Brief words about a few perfume oils I've been testing.

As I mentioned the other day, I have finally gotten around to updating my perfume lists, and now I'm getting back to testing the ones I haven't had a crack at yet. I'm working through the oils and indies first, and then I will move on to the commercial ones. I'm going alphabetically, as that seems to be the most practical way to do it. So here are a few brief words about what I've tested in the last week or so (I wear a different one each day to get a proper feel for them).

The Garden Bath Amber Grove: Sadly this store isn't around anymore, due to the owner's ill health. I bought some of the Amber Grove Body Cream last year so I did have an idea of what this scent was like, but in the oil, it's less amber and more citrus. Noodles insists it smells like grapefruit, but it's not fruity at all. It's very nice, but not very me, so even if the shop were still around it wouldn't be a full bottle purchase.

Scent By The Sea Antebellum: Magnolia is one my absolute favourite scents, so I had high hopes for this one. Unfortunately, it's very weak on me and just smells like a generic, cheap floral scent. Disappointing.

Poison Apple Potions Aphrodite's Love Elixir: Generally speaking, I'm a big fan of PAP's floral scents - their white florals in particular are just gorgeous - but this again was just some generic nothing kind of fragrance. It made me think of those store brand body lotions. A rare dislike for me with this crew, but you can't like everything, can you?

Black Phoenix Trading Post Monster Bait: biggercritters: Described as "five vanillas with Moroccan jasmine, white gardenia and pink grapefruit". Sounds right up my alley, but unfortunately on me it's just a very sweet lolly scent that goes dusty after about half an hour.

Wylde Ivy Cafe Biscotti: I can't find a link for this so I guess it must be discontinued, which is a damn shame, because I LOVE IT. This was sent to me by Stefanie, who is a big fan of Wylde Ivy. One day when I am allowing myself to buy things again (ONE DAY), I intend to try more of their perfumes. This one is a - well - like a coffee biscuit. Sort of coffee-ish, chocolate-ish, vanilla-ish, biscuit-ish. Lovely.

Wiggle Perfume Carmilla: Rose just goes crazy on me - the tiniest bit of rose in a fragrance will jump out and start screaming, and any other scent in there is left behind. That's what is happening here, and it's not a rose I'm crazy about. Not terrible, but not great on me. I should mention I have a friend who LOVES this perfume, so it's worth trying yourself to see how it goes on you. It just didn't work for me.

Scent By The Sea Cinema Rouge: A gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous deep amber vanilla scent. I can't tell you how much I love this - it's a beautiful oriental, just the sort of thing I like to drown myself in. As I've discussed with pretty much everyone I've mentioned it to, it reminds me of a classic commercial fragrance, but I've yet to figure out which one. I think I need to go sniffing around the Myer shelves sometime and work it out. In the meantime, this is definitely on the full bottle list.

Black Phoenix Trading Post Clytie: This is actually one of a pair, and apparently they are meant to be worn together, but I don't have the other one. It's a watery floral with a base note of frankincense. It's very pretty, but not very interesting.

Scent By The Sea Cote d'Azur: This doesn't appear to be sold singly at the moment - I bought it as part of a sampler set. I'm wearing it right now, and I'm sorry to say that I am about to go and wash it off because I hate it. It smells like coconut-scented toilet cleaner.