summer

Reviving this thread because, although I am not pregnant, I'm planning on chucking the contraception in the very near future. I am an absolute BPAL whore, and in addition to my large collection of oils, I've got many much-anticipated blends on the way. However, in reading about pre-conception dos and don'ts, I've come across several sources that advise against the use of essential oils at all during the first trimester of pregnancy. Now, disclaimer -- I realize that this is just an internet forum and that ultimately I should consult my physician. And I will! But at this early stage, I'm just interested in hearing your opinions/experiences/lore regarding using essential oils (as perfume) when trying to conceive and during the first trimester. I'm planning to stay far, far away from my imp of Pain (as advised ) and anything else containing Pennyroyal, but I'm wondering if it's worth the risk to use ANY BPAL for those first few months? It will kill me -- LOL -- as I adore perfume so very much and use it as a mood enhancer, but obviously, the child's healthy development comes first. Any words of wisdom & experience for a perfume-loving wanna-be first-time mother?

Chaste Moon is very nice. Sweet, soft, and quiet. It really is molten butterscotch in the bottle . . . which is quite strange, because once on the skin, it gives way to a soft, sugar-creamed light pink floral fragrance. A hint of butterscotch lingers in the background, but it doesn't make the fragrance foody. It's a sweet floral in the nature of Regan, but a little more round, and a little more feminine. This strikes me as a ladies' tea party scent. Sweet, demure, pretty, and a wee bit yummy (without being overbearingly dessert-ish). Quite lovely; it's not an "OMFG!" scent for me, but I'm very happy to have a bottle, and I'm enjoying wearing it as kind of a default pretty Springtime scent.

Warm, close-to-the-skin hot oranges scent, with a touch of something earthy. This oil really feels like taking a deep breath and feeling the sun expand within your heart -- it's expansive, regal, late-afternoon African sunlight shining through the dust and grass of the savannah.

Oh my GOD. This perfume AFFECTS me. I slathered it on my wrists and literally felt warmth rushing through my arms. Not the burn of a reaction to cinnamon oil, but just the feeling of warmth. The smooth flow of molten lava. This is a warm, body heat floral that penetrates deep down to the bone. Flowing through all the bullshit defenses to grab ahold of the heart. I smell a musky, sweet, close-to-the skin floral, and spice -- I'm pretty sure I smell cinnamon. It's strong. It's powerful. It goes right up my nose and enlivens my brain. Needless to say, I wish I had several more bottles of this. The Living Flame is simply stunning.

Harlot is interesting. It's very much rose and cinnamon -- but both notes are very dry ones. This is not wet; this is not edible. This is dry and hot, like a desert wind. It's actually quite lovely. At first, while it's still wet, it's almost unpleasantly bitter. Dry, bitter rose. But as it dries, the cinnamon emerges and the fragrance seems to become more blended; more whole. It warms up into a very lovely round, spiced rose. This is a warming blend that makes me feel cozy. And it's absolutely fantabulous layered with Dana O'Shee.

OH. This is deep and smooth, with a glimmer of tart brightness (must be from the lime). It has the feel of lotus -- smooth, round, and tart -- but does not smell like lotus. The berries sweeten it, but this is not fruity or foody. Divajen on the Lush forum compared this scent to the scent of a Lush shop -- you know, that all-consuming cacophony of tangy ballistic dust, the scent of sweet, floral, and resiny soaps all mingling together on the table, and (for me) the wooden floors. The comparison is dead-on. To me, Venom smells like LOTS of different independently wonderful, natural fragrances all giving off their perfumes in one small, inviting, deliciously-scented room.

DAMN this is good. SO GOOD. I owned an imp of it long before I wore it . . . and what a mistake that was. You see, I got Vice around the same time I got Bliss. To me, Bliss was pure, sweet milk chocolate. And in the vial, Vice smelled like the "dark chocolate" counterpart. Nice, but whenever the "need chocolate" mood hit, I went for Bliss. Well. The other night, my husband and I went to a swanky jazz club for his birthday. I felt like wearing something decadent and sexy. Something made me reach for Vice. And in this instance, my intuition was DEAD ON! Mmmmm, there's dark chocolate, yes, but it melds into the skin and deep, dark cherries emerge. This is an impossibly sexy, delicious scent. My husband doesn't go for sweet, foody scents, but he loved this on me. It's just perfect -- the sweetness, richness, and luxury of chocolate, but it still manages to smell like perfume; not dessert. Just divine. I'm getting a 5ml for sure.

GOD this is good stuff. It's definitely a sweet, pink bubblegummy fragrance. However, *somehow* it manages not to smell fake and synthetic, but rather totally warm, whole, naturally sweet and organic. It's like homemade bubble gum (if there is such a thing) made from strawberry/melon-y sugar syrups. Or cotton candy made from pure, raw spun sugar. It has a definite warm feeling -- not spicy, but warm nonetheless. Warm like skin heated from a close, snuggly hug. I feel like this oil brightens my eyes when I wear it. It's warm, nurturing, sweet, and smile-inducing. I've got a big bottle on the way. Yippee!

SPOOKY! (I just love the name. This may be the best name for a perfume ever!) *ahem* So, Spooky. In the bottle it smells sweet, minty, and chocolatey. On my skin, the mint became the most prominent first, and as it dries it becomes a bit smoky. The smokiness worried me at first, but as it settled into my skin, instead of becoming smokier, it got warmer, and a toasted coconut scent began to emerge. This is a weird, silly scent indeed, but it's positively ADDICTIVE from the get-go! A shape shifter, but with an overall yummy, giddy, energetic vibe. I should mention that this is THE FIRST scent that my husband ever has complimented me on! Funny; he picked out the coconut scent right away and said that I smelled "really nice." He said that it "doesn't smell like perfume, but smells good." Believe me, coming from this man -- the hardest man on earth to please when it comes to fragrance -- this is a huge compliment. As much as I like this now, I really think I'm going to love it in the Fall. This is a very "Fall" scent to me. It's going to be fantastic in October, when the air is crisp and leaves are crunching underfoot. I think I like this better than all the Halloween LE's! To me, this is all the candy and fun and silliness and darkness of Halloween all rolled into one. Divine. Thanks so much, Lab, for bringing this back! Edited to add: OMG, the longer I wear this, the more sweeter it gets! The toasted coconut starts to give way to the chocolate again. Ooh this is an intriguing one! Love it! LOVE! IT!

*mad grin* Cheshire Cat is fabulous -- unique, clean, tart, and sweet. The grapefruit note is unmistakeable, but it's ever so subtly sweetened . . . perhaps by the currant? However, the bitter citrus scent is tempered by a medly of herbal notes. I especially smell the chamomile, which gives the whole thing a kind of sweet, grassy base. The longer this oil is on my skin, the more blended and "perfume-like" it becomes -- that is to say, the notes are no longer discernable one by one; they blend into this crisp, slightly sweet, slightly floral combination. Yummy. I really have to slather this one on, so I got a 5ml. I imagine it will get used up quickly!

Yes, it was almost more of a rhetorical question, the subtext of which was "what the hell is wrong with my nose?"

Damn you, sandalwood, damn you. Beth, I love you -- but why must every juicy fruit fragrance that I think I'm going to love contain sandalwood and musk? (Forgive me; I'm still rebounding from Zephyr dissapointment.) Anyway . . . Kuang Shi starts of as bitter, crisp fruit. Yellow and orange fruit. Yum, this is promising. Almost immediately upon contact with my skin, it becomes a sumptuous, juicy, sweeter version of yellow and orange fruit. HEAVENLY. Visions of big bottles of this delicious fruit oil were dancing in my head. Then, as it dried . . . *sniff sniff* . . . hm, it's starting to smell curiously dark and earthy. Wait -- is that . . . NO! NOT SANDALWOOD! The earthiness of the sandalwood cuts right into the sweetness of this oil and dominates it, unfortunately for me. Unlike Zephyr, however, the sandalwood in Kuang Shi does not completely suck the juiciness out of the scent. Bubbling behind the wretched sandalwood, I still can smell thick mango juice . . . how I wish the sandalwood would get out of the way and let me enjoy it! All in all, this is not completely unwearable for me, but the fact that the sandalwood interferes with what otherwise would be an absolute favorite just bugs me too much for me to get a big bottle. However, if your skin doesn't amplify and ick-ify sandalwood like mine does, this will be a real treat.

A very light, airy, sparkling scent. Coconutty without being tropical. The coconut just adds to the feeling of pure, white light! I'd forgotten how special this oil really is, as I'd categorized it as just "coconut" in my mind. But after slathering myself in it yesterday, I was reminded of how cool and bright it is! That cool, white coconut spiked with lime and what smells like pennyroyal or mint. It's absolutely beautiful, and so perfectly captures the energy of The Star.

Forbidden Fruit smells almost like single-note lotus to me. There is a whisper of fruit -- is it peach? -- but it almost seems like an afterthought. I like lotus very much, but there are other lotus blends that I prefer (like Muse and Paris), so Forbidden Fruit does not stand out as special to me. However, if one is looking for a good way to get acquainted with lotus, this might be a good place to start, as fruit is quite complimentary to the tart sweetness of lotus.

Lovely. This is a light, floaty peach, and the touch of sandalwood just makes it ever so grounded, such that it's not sticky or candy-like. Just a kitten-soft, sweet peach. There's also a gentle sparkle to it . . . probably from the heliotrope. Some of the peach blends (like Imp) can be overbearing, but this one is very light and wearable. As it dries, the sandalwood becomes more apparant, which usually is a bad thing for me, but the sweetness of the peach prevents it from becoming too masculine. This is not a "holy grail" oil for me, but it's very pleasant, and I'll really enjoy using up my imp during the summer, when I feel like something fruity but can't deal with the sticky ripeness of some of my favorite fruit blends like Kabuki. I won't be getting a big bottle, however, due to sandalwood, which, although not that obtrusive in this blend, quickly is becoming my nemesis by being present in so many otherwise glorious fruit oils -- yes Zephyr and Kuang Shi, I'm talking to you.

I don't know why, but I got it into my head that Zephyr would be sugared lemons. I was wrong. My skin latches on to the sandalwood in this blend and amplifies it to an unpleasant degree. Apart from that, I can smell musk and a bit of powdery-ness. I find it to be quite masculine, and not at all "me." Too bad! Sugared lemons would have been divine (even though I have no idea why I expected that, based on the description!). Oh well, off to the swap pile!

Just fabulous -- big bottle, please! I didn't really know what to expect from this, and when I first opened the vial, I thought it was mis-lableled, because I smelled lemon. Bright, sweet, lemon! Surprise notwithstanding, I LOVED it. I now realize that I wasn't smelling lemon, but more likely, the sharpness of the ginger -- but really, this is such a well-blended fragrance that I can't really pick out any of the individual notes. For instance, I can't smell the pepper or the tea distinctly. I can smell the honey (the sweetness that I noticed right away), and I can smell a clean, light floral that must be the "linen," but this doesn't smell soapy in the slightest (which is how I imagined a linen note would smell). The tea, pepper, and ginger seem to create a warm, complex base for all of this. All in all -- this is FREAKING FABULOUS. As it really settles in to my skin (after about 4 hours), the milk & honey develops more and more and the crispness starts to fade. Unfortunate, because I LOVE the crisp phase of this blend, but the milk & honey phase is delicious as well. It's remarkable how much this reminds me of Alice, particularly since I'm not that fond of Alice. As I've said many times before, Alice smells like a baby nursery on me, in a kind of powdery, diapery, icky way. White Rabbit, on the other hand, has the same milky sweetness, but with that slightly spiced, deeper base that makes it MUCH more wearable for me. This is not a little girl's tea party -- it truly is a MAD tea party! I love this scent; it encapsulates the energy of spring fever, and is unique and interesting while still being wearable. Bring on the 5ml!

LOL-- thanks for the confirmation (and the trout smack!). I really thought I was going crazy. Zepher is SO different than I expected! I should have known that sandalwood will "man up" a scent for me every time! Interestingly, White Rabbit is getting more and more Alice-like on me as I wear it. That is, the honey and cream are really coming to the forefront. I think I prefer the initial crisp phase, but this is a lovely blend all the same, and I can't wait to get a big bottle. *sternly reminds self to wait for Pink Moon*

I'm becoming more and more convinced that they're labeled correctly, now that I've had the "eureka" moment about the sandalwood in Zephyr. And although White Rabbit definitely smells peculiarly lemony to me in the vial . . . once it's been on my skin a while, the lemony smell gives way to a complex sweetness (that is truly more honeyish than vanilla). Perhaps what I was smelling as floral is this "linen" note everyone talks about? It smells a lot like what I wished Alice smelled like -- that honey/milk thing, but sharper and more wearable. Alice smelled like a baby nursery on me, but this just smells divine. Crisp, sweet, and complex. *swoon* I think I smelled the "crispness" and thought --> lemon. Then I smelled the sweetness and thought --> vanilla. And my brain just jumped to the conclusion that it must be Zephyr! Especially since I was not expecting Zephyr to smell so musky/sandalwoody, which my brain must have confused for "peppery." (Incidentally, I don't smell the pepper as a distinct note in White Rabbit -- it just contributes to the overall spicy wearableness of this otherwise Alice-like scent. Brilliant!) I think I deserve to be hit with a trout:

Ok . . . after reading some more reviews -- I think they may be labeled correctly after all, and my brain and expectations were just screwing with me! I forgot that Zephyr contained sandalwood . . . and I think it's the sandalwood note that's jumping to the foreground, making me find it masculine. My skin amplifies sandalwood, and I really can't stand it except for in Namaste. Crap! I was hoping to lurve Zephyr. However, the good news is . . . I White Rabbit. Simply divine. Sweet, fresh, and gorgeous. Big bottle material for sure. I'd love to continue hearing your thoughts, however, just to confirm!

Hm, the one labeled Zephyr definitely smells very musky (I *think*) . . . but also a little spicy, which is why I was thinking it was White Rabbit? And I really don't smell lemon in it at all . . . And the one labeled White Rabbit . . . well shoot, now that I reapply I can't decide whether I'm really smelling lemon or not! I definitely can smell "linen" in it if I try . . . Gah, the mind is so powerful! It's so difficult to figure out what you're smelling without filtering it through expectations. Either way, I really like the one labeled White Rabbit, and I don't care so much for the one labeled Zephyr. Eeek, how to know which one to get a bottle of!

Last night I got my eagerly-awaited package ( ), and Zephyr and White Rabbit were two of the first that I tested. However, they were not what I expected . . . Most notably, the imp labeled White Rabbit smells distinctly lemony. Slightly floral, slightly sweet, slightly fresh, but definitely lemony. This is what I was expecting Zephyr to smell like! Conversely, the imp labled Zephyr smells kind of masculine, with a touch of honey, and slightly powdery. All signs are pointing to these two having mixed-up labels! What do you think? I'd really like to get a big bottle of the lemony one, and I'd hate for my reviews of these two to confuse others. *puzzled*

I don't know why, but I spontaneously slathered my wrists with the Sacred Whore after work today. I was just drawn to it. Mmmm, it's wonderful. Golden, languid, and extremely feminine. It's like thick gardenia syrup -- that is, there's something almost honeyed about it. The spice is very subtle on me -- but just there enough to make the fragrance warm and heady. Mmmmmmmmm. This isn't an "everyday" scent for me, but it's sweet, sexy, and quite beautiful. It will be a gorgeous springtime come-hither scent.

Where has this been all my life. I think that whenever I think I want "berry," what I really want is "cherry." Cherry is THE quintessential red, sweet, fruity smell to me. And Kabuki is heavy on the cherry. Thick, rich cherry. It's not like candy on me. It's like a luxuriant cherry syrup (perhaps a liqueur), with something slightly dark and deep about it. This is a velvety scent. Not old velvet -- new, PLUSH velvet. I think I'm smelling the star anise as well. I'm not sure exactly how this note smells, but there's a very subtle touch of black licorice. Overall, this is lovely and unique. It's a sweet, lickable scent, but not childlike in the slightest. I have just ordered a 5ml.

I tried this a few times at different stages in my hormonal cycle, just to make sure I was sure, but . . . this smells A LOT like Bath & Body Works's Plumeria scent to me. Odd, because there's no plumeria in Kitsune-Tsuki. That put me off a bit at first, but as I wear it more and more I'm less prejudiced by the B&BW resemblance and more appreciative of the fact that this is a cheery, sweet floral. It smells like spring nights. Quite lovely. This is a nice scent to wear when I don't feel too complicated -- just pretty, simple, feminine, and young. I likey.