Reviews
Lump of Coal: In the imp, this is pure, unadulterated chocolate brownie: gooey, soft, and so-so bad for you. *salivates* On my skin, I get a slightly bitter note beneath the chocolate, like when a small amount of cake batter burns on the outside of the cookie-sheet. As it starts to drydown, it turns slightly perfumey, almost as if there's a trace of florals in the mixture, but then it settles down to gooey chocolate once more. Very nice, but oddly enough this doesn't smell as nice as Bliss on my skin. Still a keeper, though. :)
Goona Goona: sweet and heavily floral, like very old perfume of the kind my Nan would have worn in her youth. Not for me at all due to my bad relationship with florals (they abuse me so!).
Spanked: when I sniffed this in the imp, I physically recoiled. There's this weird warm-spice note in Bengal that makes me feel ill, and it's in Spanked in high degrees. My brother also hated this, and we both felt sick after the first sniff. It dries down to a new leather smell, but the initial scent is very off-putting. One I will be glad to be rid of.
Azathoth: spicy, vast, and citrusy. This is a really unusual scent with impressive throw. I'm not sure if it's the black amber, but there's something in this that gives the feeling of space: wide, empty spaces with cool, refreshing air blowing through. I think I need to sample this again to come up with something more articulate. ^^;
Dunwich: aww, this one disappointed me. I thought it would be deep, earthy, with a little aquatic note, but it just smells like expensive citrus-based cologne. Oh well.
Unseelie: I had to test this three times before I could make up my mind about it. Primarily it smells like really soft baby powder, but this isn't a bad thing. It's ever-so-gently floral, bringing to mind images of delicate buds just starting to open, and there's a lovely sweetness in the background. This is the only floral scent I can wear without getting a headache, and it's so soft and pretty that it's a keeper for sure.
Honey Moon: Well, poop. I bought this because SN Honey is the most amazing scent on the planet, but as usual jasmine thwarts me again! At first the honey puts up a fight, raising its fits and screaming "Jasmine be damned! I am the Queen around here!", but jasmine is insidious and sneaky, and uses its powers of Uber-Floralness to beat the honey into submission, until all I can smell is jasminejasminejasmine. *pouts* Not fair! Oh well, this will find a good home, since I offered it up to the BPAL care package peeps.
Chaste Moon: Sweet, creamy, and with the coconut-y note of Milk Moon. This is very light, and a nice combination of initial freshness with that creamy drydown. This probably would have been my favourite scent, but since having a health condition treated my body chemistry has changed so that anything with the creamy note of Milk Moon turns sour on me. This was swapped away last week for Holiday Moon.
La fee Verte: Wow! This has very impressive throw and great staying power. It's almost as powerful as Misk U. If you like Absinthe, this is the scent for you. It's more complex, more lemon-y, and with a really lovely sweet note that brings a great deal of warmth to an otherwise crisp and bright scent. I bet this smells great on other people, but it's not for me.
TAL: Clarity: Sweet, soft, and very bright. I've noticed that I have a hard time pin-pointing individual notes in the TAL scents as they're so well blended. I did wear this today whilst I was working on my dissertation and found that I didn't feel as tired as I usually would after over 3 hours of work, so I'd say it works. :) Even if it didn't, I'd keep it because it really is such a lovely, fresh scent.
TAL: Bastet's Laughter: Oh wow! This is so pretty and soft and orange. Like stroking a cat's fur and listening to it purr contentedly under your hands. I'd hazard this contains some kind of golden amber, and reminds me a lot of the sweet, pink note in Pink Phoenix. I think I need to have a big BPAL sale so I can buy a bottle of this because it's far too beautiful to miss out on. I'll be using it to anoint my Bast statue, too.
TAL: Concentration: This is a strong minty-menthol at first, drying down to a sharp herbal note that I can't place. Maybe sage? It really clears the sinuses and opens your eyes, though I do find the herbal note too strong for my tastes. I wore this on my other hand whilst working today and, as I said above, I was noticeably less tired (even with period pain!) so I think it works. I'll probably keep hold of my imp for up-coming exams. The herbal note might be strong but it certainly wakes me up!
TAL: Blessing of Isis: I have a great fondness for the Egyptian pantheon so I was looking forward to trying this scent. It's not what I expected at all. I thought it would be soft and bright, but it's sharp and herbal. I think it's the same herb used in Concentration but much more of it. This is actually rather unpleasant on my skin, so it's off to the swap pile.