Leopard403

Someone once described this to me as Alice's more sophisticated older sister... which I guess would be true, if she were a sour old maid. Sadly, Maiden is very bright but VERY sour on my skin, the top-note-tang of a fruit basket past its prime. I'll stick with sultry Alice, thanks!

My skin amps all resins on my skin, so all I get here is smokey (and sometimes bitter? weird!) frankincense. No lovely rose to speak of.

The scent of warm, glowing jack o’lanterns on a warm autumn night: true Halloween pumpkin, spiced with nutmeg, glowing peach and murky clove. I love the pumpkin blends that the lab does at Halloween, but in years I've found nothing I like more than the true buttery pumpkin scent of Jack. It's my go-to scent for Fall.

So many of these notes are so stereotypically feminine, I don't understand how this ends up smelling like men's cologne on my skin. Must be a function of musk + metal. Luckily, it smells AMAZING on my boyfriend, and he's usually amenable when I want to dab a bit on the nape of his neck before sexytime. *swoon*

Oh, gin, how I love you for summertime! I loved the note in Velvet Pink Kitty and set out to find a bit of Blue Fire as a result. This is bright white gin with very blue tarty blueberries and a hint of that tropical papaya. No lemongrass scent on my skin, which works for me!

I can see why people have raved about this, because it is *really* good. But it is also too similar to some other blends to really be a stand-out to me: It's like Floating Brain and Teenage Cannibal made a baby, and I go back and forth between who the child resembles most. For the record, I do NOT get ANY Midway from this scent. Not even close. The good news? It lasts forever, longer than the other blends it resembles and much longer than the other Tikis I've tried. For that reason this is a keeper for me. eta one day later after a full wear: Okay, I'm not sure this is for me. After five minutes on my skin, it is indistinguishable from Teenage Cannibal except for some note right at the bottom that is really strong and *annoying* and is going to give me a headache any minute. I'm going to try it in my locket and see if it is any better. *sniff* edited again after one more full wear: No. This is not for me. I am getting the dreaded Boiled Peanut Note of Doom. It must be the merangue (is that really how it's spelled?) because it is usually cream notes that do this to me. This is bad and it's going up for sale.

That juniper note is the first thing that gets ya, because this has a TANG! in the edge of your nostrils. But underneath that, it is so pink and pretty that it surprised me. It's similar to very fresh and bubbly strawberry soda, if you added a generous shot of gin. It doesn't last long, but it outlasted VTiki on my skin.

I agree that this smells like pina colada... if your pina colada is the kind that comes bursting with flower and fruit garnishes on the top of your glass: The floral is just as present as the fruit. The bad news? Absolutely no lasting power. You'll need to slather this one!

• Chaos Theory IV: DXXXVII. Seller described it as "tropical Skittles," fruity and candyish and spicy. To me, it smells fruity-fresh in the bottle but like freshly cut grass when it dries on my skin. It is lovely for Springtime.

Red Rose is quite masculine on me, as I feared. Too heady and resinous to wear alone. Coupled with White Rose, however, it is a lovely, sexy scent.

Mmmm. I get very little rose in White Rose. Instead I get a creamy, vanilla-y scent that is identifiable as a floral, but isn't In Your Face Rose. Alone, it turns slightly soapy on the dry-down, but paired with Red Rose this seems to stay truer to itself. Lovely.

Hmm. I was expecting sweet, fruity goodness. What I got was a cold white floral. How did that happen?

Oh, man. I am shocked by how much I like this, since it is full of deal-breaker notes for me but I'd had waaaay too much wine before deciding which decants I wanted. And thank goodness for wine! "Divine and shining," indeed! Dia is actually borderline-soapy on my skin, which is usually a very bad thing, but here it works. The scent is sort of airy; I can see how some people might think "dryer sheets" and man if I could find some that smell like this I'd buy them in bulk! I can't describe it much more than that, only to say that this is unlike any other amber or musk or tobacco scent I've ever used. I need a bottle!

This is lovely: Soft vanilla and resins which aren't too dark or thick, with the lightness of orange blossoms. But it literally lasts three minutes on my skin. SO sad.

Wet, this is straight up sweet pear on my skin. What the heck happened to the other notes?!? Dry, it turns too soapy and perfumey, and unpleasantly reminiscent of a cleanser we use at the hospital. *gag* Very sad about this one.

GET IT OFF! This lavender is beating me to DEATH. I love bergamot, and I wanted soft lavender and gorgeous bergamot, but all I get is ZOMG LAVENDER.

This smells the way I wanted Prunella to smell: Deep and heady and plummy. I think I may need a bottle of this one.

Hmm. Not sure about this one. On my skin, it is half wonderfully dark, wonderfully boozy cherry cordial; and half sick medicinal. Sniff now, sniff again, it changes every time. I hoped this was a factor of my weirdo skin chemistry, but it smells the same on a fabric swatch. Boo.

I am striking out with the white chocolate notes. To me, this is identical to Obatala... if Obatala were thin and watered down and didn't last very long on the skin.

This is lovely, though a bit lighter and more delicate than I'd imagined. The gardenia is a true floral, and the combination of rice paper and honey scents are rather creamy to my nose. Not too sweet.

Hello lovely, realistic strawberry! So far the white chocolate scents baffle me: WC & Sugared Violets gives me straight up violet. Faith cloned. But this WC Strawberry gives me all strawberry and no chocolate! Okay, if I put my wrist right to my nose I get a tiny whiff of cream, which I assume is the WC. Maybe as it ages I'll get more of this note? Whatever happens, the strawberry is a true note and I'm very pleased with that!

Right now, this smells identical to Faith to me. I am hoping the white chocolate comes out more as this wears on my skin and ages in the bottle.

PEACH! Hello juicy lovely peach! In the bottle and wet on my skin all I get is that peach note. The drydown is much more complex, and my skin really seems to amp the tuberose because this is very much a white floral at close sniff. I'm not sure what "wood violet" is supposed to smell like, but in this case I assume it's more woody as that note reminds me of the wood note in Glowing Vulva. Very nice overall. Will be great for Spring.

This is really complex! I think every time I sniff my wrist I smell something different... and I am sniffing way too often. This is very soft rose, not the ZOMG ROSE! you get in so many other blends. I also get a vanilla-y sort of note that is very creamy, and I assume that is the caramel which is not the "burnt sugar" note I sometimes get from caramel. I love the pink pepper in it, as it sharpens the other soft and creamy notes. The drydown is quite powdery. I suck at descriptions when scents are like this, but I can say for sure that I like this. It feels sophisticated. EDIT 2/6: I had to follow up because this gets even more lovely each time I wear it. Slightly powdery but sharp and peppery at the same time, it is very, very sexy.

Mmmm, just as described: Tart pomegranate and the sharp smell of clear alcohol. A bit sweet, a bit tart, and with that cold booze scent underneath. Nice.