yellowrose

I was the lucky recipient of O in a gift from belladonnastrap. Gakt is love, in case you didn't know. With its vanilla and amber a seemingly winning combination, I had high expectations of O. The honey was the wild card and wound up trumping them on me. Wet: sickly sweet and one sharp note I can't place that is almost green. Dry: Absolutely no traces of vanilla or amber. All honey. It later fades to a scent I can only describe as powdery. After about six hours, I stuck my wrist under the SO's nose. He declared it too strong and immediately sneezed. I'm going to keep it around to see how it behaves on a different day. Perhaps I'll try it with Mata Hari to see if they play well with others. I shall report back. UPDATE: Although vanilla and amber are my favorite notes, bar none, the sweet smell of O is just too cloying for my taste. I suspect it is the honey. It's just not for me. To be swapped as is the extra the Lab so generously provided in a recent order.

If you hurry, you can still get an imp of Yuki-Onna which was jasmine and nothing but jasmine on me. It's lovely, but I expected some citrus-y goodness, too. I never got it. yr

Right out of the envelope I could smell cinnamon and I got a bit scared. I'm not a huge cinnamon fan. But I'm game to try whatever scents the kindness of strangers wafts my way. After gingerly unwrapping the vial, more of the woody scents come forward. Is that redwood? There are also some faint florals competing for attention that give it a sort of funky woodsy smell. First impression: More cinnamon on the skin. Perhaps that's redwood? Nope. Cinammon. Sort of funky combination of woods and flowers. OUCH! Itchy. Have to wash it off after about five minutes. (I tried to keep in on to see if the itching would subside, but OW!) Crook of elbow is splotchy RED and the discoloration is lingering still. My office smells like Hamadryad, which isn't bad although I don't think I'll be keeping it as a room scent. Too overbearing. Some manly men might care for it. I think it could safely be classified as a gender-neutral scent. LATER THAT SAME DAY ... Hamadryad is still lingering around despite much washing and a couple of scrubs with Ivory Soap. The dissipated smell is nicer than the upfront scent. I do like that smell, whatever it is. This is why I kept sniffing the crook of my arm while driving dontcha know. Still, I don't love it well enough to keep it. This imp of Hamadryad has been adopted and is now in an appreciative home getting much love.

Jasmine. All I get is jasmine and more jasmine. Where's the lemon? And what happened to the promised bergamot? What's more, Yuki-Onna vanishes *poof* within an hour. Since I'm trying this while under the weather, I'll try again another day and post those results. Much, much later ... almost forgot to post the results. Yuki-Onna and all that jasmine just didn't work on me. It went to a good home. yr p.s. did i mention that this is my first encounter with bpal even after two orders? it's also my first review. -- yr

Thanks for the responses! I had to get something at the local health food store and lo and behold! YES! They have jojoba oil and offer take-home samples (huzzah!). Plus, they had the roll-on bottles for about 1.10USD less than the other source. And there's no shipping involved... just a little gas money. I plan to try the oil as you suggested, hypothermya. That and to see if it causes any allergic reaction. If all goes well, then I'm set for that first box o' goodies! Hooray!

So based on what some have suggested as optimal dilution ratios, one could expect an entire imp to be emptied into a 10 ml roller bottle with 10 ml of jojoba oil as a carrier. Yes? Or would someone just offer ideas as to what they do in this regard ... OK, other than buy a 10 ml bottle of an oil they really, really like. I would also love it if someone who might typically have allergic reactions to department store scents might comment on their experience with dilution in oils. Particularly, in regard to whether it minimizes or eliminates the reaction. Also, if you've tried various carriers, what seems to work best -- that is, what seems to pose less of an allergic reaction? It would be hell to get this first order and have runny eyes, itchy everything, and restricted breathing. It's not that way for me with all scents, and I trust this line might be one of them. Hoping for the best, yr