lohengrin

In the imp: Kumquat or maybe orange blossom, and maybe a bit of tea. On skin, wet: Pretty much the same as in the imp. On skin, dry: Orangey/kumquatey citrus. If there ever was any tea (could have been my imagination), it's definitely gone now. After an hour: Same as the drydown. Never did get any pepper, which is disappointing, but it's nice enough.

In the imp: Hard to put my finger on what this smells like. Cherry, for sure, and... something else, I have no idea what. On skin, wet: Cherry and... lavender? Still hard to figure this one out. On skin, dry: SIGH. Slightly soapy rose. Nothing else. Curse my skin! After an hour: No improvement. Which is not surprising--usually when a blend has gone over into Rose Doom, it stays there.

In the imp: Woodiness (not distinct enough to tell if it's sandalwood, agarwood or cassia) and lemon peel, maybe a touch of sweet musk. On skin, wet: Mostly the woody note, and just a hint of lemon peel. On skin, dry: Where did you go, perfume? I can sort of smell a faint remnant of the woodiness, but only with my nose right against my skin. After an hour: I think maybe the woodiness was in fact both cassia AND either the sandalwood or agarwood, and the whateverwood has since disappeared entirely, because now when I put my nose against my skin I can definitely smell cassia. It's SO faint, though.

In the imp: Sweeeeeeet wine. On skin, wet: Sweet wine, carnation, a touch of cider. On skin, dry: It's more well-blended, harder to pick out individual notes, but it's still mostly sweet wine and a touch of carnation-like floral. After an hour: There's a very faint soapy note that seems to come and go (I have to assume the posies) but this is definitely still worth a re-test for me.

In the imp: Fruity, boozy and a little cakey, or cookie-like maybe. On skin, wet: Boozy fruit. No more cake/cookies. On skin, dry: Similar to the wet scent, but there's something a bit off lurking in the background. After an hour: This has gone sharp (in a bad way) and a little perfume-y. Not a winner.

In the bottle: PEAR. Pure, crisp, glorious pear! On skin, wet: Same as in the bottle. Dear god, please don't morph! On skin, dry: Honey and pear. It's not nearly as strongly PEAR as before, but it's still very nice. I can live with this much morphing. After an hour: Same as the initial drydown. This is definitely the best BPAL pear scent I've smelled, by far. I really do seem to much prefer BPAL's simpler blends, with only a few notes.

In the imp: Banana. Dangit! The one note I really, really didn't want to show up. ;_; On skin, wet: Slightly sugary banana. I am not pleased. On skin, dry: Banana cough syrup. EW. After an hour: Same as the initial drydown. Scrubbing it off now.

... Ogun’s ofrenda is heavy and dark cigar tobacco, gin and juniper, melon, chili pepper and a touch of honey. In the imp: Melon and just a hint of juniper and chili pepper. No honey, alas, but pretty nice. On skin, wet: Oh, ew. Juniper has started to take over. I can sort of detect the gin and tobacco, but apparently gin is one of BPAL's booze notes that does NOT work well on me. The chili pepper is just a tickle of heat in my nose. On skin, dry: It smells like sitting in a dive bar, next to a guy wearing too much juniper-heavy cologne, basically. After an hour: Pretty much the same as the drydown. It is really quite awful on me. x.x

In the imp: Coconut and a little rum. This is amazing in the imp, and I reeeeally want it to smell like this on me. It won't, though. :/ On skin, wet: And dangit, this turns to mostly rum with occasional whiffs of tobacco and coconut. I knew it. >.> On skin, dry: Much the same as it was wet. After an hour: A little bit of coconut has re-emerged, to tame the rum and tobacco a little. Nowhere near as much as I smelled in the imp, but enough to warrant a re-test. Yay!

In the imp: Definitely mostly sassafras, which of course makes my brain go "root beer!" It's mellowed by something else, though. On skin, wet: Pretty much the same as in the imp. Not sure which note is softening the sassafras, except that it's definitely not the oak leaf. On skin, dry: Starting to get the impression it's the butter doing the mellowing, and not the vanilla, but it's subtle. Still mostly sassafras, just with the edge taken off. After an hour: Definitely the butter is the other note showing up on me, but it never gets strong enough to quite be weird--it just lends a warmer, rounder sort of note to the dominant sassafras. I like this one a lot!

In the imp: Berry. A hint of floral. On skin, wet: A little more even berry/floral mix, with berry still on top. No honey/sweetness. On skin, dry: The floral note has pulled ahead of the berry, but it's still very much a blend of both. After an hour: Floral berry, but there's a bit of a nuttiness to it now almost. It's very interesting! But the floral component is just a little too dominant for it to really be a winner for me.

In the imp: Mostly wine. But there's also something cool that my nose keeps wanting to read as mint (though I don't think it really is). WEIRD. On skin, wet: Pretty much the same. Still can't figure out what the not-mint coolness is, except maybe the earth note somehow? On skin, dry: Less minty, more soapy. Not very soapy, just a little bit lurking around the edges of the wine. After an hour: Fading fast, but what's left is pretty similar to the initial drydown. Interesting, but definitely not for me.

In the imp: Sandalwood, musk and just the tiniest hint of fruit. On skin, wet: Same. Phooey. On skin, dry: A little bit more fruit, but still mostly sandalwood and musk. After an hour: It's gotten fruitier, much more balanced now. The sandalwood and musk are still dominant, but I can smell the fruit clearly enough that I can tell it's the mandarin, not the mango, that's actually showing up. May be worth a re-test.

In the imp: Carnation and a hint of something artifical, like plastic. BPAL's strawberry and I so rarely get along for this exact reason. x.x On skin, wet: Carnation and another dark/heady sort of floral. The poppy maybe? Still that hint of plastic, but it's fading. On skin, dry: The plastic is gone, but otherwise this is not a morphing scent on me--still heavy, dark florals. After an hour: Same as the drydown. Not unpleasant, but not really for me.

In the imp: Booze and honey. On skin, wet: Booze, honey and the occasional whiff of almond. On skin, dry: Aww, the almond went away. Now it's the same boozy-sweetness I get from Sugar Skull. After an hour: Stays pretty much the same as the initial drydown. Dang, I really wanted more nuttiness from this one.

In the imp: Citrus floor cleaner (not Pledge, more like Lysol). Ack. O.o On skin, wet: Pretty much the same. On skin, dry: Still very much citrus and that clean note that reminds me of floor cleaner. It's got to be the oakmoss doing that--moss notes sometimes go "fresh and clean" on me. After an hour: Same, but it's reminding me less and less of floor cleaner as time passes. I actually kind of like it, but it will definitely require a re-test.

In the imp: Sweet, but also very boozy. Reminds me a lot of Sugar Skull, without the fruit. On skin, wet: Oh yeah, this is a less-fruity Sugar Skull on me. I don't know which of BPAL's sugary notes turns to booze on me, but it's got to be one of the ones in this. On skin, dry: Same. After an hour: Woodier, a bit smoky and spicy, but still very boozy. It's nice, but not unique enough.

In the imp: Apple. On skin, wet: Apple with a very slight herbal hint. On skin, dry: Pretty much the same. Not quite straight up apple, but close. After an hour: Dangit. Oleander has appeared! Soapy apple. Was hoping this would be a potential replacement for my beloved Hesperides, but no luck.

In the imp: Apricot. A hint of something slightly sour (in the bad way), but it's pretty faint. On skin, wet: Apricot. No booziness to speak of. On skin, dry: Still pretty much straight-up juicy apricot. After an hour: Not a morpher, this one. It reminds me of Aglaea a bit, but so far it hasn't gone powdery the way Aglaea does and the apricot is a much stronger note than the peach. Definitely worth a re-test.

In the imp: Booze and... smoke? No sugar or mint, really. On skin, wet: Pretty much the same as in the imp. Every now and then I think I catch a whiff of mint, but that could be my imagination. On skin, dry: Not really boozy at all any more--it's smoky and woody. If there was ever even the faintest hint of sugar or mint, it's definitely gone now. After an hour: Definitely smoky and woody. Maybe like the barrels the bourbon is aged in? Is bourbon aged in barrels? *checks wikipedia* Yes, yes it is. Anyway, nothing sweet or minty to speak of, but I actually like the smoky/woody feel of this.

In the imp: A little like caramel corn, but not quite as buttery. On skin, wet: Similar to in the imp, but the coffee note starts to peek its head out too. On skin, dry: The coffee note is becoming more dominant. After an hour: Sweetened coffee and a faint hint of something dusty or woody. Not special or different enough to warrant a bottle.

In the imp: Standard BPAL sweet/light floral. On skin, wet: Same as in the imp. On skin, dry: And the soap rears its head. Freakin' lily. After an hour: Soapity soap.

In the imp: Oakmoss. Maybe a slight hint of something sweeter, but the oakmoss is so strong I can't be sure. On skin, wet: Oakmoss and a little cool black tea. On skin, dry: Oakmoss, tea, and a touch of anise. After an hour: Pretty much the same as the initial drydown. May have to deathmatch this against Pumpkin Masala Rooibos--the oakmoss is clearly different, but it has a similar feel because of the tea and anise--but I do quite like it.

In the imp: Tart fruit, and something I can't put my finger on. Lavender? But usually if lavender shows up at all for me it's very dominant, so maybe the violet sugar? On skin, wet: Similar to in the imp, but passion fruit becomes by far the clearest of the fruity notes. On skin, dry: Still tart and fruity, with passion fruit dominant, but that floral note is becoming stronger. Definitely the violet sugar. After an hour: Slightly soapy florals on top, with the passion fruit now secondary. Nothing special.

In the imp: Mostly herbal, with a hint of honey sweetness. On skin, wet: Pretty much the same as in the imp. On skin, dry: Honey, a bit of tonka, and just the faintest hints of the herbs. After an hour: Way too similar to O. The herbs just don't last, and it turns into straight up honey and tonka.