Saturday, December 27, 2008

Manila

a faint echo of Pacific breezes, jungle blossoms, and deep wet woods. Sampaguita blossoms, banana leaf, palm, and narra.

Starts out bananna and softens into a tropical and slightly earthy scent. It's light and not cloyingly fruity. It does seem wet and lush and is really pretty neat.

4/5

Leanan Sidhe

Her perfume is a crush of Irish herbs and flowers, Gaelic mists, and nighttime dew.

At first, it's aggressivly clean. Once it dries down, it becomes quite pretty. It is a bit like a nice fabric softener. I find it less piercing and more pleasant than Dirty.

3.5/5

Blood Countess

Corrupted black plum, smoky opium and crumbling dead roses covered by a deceptive veil of Hungarian lilac, white gardenia and wild berry.

This is surprisingly light and seems mostly like berry and opium. The rose and gardenia are certainly subdued, and I only get a hint of lilac. It's really nice, since I like berries and plums, but it doesn't pack much of a punch. Maybe in the summer.

3.5/5

Wings of Azrael

Warm myrrh swirled with a bittersweet blend of violet, Lily of the Valley, juniper, cypress and cajeput


Well I love myrrh, like juniper and cypress and sort of hate violet. If I had to choose a violet blend, this would be it. It opens on a green note, probably the juniper, becomes powdery violet and then dries down into violet and myrrh. I really don't get any Lily of the Valley.

2.5/5

Desire

bittersweet neroli, black patchouli and black musk, gilded by apple, bergamot, blood red rose, teak, and vanilla.

My mom picked this out for me in a imp pack she gave me for Christmas. I didn't think I would like it, as neroli is the first listed note, black patchouli and rose can be a bit strong, and vanilla can go plastic.

Wet, it's mostly ROSE, which makes me a bit nervous. However, it dries down into a really complex combo that makes it hard to pick out any notes. It does seem like fruity rose and musk with a bit of vanilla. It got approval from the whole family at Christmas dinner, and that's a diverse group.

Soft, complex and feminine

5/5

Juke Joint

Kentucky Bourbon, sugar and a sprig of mint.

It's only a little sweet, so it's not heavy on the sugar. I also don't get a lot of mint. There's probably amber, since it does go a bit powdery. I don't know what bourbon smells like, but there's a hint of something that might be alcoholic. My mom smelled it and said it smelled like vanilla and sandalwood. That's actually a fairly positive comment from her, so it must have pleasant throw. Okay, if a bit powdery.

3.5/5

Snake Charmer: Resurrected

Arabian musk and exotic spices slinking through Egyptian amber, enticing vanilla, and a serpentine blend of black plum, labdanum, ambrette, benzoin and black coconut.

Well, I'm not a huge Snake Oil fan, but I'd heard so much about this that I had to try a decant. Fortunately, I find this much easier to take than SO. It starts out with a fairly strong blast of black patchouli but eventually dries down to a musky fruity vanilla. There's a bit of plum and I thlnk the coconut lightens it a bit. I'm still not sure about a bottle, as ageing SO makes no difference for me.

3/5