awesomeoverlord

Dark herbs and fruits...I'm definitely getting the gritty in this one. There's something in here that makes me thing of fresh turned earth. Neat, but not really my kind of thing. A good "dark" scent, though.

In the imp, this is promising. I'm definitely getting the wine with a fair bit of fruity sweetness to boot. There's something that smells a bit green and herby and a touch of smoke, which I'm assuming is the incense. Unfortunately, as soon as this touches my skin, it turns into some kind of weird fruity floral mess that ends up smelling like rosy old-lady perfume. It kind of reminds me of Persephone, actually, which is just bizarre...except with that weird sharp old-lady note. It really was nice before I put it on though, so I blame my skin.

I think part of it is creating a scent that isn't just *A* lavender, it's *THE* lavender, the Archetypal Lavender. KWIM? There are different strains of just about every plant-based essence on the planet, and they all smell a little different. I'll just jump on the bandwagon with this old topic as well -- I muchly enjoyed reading it The above point by odalisque is excellent. Being on the fringes on the industry myself (though I'll be the first to admit that I blend only a few of my own scents), I've come into contact with this issue quite frequently. Take that same old lavender EO -- there are SO many different varieties -- and apart from that, a Bulgarian Lavender from one supplier will quite rarely be identical to another's, regardless of the fact that they're apparently coming from the same species of plant. There's hardy such a thing as *THE* lavender in the world of EO. For instance, lavender 42/40 is a variety that's been altered to produce a more "typical" floral lavender that seems to be what most people expect from the scent, but I bet many an aromatherapist would turn her nose up at it. Plus, if BPAL had been selling 5ml of pure sandalwood EO...well...let's not even go there At their prices, it would have been very generous indeed! Ultimately, creating a "single note" that gets people to say, "Oh man, that's [insert random scent]!" requires as much artistry in blending as your typical bottle of Snake Oil, in my opinion.

Holy fornication! Sticky sweet, musky, and a bit powdery. A honeyed vanilla that has survived a night of raunchy dancing followed by hot sweaty sex and unexpected cuddling. Another way of looking at it: it's like taking Snake Oil, stripping out all the spices, and then allowing it to mellow for a few hours. I seem to be drowning myself in sweet musky vanillas lately, so I'm not sure that this one stands enough above the rest to warrant a bottle. But definitely yummy

In the imp: mostly citrus, with some of the herbally florals coming through. Ok...maybe... Wet: GAH! pickles???? Dry: blegh...I don't know what happened here...I'm still getting pickle brine and...vegetable soup??? Bizarre...obviously there's something in here that my skin just hates.

In the imp: hot chocolate mix. Smells like sugar crystals mixed with cocoa powder. Upon application: Yup. Definitely molten milk chocolate. Yummy, but I'm more of a dark chocolate girl

Sweet heady floral, imp to dry down. I get some jasmine and rose...but it's mostly that aforementioned floral that I can't really identify? Maybe its the gardenia? ...I don't really know what gardenia smells like so I could be wrong. Overbearing...there's something in this I'm not too fond of and since I know I like rose, vanilla and jasmine, I'm inclined to blame the gardenia. Hmmm.

A lovely white floral -- crystalline and dainty. I smell a bit of citrus, but only a touch, and as it dries down there's a light powdery note that starts to come out. Very pretty...a bit too nondescript for me, but beautiful.

In the vial: lovely sweet floral, very comforting. Wet: same, but there's something green starting to peek out. Dry: this is a beautiful soft lily...I'm not really getting the honey, but that's ok. I haven't made up my mind yet on this one. I like it but probably not enough to wear regularly.

Holy crap there's a lot in here. It's spicy and floral and dirty and foody all at the same time. After the initial blast wears off, it dried down to a straight cinnamon -- I guess my skin ate everything else.

I don't detect the vetiver, which is a very good thing because the smell of vetiver oil usually makes me want to kill myself. There's a lot going on here...it's kind of cologney and fresh. My manperson sniffed me and told me it smelled like I just took a shower at a fancy spa. I think I'll be passing this one on.

Holy cinnamon! That's pretty much it, actually - never does anything else for me, imp to drydown.

Hmmm...I'm very pleasantly surprised. I should say this was a frimp and I panicked when I read the "soft perfume" in the description. This is sweet and earthy (I detect patchouli!) with just the right amount of spice. Too dirty to be something I'd wear, but I'm glad I got to try it.

I really really wanted to love this. Because it has so many notes that tend to draw me in and because it's Kali. There's something in here that just doesn't agree with me, though. It's a complex, heady floral. The notes flow together beautifully, but there's something in here that throws the blend off for me. It's kind of pungent...maybe the wine? I'm inclined to keep trying with this one

Mmmm this is nice - I got it as a frimp and I have to say, it's not something I would have opted to try on my own. In the imp its a rich, fruity herbal scent. On application, it mellows out very nicely...I'm thinking herbaceous melons. Not my usual fare, but lovely.

Mmmmm...there's the rum! This is delicious -- boozy, smoky, and sweet with a touch of toasted coconut. Not my style, but I can totally appreciate this!

I too was hoping for something more along the line of Dorian. I get the tea when I first apply it, and a bit of the sweetness. But, overall, this is much drier. It's spicy, but in a very nondescript way. The tea and vanilla pretty much disappear, so I have trouble really thinking of this as a tea scent, and I'm left with an innocuous blend of gentle white pepper, a touch of ginger, and a bit of honeyed sweetness. This one lasts, but stays very close to the skin. A bit too subdued for my tastes.

Very nice, as far as fresh fruity scents go. Initially, all I get is citrus, but a very nice complex citrus. Once it starts to dry down, the citrus evaporates (though it leaves behind a bit of its edge to keep the blend fresh) and I'm getting sweet creamy floral with a bit of sharpness and a touch of musk. Nice. Probably not for me. Maybe in the summer, though.

Very very odd. I can't even pick out any of the individual notes, but there's a citrusy edge that I'm ascribing to the grapefruit and a general herbyness that I'm reading as a combination of everything else. The currant is hiding from me and there's something in here that reminds me of White Rabbit's pepper note. Another blend that I can't quite put my finger on.

Absurd, indeed. I can't quite figure this one out. There's definitely patchouli and a whole bunch of weird greenish fruitiness. Not or me, I think.

I should say, I got this mainly because of the lavender. I'm also a big fan of tonka and rosewood so I was expecting this one to be a winner. Vial: Pure lavender -- beautiful natural herbaceous lavender. Very very promising. Wet: Still lavender, but some of the other notes are coming out to play. Woodsy and warm. Nice. Dry: Uh-oh. I'm not sure what happened here but all I'm getting is glorified baby powder. Mehhh. There's a trace of something I might have once identified as the lavender, a bit of that lovely woodsiness and I think I can pull out the tonka, but mostly powder. Old Scratch seems to have transformed into Old Matronly Nurse. I'm not ready to give up on this one quite yet -- it was just sooo good. Maybe if I reapply it every 10 minutes...

This is so beautiful, but I just don't think I can get past the neroli. The raspberries and blood orange are just gorgeous in this and if I concentrate really hard, I can totally smell them peaking through and rounding out the whole blend. But generally, all I get is neroli, with which I have a very interesting love-hate relationship. Dry, this ends up a lovely lightly fruity (NEROLI!) floral on my skin. Very very pretty, but not my cup of tea.

I think my nose is broken. Or my imp is labeled wrong. Or something. All I smell is lilacs. No grapefruit, or tea or ginger. Just lilacs. And really really nice lilacs, at that. Maybe it's the apple blossom playing tricks on me? I don't know. Very very strange

In the imp (hehe), I get soft peach grounded in something warm and earthy. As I put it on, the peach starts to evaporate a bit, but sticks around to add a tarn fruity quality to the whole blend. The amber and musk temper the patchouli nicely and keep it from getting too grungy. A lovely comforting scent, with a bit of mischief. Ultimately, this reminds me a lot of Depraved, but not as heavy on the dirty hippie (read: lighter patchouli). Edited because I can't spell.

Patchouli and apricot is right. Once it dries down, the patchouli becomes much more prominent though I can still detect the apricot lurking in the background if I try hard enough. I like it, but I don't think I'll wear it very often.