Myrrha

I avoided the lab's jasmine for years but now it seems to be working on me! Tested Euphrosyne last night and it was lovely. Mata Hari is even better. OTOH this imp is five years old and it could be that the aging helps. Dry, the florals are smooth and deep, not as warm as Euphrosyne. I get more jasmine than rose. The fig and tonka do a great job of keeping the floral notes restrained. There is a subtle sweetness and creaminess, perhaps from the tonka. I don't smell coffee as a recognizable scent but it does seem to be in that slightly foody base that makes this work so well on my skin. Edit: Not sure if I will order another imp of this or a bottle. It is a bit strong and perfume-y to wear to work and possibly not my most favorite jasmine scent. Looking forward to trying more jasmine in this year's Lupercalia scents.

I put off trying this for ever because the lab's jasmine usually doesn't work on me. This time it is not turning into a cat box, maybe my chemistry is changing? Strong lemon at first with the jasmine and gardenia underneath, once the lemon pulls back it does a good job of keeping the florals from being too sweet. The vanilla helps everything blend. I used to love Guerlain's "y'lang et vanille" and this has a similar tone although the florals are different. I do not smell any rose in this. It is a sweet vanilla-floral but not as insipid as that vanilla-orchid BPAL that was so popular..can't remember the name. This is richer, the lemon lasts and keeps it from being too simple.the waft is much nicer than sniffing my wrist directly. After 1/2 hour the jasmine and gardenia have really melded into one scent and neither is really distinguishable. Vanilla and lemon making a lovely base for the florals. Not sure I need a bottle though, it might be a bit too rich and heady for me. I will wear it a few times and decide. Want to try Follow Me Boy as well.

Why did I not know about this scent before? I had a couple of treasured imps of The Temptation and loved it. This is similar but a bit stronger and longer lasting. When first applied, strongly apricot. It is lovely but at first I thought it might be too simply apricot to be a favorite. Dried, after about 1/2 hour, the orange blossom comes out and it feels more balanced. The white musk must contain some vanilla as the base of the scent seems to have some soft, cool vanilla. After 2 hours it is fainter, becomes more of a skin scent (they never last long on my skin though). At this phase it is vanilla-y white musk tinged with apricot and orange blossom, just heavenly. It seems to become the actual scent of my skin as fruits like apricot and peach have a relationship to skin-scent. I imagine a scent like this could draw someone closer as it smells so wonderful yet is a soft scent that they would have seek out. It is winter time now but I will continue to wear this from time to time anyway and will be buying more. Edit: this would be amazing as hairgloss and bath oil.

This was a frimp from the lab. When I first tried it I had to laugh because it is dead-on for how televisions used to smell when they were huge boxy things and if you put your face right up against it you could see the little dots of light that made up the picture. Now that it has aged a bit I can smell something aquatic (must be the ambergris), plus mint. There is a wonderful Spanish moss note that makes me feel wistfulness in my heart. Spanish Moss did the same thing to me in Silenti. It is more gentle here though. Once it is dry the mint is gone and it is really just the soft Spanish moss with something very slightly lemony. Is there some elemi in this? It is lovely and soft. I really like this. It doesn't smell like men's cologne to me at all in this stage. It is pretty and haunting while not at all "perfume" smelling. Maybe this could replace Ether although it doesn't have the bite that Ether did. I am so glad to have tried this! edited because I used the word "soft" four times.

Are there any mint blends where mint remains part of the scent for some time? It seems like an ephemeral top note that goes away quickly. I loved Mad Hatter for five minutes before the black musk stomped all over the lovely mint. edited to add: I am not really looking for a candy mint, more of a mint-tea or refreshing spearmint/peppermint,

I love the cooling lavender and pennyroyal topnotes of this one. They burn off quickly on me and leave a black musk. I loved the black musk in Lilith but this one reads as more masculine. I think there might be some amber in here as well, or maybe the musk and amber accords have some ingredients in common. This does smell pretty dirty, maybe this is because it is "feral" black musk. It could be sexy on a man but it is not for me. All in all a great scent interpretation of the Mad Hatter.

I grabbed this at random to test and had no idea what was in it. My first reaction was that it smelled really good, kind of tart or even bitter apple with something dark in the background. now that I've looked at the notes I really like the "black amber" in this scent. It actually smells like the amber in Tenochtitlan but not so sweet. The herbs are dark and slinky at first. After about fifteen minutes the spices become more apparent. I do like cinnamon-y scents and this seems balanced. It is mostly apple-tinged amber now with spices. I will test this further but it seems like a fabulous scent for fall and I'm pretty sure I will want more of this. Edit: Once it dries it is really more of an amber scent than an apple scent. Amber fans should definitely try this.

This was in my swap box. I guess when it was fresh the lemon verbena or cassia were too much and made it not a keeper. Now, a few years later, these notes have mellowed and blended and the result is delicious. Wet, the cherry comes out first, it goes through a period where the lemon verbena, cherry and spices don't really "add up" and it just smells strange. Then it kinds of lights up and smells great although still a little eerie and strange. This does not smell like any traditional scent at all. it dries down to a spicy cherry scent. I'm so glad I never swapped this. It is pretty but a bit dramatic and attention-getting. I don't go to clubs or anything like that, will have to be careful where I wear this one.

I have a bottle of Sanctus. It smells strongly of what I take to be osmanthus, an apricot-y scent. The Lily of the Valley is only a whisper brightening the scent and the whole thing along on frankincense. I have sometimes thought that there must be some unlisted apricot oil in this as it smells so strongly of apricot. Before I bought the bottle I had a decant and at one point I misplaced the decant. For a month I kept coming across traces of the apricot/osmanthus scent on the air but couldn't find the darn imp. It finally turned up among some papers but that shows how tenacious this scent is.

So pretty! On wet -- tuberose and possibly white sandalwood come out first and combine into a high white fairly dry floral scent. At this stage it feels formal like a serious fairy woman in a long grayish-white gown. As it dries a sweetish aspect like honey comes out (vanilla and cassis blossom?) and the tuberose interacts with this greener, sweeter side of the fragrance. Sometimes I can't smell white sandalwood properly but here I thinking is a giving a delicate crumbly quality to the tuberose. After 45 minutes to an hour it is much less formal and begins to feel like a scent I could wear with jeans and a blouse. The fairy woman has finished her duties in the high fairy council and is walking in the orchards playfully with her love. Playful, but always with a shadow of delicacy and reserve. Although it is a light scent I could smell it in the air when I left the room and came back. Haunting and lovely. Ultimately not a bottle scent for me though. If you like white florals give this a try.

Gingerbread right off the bat.... and I"m thinking I can't possibly wear this as a perfume. After about 15 minutes a musky base comes out. After about 30 minutes it becomes sharper, less sweet, with a resinous, herbal quality. At this point it is darker and the gingerbread is more in the background. It is more wearable. Edit: as it dries down I like it more and more. the buttery baking aspect lessens and the ritual herbs and spices come out more. Still not sure I like it as much as some other BPALs. It could be a good cheerer-upper in the winter so I will hold on to the imp.

I have worn this one several times, decant is aged from when the vamp scents first came out. When it was fresh I didn't like this very much as some dirty, earthy note in it seemed too masculine. Now, it has more powdery sweetness, from both the myrrh and the Spanish moss. Lilac and wisteria are not really distinguishable but once the scent is dry they add a pale purple sheen to the background. I love the calm, planty aspect to Silenti, and the subtle florals in the background. It is an introspective scent rather than being seductive or trying to make an impact on others. It reminds me of long walks in Mount Auburn Cemetery when I was writing a paper on funerary iconography for art history class. I will look for more scents with Spanish moss. I am not sure about the powdery quality lent by the myrrh. Definitely need another decant of this.

On wet: a burst of lemony- melony juiciness, then the delicate slightly powdery orris As it dries the lemony quality passes quickly and that juicy part of the scent blends with sandalwood and orris Dry: I can only smell it if I put my nose right to my wrist. Delicate and feminine without seeming to try too hard. Reminds me of a rice powder paper scent. I can also detect the musk and I don't really like the way it smells. It is too soft for me, too dry and airy. I think delicate sandalwood might be one of my olfactory blind spots because I had the same trouble with Tristesse de la Lune. It just doesn't smell like much to me.

Fresh frimp from the lab- thanks! Wet: I would think this has some elemi in it. I can smell that lemony, high sour tang. Mostly it is wood, I can definitely smell the teak. As it dries it sweetens, must be the vanilla. The lemony sour note lessens considerably within five minutes or so. It is smelling like cake would smell if it were made of wood. I don't like it on me at this stage. Dry: sweet wood, cigar boxes! Yummy and interesting but not something I want to smell like. It conjures the picture of a nice man in a library with lots of wooden furniture.

I liked Skuld quite a bit but didn't think it was really wearable for everyday use. Against Idleness and Mischief is a more relaxed honey note blended well with chamomile. The chamomile is a not to floral-ish floral. I love the hyssop, green herbal note which saves the scent from being too warm and cloying. This is lovely and wearable if you like simple, less obtrusive scents. I will definitely be ordering another imp of this, I feel tempted to buy a bottle but want to try more of the honey and beeswax scents. It doesn't change much from wet to dry except that the chamomile and hyssop notes come out more and balance out the sweet honey. Edit: on second thought this might be too gentle and clean for me. I need a little oomph and mystery in a scent.

Lab frimp - thanks labbies! Wet- sweet with quite a bit of woodyness in the background. As it dries - something men's cologne-ish comes out and gets stronger. After about five minutes this note calms down a bit and I recognize it as juniper. So now there is fruit sweetness (must be the red musk) plus juniper and smooth wood. When it first dries I like the juniper. Not something I really would like to smell like but a nice comforting scent. Completely dry- I can smell the lflowers now but they are not prominent. Juniper has blended in to the point where I can't really pick it out any more. Something has gone slightly powdery, probably the sandalwood. It smells like there is some cinnamon in here, something spicy. So, a sweet musky slightly floral scent with a sort of "hidden fire" underneath. This is softer than some red musk scents. Unfortunately this is just not working well with my chemistry (red musk rarely does). After a while the distinctive elements of the scent provided my the juniper, wood, and hint of spice in the background go away and I am left with a soft, grape-y purple floral. This might be nice for someone who likes warm but soft florals but doesn't want to smell like typical florals if that makes sense.

I hadn't tried this one before because of some reviews saying it was a more masculine scent which isn't what I usually like. This is truly a fabulous scent though, many thanks to Tramp for the frimp. Wet- lovely golden beeswax and a wood-like scent, and yes I can smell the brass. It is definitely a golden scent. Drying- herbal notes, something that reminds me of pagan rituals from back when I was more ritually inclined, beeswax and honey. It gets sweeter and less wood-like. With the beeswax and frankincense this is a bit like St. Foutin de Vareilles without the wine and roses. Dry (about 40 minutes), it is mostly beeswax/honeycomb and benzoin with frankincense and the herbal notes supporting. I LOVE this. It is sweet and rich but the benzoin is cool. It makes me feel activated and purposeful. Right now I am wearing a teal colored sweater and feel like this perfume doesn't "go". I would wear this with black, brown, gray, maybe white. The part of me that likes this is the same part of me that likes The Little Wooden Doll and Chimera although they smell quite different. This is not a scent I would wear when I want to feel most feminine but it isn't too masculine once it dries down.

When first applied this was pretty awful on me. The sandalwood was harsh and sour and the tea smelled sharp like lemon. After 20 minutes the sandalwood, peach and champaca had blended into something very nice. A rich smooth scent with the tea brightening it. At this phase I would have said it is a sandalwood scent with peach and champaca enriching it but the champaca takes over and after 45 minutes it is a champaca scent with sandalwood and peach supporting. Champaca is an incense-y, soft floral that seems to drape itself over everything like a rich hippie doing languid yoga poses in velvet bell bottoms. Sometime later the champaca-sandalwood goes a bit thin and sour. I'm glad I got to try this one and it may be that it would work better on someone else due to skin chemistry.

On wet, the lotus has that slightly medicinal, bitter aspect to it. It reminds me of Sea of Tranquility. As it dries it becomes a lovely, reserved floral scent. I look for the different parts and kinds of lotus that are in it and there is a fleshy or pulpy scent that could be the lotus root or could be the amber interacting with other ingredients. Dry it is an amazing delicate floral scent, more dry than sweet, when I sniff my wrist directly (which I do often because it is so gorgeous and interesting). After about 40 minutes it seems to disappear when I sniff my wrist but I can still smell it wafting around me in a slight cloud of delicate scent. It is slightly richer now and there is a tiny bit of sweetness from the fruit. To me it smells elegant and pretty, bluish-white or silvery in tone.

Starts off as a lovely red musk scent. The vanilla and currant modulate the red musk rather than being stand out notes. As it dries I notice the patchouli more and the earthy chypre grounding everything. The patchouli is one of the sweeter ones, or the red musk is making it slightly sweet. I agree with the previous poster who mentioned that some of the notes combine to give an impression similar to pipe tobacco. It does smell more masculine. On the other hand I would not find such a sweet scent attractive on a man. Maybe best for a man who is very in touch with his feminine side. In spite of the patchouli this is not a "hippy" scent, there is something refined and well-groomed about it.

Peach, apricot, nectarine, these always seem kind of innocently sexy to me because something about the smell of these fruits is reminiscent of skin. This reminds me of The Temptation, that same pastel gilded apricot and delicate vanilla. It is truly gorgeous. On my skin it lasted about four hours. On my second test I put on more but it smelled a bit sharp close up so maybe wearing less and reapplying after a few hours is a better idea. It is lovely but I'm not sure yet that it is for me.

This is difficult to describe which is probably why I haven't gotten around to reviewing it before. I liked it when I first bought it but then in subsequent years I kept trying to wear it in the late spring and summer since it is such a light scent. It doesn't work well for me in warm weather as the sweet notes become cloying and the green notes somehow "scratchy" and annoying. I've worn it often in January and February and it is really lovely-- glad I didn't trade it. Wet -- Green, I can smell green notes, reminiscent of a plant. There is something else with a sweet/bitter quality, like a SweetTart candy. Drying -- The plant is blooming and strange greeny-yallery flowers appear Dry -- More flowers, and that almost fizzy bitter/sweet quality. The flowers are probably linden flowers but somehow not just fresh linden, more florist shop than that. after 3+ hours -- The sweetness is mostly gone, it is a light greenish white floral feminine perfume, more like a traditional perfume than many BPALs.

Thanks to the lab for this frimp- I might never have tried this based on the reviews but I can see it becoming a favorite. Tuberose tuberose tuberose! The reviews for this one have surprised me with people picking up jasmine and other florals, spicy notes and so forth. On me it is tuberose at first, there might be peach, something making the tuberose a little bit golden. Once it dries there is a hint of that herbalness that underlies many of the voodoo scents. The slightly peachy "golden" aspect of the scent is stronger. I LOVE this! More than the tiniest dab is too much. It has a lot of throw and staying power. Reminds me of a Guerlain scent, Jardins de Bagatelle, although Has No Hanna is not as warm smelling and seems a bit more delicate (at least when applied sparingly). It really does seem to be lifting my spirits. I would say I need a bottle but since the merest speck is all you need to be well scented a bottle might be overkill. Edit: my imp is over a year old, maybe the scent smells much different fresh.

I love this one! Tested right out of the mailbox and only put on a small amount so I'll come back and change this if my impression changes after further testing. Wet: the florist rose is most predominant with an overlay of orris (smells violet-like on me). I thought at first I wouldn't like this as the impression is a bit overly elegant and tame. As it dries: the myrrh gives it more depth. The pomegranate and rose blend together and add up to something more interesting. I can smell a woody note in there somewhere, and the merest hint of something spicy. Dry (two hours): For a while when I was outside in the cold I thought it was too light but indoors it has bloomed again and is just amazingly good. Rose/violet (or "purple roses") with depth. When I sniff my wrist directly the myrrh (i think it is the myrrh) gives it a sexier vibe.

How are people enjoying the scents that were recommended to them? The adjectives people came up with from my self-description were: serious, elusive, ephemeral, poetic, dramatic. Of the scents recommended to me I LOVE Black Lotus and also liked Ether for the hot days this summer. I haven't been able to try Rome yet. Paris I had tried before and it was OK but felt a little bubbly for me. Venice I did like but not as much as Black Lotus. Just wondering how other people made out with their recs.