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Showing results for tags '2006'.
Found 28 results
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Snake Oil with cinnamon, cassia, and red ginger. First impression in the bottle: My eyes! Heh. It's just a very, very thick and intense woody cassia. That's all I get. Overwhelming enough to catch in my throat. It's the cassia of Monster Bait: Underbed with the dial set on 11. On, wet: My wrists are warm, but no burn. I would not suggest applying this right after a shower, though. The cassia is still howling, but not to the point where my throat feels scratchy sniffing it. I smell something sweet, but oh that cassia. Pipe down, you! Well, hello cinnamon. It's nice to make your acquaintance. The cinnamon is politely asserting itself, firmly telling the cassia to chill the fuck out. The cassia has decided to be sensible and take cinnamon's good advice and has receded, but not departed. Red ginger is peering in the doorway, probably trying to gauge cassia's mood. Dry: Red ginger has decided that it is safe to make an appearance. Cassia is contrite and apologizing like hell to red ginger. They have made up and are strongly joined in the scent. The cinnamon is a sweet cinnamon. Like in Australian Copperhead, the Snake Oil aspect is the backdrop. It's there, but not centerstage. Again, this will probably emerge more on aging. The Verdict: Even before aging, this is a great spicy, warm scent, just not as deep as I'd like. I have confidence that in a few weeks, this will be killer. I am not disappointed, I am looking forward to this one "maturing." ETA: Strong throw like whoa. I put my wrist down to my side and it still smells like I'm huffing it. Edited again to add: Hours later and the Snake Oil is much more apparent. It's a great mix with the spice.
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Straight from the twisted alleys of Dis, by way of the City of Angels: opium smoke, lemon flower, heliotrope, tuberose, black musk, vanilla, coconut, apricot flower. In the bottle: Coconut and lemon flower hit me first. It smells very soft and invigorating. It's beautiful and makes me think of lemon candies. Behind the softness is a hint of opium smoke, giving it a very ominous feeling. On my skin: I applied just a dab to my wrist since lemon and I tend to not get along. I've found that applying very lightly can downplay the lemon. I didn't want to overpower everything else. It starts off being lemon, but it fades fast to a smoky musk with a hint of vanilla and apricot. There's just a hint of the lemon now and it's just beautiful. Soft and subtle. Final verdict: This is beautiful. I'm not entirely sure it's a scent for me because it's a bit too citrus on me. It's great for someone who is looking for a soft citrus scent that's creamy and smoky at the same time. It has a very light throw, but keep in mind I didn't apply much at all so the throw might be stronger with more oil.
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Snake Oil with leather, tonka bean, red sandalwood, and sage. Wet: Sage and spicy incense. Herbal. Drydown: it goes in stages, the herbal/sage lasts quite a while and is very soothing. I'd have to call this one a calm scent. The sage slowly gets dusty as the leather gradually warms up. It finally settles on leather that has been sunwarmed with just a hint of the sage.
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Snake Oil with acai berry, amber, cardamom, neroli, and smoked vanilla. First impression in the bottle: Whoa, açai and neroli! On, wet: The açai is bright and vivid, berrylike without being at all candyish or cloying. It's just like the real thing. What a great note, I hope to see it in other things. The neroli is also bright and herbal. There is some sweetness and vanilla here, I suspect it will emerge more fully any moment... Dry: Oh, yes. Here is the vanilla and it is definitely smoky. The amber isn't so prominent, just adding a richness and a complement to the vanilla. The açai is calmer, but still a major player. The cardamom seems less spice and more round and full. Kind of like the cardamom in Bastet, as opposed to it in, say, Pumpkin Queen. As time goes on, I can pick out more Snake Oil-ish elements, but they are a backdrop. To me, this is more a scent in its own right than just a "Snake Oil variant." The Verdict: I am so happy with this. Predictably, I can see it aging beautifully, but it is more than wearable now. It's not like anything else I have tried, thusfar, but it still has that recognizable SO feel to it. I hope very much that this scent is representative of the beauty of the rest of the Snake Pit. If they are all this good, my wallet is sunk. ETA: Strong throw.
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Snake Oil with oakmoss, sea moss, and olive leaf. This has been one of the more elusive scents of the pit. I'm having a hard time getting a handle on it. Wet I can pick out the oakmoss - slightly earthy but almost like a sanitized version. Not as "loamy" if that makes any sense. The drydown leaves a faint salty tang with just a whisper of sweet spices. Not as much throw as some of the others (anaconda I'm looking in your general direction) and for me it would benefit from liberal slathering.
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Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk. Holy shit - it is a chocolate covered snake oil Wet: What are those chocolate flavored caramel candies called? The are all chewy and rich and dark? That is what this smells like. Drydown: The rich creamy chocolate tones down to a more dusky, incensy chocolate when dry. There is almost a cinnamon feel to it as well. Spicy.
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Snake Oil with vetiver, black coconut, vanilla, and opoponax. I won't lie to you - this is the blend I was most looking forward to out of the entire snake pit. When I first smelled it I was like "ick" it was much more masculine that I was anticipating (for the record I LOVE vetiver). I still gave it the prime testing location of my top left wrist and going on it has a heavy dusty coconut vibe - not juicy like I was hoping - but then again it does say BLACK coconut so I don't know why I was surprised. Five, ten, fifteen minutes go by and still it is a bit to bold for my taste then something wonderful happens. Maybe the vetiver just needed to get warmed up on my skin but now it is a lovely smooth coconut/vetiver mix that has just a hint of sweetness. Finally there is just a whispered suggestion of resiny goodness to round out the mix. Thank you Beth!
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A handsome, dark-skinned man weaves and dances his way through the crowd. Veves have been burned into the face of his old acoustic guitar, which he strums casually as he strolls though the crowd. A winged Capuchin monkey is balanced on his shoulder, holding out a rusty metal cup. The guitar player's melancholy chords begin to mingle strangely with a cacophonous jangling sound. The discordant symphony grows and swells as he moves toward a cloaked and hooded figure; this spectre's skeletal hands operate a dilapidated barrel organ that stands at a crossroads in the midway. As they come together, the music hits a nightmarish crescendo; your heart heaves with longings unfulfilled, your vision swims, and your head is filled with whispered incantations and gallows secrets. In that instant, you suddenly understand the profundity of deals made in Heaven and Hell, and the price of desire. Almond milk, sarsaparilla, tobacco smoke, black patchouli and white pine bark. I really wanted to try this because of the almond milk, but didn't expect to like it because patchouli and I don't usually get along. The first sniff was unlike anything I've ever tried before, and it only got better on application. The strongest note for me is sarsparilla, which is very pleasant, distinctive and sweet without being foody.. Something in the background smooths it out which smells like vanilla, but I'm guessing that'd be the almond milk. The description is right on this money with this - it's a subtle, persuasive scent. It may not be overpowering, but it's very memorable and lingered for a while. I could still detect traces of it three and a half hours later.
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Snake Oil with red mandarin, myrrh, and almond. Oh my Hello amaratto yummyness!. Beautiful almond scent tinged with a taste of orange citrus. As it dries it becomes an almost honey incense scent. Sexy and delicious.
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Snake Oil with linden blossom, calla lily, passion flower, and narcissus. Wet: Springtime! All the lovely florals are almost tropical fruitlike - almost mangoish - all blended together. It reminds me of the Northwest Flower and Garden show. It's feburary, dark rainy Seattle, then you walk into the convention center and all the display gardens bursting with spring blooms. A riot of sweet scents that somehow all work together. Dry: This didn't morph a lot on me, just toned the super sweet aspect down to a lovely incense floral
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A flash of light and the smell of sulfur seize your attention. A vast black tent stands before you, subtly glowing with an unnatural, almost phosphorescent light. This tent has no pennants, no ornamentation, save for a carved ebony sign, lettered in silver: “Master Theodosius Legerdemain, Medium, Conjurer One thousand years of marvels. Enter at your peril.” Another flash blinds you, and from a swirl of smoke a rakish, devilishly handsome man appears, long black hair falling down halfway to his waist, elegant and sinister in an inky silk tuxedo and a voluminous cape. The shadow he casts against the tent, oddly, seems to be that of an enormous corvus, and his eyes radiate a deep azure light. Staring fixedly at you, he snaps his fingers, and two bolts of violet lightning strike the ground on either side of him, blinding you momentarily. As your eyes adjust, you see that two lovely, slender, waiflike women now stand upon the scarred ground beside him, dressed in tattered ballerina costumes the nebulous color of smoke. Turning to his right, he touches the woman's lips and says, “Seachd seachd uair!” She opens her mouth, and a flock of diminutive bats fly forth from her throat. Turning to his left, he touches the other woman's hair and repeats, “Seachd seachd uair!” What once was a gleaming mane of stark white hair is now a nest of writhing vipers. She opens her mouth, baring fangs, and spits forth a thin stream of venom. The Master swirls his cape, which suddenly seems to grow and twist like a living shadow, and in a final flash of red lightning and a deafening thunderclap, he and both his assistants vanish. Earl Grey tea leaves, a white fougere, jasmine leaf, pearlescent white musk, and vanilla bean. In the bottle: I can't pick out any of the scents individually to be honest except for the lightest hint of vanilla bean. It's a very sophisticated masculine scent, the musk and tea leaves reminding me of my grandfather. Especially because of the hint of vanilla bean behind it. He always smoked vanilla pipe tobacco and constantly had just a hint of vanilla on him. On my skin: This does not smell good on my skin, but I'm not surprised by that at all. It's a lot of scents that don't match with my skin and when combined become very masculine. However, it's very light and subtle with a wonderful combination of musk, tea leaves, and vanilla bean. Final verdict: This is a scent for a man, at least to me. I'm pretty sure it won't smell good on the boy because scents that are too light don't work for him. However, I think this will work great on my dad. It's a beautiful scent that's blended wonderfully.
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From the corner of your eye, you see what seems to be a swirl of pale, translucent spirits. Ghostly in form, their faces are masks of pain and fury. Their insubstantial bodies churn and roil around a hissing, wailing clown. Her greasepaint is smeared with tears, and her fanged crimson mouth is turned down in a vicious scowl while blood drips from her lips. Her costume is torn and threadbare, and a steel-bright glint around her waist draws your eyes to an arsenal of razors, knives, and cleavers hanging from her belt. She swats futilely at the spirits as she shoves and scratches her way through the crowd. Guava, orange peel, white pepper, spun sugar and apple blossom. In the bottle: How does Beth do this? Seriously. It's a gorgeously blended scent full of sweetness and fruit and apples. There's just a hint of the white pepper, but it grounds the scent and keeps it from being too sweet. It's so pretty! On my skin: Guava! And apple blossom. This is a soft, sweet, fruity scent that has a very light throw, but a great bouquet up close. It reminds me quite a bit of The Perfumed Garden, but without the slightly overpowering fruit that one has. It's so pretty! Final verdict: This is very light and pretty. It's a great summery scent which makes me a little sad we're going into the fall. *laughs* It's very pretty and I really think folks who like fruity scents should definitely try this one.
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As you approach an enormous patchwork tent, a curious sound catches your attention: the rattle of bones and the tinkling of tiny bells heralds the arrival of a gaunt and ghastly creature. An animated skeleton dressed in a jester's motley saunters towards the front of the tent, waving an orange and black striped cane at the crowd in an effort to clear a path. The jester makes his way past the fog-shrouded, faded, colossal posters that adorn the tent to a platform in front of the massive tent's entrance. His ivory smile frozen in a gleeful rictus grin, he steps up onto the platform, taps the cane three times, and the jester costume vanishes. Suddenly dark eyes appear in the empty sockets, bones are wrapped in muscle, sinew grows over the bones, blood fills rapidly appearing veins. Before your eyes, the skeletal jester has become a dapper, handsome man, dressed in black and orange, with a skull-ornamented straw hat tilted jauntily upon his shining black hair. His smile is slick and conspiratorial. With a flourish and arcing wave of his cane, he booms: “Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! This is Carnaval Diabolique's notorious 13-In-1: the finest freak show in all the Hells! What marvels await you, you ask? Simply the strangest and most fantastic creatures, human and inhuman, gathered for your entertainment, enlightenment and erudition!” With the cane, he gestures at the gigantic posters that adorn the tent. The images, once hazy, suddenly come into focus. “From the depths of the Black Forest: Arachnina, the Spider Girl! From the rain-swept streets of London: Hope and Faith, the Siamese Twins! From ruins of old Aquae Sextia: Wulric, the Wolf Man! "Thalassa, the Galapagos Mermaid! A vision of life-in-death, Eshe! "All in all, THIRTEEN anatomical curiosities, miracles of genetics, magick and science, masters of marvels, ALIVE ON THE INSIDE!” White musk, wild plum, vetiver, black coconut, verbena, fig, and lavender. In the bottle: This is another very complex scent. It's got a hint of verbena and lavender which gives it a sharpness but the coconut, vetiver and plum balance it out. On my skin: Oh wow. This is so great! Coconut and plum with a hint of verbena. However, it doesn't last. It becomes something that doesn't work on my skin. It becomes too lemony sugar on my skin. I wish the plum and coconut stuck around longer. The first part of the scent works so well, but after it morphs it just doesn't work at all. Final verdict: If I could figure out how to make the first half stick around, I'd be thrilled to death. Again, another lovely scent that just doesn't work on my skin sadly.
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Lightning splits the sky, illuminating the skeletal skyline of the carnival rides: sugared incense and night-blooming flowers. Initially, I detected a similarity to Carnivale Noir's Midway, but this is equally beautiful in it's own way. As far as I can tell Midnight on The Midway has a similar base, that smooth, sweet scent of yummy sugar-dusted treats, but with the addition of a light and creamy floral that could be honeysuckle of jasmine.. but it's not overpowering in the way I'd expect from a jasmine note. Initially, this sounded like an unusual combination, but it's perfect, and where Midway used to disappear on me after about fifteen mnutes, Midnight lasted for close to an hour on the edge of my wrist. I'm looking forward to making this a bottle purchase!
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A colorless woman bursts from an elaborate gold and ruby tent and faints dead at your feet. Soft laughter emits from the dark entrance to the tent, and the scent of musk, black fruits and incense touches your senses. Looking up, you see that the sign hovering above the unconscious woman is adorned with images of the Major Arcana’s Tower and reads: “Mme. Moriarty, Misfortune Teller. No fate too grim, no future too bleak.” A tiny woman with floor-length black dreadlocks walks out of the tent, stepping over the prone body. She is clothed in deep red wrappings, and is bedecked in golden ornaments bearing alchemical symbols and charms representing eternity, chance, and wisdom. She pauses, looks you over slowly, and then flicks a tarot card at your feet. Red musk, vanilla bean, pomegranate, patchouli leaf and wild plum. In the bottle: Oh wow. I don't even know how to start. This is so complex! Everything blends so beautifully together to create this warm, sexy scent. It makes me think of a woman who knows what she wants and knows how to get it. On my skin: This is a dark red oil because of the red musk. That's the first thing I noticed. *g* On my skin, it's a lot lighter than I expected. Honestly, it reminds me a lot of a very light Snake Oil mixed with just a hint of Queen of Spades. Considering those are two of my favourite scents ever, I'm over the moon right now. Can I please bathe in this? There's just a hint of something that reminds me of tobacco which I think is the patchouli leaf. It adds a certain rawness to the scent. Final verdict: This is absolutely gorgeous. I'm going to have to stockpile this one before the run is over. I'm completely in love!
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Behind the diminutive stage, the puppet mistress stands, a pale and grinning Professor, the Lady of Chaos. Her hands are tangled in web-like strings; a swazzle peeks through her violet lips. Behind her, you see a wavering image, with all the vague haziness of a mirage: a leaping coyote, a flame-haired and scarred Norseman, a glittering golden spider, a laughing monkey, a leering satyr, a shadowy flutist, and an African youth dressed in black and red. Jasmine sambac, dark musk, violet water, vanilla bean and mimosa. I just took a nice long sniff of coffee beans to clear the nose so let's keep on going. *g* In the bottle: Erm. Jasmine and violet. Neither are scents I like at all. They turn to rotting flowers on my skin. It's got a hint of the mimosa in the background though so I'm hopeful that something else will end up on my skin instead of the rotting flowers. On my skin: Ah! Jasmine! [backs away] Oh god, I'm not getting anything but jasmine from this and it's making me not want to sniff anymore. But I will. There's still mimosa in the background, but it's all being drowned out by the jasmine. I can't seem to get anything else from it. Final verdict: No, no, no. I can't take this much jasmine. This is definitely not for me.
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The ringing of a gong seizes your attention, and you follow the sound to the next stage. It is empty, devoid of any backdrop, and the platform is dark. A haze blankets your vision, like heat radiating off of the desert floor. You hear the sound of hands clapping a steady rhythm, and within moments, the haze begins to coalesce into the forms of a troupe of ghostly women, clad in linen shifts. Their wraithlike hands pluck at the strings of translucent zithers and harps, shake spectral sistrums, and their pallid lips blow upon ethereal flutes. The music that they play is discordant, otherworldly, and seems to be at once a funeral dirge and a paean to life: a triumphant lamentation. As the sound swells, you hear the beating of wings in the distance, and a keen, a siren's ululation, joins the haunting melody. As the song reaches its eerie crescendo, a beautiful winged woman alights on the stage, summoned by the phantom song. Her skin is dusky brown, and the vigor of her youthful body seems in conflict with the depth of grief reflected in her eyes. Her wings spread out behind her in morbid majesty, and she takes flight. Her dance is, itself, a visible act of mourning, and is almost sensual in its sorrow. Frankincense, hyssop, hibiscus, river reeds, orris root, palm frond, and olibanum. In the bottle: Frankincense On my wrist, wet: Frankincense, dry and bitter-sweet. There is a hint of green. After 20 minutes: The bitter-sweetness has dissipated and what remains is a dry frankincense with an almost herbal note. After 40 minutes: Meskhenet isn't a morpher and didn't go through a great revealing of notes. It doesn't jump out and demand to be noticed. Rather, it remains a quiet, dry frankincense and a steadily growing reedy green note with which it eventually shares center stage. This is not a heavy resinous scent at all and is one that all resin-lovers should try.
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An exquisite, enigmatic woman sidles up to you, bearing a tray of strange, dusty curios, chocolate creatures, serpentine taffy, and candied skulls. Her skin is dusky, her eyes are heavy-lidded and sensual, her hair is the fine, soft white of spun sugar, and her skin is softly scented with cocoa. She holds a shrunken head aloft, and beckons. Dark chocolate with a heavy cream undertone. In the bottle: Cocoa. Thick, sweet cocoa. It smells like a very rich dark chocolate that makes you want to lick your lips and eat another piece. I used to work in a chocolate store and this reminds me of the dark truffles, sweet and heavy and rich and just so delicious. On my skin: This pretty much stays exactly like it smells in the bottle. It's gorgeous and just so foody. However, the longer it stays on my skin it starts to get a little sugary and slightly plastic. But that fades and I think that's just a short phase because it again settles down to chocolate and cream. Final verdict: This is a lovely scent and it's another chocolate lovers dream. Personally I like Bliss a little more, but I'm very happy to have a bottle of this onhand for when I want something a little creamier than Bliss.
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Snake Oil with blood orange, red apple, lemon peel, plumeria, and gardenia. Am so in love with this right now. Wet: Crisp red apples! Drydown: As it dries the orange/citrus comes out with just a tiny hint of sweet flowers but the apple is still king. 30 minutes: Juicy tropical flowers, apple is still there but has mostly faded and there is a warm spicy note just starting to be hinted at. This finally settles on a juicy, mango-esque floral, with would seems like a drop of bright cherry hiding in the background. The spices come through as an almost sweet cinnamon.
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Snake Oil with sugar cane, frankincense, champaca, opoponax, labdanum, and hyssop. Wet: Herbal and resinous On: Don't know how but I get a distinct grape note in this when dry. It isn't in your face by any means but it is there. Mostly though it is sweet incense and spices. This one probably reminds me most of Snake oil out of all of the Pit.
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Ghostly, glowing, sweet and dark: black cherry, patchouli, cassis, cardamom and verbena. In the bottle: Cherry! Cherry and cassis and cardamom. *swoons* This is gorgeous and dark and thick. It reminds me a little of Red Phoenix in the bottle, but much, much sweeter because of the cherry. On my skin: Cherry and cardamom hit me first with just a slight undertone of the patchouli. The strong cherry pretty much overpowers the patchouli and is making it behave. Yay! The longer it's on my skin, the less sweet it gets and the more smoky and spicy it becomes. I'm not getting the verbena, but the spices are gorgeous and sexy. It's not a subtle scent, but it's a very sexy feminine scent at the same time. Final verdict: This is a powerful feminine scent. It says I know what I want and I will kick your ass to get it. But at the same time it's full of sex appeal. I really like this a lot. It has a light throw, but I didn't apply much at all. Hopefully it will increase when I put on a full amount. ETA 9/3: Wore this one today and while I still love it muchly, I had a horrible reaction when I put it on my neck. Woe! Will this stop me from wearing it? Heck no! But I think I'll be sticking to wearing it on my wrists or in my hair. *g*
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Your eyes are drawn to a gilded miniature stage whose sign reads: "All Praises to the Lord of Misrule!" Upon the platform, a sneering wooden jester waltzes with a hollow-eyed and bleeding wooden maiden, while a wooden devil floats above them. Labdanum, cedar, teak and red rose. In the bottle: I get the cedar and red rose but there's something sour behind it. I'm not sure what that is. There's definitely labdanum in there, but that doesn't smell sour to me. On my skin: It's a very sharp wood scent with a hint of rose, not a heavy rose at all. It's barely there unless I stick my wrist against my nose. It's mostly woods with that sour scent still playing in the background. Final verdict: This is a really pretty wood scent, but whatever it is that's turning it sour is turning me off. I might try it on the boy though. He does well with wood scents and I think the rose would add just enough softness to it to make it smell really amazing on him.
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Snake Oil with orris, frankincense, and copal. Something in here reminds me of licorice - black licorice - with an almost earthy tang at the end or maybe tree bark. It is a morpher on my skin. It is a proud, confident blend.
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As you pass the tiny stage, you come across a large canvas tent, illuminated within, the exterior dotted with odd splatters. In front of the tent stands a scorched wooden cart covered in a jumble of bottles, jars, vials and twisted steel implements, and an elaborate, gold-gilded sign reads: “Doc Constantine Cures What Ails Ye! Liniments, salves, potions and elixirs for every malady of the body and spirit!” A scream splits the air, jarring you. You see shadows move jaggedly within the tent, there is another scream, and all is suddenly still and silent. After a long heartbeat, the door flap opens. A man steps out wearing a crystal-eyed schnabel mask in the style of medieval plague doctors, carmine streaking his sleeves, vest, and the blonde hair that crowns him. He pulls off the mask, and you see a handsome figure, almost beatific. He rolls a cigarette, lights it, takes a deep pull, and winks at you slyly as he gestures at the multitude of concoctions he has for sale. A bent crone, her body as bowed and knotty as an ancient oak, shuffles up to the wagon with rosy-cheeked, tow-headed maiden following her at a small distance. As she approaches the doctor, the crone gestures at herself, running a gnarled hand down her body in a sweeping movement, and casting a sideways glance at her grandchild. Smiling an angel's smile, Doc Constantine hands the old woman a potion the color of cold, congealed blood. She drinks it quickly, gasping. Before your eyes her body shimmers and blurs, and a shower of dark sparks seems to engulf her. Where the crone stood, there is now a voluptuous, raven-haired vixen, vibrant, sensual, at the prime of her life and sexual vitality. Her shriek of joy is interrupted by another's scream of shock: the rigors of age have not vanished; they have moved aside, and the young woman has aged horribly, taking on the crone's burden. Sheer musk, cedar smoke, fir needle, black amber and leather. In the bottle: Ohhh. This is fir and leather and musk with amber in the background. This is all the things I love on men all rolled up in one. I'm going to skin test it on myself, but I really think this is going to be immediately slathered on the boy when he gets home tonight. On my skin: Immediate throw as soon as it touches my skin. It's fir trees and cedar smoke. It's a crackling fire in the middle of the woods and leather from a well-worn saddle. It's kind of soapy on me, but I don't care. This is just so, so sexy. Final verdict: This is one of the most wonderful manly scents I've smelled. It's rugged and sexy and somehow refined as well. It makes me want to lick my arm and frankly that kind of worries me. But it really makes me want to decorate the boy!
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A chittering buzz rises from a small crowd that has gathered around an opulent velvet-draped tent. Some are fidgeting impatiently; others try in vain to peep within the tent. Within moments, a slim, stunningly handsome man emerges from the entryway to the sound of gasps and scattered applause. His face is lit with fierce joy, and he bows almost smugly to the assemblage. Grabbing a flirtatious blonde from the mob, he kisses her in a rush of mad passion, his arm encircles her waist, and he leads her directly to a nearby opium den.The crowd disperses, and curiosity pulls you forward. You push open the fringed, beaded tent-flap and enter the dimly-lit room. A lovely, voluptuous redhead stands before an ornate antique easel. Her luminous alabaster skin and the phosphorescence emanating from her paintbrush seem to be the only source of light. As you adjust to the gloom, you see that the walls are covered with atrocities: an exhibit of dissolution. The myriad canvases show men and women in various stages of rot and decay, a panoply of indulgence, teeth set in fury, mouths leering in lust, hands grasping greedily. The scarlet woman turns her gleaming sightless eyes towards you and, in a husky, compelling voice, she speaks: “Why let the years tear at your youthful splendor? Why let the mark of your sins stain your fine features? Will you let the cold, creeping grasp of time and the toil of temptation mar your visage? Why should the pleasures of our flesh wreak such havoc?” She leans in close to you and whispers, “Let me capture your soul on this canvas in oil and blood, and you will be beautiful forever.” Hyson tea leaf, pale mint, sugar cane, orange blossom, lemongrass, and honey. In the bottle: Mint tea and lemongrass. It's light and subtle. This smells like a cup of mint tea through and through. It's very calm and comforting. On my skin: It's much stronger on my skin, but it's still a mint tea. The honey is coming out more and it's god, it's just a cup of mint tea with honey on my skin. I love it! Final verdict: I'm not usually a tea person, but this is so gorgeous. It becomes a little more citrus the longer it's on, but for the most part it's just a beautiful mint tea scent that reminds me of nights when I was a kid and my mom and I would sip tea together and watch movies.
