Seismogenic

Looking at the description for this one, I realize that what I really want is the actual toys. Alas, the Miskatonic Valley is quite far from the greater Los Angeles area, so I'm going to have to content myself with just the oil. In the imp: Shiny metal (yes, it smells shiny) with some dust and something almost citrus-tangy. Wet on skin: Still largely shiny metal, but the citrus-tangy thing has become a bit stronger. There are dusty notes still back there as well, and I think I may also be getting something almost oily as well. Drydown: Freshly dry, the metal has come down in pitch quite a bit. It's more balanced with the tangier note, which is, at this point, not quite so citrusy anymore. Unfortunately, it's starting to veer toward chemical. Still getting dusty stuff back there, but not much. At one hour in, there's still that definite sour chemical note. It overlies interesting metal and dust, but it's a bit more present than I'd like. Five hours later: The chemical and citrus notes are gone now, and the metal has also largely faded. What's left are various shades of dusty and rocky. I can tell there are several things in the same family of notes here, as opposed to one homogeneous mix, but that makes sense, for a bunch of discrete toys. End of the day: A little bit dusty and ozone-y. Overall: This is me making a sad face. I wanted this one to work so badly, for the sheer awesomeness of the concept, but the fact is that it smells like dust and metal and cleaning fluid, rather than just dust and metal. By the five hour mark, everything is pretty great, but that's an awful long time to wait to get to the good part. Wah!

I'm intrigued by this one because I honestly have no idea what it's going to smell like. All I can gather is that musk will be a major component, but combined with other things? Can't even guess! I also kind of had to go for a decant of the cicada scent, considering I have experienced two plaguelike periodical cicada emergences in the Washington DC area. In the imp: This is already hard to describe! There's some soft musk, and something chilly over top of it, but between that, there's something warmer and slightly sweet and I have no idea what it is. Wet on skin: Gentle musk with a light dusting of snow is still the main thing I get. I think I'm starting to detect the autumn leaf note that I know from other blends, but it's still distinct from the warmer sweetness that I get from the middle of this in general. Drydown: Freshly dry, the notes are becoming more distinct, and more clearly exactly what they're supposed to be. The sweetness comes from bell peppers and a vague floral note. Combined with that autumn leaf note, it forms a middle ground for a scent that is underlaid by soft musks and crystallized over by faint frost. Everything balances perfectly right now. At one hour in, not much has changed, and that's a fortunate thing indeed. Still a gently sweet center with musk underneath and frost overtop. Five hours later: Still quite prominent, especially given that this is a rather soft scent to begin with. I get a little less of the frost now than before, but still a gentle bell pepper sweetness with leaves and soft musk. End of the day: Very soft faint musk. Overall: This is definitely not like any other BPAL I've tested so far, and I say that in a good way. It's an intriguing combination of notes, and I love how the frosty notes really do seem to coat everything else without obscuring it. I'm definitely going to hold onto this decant, but as much as I love how this works as a concept and in its execution, I think it may be a little too sweet for me to wear regularly enough to warrant a bottle.

Snow, moss, and dirt! Three BPAL notes that I know I like, so how could I not try this? Also, I think "fracas" is a wonderful word, and it should be used more often. Yes. In the imp: Straight-up snow note - cold, fresh, and ever so slightly sweet. Wet on skin: Fresh snow and a bit of dusty moss. Drydown: Freshly dry, snow is still the predominant note in here, but I get a little bit of moss and dirt behind it now. It's subtle, but it's there. At one hour in, the dirt and moss are more prominent, balanced in relatively equal parts with the snow. Five hours later: Mostly moss now, fainter, but still present. There are hints of dirt and snow left, but I think the snow note seems to be transitioning to ozone around now. End of the day: A little bit of moss and ozone. Overall: I like this! It's light and wintery and playfully messy. It is, appropriately, largely snow, but the little bits of moss and dirt are a nice ground underneath, in scent as well as in mental image. I debate on whether or not it's a bottle candidate, though, since I have other things I like that include the snow note as well as a more complex backdrop. I'm absolutely hanging onto the decant, though, and I'll test a few more times in contemplation of a bottle.

Redwooood. That alone is reason for me to try this scent, but the other notes also sound wonderful, for the most part. I'm a little wary of the peach blossom and the red musk, but that's not enough to turn me away. (Nor is the fact that Jack In The Boxes are pretty freaking creepy.) In the imp: Dry wood with clove and a hint of something indistinctly fruity sweet. Overall, a dark red sort of smell. Wet on skin: Still dry wood and clove, though the currant is definitely becoming a much more major player now. I think the tobacco may be helping to smooth things out. Drydown: Freshly dry, this is currant spiced with clove, with a slight hint of tobacco behind it. I can't so much smell the woods in and of themselves anymore, but I can tell they're still there because I still get some of that quality of dusty dryness. At one hour in, the fruity notes have largely faded out, leaving behind cloves, tobacco, and a little bit of dry wood. Five hours later: Oh hello, red musk! Where did you come from? Why are you pretty much the only note I smell right now? End of the day: Red musk and tobacco, smooth and a bit sweet. Overall: This was overall sweeter than I expected, probably due to the red musk more than anything else. That said, it still manages to be an ominous and dusty sort of sweetness, which suits the image of an evil Jack in the Box pretty well. I like this one a lot, but my one complaint is that I'm not smelling the redwood distinctly, and that was the main thing that made me go ooooh about this blend. I think I'm good with just a decant in that case, but I could change my mind on this one.

I was totally off in my interpretation of what the name of this meant when I saw the prototype a few Will Calls ago (I took it to mean a bad kitten knocking over the Christmas tree or something), but giant evil baby-devouring Icelandic cats are also a scent worth testing, yes. And I think I would have had to test this regardless of its specific story or notes, since I have two cats. This will be my first experience with civet - let's see how it goes. In the imp: Vetiver, something else sharp and acrid, over a base of very dark evergreen. Wet on skin: Less of the vetiver and more of the other sharp acrid thing, which I'm assuming is the infamous civet. I get musk under there now, which seems to have a smoothing effect, but overall, there's less evergreen now than in the imp. Drydown: Freshly dry, this is all about the vetiver and civet. There is musk back there, but it's more something that supports the bit of the other notes that are left than a big player in its own right. At one hour in, the whole thing has mellowed out quite a bit. The civet and vetiver now blend more with the musk, and while they're still dark and a bit acrid, they're not quite as sharp as before. At this point, I get very little of the greenery that was initially present. Five hours later: Vetiver and musk with a bit of an edge of civet. Not getting any greenery anymore. End of the day: A hint of dark musk. Overall: Well, I may be one of those odd people who is neutral to civet. It's not foul on me by any stretch, but I don't find it to be anything special, either. The main thing I get with this all is vetiver, though, and while I like vetiver as a complementary note to other things, it's not something I necessarily want to be the only thing I smell. I would have liked more of the woodsy notes, to be sure. I think the decant is enough for me.

This one didn't initially make my cut as a thing to get a decant of, but then I tested it at Will Call and it was immediately freaking awesome on me. Awesome enough for me to go straight for the bottle, pretty much. Beth was so right when she said she knew I'd like this one! In the bottle: Musk, evergreens, and something else planty and kind of sharp. Wet on skin: Thick soft musk and evergreens, mostly. The other plant notes aren't sharp anymore; they're sort of dusty/herby, if not a bit spicy. Drydown: Freshly dry is much like wet, though a bit less intense. Thick soft fuzzy musk, very present but not at all overbearing, mixed with greenery that seems to now have components of both evergreen and deciduous forests, and a bit of dryness that is gently sweet and spicy at once. One hour later, the balance is still pretty settled at where it was when this was freshly dry. If anything, though, it has become a bit more rich. Still soft, fuzzy, and warmly spicy, and still very nice. Five hours later: Predominantly soft fuzzy musk. There are still some herby spices, buy they're less prominent compared to the musk than earlier on. The whole scent is, unsurprisingly, fainter, but it's still clearly there. End of the day: Slightly musky and dry. Overall: Oh man. Wins. This is definitely in the Coyote and Ivanushka family, in that it has a soft and fuzzy aspect to it, but as others have pointed out, Faunalia has a bit of a harder and wilder edge. I wouldn't call it outright harsh, but it's stronger and more like a tangled crazy forest than a soft plain or a fairytale meadow. It is also definitely wintry, but in a warm way - that is, in the sense of the fuzzy part being good defense against the cold of the forest. And for all of this, I think it's super-awesome, and I'm definitely glad I sprung for this bottle.

I'm going to see 2012 today, and this is the most "disastrous" scent I have, so it seemed like the entirely obvious one to wear. In the imp: Sweet citrus soda, somewhere between Fresca and Mountain Dew. Wet on skin: Immediately less citrusy, and also less sweet in general. I get a lot of juniper now, and there's a bit of a cooler edge which I'm guessing is mint. Drydown: Freshly dry, this has already swung back the other way, to be largely candy-sweet lotus with just a bit of an edge from the juniper. There is no more mint to be found. At one hour in, the lotus has calmed down slightly, but it's still the main note going on here. The juniper sits in the background to keep the lotus from going too intensely sweet. Five hours later: Lotus. It's possible there's a tiny bit of juniper holding it back still, but for the most part, it's lotus, and still plenty of it. End of the day: Still with the lotus. Fainter than before, but still far from gone. Overall: Thematically, this was absolutely the right thing to wear while watching 2012, but in practice, it's all lotus on me. I'm coming to realize that I amp lotus like nobody's business. I liked the hints of juniper and mint that I was getting when everything was wet, and I'm pretty bummed that they got shoved aside so intensely by the lotus. I'm also pretty sure I wouldn't immediately associate huge amounts of water sucking you in with a sticky-sweet scent, though I guess there could be connections drawn between the intensity of the lotus smell on me and the intensity of a tugging undertow. I really wanted to like this one on principle, but the crazy lotus amping is keeping me from doing so. I guess this one will be swept off to swaps.

I'd been eyeing this one contemplatively for its notes for a while, which is why I picked up a decant in the first place, but it was the comparisons to Morocco that I started noticing that suggested that I try Inez now, the day after testing Morocco. I see similarities in the notes, certainly, but I'm hoping the balance of those notes will serve me better with Inez than with Morocco. In the imp: Predominantly amber, with some dryness from cedar and definitely also some carnation. Wet on skin: Still predominantly amber, smoother now than when in the vial. There is plenty of wood - not just cedar anymore - underscoring that, and the carnation has become a bit stronger. Drydown: Freshly dry, this is a smooth blend of carnation and amber with a faintly spicy woody background. I suspect the myrrh might be responsible for the spiciness. At one hour in, it has become a little spicier and drier. The amber and carnation are still very obvious, but thereʻs also more myrrh and sandalwood now. Five hours later: Largely the same balance as at the one hour mark, perhaps with slightly less carnation and more wood. Everything is fainter, but still quite present. End of the day: A bit of dry wood and spiced resin. Overall: This is very very good. Oh man. I like! Interestingly, despite all the note similarities, Inez works quite differently on me than Morocco did. Morocco went pretty much straight-up vanilla and musk, but Inez remains complex and dark with an edge of spice. The drier notes (cedar, sandalwood, amber) and the smoother ones (carnation, vanilla) balance each other extremely well, to the point where it's hard to describe the scent as being smooth or dry or what. Whatever it is, it has just the right kind of edge to make for a very interesting scent. I absolutely plan on keeping and using this decant, and I suspect that a bottle of this might have to make its way to my apartment before the Carnaval goes down.

Morocco is one of those scents with such a reputation that I really should have gotten around to testing it sooner. I have even less of an excuse considering how many of the notes sound awesome to me. In the imp: Vanilla-ish musk with sweet spices and a little bit of carnation. Wet on skin: Still predominantly a vanilla-ish musk that actually reminds me a bit of Black Opal but without the rocks, interspersed with sweet spices and only a very little bit of carnation. Drydown: Freshly dry isn't much of a change from wet - it's still a sweet spiced vanilla musk, very smooth. At one hour in, there still very little change from the wet stage. The spices are perhaps less prominent, though it's also possible that they've simply blended in better, as opposed to disappearing. Five hours later: Sweet vanilla musk, not so much on the spices. Fainter than before, but still definitely present. End of the day: Gone. Overall: I hate to say it, but I'm a little disappointed. I certainly don't think this smells bad, not at all. The vanilla musk is a pleasant smell, but it is the main note in all of this, to the point where the others are only noticeable if I think about it. That does imply that it's well blended, on the one hand, but on the other hand, I was still hoping for more on the spices, and perhaps more of the desert. I actually feel kind of weird saying I'm pretty indifferent on such a popular scent, and even weirder given that I expected to love it, but so it goes. I think I will, however, keep the imp and see what aging does to it.

I think I love everything about this before I've even sniffed it. I adore the idea of memorializing a beloved pet in an artistic way - and scent definitely counts there! I think the Dorothy Parker poem accompanying the scent description is fantastic. The list of notes appeals to me in a big way (wildflowers are the one sort of floral that I can do). And, perhaps most significantly, I love love love that the profit from this scent will go to help animals displaced by the Station Fire. I was wondering if the Lab was going to do something to benefit some aspect of recovery from that fire, and it makes me squee that their charity also involves animals. So much love. In the bottle: Grass and sweet wildflowers, with a hint of something indistinctly fuzzy. Wet on skin: The fuzzy thing becomes immediately more prominent, but the grass and sweet flowers are still amply evident in the background. Drydown: Freshly dry, this is still gently fuzzy, intermingled with sweet fresh grass and wildflowers. At one hour in, the fuzzy note has become more distinct as fur. The grasses have dried out a bit, and the flowers still lightly sweeten everything up. Five hours later: Dry grasses and soft fur. The wildflowers are gone, but thereʻs still something else in there thatʻs warm and slightly sweet. Itʻs subtle, though. End of the day: Dry, slightly musky, and a bit sweet. Overall: And I repeat: so much love! This is a gorgeous scent. It is warm and bright, cheerful and gentle, all around comforting. It does capture the joy and companionship of having a pet, I think, and that is an excellent way to commemorate the life of a particular pet. In addition to the part where I love the animal aspects of this scent, I also love that it is reminiscent of so many California landscapes. The wildflowers and wet grass giving way to drier grass and foliage is so characteristic of fields and mountainsides around the state (or, well, of what they used to be like before invasive plants took over). This scent is the recollection of a happy experience with friends in a beautiful setting, and I do love it. I am so glad to have this bottle.

I like the idea of this one in concept as well as in notes. Alchemists and magicians and such definitely make for interesting scent concepts in general, and it particularly appeals to me Saint-Germain was an artist and a world traveler as well. The note list also sounds like it just can't go wrong: amber and moss are some of my favorites, carnation generally works well on me, and lavender is also a good thing. In the imp: Lavender and moss. Somehow sharp and fuzzy at once. Wet on skin: Still mostly lavender and moss, though there's something back there that's almost citrusy, even though citrus isn't a listed note. Drydown: Freshly dry, this is still mostly lavender and moss, though the amber's peeking out a little. The thing that I thought was citrus is either gone, or has dried into proving that it's actually carnation. By one hour, however, lavender has taken over as the predominant note. I donʻt get any carnation anymore, but the moss is still there to ground everything. Five hours later: Fainter overall, but aside from that, not much difference from one hour. Lavender, grounded by just a bit of moss. There might be something else in there, but itʻs fleeting and unidentifiable. End of the day: Gone. Overall: I think I was hoping for more out of this than I got. Yes, lavender is listed as one of the first notes, and I should have expected it would be prominent! And yes, I do like lavender! But I'm also a fan of moss and amber and carnation, and more would have been welcome. That said, I think I still will hang onto this, and see what a bit of aging might do to it.

I guess I'm stubborn with citrus. I should know full well by now that it barely lasts an hour on my skin, and yet I keep trying citrus things in the hope that they'll work better. This one was a frimp, but I still admit that I was hoping it'd be the one really citrus thing that didn't go poof on me. In the imp: Fresh sweet orange, with a tiny bit of fig grounding it. Wet on skin: Sweet orange, still fresh, but somehow drier. The fig is still just in the background. Drydown: Freshly dry, the orange is losing ground and the fig is coming forward. I still do smell them both at this point, though they both seem sweeter than in their genuine real-life versions. At one hour in, if I sniff really hard, thereʻs a tiny bit of fig left. Five hours later: Way the heck gone. As it has been since about an hour and a half in. End of the day: So gone that, if this were some sort of prehistoric organism, it wouldnʻt have even left trace fossil evidence that it ever existed. Overall: I can't say I'm the least bit surprised that this pulled a complete disappearing act on me. I'll have to swap it to someone whose skin doesn't drink up most fruit notes within an hour.

I got this one as a frimp in a swap, and I'm really not entirely sure how well it will work. A bunch of the notes sound great to me, but then there are flowers, and that makes me nervous. I'm not going to let that scare me off entirely, though! In the imp: Labdanum and cypress are pretty obvious. There are some other less distinct things adding depth and maybe a tiny bit of sweetness. Wet on skin: The labdanum and cypress are still the most prominent, but thereʻs definitely some sort of flower sharing the top spot now, too. I couldnʻt tell you if itʻs the narcissus or the stephanotis. Drydown: Freshly dry, florals are definitely continuing to sweeten this up. The labdanum and cypress are now backgrounded to whichever floral is taking over (Iʻm guessing the narcissus, since itʻs listed as the first note?). The way-back-there-background is coming across as distinctly earthy-woody now. At one hour in, the cypress is gone, and ambergris has become more prominent. Blended with the labdanum, this is smooth and dark; itʻs no longer particularly earthy-woody. On top of this is some sort of floral, which gives it a bit of an ethereal luminescent quality even while it remains dark. Five hours later: Pretty much a straight-up blend of labdanum and ambergris. End of the day: A very slight bit of ambergris is still there. Overall: I do believe I have found something with overt flower notes that I still think works on me! Rather than declaring themselves flowers for flowers' sake, these notes add a sort of oddly sweet etherealness over the much darker background, which I think is really cool. The dark notes are already kind of deep, but by putting the flowers on top, everything becomes deeper in context. I really like this one, and will be keeping the imp.

This isn't a scent I would have picked out for myself, but septima_pica gave me an imp, telling me that Yemaya is unabashedly weird and is worth trying just for that alone. How could I turn down such a recommendation? In the imp: Sweet cantaloupe, with a slight hint of something salty. Wet on skin: Cantaloupe, grape, and some nameless salty thing. Drydown: Freshly dry, the melon and grape are still there, but theyʻre losing ground to the salty thing. Iʻm assuming that must be the "sea mosses," but all I really smell is salt. Thereʻs no plant component as of yet. At one hour in, Iʻm no longer certain of the presence of grape, but the melon has lasted surprisingly long. Itʻs still mixed with a hefty helping of salt, though. Five hours later: All of the fruit is gone now, and it becomes apparent that there really is some moss in this one: very salty moss. End of the day: Very slightly salty. Overall: Indeed, this is a weird one! Sweet and salty do work together as flavors, sometimes, but with these particular smells, it's just very strange. I am amazed that the melon lasted as long as it did on me, but I'm still iffy on its combination with salt. If it were just melon and moss, that would've been a very different impression, but the salt note is probably more prominent on me than it ought to be. I could still see this working as a good refreshing summer scent, but probably not on me.

I'm starting to notice a trend that I try the oils more related to things like Hell and vengeance and torment when it gets closer to finals. It's not necessarily that I deliberately wait to try them until I have a project due, but among the pile of untested imps, they are just plain more likely to get picked at this time of year. In the imp: Gardenia, a bit of citrus, and some less distinct things that are dark and smooth. Wet on skin: Whatever citrus I was getting in the imp is gone now, but the gardenia is still in full force, and I think I'm getting the ylang ylang now, too. There is still a darker and drier backdrop, but I'd characterize this as a white floral right now anyway. Drydown: Freshly dry, this is still largely a sweet floral, though it's veering away from being a white floral specifically. The darker backdrop is becoming a little more clear as involving wood, and slightly smoky wood at that. At one hour in, the balance is generally the same as when freshly dry, though the overall intensity is much much less. Five hours later: Very slighty woody. End of the day: Even more slightly woody, to the point of being nearly gone. Overall: To be honest, I don't think I'm getting much tavern in this, nor much Hell. On me, this is largely a floral with an indistinct dark backdrop. The backdrop is well-blended and interesting, but never terribly prominent on my skin. I would have liked there to have been more of it, but ah well. I think I'll be swapping this to someone whose skin likes it better.

This was the imp given as a thanks to those who donated to the canned food drive at November Will Call. I looked up the term "Daya," and it is Sanskrit for "day" in the most literal sense, but also for "compassion." It is, apparently, a particularly important concept in Sikhism. The idea of "compassion" is also a perfect thing to associate with a food drive, of course. Thanks so much to the Lab for this one! In the imp: Some sort of light oil or wax, something slightly floral-tart-sweet that could be rosewater (maybe?), slight hint of spices. Wet on skin: Still with the oil/wax, though subtly. The spices immediately come further forward, and seem a bit incensey. Now, Iʻm not so sure about the rosewater thing, but thereʻs some kind of delicate sweetness back there. Drydown: Freshly dry, this is now clearly an incense scent. Thereʻs nag champa, and maybe also sandalwood (which is fortunately not making me sneeze). The smooth note is probably more likely oil than wax, but Iʻm pretty sure itʻs one of the two, since it reminds me of something that was in Hanerot Halalu. The whole thing is still backed up by a light sweetness, but at this point, I could no longer tell you whether or not I think rosewater is involved. At one hour in, this has settled pretty well into a combination of incense, that oily note, and maybe also resin. Itʻs a little drier than before, due to prominence of incense, but itʻs still recognizable. Five hours later: A similar balance to the one hour mark, though considerably fainter. Sandalwood incense, a little bit of oil, and some sort of resin (Iʻm going to guess myrrh at this point). End of the day: Very very slight hint of resin (and Iʻm still going to guess that the resin in question is myrrh). Overall: This is a very warm scent, and also quite comforting, as something based on compassion really should be. I also definitely get an Indian/south Asian impression from this, and I suspect I might have even if I didnʻt know that "Daya" is a Sanskrit word. Given that knowledge, there really could have been rosewater in this, since it is a component of lots of Indian desserts and stuff. Iʻm still not sure if the oil smell was, in fact, oil, but it reminded me so much of the non-wax component Hanerot Halalu that Iʻm not sure what else it could be. My opinion here might be swayed by the fact that the imp label shows a scene with lots of hovering candles. Iʻm definitely certain of the sandalwood incense, and fortunately, it seems to be a kind of sandalwood that doesnʻt set my allergies off. I didnʻt get any of the plum that other people are mentioning in their reviews, but plum disappears on me so quickly that I couldnʻt tell you if it was ever there. At any rate, I really really like this. It is gentle and glowing and seems like itʻd be especially lovely on a cold or wet day. Iʻm going to have to use it sparingly, though, since it is only one imp!

I tend to be a fan of scents that represent landscapes and forests in general, so I couldn't not try Black Forest at some point. It'd been sitting on my wishlist for a while when Lizard Queen sent me an imp as part of a summer Switch Witch package. Many thanks! In the imp: Mostly pine, though I can also detect a bit of the cypress and juniper. Something also makes this slightly sweeter, though I'm not sure exactly what. Wet on skin: Still mostly pine, with cypress edging out juniper for second place in terms of evergreens. The thing that's smoothing everything else is becoming more distinct as ambergris. Drydown: Freshly dry, all of the evergreens have softened, though the levels of the three relative to each other haven't changed much. The ambergris is a bit stronger, and still sweetens and smoothes the trees out. I think I might be catching some whiffs of musk back there, though it's subtle. At one hour in, the musk is more noticeable, though it hasn't bumped anything else out of place. It blends smoothly with the ambergris, providing a dark and somewhat sweet backdrop for a primarily pine sort of evergreenness. Five hours later: Still quite evident, though the balance has shifted from the tree notes toward the musk. It's mostly a soft musk, with just a little hint of pine left, and perhaps even less ambergris. End of the day: There's definitely still musk left. Everything else is gone. Overall: This is very very nice. On my skin, it's a close relative of things like The Jersey Devil and Thanatopsis, both of which I like very much. Something about Black Forest is more fantastical and less grounded of a landscape than the other two, though. I can't put a finger on why that is, but it definitely strikes me as the kind of landscape that might be in a fairy tale, with extra-tall trees and huge wide spaces between them, but somehow still managing to be overall dark and misty. This doesn't strike me as an evil forest, though, but certainly the kind of place where unexpected things could happen. I definitely enjoyed this one, and will be gladly holding on to the imp.

I confess, this wound up on my wishlist before I ever read The Graveyard Book, and the reason for this is the mention of marble and dust as the first two notes. I'm so predictable! But then I actually read the book and adored it, and then I knew that the Owens family in question were awesome ghost-people, and that made me want to test this for more than just the rocks. I got frimped this in a decant circle after I read the book, and I'm definitely glad to get to try it. In the imp: Smooth cold stone, dandelions, and daffodil. Wet on skin: The plant notes are now more the greens than the florals, though it still reminds me of the same types of plants after all. The stone note is less prominent, but still smooth and cold. Drydown: Freshly dry, the whole thing is much fainter, and also much less planty. The plants are still there, but only within a heaping dose of dust, next to stone that is still distinctly smooth, though perhaps less cold than before. At one hour in, any trace of plant life has vanished, leaving behind smooth stone and dust that somehow smell as if they're pale in hue. Five hours later: Ozone, and it has been this way since about two and a half hours in. End of the day: Still a bit of ozone. Overall: I am extremely impressed by the marble note. I know this is a kind of phrase I often type in reviews, but seriously, Beth can differentiate between the scents of different types of rocks using combinations of essential oils from plants, and I am totally in awe. Needless to say, I like that aspect! Unfortunately in the case of The Owens' Tomb in particular, the non-rocky notes vanished within an hour, and the rocks themselves transitioned to ozone very quickly into the drydown as well. The balance in the early stages of drydown was fantastic, but it didn't last, which is sad. For that reason, I probably won't be upgrading my decant. Still glad I got to try it, though!

American Gods is a book I have read several times, and I've loved it each time. From the get-go, I was amused at the idea of the Norns' place being in Virginia, the state in which I grew up. I was therefore interested in this scent for the connection to the book, the connection to the state, and the fact that the notes just plain sounded awesome. I was lucky enough to get a decant of this in a swap, so here goes! In the imp: Dry wood, apple, chamomile, and possibly sage. Wet on skin: Still mostly dry wood and apple, though now I get something smoky/ashy as well. Sage is definitely there, chamomile is less distinct. Not sure if that's because it's fading, or it's melding into other plant notes. Drydown: Freshly dry, the wood and smoky ash are the predominant scents, though there's still a considerable helping of apple and sage. There is a more nonspecific herbal smell lingering behind all of this. At one hour in, the herbal aspect is almost entirely gone, and the smoky ash has become even more prominent. I'd almost compare it to a recent burn in an apple orchard, with the wood, smoke, and apple notes. Five hours later: Less apple now, but now that this note has faded somewhat, I realize that there is still other indistinct plantiness back there. Whatever those plants are, they're still absolutely secondary to the scent of recently-charred wood. End of the day: Gone. Overall: Interestingly, on my skin, The Norns' Farmhouse is in the same family of scents as Fearful Pleasure. They both feature apple and smoke prominently, with the support of herbs or spices. The difference is in the intensity and tone, however. The apple and smoke in Fearful Pleasure are sweet and comforting, while the ones in Norns' Farmhouse are thinner and harsher. If Fearful Pleasure is a comfortable evening of controlled creepiness, Norns' Farmhouse is definitely something that burned down in an actually terrifying way, though long enough ago to not be threatening any longer. I draw comparison to a scent I like, and that translates to me also liking The Norns' Farmhouse quite well. I'm very glad for the decant.

I think this is the first Ars Amatoria scent I've actually picked out for myself. Love poems and smelling sexy aren't my general thing, but the list of notes on Aperotos Eros sounds so fantastic that I need to give it a try, no matter how far the inspiration for this scent differs from my norm. In the imp: Resinous and a little evergreen-sharp. If I were pressed to pick out anything in particular, I think that it's heaviest on benzoin, myrrh, and fir. Wet on skin: It gets a little sweeter as it hits my skin, which is probably related to musk, since I think I'm noticing that now as well. It is still largely a resin blend, however, with a bit of sharpness that reminds me of evergreen sap. Drydown: Freshly dry, myrrh has definitely overtaken benzoin as the main resin, though both are still there. I'm pretty sure that musk is the main thing sweetening up a little, though not sweet enough to dull the edge of what I still assume is the fir. The other notes are probably there, blended into something darkish that I can't categorize with the other stuff I smell. At one hour in, this is a dark resiny musk with just a little bit of bite. It's not particularly sweet anymore. Five hours later: Dry wood of some indistinct sort, myrrh, and musk. End of the day: A little bit of musk and a littler bit of myrrh. Overall: This scent is very very brown - a sort of dark grayish brown with an almost velvety texture. The edge that it has isn't so much sharpness as just textural deviation from complete smoothness. It's rather intense, but in a rich way, rather than in an overpowering one. The musk, wood, and resin are so well balanced that I couldn't tell you which one best characterizes the scent, but that doesn't matter. I like this very very much, and I foresee myself wearing it fairly often.

I think I'm just as intrigued about the concept of Florence as I am about the notes. I know amber works well on me, and I like the smell of real berries, though I have little experience with them in an oil context. I also know that I like things from the Italian Renaissance, particularly the music, and that I'd like to visit Florence some day, so there you go. Had to try this one. In the imp: Spiced amber with berries. Wet on skin: I think the berries are outpacing the amber now, but both are still there. They're definitely tart berries - currants, maybe? The amber is a very soft one, and the spices are a nice overlay. Not getting any iris. Drydown: Freshly dry, this has transitioned somewhat from a rich and wet scent to something drier. I suspect the amber is responsible, though it fortunately hasn't done the powder thing that it does on some people (but usually not on me). The berries are secondary to the amber, but still provide a tart sweetness. The spices are fainter as well, and I'm still not recognizing any iris. At one hour in, this is amber with a slight hint of berries. It's not particularly spicy anymore. Five hours later: Berryish amber, fainter than at one hour, but with roughly the same balance of notes. End of the day: Faint sweet amber. Overall: On my skin, and to my nose, this is a blend very closely related to Versailles - they're both predominantly bright amber, with a tinge of some fruit note for color. This similarity makes sense to me, since both Versailles and Florence are associated with Renaissance/Baroque splendor. It also makes sense that Florence would be the blend that, to me, has a little more body and depth, since it refers to a whole city of artists as opposed to one particularly sparkly king. All of this said, I like the scent, and will be holding onto the imp.

This was a frimp with impeccable timing. And by "impeccable," I mean, "for maximum stick-it-to-you frustration." See, I got this one at Will Call. I've gone every month for quite some time, but for the last few times, I've been coming from places other than where I live. But this month, I came from Riverside again, and I forgot which freeway got me to the Sherman exit. Long story short, I ended up taking the wrong one, which led to a good half hour to 45 minutes of driving around Hollywood/North Hollywood/Universal City surface streets in utter confusion. I did not realize that North Hollywood is a grid until I finally found the Lab. Will Call was, as usual, awesome and fun, and it certainly calmed me down after that much road frustration. I made my order, I got in the car, and I checked the bag before I drove off. And what was sitting there as a frimp? Hollywood Babylon. HOLLYWOOD. I swear I am not making this up. It's all too evilly perfect! So what am I doing to get it back? I'm testing it today, when I am dressed in entirely unglamorous funky weekend clothes, when I am planning on going nowhere near Los Angeles (aside from the whole thing where Riverside is practically a suburb of Los Angeles...). HA. In the imp: Over-the-top candy-sweet artificial cherry and strawberry. My blood sugar feels scared. Wet on skin: Fortunately, less sweet already, and with less sweet, it's less artificial. Still cherry and strawberry, but I can smell the vanilla and amber now, too. Drydown: Freshly dry, if I didn't know better, I would swear this was a different oil from what I sniffed in the imp. I get none of the fruit anymore - none! - and am left with a soft blend of predominantly amber and musk, with just a bit of sweet vanilla. Despite the serious 180 this scent did on me when I first put it on, at one hour, it's pretty much exactly the same as when it first dried: predominantly red musk and amber, with some vanilla smoothing it out. Five hours later: Still not much change from the initial drydown point. I think, perhaps, the amber might be more prominent than the musk now, as opposed to vice versa a few hours ago, but they were always so close in importance that this is a minute detail. The vanilla still smoothes and sweetens the mix. End of the day: Still a little bit of red musk and amber. Not so much on the vanilla anymore. The scent isn't strong, but it's certainly still present without having to sniff too hard. Overall: I had expectations for two possible outcomes: first, that this scent would be hideous doom on me, as a continuation of Hollywood's road nastiness; or second, that this one would turn out to be absolutely freaking amazing on my skin, Hollywood spiting me for my complaining about it. I have to say that I'm pleased to report that neither came true. This scent dried down to something that smelled perfectly good, though not in the sort of way that makes me squee whenever I sniff my wrist. I'd say this one was probably too feminine-sensual to work for me, though that's an impression that makes sense for the side of Hollywood that isn't always facing the cameras. Under normal circumstances, I'd say this was one for the swap pile, but considering the "relationship" I have with Hollywood, I figure I'd better hold on to this so I can keep an eye on it, or something.

Avast, ye wenches an' scurvy dogs! By my almanac, today be the Nineteenth of September, known far an' wide as International Talk Like A Pirate Day! There's a reason fer a chug o' Grog if there ever was one, aye? In the flask: Rum, as strong an' fine to curl a landlubber's whiskers! Liquor all right, but sweet with a spot o' butterscotch. Wet on me skin: Rum, smooth an' still butterscotch sweet. Could be a might watered out, but this still be a potent one. Parchin' out: All newly dry-like, ye can't smell the alcohol so strong, but the flavor to me nose still be smooth and sweet, and strong enough to bely there might be liquor still stowed below the sweet decks. Past one hour of sailin' this scented ship, it's dryin' out like wood planks in the noonday sun, and stow me if there isn't a bit o' wood in the mix. Still as sweet as the sea is deep, but with a bit o' dust to it, or summat like that. Five hours adrift: Me wrists be mighty sweet - like takin' a bath in the old briny an' sittin' out' to dry, but with sugar where all the salt be. Twas rum earlier, but tis rough to guess it now. Yarr. Last watch o' the day: But why is the rum gone? Short an' sweet: This be the scent of some fine rum at the dawning o' the day, but if yer drinkin' in the morning, ye can't keep straight what it is yer downin'. All goes to sugar, then to nought. But here's the part ye best be keepin' hush, or me mates'll make me walk the plank - I don't take a liking to smellin' like liquor, of any sort ye might ever plunder up. Shiver me Joshua-tree-timbers, if that don't set me out as a desert-dwellin' landlubber! I best be leavin' the ship steerin' and rum-wearin' to the savvier piratical-types, and stickin' to steerin' me computer in simulations of arrrrthquakes.

I'm not gonna lie. The main reason I'm interested in this scent is the redwood note. Redwoods smell so good! And this is one of only three BPAL oils with redwood in it (and I can't wear one of the others because it also has a note to which I'm allergic). The other notes also sound really good, but mostly, redwood. In the imp: Mostly fig and orange right now, with an indistinctly dusty background. I'm already expecting a drastic change once this hits my skin. Wet on skin: The orange has already disappeared, and the nutmeg has announced itself. Right now, I'd say this is kind of spicy-resiny, though there is a softer drier note that I'm hoping is going to turn out to be distinctly redwood when it dries. Drydown: Freshly dry, this has already morphed again quite significantly. It's lighter than when wet, and now has much more tarragon than nutmeg. Amber is the predominant resin, and I really don't smell the musk. The soft dry note is, gloriously, turning out to be redwoody! I think the other notes are holding it back from having that slightly sweet hint that you smell when walking through a redwood forest, but it's still recognizable. At one hour in, the notes are no longer particularly distinct from each other. My guess is that the main components at this point are amber, redwood, tarragon, and fig, but everything is quite well blended. Five hours later: I think this is finally mostly done with all its morphing. It's still quite well blended, though I think the thing that's keeping it lighter and fresher is the fig, which had disappeared for a while. The amber has given way to the myrrh, and the redwood remains a gently dusty thing that I might not recognize as redwood if I didn't know that's what it was. End of the day: Faint, but still there. Only now do I get any of the musk, and there's still a little bit of myrrh left as well. Overall: This is one of the morphingest BPALs I've ever tried, and I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of it. It was, at all points, interesting and pleasant, but it was so hard to pin down that I don't know if I can make an overarching statement about what, exactly, it smells like. The whiffs of redwood were awesomely on-the-ball, but all too fleeting, though I guess no more fleeting than any other single note in the mix. I suppose I will need to search elsewhere for my smelling-like-redwoods needs. All this said, I don't think there's a way I could go wrong wearing this, as all of the stages are likeable and unintrusive. I'm glad to have a decant, but I don't need a bottle.

This didn't start out as one that screamed at me that I should try it. I was intrigued enough to test it at Will Call, despite feeling a little wary of all the flowers. Little did I expect that I'd come out of Will Call considering it the hit of the night for me. For one, there was citrus that stayed citrus, which never happens, and for another, it smelled like colors I associate with late summer or early autumn. There was no question that I was going to get a bottle the next Will Call so that I could give it proper wear time, over and over. In the bottle: A note that reminds me a lot of iced herbal tea, present but type-indistinct citrus, and a planty smell that falls somewhere between brilliant gold and the pale brown of wilting. There's a slight cold edge, but the scent is largely warmer. Wet on skin: Still plenty of the tealike note, and still with its citrus component. This blends very well with the dried golden plant notes. Drydown: Freshly dry is pretty much the same as wet, though I would say that the plant notes seem more dry themselves. I suspect that the herbal tea impression might be related to the combination of the florals and leaves with citrus, but I definitely am still thinking tea. I'm also still getting occasional hints of whatever that cold edge is, but it's not persistent. At one hour in, not much has changed. The scent may, perhaps, be a little drier, but the balance is largely the same - including the citrus aspect. I'm actually surprised that hasn't pulled its usual disappearing act on my skin by now. Five hours later: The citrus has flown the coop by this point, but it lasted an admirable several hours. The rest of the scent is decidedly less tealike now, even though I detect some of the same notes that I think melded into that scent earlier. Now, this is largely a field of drying plant matter, some of which retains only a tiny amount of floral sweetness, but not enough to make this fall into a description of "floral," at least not in my mind. I'm actually smelling the amber now, which I wasn't earlier. End of the day: A faint whiff of dry plant matter. Overall: Even after a full day, I still love this scent. It's wonderfully evocative to me - extremely golden, with perhaps just the edges of the color starting to fade into the pale brown of totally dead foliage. It's reminiscent of fields of waving grasses and yellow flowers without, in my opinion, smelling overtly floral, or at least not in an inherently feminine way. I'm also impressed that something citrusy remained such on me for as long as this did, though that's only secondary to the beautiful mixture of notes that gives such a clear image of a golden field lit by a golden sky. I'm very glad to have this bottle.