maika

In the imp, I can smell the wine and the violets. And damn but do they smell goooooooood. Wet, It's all about the leather...and again, it's all good. I thought I loved Perversion...but this is even better! Unless it does something really weird in the drydown, it's going to be knocking Darkness out of my most favourite spot. Dry...Oh My Yes!!!! This is too die for. All the elements are here, and they are all behaving on me...this is amazing! She hasn't totally knocked Darkness out of top spot, but she's definitely a VERY close second. I love smelling like a Dominatrix!!! This is ridiculously sexy, and while this won't be an every day scent - I can't see myself wearing this for grocery shopping, I have a funny feeling that I'm going to be getting loads of compliments for this one!

In the imp, orange with a herbal kick. It's almost edible smelling. Wet, the patchouli is a lot more obvious, but the orange is still present. This is gorgeous...and I don't normally do citrus. A friend suggested I try it, even knowing that I'm not normally a citrus fan, and I'm thinking she was right. Dry, this is amazing. It's not feral the way the description suggested of it...but it is beautiful. It's all spicy vanilla and orange, without the sharp note that my body generally tends to turn citrus into. Definitely one to chase up more of.

In the imp, this is kind of a smoky cologne scent...with the cologne note both predominating and lingering. Wet, I smell poppies. Beautiful poppies at that. And musk...deep black musk. Very nice! Dry, this is interesting. The cologne note is back, but it's not overpowering...more an undertone. Oddly, it makes me think of my father, which is not a bad thing, but not something I would ever be considering when it comes to associations with perfume. I finally get the patchouli now too. This is gorgeous and I can foresee it smelling just as good on a man as on a woman. This is the sort of complex thing that makes me want to spend hours ignoring the world so that I can sniff my wrist and process what I'm smelling. Ultimately, I love it and will definitely be requiring more before the Carnaval leaves town.

The Tibetan goddess of love and wealth. Her scent is a harmonious, sweet, enchanting blend of three lotus blooms and three roses. In the imp, sweet rose with the lotus providing an almost bubblegum like note underneath. Wet, this is much better. The sweetness and the bubblegum thing had me a little worried. Now all the flowers are behaving...this is lovely. Dry, this is beautiful in it's simplicity. The flowers meld together so beautifully...nothing overpowering, or too complicated to separate. And yet, there is no need to want to try and classify, because in and of itself, it's beautiful. It's obviously an unabashed pure floral, so probably one that I won't wear too often, but I will at least be keeping the imp for those days that I want to revel in this particular brand of sweetness.

In the imp, light leather, and a hint of smoke. This is good, because De Sade started off as smoke and leather, but so very much stronger, leaving me unable to wear it. Wet, smoke...but yummy smoke. Not stale cigarette smoke, just fragrant smoke. Mmmmmm Dry, this is gorgeous. very gender neutral, but that's more than okay...I think the tonka is adding enough sweetness to make this more than wearable for me. I need more, I tells you...more!!!

In the decant, white tea and mandarin. Very nice. Wet, still tea and mandarin. And while I don't normally like citrus scents, the tea and citrus complement each other beautifully. Dry, this fades and disappears incredibly quickly...I *think* I'm getting a hint of rose and violet...but that's with my nose touching my wrist, and me breathing in as hard as I can...which is a shame, because it was so pretty to start off with. I will give it another try, perhaps applying a bit more, but I fear it may wind up in my swaps pile.

In the imp, yup, it's leather...very raw, and very...ummm...well used. Nothing polished and pretty about this scent. Wet, oh my...yes it's leather...with a hint of something else. I'm not quite sure what, but maybe it will make it's presence known on the drydown. Dry, I've worked out what the extra note is...it's smoke! This is VERY interesting, but definitely a masculine smell...not to worry though, I think I know who needs to have it...

In the imp, sticky sweet, with a hint of toffee. Wet, this is VERY syrupy, with a hint of something else...but what? That shall remain to be seen, I guess...it's not fruity, more like a spicy something, but nothing I can fully identify right now. Dry, I smell maple syrup. While I appreciate the job that was done on this, it's really not me...I need me some dark and spicy goodness to go with my sweet, and I just can't find it here.

In the imp, I smell wool! And tea! And cream! But no dust...but that's okay. Wet, this is creamy, spicy tea (the pepper coming out?) It must be, because it's similar to chai, but not anywhere near as complex. It's still yummy though. I might just be needing some more, I think. Dry, I'm not getting much beeswax, maybe a faint echo of just blown out candle, and no real floral from the muguet...but that's okay, because what I'm left with something that is warm and comforting and just plain gorgeous. Will be ordering post haste!

In the imp, being totally true to nature, is VERY fruity. Wet, the fruit notes totally disappear...it becomes a very smoky, woody scent. Much more suited to a man, I think. It reminds me of my father, actually...maybe I'll pass it on to him. Well, I would, except I don't think he's prepared to smell of anything other than Brut 33 (ick) Dry, it doesn't change much from it's wet scent, although I do get a VERY faint hint of apple...it's not going to my Dad after all, but I think I know just who to pass it on to, it's just a shame he's too far away for me to smell it on him...

In the imp, sweet, floral and...dark. No other way to describe it. Totally intriguing, and going to make it's way to my wrist very soon! Wet, still very floral, but that's to be expected. There's nothing sweet and innocent about this floral though...it's deep and lush and fresh - there's a tiny hint of fresh greenery underneath it. There's also an incense note floating around in here too. This is beautiful!!! If it dries down as well as it appears to be promising to, it's definitely going to make it's way to my big bottle list. Dry, the floral is still in place, along with the incense...and while the green hint has disappated, there is a musky undertone that has blended it all together beautiful. Definitely going to be on the big bottle list.

In the imp, this is incredibly fruity, but not incredibly sweet...which meshes nicely with the cranberry thing. Wet, I can smell the ginger way back in the background...but this is a fresh raw ginger rather than a baking style ginger...so while it still has a hint of sweetness, which tempers it, I don't smell like I've been baking. Dry, I like this enough to keep the imp, but it's not entirely me. I can smell most of the notes, but on me they don't seem to blend well, which is a shame. But all that said, I just know that there will be times that this is all I'm going to want to wear, hence the keeping.

I have my sister's (very over the top) wedding next weekend. I'm tossing up whether it's worth me breaking out my VERY precious imp of Venom...or hitting up the Bloodlust, because I have to see and make nice with someone who I really don't want to see...the plus side of Bloodlust is that it apparently smells much better on me than I *think* it does.

In the imp, cream, and a sweet note of...something. Wet, soft floral. Very pretty. The foodiness imparted by the cream in the imp is totally gone. Dry, this is all white floral, with a slightly sweet, musky undertone to it, and an even fainter hint of cream. Just gorgeous, and I'm so glad that the sniffy I got still has enough for me to wear it properly a few more times...now to find the right occasion.

In the bottle: My immediate though was that it smells *just* like a Lush store - possibly because of the honey. Wet: The lilies come out to play...the honey is still there, but takes a backseat. Drydown: The honey leaves, and I'm left with lilies, but they seem darker...something more reminiscent of a funeral - but it's not a bad thing. All up, I'm glad I scored a full bottle, because it appears to like my skin an awful lot

In the imp, sweet peas, and not too much else. Wet, the sweet pea is still there, but what has to be the waterlily comes out too...it's sweet, and definitely aquatic...but that could just be my head trying to make sense of the notes Dry, I have a feeling this is not going to work...it's sweet floral in a this-smells-like-fabric-softener kind of way...not promising. My fingers are crossed that this is just a temporary blip. Further drydown has let the fabric softener thing go away, but the whole of the scent is nearly gone too...it's lasted me less than an hour and is gone...so while this is pretty, I don't think it's going to work for me. Off to swaps.

In the imp, this is all about the jasmine and the ylang ylang. This can only be a good thing! Wet, this has gone very sweet. The plum, I presume. It's not quite what I expected, but it's not unpleasant. There's also another note peeking round the side...something greenish. One of the lilies, I think. It's helping ground it though, which is good, because sweet fruity scents don't work for me. Dry, this is good...it's still mostly about the jasmine and the ylang ylang, but the other notes are making their presence felt enough that it's intriguing. Light, yet complex...and while heavily floral, it isn't making me want to wash it off. I think I'm going to be needing some more of this.

In the imp, musk (obviously) but an incense musk. Very interesting. Wet, I realise where I'm getting the incense note from...all my favourite incense scents are all here - rose, jasmine, myrrh - which to my nose is always smoky in it's own right anyway. This is amazing... Dry, this is ridiculously sexy - but that's not really a surprise, is it? This is gorgeous, so many gorgeous elements, and none of them are doing weird things on me. I'm definitely going to be needing LOTS of this. And I know just the person to wear it with, too... The only downside is that it seems to disappear very quickly (like an hour)...but I love this enough that I must have it, even if I have to keep applying it...after all, I don't necessarily want it for an every day perfume.

In the imp, I smell mandarin, but it's only just there. and yet, it's still the note I first identify. On second sniff though, it's all about the amber. Wet, now it's citrus! But I like this citrus, when citrus normally makes me go meh. This has potential. Maybe the amber has something to do with it, because it's sweetened and being very firmly held in check rather than it going all sharp on me. Oh! The jasmine is here too...and it's being held in place too...which is not a bad thing. I love jasmine, but I also love the chance to be able to appreciate it in a blend, without it amping all over the place as it is wont to do. Dry, I'm getting lots of sweet, powdery amber - but it's not going old lady on me, so that's always an advantage. I can finally smell the orris now, it's darkening everything just enough to make me go mmmmm...and of course, I smell my jasmine. Definitely a keeper = even if the citrus appears to have disappeared altogether.

In the imp, citrus with a soft herbal undertone Wet, straight out sweet citrus. More like a mandarin then anything else Dry, a little hint of jasmine and herb has appeared...but it's too citrus still for it to be totally successful for me. On the plus side, I think this is the only jasmine containing fragrance that I've tried recently that hasn't left me with amped to the extreme jasmine overpowering everything else.

In the imp, assuming banana leaves smell the same as bananas (and there is no reason to suspect they don't) the n that's all I smell...sweet, ripe bananas to be precise. Wet, the banana note is still obvious, but is joined by florals, and some very fresh green notes. This is smelling very close to how it's described - bring on the jungle! Dry, it went all lush foresty for a while, but now it's kinda very sweet florals, and not doing it for me. I do think it would make a wonderful room fragrance though!

In the imp, black currant and rose, with a little hint of violet. Wet, sugar cane, and a woody note...hello there, mahogany Dry - smoky, sultry and sophisticated...and morphy like whoa! This is some good, good stuff!!!

In the imp, cinnamon and cloves...but mellow spice, like they've been cooked, rather than raw. Wet, very similar to wet, but the pepper is creeping out to make it all seem warmer somehow. I smell like I've been baking! Dry, no real surprises. It hasn't really changed much. It is lovely, but too foody for me to want to wear it regularly. Off to swaps, I think.

In the imp, red wine, and lots of it. Oh...and on second sniff, the myrrh becomes obvious. This is going to be interesting. Wet, musk and myrrh...this is intense, and given the two given notes, very incense-y. But, I like intense, so this is still VERY promising. Dry, this is amazing. The myrrh is most obvious, but I can smell all the other notes around it as well, so nothing is overpowering anything else...and it seems to constantly alter, one minute the wine is most obvious, the next the rose...but again, no note is becoming overpowering. Another addition to my top ten, I think.

In the imp, tobacco, and a hint of pine. Wet, gorgeous, gorgeous smoky vanilla, with maybe a little trickle of honey. And, of course, the skin musk...can I bathe in this? Because I want to smell like this all over. Dry, it's smoky, and spicy...and there's an undertone of leather in there too. This is gorgeous!!! Ultra-feminine, without being the slightest bit girly...will pull this out for days I need to be the boss!...and well, I could see myself pulling this out for no other reason than that it smells incredible.