in the bottle: Clean scent, some kind of wood. Slight smokiness. Pleasingly warm and dry in a resinous kind of way. Something smooth running behind.

on wet: Incense. More incense. Truly, incense. But somehow not obnoxious.

drydown: Still wood-y. Still incense, with a hint of sweetness behind; a kind of fresh, floral sweetness that isn't perfume-y, but more warm and heady.

one hour later: The slightly resinous, dry quality has returned, but I can't pin a scent on it, it's more of an impression. The light but warm and heady floral is still there. This is turning into what I would think of as perfume in a more classic sense, but not like any perfume I've smelled before.

end of day: Dry, resinous floral, with the floral barely in evidence. The dry quality is more pronounced, to the point of making me feel like I have a catch in my throat. Gives me the urge to drink water. I believe that the dry, resinous quality comes from the same component that I was reading as smoky while still in the bottle.

compared to official description: I don't get the morbid bleakness suggested by the official description; but then again, I'd be hard-pressed to describe the smell of oblivion.

notes: I'd have to say that, overall, I like this, but being ridiculously picky, I'm not convinced I want it. It doesn't scream "wear me!"

I commented in my last review that I don't know the scent of myrrh well enough to identify it. I wonder now if the slight smokiness I smelled in the bottle would be the myrrh, since Velvet had a smoky quality to me and also contained myrrh. Having said that, the smokiness wasn't pronounced, and may have snuck in later as more of a dry warmth.

A number of times during the day when I was moving around I picked up a wafting scent which made me think of a faintly sharp, non-spicy lily, but I could never smell it on my wrists, only when my hands were moving around at a distance. Except for the odd waft every now and then, this stayed exceptionally close to my skin, but didn't fade completely. Another potentially good second-skin type scent I think, but not for me.

ETA: This one is really variable on me. At certain times (ahem), like when I reviewed, it's too strong and floral. The rest of the time, that wonderful smokiness really comes through and it becomes a scent I enjoy. I'm waiting on receiving and testing the dozen imps currently on order before I decide to get it, though. This is close, really close, but I'm thinking that if I can get this close, I can get even closer. I have high hopes for some of the oils described as smoky now.

ETA, again: I mixed the whole imp with a vanilla-based after-bath oil and got something that makes me feel naked in my clothes. After I've spritzed and smoothed it, I get the urge to ruuuuub against everything, like a kitty demanding affection.

added to forum reviews