filigree_shadow

In the imp: Apples and peaches. Promising... Wet: Sweet fruit with honey. Very becoming. I can smell just the barest bit of thyme in there. Dry: This has become a sweet honey, fig, and sandalwood scent on me. Where did the peach and apple blossom go? I think this scent is pretty and light, and of course I like both fig and sandalwood an awful lot, so I'm not really complaining... it just didn't turn out to be what I was expecting. This one deserves a few more tries, I think. When I first tried it, it was ever so faint. I could barely smell it. I swiped the imp wand across my wrist another couple of times and it was subsequently stronger and fruitier, but then I couldn't smell any sandalwood. I think I'll have to try it again another day.

In the imp: Green. Wet: Green. Sharp. Powdery. Dry: Not as bad as the wet stage, but it's still too green for me. Florals are generally iffy for me, but herbs and grasses are reliably no-nos on me. When it's completely dry it's softer and in my opinion much more wearable, but I don't think I can get through that wet stage. OK, this is where I come clean. I already decided I wasn't going to like this before I even smelled it or read the notes. I've hated chickens ever since I was a little girl on my grandparents' farm. (If you had been chased around the yard by a mean and nasty rooster when you were 6, you'd probably hate them too.) As it turns out, this sort of scent doesn't suit me at all, so at least I don't have to live with the horror of falling in love with a scent that has the word Chickens in its name.

In the imp: Kind of spicy, reminds me of gingerbread for some reason. Wet: Floral soap. Sweet pea strikes again. Darn, I was really hoping this one would work for me. The rest of the notes sound so yummy, I was sure this would work despite the sweet pea. Well, let's see how it does when it's dry. Dry: Thankfully that soapy scent is fading, and it's being replaced with something a little spicy. I'm not sure what it is, though. This ends up as an interesting wood-spice combination, it's sweeter than most wood-spice perfumes I've tried. To be honest, I don't think I've ever smelled anything quite like this before, but I'm noticing that's a trend with the Salon scents. I think that almost all of them smell singularly different from any other perfume. It's a deep, dry, floaty scent. If I could get the sweet pea to go away entirely I'd probably want a bottle of it. Alas.

In the imp: A barely-there sweet scent. Wet: Strong! Something... floral... whew, that's strong. Dry: I'm getting mostly lilac and lily from this. And yay, because those are two of my favorite floral notes! When it's dry it's not nearly as strong as it was when I first put it on, it's just sort of sweetly wafting around, smelling fresh and pretty. I don't usually like cypress, but I can't seem to smell it in this. The sandalwood is a very nice touch -- it works really well in this combination. For a minute I swear it smelled like marigolds, that sort of pungent weird marigoldy scent, but that disappeared. From the painting, I didn't think this would be the kind of scent that would make me want to droop disconsolately onto a chaise longue somewhere, and it's not. It's not that kind of sad. It smells a little bit old-fashioned and stubborn. (Don't ask me where I got stubborn from, I just calls 'em like I sees 'em.)

In the imp: Nutty. A little bit of mandarin. Wet: Mmmm. This smells good. It kind of smells a little foody. I don't know what chestnut blossoms smell like (and actually I'm not all that sure of what chestnuts smell like either), but this smells nutty to me. Warm. Slightly musky. I can tell there's some sort of floral note in with it, but I wouldn't have been able to tell you which one. Dry: This has a beautiful musk. I have a vague idea of what magnolia smells like because I we have a magnolia tree, and I know what lily of the valley smells like too. Can't pick either of them out here singly, to be honest. This is very well blended. This is the scent of a woman who is feminine and strong. Someone who knows exactly how to use her womanly characteristics to their fullest advantage and does not take No for an answer. Beguiling. Lovely. I like it a lot.

In the imp: Pepper and ginger. Wet: Spicy lilies. An unusual combination. Dry: When I was doing my scent-by-scent breakdown after the update in which Exhibit II was introduced (in which I try to guess what something will smell like and whether I'll like it), I wrote that I thought this would smell funereal and sad. And it does... sort of. There's something about it that just doesn't seem right. The ginger is giving it a zing that seems off to me. I'm sure other people will like this, but Calla lily is one of my favorite flowers and one of the few floral scents I like, and when I wear it I like it to smell pure. Personally, I don't like this combination. However, for people who normally don't like lily or think a pure lily scent is too strong, give it a try. It's interesting and unusual.

In the imp: Mandarin/tangerine. Wet: Pepper, tobacco, amber... wow. Dry: Ding ding ding, we have a winner!! I had no idea this would smell this good. I looked at those notes when Exhibit II was first introduced and didn't think it sounded particularly intriguing. Ha! That shows what I know. I don't even know how to describe this in a way that will make it sound as good as it smells. Tobacco is almost always a comfort scent to me, so there's that. And there's the deep pretty amber. No powdery amber here -- this one's perfect. The mandarin and tangerine seem to be not nearly as noticeable in this as they are in other blends, but they're giving this kind of a sweetness. The tangerine in particular is great because it gives it a little bit of tanginess. And I know that some people recoil in horror at the mention of vetiver, but believe me, this is not one of those kinds of scents. This is the kind where the vetiver kind of rumbles along at the very bottom and gives the whole scent a good grounding. And the pepper makes the whole shebang smell sexy. That's right, I said sexy. Egad. I need a bottle of this one as soon as possible. I would wear this all the time. Perfect throw, too -- not going to knock anyone over, but I can smell it without having to put my nose right next to my wrist.

In the imp: Lily and something slightly sour. Wet: A very, very soft mint scent and a little bit of something that smells like cherry. Dry: This scent smells white and a little bit minty to me. I'm not a mint fan, but this is actually pretty nice. It smells fresh and clean to me. The lily's there, but only just. I wish I could say more but this is so faint on my skin I can barely smell it. I have to put my nose right exactly next to the spot where I applied it in order to smell anything at all.

Disclaimer: My skin has trouble with frankincense and gardenia. Frankincense blends go too sweet on me, and gardenia gets majorly amped. Not sure about white gardenia, though. In the imp: Sweet floral. Wet: The kind of floral scent they make scented soaps with. A bit too strong for my liking. Dry: Much better. I am probably the worst person in the world to review a floral scent because I can't pick out the notes very well, so bear with me for a minute. Does white gardenia or iris smell a little bit like roses but without that distinctive ROSE quality? I mean, like that sort of soft velvety petal smell? I wish I knew what it was because that's what I'm smelling. I'm only familiar with chamomile because of tea, but I can tell that it's softening up the whole scent. This is not a sharp or piercing floral scent, it's soft like petals. And in an extreme departure from the norm, the frankincense is not making this blend too sweet on my skin. It smells kind of golden and fresh, like dappled sunlight in a garden. This is quite lovely. In fact, it smells glorious. That's the perfect word for this scent.

In the imp: Sweet. Wet: A clean, bright, sweet scent. I would say that the only note I can detect for sure when it's wet is a slight coconut scent -- but it's not suntan lotion coconut at all, it's more likely slightly coconut and slightly floral. Drying: Based on the notes alone, I had thought that this might be something my husband could wear. After smelling it, I don't think so. It doesn't seem to be very masculine to me. Dry: This is one of those good all-purpose everyday scents that you'd feel comfortable wearing anywhere. It's probably a little better suited to spring and summer than to winter, though. If anyone was wondering if it would remind you of dryer sheets because of the linen, no worries. It's not like that at all. There's a wood aspect to it, and a little bit of coconut and rum, but it doesn't smell like kegs of rum or anything. The leather is almost not noticeable. It's kind of quiet and subdued, but very pleasant. This is another one of those BPAL scents that I can't imagine anyone objecting to. I would wear this to tea with my mother-in-law or out drinking with my friend Ron. It would be appropriate for either. Very well done. Another one for my bottle list!

Argh! Spikenard, my archenemy. I had my fingers crossed that maybe, maybe I could wear this even with spikenard in it because I thought the other notes sounded good. Nope. Spikenard is still a jerk and refuses to play nicely with me. Its making the whole scent smell bitter and kind of sour. It's developing a funky licorice-like weirdness after about 20 minutes, too. I asked my husband to put some on, and of course it smells nice and resiny-sweet on him. Just what I would have liked it to smell like on me. Grrrr.

This scent smells like the forest in winter to me. Very cold. When I first put it on I thought it was waaaaay too strong, but it calmed down a lot in the first few minutes. There's a nose-tingling briskness to it. I have a similar problem as wolfie13 with the Lab's snowy blends and my skin chemistry. For some reason they all kind of smell the same on me. I feel like I've smelled this same scent in about ten other blends. Stupid skin. I guess I don't need to keep this one since I have Snow Bunny and that seems to be my favorite for this kind of scent. Sigh.

In the imp: Fruit! Wet: Juicy apricot. Begins to turn a little green as it starts drying. The plum note starts to come out more, too. Dry: It warms up into much more than just fruit. It's a deep, rich, very slightly floral fruity scent, with everything so well-blended that it's really hard for me to pick out any one note. For a fruity scent, I think this one is quite good. It doesn't have the dreaded fruit-scented shower gel quality to it -- it's a lot more complex than that. If it were stronger I would probably add it to my bottle list; however, it gets a bit faint on me after about 15 minutes. So, although I find the scent very appealing, some of the other really good fruity blends are better for me because they seem to last longer on my skin. I would recommend that anyone who likes Katharina but finds it a little too bold should try this one.

In the imp: Smells sharp and herbal. Wet: Smells kind of herby, but... what's that underneath there? Drying: This becomes a lovely slightly spicy incense scent on my skin. Herbs? Not so much. I'm getting a lot of nice hazy incense. Not dark incense or sweet incense -- it's very mild. Myrrh-like. It's not overpowering, it's just pleasant and wafty. The herbs that seem to be in it are soft and gentle herbs, something like chamomille, not anything sharp like rosemary. Not sure about the lavender others have mentioned... maybe a little, but if so it's not prominent. I read that other people are getting cinnamon from Khephra, which surprises me. It's what's preventing me from wanting a bottle, actually. Sometimes batches are slightly different -- maybe my imp just didn't happen to have a certain concentration of cinnamon in it or something. My skin amps cinnamon to an extreme, and I honestly can't detect any in this. I like the scent, and I will wear the oil in this imp for sure. Just probably not going to get a bottle of it.

In the imp: Minty, but not boldly minty. Wet: Only slightly minty. It smells more like an aquatic floral on me. Weird. That's not what I was expecting. Not really getting a whole lot of moss out of it. Mostly Dry: OK, now the mintiness is back, and now I can smell the moss. This, um, kind of smells like my dog after she's been eating a minty dog treat. That kind of dirty scent with some mint. I can't imagine an occasion for which I'd like to smell like this. Dry: Not nearly as bad as how it smelled when it was going through that weird dog treat stage, now it's kind of a kind of cold-smelling lightly mossy scent. It reminds me of that dry mossy stuff you put in plant pots to cover up the dirt. I sort of like that scent, to be honest, but not really as a perfume. This is not going to work for me, but moss hardly ever works on me, and mint is even more rarely good.

I can barely believe how much gorgeousness the Lab has created in the past few months. I have been thinking that after the hugeness of Carnaval Diabolique, Halloweenies, Order of the Dragon, Yule, a whole new Salon set, and the ToT inquisition, they'd probably be taking a break for a while. I thought that the next CD act would be kinda small, the size of one of the first two acts, and I thought that Lupercalia would be on the small side as well. Maybe 6 or 7 bottles. Here are my thoughts and what I got: HUNGER MOON. Ozone, white sandalwood, crystallized white amber, verbena, oakmoss, clary sage, and a hint of white citrus rind. I bought a bottle because I always buy Lunacy bottles. However, I don't expect to like this. Citrus and herbs are usually bad for me. BAKENEKO. Warm amber musk, Satsuma tangerine, black tea leaf, cardamom, cherry blossom and cinnamon. Again, I bought a bottle because it's a Lunacy blend, but I'm not sure it'll work on me. My skin amps cardamom and cinnamon to overwhelming proportions. Both in the same blend is very probably a deal-breaker. ABHISARIKA. Damascus rose, African orchid, cream accord, and Kashmir musk. I love the idea behind these. I would have bought the whole set if I had enough money. I heavily debated whether to buy a bottle of this one, and I probably should have. But I just wound up joining a decant circle to buy a decant of it. At least it'll be up for a while so I'll still have a chance to get a bottle later. I don't usually like blends that are too rosy, but the orchid, cream, and Kashmir musk sound wonderful. KALAHANTARIKA. hyssop, lavender, balsam of Peru, jonquil, and elemi. Potentially too strong for me. I'll be interested to find out what it smells like, but I'm not going to go out of my way for it for a while. KHANDITA. fiery saffron, neroli, severe black musk, rose otto, and a harsh splinter of rosemary. It's funny, I was all prepared to order this one until I saw the rosemary, and then I balked. Maybe I shouldn't have. I usually like the other notes. PROSHITAPATHIKA. blue iris, fennel, dark musk, verbena, and a drop of star anise. This is the other one that probably won't work for me. I tend to dislike sharp scents, and the fennel and star anise might be too much for me. Also I usually don't like verbena at all. SVADHINAOPATIKA. golden amber, oude, red sandalwood, massoia bark, honey, and currant. Um... yeah, I got a bottle of this one. Holy crap. That sounds marvelous. VASAKASAJJA. skin musk, wild orchid, champaca flower, amaranth, tonka bean, and French vanilla. Had to get a bottle of this one too. It sounds feminine but not overly so, and rich and slightly decadent. I love the description, too. VIRAHOTKANTITA. blue lilac, snowdrop, bergamot, night-blooming cereus, frankincense, Himalayan cedar, and stargazer lily. This definitely sounds like it will smell like sadness. I bet it'll be very pretty, too. I'd like to find a decant of it. VIPRALABDA. benzoin, Greek sage, hay, melaleuca ericifolia, oakmoss, and blue chamomile. I have no idea what that will smell like. I'd like to try a decant of it. DOLCE STIL NUOVO. rose otto, carnation, vanilla flower, lavender and jasmine with the clarity of crystalline white musk and the warmth of golden amber. Eek. Those flowers are usually much too strong on me. I'd try a decant of this, but I doubt it'll work for me. CHINTAMANI-DHUPA. Pound well together sandal-wood, Kunku, costus, Krishnaguru, Suvasika-puspha, white vala and the bark of the Deodaru pine; and, after reducing them to fine powder, mix it with honey and thoroughly dry. Got a bottle of this because I'm dying to know what it smells like. The description is very intriguing. KANISHTA. black opium, Haitian patchouli, jasmine sambac, French magnolia and kush. I didn't realize until after I submitted my order that I did NOT have this one in my order. Stupid oversight. I really meant to buy a bottle of this. It will be in my next order. This sounds like exactly the sort of scent that I love. KHAJURAHO 2007. honey, date palm, tuberose, davana blossom, amber, white sandalwood, vanilla bean, Damask rose, and champaca flower. I had a bottle of this from last year, and although I thought it smelled fine, I never wore it. Sometimes I'd pick it up thinking I might wear it that day, but I always put it back down and picked something else. I like the scent, it's just not me, I guess. LUPERCI 2007. raw, down and dirty patchouli, Gurjam balsam, and essence of Sampson Root sweetened with the heightened sexuality of beeswax, virile juniper, oakmoss, ambrette seed over honey and East African musk. I had a bottle from last year, and I thought it was going to smell good on me. I was really excited to try it. But both times I tried it, all I got out of it was juniper. One of my least favorite notes. My husband didn't like it on me either. So I swapped the bottle, and I've never regretted it. NIGHT'S PAVILION 2007. White musk, osmanthus, Nile lily and frankincense. I may have tried this last year, but I don't remember it very well. I do know that every time I've seen it up for swap/sale I've passed it over rapidly. I believe that I did try it and I thought it was too sweet and feminine for me. THE OBLATION. A stirring blend of dianthus, French lavender, blackberry, and white honey. I think that poem is wonderful and moving. In the old days when I had a job I would have bought a bottle of this just from the poem alone. However, now that I'm unemployed and my husband decides how much money I can spend, this would have been a risk for me because of the lavender. I couldn't resist signing up for a decant, though. I bet I'll like this despite the lavender. THE PERFUMED GARDEN 2007. Myrrh and Moroccan jasmine with apple peel, Indian sandalwood, myrtle, quince, citron, and thyme poured over soft musk. I had a bottle of last year's version, and I thought it was too feminine so I sold it. Then I got together with another BPALer and she had a bottle of it she wanted to swap. I sniffed it and tried on a little bit, and I realized that I do like it. It is feminine, but I'm not as anti-feminine as I used to be. So now I have that bottle. RED LANTERN 2007. Golden amber, blonde tobacco, Sudanese black coconut, rich caramel, black currant, white opium and delphinium laced with a sensual blend of Asian spice. I had a bottle of last year's version for many months, and I finally realized that I never wear it and I might as well sell it. I just sold it a couple of weeks ago. It's a great scent, and I liked it, but I see no reason why a whole bottle of it should be sitting in my BPAL box getting no love when they are lots of people around who would wear it and enjoy it. SMUT 2007. Three swarthy, smutty musks sweetened with sugar and woozy with dark booze notes. I still have at least three bottles of last year's version. Maybe four. This is one of my husband's very favorite scents on me. I'm not allowed to wear it out of the house. ELIXIR X: GRR. Headache relief. ELIXIR XI: OOF. Sinus pain relief. ELIXIR XII: UGH. Muscle ache relief. I didn't try any of these, but that imp three-pack is very tempting. I think I'll order the imp pack with my next order. And now for the OMG Carnaval Diabolique scents: THE PARLIAMENT OF MONSTERS. Dust, incense, wet tobacco, and a curl of opium smoke. I signed up for a decant of this. I expect to like it, but I'm not sure I'll like it enough for a whole bottle. I already have other bottles that have a similar scent. ARACHNINA, THE SPIDER GIRL. A swirling, hypnotic perfume of black currant, poppy, red and black musk, lilies, nicotiana, and patchouli. I signed up for a decant of this too, but that was sort of dumb. I should have bought a bottle. There is no note in there that I don't like. In fact, I like them all a lot. I'm a huge sucker for red musk. ESHE, A VISION OF LIFE-IN-DEATH. The perfume of life-in-death: embalming herbs, black myrrh, white sandalwood, black orchid, paperwhites, tomb dust, and Moroccan jasmine. The description for this one creeped me out. In a good way, of course. I didn't sign up for a decant of this because I was put off by the embalming herbs. Those usually overpower a blend on my skin. I will eventually swap for a decant of it to try, though. FAIZA, THE BLACK MAMBA. black amber, caraway, oakmoss, green sandalwood, bergamot, jasmine sambac, gardenia, orange pulp, vanilla, blackberry, black musk, white honey, ti leaf, and ginger. I got a decant of this because there are quite a few notes in there that are usually not good on me. (oakmoss, jasmine, gardenia, ginger). However... those are all notes that have on occasion surprised me by not ruining a blend. So, we'll see. ASP VIPER: Snake Oil with red mandarin, myrrh, and almond. Want to try a decant. Might be great. AUSTRALIAN COPPERHEAD: Snake Oil with acai berry, amber, cardamom, neroli, and smoked vanilla. Not sure about the cardamom, but the other ones sound good. Will like to swap for a decant eventually. BANDED SEA SNAKE: Snake Oil with oakmoss, sea moss, and olive leaf. Hmmm. I'll try it eventually, but I'm in no hurry on this one. Oakmoss and sea moss are usually not so great for me. BOOMSLANG: Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk. Bought a decant of this. I bet those notes smell lovely with snake oil. CORAL SNAKE: Snake Oil with blood orange, red apple, lemon peel, plumeria, and gardenia. Hmmm. Probably not. Apple, lemon, and gardenia are usually no-nos for me. COTTONMOUTH: Snake Oil with linden blossom, calla lily, passion flower, and narcissus. Snake Oil with a bunch of floral notes? I'm not sure what that will smell like. I'd like to try a decant of it, though. DEATH ADDER: Snake Oil with vetiver, black coconut, vanilla, and opoponax. I allowed myself to buy ONE Snake Pit bottle unsniffed, and this is the one I chose. I bet I'll love this. Opoponax, vanilla, and vetiver are three of my favorite notes. GREEN TREE VIPER: Snake Oil with four mints, bergamot, and green tea. Mint is usually not my thing. HABU: Snake Oil with ho wood, teak, black musk, and bamboo. I carefully considered this one. I didn't buy a decant of it but probably should have. This will be one of the first ones I'll be looking for when people start swapping/selling their decants. KING COBRA: Snake Oil with orris, frankincense, and copal. I like copal but frankincense tends to make blends too high-pitched and sweet on me. SAW-SCALED VIPER: Snake Oil with cinnamon, cassia, and red ginger. Much too hot for me. I had a vial of Beth's experimental cinnamon Snake Oil, and it was too cinnamony for me. I like plain Snake Oil better. TEMPLE VIPER: Snake Oil with sugar cane, frankincense, champaca, opoponax, labdanum, and hyssop. This one might be one I like despite the frankincense. I truly love champaca and opoponax, so I bought a decant of it. WESTERN DIAMONDBACK: Oil with leather, tonka bean, red sandalwood, and sage. I didn't get a decant of this, mostly due to my dumbness. I should have. I will look for this one first when people start selling/swapping decants. HOPE & FAITH, THE SIAMESE TWINS. Hope is sugared violet, Faith is sugared rose. Love the description for this one, but those florals usually don't work for me. ISAAC, THE LIVING SKELETON. Bourbon, tobacco, dry bone, bay rum aftershave, and sleazy cologne. I bought a decant of this because I think my husband will like it. KATANIYA, THE CLOCKWORK WOMAN. Gentle flowers over hot metal, shocked to life with electricity. I don't know what this will smell like. I'd like to try a decant eventually. I often like the metallic blends, but I already have several of them. MESKHENET, THE VULTURE MAIDEN. Frankincense, hyssop, hibiscus, river reeds, orris root, palm frond, and olibanum. I don't think those notes will work for me. I'll try a decant eventually, but it's not high up on my list. THALASSA, THE GALAPAGOS MERMAID. Seaweed, kelp, salty ocean spray, bitter almond, night-blooming jasmine, frankincense, and benzoin. VERY unlikely to work for me. I don't like the scent of seaweed and kelp at all. TIRESIAS, THE ANDROGYNE. Dark, moody, and bittersweet: black currant, patchouli, tobacco, cinnamon leaf, caramel, muguet, and red sandalwood. Great description, and I love the song Gloomy Sunday. I think I might like this one a lot -- I bought a decant of it, and I'm betting it will be my first CD Act III bottle purchase (after Death Adder, of course). THE WILD MEN OF JEZIRAT AL TENNYN. Fiery, primal, and precociously diabolical: red amber, Spanish moss, Indonesian patchouli, ambergris, red pepper, two cloves, and vanilla flower. I wonder if my husband would like this. He liked Fire Eater. It's just too hot-sounding for me. WULRIC, THE WOLFMAN. Friendly, charming, and cuddly, but possessing one hell of a mean streak: cocoa absolute, French vanilla, birch tar, lavender, bourbon vetiver, wild musk, clary sage, and cistus. This might smell very good on my husband. I bought a decant of it so he can try it. ZARITA, THE DOLL GIRL. white carnation, iris, orange blossom, and sugared cream. This will probably be too feminine for me, but I wouldn't mind trying it. PRIALA, THE HUMAN PHOENIX. Three deep, dark myrrhs, smoke, and cinnamon bark. I bought a decant of this, and I'm really impatient to try it. I love myrrh and smoke. I wonder if I will end up wanting to buy a whole bottle.

My husband has a 10ml and about 8 imps of this, so I probably ought to review it. In the bottle: Lavender. Wet: A rather strong and clean-smelling lavender. Dry: To my nose, a decidedly masculine lavender. On my skin the lavender is overwhelming and slightly powdery. On my husband, it's gorgeous. He smells clean and lovely when he wears this. Kind of polished and refined. He gets a little bit more citrus out of it than I do, but although I don't usually care for citrus scents on my own skin, he can wear them just fine. Villain reminds me just a bit of Wilde -- another scent my husband likes a lot. They both smell a little old-fashioned and proper to me, quite gentlemanly. This is not a rugged outdoorsman scent. But my husband is not a rugged outdoorsman AT ALL (he is the type of guy who admires a nice frock coat and would like to have one), so scents like this suit him very well.

In the imp: Citrus and herbs. Wet: Lemon and lavender. The lavender eases the lemon's tartness a bit at first, but as it's drying pretty much the only thing I can smell at all is lemon. Dry: Ends up as a herbal citrus scent. The lemon fades out and orange seems to take its place. A pretty, light scent. Something in it seems to be going slightly powdery on my skin, making the whole thing smell kind of fleeting and ethereal. Very interesting. Although neither lemon nor lavender are notes I wear, I find this combination to be less objectionable than I thought it would be. It's a little too strong when it's wet, but when it's dry it smells light and pretty. Not a glue-nose-to-wrist scent for me, but I think it's certainly a must-try for people who like citrus.

In the imp: The oil is orange, which is usually an indication that it's a scent I'll like. I sniffed the oil in the imp and thought it smelled kind of like a sweet woods scent. Wet: Uh-oh. Cleaning products. Very pine-intensive, with kind of a sharp astringent scent to it. A nostril-tingling quality as well. Some sort of mint? Not at all the sort of thing I usually go for. Dry: Hmmm. This I did not expect. That sharp nose-crinkling smell has gone away, and it has been replaced by a very light and somewhat sweet earthy scent. Like a thin layer of dirt with some evergreen needles in it. This is actually quite pleasant, and I don't usually go for the dirt scents at all. Unfortunately, the scent that I like doesn't stick around. After about 20 minutes the scent is gone entirely. I tried it twice and got the same result both times. I guess this isn't going to work on me... but I would love to try this in an oil burner. I think this would be a lovely room scent, especially in the wintertime. An interesting aside: I accidentally put one of my tests of this oil directly over the spot where I applied Chaste Moon a few hours ago. Surprisingly, I think the Nocnitsa test with a little bit of a creamy scent behind it smells better than the regular Nocnitsa.

Although I like my in-laws, sometimes I feel very uncomfortable in their house. I get tired of being interrupted mid-sentence to be told, "Let's talk about something else," or "New topic!" It appears that new additions to the list of things not to be discussed in front of them are: human anatomy, common cold symptoms (I'm not talking snot here, I mean saying that your throat feels dry and scratchy), and dogs accidentally becoming pregnant. If anything could be construed as even slightly gross or possibly related to sex in some way, apparently it's entirely off-limits. My husband's mom asked me how my classes were going, and when I started talking about the anatomy paper I wrote about macular degeneration, she asked what causes it. I began to tell her that it's often caused by blood vessels bursting or leaking, and oh no, that sounds AWFUL, I can't talk about that. While we were having this conversation and she was telling me that she didn't want to hear anything that "sounds awful," she was tearing apart a cooked turkey with her bare hands and splitting it up into storage containers. I shit you not. Look, I've got no problem with being proper and avoiding certain topics. I don't waltz in there and start describing the way my dog's poo has looked strange lately or give graphic descriptions of gunshot wounds. But it's gotten to the point where I feel like every time I open my mouth they tense up and wait for something even remotely unsuitable to come out so they can shout "New topic!" at me. They really pride themselves on having what they think are good manners. Thus the restricted conversation topics. At some point I will probably tell them that their methods of telling people that a topic is inappropriate are exceedingly BAD MANNERS. A cultured person would gracefully redirect the conversation or excuse himself or herself and go to another room. But, these are the same people who hang up the phone without saying "Good bye," blow their noses at the table, and drop quotes from Rush Limbaugh into the conversation. They think it's perfectly fine to attempt to correct an adult's behavior the same way you'd correct a child. His mom knows that I like crossword puzzles and has seen me working on them about 80 times, and yet a couple of days ago she felt the need to go on for five minutes about how crossword puzzles are a complete waste of time and she prefers words in sentences arranged in a book. So probably I expect too much.

Yes, wine. Mmm. I'll have to smuggle some into their house next time.

I think I need one of those Zen calendars.

Heh heh. Actually I bet they think I'm dumb. Their kids are all off-the-charts smart, and conversations at their house run to the stilted academic side. Heavily. Heaven forbid anyone mention anything even remotely human, like excusing yourself to use the *gasp* bathroom, or being so unfortunate as to have some sort of medical condition. Even talking about LOVE is a no-no. They don't touch or hug each other. Talking about whether my husband and I will have CHILDREN is bad. If it's something you read in a book, something suitably innocuous like the plotline of a fiction book, then it's probably okay. But if it has to do with real human stuff, they don't want to hear about it. It's very odd. I feel like they have no interest at all in me, they are only interested in hearing about what I've read. You know, I do think that I will eventually become a sort of silent bystander at family get-togethers, like you have. I imagine that if I ever get to become a pathologist, I will never be able to talk about work with them. As far as diseases go, macular degeneration is nowhere near the top of the gross-out list. And if I can't even talk about that, well... One of the reasons I want to be a doctor is to save people's lives, or at least help them live more comfortably and in better health. It seems like that would be something my in-laws would be proud of -- but I'm never going to be able to tell them about it, and they'll never know that I'm pretty damn good at what I do. The one thing they might actually respect about me is one of the things I'm not allowed to talk to them about. That seriously sucks. /rant off

I love Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe books. I think I've read almost all of them. They're funny and clever, and I like the characters. My husband recently bought some Nero Wolfe TV shows on DVD -- apparently this was a series that A&E produced at some point in the last few years. When he told me that he was getting them I raised an eyebrow and expressed skepticism. I told him that I seriously doubted they could find any actor who could pull off Nero Wolfe, and since Archie Goodwin is my favorite Stout character I didn't want to see him butchered by some Hollywood ignoramuses who probably never even bothered to read the books. What a surprise. I love this series. The guy who plays Wolfe (Maury Chaykin) does a fantastic job. He's a little more shouty than I pictured Wolfe, and he's also not quite as heavy as I pictured Wolfe. But other than that he's very good. Archie Goodwin is spot on. Timothy Hutton plays him, and he's also one of the producers. I think he does some directing, too. This guy, obviously, has read these books. He's perfect as Archie Goodwin, too. He looks like Archie and talks like Archie and is basically exactly right. I'm very impressed. On top of all that, they stick to the stories as perfectly as they can in this format, and they even use Stout's dialog. They don't take many liberties. And the whole thing is very pretty. The sets are beautiful and the lighting is lovely. All in all, this is a highly successful adaptation. Apparently A&E cancelled it after only a couple of seasons, which is a great disappointment. I would have loved to see a lot more of these.

For some reason that situation sounds alarmingly familiar to me... Oh, right, that's because my husband and I have the same conversation as your parents about twice a month. Usually it's when he's calling me from Costco to tell me about AN AMAZING PRICE on some DVD and how it sure would be great if he could get it at this price right now. However, I have to give him credit on the Nero Wolfe ones. These are actually good.