steffanina

Nyx- In Bottle: I smell the jasmine! Pretty. Wet: The jasmine has a pretty smell, but I think the rose is acting a little sour-ish. Will see. Dry: This does go a little sour-plastic-diapery on me. Not for me, too bad. Overall: Not for me.

The Lion- In Bottle: Oh, yes, that's what I call a golden scent, amber-rich and spicy. Wet: Very amberish bloom. Dry: I love this to pieces. It's richly amber and has that almost-vanilla undertone (I wish there was even more of that) and is so warm and fragrant...mmm. I feel like a goddess in this. Like if there was enough of it I could walk about being worshipped. Overall: I love. So much.

Languor- In Bottle: Bright white flowery notes. I'm sure I smell tuberose. Yes, there, it's listed! Gotcha. Wet: The tuberose hits and it's lovely, warm, bright. Dry: This is a lovely hot flower scent. As florals go I do like it quite a bit. Overall: I like, as florals go.

Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo- In Bottle: Mmm, sweet strawberries! Wet: At first like strawberry bubblegum, but then like cherry throat spray. Dry: An interesting strawberry blend! Not as from-the-first lovely as Bon Vivant, but it turns into a very nice warm strawberry. Overall: I like!

Black Opal- In Bottle: Subtle and sugar-powdery. Wet: This smells so much like Jovan's White Musk! I remember the first time I smelled White Musk. I was sniffing around the person and asked, "What is that? It smells like a wonderful laundry detergent." It's all fresh and cottony/lineny/washday. Dry: This lasts a nice long time, and I'm so happy to have something that smells like Jovan's White Musk that doesn't make me sneeze. Did I mention that's what happened when I tried to wear it myself? So, yeah. Fresh like the best of laundry detergent scents. Overall: I am full of nostalgia. I love.

(Old) Dublin- (Yes, my imp actually says "Old Dublin.") In Bottle: Soft and pine and herbal. Wet: Pine and herbs. Kinda yummy! Dry: Oh my God, I LOVE this. There's a white-musk-and-vanilla-sugar scent that emerges in this one, and it's rich and beautiful! I never would have guessed that would have come from the initial smell in the bottle! It's like a Christmas foodie smell, gorgeous! Overall: I love.

Burial- In Bottle: I smell no dirt. I smell tea tree oil and smoke. Wet: Tea tree oil and smoke. Dry: This turns to cedar on me. Cedar and I aren't really in love. Maybe it's Burial because it's the smell of a cedar coffin? But I never got any dirt off it, none. And I got tons of dirt off Penny Dreadful, Zombi, and Premature Burial (the last is one of my very favorites). Overall: Not for me.

Shattered- In Bottle: A lime-grapefruit floral. Beautiful in the bottle! Wet: Woo, tea tree oil right up the nose. Dry: This mellowed into something lightly floral; nice, but didn't really send me. Overall: Not interesting for me.

A gentle, healing love blend, often used to help mend a broken heart. Brings peace of mind, soothes the sting of loss, and aids in finding closure. Dove's Heart- In Bottle: Lightly lavender, in a good way. Wet: A sour note. I'm wrinkling my nose. Dry: No, I'm afraid I can't wait for a longer dry-down on this. It's that sour floral thing that happens so frequently on me. Overall: Not for me.

La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente- In Bottle: Oh, my. Clove and cinnamon and apple and the prettiest of florals. This smells delicious, like Halloween! Wet: A strong floral bloom with just a hint of that apple. Very different from the bottle! Will wait and see. Dry: A pretty fruit-floral blend. I'm not sure I'll want it a lot, but I think I might try it in scent lockets or sachets. Overall: Pretty.

Dragon's Tears- In Bottle: The cherry-powder scent of Dragon's Blood, plus an aquatic note. Very Pool-of -Tears-y, that note. Wet: Very interesting--that dragon's blood note mixed with the aquatic. That makes me rather tolerant of this aquatic--many are just too eye-burningly strong for me. Dry: I can't get over what a lovely light aquatic this makes! It's so softly floral and unaggressive. So pretty! It doesn't last a whole long time, but that's okay. Overall: I really like!

Honey Moon- In Bottle: I smell honey, and the gardenia. (That's the flower I recognize.) Wet: Honey-floral--the floral wins out. Dry: Powdery-sweet. Wish the honey had come out a little more strongly, but I suppose that's what O's for. It's nice, though! Overall: Pretty.

Envy- In Bottle: Weeeeeeds. Oh, that's interesting. Wet: Weeds, and the herbal-ness of this comes out. Dry: Okay, when I need to smell like grass, heat-warmed grass, I'll remember this one. I don't think it'll be often, though. Overall: Novel, yes, but not for me.

Midnight on the Midway- In Bottle: Sugar and soapy flowers. Neat! Wet: Soap and sugar. Dry: Oh, this is such a beautiful dry-down! It reminds me of the sweeter perfumes I used to try when I was younger--anything with vanilla made me happy, and of course you couldn't get straight foodie perfume; it all had flowers. But this is the lightest of vanilla/sugar florals. It's beautiful. I don't know if I'll wear it often but it's the sort of scent I'll want when I feel the need to smell like actual perfume and not just something foodie. Overall: I love.

Laudanum- In Bottle: The nutmeg is strong and sharp. Almost peppery. There's a bit of sweetness too. Wet: !!! Are we sure there's no benzoin in this?? There's a huge medicinal smell here. Dry: That huge medicinal smell goes away, but what's left doesn't really work for me. Oh, well. It was intriguing in the bottle. Overall: Not for me.

Ra- In Bottle: A little amber-floral. Wet: Musty weedy smell. Dry: This just sort of faded without anything interesting blooming on me. Oh, well. Overall: Uninteresting.

Nuit- In Bottle: A warm floral. Wet: Sourish floral. Dry: This stayed sourish until it faded, within a couple of hours. Not for me. Overall: Not for me.

Val Sans Retour- In Bottle: Kind of herbal-green. Wet: Very herbal. Like rosemary. Dry: This is gone in a short time and never became anything I liked. Overall: Uninteresting.

Montresor- In Bottle: Ooh, sherry-cherry and boozy... Wet: Cherry cough syrup! But not in a bad way! There really is eucalyptus-y cough syrup here. Dry: What a dark rich berry bit of eeeevil this is. I can't help but like this one, it appeals to the wicked side of me that I wish I had. The cough syrup smell dissipates but there remains cherry booziness. It's nifty. Overall: Not an everday scent but very cool.

Muse- In Bottle: Tuberose, yeah, all floral-bright pretty. Wet: Bright hot ozone-y floral. The tuberose. Dry: This fades before long; it never really worked as well as I thought it would. The tuberose was sharp and bright and I was hoping it would be a little sweet-warm. Overall: Not as pleasing as I had hoped.

Penthus- In Bottle: A little bitterly floral. Wet: Still bitter. Dry: This just doesn't work for me. It does that "rose gone sour" thing that many florals do on my skin and make me wrinkle my nose. Oh well. Overall: Not for me.

Kuang Shi- In Bottle: Hard aggressive orange citrus like the kind in Goo Gone (a strong orange cleaner, for those of you who've never smelled it) Wet: Ooh, strong...dusty scent on top of the orange. Dry: The dusty strong scent recedes, but the orange scent does too. In fact there's very little of it left soon after. This just doesn't work for me. Overall: Not for me.

Madrid- In Bottle: Oh, is that cool. It's like...grape-cinnamon, though that isn't quite it. Wet: The clove is stronger than the fruit, but I like it a lot. Dry: This stayed rich grapey-cinnamon all the way through and it was fascinating. I don't think it's going to be a frequent flyer but I do like it! Overall: Teensy bit conditional, but I do like!

Moscow- In Bottle: Faint and floral. Hard to smell anything, really. Wet: Very lightly floral, a little sour. Rose does that to me sometimes. Dry: All I get is rose and maybe a little hint of citrus. And it's faint. This is gone in a very short time. Overall: Unexciting.

High John the Conqueror- In Bottle: A little minty, and a hint of fruit. Grape bubblegum? Wet: Camay soap! Well, that's interesting. Brings back memories of hotel soaps from long ago. Dry: Soapy but sweet, a little fruity, rather pleasant. Powdery, in a nice way. I'll remember this one when I want something clean-smelling. Overall: Nice.