lizzyshoe

I would agree with the sarandipitee about the similarity to The Traveller. It has that dusty, leathery note that is so strong in Traveller, but it's much calmer, and doesn't stick around too long on the skin. After drydown I can smell the warm candle wax. The incense and musk are there, but not overwhelming. It's very balanced.

I'm going to second this. I tried aged Coral Snake before trying fresh or aged SO, and it's nothing but sweet, yummy, fruitiness on me (but grounded). I can't detect the SO-ness in it at all. I love them both

I got this in a frimp in a recent lab order. Dragon's Blood is one of my death notes and usually gives me a mild headache (I tend to avoid scents with blood in the description). However, in this scent, it totally works on me! In the imp: Apples! and a little bit of dragon's blood Wet: Warmer resin and apple in the front, and my usual death note dragons blood is staying down in the background. The apple is warmer than the apple in SGA and sweeter than the apple in Poisoned Apple. I can't believe how tame dragon's blood is in this one! Dry: Now the white musk is coming out, and just a tiny bit of the flower. Apple's backed way down and dragon's blood is playing supporting middle note. GAWD this is pretty. I love it more the more I sniff. Verdict: This little imp has earned a spot in my keeps box!

Privilege: In the bottle: sweet herbs Wet: the scent becomes both sweeter and herbier, with more bite to the herbs and more cool sweetness. Tasty! Dry: Ahh, there are the flowers. Sweet light flowers, very gentle and very girly! Overall: I love this scent. It's very spring-timey, green and flowery like a flowery field on a cool early spring day. Like other reviewers have said, it smells more like a commercial perfume than most BPALs, but it doesn't have the sharp overdone bite that most of those have. It's pretty, sweet, green. Beautiful.

In Neil's words, 'It smells like green apples and like sex and vampires, all at the same time. (Actually, it smells like sexy vampire apples.)' If you ever have a chance to try this, TAKE IT. You will not regret it (except that it will make you want to hunt down and possess a bottle of it for yourself). In the bottle: I think I just fell over and drooled a little bit in a BPAL state of bliss. This is apples, sweet and crisp. I couldn't tell you the variety, because I've never had an apple this good, this sweet and delicious. It's the best part of apple taste condensed into a blue vial. Wet: Oh this is tasty. It's a cool green apple now. It's tarter, and the throw is great. *drool* I think I smell a bit of mint in there to give it that glassy, snowy edge. Dry: It's faded (pretty quickly, as others have mentioned). Now it's just sad sweetness lingering on my wrists. The imagery of this scent (I love the story), and the beauty of BPAL's well-blended apple note just do not compare to anything else in my collection. The closest I have would probably be Poisoned Apple, which has a similar tasty apple scent, but that one is more red and sweet, not cold and biting like SGA (and the girl in the story) are. Cold, biting apple sweetness--where the apple bites you. Yum.

I bought this bottle because of my love for two other Convergence:XV scents (Ghosts, Sailing Stones), and because of the story and locale behind it (you should read it if you haven't yet). In the bottle: It smells like milk! Or cream or butter. That's the biggest note. It's sweet, but in the background I smell some of the greenness of the herbs. Wet: The milk tames way down, and now I'm smelling something...some kind of sharpness, that i also pick up in Ghosts of Arroyo Seco Bridge a lot, and a little in Sailing Stones of Death Valley. Some kind of wet cement, but that might be the herbs I'm smelling. The milk has sweetened up dramatically. Dry: This has got a lot of throw and a lot of stay, especially the sweet milk note. Most of the herbs are gone, as is that wet rain smell I like. Milk is not my favorite scent, but this is nice enough to keep around. 4/5.

This is one of my very favorite scents ever. It's perfect for hot, dry, summer days we get here in California. In the bottle: I smell something cool and slightly sweet, wet, definitely aquatic. It reminds me of...Johnson and Johnson's Baby Shampoo! Which is a totally relaxing scent for me. Something I used as a child when I still had baby hair. Wet: More of the sweet desert scent. There's also a dry note in there. It shows up in Ghosts of Arroyo Seco Bridge too. I think it's the "stone" smell. It's sharper than in the bottle. Dry: The throw is definitely lessened. It's all sharpness now, not sweet. It's really hard to describe this scent. Some of the greenness comes through at the end. It's almost floral. I remember this scent smelling different--much drier and less sweet--when I first fell in love with it in summer time. It's bad, per se, in winter, it just feels...inappropriate to wear this when it's cold and damp outside. This is definitely my go-to scent for the hottest days. It's slightly creepy, dry, and green overall.

I have a sample-sized sprayer of this frimped to me a couple of months ago, and I was dismayed to see that it's almost gone already! Darn big lables hiding my oil levels! This, like most other reviewers have said, is the smell of a leather goods shop. It reminds me of a cowboy wares gift store in Lee Vining, California--a tiny little town on the shores of Mono Lake. It's one of the few remote places in the state, town population of about 100 people, a hundred miles from anything. It's high desert country, slightly touristy for people visiting the lake, but when you walk into this store you smell the leather jackets and boots and belts, sharp and clean and unworn, slightly dusty from low foot traffic; bright white sun gleaming in from the windows through the glass tchochkies in the display windows. I seriously love this spray. I love Mono Lake and this brings me right there. I've been using it as a pillow spray (perhaps a little too generously) and it doesn't stain the fabric and sticks around for at least two nights. I can't wait to buy a real bottle of it!

I'm anticipating flowers, but that's about it. Here are my thoughts: In the bottle: Wow that's sweet. It's confectionary, like the marshmallow the first reviewer mentioned. I think it smells like an orange Creamsicle. It's mostly creamy and the orange is soft, not tart at all. Wet: Some ambers? Definitely a really really light orange in there. And maybe a hint of milk (a super-tame version of the Phantom Cow milk note) Drydown: More creaminess. I don't smell any flowers or lavender, but maybe that's just my nose. Dry: Just a hint of light sweet musk here at the end. It's a very soft pretty fragrance. Overall thoughts: This would be appropriate for everyday wear. It's feminine and girly, but not a powerhouse scent. This dry reminds me of the softness of…Mouse's Long and Sad Tale, I think. Yep, just did a side-by side, and the dry stage of this scent is somewhere between Mouse's Tale and The Phantom Cow (again, much tamer milk scent) with a touch of light creamy orange. Not a hint of flowers, but I like this. I think I'll be keeping it! ETA: Yikes! On freshly washed skin this is gone within an hour. Not a sticker, this one. Still, an extremely gentle and pleasant scent.

In the imp: red wine, warm, straight from the bottle, with hints of chocolate, coffee, and cherry. I don't smell the plum, but I do pick up some of the blood. Pretty much exactly what I expected from the scent description. Wet: Woah! The balance has completely changed! It's much more cherry-chocolate than red wine. Reminds me of those cherry cordial candies. I can also smell some of the alcohol in the wine. Drydown: The wine is coming back to the front, still backed by sweeter cherry scents. Dry: The wine is totally in the forefront again, sweeter than it started, with hints of chocolate. Overall: I'm not a big fan of wine scents, but if you are, you should enjoy this lovely red Cab! My skin amps sweetness so YMMV, but the sharp red wine Cabernet notes really didn't stick around (only the sweeter ones). You might even want to try a scent locket for this. The throw is about average.

I received a testable sniffie of this in a recent off-forum purchase. In the imp: Bright laundry/dryer sheet smell. It's super clean, but almost sticks to the back of your throat. Not sure about this... Wet: The scent rounds out a bit, but it still screams LAUNDRY at me, with a bit of masculine muscle. Imagine Schwarzenegger doing your laundry for you. Drydown: Some of the metal notes are starting to come out, sort of tangy and dry Dry: Underneath the metal and silver, I'm picking up hints of some kind of flower...it's a very masculine flower, not soapy at all. Slightly less tangy now. Overall thoughts: I don't have anything else in my collection to compare this too. It's a clean bright scent, not fruity, pretty gender-neutral (I tend toward girly scents). Medium throw. It's definitely clean white/silver, but too much like dryer sheets for me to keep. 3/5

This anniversary scent is sort of a "branching out" for me, away from sweet fruity bright scents into something darker and complex. Here are my thoughts: In the bottle: Sharp, almost green-gray metallic scent. I think I'm getting mostly tobacco. The bottle art is lovely! Wet: The scent sharpens up even more. It's round and sharp at the same time... there's something almost pine-smelling in it. For some reason I'm reminded of a hardware store as you're walking to the garden center. Mostly hardware, but also plants! Drydown: I think some of the background fruits are coming out now. Maybe plum? It's definitely sweeter now, and the broad tobacco leaf smell has calmed down. Dry: My skin amps sweetness and eats up spice. This scent has just a touch of sweet, and it's got a pretty low throw after it dries. It smells much less like metal and much more like a fruit tree, in spring after the blossoms have gone away it's...mostly leaves with a little bit of metal and a touch of sweetness. I love this one, but in a different way than my daily-wear scents. I'm glad I have a bottle, but I think it's one I'll use up slowly.

I barely pick up any mint at all.... and as I recall, not many of the other reviewers did either. It feels a little cool on my skin at first, but that's all yep, it's a minty feel, not a minty smell, so it feels clear and jagged. shattered is really an incredible scent, i like it more every time i wear it. I love Shattered! Interestingly, the imp I received and first fell in love with has no hint of mint at all, but when I later acquired a bottle (probably newer?) all I could smell in it was overwhelming mint. I was so disappointed! Fortunately, on my skin, the mint disappears within minutes and it leaves the light white fruit behind.

I'll second Mouse's Long And Sad Tale. It's creamy without being milky, floral without being soapy, warm without being foody. It's completely comforting. I would add Liz to the "like a hug" list, but it's specific motherly hug. Coral Snake is also warm and comforting, slightly spicy without being risque. These three are the most comforting scents in my collection.

I got a decant of this perfume only because it shares a name with me. I was a little wary of the smoke and leather notes, but on me this is all flowers. The vanilla turns them sweet, and there's a little bit of smoke and spice, but overall this is a very soothing, comfortable, secure scent. It's like a "mom" perfume, something a childhood friend's mother would be wearing when you went over to their house to play. I am totally in love with this scent. I'm going to get a bottle on my next order. It's a scent I could wear every single day and not get tired of. A signature scent! ETA: I should add that my little imp languished in the USPS for about 4 months before it got to me, so YMMV on a new bottle. I think this is a scent that will only get better with age.

I love the tuberose scent in the current Yule "In Winter in my Room". It comes with a grapefruit top note and some other florals, but the tuberose is definitely there. Maybe try a decant of that (plenty of spots in the Decant Circles thread).

I received an imp of Shattered with my first lab order and fell in love with it, so I purchased a bottle (off the forum, I belive), and the bottle smells very different. The "silvered mint" totally takes over the wet stage and doesn't smell like the citrusy Shattered I know until it's dry. I'm wondering if I have an older bottle, because the initial (pre-disc.) reviews described it as very minty.

In the bottle: Very very sweet, light citrus, very pink and pretty Wet: The tuberose comes out to play, along with the tonka, but the pink citrus is still there balancing in the background Drydown: More tuberose, and now I can smell the violet note. It's a rounder floral. The citrus has faded a lot. Overall: This reminds me of a pink, wet worm, in a good way. Cool and floral, and wet. ETA: After a couple of months, the flowers have strengthened and the grapefruit has tamed. The throw has also gotten strong. I'm not sure this really works with my body chemistry any more =/

Based on my short time here, I would say use Twitter for a short, public TY and email for a long more personal TY. I'm not sure which email address you should use, but if you send it to the lab email I'm sure it could get forwarded to her.

Mmm. Manhattan is one of the imps I ordered last month (can't wait can't wait can't wait ) and the description, of being cool, detatched, calm, is often what I try to go for at work. On those days when you just want to murder the students but just have to grin and bear it...not let them get to you...yeah, Manhattan is what I am really looking forward to. Interesting topic!

In the bottle: All jasmine tempered with honeysuckle Wet: I'm getting a really strong jasmine, almost too flowery. It might cause headaches in people prone to them. Dry: Powdery jasmine, sharp. This one also wears off after <5 hours.