themeaningofV

At first, it is completely PINE on me, like Coniferous Forest: Single Note. Ten minutes later, there was SOMEWHAT of a transition phase where the cranberry came through... then the cedar came to the forefront. Five minutes later, it's become wax-like, and I am a Christmas candle in a holiday store. Not for me.

In the imp, it was round, full, syrupy cherries and awesomeness. On me, it's black licorice and red musk, with a sour/tart undertone. Nooooo thanks.

Stand and deliver! Vetiver with gardenia, blood red rose, night-blooming jasmine, a dash of cinnamon and a faint hint of leather. Ahh, this is what I was hoping Cruelties Thrive would be like! There's an initial blast of vetiver, but after the first ten minutes or so, it begins to subside, revealing leather and soft florals. I am still not too sure about the jasmine, so I'm going to wait and see. I think this is one to age a few months and try again.

In the imp: I went "holy SHIT" when I sniffed this. A rich, tart wine with a hint of florals. On my skin: Leather, wine, and a breath of powder. So much yes. This just might compete with Blood Kiss for my "attract ALL the people" scent. I'm in love.

I received this from the lovely HJackson when she destashed. This is brilliant. In the imp, it's straight-up apricot marmalade. On my skin, the clove comes out, lending a lot of spice to the apricot. It gets a bit "drier", but it manages to stay fruity and spicy without veering into craft store candle territory. I'm honored that I finally got to try this, and I will cherish this imp and pray for a resurrection, even if only temporary.

I want to love this. In the imp, it reminds me of all of my favorite places - New Age shops, CD stores that sell sticks of incense... It's a fantastic lightly spiced red musk. The problem is that it has zero staying power on me. I put some on, took a four-hour nap, and it was completely gone when I woke up. I JUST applied some MINUTES ago, and it's already fading. Another Nosferatu. I'll probably keep the imp around for sniffing purposes, but this is depressing.

I got a decant of Count Dracula, and I'm in LOVE, but I've had zero luck finding more in the swaps and sales forums. Anyone have any suggestions for a GC substitute? The notes, for reference: I know that someone asked this back in 2008, but I'd like to know if any other GCs have come out that sound like a better fit (Old Demons of the First Class sounds sorta promising). (update: nope, Old Demons was not what I was looking for.)

originally posted 9/27/13: 2010 version. On me, this is a sweeter, more powdery Snake Oil - which is PERFECT, since Snake Oil (and some Snake Pits) can have a tendency to go too sharp and acrid on me. It's soft and sweet, with a touch of musk and spice. I absolutely love what the honeys brought to the table here, and I've been using up this decant like crazy and will have to track down a bottle or two soon. added 10/28/13: 2012 version. I'm surprised by how different this is! While the 2010 iteration is mostly musky honey sweetness, this is much heavier on the patchouli - the vanilla and honeys are there, but more understated. This has a very distinctive cola flavor. I imagine this is what Feed Me & Fill Me With Pleasure would've been on me had the black patch not turned that into pencil shavings. I'm enjoying both versions.

This is pretty nondescript on me - dries down to beeswax with a hint of pepper and oakmoss. Not much throw. I don't particularly like or dislike it because there's literally nothing about it that jumps out at me! I spent a while tracking this down, but I think this one will be swaps, unfortunately.

This taught me that cardamom is something I should never, ever put on my skin ever again. My skin burned and turned red where I put this on. I've never had that reaction to cinnamon blends before, so it must be the cardamom or the combo of cardamom and cinnamon. I sort of like the scent, but with a physical reaction like that... nope, off to swaps.

Starts off as a really nice, sugary lemon scent, but the florals come out especially strong on me and make it bitter and nasty. SWAP.

I find this a bit more similar to Lush's "Tramp" than Dance of Death was, though it's earthier. It's rather resiny, with a hint of sweetness. And now that I've read the "dollar bills" comparisons, I can totally see it. A keeper.

I knew I would love this from the description, and I was not wrong. Freshly-turned soil, moss, and rose petals strewn about. Love.

I'm really surprised by how subtle this is! Upon first application, I get roses, but not overpoweringly so. Then the cinnamon comes in, but that's not in-my-face, either! There's not much throw, and it's more of a skin scent - it's just a hint of spiced roses above the back of my wrist. Very elegant and nice.

Got this as a frimp with an eBay order. The first few times I sniffed it, I put it away without skin testing it because it was a bit too girly/department store perfume-y for me. But on my skin, WOW. I don't know if I'm having a good skin chem day or what, but after the rose musk settles down, the honey and pear bloom into something really, really beautiful. It's dried down into a nice, sweet fruity-floral scent. Not even the currant wrecks this one for me. Gorgeous. I'll hang onto this one.

Starts off as mostly pomegranate and a bit of spice, then changes to men's cologne. The cologne phase wears off, and I'm left with earthy, musty remnants with just a hint of fruit. Crypt King is a dapper fellow, and the name is very befitting of this blend.

I'm going to have to echo the above "yech" - my first thought was that there had to be jasmine in this. It's waaay stinky, overpowering, and gave me a mild headache. A shame, since the description was so lovely!

This is ASTOUNDING. On first application I got cinnamon and ginger, and then the clove and coffin wood came in. YUM. The spice is beginning to burn off, and the black musk is drifting in and adding a lazy sweetness to the blend. I'm so glad I grabbed a decant from eBay, and though it might take me a while to track down a bottle, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to do that. Jeebus, I LOVE this. /huffs arm and faints

This is unfortunately going the same route as Coral Snake on me - the first few seconds are WONDERFUL, very sweet and incensey, and then it all kinda falls apart and smells really sharp, funky, and B.O.-like. I'm 50/50 with Snake Pit blends now. Darn. eta: Whoa, now I'm getting that Sweet-Tarts/grape note weirdness. What a strange blend.

Holy geez, this was a "why not?" addition to my decant circle order and I'm SO GLAD I WENT FOR IT. There's not much else to say - it's JUST LIKE HOT CHOCOLATE, complete with marshmallows. It's really intense at first, but on the skin it dries down to smoooooooth cocoa, like the kind you use in baking. This is so good, omg. A total win and a possible bottle.

First impression: whoa, this is SWEET. It's very syrupy, with something that reminds me of either honey or caramel. As it dries down, it's turning into a sort of musky, spicy powder. There MIGHT be some vanilla in there, but I can't tell for sure. I wasn't sure about the initial blast of SWEETNESS, but I'm actually really digging the drydown. Gonna hang onto this one. eta: Okay, the throw and longevity on this is in. sane. It's become a lot more peppery, too. It brings to mind a STYLISH SWANKIN' OLD WOMAN, which I suppose is the point.

This is so strange. I got a frimp of the Dark Delicacies signature blend a few weeks ago, and Tattered Lace's drydown smells JUST LIKE that: a creamy, heavy, almost smoky vanilla/coconut blend. Slightly sour and not "light" on me at all. Huh.

A dry, slightly vanilla apple musk with a hint of bergamot. It's light, fragile, and absolutely gorgeous. It doesn't have much throw on me, but that means I'll just have to track down more for re-application - it's worth it.

2008 version. "The taste of blood and sweat," indeed - I was really enjoying the opening kush stage but now it's gone really sour and tangy on me. It fits the description a bit too well on me, and it kinda just makes me want to take a shower. Oh well!

Tiger-lily, ginger root, neroli, purple fruits, and frankincense. I'm only getting lily and frankincense from this, which is disappointing since I was looking forward to some ginger! I have a full bottle of Hymn for my lily-heavy needs, so I don't need to hang onto this. It was worth the try, though!