reynardine

In bottle: reedy, green scent. Wet: fruity, still green (bamboo, I think?), a touch of floral Drydown: florals coming out, still a bit fruity. An hour later: Still there, well mixed, difficult to pick out specific notes. I keep thinking "green". Very pleasant, uplifting scent. Fun! I'm glad I got ahold of a bottle!

From imp: Light, fruity/floral scent. Wet: a hint of rose, maybe peaches? Very refreshing and pretty. Drydown: And it's GONE. That fast. 10 minutes max. Not even the powder scent. Nothing. It just disappeared. My skin must just eat this blend. Too bad, I had high hopes. Off to the swap pile with this one.

Samhain '09 So much of what I have is floral (because that is what I like) that I thought I would stretch out this year and get some seasonal scents. I picked out Pomona and Samhain '09 from this year's Halloweenies since they looked like they would work best with me and also seemed like they "smelled like autumn". Pomona I adored (see review). Samhain...well... In the bottle: Me likey. Nice blend of woodsy scent. I'm getting the fir and spices especially. And patchouli. Wet: The woods are screaming! Or maybe the patchouli! No, it's my nose! Drydown: Dang, but that patchouli is STRONG. Everything else bows down before it. orz More dry: Okay, that bad boy settled down some and let the others come out to play. Getting some fir now. And a bit of the spices--my nose isn't sophisticated enough to pick out which ones, but they are on the floor playing in the background while Fir and Black Patchouli sit at the kitchen table and talk. Yet more dry: A bit of sweetness is coming out now. Nice. I like sweet. Well, that was an adventure in fragrance! Verdict: Samhain '09 really does smell like autumn. But I think I'll let the oil age a while to see if it softens the scent some, as other reviewers have claimed. As it is now, the patchouli is way too strong and I don't care much for patchouli.

This is the one Halloweenie I've been waiting for, so I had to try it on right away when I got it! In bottle: Uh, oh. Nail polish... ;_; Wet: No, wait, it's Jolly Rancher! I haven't had one of those since I was eleven! But I can almost taste it now! Drydown: Okay, now we're getting somewhere. Apples must amp on me, but the pomegranate is coming out. Sweet and sweet and sweeter still. This is so fruity and so sweet. I can see why some other reviewers were getting an alcohol jibe. Not quite at that point, but... An hour later: Sweet apple/pomegranate with a touch of berry in the background. Very autumnal, although I could see this in late summer as well. Too rich for spring, too ripe for winter. Love it! EDIT: It's now 5 years later (2014) and the nail polish smell has aged out. It's much softer now, but still has that lovely apple/pomegranate scent. And it is still one of my go-to autumn scents.

This will be kind of a strange review. I got Catherine as an imp years ago, ADORED IT, and bought a bottle. 10 ml, because I loved it so much. This would have been in, oh, 2005, so I'm still working on the bottle because I don't slather much. And I never reviewed it. So I'm going to try to remember my old impressions and now give some impressions of how it has aged. First impressions: In bottle: Very sharp. Authoritative scent. Heavy on the roses. Wet: The rosemary starts to come out. Still very strong roses. Drydown: Now we're getting a bit of orange blossoms, but just a touch. And the scent stays fairly strong, for hours. A little goes a long way. Four years later: In bottle: Still sharp, much more rosemary this time, though. The roses have faded. Wet: Rosemary. Roses are coming out to play, though. And the orange blossoms are still there as well. Drydown: It's a much softer scent than it used to be. More subtle, absolutely gorgeous, rich floral/herbal blend. Brilliant. If you didn't like it before, hold onto it for a year or so and try it again. You might be pleasantly surprised!

This is my favorite scent of all time. I can't believe I never got around to reviewing it! Okay, here goes. In the bottle: Rich, deep, almost too strong. A lot going on--almost too much. Wet: It starts sorting out pretty quickly, though. I'm getting the roses, berries, something else... Drydown: Still roses and berries, very rich. There IS something else that I don't have the experience to place, but my skin is amping the berries and I'm loving the rose notes. And does this stay? Yes it does! ALL DAY LONG!! (So many of these things fade out on me, it's very trying...) I tried this back in 2005 as an imp and got a 10 ml bottle. Still working my way through it (fortunately, I don't slather). It has aged beautifully--the scent is richer and deeper than ever before. I cried when I found out this one was discontinued. If you run across some and have a chance to try it, please do. I think you'd be pleasantly surprised. But like the Viking Settlement in Newfoundland, this scent was not destined to be with us long. Skoal! to the Northland! Skoal! " --Thus the tale ended. --The Skeleton in Armor, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This is from an old imp that I had gotten, so it has aged. I tried Neo-Tokyo back when I first got it, had a general "Oh, that's nice," reaction, then put the imp away and forgot about it. Dragged it out today for "Wear Your Rares Day" and realized I'd never bothered to review it. In the bottle: Ozone, metallic scent. Very sharp, almost piercing. Wet: Settles down a bit, still sharp, but loses some of the ozone, which is a relief. I remember thinking that the first time as well--I was afraid of the "Nail Polish" smell. But no, it doesn't do that. Drydown: Crisp, clean, very green smelling (if green had a scent, this would be it--light green, though, not dark green). There's a touch of floral in here, too. Almost smells a bit herbal. After a couple of hours, it's still there. Very light, not obnoxious at all. Did not go to powder. I think this is a lovely scent for summer, and a good urban scent. Would work well for business. I'm so sorry this was discontinued. I would have liked to have gotten a bottle. I should have paid more attention back in the day!

A frimp came into my hands--this isn't in my usual line. But I'll try anything once! In the bottle: Peppery? Sharp! Wet: Lime. And Mint. Still sharp. Not unpleasantly so. Drydown: Now I'm getting a hint of lavender, but the lime and mint are still there. This is a very cute, herby scent. A hour later: Still there, though very soft. Didn't go to powder, but my skin doesn't amp this, either. Probably won't get a bottle, but I'll certainly use up the imp, and recommend this to anyone looking for an herbal scent. This is a nice one.

Got a frimp. Got two! Lucky me. I am so allergic to most woods (cedar, sandalwood, and yes...YEW). But what the heck, I'll try it! In bottle: Is that pine? I think? It isn't yew. We had yew trees in our front yard for the longest time and I know very well what that smells like, that lovely sharp scent that hits just before my nose stops up. Wet: What IS that? It's not pine. Something woodsy, though. Had my husband, who likes to work with wood, take a sniff and he couldn't place it either, but it wasn't pine we were getting. Not berries, either. Earthy smell. Clean. Drydown: Pleasant, crisp, woodsy scent. Would go nice in winter, I think. Cannot place it, though. However, it did NOT make me sneeze, tear up or start wheezing, so whatever it was didn't set off my allergies. Good staying power, too. Still around several hours later. I don't think Yew Trees is really for me (I'm a floral girl), but it was nice to find a woodsy scent that didn't create havoc. I like the idea of a previous poster to try to layer this with one of the pumpkin scents. Might experiment with that and see how that goes.

Got this as a frimp. In bottle: strong, sharp, almost like nail polish Wet: Okay, Lavender and roses, very strong. It reminds me of an Lavender soap that my late grandmother used to use. This is not a bad thing, as I was very fond of my grandmother. Drydown: Pretty much lavender, with a bit of something behind it. Jasmine, maybe? Powder within 30 minutes. Sorry, I'm not tired at all, but lavender never did have that affect on me. It's nice, but not for me.

Floral all the way. I didn't pick up a fruit scent at all. In the bottle, wet on the skin, dry on the skin, early, late, anywhere. This scent was pure, flowery goodness. Picked up mainly lilac and gardenia with a touch of rose. Which is fine as I adore flowery scents and this one didn't kick off the allergies or anything. A very light, gorgeous floral. Went a bit powdery, but then came back and stayed for hours! I'm ordering a bottle. Love this!

Got a frimp of this, quite a while back. Just got around to trying it out. In the bottle, it was cloyingly sweet. Too much so. First on the skin, the same thing. Very thick sweetness, like candy. I don't do candy scents at all. However, it dried into a very nice, rich floral. Sweet, but deep. Not too strong on me, either, just right. After about an hour, it still had a nice scent going. I'm not the best at identifying scents, but I think the lotus is what was coming out the most, with something richer underneath that I couldn't quite make out. Not quite sure if it is me, yet. But I'll keep the imp and try it a few more times before deciding. This might be worth a bottle.

In the bottle: not sure, rather sweet but ambiguous scent Wet: very sweet, honey and berries. I was afraid it was going to end up smelling like candy (no, just no--I don't do candy-scents!), but it settled down fairly quickly. Several hours later, it is now this very pleasant fruity scent, with just a touch of floral. I didn't pick up any musk at all--and a good thing, since musk tends to make me sneeze! This one's a keeper, perfect for a warm summer's day.

In the bottle: nice scent. Reminds me of lillies and linen. Clean and fresh. on me: The same, a clean lily/linen type scent. Goes soft within 20 minutes or so, but two hours later, the scent is still present. Very soft and sweet. I like this a lot! I think a larger bottle is in order! (Yay, I was getting worried that my body chemistry would reject all bpal or something!)

In the bottle: Something is strong here? Carnation? On me: Very strong. Yes, it is carnation. Also a heavy alcohol-like smell close to what regular perfume smells like on me. I don't like this AT ALL. 20 minutes: Oh, now it smells like sugar? I don't think this scent likes me. 40 minutes: Okay, it turned to liquorice on me. Alas, Desdemona, you and I were meant to part. I hate liquorice. Wow, it's amazing how a scent can change so much from person to person...

In bottle: Oh, I love the smell! Am great fan of Lillies. Also smell something sharp? It smells of cold? On me: the Lily is very strong, also the smell of powder, and something else that is sharp that I do not know. 20 minutes later: I've often wondered what "gone to powder" meant when reading these kinds of reviews. Now I know. It smells like sharply-scented body powder now. Touch of lily and maybe something musky? The powdery smell isn't what I was looking for in a scent though. Will give it another try in a week or so, just in case my body is being weird on me, but alas, Tiger Lily, it looks like you are not the one for me either. It's too bad, I loved the way you smelled in the bottle!

In the bottle: Vanilla? It smells like vanilla. On me: Still smells like vanilla, now with something else, perhaps gardenia? In 20 minutes, it gets smokey on me, still smelling vanilla. In 40 minutes, it starts smelling like bath powder. Pretty bath powder, but powder, nonetheless. It faded within an hour. Hmm. Pretty enough, but no staying power on me. I'll give it another chance in a week, but I'm thinking this is not my scent.