binkin

Rose absolute, caramel, ripe red berries, pink pepper, Balsam of Peru, cognac, and benzoin. In the bottle, this really smelled like black tea with milk and spices. After sniffing for a few minutes I decided it reminded me of chai, which it looks like a few other people have thought, too. On, wet, it smelled largely the same as it did in the bottle. As it dries down I'm picking up more of the rose and balsam, so it feels kind of like sipping chai while sitting on a deck, looking at a forest, surrounded by rose vines. (Personally, that's where I want to be.) There seems to be a lot going on. It's not really foody, it's not really floral, it's not really woody. I had forgotten the notes and was very surprised when I saw what they actually were. Definitely a keeper. It doesn't scream "OMG SEX!" to me but it's got sort of a grown-up confidence going on.

In the imp: Cherry candy, sticky-sweet. On, wet: OMG sweetness. It's really... oof. Fruity, sticky-sweet. Drydown: I catch some spiciness! Could it be my beloved dragon's blood? Dry: Still sweet, but less sticky; it smells almost like a Luden's cherry cough drop scented candle, if such a thing existed. It's not suiting my mood today and I don't really care for it; it's headed to the "try it again some other time" pile to see if it's better in warmer weather. Rating (0-5): 2.5

I really didn't think I loved rose perfumes, because of a few too many granny-rose-scent-induced suffocations in church, but... I LOVE some of the BPAL roses and now count it among my favorite notes. However, Black Rose just kind of killed my nose yesterday and made me nauseated, even though I love rose, amber, and musk normally -- it had an insecticide/chemical smell. Santa Muerte does that to me too. I was hoping if it's a rose culprit you all could help me to figure it out? My favorites are The Rose (because it's glorious), Epitaph, The Temptation, and Yerevan. I like Lucy's Kiss but it's a bit too heavy, and Bess smells like grape Bazooka gum on me.

I really, really, really wanted to love this, because I love rose and I love amber, at least from the Lab. Sadly, something in it smells like straight up chemical AquaNet to me, even in the vial. On, it gets even worse as my skin amps the hell out of... whatever it is. The only other scent I've tried so far that does this is Santa Muerte, and I don't see what they have in common (if you know, please PM me and let me know so I don't order it again!). I was so sure I would love this that I'll probably hang on to it and try again just in case....

In the imp: Grape bubble gum! On, wet: GRAPE BUBBLE GUM on, dry: GRAPE BUBBLE GUM with something interesting going on underneath on, dry, the next day: The GRAPE BUBBLE GUM has faded and left just the interesting part. I'm going to try this again at a different time of the month and hope that I react differently to it because I reaaaaaally like what's under the grape, but I don't want to smell like Bazooka gum all the time!

Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood. This is my new #1 with a bullet. In the imp it just makes me drool; I smell mostly amber with a background of vanilla. On, wet, it's the same. When I say it makes me drool I mean it actually makes me salivate involuntarily. I can't stop huffing my wrist. I want to take the imp back out and just dump the rest of it all over myself and my surroundings. After about an hour the sandalwood peaks on me and makes it a little sharper, and then it settles back down into a nose-filling, back of the sinuses, yummy delicious scent. Soft and comfy, and a great scent for every day. A bottle is in my nearish future....

In the imp, it smells like florals and... something else. On my skin, wet, it's quite the same way. While drying down, it has one hell of a throw and some aspect of it made me think "old lady perfume." There's something heavy and sweet about it. Once it's dry I like it although my skin seems to amp the violet and rose to the exclusion of all the other notes, which means it's not especially interesting on my skin, sadly. It does remind me of indolent hot summer days in a formal garden, which means I'll be trying it again when it's warmer to see if I like it more at that time.

Caramel, cream, and coconut to me. There's a light whiff of something... heady in the background but it's just steamrolled by sweetness. I made myself a sugar scrub with jojoba oil and a little of the Red Lantern and I enjoyed that -- I got to smell like a pie in the shower, but it didn't linger. I'll probably use the rest of my bottle (generously given to me in the PIF thread) for a scrub or shampoo. It's a nice scent but I am not big on wearing something that makes me want to eat pie all day

I love this scent -- it's a little leather, a little woody, and sort of made me feel like I was sitting in a leather chair next to a bowl of potpourri. After a few hours of wearing it smelled a little TOO potpourri for my tastes, but I'm definitely going to try it again.

I love. love. love. this when it first goes on. As it dries, the sandalwood seems to dominate but overall it's a really perfect match to its description and fit my mood exactly today (i.e. February Blahs). Sadly, after about four hours it turns into straight hairspray scent on me, and that makes me sad. It might be one for a locket, because I do love it a whole hell of a lot right up until that hairspray point.

I put this on for the second time today. To me it comes across as a heady floral with a sharp edge of cherry. I love it rather a lot, and I think it's a nice springy springtime sort of scent.

I just got an imp of this today and I put it on right away because I've been dying to try it. I love it but I'm not in love with it. Some part of it is making my allergies flare up and I think I feel the dreaded sinus headache coming on; I'm really really hoping that's due to something else. If it is, then I'll be in love. I want to be in love. To me it smells spicy and woody, like a box of treasured spices. A little bit sweet, too. It doesn't give me the OMG Sexy Drool Effect, though. I'll update this if it changes. I think if I can't use it as a skin fragrance then I definitely want to use it as a home fragrance for, say, a clothes closet.

In the bottle: Mmmmm rich round rum and buttery coconut. I want coconut cream pie. On, wet: Still want the pie. Must not eat wrist. usually I don't like smelling like food but if necessary I am willing to put meringue on my head. On, dry: I'm still getting the coconut, but what's this... something... powdery and almost floral. Huh. Dry after several hours: All the yumminess is gone and it's turned powdery and flowery on me. I wonder if it would work better as a hair or room scent.

In the bottle: It smells really floral to me, with a little bit of aquatic something hiding behind. Good enough that it's one of the first scents I'm trying! Wet: Mmm. This smells mostly like lily of the valley to me, which is my birth-month flower and which I happen to love (those nodding white bells in the dim light of the forest). It took me a long time to place it but it smells like a lily of the valley perfume I had when I was little (like, under 10). Dry (1-3 hours): Arrrgh. Something in it is obnoxiously floral and is making me sneeze and giving me a slight headache. This sucks, because there's something coming out that I really like... Dry (4+ hours): Oh, huh. It smells like... shampoo. In the best possible way. The muguet is still there in the background but mostly it just smells full and clean. After about 8 hours I couldn't smell it anymore. Overall I really like the scent but that 2 hour timeframe of ow ow achoo might kill it for me. I'll have to give it another shot.

I loved this in the bottle. On my skin, not so much. I think it's the jasmine note, though I can't be sure, but after three hours I had a terrible headache and was trying to scrub scrub scrub it away. Sadly I will probably sell or trade it, since I can't run around with fierce pain behind my eyebrows. This makes me sad. Well, at least it helps me to narrow down from the 45+ imps I've got to try....

This may be my first post here; I'm not sure! Bear with me if I get the format wrong. I got my first BPAL order (Earth Phoenix, which I love) and there was an imp of The Rose in with it. I was compelled to post because really, truly... wow. I was reluctant even to smell it, because I hate most "rose" scents and find them just really overbearing. I'm glad I overcame that because I opened it and it was like being socked in the gut with the desire for spring. It has the real, wet, vegetation green and delicate petal smell of actual roses. How did Beth DO that? I don't know how it smells on me yet but I don't care. I want my whole house to smell like this, now, in the midst of wintertime cabin-fever blues, while I dream about my roses setting buds in June and unfurling themselves in the sun. Swoon. Really. I am in love.