inkstone

In the imp: Very floral, very aquatic. It's sweet. Wet: Definitely rhododendron floating on water. There's a crispness here that reminds me vaguely of an apple. Not so much the smell but the sensation of taking a bite out of a crisp, fresh apple. Drydown: Ah, there's the pink grapefruit everyone's talking about. It's definitely taken over. Final thoughts: This is definitely a bright, happy scent. It was more mysterious in the wet stages before the grapefruit overpowered everything else in the drydown stage. I'll have to give this a few more tries before I give my final verdict.

On me, Gingerbread Poppet is much spicier than Sugar Cookie. This may be a function of my skin chemistry, but I only get the baked goods smell during the wet stages. Once it dries down, it turns to cinnamon red-hots, which makes me very sad. I thought SC was more "cookie" in that way. YMMV, of course.

A friend of mine (who I enabled haha) kindly sent me an imp to try. In the imp: Devilish fruitiness. Wet: Raspberries and neroli. This reminds me of Maenad somewhat. It's not quite the same, but there's a similar vibe. Drydown: I still smell the raspberries and neroli, but I can also pick out the blood orange now. Final thoughts: This is a very summery smell and it's light and fruity. I really like it, but I'll have to try it a few more times. I especially want to compare it to Maenad since they remind me of each other.

In the imp: Ginger-laced tea. Wet: Sharp ginger and citrusy grapefruit. Drydown: Bitter citrus peel. Er, what happened? Final thoughts: I think my skin chemistry messed this up. I can tell it's a nice tea scent, but after a few hours it becomes bitter on my skin. I'm pretty sure that wasn't meant to happen.

In the imp: Sharp ginger with a touch of sweetness. I think it's from the honey. Wet: Sharp ginger again with a touch of something lemon. Doh! My arch-nemesis. Not looking forward to this. Drydown: Okay, so maybe the alarm was unfounded. The lemony scent went away. Unfortunately this is all sharp ginger on me. I wish the honey would have come out more and I can only assume my skin sucks up all milk because I can't smell a hint of it. O_O Final thoughts: This doesn't last all that long on me. All in all, it's not for me so off to swaps.

In the imp: Sweet honey with florals and wine mingling in the background. Wet: Musty balsam with some chocolate and tobacco. The florals are still in the background, but the balsam and chocolate is trumping every other note. Drydown: Roses mingling with tobacco over a background of balsam. Final thoughts: I wish the wine would come out a bit more. I'm not a big fan of the way the rose note mixes with the wood note on my skin. It smells oily and musty on me. It's not very me, I'm afraid.

In the imp: Minty fresh aquatics. Wet: Minty champagne. It smells better than it sounds. Drydown: A little bit of champagne, a little bit of grapefruit and a fair amount of lotus over a minty background. Final thoughts: Very nice & invigorating!

Shattered and Undertow smell similar on my skin. Undertow is a bit more sweeter than Shattered. I suppose the grapefruit in Shattered dampens down the lotus while in Undertow, the lotus is very very strong.

In the imp: Mint and lotuses. Mmmm.... Wet: It's very medicinal in this stage. Mint and eucalyptus. It gives me that soothing sensation like when you pop a cough drop when you have an aching throat. Drydown: Oh wow. It dries down to this gorgeous lotus scent. The mint is definitely still there, but it has a smooth, buttery quality to it that's nothing like the medicinal feel we got from the wet stage. Final thoughts: I wore this while I was doing my yoga practice and even time I was in downward facing dog, I got a whiff of my wrists and felt soothed. I really, really like this!

To my nose, this smelled similar to Nanshe except sharper and more green. I definitely smell lavendar and a bit of eucalyptus in the imp, which gives it that medicinal scent. When it hits my skin, I have to say there's definitely anise in here because it becomes this strange mix of lavender licorice. The licorice smell isn't as strong as it is in other blends, but it's very noticeable. I can't stand it. There's also something lemony and sharp in here. I don't think it's regular lemon because it's very green. I want to say it's lemongrass, but I can't be sure. In terms of sleeping, this made me fall into a deep, dead sleep. No dreams, no nothing. Very odd feeling.

In the bottle: Warm, ripe fruits on a humid day. I think I'm going to like this! Wet: Sweet, syrupy apricots against a faint background of musks! Drydown: This is a nice blend of apricots, pomegranates, irises and roses on me. If it were a color, I'd say something along the lines of magenta and if it were a season, definitely the height of summer. Final thoughts: I am so glad I bought a bottle of this unsniffed! The fruity scents usually love me, especially the peach and apricot ones.

This was a very sharp lavendar on me -- sharp, herbal and green. There's a note in here that's vaguely lemony, but as it didn't go to insect repellent on me, I don't think it's the usual lemon note. Otherwise, this knocked me out and made me very very sleepy.

When this is wet, it smells strongly of medicinal lavendar. However on the drydown, it becomes very very cloyingly sweet. I can only assume that's from the jasmine since my skin tends to do that. I'm surprised the sandalwood didn't come out more since my skin usually loves that note, but I guess the jasmine trumped it in the end. Sleepwise, I got a good night's worth of sleep with this. I do recall having dreams but can't seem to remember what they were.

In the imp: Coconut. Yum. Wet: Coconut and white musk. It slightly reminds me of the initial stages of Snow White right before that blend went wonky on me. But this doesn't do that at all! This remains yummy on me! Drydown: The floral note starts to come out -- I can only assume that's the iris. In the background, there's a nutty note lingering about. I really like this! Final thoughts: This is a very smooth scent. I'm not sure it's something I'd need in a bottle, but I'm definitely keeping the imp.

In the imp: Vetiver. Pure vetiver. Oh dear, this could be bad. Wet: Vetiver and musk. It's very dark and overpowering. I smell vaguely like wood shavings. Doh! Drydown: After several hours, this does dry down to something nice and what I normally like -- creamy & sweet. I can smell the honey and vanilla mixed with some fruit. It's much lighter in this stage. Final thoughts: While I do like the late drydown stage, it took me about four hours to get there and its throw is weakening by a lot. If I can't get a blend to something nice within the first hour, it's just not worth it to me. Especially when the first few hours smell like wood shavings. Ah skin chemistry, how I wish you had better timing.

This was a freebie from the Lab. In the imp: Herbal, green & soapy. Wet: Very soapy. It reminds me of cleaning fluid. Drydown: *sniffs* This becomes very powdery. I'm not sure this is something I'd wear as a perfume, per se, but that's not really what it's meant for. Final thoughts: I do feel very energized wearing this, however. I'll have to see how it affects my productivity.

You may want to add Kurukulla to your "To Try" list. I'm not sure what your skin chemistry does to roses, but that blend is NOTHING but lotuses and roses on me. It's a very sweet floral. (I love it.)

I have to agree with ChupaChup. Blood Rose is the longest lasting BPAL blend I've tried to date -- it clings to your clothes, to your skin (even after showering), and has a fair amount of throw. Snow White also had a lot of throw on me, which was unfortunate because one of the notes in it didn't agree with me.

This was a freebie from the Lab. In the imp: I know that's frankincense I'm smelling, but it's mingling with something in a way that makes me recoil. Wet: Okay, it's clearing up to smell vaguely woody, more floral. It's still unsettling me. Drydown: The florals are coming out more. I'm not really caring for this combination of wood, floral & frankincense. Finals thoughts: This really isn't for me. I don't know what was behind my reaction upon first sniff. It might be triggering some unwanted memory, and it ruined this blend for me. I'm not sure, but whatever it was, I ended up not liking this at all. Into the swap pile.

This was a freebie from the Lab. In the imp: Wow, that's some strong citrus there! Wet: The musk comes out a little bit, but it's predominantly lime and citron. It's sharp on me. Drydown: It's a fresh and light, just slightly wicked from the sharpness. Unfortunately it's starting to smell slightly artificial on me, and I don't know why. Final thoughts: It's a nice scent and honestly it's not so masculine that a woman can't wear it. This is probably one of the least masculine "masculine" blends I've tried. But the edged sharpness doesn't really suit my personality alas.

I received a decant of this from the kind Brownbat. In the vial: Sweet and boozy. Yup, it's egg nog. Wet: Still cream and creamy. My skin seems to have sucked up the rum. Drydown: Haha, just kidding. The rum popped back out, but the creaminess remains. Final thoughts: Alas, it's really not all that long-lasting on me. My skin really seems to like sucking it up!

In the bottle: Snow-covered floral. Mmmmm.... Wet: Definitely green. There's a cold note that I just can't identify that reminds me strongly of snow. Drydown: Oh wow, this is so beautiful. The green fern note fades, leaving behind the snow and delicate white florals. There's something fruity here that I can't identify. It's similar to grapefruit, but I'm not sure if that's what I'm smelling. It's sweet and light. Final thoughts: This is soft and light, fruity, floral and aquatic all at once. I absolutely love it!

Brownbat graciously decanted an imp of this for me. In the imp: Green and sharp. Wet: Wow, this is almost medicinal on me. It's still green and very fresh. It definitely smells piney. Drydown: Odd, the greenness of it fades. It leaves behind a vague snowy berry scent. It's very soft and clings to my skin. Final thoughts: This doesn't seem to last very long on my skin. Either that or my skin just swallowed it whole. Two hours later, I'm practically jamming my nose into my arm, trying to get a whiff of it. However I'm very glad to have gotten the chance to try this.

I swapped for a decant of this from the lovely Hadaverde. In the vial: Deep, fruity berries mixed with wood. It's darker than I remember KoS being. Wet: The plum and berries pop out, but so does the myrrh, wood & spices. This is definitely darker than KoS. Drydown: It lightens up and sweetens, much like KoS did on my skin. I think that's the amber at work. This doesn't have the same creaminess that KoS did on me, but the fruitiness is delicious. Final thoughts: I love this! I'm so glad I managed to snag a decant!

This was a giftie from the Lab. In the imp: Patchouli. Wet: Patchouli and cedarwood. Drydown: You guessed it! Patchouli & cedarwood. And I've just confirmed that vetiver gives me a headache. Final thoughts: This is a warm, dark & masculine scent. Alas, as such, it's not very me. And the headache really didn't help at all.