darkkat

I let the bf have first sniff of this in the bottle this morning, and his first response was, "It smells like Vicks!" This didn't exactly inspire confidence in me (although he clarified himself by saying that he liked the smell of Vicks...) but when I smelled it I got something that smelled sharp and ever so slightly minty. Once I applied it, however, I was able to smell cloves and cinnamon as well as the mint, which was more of an undertone when on my skin. It's spicy, but also rather woody at the same time. Strange, but I like it.

In the imp, this almost seemed too strong to wear - strong florals and fruits with an undertone of sharpness that I can't quite place. When I put it on, the fruits (berries and black plum) were the strongest scent, then the lilac and roses. There was also that strange sharpness or spiciness, which kept everything mixed up. After a few hours the scent has barely faded, and the gardenia has started to come out. It reminds me somewhat of Eris - albeit a somewhat darker version. I like this scent a lot.

In the imp, I get peaches. Hmm. I'm not particularly bothered about peaches either way, but I never imagined myself wearing a scent with them. Straight after being applied, I got peaches, white musk and oranges (that'll be the bergamot). It's quite a nice, light scent. After a few hours, it's still pretty much peaches and oranges. It's not the kind of scent I'd have normally picked for myself to wear, and I'm still not sure that I'd wear this very often, but the bf says I smell nice, so I guess that counts for something.

In the imp, this is very black cherry. Reminded me a lot of those cherry cordial chocolates you got at Christmas - the sickly sweet ones that you always ate too many of and ended up feeling sick over (well, I did, at any rate...). It almost seemed too strong for me... Once I applied it, however, the rest of the scents started to come out, specifically the amber, strawberry and red musk, all of which softened the black cherry, although it still came out pretty strongly. Strawberries and black cherries is a lovely combination, I've discovered. After a couple of hours, the scent had mellowed again and the vanilla had come out, making it black cherries and vanilla, which I liked very much. Definitely a keeper.

Got this as a freebie from the Lab. Unfortunately, I've never been too much of a strawberry lover (unless they were liberally coated in sugared cream), and so the scent of the strawberries, while nice, was too 'natural' for me. The champagne smelled like... well, like champagne, really. Fizzy wine. And I'm not a wine fan either (much to the bf's dismay -he's a wine snob). And of course, the smell of champagne and strawberries just wouldn't work well on the bf (six feet plus hairy men should not generally smell of strawberries, unless there is a damn good reason... although I guess no-one would exactly argue with them about it). Swapped this one out.

In the imp, this was all rose to me. Once I'd put it on my skin, however, the lemon and the apple started coming out and mingling with the rose, making a really wonderful combination. I smelled like Turkish Delight! This would be a good 'pick-me-up' scent for me, as I when I wore it yesterday I practically bounced through the morning without even noticing (and this was a very hot and sticky day too, which I barely noticed while I was out.). It's only fault on me seems to be that it faded from my skin really quickly, so unlike the others I'd tried. If I wanted to wear this all day, I think it would require several re-applyings...

This was one of the scents that the bf had in his first order from BPAL, which he chose because he absolutely adores Oscar Wilde. In the bottle, this was very lavender-y. Nice. When the bf put it on, the strength of the lavender remained, but was joined by a layer of citrus - the bergamot, I guess. The whole thing was strong, but not overpowering. Relaxing, I'd say. After a few hours, the lavender and bergamot had mellowed somewhat, and there was now a smell of moss and jasmine as well. I liked this a lot, because it remonded me of summers in the Irish countryside, when we would go walk my uncle's dogs down country lanes and go to a glen with several mini-waterfalls, mosses and grasses everywhere, and woodbine. The scent wasn't quite the same, but it had similarities for me. The bf said he liked it, and certainly was taking big sniffs of his wrists throughout the day.