catrinella

Brings peace to the spirit, a sense of calm and fulfillment, and attracts the aid of beneficial spirits. Imp: Green and pleasant, but not particularly strong or identifiable. Wet: Soap. I mean, immediately upon touching my skin, it went scented deodorant soap on me (think Irish Spring). Drydown: I'm defining drydown as "the five minutes it took me to get into the bathroom and find the alcohol" - overwhelming nauseating soap. My husband said, as I ran past, "I didn't know we had Irish Spring around. I thought you hated that stuff." 1 hour: Unfortunately, alcohol and (real) soap haven't done much to cut it. I still reek of deodorant soap and feel distinctly UNcalm, which annoys me because I have a major doctor's appointment and was hoping that WoND would help me sail through that with peace and calm. Verdict: Absolutely not for me, sadly, as I would wear nothing but Beth's aquatics if I could. Wish I knew what the offending note was so I could stay away. Probably should have put on Szepasszony instead.

Imp: Ozone and wind. It's clear and sharp, but I can't pick out notes. Wet: Lemons? I see I'm not the only one, but they're not in the description. Anyway, I get lemons and daffodils (definitely not narcissus, thank heavens). Hope the lemon doesn't go nasty like Lolita did. Drydown: This is the first I've worn where the notes are so blended that it's crazy hard to pick out anything. It just smells silver and white, floral without being girly. 1 hour: Restrained white florals with a lemon undertone, yes, but definitely an aquatic first. This smells like steady rain with wind, the kind that gets up under your umbrella. In fact, the physical scent-plume feels windy - the aroma moves around, sometimes where I applied it and sometimes not. 2 hours: Faded to not-quite extinction, but that's pretty much the case for me and non-resin BPAL. If I had the imp with me, I'd reapply immediately. Verdict: Keeper, even with the early fade. I love aquatics and don't wear florals, but this is lovely. Feminine without being sexy, self-controlled without being icy, confident without being arrogant. Work-appropriate and also good for a night out (you know, when you go out with someone who has intentions on you and you're not interested?). Big-bottle list.

Imp: Warm melty honey. Wet: Definitely honey but with an almost cinnamon undernote? Drydown: Oh, there's the amber to round it out. Warm and golden and hard to ignore (she said, nose glued to wrist). 1 hour: I'm not sure if there's something in here to which I'm sensitive. My wrists are a bit prickly under the oil, though it's not a wash-off-immediately reaction. The honey and amber are almost completely blended; there's an edge of something just almost powdery or deodorant-stick, but it backs off just before hitting that point. Definitely sexy, definitely a second-skin scent. 3 hours: Just warm and sensual. It projects as musky without having a musk note, if that makes sense. Everything that's been said about O's sensuality is true on me. Mmmm. ETA: 12 hours later, still noticeable - smells good *and* lasts. No wonder everyone loves O so much! Verdict: Keeper, and probably a big bottle at some point, but I need to try it a few more times and see if the sensitivity returns (I hope it's not the amber - I *like* amber!).

Imp: Dark heavy floral. Not my style, but we'll see. Wet: Smells almost exactly like Yves St. Laurent Opium, which wasn't something I ever wore but is oddly comforting nonetheless. Drydown: Bright wafts of narcissus cut through the opium fog. A heady floral that's got a heck of a throw. 1 hour: Oh. Wow. The myrrh is out, giving a warm resiny undertone to the opium and narcissus. I was on the phone at this point and said "You know, I'm not sure I'm allowed to smell this sensual." Absolutely amazingly sexy. 90 minutes: Hey, where'd my sexy go? And why do I smell like polite society-lady perfume - it's almost Youth Dew, ick? Drat. Youth Dew is so not the sexy. Verdict: 20 minutes of glory. With more myrrh and staying power, it'd be the surefire sexy scent, but as is? It's too reminiscent of commercial perfumes on me. I'll try it a couple more times but am unlikely to buy a bottle.

Imp: Weird. A bit metallic. Wet: Lemonhead candies (it wants to be lemon verbena but it's too powdery to pull off that minty undertone that lemon verbena has). Drydown: Orange blossom comes out, and then honeysuckle. Unfortunately, the three notes are involved in a beatdown instead of reaching sweet consensus. 1 hour: I smell like SweeTarts or Froot Loops, which would be cool if I were eight, but I'm 38 so...not so much. Verdict: Took it off with rubbing alcohol at 1 hour. Honeysuckle is almost always too sweet on me anyway. I'll look elsewhere for a lemon note to match the lime I love in Envy, because Lolita is definitely not me.

Imp: Warm violets. Wet: Violet but with a dusky undertone, like rained-on violets and damp earth. Drydown: Lilac blending in and a faint hint of the tuberose. This is insanely feminine without being girly. I think I'm in love. (Oh no, toward the end of the drydown it's started to go a bit soapy.) 1 hour: The soapy seems to have stabilized into a warm violet smell again. Even the little whiffs of soap aren't that bothersome; I had some lovely violet/lilac soap many years ago that smelled like this. It's fading fast, though. 3 hours: No idea. I went to bed with Nocturne on, sniffed my wrist, and was out like a light. ETA: The next morning, so 8+ hours - it's turned into a second-skin scent for me, warm violets with a hint of something damp, and something spicy that may just be my skin chemistry. Verdict: Lovely scent that doesn't have a lot of staying power (see ETA - it is very faint but still present, so not suitable if you want others to actually smell Nocturne). I'll use it as a night-time scent and may still buy a bigger bottle. It's a very calm and balancing scent to me, not particularly somber but not at all bubbly or outgoing.

Imp: Gardenia and something a bit spicy. Wet: Gardenia with a lot of throw. Almost completely single-note. Drydown: Gardenia continues. I'm getting a mild headache, possibly due to the strength of the gardenia. I have love/hate with gardenia due to the popularity of "Jungle Gardenia" perfume in my high school. At about 20 minutes, something like myrrh appears as an undernote. 1 hour: The myrrh has morphed into cinnamon and a hint of vanilla, but the gardenia continues to be clear and distinct. 2 hours: It's almost like I put on gardenia by accident, then layered something else on top of it. I feel like I'm wearing two distinct scents. 3 hours: I was almost asleep by this point but it hadn't changed. It was no longer apparent at 8+ hours of application when I woke up. Verdict: Not for me. Gardenia's too emphatic a floral for me, and the spiciness wasn't enough to mute it, just enough to set up a scent war.

Imp: Mint and - is that violets? It's not lavender. Interesting. Wet: MINT. Spearmint, with its softer edges, but still a knockdown punch of mint. Drydown: Minty still, but lavender has come out to play and there's a definite tinge of lime. 1 hour: A more blended green - I can pick out the mint and lime, but there's something warm underneath, plus a sunwarmed grassy note. It reminds me of Thai food without smelling like it. The violet scent is back too; it's got to be a skin chemistry thing as nobody else seems to be getting violets from Envy. 3 hours: Very faint. If I had the imp with me, I'd have reapplied at about 2.5 hours. Verdict: Winner, though more reapplication than I want. I'll retry it over moisturizer as I have dry skin. This is something I'd wear to work; it just smells competent and is very energizing. *adds to big-bottle list*

Imp: Synthetic apples, and very strong - enough to make me wonder whether to try or not, but I have the house to myself and there's a bottle of rubbing alcohol downstairs, so... Wet: Yellow Delicious apples, which have a high sugar-sweet note to my nose. Drydown: Still Yellow Delicious almost completely, but there's something green peeking around the edges to smooth out the OMGapple. No bark/earthiness - whoever said birch above? Yeah. 1 hour: Very bouncy scent, going from honey/apple to birch/apple to not-quite caramel apples. Unfortunately, there's also a periodic whiff of something decidedly fake, though whether it's deodorant sticks or Dawn apple-blossom dishsoap I can't tell. It's quieted down a lot. 3 hours: Very faint honey/apple. Would probably require reapplication somewhere around 90 minutes for anything beyond nose-on-skin. Verdict: I'll save this for the Boston autumn as a skin scent, and possibly as a home scent. Plus, it's worth a re-try to see if I'm wonky this week. If the oak/earth came out more, I'd love it; as is, the notes are a bit high for me. I need a more grounded scent for regular wear.

Imp: Green and herby but with a warm undertone. Definitely smellable beyond the closed cap. Wet: Something familiar - almost church incense, but not obviously frankincense. Strong throw on me. Drydown: Rapid changes over about an hour, bouncing back and forth between notes. Predominant notes include the basil and frankincense; the leather is almost there but not quite distinct, and it fades in and out. 1 hour: Sage and basil in the late-afternoon summer heat, sitting on someone's leather jacket just outside an empty church where there was incense in the morning service. (I want to hug me. And possibly grope a bit.) The ambergris is there, giving it an old-fashioned undertone and providing the warmth, but I can't pick it out distinctly. 3 hours: Warm quiet sage. It's stopped throwing so loudly, and it's just warm and comforting. This is exactly what I hoped Aeval would be, but without the high sweet floral note. ETA: 23 hours after application - working in the yard and a shower later, there's still a whiff of Antony on my wrists. It's a second-skin scent now and I am utterly in love with it.... Verdict: Keeper, though I'll have to be careful where I wear it as it throws more than I'm comfortable with. (I'd wear it all the time if cut with a carrier oil, though.) It's definitely not feminine, but I don't think I smell like a guy - it's just a confident scent. Imagine Katharine Hepburn in the early 50s, striding around Hollywood in her tailored trousers and white shirt, sexy as hell almost precisely because she doesn't care about being sexy? That's Antony on me. Now I've just got to live up to it.

I had such high hopes for Ouija...I love all the notes in the description. Imp: Lilac, wood, and something almost papery. Wet: Tea rose. Strong and pink and smells like high school. Drydown: Roses still. 30 minutes: Cedar and rosewood under the rose, and if it stayed like this it would be a 10ml purchase. Unfortunately.... 60 minutes: Absolutely gone. I never got the lilacs, and the initial burst of single-note tea rose is too sweet & generic for something that's gone in an hour. I'll keep looking for something that does the cedar/rose thing but doesn't disappear. Bummer.

Imp: Dark, dark chocolate - like one of the very dark bittersweet Scharffen Berger bars - and a whiff of coffee. Wet: Chocolate and coffee. Mmmm. Drydown: Almost immediately, the chocolate went away, and it became very thick espresso with an almost burnt edge. There's an undertone of burning leaves, not quite the resinous smell of tobacco, and not the bright greenery I associate with hops (I have hop vines so it's a familiar smell). 30 minutes to 3 hours: I am so insanely hungry. The smell on my wrist is not foody in any way - not even consciously appetizing, as it still smells like espresso burned a bit, but I would probably knock someone over in a rush to the ice cream section at the store. (Note to Boston people: there's a whiff of Toscanini's burnt caramel ice cream in the throw of this scent, just faintly.) 4 hours: oh, creamy milk chocolate! where did you come from? very mild and pleasant. It's wearing off; I would definitely need to reapply if I wanted much more. Verdict: It's a lot to go through to smell like milk chocolate. Given that I'm on a medically-restricted diet, I don't know that I can afford those ravenous hunger pangs on a regular basis, but I'm not quite ready to trade the imp.

Imp: Warm orange - the fig is evident but not very strong. Wet: Strong sweet oranges. Drydown: After 20 minutes in which I smelt of orange LifeSavers, it mellowed a bit - still an artificial orange scent, but a much classier one (expensive bodywash or candles). 45 minutes in: It's warmed up a bit with the fig, but still pricey fake orange. 90 minutes in: Completely gone. I've got my nose right on my wrist, and...nothing. I've decided fruit notes don't work on me; I need to review Swank, but the pomegranate there did the same expensive-candle thing. Perhaps I'll make shampoo or bodywash with these imps, as I think Carnal would be a fabulous day-starter in the shower! Just - not particularly carnal with my skin chemistry.

Imp: Sweet and green. The sweet pea is very strong. Wet: Ack! Sweet pea everywhere! Drydown: The initial sweet pea onslaught has tapered a bit, but it's still sweet and floral. About 30 minutes later: The tonka has started to mute the sweet pea a bit - it's still green and floral but much warmer. 1 hour: The sage has shown up, toning things down a bit. 2 hours: And, here's the musk. The sweet pea is almost - but not quite - gone. 3 hours: Odd. It's mostly sage and musk now, a bit dusty and definitely vegetal but with an undertone. Honestly, it reminds me of a well-stoked compost pile that's really cooking (it doesn't smell like compost, but it's that sort of vegetation + funk thing). 8 hours (after I woke up): Sage, like someone left the spice jar open all night. It's an interesting development of scent but I'm not sure when smelling like this would be the appropriate scent? *puts aside to try again at another time*