Elrianra

In the bottle: Mints, tons and tons of mints with licorice and lemon sitting right behind it. A little bitter, I'm guessing that's the wormwood and hyssop poking their noses out. On me wet: Minty licorice, definitely the anise standing on it's toes here. On me drying: It smells like Lysol, actually. Citrus-y and bitter with a kick in the back of your throat that I think is the cardamom. On me dry: Powdery, like an dried flowers but entirely sweeter. It makes the back of my throat itch badly, which is the anise and wormwood. Final conclusion: 1 Hour Later - The sweetness is wearing thin, leaving mints and anise covering up a sneaking bit of cardamom and lemon, the wormwood's finally backed off but not enough to prevent a mild headache on my behalf. The hyssop is making it overall a bit too bitter. Finale: In the bottle, my best friend says it smells just like real absinthe - not that I have any idea what that actually smells like. Something in it, am thinking the anise, makes it a bit too strong for me and while there isn't much throw to it at all, this one's just not for me.

In the bottle, it's sweetly vague. I can't pick out the exact scent that makes it pepperish however, but it's a dusty smell like ground pepper. Once on, it's sweet but base, very sticky and strangely hypnotic. It brings to mind the image of biting your lip while making out. Pleasurable but with a shocking tinge of blood. As it warms up, it gets tantalizingly spicy; both sweet and hot at once. It's not pepper-ish now, it's just spicy. Very coy and flirtatious with a hint of naughty intentions hiding behind the sweetness. The amber is sweet and smooth, suppressing a rough, rowdy, heated scent of desire and energetic mayhem. As time goes on, it softens out and mellows - very slowly the amber overrides the wildness and begins to fade out to a final sweet ending note - echoed by the last touches of mischief. Absolutely lovely from start to finish with a pleasant mix of surprise and impropriety thrown in. Just naughty enough that wearing it in church would be a mistake but wearing it around your parents is still alright - barely.

In the bottle: Something dry and citrus-y, a little cloying and very strong. It reminds me a little of some sort of cleaning agent. I think it's the thyme and bergamot mixing - possibly the patchouli? I'm not sure... On me wet: Sweet but strong, the bergamot and lavender are on the top of this blend, it's both herbal and floral at once. The patchouli does a nice job of dirtying this up a little - not grungy at all, the scent is proper with a tinge of inpropriety about it. On me drying: The bergamot is everywhere, I can smell the lavender and jasmine a bit as well, I have no idea what moss smells like so I'm not sure if it's there. On me dry: Still very citrusy and cologne-like in that "dries my mouth out" manner. Nothing of the sticky sweaty tease that Dee held. This is a cold scent almost, stern and unyeilding.[/lj-cut] Finale: I gave this one a full 22 minutes, by 4:30 it had to come off... the soapy scent was overpowering as it heated up and the bergamot had faded to the background. I never picked up thyme or tonka at all. There was just patchouli and bergamot on the forefront of this one. Entirely too male for me.

In the bottle, it's a blast of bergamot, peach and musk. There's a tinge of floral, which must be heliotrope and I'm still bad and locating the mosses, but I can smell the green of it. It's sweet but not candy-like. Once on, it softens out. The musk blankets out and lets the herbs and florals lay on it quietly. Cool but not cold, just gentle and mild. This is playful and inquisitive, slowly opening up like a budding flower. A moment before where the musk was a soft base, now is a warm coat of peach and heliotrope with the moss and bergamot playing atop it while the musk sits back and watches. Then it's musk and peaches, then oakmoss and heliotrope and bergamot all together. It never sits still, but dances lightly in and out; warming up, it gains energy but not throw. Delightfully whimsical, it's hard to pin down where it settles: the base is musk and moss, with the bergamot reigned in by the moss and hovering on the outside zones of discovery while the heliotrope and peach mingle happily on the top. This is a spring scent, most definitely - a scent for walking in an old walled-in herb garden, where the moss holds the stones in place as much as the ancient mortar and the vines from wild flowers have slowly crept over from the outside, where the ground is equally floored by old leaves and new spring blossoms blown off the trees by a gentle breeze. This is innocent and shy, playing hide and go seek amongst the overgrown bushes, having it's first kiss sitting with it's toes in the bubbling stream that runs through the garden. If you've ever read The Secret Garden, imagine what that garden smelled like after the children tended it that first spring... That's what this scent brings to my mind. The innocent creation of an unlimited mind.

Florals are the first thing I detect when I pop the cap off this imp - florals and something earthy but not dirt - the root smell then. Yes, that's it, roots. The herbal really is pale and barely sneaks in at the last second. On my skin, the florals are on the foreground still with the herbal tone blending nicely with them. It's soft and mildly sweet, there's absolutely nothing unpleasant in this as I was almost suspecting there would be. It's gentle and soft and quiet, even more to the point, this is a tender scent. I'm almost worried that it will bruise. As it heats up and dries, it suffers a momentary powder stage when the herbal takes to the foreground, smelling strongly of cough drops - the home remedy kind, not the store brand crap. The good ones that taste like something grandma made just for this. It's foresty and fieldy all at once, both and neither and somewhere in between them. Oh, this is so nice and so shy on my skin, it's astounding!

In the bottle: A rather soapy blend of roses and amber - which I have learned smells like honey to me. The musk is there but it's sitting in the background brooding away. On me wet: Musky roses, no signs of the amber whatsoever. Very dark and heavy, almost a warm scent but in the fleshy sort of way - not spicy at all. It actually is very soft and sullen. On me drying: As it dries, the amber takes a step into the foreground, leaving me lightheaded because of the sudden honey-sweet of the roses as they dance along on top of the deeper notes of musk which seems to be sulking about and letting the rose and amber have their way with it. On me dry: Once it begins to dry, the musk grows a backbone and sits on top of the roses, letting the amber on a short reign but keeping them all very tightly bound. It's still got that warm fleshy note to it, because the musk is on top now but it's obviously feminine with the amber and roses softening the otherwise moody musk. Final conclusion: 1 Hour Later - The musk has tamed out and the amber has picked up the bruised roses and is mixing with them nicely, leaving a sweet rose-honey scent, like a faintly rose flavored candle. Very subtle and gentle, not sweet but composed and softly aware. 3 Hours Later - Over the last few hours, the musk has faded out almost entirely, along with the roses, leaving a very faint floral but primarily amber scent. Apparently, my skin loves to play with amber. Finale: Unlike Black Lotus, I find that Black Rose has next to no throw when it dries, hovering close to me and leaving me with a faint honey and roses aura. When wet it's strong and incredibly serious, but it lightens to a somber and quiet scent as it dries. I never experienced a soapy period with this, partially because of the amber, I think. Though rose rarely goes soapy on me anyway. Basically, it's a keeper. I had bought a 5ml of this off the bat and was SO happy that it worked well on me, I love this scent!!!

In the bottle: Very floral with a strong underscent of sandalwood. The amber and myrrh are hardly there. On me wet: The lotus is still really strong, as well as the sandalwood; the myrrh and amber blend underneath to make a honey-like scent that's just a tiny bit spicy. On me drying: The lotus is fading fast and taking the myrrh with it. The amber is backing up the sandalwood so I smell like an incense stick before it burns. On me dry: Sandalwood and more sandalwood, with the faintest tinge of myrrh and amber to dampen it. So far, it's fairly sweet but definitely darker. Final conclusion: 1 Hour Later - Well, the sandalwood has even faded down so that all I smell is myrrh and amber. This is still a very honey-ish combination in my mind but not in a foody sense. Quite lovely. 3 Hours Later - The sandalwood is in the background now. It smells like honey incense to me. It has a nice range to it and has softened to an extremely mild scent. Not as dark or foreboding as I expected. I think my skin eats up lotus.[/lj-cut] Finale: I like this smell a lot, it's vicious when wet and when it dries, it has that mysterious cloy like sweat in a dark tunnel. Unfortunately, this also has a throw like you would not believe. I put it on upstairs, came down to my room and closed the door and hours later after washing the final strains of honeyed sandalwood off my wrists, I discovered all my bedding now smelled like it. Even more overwhelming, it made the upstairs smell like sandalwood for an hour, my mother reports. Maybe I'll give it another go when the weather turns... sunshine and being outdoors may help me like it more. But still, I'm worried about the throw... I ended up swapping this one out eventually, I just couldn't handle the sandalwood in it.

Alright, thanks very much. I'll do that then.

Okay, I've read all the way through this thread - and everywhere else I can think of - but still can't find anywhere on the forum where the lab posts their "shipped through" info. Can somebody help me out? I feel so stupid.