Lamia

I was so fortunate to have been frimped some by Ondine, much love!! This smells very lemony on me. It took some effort to puzzle it out while wet, and that itself is unusual - who can't recognize lemons?? It became lemon and a red musk. I get no chocolate. May get some rum.

This a wonderfully masculine. It's a young man, mid-20's, comfortably off and confident in himself, who likes adventure. Not a current 20-something with his hair in his eyes and his shapeless pants hanging fron the tip of his dick but a man of my era, with a well-tailored casual 80's-style suit. He likes to parasail, to snowboard, has a smile for everyone he meets and is genuinely well-liked and respected by everyfrom from his parents to the guy who pours his coffee. Pine, tobacco, to start. The pine steps back and becomes scruffy and vetiver-esque. Delicious on me, and probably exquisite on the right man. Whew!

This is a beautiful floral, all lilies and with a background of roses. After a few hours, it turns grainy on my wrists, but my shirt smells BEAUTIFUL

I am surprised at the ingredient list. In the bottle, and wet, this was citrus. Yuzu, I thought to myself wisely, thinking I was clever. Not so much! The powerful citrus smell was quite thick and rich - the high-end ice cream to melted convenience store sherbert - until drydown. Left wrist smells divine! Honey and berries NOM! Right wrist smells like berry stems and dry stalks. er... ok? I never know with amber, it seems - golden amber is in my favorite BPAL of all time, and also in some others that smell like barf on my skin.

This reminds me a lot of Kabuki (cherry, red musk, and star anise), only, y'know, LIKE WHOA! Sexy and red. Sweet without being sticky, strong without being harsh. Man, this is YUMMY!

A very clear high scent. The sandalwood tames the lilac, the cherry and orchid keep it floral. Quick fade. Interestingly, my right wrist smells very floral, while my left wrist smells of sandalwood and bamboo.

Whoa... so far, this has been the best one, which surprises me because amber often doesn't work on me. But this is sexy and confident, dark and female; fig, vanilla, neroli, leather - you can't even detect the patchouli. I may have to hunt down a bottle of this.

This started magnificently - very sexy and red, all cloves and musk and roses. Oh dear, I thought, I may have to hunt down a bottle of this if this stays so fabulous. Drydown, turns to roses. Sexy clove-y roses, oh my yes, but that deliberate grab-your-face musk/rose/clove has faded away. I can't decide if I am relieved or sad! Edited for HTML fail

I would have never guessed that this contains leather or musk, and doubt I would have picked up on the tea leaf. This is a gentle floral - and I don't mean anemic or weak, I mean gentle. It doesn't attack your sinuses or smile as it gives you a shake. It's a beautifully blended feminine scent. No one ingredient leaps out an shouts ATTENTION MEEEEE! After about 2 hours it does get a little rougher, presumably that is the leather knocking politely at the door. A beautiful scent, not me.

This started intriguingly enough, but turned during drydown to something that smelled like clove/patchouli orange soap. When it finally settled down, I had to ponder a while what this made me think of, and I have finally figured it out. When I was in high school, my best friend was Cantonese, and she had a divine scent that followed her, and I could never figure out where it came from. It was rather like the beauty department of a particular store in Chinatown I used to frequent, something floral, something spicy, something dusky, and entirely foreign. This reminds me of those smells, but it's not pleasant on me. Trade bag. I got this as a frimp just yesterday, and had to do an emergency test today as Succubus is being discontinued as of tomorrow. I am relieved that I dodged a bullet on this one, but the fact that 3 of my other favorites are going sort of makes it a pyrrhic victory.

This starts out exquisitely. Have you ever been in a tea shop, one that sells bulk tea? Or have you ever opened a fresh tin of Black Oolong or Gunpowder? Yeah. This smells like bulk tea, with cinnamon. But not cinnamon, it's a clovey-cinnamon. After an hour, this starts to turn musky, bloody flesh musky, all copper and sensuality. Alas, 90 minutes after applying, it's almost completely faded away. (is sad)

In the bottle, this was very floral. Wet on skin, this made me think of some perfume I wore when I was very young, some perfume that I thought made me terribly sophisticated. GAH, I thought, and considered washing it off. Thank goodness that went away fairly fast. Drydown, it became mellower and less juvenile, but still very floral. After about 90 minutes, it disappeared completely. It returned about 5 minutes after that, smelling like dusty stale honey. Back in the bag.

Curiously enough, this smells like lavender on me. It's a beautiful lavender soap scent. Not me. Back in the bag.

Four words: Herbal Essence Jungle Gardenia. Back in the bag.

90% of the time, amber = fail. This is one of those times. This starts nicely, a musky floral, but that doesn't last long. It becomes a warm scratchy scent (how else to describe it?), and eventually turns to soap. Back in the bag. Damn you, amber.

In the bottle, this is a pleasant floral, if a bit old-lady-ish. Wet, this turns skin musk AIIEEEEEE This means sour body, but thank goodness that went away fairly quickly. Briefly, there was a hint of fruit behind the floral. Left wrist smells of vetiver (guessing that is the musk) and the right of oakmoss. Boycat loves this, tried like hell to lick my wrist. This goes back in the bag.

Damn you amber! This was tried without checking the ingredient list beforeheand. Wet, this smelled like skin musk, that is to say, like someone's grotty body, with some ... food? It started to smell like someone had been in the kitchen for much too long, hadn't showered all day, and was baking heaps of lovely warm yummies. The warm food went away, and it smelled a bit chocolate-ish, while still smelling of body. Now it's a soft floral with a sourness underneath. Fie on you, amber, fie so much! Trade bag.

Without having checked the ingredients, I tested and went "Ha, wet dirt, what else would Zombi smell like?" (Besides rotting flesh, of course, for which I am most grateful that THAT note was omitted!) This wet earth, but not sodden miserable clay or thin sticky mud, it's cheerful rain-soaked loam. My guess is that it's the rose that cheers this scent up lol All earth, all the time, with a smile.

I got this as a freebie from a forumite and I can't decide if I like it or not. This reminds me a lot of Kabuki, maybe, but... not. Or rather, it did while it was still drying. Now it's got some minced orange peel and some amber (which normally does not work on me) and dragon's blood. But the chamomile adds it's charming sweetness. Hmm... I think there will be someone out there who adores this scent and will give it a happy home. It's pleasant enough, but not my favorite. Trade bag.

Dark musk, star anise, agarwood, styrax, vetiver, gaiacwood, King mandarin, violet leaf, and black vanilla. Tried approximately 06/10/08. Was already wearing Queen of Sheba but HAD to test the freshly arrived imp Smelled a bit like bloody skin, and got none of the ingredient notess listed. No musk, no vetiver, no anise, no vanilla and no orange. OK weirrrrrrd, better put this aside and let it AND me settle a while! 06/18/09 Retest. Still not working. The throw is nummy, the musk and vetiver and vanilla all combining in a contented growl, with a tiny hint at the back of the throat of the mandarin. But sniffing my wrist is still like smelling bloody skin. Ah well. HOWEVER! This and Queen of Sheba are awfully nice layered together Whatever is working in the Velvet Panther on my skin really ramps Queen of Sheba up to a delicious honeyed sensual aroma.

This reminds me sooo much of something else? I think I traded away my Sherezade, so can't compare them. Plain amber normally doesn't do well on me, turning sour and ick, but this one seems to be doing well. It's a quick fade, the potency seems to have shot its proverbial wad in the first hour, but the vestiges are sensual.

A regal, commanding scent, but poignant. White cedarwood, blue sage and bay leaf. This starts masculine and handsome, nicely balanced, and wearable. The cedar turned incredibly strong, and the sage was punching right through. Insane! (hurrr hurrr) Within 2 hours, it fades away almost entirely, leaving a soft sad vestige of sage and bay leaf. Trade bag. Edited to add description

Becuase TwilightEyes is a GODDESS I was able to score an imp. May a thousand angels bestow a thousand BPALs upon her for a thousand years! Thanks, TwilightEyes My Stream of Conciousness review: I sniff this and think "reddish paste, like adobe without the desert." Nile mud, yes. There are exotic spices in this, it's not a scent that makes me think of the USA. It's sharp, with a high thin-ness. With everyone saying CARDAMOM! AMBER! I was thinking OH NOES! (because of probable cardamom dermal sensitivity) but there is a shrill sweetness in here as well. I am keeping an eye on my skin, to see if there is any redness. Golden thick powder. Er.... a bit of wine? Some wine in the bottom of the glass from last night, from that last bottle that you didn't get around to finishing. But now it's getting rounder - clove-ish. When you stayed at a friend's place last night, the one who you see rarely but treasure - her home always smells of incense, and someone was smoking both cloves and expensive imported European cigarettes last night, so the shirt left on the floor smells faintly, and there are open empty bottles of wine on the table, and you spent all night talking and solving the problems of the world, with that perfect moment of clarity and accord. Yeah. EDITED TO ADD: GODDAMNIT I DO GET A SKIN REACTION ARGH! It's much more mild than Malkuth or Silk Road, fortunately. And it makes me sneeze lots LOL How cruel!!!!

I had such incredibly high hopes for this! In the bottle, it smells a bit like sweat. Not bad stale ew sweat, but sweat that has certainly been well-earned. Fresh, it's got a bit of a dry sharpness which I am thinking is the khus. Dry, it's back to sharp sweat and sharp dead branches. This is my sad face EDITED TO ADD: After almost 2 months of letting the bottle sit, I tested again. THIS is exactly what I was expecting! Musk, myrrh, patchouli LOVE

I thought for a little while that there was amber in here, because it smelled briefly like saliva, but apparently not. This smells like old lady perfume - soft and floral, even in the bottle. Trade bag.