hecate_jones

Mmmmm... Very cinnamony in the bottle. I can smell the peppery undertones, though. Wet: dragon's blood is very prominent, it's quite sweet, but a nice, warm, cinnamony sweet. Maybe the clove is adding to the sweetness, it's a spicy sweet. Drydown: The cinnamon begins to fade a bit, and the pepper comes through more. Now it's sweet with a sharp spicy tinge. Very nice. This is a scent with an edge to it. Definitely well-named. The changes this scent goes through work well... it starts out sweet and a bit spicy, then gets downright sharp and edgy, and eventually fades to just a warm simmer. I want a bottle of this.

I liked the notes in this, but when I first opened it up, it was just overpoweringly sweet. Really sweet. Extremely. Now, I like sweet and foody scents, but this was like... honey and flowers. I'm not so big on florals. Wet: Sweet, floral, very sweet. Too sweet. I'll perservere, but I think I'm already biased. Drydown: baby powder. So much so, my husband, across the room, looks up and says "What smells like baby powder" Right. Not for me. Go figure... I want seduction-in-a-bottle, I get baby powder. Story of my life.

Oh, I love this one! Love it. Love it! First impression in the bottle was 'ooooh, amaretto... and sweet vanilla' On the skin, the amaretto/almond faded into the background and the vanilla came out, lovely, sweet, and dark on me. But my skin loves vanilla. The almond is still there in the background, blending with the vanilla, and the honey scent starts to come out. Very sweet, very smokey/dark (but that might just be on me), and lovely. The vanilla in this reminds me strongly of the *old* Body Shop vanilla oil, from about a decade ago before they changed it. Very vanilla, very sweet, but not sugary.

Named in honor of Vlad III, Tepes, of the Order of the Dragon. Black musk, tobacco, fir, balsam of peru, cumin, bitter clove, crushed mint, and orange blossom. Very ah, 'Christmas tree' in the bottle, to me. Since I got this as a frimp with an order and sort of casually sniffed, my first thought was "oooh, just right for the season". My thoughts on the matter changed the day day when my husband came in, stuck and arm under my nose and I wanted to bite him. I asked "What in the world is that? It's fantastic." *Not* so Christmas-tree on, at all. I immediately ran off to try it, and it's not quite as nice on me, but it's lovely. I can't identify any real single notes when it's on skin, they all blend so nicely. It's a citrus-y, evergreen wood sort of smell, with lovely, warm, dark undertones that for some reason almost makes me hungry. Go figure. Reminds me a bit of Mad Hatter, but darker and warmer. Not quite as much staying power, either, but lasted strongly for about 9 hours. Definitely getting a 5ml of this one.

I'd second the Mad Hatter suggestion. Very similar to Dracul, to my nose, but not as "dark". I honestly prefer the Dracul to Mad Hatter because it's darker, more tobacco-y, but like them both quite a lot.