alicia_stardust

This is different than I expected. The white grape is so prominent to me (in the bottle) that I can nearly taste it. It's very concentrated. On my skin and during the drydown I still get the white grape. It isn't until about 30 minutes later that the white grape calms down enough to let the other things come to the forefront. I get the honey and creaminess from the milk, and a touch of fig. And still that blasted white grape. The interesting thing with this is that I like the whiffs I get from the throw. I end up with honey and milk and juiciness and a touch of tropical/grape. But if I smell it too closely or it's applied too strong, the white grape ruins it for me. This is one of those that I neither love nor hate. It's sort of in that middle space for me. I will probably re-test this in a week to decide the fate of my bottle.

This review is coming from someone who does not like minty scents for anything besides calming nausea. With the exception of Lick It (for brief holiday or nausea relief purposes) I have swapped away every mint scent I've run across. But WOW. Tokyo Stomp is amazing. It's a subdued mint due to the vanilla and it's sweet and soft on my skin. This stays true on my skin for as long as it's detectable. The vanilla didn't sour and the mint didn't amp. The two mingle perfectly and stay that way. I am definitely keeping this bottle!

In the bottle: A cold, dark, subdued forest in winter. On my skin: I love that this is a cold scent without having the snow/slush notes in it that completely amp on my skin and take over a scent. It's gorgeous, whatever it is that created that effect. I get the color green, but a dark green. There is a touch of wintergreen but it's very faint and not exactly minty. Is that the wintersweet? Along with that I get a breathy, soft, musky scent with a touch of grass and a touch of cool florals. I love this!

In the bottle: Bright and fruity but not overwhelmingly in your face about it. It's soft. On my skin: This is an effervescent, bright fruity-floral. It's almost tropical but the bamboo brings it into check. This is a perfect spring scent. I like that even though it's very fruity, the floral is tied in with them in a way that doesn't make me feel like a fruit salad. Instead I feel spring-like and tropical and bright and fresh. The fruits in this seem to all fight for my attention, meaning that as soon as I'm about to pin a note as one particular fruit, it changes on me and and can't quite separate them out. I definitely get more of the lychee and mandarin, and peony for the florals. I think this one is a winner!

In the bottle: Whoah, foody! I get cherries and cocoa and something that's vaguely cake-like. On my skin: I get immediate spice, but I have no idea where others are getting cinnamon from. While it's very spicy, it's a warm spice and it smells different to me than cinnamon. It's strong but not hot, and not burning, and my skin is in no way red. I actually quite like this! Underneath the spice I get a foody, caramel-dessert, and not much cocoa but it's there if I search for it. This is a very fun scent! Kudos to Beth.

In the bottle: I get this "wet" and almondy smell with a kick from the apple. I can also detect a hint of florals but at this point it's barely noticeable and they're not sweet like I expected. On my skin: At first I get the same "wet" almondy smell and there's definitely apple. It's not juicy apple to me. It's more like the skin of a red apple with that almost-bitter taste to it. A few minutes later I can actually smell the honey! Just underneath that I can detect a touch of florals but I would never have placed it as lily without having read the description. I definitely get an earthy/leafy smell as well. Overall, Bilquis is complex and layered if you can just get past the top notes of apple and almond. It's lovely.

In the bottle this has a bright but dark smell to it, if that makes sense. On my skin the mandarin amps up and it has a bright, resinous, and spicy (whoah carnation!) smell to it before drying down. Unfortunately it's only nice for about 20 minutes on me before the patchouli takes over the entire scent and turns into dirty hippy (thank you, skin chemistry). I'm really sad about this since patchouli is almost always a deal breaker and, even worse than the skin chemistry, it gives me a horrible headache. Off to swaps for me.

In the bottle it smells very neutral to me, meaning that I can definitely smell *something* but nothing really stood out enough for me to note it. On my skin, it amps and warms immediately. I get a resinous, alluring, heady mix of florals and coconut with a bit of swarthy earthiness to it. This is one of the first blends with patchouli in it that did *not* turn into dirty hippy on my skin once all the other notes had faded. It's very lovely, and definitely dark and sexy. This one has a strong throw. It made my eyes burn a little bit because I put too much on. I was ambivalent about the scent but I tested it again. My second skin test went much better with a lighter application, and I love it the second time around. Now I think I must keep the bottle.

I was incredibly curious to try Zarita, so I ordered a bottle and it got here before the decant set I planned to sniff. In the bottle I smell a sweet, creamy, almost caramel-like scent. The orange might be there but it's overpowered by the creaminess. On my skin the orange blossom comes to the forefront and it threatens to become too sharp of a scent, but then the florals kick in and it softens itself up into a creamy floral with oranges. In a very small way, this reminds me of the newly formulated 13; not necessarily because they smell the same but because they feel the same. I hope that makes sense. After a while the florals sharpen a bit, but overall it doesn't morph very much (on my skin chemistry, at least). This is one of those blends that hits its concept dead on. In that, it's perfect. But for my personal tastes this one falls right in that middle area where I'm not sure that an imp is enough but I'm also not sure I want to keep the whole bottle. I'm going to wait a few days, retest, then decide what to do.

This was an impulse purchase when I suddenly convinced myself that it would be perfect for me and I didn't need to wait for decants to sniff it first. In the bottle I smell a sweet myrrh, resins, and a hint of smoke and cinnamon. On my skin, the cinnamon immediately comes out, but it is not the fiery hot cinnamon I'm used to. In fact, my skin hardly reacted at all (it just got a little pink), and that was probably only because I put a lot of it on to test it out. The cinnamon doesn't overpower the other notes in this blend, which is really nice. It has a perfectly dark, smoky, spicy balance to it. The myrrh is really nice in this. After almost an hour the cinnamon has mostly faded and the smoke has lightened, leaving me with some softly fading myrrh. This is lovely, and I know I'll keep this bottle. I might decant an imp or two to share, though. Out of 5 stars, I rate this a 4.

In the bottle: There's an almost perfumey quality to this, and I definitely pick up franckincense but it's not the wafty, sweet kind I'm used to. This one is more arid and woodsy. Just applied to skin: It smells the same as it did in the bottle, but there is also a touch of something herbal. Again I am struck by the franckincense and its dry quality. It goes slightly bitter on my skin. That note really sits as the strongest part of the blend. After a short while: This blend really doesn't morph very much on me, but at this point I can detect a touch of floral and something that has a water-like quality, though the water-like quality is not tied to a specific note. One thing about this blend that stands out the most in my mind: it has a very air-like quality. I mean, really airy and with a touch of non-soapy, grounded (by resins) ozone. Even though it smells nothing like Sylph, they remind me of each other. There's also something in this blend that reminds me of The Castle, though I can't for the life of me figure out why since they have no common notes that I am aware of. Rating: It's nice, and I know some will love this, but it's not exactly for me. I like the experience and journey of Meskhenet, but I can't see myself reaching to wear this. I may keep an imp, but I'll probably sell the rest of my bottle. One last thing: I love, love, love the art for this!

What a surprise this one was! I ordered it anyway but it was the one that I felt was least likely to work. I was so wrong. In the bottle I can definitely smell the pastry cakes, and a bit of cold forest. On my skin I get the same thing. The warm pastries come to the forefront on my skin, and I really smell a sweet clove spicy cookie dough. And warmth. And then in the background I get a hint of forest and ice and snow and slush. I don't know how Beth did this but it's an amazing blend. I love being able to experience both the coldness and the warmth of the two opposing scents. This is a wonderful holiday scent to me. I give this 5 out of 5 stars, and I'm keeping my bottle.

Wow, I did not expect to fall in love with this one. It has a cold, vast, autumnal feel to it. I smell a touch of pine and woods in the bottle. It smells very dry, forest-like, and aged. Once I apply it to my skin all those things fall to the background and as it dries I start to notice a warm, red, tingly spice to it. I think it must be dragon's blood but I believe there's something else mixing with it to give it this effect. I could wear this throughout autumn if it were all I had to test out. It's lovely. I plan to keep my bottle and I rate it 4 out of 5 stars.

Wow, TKO took me by surprise. I was sure I would get another blend that was heavy on lavender. I do love lavender but sometimes it makes me feel nauseated so this was a refreshing change! At first sniff it almost made my mouth water even though I wouldn't classify this as a foody scent. It has a slight herbal touch to it but if there's lavender in there I can't detect it. On my skin I get a light, pillowy scent that makes me feel like I'm floating on clouds. I cannot for the life of me figure out what notes are in this but it's definitely cloud-like with a touch of sugar-spun marshmallow. And the light herbals that I detect stay in the background. I rate this 4 out of 5 stars. I'll keep my imp and I have plans to get a bottle.

Wow, in the bottle I get a lot of the bamboo pulp and a touch of lavender. It's a very soothing, calm scent without being overpowered with lavender. The bamboo and other notes give this scent a different quality to it, and it's very appealing. I actually get a light green/orange color to this scent. After applying it gets really strong. I guess what I mean by that is that it has a lot of throw. I only need to apply a very, very small amount this time. It's almost overpowering. It's heady. This is where what I believe is the opium poppy comes through, and it's lovely. It's very fitting to be called Sleepy Moon because of this. The opium poppy gives it this heady cloud of dreams and swirls without it being the commonly used lavender-chamomile blend. It's lovely! I rate this 3 out of 5 stars. I'll keep my bottle, but I might decant an imp or two for sharing.

In the bottle: woody and resinous, almost bitter sandalwood On my skin: this dries out to a nice, beautiful incense scent. I smell the sandalwood the most, but as I continue to wear it I can detect the honey and date palm. I *think* I smell some vanilla too, but I don't really pick up the rose. The white florals scent is there, though. This is a gorgeous blend but it's very heady and you don't need to use much! I rated this 4 out of 5 stars. A keeper!

In the bottle: Buttery and caramel-like. On my skin: for the first while I still get the buttery and caramel scents. Then those move to the background a bit and I get a slightly sharp scent that I believe is the tobacco and/or black coconut. The amber is a nice central point to those two extremes, and I find this scent to be very complex and layered. The description fits it to a tee and it's a wonderful creation, Beth! I rated this a 4 out of 5 stars. I'll keep a bottle but will sell my extra one.

In the bottle: I sniffed it and immediately thought, "I need another bottle of this.". It's very musky but not the sharp type of musk. It's the subtle shadowy kind. It's very sexy and reminds me of Snake Oil, in a way. On my skin: the sweet sugary vanilla part immediately amps up once it's on my skin. The musks keep it from taking off too much and becoming too cloyingly sweet (something which would have been a deal breaker for me). It has a nice throw, and stays true for... let's see. It's been about 4 hours now. Just barely starting to fade a bit. I love Teh Smut!! I'm keeping this one.

In the vial: sweet, deep, purple grapes. Juicy. On my skin: Ew. It went from lovely to ugly in about 10 seconds. As it was drying I could still smell the grapes and the juiciness. But after it dried the civet bouquet came out in full force and - on my skin at least - it began to smell like bad breath and something very mulchy. I can't get past the bad breath factor very well. In between all that I do get a powdery sweetness but it's just not for me. 1 out of 5 stars.

In the vial: slight patchouli but mostly a spiciness. On my skin: I definitely detect the patchouli (it's a no-no scent for me, usually) but in Hellion it's light and creamy and not offensive. It's a nice "base" to the scent. The thing I get most is a playful spiciness and some incense and wood notes. I also occasionally get a whiff that reminds me of Red Phoenix. Maybe it's the black plum? In any case, it's a gorgeous scent and I'm so glad I got to buy an imp of it. I gave this 3.5 out of 5 stars. I'll keep the imp and cherish it, but probably won't scramble to buy a bottle or anything.

This is one of my two favorite DimV scents. In the vial, sweet springy green florals. On my skin it changes. I get a slight powdery scent (not too much) and white florals. They swirl together and to me it makes the perfect springtime floral mix. I love, love, love what the tuberose does to this and it stays very true to a tuberose scent. I also find this scent to be very calming, grounding, and relaxing. I wouldn't expect that from a mix of light, airy florals but that's what I get. I gave this a 4 out of 5 stars and I'm debating on buying more before they are taken away!

This smells just like the descripton! It is very promising in the vial. On my skin it warms up into this gorgeous resinous dragons blood, slightly sweet, slightly herbal and I swear I smell just a pinch of something green and bitter. Maybe the marigold or something? It wears nicely as well with about an average throw. 4 out of 5 stars.

First sniff: very nice. A light floral. On my skin: Whoah, this changed. I still smell florals but in the first 15 minutes on my skin it kind of turned into this white pepper sort of smell. It was kind of gross. After a while: This shifted again after a while. I started to smell something mossy and green with the florals. I also was surprised because I thought it smelled like Samhain 05! Sure enough, for the next hour or two it was just like Samhain on me. Still has that slight fir/green/apple scent. I know House of Night doesn't list apples but I sure smell apples. I like this okay but the first while was gross, and I love Samhain which doesn't do that. So, 2 out of 5 stars. I'll swap it.

I loved Hamadryad the first time I tried it. In the vial: mostly cinnamon. On my skin: cinnamon and below that, a menagerie of woods and green things and moss and other lovely things. It's a very nice combination. The cinnamon surprised me, but in a good way. I sniffed my wrist all while wearing it. It lasted a number of hours before fading. The only part I'm confused about is that my first test was an imp that I bought from the lab in October. I liked it so much and then voila, I had a frimp in my lab order. The newer imp of Hamadryad has no cinnamon scent and reminds me exactly of pink pepto-bismol. I will be aging this to see if it starts to match my other imp. On the imp I tested I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.

This is what I wanted Sugar Cookie to be, but it wasn't. In the vial: slightly boozy, sugars, and vanilla. On my skin. What a throw! I need to use less next time. On my skin it doesn't change much at first, then after a short time it mellows out and I smell less booze and more sweet, sugary, vanilla. It reminds me of brown sugar or almost maple but without the tang of maple. I think I smell spices but they're very mellow if they're there. In some instances I get a slight whiff of vanilla-lemon under all the sugary scents. Very nice. I rated this 3.5 out of 5 stars. I'll keep my imp, but I'm undecided on a bottle.