freneticfloetry

In the imp: Mostly orris, with the sweetness of ambergris. Wet: Oh wow, this is exactly what walking into a Lush store smells like. A mishmash of green, organic scents that are calming and overwhelming all at once. Drydown: Dries very quickly, and gets a bit powdery as it does. I've ventured into the bath bomb section of Lush. Dry: Yep, I smell a bit like an AvoBath bomb had a tawdry tryst with a Think Pink, and they took an afterglow tumble through a marsh and into a giant berry bush. Kind of literally, really. It's as if I rubbed said hypothetical bomb on my arm. I keep catching a whiff and expecting to have to rub the dust off of my skin. It's prettier than I expected, and somehow daintier. Lovely. Don't know that I'd wear it often, but I'm happy to have a decant.

Frimped with this one by the lovely piwacket. In the imp: Smells like this glorious gingerbread candle I had once upon a time, and could never find again. I loved the smell of it, I'm just... not sure I want to smell like it. Wet: Hello, spice! But syrupy spice, like someone smacked Misk U in the face with a cinnamon stick. So far, this one is a Big Red screamer. Drydown: I kept waiting for a waft of curry, like the other reviews have mentioned, but no go on me. The screaming dies down a bit, and I start to smell... ginger? Shub has invaded, and is getting it on in Misk U's syrup-slathered library. Dry: Mmm, yes. On me, this is a combination of both those blends, with extra spice (it ran the gamut from cassia to clove) and something smooth and rich (sandalwood, perhaps?) grounding out the base. It's an interesting blend - not one I'd wear often, but even still, I can't seem to stop sniffing at it. Very grateful I got the chance to try it. I'll be passing it along to a St. Lucia-craving foody lover.

First, I got frimped a testable sniffie of this from the lovely Persephone76. I've already told her that I'm not sure whether to hug her or hit her. (I'm kind of leaning toward the latter, since she also got me hooked on Black Lace.) In the imp: Citrusy-vanilla. Tangy, but sweet. Something in it is reminiscent of Underpants, but doesn't actually smell like it (if that makes any sense). I'm wary already. Please hate me. Please hate me. Wet: Oh god, it likes me. It really likes me. It's orange sandalwood with a rich vanilla, but the whole scent is very light. Fluffy, almost. Like orange Underpants froth. Stays wet for a good while, and wavers between flighty citrus sweetness and creamy wood. Dry: So it doesn't like me. It loves me. I smell like a creamsicle that has melted all over its sandalwood stick, and it is gorgeous. Heavenly. Why? Whyyyy?

In the bottle: A fresh, melon-sweet aquatic. Very intriguing. Wet: Well, it was very wet for a minute there. My first BPAL spill. On my pants, on my couch, and down half the label. And after all that, the melon and honey disappeared completely, leaving me with... a dead ringer for my shampoo. Which is actually a lovely smell, just, you know... shampoo-like. Drydown: Still shampoo. Dry: If you said shampoo, you get a cookie. This breaks my heart. I really, really wanted to love this one.

In the bottle: Sweet, creamy, and a little boozy somehow... Reminds me a bit of Red Lantern. Wet: Oh wow, this is lovely. The beeswax and sugar cane are at the forefront, with a sweet floral behind them that can only be the vanilla flower. And there are alternating whiffs of something citrusy that is totally unexpected. Drydown: The copal and skin musk come out strong here, taming the sweetness - during this stage, it smells almost exactly like Inez on me. Dry: This may be the most well-balanced blend I've ever tried. Dry, nothing takes center stage - everything plays well together, and supports everything else. This is gorgeous (and dare I say better on me than Glowing Vulva). I'll be ordering another bottle before it disappears.

Got frimped with a testable sniffie in a recent purchase (thank you, kind forumite!). In the imp: A sharp, slightly foody, almost boozy vanilla. Wet: Hello teak. No matter the wood note, however small it may be, my skin will find it and amp it to high heaven. But the strange thing is... I don't mind here. It's a rich, deep teak that rounds out the vanilla and lotus peaking through. Drydown: Mmm, the lotus and amber are balancing out the teak. It's still center stage, but they're a wonderful supporting cast. Dry: Oh this is gorgeous. It turns into a swirl of rich, woody vanilla with whiffs of lotus and amber that come and go... there's something here that reminds me of Storyville in the end. Not the notes themselves, but the feel. And the wear-length is insane - some things that wear forever die down to skin scents that I can pleasantly smell when I wake in the morning. With this one, I didn't even need to bury my nose in my wrist to smell it the next day. I need to bathe in this. I need to trade a kidney for this.

In the bottle: This is sharp. Reminds me of a blend I've smelled before, but my brain can't pinpoint exactly what because my eyes are tearing. Wet: WOOD. Peppered, vaguely metallic wood. This is all balsam and a dash of pepper when wet on me (damn you, skin chemistry, and your tendency to amp anything remotely tree-like!) and suddenly I know what this reminded me of in the bottle - Doc Buzzard. On, it's kind of the Doc meandering through Tombstone. Strange. And overpowering. And did I mention woody? I cannot smell the oil for the trees. Drydown: Hmmm. Something... interesting is happening. It's still screaming wood, but the pepper has given way to herbal and there's something sweet in there putting up one hell of a fight. Could the beeswax be a contender? Dry: Oh wow. I could cry right now. The beeswax and frankincense (and a whiff of lemon that comes and goes) have chopped down the evil trees - they're still littering the forest floor, but this is so much more resinous than I ever would've thought it could be. Smoky and a little sweet, with the tang of lemon and lumber behind it. I've found a woodsy blend I can wear!

Picked up an imp of this from an LJ sale, just out of curiosity. In the imp:. Glitter. Glitter and... acetone? It's like Eau de Fruity Nail Polish Remover. This is not a good first impression. Wet: Okay, that chemical whiff is gone, and now it's just really reminiscent of Glitter, if someone had tamed it and tied it down. Strange, since there's no d'anjou pear in this blend. Must be the strawberry. Very sweet, almost cloyingly-so, with something floral beneath. Drydown: Well hello there, musk! Nice of you to make an appearance. It's still a very pink blend, and the throw is all Sweet Tarts. But when I get close to my skin, I can smell the richness of the currant and musk, and a woody note grounding it all. Overall, it's pretty - very pink, very girly. Just not for me.

I grabbed a bottle of No. 93 Engine from someone's sale, and tacked on Dream of the Fisherman's Wife just for the hell of it. I was on BPAL hiatus during the first round of Shungas and had no clue what it was, just that the name sounded intriguing. Totally the best move ever. In the imp: Technically I could smell it in the package, before I ever opened the imp. Holy honeyed seaweed, Batman. It's an intriguing scent that's kind of hard to describe - sweet but not cloying or creamy, grounded in something aquatic, with a powdery note beneath that can only be the ambergris. Wet: There was a minute of sheer, utter gorgeousness, followed by a five minute window of sheer panic that involved me screaming "No, no, don't go to cat pee!!". Just before the point of no return, though, this one decided to take pity on me - the mint and ambergris took over again, and something underneath started to remind me of Kingsport, even though it's salty where this one is sweet. Dry: After the cat pee scare, it dried very quickly. That's when the seaweed really came out to play, and this became the most beautiful, rounded, intoxicating aquatic I've ever tried. The honey behaved itself, lurking in the background with just enough presence to cut the powdery-effect of the ambergris. I looked like a lunatic at work, stopping every couple minutes to huff my wrist like an addict in withdrawal. After a mad hunt, I have finally scored a bottle of this, and they'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands.