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

Sed Non Satiata

demonic passion and brutal sexuality manifested through myrrh, red patchouli, cognac, honey, and tuberose and geranium in a breathy, panting veil over the darkest body musk.
Oh, I love this one. A strong, unique, feminine scent. Let's see, I love myrrh, patchouli, cognac, honey and dark musk, so I was only worried about the tuberose and geranium. I've still no idea what geranium smells like, but I can make out the tuberose. It's present, but not overwhelming to me. The notes blend to together in a really nice way, although it's a bit hard to describe. A darker sweet floral, somehow.

5/5

Kabuki

cherry, red musk, and star anise.

Pretty much what you imagine. Starts out musky licorice, then musky cherry licorice, then musky cherry, and finally sweetened red musk before it fades off completley in about 3-4 hours. I like it, but it doesn't last very long. It's sort of comforting, though, for bedtime or a quiet day.

3.5/5

Severin

dry black teas, Earl Grey, leather

Yep, tea and bergamot. The leather is surprisingly soft in the background. In fact, this is an even lighter scent than Embalming Fluid. Unfortunately, it doesn't last very long on my skin at all. Maybe a couple of hours. Otherwise, it's a very nice scent. A must-try for tea lovers.

4/5

Queen of Sheba

Her scent is a bounty of golden honeyed almonds and a whisper of African and Middle Eastern spices.

It is a honeyed almond, not bitter. The spices support the almond note. There's not any heavy cinnamon or anything. I just don't care for the smell of almonds, so this doesn't really appeal to me. I bet there are plenty of people who would like a slightly spicy honeyed almond scent, though, and this is as advertised.

2.5/5

Vixen

orange blossom, ginger, patchouli

Woah, this stuff is strong. I'm discovering that I don't really like the strong, unchanging scents- I get sick of them. I really love patchouli, but here I can see why some people are so against it. Something about combining it with ginger is just off-putting for me. As I've said, very strong and sharp scent.

1.5/5

Snake Oil

A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla.

I had to try this one, since it's so popular, but there's just way too much vanilla. Unrelenting oily vanilla. It's not just me, my best friend and mom don't get this one either. I guess we're the lunatic fringe.

1/5

Hunger

Black narcissus, orange blossoms, and vanilla.

This one has an odd smell to it at first, possibly the black narcissus. After some time, I really did start thinking about orange cake. I don't think I've ever had orange cake, but it was starting to sound like a good idea. I'm not really into foody scents, but at least the vanilla didn't turn to plastic. It has pretty good throw and lasted longer than average.

3.5/5

Libertine

rosewood and chamomile with bergamot, violet, red sandalwood, primrose and Arabian musk.

I was surprised by how floral this was on me. I thought two woods, an herb and some citrus would be enough to break it up. I'm not sure if it's violet or primrose. I've recently discovered that some rose notes work on me, but I didn't care for Faustus at all. So I'm leaning towards blaming the violet, but most people don't mind violet. Even my mother, who hates florals, says that violet's okay. I guess I'll have to experiment further with other scents.

As for this one, I was hoping for more of a balance between the florals and the other notes, but they really take over.

2/5

Golden Priapus

vanilla and amber with juniper, rosewood and white pine.

There's too much vanilla in this one to smell right on my skin. I seem to amp vanilla and cause the scent to lose its complexity. All I get is a vanilla-pine combo, which is okay, but not anything special. The amber is either really faint or blends seamlessly with the vanilla and the juniper doesn't seem to add the bite that it usually does.

2.5/5

Delight

Frangipani, with rose, tuberose, and jasmine.

I've never liked florals much, so I'm surprised I liked this one as much as I did. I'm horrible at detecting separate floral notes, but I liked the overall warmth I got from this blend. I'd guess that the frangipani and jasmine are coming out the most on my skin. The only problem is that it's sort of soapy when it's wet and then soapy again in its later stages. It smells nice in between, but not enough for me to keep it.

3/5

Ave Maria Gratia Plena

Rosewood with Sicilian lemon peel, red Mysore sandalwood, pale musks, sweet mountain sage and a dusting of lily, night-blooming jasmine and orris.

Frimp from the lab! It was on my wishlist, too.

Unfortunately, it instantly turns to soap on my skin and stays that way. The only new note for me is orris, so I'll lay the blame on it for now.

Pretty short review.

2/5

Perversion

Smoky rum and black tobacco with a whisper of steamy leather with a splash of crystalline chardonnay, layered over a sensual, sweet, and deceptively magnetic base of tonka.

Wet, it smells really sweet and mostly like rum. As it dries, the rum lightens up and the tonka comes out more. Unfortunately, I can see what people mean about a stale smell. Once it's dried, it just smells a little off.

When I went back to look at the notes, I was surprised to see leather listed. I can't smell it at all. I'm not sure what seems stale on me. Maybe the chardonnay, or maybe the tobacco. It's still fairly pleasant. It ends up being a soft scent, and I do love the tonka. It has about average staying power. I'll give this one another try before I decide whether to keep the imp, but it's not going to be one of my favorites.

2.5/5

Bathsheba

carnation, sensual plum, and Arabian musk.

This is my favorite 'feminine' scent. I usually tend towards the colognes, but this is really lovely.

Wet, I'm afraid that the carnations are going to be too much. They quickly calm down, though, and begin to spice up the plum.

Once dry, it's a very pretty spicy plum and musk scent. It has slightly less than average staying power, but that happens with me and the lighter scents. It does start out with some decent throw, although it dries into more of a skin scent.

I'll probably end up with a bottle eventually. The plum and carnation combo is too good to pass up.

5/5

Ars Amatoria- Wishes

Bordello
Brisingamen
Carnal
Casanova
Desire
Endymion
Fascinum
Hetairae
Kabuki
La Petite Mort
Maiden
Nefertiti
Sed Non Satiata
Siren
Spellbound
To a Woman
Wanda
Wanton