Essay 28

This imp was shattered into little bits of glass by good old USPS (what DID they do to a bubble mailer with *plenty* of bubble wrap on the imp to crush it so thoroughly???). It soaked through the packaging and sat in residence with three other imp-swap packages, a book-swap package, and a couple of postcards for my kidlets... all in the 80 degree heat of a metal mailbox. It wasn't pretty... but I had to salvage just enough oil to give it a try, yanno? In the bottle (sorta): a clean, almost chemical or antiseptic, floral. On skin initially: Extremely floral, clean and might have been tolerable if I hadn't been in the bathroom trying to find the leaky imp culprit and dispose of it. After an hour: I agree with the laundry room/dryer sheet opinions. My bathroom certainly smelled like a busy laundromat on a rainy day, and my wrists agreed even when on the other end of the house from the scent-saturated room. I can say this much... it has staying power. I still smelled faintly of Storm Moon after I got up this morning, and I'd washed my hands 2-3 times before bed. I even had a hint of it after my shower, so I washed again. My kidlet's comment: "Why couldn't the smashed imp smell like *chocolate*?

In the bottle: lemon Pinesol. On skin initially: stale urine, like the smell of a state park bathroom in 100 degree heat that hasn't been cleaned in weeks. After an hour: I actually managed to keep this on for an hour, somehow. I did start picking up a floral under the stale urine scent, but I agree with the reviewer who compared it to a whiff of baby diaper. It definately reminds me of an overfilled diaper pail. Off to the swap pile and if I'm lucky, my fourth wrist washing will get this *off* my skin.

In the bottle: citrus, with a clean floral smell underneath. On skin initially: very strong citrus, but florals making their appearance strongly as well. After an hour: Unfortunately, the citrus I was enjoying faded, leaving only a powdery floral that just didn't appeal to me. A swapper.

In the bottle: sweet peppermint. On skin initially: peppermint Nyquil, much too medicinal for my taste. After an hour: This isn't rum, as noted by other users, not on my skin. Whiskey, perhaps, but more like Peppermint Schnapps. Much too boozey and not enough mint remaining, making this a wash-off-and-swap scent.

In the bottle: yummy hot fudge. On skin initially: stronger yummy hot fudge. After an hour: Faded down a little, but this scent lasted all day and into the night, keeping my wrists smelling like a hot fudge sundae. A lovely scent, but probably not an every day one.

In the bottle: ginger snap cookies. On skin initially: a beautiful sugared vanilla note dominates, with a hint of musk. After an hour: I felt like I was wearing either the yummiest sugar cookie dough around, or had spilled a wonderful vanilla tea on my wrists. The musk note faded, still there, but definately buried under the sweet vanilla tea. A firm favorite for me.

In the bottle: fresh, clean scents, like walking through a herb garden after a summer shower. On skin initially: a citrus note dominates over a floral that I actually like. I wish I knew enough about the notes to know wich of the florals this is. After an hour: it disappeared! Completely, utterly gone. I tried this scent a second day, determined to make it work, but the same thing happened. After about 30-40 minutes, it was completely and utterly gone. Ah well, I didn't need to fall in love with an LE anyway...

In the bottle: sweet musk, very intriguing. On skin initially: musk with a very strong wallop of roses. After an hour: Nothing but roses, which I would have sworn would be one floral I'd enjoy, plus a medicinal hint in the background. Instead I feel like I'm in a nursing home and someone dropped a bottle of rose perfume that seems to drift along the halls along with the medicine smells. Not a keeper.

In the bottle: sweet florals with a strong hint of cocoa. On skin initially: Overpowering florals, sweet, but too floral for my liking. After an hour: Still too floral for my taste, but a hint of cocoa returned somewhat, as well as a drift of a smoky scent that I had really hoped would be more dominant than floral. Regretfully, not a keeper scent.

In the bottle: spicy, intriguing berries. On skin initially: strong cranberry (the real fruit warmed from the sun on the tree, not the overly tart scent of the juice), with a hint of spice and something darker (musk, I believe). After an hour: the fruity tartness of the cranberries merges with the darker note, giving it a heady, addictive scent. I can still smell a bit of spice, but the dominant is definately the musky, not-quite-floral cranberry. A keeper.

In the bottle: overripe fruit on a hot, humid summer day. On skin initially: tangy strawberry with an almost overpowering floral note (heliotrope?). After an hour: The floral note toned down finally, although by the time it did, my stomach was queasy. Now I can pick up a hint of the amber and vanilla and it makes me think of layering Bon Vivant with O and a floral baby powder. I wish I could say it was a good scent, but the fake strawberry scent is just not appealing.

In the bottle: very tart, sweet strawberry. On skin initially: Strawberry lip gloss. After an hour: Still semi-lip gloss scent, with a bit of strawberry hair conditioner thrown in. It reminds me of some reviews saying it smelled kind of like plastic, or the Strawberry Shortcake dolls. Too artificial on my skin for my liking, which is disappointing. Strawberry is one of my favorite scents. I'm hoping for better success with Hollywood Babylon, which is en route via trade.

Dark, decadent and incomparably exotic: the rich scent of buttered rum flavored with almond, bay, clove and sassafras. In the bottle: sweet cloves, very close to a cinnamon scent. On skin initially: Cloves are dominant, with a softly syrupy note that I think is the sweet bay. If the rum's in there, I'm not able to separate it out. After an hour: A wonderful sweet, "warm" scent that my husband identified as cinnamon. The cloves stayed dominant, with just enough of a sweet note to really tantalize me. I will definately have to get a 5ml of this one.

In the bottle: fresh, clean herbal scent, with a lemon undertone. On skin initially: It is strongly lemony at first, but not in a bad way. I can also smell the herbal scent, like wildflowers or wild grasses that have just been cut. After an hour: It settles down to a sweetish herbal/floral scent, which reminds me of coming across a wildflower meadow while out hiking last summer. It does fade off very quickly and requires a midday reapplication to maintain any scent by the end of the day. I like it, although it's almost a bit "weak" in scent after getting used to O and Port-au-Prince. A keeper!

In the bottle: tart citrus with a hint of floral and "pine". On the skin: an unbearable combination of Pinesol and Clorox (with maybe a little of that Orange cleaner thrown in for good measure). After an hour: After hubby fled the room while I was still trying to determine if I smelled anything except for "cleaner" scents, I had to go wash it off shortly after dry down. Eyes were watering and I started sneezing. I had really hoped for a fruity scent with a floral undertone, but alas... not to be. Into the swap pile it goes.

In the bottle: floral vanilla, sweet but not overpowering. On skin initially: strong, knock-your-socks-off vanilla. After an hour: sweet, honeyed vanilla, which reminded me of the smell of my Granny's teacakes baking when I was a kid. It is also *very* close to what Stetson smells like on my hubby, which is a scent so tempting to me that I want to nibble on him when he wears it. He declared it "girlie" and hoped his cologne doesn't smell exactly like it. It is also a long-lasting blend, as I could still smell it on my wrists late in the evening. Definately a "must have 5ml" scent.

In the bottle: warmly cocoa with a whiff of something sweet and interesting. On skin initially: baby oil or suntan lotion, especially the strong Coppertone brand. After an hour: It didn't stay on that long. The lotion smell sent me immediately to the bathroom to scrub it off. Since I had the same sort of "lotion" reaction from Zephyr, I'm thinking the note that is turning to lotion on me is sandalwood, so I'll avoid oils with that for now. Definately a swap item.

In the bottle: tangy, salty flowers. On skin initially: STRONG, overpowering floral scent. I couldn't identify exactly what floral scent (nor could my son) but we both swore we *knew* the flower in question. Reading over the reviews here, I know what it is now: honeysuckle. No salt, no tang. After an hour: Faded off a bit but right at my threshold for powdery florals. It reminds me somewhat of the lilac candle I was given for Christmas that is serving time as a paperweight because the powdery floral scent gave me headaches. I was truly disappointed, because I really wanted to like this one. I hope dragon's blood in general doesn't turn powder floral on me. Into the swap pile it goes.

In the bottle: softly floral, with a fruity undertone. On skin initially: almost overpoweringly fruity. Tart and tangy, like cherry koolaid or some of the berry candles I used to have. After an hour: Slowly became a syrupy sweet scent that reminded me of the bottle of strawberry wine I bought last summer. While enjoyable, the scent is just too tart for me to enjoy on my skin, so it goes into the swap pile.

In the bottle: sweet, bubbly, warm chocolate, like making fudge. On skin initially: fruity, tangy cocoa. After an hour: the fruity scent faded to leave a warm cocoa scent that reminded me of the homemade kind with generous marshmellows. It would definately be more of a winter scent if I kept it, but this one will probably go into the swap pile.

A scent celebrating Sir Francis Dashwood's Order of the Knights of St. Francis of Wycombe, also known as the Hellfire Club. A swirl of pipe tobacco, hot leather, ambergris, dark musk and the lingering incense smoke from their Black Mass. In the bottle: sweet tobacco. On skin initially: still sweet tobacco, bringing up memories of grandfathers and great-uncles who smoked pipes or cigars. A walk down memory lane without the tobacco side effects. After an hour: Faded to a sweet woodsmoke scent, still pleasant. This isn't an "everyday" scent (especially since hubby quit smoking a few years ago) but my older son (age 10) absolutely adored the scent, so perhaps a keeper.

I received a partial imp of Zephyr as a gift along with 6 other imps. Since my friend had personally fallen in love with Zephyr, I tried it the same night I got the package. In the bottle: a light, clean lemony floral. It reminded me a bit of the "clean" smell that Febreeze tends to generate, without the chemical undertone. On skin initially: soft, sweet flowers. No hint of lemon or any distinct notes. After an hour: Baby lotion. Strong, overpowering, baby-after-bath-and-lotion scent. It was quickly nixed by hubby and sons as a perfume for mom. However, I have dabbed some of it on cotton balls and tucked them into all my desk drawers at work. It makes for a wonderful scent as I open drawers throughout the day!