skepticism

Vial: Lily with touch of sugar-water Wet: Very sweet, powdery floral. I smell something else fruity and sour, but the powdery-ness is too overwhelming for me to nail it. Dry: Sweet and powdery lily. Too sweet, not really my thing.

Vial: Alcohol notes attacking my nose, ack! Not smelling anything else. Wet: Almond, rum, rum, and rum. Truly raucous, and it's giving me a headache. Drydown: Drydown? More like hangover! The alcohol notes are dominating again, like dull headaches on a Sunday morning after a wild night out on the town.

Smelled heavily of banana. Ick, banana = foody = . It was also a bit too fruity for me, but I did feel a touch of of the PI humidity, which made me . It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but taking into consideration that I already have mental associations with Manila and the heavy parfums my aunts and grandmas would practically bathe in. Couple that with the smoky, polluted city smells and vulcanized rubber shanties down the highway medians, a sort of juxtaposition of scents I suppose.

This smelled like bubblegum on my skin. It may or not be the aquatic notes mingled with the lime, apple, and mint, but I'm not too certain. All I can say is that the bubblegum smell =

Mmm, a sharp, slightly sour rose is what I'm smelling. I haven't been too lucky with Beth's rose notes, but I think Moroccan rose is heavenly coupled with the tangy note from the narcissus. I like it as a sniffie, probably in my oil burner, but the sour/citrusy scent is a little too overpowering to be worn. I think it needs to be calmed down a bit, but I suppose that would be subduing the essence of Pride. ETA: Drydown proved me wrong the second time around: too much sweet, powdery rose left behind. Boo.

Reminiscent of hothouse blooms on a humid night, ripe, but touched with decay. Sweet honeysuckle and jasmine with a hint of lemon and spice. Wow, this is going in my favorites list. Slightly sour jasmine that's slithery and sensual with increased body heat and a little bit of sweat. This is a scent that lingers around lazily while you're in bed while the shoddy electric fan noisily sucks in the hothouse New Orleans humidity from the bedroom window. Sensuous, sophisticated, and lazy all in one.

Vial: Rich, buttery smell almost chocolatey. Wet: So hesitant to dab it on, but I did it anyway. I smelled heavily of rich, buttery chocolatey-ness. Dry: Feeling like I just came back home from working a sugary food booth at the carnival. I was hoping for more of the dusty/woodsy notes to shine through, but no. Ugh, I wanted to love Miskatonic! Why do you have to smell so foody?

I tried to love Rose Cross, but it ended up being too sweet for me. Been trying to find a good rose/incense churchy blend, and Hymn really hit it on the nail. The lily adds a subtle sour note to the blend, which balances out the rose note's sweetness. Hurray! It's a very clean, holy smell. Imagine myself sitting on the pew during mass (bored as usual) and gazing out of the church side door. The smell of the freshly cut garden rose garden mixes with the old, sanctified wood of the pew. I'm definitely buying a bottle of this.

A really strong floral on my skin. The jasmine calms down the rose note's sweetness, thank god. I think I have a penchant for jasmine, especially the night-blooming kind (there was another night-blooming jasmine blend I liked...either Nuit or Nyx...). Throughout the the day more rose and bergamot began to surface and sweeten on my skin, which was sort of a bummer for me. I had hopes that maybe the mandarin would add a clean, citrusy scent to balance the sweetness, but no. Still not sure if I'd buy a bottle of this, since the drydown ended up being a little too sweet on me. It's lovely as a sniffie, though.

In the vial I smelled nothing but clean, grass/dirt smell. I dabbed some on me and found that I had to put on quite a lot in order for the scent to come through. No rose notes, but I smelled of fresh grass/moist dirt, and an overall "clean" smell ... for about two hours at most. I was disappointed in Zombi's staying power on my skin, especially since I liked it a lot. Debating whether or not to buy a bottle of this. I'll give it another application tomorrow and see if a less strenuous day helps its staying power.

Vial: Citrus with hints of dirty moss. Wet: A very odd, faint calamine scent. Dry: Still citrus-y with a hint of lily. I'm going to have to get back to this scent and edit this. Methinks this review is adulterated by all the other scents I've tried so far. Time for a break!

Vial: Fermented honey and sweet, sugary rose. Wet: Very clean, green rose scent. Almost like you're walking in a rose garden right before the sun comes up and the clammy dew mixes with the rose petals Dry: Some of the sugary sweetness has died down, thank god. Now it smells like a fresh bouquet of beautiful, mature roses. Wow, very complex for a blend of "roses, roses, and roses." I'm actually going to save this for another time and see how I like it. I'm on the fence about it due to the sugary notes.

Vial: Musky cinnamon and leather Wet: Wow, spicy. A faint trace of chamomile, but the leather, pepper, and incense dominant it in every way possible. Dry: Still spicy with a woody tone. Too spicy, so this isn't for me.

Vial: Honey! But it's not a sweet honey. It's almost sour, as if mixed with berries. Honey wine, nomnom. Wet: Honey with an incense undertone. Dry: I was worried that the laurel and bay wouldn't come through, but they've arrived. The honey wine has now moved to the back and the incense, laurel, and bay have taken over. I was really surprised with the evolution of this scent from vial to drydown. It was interesting to smell nothing but fermented honey at first, then all incense/bay/laurel in the end. I really like this smell, but I wouldn't wear it. I would probably burn it in my tart burner in the winter, though.

Vial: A pungent and musky patchouli and cinnamon. Already know this isn't my thing. Three strikes with patchouli = out. Oh well, I'll try it on anyway. Wet: Tobacco and rum smell mixing with cinnamon and patchouli. Dry: My skin is making me feel like I just applied some sort of prescriptive ointment. I was pretty sure that smoky/spicy scents weren't for me, but I'd figure I'd give it a try with some BPAL oils. Looks like the verdict remains the same.

Vial: Rich, buttery scent combined with vanilla and ... clove? I really don't want to try this on, but I'll do it anyway. Wet: Sugary vanilla. Very rich. I had to skip drydown on this because sugary vanilla notes make me wretch. It smells as if I'm wearing cake batter. Ick.

A shadowy, unapproachable forest of maple, birch, dogwood, cypress and pine softened by a garland of New England wildflowers: bergamot, columbine, rue anemone, blue violet, creeping phlox, bloodroot, toadflax, and pixie moss. Vial: Clean, woody scents. Mostly cypress, pine, with a touch of moss Wet: I get this subtle sweet floral smell that reminds me of jasmine and lily (maybe it's the bergamot). The floral accompanies the wood notes wonderfully. Dry: A hint of sweetness and just a little bit of bleach. By this point most of the woody notes have disappeared. I really like this scent in the vial and wish it remained the same to the drydown. I think I'd love it more if the woody/mossy notes had stayed prominent.

A whiff out of the vial made me think I was smelling aftershave. It's a very clean, soapy amber when wet on my skin. I think I dabbed a little too much on before I left for work the other day. The aftershave-ness is a little too much. Still don't know how I feel about this. I think I put a little on the boy and see if I get a chemical sexy reaction. ETA: OMG I just layered this with Nemesis and now I want to have sex with myself.

I think lemon verbena is a pretty boring note to me, but I think the green tea and jasmine tone it down well, especially on the skin. The green tea is what makes this scent pleasant, but I don't think I'd be wearing this on me. I burned a few drops in my tart burner and it made my kitchen smell wonderful, though!

Vial: Violet, chamomile heavily accentuated by primrose and rosewood Wet: Chamomile is barely calming down the florals. Also a bit sour. Dry: Light trace of musk, but still smelling sour. Not for me.

Vial: Sweet, sour pear with a touch of musk. Wet: Really sour pear with a hint of lily. No longer musky. Can't smell any of the rose. Dry: Still pear. The lily is barely noticeable. I searched high and low for the other notes, but they just weren't there. The pear is too overpowering. Not something I would wear.

Roses and funeral lilies perceived, faintly, through an indistinct, ghostly mist. Vial: Sweet floral, all rose and no lily. Wet: Powdery and sweet floral, again. Ugh, it's way too sweet for my nose. Dry: All powder, all rose. This scent really disappointed me. Maybe it's a little too simple? It reminds me of Rose Cross. Not something I'd wear, really.

This is exactly how I would imagine a rum-soaked buccaneer would smell like. A whiff out of the imp and all I picture is holding him close to me and smelling his saturated pirate garb. Getting a strong leather note when wet and during drydown. I'd really love to test this on my body chemistry when exposed to some strong sunlight and a little bit of sweat.

Vial: Wow. Leather, tonka, and anise all ganging up on citrus and attacking my nose. Can't figure whether this is going to be a good thing or a bad thing when wet and dry. Wet: Citrus, leather, and a hint of lavender. Not as domineering as it was in the vial. Kind of wishing it was at this point. Dry: Anise, leather, just a little bit of citrus. Looks like the lavender was fleeting. A very masculine and overpowering scent. If any of Bret Easton Ellis's male characters wore BPAL, I think Casanova would be it.

One whiff from the imp and all I thought was, "Whoa, white lilies inc." I thought the other notes would surface while it was wet, but no. I'm trying to figure out whether my problem lies with the aquatic or earthy notes blended with the lilies, or maybe it's just the lilies themselves that are boycotting my olfactory sense. Oh well, not for me.