolate? but on reapplying I smell something green and fresh, a little like the balsam note in my beloved U. The Snake Oil grounds it in familiar, sweet, comforting territory, but the scent stays indefinably individual. It is both warm and sexy, and fresh and wild. I feel like a vixen, but literally: I am a mother fox dropping a warm, dazed mouse down for my pups to eat (or ignore), settling in with my long bushy tail wrapped around them, and licking the sweet soft fur on their pretty red-brown heads.

I'm so glad this doesn't actually smell like Paris on me (women's perfume, cigarette smoke, and car exhaust). It doesn't smell like lavender, either, strangely. My imp may be a little old, judging by the condition of the label. I got that fruity bubblegum smell at first - kind of fun and pleasant. The scent dries to a creamy exotic floral, and then to a kind of hot, gingery spice. The last bit is like a creamy ginger. I like it.

Goes on faintly sweet and floral, but with an herby, or spicy base, like curry or sage. Eventually the curry/sage wins out, and reminds me of riding horses on a hot dusty, sunburned, thirsty, boring day through desert sage, dill and fennel. Only not as nice. This scent can't decide if it wants to be flowers or curry. I can't decide whether to toss it, or let someone else try it.

How Doth starts off with a strong in-your-face chocolate. The mint comes out while it's still wet. There is a mid-stage that's kind of plasticky. Chocolate notes often do this on me (or maybe it's the vanilla.) After an hour I kept smelling U (Mutter Museum). I love that scent, so that makes How Doth a winner for me overall. I have a bottle of U on its way to me, though, so I don't need more of this little crocodile.

This went on smokey, a little acrid like creosote does. It veered toward cedar, or what I think of as cedar, a sharp strong wood smell, then settled to smoke. Campfire smoke mainly. For those worried about the masculine/feminine spectrum, I would say Smokestack is neither. It just makes me smell like I"ve been sitting in front of a fire. It's a nice, simple non-perfumelike scent for times when perfumes would be unwelcome or not permitted. But I can also see myself layering it with something pretty, to give it mystery and danger.

I second, or third, or whatever, Banshee Beat. You can do a search on the For Sale forum here (that's how I found mine). It's patchouli, but rounded and sweetened by hemp and vanilla. Not floral at all, but pretty and kind of sexy and very long-lasting. If your mum likes patchouli, she will probabaly also like hemp. Sin is another favorite of mine. Snake Oil is a classic, and it's pretty hard to go wrong with that one. Plus, it's GC and you can even get it on Amazon (handy to know if you are trying to use up points or a gift certificate there.) I've tried a few that were straight up patchouli (and that's not my thing, really - too heavy and "bitter" for me): Umbra and Devil's Claw, for two. Depraved was patchouli and apricot.

Ah... this is so fecking good, it hurts. Second test for me today. Tried it this morning on the back of my hand, and was loving the wet stage, but it dried and all but disappeared. Trying this afternoon on my wrist, which isn't as dry, and the scent is holding up better. So, why do I love U? At first, probably the balsam (and now I have to stop myself from hunting down everything with balsam in it) comes out strong, green, wild, and almost oily like sap. This smell gives me a nosegasm, and I want it to last forever. It smells a bit like Banshee Beat's wilder, greener, more primitive cousin. I need to stop myself from reapplying it every fifteen minutes to keep the wild green smell going, which makes me feel like I'm running through the shaded, twisted roots of a rainforest, crushing leaves and tearing up vines. And then it's gone. I've come to a clearing and an old wooden house stands baking in the sun. A very old, leather bound book sits on an unvarnished table outside, its parchment pages ruffling in the breeze. I sit down, lay my drowsy head on the table, smelling the leather book, and the salt of my skin, and the memory of the forest roots, crushed under my bare heels, rising up as I sleep, and dream of trees... I revise my first impression of this one... I do need more.

source: imp of unknown date Wet... mmmmint! I did get a little of that Ultraviolet blast from the initial mint, something a bit toothpastey, but then what I think is the lotus creeps out, and the scent is starting to remind me just a tiny bit of the creamy green sweetness of White Rabbit. Now it's creamy floral mint. As it dries I smell something almost like pears, but it keeps that rich round exotic floral feel, balanced by the happy confident smell of mint. As the mint fades down, so does everything else, and it goes quite faint, but still really pretty, if I bring my wrist up to my nose. I get no aquatic feel from this scent, despite its coolness. Which is good, because I associate aquatic scents with things that make my sinuses hurt. I like it, and I will keep the imp around for aromatherapeutic purposes, to lift the mood and give me energy, but I think as a personal scent, it makes me smell like someone who just brushed her teeth. (I have toothpaste for that.)

Source: imp of unknown age. Wow, it's amazing how all over the board these reviews are. I think perhaps the peach and cinnamon have aged out of the mix on my imp. I got a spicy orange wet stage that dried to something like clove incense. Someone compared it to an open air spice market, and I concur. This blend is giving me happy RenFaire memories, and I'm liking it, though I'm not sure how often I'll remember to wear it.

Straight from the twisted alleys of Dis, by way of the City of Angels: opium smoke, lemon flower, heliotrope, tuberose, black musk, vanilla, coconut, apricot flower. Source: decant. Wet, this smells so much like dill that I'm immediately desperate for pickles. It must be some combination of one of the florals with the strong lemon. Dry, the coconut, (creamy but not sweet) and opium smoke come out and I get a citrusy coconut that smells tropical, in a subtle, sophisticated way, like expatriated English colonials sipping exotic beverages in white jackets and evening gowns on a torch-lit verandah in the opening scenes of a black and white film that is about to turn violent, as the voodoo priest summons a zombie slave to abduct the fainting and delicate heroine. This is nice. Sexy, but not overtly sexual. I will wear it. 3 months later, ETA: my decant is almost gone, and I have more on the way. This just gets more delicious, the longer I wear it. No powder, and whatever "tuberose" is, it doesn't translate as rose of doom note on me. I am happy to have made its acquaintance.

You know how, sometimes, you go out, and your friend lends you a leather corset and persuades you to snort a couple of lines of some white powder, and then you go dancing until you're soaked in sweat, and your see your ex-boyfriend, who offers you a couple of cigarettes, and you smoke them, even though you're normally an incredibly uptight self-righteous ex-smoker, and you have several shots of something you don't usually drink, like whiskey, or goldschlager, and then you run into the cute bi girl who's always flirting with you and she's wearing a sweaty rubber dress and you make out with her for a while, and you get home and you crawl into bed and recount the evening to your sleepy husband who sits up, wide awake with horror and says, "You SMOKED A CIGARETTE?" Banned in Boston smells like that. Definitely getting the booze, cigarettes and rubber dress. I like it.