ariosa

For me, this was all about the lime and the grapefruit. I even ignored the fact that it has rose in it, because I had such high hopes for it. The patchouli is fabulous, and lends a bit of spice to the mix, but it's not too heavy at all! It's light and fizzy, without being too much. Croquet does not disappoint, but it also doesn't last long on me at all, which makes me very sad! Though this is my second application, and it seems to be lasting a bit longer, so we'll see. If not, I may have to break down and buy a scent locket so that I can enjoy Croquet to the fullest. I thought I'd finished ordering scents for spring and summer, but I think this (and Fae) have me changing my mind, and thinking I need -just- one more order before my trip ETA: the rose is ever-present, as it always is on my skin, but it doesn't amp to levels that overpower everything else. I'm shocked!

This was a frimp from the Lab, and once again, not one I'd ever order for myself due to the lily and the ylang ylang. And sometimes jasmine can go wild on me, too. I approached this imp with trepidation, but remained determined to keep my mind open, because I think if I'm to find a floral I totally and completely love, it'll be made by the Lab, and it'll be something I'm totally not expecting. Wet: well, hello Jasmine! There you are bossing your way to the fore, as you usually do! Are you going to let any of the other treats come out to play? No? Oh, maybe your friend lily. Is it Calla, or the Valley-girl? It seems they're both fighting for attention under the jasmine. Ylang ylang and plum are nowhere to be found. Let's wait out the drydown... Enh. Right now I'm not really liking this. Too Grandma-smelling and obnoxious. I think this will likely end up in swaps. ETA: a bit later, this isn't quite as obnoxious as it initially was, and is turning into something quite pretty. It's still not really me, but the plum is starting to come through now. I'll have to wait and see if more blossoms as it settles.

Sheol was a frimp from the lab, and not something I ever would have ordered for myself just going by the description. I do not consider myself an overly floral girl. I generally can tolerate some florals if they're balanced by other things. The flower I generally make an exception for is gardenia. So when I saw lily, I shuddered, because usually lily doesn't behave on me. Heliotrope I think might, because I've liked it in other blends, and iris works for me in Florence, and gladiola? No clue. But this one looked scary to me upon description. Initially in the vial, my fears came to the fore. Florals! Ack! When first on, though, it smells floral, yes, but also incensey. As it settles, though, I agree with previous reviewers that it smells like very high-end perfume, but not obnoxiously so. I do like it, though it will never be one I wear regularly, as it feels entirely too formal to me. Still, I'll keep the imp, and bring it out on special occasions!

In the bottle, all I smell initially is apple. And when I put it on, for a moment, it has that air-freshener kind of smell. A larger than life red apple, with a bit of flowers behind. But as it settles, the apple still stays to the fore, but the plumeria and gardenia creep forward and assert themselves a little more strongly. I'm kind of disappointed that the citrus notes aren't poking forward a bit more, as they really pipe up when I wear Pumpkin Queen; but honestly, the apple and the florals are so lovely, I can live without the citrus bite. This is is nice and feminine, and perfect for spring. I don't get much Snake Oil from this, though. But I loves it! ETA: this has an incredibly short wearlength on me I may feel compelled to order a scent locket, just to try and get this one to last longer!

I don't know what made me order this. I really don't. I mean.... mint? In a perfume?! But damned if I'm not totally, completely in love with this scent. It's such a nice, soft, not overly sweet blend of vanilla and mint. I totally can't wait until a hot summer day to put this on, and feel nice and light and refreshed! I agree with the thin mint references... but that's okay, I don't mind smelling like 'em

Hollywood Babylon is everything I wanted Bon Vivant and Bordello to be. I -like- both of those scents, but HB is just so much.... more. With the addition of the vanilla, the amber, the musk and the heliotrope it's just so much richer. And somehow more naughty. I love it, and it would be a nice summer fruit scent for the evening when you just need a little more depth to your scent. Love it! Thanks, Labbies!

I wish I'd ordered a whole bottle of this right from the get-go. I didn't because I wasn't familiar with many of the notes and how they'd react with my skin. This is freaking awesome. Initially, it's all harsh pepper. It's dark, it's snappy, it's a 'GTFO of my face or I'll ram ya with my horns. Don't cross me'. If it stayed like this, I'd not be able to love it as much as I do. I mean, I can be an in-your-face Aries, but I'm more like what this perfume turns into: Soft, sweet, beguiling, charming honeysuckle, with the firey dragon's blood resin and pepper behind it to come out and kick butt if necessary. I don't know what opoponax is, and I can't really smell the ginger, but that's okay. I have a fair amount of Aries in my chart. Had I known I'd love the way honeysuckle smells on me, I'd have snatched this up immediately. As it is, I'm going to have to track down some more.

I received this as a frimp from the lovely eviltemptressDQ in a decant circle shipment, and my first sniff of the imp, with the lid on was... "Is that CIVET?!" I am finding I am not a fan of the civet at all, so I was a little leery of trying it on. However, after reading the ingredients, where no civet is mentioned at all, I opened the imp to try a bit on my wrist. This is very lovely! I didn't like the orange blossom in Vice, but I'm thinking after my experiences with Vice and Queen of Sheba, it's actually the cherry/almond smell I don't like on me (which sucks big time, because I *heart* marzipan). With Ravenous, the orange blossom shines through nicely, and while I find the red patchouli a bit overwhelming at first, they both settle down into a nice, warm, lovely blend. It's hard to tell which note is dominant on me, as both are so well blended together. I'm going to wear this a bit more during the next couple of days. This could well be a bottle purchase for me at some point. Thank you etdq for her generosity and Beth for creating this! It's lovely!

When I first smelled this right out of the bottle last night, my stomach turned. It smelled an awful lot like Shub to me, and I'd first worn Shub just before getting sick (you know how that scent association works, even if it isn't the thing that makes you sick!) -- so I didn't put it on. This morning, I gave it a small try, and it started out full on pumpkin and ginger, warmed by amber. "Hmm," I said to myself. "I dunno...." But then lovely of all lovely -- the citrus notes here started to pop out, and for me, that saved the whole thing. It was enough to offset everything so that the Queen was a bit tart, rather than overly sweet, and that's just what my sniffer needed this morning! This bottle is a keeper, and I look forward to bringing it out on grey, rainy spring days. If not, then it'll be staple come fall!

After spending so much time with my nose pressed to Black Annis tonight, I'm almost positive that Follow Me Boy has civet in it. And I'm not sure I'm rocking the civet, at all. Like Black Annis, it amps to the nth degree -- I don't think I'd mind civet so much if it would take a back seat to other elements in the scent. I also smell jasmine, too, which normally I like, but also amps right up on me. I'll have to wear this one day to give it a try, but I'm not sure I actually -like- it.

Is this what dragon's blood smells like? Well, now I know. And I can definitely smell jasmine in there, too. My initial reaction to this was 'ugh', but as it dries down, and rounds out, I'm finding it's quite subtle and lovely. It's comforting, in a way, too, and might be a nice scent to wear to bed. I'm especially glad to pick this up now for the 'helping to deal with death' part. My grandfather is on the final stage of life, and while I've grown stronger and am more accepting of death, I am hoping that this scent will lend its strength.

Roses and I don't really get along in scent form, I'm sad to say. I will try every rose blend that comes my way in hopes that it will be different each time, but apart from London (and even that one is touch and go for me!), I still have yet to find a blend that has predominant roses that I like. Love the amber. Love the musk. The rose? Not so much. Into the swaps pile it goes, though I'm glad I got to try it!

Sweet, spicy pear, warmed by amber. It's sweet, but not cloyingly so. I don't get a lot of florals from this, though I'm not terribly familiar with the florals used in this scent, so maybe they're such that work with me, rather than against me! (ie. rose and muguet, my nemesis notes!) It doesn't last an incredibly long time on me, as my skin eats up the scent after about an hour or two, but it's one I'm going to enjoy finishing the imp of! ETA, March 31, 2007: I LOVE THIS scent! It's light and sweet without being overbearing, just a touch spicy, and perfect for a sunny day. I think I'll be getting a big bottle of this for spring/summer.

This is... interesting. Immediately upon application, it was all toasted hazelnuts. Then as it began to dry and mellow, the sweet pea and muguet came out to play, and muguet is definitely not my friend. It morphs from nutty to floral, and then to woodsy, but in the end once completely dry, it smells like some woodsy-floral soap. It's a lovely scent, but it's just not me. Maybe without the sweet pea and the muguet.

Bright, light and fizzy... smells just like you'd imagine a scent with strawberries and champagne to smell like! It's quite boozy when wet, but as it dries down, it smells like a sparkling strawberry drink. Light and refreshing, and I'm looking forward to using this imp a bit more once the weather warms up!

I quite love the butterscotch smell, but there's something in this scent that's not working with my body chemistry -- I don't know if it's the rum note (boozy scents are hit and miss on me. Bordello, Tintagel and Bon Vivant work on me, but Kali doesn't, for example) or the spices, but there's something sharp hiding under that smooth and creamy butterscotch. Medicinal Werther's In fact, this makes me think of Mary Poppins and her medicine: yummy butterscotch, but with a definite medicinal/alcohol feel. I'm going to use up my imp, and then make a decision about Grog. The sharpness does fade after an hour, so if I can live with that, then I may well love this scent! Dunno if it's something I'd really put into regular rotation, however. I -thought- I was a total foody scent lover, but I'm reluctantly starting to realize it's touch and go for me.

Bordello, Bordello, how I love thee -- so far! The true test of a sweet fragrance for me is, of course, seeing how it stacks up after a full day's wear. I loved Shub right away, for example, but after about 6 hours, it made me feel ill, it was too sweet! I've had Bordello on for several hours now, and when it first went on, it was in-your-face sweet. Yummy plum and cherry -- which I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle, but I love it! It's faded, after a bit of time, to something sultry and warm and close to the skin. I love fruit smells for spring and summer, so I'll be using up my imp, and considering a bottle!

I've had mixed results with Somnus. The first night I used it, I felt my brain empty most pleasantly, and I was asleep within short order. However, it did nothing to help me sleep through the night (this is my major issue). The next few nights I used it, it took me a while to fall asleep. And then the next few nights after that, it worked. I'm kind of 'eh' about it, actually. It's nice, but I don't think it's the sleep blend for me. I'll use up my imp for sure, but I may need to try some of the other sleep blends from the Somnium line, or Panacea's TKO. If those don't work, I may well have to try some TAL blends.

I got two imps of Black Annis in the mail today, purchased off of the lovely indicolite! I basically offered to take all of her unwanted imps as I wanted to try scents I might not normally try, and Black Annis was certainly one of them, by its description. Of course, once the imps arrived today, and I realized there were TWO imps of this, I began to worry a little. What if I don't like it? What if, what if, what if? I'd never really smelled civet or vetiver before, so I was kind of worried. I've alternated between complete horror and complete fascination in the last few hours I've had some of this on. Either way, I can't stop sniffing it. It's been mostly musky on me, and I'm assuming that's the civet. So much so that the main thing that comes to mind is sex. It smells like sex -- clean, post shower. But sex. And I don't know if I want to walk around all day smelling like sex. But then the anise comes out to play. It's not very strong, and not sweet at all, but it lends an herbal note to the musk that changes what I smell slightly. It's not sex anymore. Now it's cigarette smoke and leather -- something that sometimes led to sex in my younger years. I'm thinking this would smell FABULOUS on the right man. Then I read the description again for the scent, and I can totally get the dank, damp cave thing where a hag might reside. It's amazingly evocative. I won't be buying a bottle of this, but I won't be giving both imps away either. I'll be keeping one, to wear when I don't feel like being myself one day. It feels incredibly brazen, dark and edgy -- not sure if I'll have the courage to wear this outside of the house, but it's definitely worth another try or two. Kudos to Beth, because this is one of the most evocative BPAL blends I've smelled yet.

I received a frimp of Lear in my last order, and I think it would be really nice on a guy. White cedarwood, blue sage and bay leaf says the description. It ended up being a LOT of cedar on me, but on him it may be more balanced?

Very cinnamon cider-y apple... not over the top. I was feeling very sluggish tonight, exhausted after nearly three nights with no sleep (I very nearly fell asleep in the car on the way home from work today, if that's any indication), and after putting Block Buster on, I feel a bit more energy, and my mind is a bit more clear. I've been fighting mental fog lately with a lot of things, and this is a very welcome imp right now, let me tell you! I'm definitely going to use this up, and I may consider a bottle if it really helps me get through the next few difficult days like I think it just might!

Dandelion said above that this reminded her of Sprite. YES! Definitely sprite! Light and airy and crisp and clean -- just without the fizz. It's floral, and I can see where people are making the soap comparison. But I've had worse soapy smelling things on me that I absolutely cannot stand, and this one I think would be smashing on a hot day. I sense something citrussy in with the florals. Good throw, and uber feminine. I may just invest in more!

I am not a floral girl in the least -- at least I don't think so! But gardenia is the one floral scent I absolutely love. I ordered this imp on the advice of folks who said it was gardenia heavy. And they were right! I'm not sure it's the -perfect- gardenia fragrance for me, but as it's drying down and mellowing out, I'm really, really liking it. Decent throw, but not overbearing and just enough spices to keep it from being a purely floral scent.

Dorian. Dorian. Wherefore art thou, Dorian? Perhaps my nose is fried from sniffing so many imps tonight and last night, but Dorian was hiding from me -- in the imp and on my skin. And then I applied a little more, and there! Finally, I got what everyone's been talking about! This is light and sweet and going to be a great scent for warmer weather, if I can keep my ridiculously fair skin from eating this up. I may make a lotion out of it. Will consider buying a larger bottle.

I wore this one to work today, and it's lovely. I had washed this morning with a pomegranate body wash, which went nicely with the Mme. It was rich and warm and spicy upon first application, and it lasted for hours and hours. I especially loved catching whiffs of it during the day when least expected -- and there was no one note that stood out on me. In fact, little snippets popped out to play: sometimes it was plum, sometimes the musk, occasionally the patchouli and more often the pomegranate. I'll be picking up another bottle or two of this before the Carnaval leaves town, for sure.