coldandsleepy

Jabberwocky's my number one pine love. Wolf Moon and Old Moon probably come next and are both totally totally gorgeous. Hexennacht '08 is absolutely gorgeous on me, but pretty light on the fir goodness. Also, believe it or not, Moon of Ice isn't terribly pine-y to me.

Sorry if these're posted already... here's Hexennacht '08 and Beltane '08! I tried to get as little glare as possible, but the labels didn't want to cooperate. (Bigger version here.) ETA: the server that I originally put them on seems a little iffy today, so if they're not loading and you're dying to find out what the pineapple mystery is about, I also put the smaller version on Flickr here.

GCs: Croquet and Ulalume are both very springy to me. (Don't be scared by the lilies in the Ulalume notes... there's a lot of delicious, spring-y dirt and trees to balance it out.) LE: Cheshire Moon's very much a spring scent for me, and the florals are way, way, way secondary to the fruits. Also, cucumber tends to scream spring to me, so Black Moon and Gibbous Moon seem very spring appropriate. (Neither goes terribly floral on me, but your luck my vary. ) Also, I don't know how this year's Beltane compares to old Beltanes, but I am in l-o-v-e with it. It does smell really green, though.

In the imp: hi, would you like some cinnamon? Because I have some cinnamon for you. On me, wet: more of the same. Cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon, with a side of sandalwood. (My husband says, "We should be at an Indian import store, looking at expensive silks and anise seed pods.) On me, dry: whooooa! Bouncy red musk fun time! Basically everything else has disappeared. I don't know when the red musk has ever smelled so... red... on me before. It's great! I actually really like it! I'm a biiiiiiiiig musk hater, so the discovery that I not only tolerate but out and out LIKE red musk is a major step for me. Neat! Throw and duration: throw starts out well above average-- my husband can smell me from several feet away. This is more than I really like to do in public, as I worry about stinking out people on the bus and people with allergies. But it mellows down over time. Duration's good but not great. I get maybe 5 hours out of this. Overall: The cinnamon stage at the start sort of throws me, sort of the same way the melon stage at the beginning of Earth Rat does. I don't think I'm willing to wait an hour for a scent to be wearable when there are so many that are yummy right out of the bottle. I'll probably keep my imp for now, but really, I'll just be looking for another yummy red musk to fill this niche.

Okay, I've mainly been avoiding the big forum favorite scents because I hate a lot of things that it seems like everyone else on the forums loves. For instance, vanilla is the anti-me. (Antique Lace made me want to die.) I also don't really like sugary sweet things much at all. And I'm allergic to aloe, so Embalming Fluid is a no go for me! In my misguided quest to avoid forum favorites, I almost didn't try Morocco. Almost. Fortunately, the Lab sent me a frimp of it and I resigned myself to seeing what the big deal is about it. So without further ado, my review: In the imp: cherry cola. Odd. On me, wet: cherry cola and creamy amber. Oddly delicioius. On me, dry: spicy cherry cola and delicious creamy amber. I know this is not really a foodie scent, but it smells edible on me. Like some extremely delicious otherworldly candy. Throw and duration: above average throw. A little goes a long way, but not so far away that I worry about stinking out other people on the bus. Duration's excellent as well-- I got about 14 hours out of this, which is almost a BPAL record for me. (Makes sense. Amber lasts forever on me.) Overall: hey! Turns out I love this! I guess you lot were right after all. Hanging onto my imp for dear life... maybe someday I'll need a bottle of this.

Queen Alice smells more or less the same on me wet or dry: super spicy, a little sandy, and a little amber-y. I don't get cider (though I do get sand!) or wine (though it does smell a little wooly!), but otherwise, it smells more or less exactly as described on me. Unfortunately, it turns out I don't really like the combination very much. It just smells kinda weird on me. Oh well! I've had such good luck with most of the Mad Tea Party that I guess it makes sense... can't win 'em all.

In the imp: moss. On me, wet: iced tea. Yes, definitely iced tea, not hot tea. Lemony iced tea. There's something sinister and herbal lurking underneath... maybe the moss? On me, dry: Same as wet, but with a little less of the iced tea and a little more of the herbs. Throw and duration: medium throw, shortish duration. I got about 4 hours out of this. Overall: Smells yummy to me. I can't shake the connection with iced tea though, which is confusing, and makes this smell like summertime instead of an apothecary's shop to me. Oh well. Still smells nice! Don't need a 5mL of this, though, and might swap my imp-- I'm just not sure when I'd actively want to smell like iced tea and sinister herbs.

In the imp: dirt, dirt, dirt. On me, wet: oh. This is breathtaking. I'm just going to paste over what I wrote in my spreadsheet: A cool summer night in the woods: dirt, wet grass or leaves, and the memory of lilies. Very very pretty. Very earthy. On me, dry: the same, except that the dirt calms down a little and the lilies really start to shine. How beautiful! Throw and duration: good throw, good duration. It's not overwhelming on me, and it lasted a good 7 or 8 hours. Overall: I think this may be one of the few lily blends that people who don't like lilies might dig. The lilies here are really soft and not at all in your face or "perfumey" smelling. I totally love the earthiness of this. That plus the lilies plus the leaves is just totally evocative for me in an awesome way. Definitely keeping my imp of this. Someday, when I've tried a lot more of the general catalogue and/or won the lottery and/or the magic BPAL fairy comes and grants all of my smelly wishes, I'd love a bottle of this.

In the imp: sandalwood and flowers. Kinda potpurri-like. On me, wet: the sandalwood backs down almost instantly and I get mainly the lavender and the wisteria. The lavender's clean and sharp without being particularly astringent. (If you've tried Paris, this is about two notches softer than the lavender in that.) I think the wisteria does a lovely job of softening it even further. No sign of the musk yet. On me, dry: almost the same as wet. I get a little more sandalwood again, but it's definitely a background smell. Mostly just nice soft lavender and wisteria. Very pretty. Throw and duration: about average. It wasn't overwhelmingly strong and I got several hours of wear out of it. Overall: I liked this a lot. Lavender's one of my favorite scents, but I have a hard time finding lavender perfumes that I like. This's probably my favorite lavender from the Lab so far. Like I said, it's really soft and pretty and not at all fierce or overwhelming. Definitely hanging on to my imp of this.

In the imp: pretty watery floral. A little reedy. Nicely evocative. On me, wet: smells very much like Veil, to my surprise. The only note they have in common is the gardenia, and I never ever smell that in Veil, so I don't know why these smell so much alike. Anyway, Veil's one of my favorites, so I like this too. It's got a very clean watery scent to it. Sweet but not too sweet. I get just a little bit of the musk-- enough so that I know it's there, but not so much that it smells icky. On me, dry: once this dries, it smells nothing at all like Veil on me. Now it's all gardenia all the time. It's a really gentle, dusty gardenia. Sorta forlorn smelling. Throw and duration: not a whole lot of throw. The strong part of the scent is the wet phase for me, and the drydown scent takes over within about 20 minutes. After that, it lingers for a long time, but it's really, really subtle. Overall: Not bad. Reminds me of a shallower Veil. While it's in the imp and wet on me, it's nicely evocative of the Lady of Shallott; drydown just doesn't do anything for me though. The nothing-but-gardenia smell is dull and boring and I got tired of it really quickly. I'll probably swap the imp, though, because I expect people who have skin that doesn't turn this into gardenia frenzy will probably like it more.

In the imp: toffee? Toffeeeee? Where is that even coming from? Definitely creamy and sweet and candylike. On me, wet: rich delicious orange toffee. Nom nom nom. On me, dry: much the same, but spicier and creamier. Throw and duration: throw's very good, but duration's average-- maybe five hours on me. Overall: Zarita fills me with love, so much love. It doesn't smell at all like what I thought it would, but I am so so so happy that a generous swapper gave me a tester of this because now I know that it'ssssss blissssss. People who don't like sweet things probably won't like Zarita at all, but... you knew that already, right? Keeping my imp of it. If I use it as much as I think I might, then maybe there'll be a bottle of it in my future.

On application, this instantly goes all dark and murky on me, in a bad way. My husband says it smells like rotting fruit, and I have to agree. Something about this is just too rich on me. Yuckers. I had to scrub it off after about 10 minutes-- it was making me feel sick. This is probably off to the swaps soon, but I'm hoping to make myself try it again for a longer period first... it sounds like it's got the potential to develop into something pretty if only I can get through that first horrible stretch.

Frederic is nigh inexplicable: a musky scent that I actually enjoy. On me, it's sea salt, amber musk, and tea roses. It is fortunately not at all patchouli heavy on me and isn't really very woody either. On a saltiness scale, I'd put it below Calico Jack and above Pool of Tears. This is the only one of three BPAL pirate scents (Anne Bonny, Calico Jack, this) that I've tried that's really worked for me. It's sort of an elegant scent; the pirate wearing this isn't going to be swabbing any decks he doesn't want to. I doubt I need the whole bottle and will probably decant some of it off to send to other people. But I'm definitely keeping some of it for myself, because this is good stuff.

It's totally wild that people are getting cake-y/cookie-y vanilla scents out of this. On me, it smells exactly like I wanted it to smell: an explosively fun combination of guava, lemon grass, grapefruit, and some fruit I can't place but which I think is banyan. Yummy, foodie, yes... but never cakey! This is like my dream scent. So delicious. So wonderful. So short lived. Siiiiigh. I get about an hour out of this and then poof, it's gone forever. Oh well, it's great while it lasts. Maybe I just need to start slathering. Really glad I ordered this, and I think it was worth the backorder induced wait, even if it doesn't last on me.

I'm pleased to report that this is exactly as described on me. There's a beautiful flurry of roses hover just above the faintest whiff of green grass. The roses smell so fresh and beautiful that I can see them when I close my eyes. Really lovely and fresh smelling on me. Doesn't go all heavy like some rose scents can. I'll be looking to Two, Five & Seven this summer, I think.

In the imp: like others have mentioned, I smell three very distinct smells in the imp: kumquat (dominant), white tea (pretty strong), pepper (not as strong). They're not discordant, just distinct. Tasty. On me, wet: just like in the imp! Maybe a little deeper. On me, dry: absolutely nonexistent. Throw and duration: see above. Overall: Wish it'd last longer. I barely had time to think about whether I really liked it or not. On the other hand, it didn't outstay its welcome. I'll hang on to the imp. Maybe I'll get a scent locket or something. Y'never know.

Imp: dark chocolate covered cherries. Oh, this is delicious. On me, wet: much the same, though something spicy is emerging. On me, dry: pencil shavings. Spicy, vaguely cherry scented pencil shavings. Oh, the disappointment. Throw and duration: to my dismay, both are above average. Overall: I've been having such good luck with the MTP scents that I got really psyched after initially smelling The Red Queen. Alas, pencil shavings just aren't my thing so this doesn't work out for me in the long run. To the swaps!

Trying to catch up on review today and getting tired of my standard form, so here's a looser interpretation of the Knave of Hearts: My new friend the Knave of Hearts Smells just like pie crust when he starts But as the hours pass us by He's less a crust and more a pie And when the hours have all passed He smells of rose petals at last In short: this goes pie crust - berry pie - rose petals on me. Never overwhelming or cloying, never powdery or sour. Just yummy and loveable. He's a winner!

In the imp: incense, incense, incense. I'm surprised by how sweet and... purple? ... it smells. On me, wet: this is like HI, VETIVER, which is okay because I like vetiver but was not really what I wanted out of this. On me, dry: the other elements of this scent succeed in putting down the vetiver rebellion. It turns into the most lovely sweet incense smell on me, with just a little hint of vetiver and no real detectable patchouli. There aren't any notes that scream "food" in this, but the overall scent is foodie to me. It smells delicious and heady and wonderful. Throw and duration: I wore this when I had a bad headache, so it seemed really, really strong. This may have just been my headache talking. Duration was very good, though; I got at least 10 hours out of this. Overall: Definitely in love with this. I'd worried that I wouldn't like it (seemed too manly, and I don't like patchouli, and and and) but factually speaking, I do. Hanging on to the imp, for real for real.

Maybe I've mentioned this before: vanilla is the anti-me. Also, I amp grapes like it's my business, and currants often go grapey on me. So let's just say, I wasn't expecting a lot going in to Eat Me: In the imp: slightly cakey. Definitely slightly fruity cakey. After pulling the wand out of the imp: Oh my goodness. This doesn't smell sorta like cake. This smells EXACTLY like cake. Delicious spongey layer cake with sort of a berry jam filling and fondant on the outside. I have to fight the urge to gnaw on my arm. My husband, who is often critical about the authenticity of foodie scents, agrees that this smells exactly like cake. Yum. On me, wet: Just like it is on the wand! Oh! It's blissssssssss! On me, dry: This develops a real spiciness to it somewhere along the line. Must be the currants. Some of the sponge cake smell rescinds, so that the currants really rule this scent. But you know what? I don't care. I still want to eat my arm. This still smells awesome. Throw and duration: very very strong throw on me. I don't usually like things with big throws as I worry about stinking other people out. But cake has overruled my better judgement and I'm wearing this guy out of the house anyway. Duration's pretty good as well-- I get about an hour of full on CAKE followed by six or seven hours of spicy currants. Overall: If you couldn't tell, I love this. It doesn't smell like anything I thought I wanted to smell like. It turns out I was wrong. This seriously rules. Definitely keeping the imp. Maybe springing for a full bottle some day when my wishlist is a little smaller and my pockets a little fuller.

In the imp and on me wet (roughly identical): this is mainly yummy citrus with just a little wood and just a little grass. Smells like spring in a bottle, and exactly like what I'd thought Croquet would smell like. On me, dry: the woodsy notes really step up in this as it dries, so I end up feeling more like I'm down on the ground with the hedgehog than up on the playing field with the players and the flamingos. The woodsy notes don't take over entirely, though, and there's no smell of pencil shavings, so I'm a-okay with the change. Throw and duration: both about average. Overall: This is a like, not a love. If it'd stayed citrusy, it'd probably be a love, as that initial scent is really just the perfect spring scent for me. The woodsy's nice, but I don't like it as much. Keeping my imp, anyway.

In the imp: graaaaaapefruit! Graaaaaapefruit! And the tiniest hint of incense akin to the incensey note in The Caterpillar. Very exciting! On me, wet: grapefruit and... is that... could it be... currant? Yes! Delightful fruity grapefruit and currant. This is like a dream come true, the currant isn't even going grape-y and weird on me. This is definitely dominantly fruity, but the incensey floral notes are there in the background, adding a beautiful depth to this. On me, dry: yessss! Just like wet! This smells so good! This smells so g-- wait. Where did it go? Cheshire Cat? Cheshire Caaaat? Throw and duration: throw's great for the time that it lasts; however, this literally lasts about half an hour on me. It's the shortest lasting BPAL I've encountered to date which is absolutely maddening because it's damn near my favorite scent. Murphy's laws of BPAL, indeed. Overall: Look, I've never felt like I wanted a scent locket before. Not at all. Haven't been very tempted even by the pretty ones in the trading post. But I need to smell like Cheshire Cat. I neeeed tooooooo. (I guess that's the cheshire craziness influencing me.) This is the most awesome smell. If only it would last. Definitely keeping my imp.

Oh, goodness. Desire to air my thoughts on Obatala is what made me get off my butt this morning and start turning the notes I've put in my spreadsheet for all the stuff I've tried lately into actual reviews. Obatala ended up being a bit of an odyssey for me, so I'm going to do this in slightly different format than I usually do. Here we go: Yesterday afternoon, I got home from a busy day of stomping around in the California sunshine with my in-laws. My mother-in-law has bad allergies that sometimes induce really bad migraines, so as a courtesy, I try not to wear any significant perfume around her. But after the in-laws dropped me back at my house and motored off to the b'n'b they're staying at, I made great haste to my imp box. Since I was kind of hot from being out in the sun, Obatala seemed perfect: refreshing and cooling. Yay! I opened it up and gave it a sniff. It didn't smell very coconutty to me, but had a nice, cool, sweet smell to it. So far so good. I dabbed a tiny bit on, recapped the imp, and put the imp back in the box. Then I gave my wrist a sniff. Now I could smell a little coconut, though still not a lot. Whatever the sweet scent I'd smelled in the imp was, it was still dominant here, and made the coconut smell very sugary and almost melon-y. It was pretty subtle, though, and I raced upstairs to record it as a 5/5 in my spreadsheet-- exactly the right scent for the occasion! I should know better. Initially I wrote: "I really love this. Almost melon-y coconut. Sweet and very refreshing." Fifteen minutes later, I added in: "After awhile, this starts to smell like... vanilla fields?" Thirty minutes later, I added: "C-L-O-Y-I-N-G. I eventually had to wash this off." The entry as it stands this morning is: "At first, I really loved this. Almost melon-y coconut. Sweet and very refreshing. Later it turns into essentially vanilla fields and is c-l-o-y-i-n-g on me. Eventually TRIED to wash it off, but it wouldn't come off. It was horrible." That's right. I couldn't get it off. I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed with an abrasive soap and it just wouldn't budge. Every time it seemed like I'd gotten it off, the scent would come back. It just would not quit on me. It was seriously nightmarish. There's nothing at all in the note description that explains why this turns into a musky vanilla hellfest on me, but it does. It's awful. Vanilla is the anti-me, and sugary vanilla is all I got out of this after about 30 minutes. No coconut... not even any shea butter. Yiiiiiiikes. Suffice to say, it's now a 1/5 in my spreadsheet. Sorry, Obatala, I wanted to love you, but you'll be going right back to the swaps.

In the imp: pretty flowers and a little bit of juniper. So far, so good. On me, wet: wow, I'm surprised by how sweet this is. The only floral I can smell now is the lilac, but it's moved into the background and the juniper and sandalwood are really stepping up. On me, dry: about the same as wet. Throw and duration: about average on both counts. I got at least 6 hours out of this. Overall: This is a really pretty little scent. It's sweeter than I expected, but not at all cloying on me. It's nice to find juniper with some softer scents and not surrounded by ferocious resins or anything. I'm keeping my imp of this for the time being. As a frivolous side note, I really like the color of this oil.

In the imp: hello, tea roses! On me, wet: sad, wistful tea roses. On me, dry: the memory of lonely tea roses, left forgotten on a rosewood table. Throw and duration: throw's reasonable, but I get almost no duration on this one. Seriously, it's gone within two hours. Sad. Overall: Okay, I know that tea rose is not a note in this. But that's what it smells like to me. Specifically, like dried tea roses that've been left in a vase too long and are starting to crumble apart. It's a terribly pretty and terribly sad scent. The short duration, while kind of a bummer, actually seems entirely appropriate to me. This smell is like a sad, sad memory. It's really a beautiful scent, but I don't know how much wear I'll get out of it because seriously... it's a smell that makes me sad. Just goes to show that the Lab has got the skillz. I'll definitely hold on to my imp, though.