asciident

No regular review on this one -- I won't be wearing it as a perfume. When I let my mind wind down (babbling about nothing in particular to my long-suffering boyfriend), it put me to sleep right away. It smells of light, I want to say airy, lavender and something sweet, maybe vanilla or straight up sugar. I got good, restful sleep from it, but I wasn't anticipating problems like when I first tried Somnus -- I was sick -- so I'll have to try it again for that. Anyhow, this combined with Quietude should work like a dream for me.

Wet: A straight shot of milk chocolate. First on: On me, it's more like brownie batter. Something vaguely nutty, but mostly just warm delicious chocolate. Dry: Same as first on -- it didn't morph for hours and hours, literally more than 12. The chocolate is still there as a whiff, but there's something vaguely floral(?) about it now. Anyhow, 12 hours is amazing even for a whiff, and it was gorgeous the whole time! So hard to resist the urge to lick my wrists...

Wet: Rich, fruity, heady. I smell something boozey and grape. First on: Erf. It smells like acetone/nail polish remover. Weird. Is that wisteria? Am I just being overpowered by the booze? Dry: Violets and lilacs are trying to crawl out, but mostly just the weird chemical smell of nail polish remover. Bleh.

Wet: Aloe and not much else. First on: Hrm... with all those gorgeous notes listed, I thought this would be wonderful but...all I'm getting is aloe hand lotion. I mean, that's all right, but not really what I want from a perfume. I guess we'll see if it morphs. Dry: Sandalwood and aloe lotion. I guess it's okay, but if I want to smell like aloe lotion I can just...use that. :\

Wet: Candycanes! First on: Super-peppermint. VERY sugary. Dry: Kind of a candycane with bite. I'm not getting a lot of vanilla, just a big sugary candycane. Mmm. Someone mentioned the 'menthol'-ness of this mint, and that's true. I happen to LOVE it. Just what I needed for this headache of mine!

Wet: Musk and frankincense+myrrh. First on: Ooh, peachy and orange blossoms! But layered with musk and myrrh (frankincense seems to have taken a step back). Dry: An absolutely beautiful rose comes out to mingle with the juicy fruit, and all of it is layered over a smoky musk backdrop. This is great, even for those of us who aren't traditionally rose-lovers.

Wet: Musk, cassia and a vague wood presence. First on: Sugary lemon peel takes over, and the musk/wood is now in the background. Cassia has disappeared. Dry: This is a very silly blend, I think. It's light, almost juicy but not quite -- I think that's mango's doing, but it's lending more of a ... scent texture? than a scent itself. This is very lemony, but sweet and spicy (cassia there) with a woodsy backdrop. Very unexpected, very pretty.

Wet: Mmmm! Apricot! First on: Spicy apricot. Dry: Clove is coming out more and more, but the apricot is really dominant. Amazing scent; the description doesn't do it justice.

Wet: Sweet and fruity, with something heavier in the background. First on: Gorgeous musk, not too heavy: sweetened by honey, plum blossom and champagne grapes. Dry: Honey and rich plum-grape wine, with the musk and oakmoss adding depth. This is a wonderful balance of fruity-sweet, floral, and musk!

Cardinal fire: the essence of identity. Black pepper, honeysuckle, opoponax, dragon's blood, and wild ginger. Wet: Honeysuckle domination with a whiff of black pepper. First on: Wow, who knew black pepper smells so nice as a fragrance? Oh, hello dragon's blood! My skin amps it up. Dry: Dragon's blood usually goes resinous cherry on me, but in this blend it's definitely more cherryRESIN than resinCHERRY, and I'm getting very a very strong pepper blast with some (red?) ginger spiciness. Underneath it all, if sniffed and considered, there is a nice, sweet, gentle honeysuckle layer. I think perhaps the opopnax is lending itself to the dragon's blood to give it that more resiny feel. All in all, this is incredibly fiery and very spicy -- pepper is definitely leading dragon's blood by the collar -- but I keep coming back to that sweet honeysuckle underlayer. This is beautiful!

Wet: Vanilla frosting, basically. Pretty strong, with lots of throw. First on: It seems to alternate between a vague creamcheese and frosting. Dry: It dries and my skin has sucked up most of it, but what's left is sort of a plasticky vanilla. I'll wait a bit longer to see if it morphs though... Nope. I waited. And waited. This just goes to a vague, flat sort of plasticky sugar smell. Guess I'll swap my imp.

I have a 2005 decant. Wet: I could smell ginger before I even opened the imp, and after it warmed up a bit in my hand and I finally opened it (I got distracted!), it smells just exactly like warm gingerbread (the cakey type, not cookies necessarily -- there's a richness there that is evocative of cake). First on: There's a sweetness here that makes me think it's iced gingerbread. I love it; it's just so spot on. Dry: Ack, no! Where did it go?! My skin just ate it up and all I have left is the vaguest hint of ginger and nutmeg. This smell is too perfect, it needs to last longer! Perhaps with some lotion... Edit: Oh, it's back. Hooray!

Wet: Butter-rum. First on: Saffron-sprinkled, buttery sugar cookies. Dry: The boozy feeling of rum is popping out, but it's still mostly saffrony and very buttery sugar cookies. It's very nice, and I'm glad I had a testable sniffy, but I'm in no hurry to bend over backwards finding more.

The keeper of secrets: opoponax, Tunisian black amber, night musk, antique patchouli, zdravetz, terebinth, myrrh, and Pimenta racemosa. Wet: Mmmm, incensey musk. First on: Opoponax, musk, absolutely gorgeous patchouli (I don't know what 'antique' means in this context, but it's beautiful). Dry: I think this is second only to Priala on my new list of favorites. *swoon* It's just wonderful, sweet and spicy, a hint of wood from something without being overpowering. It's hard for me to describe, because I don't recognize at least half the notes, but the ones I do are just amazing.

Wet: Lavender and jasmine. First on: I smell a bit of sandalwood and bergamot, and I couldn't tell you what mugwort smells like enough to identify it. Dry: Same as first on, and frankly I fell asleep so quickly I'm not sure I would have noticed a morph. Great sleep blend.

Wet: Vanilla honey cakes. First on: Mmmm. Sweet vanilla cakes with a honey and cream topping. Dry: Dries down to add something spicy to the mix, but wow. Light, perfect buttery-white cake with vanilla and cream topping. Gorgeous.

Wet: Just the typical resinous cherry-earth power scent of dragon's blood. First on: Warm and strong, but no morphing. Dry: Still never morphed, which I consider a good thing since it's a single note, basically. It's a bit too strong, even on dry-down, for every-day wear, but I think I'll keep my imp for layering purposes.

Wet: Smoky myrrh with a hint of dry cinnamon. First on: Suddenly gone all musty on me. Weird. Dry: As it dries, the myrrh comes back. It's a sweet myrrh, deepened by smoke. Cinnamon bark is coming out to give the overall effect of a dry, spicy heat. Oh, god. It's perfect. I'm in love; absolutely buying a bottle of this for sure before CD is gone. (A huge statement! I'm an imp fiend, I only have 3 bottles of anything at all.) This is just what I needed as a change of pace from all the foody/fruity/floral scents I've been wearing lately.

Wet: Almost like coconut milk with dates and figs, but not overly fruity. First on: Milk is warm, almost like cream, but not quite. Picking up grapes, honey and fig. Warmer than I was expecting, on the whole. Still almost coconutty. Dry: This is very much like a fruity, milk-based tropical drink. Not tropical-fruity like pineapples and kiwis, but something milky that's been left in the sun on a beach for a while. Strong throw and intense lasting power (survived with a strong throw even through a shower).

Wet: Pure strawberries and cream. First on: Strawberries and cream with some green herbal (sage I guess?). It's already starting to morph, though; I can't tell if it's green tea or lotus or ylang ylang, but something is mixing things up. Dry: Well, I was worried about this -- ylang ylang is so touchy for me. This ends up being almost entirely natural strawberries and cream with just the barest touches of lotus and sage. Not as "luna" as I might have expected, but very lovely.

Wet: Fruit and spice. First on: Dragon's blood and cinnamon, maybe something peppery. But something's softening the whole thing as well. Dry: Cloves, dusty cinnamon (instead of red-hot kick-you-in-the-pants cinnamon), dragon's blood, which always gives me the smell of sweet, spicy cherries. Maybe something like sandalwood to smooth the whole thing out. Powerful, with a big throw, but not overwhelming. I'm glad I have a partial bottle!

Wet: Spicy citrus. First on: Blood orange is blowing everything else out. It's like the raspberry is trying to poke through, but blood orange just won't let it. The scent is nice and fruity, though; very juicy and bright. Dry: The more it dries, the more it becomes a tart-citrus raspberry. Very nice, though something for warmer weather than it is today!

Wet: Mmmmm, minty chocolate. Like those non-pareils(?) on chocolate disks? I don't even know if I'm describing them right, but they're delicious. First on: Hello rum! Wow, I smell like a boozy holiday drink. Dry: The peppermint is actually very cool, and the rum note is dominating everything. Oh, there's some vanilla and coconut. It's really like taking a big ol' whiff of a holiday buffet table at a particularly boozy party. As it wears on, it's ever more coconut rum and less peppermint chocolate. Oh, I want to try layering this with Creepy sometime!

I'll edit in a proper review later, but I just had to mention this... I have had some kind of freak plague cold all week. I read on here somewhere (damned if I can remember WHERE though...cold's affecting more than my respiratory system!) that mint smelled really nice when you're sick. Well, my nose couldn't tell you what's in Juke Joint beyond mint MINT MINT, but it sure is making me feel better. I feel lucky to have ordered this in my last Lab imp pack! =D ADDED 3/27/09: Wet: Mint! First on: Super strong mint and alcohol. Dry: Mint and sugar. Great for colds, not so much for perfume.

Scent is a rich, herbal lavender. Did not morph on me. I'm sick, so I'd been napping all day. At night, I wasn't sleepy, but I knew I needed to sleep anyway. It was very calming to catch whiffs of this, but it didn't put me to sleep. Once I did fall asleep, it was very sound and deep, and I woke up this morning feeling refreshed -- though still sick, alas -- so perhaps this is best used for me in combination with something that will knock me out.