scourgeotheseas

I really don't how to begin to describe this, but I'll give it a go. In the bottle: At first whiff it has the herbal tang of sage. There is an underlying sweetness, like a ripe fruit. I find it calming, yet energizing. Following fallow deer's lead, I'm trying a little on just to see how it unfolds. On me/wet: The dry, almost astringent herbal smell is first, but warmed by something resinous and sweet. Drydown: I can't take my nose off my wrist. A warm herbal bouquet. I'm not a practicioner of any rituals, but I plan on using this in my wax burner when I need relaxation or mental cleansing.

Speaking with my geologist hat on, I second Black Opal. Also, Queen of Diamonds if you can get your hands on it! If you are into sediment, Zombie or Graveyard Dirt.

Cancer 2007 In the imp: Light, sweet-tartish. Kind of like the scent of those flavored waters, you know? On me/wet: Very aquatic! Light, lovely. At first it's all kind of blended together, but then a sharp green smell pops out, then sweet pea and another floral. Mmmm....followed by pear. Drydown: Getting sweeter! Unfortunately, it's also very faint. It seems to be disappearing. Oh, I guess not. It's sticking around, but very light. This blend is a beaut! I will probably mix into a spray bottle or use a scent locket for longer-lasting coverage.

The Ecstasy of Passion (thanks for the swap, reenie212!) In the imp: Musk and amber, so I imagine I'm smelling both of them and the ambergris as well. Plus a boozy topnote. On me/wet: Amber! Clove appears in the background, and a sweetness that might be the bourbon vanilla. As it sits, the clove becomes more and more apparent. Sweet, smoky clove. Mmmm.... Drydown: Whoa! This is a strong one! The sweetness has faded, and now I see where all the comparisons to clove cigarettes come from. There's a light floral overlay, and hint of vanilla sweetness. Pretty. As it continues to drydown, it's fading to a sort-of skin musk smell, with only a bit of clove. Still very nice.

Shanghai Tunnel In the bottle: woodsy (gee - I hope that's not sandalwood!), a little green. On me/wet: Spicy! Is that a musk? Yep, there's sandalwood. A hint of florals. And more sandalwood. BPAL's sandalwood amps on my skin until there's nothing else left. Drydown: Damn you, sandalwood!!! That just ruins it. I hate to smell of pencil shavings. (However, well over an hour later, the sandalwood disappeared and it became this super gorgeous scent. I don't think I wait that long, though. )

Unheavenly City In the bottle: Whew! Giant, wet, night-blooming flowers! On me/wet: My random guesses for notes (before reading the thread) were magnolia, jasmine, red musk, and dragon's blood. Looks like I hit some of them right! It starts out on me as an almost overwhelming floral, with big hits of magnolia and gardenia. There's also the background greenery and waxy notes I come to expect of these guys. The red musk starts out a little funky on me, but is basically drowned ot by the florals. I thought dragon's blood, because of the floral quality and its insanely red color! When wet, this one is superstrong and heady! Drydown: Wow! It changes a lot! This lightens up a lot on me, becoming sort of sweet in the drydown. The florals have calmed, and I begin to smell the jasmine some more. The green, waxy notes have faded as well. A certain spiciness starts to come out...that's nice. I'm liking this a lot more than in its initial stages.

Shattered - this was a DC imp from the circular swap. In the imp: Mint and lotus, but the mint is a soft, afterdinner variety and the bubblegum scent of lotus is very faint. On me/wet: When it first touches my skin, those same two notes are the first to make an appearance. Soon after, a hint of grapefruit and an aquatic somethingness begin. This is a weird one! Mint, but a catniplike mint, is still the forefront. Drydown: More grapefruit, but still minty. Reminds me of one of the citrus mint gums, or the extremely odd citrus mint toothpaste I sampled recently. However, this works. Still weird, but it works. I think I like it.

Silentium Amoris - from the DC imp swap. In the imp: Light rose plus a much stronger, whiter floral - must the ylang ylang? I always forget what it is supposed to smell like... On me/wet: This is fresh, green rose like that found in Rose Red. Generally, I love rose. Hmmm, it's going all lemony on me. Drydown: The lemony freshness mellows, leaving a light rose scent. It's pretty, and I would have liked some, but I've got a ton of other BPAL rose scents to make me happy.

Cabaret - from the DC circular swap. In the imp: Red musk and alcohol. If it already smells like BO in the imp, can it possible be ok on my skin?? On me/wet: Ummm, probably not. I don't really like red musk, and can barely smell the florals. Drydown: Actually, the worst of the musky smell goes away and it turns much sexier....wait, I lied. I smell awful. Really, really awful. No red musk for Deb. No!

Azazel - from the DC imp circle. Lemongrass sometimes overpowers me, so we'll see. In the imp: Lemongrass, and probably the citron. On me/wet: Lemony fresh. Nothing else is coming through, although the citron is blending well with the lemongrass to give it a strong, sharp citrus scent. Drydown: It's still lemony, but getting more candy sweet. I wish something else would come out of this, but nothing yet. Wait...finally, sage and bay have joined the group. Very nice.

Lex Talionis - from the DC imp swap circle. In the imp: Pepper just reaches out and slaps ya in the face, don't it? Also cedarwood and grapefruit in the inital sniff. On me/wet: Pepper replaced almost immediately with grapefruit. The rest of the spicies lurk in the background. Drydown: Cedarwood has completely taken over - my, the skin loves wood. I never even got to smell many of the other notes. Poo!

Typhon - From the DC swap circle. This is a list of things that don't like me, but I'll try it anyway. In the imp: Vetiver, patchouli. Resiny. On me/wet: Just like in the vial. I think some of the DCs have probably aged a lot, and this seems like one of them. The inital notes end up forming a blended, dark, spicy scent on me. It reminds me of one of the other DCs with patchouli. Drydown: After a while, the notes become more distinct again. Sandalwood is trying to have its way with my arm, but I will resist. The scent has definitely become dryer and woodier. Very masculine, and I'm guessing that the aging has really helped this one. If I had an imp of my own, I'd try it on the bf.

Goona Goona - From the DC swap circle. In the imp: Herbal baby powder. On me/wet: Powdery, a little rose, and hint of light resins (to me, anyway). Drydown: Definitely gets more rosy, and normally I enjoy rose. This one is more of a powdery old lady rose, and I don't really like it much. And it's super strong on me. I think I'll stick with White Light.

Black Widow - from the DC imp swap. This one is a combo of good (rose, myrrh) and bad (sandalwood, patchouli) so we'll see whether the forces of good or evil win out. In the imp: Red wine and roses. Not bad. On me/wet: Kind of spicy, without any proper form or scent. When I'm not sniffing closely, the red wine just hangs around in the air. Now that I'm near my arm, roses are coming to the forefront. No hint of sandalwood, and the patchouli is confining itself to providing a full background note instead of jumping to the dirty hippie front! Whoa nellie! This one is strong!! Drydown: Red wine and roses, with a hint of spicy background. I haven't tried on Wanda or Spellbound in a while, but I have a feeling the similarities would be strong on my skin. This dried down quite beautifully.

Ingenue - from the DC imp swap. In the imp: Oooh, pretty! Brightly floral, yet aquatic. On me/wet: Violet mellowed by melon and something else (clover? water lily? I don't know). Not bad at all! Drydown: Melon-y at first. A sharp biting scent jumps in soona after, which I think is the violet. Definitely an aquatic background, though. Is it coincidence that I'm getting a headache, or is it the violet???? Sadly, I'm not getting much rose. Headache...ok, this comes off now.

Yuki-Onna - from the DC imp swap. Oh, the dreaded sandalwood. And lemon verbena. Both amp on me unbearably. In the imp: Tart and lemony fresh! Bergamot and lemon verbena, and a whiff of jasmine. On me/wet: Lemon pledge! AAAAAUGH! Drydown: While it stayed at the lemon pledge stage for a long time, it has finally acquired a hint of musty woodiness. Now I smell like the inside of an antique store. Yuki-Onna was definitely not a scent made with me in mind.

Chypre - from the DC imp circular swap. This is not a list of my favorite things, but here goes... In the imp: Overpowering lavender. On me/wet: Lavender, but not insanely overwhelming. Softened by the white musk, I'm sure. I'm not getting any distinct violet or neroli yet. Drydown: This one softened into a subtle blend of lavender and white musk with a hint of florals. It reminded me of a very nice dryer sheet.

Sathariel In the imp: Sweet and resinous. Dragon's blood? It's definitely a possibility. On me/wet: A sharp, unpleasant floral. Who said "waxy"? I agree, but would call it a waxy, white floral with a little resin in the background. Drydown: This one is just too sharp - I smell sort of like flowers, sort of like resins, a little like smoke, and a little burnt. Not too good, but somewhat intriguing despite that. This one, I think, is not for me.

Nahemoth In the imp: Resinous, woody, and overripe fruit. The overripe fruit kinda turns my stomach. On me/wet: Well, I'll forge ahead and try it... Hmmm, not bad. The overripe fruit morphs into naked lady musk for a moment, then wanders into a spicy, resinous orgy. It's definitely a sexy, "look at me" kind of scent. Drydown: Plum! Powedery, almost cinnamony plum. This one is pretty hot, although it keeps getting overtones of erm...smelly crotch...on me. Hopefully, that isn't evident to anyone but me. OK, after the whiffs of unwashed body went away, the rest was pretty good smelling. I'll need to try this another time or two to see if the plum outweighs the slightly nasty note my skin seemed to respond to.

Thagirion In the bottle: A cross between lemon-lime soda and a dryer sheet. On me/wet: Instead of lemon, I'm getting a well-mixed floral blend that still reminds me of a dryer sheet. Drydown: This one smells pretty much the same after a couple of hours, if a bit more faint. It's a nice, light floral, but there isn't anything terribly distinctive about it. I can take it or leave it.

Gamaliel Smells like sandalwood even before I open it. Hmmm... In the bottle: Woody, fruity, a hint of turpentine and rot. On me/wet: Definitely a wood, but is it sandalwood or a milder cousin? Lemon or lemon verbena, yup. Heady! Drydown: This one's getting all spicy! Gah, what is that smell??? It's on the tip of my tongue...not quite cinnamon, myrrh? Frankincense? A bit of clove? It's got a hint of candy sweetness that cuts the resins. And that's not sandalwood I smelled, because it didn't amp to hell. Maybe rosewood? This one was really nice - far better than I had expected upon initial application. It doesn't have particularly strong staying power on me, but is a really unique scent.

Ghagiel In the bottle: Generic white flower perfume, complete with alchohol scent. I swear. On me/wet:Starts off pretty! A floral mixture, but less overwhelming than I had been expecting based on the reviews. Slightly soapy, but also a teeny bit spicy? Drydown: This actually became a very lovely floral, with sweet, almost fruity overtones. It took a while to lighten up, but now there's just a hint of light florals. Lily? Sweet pea? Very nice. Although I see no connection between its name and scent, I'm definitely going to use this imp again.

Red Phoenix In the bottle: Benzoin! And what must be cassia, cinnamon's spicy cousin! Sweeter than I imagined... On me/wet: Spicy and warm. In fact, kinda burny on my left wrist (but not the right). Surprisingly, I'm not getting any musk or patchouli out of this, all to the good. Instead, the benzoin (but not tonka), cassia, and a hint of mandarin are combining. No tobacco yet. Drydown: Much the same. Spicy, warm, definitely get the cassia. The tonka and benzoin blend to form a slightly vanilla-y background, and if I huff really hard I get a whiff of plum. It's very pretty, but I think it's more of a autumn/winter scent.

Rosalind In the bottle: A mix of tart and sweet. Sort of a generic shampoo scent. On me/wet: Green, herbal, a little floral. The sharpness made me sneeze (never a good sign). Drydown: I can't pick up any real distinct notes from this one. The sharp green has gone away, leaving behind a light floral with a sweet-tart, muddled berry scent wafting in and out. It's getting prettier as it dries, but I already have favorites in the berry scents and light florals. Not a keeper for me...

Suspiro In the bottle: Overwhelmingly white floral, with a slightly unpleasant background note. On me/wet: Jasmine is the first thing to jump out at me. This is definitely in the "white floral" category at this moment - nothing else seems to be jumping into the mix. Drydown: It mellows out, becoming a not so "in your face" white floral. For those that like them, it's even kind of pretty. However, I'm realizing more and more than these aren't my kind of scents. Off to swaps, my pretty!