Malaena

It starts off sweet and is very reminiscent of basil to me. After and hour it goes off into the ether. Not a scent for me!

In the imp: Whoa, alcohol! The second sniff was grape. I did this as a blind test. I just looked at the ingredients, though. Drying: Whiffs of red wine. Dry: This reminds me very much of some department store perfume that I can't recall. I'm not sure whether I'll keep this one or not.

In the imp: Dish soap. Uh oh. Drying: Still dish soap. Grr!

Wet: I keep getting whiffs of medicine. Drying: Lavender appears with a whiff of currant here and there. Dry: Lavender and currant. It reminds me of Bath & Body Works Lavender Vanilla. I also detect something vaguely like coconut.It smells nice but it's not something I would wear.

Kitsune-Tsuki are malevolent Japanese spirits, akin to western werebeasts: women are possessed by the spirits of foxes, who compel them to perform acts of wickedness and mischief. Asian plum, orchid, daffodil, jasmine and white musk. First off the daffodil is at the top. After a fairly short time of 15 minutes plum has taken over. At this point it smells like plum candy gilded with jasmine. I would totally eat one of those but the scent just isn't me.

It wafts lilies quite strongly and close up it smells just like these old rose bath beads my mother used to use when I was little. I must say I enjoyed the nostalgia! However, the scent does nothing for me. I think I've decided I hate the scent of lilies, though.

I got this as a frimp in a recent swap. Initially I was concerned about the leather note since it has turned powdery in all blends of tried thus far. I never detect leather! It seems to be all rosewood. I don't know what tonka smells like so I can't comment on that. Dee is fairly masculine and I LOVE it! It makes me want to cuddle myself.

This is for the 2011 version. Wet: Woodsy with a bit of apple. Dry: As it dries it goes to an apple stage that had me worried. I'm not a fan of apple! When I was making chocolate dipped strawberries I kept getting a whiff of something sweet and spicy. I finally figured out it was me. This does not evoke fall for me. The notes all come together to make something I can't describe that is something I would wear year-round. I'd love to get my hands on a bottle!

On me this is mainly carnation with a bit of orris. After this one I believe I've finally figured out that I hate carnation!

I have tried and retried Snake Oil. I think it's time for me to accept that it doesn't work for me. I have an imp of the aged version and it is vanilla powder, very strong vanilla powder. It's a shame because it smells so amazing in the vial!!! I'm still going to keep it so I can use it to scent things that aren't my stupid, stupid skin.

I so very much wanted to like this one but on my skin it's just honey powder.

In the imp: Citrus. Drying: It's mostly grapefruit but then it becomes very similar to the Bath & Body Works Lavender Vanilla scent. Verdict: I use the B&BW lotion to help me sleep and I don't think I need more of the same.

I got to try this at will call today. In the bottle: Sweeeet almondy creamy honey. Drying: It goes to a softer version of the almond cream honey. I keep sniffing it while I'm walking around trying other scents. After trying so many (so so many!) Dragon's Milk is one of two I kept going back to and sniffing. This makes me want to eat myself because it smells so damn good! Over time the scent just gets softer. I took home a bottle and now have a Dragon's Milk button!!! This scent is kind of my natural skin scent but sweetened and amped.

Wet - Apple! Drying - It smells like fresh apple at first but continues to get sweeter. It now smells like an apple candy. It's a candy I would eat but I don't want to smell like it.

It is just leather. All leather, nothing else. It then becomes leather-scented baby powder. I'm now thinking that leather might be a death note for me.

I got to try this at Will Call today. After drying it has a light, sweet leathery scent with an undercurrent of tobacco. I didn't like it enough to purchase a bottle but I will definitely acquire an imp. ETA: I got an imp of this and the scent is still nice outside of the perfumy enviroment of Will Call. It's quite an unusual scent. It's a bit of an oily, aftershavey, leather with sweetness from tobacco. I like it but don't love it.

In the imp: Coconut. Dry: It starts off smelling a bit like sun screen but then moves on into a lovely coconutty/woody stage. Soon after that it goes into smelling like hair dye. I washed it off at that point!

It's very non-descript. I can't pick out any notes and it sort of reminds me of something my mother once wore. Not for me!

I've got some aged Snake Oil, actually! I tested it while on my period (mistake) and now I need to retest it. Muchas gracias!

So, I've done two imp hauls and still don't know how to characterize what I like. (Yes, I'm a newb.) I've tried the following (likes in green, favorite in purple): Siren, Twilight, Santa Eularia Des Riu, Nyx, New Orleans, Muse, Euphrosyne, Love-In-Idleness, Queen Gertrude, The Ghost, Caterpillar, Lolita, Hell’s Belle, Voodoo, Alice, Penitence, La Petite Mort, 51, Blood Kiss, Defututa, Drink Me, Eat Me, La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente, Queen of Hearts, Elf, Vixen, Miskatonic University, French Love, Bensiabel. From this I have gathered that bergamot, lemon, lemon verbena, lemongrass, ylang ylang, rose, and anything that smells like a sweet I want to eat are fail. Dragon's blood is iffy and jasmine amps. I do have a notes of win/fail post but putting all this here saves you time! My apparent likes are citrus, fruit, patchouli, myrrh, frankencense, herbs, spices, resins, wood, musk, soft florals, honey, clove, and anything not in the dislike category since I'm still a a huge newb. What the hell do I like? I'm so confused! What should I try next to cover my bases? Any and all suggestions would be much appreciated!

In the imp: Citrus. Dry: It starts as mandarin with a bit of mango. I never detect any ginger or sandalwood. Over time it becomes more pure mandarin. After a half hour it starts smelling like hair dye. I literally thought to myself "Did I do my hair recently? Wait...I don't use permanant dye..." Verdict: Hair dye smells icky. Thanks a lot, skin.

In the imp: Citrus. Dry: Very bright but dry grapefruit. White and clean. The tea comes out as the primary note with apple blossom being a strong runner up. It then becomes bitter...I can't tell if this is how the lab's ginger smells on me or if my skin is messing up the tea/apple blossom. Now it smells like soap. Verdict: WHY DO I HAVE MY SKIN?!

In the imp: Chemicals + leather. Dry: It starts off with a scent I cannot identify but I'm going to gamble that it's leather mixing with vetiver. It goes to leathery baby powder. Verdict: Dark musks and vetiver always work but every leather I've tried has been a fail.

Sandalwood with sweetness from the frankencense. Close up I can detect the earthy patchouli. Momma like! Retested 6/14 - Salty sandalwood. I don't like it anymore. :/

In the imp: Chemicals. Dry: It starts off as strong burning plastic with some incensey backing. I really hoped it would calm down and that the burnt plastic smell would disappear. It did calm down...to the soft scent of burning plastic. Verdict: Damn my skin!