scourgeotheseas

In the bottle: Wow, essence of gingerbread. Actually a bit sweeter than I expected, based on the reviews. On me/drydown: Doesn't appear to change too much. The initial biting sweetness goes away, and I can clearly catch the spice notes. Ah, I'm beginning to also feel the little sting of cinnamon. I haven't waited long enough to see if it lasts or not, I was so excited to review it! This one is excellent! I'm wearing this for my five hour plane flight tomorrow -- my fellow passengers should be delighted.

Got this in a swap from Shollin just after the boards went down - I love it! In the bottle: Like everybody else said, smells just like supersweet pink bubblegum. I think Dubble Bubble, personally. There's a little hint of cherry in the whiff, too. On me/wet: The bubblegum explodes! I smell like bubblegum and bright red cherry candy! I can't smell any orange at all, just cherry. I love ultrasweet, and this is perfect! Drydown: The bubblegum smooths out and slowly sinks into my skin. It never really turns into a musk or floral, but it does become a much more mature version of candy. I wish the drydown phase lasted longer on me. My only complaint is that it doesn't last at all on me -- every two hours I need to reapply. Just means I need to send it my next order and get a big bottle!

In the bottle: It's got that green floral scent I don't like too much. Can't smell any of the sweetness I associate with Dragon's Blood. Wet: That green floral is still around. My untrained nose can't distinguish too well between lilac and lily of the valley, but it must be one of them, right? Drydown: This dries into a really lovely warm floral. The stinky green note goes away very quickly, and the overwhelming floral smooths outs into a lush but restrained fragrance. I think the Dragon's Blood adds just a hint of mellowness to the scent and rounds it out. A big winner for me. Plus one to pass to my mom or sister...

This one is definitely NOT for me. In the bottle: a bit of mint, and some unidentified herbal scent. On me: Lemon Pledge and licorice. Nothing else came out at all. I don't want to smell of Lemon Pledge and licorice.

Another freebie from diabolique, and I am in LOVE! Hellcat was already a favorite, so another rum scent seemed like it might be good. In the bottle: Pina colada with extra rum. On me: Oh my god! The pina colada scent fades to a slighty coconut note, plus vanilla and rum. I don't quite smell leather, but I thought I smelled smoke - like a whiff of cigarettes or cloves. Basically, it's me on a Saturday night -- drinking rum and coke at the club I frequent, getting whiffs of perfume and cigarettes, and drunken sweet hugs from my friends. Big bottle, definitely.

A houdoun recipe dating back almost 150 years. This blend is favored by prostitutes, exotic dancers and others in the sex industry for its power to attract, seduce, and enthrall. Ensures financial gain and increased profits. I got this as a gift imp from diabolique because the description of creamy, sweet lemon just sounded perfect. Unfortunately, that's not how it smells on me. In the bottle: Lemon and baby powder. Wait, somebody earlier said Johnson's...that's it. On me/wet: It turned musky almost immediately. Still a hint of cream and lemon, but mostly a musky, incensey kind of thing. When I jumped on the bus, I smelled bug spray and hoped it wasn't me (I don't think it was, BTW). Dry: This oil has been morphing like once an hour. From musky and incensey, it faded to more lemony/Johnson's baby oil scent, and now the powder is really beginning to come out. It's not bad enough to wash off, but not good enough to try again.

I love "Old" London! It's a perfect tea rose scent, old-fashioned and beautiful. While I don't think it's one of the more adventerous BPAL oils, it is certainly one of my favorites. In the bottle: Lightly rose scented. On/wet: Mmmm...reminds me of walking in the Rose Quarter in Portland. As it drys: The notes don't seem to change too much on me. It starts as tea rose, ends as tea rose, and the only difference I notice is the intensity. If you don't like rose, I certainly wouldn't try it. However, after a day of Zombi (yesterday) and Spellbound (day before that), it is at the top of my current heap of gorgeous rose scents.

Dried roses, rose leaf, Spanish moss, oakmoss and deep brown earth. I got this as a freebie, because I don't think I'd ever pick an "earthy" scent on my own. In the bottle: Smells like dirt. Fresh dirt, like gardening soil. There's a tiny bit of floral peeking out, like you were gardening near a flowering plant. On/Wet: Yeah, smells the same. Dirt. Drydown: As it drys, the wet, fresh loam smell does fade a little and becomes a dry floral on me. Generally I like rose, but I think the combination with oakmoss isn't great. I'm going to run around with this on for the rest of the day, but I don't think I'm such a nontraditional scent. It may be headed for the swap pile. ETA: Wow, after 3 hrs the dirt finally went away. It is now a dry, crumbling rose. Maybe it'll stick around after all. Wondering...

A gift from Longstofly during our recent swap! In the bottle: (Umm, why is it green?) Roses and incense. I think it's mostly the amber I'm getting. Heavy, but good. On me/wet: Immediately the amber takes over. This is bad, because I hate incense-y smells and I get the "head shop" vibe. Underneath it I get roses, which are lovely. I can't smell musk at all, strangely. Maybe I just think I can't smell it, because the amber is so overpowering. Drydown: Luckily, I put this on right before going to school, because I otherwise would have washed it off. That would have been a shame, because the amber retreats enough as it dries to form a lush rose scent I think I enjoy. Kinda powdery. I agree that this may be too "heavy" as a normal daytime scent, but it certainly doesn't smell like "old lady" to me. Boy, I smell good.

I swapped with Longstofly for this, and I'm really loving it! In the bottle: Mainly Dragon's Blood. Warm, spicy, a little sweet. On/Wet: Upon first application, I smell the same warm, spicy scent that was in the bottle plus a greener note (maybe the woods? or the juniper?). I'm not a real fan of the green. I can't smell leather at all. Drying: Thankfully, the green smell goes away almost immediately. What's left is a complex blend of spicy and sweet. It does smell faintly of holiday potpourri, I guess, but I truly enjoy it. After a while: It doesn't last very long on me, unfortunately. Within a couple of hours it fades to a very light scent. I could also see this as a more masculine scent, perfect for a guy in the SCA. Not only is the imp a keeper, but I may need to get a bottle of this.

I've tried this imp a couple of times and it smells completely different to me this time. The weather? My body chemistry? My nose? WET: The first time I smelled my imp of Alice, I was struck by the "sour milk" note. Now I get a little honey, some spice, and a light floral. UPON APPLICATION: The honey jumps up -- I think I need to try more scents with this note. Then the florals start to pop out. Unfortunately, I don't smell bergamot at all. The sweet honey smell almost immediately fades, replaced by a combination of rose and baby powder. DRYDOWN: It loses the sweetness and gets more and more powdery. The rose becomes stronger. Strong to the point of being cloying - weird because I love rose. I'm still not sure about this one. I have another rose scent I love (Old London) and the powdery note makes this a little to "girly" for me, I think.

I've been wearing this one off and on for a few weeks and love it. When I first put it on, I smell cinnamon and something unidentifiable and sweet. As it drys, I smell vanilla and cinnamon, and something else I still can't identify (maybe a light floral?). Unfortunately, it doesn't last on me at all. Guess I'll have to reapply often and buy more!