fiddlehead

Sensual, sibilant, sexual and hypnotic: Arabian musk and exotic spices slinking through Egyptian amber, enticing vanilla, and a serpentine blend of black plum, labdanum, ambrette, benzoin and black coconut. I bought Snake Charmer hoping it would be something like Snake Oil but without the baby powder and playdough dry stage on me. Score!! I'm can't really pick out all the seperate notes. My nose just isn't that good. But I do smell the vanilla and spices with what I think is the Arabian Musk. If it is, then I have to find more scents with that musk in them. Later I get some Amber but for some reason the playdough note (which I always blame on Amber) isn't hardly there at all. Maybe because it's a different Amber. The drydown is lovely and musky, not at all like baby powder. This is a sultry, warm, luxurious vanilla that I can actually wear.

I ordered Geek hoping I could wear it but it's definitely better for my husband than for me. I slathered it on him and while he wasn't crazy about the "splash", once it settled down he really liked it. Leather, mosses, bark and something almost...what? Fruity? It smells familiar but I can't place it. No fruit is listed so maybe it's just a result of certain notes blending. As others have mentioned, this is a very masculine blend. A winner for the mate

I really liked the opening notes of Veil and I was hopeful that they would stick around. It was gentle and calming with a lovely bit of Gardenia and Lilac. Then the Violet came out and all the other notes left. I like the smell of violets in the garden but not on me, unfortunately. It tends to cling to me like no other flower scent.

The initial stages of Muse are really nice. Tuberose is one of my favorite flowers as is Jasmine. The lime adds a nice freshness to it. I was loving this until the drydown when it went *all* Lotus on me. And I really am not a big fan of Lotus. Ah well, it was nice to be able to try it!

Jezebel is gorgeous on me. I love the strong honey scent with the orange blossom and rose. It is very sweet and heady and dries down into a sweet baby-powderish scent. But without the "playdough" note I get with O. We'll see how it is over repeated wearings but so far I'm really in love ETA: Aaaand, now I'm not in love. After wearing it again today I found that in a few hours I'm left with a pure baby powder scent. No hint of honey, roses or anything else. Bah!

I'm really enjoying Niflheim, which is saying something as I generally don't do very well with "aquatic" notes. But this one seems to have a good balance to me and dries down to a clean-smelling blend with a hint of floral.

I also had trouble with Alone, even though I always use lotion before I put any oil on. Big welts. I decided it might be because I put it on right after a shower. Haven't tried it in the middle of the day yet to see if I get a reaction then. I really love the scent and have two bottles so I'm bound and determined to find a way to be able to use it, even if I have to dilute it .

This was a frimp in my last order, thanks labbies! It had been on my list to try since the beginning. Whew! Yep, Juniper, Pine and the musk underneath. Reminds me a bit of Dracul. It has a promising start but in about an hour I was walking around going "what is that note? I *know* that note! Gahhh!". Finally it dawned on me. Red Musk. Now it smells very much like Scherazade with no evergreens at all. I like Scherazade but I already got some And to keep the pine/juniper note I probably would need to re-apply every hour.

Mmmm. Phantom Queen is gorgeous! Very natural and clean smelling florals with a hint of greenery. I definitely smell the apple blossom and some orchid. I can't identify the hawthorne or the meadowsweet, having never smelled them, but whatever is hovering behind the flowers is lovely. Perfect for Spring and early Summer!

When this is wet it smells delicious. An unusual blend of soil and something very much like Vanilla. I would have loved it had it stayed at this stage but it dries down into a fairly strong vanilla on me with no dirt note at all. Another oil I will have to try a few more times to see if it changes in the imp. ETA: After wearing it a couple more times I've decided that what I'm smelling with the dirt note seems to be a vanilla/coconut sort of smell. Not really working for me...

Wow, what an interesting cascade of scents Voodoo has! Don't have much to add that hasn't been said by others but I really like this blend. After the initial rush of notes this settles down on my skin and reminds me strongly of a blend of Vanilla and Patchouli oils that I made up once. But more interesting. It doesn't strike me as masculine or feminine, particularly. This is one of the few oils that my husband noticed and approved of as soon as he caught a whiff

Whip smells just as promised when it's still wet and just after it dries. But after a bit the leather goes away and the roses depart soon after. I can just catch a vague whiff of them several hours after. I love the wet stage because the leather really does something lovely with the rose. But even with re-application this oil is very fleeting on me I'll leave the imp sit for awhile and try again later, because I really like this in the beginning.

Yep, this is the stuff! Oakmoss and something kind of spicy. The Myrrh maybe? And the Juniper berry gives it a bit of sharpness but not nearly as sharp as Burial. There's patchouli underneath but blended so nicely that it just grounds the other notes. Very nice. I think this will be going into rotation as an alternative to Zombi when I want something earthy/woodsy but without the rose. Ohhhh mama! Now that I've had this on for awhile something really lovely is coming out. This must be the myrrh. I need to go search for more myrrh scents

This one has such a lot of Juniper in it that it numbed my nose and made it hard to smell the other notes. I can smell a bit of dirt and a very vague rose-like scent but I have to really concentrate through the Juniper. I almost think there might be Eucalyptus in it as well because it has that same cooling effect. I'm thinking that as it ages the evergreen note might calm down a bit. In the meantime, I believe I prefer Omen as my forest-y scent and Zombi for my dirt and roses scent

The Pit and the Pendulum starts out with a strong scent of wood. I get more of the "Polished pews" feel that people mentioned in Cathedral than with Cathedral. But eventually the wood scent recedes and it smells to me just like Cathedral, with almost the identical incense note. It lasts all day on me and I really love it. Cathedral is really great though, so I didn't feel like I needed a bottle of this as well.

Morella reminds me of old-fashioned dusting powder. The kind you used to be able to buy at the drugstore that came in a flat container with a big dusting poof with which to apply it. Sometimes my mom would let me use hers and I loved the feeling of it! I can smell a soft flower, which must be Iris and a bit of sage in the background. But this scent is just not for me. Way too powdery.

Premature Burial When I first put it on, I immediately thought, "hmm, like Penny Dreadful. Probably don't need it". The next few times I tried it I realized that though they both have a dirt note, Premature Burial is more...complex. Penny Dreadful is soil and a type of old fashioned floral perfume that reminds me of something you might find in a drugstore. The orchid in Premature Burial smells more transparent and natural smelling to my nose than the floral notes in Penny Dreadful. Also, I can really smell some kind of wood in Premature Burial, guess that would be the Teakwood. And a touch of Cypress if I really sniff hard and pay attention. So, I think I'll probably get a bottle. It's more subtle than PD and by the end of the day all I can smell is a light waft of orchid, which is very nice. Plus, a girl can't have too many dirt scents, if you ask me. Keep 'em comin', Beth!

Have you tried Serpent's Kiss? It's not an equivalent, but I was reminded SK strongly when testing Lenore. They have a very similar quality and amount of vetiver, probably. Maybe mix that with something lemony. Actually, I just got Serpent's Kiss and the vetiver/spicy thing was way too much for me. My nose didn't pick up anything that reminded me of Lenore. But thanks for the suggestion! I'll give it another go and hope that it's mellowed some.

Scherezade This one was a shocker. I swiped it on both wrists and waited for all those layers of yumminess. Smelled....not much. Then a few minutes later this oil turned in to a milder version of Satyr on me. Boy, was I suprised It is less barnyard-y, but still...Satyr. I'm going to leave it on for the evening and see what happens. Is there Civet in this, I wonder? Or just way more Red Musk than is in Fenris Wolf? eta: After a couple of more tries this has really grown on me. It is the red musk that I'm smelling, but with the other notes coming out it eventually settles down into a nice musky, smoky almost soap-y scent. Pretty subtle on me, which I like. And yes, I can smell it now in Fenris Wolf and still really like that one as well. Final verdict - it's a keeper.

Saturnalia I don't have much to add to the other reviews, really. It's exactly as promised. Vetiver leads the charge and the violets come up behind. I didn't like it, then I began to like it because the vetiver gives the violets a bit of grounding. However, it was completely gone in 2 hours.

Cathedral That lovely scent that I went nuts for in Arcana must be in here as well. Frankincense? This is sooooo good! I can also can smell other things if I concentrate, a bit of cedar or sandalwood, but the Frankincense is what I'm loving. *drool* This is really beautiful

Malediction On me, this is a softer version of Brimstone. Where Brimstone knocked me over with the burning, something-on-fire smell, this has a gentler approach. Still, very very close. Vetiver, patchouli and something sort of camphorish. I think that this is a more wearable version of Brimstone. Yay!

Serpent's Kiss I get a strong hit of cinnamon from this and can hardly pick out the Dragon's Blood. Underneath the cinnamon scent is a weird note that I now know is Vetiver. My nose is getting more educated! Anyway, this eventually dries down to a blend of cinnamon, spice and vetiver, near as I can tell. It reminds me of a very spicy Burial. I like cinnamon but I think the Vetiver will be too strong for me in this one.

I kind of liked this at first. I love the smell of Earl Grey and I got a blast of that at first. Then something sort of incense-y and dry. But it is the first scent out of about 60 I've tried that did the soap thing. I never understood the references to scents "going soapy". Now I do. It's lovely smelling soap.

Very very strong almond on me. I never really got any of the other scents except faintly and in passing. It sounded yummy in the description but I don't want to smell of almond extract all day. I'll try this again another day and see if anything else appears.