stardreamer

In the imp and fresh on: Sweet, slightly floral. Drydown: Mostly vanilla and jasmine, with the sandalwood adding a dark under-note. This stays fairly constant, with the rest of the florals nicely in the background and only the barest hint of cinnamon. I think the honey is blending into the vanilla. Long-term: The florals fade back, leaving primarily vanilla; very late in the game the jasmine reappears. Staying power is average -- after 13 hours only a tiny trace remains. Bottom line: Pleasant, not offensively floral, and I like vanilla. This one's a keeper.

In the imp and fresh on: Strong and sharp! Drydown: The sharpness fades, and the coconut comes up; the patchouli makes its presence known, but stays politely in the background. Long-term: Stays nicely spicy. The sweet benzoin starts to make an appearance after an hour or so. The coconut and patchouli go together surprisingly well, and for a change they seem to fade at about the same rate -- the patchouli isn't the last thing left long after every other note disappears. Also, it's a nice deep coconut, reminiscent of the coconut note in Upa Upa (for those who remember that LE). Staying power is pretty good -- after 12 hours it's still fairly present on my wrists. Bottom line: I didn't observe any of the claimed effects -- but as far as scents go, this one's definitely a keeper.

In the imp and fresh on: Ew, rose. Drydown: The rose drops back into a more generalized floral/green, with just a hint of something spicy (carnation, maybe). Long-term: The rose keeps fading back, and the rest fades more slowly; by the end of the day it's fairly ordinary as floral scents go. Staying power is average; after 10 hours, it's still noticeable on my wrists but most of the throw is gone. Bottom line: Not unpleasant after the first couple of minutes, but not the sort of thing I tend to wear. Swap pile for this one.

In the imp and fresh on: Fruity -- must be the cider! Drydown: The florals come up a bit, so now it's a nice fruity/floral mix. Long-term: After a while the amber comes up and adds a different level of sweetness to the mix. This is a very nice scent, pleasant but unobtrusive, something that you could wear to a job interview without worrying about offending the interviewer. Staying power seems about average -- 11 hours and it's nearly gone. Bottom line: Definite keeper.

In the imp and fresh on: Very masculine, with a distinct "men's cologne" feel. Drydown: Becomes more herbal/spicy, but still with the "men's cologne" aura. Long-term: Doesn't change much until the very end, when the non-musk notes start fading back and the musk sweetens a bit. Staying power is about average; 12 hours and it's mostly gone. Bottom line: Not a bad scent, but rather too masculine for my taste. If my guy wore scents, I'd try it on him; as it is, it's headed for the swap pile.

In the imp and fresh on: Wood and evergreens. Drydown: This settles out nicely. The sharp evergreen scent fades back and the wood comes to the fore, with hints of spiciness. Long-term: The earthy undernote does present itself after a while, but never becomes really noticeable. Overall, this is a pleasant, woody scent with a little spice -- an earthier, less aquatic relative of Mary Read. Staying power seems about average; after 11 hours, it's still a bit present on my wrists, but there's no throw. Bottom line: It's not going to be a top favorite, but it's a very nice scent and will definitely get used.

In the imp and fresh on: I can really smell the lime in this! Too bad it won't last. Drydown: Yep, there went the lime -- my skin eats BPAL citrus for breakfast. Oddly, I'm not getting much hibiscus either. What I am getting is slightly bitter; perhaps that's the matcha. Long-term: The hibiscus comes out more strongly after a while, and blends well with the sweetness of the white musk. But there's no throw at all, and it's not a strong scent even on my skin. Staying power is about average -- 12 hours and it's nearly gone. Bottom line: Not a bad scent, but nothing noticeable or memorable about it, and the opening could be more pleasant. Swap pile.

Powerful, commanding, blazing with strength. In the imp and fresh on: That's odd, I'm getting almost a floral note from this. It reminds me of the lily-of-the-valley in The Death-Horse, but not as in-your-face as that was. Drydown: I've worn blends with Dragon's Blood in them before, and this is nothing like them, and still more floral than anything else. It's weird. Long-term: Very little change. Staying power is lower than I expect from a resin -- 11 hours and it's mostly gone. Bottom line: Not at all what I expected, and nothing like the description. This one's a swap, although not for the reason I thought it would be.

In the imp and fresh on: Oh-oh, strong burnt-sugar potential. Drydown: Okay, no burnt-sugar. What I'm getting now seems to be mostly tobacco and tonka, and that (plus rum) may have been the source of the initial impression. Long-term: This is a pleasant, masculine scent, but not so masculine that I'd be uncomfortable wearing it. The tobacco is much to the fore and only modified by the other notes, so it's rather like a sweet pipe tobacco; I agree with Kindkit that it's a discreet-Victorian-gentlemen's-club sort of scent. Staying power is surprisingly low -- 8 hours and it's very faint. Bottom line: This is absolutely going to be my go-to scent for when I'm doing steampunk! So it's a good thing that I have 2 imps of it; one can stay at home and the other go into my travel kit.

In the imp and fresh on: Masculine and sharp. Drydown: Now the red musk is coming out, It's not as Newagey as it usually smells on me -- the civet must be taming it down somewhat. Long-term: I never get anything out of this but red musk, which is not my favorite scent. And which unfortunately has staying power like whoa. Bottom line: Swap pile.

In the imp and fresh on: Very masculine, with a flowery undernote. I can catch the lily-of-the-valley, but the opopponax (alternate spellings: opoponax, opopanax) seems to be dominant. It's rather bitter-smelling, which makes sense if it's a variety of myrrh. Drydown: The lily-of-the-valley becomes a lot more apparent. I'm used to thinking of it as a light floral, but this is strong, almost cloying. It's threatening to give me a headache, which BPAL oils almost never do. Long-term: Stays pretty much the same -- strong floral with a bitter undernote. The headache never materialized, possibly because the scent started fading back. Staying power is surprisingly low for something with a resin; after 8 hours, it's nearly gone, and what lingers is not the resin but the floral. Bottom line: I just don't like this scent. Swap pile.

In the imp and fresh on: Is there actually a scent there? Most of what I'm getting is a faint sharpness. Drydown: Okay, it's coming up a bit more strongly now. Seems to be mostly moss. Oh, there's the patchouli root -- it's not as strong as regular patchouli, for a mercy. Currant? What currant? Long-term: Everything but the patchouli root drops out after a few hours. Never got anything even vaguely resembling violets. Staying power is pretty low for everything except the patchouli, which (like anything else incense-y on my skin) lasts for a very long time at low intensity. Bottom line: Swap pile.

In the imp and fresh on: Definitely tea and herbs! I like this already. Drydown: The grass comes out more strongly; now it's very green. Long-term: Stays pretty much the same until the end. I never really get the ginger or fig; it's mostly tea and grass after the first 20 minutes or so. Staying power is about average; after 12 hours it's very faint and the throw is entirely gone. Bottom line: Not a top favorite, but a nice refreshing scent, neither too light nor too strong, which will be pleasant in warm weather. Keeper.

In the imp and fresh on: Light and very sweet. I'm definitely getting the fruits, especially the pineapple, but not much else. I'd have expected the tobacco to be more of a base note than it seems to be. Drydown: Now the tobacco is coming out a bit more. Still more fruity than anything, and very low throw. Long-term: The florals and amber show up after a few hours, and after that it doesn't change much. Staying power is low-to-average; after 12 hours, it's mostly gone. Bottom line: Not awful, but not especially good either. I think it's worth keeping and making a second attempt, but it's likely to end up in the swap pile.

In the imp and fresh on: Sharp, then sweet; the ginger is much stronger in the imp than on my skin. The fruits are to the fore, with the rum just a boozy tinge in the background. Drydown: Fruity/spicy, very pleasant. Rum sometimes goes weird for me, but this isn't one of the times. What it reminds me of (because I was wearing it recently) is Rl'yeh after it morphs out of the aquatic phase, only with more fruit. Long-term: Stays pretty much the same, with a bit more underlying sweetness as time passes. A nice spiced-fruit scent, warm and autumnal. Staying power is excellent; after 12 hours, it's still very present on my wrists and even has a bit of throw. Bottom line: Keeper and favorite, especially for autumn and winter.