The_Merf

In the botte: This smells awesome and powerful. I can pick up on the red notes (the musk and the patchouli) and the civet, which does not bother me at all. Wet: Damn you, black musk. I HATE YOU! How, in the midst of all these awesome and powerful notes, the only thing I can smell is sickly, stale black musk on my skin, I have no idea, but... Drydown and wear: The civet and patchouli come out a bit and it is really unappealing combined with the black musk. I can't smell any of the floral, and I really wish I could. I'm afraid that this one's off to swaps.

In the bottle: dragon's blood and pine. I'm hoping that this can be my "cold" scent, as I haven't found one that really works for me yet. The dragon's blood (I hope) will warm it up just enough. Wet: Oh dear. I used to think that dragon's blood and I were great pals. Then I tried Bloodlust and a few others, and I started getting the most horrible "sweat-stained, rotting leather" tinge to the db, and that's what I get here. It is truly bizarre combined with the pine and the dead leaves, which are very distinctive. Drydown and wear: This does not get better. Like indicolite right above me, I have had horrid luck with the OOtD scents. Off to swaps...

This is by far the oddest BPAL trial I've had yet. I received a decant of this along with Anne Bonny from a generous forumite, and I'll be darned, I cannot tell them apart. I guess this is because of the sandalwood, and they both have this "dusky" aura to them. I guess the violet functions in the same way as the frankincense in AB. The Raven does not have as much throw as AB, and I can't detect any of the lighter notes in the blend like neroli or iris (but iris vanishes on me anyway, so that doesn't surprise me). This did not smell at all like I thought it would! LOL

In the imp: Bright and light--I smell the various florals, with the sweet pea and gardenia strongest. The pear is also there as well. Wet: Fruits tend to start strong on my skin, and they do with this scent as well. However, it soon gives way to the florals. Drydown and wear: I think this could enter my select group of favorite clean scents. It doesn't change much from the wet stage, but I really like, and it's got some staying power.

In the imp: Very floral. Light roses? Wet: Oh, is that jasmine...*checks note list*...why yes it is. It's night jasmine though, and it's much creamier here. The rose holds its own, as it tends to do, and the other notes are very light. Drydown and wear: Unlike other rose/jasmine blends like Nyx, this is really light and creamy. I'm not entirely sure which supporting note is responsible for that--maybe the musk, maybe the myrrh? After the rose dries down and fades, it becomes all jasmine, and I'm not sure if it is too plain to keep. I'll have to try again.

In the imp: Heavy frankincense. I can see why people liken this to Cathedral. Wet: I get hit with a blast of frankincense, but that is soon followed up by the sandalwood. I don't get much patchouli, but my skin usually amps the other two notes, so that's not surprising. Drydown and wear: The frankincense and sandalwood mingle well and give this a nice redness--a touch of warmth that Cathedral doesn't have. It is funny that it is so much like a church scent though! I've got so many resinous scents that I probably won't get a bottle, but I imagine I'll hold the imp.

On me this is an absolute dead-ringer for Dragon's Hide, and the two do share a lot of notes (dragon's blood, smoke, leather). The similarities are so strong that I'm having a hard time detecting the subtleties in this blend. I will say that this does acquire the "steel" edge in the final part of its drydown stage, but by that time it is badly faded. I don't think this is different enough from Dragon's Hide to warrant holding on to the bottle.

In the bottle: I swapped for this one because I was afraid it would be too much like Mum Moon, Languor, Opium Poppy and many others in my collection. I think I might be right--it smells very similar to Mum Moon. Wet: Except for a first blast of the tonka, this does smell like the other opium scents I have tried. Drydown and wear: This keeps the tonka base, which distinguishes it, but I don't really like it in combination with the poppy--the tonka goes very nutty and it doesn't jive with the rest of the notes.

In the bottle: I was so excited after reading the reviews--I even held off on an order yesterday because I thought that I might want another bottle. I was expecting this great, clean leather, but all I got was pear. I wouldn't have been able to guess there was much leather in here at all if I didn't know the note list. Wet: No tobacco. No leather. Pears. Maybe a bit of musk. I'm flummoxed...leather and cedar usually amp all the way up on my skin. I didn't realize there was cedar in this until I read the whole note list again at the top. Drydown and wear: There's a small bit of leather that comes through, and I get some leafy tobacco, but this is all pears. Sigh.

In the bottle: Whee! This does smell purple and regal, like very fresh grapes. Wet: At first, I smell the grapes and something fruity (probably the plum), but almost immediately, something smells foul on my skin. Really foul. I'm going to guess it is the cognac. Drydown and wear: The smell does not go away--this smells spoiled on my skin until about the 45 minute mark, and by that time, I can barely detect the scent at all. Sadly, I'm going to have to swap this one, which sucks because it smells great in the bottle and has a nice purple label.

In the imp: I picked this up from a friend, and I'm pretty sure that it's an older imp. I don't know about fresh, but I picked up on the citrus notes here and could barely detect the jasmine. I also smelled the rose. Wet: This is a citrusy blend, but the orris works to mediate and ground it, making this by far my favorite citrus blend so far (not counting the grapefruit oils, which are in their own little grouping). Drydown and wear: Orris and citrus, with a little bit of rose around the edges. Maybe there's some jasmine here, but it's not front and center. I haven't quite made up my mind on this one yet, but it is certainy glittering and opulent. It's a bit lighter than Florence, but still in that bright vein.

In the imp: Wow! Herbal/pine/medicinal! Wet: Very much the same as in the imp. This does not make like Oblivion and warm up, but remains very cool, as though there was some menthol/eucalyptus influence here. It's very intriguing. Drydown and wear: As others have noted, this is a very strong oil and lasts for a long time. On me, it remains cool and methol-y. It almost reminds me of Black Forest, but there's no woodiness in this oil for me. It's not something that I'd normally wear, but it's so intriguing that I'll probably at least keep the frimp. Thanks Labbies!

In the imp: I smell mostly white florals, and I'm interested in this blend for the orchid (I want to see if there is something that is better than Shadow Witch Orchid before I buy a bottle of that!). Wet: This is surprising. Cedar, a never-goes-wrong note, has gone wrong. This smells really off on my skin; I've never had a cedar blend do this. How odd. The odd cedar smell is combined with a sharp white floral, probably the geranium. Drydown and wear: The funky cedar and the geranium continue to dominate, and the orchid only comes out very softly before the scent fades away. I'm afraid I'm going to have to swap this one.

In the imp: I don't know what ajowan smells like, but I can pick up on the vetiver and the black musk. I have to hope that the black musk isn't really strong in this one. Wet: I smell the dirt of the vetiver, but none of the oppoponax. It's a very earthy blend, none of the mimosa or anything like that. Drydown and wear: This ends up being a meh black musk and vetiver mix on my skin. I know all the notes except ajowan, and there's nothing that smells too weird here, so I guess it is not strong on my skin.

In the imp: Very light and indistinct. There's some sort of green note there. Maybe looking at the list I'll say pine? Wet: Woods and leaves, very green. Maybe a hint of floral. Drydown and wear: This one fades quickly, but it does have that "New England fall at a prep school" sort of aura to it. It seems like a good companion to MiskU in that way.

In the imp: I tried Chimera around the same time, so I was constantly comparing this one to that oil. This one is a bit darker in the imp--the peach and clove give it a kick. Wet: The peach and patchouli make this a very quiet scent at first. The cinnamon is really a primus inter pares note instead of dominant like it is in so many other blends. Drydown and wear: The spicy notes, cinnamon and clove make this a very dark blend in the end. I'm a fan, of course, as the peach gives it this sparkling edge that is very intriguing (and yet dangerous! LOL).

In the imp: Florals--roses and sweet pea and stephanotis. I'm unsure, but there is orris. Orris is such a great note. I picture a little O wearing a superhero's cape. Wet: Yeah, orris is going to make this a knockout. With each sniff of the wrist, I can catch one of the different florals, and the orris just grounds them all and takes the bite off the rose. Drydown and wear: The rose and the sweet pea are the longest lasting florals, and the orris is there with them. This is "The Lovely" indeed, so feminine, so demure. I just adore it, and I want a 5mL as soon as I can work it in!

In the imp: This is quite fruity. I see others talking about melon, but that's not what I get ('course, I could be wrong)--or at least it's not the melon you find in Ogun. Wet: The fruit is this really blows you away. It's very wet and juicy. Very red. Drydown and wear: There's no grounding notes in this scent, just fruit and mimosa (which finally emerges on drydown). As the scent dries down, it also gets lighter, which surprises me...I thought this one was going to have some real staying power. A must for all those who loves berries/currants and "red cirtrus" blends.

In the imp: Very woody Wet: This is easily the woodiest BPAL I've ever tried. Wet, there's a slight bit of an herbal kick to it, but it just smells like a forest. Drydown and wear: As it dries down, it becomes more herbal, and the musk comes out. I'm going to guess that this is black musk, because it's not quite sharp enough to be white, but it's not behaving like red musk usually does on my skin. Black musk is slightly offputting to me, and it messes up this blend for me, so I'm afraid I'll have to swap it.

In the imp: I get orange and lavender Wet: This is a strong orange on me (it's not a note I particularly like, though my skin likes to amp it up), and I think I detect a bit of marzipan/almond. Drydown and wear: This is a very interesting and fractured scent...there are three competing "strands" on my skin as this dries down. There's the orange, the almond, and a very sharp and herbal combination of the lavender and the thyme. They never really work in harmony on my skin, but the orange is the strongest.

In the imp: Ra was a surprise gift along with my Sol Invictus order, and the two scents smell quite similar in the bottle/imp. Ra is lighter, on my sniff, anyway. Wet: On my skin this is many orders lighter than SI. It is mostly lemon, and there is a light floral backing. Drydown and wear: This remains a predominantly lemon scent and almost reminds me of Come to Me, but not as creamy. However, I have quite a few lemon scents on hand, so off to the swap with this one.

In the bottle: Creamy vanilla, very light and delicate Wet: For about a minute, this is very light, but then POW! Strong creamy vanilla. Drydown and wear: I had Morocco on the other arm, and boy do they smell similar on me. Each has that same creamy base, but there's no cedar or spice in AL. This certainly smells like its description, but also like a very fine frosting in cooking. It's also remarkably strong, at least on me. It's very pretty, if not just a little plain.

In the imp: Wheaty, beer-like? It is a scent called "Tavern..." Wet: Yes, this is wheat grass and booze, and nothing else. Drydown and wear: The other notes remain indistinct, and the wheat/booze combo is almost enough to make me feel sick to my stomach. Off to the swaps with it!

In the imp: I can smell the musk--which I don't like--and the orris/coconut--which I do. Wet: Orris and coconut, so far, so good. Orris is a miracle note on my skin. Drydown and wear: While orris is amazing, freaking iris vanishes...I mean, just disappears and takes everything with it. This was a promising blend, and then it disappeared! The same freaking thing happened with Florence. Sigh.

In the imp: Very classic perfume scent, as others have said. I've long maintained that ylang-ylang is one of the notes that inspires such a description. Wet: I had to try this twice, because the first time I did, it reminded me so much of Morocco that I wanted to compare the two. Drydown and wear: The side-by-side comparison really draws attention to the ylang-ylang, which is the standout of this oil and what gives it its classic feel. I like this (but I like Chanel No.5, so that's not surprising), and it does not powder up on me. Everything else in the blend backs up the ylang-ylang on my skin. I will keep the imp, but I don't know if I will get a bottle.