aestien

Bottle: Oh yes, I already know I'm going to love this one, it smells like the southwest desert, where I'm originally from Wet: sage, pinon, sweet grass Dry: oh this is beautiful, warm amber spice with that wonderful sage sweet grass juniper wood undertone This scent is more me than any I have yet tried, and reminds me of home. I keep thinking of oatmeal spice cookies even though those aren't notes in the blend, probably because that's what my mama used to make I'll be ordering a big bottle.

Plumeria, pear and white champagne. Bottle: pear and plumeria Wet: pear, white wine, and the real scent of fresh plumeria Dry: cloyingly sweet baby powder Ick. I think my skin hates fruit flower blends as this did what Fae did, but even more sickly sweet. No good cheer for me ~_^

Bottle: a cool blast of wintergreen over a wood base Wet: wintergreen, cedar, sandalwood, incense Dry: the wintergreen fades to warm dark brown spicy wood, cedar, sandalwood, incense, the sweetness of lotus, golden I got this to use with my yoga practice and completely fell in love. The wood notes in this blend are perfect, so rich and dark, like a beautifully carved cedar chest filled with incense and spices and surrounded by lotus flowers. There is a sense of mystery, ritual, and the sacred to this blend. On the skin, this is exactly what I wanted it to be, but be warned, burned in an oil burner, the wintergreen takes over and it starts to smell like Comet cleaner.

Bottle: rose, jasmine, lemon, currant Wet: sharp soapy rose and jasmine with a little lemon and currant Dry: powdery sweet plum, violet, and orris with a hint of sandalwood and a litte currant At first sniff this scent was gorgeous, on my skin, it became too sharp, too soapy, and finally too powdery. I may see if I can find other ways of using this without wearing it on my skin.

Bottle: sweet spices Wet: sweet spices, incense, carnation, a little random perfume smell Dry: this warms up on dry down, soft, dry, gentle musk, the spices blend together so well, incense, very golden and comforting, almond? The Tunisian pastry shop description above is accurate, this scent is very golden, sun warmed, and comforting. This reminds me a lot of Eclipse, another favorite.

Bottle: citrus, light, clean Wet: citrus, dryer sheets Dry: light, clean, airy, slightly sweet, sunny, bright This blend is very nostalgic for me, and reminds me of middle school, my best friend, and the perfume I wore then. There's definitely a sense of youth to this blend. I imagine this would be perfect for summer or for a linen spray, and I love the memories this scent brings up, but it really doesn't fit me now.

Bottle: ginger in it's citrus form Wet: ginger Dry: crisp, biting, clean ginger with a hint of tea This is the scent of fresh ginger root when you cut into it. It's straighforward and perfect for hot summer days. It doesn't last incredibly long, as I expected from a predominantly citrus blend, but I like it a lot.

Bottle: I swear I smell gardenia, must be the lotus Wet: tuberose and jasmine are doing their soapy thing, but only a tiny bit, never getting into full blown soap, I don't smell the lime at all, on me this is all floral but a nice clean one, not old lady, not too cloying Dry: the lotus balances the floral with a round, comforting sweetness, not too sweet This blend is really clean and refreshing, a freshly showered kind of smell, good for summer. I feel like this blend would make an awesome soap or body wash. It's interesting to me that this is in Love Potions as this doesn't seem like a particularly romantic blend, unless you're looking for something squeaky clean or find inspiration in your bath ~_^ eta: as this has dried, it reminds me exactly of Lush's Hot Milk Bubble Bar. Yum!

Bottle: sweet peach, bergamot, and heliotrope Wet: sweet peach, the bergamot fades quickly, leaving the heliotrope. Unfortunately the white musk and oak moss start to amp on my skin Dry: the white musk and oak moss take over, creating a heady, sharp, powdery sweet theme. I keep thinking soporific fairy liquor, this just gets way too cloyingly powdery sweet on my skin So sad. I wanted to love this, and I definitely get a hint of what this could be, effervescent and light, unfortunately it ends up smelling like Flinstones chewable multivitamins on my skin. Meh.

Bottle: sweet vanilla rose and just a hint of coffee Wet: rose & jasmine, the sweetness of vanilla and fig, the cinnamon smell of tonka. This scent on me goes through a strong soap stage, which I believe is the rose and jasmine, although, I didn't mind it in this blend, as it smelled to me of the most luxurious, old fashioned, triple milled french soap Dry: This dries down gorgeously as the rose and jasmine fade into the background, leaving a warm, roundly sweet cinnamon vanilla fig with a touch of coffee and mahogany This is a rich, warm scent. I had to look up Mata Hari after trying this out. What a fascinating woman she was. I wondered if the coffee note in this was a play on words since Mata Hari had Javanese descent, and I also found out that Tonka used to be used in pipe tobacco, which seemed highly appropriate.

Bottle: apricots Wet: apricots, candle smoke, wood Dry: apricots, smoke, dusty wood, a litte sharpness that may be the brandy note I wasn't expecting to like this one, but I received this as a frimp, and was pleasantly surprised. This turned out on my skin to be smoky and interesting. I was reminded a bit of apricot candles and the scent of the wood of the stage and the bar. I'm not certain what brandy smells like, but I felt like this scent fit the description really well.

Bottle: wintergreen, wood, tea tree, smoke Wet: wintergreen, tea tree, smoke, cedar, dark woods Dry: this dries down to a cloyingly sweet spicy herbal that doesn't like my chemistry at all I wanted to like this one so much, but the wintergreen blended with some of the more medicinal smelling herbs kills it for me. The smoky wood notes underneath are more what I was looking for, but sadly don't last very long on my skin, fading to a generic sweet spicy smell. The wood scent that embodies more of what I was looking for in Yggdrasil, is Kathmandu.

I was purchasing some oils for a friend who is allergic to almonds. So I e-mailed the lab for a list of oils that contain it as an ingredient. They replied with the following: Eclipse Voodoo Inferno Hellcat Bastet Hecate Salomé Seraglio Eden Port-au-prince Any others you have questions about, I would recommend e-mailing the lab, as they were incredibly friendly and quick to respond.

Bottle: vetiver and leather Wet: leather and vetiver, rose, gardenia, jasmine in the background Dry: leather and vetiver, rose, cinnamon, jasmine, gardenia Throw: medium Wow. For me, this one is straight up sex in a bottle. Smoky vetiver and leather predominate, with just the slightest hint of the spice of cinnamon, the florals are not too powdery, just enough to vibrantly evoke this dashing lover. The leather in this is perfect. Definitely on the masculine end, but I like it on me in a very Sovay kind of way.

Bottle: powdery incense and rose Wet: powdery incense, rose, spicy carnation Dry: the powder disappears into spicy incense, (it's reminding me of superhit incense, one of my favorites) rose, a little sweet neroli and bergamot, and soft musk in the background Throw: medium I am definitely reminded of soft velvet fabric giving off the accumulated scents of card after card reading. There is a sense of mystery to this scent, depth. The rose and the musk add such softness to the spicy sweet incense, it's gorgeous.

Bottle: it smells very green and I can smell the tea and the citrus of the ginger Wet: predominantly tea and the citrus aspect of ginger, a little sweet grass, and a blend of medicinal herbal smells (I'm picking up on an herbal astringency, like tea tree, and just a little of the licorice sweetness of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which could also be the fig). Sweet moss rounds out the scent in the background. It's very yellow green and outdoorsy, and in this stage, reminds me slightly of mosquito repellent and camping. Dry: still a lot of tea, but the spiciness aspect of ginger is coming out and the astringency is mellowing, I do smell a little mint now, and a lot of sweetness, including the fig Throw: far and sharp, but I went a little crazy with the application This does remind me of the description. I can very much see the apothecary working in a broken stone building, perhaps an old church, covered in moss and set back into the trees. Inside there are drying herbs hanging from the rafters and sunlight spills through open places in the roof to light on large glass jars filled with remedies. A steaming cup of tea waits on the wooden work table, amidst the mortars and pestles, vials and bottles. It makes me think of the apothecary in Tanith Lee's "Sung in Shadow". It's a beautiful evocative scent, unfortunately it's not my style, and the sharpness and astringency is making my nose unhappy. Will probably end up swapping.

Bottle: sweet almond and vanilla Wet: sweet almond, vanilla, powdery heliotrope, frankincense in the background Dry: frankincense moves to the front, vanilla and almond round out the scent, just a hint of cinnamon and heliotrope in the background Throw: medium This was a frimp in my first order and not something I would have thought to have chosen. I'm so glad the lab threw this in, as it is so very lovely, and my skin chemistry loves anything resinous/woodsy/spicy/or earthy, so I get golden resin rounded and rich, gently sweet, enveloping and warmly radiating at the same time. Perfect for daily wear.