Jenn2D2

This I bought on a whim, and am very glad that I did. I welcome our new alien overlords, if they're bringing fruit like this. In the bottle: sharp bright citrus! Wet: the sharp citrus in the bottle opens up into a strong, well blended, bright scent; there are notes of yuzu and grapefruit, but something else "fruity" lurking underneath, a bit like oranges and papaya, but very elusive. Some of the spiciness comes out, but the fruit is strong enough to keep that firmly in the background. Dry: spice and greenery notes join the citrus for a very "green fruit" scent. The throw is fairly decent initially, but fades to skin-close within an hour or so. This is such a lovely scent, very bright and happy. This will be my new "pick me up, wake me up" scent on days when my butt is dragging.

I usually have a hate/hate relationship with aquatic notes, much less blends that are deeply aquatic in nature, but thus is the magic of the frimp: In the vial: an earthy, seaweed note, with dark aquatic background Wet: lush aquatics overpower the seaweed note, but the darker side of the blend grounds the scent Dry-down: the individual notes blend perfectly for a great "watery" scent I really like this blend; much more than I expected to. Growing up near Puget sound, I've never found "ocean" scents to actually smell like the ocean. In this case, it gets closer than I've seen before - the aquatic notes that usually go shrill and high on my skin are tempered perfectly by the darker notes. While I still don't really get "ocean" from this, it is very pretty and something I'm glad to have a sample of.

I loved how this smelled in the imp - dark lavender and frankincense. On me it turned instantly to musty, old, band uniform. Wet wool that's dried, with just a hind of valve oil. Definitely a strong scent memory, but not one I want to smell like all day. I definitely feel deprived

Wow. This scent is so beautiful - I wish I'd bought two bottles! In the bottle: a hazy, sweet scent, very ephemeral - also very light (I bumped my nose on the bottle!) Wet: a wash of light sandlewood with a sweet undertone, very different from the rich, woodsy smell I usually get from sandlewood, but it is unmistakably that scent. Dry: the sandlewood settles down a bit, and the sweet, hazy smell comes to the fore. As others have said, this feels like it is hazy or smoky, without actually smelling like smoke at all. The scent generally feels like it sticks pretty close to the skin, but I've already had two compliments today, so it seems to drift around a bit more than I thought.

In the vial: very floral with a bit of aquatics; a bit more "perfumy" than I usually get from the lab's blends. Wet: strong aquatics with a bit of floral in the background; I'm usually not a fan of the aquatic scents, but this seems to capture the smell of flowers in the rain (something I usually get a lot of in WA in the early summer). Dry FLORAL. Whoa. The aquatics fade pretty fast (less than 10 minutes on me), and the flowers charge out in full force. I can't distinguish them well, but given my history, I'd say jasmine is the culprit. I like the the 'wet' phase of this perfume, but the dry down was not as great. I'm hoping to try this out in another medium (like shampoo, or my scent locket) where the aquatics won't get eaten by my skin. Overall, I thought it was pretty, but not something I'd wear very often.

Of the decants I've tried, this was the one I expected to not like given some of the listed notes, but I just went and ordered two bottles last night... In the vial: sharp and herbal, with a bit of background sweetness. The smell lingers in the air a bit where I opened the decant. Wet: spicy herbal notes with a light floral background; no honey, but that's a good thing for me in the 'wet' stage of a perfume. Dry: alternating green/spicy herbal scents, but very well blended. I can't really pick out too many individual notes, but seem to get more of a "feeling" of the scent. Fairly good throw, but not overpowering. After a day's wear, the scent did finally fade to a general "honey" smell, but by then it was faint enough that it didn't feel sickly (a problem I have with some of the sweeter scents.) I expected I'd be overwhelmed by the honey, or the florals, in this scent, but my skin chemistry seems to just love this scent. It feels like something I could wear all of the time - not too strong, but light and beautiful.

I'm so glad I ordered a bottle of this! In the bottle: a bright floral and citrus swirl, with a bit of woodsy cedar and moss lurking in the background. Wet: a perfect blend of scents, difficult to determine one specific scent out of all of them. It strikes me as a very feminine perfume, without being too sweet or overly mature. Dry: the dry-down was very complex, with each of the notes coming out to play a bit. At first, the tamarind and lime give off a good citrus note, followed by the jasmine, cedar and moss. Finally, I get the notes of vanilla, snake oil, and tea (which I'm assuming is Dorian). The last notes last the longest for me. I was a bit conservative in the amount I put on: sometimes jasmine amps horribly on me, so I'm not sure of the throw. Thankfully, the other notes blend so well, that the jasmine never had a chance to try to steal the show. This so well embodies the perfect memory described in the inspiration for the scent. I get the feeling this is going to be one of my secret favorites.

Judith is one of my favorite apocryphal stories - I was predisposed to like this scent, but was a little wary given some of the reviews. Thankfully, this seems to love my chemistry. In the bottle: sweet wine and light spices. Wet: strong, heavy spiced wine. As it dries down, the spices become more predominant, with a slight metallic tang around the edges. Dry: spicy incense and very sweet wine with the hint of metals and leather. I can see why for some the "grape" smell is dominant, but the spices are amped just enough on my skin to give an edge to the sweetness. The light tang of blood surfaces in the throw every once in a while, but just the barest hint. To me, this is a perfect Yule scent - it reminds me very strongly of mulled wine, left on the stove overnight. It has cooled down, sitting in a pot overnight. There's a sweet overtone to the wine, but the spices are still really strong. The pot has given it a metallic edge, but it still might be OK if you reheat it while you open presents under the tree...

This scent really surprised me - much bolder, and fresher than I expected. In the vial: Pine pitch on a warm day; much more resinous than the brighter pine smells I'm used to. Wet: warm pine pitch, with an undercurrent of fresh sweetness. There's a green edge around the sides, but the tomato leaf doesn't assert itself full force. Dry: picking blackberries in the forest in the summer. The heady sweetness fades a bit, and softens the pine into one summery scent. This reminds me so strongly of the summers I spent in the woods by my house, picking blackberries and huckleberries, chewing on pitch, and making forts under the branches of tall trees. Definitely a full forest scent, rather than just one tree.

In the bottle: Sharp and sweet high notes of tomato leaf with a bit of dirt around the edges. A second pass gets a bit of the other plants, and a background of some very (very!) light florals. Wet: tomato leaf is still at the fore, and the dirt fades to let in the herbal and green plant notes. This is an extremely cheerful smell, like a garden just after dark when the plants begin to breathe and you can hear all of the night bugs come to life. Dry-down: this goes through several stages on me. The "tomato and plants" of the wet smell lasts for an hour or so, gently fading to green herbs with a very light hint of floral. At this point the dirt note starts to become a bit more prominent. Finally, all of the scents blend together for a very light green smell. I think this might be the scent of summer for me - this is easily one of the most evocative scents I've ever worn. Wet, it is directly a garden at dusk - I can see my mother's vegetable garden when I was young. As it dries down, it becomes such a pleasant green smell. It is almost impossible for me to feel "down" when wearing something so full of life. As a side note, it has been a great scent for my clocket - the tomato leaf note remains more prominent, but the whole things smells very cleanly sweet after a couple of hours.

CCCXXXV: 335 (I think - label is a bit smudgy) In the vial: I almost got knocked out by the florals; I think I can pick out jasmine and honeysuckle, but there's something else in there (not rose or carnation, possibly orchid or lily). No trace of O. Wet: same strength on the florals, but with the powder of O around the edges. None of the beautiful honey or skin musk here. Honeysuckle really comes to the fore. Dry-down: a strong, slightly powdery floral. It isn't dry at all, but fairly heady. Impressive throw. At first try, this isn't a huge winner for me, but I get the feeling that it might age into something really nice. O is definitely a background player here, it is just a bit too delicate for the floral scents. I'll have to try again later on, and edit my review. I wish I had ordered a couple more - this was definitely a cool surprise.

I rec'd this as a frimp in my last order, and just now finally researched where it was from (and its use). It was perfect timing - I've been having insomnia and weird dreams all week. In the vial: screaming lavender with a hint of sweetness underneath. Wet: bright lavender, tempered with a smoky-sweet note underneath. Very quickly, the lavender gives way to a light note of tobacco and lemon. Dry: on my wrist, the lightest scent of sweet tobacco and lemon remain, on my collarbone the lavender is still there, but tempered by the other smells. This scent did disappear quickly, fading even as I fell asleep, leaving just the barest smell of lavender on my pillowcase when I woke in the morning. It was such a lovely smell, and I slept like a brick. I think I'm going to have to order a bottle or two!

This is definitely my new party perfume! This wore well on me all day, making me crave fresh strawberry juice, but never losing that candy edge. I may have to order a second bottle of this one In the bottle: bright booze and strawberries. This smell carried right across the room, prompting my roommate to ask what drink I was mixing. Wet: the gin provides a great 'ground' for the sweet sugar-coated strawberry smell. The smell keeps changing as I move around, one minute it is a pretty pink cocktail, the next its the girl on the couch that's had too much to drink and talks just a little too loud. Dry: sweet strawberry, with just a hint of juniper. After a few hours, the boozy smell wears down to a beautiful pink scent. By no means 'light,' it is very cheerful and pretty.

In the bottle: dirty dirt dirt. A very "freshly dug soil" smell, without the heady smell of living things and roots you get in topsoil. Wet: dusty earth, with an undercurrent of a very distant floral. A lot lighter than I expected, but with a somewhat "dusty" throw. Dry: the floral fades, leaving just the dry earth smell. I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this bottle, but the scent is really pleasant if you like the smell of freshly dug holes. I'm very strongly reminded of digging holes and making forts in the woods near my house as a kid in the summer. It is fairly light - we're not digging in topsoil here - but lasting on my skin. I'm definitely glad I picked up a bottle.

In the vial: sharp, tangy scent - to my nose, like a sharp Dr. Pepper - with a beautiful background of honey and resin Wet: the tangy scent is still very strong, but the lemon, honey and resins mix in a bit. Very reminiscent of freshly cleaned brass handles on polished wood. Dry-down: a warm glow of honey and faint hint of polished wood that lingers for hours. With all of the positive reviews, I pushed through the sharp scent in the bottle, and am glad I did! This lasted a long time on me, and after about an hour, settled into a magnificent fragrance. Very little throw, but for this, that felt appropriate.

I was pleasantly surprised by my frimp of this; it isn't something I'd have chosen for myself, but I am definitely going to put a bottle of this on my next order. In the vial: sharp bitter almond, with a hint of something indescribable and smoky around the edges. Wet: gloriously strong cinnamon pushes through the almond, exuding that hot, sticky taste of Atomic Fireballs. There's still a bit of smoke around the edge, but the cinnamon is too powerful. Initial dry-down: the almond and neroli assert themselves, giving off a rich, scorched almonds smell (almost as if you toasted them too long in the oven). Dry (several hours): the cinnamon peeks through a bit, giving the scent a good balance. This scent lasted most of the day on me, but with very little throw. The scents aren't subtle, but they are also not overpowering - this is something I could wear at work without worrying about sensitive noses, but is seductive enough for a close date.

In the vial: incredibly strong scent of fig, as someone else put it, really "boozy" Wet: the lush fig and fruit scent is overpowering, almost intoxicating. Dry: the incredibly strong fruit scent is overpowering all of the other notes, to the point where things don't taste right. At this point, it almost feels like an overpowering floral scent. Any of the subtle bits are lost in a sea of fig stench. This one may be too strong for me to wear. I usually like food notes, especially lush fruit like figs, but this was simply far too overpowering. I may give it a second go on a later date, but right now, I'm going to scrub this one off.

With the orange blossom and ginger, I had some pretty high hopes for this - it is the second imp I've tried out. Unfortunately, on my skin, patchouli is all I can smell (100x amplified, really). In the bottle: dark, sweet orange blossom with a patchouli finish. Wet: holy patchouli! Where did those lovely blossoms go?! Dry-down: the patchouli has achieved sentience and may be forming a civilization. I hear they may get the vote soon. In all seriousness, something about this amplified the patchouli notes on my skin to an unbearable level, and I had to scrub it off. I had some pretty good success using a castille soap, followed by a bit of olive oil. I am officially jealous of those who can carry this scent off - I love the "in bottle" smell!

I was so excited to get this imp with my clocket! In the bottle: the scent of myrrh surrounded the vial, and intensified with sharp green notes once opened. The incense smell was inviting, but the green asserts itself pretty strongly. Wet: sharp, stabbing greenery! The herbal scent is very high, allowing only the smallest bit of orchid to peek through. If I turn my head fast enough, a bit of distant incense floats by, but is quickly pushed aside by the undergrowth. Dry-down: the green fades fairly quickly to a deep, lush incense, with hints of orchid. I found myself trailing bits of scent for hours - it didn't seem to throw far, but huddled where I had just been. Eventually, after a very long time, the lush incense faded, and just the lightest scent of orchids remained. This felt exactly how I imagine Medea, dark, dangerous, temperamental and intoxicating. I wasn't sure about the orchid notes - I am not a huge fan of florals - but they married so well with the greens and the myrrh that I was just blown away. My skin seems to love this, and it lasts for ages on me.