the_cat_goddess

Lovely, lovely O! XXV (25): In the bottle, sweet, red, wet fruits. Probably pomegranate. Feels cold and fresh to my nose. Wet on my wrist, the fruit stays true. Half an hour later, it has a berry pie smell: buttery crust with slightly spicy berry filling. I'm pretty sure the buttery part is O. I love it! XXXI (31): In the bottle, I have no idea what notes this holds. Something bright, maybe lemon blossom? Olive blossom? Wet on skin, smells like lemon meringue. Love love love!! It gets a little bit of a powerdery twist with a slight effervecence. I have a Chaos Theory from either II or III that smells similar. I don't usually like powder smells, but the powder smells like O, so it's fab. These turned out much better than my Dorian CTs.

I am so excited to have gotten these so quickly. My wedding is in one week and they arrived in time to add impies to my bridesmaid's gifts! Yea! I bought 2 each of Dorian, O, and Snake Oil. Dorian XXIX: In the bottle, Grave Yard Dirt with a faint bit of sweet Dorian. On my arm, the Dorian is coming out above the deep earthiness. Sadly, it settles into mostly moss. While moss is pretty to look at, I don't want to smell like it. *pout* About an hour later, there's some pencil shavings in there. Complete with graphite dust. Dorian VI: In the bottle, sharp floral, like iris, with a sweet honey background. On my arm, not the scent for me. Some squash scent, mixed with cucumber with what makes me think of flower stamen. It changes into a sweeter, dark floral, still with some cucumber. Neither of these are thrilling.

In the vial: Sweetened vinegar? Wet: Okay, I get a little rose over the burned plastic meets vinegar scent. Please let this get better, because it couldn't get much worse. Sniffing again, I get nail salon with and rose water. As it's drying, the rose is coming out more, thank goodness. Either pink or white rose. Definitely not red or yellow. Looking at the notes now, I'm thinking the unpleasantness must be stargazer lily. Drydown: I'm still getting that plasticy yuckness, but only from sniffing within 3 inches. 4 inches out I get a creamy, soft rose and I can tell the vanilla musk is helping. Overall: I had gotten a little bit of this on my skin a couple days ago and the next morning I could not believe how great that spot smelled. So I know this is goign to smell better later. I finished typing that, went back to sniff, and the plastic is gone! Now I have beautiful, soft rose-scented skin. Lovely!

In the vial: Bright with a tinge of metallic. I have no idea. Maybe yuzu? Wet: Yuzu and persimmon? For some reason this scent immediately brought to mind the place we stayed at in Costa Rica 10 years ago. Drydown: A tad bit of incense in the background, but still mostly just a creamy fruit scent, but not really overly fruity. This is the worst review ever! I just have no idea what to make of it. I'm going to look at the notes now. Okay, do not know where yuzu came from! I think that was the red currant mellowed by the rose geranium? Now I can find the honeycomb, vanilla, and gardenia. Very pretty! Overall: Nice throw, pretty scent. Summery and great for feeling pretty!

In the vial: Sweet, cloying fruit Wet: Pomegranate and strawberry with bamboo. Something not altogether pleasant is peeking through, and I'm not sure what it is. Mead? Not the delicious Mead Moon smell, but spilled, sour mead. Drydown: Thankfully that ucky note has disappeared I'm left with something a little fruity, a little floral, a little sweet, and a little planty. Going back and actually reading the notes, I get the incense and the wind-flowers. I think the lavender is what grossed me out. I get the green grass and definitely the sugared candies. Overall: Not great, not terrible. It becomes more pleasant as it developes on my skin.

In the vial: Bright lime, glittering tart and sweet with a rich foodiness blended in Wet: Assuming this doesn't morph, I am totally in love with this scent! It's sweet citrus headed by lime with a cheesecakiness to it. Reading over the notes, I'm crushed to find lime not there, nor any other citrus. I'm thinking it's a combination of the white ginger, apricot, and lily of the valley. The vanilla and tonka provide the sweet cheesecake part, with sandlewood smoothing everything over. Absolutely delicious! Drydown: Funny that no one else smells any citrus in the reviews I just read over. Now that this is drying, I am definitely getting the references to Underpants. The citrus is gone and I'm left with a vanilla, tonka, sandlewood party that is gorgeous! Nice throw, not foody, definitely lasting power. Overall: I was never a sandlewood person until I meant Underpants. I initially rejected it, but then picked up an imp later, tried it again and realized sandlewood, with the right blend, can be AMAZING. Haloes is definitely the right blend to make me remember this. Love Love Love Edited: I'm now getting what someone said about it smelling like a snuffed candle. An expensive vanilla candle snuffed out.

I love Chaos Theory so much that I currently have over 40 bottles and 30+ impies. So, of course I dove right into Edge of Chaos with glee! DXXX: In the bottle: Caramelly coffee floral- definitely a perfume and not a food, but somewhat foody. Wet: A light dusting of cocoa? A citrus smell that might be a citrus blossom or olive blossom. 20 mins later: This is very pretty and is definitely more perfume than food. There's a little bit of baked goods smell, but it's more like a sweet bread than baked desserts. I think there might be sandlewood keeping everything grounded. Dry: Dry coffee with a dry dusting of unsweetened cocoa. This is NOT mocha. Still a tiny bit of floral. After 3 hours sniffing my wrist closely yields a very faint coffee scent. 3/5 STARS- Mellows quickly into having very little throw, have smelled better coffee perfumes. Next!... DCXIII: In the bottle: Sweet and slightly nutty. With a sweet and slightly astringent fruit in the background- pomegranate? A slight coldness without mintiness. Wet: Wet fruit and smoke. And I put a little too much on and it's itching??? Not sure if that is smoke or a deep nuttiness. 20 mins later: The smoke definitely seems to be smoke now and not the earthiness of nuts. Not a harsh smoke, a little resinous, but still not for me as I like fruity, sweet, and foody scents. Dry: Smokey and cedary. A little sweet. Definitely an autumn scent. I would be much more likely to wear this scent than one of the heavier smoke and wood scents, but it's still not for me. Might be fig in this, because there's a mild sweetness. After an hour, it turns to pure cedar. After another 2 hours, it becomes sweet cedar. 2.5/5 STARS- medium staying power and decent throw; definitely a good woodsy scent if you like that sort of thing. I don't. And then... DXXIV: In the bottle: Bright, sweet, lemon blossom with a little burnt sugar. If I could get that smell into a shampoo I would die of happiness. Just smelled again and there's an effervescence in there. Love love love!!!!!! Another smell from the bottle yields key lime pie. Wet: Definitely desserty- sweet, citrusy, with a hint of pie crust- graham cracker. LOVE!!! After 20 mins: Effervescence and citrusy fruit. May be some grapefruit or blood orange mixed with the lemon/lime. So happy! Dry: Fading to a simple brightness, really kind of back to sweetened lemon blossom. 4.5/5 STARS- Truly beautiful, doesn't fade as quickly as most of the oils that I like. And the last for today: DXLVIII: In the bottle: Smells similar to other CTs that have that cherry cough syrup note, except this stops way short of medicinal and is quite pleasant- a pretty herbal cherry- might be a pomegranate or even a little guava. Wet: Creamy, herbal, and some mix of red and tropical fruits. Unique- even for a Chaos Theory. After 20 mins: Very odd. Pretty but with a strangeness that I cannot place. Not evolving. I really think there's guava in this. Dry: Fades down to a faint MB: Bloody Mary type scent. 3/5 STARS- Faint, pretty but still a little odd.

In bottle: Fruity with musky citrus and bamboo On initially: I think I'm getting the mandarin, cherry, and yuzu with bamboo. Changes to: Pretty stable. I like this. Overall: I'm biased because the name makes me think of Super Mario 3 (dork). I think it's bright and pretty and seems to have decent throw.

In bottle: Sparkles with cherry and fig. I think I get some plum and black currant. No sign of rose, carnation, or honey. On initially: Well, there's the rose. Now I've got rose, cherry, and plum. I had plans to sell this since I've never worn it, but I'm kind of delighted so far. Amazing what trying a perfume will do. Changes to: Fruity roses. I get a little honey now, too. No spicy carnations, sadly, but still a beautiful perfume. Overall: I'm going to hang onto this for a little while and see if I wear it. I am a little unbalanced in the brain, so Libra might do me some good. : )

This review is on my bottle from the first Lupercalia release. 01/2006, I think? No year on the bottle, but it's the flat, not shiny, label. In bottle: Super caramel boozy. Similar to Grog (I've got a bottle of that, too!) YUMMY and the boy likes, too! I'd like to pour it over my ice cream, but I'll resist. I would guess the coconut, black current, and caramel are dominating, but I also don't know what opium and delphinium smell like. On initially: Earthy, sweet booziness. I think the earthiness is from the black coconut and maybe the booziness is the tobacco Changes to: Creamy coconut with the booze almost nonexistant Overall: I love it.

A new year’s blessing! Peony, China’s national flower, with bamboo for flexibility, plum blossom for perseverance, courage, and hope, tangerine for wealth, orange for happiness, lychee for household peace, pine resin for constancy, golden kumquat, pussy willow, and quince for prosperity, narcissus and King mandarin for good fortune, and peach blossom for longevity, with a splash of blazing red of dragon’s blood… to help you scare away the rampaging Nian. In the bottle: Gorgeous, bright citrusy fruit with pomegranate. Love. On initially: Looking at the note list, I'm getting tangerine, bamboo, kumquat, and orange. Now lychee and peach blossom, too. Changes to: Fades a little and not quite as sweet. Clearly morphing and I think I smell the dragon's blood now. The bamboo is very strong now and the fruit has taken to the background. Overall: I thought I'd review this to see if I still loved it, and I DO! Amazing fruitiness, okay throw, okay lasting power, high on the morphability.

I waited until late in February to try to order this and it was sold out. In my stoopid desperation, I bought a bottle on Ebay for half a fortune, thinking vanilla, grapefruit, ginger, and pear, oh my! In the bottle: The ginger and vanilla are predominent with a indistinct fruitiness. Initially on: These notes should be working. They're all there, but it ends up cacophonous. Very spicy-gingery with cloying sweetness. Changes to: Same heavy ginger, but I smell a light fruitiness at the end. I'm thinking the lemon candy-floss. Overall: Sad, really sad. Smelling this makes me queasy. Unfortunately, has good staying power and good throw.

In the bottle: Masculine, salty aquatic with a sweetness underneath, pleasant On initially: Really pretty but sneezing starts immediately after sniffing. Something metallic, but soft, like Bed of Nails Changes to: Stays pretty true. The scent is so true to the picture on the bottle. Overall: I like it. Nice throw and lasts a good while. Probably not going to keep it, though, since it's not really the type of scent I would often reach for.

In the bottle: Wet tangerine with huckleberry. No green at all. On initially: Sweet like freshly cut grass with a green sharpness and a peppery note. Settles: The sharpness really took a back seat quickly. I've got a combination of white rose and huckleberry, maybe some tangerine. Very pretty up-close sniff, but no throw. Smells like what I would love to find in a shampoo. Overall: Very pretty, but just not strong enough. Glad I tried it, though.

In the vial: HOLY WOW! Very strong. First thoughts were neroli and patchouli, but I do not see neroli in the note list. Wet: Oh my! I do not like patchouli normally, but this is amazing. This may not impress most people, but it smells like how orange-flavored children's tylenol used to taste when I was a kid (may still, just not a kid anymore). I used to sneak them and eat them like candy. I was not expecting to like this, but I do, I do! Dry: Spicy and orangy. Aaahhhhh.... I couldn't be happier sniffing away at my wrist.