Brianne

In the vial: Husky clove and ambergris On me: This goes on very masculine and cologne like - the ambergris is strong and the clove (which I normally like) is husky and dry and in this instance actually adds to the masculine feeling. As it dries, the patchouli starts to come out so it's becoming a little more complex and then the pepper comes in and spices this up. It's just not spicy in the way I had imagined (I think I was expecting a spice similar to Three Witches with the cloves and pepper but this is more of an astringent spice to me). I wish the vanilla was amping more in this one, I think it could use a dose of sweetness to keep it from smelling generically masculine. Final note: Sadly, not for me. It's just too masculine for my tastes!

In the vial: vaguely fruity and yet rum like On me: This is a strange one for me because I get one thing when I sniff my skin, but when I pull my nose away, I keep getting whiffs of other notes sort of floating there. Right away, it makes me think of a man's cologne. It's sort of bay rum like and yet backed by a very strong, salty wood note. Definitely makes me think of pirates and taverns by the sea! I think the slightly floral note I keep getting when I deeply sniff must be the "perfume" but you really have to try to smell that. It seems to remain the same for the most part - rum, salty woods - masculine smelling. Final note: I think this would be nice on a man - not just any man, I don't think just any man could pull this one off. But I will be keeping the imp just to get in a piratey mood when I deal with my pirate characters hehe!

In the vial: Okay, yeah that's rosewood On me: I knew there was a reason I didn't go out of my way to try this one. It's pretty much everything that doesn't work on me. Frankicense which is overwhelming and kind of smelly on me, rose which is overpowering and heady, and wood which is overwhelming on me. It's like a kakophony of awful smells on my skin, it's just too much for my skin chemistry! Final note: Those who LIKE wood scents (or "churchy" smells like Cathedral) will probably enjoy this one. My chemistry doesn't work with any of these notes though.

In the vial: oooh a deliciously sweet pear On me: I immediately love this. It goes on sweet and fruity and makes me think of the Victoria's Secret blends I used to wear back in Middle School. The pear is in the foreground for me, though after a while it sort of becomes a mish mash of all the fruits rather than straight up pear and it's softly sweet. I can smell the rose but... it's not like rose to me. Rose is usually strong and heady on my skin and this... while it smells similar to rose, is sweeter and WAY softer. Pleasant! I do not know what snapdragon or moonflower smells like specifically so they could be lending to that impression. I love that this is not becoming mostly floral on me though - the sweet fruits are beautiful - and they work so well together. It's nice that it isn't like fresh fruit (like Fruit Moon for instance) that it's more like candied fruit. Final note: I need a bottle of this one, I cannot believe I put off trying this one for so long! I'm lucky that the lab frimped me this or I still wouldn't have tried it yet!

In the vial: a watery plum On me: Well this goes on pretty interesting - that plum is pretty apparent but it's kind of watery - like diluted plum juice if that makes sense. Or perhaps an underripe plum. And I catch the wild berries there too, very soft but very fruity and sweet. The lilac is definitely there too - lending an airy floral angle to this. Eventually the gardenia adds a sort of... I dunno, bitter perhaps? - edge to the floral side and the berries are tart and sweet. I'd have a hard time deciding whether or not to call this a fruit scent or a floral to be honest, it really straddles both very well. I am so SHOCKED that the roses are not killing this for me. They're there, but they're surprisingly subdued. It's a sort of fuschia smell - tart, airy, floral, complex and somehow both bright and dark. Very complex and pretty. Final note: I only recently added this to my wishlist because for so long I figured the roses would be the end of this scent on me and why bother trying it? But I got curious about those berries and plum and lilac and I'm really lucky that a kind fellow forumite gave it to me as an extra (thanks spark!). It's very pretty and totally unexpected. I will be keeping this imp and wearing it again for sure, and deciding then whether or not this calls for a bottle. Me? Buying a bottle of a scent with ROSE in it?? *gasp*

In the vial: RICH roses On me: Wow. If roses could be measured in terms of bland, to mild to savory to rich - this would be rich. It's a very strong, deep rose scent. I imagine these roses to be nearly dead and a deep burgundy, rather than red. That moss and earth kick right in also - it's so.... loamy lol. It's that green, deep bitter tang and it really does make me think of something decaying (not necessarily in a bad way). But as rose tends to do on me, it's just too strong. It's interesting because it is much like I expected, but the rose is so potent on my skin that it's giving me a headache Final note: I have issues with rose unfortunately, but this blend is really interesting!

In the vial: A soft floral On me: Right away, Nefertiti smells a lot like I imagined it would. I used to wear this perfume called "Blue Nile" that was a sort of watery and blue floral with a light incense background and this makes me think of that. The iris is much softer in this than it usually is for me, and it definitely has a "blue" feeling, but not to be confused with aquatic. The sandalwood, myrrh and spices are SO light and just give the impression of incense on the wind. It's a lovely compliment to the iris. Final note: I think this is quite pretty and very calming in a way. I don't think I'd reach for it very often since calm scents are usually my thing lol, but it's very nice.

I had pretty much the same experience. When this was first released, I was only mildly interested, but passed on it. Then I started reading reviews and I thought... honey incense? Sign me up! Unfortunately, the honey does not come out on me AT ALL. It's just sort of woody and vaguely floral - it smells like a nice incense scent but wasn't quite what I was hoping for.

In the vial: BOOZE! On me: Osmanthus? Is that you?? I swear I smell osmanthus in here when it's wet, but I am aware I could be confusing that with the booze + tobacco. For whatever reason, that is how osmanthus smells on me. The bourbon note in this is so strong and mixes so well with the tobacco. The cologne adds a wonderful and playful background, but it never comes off as too masculine on me. In fact, it reminds me a lot of Kali. There is a sweetness to this blend as well that makes me think of honey, and I keep catching whiffs of it now and then when I sniff my arm. The longer this is on me, the more I detect a slightly woody note in there - which could be the "bone" but it's really nice and grounds the sweet booze. This is a really nice scent! Final note: Definitely unisex in my opinion, I think anyone could wear this and smell great. I ordered this imp for my brother but I had to test it and I'm so glad I did! I'm surprised more people aren't trying and loving Isaac!

In the vial: candied incense On me: My initial impression continues as this is wet on my skin. Candy sweet incense! That only lasts until it dries though, then it becomes more incensey and less sweet. Myrrh is always *slightly* sweet on me, and it is here too but not in that candy way that it was when it was wet. The cinnamon is VERY subdued on me. My initial interest in this blend was due mostly to the cinnamon and "smoke". I kind of thought I might love it because of those two things, but I was afraid that the myrrhs would eat them both up, and I was right. Cinnamon is barely there and the smoke never comes through. It's pretty much just myrrh with a touch of cinnamon. Final note: People who love myrrh will love this one, but it's not for me. I had hoped for more cinnamon, but this blend just isnt' spicy enough for me!

In the bottle: generic cologne On me: Right away I'm getting a slightly funky smell from jasmine. Even with all these other notes, jasmine just does NOT work on my skin. Stanky. The myrrh gives this kind of a masculine, incense vibe to it. After this is dry on my skin, this is - strangely enough - predominantly myrhh and jasmine. However, the sandalwood has come out a bit and makes this sharper and more woodsy. But it's still pretty much myrhh and jasmine. For the first time, there is a BPAL blend with "dust" as a note and it does not go horribly wrong on me. The downside is that another note that I have trouble with DOES - jasmine. There is an underlying funky quality to this blend on me, and none of the other notes can get past it and the myrrh. Final note: I'm sure other people will have very different results than me if they don't usually have issues with jasmine. If it weren't for the jasmine, I think this would come off as an incense floral.

In the bottle: rosewood On me: Some people have compared this blend to clove cigarettes, and on some level, I agree. Sometimes I catch a whiff of this one when I'm doing something and it DOES make me think of them. But when I sniff it purposely, I don't really get that impression. What it does make me think of is incense. A rosewood incense to be exact. It has a slight greenish rose note without being ROSE and the other notes make a sort of deep, woody incense base. It's sort of dark and deep and mysterious smelling and yet somehow it is also a bit green and a bit rosey. It makes for an unusual combination that is difficult to describe. Final note: I swapped for this bottle because of the clove cigarette comparisons, but I find that it only vaguely reminds me of them. It's still an interesting blend though and leaves me on the fence about whether or not I should I keep this one!

Okay it ate my review so I'm just going to say this - Temple Viper is Snake Oil incense. It's heady and deep and resinous and backed by champaca (which smells like gardenia to me). Not for me, but incense lovers will enjoy it

In the vial: Juicy/fruity On me: Wow, that fruity note surprises me! I was not expecting that at all, since none of the notes usually smell fruity on me. It doesn't last long though, that green, reedy bamboo comes forth pretty quickly and turns this into a very fresh, green scent. And that's about where my review ends. I usually have more to say, but this is green and fresh smelling with a slightly sweet background. It's not so green as to be overwhelming, and that sweetness does help a lot. I think people who enjoy the bamboo scents like Dragon Moon will enjoy this one also. Final note: Fresh cut bamboo with a soft sweetness

In the vial: frankincense On me: I have a wierd relationship with frankincense. See, I see frankincense in a blend and I think, "I know that you almost never work on me frankincense. But maybe... just maybe... this will be the time when you smell good on me". And then I try it and it usually doesn't smell good on me. And this is no different. There is just something about frankincense that smells overwhelming and "old" on me. Being paired with Snake Oil does make it smoother and slightly sweeter, but it is still just too much "church incense" for my tastes. Final note: Frankincense continues to just not work on me, it's far too incensey for me.

In the vial: Juicy red apple! On me: Woah! That is fruity! Smells like apple juice Almost immediately there is a tart/bitter note there which may be the lemon peel or may just be the apple. I have had Beth's apple notes go bitter on me before plenty of times so it's not terribly surprising. I get soft florals in the background, but mostly this is juicy, ripe fruits. It does seem like an Autumn blend to me (as it seems to many others) and I sort of think of picking apples on a Fall day when I smell this. After this is on a while I *do* smell a little orange, but I still mostly smell apple. Final note: I like how fruity and juicy this is, and that it makes me think of Fall. I don't think this is something I'd reach for a lot (I like fruity scents, but don't wear them often) but it is really nice!

In the vial: Woah. Already vetiver? Hang the eff on and back up a little! On me: That initial whiff that was entirely vetiver kind of worried me lol. I don't mind vetiver at all, but when it takes over, it isn't my favorite. Luckily, when this hits my skin - my fears are put to rest! That GORGEOUS coconut and vanilla smell FANTASTIC. It's light, creamy, tropical smelling. Not nearly as heavy as I thought this scent would be. The coconut in this is exactly like the coconut in Eden, so that this scent comes off smelling like Eden + Snake Oil. It's a sexier Eden. This is deep, sultry, sexy - there is a sort of deep resinous vibe underneath this as well without it being incensey. It definitely has tropical vibes in my opinion. Simply gorgeous. Final note: I am actually VERY surprised that more people are not going crazy over this one. I think it's simply gorgeous and oh so sexy!

In the vial: airy with a light fruity scent On me: I wasn't sure how this would play out on me - I'm not very fond of "clean" scents but I do love Snake Oil, so I was trying this one in hopes that it would be a sweet clean scent. When this goes on, it is very much a white floral - it's not soapy to me, like lily often is. It's more clean and airy. Makes me think of freshly cleaned linens. It's only very slightly warmed by the Snake Oil, mostly it's a linen smell right now. After a while it's a slightly sweet, smooth clean floral. It's more complex than simply saying it's a white floral or a clean scent, but that's the best I can describe it. If Snake Oil and Dirty mated, this would be the lovechild. Final note: I like this for what it is - it's pretty and complex. I don't think it's the type of scent I need a bottle of, but someone who appreciates scents like Dirty would probably like this one!

In the vial: smells like regular Snake Oil - I should mention that the oil itself is dark brown and looks just like liquid chocolate though haha On me: When I put this on my skin the cocoa suddenly becomes apparent. Like all of the chocolate scents from BPAL this is cocoa - NOT chocolate. It's dry and light. And Snake Oil underneath. The cocoa all but disappears on my skin relatively quickly. It's still THERE, I can smell it, but it's not quite as cocoa-y as I expected. THere is a wood note there that is much more present and makes Snake Oil slightly deeper and more perfumey. It's so odd because I was expecting Boomslang to be very foody and instead it's actually more perfumey. Not that I don't like this scent, it's just that my skin eats the cocoa and other than that it's mostly still just like Snake Oil on me. Which I love, but I already have a bottle of Final note: On my skin, this scent is just not very different from regular Snake Oil. I could probably get the same scent by layering Snake Oil and Bliss unfortunately. I wish I was getting all the cocoa that other people were getting!

In the bottle: Gingerbread! On me: Woahhhh ginger and cassia. This is like Gingerbread Poppet all over again. I have a strange relationship with cassia - it's very hit or miss with me. I either love it or hate it. In The Phantom Calliope I LOVED it. In Monsterbait: Underbed I hated it. In Gingerbread Poppet, I hated it. It goes on like that, I just never really feel neutral about this note. It is predominantly cassia on me when I put this on, which worries me a great deal. When cassia is dominant like this, that's when I tend to dislike it. It's when it melds with other notes that I start to get along with it. This smells just like Gingerbread Poppet on me so far. Spicey, dry cassia and ginger. After 10 minutes, it finally settles down, yay! That Snake Oil comes out much more and it both sweetens this blend and grounds it. Now, Saw-scaled Viper smells more like a baked good. It's softly sweet and spiced, and not so fiery and untamed as before. Beautiful, much better than the wet stage of this scent. Final note: I would encourage anyone to give this blend a chance - just wait 10 minutes before judging this one, and it settles into a beautiful scent that is kind of foody. Makes me think of cinnamon buns! Foody or spice lovers, please try this one out, just lovely and yummy!

In the vial: a green but lemony scent On me: With a name like Shoggoth, I don't think you ever really expect for such an uplifting, light and bouyant scent lol. When it goes on wet, the lemongrass is quite apparent - it's bright and lemony and backed by some airy floral. When it's dry, the lemon is more... sweet - kind of fruit loopy in a way. And the lime is the same. It's a playful lemon lime scent. The musk smoothes this out and the floral and wood notes are so subdued that you cannot distinguish exactly *which* notes they are in the background. I *barely* get coconut but it's there. This smells very similar to The Star only if The Star was Key Lime Pie, Shoggoth is a lemon lime pixie stick - softer and more sugary. I love it! Final note: I love this so much, the sugary quality to this makes it almost candy like, but in a soft spun sugar kind of way. Want more!

In the vial: First off, a big thank you to ivyandpeony who gifted me this imp! The first thing I thought when I sniffed this was - "holy shit, is that bourbon vanilla?! @_@" and it was! On me: When this is wet, that bourbon vanilla is overpowering! Backed by the sugary sweet caramel, this smells extremely foody. It does start to settle into something slightly less foody before long though and that iris is coming out and creating a deep floral background for this one. ANd then in comes that carnation. It's unusual because it changes so quickly from a foody, vanilla and caramel scent to a deeper incense like floral. I still get that vanilla and the caramel but it's so much "quieter" now than it was. Even though the florals are very much there and what I would call an active part of the scent, I wouldn't classify this as a floral. It's lightly spiced and woody and has an incense quality to it. Final note: The end result is something rather exotic and mature smelling - an incense floral with a twinge of sugary sweetness. It's really rather pretty! It reminds me of scents like Red Lantern, Sugar Skull, Gluttony and The Masque.

In the bottle: deep patchouli On me: When I first put it on, that sage is CRAZY out of control! I mean WOAH. Back the eff off, Sage, I'm serious. It's VERY medicinal smelling right now - I get the patchouli in there also but mostly it's just this crazy sage. This sage smells like Vick Vapo rub, for real. Straight up menthol/eucalyptus blast! After this is dry on my skin, I start getting faint whiffs of fruit - the blackberry I believe, it doesn't seem citrusy to me. It's mostly still that Vicks smell though. This scent has been on me for a long while now and it still smells like Vicks Vapo rub. I am guessing that's the sage, as it is the only note listed that I do not have a lot of experience with. I was really hoping for more patchouli and blackberry here. Final note: This blend just smells crazy on me, that sage is so NOT getting a long with my skin chemistry. ETA: By the time this blend is fading off me, the sage final settles down and it becomes more patchouli + fruit. This is a very late stage though.

In the bottle: bitter sweet-tarts On me: In a wierd way this actually smells like ALL of the fruits listed there. If you give a good sniff, you can pretty much pick out each one. Sometimes I catch a whiff of currant, sometimes apricot or orange, sometimes cherry. On my skin though, Fruit Moon is predominantly pomegranate. It's that ripe, juicy, TART pomegranate (and to me, pomegranate has always smelled like sweet-tarts). It's just gorgeous. Later on, I get a deep mandarin orange/apricot background to this but it's still mostly that super tart pomegranate. Final note: I'm so glad I have this - pomegranate is one of my favorite fruit notes and I love wearing it. You would think this blend would be crazy and have too much competing between the fruit notes, but that isn't so. I'm so happy I have a bottle of this beautiful fruit blend!

In the bottle: soft grapefruit and plumeria On me: I'm just having a hard time getting a hold of this scent. It's incredibly faint on me, even though I tried it on heavier than I usually put oil on. When it goes on, I get soft pink grapefruit and a hint of cherry. That cherry disappears REAL fast though and never comes back. For the most part, when this is dry on my skin it seems to be a champagne floral. The grapefruit stays pretty subdued and on me, it's the champagne and plumeria that really sticks out. Final note: My skin just eats this one, I can barely smell it and I mostly just get champagne and plumeria - which is pretty, but just not for me.