mhickle

When I first put this one, it smells as if I have locked myself away in a cedar chest. This is not bad, just....cedary. Is that what vetiver smells like? I'm not really familiar with it as a note on its own...anyway.... After only a couple of hours, it's more or less faded completely away, with a vague smokiness left behind.

When it hits my skin, this is very lemony - sweet lemon and not much else. But as it dries, it becomes sharply herbal, with a little bitterness. I kept thinking it smelled very familiar, and then it hit me - this smells nearly exactly like Calliope on me. Which is neat, because I love the 3 Muses I have, and of course they've been discontinued for a little while now. So, yay, replacement for Calliope!

I had forgotten this was a Sominum oil and wore it this morning - would have worn it to bed last night if I'd remembered. I get the floral notes - the jasmine and lavender, especially - but for a while after I put it on, there's also this very dark undertone of fire and smoke. I wish that lasted longer than it does, but eventually it's mostly lavender on me, with a bit of bergamot grounding it. Can't wait to try it at night!

I was so intrigued by this, and was happy to receive an imp from a dear friend I just found out has been on the forum for years! The notes are so interesting to me, and in the imp they're blended in this happy, sweet, citrus mint craziness. A couple of hours later, though, it's all but disappeared to the point that I get a vague sweetness, but nothing I can point to or really review properly. Oh, Cat! I wanted to love you!

This may be incense, but it is honeyed citrus incense. I'm not getting lemon, exactly, as others seem to be getting. To me, it's more orangey - height of the season, juice-dripping oranges. Unexpected and lovely. Really enjoying this one.

Sniffed in the imp, Lightning smells very clean, almost the perfume of a detergent, but not all fakey smelling like detergent, if that makes any sense at all. It still smells clean on my skin, but becomes more complex and aquatic. This is a very blue-green (maybe teal!) scent, that's for sure. It's aquatic and maybe a little bit masculine - I get the ozone and water. It's a very pretty one, but not one I see myself wearing very often.

Oooooh I am liking this!!!! In the bottle, I get a lot of the pepper, backed by deep dark chocolate - a sophisticated, expensive chocolate and caramel confection made by an expert, in a box of chocolates given to you by someone who understands you love the good stuff. Then...once it's on and before it's dried, it goes a bit to plastic. "Nooooo!" I thought, as I'd loved it right away. But, luckily, that is for a very short time (as in, I put it on in the bathroom, sniffed the plastic, turned off the lights, grabbed my sunglasses, sniffed again, and it was no longer plastic. Instead, what remains is a rich smear of peppery smoked sweetness. I get a little bit of coffee, I think, but it might just be because the spicy sweetness puts me in mind of El Dia de Reyes.

In the imp, I'm getting dark cherries, chocolate, and....coconut? None of the rose people have talked about here. Or any floral, for that matter. I'm actually really surprised by this scent - wasn't expecting it at all!! As it dries, what I think is coconut pretty much goes away, and I'm left with a rich cocoa and cherry sort of blend. It smells like it should be sticky on my wrist. It's rich and thick. But utterly unexpected!

Though there's a lot of floral action going on here, there's a masculinity to it that makes me wonder what Faiza would smell like on my husband. I can't pick out a single note, though I keep sniffing my wrist deeply, much to the amusement and confusion of my coworkers. It's completely blended, but green and a bit sharp and exotic. This is another that has worked for me despite my usual dislike of florals.

This is a very interesting oil! I'm definitely getting the plumeria - I didn't realize that's what it was until I cam here and read the notes, but now that I see what it is, I get it! The smokey incense is what makes this most intriguing - it's almost a touch masculine. So it's this very feminine floral mixed with more masculine undertones. I really don't get much of the orange at all!

Eternal desire, unquenchable passion: red musk, cocoa absolute, Nepalese amber, red sandalwood, aged patchouli, nicotiana, and blood wine. This is super sweet, but not in a cloying way. I get a lot of cherry action going on, even though there isn't any listed in the notes! I get a bit of the cocoa, and definitely the red musk (puts me in mind of my bottle of Smut). To be honest, I like this a lot more than I thought I would - I kept sniffing the imp and just thought "hmmm too sweet, I think, too heavy." But it's not at all. I think the spices, though I couldn't point them out to you, help to ground it.

Pretty light - at first a bit soapy, almost like a nice laundry soap. Looking at the notes, I figure that's the rose. Never works out on me. This, however, isn't as bad as most rose gets (though the longer I have it on, the more I smell the rose) - the almond is nice, and I'm definitely getting the citrus. But, on me, absolutely spiceless!

I love Lucretia when I want to feel sophisticated and glamorous.

This smells just like a pack of incense a friend gave me - heady and thick - very sweet and rich. It's quite a sexy scent - I wear it when I want to feel gorgeous. Decent throw and long-lasting - one of those that deepens as the night goes on, and because the throw fades throughout the night, it becomes a more secret and personal sort of scent - reserved for those who get close.

MCCXL This one is sweet and a bit candyish, with a whisper of mint and what may be the freshness of cucumber. It's very, very soft, and fades a bit as the day goes on. But it does stay very pretty throughout.

To me, this is like baby powder, but a more mature baby powder...A touch of lemon, a touch of sweetness. It goes on like baby powder with a little bit of a medicinal touch, but dries down into the lemony sweetness, baby-powder-all-grown-up kinda scent that I am really enjoying!

As soon as this hits my skin, it's very lemony. What starts as a hint sniffed in the imp becomes the star of the show. As it dries, things soften, the lemon recedes into the background, and the cedar takes center stage. It's all backed by this deep, rich amber - a very sophisticated scent.

A little bit woody and a little bit soapy, this is a fresh herbal scent. I don't get much of the mint, and only a little of the lavender. Overall, it's a nice, calm, unassuming choice for those days when I just want something that smells nice up close but I don't want to make a big statement.

I would have sworn this had a touch of jasmine in it when I first sniffed it in the imp, and when it first hit my skin. But as it dries, I definitely get what's going on here - the sandalwood, the nag champa, a little lavendar to calm things down. This is one of those complex scents that doesn't seem so complex at first. You could smell it and say "oh, incense." But take a more thoughtful draw of scent, and everything starts curling around you, and you get a sense of what really goes into a blend like this.

Very herbal in the imp. Exactly what I would expect from a scent named for this character. As it wears, I get more of the tea, and some of the ginger. It sweetens considerably as the day goes on, with the fig softening the herbal greeniness. I am actually very curious to see what this would smell like on my husband, as it seems like an interesting unisex scent!

It's funny, because when I opened the first page of reviews for Jabberwocky, I noticed that the first review calls it a great summer scent. I get the exact opposite feeling from it! I don't know if it's because it's winter now, but the pine and sweet orange make this a wonderful scent for this time of year. It's so sweet and bright and cheerful - like a fresh pine bough weighed down by a garland of orange slices and cranberries. I absolutely love it from the moment it goes on. It makes me happy.

Super crazy sweet in the imp...but not in a bad way. It just really hit me - thick, creamy vanilla. Rich, delicious icing. It stays that way wet, then does go slightly plasticky on me for a little while, but then mellows into, for the most part, a softer version of its first lovely vanilla scent. Every so often I get the slightest whiff of plastic, but really not much, and only every so often. It's kind of weird like that.

At first, there's this weird soapy, almost cleaning-product-ish, thing going on with The Shattered Pumpkin. Which I found really off-putting. Once that gets out of the way (about a half an hour later, maybe), it's replaced with leather and a hint of pumpkin. Way more leather than pumpkin. And there is a damp scent to it, like the leather's been dunked in a fresh stream. It's an interesting scent, to be sure, but I don't know if I need more than just the imp of it!

Oh wow. This is just...absolutely delicious. Super sweet apple cider -- but not sickening sweet -- spicy sweet, a little, well, fruiter than apples smell. The leaves ground it - it's pretty much exactly like wrapping gloved hands around a mug of cider and sitting on the deck with a blanket, watching the leaves fall from the trees. Needless to say, I want more. Like now. I can't stop smelling my wrists.

***10/6*** If you had to chose one BPAL scent and only ONE to have forever what would it be? Argh! Tough question. I have to go with Faith. ***10/4*** Who here likes Betty Page? Yeah, she's cool. How about original Trek Characters? No interest, really. If you were my witchee, would you like a jar of home made apple butter? This is assuming it turns out good... Um YES. ***10/1*** Are you interested in Tarot cards? And if so, are there particular decks you like (or don't or already have or whatever)? I haven't learned how to read them but have always been interested. I have one deck but I don't know what it's called or anything. What kind of tea (or coffee) puts you in a fall/Halloween mood? And where do you get it? Pumpkin spicy kind of stuff, any warm beverages! Favorite Halloweeen song? If you were my witchee, would you like dried honey crisp apple slices or other dried fruit? (We don't add anything to it AFAIK -- no sugar or spices.) YES! (do you see a theme with my answers to the food questions?) ***9/25*** Speaking of historical fiction, how does everyone feel about Sherlock Holmes? He's cool. Favorite cartoons or animated films? Miyazaki stuff, The Last Unicorn, Ratatouille, The Incredibles. When I was growing up I was all about Ren & Stimpy and Rocko's Modern Life. Your take on the election? In other words, would you enjoy campaign related gifts, or prefer to stay neutral? Obama! Villians you sympathise with, or are interested in boinking? Hmmm bangable villains...Dr. Horrible, Angel (though I guess he goes back and forth on actually qualifying for this question), Dexter (not exactly a villain, I guess...), I'm sure there are more depending on levels of horniness of the day. Hahaha. TMI, I'm sure. Your stance on the all important peanut butter issue: crunchy? creamy? allergic? chocolate? maple? go directly to nuttella, do not pass go? Love it all. Who here likes to read historical fiction? If you do, what eras/people/countries intrigue you the most? I don't read a lot of historical fiction. I should check some out.