ceiswyn

In the bottle: There is no one single note that predominates. This isn't a particularly strong scent, but it is quite complex; something musky, something almost a little menthol, a sweetness that isn't fruit or flowers, and something vaguely herbal/spicy that isn't green. Very odd. On the wrist: That suddenly became a little stronger! I'm surprised there's no patchouli in this, because it smells slightly patchouli-esque, with a trace of aniseed that must be the wormwood, and the earthy touch of galangal. After a few moments the slightly cherry scent of dragon's blood becomes just barely detectable on my right wrist, but mostly this is a dark and smoky blend. One hour later: The scent is rather pleasant; musky and smoky, a little earthy with a faint dragon's blood sweetness. But it has almost no throw, and no staying power. Drat!

In the imp: Chocolate. Very rich, slightly buttery chocolate, with a thin hint of fruit in the afterscent. Not entirely unakin to the most recent 13. On the wrist: On the wrist the pumpkin comes through a bit, giving body to the chocolate. The pomegranate seems to have vanished utterly. This is a heavy, edible, chocolate cake sort of scent. I appear to have started salivating. One hour later: Heavy, rich, edible chocolate, lightened by just a trace of pomegranate. This is what I wanted Lump of Coal to be. It's absolutely delicious; but I'd never keep my wrists if I wore it...

In the imp: Something dark, something smoky, something spicy-sweet. Sniffing it again, it starts a little over-sweet, like a slightly sour dessert wine, like the perfume Athens. But that quickly resolves itself into a trace of apple, quickly overwhelmed by the afterscent of wood and greenery and pine. On the wrist: For a moment everything is Athens-like, then the sweetness and the sharpness fades away. What is on my wrists is damp evergreen, spiced with clove and nutmeg, lightened by the barest hint of apple. One hour later: Where did my damp woods go? Samhain is now a world of heavily spiced apple, which is all very well but not quite what I was hoping for...

In the imp: At first sniff, this smells of biscuits. Nice oaty ones. No, I don't know why, either. At second or third sniff the biscuits have mostly disappeared into an edible smell - which is just like the eat-my-wrists smell from another pumpkin blend many moons ago, and which I must therefore label 'pumpkin' - with vanilla, backed by lighter, sweeter, fruit-and-flower notes. Which I promptly get on my nose. On the wrist: Having washed it off my nose and reapplied it to the proper place, it's a strongly edible note sweetening sophisticated flowers. The tobacco is a very faint smoky edge to the pumpkin and tonka. It's like a much, much sweeter version of Et Lux Fuit, with just a teensy hint of Red Lantern. If the pumpkin-vanilla were only a little fainter, and the tobacco a little stronger, this would be really wonderful. One hour later: It's much the same, although the individual scents have blended together a bit more. The perfumey scent of the flowers is now stronger close to the wrist, although the sweetness lingers in the throw. It's lovely, but just that tiny bit oversweet, I think.

In the imp: That lovely edible pumpkin smell with something... <sniffs again> orangey. Maybe something a little spicy too? On the wrist: The pumpkin and orange are blending, now, rather than being separate scents. They're a little hotter and drier than I'd expect; that will be the neroli and the ginger, which aren't strong enough to be smelled, but strong enough to influence the expression of the other scents. Everything is really quite faint compared to the pumpkin, though. One hour later: It's gone all faint. On the right wrist is just a trace of pumpkin, a trace of neroli; no more. On the left, the orange has come through, supported by the less sharp sweetness of the pumpkin, but this, too, is fading. Ah well.

In the imp: This is pumpkin, but with something clean and fresh behind it. Something a little dry, and a little green, and just a tiny bit floral (dry floral, rather than sweet). On the wrist: Oh yeah. The greenery really comes through on my wrists, leavening the sweetness of the pumpkin. It smells first sweet and edible, then hot and dry with just a hint of a penetrating, floral sweetness, a little stronger on the left wrist. I catch a different aspect each time I sniff. One hour later: Dammit! That metallic note has quietly appeared and is starting to take over! It's not jarringly wrong, which is why I took a while to notice it, but I'd really rather it weren't there at all. Maybe I can try this again later to see if it's a hormones-changing-skin-chemistry thing, because otherwise I'm really loving this...

What an appropriate sniffie to be testing, given that I seem to be on an Agatha Christie kick In the imp: This is a dark smell with a slightly musky quality. There is something woody there, and something slightly unusual, somewhere between herb and spice, that I feel I ought to recognise. On the wrist: It sharpens on the wrist, becoming a little less musky, and the wood and herbs come through strongly, with a thread of something brighter that must be iris. There's a faint spiciness to it, and an unexpected hint of... violet? One hour later: Well, it was very nice, briefly. Now I smell like slightly spicy parma violets. How is this possible?

In the imp: When they say 'dead leaves', they're not kidding. This is bitter, like leaves and woodsmoke and earth, with a faint hint of velvety warmth. On the wrist: An initial smell of dying flowers gives way to bitter khus, backed by the warm smell of woodsmoke. This smells exactly like autumn; not the glorious turning of the leaves, but their fall. Bleak rain and wind. The hint of woodsmoke that seems to hover in the air throughout late October and November. Bitter, bitter, and smoky with just a hint of spice. One hour later: On my right wrist it's a little smoother and spicier; my left wrist is more bitter. It seems to be fading quickly but oh my, it's lovely... Two hours later: It fades into a faint scent of bitter flowers warmed by clove, which lasts for the rest of the day.

In the imp: At first, the scent is all edible pumpkin. In the afterscent is something crisp and fruity, like apple; a clean and fresh thread winding through the richness of the pumpkin. On the wrist: Mmm. The smooth, rich sweetness of pumpkin blends seamlessly with the pear, like a warm pear-and-pumpkin tart. At the moment there is neither jasmine nor tea; perhaps the jasmine will come through later and save my wrists from being munched? One hour later: The main scent now is pear and grape, blended with a faint trace of jasmine, backed by the warm, comforting sweetness of pumpkin. It's a little sharper on my left wrist, a little sweeter (and butteryer) on my right; and, like Pumpkin II, just a little too sweet. I wonder if that's going to be a problem with the entire patch?

In the bottle: This smells exactly like the mint fondant inside After Eight mints, with perhaps a faint overtone of Kendal mint cake. It makes my eyes water slightly. Also, my mouth... On the wrist: Mint fondant. Oh yes. With a cleaner, fresher, less artificial mint. I begin craving After Eights. One hour later: Still mint fondant, but mellower and a little faded; this does seem to fade relatively quickly. I still smell edible, but a little less like an actual mint sweet

In the imp: A very light, fresh, scent. Uh-oh. I detect aquatic. There's something that's very gently fruity, then some kind of sweet flower behind it. On the wrist: Um. It's very nice air freshener? Sweet and fruity and flowery. I can't detect any tea at all, though the 'fruity' scent is turning more 'herbal' on the wrist. The flower is gentle, not oversweet, and rather nice. Nevertheless, the aquatic... One hour later: Has gone very faint. Still faintly airfreshenery, but less so than most aquatics go on my skin. A little herbal, a little sweet from the peony. Not actually bad, but it doesn't last.

In the imp: I can smell dark chocolate (cocoa?) and cherry, but it's not overpowering. I think there may be some kind of flower behind it, lightening it, but I can't even begin to make it out. On the wrist: Mmm. It's the same kind of chocolate as in Velvet: dark and unsweet. There's a hint of cherry, but the orange blossom has definitely gained in strength and is preventing the scent from becoming too cherry-edible. It's really starting to sweeten, though. One hour later: Pure black cherry, with a hint of talc around the edges. Later, as the cherry fades a little, the chocolate comes through again, but by then it's all that little bit too sweet, like Roses chocolates.

In the imp: It's a dark amber brown. Rather a pretty colour, actually. Ooh! There's definitely ginger in there. And something very woody; I'd guess frankincense, because there's a slightly musky spiciness to it as well, but it's too woody for frankincense. Everyone else suggests cedar, and they're probably right. Maybe the spiciness is patchouli, I like it but I'm terrible at recognising it. On the wrist: I am wreathed in the smell of something spicy-smoky and pleasant. Close to the wrist it's very woody; almost acrid, with the ginger as well. But the throw, ah, the throw! Spicy-sweet, smoky and mellow. This is snuggling up to someone next to a dying fire, late on a summer evening. I begin to think it was foolish of me to try it with my boyfriend on another continent. One hour later: Smoky wood and animal musk. Freshened by a trace of lemon on the right wrist, of ginger on the left. I think I'll, err, just keep it until my other half gets back...

In the imp: Ooh, this is an unusual scent. Flowery-spicy, with something very bitter in the background. A hint of wood, perhaps; but all the scents are huddling in a big group, and none of them want to come out to play individually. On the wrist: The jasmine is no longer feeling bashful. Neither is the neroli or bergamot, and they're definitely tempering the jasmine's exuberance with their usual dryness. Allegedly there is myrrh in here, but it's hanging back behind the others and hoping I don't spot it. After a while the rose saunters in from nowhere to take over the show, with just a hint of mandarin behind it, and at about the same point everything starts to turn a little soapy. Y'know, I've had friends like BPAL's rose. Pretty, popular people who hung out with me for a while because they were bored and I amused them, then when I least expected it they tired of me, turned on me, and went back to their old group of friends to bitch about me. And yet no matter how often this happened I kept accepting their overtures, because I so desperately wanted to be accepted by the cool kids. Why no, I'm not at all bitter about the way rose behaves on my skin. Why do you ask? One hour later: It's all gone a bit generic florals, though with strong contributions from the orangey contingent and the musk. Bah.

In the imp: Ooh, sweet! This is fruit and cake. Pure fruit and cake. Juicy, juicy fruit and some kind of sponge cake. I want cake now... On the wrist: On the wrist it turns a little less sweet. I can't remember what kumquat smells like, but I'm willing to believe that this is it. It's lovely. On the right wrist the white pepper, tea and orange blossom have really come through; the left still smells much the same as it did in the bottle. Where is that cake coming from? Oh god, this is scrumptious. It's like biting into some oversweet, overripe fruit and having the juice run down your chin and make your fingers all sticky. And cake. WHY DOES IT SMELL OF CAKE?! One hour later: The cake seems to have largely gone away, and the fruitiness is dying down; it's white tea, white pepper (especially on my right wrist) and orange blossom that I can smell on my wrists now, sweetened and juicened by the kumquat (especially on the left). That wondrous, wondrous juicy scent may only last an hour, but I may buy a bottle for that hour.

In the imp: I don't know what's in it, but it smells nice. There's something flowery and something woody, I'm sure of that much. Quite a deep, rich flowery - a rose/jasmine kind of quality - and a spicy, frankincensey woody. On the wrist: Whoa! This has suddenly become really intense! I'm sure the 'woody' is frankincense - my nose feels cold - and the 'flowery' is equally strong. It's one rich, deep, lush scent, similar in quality to Tzadikim Nistarim, but with the frankincense that little bit stronger. It smells dark and deep and complex, and has an 'edge' to it that Tzad doesn't. One hour later: It's not lightened much, although the 'edge' is mostly gone. I can no longer separate it into 'flower' and 'wood'; it's all one, lovely, rich, deep smell. If you told me there was cinnamon in here I'd probably believe you. It's slightly sweeter on my left wrist, slightly darker on my right, but it now has a faintly talcy edge on both. It's nice, but I prefer Tzad. My guess as to ingredients: Frankincense, spikenard, cinnamon.

In the imp: Mmm. Light woods and spicy musk. I think I can detect a light sandalwood somewhere, but the strongest smell is... myrrh? Frankincense? Definitely something with that resiny-bitter aspect to it. On the wrist: Whoa, where did that little hint of sweetness come from all of a sudden? I think it's the patchouli (at least, there's something that reminds me of Tiresias, and that's the only ingredient in common) sweetening on my wrist. That's the first distinct scent, merging seamlessly into the frankincense, together almost drowning out the sandalwood. This is the smell of sun-dried wood, with a dark and exotic edge. Ooh! Sniffing it for too long makes my nose cold! It must be the frankincense that does that in Ahathoor! ...minor mystery solved there One hour later: The frankincense has become less intense, letting the sandalwood reappear and the patchouli come forward a bit. The scent is just a little less woody, and just a little more spicy/musky. Very pleasant.

In the bottle: There's something clean and fresh, followed by milk with honey and vanilla. A trace of tea. This isn't tea-with-milk-and-honey; the tea is entirely separate from the warm honeyed milk. On the wrist: This isn't strong tea, but it's good tea. We're not talking PG Tips here, we're talking Darjeeling, taken on the lawn on a sunny mid-afternoon with cucumber sandwiches. They weren't lying about the clean linen, either. One hour later: Milk and honey and... something else. It's the same smell that I love in Gluttony, and that was all wrong in War. I'm starting to suspect it's an ingredient in the base rather than a scent in its own right. But it's there, faint and slightly metallic, behind the tea. It works with the scent, but I think it would have been nicer without; it's what makes it a 7/10 rather than an 8.

In the bottle: I'm sure I can smell myrrh. There's an acrid edge to it that isn't horrible, but which I'm not sure I like. Unusual. On the wrist: There's an overpowering scent of something-or-other; it's too intense to make out. Nutmeg, yes, and myrrh, and oh! Yes! The acrid edge is resolving into sassafras and something else, that surely must be poppy. I'm still not at all convinced I like it, but it's certainly unusual. One hour later: It hasn't actually changed much. The nutmeg's hard to make out; the main scent is the sassafras, but made dark and smoky. The smoke from smouldering sassafras, perhaps, which is fairly appropriate I sort of like it, I think. But I don't think I'd wear it.

In the imp: The first impression is of sweet flowers, though they seem more nerolish than roseish, and then there's a sudden hit of wood. That must be the labdanum; it smells a little like sandalwood and frankincense, but bitterer than either. On the wrist: Woody. Definitely woody. The rose starts to come through now, and it is rose, though the orchid is a detectable (but not yet unpleasant) perfume-scent behind. This is a sad, bitter scent; or at least it is until it all sweetens and muddies and turns perfumey on my wrists, as I'm confident it will. One hour later: It's all rose (slightly artificial, perhaps, but not much) and orchid. The labdanum seems to have vanished without trace. It's not unpleasant, but it's not for me.

In the bottle: I smell.. soft apricot, with a hint of orange blossom behind. Where's the musk, exactly? On the wrist: Apricot, softened by musk, with the orange blossom a hint of unsweetness in the background. Unsurprisingly, this is somewhat reminiscent of Grand Guignol. One hour later: It hasn't changed much, except that the notes have blurred a little. Still very much apricot, with a little orange blossom on my right wrist, a little musk on my left. It's quite nice, but I much prefer Grand Guignol.

In the imp: My first impression is sweet. My second impression is flowers. I'm not sure which ones, they're all twined together; rose? honeysuckle? orange blossom? And a hint of spiced fruit (citrus?) behind. On the wrist: On the wrist it instantly becomes a darker, spicier scent (which is impressive given that there are no spices in it). The lemon is much stronger, with everything else fading into the background a little as an accompaniment. The left wrist is slightly herbal, presumably from the orris root and violet leaf, whereas the rose and jasmine come through on the right. One hour later: And now it smells... vaguely perfumey. Bah. There's still traces of lemon, and sweet flowers, and spices, but the first thing that hits my nose is solidly perfume. In another hour it's faded to soap. Bah again.

In the bottle: Aargh! I know this smell! But what is it?! This smells... hot. Not spicy-hot, though it does have a spicy edge, but... strong and dry, in the same way that, say, neroli is dry. Very complex. Is that carnation I detect for a moment, before it changes into something else? Something herbal too, that gives my nose that chill menthol edge after I've been sniffing it solidly for a few minutes. Something vaguely reminiscent of marker pens too, in the background. On the wrist: On the wrist it instantly becomes dryer and slightly dusty. My nose is still chilled from sniffing it in the bottle, but if I sniff my wrists they're just, well, warm. It's musky, with a hint of spice, and a complex bouquet of unsweet flowers about the edge. It smells of hot days; not holidays on a tropical beach, but days when everything seems flattened by the heat and you toil on under an incandescent sun and mercilessly vivid blue sky. The left wrist is a little sweeter and floweryer, the right is pure dusty heat. There's definitely carnation in the throw. One hour later: It's turned into a faint warm myrrh. It's still nice (I like myrrh) if not quite what it was.

In the bottle: Ooooh. Spices, spices, spices. Not sharp or hot, just aromatic. Mmm. There's a strong scent of cardamom, and I think I can smell nutmeg as well. On the wrist: Mmm. Spicy. This reminds me of my final year at university, for some reason, though I can't pin down why. The nutmeg is strong in this one; the cardamom has faded quite a lot. The spice is gentle, not overwhelming, and sharper than it was in the bottle. I am liking this so far, oh yes I am. One and a half hours later: Why does the throw smell soapy? Why? I think I blame my left wrist. My right wrist is all warm and cardamom and nutmeg, with something slightly flowery-soapy in the background. But my left wrist is just spicy soap. Grargh!

In the imp: Is that orange blossom? Smells slightly soapy... On the wrist: Very expensive soap. I still think there's orange blossom there, and probably some lavender. This reminds me quite strongly of Succubus, in fact, probably for the orange blossom/soap combination. As it settles, another floral comes through the soap; maybe just the faintest hint of rose? One hour later: Still strongly soapy. The florals are still there but have muddied somewhat, making them harder to make out. It's developing a slightly muskiness similar to that of Libertine, possibly chamomile; that would make sense. Eh. Very nice soap is still soap. Three hours later: 'Soap' has largely given way to lilies. My best guess at the ingredients: orange blossom, lavender, lily, chamomile, maybe rose