ranyart

In the imp: a wet mix of apple, pomegranate, and a hint of chili. Wet: Ow! I think I had a teensy scratch on the back of my right hand, or something, because it burns just a bit. I suppose that's the pepper. It doesn't smell very strong on me, and most of what I'm getting is a bright red apple with just a hint of other fruits (it's tough to pick them out individually, but I can just barely pick out the pom and a hint of pineapple) and the slight spike of the chili. I'm not smelling the banana, which is fine by me. I love to eat them but don't want to smell like them. Dry: This has settled into a rather odd spicy apple scent - there's still other fruit around but it's tough to pick out. I'm surprised I like this so much, and while I don't think I'll ever need a bottle of Shango, I'll definitley use up the imp. Most likely this will be saved for warmer months.

I almost regretted ordering a bottle of this, at first. When I tried it two or three weeks ago, all I got was strong, dark patchouli. I love patchouli, but had no need for a single-note scent, especially one that strong. I decided to give Lucifer another try today, and I've had a much better experience this time. In the bottle, I smell mostly very strong, dark patchouli, and what I think is the vetiver. It smells very very dark to me, almost black and definitely sinister. Wet, the vetiver amps up and almost overpowers the patchouli. I only put a few drops on the backs of my hands but I felt like I had a huge scent cloud following me until the oil dried. As it dries, the different notes blend together and produce a very woody, earthy scent that has an element of patchouli to it but doesn't smell like a head shop. Sadly, there's very little fig in the end result, but I'm not as disappointed as I thought I'd be because this is so wonderful. I wish I could describe the result better, but I'm blown away by how great it smells. On me this is a very dark and aggressive masculine scent, and I wish I had a female friend who'd be willing to try a scent this dark and heavy because I think it would be an amazing contrast. It's almost too masculine for a froofy guy like me, but I like how different it is from the other bpal favorites I've had so far. This will be a good oil to save for days when I'm feeling particularly sexually aggressive or need an extra bite to my demeanor. I think this blend was very aptly named!

Haloa is pretty much keeping me sane today, so I figured it was a good time to post a review. I bought this as a decant mostly as an afterthought - I was really interested in The Snow Storm and figured I'd get a decant of Haloa since it looked interesting. It turned out to be one of my favorite lab scents so far! In the bottle, it smells like faintly sweet baked goods; not like poundcake or buttercream, but more like the lightly-sweet scones I used to make. There's a bit of myrrh there, and some of the grapes, but the offertory cakes dominate when the oil is wet. When I put it on, the sweetness is again the strongest element, but very quickly the olive leaf and myrrh push forward and remain on equal footing with the cakey smell for the rest of the dry period. I wondered if this would be too sweet on me, but the other notes (especially the olive leaf, I think) balance out the slightly sweet cake and make this wonderfully comforting without being cloyingly sweet. I seriously can't stop sniffing myself, and five hours after the initial application I'm wishing I'd brought my bottle to work with me so I could re-apply. The scent isn't close to being gone, but it's been calming me down so much that I'd love to have it wafting about a bit more. I loved this enough that I had a friend pick up a bottle for me at ECWC, and I'm honestly contemplating buying a second bottle even though I can't imagine I'll use this one up for a very long time. It's very high on my list of favorites, though, and I'd hate for this to be the last year Haloa's offered. I'll be kicking myself if that's the case.

I really wish I could smell the mint that the rest of you are getting from this, but on me the snow storm is almost exclusively a strong pine/fir smell. I do like the smell of it, but on me it's too strong and never really settles into my skin - even dry, it smells very sharp and I never feel like it's actually dried down, if that makes sense. I don't think I'll wear this any more, but I poured some of my imp into an oil burner and my office smells like a cold winter forest. At least it's a perfect room scent.

Christmas day I wore Oya to test it and it ended up being a really lovely holiday scent, with the dark fruit and spice. I'm not sure what I wore Christmas Eve but it was more than likely Haloa since I've had that on a lot lately. I wore Midnight Kiss yesterday and didn't even realize how appropriate it was until partway through the day.

This was a frimp from the Lab in my last order. In the imp, all I can pick out is strong jasmine, although I know there's more going on. Wet, it is a bit lemony with something else (I'm pretty sure it's civet but it's not a note I'm very familiar with), but it's dried down to be mostly jasmine with the civet-y scent and just a hint of lemon. This smells better on me than I thought it would when I realized there was jasmine in it, but I'm not really crazy about it overall. I don't think I'm the sort of guy who can pull off having a jasminey love oil on, although if it got me more male attention I wouldn't complain. I may hold on to this for a bit and see what happens as it ages, but I can't see myself wearing this unless it changes quite a bit. It was interesting to try, though. [edit: I asked my partner to sniff my wrist and tell me what it smelled like, and the answer was "lemon cake." Now, I got lemon at first, but the more I smell myself the more I smell jasmine instead. I know my nose isn't that well trained yet, but it's pretty weird - my partner can't smell the jasmine at all! I still can't tell if I like the smell of FMB or not, but I'll keep the imp around so I can try it again later.]

This was a frimp from the lab on my last order. In the imp: Dark plum, wine, a hint of almond. Wet: this smelled like cough syrup when I initially put it on. Ugh. Happily, this lasted only for a moment. Drydown: Oh, wow. I didn't expect this! I smell the same dark plum as in the imp, but richer and less sweet. I'm also picking out some musk and red wine, as well as some herbs I can't quite place. Dry: Oya has turned into dark plum and spicy musk. I wish I could pick out more notes, but "spicy" is the best I can come up with, sadly. My partner has repeatedly commented on how nice Oya smells on me and stated that it "smells purple," and I have to agree. I didn't expect to like this so much, especially not when I caught a whiff of the wet oil on my skin, but I really love it. Oya reminds me a lot of Madrid, another lab frimp I am in love with, in that it's a fruity smell with a lot of spice. This is more spice and less sweet, though. This may go on my list of bottles to buy.

This was a freebie from the lab in my first order. In the imp: I smell flowers and just a hint of wet dirt - I can't pick out individual floral notes but I do agree with earlier posters who noted jasmine. It's faint to my nose, though; there are other flowers at play here. Wet: Immediately the wet earth jumps to the forefront. I absolutely love dirt as a note in fragrance, so this was pretty exciting. The incense began to emerge at this point, but that and the florals take a back seat to the beautiful, dark scent of upturned earth. Dry: Once this dried, the wet earth disappeared almost completely and Crossroads settled into a light, barely floral incense. I like the end result, but I don't know if it's a good fit for me. I really wish the dirt would have stayed past the wet stage; that would have made this a definite keeper. I don't know if I'll keep this one or swap it out. I'll probably try it one more time and decide then.

This was a frimp with my order and while I wouldn't have ordered this for myself, I was interested enough to give it a try. In the bottle, I smelled sweet red wine and clove. Wet, the wine overpowered everything else, and I was afraid that the scent would be overpowering and bother everyone else at work. Once everything dried down, though, this was wonderful. The red wine is rich and sensual, the mimosa adds a light floral note without being overpowering, and the clove comes out and makes the scent warm and spicy. This ends up being very decadent on me, and I found myself sniffing my wrists all day. Even late last night, when I'd had it on without re-applying for over twelve hours, my friend could still get a little sniff off of me. I felt like this had a good throw without being too conspicuous, which I appreciate. Madrid is definitely a keeper, and I think it's especially appropriate for the holidays.

In the imp, the perfuminess is extremely strong to me, although I can smell the wood and rum as well. The saltiness is only barely noticable. Wet, the spicy wood dominates, with the perfume making it rather heavy and cologney. I was afraid to put too much on for fear of having a very strong cloud following me all day, but the extreme strongness dissipated on the drydown. I caught whiffs of myself all day but never bothered anyone around me. Dry (just over twelve hours later, at the moment), this is warm and spicy, with the wood and rum still present. The smell isn't as strong but I can still smell myself! I've spent all day sniffing my wrists and am extremely happy with how Port Royal behaved on me. This is one I'll save for days when I need something aggressive and more overtly masculine.