vihanei

I got this as a gift imp with a forum purchase, and am glad I finally got to try it! Wet, it goes on straight-up woodsy. I want to say cedar (though I'm not certain), with some incense alongside it. Under that, there's a layer of rosewood; I recognize the smell from Seance. I like woods, but this - is a lot. As it dries, this stays remarkably the same on me, actually. One of the least-morphing BPALs I've tried. There's a hint of a green something lurking somewhere beneath, but mostly it's various woods and a bit of incense. I'm not really getting leather, or tonka (which is odd, because tonka amps on me like whoa. then again, apparently so do wood notes.). I put this on, just a dab, before heading out to work, and in the car on the way home it was still present. Not huge smell-it-everywhere throw, but definitely would have been if I'd put more on! Now that is staying power.

Man, when I saw Snake Oil and copal, I nearly died of joy. Alas, it was a romance that was not to be. This starts out all incensey and spicy and very slightly sweet and *perfect* - and then something happens, and it does the thing that Dragon's Blood does on me and goes *insanely sweet*. Aiyiyi, not so good. I'll try it a couple more times, to see if it was some sort of wonky chemistry thing, but it may have to go to someone who will keep it as incense on their skin and not some kind of crazy *sugarsugarsugar* scent.

This scent is so clean, slightly musky and *very* light. The aloe starts off stronger, and then fades with time. It reminds me a bit of Spirits of the Dead, from the Demon in My View collection, but without the drydown that went a bit Dormouse on me. It's a gentle scent, fading softly from when I put it on; it only lasts a couple of hours, and the throw is really short. Definitely a skin-scent. I thought at first I'd be ordering a bottle, but it fades so fast. I'm gonna keep the imp, and see how it goes from there.

Hmmm. That's not something I would have picked on my own, but now that you say it, I can see where you're coming from, and where the similarities might be. OOoo, now I'm all excited! Thanks so much; she's definitely going on the wishlist! (And, hee, campaign scents. I think Xiutecuhtli is that for me - it's just so *amazing,* I can't help but pimp it! )

I've recently been rediscovering how incredibly much I love Xiuhtecuhtli. It's a many-layered scent, on me; woody base, a little bit incensey, and slightly sweeter, fruitier notes on top. Any suggestions on other scents (preferably GC, but I'm open to anything that's not dc'd) I could try that are similar?

I thought this would be a little more vanilla-y than it wound up being; on me, it very quickly turned into pure, soft, cared-for leather (specifically it reminded me of saddle leather, defintely a "brown" leather), and then just - lingered. Beautifully. Sadly, I don't think I can manage to take myself seriously while smelling like a saddle all day, so I'm going to have to swap this away - but it can certainly be a unisex scent, if you like to smell like leather, and the pear & vanilla just act to give a slight sweetness to the scent. (As a sidenote, I tried it on my dad - and on him, it went all wonky and medicinal! He said "it smells like a doctor's office," and I sniffed him, and he was right! While at the same time I was smelling of warm, soft leather... Go figure.) Whoa - a little slow to swap this off, then tried an "oh what the heck" layer underneath a healthy dose of Severin, and YOW that's good! Dunno if it's enough to inspire me to keep it, but it's definitely getting reconsidered!

I nearly didn't get this - I'd figured from the overwhelming list of dark notes that it would be too much for me, but I took a chance and added it to a decant circle order (literally at the last minute!). OH I am so glad I did! Somebody upthread called this Samhain's older brother, and I'd definitely agree. It's what I thought I'd get from Samhain last year, and didn't. (Don't get me wrong, I love Samhain, but it's much warmer on me than I thought it would be). The scent goes on in an initial splurge of "HOLY YIKES VETIVER." Seriously seriously strong. I was afraid, on the first test, that it was all over and done for right there. But within only a few minutes, it calms down into this lovely, deep, cool scent. I know there are no apples listed on the notes, but I'm getting just a touch of the same warm, cidery top-note as Samhain; the bottom notes, though, are so much cooler and darker. If Samhain is a chilly autumn afternoon with cider, this is definitely evening, with the moon riding high. Absolutely fantastic. I'm buying a bottle. I'm trying to convince myself that there's no way I need two.

I got this as a frimp with a decant circle, after it'd been on my wishlist for a while. Immediate response: Whoo! That's a floral with *kick*! Goes on very floral, but almost immediately calms down; I presume that's the opium underneath, lending the hint of spice. I get a slight tinge of that soapy quality that some reviewers have noted, but it's not much, just hovering around the edges of the scent. Very, very dark for a floral. Sadly, I am 100% not a florals girl; this imp is for the swaps. Darkness would be lovely on the right person, but the right person would have to be someone who doesn't feel like an idiot when they smell like a flower.

This is like the love child of Pumpkin Patch #1 and The Hesperides. On me, it goes on APPLE APPLE APPLE, very tart and crisp and juicy. I'm iffy on foody scents (though I do love aforesaid pumpkin patch), but it's not really *foody,* per se. Very light and happy. As it dries, it deepens a little bit, becoming more of an "apple with some spices" scent. I never really get the cranberry clearly, but I suspect it's there in the background, rounding out the blend. The throw is decent, although my skin eats it all up in a couple of hours. Short version: a lovely lovely scent. Unfortunately, it's just a tad too light for me; I may choose to keep the imp around, but generally I think I'll be sticking with the warmer, spicier Pumpkin Patch #1, and of course my lovely Samhain (which is a lot warmer on me than on most people, ymmv).