Thursday, January 19, 2012
< 24 hours to drape yourself in beauty
The Pretender
Before you read thus post please go here and read. It's the blog of a friend of mine, Victoria of Persephone Minerals. She is fostering a cat who had turned out to be diabetic and his care is getting very expensive. The fostering agency can only help her so much, so saving this poor kitty's life is turning into quite a burden. She's asking for donations - not much, but if you can help, please do. Even a few dollars can make a difference.
I'm not going to talk about perfume today. I know I've been gone for a bit, but the holidays were madness for me, as I imagine they were for most of you. But I have lots of stuff I'm going to sniff out for you in the coming year, and hopefully my sinusses won't cut of my sense of smell again, the way they did for pretty much the entire month of November. Spring is not so far away, and I can imagine the gentle aroma of damp earth and daffodils already. Or is that just wishful thinking?
I think every one of has imagined now and again what it would be like to run away from our troubles and start over as someone else. People have been pretending to be someone else for, well, probably as long as there have been people. There are a lot of reasons someone might want to walk away from one life and start a new one somewhere else. Some are good - some aren't. But it's a lot of work getting a new, real-life identity. Not on the internet, though. On-line it's so easy to be someone you're not. Someone taller, or better-looking, or more interesting.
In so many ways, the internet can be a giant RPG. Safe in our own homes we can escape the everyday and be anyone we want to be. Maybe your daily life is stressful and you need an outlet. Maybe you're part of a gaming guild or a group that encourages alter-ego role-playing on various boards and such. And do you really want to tell them that you, Rashkarl Bloodfang the Omnipotent uber-Dwarf, are actually 13 year old Suzie Watkins in Omaha?
Or maybe you wonder what your life might have been if you'd made a few different decisions? If you weren't middle-aged, married with kids and ordinary. You might be perfectly happy with your life, but sometimes it's nice to log and be someone else for awhile. The interesting, care-free twenty-something you used to be. I'm not talking about cyber affairs, just creating a you that's in a different place in their life, more idealised than the person you are now. Different friends in different places where you can talk about things other than kids and husbands and house-cleaning.
I like to think that this is what happened with Grey. At least in the beginning. When she logged onto her computer as Georgiana Grey, she was the woman she was before the kids and the husband. Or the person she might have been if she'd led a life that was a little more eclectic, a little less ordinary.
We experience the internet through a little box and a screen. It's so easy to forget there are other people, real people behind all the chats, the posts, the IM's and emails. Real people with hearts and souls. When you spend a long time in the same groups on the web you tend to form bonds, and some of them are as strong as the bonds you form in real life. That means that, just like in real life, you have the power to help people or hurt them by your actions on-line. When you're truthful about it, that's okay. No one cares if you don't use your real name on the web. Most people would be understanding if you say, 'hey, this is who I am on the web. It's part of me, but not all of me, and I like to keep my day-to-day life seperate." As long as you're not trolling for under-age girls in chat rooms, by and large, most people would be willing to accept your persona knowing that there's more to the story, it's just not relevant here. The web is like that.
It's pretending to be someone else for fun and profit that gets you in trouble. Scamming people. Pretending to be ill, or worse, to garner sympathy and cash. People who do this are, at best, deeply troubled or, at worst, manipulative and dangerous. Sometimes it starts out with just wanting a little attention, a little sympathy or love and it escalates out of control. Let me tell you something: When you get to the point where you are considering faking your own death - I mean really considering it, not just jokingly, but with thoughts towards putting it into practice - Stop. Just stop, right there. Unless you are a witness in a high-level Mob trial and in terrible, legitimate fear for your life, do not cross that line. That's a ticket for a first-class compartment on the Crazy Train and it will not end well.
Because the Internet never forgets. Your past is part of you, always. Like a shadow it follows you wherever you go. No matter how hard you try to hide it, sooner or later, people will see it. That's when people get hurt. Innocent people who loved and trusted you. People who admired you or called you friend. You'll be riding that Train at full speed and it's running over everyone in sight and it just won't stop.
And it won't. You are the only one who can stop it. You have to get off the train, face the mob with their torches and pitchforks and say, you know what? I screwed up. Bad. I'm sorry and I want to fix it. Here's the thing, though. You've got to mean it. And you've got to accept that it will hurt and it will be bad for a long time before it gets better. That's called life; it's the same on the web and off.
If you don't? Well, then I hope you enjoy looking over your shoulder. Because you'll be doing that. Always. That paranoia and that worry at the back of your mind - those will always be there. How many times can you re-invent yourself? How long before it stops being fun? How many times before you run out of places to go? People will find out. They always do, sooner or later. You can't hide your shadow. People will be hurt, and people will be angry. A lot of people will be angry. They'll have a right to be. Especially if you have preyed on them financially or emotionally. People who thought they knew you. And guess what - some of those people are even crazier than you are. Think about it.
My opinions are my own and always will be. Your mileage may vary.
I'm not going to talk about perfume today. I know I've been gone for a bit, but the holidays were madness for me, as I imagine they were for most of you. But I have lots of stuff I'm going to sniff out for you in the coming year, and hopefully my sinusses won't cut of my sense of smell again, the way they did for pretty much the entire month of November. Spring is not so far away, and I can imagine the gentle aroma of damp earth and daffodils already. Or is that just wishful thinking?
I think every one of has imagined now and again what it would be like to run away from our troubles and start over as someone else. People have been pretending to be someone else for, well, probably as long as there have been people. There are a lot of reasons someone might want to walk away from one life and start a new one somewhere else. Some are good - some aren't. But it's a lot of work getting a new, real-life identity. Not on the internet, though. On-line it's so easy to be someone you're not. Someone taller, or better-looking, or more interesting.
In so many ways, the internet can be a giant RPG. Safe in our own homes we can escape the everyday and be anyone we want to be. Maybe your daily life is stressful and you need an outlet. Maybe you're part of a gaming guild or a group that encourages alter-ego role-playing on various boards and such. And do you really want to tell them that you, Rashkarl Bloodfang the Omnipotent uber-Dwarf, are actually 13 year old Suzie Watkins in Omaha?
Or maybe you wonder what your life might have been if you'd made a few different decisions? If you weren't middle-aged, married with kids and ordinary. You might be perfectly happy with your life, but sometimes it's nice to log and be someone else for awhile. The interesting, care-free twenty-something you used to be. I'm not talking about cyber affairs, just creating a you that's in a different place in their life, more idealised than the person you are now. Different friends in different places where you can talk about things other than kids and husbands and house-cleaning.
I like to think that this is what happened with Grey. At least in the beginning. When she logged onto her computer as Georgiana Grey, she was the woman she was before the kids and the husband. Or the person she might have been if she'd led a life that was a little more eclectic, a little less ordinary.
We experience the internet through a little box and a screen. It's so easy to forget there are other people, real people behind all the chats, the posts, the IM's and emails. Real people with hearts and souls. When you spend a long time in the same groups on the web you tend to form bonds, and some of them are as strong as the bonds you form in real life. That means that, just like in real life, you have the power to help people or hurt them by your actions on-line. When you're truthful about it, that's okay. No one cares if you don't use your real name on the web. Most people would be understanding if you say, 'hey, this is who I am on the web. It's part of me, but not all of me, and I like to keep my day-to-day life seperate." As long as you're not trolling for under-age girls in chat rooms, by and large, most people would be willing to accept your persona knowing that there's more to the story, it's just not relevant here. The web is like that.
It's pretending to be someone else for fun and profit that gets you in trouble. Scamming people. Pretending to be ill, or worse, to garner sympathy and cash. People who do this are, at best, deeply troubled or, at worst, manipulative and dangerous. Sometimes it starts out with just wanting a little attention, a little sympathy or love and it escalates out of control. Let me tell you something: When you get to the point where you are considering faking your own death - I mean really considering it, not just jokingly, but with thoughts towards putting it into practice - Stop. Just stop, right there. Unless you are a witness in a high-level Mob trial and in terrible, legitimate fear for your life, do not cross that line. That's a ticket for a first-class compartment on the Crazy Train and it will not end well.
Because the Internet never forgets. Your past is part of you, always. Like a shadow it follows you wherever you go. No matter how hard you try to hide it, sooner or later, people will see it. That's when people get hurt. Innocent people who loved and trusted you. People who admired you or called you friend. You'll be riding that Train at full speed and it's running over everyone in sight and it just won't stop.
And it won't. You are the only one who can stop it. You have to get off the train, face the mob with their torches and pitchforks and say, you know what? I screwed up. Bad. I'm sorry and I want to fix it. Here's the thing, though. You've got to mean it. And you've got to accept that it will hurt and it will be bad for a long time before it gets better. That's called life; it's the same on the web and off.
If you don't? Well, then I hope you enjoy looking over your shoulder. Because you'll be doing that. Always. That paranoia and that worry at the back of your mind - those will always be there. How many times can you re-invent yourself? How long before it stops being fun? How many times before you run out of places to go? People will find out. They always do, sooner or later. You can't hide your shadow. People will be hurt, and people will be angry. A lot of people will be angry. They'll have a right to be. Especially if you have preyed on them financially or emotionally. People who thought they knew you. And guess what - some of those people are even crazier than you are. Think about it.
My opinions are my own and always will be. Your mileage may vary.
Monday, November 14, 2011
How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love The Brows.
I actually have decent eyebrows, well defined and dark - even when I was a child and my hair was blondish. They'd be really good, except one of them is higher than the other. I know, I know, nobody has a balanced face. I've seen computer images where they've made people with perfectly symmetrical faces and it's creepy as hell. It's just that my eyebrows are uneven. Really uneven, like one is way more arched than the other, making me look like a sarcastic smart-ass Mr. Spock*
I had always thought I'd gotten my eyebrows from my dad. Dad had awesome eyebrows, thick dark and black.
When he was young they were sort of Elvis-y. As he got older they were picking up a hint of Brezhnev.
Sadly, he died before his brows could fully realise their destiny, but I am absolutely certain that he would have eventually rocked an eyebrow combover. The man had brows.
Being a child of the eighties, I appreciate full, well-defined brows. Elizabeth Taylor, for example. Nastassia Kinski. So I've never really plucked mine, except for a few odd hairs that want to go for a unibrow, and to try and level them out a bit, so I don't always look like I'm going to say "Fascinating!"
Behold, my brows in all their glory. One of them is headed north. It always does that. And it drove me nuts for years. And then it happened.
My sister does genealogy. And she happened to come across a really good picture of my maternal great-grandmother.
The first time I saw this picture I thought- Hey! Those are my eyebrows! And they are. Actually, I pretty much look just like her, I think, barring a few stylistic differences. And her brows don't look weird. They give her serious face a quirk of amusement, a hint of strength. This picture was taken sometime in the 1920's and you can see she's cropped her hair. I love knowing that Gramma had a bit of the rebel in her. And you know, after I saw this, I stopped perceiving my wayward brow as an insult to my face. I never met Pauline Navarre, but now I feel, every time I look in mirror, that she's looking back at me, and that one odd eyebrow isn't a defect, but her way of saying hello to me across the generations, a special gift from a woman who only saw me once, on the day of my birth.
*Many of my friends would consider this to be a perfect description of my actual personality, but still...
I had always thought I'd gotten my eyebrows from my dad. Dad had awesome eyebrows, thick dark and black.
 | |||
| My parents' wedding photo. Note the awesome brows on Dad. |
When he was young they were sort of Elvis-y. As he got older they were picking up a hint of Brezhnev.
 |
| Wowza |
Sadly, he died before his brows could fully realise their destiny, but I am absolutely certain that he would have eventually rocked an eyebrow combover. The man had brows.
Being a child of the eighties, I appreciate full, well-defined brows. Elizabeth Taylor, for example. Nastassia Kinski. So I've never really plucked mine, except for a few odd hairs that want to go for a unibrow, and to try and level them out a bit, so I don't always look like I'm going to say "Fascinating!"
 |
| One of the more recent pictures of my brows. |
Behold, my brows in all their glory. One of them is headed north. It always does that. And it drove me nuts for years. And then it happened.
My sister does genealogy. And she happened to come across a really good picture of my maternal great-grandmother.
 |
| Sadly, I did not inherit her hair. |
The first time I saw this picture I thought- Hey! Those are my eyebrows! And they are. Actually, I pretty much look just like her, I think, barring a few stylistic differences. And her brows don't look weird. They give her serious face a quirk of amusement, a hint of strength. This picture was taken sometime in the 1920's and you can see she's cropped her hair. I love knowing that Gramma had a bit of the rebel in her. And you know, after I saw this, I stopped perceiving my wayward brow as an insult to my face. I never met Pauline Navarre, but now I feel, every time I look in mirror, that she's looking back at me, and that one odd eyebrow isn't a defect, but her way of saying hello to me across the generations, a special gift from a woman who only saw me once, on the day of my birth.
*Many of my friends would consider this to be a perfect description of my actual personality, but still...
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Oh My Darling
Recently I got a couple of solid perfumes from Darling Clandestine. I'd been wanting to try them for some time, and earlier I purchased a couple of scents during a referral sale. They were Serpentina and Tapadero and I really liked them. I liked them enough that, during a BOGO sale I ordered solid versions of Inked and Monstre Delicat. I liked Serpentina and Tapadero but I loved, loved LOVED Inked and Monstre Delicat.
Serpentina, a crisp, green, ethereal fragrance with a little opium bite, smells like dirt. Not in a dirty way, but in an earthy way. A gardening way. In fact it smells like gardening, like greenness of plants and the loamy scent of turned soil. If you've ever done a bunch of gardening without gloves, this is the smell that's left on your hands, the wonderful, nurturing scent of green growing things and the earth that surrounds them.
Tapadero is another outdoorsy scent. The site calls it a sharp, clean fragrance bright with roses and sage, with a sweet smoky leather finish. I had a pony as a child* - I usually rode bareback, but always had reins. Tapadero smells like the worn leather scent of a tack shed and a breezy summer day. Sun, sky, an endless stretch of grass, leather and utter freedom.
Nice huh? Very, but those two are nothing compared to the olfactory awesomeness of my second order. Follow me as I describe where they take me.
Inked (this fragrance throbs with a sting of sea salt and leather and splashes of communion winet) is sexy. Really, really sexy. Sweat and leather, a hint of smoke, a drop of wine. Hell, Inked smells like sex - raunchy, primal slightly tipsy sex - the kind that leaves the bed irreparably disheveled; exhausting, exhilarating and faintly shocking. The first note is suedey, followed by a salty rush of sweaty bodily sweetness rippled through with stale cigarettes and a forgotten bottle of wine spilled on cheap carpet. One sniff and you just want to drown yourself in it, it's like the porno of perfumes.
Monstre Delicat, described as a clean, blue, rainy fragrance with haunting, moody black notes. It's the kind of half-sleep you get as the sun is coming up after a night of abandon. It's a little sweeter, a little sadder - the wash of pale grey light on a dreary morning, the moistness of dew, of dried sweat. You haven't quite escaped the madness of the night before, but now you're struck by the poignancy of it. The reality of being transient flesh and the fleeting nature of life. It is a blue-grey scent - the scent of a rainy sky with the crackling, spicy undertones of a storm just passed, or yet to come.
Serpentina and Tapadero are complex, rich scents, but they are the sort of thing you could wear to work without feeling out of place. They're evocative and daring, but not dangerous. Monstre Delicat and Inked are very, very dangerous scents. They work very well together and almost make a kind of poetry. They're wild, sexy and out of control. They're the perfume equivalent of realising you've forgotten to re-button your shirt, or tame your hair and fix your lipstick and you know everyone's looking at you thinking "Uh, huh - they just got some."
All products were purchased by me for my own use. My opinions are my own and always will be. Your mileage may vary.
*Don't be jealous. The pony was a little bastard and he hated me. Actually he hated anything that interfered with his master plan of eating until he was as wide as he was tall and only moving when absolutely necessary. His name was Buck. I don't think I need to explain this, except to say that most of my memories of him consist of sitting on the ground watching his fat pony butt heading away from me.
 |
| stolen from DC's etsy store. |
Serpentina, a crisp, green, ethereal fragrance with a little opium bite, smells like dirt. Not in a dirty way, but in an earthy way. A gardening way. In fact it smells like gardening, like greenness of plants and the loamy scent of turned soil. If you've ever done a bunch of gardening without gloves, this is the smell that's left on your hands, the wonderful, nurturing scent of green growing things and the earth that surrounds them.
Tapadero is another outdoorsy scent. The site calls it a sharp, clean fragrance bright with roses and sage, with a sweet smoky leather finish. I had a pony as a child* - I usually rode bareback, but always had reins. Tapadero smells like the worn leather scent of a tack shed and a breezy summer day. Sun, sky, an endless stretch of grass, leather and utter freedom.
Nice huh? Very, but those two are nothing compared to the olfactory awesomeness of my second order. Follow me as I describe where they take me.
Inked (this fragrance throbs with a sting of sea salt and leather and splashes of communion winet) is sexy. Really, really sexy. Sweat and leather, a hint of smoke, a drop of wine. Hell, Inked smells like sex - raunchy, primal slightly tipsy sex - the kind that leaves the bed irreparably disheveled; exhausting, exhilarating and faintly shocking. The first note is suedey, followed by a salty rush of sweaty bodily sweetness rippled through with stale cigarettes and a forgotten bottle of wine spilled on cheap carpet. One sniff and you just want to drown yourself in it, it's like the porno of perfumes.
Monstre Delicat, described as a clean, blue, rainy fragrance with haunting, moody black notes. It's the kind of half-sleep you get as the sun is coming up after a night of abandon. It's a little sweeter, a little sadder - the wash of pale grey light on a dreary morning, the moistness of dew, of dried sweat. You haven't quite escaped the madness of the night before, but now you're struck by the poignancy of it. The reality of being transient flesh and the fleeting nature of life. It is a blue-grey scent - the scent of a rainy sky with the crackling, spicy undertones of a storm just passed, or yet to come.
Serpentina and Tapadero are complex, rich scents, but they are the sort of thing you could wear to work without feeling out of place. They're evocative and daring, but not dangerous. Monstre Delicat and Inked are very, very dangerous scents. They work very well together and almost make a kind of poetry. They're wild, sexy and out of control. They're the perfume equivalent of realising you've forgotten to re-button your shirt, or tame your hair and fix your lipstick and you know everyone's looking at you thinking "Uh, huh - they just got some."
All products were purchased by me for my own use. My opinions are my own and always will be. Your mileage may vary.
*Don't be jealous. The pony was a little bastard and he hated me. Actually he hated anything that interfered with his master plan of eating until he was as wide as he was tall and only moving when absolutely necessary. His name was Buck. I don't think I need to explain this, except to say that most of my memories of him consist of sitting on the ground watching his fat pony butt heading away from me.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
A Good Day to Go to the Mailbox
I got a package in the mail today - 3 solid perfumes from OHWTO. Besides the regular size perfumes I got two more solid perfumes in clamshell samples, a plastic centipede, candy (yay!) and a purple plastic pumpkin ring (say that 10 times fast.)
The samples were three of the Halloween scents, Sugar Skulls, from last years entries and two new scents, Santa Muerte and the cumbersomely named Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things. The samples are Homecoming and Sugar Leaf.
As I've said before, I love solid perfume because it's pretty much idiot proof. And I am often an idiot, so it's all to the good.
We'll start with Santa Muerte, which was my least favourite. OHWTO describes this as "This is much "darker" than the usual OHWTO scents, and very complex. A Blessed Bounty of Sacred Offerings- Amber, Cinnamon Pastries, Caramel, Carnation, Tuberose, Spices, Chocolate, Tobacco, Labdanum, Church Incense, Dark Patchouli, Vanilla, Musk, Cognac, Fruits, Black Agar, Cardamom, and Lilies."
When I smelled it in the tube it smelled like maple and I was sad because I can't stand the smell of maple. Once I put it on, the maple smell dissipated and turned into something, as the description says, very dark and very complex. It does have a thick, dark, treacly smell to it, which is probably why I thought of maple at first, but as it sits on the skin it turns into something earthier.
I'd say it smelled like carmelized Patchouli, except there's no such thing. Honestly, I would expect to ooze out of the tube like sugar in the middle of being worked into a toffee or a dark caramel and look like amber-brown molasses. It doesn't, of course, but if I hadn't seen it first, that's what I'd expect. As it dries down it gets softer and some of the floral scents, particularly the carnation get a word in edgewise, but it remains dark. It's sweet in a sticky way, and just a little bit much for me. I don't see myself wearing this as often as some of the other scents. It's not bad, it's just...intense.
Sugar Skulls I had wanted this last year, but ended up not getting it, so it was first on my list this year. It's described as "You'll smell sweet baked goods, vanilla cookies, anise, and roses- all the scents of a stroll through a Mexican neighborhood at that time of the year. " And yes, that is exactly how it smells. It's not too strong, and the anise isn't overwhelming. This is not an absinthe type anise, but a soft, sweet anise with a rush of vanilla and soft rose petal fragrance. It doesn't smell like food, it smells feminine with a kick of spice. I've never been in a Mexican neighborhood, but I can imagine terracotta plastered walls with brilliant cotton curtains and stark white linens drying on a line. The anise gives it an exotic touch while the vanilla and rose make it warm and comforting. Perhaps a vase of roses on a starched lace doily with the sun pouring in the window. It really is lovely and simple without being ordinary.
Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things*: Acorns, Oak, Vanilla, Apples, Roasted Spiced Pumpkin, a bit of Musk and a mound of freshly-dug Dirt. Sort of disturbing! Not actually disturbing, in fact, I'd call this a work of genius. Why? It's the apple. I hate apple notes in perfumes, because they never actually smell like apples - at best they smell like apple cider, at worst like spoiled apple juice. Apples themselves have a crisp, light fruity scent and this is the first perfume I've ever smelled that captured exactly the scent you get when you bite into an apple. It's perfect, and that's only a small part of this scent - there's the wonderful nuttiness of the acorn, a slight whiff of spices and dirt. I don't get the musk, but, as I've said before, I can't smell most musks. I do detect a warm slight underlayer, though which is probably musk. This smell is exactly like heading out to the backyard late in the afternoon to rake up some leaves, gather up some nuts, maybe mound over your rosebushes or put in a few late mums. Stop to rest with plump juicy apple to munch on and you've got it. It's fresh and outdoorsy, delicious and airy all at the same time. It seems to retain it's character pretty well as it dries down, the flash of apple is strongest in the tube and softens as it wears on the skin, while the nuts and earth come up a bit, but the overall essence doesn't change. Just smelling it makes me want to step outside and revel in the autumness of the day.
The two samples were Homecoming, "A fall-inspired blend, Homecoming captures many of the scents of autumn in New England. Tart cranberries, dried figs, mulling spices, dried split firewood, fallen leaves and warm 'Hot Toddies'". Becca's going to kill me for this, but the first thing I thought when I smelled it in the tube was "Hamster Litter!" Bear in mind, of course, that I mean fresh, unused hamster litter, which I quite like the smell of. After a moment I realised that the litter I always used when I kept rodents was primarily cedar with a few other woods mixed in, so it was actually wood I was smelling. No rodents were harmed or even inconvenienced in the making of this scent**.
Once it's on my skin, I definitely smell the cranberry, it gives the whole thing a tart effervescence. That fades a bit with the drydown and the other scents float to the surface. Is there a such thing as cranberry wine? Because that's what this ends up smelling like to me.
The other sample is Sugar Leaf which is a funny, bright little scent. "Notes of Vanilla Sugar, Sparkling Citron, Apple Peel, Sheer Floral, Sensual Woods, Creamy Musk " It's fresh, sweet and citrusy with a warm undertone. I don't get any apple here, but that may just be because my nose refused to acknowledge it after the perfect apple tone in CSPWDT. No other apple scent is worthy. It's a nice sugared fruit scent. I would never have picked it on my own, but it is quite pleasant.
If you've never shopped at OHWTO, you've been doing yourself a disservice. Go there, now, and browse, because Becca has a fabulous selection of scents and products and they are all quality stuff. Her Black Magic soaps set the bar for awesomeness. You'll thank me later.
P.S. I just looked at my candy and OMG I got a Mango DumDum! Mango! How freakin' cool is that!
*When I wear this in public, I really, reeeallly hope someone asks me what I'm wearing.
All products were purchased by me for my own use. My opinions are my own and always will be. Your mileage may vary.
The samples were three of the Halloween scents, Sugar Skulls, from last years entries and two new scents, Santa Muerte and the cumbersomely named Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things. The samples are Homecoming and Sugar Leaf.
As I've said before, I love solid perfume because it's pretty much idiot proof. And I am often an idiot, so it's all to the good.
We'll start with Santa Muerte, which was my least favourite. OHWTO describes this as "This is much "darker" than the usual OHWTO scents, and very complex. A Blessed Bounty of Sacred Offerings- Amber, Cinnamon Pastries, Caramel, Carnation, Tuberose, Spices, Chocolate, Tobacco, Labdanum, Church Incense, Dark Patchouli, Vanilla, Musk, Cognac, Fruits, Black Agar, Cardamom, and Lilies."
When I smelled it in the tube it smelled like maple and I was sad because I can't stand the smell of maple. Once I put it on, the maple smell dissipated and turned into something, as the description says, very dark and very complex. It does have a thick, dark, treacly smell to it, which is probably why I thought of maple at first, but as it sits on the skin it turns into something earthier.
 |
| kind of like this |
I'd say it smelled like carmelized Patchouli, except there's no such thing. Honestly, I would expect to ooze out of the tube like sugar in the middle of being worked into a toffee or a dark caramel and look like amber-brown molasses. It doesn't, of course, but if I hadn't seen it first, that's what I'd expect. As it dries down it gets softer and some of the floral scents, particularly the carnation get a word in edgewise, but it remains dark. It's sweet in a sticky way, and just a little bit much for me. I don't see myself wearing this as often as some of the other scents. It's not bad, it's just...intense.
Sugar Skulls I had wanted this last year, but ended up not getting it, so it was first on my list this year. It's described as "You'll smell sweet baked goods, vanilla cookies, anise, and roses- all the scents of a stroll through a Mexican neighborhood at that time of the year. " And yes, that is exactly how it smells. It's not too strong, and the anise isn't overwhelming. This is not an absinthe type anise, but a soft, sweet anise with a rush of vanilla and soft rose petal fragrance. It doesn't smell like food, it smells feminine with a kick of spice. I've never been in a Mexican neighborhood, but I can imagine terracotta plastered walls with brilliant cotton curtains and stark white linens drying on a line. The anise gives it an exotic touch while the vanilla and rose make it warm and comforting. Perhaps a vase of roses on a starched lace doily with the sun pouring in the window. It really is lovely and simple without being ordinary.
Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things*: Acorns, Oak, Vanilla, Apples, Roasted Spiced Pumpkin, a bit of Musk and a mound of freshly-dug Dirt. Sort of disturbing! Not actually disturbing, in fact, I'd call this a work of genius. Why? It's the apple. I hate apple notes in perfumes, because they never actually smell like apples - at best they smell like apple cider, at worst like spoiled apple juice. Apples themselves have a crisp, light fruity scent and this is the first perfume I've ever smelled that captured exactly the scent you get when you bite into an apple. It's perfect, and that's only a small part of this scent - there's the wonderful nuttiness of the acorn, a slight whiff of spices and dirt. I don't get the musk, but, as I've said before, I can't smell most musks. I do detect a warm slight underlayer, though which is probably musk. This smell is exactly like heading out to the backyard late in the afternoon to rake up some leaves, gather up some nuts, maybe mound over your rosebushes or put in a few late mums. Stop to rest with plump juicy apple to munch on and you've got it. It's fresh and outdoorsy, delicious and airy all at the same time. It seems to retain it's character pretty well as it dries down, the flash of apple is strongest in the tube and softens as it wears on the skin, while the nuts and earth come up a bit, but the overall essence doesn't change. Just smelling it makes me want to step outside and revel in the autumness of the day.
The two samples were Homecoming, "A fall-inspired blend, Homecoming captures many of the scents of autumn in New England. Tart cranberries, dried figs, mulling spices, dried split firewood, fallen leaves and warm 'Hot Toddies'". Becca's going to kill me for this, but the first thing I thought when I smelled it in the tube was "Hamster Litter!" Bear in mind, of course, that I mean fresh, unused hamster litter, which I quite like the smell of. After a moment I realised that the litter I always used when I kept rodents was primarily cedar with a few other woods mixed in, so it was actually wood I was smelling. No rodents were harmed or even inconvenienced in the making of this scent**.
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| **as far as I know |
Once it's on my skin, I definitely smell the cranberry, it gives the whole thing a tart effervescence. That fades a bit with the drydown and the other scents float to the surface. Is there a such thing as cranberry wine? Because that's what this ends up smelling like to me.
The other sample is Sugar Leaf which is a funny, bright little scent. "Notes of Vanilla Sugar, Sparkling Citron, Apple Peel, Sheer Floral, Sensual Woods, Creamy Musk " It's fresh, sweet and citrusy with a warm undertone. I don't get any apple here, but that may just be because my nose refused to acknowledge it after the perfect apple tone in CSPWDT. No other apple scent is worthy. It's a nice sugared fruit scent. I would never have picked it on my own, but it is quite pleasant.
If you've never shopped at OHWTO, you've been doing yourself a disservice. Go there, now, and browse, because Becca has a fabulous selection of scents and products and they are all quality stuff. Her Black Magic soaps set the bar for awesomeness. You'll thank me later.
P.S. I just looked at my candy and OMG I got a Mango DumDum! Mango! How freakin' cool is that!
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| photo courtesy Temptation Candies |
*When I wear this in public, I really, reeeallly hope someone asks me what I'm wearing.
All products were purchased by me for my own use. My opinions are my own and always will be. Your mileage may vary.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
It's not you, it's me.
I had a heartsy voucher for Sweet Anthem, a company I've been meaning to try, and grabbed the pre-order for the Fall sample set. It started shipping at the beginning of October, and mine arrived today. They arrived packed in a bubble mailer and with a glassine envelope holding little ziplocks of two scents each.
The first thing I noticed was - these are STRONG scents - I could smell them before I opened the envelope and none of them were leaking. And they last, even after thoroughly scrubbing my wrists between scents, I could still get a faint whiff of what I'd used last. The sample sizes are quite generous, 2ml bottles of liquid perfume. Scents and samples are also available in solid scents.
The first one I tried was Nell: A tea fit for any such party: gilded roses, a bouquet of carnations, and a black tea sweetened with milk, spiked with a smattering of cardamom, and a peach slice swimming where a lemon should be. Top Notes: Cardamom, Creamy Milk, Peach • Heart Notes: Damascus Rose • Base Notes: Black Tea(Spice) Nell started out sophisticated and intriguing. Roses with a hint of spicy bitter citrus. The notes only list peaches but there's a definite air of bitter orange or lime. Sadly, Nell was one of those dates that starts out promising, but ends up disappointing. After about a half hour, the sophisticated, worldy scent dissapated, leaving just a bitter citrus note behind. I didn't get any carnation scent at all, which is a shame, as I love carnation. If she'd kept her initial bloom, I'd have liked Nell, but in the end it smelled less like a fragrance and more like a garnish.
Colin:Thick air of cardamom, incense, and myrrh set the stage for many a-ghostly and storied song, and provides asylum for spice-laden spectors who steal sweet maidens into the dead of night. Top Notes: Benzoin, Cardamom• Heart Notes: Honey • Base Notes: Amber, Frankincense, Myrrh (Incense). Smoky and buttery with a spicy sharp bite to it. The cardamom is quite sharp, as is the myrrh. I liked this one a bit better, I just wish the amber and honey notes had mellowed the bite a bit. Again, after a bit of wearing, this one turns painfully bitter on me. Both Colin and Nell could work as unisex fragrances.
Beatrice: One of the main players in the late-shift masquerade, Beatrice is a hearty soul full of all sorts of fragrant warmth. What type of pie, indeed. Top Notes: Rhubarb • Heart Notes: Mahogany • Base Notes: Frankincense, Tonka Bean (Incense) This one is sweet and tangy and a little bit resinous. The pairing of rhubarb with spicy, woody undertones is brilliant - the whole thing smells warm, rich and delicious without smelling foody. The rhubarb notes are strong initially, but over time the whole thing mellows into a warm, wonderful outdoorsy smell, a combination of burning leaves and tangy fruityness.The underlying bitterness these scents all seem to have on me is very subtle here. Beatrice would also make a lovely room spray.
Annabelle: Sweltering jasmine flowers cling to a cloud of osmanthus, and the spray of sea air and salty musk will surely keep you oceanside even though the summer respite has left us. Top Notes: Sea Salt • Heart Notes: Jasmine, Osmanthus • Base Notes: White Amber (Marine) Marine notes and amber! Oh I'm in heaven. It's like the waft of a bouquet of flowers while strolling down the beach in the early morning fog. This is a fresh, wet, slightly sweet, salty fragrance, the pervasive bitterness tempered by the saltiness and the richness of the amber. I think this is what a mermaid would smell like.
Leslie: Old teenage hopes are alive at your door. Citrus notes entwined with smoldering florals concede to a lovely, idyllic foundation of moss, woods, and leather. Top Notes: Grapefruit, Yuzu • Heart Notes: Lily, Incense • Base Notes: Leather, Sandalwood, Sea Moss. (Musk) Fruity and sharp. This one is also very fresh and bright smelling. This would be a wonderful smell for a teenager who wanted something distinctive and crisp. The yuzu is strong, very strong, on initial application, while the sandalwood and leather notes creep up underneath slowly. This is a wonderful feminine scent without being girly, a tomboy scent, really, very energetic and confident. Grown-ups can wear it too, it just makes me think of a girl with freckles and a baseball cap running out to play after school. The bitter undertone is almost non-existant in this one.
Miranda - We fall, but our souls are flying. A baleful blend of banded peppers and woods, tragically impaled with bloodshot immortelle blossoms. Top Notes: Pink Pepper, White Pepper • Heart Notes: Immortelle • Base Notes: Black Agar, Cocoa, White Agar (Spice) This one is lovely, sweet and haunting. It starts with an odd, mentholy whiff, then graduates to a dark floral, but not too heavy. The pepper notes make it sharp, while the cocoa gives it a rich, warm bottom note. This is probably the most autumny scent in the bunch, with a hint of spookiness in the undertones. The bitterness here works to the advantage of the blend, giving it a poignancy, like preserved blossoms found between the pages of an old book.
Maureen - These thousand dreams could wake you; a complicated, seductive "floriental" for any girl child in the dark. • Top Notes: Almond, Fig, Mint • Heart Notes: Moroccan Rose • Base Notes: Chai Tea, Myrrh. (Oriental) Oh, you sexy thing, you! Definitely the most grown up of the bunch, Maureen is luscious, a food blend without being foody - the smell of an exotic Oriental bazaar, spices and incense mixing with bakery scents and a touch of floral as the rose scent, a good deep, old rose scent, wafts up through the blend. The mint brings a final, bright touch. It's sexy, exotic and a little bit risque. I love this one and the bitter undertone is very subtle.
Also included was a sample of Anita: And it's a very special thing -- she makes the people clap and sing. Be happy all the time in this nearly drinkable peppermint mocha perfume. Top Notes: Moroccan Mint, Peppermint • Heart Notes: Coffee • Base Notes: Vanilla.(Gourmand) I love the scent of coffee. Hate the taste, but love the scent. This is less of a minty coffee scent than a coffeish mint. Mint definitely dominates and the coffee and vanilla give it weight and warmth. This would also be a good unisex perfume. It does have that bitterness, which is an odd juxtaposition with the mint but in this case it adds a manly edge to the fragrance.
You'll notice I keep mentioning a bitter undertone. I don't think it's strictly the perfumes. Every scent reacts differently to everybody and every body's chemistry. I think the bitterness is just the way her blends, probably some of the base ingredients, react to my skin. It's not necessarily bad, but with some of the fragrances it was jarring. I doubt it would be as strong on someone else. I have the same problem with Estee Lauder perfumes. It doesn't matter what the scent is, or how lovely it smells in the bottle or on other people, when it hits my skin it goes from scent to stench. Always and without fail, within half an hour, I can't scrub that stuff off fast enough, it just morphs into something revolting on me. Which is very sad, because some EL scents are wonderful. Just not on me.
Overall I was quite pleased with my Sweet Anthem experience and would recommend them. A nice variety of scents, all well made and well-thought out combinations. I think I might prefer these in a solid scent for daywear, as they are quite potent. Only two of the scents really reached out and grabbed me as something I would want, but that's a matter of preference, not quality. These are excellent perfumes that, in the case of this sampler set, were just mostly not to my taste. Sweet Anthem offers a nice line of perfumes, several of which are still on my 'want to try list', notably Tara and Anastasia. The scents are available in a variety of liquid sizes and formats and in solid.
All products were purchased by me for my own use. My opinions are my own and always will be. Your mileage may vary. Photo from Sweet Anthem's Etsy site.
The first thing I noticed was - these are STRONG scents - I could smell them before I opened the envelope and none of them were leaking. And they last, even after thoroughly scrubbing my wrists between scents, I could still get a faint whiff of what I'd used last. The sample sizes are quite generous, 2ml bottles of liquid perfume. Scents and samples are also available in solid scents.
 |
| photo courtesy Sweet Anthem Perfumes. |
The first one I tried was Nell: A tea fit for any such party: gilded roses, a bouquet of carnations, and a black tea sweetened with milk, spiked with a smattering of cardamom, and a peach slice swimming where a lemon should be. Top Notes: Cardamom, Creamy Milk, Peach • Heart Notes: Damascus Rose • Base Notes: Black Tea(Spice) Nell started out sophisticated and intriguing. Roses with a hint of spicy bitter citrus. The notes only list peaches but there's a definite air of bitter orange or lime. Sadly, Nell was one of those dates that starts out promising, but ends up disappointing. After about a half hour, the sophisticated, worldy scent dissapated, leaving just a bitter citrus note behind. I didn't get any carnation scent at all, which is a shame, as I love carnation. If she'd kept her initial bloom, I'd have liked Nell, but in the end it smelled less like a fragrance and more like a garnish.
Colin:Thick air of cardamom, incense, and myrrh set the stage for many a-ghostly and storied song, and provides asylum for spice-laden spectors who steal sweet maidens into the dead of night. Top Notes: Benzoin, Cardamom• Heart Notes: Honey • Base Notes: Amber, Frankincense, Myrrh (Incense). Smoky and buttery with a spicy sharp bite to it. The cardamom is quite sharp, as is the myrrh. I liked this one a bit better, I just wish the amber and honey notes had mellowed the bite a bit. Again, after a bit of wearing, this one turns painfully bitter on me. Both Colin and Nell could work as unisex fragrances.
Beatrice: One of the main players in the late-shift masquerade, Beatrice is a hearty soul full of all sorts of fragrant warmth. What type of pie, indeed. Top Notes: Rhubarb • Heart Notes: Mahogany • Base Notes: Frankincense, Tonka Bean (Incense) This one is sweet and tangy and a little bit resinous. The pairing of rhubarb with spicy, woody undertones is brilliant - the whole thing smells warm, rich and delicious without smelling foody. The rhubarb notes are strong initially, but over time the whole thing mellows into a warm, wonderful outdoorsy smell, a combination of burning leaves and tangy fruityness.The underlying bitterness these scents all seem to have on me is very subtle here. Beatrice would also make a lovely room spray.
Annabelle: Sweltering jasmine flowers cling to a cloud of osmanthus, and the spray of sea air and salty musk will surely keep you oceanside even though the summer respite has left us. Top Notes: Sea Salt • Heart Notes: Jasmine, Osmanthus • Base Notes: White Amber (Marine) Marine notes and amber! Oh I'm in heaven. It's like the waft of a bouquet of flowers while strolling down the beach in the early morning fog. This is a fresh, wet, slightly sweet, salty fragrance, the pervasive bitterness tempered by the saltiness and the richness of the amber. I think this is what a mermaid would smell like.
Leslie: Old teenage hopes are alive at your door. Citrus notes entwined with smoldering florals concede to a lovely, idyllic foundation of moss, woods, and leather. Top Notes: Grapefruit, Yuzu • Heart Notes: Lily, Incense • Base Notes: Leather, Sandalwood, Sea Moss. (Musk) Fruity and sharp. This one is also very fresh and bright smelling. This would be a wonderful smell for a teenager who wanted something distinctive and crisp. The yuzu is strong, very strong, on initial application, while the sandalwood and leather notes creep up underneath slowly. This is a wonderful feminine scent without being girly, a tomboy scent, really, very energetic and confident. Grown-ups can wear it too, it just makes me think of a girl with freckles and a baseball cap running out to play after school. The bitter undertone is almost non-existant in this one.
Miranda - We fall, but our souls are flying. A baleful blend of banded peppers and woods, tragically impaled with bloodshot immortelle blossoms. Top Notes: Pink Pepper, White Pepper • Heart Notes: Immortelle • Base Notes: Black Agar, Cocoa, White Agar (Spice) This one is lovely, sweet and haunting. It starts with an odd, mentholy whiff, then graduates to a dark floral, but not too heavy. The pepper notes make it sharp, while the cocoa gives it a rich, warm bottom note. This is probably the most autumny scent in the bunch, with a hint of spookiness in the undertones. The bitterness here works to the advantage of the blend, giving it a poignancy, like preserved blossoms found between the pages of an old book.
Maureen - These thousand dreams could wake you; a complicated, seductive "floriental" for any girl child in the dark. • Top Notes: Almond, Fig, Mint • Heart Notes: Moroccan Rose • Base Notes: Chai Tea, Myrrh. (Oriental) Oh, you sexy thing, you! Definitely the most grown up of the bunch, Maureen is luscious, a food blend without being foody - the smell of an exotic Oriental bazaar, spices and incense mixing with bakery scents and a touch of floral as the rose scent, a good deep, old rose scent, wafts up through the blend. The mint brings a final, bright touch. It's sexy, exotic and a little bit risque. I love this one and the bitter undertone is very subtle.
Also included was a sample of Anita: And it's a very special thing -- she makes the people clap and sing. Be happy all the time in this nearly drinkable peppermint mocha perfume. Top Notes: Moroccan Mint, Peppermint • Heart Notes: Coffee • Base Notes: Vanilla.(Gourmand) I love the scent of coffee. Hate the taste, but love the scent. This is less of a minty coffee scent than a coffeish mint. Mint definitely dominates and the coffee and vanilla give it weight and warmth. This would also be a good unisex perfume. It does have that bitterness, which is an odd juxtaposition with the mint but in this case it adds a manly edge to the fragrance.
You'll notice I keep mentioning a bitter undertone. I don't think it's strictly the perfumes. Every scent reacts differently to everybody and every body's chemistry. I think the bitterness is just the way her blends, probably some of the base ingredients, react to my skin. It's not necessarily bad, but with some of the fragrances it was jarring. I doubt it would be as strong on someone else. I have the same problem with Estee Lauder perfumes. It doesn't matter what the scent is, or how lovely it smells in the bottle or on other people, when it hits my skin it goes from scent to stench. Always and without fail, within half an hour, I can't scrub that stuff off fast enough, it just morphs into something revolting on me. Which is very sad, because some EL scents are wonderful. Just not on me.
Overall I was quite pleased with my Sweet Anthem experience and would recommend them. A nice variety of scents, all well made and well-thought out combinations. I think I might prefer these in a solid scent for daywear, as they are quite potent. Only two of the scents really reached out and grabbed me as something I would want, but that's a matter of preference, not quality. These are excellent perfumes that, in the case of this sampler set, were just mostly not to my taste. Sweet Anthem offers a nice line of perfumes, several of which are still on my 'want to try list', notably Tara and Anastasia. The scents are available in a variety of liquid sizes and formats and in solid.
All products were purchased by me for my own use. My opinions are my own and always will be. Your mileage may vary. Photo from Sweet Anthem's Etsy site.
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