alicia_stardust

I get banana tree, huge tropical leaves, rainforest dew, and a very dark musk. The dark aspect of this blend is what makes it so truly unique.

I don't have the GC version of maiden here to compare them side by side, but this is an intoxicating honey-dipped carnation, with just hints of rose-tea in the background. I was ambivalent about GC Maiden, but this prototype version with the honey is to die for. I really wish I had gotten more of this.

This is a lush and sensual green scent, full of voluptuous foliage, crushed stems, cut leaves, and soft damp grass. As time passes, it smooths out into a bed of flower petals with hints of lily, rose, and possibly jasmine. Those lie in the background, though, and the menagerie of green foliage keeps center stage throughout.

In the bottle this has an almost bitter fishy smell to it, but once it hits my skin it smells nothing like fish. This one is elusive but it's a lighter blend, and it has a soft fuzzy quality to it that reminds me of the type of brown musk in blends like Hunter Moon and Buck Moon. I also get a lot of sandalwood and a trace of coconut. In the background there's a sort of herbal medicinal quality that's quite nice. I'm so glad I tested this instead of being put off by how it smelled in the bottle.

This is a soft, fuzzy, bubbly champagne... a pale, golden champagne that's dry and a bit sweet. There's possibly another fruit in there which really counterbalances the dry champagne. It adds a cool, watery, brightness. Whatever it is, it's what makes this blend work for me. I've had champagne blends, but whatever is in this is just so uplifting and refreshing and different. Lovely!

This is all gold, warmth, and spice. I get dry clove and cardamom, a smooth and rich vanilla (or possibly tonka?) with a hint of something musky and sultry. This is warm and deep, with a strong throw and long wear-length.

This is a lovely floral... soft, sweet, light; it is innocent on the surface just as the poison itself. This is mostly an airy gardenia but there's a chance that there's also some tuberose. It has that waxy, springtime floral quality to it. This is heady and intoxicating and reminds me of an old favorite, Dreamland, from the very first Poe series.

This is a deep, heady blend. It is dry and red and warm and reminds me of Malkuth as well as some of the lower Chakras blends (5, 6, and 7). I get a smooth red musk and florals, and possibly some patchouli and resins. It really is lovely and it's going to age so well.

This is pure earth and mineral. This isn't your typical dark, damp soil earth. This is the dry, clay soil of the desert with strong veins of brilliant red sand. This is the dust particles that the wind whips into your mouth and eyes on a sweltering hot summer day. This is the earth of red rocks and cliffs, dry stones, sand, and desert. There is a beautiful mineral quality to this that reminds me of parched desert rocks and earth that are suddenly dampened by rivulets of spring water. There is just a hint of dry spice to this blend but it's not cinnamon or cassia. This blend is amazingly evocative and incredibly unique.

This has a guise of eucalyptus and it took a while for that to ease up in order to explore the rest of the blend. When that veil does lift, it's amazing! I can't quite pinpoint it, but there's a bright yet soft floral-citrus-ozone. The eucalyptus lends a "charge" to this blend, much like an approaching thunder and lightning storm just crackles with energy and tension.

This is so very interesting. It starts out smelling very much like tea tree, minerals, metal, with a strong copper orange-colored vibe. It settles into a very interesting earth-citrus. I find it warm and golden, like sunshine on red rock earth in the summertime. There's definitely a base of patchouli in there and I'm willing to bet that this ages beautifully.

This is a very luminescent blend, with hints of cool gleaming metal, pale mint, and a slight puff of ozone. It's sweet and smooth. Ether-like. Buoyant. Otherwordly. There is no sharpness to this, and this is no typical metal/ozone blend.

This is a really beautiful medley of soft, light, spring florals but they have a sensual undercurrent to them because of the honey. The honey really completes this blend for me. I love the first Flower Moon 05, but that one is more floral than this one. The honey here adds some sophistication, some lushness, and loads of sensuality. It gives this a fullness and a verve that fits so well with the renewal and vigor of springtime. Up close, I get more of the florals, but the throw is To Die For because the honey just swirls around and envelopes all the florals. I love wearing this because I keep getting a whiff of myself and thinking, "Damn! I smell good!"

To add to that, when Shub was released as a GC, there were many who said that the newer version was more "lemony" and less spicy, however as time wore on, many of those same people came back to say that the new Shub aged into its spiciness and became more like the original release.

This is definitely a soft, warm wheat with sweet honeycomb. The rosehips seem to brighten and enrich the blend. I do get a hint of the nectarine in there which is really lovely. As this wears on, the rosehips seem to grow more lush and floral but the honeycomb and wheat remain ever-present. This is a really delicate, soft, beautiful springy-floral blend to me. Warm. Inviting.

This is a light, sweet, vanilla-amber-incense base with a warm halo of softly sweet, lush marigold and mums. It's gorgeous. So so gorgeous. It has good throw but lasts a little less than average. It's worth it, though. I think this is among my favorites of the Shunga II blends.

This is a very warm and sophisticated blend to me. On my skin, the pink pepper really dominates. It warms and brightens and amps, but the other aspects to this blend are not lost. There are hints of berries and cognac beneath the pink pepper, and touches of rose absolute and caramel peek out every once in a while. This is really beautiful. Lush and full and warm.

Make sure that you give this a try on your skin. In the bottle I get mostly dark chocolate with a semi-bitter and dark cherry lurking behind it. However! Once I apply this to my skin it blooms into a sweet, bright red cherry with smears of dark chocolate. If you like the cherry in Monster Bait: Bloody Mary, you are going to love this!

Khrysee is amazing. If you love amber, you simply must try this. Khrysee starts out as a softly sweet, gentle orange blossom. This is the kind of orange blossom fragrance that you find floating on the night air during springtime. Magical. Enchanting. It's bright and warm and hints at calm pleasures. The amber really comes out to play after a few minutes, and it remains a sensual and warm glow for hours. This is golden, sticky, highly resinous, not powdery. The amber keeps center stage, but there is a creamy and soft, bright floral glow surrounding it. This is luminous, sensual, opulent. At this point it's my favorite of Ode to Aphrodite.

In the bottle I get vanilla tea. It's the soft, lilting sort of vanilla tea that reminds me of everyone's beloved Dorian. And I can't put my finger on it, but something about this reminds me just a touch of the soft aura of Midway, but not so foody. Once I put this on my skin, there is a white creamy rose scent, a sweetness, an ever-ever so slight floral hint, and more of the vanilla tea. I do get soft, flirty hints of frankincense and benzoin just below the creamy rose surface. The coconut meat only seems to add a beautiful dimension to the rose and vanilla tea aspect of this blend; I do not in any way get true foody coconut. This is very beautiful on its own, but it really is best when layered with the Red Rose. If I'm looking at these individually, I think I like this one a tiny bit better, but really there's no contest when I know I can layer the two together! In terms of the two Unity blends, this one has a light, soft, creamy, gentle, and feminine vibe to it. It sits so well when paired against the dark, deep, spicy, masculine-vibed Red Rose.

In the bottle I can really pick out the fir and musk, but even so, their edges are soft and smooth. All of the other notes seem to be peeking out just behind those. I get the sense of a deep, dark forest with incense resins and roses. On my skin, this turns into a sort of dry spice over red rose. The rose is subtle but present, and the clove really takes over for a short while: dry, tingling, spicy. The amber and musk add a warmth and sexuality to this blend and they are, of course, loved by me. For those concerned about fir and tobacco, they really do become accents and aren't really a big part of the blend once it settles out. This is very beautiful on its own, but it really is best when layered with the White Rose. In terms of the two Unity blends, this one has a dark, deep, dry, strong, spicy, and masculine vibe (note that I said "vibe"; it really is a gender neutral scent). It counters really well against the other one, which is soft, creamy, light, and feminine.

This is freaking amazing. I love the smell of deep, rich, dark coffee. That's what Bah is, with just a dash of creamy chocolate a la El Dia De Reyes. It's very subtly blended in, and I don't catch much in the way of whiskey. If you love coffee and/or the fragrance of it, this is going to be killer for you. Amazing stuff, peeps.

At the time the Yule labels were printed, Beth said that the printer was running dark and so it lost the small text and some of the details. I noticed that happened with Mourning Moon, and it seems to have happened with the Christmas B-Movie labels... Tramp, I didn't see any of the chatter when it came up but each of the Yule blends seemed to speak either toward the starkness of winter (white) or the darkness and absence of light (black), or comfort and warmth (red/brown)(like the cookies and Gelt and Larentalia). As I painted each one I just chose which scheme I wanted it to have and went from there.

If you like blends such as Flower Moon and Poisson d' Avril, you're really going to love this. I find it to be an uplifting and fresh floral, not perfumey at all. There's almost a sweet, candy-like quality to the medley of flowers—and it is a medley, indeed. I can't even pinpoint a single "color" for this blend because there is such a well-blended variety here. It's definitely refreshing and light with just a touch of herbal greenery to it. It doesn't stick around long but it's a buoyant little number!

For me, as Jacob's Ladder ages, it gets a bit more sweet and golden. It starts to remind me of sticky little resin nuggets of amber. =)