Seismogenic

I admit that I was more intrigued by this oil because I like New York City and haven't been there in five years than I was by the specific notes. It was, though, a combination that I couldn't quite picture, so I figured I should actually try it. Lastly, I admit that my decision to try this scent right now was influenced by a recent reading of Watchmen and amusement over ordering Manhattan and Ozymandias in the same imp pack. In the imp: Citrus, leather, and vetiver. Wet on skin: Mostly grapefruit, with a little edge of mint, and some vetiver and leather in the backdrop. Drydown: Freshly dry, the citrus notes are already fading. Oddly, so is the vetiver. What's under there is orchid, leather, and a bit of amber. At one hour later, there's a smooth mix of orchid and amber and maybe the tiniest bit of leather. Whatever it is, it's already much fainter than before. Five hours later: Pretty much gone. If I sniff my wrist, I can tell that it's a little different from the skin that didn't have oil on it, but it doesn't smell like any particular distinct thing. End of the day: Very gone. Overall: Thanks to the rapid disappearing act this oil pulled, I was pretty underwhelmed by the whole thing. When I could still smell it, I think it did fit the description of smooth and sleek. I'm not sure that's my immediate association with New York City, though, if only because I find its history as interesting as its modern image. But mostly, yeah, disappearing act is not appreciated. Will probably be swapping this one.

One would think that living in the desert would not make me require more desert scents, and yet I'm finding I want to test all the ones listed as deserty. This one totally fit the bill. My specific timing on trying it also came from recently reading Watchmen, though the character in question was creepy and I don't think I'd actually want to smell like him. In the imp: Very dry, with only a little hint of sweetness. Maybe a little cologney. Wet on skin: Pretty much the same - dry and dusty, slightly sweet. I think the sweetness must come from the incense note that's listed. Drydown: Freshly dry, there's more dust than stone, but I'm starting to get a more distinct impression of rocks than I did while the oil was wet. The sweetness has diminished a bit, too. At one hour in, it's sand and dust over a hint of something more solidly rocky. The incense isn't so much a distinct note as a vague addition of sweetness. Five hours later: Much like the one hour mark and not even terribly much fainter than it was at that point - dry and soft dusty sand with a hint of sweetness. End of the day: Sweet dusty dryness is still surprisingly prominently present. Overall: Awesome! This really does remind me of very fine sand and dust blowing over more solid rocks, under the heat of the sun. Something about the particular warmth in this doesn't quite capture the desolation in the poem to me, but I still like the smell. There's actually something vaguely reminiscent of Coyote in here as well, though I can't put a finger on what it is, but that's still a good thing in my book. A definite keeper.

A stirring yet gentle perfume. The scent of love and devotion mingled with an undercurrent of heart-rending sorrow. A bouquet of white roses, labdanum, and wild orchid. Another Lab frimp - this is probably one I would have never picked out on my own, but I've also recently realized that I like labdanum a lot, so I'm hoping that note has as much say in this scent as the florals do. In the imp: Orchid with a shot of labdanum. Not so much on the rose yet. Wet on skin: Here comes the rose. It's not a smack you around rose, at least. It blends pretty subtly with the orchid. The labdanum is secondary to the flowers right now. Drydown: Freshly dry, this has quickly become a rose-dominated scent. I can't really detect the orchid anymore, and the labdanum is little more than a darker edge to the rose. At one hour in, it's pretty much all soft rose. Five hours later: Soft rose. There's the slightest slightest edge to it that could be the remnant of the labdanum, but I can't tell for sure. End of the day: Still a little bit of rose. Overall: Alas, my hopes for balance between labdanum and flowers did not come to pass. Magdalene is a pleasant rose, but that's pretty much all it is on me after the first few minutes. It is an unquestionably feminine kind of rose, too, which solidifies my thoughts that this is an oil better suited for someone other than me.

This was a Lab frimp, with just the right timing for spring. I see that white sandalwood is in here, which makes me wary, but I took my allergy meds today, so I'm testing it anyway! In the imp: A sweet vaguely fruity floral with a dash of licorice. My nose is suggesting lemon, even though that's not a listed note. Wet on skin: Still a soft sweet floral with a backdrop of licorice. Whatever was making me think lemon isn't there anymore. Not getting the sandalwood at all yet. Drydown: Freshly dry, the anise has become stronger, though it still blends in nicely with the sweet florals. There's still nothing in here that even vaguely reminds me of sandalwood, which is good news for my allergies. At one hour in, the anise has calmed down a little and is blending better with the flowers, which remain very soft. I am getting something dusty now, which can only be sandalwood, but it's still not making me sneeze. Five hours later: Gone. The transition to goneness happened between three and four hours, I think. End of the day: Still gone. Overall: In the early stages, Kyoto reminds me of a kind of tea I like - there's licorice in it, but other sweeter notes in the background temper the bite of that licorice. In that state, I like the scent very much, and it's all the more amazing that something containing white sandalwood (hi, allergies!) and cherry blossoms (I'm also allergic to cherry fruit) worked on me. It did not, however, stay in that stage where I felt it worked for very long, which is a shame. Kyoto was a pleasant enough experience, but based on how the oil progressed on my skin, I don't anticipate reaching for it very often.

You know, there's really no excuse whatsoever why I haven't tried this one until now. I like tea, vanilla, and pale musk notes. I've read The Picture of Dorian Gray several times and really like the book. And there's the whole thing where it's a forum favorite, and Puddin has given me crap at Will Call about not having tried it yet. Seriously, I have no good excuse! But I'm trying it now. In the imp: Light and sweet, with the sugared tea particularly evident. Wet on skin: The vanilla aspect of "vanilla" tea is starting to come out now. Getting the musk, too, but as a soft backdrop. Drydown: Freshly dry, there seems to be a little lemon in this tea, just a tiny bit. It probably won't last long on me. But yes, overall, it's still sweet vanilla tea with only the littlest hint of musk. At one hour in, the lemon is indeed gone, and it's starting to go from "tea with vanilla" to "vanilla with tea." The musk is more evident now, though it's still serving as a soft and sweetish backdrop. Five hours later: Still quite present, as a mix of vanilla, musk, and only a very little bit of tea. End of the day: And still going surprisingly strong. Mostly musk now, with a bit of vanilla left. The tea is gone. Overall: Ok, seriously, why did I wait this long to try Dorian? It's wonderful! It's smooth and sweet and refined, but the musk keeps it from being too clean and innocent. It's back there like the picture in the attic, with the "apparent" Dorian being all sweetness and courtesy. Totally fits the story. I'm also seriously loving the tea note in this one - I was hoping for that sort of tea from White Rabbit, and I didn't get it there. I absolutely see why this is such a favorite, and I'm sure I'll be using it, particularly as the weather gets warmer.

I'd like to be able to say that I wanted to test this one specifically for Shakespeare reasons, but alas, I have to admit that I'm not familiar with King Lear beyond the very basics of plot. The notes were what intrigued me here, and a mention of this scent in that recommendations thread about desert/southwest oils certainly helped me along in wanting to give it a try. In the imp: Light, dry, a little gritty, and a little sagey. Wet on skin: The notes are pretty distinguishable from each other, particularly the cedar and sage. That doesn't stop them from smelling good as a combination, though. The overall feel is definitely still light and dry. Drydown: Freshly dry, this is still mostly an interplay between the cedar and the sage, with the bay leaf taking a (still present) back seat. It hasn't changed much at the one hour mark, though it may be a little more homogeneous. At this point, there seems to be a sort of warmth to the dryness. Five hours later: Still pretty much the same mix, with cedar the most prominent, then sage, then bay. It's all pretty faint by this point. End of the day: Gone. Overall: Well then, it's the Mojave! This really does remind me of soft desert sediment and harder rocks with sage growing on them, all sitting in the sun. It's a pale dusty landscape steeped in sunlight, not unlike a place where I did fieldwork last year. I guess it's not a fully literal representation of that landscape - except for the sage - but maybe more of an impressionistic one. Lear is a soft but present scent, and I like it a whole lot. Definitely will be getting use out of this imp, if not more than that...

I will admit right off that a large part of what intrigues me about this scent is the poem itself, which I had never seen before. Proud and excessive humanity probably will do itself in some day, after seeming to overwhelm the natural environment. It also is true, though, that nature will remain in some form (even if it's just rocks) long after people have wiped ourselves out. I like the cautionary message (even though it does highlight that humans really suck sometimes) and the environmental implication alike. The notes do, of course, also intrigue me quite a bit! It looks wonderfully dark and complex, and even though I'm sure the citrus will go poof, I still want to see how it works out. In the imp: This somehow manages to be rich and dry at once, with a general dark sweetness. I can't pick out notes yet. Wet on skin: The idea of dark sweetness still works here, though it's not quite as dry as the impression I got from the imp. I'm getting the currant and the labdanum (I think), though if I didn't know better, I'd assume there's some anise in there as well. Drydown: Freshly dry is pretty much the same as wet - dark, sweet, a bit sharp, and largely homogeneous, though the labdanum in particular does stick out more. One hour in continues to be pretty much the same, and without losing much in the way of intensity, either. Five hours later: Everything is fainter now, though it's still pretty present. Labdanum is still the predominant note, with a softer earthier backdrop. The musk is only a slight suggestion. End of the day: Gone, for the most part. There might be a tiny bit of labdanum left if I sniff really hard. Overall: This scent is making me realize that I like labdanum a lot. I also like the rest of this particular combination, even if its various citrus aspects never showed up on me. The Deserted Village is, at least on my skin, definitely related to Melainis. There's a darkness to both of them that undoubtedly comes from some shared notes. But where Melainis is comfortable and even luxuriant in thick darkness, the darker notes in The Deserted Village really are kind of like a tarnish on a scent that also has brighter and shinier elements. I think this combination of notes works really well with the poem, and I really like it.

The mental image of a wild green landscape sprinkled with flowers was so clear to me just from reading the notes on The Host of the Air that I knew I had to actually try it. I'm not a big fan of cultivated flowers, but wildflowers appeal to me, and they're in this one. The peat note was also a big pull for me, since it's a special kind of dirt and I'm a sucker for anything remotely geological. In the imp: Fresh leafy green, something a little more like bark, and a sharp dirt note that I assume is peat. Wet on skin: Peat and greenery, with a little breath of wildflowers. Drydown: Freshly dry, the wildflowers - particularly clover and dandelion - have substantially sweetened the mix, but it's still not overtly floral. The peat and leafy greenery have melded into something more homogeneously freshly earthy. At the one hour mark, the flowers have calmed down as well, lending a slight sweetness to the fresh earthiness from before. Five hours later: It's quite faint now, but still evident as something softly earthy and something barky green. Still pretty fresh, even while being faint. End of the day: Still some faint sharp greenness, barely detectable. Overall: I'll join the crowd that's declaring The Host of the Air to be springtime in a bottle! This is not delicate and dewy springtime creeping in after a long hard winter, though. This is outspokenly, proudly, joyously fresh and green, like an explosion of foliage and wildflowers. A yard that smelled like this would probably make someone doing yardwork scream, but it's the perfect image of a wild field of flowers and leaves sprouting from soft dirt. And speaking of dirt, the peat note is an interesting one, and I definitely like it. It's different from other dirt notes I've sniffed so far, and that appeals to me in and of itself, since different places have different soils. I'll also say that, having seen Ireland out the window of an airplane (though I've never actually been there), I can totally see how this scent matches that image of rolling green hills. So yes, definitely a wonderful one! I'm considering a bottle; the reason it's not a certain purchase is my own financial situation, not anything to do with the merit of the scent.

2009 Version I'm a bit of a history geek inside, and I've written a graphic novel involving personified days of the year. I therefore was immediately intrigued by a scent based on this particular notorious day. The prospect of herbs and resins also helped, even considering the flowers. This will also be my first experience with BPAL's metal note that I can think of, so I'm intrigued for that as well. In the imp: Lots of lemon with an herbal undertone and a vaguely metallic bite. Wet on skin: Still plenty of lemon, but it has been smoothed out by the other notes, which are still mostly homogeneous to my nose. The metal twang is still there, and I think I can ID the benzoin and the iris, but I'm really not sure. Either way, I know lemon won't last long on me. Drydown: Freshly dry, the lemon has indeed retreated, and I'm sure the bergamot has as well. What's predominant now is a floral smell reminiscent of early spring, which I assume is a combination of the crocus, iris, and narcissus. I do still get some of the benzoin, but I don't really pick up on the metal anymore. At one hour in, I wouldn't personally believe that this is the same scent I put on earlier, if I didn't know better. It's all about the herbs and resins now, particularly the benzoin and the rosemary, though there's other stuff in there that I can't pinpoint (is that what costus and dittany are?). Five hours later: Much the same herby-resiny combination as at the one hour mark, though fainter. Sweetish, dryish, and sharpish at the same time. End of the day: Still getting quite a bit of herby benzoin. Overall: What a morpher! The way this smelled in the imp and wet led me to expect something entirely different from the way this ended up smelling. That said, I think I liked the actual end result quite a bit better than I would have expected from the wet stage. I was dreading the prevalence of flowers, really, but they fortunately weren't the main thing. I did hope the metallic note would have lasted longer, though, since the thing it represents is what gives the Ides in particular its infamy, rather than Caesar's general infamy. But overall, despite the lack of knives and the fact that citrus disappears on me, I still really like this one. Probably not enough to upgrade to a bottle, but I definitely plan on holding onto the decant.

Tapping into my love for the concepts of the Wanderlust category, my wonderful Winter Switch Witch Voodoocatwoman sent me an imp of Amsterdam with my reveal package. Many many thanks! In the imp: Light and sweet: fresh water, grass, and a hint of floral. Wet on skin: Hello, peony! That immediately becomes the most prominent note, though not in a strong or overpowering way. The grass and water are still back there. Drydown: Freshly dry, soft gentle peony is the note most to the foreground, with grass supporting it. Not getting quite as much of water now, but something that's less sweet but still floral is starting to peek through - I assume it's tulips. One hour later, there's still a little bit of the peony and tulip, but really not very much. Five hours later: Completely gone. It has been gone since about two or three hours in, actually. End of the day: It was gone at five hours, and it did not come back. Overall: I think that Amsterdam beautifully captures the scent of early spring. There are lots of tulips and peonies in northern Virginia, where I grew up (there were even some in my parents' yard), and this oil smells like a cool spring morning with dew on the grass and those flowers. It even brings up some specific memories of going to a family friend's house on Easter when I was very little, and searching for eggs in the elaborate garden. So yes, extremely beautifully evocative. It also lasts an extremely short time on me, though, but then again, I am not particularly the smells-like-flowers type. I am seriously considering some attempt to use this as a room scent, though, because it's gentle and reminds me of happy memories and because it also might last longer that way.

I've liked pretty much everything I've tried with grassy notes in there so far, and I'm also intrigued by burning/scorched notes. Some of my favorite scents evoke images of particular places or settings, and since the description of this involves fields and grasses and charring, I figured I needed to give it a try. In the imp: Grassy, charred, and rather high-pitched. Wet on skin: Not as high-pitched as when wet, but still grassy and charred, with a sort of acrid/sour aspect to it. Drydown: Freshly dry, it's not as acrid as when wet. It's a definite dry straw/grass note, but different from the dry grass in Coyote or Moon of Small Spirits. It somehow smells like a stiffer, more cultivated, grass. There's still a definite scorched scent on top of this all. At one hour in, the whole thing has faded drastically, though what's left is the same stiff scorched dry grass idea. Five hours later: Completely gone. Already. It has been pretty much gone since the two or three hour mark, in fact. End of the day: Still gone. Overall: I had high hopes for this one based on description, and based on that scorched fields atmosphere that it produced early on. It's definitely late summer or early fall, hot enough to be oppressive, but dry enough to set fires across the straw. That straw note is dead on, and the rest definitely achieves scorched and desolate. But alas, despite this promising start, Scarecrow disappears on me in all too short of a time. Two hours? Or less? Seriously? I'm hoping trying this in different weather or something will make it work better, because I want it to work based on what I did get to smell. If it continues to be this short-lived, though, I may have to pass it on to someone else.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of the first Shakespeare plays I heard of/saw, and it remains a favorite. That was reason enough to be curious about Oberon, and the notes also struck me as an interesting and unusual combination that was worth trying. Thank you so much to my winter Switch Witch, Voodoocatwoman, for sending this imp my way! In the imp: I mostly get the bergamot, juniper berries, and orchid right now. It's a pretty delicate scent. Wet on skin: Light and clean, but not soapy. The bergamot has already subsided quite a bit, but the juniper is still supporting the orchid nicely. Not getting musk or patchouli just yet. Drydown: Freshly dry, the patchouli has showed up, though as a gentle earthy aspect, not something that weighs the scent down. It's still light and fresh, though the juniper keeps it from turning into something too tame or overly floral. At one hour in, this is a very interesting blend of patchouli, white musk, a bit of juniper, and orchid. The notes are distinct and the blend is not homogeneous, but they all fit together in a way that's simultaneously unusual and totally makes sense. Five hours later: Oberon has simplified into orchid and white musk, with a little hint of patchouli if I sniff hard enough. This orchid may be the most persistent flower scent I've encountered in a BPAL oil. End of the day: A little bit of orchid and a little bit of white musk. Overall: This is another one of those scents that I think absolutely nails the concept. It's delicate but masculine, clean and fresh while also being a bit wild, and definitely quite unusual. It definitely suits the King of the Fairies in my mind. I'm not so sure that I'm a King of the Fairies type myself, though. I like the scent, but it seems too magical and aloof for me, based on a single test. I think I'm going to have to give it another test run or two.

I generally like the idea of smelling like natural places, including different brands of forest. The combination of many types of leaves and woods absolutely appealed to me about Yggdrasil. Many thanks to Voodoocatwoman, my awesome winter Switch Witch, for sending me this imp! In the imp: Effervescently woodsy green. Perhaps even a bit minty. Wet on skin: Pretty much the same as in the imp. Herby green, dusty wood, light and almost sparkly. Now that I think about it, I suspect wintergreen is involved, rather than mint. Drydown: Freshly dry, I still get shimmery wintergreen in here, over the top of light green leaves. There's a little bit of dusty content under there, which is likely from wood, though it doesn't smell outright like wood right now. I suspect there might be white sandalwood, alas, because my nose got a little tingly when I sniffed closer. At one hour in, though, the wintergreeny note has disappeared, and the whole scent has smoothed into a soft, dry, woody base with just the hint of grayish green. Five hours later: A very soft woody note, close to the skin and indistinct as to what type of wood it is. End of the day: Gone. Overall: The initial combination of sparkly wintergreen with leaves and woods was very nice, and fit the idea of a magical tree to me. The wintergreen disappeared all too quickly, and the leafy notes didn't stick around for all that long either; past the one hour mark, Yggdrasil became mostly soft nondescript wood. There certainly isn't anything bad or objectionable about it, but I was hoping for the branches and the leaves. If the longer drydown of this stayed like the initial hour or so of wear, it would be an absolute keeper, but as it goes, there are other gray-green forest scents I like better.

I have to admit that I hadn't really considered trying many of this year's Lupercalias, since most of the Aphrodites are florals or other not-so-good notes on me, and since I know I'd be embarrassed if someone asked and I'd been wearing one of the Shungas. Melainis seemed most intriguing out of the lot based on the notes listed, and a sniff at Will Call in January added some definite validity to my suspicion that this is good stuff. Now, I'm not even slightly goddess-like, but I'm certainly someone who stays up until late at night (see timestamp on this review!), so the face of Aphrodite that revels in the wee hours of night makes as much sense for me to try as anything else. In the imp: Whoa, this oil is dark and thick! Anise is the main thing going on here, with sweet and earthy undertones. Wet on skin: Definitely getting the anise and the clove, predominantly, but there is also a more homogeneous sweet dark texture going on underneath that. The whole mixture is pretty strong! Drydown: Freshly dry, the anise is not as sharp, though it's still the first thing I notice. The background is a spiced sweet darkness that's smooth overall. At one hour in, the anise has mellowed even further, and the tobacco is becoming a little more distinct. The whole thing is still very smooth, though, and still has pretty good throw. Five hours later: Softer overall, but still wonderfully smooth and dark. Teak is standing out much more now than it did before, and next to it, anise and tobacco are the most identifiable things out of the mix. End of the day: Soft, but still quite present. Mostly teak and tobacco now, with anise still hanging in there, and a little musk rounding it out. Overall: Smooth, rich, dark, complex, and gorgeous. While individual notes are identifiable in the mixture, it is wonderfully blended overall, greater than the sum of its parts without losing track of said parts. Melainis strikes me as more of a rich dark brown than the deep blue or black of night, but it's still quite nocturnal in its thickness and heaviness. It also seems like a little goes a long way, which will make this imp last plenty long. My suspicion that Melainis would be awesome is definitely confirmed, and I'll be holding on to it for certain.

I was initially intrigued by this one because I own a black cat. His name is Garlock, and he's whiny and wussy and I spoil him rotten. I figured it was only right to try and oil that describes him, at least in some basic sense. I also like the idea of a scent that promotes childlike curiosity and fun, while nixing minor troublesome things. Grad school can sometimes suck the joy out of life, at least around finals, and I'd definitely like to be able to hex my math TA, or at least unjinx the quizzes. I was expecting a braindead kind of day, what with the time change and the impending finals and a math quiz, so this was a good one to try today. In the imp: Soft, sweet, and minty. Wet on skin: Mostly mint, but it's sweetened in a way that suggests something floral is behind it. Couldn't tell you what flower yet, though. Drydown: Much the same as wet - a sweet, slightly floral herbal mint. It's very bright and springy. At one hour in, the mint is less sharp and more herbal, and there's something a bit more grassy in there, too. The floral sweetness comes across rather like rose pastilles, and there's also something a little tangy showing up, though I'm not sure what it is. Five hours later: A smooth combination of herby green, vaguely roseish sweetness, and a still-unidentified tangy note. It's not a strong scent, but it hasn't faded much since the one hour mark, either. End of the day: The unidentified tangy note remains, though faintly. I still can't ID it. Overall: I like! The scent is springy overall, and contains notes that can be distinctly identified, but combines them in a way so that nothing is overwhelming or unnatural. This is the sort of floral thing I can actually wear, because it is not mostly floral. I really like the mint, and I'm fond of the unidentified tangy thing, too. Also, I found that I was in a pretty good mood today, despite being completely exhausted and having no attention span. I was able to laugh about that, rather than whine over it (like Garlock would do). I also did not feel so vexed by tonight's math quiz! I'm not sure how much of this had anything to do with Black Cat, but I liked the smell enough on its own that I'd wear this again, even if it doesn't have any special effects otherwise.

I was insanely excited for the notes in Windy Moon when it went up, because it immediately made me think of Southern California's infamous Santa Ana Winds. I've been hoping for a Santa Ana-esque scent for quite some time, and while Windy Moon didn't explicitly call itself that, the combination of wind and dried-out plant matter and smoke meant nothing else in my mind. The actual real Santa Anas are not my favorite thing ever to experience, since they blow in all sorts of stuff that makes me sneeze, and since they start fires, but I'm totally fascinated by them as a natural phenomenon. Windy Moon was something I couldn't not try. In the bottle: Sharp, chilly, and dusty. Wet on skin: Still sharp and chilly, and while ozone is showing up, the dusty note is making the overall impression dry, rather than aquatic. Drydown: Freshly dry is much like wet, though it's perhaps not as chilly. Definitely still sharp and dusty and airy, though. Not getting any smoke yet. By the one hour mark, it's still sharp but definitely much warmer than before. There's plenty of woody dust, and now the smoke is coming out too, though as more of a background than something dominant. Five hours later: The whole thing has faded, but it's still present, and is similar in balance to the one hour mark: sharp ozone, dry woody dust, and a bit of smoke. End of the day: The faintest hint of dusty wood remains. Overall: Holy crap, totally lives up to what I hoped it would be! This really is the scent of the Santa Ana Winds! It's sharp and dry and carries plenty of dust and dead plant matter, with that little bit of menacing smoke rounding it out...it's pretty much dead on. This is the kind of thing that makes me go "uh oh!" when I step outside and smell it as the atmosphere, but I am incredibly excited to have the smell in a bottle. It can't hurt me in that bottle! I also think it's interesting that the ozone in here makes the scent sharp and biting without coming across as watery to me at all; I know other people in this thread have likened Windy Moon to an aquatic, but I really get no moisture whatsoever out of it, except perhaps when the oil itself is still wet on my skin. On my skin, it's all about the dry, blustery, and incendiary, which is all about a force of nature that I've come to know well. This scent makes me happy.

I think this is my first case of magically-timed appropriate frimpage from the Lab. This came with my Windy Moon order, but I'm actually trying Has No Hanna first, because I've been having an indescribably bad past few days and could really use some lifting of the spirit and alleviation of depression. In a sense, it's already working a little bit, since getting a CnS and receiving my order were small bright points in the past few days. I'm hoping the oil itself will serve its proper purpose on me. In the imp: Somewhere between fruity and floral, sweet for the most part, but with a little bit of a bite. Wet on skin: It's erring more to the side of floral than fruity now, but it's still sweet - almost juicy. The bit of bitterness from before is distinguishing itself as more earthy now. Drydown: Freshly dry, it's pretty much a sweet floral with a bit of an earthy edge. Possibly ylang-ylang? At any rate, the flowers are white and fragrant. They're not soapy. At one hour in, the whole thing has grown softer. It's still a white floral with an earthy base, a little less sweet than before. It is possible that something faintly musky might be hanging out in there, but I'm not entirely sure. Five hours later: This has faded even more, to the point where it's only a very faint floral thing. I'm now doubting the impression I had around one hour that there might be musk in here. The earthy note is still around as something vaguely dusty on top of the flowers. End of the day: Gone. Overall: I have to say that the scent of Has No Hanna doesn't particularly appeal to me (though it doesn't offend or disgust), but I do think I had a brighter and clearer day than I would have expected giving the events of the previous day and the minimal amount of sleep. I still got things done, and had a few pleasant conversations that even involved laughter. I have no idea what sort of role Has No Hanna had in this, relative to the role of passing time, but that was enough that I plan on holding on to it, white floral or not.

This is the last in the enormous pile of frimps I received from December's Will Call. I know that it's actually based on wicked stepmothers and such, but I still can't help thinking it really ought to be green, and "Defying Gravity" gets stuck in my head. D'oh! In the imp: Jasmine and bitter myrrh. Wet on skin: Mostly jasmine. The myrrh has taken the back seat, though it still contributes some darkness/bitterness. Not getting any rose so far. Drydown: Freshly dry, the rose has shown up to compliment the jasmine, though the jasmine is still in charge. The myrrh has further receded, though it's still responsible for the darker bitter undertone, as far as I can tell. At one hour in, this is some crazy strong stuff! The jasmine is calming down somewhat now, or maybe it's the rose becoming stronger. Either way, they've melded together pretty well. The myrrh is still background, but it's good and dark. Definitely a dangerous floral. Five hours later: The jasmine is pretty much gone now, and the entire blend is in the process of transitioning from bitter to somewhat sweet. It's still a dark rosy myrrh, even if it is sweetening. It's also still quite present. End of the day: Still surprisingly present, though it has morphed even more. Now, it's a sweet and rich mix of rose and myrrh, with no jasmine to be found. Overall: I think this is another one where Beth completely nailed the portrayal of her inspiration. This is a strong, solid, and confident (if not arrogant) blend that is no-nonsense feminine and unquestionably dark. Its components seem innocent enough, but combined, well, I wouldn't want to cross someone whose personality matched this scent. My personality - and my gender - do not match, however, and so I will be passing this on to someone who's a little more Malicious Matriarch than I am. (Because I'd probably be a mad scientist, were I a villain. Yes.)

DCXXXVIII (That translates to, uh, 638, I think?) This marks my first foray into the world that is Chaos Theory! I was hesitant to order one on my own when CT:IV was out, since I am still kind of a newb and don't have hugely much money. My wonderful Halloween Switch Witch, however, swooped in to indoctrinate me in the ways of CT testing and guessing! Yay for my Witch! In the imp: A little sweet and buttery, a little herbal zingy. I think there is pumpkin in here! Possibly also apple. Wet on skin: Yeah, that's definitely the sweet creamy pumpkin that's in Jack! There's a sharper edge too that is not unlike tart green apple, though it could also be some of the sweet from the pumpkin interacting with something else. Not really getting any more of what I thought was herbal zing. Drydown: Freshly dry, it's still mostly pumpkin, though I can once again smell something vaguely herbal. Can't put a finger on what, though. Still unsure about the apple. At one hour in, pumpkin really is the main thing going on, though now I'm getting something more dusty behind it all. Still can't put a finger on just what. Five hours later: Still pumpkin, but now with something that's maybe a bit sassafras? Also something dusty, though I can't decide if it's wood-dusty or herb-dusty. Honestly, it's striking me not unlike Tombstone with pumpkin right now. End of the day: Still quite a bit left, in the form of sweet dusty pumpkin. Overall: I don't think I'm very good at this note-guessing game! The only thing in here of which I am absolutely certain is the pumpkin, which definitely explains why my Witch chose to send this decant my way! Pumpkin as a flavor is one of my favorite things, and I'm finding pumpkin as a smell to also be wonderful. But yeah, I'm guessing that there's something a little herby or woody or generally dry in this with the pumpkin, though I couldn't begin to tell you what, and I'm still not sure whether or not my nose was just totally making something up about the apple. I couuuuld check for other reviews of this particular blend in this thread, but I feel like that would be cheating! All this said, I really like this scent, no matter how badly I describe it. Thank you, Witch! Last reviewed by Shollin.

I got this one in a swap with septima_pica, who described it as something that a dragon might choose to wear if it wanted to smell sexy to other dragons. This description immediately made me think of Dragon in the Shrek trilogy, and while I cannot say that I identify with that character, the thought really amused me, and so I could not let Tanin'iver pass untested. In the imp: Spicy and smoky, a little sweet and a little sharp. Definitely a red smell. Wet on skin: Much the same as in the imp. A spiced smoke, maybe a little bit cinnamon or a little bit incense, but more like something uncharacterizable and weird. Totally works as draconic in my mind. Drydown: Freshly dry, I'm getting the pomegranate, which I now recognize is part of the reason for the red sweet aspect of the smell. It's blending nicely with the smoke and cinnamon. I can now tell that the impression of incense is coming from patchouli specifically. At one hour in, the pomegranate has faded back again, and everything is starting to meld more into the dragon's blood note that's becoming apparent. Five hours later: Mostly dragon's blood, with hints of cinnamon and smoke. Still surprisingly present. End of the day: Faint, but still definitely detectable, dragon's blood. Overall: We-ell, the smell of this totally reminds me of Dragon from Shrek after all. Yeah, I came into this review with that preconceived notion, but it absolutely fits. Reddish, sweet smoky spicy all at once, ayup. I also happen to like the way it smells aside from any character associations, particularly in the earlier stages of wear. The combination of spicy smoky resiny earthy fruity is so weird and supernatural that it absolutely suits dragons in my mind, and I think it's pretty darn cool. A good one for days when I'll need to kick some sort of academic butt, or something. Hehheh.

This was a Lab frimp, and I'll admit off the bat that it kind of scares me, both for the notes themselves and for the character/entity on which the scent is based. The quote on the Lab's description, however, mentions lava and Pompeii and stuff, though, and that makes me feel compelled to try Wanda anyway, even though she doesn't actually have anything to do with volcanoes. Hah. In the imp: Wine and leather. Wet on skin: The wine is mellowing out, the leather is melding in, and the whole scent got a little sweeter. There's something else in there that I really can't figure out what it is. Drydown: Freshly dry, the wine is still the most prominent note, even though it's not as sharp as it was in the vial. It's sweet, almost berrylike. The leather is smoothing it out some, I think. There's something maybe a little dryer in the background - myrtle, maybe? At one hour in, it's mostly sweet berry wine still, though the leather is back there, and there's starting to be some musk. Five hours later: Still with the sweet berry wine, though the musk has become more prominent, even as the scent overall has grown fainter. Something about that musk smells, at times, unclean. I don't mean figuratively dirty, I mean literally, a little sweaty unwashed. Ick. End of the day: Faintly dirty-musky berry. Overall: To me, Wanda smells like sweet and dirty and borderline inebriated, not to mention extremely feminine. This is not a me scent. The dirty-sweaty aspect that came with the musk later on was a particular no. I am also terrified that this could smell like sex to other people, and I don't want to smell like that. Swaps!

septima_pica very generously gifted me a partial decant of this when I mentioned that I really like Lightning. Thunderstorms are exciting things (particularly since we rarely get them where I live now), and I do kind of miss the distinct smell that comes with them, before, during, and after. I think Lightning gets the smell of the storm itself pretty well, and I'm hoping Thunder Moon will also capture the smell of the interaction of weather and the world that it soaks. I also notice now that this is a June moon, which makes complete absolute sense for the East Coast. Daily thunderstorms! In the imp: Strong ozone and fresh water. Wet on skin: Ozone, fresh water, and a bit of wet grass. Freshly dry: Still mostly ozone and water on wet grass, though there's a sweetness coming out under it that seems like a combination of amber and flowers. At one hour in, I'm getting less actual water and more ozone, with the mixture of grass and flowers and amber still below it. Five hours later: Now the wood is starting to show up, something decidedly dry against the wet grass and flowers and ozone that are still there fairly prominently. It really hasn't faded hugely much, which is different than most aquatics on me. Must be aided by the wood and amber. End of the day: Faint sweet wood with a hint of ozone. Still surprisingly present for the amount of time I've been wearing this. Overall: I wouldn't say this is a dead-on realistic representation of how the world smells after a summer storm, but it's certainly evocative of that atmosphere, in a more artistic sense. I think the amber really does add the heat of summer to it, and the wood and grass provide a grounding that persists after the more weathery notes have faded. I really like this, but not to the level where I need to actively locate more, because I can still get the storm part from Lightning, and that's the most important part of Thunder Moon. I can try layering stuff to get the scenery, I guess!

I first noticed Ivanushka because of the name. I took four years of Russian language class in high school, and while I've forgotten entirely too much of it, the very Russian name of this blend stood out. I then read the story, which I'd never heard of before, and found it to be a really interesting tale, twisted but sweet at the same time, like so many fairy tales are. That, combined with the notes, was certainly enough to make me want to try it, despite my general hesitation on testing past LEs. I therefore held off, but then my amazing Winter Switch Witch picked up on a one-liner post of mine on the forum and had a decant sent my way. Yay, Winter Switch Witch! Thank you! In the imp: Soft, vague, leafy-dusty and sweet. Wet on skin: Still soft, sweetly musky, and foresty - mixed with something that really does smell like fur. Sweeter than sticking my nose on my cat, sure, but it's a definite furry smell. Wow. Drydown: Sweet musk, dry leaves, and fur. This is a critter that has been running around in the autumn or winter forest, for certain. At one hour later, the dry leaves have become more prevalent, though still as if scattered on top of soft musky fur. Five hours later: Much the same as at the one hour mark, though fainter. For a scent depicting a therianthrope, it sure doesn't morph much on my skin! This is, though, very much a good thing. End of the day: Still a little bit of soft musky fur. Overall: Wonderful! I totally see why Ivanushka is often cited as a favorite. It is a sweet warm comforting smell, a gentle animal companion and protector who makes woods that might otherwise be dark and scary seem magical. I absolutely think it fits the fairy tale on which it's based, and that makes me like it all that much more. I'm definitely glad for this decant, though I will clearly have to use it sparingly.

Is this the place where I admit that I, shamefully, have not actually read or seen King Lear, and that I had to look up the character Regan to figure out which play she's from? Uh. Lab frimp! In the imp: Sweet vanilla with a powdery floral edge. Wet on skin: Pretty much the same as in the vial - a sweet powdery vanilla with something indistinct but floral. It reminds me a bit of floral pastilles. Drydown: Freshly dry, the vanilla in this is starting to get an edge that's almost mineral now, alongside the floral. It's reminding me a little bit of the vanilla Black Opal, if anything, though I would hesitate to say it actually smells like rocks all on its own. It's pretty much the same at the one hour mark, though I realize that the vanilla of Black Opal is only reminding me of rocks, and it's really only dusty flowers with the vanilla in Regan. Five hours later: Vanilla-ish flower-ish powder. End of the day: Faint florally powder. Overall: If my initial thought of "mineral" had held through, I would be pretty darn excited about this one. I mean, flowers growing among the rocks! Alas, that it was not. The flowers by themselves were not much to my taste, and the vanilla went surprisingly powdery, considering other BPAL vanillas have not done that on me, which is not a winning combination. I shall be swapping this, though I shall also be reading the play. Oops!

This was a weekend full of performances of British music, so I figured it would be appropriate for me to test scents based on Shakespeare characters for the occasion, even though the only actual reference to Shakespeare in the music we played was to a comedy. Ah well! In the imp: Sweet pear and honeysuckle, mostly. I get an indistinct "hey, other flowers also!" vibe, but it's mostly about pear and honeysuckle now. Wet on skin: The honeysuckle is now more prominent than the pear, which is still there, but now competing for attention versus the "other flowers also!" note. Drydown: Freshly dry, there are lilies now, which are unfortunately rather soapy. The pear is very much in the background now, barely detectable, and the honeysuckle is also rapidly retreating. The musk is also starting to come out a little. By one hour in, it's a little less soapy and a little more sweet white flowery. I'm guessing that's the sweat pea, since it's a note I haven't tried before. The musk is still a nice background, but the pear and honeysuckle have retreated even further. Five hours later: A faintish and fairly generic white floral with a bit of musk. End of the day: Gone. Overall: I really really liked the initial stage, with the pear and honeysuckle. It was sweet and fresh and quite nice. I was horribly disappointed when it started to go soapy white florals on me, and those initial two notes basically disappeared. Even with the pear and honeysuckle, though, Juliet is unsurprisingly way too feminine for me to get away with. I do think, however, that it'd be a really nice smell for a room to have, like walking into a perfect sweetly fragrant flower garden.