Peaches 2

Ahhh, the Snake Oil curse continues! This really, really doesn't like me. I get no vanilla, no Dorian at all, and a lot of head-shop. ETA: And a lot more of soapy, soapy lily. Thank heaven for The Gladdener of All Hearts!

Boy, do I love this! Soft, innocent, and alluring all at the same time. I was worried about the honey, because honeyed scents usually become a honey single note on me, but this is just a sweet, light and creamy floral. It'll be great for the office, subtly sensual enough to stand alone, but neutral enough to layer something more provocative on top for evening, if I want. This is a spectacular year-round all-purpose scent, a keeper, and probably multiple bottle purchase. It does fade quickly on me, so I'd better stock up for frequent reapplication.

Oooooooo. Lovely. Creamy. I don't get vanilla, but that's probably because I expect vanilla to be sweet, and this isn't. On me it has an aquatic edge; this is the rocky side of the beach, silicate and shells, the warmth of the sun and the cool of the sea. Luminescent and subtle, as if mother of pearl had a scent.

Abner was my very first dragon. His name means "father of light", and he represents my total descent into dragon madness. His egg theft, hatching, growth statistics and official adult portrait are viewable at: Abner's Page on Dragon Cave Like any fond mother, I have collected some baby pictures. I'll be adding them at a later date. Abner is the head of our entire brood.

I have found a need for those who have vacationing or other obligations to have a place to park their Dragon scroll links. I'm beginning with Angelscruff's Scroll, since I am their grandmother, and they seem to have a permanent requirement until she passes her bar exam. The various eggs, hatchlings, and daycare scrolls can be found in the blocks to the left and right.

Okay, so I haven't tested a lot of imps lately, and I've collected a bunch over the last several months through various swaps, purchases, frimpage and so on. I couldn't even tell where I got most of them at this point, because I've lost track. So, I grab a handful and start swiping them here and there. One of the first up, Aeval. Excuse me for a moment. :D Ahem. I just had to get that out of my system. This is an amazing, awesome, totally unexpected surprise. Although I do love musk, there wasn't anything else in the description that would have necessarily attracted me. The blend is so good, I can't distinguish one note from another. The floral from the sweet pea is definitely there, and the grounding coming from the sage, I'm sure, and definitely the musk, along with the tonka, but they're all so synergistic, I'm just overwhelmed by the loveliness. I forgot to add, I'm so impressed with how this can be so subtle that I'm going to be able to wear it as daywear, and yet, it is dead-sexy at the same time. Perfect, perfect! This will definitely be a big/multiple bottle purchase, and soars into my Top Ten as soon as I figure out who to bump!

Conversation between me and Peach-daughter (20 years old) Me: (while testing ACJM) Hey, did you tell me you wanted something young, bright, bubblegummy, fruity? Her: No, I told you I wanted some more Jailbait. Me: Oh. Well, I thought you might like this one. Her: (sniffing my wrist) You smell like a bag of candy! Me: I thought I smelled like a bag of Jelly Bellys. Her: Which one is it? Me: Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo. Her: It works! Verdict: We love it!

I found this one odd, too. I received a very generous frimp in a forum swap, and since I love musk and blackcurrant both, I thought I had a real winner. Once my body chemistry got hold of it, all I could smell was the dragon's blood, which morphed into a really odd old lady perfume in about an hour and then dried down to the faintest breath of baby powder within a couple of hours. It was just strange on me from beginning to end. I haven't had a great deal of luck with the ars draconis blends...but the straight up dragon's blood is great, so I guess I'll have to stick with it!

Ohhh, lovin' the fluffy, yummy goodness that is Marshmallow Poof. Initially, while wet, I get just the faintest hint of fruit, but I was smelling faint cherry, not strawberry. Probably just my faulty nose. However, the more it dries down the mallowier it gets. Sweet and delicious, no plastic, no dough. It is a close skin scent, however. What a perfect time of year to smell like a Peep.

I had such great hopes for Love's Philosophy, since I have had a recent love affair with the saffron in Leo 2007. Alas, my hopes were dashed, as I can detect no saffron at all. In the bottle, I smell the sweet buttercream frosting mentioned by others, with just a hint of butterscotch. On my skin, I smell for all the world like DaVinci Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup. The scent never morphs, deepens or otherwise develops with further wear, just DaVinci Vanilla. It lasts a fairly long while, and has great throw, but it is nothing like I was expecting. I'm going to age it for a few months to see if I can get any more of the saffron to peep out. 2.5 out of 5.

I got two imps in a swap on-forum, and was so excited when it arrived. The experience for me was much like attempting to eat fruitcake--it looks wonderful on the plate, it smells wonderful on the plate, I want to love it, and then I taste it. Fruitcake smells wonderful in the vial. all almondy, fruity, boozy yummyness. When I put it on my skin, it immediately morphs into (wait for it) a woodsmoke campfire. Huh? And it stays that way. No almond, no fruit, no sweetness. Maybe extremely burnt sugar on a stove burner. I think I'll keep one imp because the artwork is lovely, and it really adds to my collection. Other than that, I guess I'm gonna have an imp to swap.

I was afraid to try this on my skin, first because the grapefruit smell was so overwhelming, and also because my blood pressure meds say not to eat grapefruit at any time while taking it. Pushing all my fears aside, I decide to give it a whirl. What I smelled in the bottle was what I got on my skin: Grapefruit and rind. STRONG grapefruit. Too much grapefruit. Which then became in smell what raw rhubarb is in taste. Mouth-puckering sourness. Fortunately, it was then gone, so I didn't have to take the trouble to wash it off. I wonder what it is about my chemistry that makes the most popular scents hate me???

In the vial, I smelled roses and lavender, but when I put it on, it disappeared very quickly, gone after an hour at most. While it was there, I got a bit of lavender, evergreen, and the merest hint of the musk prior to the vanishing. It was extremely masculine on me, like an old-fashioned aftershave that tweaks at the far past of my scent associations. Overall, not a keeper.

In the vial, this smells strongly floral with a plastic edge. I don't get any of the tea, lemon, or musk, and the cedar barely shows up to add a bit of grounding. Early in wearing, the florals are overwhelming, predominately lilac, but stronger than lilac usually is on me; perhaps the wisteria is having a synergistic effect. I detect a touch of cinnamon, which surprised me at first; after looking up osmanthus and finding that is literally called cinnamon flower or cassia flower in China, I understood. Since it started out so floral, it's warmer than I was expecting. As the spice amps up, I get more of that slightly plastic dollhead effect. About 45 minutes into wearing, I'm getting a bit of itching at the application spot that I associate with cinnamon. Maybe it's psychosomatic, but I don't think I can wear this one. Overall, I think I get my best spicy floral from carnation.

Bewitching, indeed! In the imp, I get an almost single-note violet. On application, the florals seem to overpower the musk and sandlewood, but is so light and lovely, it doesn't matter. I have a very strong scent association with this fragrance. It smells like my grandmother's bedroom of long, long ago. Sometimes, that can be a negative as in "old lady", but this time, it's not. It's just clean and light and comforting, reminding me of being a little girl cuddled up in her bed. She's been gone a few years now, and I thank Beth for bringing her back to me. I don't think I'll wear it often as a personal scent, but wow, what a room fragrance for my bedroom!

Someone at the Lab must be very intuitive; I never would have picked this frimp for myself. In the vial, it is all lovely light sweetness. I could detect the lemon rind and sandlewood, and immediately wanted to slather it on upon opening. On my skin, it remains lovely. The sweetness disipates, and it just becomes a round, woodsy, beautifulness that defies description. I can only imagine a walk in the woods on a summer morning. I don't get the depth, as it seems to be very light and airy on me. An oxymoron of scents, and definitely a keeper!

I'm experimenting with a lot of vetiver blends, and this one was a generous gift from the Lab in my last order. In the vial and wet, it smells herbal to me, sort of like old fashioned horehound candy. On my skin, it's screaming Ivory soap, so it's not going to work for me. Too bad.

In the vial, this is a sweet, light orange. On me, the fig amps up a bit, making it even sweeter, but still with the orange brightness. Definitely a very "foody" scent on me, not fruit as I was expecting. I don't understand a lot about aromatherapy, so I don't really get the name. It's beautiful, but not something I would wear often, if at all. It would work better for me as a room scent. Since my imp was damaged and not swappable, I dumped the whole thing into a humidifier appropriate for use with essential oil. Wow, is it great! If I had my house on the market, I would so love to use this for showings. I think it would set up a wonderful scent association for buyers.

Just as the description states, this is a bright scent. In the vial, I definitely smelled the peach, and a mild floral from the myrtle, along with a bright roundness that must be the ambers. I didn't detect the musk until late in the drydown. I was really excited about this because I've been on a quest for a really good peach scent. This was absolutely gorgeous on, staying true to the vial scent, wet and juicy, and then the beautiful musk. Unfortunately, on me it was a really close skin scent, and disappeared after about an hour. I would have loved it if it lasted longer and had more throw. An imp keeper, but no purchase, unless it lasts longer next time.

Like the number of listed notes, this was a sort of one-two scent for me. In the imp, dusty fruit. On me, sweet dust. I think patchouli doesn't like me, and I'm starting to return the favor. Off to swaps with it!

I received this as a very generous gimp in my first forum exchange. In the vial, it was all gorgeous orange and resins, but it was a different story on my skin. Initially, it was very warm and woody, with the merest hint of orange and a wee breath of lavender. The orange and lavender were very fleeting, sucked up and out by the drydown, and I was left with dry, musty dust and paper. Not necessarily bad, but not my choice for a personal scent. This one is not for me, I'm afraid.

Deep, luscious green and berry scents that evoke images of woodland witchcraft and the raw power of nature: blackberry, sage, green tea, wild berries and dark musk. Sniffing this in the vial, I smelled berries with an herbal kick, very pretty. During the initial application, the berries are prominent, giving the whole blend a sweetness, but not screaming FRUIT. During drydown, the sweetness stays, but the sage amps up a bit to keep it from being too fruit. The sage and tea create a sort of bridge from the berry to layer over top of the musk. All of the notes do a merry little dance for awhile, then gradually fade out to be mostly the musk, with the merest hints of berry and the herb. It had good staying power and moderate throw. I'm not sure about a bigger bottle, though. It's lovely, but I've got so many imps and bottles; there are others that I like better.

Yemaya in the vial smells of a very strong and sweet blend of melons, for me, predominately honeydew which I love. However, like some of the other reviewers, I found it cloying, and that's not a word I use very often. I hoped it would have more of an edge and lose a tad of that sweetness during wearing. It did, but the edge it developed on me went from too sweet melon to rotting produce stand. It got stronger and stronger the longer I wore it, with a tremendous amount of throw. I was able to tolerate it through to the final fade stage, when it finally became the soft melon I'd hoped for. I don't think I could wear this unless it is cut with something else, maybe 3-1 with jojoba. If that doesn't work, it's definitely not for me.

In the vial, I get a lot of citrus, lemon with a bit of a bitter grapefruit edge, deliciously blended into the tea. It seems very similar to Kumiho while wet, although a touch heavier. During the mid-stage, whoa, the gorgeous leather and woods really play up, making this too masculine for me personally to wear, but I love, love, love to smell it. I can't quit sniffing my wrist! While fading, I get a mere whiff of the orchid, but not enough to "girly" it up. While I know I wouldn't wear this on a regular basis, I intend to give it to my DH so I can enjoy it on him. I hope it agrees with his chemistry as well as it did mine!

This is one I would definitely classify as a floral; in the vial, I can barely detect a bit of a wild sweetness, which I'm assuming is the blackberry, along with a very traditional perfumey feel. I really suck at notes. On me, this is a dead ringer for an old Avon fragrance that I wore as a young girl, called Roses, Roses. I wasn't expecting the rose scent, but that may just be my nose's interpretation of the heather. Overall, I would describe this as a very light-throwing, innocent scent that is actually quite lovely. I'm not sure I would purchase a big bottle, but will definitely keep the imp to recall my lost youth.