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juushikaBOOMSLANG (LE, Carnaval Diabolique, Act III: Snake Pit)
Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk.
I love strong cocoa scents, so this was a must-have.
In the bottle: Pure, rich, melted chocolate—but it's backed by a trace of something which is slight off and smells vaguely like chemicals or alcohol (perhaps the Snake Oil base?).
On me: Five minutes of rich, pure, melted, very dark chocolate and then poof! nothing. The scent disappears entirely, and I don't even get a whiff of Snake Oil left behind.
On the bedding: (A few drops on a piece of fabric [which the oil will stain, but the stain doesn't transfer], stuck in the dryer with the clean dry bedding for about five minutes) When it first comes out, it's rich melted dark chocolate with a high, wide, exuberant throw, surrounded by a heady, slightly bitter alcohol note which is closer to rubbing alcohol than booze. By the next day, the alcohol wears off, leaving rich chocolate with a slightly non-foody, Snake Oil edge. It's deep dark chocolate, as rich as the oil itself; it's melted (perhaps the rice milk?) and thick; it has bit of non-foody spice and a Snake Oil medicinal edge. The Snake Oil aspects fade and the throw decreases with time, but the scent lingers for a week, easy. It transfers to my hair and skin during the night.
Verdict: The first time that Boomslang disappeared on my skin, I was heartbroken—a rich, pure, dark chocolate would be my perfect scent if it lasted. Using it to scent my laundry changed everything: what disappears so swiftly on my skin stays around forever on my bedding, and sleeping cocooned in rich chocolate is indulgent and divine. It only takes a few drops to scent an entire load of laundry, but I'm still glad to have a bottle—I'll want chocolate-scented sheets for years to come.
ANTIQUE LACE (GC, Bewitching Brews)
A soft, wistful blend of dry flowers, aged linens, and the faint breath of long-faded perfumes.
It picked this up because it's recommended as a strong vanilla (even though that's not a listed note).
In the vial: Sweet (in a thick, fluid way, not dry or crystalline) backed by a breath of light, unidentifiable mixed floral. The color of the scent is opaque off-white.
On me: There's a spike of sweetness when the oil hits my skin, swiftly followed by a spike in the mixed florals. The sweetness is vanilla or perhaps mallow, rich and creamy, pale and opaque. The florals are again unidentifiable, pale, but surprisingly bitter and dry. That bitterness fades over time, but it prevents the sweetness from being pure and comforting. It seem a little cloying, a little dusty-dry-herbaceous, a bit "off."
Verdict: When I catch whiffs of this, I like it. It's sweet, pale, creamy, and comforting. But when I smell it intentionally and try to pick out notes, I'm put off by the dry florals. They seem bitter and out of place in the otherwise sweet blend, and they prevent it from being truly wonderful to my chemistry/tastes/nose. I'll probably wear this intermittently, but it's not a personal favorite. It makes me wish for a pure, creamy, sweet vanilla scent without the bitter dry florals.
JACK (GC, Bewitching Brews)
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 picked this up ages ago because I love pumpkin, so it seemed a logical blend to try.
In the vial: Sweet, light, creamy. Pumpkins and a hint of spices. It's the same color as the oil, a light yellow-towards-orange.
On me: The scent amps more than I expected for its lightness, but perhaps I just put more on than usual. Like the vial, it's pumpkin and spice, but the spices die down and the scent grows lighter and sweeter. The pumpkin is diluted and lightened by the peach, and the sweetness gives the scent an almost waxy-candle like quality. It doesn't morph and it's fairly strong. The color is shiny, creamy, light tangerine-yellow, far from a rich pumpkin.
Verdict: On me, this is a commercial candle scent, not rich pumpkins and spices as I envision them. It's very sweet and rather waxy, and the autumn notes feel diluted by the lightness of spring peach. I would much rather have my pumpkin darker, spicier, muskier; Jack just isn't for me. It might be worth layering with it a spicy or musky scent, though, to see if that cuts down the sweetness.
ETA: Layering Jack with herbal, spicy, and musky blends is an improvement, but still not quite good enough. I've layered it with Casanova before, and recently tried laying it with Satyr; these darker, deeper scents help ground Jack and cut down on the overpowering sweetness, but they don't do away with the waxy, candle-like feel of the scent. As such, this is definitely an imp for the swap pile.
DANA O'SHEE
Offerings of milk, honey and sweet grains were made to placate these creatures, and it is that the basis of the scent created in their name
I've honestly no idea why I first bought this! I've had it for a long time now.
In the vial: Sweet white cake batter.
On me:
First hour or two: No longer the wet scent of the oil in the vial, this has become the dry sweetness of a baked sugar cake. It's distinctly sweet, but not sticky or cloying—more like crystalline white sugar than honey. The scent is weak, and I only get whiffs of it; sniffing up close, there's a light bitter/sour note. I think that's the milk, which sometimes goes sour on my skin.
Third hour until it fades away: The sour note fades to nothing, thank goodness. Surprisingly, the scent amps over time. It's wonderful, actually: sugar cakes, pale and pure, discernible at a distance but never cloying or too strong. Color is a pale, opaque white—like a white sweet bread.
Verdict: I'm very happy with Dana O'Shee. I wish it got to the final stage faster, but I'm grateful that the sourness stays faint and close to the skin and then fades away. The throw is lovely, and this is a wonderful scent, sweet and pure and comforting, never cloying. It's a bit too simple for frequent wear, but I'm glad that I have the imp.
DRAGON'S TEARS
Bittersweet yet powerful: salty aquatic notes and bursting with dragon's blood.
Loving dragon's blood and in search of a salty aquatic, I picked up an imp of this blend.
In the vial: An unusual combination of salt and flowers with a distinct bitter edge.
On me: The dragon's blood blossoms, quite literally—DBR is usually fruity on my skin, but here it's distinctly floral. They're mixed unidentifiable flowers, and they're predominant. Behind that, discernible but definitely second chair, is a salty aquatic. The aquatic isn't as bitter as the vial scent, and it's weak compared to the florals. The scent remains the same, but the throw morphs: it starts gentle, grows a healthy distance within twenty minutes, and dies to skin level within an hour. At an hour and a half, the scent is all but gone.
Verdict: I usually adore dragon's blood resin, but it's usually fruity and resinous on my skin. The pure florals here aren't my style. While I've been looking for a salty aquatic—and this is the truest I've found so far—in combination with florals it evokes a humid tropical atmosphere, and that's most definitely not my style. Plus, the wear length is just over an hour. I think I'll have to pass this one on.
Snake Oil with cocoa, teakwood, and rice milk.
I love strong cocoa scents, so this was a must-have.
In the bottle: Pure, rich, melted chocolate—but it's backed by a trace of something which is slight off and smells vaguely like chemicals or alcohol (perhaps the Snake Oil base?).
On me: Five minutes of rich, pure, melted, very dark chocolate and then poof! nothing. The scent disappears entirely, and I don't even get a whiff of Snake Oil left behind.
On the bedding: (A few drops on a piece of fabric [which the oil will stain, but the stain doesn't transfer], stuck in the dryer with the clean dry bedding for about five minutes) When it first comes out, it's rich melted dark chocolate with a high, wide, exuberant throw, surrounded by a heady, slightly bitter alcohol note which is closer to rubbing alcohol than booze. By the next day, the alcohol wears off, leaving rich chocolate with a slightly non-foody, Snake Oil edge. It's deep dark chocolate, as rich as the oil itself; it's melted (perhaps the rice milk?) and thick; it has bit of non-foody spice and a Snake Oil medicinal edge. The Snake Oil aspects fade and the throw decreases with time, but the scent lingers for a week, easy. It transfers to my hair and skin during the night.
Verdict: The first time that Boomslang disappeared on my skin, I was heartbroken—a rich, pure, dark chocolate would be my perfect scent if it lasted. Using it to scent my laundry changed everything: what disappears so swiftly on my skin stays around forever on my bedding, and sleeping cocooned in rich chocolate is indulgent and divine. It only takes a few drops to scent an entire load of laundry, but I'm still glad to have a bottle—I'll want chocolate-scented sheets for years to come.
ANTIQUE LACE (GC, Bewitching Brews)
A soft, wistful blend of dry flowers, aged linens, and the faint breath of long-faded perfumes.
It picked this up because it's recommended as a strong vanilla (even though that's not a listed note).
In the vial: Sweet (in a thick, fluid way, not dry or crystalline) backed by a breath of light, unidentifiable mixed floral. The color of the scent is opaque off-white.
On me: There's a spike of sweetness when the oil hits my skin, swiftly followed by a spike in the mixed florals. The sweetness is vanilla or perhaps mallow, rich and creamy, pale and opaque. The florals are again unidentifiable, pale, but surprisingly bitter and dry. That bitterness fades over time, but it prevents the sweetness from being pure and comforting. It seem a little cloying, a little dusty-dry-herbaceous, a bit "off."
Verdict: When I catch whiffs of this, I like it. It's sweet, pale, creamy, and comforting. But when I smell it intentionally and try to pick out notes, I'm put off by the dry florals. They seem bitter and out of place in the otherwise sweet blend, and they prevent it from being truly wonderful to my chemistry/tastes/nose. I'll probably wear this intermittently, but it's not a personal favorite. It makes me wish for a pure, creamy, sweet vanilla scent without the bitter dry florals.
JACK (GC, Bewitching Brews)
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 picked this up ages ago because I love pumpkin, so it seemed a logical blend to try.
In the vial: Sweet, light, creamy. Pumpkins and a hint of spices. It's the same color as the oil, a light yellow-towards-orange.
On me: The scent amps more than I expected for its lightness, but perhaps I just put more on than usual. Like the vial, it's pumpkin and spice, but the spices die down and the scent grows lighter and sweeter. The pumpkin is diluted and lightened by the peach, and the sweetness gives the scent an almost waxy-candle like quality. It doesn't morph and it's fairly strong. The color is shiny, creamy, light tangerine-yellow, far from a rich pumpkin.
Verdict: On me, this is a commercial candle scent, not rich pumpkins and spices as I envision them. It's very sweet and rather waxy, and the autumn notes feel diluted by the lightness of spring peach. I would much rather have my pumpkin darker, spicier, muskier; Jack just isn't for me. It might be worth layering with it a spicy or musky scent, though, to see if that cuts down the sweetness.
ETA: Layering Jack with herbal, spicy, and musky blends is an improvement, but still not quite good enough. I've layered it with Casanova before, and recently tried laying it with Satyr; these darker, deeper scents help ground Jack and cut down on the overpowering sweetness, but they don't do away with the waxy, candle-like feel of the scent. As such, this is definitely an imp for the swap pile.
DANA O'SHEE
Offerings of milk, honey and sweet grains were made to placate these creatures, and it is that the basis of the scent created in their name
I've honestly no idea why I first bought this! I've had it for a long time now.
In the vial: Sweet white cake batter.
On me:
First hour or two: No longer the wet scent of the oil in the vial, this has become the dry sweetness of a baked sugar cake. It's distinctly sweet, but not sticky or cloying—more like crystalline white sugar than honey. The scent is weak, and I only get whiffs of it; sniffing up close, there's a light bitter/sour note. I think that's the milk, which sometimes goes sour on my skin.
Third hour until it fades away: The sour note fades to nothing, thank goodness. Surprisingly, the scent amps over time. It's wonderful, actually: sugar cakes, pale and pure, discernible at a distance but never cloying or too strong. Color is a pale, opaque white—like a white sweet bread.
Verdict: I'm very happy with Dana O'Shee. I wish it got to the final stage faster, but I'm grateful that the sourness stays faint and close to the skin and then fades away. The throw is lovely, and this is a wonderful scent, sweet and pure and comforting, never cloying. It's a bit too simple for frequent wear, but I'm glad that I have the imp.
DRAGON'S TEARS
Bittersweet yet powerful: salty aquatic notes and bursting with dragon's blood.
Loving dragon's blood and in search of a salty aquatic, I picked up an imp of this blend.
In the vial: An unusual combination of salt and flowers with a distinct bitter edge.
On me: The dragon's blood blossoms, quite literally—DBR is usually fruity on my skin, but here it's distinctly floral. They're mixed unidentifiable flowers, and they're predominant. Behind that, discernible but definitely second chair, is a salty aquatic. The aquatic isn't as bitter as the vial scent, and it's weak compared to the florals. The scent remains the same, but the throw morphs: it starts gentle, grows a healthy distance within twenty minutes, and dies to skin level within an hour. At an hour and a half, the scent is all but gone.
Verdict: I usually adore dragon's blood resin, but it's usually fruity and resinous on my skin. The pure florals here aren't my style. While I've been looking for a salty aquatic—and this is the truest I've found so far—in combination with florals it evokes a humid tropical atmosphere, and that's most definitely not my style. Plus, the wear length is just over an hour. I think I'll have to pass this one on.
