lohengrin

In the vial: Cherry cough syrup. On, wet: Still overwhelmingly cherry cough syrup. Colour me worried. Later: And then, surprise! There's the anise! It reminds me of Dr. Pepper, somehow, almost... fizzy. But I love it. I really, really love it. Anise is one of my favourites, and it goes really well with the cherry. Once again, the musk is AWOL on me.

In the vial: Rose. On, wet: Still mostly rose, but I feel that cinnamon beginning to tickle my nose. Later: This is my favourite rose blend, by far. Unnngood. The heat of cinnamon, and the roses stay balanced, they don't totally dominate. It's fantastic.

In the vial: Sweet, but with some depth. On, wet: Mm. Just what the description says -- sugared vanilla tea! Three of my favourite things. Later: This has a lot of staying power, on me, and stays pretty consistent. It's a nice, not-too-foody sweet smell, with an underlying maturity, somehow. I like it. A lot.

In the imp: Hard to pin down. A little floral, a little sweet. On, wet: Mostly I'm getting a soft floral, presumably the iris. No nutty or coconutty notes yet, and white musk never shows up on me at all. Later: It's, like... this Ghost Coconut. I sniff at my wrist and get floral, but I turn my head away just a bit and out of the corner of my... err... nose, I smell coconut. And not sunblock coconut, either, this is a nice, subtle coconut. We'll see if this turns to powder on me later, but so far I like! I like very much!

In the imp: Tea. On, wet: TEA. And a bit of a citrus note. Not biting like lemon, but also not the sharp/spicy scent of (non-citrus but actually IN the blend) ginger. Later: It pretty much never morphed, and then faded quickly as such scents seem destined to do. I like the tea scents quite a bit, but I already have Embalming Fluid and Severin for that. I may try layering it with a little bit of ginger essential oil in carrier oil, see if that helps bring out the ginger.

In the imp: Sweet, and kinda rosey. No leather. *pout* On, wet: Merlot. Completely and utterly merlot. And it stayed that way for hooooours, before morphing into... Later: Rose single-note. ^^; It's nice, and I will use up the imp, but I was really hoping for a little more of a leather under-note.

In the imp: Cherries, sweet cherries. On, wet: Oh my sweet jebus that's saccharine. I thought O and Dana O'Shee were sweet, but no, this is sweet. It's just a bit nauseating, it's all cherry syrup, like concentrated Cherry Coke. 10 minutes: It hasn't really faded or gotten any less sweet. I'll give it another twenty minutes, but if it doesn't get better (leather? smoke? hello? where are you?) I will have to scrub it off. *gag* 45 minutes: Off it comes. Good lord but that was awful. *nose wrinkle*

In the imp: Something a bit spicy, a bit tart. On, wet: That spicy/tartness really comes to the fore. Not getting any vanilla, but I like this, oh yes! 30 minutes: The vanilla joins in to turn this scent into a really round, dark, warm sort of scent. I do find this one sexy, though I couldn't say why. It's very not foody, the vanilla stays in the background. This is the kind of dark/spice/floral/sexy scent I never thought I'd be able to wear. Thank you, BPAL.

In the imp: Pretty much the same as O, frankly. On, wet: Same effect as O, honey and nothing else. 30 minutes: Unlike O, this one never really deepens. I like it, but I don't love it.

In the imp: Sweeeeet. On, wet: Honey, and lots of it. Yummy, but a bit one-dimensional, almost a honey SN. 30 minutes: The amber and vanilla peek out ever so slightly, giving it depth and warmth and almost a little spice. Very, very yummy. Like this one, a lot. It's very foody, but comforting.

In the imp: Peppermint. On, wet: Peppermint, with a hint of something warmer, buttery vanilla. Yummy. *_* 15 minutes: It's faded down quite a bit, but I can still catch a whiff of it now and then. It's physically cool on my skin, which is going to be really nice this summer. Very happy with Spooky, oh yes. May have to find another bottle of this. *hoarding instincts* ^^;

In the imp: Sharp, citrus, very fresh. On, wet: About the same, but something like dryer sheets is rising to the top, tickling the back of my nose. Probably the ozone, which I knew could turn problematic. Sigh. 5 minutes: Oh yeah, eau de dryer sheet. It's actually a nice smell, with citrus layered over top, but it's giving me a headache. I can hope this stage won't last long, but I wouldn't bet on it. Dang. Really wanted to like this one, it has so many notes I like -- bamboo, sakura, orchid, fruits... sigh. 1 hour: Still dryer sheets, and my head is really pounding now. Can't afford to give it any longer to mellow. Off it comes. May try again in a couple weeks, at a different point in my hormone cycle. And with only one or two swipes instead of three or four. x.x It just smelled so light and good in the vial... *sigh*

In the imp: Sweeeet. I can't even tell what kind of sweet, it's just SWEET. On, wet: Rasberry candy. On, dry: Rasberry wine cooler. x.x ~30 minutes: This is around when the herbal note started to come out and soften the candy/wine cooler sweetness. Thank god. It started smelling really good, if still very sweet. Very, very berry, but with that thyme note making it more layered, and less offensively sweet. I actually like it quite a lot, even though it definitely does not remind me in any way of Lady M. ^^;

In the imp: Citrus. Lemon, I would assume. On, wet: The green tea rears up and takes control. All I smell is green tea. 5 minutes: The green tea and the lemon are duking it out for dominance. The musk and the aloe are nowhere to be found. 15 minutes: It's a balanced mix of the lemon and green tea now, but it's very faint. The curse of citrus -- doomed to fade quickly. It's nice, but not long-lived. Three for three in the "finish the imp, don't buy a bottle" sweepstakes.

In the imp: Crisp, tart. Don't really smell any one note, but it's nice. On, wet: Has some of the same "fruit and flowers" feel as Aizen-Myoo. 5 minutes: The floral is coming out dominant. No trace of pear at all, which is a pity as pear is one of my favourite scents. But no trace of musk, either, which is probably a blessing for me. Will update a little later, see how it changes over time. Some hours later: I do get a tiny wisp of pear now, but just not enough. This is another for the "will finish the imp, but no bottle" pile.

In the imp: Roses. On, wet: Rose, rose, rosey rose rose. First hour or so: Definitely all rose, no real hint of anything else. But I like it, it's a cool rose, and not an overpowering one. Some hours later: Eventually it fades down to something else entirely, very light, very soft. Probably the moonflower? Whatever it is, I like it. I don't see myself buying a bottle of this, but I'll definitely use up the imp.

Elizabeth Báthory, also called Erzsébet Báthory in Hungarian and Alžbeta Bátoriová-Nádašdy in Slovak, was the Bloody Lady of Hungary. In order to preserve her youth and loveliness, the brutal and incomparably savage countess captured, tortured and slaughtered innumerable young women and bathed in their blood as part of her beauty regimen. Ah, vanity. Corrupted black plum, smoky opium and crumbling dead roses covered by a deceptive veil of Hungarian lilac, white gardenia and wild berry. In the imp: Sweet... definitely smell the plums and the berries. On, wet: Fruity goodness! Plummy and sweet. Mm. 5 minutes: Now I can smell the light floral in there, too. It's like... Aizen-Myoo, despoiled somehow. Not like rotting fruit, but yeah, corrupted is the right word for it. Not smelling any smoky anything, though. It's very heady, thick. A nighttime smell, for sure. I like it. A lot. ^__^

In the imp: Hmm. Something sharp, a little bit tart, but I'm smelling something in here I do not like. On, wet: Ack. Fake strawberry chemical reek. x.x How, I do not know, as BPAL does not use fake chemical shite, but there it is. It's making the back of my throat burn. Not tickle, burn. 5 minutes: The worst faded away, but I still smell of fake strawberries. Strawberry Shortcake dolls, that's what I smell like. BURNING Strawberry Shortcake dolls. No champagne at all. ICK. Washing off now!

In the imp: Definitely... aquatic. Sharp, clean. Hard to pin down. On, wet: Smells... like the bathroom after someone has just taken a long, hot shower and used some generic-smelling soap. ^^; Not soapy like cheap scented candles, just that sort of after-soap wet cleanness. On, dry: Pretty much the same. 10 minutes: Kind of a headachey smell if I sniff right at it, but from a distance I just smell kinda... clean. It's okay, but not thrilling. Will try again some other time, see if I can find any of that "hellishly dark" part instead of "shower fresh." ^^;;;

In the imp: ... Gardenia On, wet: Gardenia! It wa~fts, the gardenia does. Feeeaaar the gardenia power! On, dry: A tiny hint of vanilla begins to appear, sweetening the gardenia. Mmyummy. I like this. *_* Many hours later: The vanilla slowly takes over, the way that vanilla does. That stuff has staying power! But the gardenia does not go away, either, they blend quite nicely. Liiiike.

Try #1: In the bottle: Oak bark. *sneeze* On, wet: Oak bark. If there's apple in here, I do not smell it, what with all the sneezing. 5 minutes: Smells like a stick of apple incense. Fortunately, it's only giving me a mild headache, because I don't really have time to scrub it off right now. Will update with how it smells a few hours down the line when I get home from class. ^^; *wanders off, sneezing* ~5 hours: It's mellowed considerably, quite a nice, woodsy/apple scent now. Except that I need to practically have my nose touching my wrist to smell it. Oh well, I shall keep the imp, but I don't see myself getting a bigger bottle of this. Try #2: Bizzarely, The Hesperides is all appley goodness this time. Apple, with some faint green notes. Very nice, this one is a keeper after all! However, I definitely will let oils sit for a couple days after they arrive from BPAL, in the future. The Hesperides is clearly the better for it. Mmyummy.

In the bottle: Sweet, with some tart notes, probably the pomegranate. On, wet: The tartness is gone already, alas. It's just sweet now. 5 minutes: That sweet note is still there, but the "background of deep aquatic notes and a twirl of melancholy autumn breezes" is turning into baby powder. If it stays in the background like this it's actually quite a nice undertone to the sweetness, but we'll see if I smell like baby powder and nothing else in a few hours. As before, will update when I get home from classes. 10 hours later: Definite staying power! Bizarrely, it is sweet on my left wrist and more powdery on my right. Ah! My watch band must have changed the chemistry sommat. But even the powdery side is a nice powdery, not sneezy or baby powder. Expensive floral powder.

In the bottle: Citrus. Definitely citrus. On, wet: Yup, citrus. 5 minutes: Ah, now the tea is coming through somewhat. Smells like Earl Grey and little else. Old fashioned Earl Grey, with bergamot. No leather to be found, that's for sure. But I like it anyway. 10 minutes: I smell like Earl Grey, yup. ^^; Very nice, but a bit disappointing on the leather part -- will have to try Whip after all. 1 hour+: Ah, there's a faint hint of leather. Very faint. The Earl Grey scent is faint now, too. But still there. Still gonna try Whip sometime.

In the imp: Sharp/sweet apple blossom, and the fustiness I associate with ylang ylang. On, wet: A bit of rose, but that stale ylang ylang smell is winning out. Later: Oh yeah. Ylang ylang city. With just enough rose to give me a mild headache. Fooey. *adds ylang ylang to the black list*

In the vial: Sweet floral. On, wet: Can't really pick out the floral as rose, per se, or the sweet as pomegranate, but it's nice. Later: Smells very much like La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente, only stronger, and without the powdery drydown, which is a definite plus. Another winner, for me.