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I was pretty nervous about this one. I'm allergic to sage. So, bad things could happen. So, I tried it with a benedryl at my side. In the bottle: DARK/musky berries, definitely sage tickling my nose w/its sharp aroma, lipton green tea Wet: See above, but it's starting to smell a little wild. Dry: Very sagey now. & The musk is unfurling (either there's musk or something in here that turns to musk on me) & they're duking it out amongst the berries. The site is itching a little any my nose is getting stuffy. So, I'm going to wash it off. I like the idea of this. It's just it doesn't work for me. *itch itch* Edit to add: Post washing & benedryl, the berries & a little musk faintly remain. Very pretty.

Anyone remember Annick Goutal's Rose Absolue? If you took a stick of rock candy & dipped it in that perfume, you would get Hope. There's a lot of sugar an concentrated roses. Yes, roses (plural). I can't identify how many though. This is very long wearing on me, and the roses bowl me over. It kind of makes me light headed This is perfect for my mother. She's a rose fiend. As I haven't been able to get my hands on more of the Annick Goutal fragrance (and because I happen to love Faith), I'm giving my mother the Hope bottle in the set.

I bought this new, because it was a glorious aquatic & reminded me of the harbor & kelp. It sincerely smelled like ventura harbor both in the bottle & on. Now, after aging, it's a bit different. Not bad, but different In the bottle: Faintly sweet aquatic notes. A bit of cucumber & maybe underripe melon. There's something very herby going on here. Stinging green. Wet: The green gets more tame, but still very green. A bit of salt tang hits the aquatic notes Drydown: The green is mixed with floral- the nose itchy poppy note (it's not a bad itch- really!). The cucumber & underripe melon battle a bit, then both fade to almost nothing- the aquatic is left at tang & a bitter mossy note. Aftermath: See above, but in fainter & fainter nosefuls It's very nice. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it though. Maybe I'll swap it.

In the bottle: citrus, tart fruit, a splash of hawaiian punch, and a deeper note- dragon's blood? Wet: More of the same, but more tangy & floral?? Dry: No more hawaiian punch! The notes are merrily battering each other. It's the tangerine cousin of what I hoped to get from Glitter! After about 20 min- the sweet flowers come out, as well as some green stuff Aftermath: The fruit sweetness fades a little. The green comes out more & it tempers the blend. The peony & dragon's blood are kinda of hybridizing. It's a very complex blend that seems to "sway" between notes, rather then morphing or battling. ----------- Edit to add (2017) - I still have this bottle. The floral notes have faded a touch in the bottle- but my skin likes amping these florals (yay aging & me aging LOL). It's floral with a touch of sweet fruit on me nowadays.

Interested in an Imp or decant: No current list. Give me time. This list used to be very long. Allergies: Olive, cinnamon, sage, incense Skin amps these notes too much: Orris/iris, most incense, anything with Snake Oil

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In the bottle: Sweet- like grape jelly & fizz & something special. Wet: The bubble gum note some have mentioned comes out. It is a white grape juice kind of thing. It makes my stomache tuen just like white grape juice. A little fizz still there- saving my stomache Dry: Some sort of floral & still the white grape juice. No wine at all (which makes sense- my skin amps sweet) I had to wash it off at this point. I was getting nauseated. This is such a shame, as it smells sweet & fae in the bottle. Edit to add: Washed & later, the heliotrope is still there & a whiff of fruit. It's not so bad now. But, still not for me.

Yay for EBay! I finally got ahold of her! In the bottle: Anise, gardenia, fruit Wet: Anise & fruits seperate a little. Not much change. Dry: BAM! Gardenia and roses at war on the battlefield of Patchouli, to the back beat of various gushing fruits. 1/2 hour in: Pomegranate & raspberry quickly are becoming alternating notes- plum is by the wayside. There are pricks of white pepper as well. Gardenia & rose rage on. Aftermath: Things kind of blend to something appealing. It seems Gardenia is the slightly more dominate note in the florals on me. Gardenia + white peper = win. The fruits blended to a grown up sort of fruit. & The patchouli is playing nice. (What a surprise!)

Due to a wretched allergy to cinnamon, I cannot try this on. So, I will sniff as I can. In bottle: OMG pear & apple cider. With cloves & cinnamon Wet on paper: It really reminds me of Wyder's pear cider & Hornsby's amber draft mixed and prepared Xmassy-traditional. There's a note of something else... nuts? Cream? And evergreen... more fir than pine. Dry on paper: See above, but with a kind of cinnamon inscence kick to it. And, somewhere in there was a bit of mint. Coworker says there's sandalwood (I have trouble registering sandalwood- so i believe him) Though the cinnamon hurts me to sniff. It is quite lovely. *goes to take benedryl*

in bottle: zingy fruity, boozy chocolate wet: fruits, boozy chocolate, clove?, vanilla drydown: those fruit are more definied & one is weird, the chocolate is no longer boozy, the vanilla is still faint aftermath: and unsettling dance of the above notes. I'm not a fan of peach & this is reminding me of that.

In our paean to all the mysteries surrounding this enigmatic number, there are thirteen lucky and unlucky components, including white chocolate, dark chocolate, apple blossom, honeysuckle, frankincense, allspice, nutmeg, black tea, tonka, and sandalwood. in the bottle: chocolate!!! Sweet chocolate. wet: sweet, sweet, syrupy godiva liquor over apple pie drydown: same as above, but the apple warms & there's something... I guess the sweet is honeysuckle? It reminds me of chocolate syrup over spiced apple blossoms... strange. But, good. aftermath: This keeps morphing on me. chocolate, sweet honeyed flowers, a little spice. All keeps switching levels. There's also a whiff of what seems like mint to me, but probably isn't.. is that what tonka smells like? It's very nice for breaking it up.

I tried- Beaver'versary... I love me the sugary scents & this one really did it for me. Sweets & cake. mmmm Moon of the Terrible. I have to get this. Sweet (lychee?) & sexy (moonflower? other night florals?). It develops into something mysteriously sexy on me (which I like because I am neither as a person but dream of being ) Champagne & Roses. This was pretty & bubbly. I would have gotten one for myself & my friend, Jen (who couldn't come), but it sold out too fast. I sniffed- Wood phoenix. It was very woody. In a way that just didn't agree with my nose Candy Phoenix. I might be crazy, but it reminds me of jelly beans, salt water taffy, and those juicy hard candies. It was hard to tell if I liked it or it was just making me hungry. Champagne, chocolate & sex. This was so very very good in the bottle. But, I didn't apply it because most musks get amped too much on me. It did smell very yummy & lickable in the sexy sorta way. Eggnog latte. I'm kicking myself for leaving my toy at work. (It eventually ended up at Toys for Tots) The eggnog latte was coffee shop devine. Warm & comfortable, yet delish. Ah, well, maybe it'll be revived? Snake Charmer revived. I don't get the hype. I wanted to like this. But, like snake oil, it just didn't work for me. Sniffy spicey muskey & sexy. It'd probably smell wonderful on my friend Judy (who has the polar opposite body chemistry to me as far as fragrances go) It was SO crowded. I made my purchase & slipped out to wait for my friend, Steph (misspriss). I decided to help collect toys, as I didn't want to get bored... nothing to do with the door guy being cute. I had a nice chat with the forumite Tomatojoe (*shakes fist at her for getting the last C&R* ) Steph did make it & we got to catch up. I don't know what it is about willcalls that makes me so shy. But, I swear I'll try to talk to more people next time. In any case, I had a good time.

In the bottle: OMG SYRUP YUM!!! I felt a huge seratonin rush upon smell of this. Upon further examination... I could smell something buttery under the sugar. Wet: Syrup. Sticky sweet sugary mapley goodness the butter comes out a teensy bit. Dry: See above, but the butter seems a background note. The grain smell from Horn of A. comes out now. I smell no fruit (which is fine by me). This reminds me of Horn of A. (without green veggies & butter instead of cream) mixed with the sticky sugar note from Huesos de Santo. The longer it goes, the more like mapley-grains I smell. The next day: I tried this on at 8pm last night. I went to lunch with a friend at 12:30. He asked what perfume I was wearing & that I smelled so good. This is *after* a shower & putting on tea tree oil!!! I am very fond of foody sugary scents. This does it for me. The grain note really distincts it from others like "Eat me." I almost makes it wholesome, despite the sinful sugar club beating you into sweet sweet submission.

Imp: Carnations! and faint rose. I really reminds me of those bouquets you can buy at the market. Wet: Carnations & rose, over sweet honey & earl grey tea. the honey & earl grey get stronger the dryer it gets & there's a random whiff of cream for a second. Dry: the rose is a background note. The bergamont (no longer tea) is obvious. The carnation & honey are in a process of devouring each other. It's very odd thing to observe. aftermath: I still am getting random faint whiffs of bergamont, rosey honey, and carnation. Never all together though. ADDED Sept. 30: imp: florals & bergamont with a whiff of sweet condensed milk wet: ooh, I can smell the carnation strongly. & a little soap. It reminds me of when I used to make floral arrangements for part time work & would sniff the carnations because I thought the scent was so different. dry: the carnation tones down & milk powder & honey dust kick up. There's also the comforting smell of bergamont tea. I take my earl grey with milk & honey, so this is a comforting scent to me. aftermath: the notes blend together. It's a dusty scent, but not old lady-ish like when violet or lilac go to powder. It's a little too foody to go there. notes: This scent smells drastically different on me depending on what time of the month it is (that's why 2 reviews). The milk & honey tones are a lot stronger at some times, the bergamont & carnation take the forefront at other times. Either way, I like it. But, it's something to be noted.

This is such a beautiful fragrance. All the sugared fruity trampy goodness. But either the musk note gets "turned" during the drydown, which amps the amber into headache zone. It's sweet & fruity & calmost cakey... yet totally not at the same time. It's a gorgeous fragrance. On my friend Judy (she can wear most fragrances that turn on me): This develops from fruity goodness to a womanly vanilla musk- with a touch of the cherry left. Gorgeous!

When I first tried this in am imp, it was strongly violet & the vetiver rounded it out. It was dark violets. I decided it's my fave BPAL. But, in my 5ml, the vetiver takes the forefront. It is very deep & earthy from the vetiver with violet peeking out. Even after drydown, it's more like a swampy violet than dark violet. During certain parts of my cycle, this fragrance develops into something incredibly sexy on me. Violet is almost always lovely on me & vetiver is good during certain times. I like the effect of layering this with a sugary or fruity fragrance as well. But, I must caution folk, this is very earthy- swamp earthy. Unless vetiver develops well on you, you're not going to like it. In any case, do not slather. Edit to add (Jan 06, 2009): After it aging a few months, the vetiver is a little less gritty. No less strong, but the "grit" to it is faded. I have a feeling it'll be the same smell as I had in the imp after a few more months of age Edit (June 24, 2012): Wearing this layered over my usual tea tree oil for acne. It's so green and foresty all mixed together.

A white floral, with a white pepper note to it, also... that "chrome"/metallic note in certain BPAL blends. This develops beautifully on me to an upliftingly dizzy floral with a bite. I love this as a fragrance. As to it's effectiveness... It helps me release my anger without all the usual Aries fire. It helps me think through stress without going bonkers. It doesn't calm me like foody fragrances. It "lances the boil" (so to speak) for me. Great for clearing the air/mind.

I got this on rec. from the lovely folk at the lab back when I was at a good job in a very hostile environment. It was effective. At least in making me feel somewhat safe in a hostile environment. It also scared the heck out of the fundie guy who was harrassing me. I anointed not only myself, but my work cubicle & car frequently. Now that I'm at a new & happy job, I've used it all of once to anoint my cube (though, I think my car is asking for another go with it). The fragrance has dragon's blood & clove and... some sort of floral that doesn't seem to detract from it at all. After a long while, there's a warm sweet note (honey? warm almond? cream?!?!) that lingers long after everything else. It's a warm calm female strength sorta smell to me. I sound silly, don't I?

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I can't really describe the fragrance beyond that it's very citrusy and has elderflower (it's an elderflower liquor- http://www.stgermain.fr/). I was hoping to find a BPAL that comes close to the liquor's fragrance. Has anyone else drank it & have an idea of a BPAL that would come close? Or have a rec for a citrusy elderflower BPAL? Thanks!

The label is lovely! In the imp: Sweets! Creamy sweets, fig, honey, juicy juicy something, and yet another something that balances the sweet to be more "real food" Wet: The cream & honey come out more, as well as whatever that balancing note is. The fig gets a little spicey. Drydown: The honey calms down a bit & the juiciness is gone. It kind of reminds me of organic carrot cake made with honey & oat flour instead of refined sugar & flour. Not bad at all. The cucumber becomes noticable (but not strong), giving it an interesting crisp note. 2 hours later: still a whiff of oats & honey, cream & saffron are there faintly as well. Very nice

Ah, barely got to see the willcall. I brought a boi, as men are good for carrying things. He helped me lug all the canned foods (and brought some of his own). Due to the donation, I got an imp of Horn of Almathea. I barely got to sniff at a few prototypes & halloweenies before leaving. Ah well. I sniffed gunpowder & it was nicely sweet. I revisited the pumpkins & decided the only one I liked was #1 & that it wasn't perfect for me. I'm really looking forward to the new CD act though. & I must snag another Agrat & candy butcher before the carnival leaves town (assuming the finances allow).

In the imp: grape koolaid & spice. this makes me slightly hesitant. But, I've heard good things about it, so... Wet: Leather & grape koolaid. I like the leather. I like the koolaid. I don't like them together. C'mon drydown! Dry: The violet comes out a bit & the scent turns very purple. But, the koolaid "bite" isn't going away Aftermath (1 hour later): The bite is finally gone, but the leather has faded as well. It's violets & sweetness & faint leather. I wanted to like this so much. Maybe this will smell better when out dancing? Edit to add: Farther after the 1 hour drydown the bite finaaly goes away. It's violet & rose? & leather now. Now this I like. Maybe the bite will go away with age?

Wet: This starts out very green & ferny Drydown: Lily, lilac, and tons of ferny greenery. Very flower shop in spring After a while: It dulls down to a faint amount of fern, & a powdery lilac overall: It's not bad. But, it's not me.