idoru

Folks really seem to love or hate Embalming Fluid.. I can't put myself in either camp. My first impression was "lemon!" with a chaser of soapiness, no musk at all. A pale green scent, if you will. About 5 minutes in, green tea rears its head. My notes: ".. gets continually plant-ier." I tend to like clean scents, but this stays overall TOO clean-smelling. Plantiness + cleaner + lemon [with a hint of white musk] = not right for me, but I don't hate it.

Incensey, resinous, warm and sweet.. but I could swear I detect a hint of patchouli (?) in the mix, which makes it pointed/sharp on me. The longer it wears, the more it's just sweet and earthy instead of pointed. Overall, it's nice. Not particularly me, though I usually love incense scents.

Sweeeeet. Almost reminiscent of a country store [you know the type, with Yankee candles and wooden home decorations, wreaths and collectibles] wax melts or potpourri -- sweet and homey. I can pick out the almond, rum, and buttercream.. almost a hot butter-rum scent? But oh LORD is it too sweet and foody for me to wear.

Predominantly rosewood, with a hint of Zombi's dried roses. I get a hint of sharpness that must be the hazel. It smells like a rich old house with hardwood floors and burgundy oriental rugs.. and conjures a dark room in that house, lit only by candles. Within two hours, it mellowed to a sweet rosewood on me.

Berry! But not cloying, sweet berry. Almost a light wine scent? Mostly I read rich berry over a bed of tea and greens; 4ish hours later, it's a berry-hinted light musk. I've worn this a lot over the spring and summer -- the sage and tea ground the scent enough that the berries never go too sweet. It's eternally fresh.

The Scarlet Woman, aglow with sensual indolence: red musk, benzoin, caramel accord, golden honey, and spiced Moroccan unguents. Perfumey and dark, a sweet red-copper sensual scent. Resinous, spicy, sweet.. with the tiniest hint of fruit or flower. Dulcet and lazy.. Like a cross between Scherezade & Haunted, plus honey? Musk and spice, primarily. Yum.

I'd never tried iris, and sandalwood is usually brilliant for me. I've liked myrrh in other blends. Why not? Initially, Nefertiti smelled like inoffensive (!) violet, with a powdery throw. I detest violet, so the "inoffensive" part is surprising. About 10 minutes in, hints of hidden, sharper herbs started to kick in, but she's still predominantly floral. Eventually, it faded to a slightly herbal sandalwood, which was nice, but not enough to sell me on the scent. From my notes: "Too violet-y overall, though not the sharp, soapy blargh."

All I wrote in my little notebook: "OMG yum." This is easily in my top 5 favorite BPAL scents; I'm going to have to buck up and order a bottle. I nearly cried when I managed to lose my imp. It took me forever to figure out what the glorious cloud of scent was -- it's almost entirely carnation on me, backed with spices and musk. It's golden, it's dry, it's.. incomparable. 'OMG yum' pretty much sums it up.

Very masculine in the imp. First on, I immediately get the impression of generic-expensive "spa" and "sea"-named products. When it warms/mellows, I get the hint of leather underneath; it's overwhelmingly unisex, leaning toward masculine for me. Like a man's clean, spa-salt scent. I found it wearable, but what morphed the most [in my head?] was whether it smelled too manly for my liking. Aquatic scents generally don't do much for me, and this one was at least interesting. I think I need to put it on my SO, though.. it might be delicious on him.

Mm.. I don't read this as masculine at all, but I once met a lady who said that her husband used her sandalwood-rose lotion more than she did. I get a light, clean-but-present rose which is immediately rendered.. suede-y.. by musks. Overall, it wears as the softest of musks with a hint of spiced rose. And I do mean 'soft' -- all vestiges were GONE within 4-5 hours, but it's just so darned pretty.

Directly from my jotted notes: 'Golden' scent, warm & dry -- unisex, the cedar more mellow than expected after initial ping. Its throw elicits a feel of a gold shimmery aura, but almost 'copper' in depth. I agree w/ the forum "sweet resin/mild incense"-y feel. Of course, I have 0 idea how the cubeba fits in.. it's just a deep, bronzy, spicy skin scent. I'd love to put this on my SO -- it might smell even better on him than on me. Right now, it's one of my amber/musk/spice go-tos.

Whoa.. whoa. Cassia. Very strong cassia on a very subtle bed of other spices. I agree with the "I smell like a Christmas candle!" that I saw in someone else's post.. not to mention, this is the first cinnamon-cassia scent that ever interacted strongly with my skin. I had a heated patch on my arm where I'd applied the oil! I really wanted to love this.. cinnamon, tea, tobacco, and sandalwood are all scents I adore. But apparently my skin amps cassia like NOBODY'S business. Boo.

I get.. musky plum. I realized, once upon a time, that the note I love SO MUCH in Morocco was carnation; I went a-hunting for other carnation scents. [This may not be the time/place, but Possets' "Silver Carnations" is the closest I've found to the Morocco carnation so far.] Bathsheba's description was amazingly promising; carnation [love], musk [love], and plum [okay]. It's not that I dislike the scent at all, it just isn't the carnation perfume I was hoping for. I feel like.. the other two notes, but mostly musk, are tempering a deep, sensual plum. I'm envisioning a plum blossom rather than the fruit; it's a rich, sultry skin-floral. It's utterly lovely, and I think it will be growing on me.

This starts out nearly a single-note sweet pea on me.. emphasis on the "sweet." It's a pink sort of smell, delicate and girly. Within a few minutes, it begins to morph into a more complex scent [good, since I was swayed by the 'two ambers and sandalwood' part of the description]. My brain somehow provided "this smells like a white/pale(/pink?) version of Velvet. Which, I know, other than the sandalwood, makes zero sense. I think it's the sweetness against the sandalwood, even if it's sweet pea and vanilla to Velvet's chocolate. I do get a hint of baby-scent, but I think it's less "baby powder" and more "sweet-smelling, just-washed baby".. and it's subtle. I don't know if the scent is "me" -- it's more floral and less amber than I expected -- but it IS lovely.

Oh, is this ever one that morphs on me. Initially, AMGP is the smell of an old church at Easter -- heady lily arrangements underpinned by something ecclesiastical. Mostly, though, it's lily with jasmine. Within half an hour, the florals are gentling, becoming more subdued -- and within an hour on my skin, AMGP has shifted to a beautiful pale musk scent, with rosewood, the barest hint of sandalwood, and a corona of white flowers. I thought I must be going crazy, to go from such a floral-dominated scent to musk with floral afterthought. This certainly bears wearing again, though I definitely prefer the second stage -- while I like lilies and jasmines in person, I prefer them as secondary players when it comes to perfume. Musk, on the other hand.. yum.