lohengrin

In the imp: Musk and lime. On skin, wet: Mainly musk, with just a hint of lime. On skin, dry: Still pretty much just musk and lime. There's a soapy note, I think, but it's very faint. After an hour: The soapiness went away, thankfully. But it stays musk and lime, with no trace of the matcha. *sadness*

In the imp: Musk and amber. Perfumey, but not headachey, which is a pleasant surprise (so far). On skin, wet: Musk, amber, and a hint of either the dry plains grasses or dusty woods--can't decide which. On skin, dry: Dusty woods, definitely, and the amber and musk are now more of a background. Not headachey, but maybe a little sneezy--the "dusty" note is pretty accurate! After an hour: Same as the initial drydown. It's actually quite nice, even if I didn't get any doeskin. But I'll need to deathmatch it against my other primarily "woody" blend (Lysander) to see if it's different enough to warrant a bottle.

In the imp: Faint rose. Very faint, I can hardly smell this at all. Weird. On skin, wet: Rose, and a tiny hint of another floral note (presumably the violet), but it's not strong enough to be distinct. On skin, dry: Rose and that hint of violet. It's very, very slightly soapy, but not offensively so. After an hour: Unchanged from the initial drydown. I'm amazed the violet stood up to the rose even as much as it did, given how much I amp rose. Still, I think this is nice, but not for me.

In the imp: Honey and something a bit tart. The ambrosia, maybe? On skin, wet: Slightly tart, slightly spicy honey. On skin, dry: The honey has faded, as has the spiciness of the ginger, and that tart note is getting stronger. After an hour: That tartness I assume is the ambrosia has mostly taken over, with only a hint of honey sweetness underneath. Never got anywhere near as much ginger as I hoped for. It's nice, but not really different enough from things I already have bottles of.

In the imp: Slightly incensey amber. On skin, wet: Incensey amber. On skin, dry: Incensey amber. After an hour: Still very much incense/amber, with never the slightest hint of fruits. Clearly, whatever amber note is used in this blend is NOT one of the ones that works on me at all.

In the imp: Rose. On skin, wet: Rose and a touch of fresh green. On skin, dry: Still just rose and a little bit of green. After an hour: Rose, and even the green note has faded down to nothing. No wood, no hazel, just rose. Dang it!

In the imp: A little bit peachy, a lot mossy. On skin, wet: Sweet and a little bit tart (the bergamot, I assume), but the moss is still the dominant note. On skin, dry: Peachier now, less tart, but still essentially fruity moss. After an hour: Fruity moss, almost a bit powdery. It's nice, but not the bright, fresh peach I was looking for.

In the imp: Standard BPAL sweet floral. On skin, wet: Sweet floral, and a maybe a touch of depth from the sage. On skin, dry: It starts to go a little soapy, and the sage vanishes back into the ether. After an hour: Soapy sweet floral.

In the imp: Generic sort of floral. Nothing special, nothing standing out. On skin, wet: And my skin begins to amp the rose, like always. Lilac lingers in the background. On skin, dry: Mostly rose. The lilac is turning a bit soapy, but fading under the onslaught of ROSE. After an hour: Rose single note. I keep hoping... but no. Rose may not be a death note on me in the sense of smelling BAD, but it sure does take over.

In the imp: Booze and a little orange peel. On skin, wet: Super boozy, a hint of clove. On skin, dry: Cologne. Cheap cologne. Like, Axe bodyspray. Badness. After an hour: Same as initial drydown. Figgy Puddin' did almost the same thing on me, so I blame the cognac.

In the imp: Cakey, boozy, and figgy. Yummy! On skin, wet: Cakey and spicy, no more booze or fig. On skin, dry: And all of a sudden this smells like someone dipped that spicy cake in cologne. And not terribly good cologne, either. x.x After an hour: Same as the initial drydown, and since Plum Puddin' did something similar on me, I suspect the cognac is the bad note.

In the imp: Cough syrup. On skin, wet: Cough syrup. On skin, dry: Cough syrup with a little bit of spice. After an hour: It never really changed much, unfortunately. Sometimes BPAL's cherry note works on me. This time, not so much.

Imp: Green and clean, a little floral. Not at all what I expected. On skin, wet: Same as in the imp. Maybe it's the moss? On skin, dry: Still green and clean, but no more floral. Not soapy, per se, but fresh-out-of-the-shower kind of clean. After an hour: No real change from the drydown. Never got any dirt, that's for sure, or anything I could identify as rose geranium. Pretty much the exact opposite of what I expected, and not something I would wear.

In the imp: It's a pretty faint scent, lightly perfumey but hard to detect any notes in particular. On skin, wet: Lilac and a bit of smokiness from the opium. On skin, dry: Soapy lilac, smoke, and something a bit sour. After an hour: Soapy lilac and smoke. Darn lilac; I love you in flower form, but clearly you are not a friend of my skin.

In the imp: Orange and geranium. Geranium always smells a little fusty to me, though. On skin, wet: Orange and geranium. On skin, dry: Orange, geranium, and the first hints of something else, but I can't pin down quite what it is yet. After an hour: That other note turned out to be gingergrass, which has replaced the geranium entirely. This is an improvement, but I'm still not sure about this one.

In the imp: Floral and fresh, nothing standing out particularly. On skin, wet: The green tea comes to the forefront, with florals behind, but alas I also smell a hint of soap. On skin, dry: Getting soapier, with an undercurrent of green tea. I suspect either the jonquil or the wisteria is the soap culprit here. After an hour: Soapy green tea. Sigh.

In the imp: Spicy, and a little tart. On skin, wet: Similar to the scent in the imp, but even more tart. It smells almost like a spiced citrus fruit of some sort. On skin, dry: Spicy citrus. If this is what cubeb smells like, I want more! After an hour: It's smoothed out a little, maybe that's the honey peeking out? But it remains fairly true to the initial drydown. Not at all what I expected--no dustiness from the cardamom, hardly any honey--but it's quite nice.

In the bottle: Quite sharp, but a faint candy-like sweetness in the background. A bit fizzy. On skin, wet: Pretty much the same as in the bottle. On skin, dry: The fizzy and sweet notes have gone poof, and now it's all that sharp champagne note. After an hour: Same as the initial drydown. This is incredibly disappointing, as mango and lychee are two of my favourite things in the world and they just don't show up at all. I really, really wanted to love this, and I just can't.

In the imp: Hard to pin down, really. A bit floral, a bit sweet, nothing standing out. Not surprising, given the number of notes in this. On skin, wet: Similar to the imp smell, but with the beginnings of soap. Peony soap, less harsh than jasmine soap, but soap nonetheless. On skin, dry: Floral with soap. After an hour: Even soapier, with a slightly harsher soap note joining the milder peony soap note. Probably one of the lilies, though I suppose it could also be one of the other flowers. :/

In the bottle: Very, very sharp. A bit fizzy, but no trace of fruit. On skin, wet: Pretty much the same as in the bottle. On skin, dry: No change. After an hour: Still no change. Booo. The champagne note overwhelms absolutely everything else to my nose, and it's just far too sharp to be enjoyable.

In the bottle: Amber, and something almost... musty? Possibly one of the ambers? On skin, wet: Essentially the same as in the bottle. On skin, dry: This is not morphing on me at all. After an hour: It stays the same dusty sort of amber smell the whole time, and never turns into the "O plus orange" scent I was so desperately hoping for. Boo.

In the bottle: Orangey and a bit boozy, with just a touch of spice. On skin, wet: Similar to the bottle scent, but with perhaps a touch more spice. On skin, dry: Fresh orange, and something... almost minty? Actually, that might be cinnamon. After an hour: *facepalm* It was cinnamon, and it has run roughshod over everything else. There's a hint of orange left, but mostly this is cinnamon. Will have to deathmatch it against Uranus.

In the imp: Perfumey. Nothing stands out through the perfumey smell, alas. On skin, wet: A bit of yuzu peeks out through the perfumey smell, but also a bit of soap. Not promising. On skin, dry: Soapity soap soap. x.x After an hour: SOAP.

In the imp: Almost straight up leather. A touch of musk. On skin, wet: Light musk and a bit of honey, with the leather being more of an undertone. On skin, dry: The leather becomes dominant again, and the honey totally vanishes. I don't know if it's the musk, but something now smells very clean, like skin but not "lightly perspiring," more like "fresh out of the shower." After an hour: Leather and that clean smell. I actually like this a lot, even though the leather/honey mix I hoped for didn't last. I'm not sure I like it enough to buy a bottle, but I'll think about it.

In the imp: Musk and a faint hint of sweetness. On skin, wet: Musk with maybe a touch of chocolate and fruit lurking underneath. On skin, dry: Plum. A little musk, but mostly plum. After an hour: Stays mostly plum, with subtle hints of musk and mmmmaybe chocolate. Never got any amaretto or ginger, much to my disappointment.