melrose

This is without doubt the worst BPAL I've ever worn. It smells like hair dye in a beauty salon. It didn't fade and it didn't morph.

First on, really strong, soapy detergent. This stage lasts about an hour, then the most gorgeous scent emerges, soft, sweet, fresh, powdery. I love this so much.

First on: straight up, make-your-eyes-water vinegar. I doubt anyone in the lab poured straight vinegar into an imp, so I'll wait this out. 30 minutes later: pure cinnamon. 1 hour later: cinnamon and paper. I love it, but it fades quickly.

I've had ongoing nausea issues due to extensive surgery 10 years ago. Cathode is a godsend!

I love all 3 of the listed notes. I love this scent - spicy, musky, yummy. I just wish it didn't fade so fast.

Harlot's House is the new official winner of ''Quickest BPAL scent to disappear on my skin'', which is a shame, because it was lovely when first on and for about 5 minutes. Sad.

I love this first on. It's sugar and spice with something indescribable grounding it. Later, all the top notes disappear. It's honey and grain, which must be the ash manna. Slightly weird, because it's veering into oatmeal territory, so no to a bottle, but I'll greatly enjoy the imp.

Roses and funeral lilies perceived, faintly, through an indistinct, ghostly mist. First on, wet: Fresh, spicy carnations - yum! Middle drydown: Yeah, I knew that wouldn't last. Funeral home lilies and nothing but. Far drydown: Slight scent of lilies under something slightly spicy/woody. This stage is pleasant, but faint. So, Epitaph is a no-go.

It's very faint, very manly with a touch of florals, which is not bad. Unfortunately, once it dries down, I get nutmeg. I don't like nutmeg. I surely would love to know which note or combo of notes is doing this to me.

First on, it's a beautiful sugared grapefruit. After 30 minutes, poof! The poor cat disappeared into the ethers.

It was great when first on, and for about an hour after that. I smelled like bubblegum with a bit of burnt sugar - quite nice. But, then, the evil funeral-home flower smell visited and wouldn't go away. I applied this 5 hours ago, and it's still going strong. Gag. At least I can say it has staying power.

Cathedral is dead-on to me. It smells just like the inside of a Catholic church.

I really love this blend. From the listed notes, I thought it would be way too sweet. What I experience at drydown is cherry/vanilla (both the cherry and vanilla smell natural, not the horrible fake stuff you get in department stores), grounded by something that doesn't read honey to me, but is magnificent. It's a note of cold smokiness, as if someone started a fire on a concrete floor. I'm not explaining this note well, but it's perfect. It grounds the cherry and vanilla, and DM may become my go-to sweet scent.

First on, I'm in love with the beautiful cherry scent floating atop lemon. Sadly, it dries down to oily lemon furniture polish. No love for this oil.

First on, wet: OMG, it's in my top 5! It smells like me, only better - sweet, slightly dark and mysterious. Near drydown: Wow, this fades fast. Maybe top 10. Far drydown: Completely gone after 1 hour. No matter how good this smells, I'm not willing to re-apply every hour.

First on, Bananas Foster - a caramelized banana scent that's not great, but makes me hungry. Later, I get a hint of the grenadine, and this becomes more interesting. Unfortunately, my skin seems to interpret coconut rum as plastic, which ruins the drydown.

First on, I was pleasantly surprised, as it smelled so vile in the imp. On my skin, there was a lovely light lemon note, riding atop molasses. Near drydown: Horrible again. The lemon turned sharp, and didn't mix well AT ALL with the heavy sweetness underneath. Far drydown: Oak and molasses. Not too bad, but DH ran into the room to ask me if I smelled burning rubber. As he came closer, he said ''Oh, it's your perfume''.

I love most of these components, but they blend with my skin chemistry to produce something perfectly bland, perfectly pleasant, and perfectly boring.

Absolutely horrid flowers starting to rot.

I love musk and like dragon's blood, so this is a winner, right? Nope, it's horrible on me. I get no musk (how can that be, with five different ones?), but I get a little bit of dragon's blood and a whole lot of funeral home flowers. DH walked past me and said ''You smell like rancid furniture polish''.

one-note cinnamon: hot, burn, allergic, crap. It smells so good in the imp.

I have no idea which of the 3 listed notes is ruining this for me, because I've tried all of them. It must be a combo that's making me seasick - all I smell is a gross, rancid aquatic.

Bottled happiness. Helps reverse misfortune, brings light and laughter to even the most troubled and discordant place, and aids in alleviating the stress and discontent that accompanies so many of life's daily trials. Aunt Caroline is bringing me bad mojo and no joy with this one. It's brown sugar over burnt plastic. Vile.

Mad Hatter is a dead ringer for York Peppermint Patties on me, but the reviews show this scent varies wildly depending on skin chemistry.

Wow, after seeing the list of ingredients, it's no wonder I was at a loss for words when I sniffed it in the imp, and first on, wet. I wouldn't even begin to be able to guess a category. Near drydown: sweet, plasticky, smoky, but the blend of those three is better than I expected. Far drydown: no such animal. It disappeared quickly.