Aaaaand back to scent blogging!
No BPAL today–instead I’ve tried some of the Demeter line, and another Villainess.
Wet Garden — This one was a little too sweetly floral for me. “Gee, Ursula,” you say, “it’s called “wet garden” and it’s floral? Say it ain’t so!” Okay, yeah, wiseguy, I see your point. Thing is, when you say “wet garden” to me I actually think of a garden, namely my parents’ garden in Oregon, which did not smell floral. It smelled like herbs–y’know, basil, lemon verbena, maybe a little lavender, but mostly wet and green. Really not much in the way of flowers. It’s not a bad smell, but sweet & floral always makes me think of old lady perfume, so not a winner for me. (Now, if they can duplicate the smell of that herb garden after a rain, I will frickin’ BATHE in that stuff.)
Rain — Fairly light. Smells of that indefinable quality I call “perfumey.” Not a bad smell, but not for me. (I sort of wonder if part of my aversion to that particular quality is because I get an alcohol kind of chemical tang. I’m hyper-sensitive to the taste of alcohol, so of course I should probably be sensitive to the smell, since the two are so tightly linked. It’s possible that the reason these bother me is because the alcohol tang comes through strong as skunk musk, whereas luckier humans might not notice it at all.)
Gin & Tonic — Now see, this one I LOVE. Possibly I just expect the alcoholic note, and that makes it work, with the sharper juniper. It bloody well smells like a gin & tonic. Maybe it’s because I’m thinking “booze” rather than “perfume.” Go figure. Downside, it doesn’t last all that long, at least in the Pick-me-up Cologne form, so you can only smell like a lush for about half an hour.
Villainess — Embargo — Generally I love the Villainess line, but this particular one didn’t do much for me. It’s a light creamy patchouli. It’s not a bad smell at all, but it’s not as complex as I’m used to from them. Slather on the Jai Mahal or the Dulces en Fuego, and I will be sniffing myself surreptitiously for hours, going “I smell yummy.” This, I get a “I spent an hour browsing in the New Age bookstore.” Meh. I mean, I’ll use it–their whipped body cremes are the best thing ever created–but I wouldn’t order it again.
