coulrophobe

In the imp: Patchouli-ish. On: Like most, I get a cedary scent (could actually be cedar, or sandalwood mingling with the patchouli perhaps). A bit of underlying amber. This is one I'd probably find irresistable on a guy, but on me... I just smell like I've been sharpening pencils all day. This might be great to layer with something that's lighter and sweeter... I keep thinking of how it would add an interesting depth to something like Antique Lace. I might have to experiment a bit!

In the imp: Sharp and clean smelling. On: I'm getting a lot of lavender out of this one, which isn't a good thing for me. Lavender is harsh to my nose, and puts me on edge a bit - I've never understood why it's regarded as a soothing scent, unless it's mixed with something that tones it down a bit. But I digress. As Saint-Germain dries down, it softens a little - it ends up rather soapy on my skin. It's not particularly masculine on me - just kind of clean.

In the imp: Patchouli, with a bit of juicy sweetness. On: More cedary, with a definite fruit note. As it dries, it gets much smokier and incensy. I had to laugh at Shollin's coment about this smelling like walking past Cowri on Capitol Hill in Seattle - that store is right down the street from me, and she's absolutely right! I'm left with sweet incense smoke. Urd isn't the type of scent I usually go for, but I find myself liking it. It's warm and comfortable, and makes me want to curl up in front of a fire with a good book.

In the imp: A bit sharp, but not offensively so - I can definitely smell the neroli, but it's made more complex by the other notes. On: This one goes very powdery on me (neroli and patchouli both have a tendency to do that on my skin, in some blends). But powdery is not necessarily a bad thing for me. Tisiphone smells like soft, dark, mildly sweet powder - a clean, comforting, peaceful scent. Very different than what I expected. It doesn't really stand out too much on my skin, but pleasant nonetheless.

In the imp: Strong juniper, with a bit of dark musk trying to soften it up. On: The juniper/pine notes are very strong and sharp on me; this is a very masculine blend. As it dries, the musk is a little more apparent, but it's still to earthy/green/sharp for me. To my nose, this is Czernobog without the civet/poo note. Which is definitely an improvement in my book, but it's still not a scent that works for me.

In the imp: Woody, but sweet. On: Like the majority of people, I get a fruit scent. My first impression was banana-ish, but juicier... then pineappley-peachy. Then the woody and green notes make a subtle appearance, underneath the sweet, fresh fruit smell. I'm reminded of an entire fruit tree - the branches, leaves and blossoms as well as the fruit. And the fruit itself is something familiar, but nonexistent - I'm picturing golden non-citrus fruits, with the texture of green grapes - very juicy and slightly transluscent. I never would have ordered this based on the notes. What a great surprise!

In the bottle: Another blend that smells like trees. *sigh* That's not a good thing. I was hoping all the floral notes would compensate, but evergreen notes tend to completely take over whatever scent they're in once they hit my skin. On: Pine/fir and something my nose is interpreting as eucalyptus - I think that's actually the birch. If I sniff long enough, I can just barely catch a hint of something sweet and floral, but it's pretty much overwhelmed by the Pine Trees of Doooom. Drydown: Lunacies generally do work for me - and I can smell the distinctive "lunar oil smell" underneath the evergreens after a while. As the tree notes get milder, there's an almost dish-soap quality to them - it's not offensive, but also not what I normally want to smell like. If I could just get the fir/birch to calm down a bit, the florals underneath smell sweet and strangely spicy. I'm mainly disappointed because so many of the winter oils this year have smelled the same on my skin, with subtle differences like "slightly sweeter" or "this time with mint" (and I already had Ice Queen and Skadi). Having this along with Nuclear Winter, Talvikuu and Snow Bunny is a bit too much for someone who's not really into the whole "smelling like a tree" thing.

I put off getting an imp of this forever, because I really don't like frankincense very much (smells like soapy trees), and myrrh tends to turn a bit syrupy on me - so how would they smell good on me together? Well. Somehow they manage to. Penitence is pure warm resin, not too woody - and it dries down to a smokey spice resin. Very subtle, and surprisingly comforting. I think I'll wear this one to sleep tonight - it just seems so soothing.

Wooooo, that's lemony! But it's a fresh, rich, creamy lemon balm scent, rather than lemon Pledge. Definitely a bright, sunny, wake-you-up sort of scent. Once in a while, I think I catch a whiff of herbs or wood, or a fleeting hint of honeysuckle, but the lemon balm pretty much owns this scent. I'm saving this one for a rainy day, literally - I think it'd be a great antidote for depression brought on by dreary Northwest winters.

I'll have to agree with the Rat King comparisons - but only because in both that and this blend, all I can smell is dirt. And unfortunately, dirt is an absolutely horrid note on my skin; it turns into a dry moldy smell as the oil dries on my skin. I'm completely perplexed that I can't smell anything but dirt in this... maybe I should put it aside and try again in a week or so - could be random chemistry fluctuations.

In the bottle: Ack! Butter. On: Butter. With a side of butter. And a little bit of syrup. Very sweet and cloying - I just can't do the foody scents very well. I pretty much knew I wouldn't be able to wear this one - I'm glad that so many others like it so I'll be able to give it a better home!

I first smelled the unreleased version of Snowblind back in summer and loved it, so I was delighted that my naughty plea resulted in this blend. On me, it's a true vanilla mint - creamy, but not at all buttery. Makes me think of those pastel-colored melt-away mints. The mint doesn't last too long on me (it never does, much to my dismay), but the lingering sweetness is still quite lovely.

I agree with UltraViolet that Florentine Iris is a bit similar to violet - to my nose, both are a bit powdery, but definitely and decisively *purple* smelling. I've always loved the iris blends, like Black Pearl, Florence, and the dearly departed Morella. By itself, Florentine Iris is sharper and has a bit of greenness. It's almost watery smelling as well... I suppose that's contradictory to it being "powdery," but it's a note that insists upon being complicated to my nose. For a final verdict - I like it better in blends than I do on its own. I like something to soften it up, like the musk in Black Pearl. But it's still my favorite floral note, and I'll keep hoping for more irisy blends (while hoarding my precious SN imp).

In the bottle: sweet, fruity, and a bit creamy. On: You know, it does just smell... pink. There's a fake strawberry aroma that dominates at first, but it's not unpleasant - just a smell that's not found in nature. As it dries, I can smell more of the vanilla and honey. It's light, girlish, but still subtle on me.

In the bottle: Spicy patchouli... really can't smell much else. On: It burns, it burns! I'm assuming that's the cassia. Oddly, I've never had that reaction to cinnamon (and I've tried almost all the BPAL cinnamon blends)... come to think of it, I haven't had a painful reaction to *any* BPAL before. But this one definitely stings. Smellwise... it's OK. But so similar to Blood Moon and a bunch of other spicy scents, it's not really standing out for me. Which is probably a good thing, since wearing it is a bit uncomfortable for me...

In the bottle: Like others have said, this is lilac to my nose. With other stuff mixed in that I can't decipher yet. On: Of course, maybe my nose is saying "lilac" because that's how it often interprets Dragon's Blood. I'm also getting a heavy dose of jasmine. Unfortunately, neither Dragon's Blood nor jasmine are very good notes for me. I was hoping for a fresh, pure lilac scent - but sadly, this isn't it, at least on my skin.

The ghostly White Women of the Scottish highlands. They seduce unwary travelers by night with their unearthly beauty and mesmerizing dancing. They engage their victims in a wild, hypnotic dance, and once they reach exhaustion, the demonesses exsanguinate their partners with their vampiric kiss. Talk about a quick courtship. Grapefruit, white tea, apple blossom and ginger. In the imp: Very citrusy - this scent has a bite to it. On: There's a bright splash of grapefruit at first, then it calms down and I can catch whiffs of florals. Unfortunately, however, white tea has a muting effect on my skin - Baobhan Sith is a very light, subtle scent on me. Lovely, but barely there, and so pure and innocent smelling - not what I expected from the name. Still, it's lovely enough that I'm praying for a good grapefruit crop, so perhaps it could be resurrected someday.

Another vote for Yggdrasil, as Dublin was green-floral and very feminine on me. And maybe Coyote? There's a bit of a leathery note from the doeskin, but it's not a "rawr, leather" scent at all - light and grassy. My dad's not a cologne type of guy, but he liked Coyote.

I have chemistry that tends to sweeten up whatever I put on my skin... so a lot of "traditionally masculine" scents end up smelling pretty darn feminine on me. I tend to like the spicier ones like Dracul, or leathery ones (mmmm, Dee!), or a few of the woody/earthy scents (the dearly departed Typhon comes to mind). And musk, always love the musk. Some of the cleaner masculine scents like Wilde just end up smelling soapy-gender-neutral on me, however.

In the bottle: I'm not sure what I'm smelling - a bit fruity, a bit floral, a bit incensey. On: Definitely warm and a bit powdery, with subdued florals and a hint of orange. Dragon's blood is usually an obnoxious floral on me, but here it manages to stay on the resiny side - I think the amber is a good influence for it. Verdict: Not my favorite of the Lunacies by far, but very pleasant, and a nice warm scent for dreary winter days like this one.

In the imp: Juicy fig mixed with something almost cedar-y. On: My skin really amps up the fig - which is good, because I *love* fig. Cocoa rarely works with my chemistry, but it's such a minor player in this blend (for me) that the dreaded "stale coco-puff" effect never happens. It's slightly woody, warm, and dark... and unabashedly figgy.

In the imp: Hoo, boy - that's patchouli, all right! On: Now I can smell the cedar, and a dusting of cinnamon, in addition to the "eau de hippie" - luckily for me, the vetiver stays in the background. Definitely an earthy blend, with a little light spice - while this blend is not very "me," it's not offensive to my nose at all, either. I think if a man were wearing this in my vicinity, I'd be inclined to pounce and snuffle.

In the imp: a lemony-green sort of smell. On: The verbena is definitely the dominant note on me. I much prefer lemon verbena to straight lemon (the latter is more likely to be lemon-pledge, while verbena stays in the sweet, natural lemon phase). As it dries down, I catch a hint of jasmine and tea... but it's mainly a sweet lemon blend on my skin. A very uplifting, springy blend.

In the imp: Kind of sharp-smelling, almost like neroli. On: Vaguely floral. Vaguely soapy. In general, just kind of vague - I was expecting something much more assertive. Eventually, it just turns into a soft soapy rose. Doesn't smell very merciless to me!

In the imp: Clean smelling, and I can pick out the tang of bergamot. On: Turns into a very strong soap scent on me. Might be lovely with a man's chemistry, but on me it's just very masculine soap. Not unpleasant at all, but not really my style.