Category: Illyria
I smell violet, and possibly benzoin and tonka. It actually kind of reminds me of a sweet herbal liqueur...kinda like Galliano, for some really weird reason. It's a pretty durable scent, lasting all day long.
Category: Ars Amatoria
At first, it gives off a very floral hue...sweet, but not overly sweet like jasmine. The other flowers seem to be tempering it. As time passes, the spiciness comes out more. It has modest throw and decent longevity. I think I'll continue to enjoy my imp.
Category: Ars Draconis
Upon first application, it's a very woody scent, with a vague hint of spiciness, and a delightful resinous edge. However, it wears off really quickly, leaving just a very faint blend of sweetness and sandalwood behind. Not a keeper for me.
Category: Bewitching Brews -- The Conjure Bag
Wow, I actually love this! It's lots of straight-up dirty patchouli over what smells like musk and amber, with maybe a leeeeetle bit of cinnamon thrown in for flavor. I have to slather it quite a bit, but it lasts all day and all night, and gives me delightful wafts of its spicy, sultry scent. This is the first of the Conjure Bag scents that I really had a liking for.
Category: Ars Moriendi
Well, 'ethereal floral' certainly applies here...I get a whiff of light florals, with maybe a bit of dusty ivy...and then it's gone. Very faint, very fleeting.
Category: Excolo
In the imp: Very herbal and 'green'.
Wet: Very strident and medicinal in tone. As time passed, it morphed into a really musty, sour odor; perhaps that's the vetiver? I've never worn anything with vetiver in it before, so I'm hesitant to pass judgement right away, but whichever component was at fault, it was not a very nice smell.
Dry: I was definitely throwing something sour and nasty. Which is a shame, because if I sniffed up close to my skin, I could smell the leafy components of it perfectly, as if I were bending low into a garden and letting the leaves brush my cheeks. If it *all* had ended up smelling like that, I would have liked it a *lot* more, as that particular feeling was lovely.
Verdict: I'm going to have to pass on this one.
What I liked: That leafy scent; I'll try to keep an eye out for scents with olive leaf and see if that evokes a similiar feeling.
What I didn't like: That musty nastiness. I'll have to keep an eye out for vetiver, as well, and see if that was the culprit.
Category: Illyria
In the imp I can detect incense with a great deal of sweetness to it...the sweet herbs and grasses, perhaps. As it goes on, it gets more of a woodsy tone to it -- the frankencense, perhaps? Over time, as it dries, it turns spicy (and most stereotypically manly) to me.
Overall, it's a nice scent...while it does not scream 'HI I'M A DUDE' to me, that's fine with me, as most of the 'mainstream' male scents have a nasty overspiced air to them, while this is a lot more mellow and subtle...and besides, I like wearing it. I'm half-tempted to smear some on the BF and see what effect it might have.
What I liked: It's nice and mellow.
What I didn't like: Nothing in it really seems to stand out for me. Like the vast majority of these scents, it's nice, but not a must-have. Then again, isn't half the fun having something new to experiment with all the time? So I guess I shouldn't feel so bad about not going OMG MUST HAVE BOTTLE for more of these guys.
Limited Editions -- Halloween 2009
I can see why this one was so popular! Delicious, warm, spicy apple cider...if I detect the milk note, it's as a creamy/buttery sort of edge to the scent. Super-nice. It's not an overpowering scent, but it will last much of the day on me and give me pleasant little wafts throughout. I think I like this one better than Fearful Pleasure. I of course bought a bottle!
Peachy flowers. While the peach note is really pretty, on me the notes just all meld together into a very generic sort of sweet-fruity-floral scent. It's a bit like a girl who is very pretty and sweet and demure, but also very vapid, and easily-forgotten. I'm sure the character this is based on is *nothing* like that, but it's the personality that seems to be put forth by this blend, to me at least.
Limited Edition -- Halloween 2009
When it's initially applied, there's a warm, slick buttery smell to it. This quickly wears off, as the rose and sandalwood come out and assert themselves. It becomes a beautifully-balanced rose-and-spice/wood/incense sort of scent. Yep, I'm going to totally kick myself for not going ahead and getting a bottle...this is what Rose Cross *should* have been on me. Really, really nice.
Category: Phoenix Steamworks
At first blush, I get a blast of citrusy smell, and then the cedar kicks it to make it smell like woodsy polish.
It has decent staying power and throw...not sure if this is a keeper for me, though.
Category: Bewitching Brews
This blend went through an interesting transformation during the period of time that I wore it. The first day, it had this horrible fake vanilla smell. It was awful. But on the days after that, it somehow transformed from that sharp, vile scent to a sweeter, creamier vanilla. As it dries, it gets a powdery air to it. I'm glad I was persistant with it.
Vanilla is predominantly what I smell in this. Any florals that are in it are very, very light and dusty.
This is such a pretty scent. It seems like something my mom would like, as she likes vanilla, but often ends up with candles and lotions that have that nasty plastic smell to it. So I'll probably keep this imp around just for her. She doesn't wear perfume, but perhaps I could incorporate it into some lotion or something for her.
Category: Limited Editions -- Halloween 2008 -- Sleepy Hollow
The prevailing note here is beeswax...it's a very warm, homey scent. It is complemented nicely by the tea, cream, and, yes, wool. Over time, it fades into a golden, perfumey amalgam that is classy and very, very pleasant. I really like this, and need to remember to get me a bottle.
Category -- Bewitching Brews
Straight out of the imp, it's chocolate brownies! Moist, fresh brownies with chunks of chocolate chip melted in them...oh man, I really want to bake some, now.
As it dries, it turns to more of a dry cocoa powder...the sticky sort of smell you'd get on your hands if you've been nomming on a bag of chocolate candies for far too long.
I can see this being great layered with other scents...just by itself, it's not quite to my taste, but it could be fun to experiment with!
Category -- Diabolus
The first time I wore this, I knew that I was smelling the plum pretty predominantly; it had a sort of rich, dark fruity tone to it without being too terribly juicy.
Now, as I retest it, I'm given the impression of a rich lady sampling plums in between sips of champagne; it's fruity, yes, but there's also a very rich, perfumey smell that is almost alcoholic in its headiness.
A co-worker of mine recently received a rose that smelled a lot like this -- a sweetness so fruity that it was hard to believe it was coming from a rose! So I can believe that there is rose in here...though in this case the sweetness is surely from the fruits mixing with all the various florals.
It tends to hug close to the skin; this is a scent that's pretty much reserved for your own pleasure, and that of anyone you invite into very close company.
Recommended for fans of plum and fruit scents, and even for those who normally hate rose (of which I am one). This is a sexy one.
Oh...gods, this is beautiful. So pretty, that even this brief sniff that I'm indulging in to reacquaint myself with the scent is bringing tears to my eyes.
The lavender, geranium, and (I believe) the benzoin mingle to create a heady, floral scent that is clarifying, instead of being cloying; it is *almost* medicinal, but without any sort of nasty astringency to it. It's more like a scent you'd expect to find in an old-fashioned sachet. Beneath these, the poppy creates a soft, caressing sweetness; and even though I don't get oodles of the black amber and black incense, there is *something* there that creates a very dark sort of tone; so that even though there are those head-clearing notes atop, there is also a sense that this perfume is bottomless, that you could get drawn into it forever and ever. It is deliciously moody and dark and beautiful.
Definitely worthy of a bottle.
Category: Bewitching Blends -- The Conjure Bag
In the imp, it had an almost licorice-like quality to it, with lemondrops mixed in.
Wet, it smelled like bubblegum -- fresh, pink, juicy sugary gum.
Oddly enough, as it dried, there was a sort of...flowery note to it...or perhaps an herbal one...rather powdery and faint and intriguing, after that straight-up sacchirine candy goodness...almost as if Aunt Caroline is revealing her true talents behind that candy-coated mask! Unfortunately, as time went on, it turned plasticky. Very disappointing...
Had it stayed in the candy stages, I probably would have liked it a lot more. It does have a soothing quality to it, but quite frankly, *all* the BPAL scents do that for me. If I encounter a bad smell or am having a bad moment, I'll sniff at my wrists and feel better for a bit.
This is a very light, clean scent, without ever turning soapy. The skin musk is predominant, but as it settles in on my skin I can detect the light sweetness of the vanilla flower, with perhaps a hint of honey and beeswax giving it a bit of a warm glow. This is another scent that tends to hug close, with occasional whiffs throughout the day....but it is *very* durable.
Basically, it smells like fresh, slightly damp skin, straight out of the shower. Very nice and clean. I haven't tried Glowing Vulva, so I couldn't compare this at all, but in its own right I think it's rather nice. If you like discreet, deceptively simple aromas, then this is worth acquiring.
Category: Wanderlust
It's a strong, pungeant, incensey scent on me...sort of like frankinsence, maybe. Something very woody and cedar-y. Unfortunately, incense just does not seem to love my skin. There's also a sweet note, or pack of them, lurking underneath the smokey, dust-covered surface of it all; and though sometimes the sweetness comes out to assert itself, it never quite reveals just what the heck it is. Could be florals, could be herbs, I really can't tell.
While redolant and persistant, it's just not doing anything for me. Off to a home that will appreciate you, little imp.
Fig, walnut, and bamboo mingle together to evoke images of freshly-peeled bark, twigs, sticks, tendrils of curling greenery, and underneath it all, the moist, sheltering earth of a burrow. It's warm and sweet, like a little brown rabbit curling up somewhere safe. As if that lovely imagery wasn't enough, there is a teensy bit of caramel that gives it a chocolatey sort of feel...like a chocolate bunny, almost! (I was born in the year of the Wood Hare, so that must be where all the rabbity imagery is coming from). I really liked it, a lot! And I will probably rue the day that I decided to pass up on getting a full bottle of it.
I really loved all the Phoenixes. They are so very evocative in their own respective ways; I haven't had this much mental imagery from scents in quite a while. I really enjoyed my experiences with the Anniversary scents, and am grateful to have been able to sample them.
Category: Discontinued Scents
Straight out from the imp, it smelled like soap. So, at least I smelled clean, albeit with a sharp touch of lye. And that's the way it stayed, the first few days that I wore it.
Today, though, it smelled differently...it actually smelled *good*, and of flowers. (Yes, I tend to persist with scents, even if they don't work right away.) I couldn't really detect any myrrh; I think in the imp I'm mostly smelling ylang ylang and sweet pea. As I put it on, the flowery notes gained a bit of strength, but weren't overpowering in soapiness as they had been before.
Dry, I smell sweet pea, and perhaps rose. There *is* a faint bit of soapiness and powder to it, which keeps it from being perfect...but it's definitely an improvement.
So, hm, something's definitely going on with my body chemistry. The only notes I've previously experienced have been sweet pea and myrrh, so I'm not sure who the culprit is for the strange, intriguing acrobatics that I'm noticing here.
In the end, unfortunately, there was just too much soapiness present to make this one a keeper.
Limited Editions -- Halloween 2009
Primarily, this one is like a spiced bread or cake to me. The beer gives it a sweet sort of nutty aroma when I inhale *super* deeply. Alas, I really wanted to like this one, and it's not a *bad* scent, but it just can't hold a candle to my favorites from last year, Huesos De Santos and John Barleycorn.
In the imp: Whoa, butter!
I get a lot of butter when it first goes on...then it calms down into more of a toasted pastry sort of smell. There's still a 'brown' edge to it, as there was with Butter Rum Cookie, but without the out-and-out burned smell...it's more like cookies that have been perfectly, thoroughly baked.
So, if you're looking for something just a touch lighter than Butter Rum Cookie, or *really* like butter (), give this a try.
My verdict is still out on this one. I originally really liked it, but now that I'm giving it another sniff, I'm just sort of 'eh' on it. Then again, I've got like seven scents on this hand, so it may just be an overloaded nose. I'll wash off, give my schnozz a rest for a bit, and try it again before deciding.
Category: Discontinued Scents
Initially, there was a very strong lemon smell. Then the thyme and verbena and lavender insinuated themselves into the yellow haze of scent, giving it a peppery kick now and then. Mint and bergamot were faint, but there; they sort of phased in and out throughout the day. Overall, though...it was just...too...lemony! I really wanted to like this, but it just didn't work out completely.
