Rhowan

Disco ball! that is soooo funny! I don't know if they even do the test any more - this happened years ago - but it almost seems like a form of torture instead of a test. I always wonder about the people who went thru it who weren't as strong as me. I mean, my reaction is to make fun and laugh about hardships, but what about an elderly person who was brought up in an era where you didn't even get undressed in front of your husband let alone crap in front of an audience....

In the vial and wet on my skin for just one second, I smell apricots! It quickly passes and I am left with a beautiful fig and orange scent. These two notes are not blended but 2 distinctive notes. I am going to cut to the complete dry down here because this doesn't really change until it's been on my skin for a while. This dries down to a beautiful warm orange scent. It's not ORANGE like a fresh peeled orange but maybe more like picking a fresh orange off a fig tree. I have sampled this when I was a noob. This is definitely a 5ml.

This is the scent of autumn night, fires in the distance, with a touch of boozy swoon, playful sugar and thuggish musk In the vial and wet on my skin, I am getting smoke, booze and sugary lemons - yummy! As this dries down, I still get the same thing only the smoke isn't in your face, it is in the background making this feel like you are in a dream The lemony scent is still there but the sugar and booze are front center stage! Completely dried down - if I close my eyes and take a deep breath of Devil's night, I am around a bon fire on halloween night, adults drinking something boozy while the kids go thru the candy they have collected. This is beautiful - I need to find a bottle of this! Okay throw, not bad wear - I still love it though!

I got this because it has nag champ! I have used nag champa incense forever and love the stuff. Let's hope this is just as good.... In the vial and wet on my skin: I first smell sandalwood with a hint of lavender. Next I catch the nag champa - this has promise... Drying down, I am suprised to find this more of a uplifting scent. I figured with the blackend sandalwood, tabocco, nag champa and labdanum that this would be pretty dark and that the lavender would be lost - not so. What I am getting is a beautiful smoky lavender. Complete dry down - gorgeous, uplifting, smoky lavender. Beautiful! Great throw, long wear... this is going on my bottles list!!!

In the vial and wet on my skin, I get a floral, amber scent with a sharp, bitter cinnamon at the tail end. As this dries down, the cinnamon is fading. The floral is still there and is warmed by amber(?) but I am getting a new scent of greens. Oakmoss? I don't know what it is but it is green. Complete dry down, what is left is mostly a green scent to me. If I close my eyes a try really hard, I get a wiff of light florals - just barely there. I think this is a very beautiful, understated scent. The throw is good, it stays right at your body - not out where the whole room could smell it. The wear is good too, maybe a 4hr wear without having to reapply. I loved Ra and I really like Khephra. I might have to buy the 4 stations.

*THE SPASM* Woke up in the middle of the night feeling like Alien VS. Predator was going on in my chest and back. In the dark, I waited to see if one of those pesky little aliens was going to burst out of my chest. It is even worse this morning. Nitroglycerin tabs usually help and so do muscle relaxants - not today! It must be quite the fight. What is actually going on is my esophagus is spasming in high gear. Along with the spasming, I actually get symptoms of a heart attack, but that is basically because those same nerves are all tied in together. It's the shits sometimes.... I have a shitty digestive system which leaves me with a pretty bleak future. I don't think about the future because I have faith in modern medicine and I think that one day they will have something out there for me. My digestive system is slowly shutting down. It all started with abdominal pain when I was in my teens - not to worry, my mother was told. After I had my children, I was told I needed a hysterectomy - not only for the fibroid tumors, but because of the never ending low abdominal pain. A few years later, the abdominal pain gets worse and to make a long story short, my gall bladder just quit working. Gave up and died! Gall bladder - Gone, Appendix -gone. Somewhere along the line, my colon gave up and died too - they took that too. At least I didn't need a colostomy bag. Things move sooooooo slow thru my digestive track that I actually have to take a medicine to force things thru and to have a good poo (ha! I said poo! and I rhymed ) My stomach is slowly shutting down, my small bowel is so very slow and lets not forget the esophagus - where things don't go down if when I swallow, or I have the freaking alien breakout! Oh! and lets add to it, all of the scar tissue build up from the numerous abdominal surgeries - plus the unknown peritonitis and peritonitis from a ruptured small bowel. ACK! So, for all of those things, I am in chronic pain from esophagus to rectum. Anyhow, whoever is struggling inside my chest right now, I hope that it's not the alien that wins!

I think my mother passed a strange gene down to me - it's the dreaded TAPE gene.... Opening any gifts from Mom especially around christmas time gets frustrating. She tapes things closed - not only tapes things but TAPES them. Whenever there is a present ready, my dad has his trusty pocket knife out because he knows. Knows what? you say? He knows that is is going to take some big time muscles with his pocket knife to get thru all of mom's tape! It's the family joke but it gets downright irritating if you are a ripper! Ya know, one of those people who love to rip into a package - damn the pretty paper. So, somewhere along the line, I got the gene (or the obsession)and it is magnified by 1,000 to say the least. All of my swaps go out pretty much hermetically sealed for protection Whose protection? Well, I would venture to guess, protection of my mental health status! My bottles, for example start out with me trying my damndest to get the lid on as tight as possible. Plumbing thread tape is next to keep the leaks in place. Saran wrap is next, pulled tight and then taped into place - just on the off chance any oil would get past the thread tape and saran wrap. Then, said bottle is wrapped verically in bubble wrap (tape to hold it closed), the horizontally, then it is put into a liitle pouch I have taped together, with the imps and such going out. Boxes? Now, here is where my obsessive hermetic seal really kicks in. I am so paranoid that the box is going to come open or the label is going to come off that I pretty much tape the whole damn box. I cannot help myself. It is against my nature to normally tape it due to rampant paranoia running thru mywee little mind. Paranoia that the box is going to fly open, or lids are going to leak. This mind set also comes in to play when wrapping presents also. One of my good friends got a care package from me that was vitually a box encased in tape. WEll, what if water got in? Or perfume tried to leak out? Anhow, she is the one who started the whole "hermetically sealed" thing. Advice to future swappers and buyers, Have scissors on hand when my packages come in.

Blood always ends up too florally sweet for me so I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one! In the vial and wet on my skin- in my face blood with a bit of resin. As this dries down, the prominent blood retreats and the amber resin starts to emerge. The blending of the two is beautiful! Complete dry down: Blood Amber ends up more resiny than the usual floral scent that dragon's blood usually leaves. This has AWESOME throw and LONG wear. This might be a keeper!

In the vial and on my skin - mmm.... this reminds me of an hot steamed almond milk. I drink that to soothe me - this is soothing! Dry down: This is beautiful. Sweet milk and honey with a drop of almond - gorgeous! Conclusion: I really like this one because the almond wasn't overpowering on me. I just gave this perfume the note that took it fromwhat might have been a dull milk and honey to a great scent. Good throw, okay wear. Might have to try a bottle.

Ack! Another Rose! Maybe this time it will work.... In the imp and wet on my skin - wow! sharp juniper with an herbally feel to it. I am just going to cut to the chase here instead of going thru my usual dry down, conclusion. I find this really icky. There is a sharp tangy almost palatable note in Rome that is just really offensive. Unfortunately, this has really good throw and wear. Can't wash this thing off quick enough!

In the vial and wet on my skin, I am getting fig with a hint of almond. Very beautiful - I love fig! As this dries down, I start to get a hint of a dry brown scent in the background - like dry almond shells, or coconut husk. It doesn't last long, however, because the cococnut and sandalwood come forward. The sandalwood gives it a perfume-y feel. Complete dry down - Lush, green, perfume. Absolutely beautiful. Okay throw, and wear. I think you might have to reapply a couple of times a day. I will keep the imp though, and I may want a bottle

So, okay... never done this before so I hope I am putting setting right and things in the right place ~ I guess we will find out soon enough. Who knows, maybe you can teach on old dog a new trick! I just finished my Get to Know Me page. Wow, it's pretty long, but how do you some up yourself in just a tiny page. I am a very complex person so it was hard to just put in the facts and not ramble on about every little detail. I am freezing cold right now. The heat has been off since we have had the most beautiful spring days lately. Today is cold and rainy and I have been sitting here at the damnable computer, dinking around and ignoring all my chores and especially how cold I really am. My fingers are so cold, it is getting hard to type! I think it's time to take a nice, hot, bubble bath. Candles burning, oils flowing, hot water and a nice mask! oooh! sounds great....

Dove's Heart - oh me oh my.... I put this on and automatically amped rose with a bit oflavender and jasmine. No vanilla here for me unfortunately. After a few minutes the rosiness fades and I get lanvender and jasmine - and then! It goes all soapy, powdery on me

In the bottle sleepy moon smelled to me like a fresh spring garden of florals but wet on my skin all I get it the Ylang-ylang and an instant headache. This does not bode well... About 5 mintutes in, the ylang ylang is still hanging in there full force but at least I am getting a hint of other notes now. I can catch some of the soft sandalwoodl, a bit of bamboo pulp and a whiff of lavender. Still the headache with a bit of nausea. 15 minutes - Headache and nausea amping, ylan-ylang still the primary note, but the sandalwood and lavender are pretty prominent too. My conclusion - this is headache and nausea inducing -not sleep inducing but then again anything with an overpowering ylang ylang note usually does that to me. Sleepy Moon has a great throw and lasts a long time! (unforutnately for me) so if these notes work for you, you will love it!

I had tested this once then swapped it, when I was new to oils and couldn't pick out the notes, therefore I missed 1/2 the joy. Luckily, thanks to the lab!, I have another chance at it. In the vial and wet on my skin- no wonder I have been hearing that this is a good Christmas scent. This smells like a forest but different that a pine tree smell. As this dries, it's scent becomes a bit more complex but is so very good! The imagery I get from this is walking through a misty woodland forest (not just pine trees, but a mixture of trees) with fresh white wild roses dripping water off their petals. Like I said, I don't get overpowering pine tree but Fir trees with maybe a hint of eucalyptus? I think the Alder mellows out what ever Pine-y scent there is and the white rose just sweetens the whole thing up. I am so glad I got a second chance at this. It truly is a beautiful scent and would be a great alternative to an LE at Christmas time. This is definitely going on my big bottles wish list.

Okay, so anyone who has read my reviews know that rose and I have a hate/hate relationship but never look a gift horse in the mouth - and this was a frimp from the lab so.... I have to say that this turned out to be not half bad! Maybe it was the combination of roses, maybe it was the cinnamon that kept it from being overpowering rose? Who knows but this didn't dry down to smell like most rose scents I love to hate. What this did dry down to be was a very exotic, warm rosey scent. I think if any of you reading this who want to wear rose and haven't been able to, you should definitely try this. As for me, it's still rose and rose isn't for me. edited for spelling

In the imp and wet on my skin - wet leather! Yum! Dark and sweet leather. As this dries down, the black musk darkens it even more and the vetiver kicks in giving this a woody undertone. Completely dried down Iago reminds me of dark, smoky woods with a hint of leather. This is very sinuous as the scent description puts it. very DARK and Sinuous! Lovely for both a man or a woman.

In the imp and fresh on my skin, I can barely smell this at first. I can catch a wiff of the neroli and that is it. So, I sit back and wait.... As Mantis dries down, the different notes start to appear, almost one by one...neroli, crushed herbs and resins - but still so faint, I can barely catch them. It takes about 15 minutes for Mantis to really make itself known on my skin. It is a beautiful golden color. Warm, golden, resinous, with a hint of neroli - the crushed herbs are completely lost on me. It takes about a half hour for the entire scent to be smellable to me. I don't know if it is my skin or me. I had written a review of this before the system went down and it was lost- I had put it in my undecided pile because this was wonderful but I couldn't decide to stay with the imp or go for the bottle. The first time, I was able to smell it a lot better. I think this is going to go back to the pile again for yet another retry. Who knows? They say third time's a charm!

In the imp and wet on my skin the first thing I think of when I smell this is picking and eating Granny Smith apples at my aunt orchard. This is very bright green to me! As Roadhouse dries down the apple morphs into the dandelion and the whole scent starts to warm up from the bright crisp green to warm greens of summer - dandelions, hops, and green resinous hemp. It is about 15mins. later that I start to get a bit of booze - but just a breath and the tobacco never does show up for me. In conclusion, I think this is a great summer warm green scent and this is going on my bottles list!

In the vial and wet on my skin - wow! Good Morning! Neroli, herbals that are both bright and warm. As Ra dries down, the herbals start to wane, the neroli is still bright and I would venture to say there is a hint of patchouli in the mix. Ra completely dries down to a warm, bright orange with a hint of herbals and a breath of patchouli. I love this! It is very "good morning, bright sunshine , happy day" and just brings a joy to the morning. I am definitely buying all four stations of the sun!

I got my first new imp label from a frimp from the lab also - they are much better than the old ones!

I am so glad I got a bottle of this! I bought it more for the novelty and also because I wanted to have a forum only scent of my very own. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be THAT great but boy was I wrong!!! This is sooo wonderful. In the bottle and wet on my skin~ mmm... musk, a nice dark heavier musk not overpowering in the least and very smooth for such a dark musky scent. As this begins to dry down, the orange peel starts to emerge along with the "greens" of the plant extracts, giving it a spice! Soon after, I start to get my first hints of amber warming the whole thing up - this is good! At about 15 minutes out, I almost loose the scent as it becomes almost a spicy 2nd skin - ARGG! I start thinking well, this is it! but then after another few minutes the spicy, warm musky scent emerges again - *whew* I am about 4 hrs out now and Enraged Orangutan Musk is still going strong! This has great wear and awesome throw - not an overpowering throw but enough for my husband to walk in from work and lean in to give me a kiss, and stop to comment on how good I smell. The scent is almost perfume-y. Dark, warm spicy musk. Lovely, just lovely. This is definitely worthy of a 2nd bottle....

In the bottle and wet on my skin Kathmandu is very woodsy! OMGosh, I love the sandalwood and cedar together! I am also getting a warm spice almost incense smell too that is lovely but there is an undertone of something sour that I can't quite place my finger on.... Dried down the woods have faded to the background - almost completely gone and an almost sharp, sour juniper type scent is taking it's place and not in a good way. There is also a hint of a mint in there someplace. After about 30 minutes, this has almost faded completely. Even if it hadn't, Kathmandu would not be a keeper in my book at all. If it stayed true to it's just wet smell - gorgeous! But completely dried down and before it faded that sour juniper/mint smell over powered it completely.

In the bottle and wet on my skin this is not what I was expecting at all. I was expecting a warm sultry delicate scent. What I am getting is a really alcohol/floral smell that burns the back of my throat. Dried down this just gets worse. I don't know if it it the tobacco leaf or what but the dry down reminds me of Stardust - it is overpowering tobacco and hairspray. Conclusion: I had to wash this off after about 20 minutes - my nose and throat were burning, I had a really bad taste in my mouth and it was making me very nauseous! When I washed it off, I smelled like I had taken a really cheap hairspray and just sprayed the hec out of my wrist! The throw was INCREDIBLE! Even though this was a drop on my wrist you could smell it half way across the room. And even after washing it off, my throat is still burning and I have a terrible taste in my mouth. Not good.

In the imp this is delicious! I am getting the rosewood, sandalwood adn lemon peel right off the bat - wonderful. When first applied to my skin, I am still getting the original notes but the other note join in to make this almost the twin of Bewitched but without the berry - must be the sage. The longer this sits on my skin the more I start amping the lilly and the jasmine. The musk is coming through very nicely but the lily is really starting to overpower everything Conclusion? Not a keeper - that's for sure. In the end it turned out to be too "perfumey" It is definitely the overpowering lily that is affecting the overall make up. If this would have kept the woody,lemony, sage smell from the beginning - well, I would have to order a life time supply. I guess it is a good thing this didn't work.