milo

Wet, red currant, and evergreen and some nuts. Dry, a dusty, spicy fruit with an edge that makes it smell very festive. I still get a bit of nuts, not one of my fave notes, so this blend is a no go.

Wet, very masculine and incensey. Dry, much the same, though I'm getting something spicy and rum like with a hit of tobacco. So it's even more masculiney now, woody and a touch of sour powder which is making me think there is orris in this blend. Not for me, but may work well with a guys chemistry. I'm not liking the powder, though it is off and on.

At first, I get florals with white chocolate, very pretty! As it dries, the orris comes out, and the chocolate is helping to keep it from getting tangy, as orrris does on me most of the time. The sandalwood is amaaaazing, but I wish it was a bit more prominent in the blend. This blend is very evocative of how I'd imagine the Unicorn to smell like. Very pretty, and if I use up the imp, a bottle may be in store here.

Wet, super sweet and fruity, like Laffy Taffy or Jolly Ranchers. Dry, much the same. This reminds me of Candy Phoenix, but if I remember correctly, that was a more strawberry candy scent. This is more orangey blend. The fruit is more of the fake variety, and gets dustier as it dries. I really knew this one wouldn't be for me, so I put it in the 'will eventually try pile', rather than 'the must try before Yules go down pile'. Those that like candy fruit roll up style blends may like this, though! I may dig the imp out if I'm craving candy, but otherwise, this is not for me.

At first, I'm getting a blast of fruity red musk, or maybe it's the blood note with the dark musks. After a bit, it doesn't smell like red musk anymore, but a strong, overpowering musky musk, if that makes sense. I love the dark musk in Panther Moon and BTBT, but this is really cologney and overpowering. Not for me.

I don't understand this. I get no caramel, red musk, sandalwood. What I get is cloying, heady jasmine/gardenia. It does get a a bit musty/powdery after a bit, which sometimes jasmine does to me. Total fail.

Wet, very fresh, fruity rose, with an emphasis on the fruit. Kind of smells like strong, sweet strawberry with a touch of rose. Dry, it is mostly rose, no strawberry now, and just a dusty, musty old gummy bear that has been stuck in the couch for a year. The rose is of the sour variety on me, too, which is double bad whammy. Not for me.

This ends up being strong, bitter woods on me, with something that smells kind of like furniture polish. Definitely not for me.

This definitely is tropical!! It reminds me a of a perfume my mom used to wear in the late 70's, which I can't remember the name of, of course. It may have been an Avon cream. This is mostly tropical floral on me, mostly gardenia. I don't really like blends like this, they are much too floral heady on me. That being said, I am really digging this blend today in the -38 wind chill out there, it is what I'd imagine Hawaii to smell like.

Wet, this is a warm, musky clove. I've smelled this amazing musk in other blends, and I'd really like to know what it is, as it is AMAZING. Maybe it's just the type of clove that is translating 'musk' to me. Whatever the case it melds beautifully with my skin chemistry and ends up being warm, sexy musk with a touch of clove. This morphs a bit, and at times, the clove is stronger. I don't get any fruitiness from this blend, but maybe it adds something I'm not aware of. This is going to be upgraded to a bottle, which doesn't happen very often with picky little me. Well, it turns out that the clove really loves me, and this blend is just too much clove. I sure like the beginning stages though...

At first, this is very creamy, sweet eggnog. As it dries, it becomes more spicy, and less creamy, but there is still lots of sweetness here. So Eggnog on me ends up being a vanilla sweet, creamy, mostly nutmeg spice. This is very reminiscent of Mother Shubs Spiced Lait de Chevre, which I do have a couple of imps worth. I like cream blends on me, they work pretty well with my skin chemistry. This is very nice, not overbearing at all, and perfect for a very snowy day here. I don't need to hunt a bottle down, as I have a few imps of creamy blends that suit me very well.

At first, I'm getting buttery caramel, not sure what is translating that note to my nose, but whatever the case, I am NOT a caramel fan at all. Dry, it's kind of a green watery spice with that darned caramel in the background. For some reason, this is reminding me a bit of Red Lantern, but 'fresher' somehow. Not into this blend

Wet, this smells like smushed weeds, which I'm guessing is the grass. The lilac comes out quickly, and to me is quite fake smelling, though it is quite faint. This is quite fresh smelling to me, the grass is dominating here, me thinks. I kind of wish the woods came out, it's just all grass and a bit of fake lilac.

This starts out kind of citrussy, with a bit of musk. As is dries, it kind of smells a bit bitter. Not unlike a squished bug, only not bad if that makes sense. Still, this blend is just too 'odd' for me, luckily it fades really fast.

At first, this is musky berry, though it doesn't smell like red musk to me. The resins come out after a bit, and now it's resiny, musky berry. The musks here are beautiful, but the berry makes it smell too generic department body spray on me. I'm curious to see how this ages, but for now, this is a 'no go'.

At first, smokey honey. Dry, pretty much the same. This is very similar to Sara Pezzini and Door, though it lacks the leather in Sara Pezzini, and not as 'soft' as Door. Very yummy, sweet, but with an edge. I like this, but between my decant of this and SP, and Door, I'm set for smoky, sultry honey scents for awhile.

This is all metal and a touch of wood. After a bit, the oak is more present, but still, this blend is more metallic to me, and very much iron. Not to fond of metal as a rule, and this one is pretty heavy, oppressing metal. Fitting for the description, but untimately this scent is not for me.

This wasn't really what I was expecting. I thought The Nutcracker would be more of a foody nut blend, but instead, it is more of a 'woody' nut blend. This really doesn't smell to much of nut flesh ( ), but of the shell and the wood that it grows on. This kind of smells like a wood workshop that makes expensive furniture, with a bit of musky cologne thrown in. This is an 'OK' blend, but a bit too dry and masculine for me to wear, and this is coming from someone who really likes woody blends. I don't get any fig, which would have made the blend more wearable to me. I think thisi would be great on a guy, but untimately not for me.

Whoah, this one is heavy on the carnation, though there is something really perfumey/musky as well. At first, it kind of reminded me of Hod, but than the aweful dept store musk came out . This blend is loud and obnoxious on me.

Wet, this is all about the melon of the honeydew variety which is pretty much a note that I can't stand. It's much to sweet and candylike. After a bit there's a bit of musk poking out, which helps this blend somewhat, but not enough to save it for me.

Wet, this is a bit weird. Very spicy Dragon's Blood with an extra jolt of cinnamon and something weird and musty. After a bit, it smells like the flavour of Big Red gum after it's been chewed awhile. Like the taste I mean, if smell were a taste, which they are kind of related. At any rate, this is a bit odd on me, almost like some random note was ruining the blend. Other than that, if you're a fan of cinnamon and DBR, I'd give this one a whirl.

At first, this is very similar to the '08 version, lovely belgium chocolate and a touch of amber. After a bit, though, this smells more like a newborn baby for some reason, and very little cocoa anymore. I'm guessing it's the amber doing funny things on me. You know how a baby smells, kind of powdery and REALLY good. However, there are times when a rancid poopy smell emerges, and I'm not sure if this is a skin chemistry issue or not, but this Gelt is very different from the '08 version to me. At times very pretty, but not cocoa, and then a bit rancid. And, it fades pretty fast, whereas the previous version lasts for ages on me. Fun to try, but I don't need anymore Gelt.

At first, this is orange with a bit of chocolate, kind of like one of those chocolate oranges you can break apart. As it dries, it becomes dusty orange, disappointing, but this is what some cocoa blends do one me, especially coupled with fruit. Well, I figured this one wasn't going to work, as I don't like eating orange flavoured chocolate anyways. Fun to try, though!

I have the '08 version and love it. This '10 version is a bit different to my nose. It's more 'raw' if that makes sense. Still the same warm, golden ambery goodness but it's almost like there's a bit of patch thrown in, or some other kind of dark resin. I actually like this one better, though I'm betting it will become smoother like the '08 version. On an aside note, I have a string of amber beads that smell almost exactly like Jacob's Ladder, but only when the beads are against my skin.

This one starts out a weak and watery frankincence. It dries stronger, but I get no floral or fruit. That being said, I do like this, it's dark and musky with a a bit of sweet woods. I do have blends similar to this, though and do not need to upgrade.