gecko

I find Water of Notre Dame to be soothing for anxiety, but it is very floral so be aware if you don't like that. I haven't been diagnosed with fibro but I have a bunch of the symptoms and I also have endometriosis which is caused by hormone imbalances too. That is interesting about frankincense. I have been wearing A Certain Slant of Light (which contains it) and I have felt chipper tonight.

I really wanted to like this one! The description sounded gorgeous but I don't get flowers, snow or white. It smells like play-doh in the imp. Yuck! I tried it on anyway. Wet it's amber spiced play-doh. Then the mushroom scent comes out. Now I smell like spicy fungus. Where oh where are my snow covered flowers?

This is incredibly lovely! You really get the sense of snow-covered pine trees with some sweet orchid on top. I don't smell the honeysuckle note separately at all. The woods are not pronounced, they just help ground the florals and take the sharp edge off the pine. I must get more!

Wet this smelled like lilies, pine and ozone. I usually do well with aquatics so I was hopeful. Unfortunately, on the drydown I smell like my Dad, I think it's English Leather. Hmm, weird. Off to swaps with you!

I passed on this the first time because booze and honey generally don't work on me. I broke down later and got an imp in a swap. It smells like honey lemon cough drops with a little floral in the imp (must be the sweetbriar). When I applied it went almost immediately to baby powder, but very strong! I had to scrub it off. Apparently sweetbriar is a kind of rose and when you add it and honey to my chemistry it turns into something icky. Well, I will make someone else very happy.

I got this as a frimp and I didn't even see it in the package at first. In the imp, it was something yummy and spicy like an autumn scented candle. On my skin it is lovely, but not as fruity as most people get. My skin tends to eat fruits I think. It reminds me a lot of Inez, but instead of a nutty vanilla blend with the amber and musk, this one has a holiday spice scent. It has an undercurrent similar to Yankee Candle's Hollyberry which I love, but less sharp. I think the sandalwood is keeping it more creamy. My only complain is that it fades pretty quickly. I will have to slather next time I may keep the imp until it gets cooler since it's more of a Halloween to Christmas scent to me. It's a little heavy for 100+ degree temps.

This starts as a light white floral with a bit of sugared lemon. It's not very powerful. Unfortunately the note I smell the most after an hour is oakmoss, and I found out I'm not a fan. I find it overwhelms both the delicate florals and the citrus twist. I swapped it off and hopefully it will be loved in its new home. I like the bath oil the most of the trio - not surprisingly because it's free of oakmoss!

I got this as a frimp from the Lab and I was curious. It smells like a gin and tonic on me. In fact, it's so strong I smell like an alcoholic uncle of mine! I scrubbed it off but I could still smell it. After three hours and another scrub it finally went away. I apparently amp juniper berries. Although it was disastrous on me, if you like juniper or piney scents it's worth a shot. Beth does a very good job evoking the scent of cocktails. This is another imp that would be very sexy on a guy. It could also work on a woman who amps more citrus/herbal notes.

This was a freebie in a BPTP order. It was bizarrely indescribable wet. When dry, it was jasmine single note for an hour or so. My husband told me I smelled like his great-aunt Then some of the oakmoss came out to play, but I'm not a big fan. Off to swaps.

I've been using CCNow because PayPal is difficult and I don't trust it. What I would like to see is Beth move to Google Checkout. I use it with my business. Fees are low and you get a direct deposit into your checking account in a couple of business days. It would take a while to change over as BPAL's catalog is so huge but it would be worth it in the long run.

I found this was pretty masculine all the way from the imp through drydown. My husband liked it a lot as a cologne in the early stages. The ambergris was dominating the blend with gardenia and chrome elbowing their way in subtly. The amber, musk and tea could not get any attention. After a couple hours it fades mostly away. Now it smells like Dorian but with leather instead of citrus. On the right man this would be very hot! I just don't have the chemistry to pull it off. I think Beth should tweak it a little and rename it after a naughty man like Don Juan or something, 'cause most guys won't wear something with Queen in the name.

I got a frimp of this from sistinas This sounded like it would be luscious, but it's not that interesting on me. It quickly dries down the same as Scherezade but with a sour note. I think it might be the chrysanthemum not playing nice. I'm kind of relieved not to love it as it would be hard to get a bottle!

This one started off as boozy sour rose in the vial. As it dried, the rose, opium, and absinthe were fighting for control. I never got any sugar or lilac. Eventually they settled down and blended, and surprisingly the rose didn't dominate. I didn't like the scent though. My husband calls it soap from the underworld.

This starts out as a lovely fresh citrus-ginger blend, very cheery. Then at drydown my chemistry strikes. It turns into floral talc on me, and smells just like that Maja perfume my grandmother used to wear. While it's pretty enough, it's too old for me.

When your status with CCNow says "Shipped" that just means that the order finally made it over to the Trading Post to enter the queue with the paypal orders. It hasn't actually shipped, since CCNow isn't the one to ship our orders. It's pretty confusing! I ordered an Inquisition in the wee hours of the 13th, and, like you, saw that it was "harvested" on the 27th. Haven't gotten a CnS yet either, but rest assured that our CCNow orders haven't gone astray. This is why I much prefer using paypal (well, that and the lower fees) but didn't have the time to enter a true plea, and wanted to show the goblins that I'd gone through the quiz and earned that L'Estate fair and square (even if it took taking it thrice to avoid the Winter result I kept getting...) Ah, I didn't realize that CCNow added another level of delay. Unfortunately, I will keep using it since I hate Paypal with a burning passion and only use it when I have no other choice to get BPAL/BPTP. I will just have to test the half dozen or so imps I haven't tried yet!

From past experience, I've learned not to trust ccnow's "shipped" status messages. Check your bank account, then wait for the CnS. (But I hope it's really telling the truth and not just being tricky anddeceptive, like it's been to me!) Thanks for that info! I will check to see what's up.

I ordered 6/19 and ccnow tells me it was shipped 6/27 although I never got a CnS. I bet I get it tomorrow. Oops, I meant to say it's La Primavera Inquisition and some TKO massage oil. I'm going to put the husband to work!

Finally one of the ladies I can get into! I apparently have no idea what will work with my chemistry because I thought this one would be too strong but it's well balanced. It starts off like vanilla hazelnut, which I think is caused by the intersection of vanilla musk and the woods. After it dries, I get this carnation-myrrh-vanilla blend over a woodsy base. The carnation is a nice combo of sweet and peppery. It's like my skin but warm and spicy. The husband though it was sexy. I can see how this would work for men too. On me it's a bit sweet but with male chemistry I bet it would amp more wood/incense. It's not especially girly per se.

This is boozy sharp floral in the vial. Wet it's a sharp floral with a musk undertone. I don't recognize it so I assume it's mimosa. It's sharp, powdery, and a little herbal. Dry it's still mimosa and red musk. I never get any vanilla, clove, iris, magnolia or rose. After a couple hours all that's left is musk. It's missing the spice, and the sweetest thing is the musk. I'd rather wear Scherezade.

This is rosy in the vial, and holy crap! rose on. It's mostly the sharp red rose from the BPTP Queen's Croquet Ground. On drydown it's getting a bit more powdery and thick. An hour later it's still mostly rose, with a little geranium and myrrh. Unfortunately, the other florals haven't shown up.

I thought I would like this one but it's really not me. It smells like a generic floral couture perfume in the bottle. Wet on my skin it goes very soapy (ick) before calming down. I never get any jasmine or honeysuckle which are the notes I wanted. An hour later it's dried into a musk with a spicy top note an a bit of a powdery incense kicker. I'm not familiar with oakmoss but I think that's the note I dislike. Whatever it is it's in a lot of mainstream perfume. If you like earthy and spicy, this would be your thing. I got no aquatic ever, and Sea of Glass likes me so I don't get it. I'm finishing my cycle so I'll try it again in a few days to see if I can get any flowers out of it!

In the imp it's minty violet which is interesting. On my wrist it's the same at first, but as it dries there's some nasty battle for prominence going on. After several minutes the violet is kicked to the side and I get herbal mint only, like one of those Ricola cough drops. Neroli never shows up. It's not a bad smell but it's not something I want to smell like. I don't think a scent locket is the answer since I was interested in how my chemistry would work with this. It was an interesting experiment, but now it's off to swaps!

This smells mega sweet on me, like a bouquet of spring flowers dipped in sugar. I can't pin it down to any particular flower. I don't smell grapes exactly but the green sweetness does approximate it. It's soapy at first but that dissipates quickly. I don't get anything earthy even though High John (the root) is supposed to smell like that. It doesn't have much throw but it lasts forever on me (10+ hours). It's not my favorite, and I think I would like to layer the sweetness with another spicy BPAL. The results however ... I didn't try this out on anyone I was trying to impress, but it worked on me like herbal Klonopin. I have a deadline Friday, and things are going slower than I'd like but I was pretty relaxed about it. I didn't get too frustrated or anxious about anything. I just steadily found my way around the problem to a solution. I will definitely try this out for my next meeting and probably my next dr appt as well. ADDED Aug. 17: I liked the fruity scent of this and loved the effect on my concentration and peace of mind so I ordered a bottle. Unfortunately the bottle smells like woody bathroom cleaner. Now that I read that HJtC ages into that sweet blend, I will check it again in a couple of months.

This totally smells like its description. It's like you got 3 dozen long stemmed RED roses and took them outside to your back porch. This room scent is a must for people who really like red roses. They are definitely red, not yellow or pink. The scent lasts an incredibly long time and you only need a little bit. I could smell this on my sheets 24 hours later. The roses dominate at first but after a few minutes the greenery is noticeable. I don't think I will get a large bottle (I'm hoping for a beach scent myself) but I am enjoying my decant!

In the vial this smells like rotting peaches. Maybe that's the vetiver? On my skin I smell no peaches at all. Where did they go? Wet I smell the galbanum, and then the florals come to the front on the drydown. Now it smells like old lady perfume. It was kind of the Lab to give me this freebie but it doesn't love me at all.