paperdoll

Initial Sniff:This was a gift from my Swapfaery, Astburygrrl. Yummy sweet creamy boozy goodness! This is boozier than any eggnog that I've ever personally tasted, but I wouldn't mind a sip! Wearing: The booziness disappears almost immediately, leaving a creamy smooth freshly cooked eggnog scent. It is sweet and oh-so-lickable! The egg smell disappears over more time... whoever (Brooke?) said it smells like fresh homemade marshmallows was right. This has great staying power - bonus! Final Impressions: My Swapfaery knew me better than I knew myself. Egg Nog is everything I had hoped Sugar Cookie and Gingerbread Poppet would be. This is the best foody scent I've tried so far. I will hoard my bottle jealously, and be sad when it is gone!

Initial Sniff: Rich, buttery, sweet and spicy... COOKIES!!! Hot - fresh from the oven. Wearing: This very quickly went Red Hots cinnamon on me, drowning out every bit of buttery sweetness. As it dries, the sweetness reappears... it smells like Snickerdoodles, but just a little... off. I'm not sure what keeps it from being dead-on, but trying to figure out is distracting me. Final Impressions: I like this, but I am not floored by it. It lasts all day, which is a good thing!

Initial Sniff: I want to eat this scent. In the bottle it smells like liquid gingerbread cookies - sweet molasses spice. This seriously makes me salivate. Wearing: The molasses fades right away, and I am left with a sweet cinnamon scent. Nice, but nothing special. It fades completely away within an hour or so. Final Impressions: I will not waste this scent on my skin any more. If I keep it, I will use it in an oil burner to make my home smell fantastic!

Initial Sniff: Citrussy woodsy musk. There is no way this will smell good on me, but I'll give it a try anyway - test everything once! This smells like a classy men's cologne. Wearing: I absolutely cannot stop sniffing myself. Take a note which always works with my chemistry (citrus), add a note that never works (white musk), and an unknown (chypre) for good measure. What do you get? A slinky, sexy, musky paperdoll! The woodsy musk turns quite sweet on my skin as this dries - the citrus dissipating into sugar as time elapses. Striking and gorgeous. Final Impressions: I was pleased with the Queen until I met the King. I just cannot describe how sexy this scent is... second only to Vixen in my book! When I sniffed in the bottle, I was sure this was going to be passed on to my fiance. He can't have it. It is MINE! My funky body chemistry has done a Very Good Thing with this scent...

Initail Sniff: All kinds of grapefruit-y goodness! The Queen reminds me a bit of Shattered, but she is infinitely more feminine and refined. I can smell the orchid amongst a background of those pale florals that so often dislike my skin. Wearing: The grapefruit is sharp at first, but then mellows into the floral background beautifully. What a lovely balance between floral and bitter fruit! This lasts all day long, too. Final Impressions: Lovely! I am actually surprised this worked so well on me! I ordered it rather on a whim, not really expecting much from it. I am happily surprised.

Initial Sniff: Mmmmm... this is Blue Moon frozen. Icy and beautiful! The mint is what makes it smell so very cold, I think... this is the smell of a night where it is so cold it almost hurts to breathe, but you cannot bear to seek shelter inside because the gorgeous path of moonlight across the pure white snow calls you forward. Wearing: Again, like frozen Blue Moon! No one note is predominant and as it wears, it just mellows without changing too much or fading. Whatever is in this works on my skin, but like I said, I just can't pick out any individual notes. Final Impressions: I keep reaching for this perfume in the morning even though I have dozens that require reviewing! It is wintery and gorgeous and I love it!

Initial Sniff: Mmmmm... Christmas! Like Andra, I have Yankee Candle Mistletoe candle burning at my house. This smells like that candle. That is a good thing. Wearing: This really doesn't develop much on my skin. It stays true to the bottle scent, then *poof* it is gone. I don't think this lasted an hour on me. Final Impressions: Beautiful, but not as beautiful/complex as Skadi. That, combined with its lack of staying power, make this scent's future in my perfume box uncertain. I'm sure it would be lovely as a room scent, but that really seems a waste of an LE... I may have to share the love instead!

Initial Sniff: Jolly Ranchers on a bed of pine. Very strange. Wearing: Smells like Jolly Ranchers! That's about it - juicy, fruity goodness. Final Impressions: I don't see wearing this very often - I find it a bit distracting. The fiance loves it, though...

This review is for the 2004 edition, though I was fortunate enough to smell 2003 and they smell pretty much exactly the same to me! Initial Sniff: A cold, creamy floral. I can see where people are smelling coconut, but I don't smell it unless I'm thinking "coconut" as I inhale. Wearing: This one stays true to the bottle on my skin. Cold, creamy, floral, sweet, fluffy, distant, apart... No, Snow White does NOT want to play. She wants to sit on my arm in all of her cold regal perfection and look at me with a pleasant exression on her face. Final Impressions: While beautiful beyond question, this perfume borders on antisocial for me. Not that it makes me feel antisocial, but I feel that I am hanging out with somone antisocial all day. I'll definitely try it again - maybe I was just in a weird frame of mind.

Initial Sniff: Darkly herbal. Like a meadow on a spring night... if there is a bat cave here, it is small and sparkly clean (the bats must do their business in the meadow!) I can't pick out any individual notes, though it does remind me of June Gloom and Midnight. Wearing: Surprisingly, the lemon and lavender are not overwhelming me. When wet, the honeysuckle really stands out, but as it dries it fades into the background. It really sweetens up on my skin, but it doesn't become less dark, if that makes any sense. I smell like a sweet nighttime meadow! Final Impressions: I like this a whole lot more than I thought I would. I probably won't wear it much until spring because of its lightness, but it really is lovely.

Initial Sniff: Skadi smells just like Christmas. It is the first bottle I reached for from my Yule order. It is how you smell after chopping down your own Christmas tree in the midst of a fresh fluffy snow. Simply gorgeous. Wearing: The pine was at the forefront to begin with, and the scent was true to the bottle. As it dried, the wintery berries peeked their heads out and the tart sweetness started taking over. The pine is still there, along with a soft spiciness. Final Impressions: You know that warmth you feel when you are crouched in a snow fort as a kid - the insulation of the snow combined with the exhiliration and exertion of playing outside and the sharp cold of the air? That is what this scent feels like. It is an absolute masterpiece!

I really like Tarot: Strength for emotional protection. It provides a bit of a protective filter in difficult situations and allows me to remain level-headed instead of letting my emotions get the better of me.

Chaos Theory XLVIII First Sniff: Lotus. Definitely lotus. That's all I get from the bottle. Wearing: This starts out very similar to Black Lotus when wet - the bubble gum sweetness of lotus with a hint of something darker underneath. As it dries, it becomes more obvious that the "something darker" is lavender. The lavender and lotus somehow reach a strange balance of sweet and herbal/floral. Final Impressions: I like it, but I'd choose Black Lotus over this scent any day of the week.

Great post, in fact... I'll second the fact! Ask, ask, ask away!

When I decant an imp for someone, it always into a new vial.

I've not tried baby wipes or alcohol, but I have found that dish soap works pretty well.

Old New Orleans!!!! It is fantastic....

I think perhaps Phantom Queen would suit Amelie well.

I stay very much away from aquatic scents (they just don't agree with me), but I think Undertow might be just what you are looking for... very underwater-y and other-worldly.

On me, the sweetest oils are Black Lotus and Dragon's Milk. Blood Lotus and Maenad are not too far behind, though... Black Lotus is bubble gum sweet, Dragon's Milk is sugar sweet (kind of - I'm struggling to find the right words for this one), Blood Lotus is bubble gum with a bit more of an edge, and Maenad is an evil strawberry lollipop.

Initial Sniff: A sharp lemony scent. I am skeptical. Wearing: When wet, the lemon smell is sharp - with an almost herbal edge to it. This scent is definitely wet, post-storm garden. Drydown is a beautiful sweet floral - I can't smell the lemon at all anymore. Final Impressions: I was worried when I first smelled this (not a huge fan of lemon), but this dries down just beautifully. I will thoroughly enjoy using up my bottle!

Sin is lovely, but my favorite sandalwood scent is Leo. It is absolutely fantastic!

Ulalume and Danse Macabre.

Initial Sniff: This is most assuredly cinnamon, but with added depth - it is sweet honeysuckle cinnamon in the vial. Wearing: When wet, this is red hot candy cinnamon (not a great thing in my book), but it quickly dries into something that is more true to the vial scent. After 10 hours, my wrists smell just like brown sugar. Final Impressions: I think this has replaced Wrath as my favorite cinnamon scent. I wouldn't mind having a big bottle of this, but it's not at the top of my list.

Initial Sniff: Mmmm.... spicy sweet dragon's blood with the depth of musk and darkened by fruit. Delicious. Wearing: This is just gorgeous. The resinous dragon's blood dominates at first, but wait just a minute and the fig and current explode over the top. This is deep dark brownish red and it drips with dark juciness. Final Impressions: Another winner. I love this madly... and it lasts all freakin day!!!