meh?

Ok... Lipton's Ginger Twist herbal tea tastes like Chinese Five Spice. Not what I was looking for.

AAAAAh!!!!

I soooo want these... what is cooler than lightsaber chopsticks?!?!

http://www.scifigenre.com/itemDetail.aspx?sid=2T0JOYIT2GXRLMY&nItemID=81501

Villainess, Arcana, and Possets, puhlease?

Btw, asterisks are the ones I *really* want to try. :-)


Villainess soaps or other stuffs

Antihero
**Asphyxiate
Byzantium
Embargo
Friction
**Ginger Snapped
Jai Mahal
Killer Beez
Pearl Diver
Pyromania
**Scintillating
Silk and Cyanide
**Frostbite LE
Just Desserts LE
Smashing LE

Mud Sampler



Arcana scents

Byzantium
Devilish
**Filthy Viking
Shambhala
Swashbuckler
**Anodyne
Queen Crossbones
Skeleton Key
Sleepy Hollow
Haint
Nervine
Revival
Sturm Und Drang
**The Huntress
Molly Malone
Mutiny
**Dreaming of the Deep Midwinter





Possets

Buster the Tabby Ghost
Gabby the Sweetling Ghost
Kate II – the Soprano with the High C
Adamus
Dark Lady
Eve
Handkerchief Water
Hayden – Cool Light Beauty
**WV – Heartbreak Ridge
High Tea
Hyde Park
Indigo
Montana – Infinite Sky
Issota and Sigismundo
Lamp Black
Lavender Corset
**Lavender Water – Le Espices
**Les Girls – Helen Bedd
**Madame X
Midnight Mass at Old St. Mary’s
Nevada – HEAT
Orion
Over-The-Rhine
**Perpetual Motion
**Pomona
Queen of the Night
Scented Gloves
Sex Juice
Silver Lily
Snow on Bare Skin
California – Sunshine in a Bottle
**The Gingerbread Crackhouse
**The Gingerbread Whorehouse
The Girls Love Chai-Chai-Chai
The Observatory
The Tisane of the Witch
Ultramarine Blue
Venus Black
Western Hills
**Zuben-el-Genubi
**Zubeneschamali

Oh, how I want thee!

This is my BPAL wishlist. :-) The other smellygoods are to come later.



Copper Phoenix
Azathoth
Cthulhu
Herbert West
Miskatonic University
R'lyeh
Shoggoth
The High Priest Not to be Described
Bathsheba
Debauchery
Endymion
Golden Priapus
Harlot
Hetairae
La Petit Morte
Les Bijoux
Perversion
Psyche
Queen of Sheba
Ravenous
Salome
Saturnalia
Satyr
Seraglio
Severin
Snake Oil
Succubus
The Lady of Shalott
Vicomte de Valmont
Dragon's Eye
Dragon's Heart
Ladon
Tanin'iver
Darkness
Despair
Haunted
Shroud
Tears
Twilight
Wings of Azrael
Zombi
Allegory
Antique Lace
Aureus
Black Forest
Blood
Blood Pearl
Brimstone
Bruja
Chimaera
Chypre
Dee
Eclipse
Empyreal Mist
Event Horizon
Fae
Fire of Love
French Love
Glitter
Grog
Hamadryad
Has No Hanna
Horn of Plenty
Incantation
Kubla Khan
Lampades
Leanan Sidhe
Mary Read
Namaste
Ode on Melancholy
Ozymandias
Pandora
Queen
Rakshasa
Séance
Shadow
Tempest
The Coiled Serpent
The Hesperides
The Raven
Umbra
Veil
Wilde
Yggdrasil
Zephyr
Snake Charmer
Metal Tiger
Alien Invasion
Creature Feature
Crimson Christmas
Diabolical Offspring
Dr. Jekyll
German Expressionist Horror
Gore-Shock
Gothic Horror
J-Horror
Mutant Hot-Rodders from Hell
Splatter Comedy
Storytime at Dark Delicacies
Hurricane
Inferno
Banshee
Black Annis
Blood Countess
Deimos
Glasya
Goblin
Hakkotsu
Hell's Belle
Imp
Incubus
Maenad
Malice
Nephilim
Noctnitsa
Phantom
Phantom Queen
Phobos
Rage
Spectre
Szepasszony
Unseelie
Venom
Villain
Yuki-onna
Alecto
Anubis
Calliope
Clio
Erato
Eris
Eros
Euterpe
Himerus
Kali
Kephra
Lilith
Maegara
Mania
Melpomene
Nemesis
Nuit
Nyx
Obatala
Ochosi
Old Scratch
Pannychis
Peitho
Penthus
Persephone
Polyhymnia
Queen Mab
Skuld
Sophia
Terpsichore
Thaleia
Thanatos
Tisiphone
Urania
Urd
Utrennyaya
Vechernyaya
Irrelevant and Surreal Crawdad Dream
Pirate Moon
The Phoenix
Agnes Nutter
Aziraphale
Crowley
Famine
Hastur
Nanny Ashtoreth
Pollution
The Buggre Alle This Bible
War
Lambs-wool
Antony
Hermia
Lady Macbeth
Lysander
Oberon
Ophelia
Othello
Puck
Three Witches
Titania
Yorick
Hatmehit
Bonfire Night
Chiroptera
Mi-Go Brain Canister
Ra
Blood Moon
Blue Moon 2009 : Brian's Creation
Blue Moon 2009 : Elizabeth's Creation
Minotaur
Penumbra
Stinky
Storm Moon
Typhon
Wolf Moon
Brotoloigos
Enkhesphalos
Khalkokorustes
Prosperity of A Country
The Steeple
Thoos
Against Idleness and Mischief
Frumious Bandersnatch
Mad Hatter
March Hare
Mouse's Long and Sad Tale
The Caterpillar
The King of Hearts
The Lion
The Mad Hatter
The Red Queen
Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat
Baba Yaga
Egle
Fire for Thy Stepmother's Daughters
Godfather Death
Rumpelstilzchen
The Light of Men's Lives
The Little Sparrow
The Red Rider
The Sea Foams Blood
The Sea Foams Milk
The White Rider
The Witch's Garden
Vassilisa
Old Man Ackerman's Instructional Toys
The Black Temple Burlesque Troupe
Aelopile
Galvanic Goggles
Phoenix Steamworks
Smokestack
The Antikythera Mechanism
The Coil
Blood Rose
Death Cap
Devil's Claw
Mantis
Wolfsbane
Bacchanalia
Cathedral
Damnation
DeSade
Dissipation
Fallen
Faustus
Greed
Hellfire
Lex Talionis
Lust
Magdalene
Malediction
Nero
Oblivion
Sea of Glass
Sin
Sloth
The Bow and Crown of Conquest
The Great Sword of War
The Scales of Deprivation
Torment
Brom Bones
Fearful Pleasure
Ichabod Crane
The Goblin Rider
Wiley's Swamp
Baku
Oneiroi
Fairy Market
The Stormhold
The Witch Queen
Tristran
Yvaine
Bat-Woman
Carceri D'invenzion
Cloister Graveyard in the Snow
Death of the Gravedigger
Orpheus
Satan and Death with Sin Intervening
Silence
The Isle of the Dead
The Penitent Magdalen
Three Brides
Two Monsters
Cupid Complaining to Venus
Judith Victorious
Les Anges Deshus
Lot and His Daughters
Melancholia
The Cup of Death
The Ecstacy of St. Theresa
The Great He-Goat
The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun
The Lantern Ghost of Oiwa
The Sailor's Den
Three Gorgons
Bat
Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Those Condemned To Death
Kiyohime Changes From A Serpent
Love and Pain
Macbeth and the Witches
Mad Meg
Madonna
Philosopher in Meditation
Spirit of the Komachi Cherry Tree
Sunrise With Sea-Monsters
The Smiling Spider
Blinding Glory of Love
Energy
Hymn to Pan
Lord of the Forest
Mnemosyne
Road Opener
Baghdad
Cairo
Crossroads
Delphi
Eden
Florence
Glasgow
Ile de la Tortue
Isles of Demons
Kathmandu
Kostnice
Kyoto
Lyonesse
Neo-Tokyo
Port Royal
Port-au-Prince
Rome
Silk Road
Sri Lanka
Sybaris
The Hanging Gardens
Uruk
Vinland
Yerevan
On Darkness 2009
The Ifrit
Mr. Jacquel
The Norns' Farmhouse
Spider
Eau de Ghoul
Ghulheim
The Lady on the Grey
The Potter's Field
Carnaval Diabolique
Midnight on the Midway
The Phantom Calliope
Doc Constantine
Theodosius, the Legerdemain
Antonino, the Carny Talker
Eshe, a Vision of Life-in-Death
Faiza, the Black Mamba
Coral Snake
Death Adder
Saw-Scaled Viper
Isaac, the Living Skeleton
Kataniya, the Clockwork Woman
Meskhenet, the Vulture Maiden
Tiresias, the Androgyne
Wulric, the Wolfman
Knucklebones
Ashlultum
Marcilla
Hand of Glory
Licwiglunga
Pickled Imp
Sir Hugh Ockram's Winding Sheet
Tabula Smaragdina
Deep In Earth
Blood Kiss
Ehecatl
Graveyard Dirt
Kaidan
Plutonian
Sky City (After)
Volt
Anesthesia
Hunter
Lamia
Mr. Croup
Night's Bridge
The Floating Market
The Marquis de Carabas
The Rat Speakers
The Velvets
Paduan Killer Swarm
The Traveller
Sara Pezzini
The Curator
Witchblade
Geek Goth
Gothabilly
Romanti.Goth
Thriambus

BPAL sniffing notes 16 - Hades

Hades - The gloomy Hades enriches himself with our sighs and our tears. The Unseen. Eldest brother of Zeus, Husband of Persephone, Lord of the Underworld and Commander of the Demons of the Underworld, God of Wealth, whose epithets are Clymenus (Notorious), Eubuleus (Wise in Counsel), and Polydegmon (He who receives many / The Hospitable). Though he is a dark, morbid and morose deity, fierce and relentless, and is stern, pitiless, and sometimes cruel, he is by no means an evil God. His justice is true, even-handed and absolute, and he is possessed of unbreakable loyalty, single-minded devotion to duty, and immense courage. A dark, palpably sacred chthonic blend: black narcissus and cypress, stephanotis, opoponax, labdanum, onycha and ambergris.

In the vial, it smells like church incense to me. Colorwise, I'm getting mahogany - that deep rich red brown.

Wet on my skin, mmm... impressive. Not oppressively heavy. The only note I can *identify* is the cypress and I've always liked that one.

10-15 dry-down - Ok, I can't separate notes, but me likey. I swear I smell cinnamon or cassia in this somewhere, but there's none listed.

1 hour dry-down - I'm half tempted to order a full bottle of this one. I like it a lot. It's incense-y without being cloying and sweet without being sugary.

note - no wonder it smells like church incense! Onycha is made from part of a snail and it was one of the ingredients in the temple incense described in the Book of Exodus.

BPAL sniffing notes 15 - Brisingamen

Brisingamen - The amber necklace of Freyja, Norse Goddess of Love, Sex, Attraction and Fruitfulness. Her magnificent necklace was bought from four Dwarves (Alfrik, Berling, Dvalin and Grer) at the price of four nights of her passion. When Brisingamen graces your throat, no man can resist your charms. A glittering mantle of rich golden notes: five ambers, soft myrtle and apple blossom, myrtle, and carnation.

In the vial, it has a very resinous scent. Only appropriate for an amber necklace, I'd say. The color note is very much what it says - amber.

Wet on my skin, it's got an odd, chemically scent underlying what smells like amber and carnation. I'm not getting anything of myrtle or apple blossom, though.

10-15 minute dry-down - Ok, the chemically note has died off and now I'm getting mostly amber. Not unpleasant.

1 hour dry-down - The carnation is almost all I can smell and it isn't liking me much. Starting to get headachy and that itchy feeling in the back of my throat. *sigh* I had high hopes for this one too.

Pandora's box

Pandora radio loves me today. I got Sin by NIN, Lateralus by Tool, Cemetary Gates by Pantera, and Christian Woman by Type O Negative back to back. :-) heheh. Now I just need more Type O.

bpal sniffing notes 14 (for men) - Iago, Jolly Roger, and Calico Jack

Iago - Malevolent, dark and shadowy: sinuous black musk, wet leather and vetiver.

Smells nice on Josh, but that black musk is just too much for me. It smells like a wet dog. Otherwise, it reminds me of nothing more than Captain Morgan... Captain Morgan and wet dog.

****

Jolly Roger - Sea spray with an undercurrent of leather, Bay Rum, and salty, dry woods.

All I can say is *drool*. This smells soooo good on Josh. I tried it on myself, but it just smells like generic men's cologne on me. Very clean and watery smelling, which is amusing since he's a Leo. :-)

****

Calico Jack - Sea air, driftwood, waterlogged kelp, and the memory of plundered spices sprayed over worn leathers, rough musk, and the salty wooden floorboards of the Revenge.

Very nice. Not as nice as Jolly Roger, but still smells very yummy on Josh. I think the spices kinda drag the scent down or it would be similar to Jolly Roger.

Triskadekaphobia!

We won't have another Friday the 13th until next August.

In France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.

On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.

More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.

Many airports skip the 13th gate.

Airplanes have no 13th aisle.

Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.

Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.

***

PBAL has a LE for Friday the 13th called... you guessed it, 13.


13 is significant, whether you consider it lucky, unlucky or just plain odd. Many believe it to be unfortunate...

... because there were 13 present at the Last Supper.
... Loki crashed a party of 12 at Valhalla, which ended in Baldur's death.
... Oinomaos killed 13 of Hippodamia's suitors before Pelops finally, in his own shady way, defeated the jealous king.
... In ancient Rome, Hecate's witches gathered in groups of 12, the Goddess herself being the 13th in the coven.

Concern over the number thirteen echoes back beyond the Christian era. Line 13 was omitted form the Code of Hammurabi.

The shivers over Friday the 13th also have some interesting origins:

... Christ was allegedly crucified on Friday the 13th.
... On Friday, October 13, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrests of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and sixty of his senior knights.
... In British custom, hangings were held on Fridays, and there were 13 steps on the gallows leading to the noose.

To combat the superstition, Robert Ingersoll and the Thirteen Club held thirteen-men dinners during the 19th Century. Successful? Hardly. The number still invokes trepidation to this day. A recent whimsical little serial killer study showed that the following murderers all have names that total thirteen letters:

Theodore Bundy
Jeffrey Dahmer
Albert De Salvo
John Wayne Gacy

And, with a little stretch of the imagination, you can also fit "Jack the Ripper" and "Charles Manson" into that equation.

More current-era paranoia: modern schoolchildren stop their memorization of the multiplication tables at 12. There were 13 Plutonium slugs in the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki. Apollo 13 wasn't exactly the most successful space mission. All of these are things that modern triskaidekaphobes point to when justifying their fears.

For some, 13 is an extremely fortuitous and auspicious number...

... In Jewish tradition, God has 13 Attributes of Mercy. Also, there were 13 tribes of Israel, 13 principles of Jewish faith, and 13 is considered the age of maturity.
... The ancient Egyptians believed that there were 12 stages of spiritual achievement in this lifetime, and a 13th beyond death.
... The word for thirteen, in Chinese, sounds much like the word which means "must be alive".

Thirteen, whether you love it or loathe it, is a pretty cool number all around.

... In some theories of relativity, there are 13 dimensions.
... It is a prime number, lucky number, star number, Wilson Prime, and Fibonacci number.
... There are 13 Archimedean solids.

AND...
... There were 13 original colonies when the United States were founded.

Says a lot about the US, doesn't it?

Its Friday the 13th in the Miskatonic Valley! A base of Mother Shub's dark chocolate fudge, raw vanilla, and sibilant black incense dusted by thirteen merrily malefic, ill-omened herbs, resins, and flowers: prune, musk seed, baneberry, myrrh, wild tobacco, hemp, datura, bluebell, cypress, hemlock, snakeweed, opoponax, and black hellebore.

it's interesting what scents can do

It has just dawned on me, but I've established the fact that the Death on a Pale Horse, for some reason just cheers me up. Could be the citrus and mint, actually. Both of those tend to make me feel better, physically and emotionally.

huh.

I got a very weird pseudo-compliment from my boss earlier. I was doing some filing and she laughed and said 'Your britches are falling off.' I just bought these pants and, while they're baggy, I tied them to where they *should* be fitting. However, they're starting to fall off my hips. The only explanation I can come up with is that I'm losing weight. I don't know how, but apparently I am. Josh even commented that my waist is getting visibly smaller. I don't really see it, but I did notice my cheekbones looked a little more prominent. I'm not complaining, but it still irritates me that I have no idea how or why I am.

BPAL sniffing notes 13 - Temple of Dreams

Temple of Dreams - Dream Formula III. For use when working with the many Gods of Sleep, Dreams, and Nightmares.

In the vial, very herbal. Colorwise, I'm getting the silvery green of rosemary and white sage. Pretty clean smelling.

Wet on my skin, it smells like the herbs you put on roast chicken... Quite pleasant, actually. I'm getting mostly lavender and rosemary, possibly some white sage or basil.

10-15 minute dry-down - I'm getting lemon basil now, along with the lavender and rosemary. This is certainly not one I'd wear on a day to day basis, but for dream work or a linen spray, this would be quite nice.

1 hour dry-down - Very herbal, very green. I like it, but not to wear as a perfume, I don't think.

BPAL sniffing notes 12 - Dance of Death

Dance of Death - Carrying bouquet, and handkerchief, and gloves, Proud of her height as when she lived, she moves With all the careless and high-stepping grace, And the extravagant courtesan's thin face. Was slimmer waist e'er in a ball-room wooed? Her floating robe, in royal amplitude, Falls in deep folds around a dry foot, shod With a bright flower-like shoe that gems the sod. The swarms that hum about her collar-bones As the lascivious streams caress the stones, Conceal from every scornful jest that flies, Her gloomy beauty; and her fathomless eyes Are made of shade and void; with flowery sprays Her skull is wreathed artistically, and sways, Feeble and weak, on her frail vertebrae. O charm of nothing decked in folly! they Who laugh and name you a Caricature, They see not, they whom flesh and blood allure, The nameless grace of every bleached, bare bone, That is most dear to me, tall skeleton! Come you to trouble with your potent sneer The feast of Life! or are you driven here, To Pleasure's Sabbath, by dead lusts that stir And goad your moving corpse on with a spur? Or do you hope, when sing the violins, And the pale candle-flame lights up our sins, To drive some mocking nightmare far apart, And cool the flame hell lighted in your heart? Fathomless well of fault and foolishness! Eternal alembic of antique distress! Still o'er the curved, white trellis of your sides The sateless, wandering serpent curls and glides. And truth to tell, I fear lest you should find, Among us here, no lover to your mind; Which of these hearts beat for the smile you gave? The charms of horror please none but the brave. Your eyes' black gulf, where awful broodings stir, Brings giddiness; the prudent reveller Sees, while a horror grips him from beneath, The eternal smile of thirty-two white teeth. For he who has not folded in his arms A skeleton, nor fed on graveyard charms, Recks not of furbelow, or paint, or scent, When Horror comes the way that Beauty went. O irresistible, with fleshless face, Say to these dancers in their dazzled race: "Proud lovers with the paint above your bones, Ye shall taste death, musk scented skeletons! Withered Antinoüs, dandies with plump faces, Ye varnished cadavers, and grey Lovelaces, Ye go to lands unknown and void of breath, Drawn by the rumour of the Dance of Death. From Seine's cold quays to Ganges' burning stream, The mortal troupes dance onward in a dream; They do not see, within the opened sky, The Angel's sinister trumpet raised on high. In every clime and under every sun, Death laughs at ye, mad mortals, as ye run; And oft perfumes herself with myrrh, like ye And mingles with your madness, irony! A gloriously elegant representation of Lady Death. Dry, bone-white orris, black musk, serpentine patchouli and our murkiest myrrh.


In the vial, it's mostly patchouli and myrrh. So far, however, the myrrh isn't overpowering. We'll see how that pans out. Colorwise, I'm getting a brown-black, like potting soil. Very earthy.

Wet on my skin, it's myrrh and orris. The myrrh isn't sickening yet, though, which is a good thing. It reminds me of incense.

10-15 minute dry-down - Weird. It smells like soap. Not like Irish Spring or anything, but like the little decorative perfumed soaps you see in grandma's guest bathroom. I'm guessing that's the orris.

1 hour dry-down - Soap. Not an unpleasant soap, but soap nonetheless. If I wanted to smell like soap I'd wash my hands with the little 'do not touch' decorative ones at grandma's house. Also, the color tone has changed significantly - it's gone to a dusty rose/eggshell. Something I'd associate with old ladies.

BPAL sniffing notes 11 - Jolly Roger

Jolly Roger - Sea spray with an undercurrent of leather, Bay Rum, and salty, dry woods.

In the vial, it's very clean smelling. Colorwise, I get a blue-white. I'm getting something like juniper, I think. I like it.

Wet on my skin, I get a minty junipery scent with a little bit of salt. Clean, very much a men's cologne scent.

10-15 minute dry-down - It smells watery and salty, very much a piraty male scent. Very nice, but I prefer it on my husband rather than myself.

1 hour dry-down - Ok, this one is officially for Josh. I like the smell of cologne but not on myself.

Next BPAL order

Change of plans on that one, I think. I have to split the order between myself and the hubby. :-)

Hetairae
The Scales of Deprivation
Miskatonic University
Brisingamen
Fenris Wolf
Nephilim

I think I'm going to order either Faunalia or The Smilin' Servitors' Hyperdimensional Holiday Hits from the Limited Edition Yule 2009 sets.

You Know You're In the SCA If....

This has always amused me...
*****

You Know You`re in the SCA When...


you overhear the 10-year-old at the next picnic table quoting Macbeth... accurately.

you've ever been cooking and run out of galingale.

you spent more money this year on your period housing than your mundane housing.

there's an anvil in your bedroom.

your aerobics routine includes galliards

your university diploma is "tucked away somewhere" but your AoA is framed and on display on the most prominent wallspace in the house.

you yell "Huzzah" at mundane events instead of cheering "normally".

a sideless surcoat is the sexiest thing in your closet.

you can eat equally well with a dagger or a fork.

after a party you ask yourself: "Hm. Now where are my clothes?" and you're stone sober and fully dressed.

the axe you're using to chop wood is one you made yourself.

your future husband's wedding garb costs more than yours, and has more trim.

the books-on-tape in your car include: Cooking for 500 or more, Autocratting Pennsic, and Beginning Welsh.

buying black walnuts and ferrous sulfate from a health food store means a new "dye" not a new "diet".

you practice birth control religiously from All Saint's Day to Candlemas so that you won't be too pregnant to go to Pennsic.

the decorating scheme of your home is "bookcase eclectic".

you've brushed your teeth with beer, because it was easier to find than clean water.

after viewing this list, your non-scadian significant other chuckles for days, while you mutter to yourself, "I don't see what's so funny about that."

you have period garments for a black-tie event, but no mundane ones.

you heard two stories this evening that started "No sh*t, there I was..."

the words "couldst", "wouldst", and "shouldst" come more easily to your tongue than "chicken".

you consider wearing 3 different tartans at once to be high fashion.

everyone at your graduation wants to know where you learned to bow.

In your kitchen a Rondel, a ballocks dagger and a stilleto are close to hand, but a breadknife is nowhere to be found.

someone has threatened to get "Prehistoric on your ass",

you have two different .signature files, which have no words in common except the email address.

someone asks you where you got your chainmail hauberk, and you reply, "In 200 foot rolls at Home Depot."

you know every line in Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail by heart.

you're a burly guy who looks like a Hell's Angel, but you do embroidery in public.

at a formal dinner party, you politely grab your sleeve to keep it from dropping in the food, only to realize you're wearing a suit.

during a conversation, you avoid using the other person's name, not because you don't know it, but because you can't pronounce it.

you've decorated a cake in celtic knotwork.

you return to work after a weekend event, only to find you left all your money in your belt pouch.

you sometimes wear your jackets closed only by the top button and without putting your arms through the sleeves.

you're watching what's been billed as the most romantic scene in any movie ever, and all you can think is: What kind of armor is he wearing?

you can and do curse in Gaelic, but you aren't Scottish

your teddy bear has better garb than you do.

your garb closet is bigger than your clothes closet and the clothes are in better condition.

you watch the old replay of the Crowning of the English Queen Elizabeth II and you recognize peoples' ranks by the Coronets they are wearing.

while watching the crowning of Queen Elizabeth II, you remark to your lady, "We could use that stuff at our Coronation".

you visit a period castle, notice the draperies and bedspreads, and think of what lovely clothing they would make.

you visit a period castle, museum, historical site, etc. and you can spot the mistakes in the tour guide's lecture.

you get a question about OOP programming techniques on a Comp Sci exam and think: "ALL programming is Out Of Period".

[you're male and] your girlfriend, not you, is the bored one being dragged from fabric/clothing store to fabric/clothing store.

[you're male and] you have to worry about a run in your stocking when you kneel to propose to your fiance.

you get a Christmas card in the mail and you look at the shepherds and background figures with a magnifying glass to see the costuming details.

you sneer at "the Burger King" saying, "He's wearing a ducal coronet".

you hide the really awful costume references in the stacks at the library, so future costumers won't be led astray. Or, you write criticisms in the margins of said awful costume references.

you reality check wargames and role-playing games by saying "That's wrong! I know that Duke Swaetsox can do X... (where X = some combat-related feat), I've seen people do that in the SCA!"

you watch Henry V (or the Zefferelli Romeo and Juliet) over, and over, and over again - for the costumes/fighting scenes.

your immediate family consists of only two rather small, thin people, but you justify your purchase of a full-sized van/pickup truck saying, "We'll need the extra space for events!"

your reaction when you see some sort of handicraft is "I can make that" or "I can buy that from Mistress Seamchecker for half that!"

you're annoyed because the armor at the art museum isn't displayed so that you can get a good photograph of the back/insides.

you're in Europe and you pass up famous OOP sites to see tiny little places that might have related to your persona.

when you make a new recipe you take out the potatoes, tomatoes and peppers, because they're OOP for Europe.

you choose your language courses in college based on what your persona would have spoken. (...Man! I'm really bummed out that they aren't teaching Anglo-Saxon this semester...)

your reference section on your field of interest is better than the equivalent section in the local library.

you've been asked by a museum curator what your opinion is regarding the item at hand.

you slip and begin a letter, "Good Milord..."

you slip and address a coworker as Milord or Milady.

you slip and date a letter, "The Tuesday before Michealmas, A.S. XXVII" (or whatever).

you're annoyed because your new printer didn't come with Luxhaeiul miniscule or Batarde as one of the standard fonts.

people don't assume that you're going in for surgery when you say, "This weekend, I'm going to get my knees fixed".

your idea of a sack lunch is mince-meat pie, cold mulled cider and wafers left over from the feast the week-end before.

your hobby takes more of your time than your job.

you start to wear your hair the way your persona might have worn his/hers. (...Smith, it's not so much the waist length beard, but do you really have to braid it?...)

you sign a check, using calligraphy.

you name your pets after obscure historical figures.

you name your children after obscure historical figures.

you can give blazons for your pets.

people think you're in a commune because you're always talking about your "household".

people think you have a roommate because your answering machine says "Neither Fred or Froddi are in right now..."

people assume that you're an exchange student/recent immigrant because they hear people calling you by the most outlandish names.

you have to remind yourself not to call that tourist in the checkered golf pants "Sir" just because he's wearing a white belt.

you see a college diploma on a friend's wall and the first thing you ask is "Who did the calligraphy?"

you read a book that involves the plague and can diagnose which of the two or three types of plague it is from the symptoms.

you go to endorse your paycheck at the local ATM, and the only pen you have is a dip style pen for calligraphy... and you have the ink!

you receive telephone calls at work for your SCA name... and your coworkers know who it's for!

someone calls your company and asks, "Could I speak with the King please?" and the operator says, "Just a minute and I'll connect you to his Majesty".

you take a college course in medieval history, and find out you already own the textbooks.

you cry "Lay On!" when serving at raquetball. {or tennis, or...}

while hunting for a travel route you spend a half-hour hunting for "Ben Dunfirth" in your atlas, and then realize you need the mundane name for the city.

you describe your company's logo to the printer's shop using heraldic terms.

instead of having dreams about being out in public with no clothes on, you have dreams about being at an event in mundane clothing.

your bank will cash checks for your persona.

you have a credit card in the name of your persona.

you go running up the stairs at work and reach down to hold the hem of your underdress up so as not to trip over it... and you're wearing pants.

you dress your decorative lawn elves/animals in period garb matching your own.

your friend's idea of camping involves a backpack and yours involves a U-haul.

you can cook an egg on a rock, but not toast in a toaster.

you can make a loaf of bread faster than you can program a bread machine.

you make all your own bread and you don't own a bread pan.

your adventurous non-SCA friends wangle invitations for Sunday supper so they can sample the feast leftovers.

you talk your bracemaker into covering the plastic parts with leather and using buckles instead of velcro... and you dye them to match your arms.

your bedroom contains more SCA-craft equipment than furniture.

your family is Russian, but you speak only English and Gaelic.

your 8-year-old daughter gets a poseable Barbie for her birthday and you immediately see if she can assume all of the heraldic positions with an eye toward a future heraldry class.

your wife asks you "Do you want me to buy you some black tights for the wedding we're going to this weekend?" and you say YES.

you and your partner are all set to set up your new law firm, but after consideration, you both agree "Better if we wait until after Pennsic".

you know which kingdom an event site is in, but not which state.

your friend invites you to a "dress nice" party, and you realize that your best looking clothes are your court garb.

your friend tells you her new boyfriend works in a fabric store and your first thought is "How cool!"

the only time you can see your living room floor is when your van is packed for an event.

your bible study is going over the Armor of God... and they ask you to bring examples.

you see a mother tenderly picking a splinter out of her son's hand with a shortsword.

you pull out a wax tablet to write down someone's email address at an event.

you buy 15 bicycle cups on sale (for codpieces) but are confused when the guy asks if you need a helmet. (You don't fight)

you raid Burger King's supply of paper crowns for your ADULT friends.

you buy a bottle of booze just for the neat pouch.

you've bought groceries based on the period-ness of the bottle they came in. ("That vinegar bottle would look great filled with mead...")

you go to a Catholic mass with your in-laws, and you spend the whole time admiring the garb on the priest and in the stained glass windows.

you have to find something else to wear on Halloween, because your garb just doesn't feel like a costume anymore.

your coworkers seem a little concerned that you're planning a "period" party, and you're male.

you reflexively begin dancing a bransle when you hear the musicians start up at the entrance to your Ren Faire.

"dining room large enough for a dozen scribes and all their equipment" or "yard big enough to hold a fighter practice" appears on the must-have list for your new house.

you can't decide whether to wear the celtic garb or the Italian garb for a costume to your company's costume ball.

you go to the hardware store and ask for a drawknife for shaving rattan, only to have them explain that no one makes them anymore.

your "best china" consists of wooden feast gear and drinking horns.

the worst loss of your flooded basement is not the washer or the furnace, but the scrolls you were framing...

you plan your car-trip vacations around events happening in other kingdoms, and even pack accordingly.

your mom gives you a book about chivalry for your birthday, inscribed with the words "chivalry will never die as long as there are hearts as true as yours"

you see a road-killed kangaroo and wonder if you could use its pelt for garb... and you have a knife in your truck for situations like this... only to pause wondering if you can get away with a kangaroo fur cape, or is it OOP?

[you're male and] you see an attractive woman in a skin-tight black velvet dress, and your primary thought is "Wow!! What I wouldn't give for ten yards of that!"

you're babysitting and you wonder if they'd give you the curtains as pay

you do bransles to Christmas music when you hear it in the mall.

someone mentions "The World's First Great Event", and you think of Pennsic I, not the first ice age.

the gynecologist asks "When is your period?", and you answer "Early 14th century".

you answer your own front door with "Who goes there?"

you go to a funeral and spend your time looking at the great pavilion over the grave site and wonder where they got it

sharpening your knives, axes, swords and spears is not only an entire evening's work, but an entire evening's entertainment!

you start wearing your tankard and belt pouch around with your mundanes, because it's so darn convenient.

you don't think twice about inviting all your friends over to watch "Scourge of the Black Death" on the History Channel, and have no doubts that almost everyone will come.

you can make a chainmail hauberk by yourself, have done so, and given it away as a "perfect wedding gift".

"Two helmets, Anglo-Norman style preferred" appears on your wedding registry.

you've called your dorm ahead of time to ask if it's OK to keep swords in your room.

you realize you've used porta-johns more often than "flushies" recently.

a gift certificate at an upholstery store was one of your favorite birthday gifts this year.

the worst news you've had all year is that the Tandy Leather store near you is closing!

you're disappointed that your British Literature textbook doesn't have Beowulf in parallel text.

you enter your lady's boudoir for the first time, and the first words to escape your lips are "Nice sewing machine!".

costumed people going into Rocky Horror have asked you about your "funny clothes".

you've ever been refused entrance to a store/bank/concert because of your belt knife.

[you're female and] you've walked straight into a door on a Monday morning because you just expected the coworker you're entering with to stop and open it for you.

you consider duct tape to be a "school supply", as do your children.

your mundane friend came over because he was looking for duct tape and he was sure you'd have some lying around.

your favorite birthday present was a roll of that really shiny duct tape.

you get duct tape in your Christmas stocking.

your dog knows how to bow to royalty.

instead of one of those "cutesy" sweaters, your dog wears a chainmail hauberk.

your cat understands "Hold!"

your cat wears an elizabethan ruff, and likes it!

you give directions to the parking lot: "It's on the dexter side of the road just past the stump". (They're also in the SCA if they get there with no more questions.)

you can't cross a large dining hall at a mundane dinner without feeling you should curtsey/bow to the royal presence.

you automatically evaluate any large dining area or hall for its suitability and probable availability for an SCA event.

you unconsciously dip your head to the senior vice president of your company when you pass her in the hall.

you have to fight the reflex to curtsey/bow to the catholic priest at high mass.

you curtsey/bow as you pass the bridal couple

you curtsey/bow to the judge at a hearing

almost any reference to sheep makes you giggle.

bad heraldry and/or costuming has ruined an otherwise decent movie for you.

a truly bad anachronism has ruined an otherwise good romance novel for you.
You View the World as a Scadian When...


you're in the university's financial aid office and see a sign "LINE FOR PELL GRANTS" and think "That's a painful way to work your way through college."

you see a sign that reads "TANNING" and comment to your spouse "I wonder what kinds of skins and hides they have?",

you see a sign that reads "FENCING" and you wonder about their price their foils and epees.

a truck passes you on the highway labeled "MAKERS OF THE FINEST BELTS AND HOSES" and you think they're carrying garb!

you see an ad saying "LEARN HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN BOWS" and are disappointed when you realize they're talking about tying ribbons.

you see a sign for a "SPINNING CLASS" and wonder why they'd teach it at a sports club...

you see a magazine ad that begins: "You wouldn't take a period remedy for your headache..." and think, "What, leeches? Herbal infusions?" before you notice the rest of the ad reads: "So don't take a headache remedy for your period".

you see a nun in the grocery store wearing the habit for her order and you think to yourself "what nice garb she has" without thinking twice about the fact that you're not at an event.

you catch yourself thinking "'Gules, three chevrons or'. Nice tabard. Classic Anglo-Norman style, easily visible. Oh! I guess it'd better be visible, he's a road repair worker!

you hear there's a new movie out called "The War of the Roses" and are disappointed to learn it's about a messy divorce!

you see "FIELDS OF ARMOR" listed as a program on The Discovery Channel, and are very disappointed that it's about tanks.

a magazine article titled "FULL ARMOR" piques your interest, but when you start leafing through the magazine expecting to see pictures of helms, breastplates, etc., you're disappointed to discover that it's an article about a PC security package.

seeing someone in full plate, a tabard, and Reeboks does not strike you as odd.

you see a large sign saying "COMING SOON: THE VIKING YOUTH ACADEMY", only to be disappointed that it's a daycare center.

you see playground equipment (swings, seesaws, etc) and think "Siege Engines!"

you rush out to see a movie called "CELTIC PRIDE", but storm out ten minutes later when you find out it's about basketball.

a "WEBSITE DEVOTED TO ICONS" disappoints you when it's not about religious relics, but only about some silly downloadable bitmaps.

a sign on the side of the road says "MCDOT", and you see "McDot", not Montgomery County Department of Transportation.

you don't see a field of cows, but a field of leather.
You Know You're a Scadian Parent When...


your child recognizes that tune as "Greensleeves".

your 16-year-old is more interested in getting his fighter's card than his driver's license.

you provision all the props and costumes for a school production of a medieval play from your closet.

you've used a heater shield as a baby gate.

you've planned a trip to the fabric store into "Date Night".

your children learned to dance pavannes before the Hokey Pokey.

your daughter skips in perfect pivas.

your children spend almost a week of Scout camp trying to convince the Scoutmaster that their cuirbolli is a "useful object made out of leather" and should therefore count towards the Leatherworking merit badge. Likewise their greaves for Metalworking.

your children want a broadsword as a high school graduation present

your children show better manners with live steel than they do with a fork.

your children've fought in the back seat about who has to be the East, and who gets to be the Middle.

while their classmates can play the piano and violin, your child can play well on both the lute and viol de gamba.

your child is upset because you're going to court today without her, because she doesn't understand difference between traffic court and SCA court.

your bedtime conversation with your 9-year-old centers around forms of address for royalty when they are a duke, knight, and prince at the same time.

your children have to produce a picture to prove to their teacher that they did in fact spend the weekend with the Mongols, whom the teacher had insisted were all dead.

your son has run away from being tagged, calling "Light!"

your toddler has diaper tabs of duct tape, so at least he looks something like daddy.

"a doumbek" appears on your child's birthday list.

you have to warn your two-year old not to hit anyone with his sword that ISN'T WEARING ARMOR.

while trick-or-treating, someone asks your son what he is, and he replies: "I'm Guy de Lacy, a pre-tabard 11th century Norman who settled near Cornwall!"....

they don't know their right hand from their left hand, but they do know their sword arm from their shield arm.

your five year old daughter, who is watching a video of the scottish wedding scene in the Gene Kelly version of Brigadoon, looks up and says in a clear scornful voice, "Bad Pennsic Garb!!!!"

you overhear your three-year old meeting new little friends at the playground and he asks, "What's your name?" then "What's your SCA name?"

your child's "what I did last summer" paper describes how much fun it was to watch their best friend kill a complete stranger.

your child decorates their school folders with celtic knotwork.

their teacher complains that their handwriting is so bad that it's illegible, and when you examine it you find it's norse runes. (YKYITSCA TOO if this makes you proud)

your six-year-old chooses to write her first book report on "The Pennsic Wars and Living Medieval".

your kid can't make the high school baseball team because he/she swings the bat like a bastard sword.

your 4th grader writes an essay in school about a time when she "felt special" and writes about the time Daddy carried her favor in a tourney and how great it was when he won his first 2 bouts and how disappointed she was when he got killed in the semi-finals and then the teacher calls you and wants to know if your husband has died.

your child`s pre-school teacher asks the children to name one item they would take camping, and she pipes up with "A Sword!". (The little girl in question has never been camping EXCEPT at SCA wars.) The Christian pre-school teacher was best described as "not amused".

your 11-year-old is going over spelling words and shrieks in delight when she sees "parry"... and you suggest her sentence should be "A rubber chicken is an ineffective parry weapon".

your kids make fun of the "square bread" at the grocery store.

your son is taking Woodshop so he can make toys, and Home Ec so he can run a feast kitchen... and his friends see what he's making in metal shop and stop hassling him about taking Home Ec.

their 5th grade teacher asks them "what is a Duke" and they quickly answer: "Someone who's been king twice!"

your husband has more pairs of tights than you do.

you ask your 8-year-old daughter what she wants for her birthday, and she replies "Armor, so I can be Queen like Mommy someday!"

your child is asked "What does your daddy do?" and answers "He's the king of Texas and Oklahoma!". Subsequent attempts to convince the principal and teacher that he/she is not lieing are also fun.

your child looks around, worried, and whispers "Where's the king?", and you remind her, "Honey, this is church, not an event".

your child asks you to cut his sandwich "per saltire".

your young son gets your attention by kissing your hand.

your child is in Kindergarden but can spell cotehardie.

your kid gets a cardboard punch out castle and you take it away from him and put it together yourself, point out the flaws in the architecture, and based on your assessment of the flaws in the architecture, figure out how you and your household could capture it if it was a real castle.

your kid gets a bunch of plastic knights, and you swipe them to outline your tactical ideas for the next war/fighter practice with your friends.

you get investigated by Children's Protective Services for "cross-dressing" your little boy...
and you call your Baroness to get you out of it...
and it works.
You Might Be a Stickjock If...


you buy a TOWN out of rivets.

you can describe the tactics, strategy, weapons, armor and troops used in hundreds of medieval battles, but don't know why they were fought.

you can open a beer bottle with a claymore.

the clatter of dropped kitchenware has had you looking for an unseen opponent.

you show up for work on Monday with the most interesting bruises. (Or possibly a chain mail weave sunburn).

after you learn that your friend has only one kidney (born that way, apparently), your second thought (after "that's weird") relates to fixing her armor.

you mash your thumb with a hammer and cry out "Light!"

you get chain mail as a wedding present.

a man says "Whoa! Nice legs! Hubba hubba!" and he's talking about your armor.

you mutter "What a waste" every time you see rattan lawn furniture.

you rattle when you walk, because you're wearing a mail shirt under your shirt.

street signs look like armor trees, round shields, war shields...

the crowd of ladies you are escorting to the shopping mall are heading to the wrong door you shout SHIFT LEFT! SHIFT LEFT!

you're bruised black and blue every Monday morning.... and you enjoyed getting that way.

you pick up the trash bin lid and automatically snap it up to a defensive position.

you're wearing chainmail to the office hidden under your jumper because you need to get used to moving round in it.

you sneer at sword fights in films because any fool can tell they're not within striking distance of their opponents.

you're in the front row of the company staff photograph and tell your neighbor to dress the line.

dessert is served in stainless steel dishes and you start speculating on how easy they would be to beat into shield bosses.

you used to have a wok, but now you've got a spangenhelm.

you were asked to find a broom handle to work a jack with and couldn't find a broom but came back with a longaxe and a spear.

you can't raise your arms above horizontal on a Monday morning.

you're daft enough to lock the keys in your van, but you managed to pry a window open with your sword.

you consider a blue card and an authorization card two pieces of documentation.

you consider Arts and Sciences a weekend off between lists.

you're parking your friend's car, and (being extremely nervous) he shouts "HOLD!" as you're backing up... And you hit the brakes.

you find yourself incapable of small hand motions and can only move your whole arm, or at best, wrist flicks.

[you`re female and] "You're so aggressive!" is a compliment!

you see a beautiful member of the opposite sex sitting on a Rattan seat and you realize that you are staring. At the chair.

someone mentions research and you say "Why? School's out right now".

you would rather pack your halbard and your pike instead of food on your way to war.

you are cleaning up after an event and all that you can think of is how great this aluminum table edging would be on a shield. And for that matter, drop the legs and put on a handle, it's good light plywood, well reinforced, a little on the large side but maybe for war...

you slow down on the highways when there's no traffic because you`re looking for a new shield boss.

you get your van stuck in a bog, but escape by unloading the shields and driving out over them

after an event, while getting dressed in mundanes, you don your swordbelt and weapons.

you ask the guy at the Welder's Supply store for 16 gauge steel wire for chainmail and he gives you a blank looks and asks, "What's chainmail?"

your sweatpants have holes in the knees and rust stains, because you wore your armor over/under them.

you answer "What are you doing with all that wire?" with "I'm knitting a skirt."

you receive a Tandy Leather sales flier in the mail, and don't think twice about the fact that the leather therein is being advertised as "perfect for regulation SCA combat".

there are leg armor and vambraces baking in your oven. (To make sure the wax really penetrates)

you've ruined your deep fat fryer using it to melt wax.
You Might be Married to a Stickjock If...


you cut your wedding cake with a bastard sword

your wife announces that she will be cleaning her skirt, then fills a bucket with sand (to remove the rust)

you go into the bathroom to shave, and instead of nylons hanging from the shower rod, there's a collection of helm bonnets.

a student greets you in a Monday morning class by asking "So, did your wife kill anyone this weekend?"

you think that "SCA" stands for Silly Cretins in Armor.

BPAL sniffing notes 10 - Laudanum and Jezebel

Laudanum - The essence of the most debauched hunger encapsulated into a perfume. Desire beyond love, anguish beyond sanity. Nutmeg, sassafras, black poppy and myrrh.

In the vial, it smells like burnt caramel. Pretty noxious, if you ask me. I'm not liking this. Colorwise, I'm getting molasses brown.

Wet on my skin, ecch. It smells burnt and cloying, like overly strong incense. I'm pretty sure that's the myrrh and poppy.

10-15 minute dry-down - Ergh. Getting a little more spice now, but the poppy and myrrh are making me kinda sick.

Ok, that's a big old no. I can't even tolerate that one for an hour.

*****

Jezebel - Biblical witch, priestess of Astarte, and general troublemaker. A true role model for today's upwardly mobile Modern Woman. A gloriously decadent blend of honey, roses, orange blossom and sandalwood.

In the vial, it smells like fruit tea and bubblegum. :-) Colorwise, it's PINK!!! Pink pink pink. Bubblegum pink. Some people say it smells like baby powder, but I think that's the rose note. BPAL's light rose notes tend to smell like powder, but aren't overpowering.

Wet on my skin, it's all tropical fruit bubblegum. Wow. Extremely sweet and very 'pink'.

10-15 minute dry-down - Honey. Mmm... it smells like orange blossom honey and pink roses. It's a very *girly* scent. I like it. It's not something I'd wear very often but it's nice.

1 hour dry-down - Very powdery. Honey and roses and sandalwood make baby powder, apparently. Not unpleasant, though.

2 hour dry-down - Ok, that's a little much on the roses for me. This is a once in a great while scent.

BPAL notes

BPAL's myrrh and musk notes are very hit or miss. Some smell wonderful, some stink so badly they give me headaches.

Violet, so far, is not my friend. It smells like nothing so much as shampoo.

Amber and sandalwood notes *rule* on me. They have a good throw, they smell awesome, and they hang around a lot longer than others.

A lot of the scents that I've been unsure of or didn't really think I'd like have ended up being the ones I adore. The ones I thought I'd love have ended up being pretty noxious on me.

The citrus and mint notes, with the exception of Ultraviolet, smell very nice on me. Not like mouthwash or anything, just clean.

Surprisingly enough, BPAL's patchouli notes are not overpowering - I.E. they don't all stink of dirty hippie.

BPAL sniffing notes 9 - Mag Mell

Mag Mell - The Plane of Joy, eternal reward for a lifetime of valor and glory. A place of eternal youth and beauty, strength and honor, music and revelry. The warmth of amber, the puissance of white ginger and the clarity of verbena, with fresh green grass, lush sage and cleansing droplets of summer rain.

In the vial, it's very clean smelling. Colorwise, a vibrant kelly green. Mostly, I think I'm getting ginger, verbena, and grass.

Wet on my skin, wow. Very sweet and fruity smelling. Almost citrusy - probably from the verbena. I'm not getting the amber, though.

10-15 minute dry-down - What a difference! Getting a *lot* of the amber and ginger with a nice green note from the grass and sage and verbena.

1 hour dry-down - This is a definite maybe on the big bottle. It just makes me think of a summer afternoon in a field of grain - dry without being arid, warm without being too dark.

2 hour dry-down - I quite like this. The verbena and ginger take the heaviness out of the amber. It smells, for lack of a better term, fertile or full of growth potential. Also, the color association changed to a very rich wheat gold.

BPAL sniffing notes 8 - Scherezade

Scherezade - A master storyteller who possessed unfailing courage and compassion, a sharp, quick wit, and a true understanding of human nature. Saffron and Middle Eastern spices swirled through sensual red musk.

In the vial, the spices are a little weird. Colorwise, I'm getting a goldish tone. For some reason, there's a plasticky undertone to it, though. Weird.

Wet on my skin, ew. That plasticky note is taking over. Ecch. Might be my chemistry reacting with the saffron.

10-15 minute dry-down - Still with the plastic! This is sad, because it just smells like a plastic bottle with spices in it on me. I had such high hopes for this one.

1 hour dry-down - Plastic and musk. Pity. This is kinda giving me a headache, at that.

BPAL sniffing notes 7 - Belle Epoque, Nefertiti, Anne Bonny and Loviatar

Belle Epoque - 'The Pretty Era', France's Golden Time: an age of beauty, innovation and peace in France that lasted from the 19th Century through the first World War and gave birth to the cabaret, the cancan, and the cinema as well as the Impressionist and Art Nouveau movements. Sweet opium, Lily of the Valley, vanilla, mandarin and red sandalwood.

In the vial, it's very nice. Colorwise, I get a very light minty green - reminiscent of absinthe. I can smell mostly the opium, sandalwood, and lily but I'm not getting any mandarin or vanilla at all.

Wet on my skin, it's almost identical to in the vial. I'm still not getting any vanilla or mandarin.

10-15 minute dry-down - Eh. Pretty, but not me. I'm getting opium and lily and little else. Even the sandalwood has disappeared.

1 hour dry-down - Ok, this isn't me. After an hour, the only thing I can smell is LILY. Not that I dislike lilies, but I'm not big on florals. Not something I'll keep.

****

Nefertiti - "The Beautiful One Is Come". Egyptian iris and olibanum with red and white sandalwood, soft myrrh and a breath of North African herbs.

In the vial, there's an unusual 'green' note that I'm assuming is the herbs and a very strong myrrh. It's hard to place a color on this one, but I'm getting a bronze feel from it.

Wet on my skin, this is very strong. I'm getting mostly myrrh and that herbal note. The myrrh is a little overpowering, though.

10-15 minute dry-down - Myrrh myrrh myrrh. I'm starting to get the sandalwood and a slightly flowery note. I'm guessing that's the iris.

1 hour dry-down - That's better. The myrrh is starting to mellow and the sandalwood is coming out more. The flowery note is tamed some, which is good because I'm not that fond of flower scents on myself.

2 hour dry-down - Ok, I'm not hating this. The myrrh is a little strong, but it's very distinctive. The flower note is pretty much gone, but that's ok by me. The herbal notes are interesting, but not disgusting. Not something I'd buy a whole bottle of, but not bad.

*****

Anne Bonny - Named in honor of the most notorious female pirate to ever set sail. Wicked, cruel, beautiful, intelligent, resourceful and dangerous: a true role model. A blend of Indonesian red patchouli, red sandalwood, and frankincense. A million thanks to Juliana Williamson-Page for inspiration!

In the vial, it's pretty noxious to me... All I can smell is patchouli and frankincense. Colorwise, I'm getting a clotted blood red-brown.

Wet on my skin, all I can smell is frankincense. Ecch. I'm not liking this.

10-15 minute dry-down - Well, that's not too bad now. The patchouli is starting to die down and I'm actually getting some of the sandalwood. The frankincense is still too strong for me, though.

1 hour dry-down - Better. All three notes are starting to blend so it's not so cloying.

2 hour dry-down - The hubby likes it, but I'm still not sure I like this one much. The final result is a much better blend of the scents but that frankincense I'm not partial to. Might keep the imp, but definitely not ordering a bottle.


*****

Loviatar - The Finnish Goddess of Agony, Torment and the joy found in inflicting pain on others. The Mistress of Torture, she has transformed in the modern era into the patron Goddess of Dominatrixes. The slap of slick, hot leather punctuates the warm, sensual embrace of black amber, red musk and dark, lascivious myrrh.

In the vial, amber and leather... I'm liking this one. Colorwise, I'm getting black. Not just black, though. Black leather - that slightly coarse, stiff leather of a worn leather jacket.

Wet on my skin, the myrrh is a little strong, but not as bad as Nefertiti. I can defintely smell the leather and amber and it's very nice.

10-15 minute dry-down - Lots of musk and amber and leather with, as the hubby put it, a magickal scent - the myrrh. I'm pretty fond of this one so far and Josh won't leave me alone. ;-)

1 hour dry-down - Very nice blend. The myrrh is toning down and mixing well with the other scents. It's not overpowering anything in this one.

2 hour dry-down - Ok, this one is a keeper. Smells very nice, decent throw, sticks around. This is a possible 5ml.

Note - for some reason (I'm guessing my chemistry at the moment) this turned to vanilla on me, but there's no vanilla in it. Weird.