eyeska

I wanted to like this! *sulks* It was very minty and eucalyptus-y in the imp and on my skin, after about five-ten minutes, it's calmed down to vaguely minty soap. It's been like that for another ten, and I don't think there's any more morphing in its future. This is actually the first scent I've had go to soap on me. Interesting.

Normally I don't break my reviews down like this, but this was so striking: In the imp: Sweet, strong liquor of an unidentified type. Ack! Wet on skin: Sugary sweet candy. Cheap candy. Oh, nooo, what have I gotten myself into? Dry on skin: Oh. Ooh. Musk. And patchouli! Oh, hello, there's some rose there, too. And . . . oh, vanilla, was that YOU cloying up the place? This is much nicer. Sweet and delicious, with a tiny bit of wood and not-entirely-definable darkness. Worth the five minutes to wait out the candy stage. The longer I wear it, the more prominent the vanilla is, but not in the overpowering (and scary to a non-foodie!) way it was in the beginning. This is as dark as Oblivion, but sweeter. I don't think I'll get a bottle (<3 Oblivion!), but I will definitely be keeping the imp.

Definitely rosy, very floral. It actually smells like a fresh bouquet of flowers to me. I'm another person who's finding it very pretty and not too soapy or powdery, but just not something I'd wear because it's not quite "me".

In the bottle, I have finally begun describing this to friends as simply smelling "bad". It's really hard to pin it down more than that, especially because I'm too new to know a lot of scents well. In the bottle, War is AWFUL. However, I took a breath and put her on my skin. She takes about five minutes to calm down on my skin, and when she does she's a lovely, wet patchouli-ginger with soft musk. It seems to have a similar hint of trepidation that I find in Undertow. A friend of mine has described it as my "sexy hippie" smell, and while that description doesn't quite fit War herself, I can definitely be happy with it. I have to be in the mood for it, but I really do like this oil. EDIT: After 4 months of wearing various BPAL oils on regular basis, guess which scent has the most compliments under her belt? Oh yeah. *grin*

Minor additions from someone who isn't deeply in love with florals: From the Carnaval, Priala is cinnamon, smoke, and musk. For some of my faves from the GC: Yggdrasil is one I've been in love with for a little while now, and of course it's very green and full of woods and moss and herbs; Djinn, again, I'd recc; and Dragon's Claw.

Delicious. I was looking for a simpler sandalwood scent, and here it is - sweet but not foody or cloying in any way, spiced, and warm. Definitely getting a bottle. The throw starts off on the HUGE side for me - quoth the fiance, "Wow, I don't even need to bury my face in your chest to smell this one!" - and then settles a bit after a half hour or so, though it's still good enough that I don't need to contort myself to smell it on my collarbone. It also stays for hours and doesn't morph (possibly because my skin seems to like both of the notes, and possibly because it's just not complex enough to have a lot of space TO morph).

Purrrrrr. After the "OMG HERE'S CINNAMON" I got out of the bottle as I sadly took a breath and prepared to hate smelling like nothing but as I dabbed it on, Priala is all spicy smoky musk on me. It takes about five minutes for the cinnamon to step back, though it doesn't disappear by any means. Once it's not in the limelight, though, I have hours and hours of deliciousness. This is simply gorgeous, and I'm glad I took a plunge with something a little different from what I might normally be interested in.

I tried this a little while ago, and I hate to say it, but I could hardly stand it. I found it almost overpoweringly strong and almost painful in the bottle, and it didn't change even a touch when I put it on my skin, until about an hour later, when I found it had finally calmed the hell down and faded to a vaguely sandalwoody scent. I have lots of sandalwood, and the time in between just wouldn't be worth it to me. It seemed to have amazing throw, and would probably be just gorgeous on someone who could carry it off, but unfortunately (I love woody scents and am developing an enjoyment of vetiver) that would not be me.

Salvation found in darkness beyond darkness, the blessed sleep of nothingness. Dark musk, wood spice, labdanum, patchouli, dark African woods, and saffron. I adore Oblivion - normally musks pop out on me (which is yay!), but here the musk hides and is almost entirely undetectable; instead I get dark dark woods, a bit of patchouli, and a bit of warm spice. I don't find it too masculine at all, though it is more gender-neutral than anything, on me at least. I also find it very comforting - I actually wore it every day for a week when I had to work 57 hours and got far too little sleep and time to myself. Definitely a bottler.

On me this is a beautiful, fresh, mossy green. I also find it's very close to my skin - it's got minimal throw on me. It's definitely a huge favourite, and my only complaint is that it doesn't last very long, and I would love just a little more throw so I can actually smell it on myself without drenching myself in it. I don't really smell any of the mints that people are mentioning, but I also didn't detect them in my imp of Cathode, so that might just be something I'm blind to. This is my first big-bottle purchase. Just delicious.

I find this scent a little unusual, but I've found that leaving it for a couple months actually allowed it to grow on me. I usually tend to earthier, greener, and/or spicier scents, so I ordered this imp just to see how aquatics go for me. I definitely detect the mint, and to be honest, I'm not sure what juniper OR lotus smell like on their own. So I get a vaguely fruity/minty, vaguely flowery, definitely sweet, clean smell from this. I've been wearing it for an hour now, and I don't think it's really morphed since about 5 minutes in. On the one hand, I tend to earthier, non-sweet scents. On the other hand, I keep smelling myself and thinking, "Curious." and then a moment later . . . ". . . but I sort of love it!" I'm going to have to try more aquatics, just because this one intrigues me so much! I'm glad I waited on this one after my initial, "Oh, I just don't think this is me" reaction! EDIT: And, after five hours, it's faded to an "if I hold my hand up to the back of my wrist I can only just smell what's left" shade, without actually having changed at all in that time. Nice!

Oh, dear . . . shortly after discovering BPAL (early this year), I started realizing some scents fit my RPG characters (most of whom are retired, boo). At this point, out of about fifteen or so, I only have one whom I cannot pin down, largely because she keeps flipping me the bird when I think of what she'd smell like. Starting to suspect Miskatonic University would be best for her, for the coffee smell and lack of "traditional" perfumeyness - she's a young Orpheus operative with lots of computer skills, a 'tude you couldn't carry without a wheelbarrow, and a moderate coffee addiction. I only just discovered this thread. Right now I have an imp of Dragon's Hide on order for my only current character - a redheaded elf who, partway through the current campaign, assisted in killing a black dragon. Guess what she wanted for her reward? That's right, new dragonscale armour. *grin* I've got my fingers crossed for it arriving before the end of the chapter/her death. Sitting maybe 50/50 right now. I also spent a disturbing amount of time discussing this concept with a friend/fellow RPGer whom I successfully enabled onto BPAL. So I'll be in this thread a lot.