alicia_stardust

This is lavender mint to me: sharp, herbal, piercing, green. The lime accent is nice and adds more green to this already green scent. This is perfect, both in color and bite!

This is a juicy green pear scent; it sparkles but is not fizzy. The white musk really adds an edge to the pear, and I get just a slight amount of sweetness from the lily. This is a refreshing fruit/floral blend and I find it uplifting and romantic.

This is a sweet but gentle rosewood and the chamomile lends a soft, calm, and slightly astringent quality to the rosewood. The bergamot brightens the blend and the violet adds some dusky sweetness. Only after it has dried on my skin do I get a bit of the sandalwood and musk. I really love the rosewood in this! The blend has a very refined quality to it. Lovely.

This has a strong bite to it and almost smells like a few of the TALs do: potent and complex. I truly cannot tell what notes are in here, but this seems to hold a lush, full floral aspect with something that's earthy and something that's dry, woodsy, and herbal. While it doesn't smell extremely inviting, it's still nice and it definitely gives off an air of power, both in fragrance and in the mood it sets me in when I wear it.

Wow! This is really nice; it's like springtime with a twist. I love the way the sweet pea and musk (the predominant notes) mix with the sage and tonka. This is really hard to describe but I really love it. I can't think of any other scents that are quite like this so it's worth checking out.

Red Devil is a floral blend to my nose. It's very sweet (like jasmine, lily, or honeysuckle) and has a high pitch to it. There's something in there that's playful and a bit spicy without being spicy, if that makes sense. It seems like this is full of aphrodesiac florals. It's lovely, but a bit to high and sweet for me.

This has an almost creamy, glowing vanilla aspect to it, but instead of being warm or foody, it is cool and hard just like stone. There is a sense of vastness and cold, dark surfaces. I can't believe how well this fits the concept, and it's one of my husband's favorite scents on me.

This is a very pretty vanilla floral with a touch of freshness from the "linens". Something about this is very delicate and time-worn. I find it neither too soft nor too perfumey. It's very beautiful, and now that I retest it I can really see that Black Lace is somewhat reminiscent of this blend. This is like the lighter, younger version of Black Lace. I know that Antique Lace is a very popular blend and I can understand why. I have had an aversion to vanilla florals ever since Vanilla Fields ruined it for me many years ago, but this is the return of vanilla florals for me!! Lovely...

This is a beautiful lavender blend! It is worth trying on your skin if you are offput by the fragrance of it in the bottle. It has a very sweet, wise floral quality to it that is softened greatly by the musks and the calming lavender. Really, the musks are what make this because it's not a typical floral mix. It has a feminine strength to it and is very lovely.

Ogun smells a bit sharp and herbal in the bottle. It has an almost astringent quality to it. However, it changes a lot when it dries! I get a sweet, soft melon with a touch of breezy juniper. I think the honey ever so slightly sweetens the blend and takes the edge off of the cigar tobacco. This is a bit masculine on me, but still nice.

Brown Jenkins knocked me off of my feet in surprise. It was one of those that sounded nice enough and I knew I'd buy a sample of it in time, but it also wasn't on my "must get now" list. I should have gotten it immediately because I love blends with musk and/or incense. This is the most amazing mix of soft, gentle sandalwood and coconut. The coconut is not foody or strong, but instead has a sort of warmth that sinks into the woods and the incense resins. The musk is sort of soft and furry without being feral and it really perfects and finishes this blend. Gender neutral and freaking amazing!

This is primarily bamboo on me—nice and pulpy and green and fresh. This doesn't really morph very much and it wears long and strong. The hibiscus does add a touch of lightness and a Hawaiian vibe to it, but for the most part this really reminds me of Holiday Moon and Dragon Moon from the Asian lunacy series. =)

Pineapple, mandarin orange, raspberry, passion fruit, and rum. This does come across as very sugary, but as it dries the fruits come out to play. This isn't quite the same as your standard fruity scent, nor it is a standard fruit medley. It has a very bright and tropical feel to it and the passion fruit adds an almost creamy, rich, orange-colored quality to the other fruits.

This smells like a rum and coke with a dash of cherry and a touch of muddled lime! This is so novel that I can't quit grinning. I do get a slight touch of mint and as time passes this gains an almost spicy warmth with a touch of amaretto. I'm definitely keeping this because it reminds me of all my college days (er, nights and weekends at the bar). A ha ha!

This has a very grounding effect on me. The sandalwood turns this into a fragrance with a lower pitch than most of the rest of the Flotsam series. The white sandalwood is very gentle and smooth and beyond that there is a mish-mash of tropical florals with that high, intoxicating, sweet note that is characteristic of plumeria. Very nice.

This is a warm aquatic. In the bottle it smells a bit fishy which I initially found off-putting, but as it dries it turns into a nice salty aquatic with a warm breeze on the air. It is truly the closest to actual ocean scent that I have ever smelled.

This is light and tropical and very evocative of a pina colada. The rum is lightweight and the pineapple and coconut sort of share the center stage. The vanilla adds a touch of creaminess to it but stays in the background behind the pineapple and coconut scent.

This starts out a bit acrid and offputting, but as it settles it turns into a dry atmospheric smoke with a touch of sweetness to it. It's really quite evocative, and definitely unique.

This smells like bright, sparkling apple juice made from gleaming red apples. As it dries I get a touch of the opium and it gives it an almost incense-like bite to it. Lovely.

I'm not a foody scent kind of girl, but I can step into the foody camp well enough to enjoy this. It smells exactly like caramel corn with peanuts mixed in!! In the bottle it's more popcorn-like, but as the oil dries it takes on more of a caramel coffee peanut sort of vibe. This is a very fun scent, and I am amazed at how well the fragrance of caramel corn was captured.

Blue Fire is a fruity blue fragrance. The blueberry is quite prominent and it has a very natural sweetness to it. It doesn't come across as candy or fake blueberries; instead it smells like fresh, juicy blueberries with a few of them that have been smushed and the juice has run about. I personally find that natural fresh blueberries have an almost juniper-like hint of fragrance at the edge of them, and something about the blueberry plus the gin in here is just amazing in its perfection!! Not to be ignored, the papaya adds a gentle tropical fruitiness to the blueberry and gin. As time passes the lemongrass picks up, but it does not come across as lemongrass nor does it amp. It just seems to lift and buoy the blueberry and papaya into a refreshing tropical drink. This is my favorite of the Tiki Bar blends.

Opuhi is a gentle tropical floral scent. The ginger blossom is sweet and warm but it does not smell like ginger or ginger root. It has a soothing, gentle, tropical vibe to it. The vanilla adds yet more warmth and it remains soft and subtle, neither overpowering nor disappearing behind the ginger blossom. This one took me completely by surprise. Something about it is so grounded and warm despite its floral tone. It doesn't come across as perfumey at all; rather, it is low and sultry and smooth. I love this so very much.

Phoenix Steamworks starts out as a soft men's cologne, but as it settles and dries it loses that edge. From there, it becomes more of a gleaming metallic scent with a blanket of sage over it. The incense peeks in and out of the gleaming metals until, a few hours later, the scent has faded off into a memory. I would consider this a unisex blend with a large amount of throw. It's completely unique and successfully captures the essence of steampunk. What a perfect teaser.

There is no doubt that this is fiery and a bit sinister. It's very hot and has a strong bite to the cinnamon, but the almond really lends a richness and depth. The neroli adds a touch of orange "color" to this red and glowing scent. I don't dare touch this to my skin, but I do love the subtleties in the blend which I think would be lost on something other than a scent locket or oil burner because of the way cinnamon tends to amp. Proceed with caution on your skin, but I highly recommend trying these dark elements.

Tiki King is deep and rich and tropical. It's unisex but it has a much lower pitch and a swarthy, musky quality that compliments the black coconut. While this is mostly black coconut and musk, there is a period of time where the lemon balm and bark cut through and add a somewhat earthy and buoyant edge to it. It's a nice counterbalance. I found that this had a major, major strong throw and I barely used any to test it out. It left me with a heady, exotic, and tropical feeling. Mmm!