sarahmarie

Oh! I like this more than I thought I would. It was a little odd at first, but the drydown is fabulous. The combonation of pumpkin and pomegranate was hard for me to imagine, but it works really well - the pumpkin rounds out and sort of grounds the pomegranate, it's hard to explain. Basically, it's a very tangy fruit smell. It sort of makes my mouth water. It's suprisingly strong, but in a nice way! It's both simple and really unique. It manages to be warm but light and cheerful, and I really like that about it. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I am very happy with PP3. Beth is an amazing superstar goddess of scent.

At first, I got sweet, musky, booziness from this, with just a hint of the spicy bit everyone's talking about. It's very autumnal, and very wild and windy feeling. As it dries down, it becomes more and more musky. I don't usually like musk, but this one is very light as musks go - I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it. The problem I have with Devil's Night is that I'm afraid it's too musky on my skin for me and not enough of everything else. When I directly sniff my arm, I can smell some sweetness, and definitely a fall wind underneath the musk - but mostly what I get from this is musk. It's light, it's not unpleasant, but it's not really what I wanted. It smells really great wet, but I think my skin wants to amp the musk up way too much. I'll probably give it another try in a few days, when I'm not on my period and when I'm totally healthy, since I know both sickness and menstruation can mess with skin chemisty...but as of right now, it's not looking good for Devil's Night. I'll edit if anything amazing happens next time I try, though!

I am still sick, but I can smell today! I will edit if any dramatic changes occur when I am well again. Pumpkin Patch 2 is the first of the Patch that I've tried. I chose it because it seemed really comforting, and I am in the middle of a terrible cold and had to go out this afternoon. It was the perfect choice, I think! It started out buttery-smelling, but the butter dies down quickly and then things are really great. I smell the cocoa, and it's very smooth and warm over the slightly fruity, slightly buttery pumpkin. It makes me think of hot chocolate and baking. My nose is a little weak, but I'm pretty sure there's a gentle nuttiness as well - the hazlenut is the one I'm most familar with, so that's mostly what I pick up. It smells like all things warm and cozy and autumnal. I love love love it, and will wear it whenever I need to feel warm and safe in the cold fall and winter. It's delicious!

This is very sweet orange on me, as it is for lots of people it seems! It doesn't really morph at all - it just goes on sweet orange and stays that way. As someone who doesn't like orange-flavored things (thought I do like fresh oranges, I just like 'em tart!), this has negative associations for me and thus will not work out. Even if I did like sweet orange, I don't think it's very me, somehow. Hopefully someone who enjoys orange more than I do will appreciate it, though!

Wrath. Cinnamon and clove, with what I think is jasmine underneath. It's very warm and red, and it's definitely long-lasting with good throw.

This scent surprised me. I expected to be overwhelmed, but it wasn't overwhelming. It's mysterious, and dark, but heavy without being *heavy*. Wet, I smell incense and candle smoke and a hint of rose and neroli (I think that's neroli, anyway.) As it dries, the neroli gets stronger,but the incense remains. The candlesmoke seems to have vanished, which is too bad - it was awesome while it lasted. It's another complex scent that I haven't decided about yet, but I think I like it and I'm glad I swapped for an imp of it.

Definitely kind of crazy! Freak show is fruity figginess, with a peppery-sweet undertone, on my skin. My skin loves fig - loves loves loves it - and so this comes off *very* figgy on me. Maybe too figgy, even though I like fig. I just don't want all those crazy mixed up smells to vanish and leave me with only fig! I think I like it, but I'm finding it hard to explain or decide about. I guess it's pretty freaky that way, huh?

Mania, Roman Goddess of the Dead, Matron of Madness, Governess of the Ancestral Spirits, Bestower of Divine Frenzy. Her scent swirls with a high-pitched tumult of laurel, stargazer lily, splintered woods, peony, mandarin and white musk, and is spiked with pale pepper. I didn't really expect to like this, but I like wood and pepper smells, so I gave it a whirl. It's much lighter than I expected, and the florals don't hit me hard like they often do. I hate to make this comparison, because I really don't like equating any of these oils with the everyday smells they remind me of sometimes...I think that can be demeaning. But this time I'm going to have to say that it smells like clean laundry to me, at least on the surface. A lot. It's nice and gentle and soft, like that, but there's still something biting about it, even with that quiet softness. Something in that pepper that comes out underneath.... I'm honestly not sure if I'll wear this, but I am definitely much more fond of it than I expected to be. It's a strange, pretty, slightly menacing scent that you should try if you like light, gently floral smells.

I tried my sister's imp of this, also...and sadly, I really loved it. It's all spice and warmth and deliciousness. It even lasted really well for me - it was soft on my skin but stronger in my hair, and when I shook my head I got to smell a burst of clove, pepper, and cinnamon. I kind of thought I smelled ginger in there too, but I'm probably imagining things. This is a delicious, warm, autumnal scent that I would love to have if it should ever reappear.

Dark, decadent and incomparably exotic: the rich scent of buttered rum flavored with almond, bay, clove and sassafras. I tried my sister's imp of this, without any idea what was in it. Interestingly, the first thought I had was "cherry!", and my sister agreed with that assessment. Almonds can smell a lot like cherries, I guess? Or maybe my nose is crazy, but I definitely smell cherry. Once it dries down a little bit, a lot of spiciness comes forward. I smell cinnamon and clove, and something underneath that I don't recognize. As it dries, that smell I don't know becomes more prominent, and the spicy fades a bit. The cherry/almond becomes quite subtle. It does get more masculine, but I think I really like it.

I totally get how this smells like light. Really - it makes me think of lying in the grass and looking at the sun. I understand where people are coming from with the dark, musty associations, because it's very strong and very patchouli... Maybe I'm suggestible, but I do smell the light in this. And for that reason, I like it even though it is much stronger and much more patchouli than I can usually handle. I'm not sure whether I can wear this one...it might bother my headaches. But I love the idea of it, and I appreciate the scent immensely.

For some reason, a lot of the ozone scents smell like soapy flowers to me. I'm not sure if that's why, but Numb smells like soapy flowers on me! It's pretty strong, too. I'm sure it will be beautiful on someone else, but it's not something I can pull off. The violet is just too much for me. Hopefully someone who likes violets will give this a happier home.

In the bottle: Fruit Moon smells, to me, like a fruity candy. It's sweet and sour and perky! On my skin: The first thing I smell is melon - the cantaloupe in the description. As it dries down, the cantaloupe remains one of the most distinct notes, but I see it as sort of a base just because to my nose it smells like there's a whole jumble of fruit jumping around on top of it. There's a whole slew of fruity smells, and it's hard to pick out individual notes, but I think I can discern the pomegranate, strawberry, peach, and the passion fruit (or maybe that's the guava, or maybe both.) There's a tingley top(?) note that might be the kiwi, too. All in all, I really like Fruit Moon. I'm not sure whether I'll be able to use the whole bottle - there are only so many days I want to smell quite this perky and fruity! But I love it for what it is, if that makes sense, even if it isn't me most days. It has inspired me to eat some gummi bears, and I bet it will smell better than the smoothie I'm planning to make later on.

I thought I would love Hellcat, but I actually found it kind of overwhelming. When first applied, it's WHOA HOLY ALMONDS on me. After a while, it does dry down to a nicer, softer, sweet almond and hazlenut scent. It's probably really nice for some people, but something about it just really disagreed with me to the point where I didn't want to smell it. I've swapped it, and regret that Hellcat and I did not get along!

My skin loves fig, and therefore, my skin loves Eden. It's delicious - very figgy with a hint of green (it was slightly greener at first, but not the WHOA HOLY GREEN everyone's talking about), and undertones of warm, creamy almond milk with coconut backing it up. There was one stage where I could smell the almond more, but now it's hiding and just playing a very quiet, supporting role in the creaminess. It has throw too - not many scents have throw on me. It's not strong though, at least not in an overpowering way. But it does make itself known. I have another imp of this coming in another swap, and I'm so glad I do. It goes on the big bottle list for sure!

Midway is the closest you will get, for sure.

On me, this oil didn't really smell like much. I don't know if it was because I'd been smelling too many oils that day, or what, but it just failed to make any kind of impression at all. But then! Then my spouse tried it on, and he loves it. And I love it on him! It's all wood smoke and pine, and it reminds me of beautiful nights, camping by the lake in the summer. It's great. Plus, it keeps the werewolves away - so even better, right?

I recieved this as a gift imp in my most recent order. I didn't really expect to like it - flowers and frankincense are not generally my bag, especially not the frankincense, it's usually very heavy and headache inducing on me. But Seraphim is quite a surprise! It's soft and light, not a heavy breath about it! It's very pretty and definitely angelic - innocent, pure, and very very beautiful. I smell flowers (probably wisteria? I don't know what wisteria smells like. It's a soft, white scent with just a touch of soapiness, though) and sandalwood, with a little bit of a powdery (in a nice way) frankincense base. It's slightly perfumey on me, but it still invokes images of angels and softness and light in a way that overpowers the slightly stereotypical perfuminess. This was a total surprise, but I really, really like it. Also, my spouse took the biggest, longest sniff of my arm *ever* when I tried this on and offered it for sniffing. Hee.

There isn't much to say about Shill that hasn't already been said. It's buttered popcorn, precisely - not real butter, the kind on movie theater popcorn. It's amazing how close it is to the real thing! That said, I had high hopes for Shill. I even bought a whole bottle from a lovely forum member, I was so sure I'd like it. But it turns out that actually wearing it doesn't really work out for me! On my skin, it smells mostly like butter (not so much popcorn), which might be okay layered with other things. But my skin chemistry apparently isn't a big fan of it, because as it dries down it becomes very strange...almost chlorinated-smelling! I'm going to give this a try layered with other things, to see if that helps with the chemistry madness. If not though, I fear Shill will need a new home. :-/

I was *very* lucky to swap for PK recently, and it just came today. I was so excited! I feel lucky to get to try this blend, and I waited all day to review it because I wanted to get a good handle on what it smelled like before I did it. Okay, let's see... In the bottle, it smells like mulled cider with some butteriness and a teeny hint of musk/civet/patchouli - I really can't tell which! Something animalistic and dark, but it's almost undetectable in the bottle. Wet, on my skin, the spiced apple cider comes out strong. It's delicious - sweet and tart, and very spicy. Nutmeg and cinnamon and ginger, I think, maybe some other things too. There's a butteriness/creaminess also, but it's not overpowering. I don't think I detect pumpkin at this stage. As it's drying down, the muskiness comes out again, more strongly this time. I was nervous about that, but it managed to mingle in a way that didn't scare me or hurt my head, and because I was pretty hot and sweaty at the time (it was 90 degrees today!) it sort of complemented me. It really did add to the imagery for me, though. Think about it - all this great autumnal foodiness, maybe indoors (apple cider, cream, spicey baking) with a pumpkin field outside the window and something lurking in the woods. Once it's dry, though, the musk/civet/patchouli whatsit goes back to mingling more quietly, and I smell what I think might be creamy pumpkin along with the sweet apple. It's getting hard to smell on my skin, but it's been hours and I've been sweaty and before I applied it I was wearing sunscreen, so it's all a little weird. I can still pick up the apple and the spices most strongly. Overall, I love Pumpkin King, and I'm so glad and grateful to have gotten some. I hope it becomes available for Halloween, because it's a *perfect* Halloween scent. Even if it doesn't agree with you, it tells a good story.

I got this as a gift imp in a swap - thanks SpinalDesign! In the imp, it smells like grape, rose, and leather. Wet, the grape gets louder at first, taking over for a moment. Then as it dries, the rose and leather reappear. The rose is a little sharp on me, but it could be the combonation of the rose with the other flowers and the wine. I think the grape and the leather really keep it balanced though, and because of that I think I really like it! It's a very rich, strong, red scent. Very dominating! It's a scent for night, I think, maybe warm nights in particular.

On me, this is all cinnamon and flowers. I love the cinnamon - love love, 100% love. The flowers, eh. But I keep sniffing the spot where I applied it, so I think the overall combonation is good! This is interesting, because I know I tried Red Devil once before and ended up swapping it. I think my nose has grown a bit, and I'm not as afraid of flowers anymore. Or maybe this imp is slightly different. Either way...I think I'll be keeping it. I haven't had it on long enough to test the effectiveness though...I'll get back to you.

I never would have ordered this on my own, I don't think - but the lab included in as a gift imp in my order, and I'm really glad they did. It's so nice. It wears very softly on me, but it has a surprising amount of staying power. I tested a teeny bit on my leg (down near my ankle - it's where I test things I'm scared of, though I don't really know why I was scared of this scent!) and I could still smell the spot when I sniffed there hours later. But enough about my strange testing methods - on with the review. It was more floral and active wet, but it dries down into a very quiet, still scent that didn't move or change much once it was settled. I'm almost creeped out by how much this scent reminded me of cloth. It smells exactly like cloth to me, in a way I can't really explain, with a breath of flowers absorbed into or maybe floating around it. I am generally a little creeped out by the funeral oils, but this one dances around between creepy and calming in a really great, quiet way. I like it very much, and I think it paints a great picture.

To me, this doesn't smell like the ocean - but it does smell like water. It's funny, whenever I smell ozone/aquatic scents, I smell something floral. I don't know why, but that's always what happens, and that is what happens when I smell Kingsport. So I don't smell my beloved ocean - I smell water and floral perfume. I can't decide whether I like it or not, honestly. I'm going to have to wear it a little more, I think, to see.

I love evergreen scents, but I don't like orange very much. And musk can be an issue. So, I came to Dracul uncertain. At first, I thought there was hope - wet, it smelled strongly of orange, but a light orange I could see myself liking, along with some clove and mint. As Dracul dried, the musk came up, and what was left in the end was mostly musk, with orange and maybe some mint. It smells nice enough on my spouse, but the combination is really too strong for me and might be headache-inducing. Sadly, I don't think it's meant to be.