persephonehazard

In the imp this is a very dark green; something very herbal, something very woodsy, something even a little bit salty. I like it rather a lot - I think this might turn out to be what I was hoping Hemlock would be, actually. On wet, there's something warm and familiar - dragon's blood, I'm guessing. As I go through a full application it starts to dry down into a pretty straightforward dark green dragon's blood, satisfyingly herbal and witchy, that I think I like rather a lot. There's possibly something slightly medicinal about it, but in kind of a good way - like a fairytale apothecary, or a herbalist witch's garden. Over the course of the next few hours this stays strong, with a decent throw and a lovely woody leafy dark greenyness to it that I find very compelling. There are definitely days when I'd want to wear this, and there's something witchy and protective about it that I like a lot. It's not quite on the big bottle list yet, though - I'll probably want another imp, but Dragon's Hide already does what I'd want this to do if I bought it in 5ml. ETA: Hmm, maybe I spoke too soon? I keep on smelling vanilla in this, which is interesting and unexpected and rather compulsive. Bumped up to 4/5!

I don't know really what to think of Snake Oil. There's a lot of hype, and there's a certain silly part of me that's still fifteen and wants to dislike it because it's so popular. But I'm going to try and swallow that particular show of immaturity and give it a good go, because actually there's a very good chance that I will adore it. Vanilla? Incenseyness? Win! Time to open the imp. My very first thought it that, rather than being something I've not tried yet, this smells familiar. Because this, right, is the smell of BPAL. It's the smell I get when I open my box of perfume. It's what the black velvet pouch I chuck into my bag full of imps when I go away anywhere smells of. It doesn't smell of anything specific that I can discern, but it's got that generic BPALy aroma that, let's face it, is hardly unpleasant — I actually find it quite comforting. As soon as I put it on wet that narrows down a little into something that is more recognisably incense. It's not quite my favourite sort — Beth's ceremonial/churchy incense notes make my knees tremble with their awesomeness — but it's definitely rather nice. It's also warming up with such speed that I can literally smell it changing, sweetening, broadening, and the vanilla is now officially on its way out. The next thing I can't help but notice is that this is powerful. Almost nothing has any real throw on me, so finding something that does it always a treat. This has wrapped me up in it good and close, and I'm pretty happy with that too. As the minutes pass, it's actually just getting yummier and yummier. If it stopped here and stayed like it all day, I'd probably join the Snake Oil Fan Club and start trying to bathe in the stuff. This feeling is only intensified as it turns into the exact smell of a proper hippy gothy shop. The exact smell. I love that smell. And then, um. A weird thing starts happening. My neck starts to sting. I decide to ignore it because I'm not allergic to anything that I know of and it's only my neck, not any of the other places I've applied this. That fades, thankfully, and doesn't come back. By the time I get into work the goth-shop-smell has sweetened into something much more vanillaey, and the two kind of play about with each other all day in an utterly delicious way. By the time I get home, I can still smell it — but more than that, it still has throw. I am amazed. Officially amazed. I might have to hit up the Trading Post and buy myself Snake Oil everything. Damnit, I drank the kool-aid.

In the imp, this is All Melon All The Time. It's almost intimidating in its...melonyness. If I sniff really really hard there's a hint of something a wee bit darker - the tobacco, maybe, or the gin. Mostly it's just melon. I'm a little dubious - I don't even really like melon all that much, not to eat! The smell isn't unpleasant, though; more just overpowering. Once I put it on, thankfully, it starts to warm up. The melon hangs about for a good while - and blimey, this has some throw - but the chilli gradually emerges. Over the longer-term drydown, I fall in love with feeling this one develop. The spiciness - proper hot spicy, too, definitely chilli - remains for a good while, gradually letting through more and more of the cigar tobacco. I'm pretty chuffed, especially when the whole thing melts off into a base note of delicious honey with good staying power. I like. It's not near the top of the bottle list, but it's on it. 4/5. There's nothing quite like this, either, which is also a win.

I got this from the lovely Almond Blossom, from whom I bought quite a few imps and my first ever 5ml. This was one that I mostly picked up because the description intrigued me, rather than because of anything to do with the notes! [grin] It was randomly selected by my boyfriend as the first tester from the new shinies. There's sandalwood in the imp, though I've got that all mixed up with the "residue of ceremonial incense" and am probably smelling one or the other or both all at once. Not a lot else yet, but that's okay; I like sandalwood. It's instantly different on wet, and I can't quite put my finger on quite how. It could be the orris, as I have no real idea what that smells like. It's actually relatively sweet all of a sudden, which I assume is the coconut — and sure enough, after only about thirty seconds it suddenly morphs into a slightly woody aroma when sniffed close and a good throw of All Coconut All The Time. I slather on some more — I'm a real splasher, me, not in the least bit conservative with my application — and head out shopping. Gradually, over the next few hours, it morphs and changes beautifully. First the coconut softens into something more like the woody husk in the description, then the whole thing suddenly gives way into ceremonial incense. It's gone by the end of the evening, but it's been fascinating to follow. 3/5. I like it and it's certainly interesting, but I have a suspicion that it does several things pretty well all of which are done better individually by other things, if you see what I mean.

In the imp - hmm. My first thought is 'toilet cleaner'. I don't get any salt or brine or water from this, which makes me sad. There's also some kind of weird floral I can't identify, and I'm already wondering if aquatics possibly just aren't my thing. On my skin, still wet, it's just the same but remarkably amped. Over the next hour or so it turns into incredibly soapy blue bubble bath with a remarkable throw that tickles my nose constantly. I'm pondering washing it off - and hoping that nobody else is bothered by it, as I'm at work by this point - when, thankfully, it starts to fade. I'm expecting that to be it, game over, when I realise that what it's fading into is a smudge of salt very close to my skin. It's more what I was after but it's very faint, and I have to basically bury my nose in the crook of my elbow to get it at all. This one's not for me, I suspect.

In the imp this is all sexy, sexy merlot and I love it. I'm getting a hint of the roses, too, which I hope don't amp too much - the other rose scent I've tried, Persephone, went all ROSE ROSE on me. I like roses, but I hope that's not a thing my skin chemistry does! I swipe a bit on wet and...oh, hello roses. I like you. Now GO AWAY I want my leathery wine sex please. But no, the roses refuse to leave me alone. They're joined occasionally by violets, but mostly...roses. Oh dear. I think I may be doomed to avoid everything ever with a rose note in it for ever more. It's lovely having one very rosy scent, but I don't need, you know, twelve. Sigh. I shall hang on and see how this one dries down, I suppose. A handful of hours later it's basically vanished, having been pretty much a non-event. To say I am unhappy would be a perfumista's understatement. I freaking love this in the imp. Maybe I should buy a scent locket after all...

I was seriously excited about this one. Church is one of my favourite smells; it's a kind of ancient-smelling incense blend that I adore. Since I was in my mid-teens I've favoured extremely high-church traditional anglo-catholic places; like a little bit of the best part of the romanticised middle ages right in the middle of my weekend. It's magical, is what it is. The grandeur and the drama and the gilt and the reverence...I love it very much, and I love the idea that I could potentially smell like that. I already seem to spend most Sunday afternoons sniffing my hair, with the traces of the smoke clinging to it. After I'd opened the imp and had a good sniff, I wasn't quite as excited as I could have been. Resinous, certainly, and decidedly incensey, but somehow not quite...right; there was something missing, and I couldn't quite figure out what. This held true on wet, but all through the initial drydown it began to warm and broaden until I realised why I wasn't smelling the insence I was after - this isn't a swinging censer during High Mass, this is sitting after the end of the service on a darkwood pew much polished by centuries of use, breathing in the lingering smoke as the last echoes of the enormous old organ fade silently from the air. The throw wasn't brilliant and it wasn't surrounding me in itself as I would most have wanted, but I slathered plenty of it on and waited to see how things developed. And then, a couple of hours later...THERE IT IS. Right there. Exactly what I wanted. That one sniff catapulted the whole scent from three stars to five, from 'hmm I like this imp well enough' to 'OMG I NEED ALL THE BOTTLES NOW'. It smells exactly right, exactly what I was looking for. I'm posting the review now rather than in a few hours time because I don't care what it does next, I'm thrilled :-D I wish it had more throw, of course, and didn't stay so close to my skin, but whevs. I am in love.

In the imp - my, that is green. There's a lot of privet in here, isn't there? It smells just like a neatly-trimmed box hedge on a sweaty-hot day. There's something in there that's a darker and more unpleasant sort of a green, too, but I can't quite make it out. On wet - more privet, and something else I don't recognise. Possibly some kind of clean floral? I don't think I've had a hint of anything woody at all, yet. Initial drydown - I can't quite work out where this one is going. It smells...well, it smells of chemicals. It's got that 'perfume' scent to it. I'm still getting the privet, though, and if I close my eyes and concentrate I think I might be able to detect some kind of young, moist wood. Perhaps the perfumey smell is the shellac? As time goes by it's definitely getting woodier, but also fainter - all of a sudden it has no throw at all and has vanished from everywhere I put it except the crooks of my arms, where it is simply quite faint. I like strong, long-lasting perfumes that you can smell all around yourself like a cloud, and this just isn't doing it for me. I love the idea of woody scents so I was really pleased to try this, but I suspect my wood is in another blend...

Oh my goodness, there's an Anactoria scent? I MUST HAVE IT. There's one particular translation of that poem that I can almost recite by heart. Some there are who say that the fairest thing seen... It looks like it smells yummy, too. Curses! Me and my LE-from-2008 lemmings!

In the imp I'm getting cedar and amber, I think. My lack of experience means I can't be certain, but it's certainly a little incensey and a little woody and very sharp. When I slap a little on wet it's all citrus - very orangey but with a heaviness to it, like if you were burning orange oil. The more it dries the stronger that gets, till all I have is ORANGES ORANGES ORANGES very heavily all down my right arm. After a while this fades out into some kind of dingy floral that I can't really pinpoint yet, though it may have something to do with amber. I'm dying to figure out what it is that amber smells like, but I really am very new to all this. I've no clue what oud is like either, but there's a strange bitter note to this that could well be that. I think I may even be getting cedar, though this isn't anything like as woody as I'd secretly hoped - must keep an eye out for something that really is woody and give it a go! All in all, this hasn't clicked with me. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either - though there's a chance that this is one of a couple of scents I've tried so far that will benefit from a re-test once my nose is a little more experienced.

As today's tester, Hemlock, vanished so entirely from my skin after a few hours I decided to branch out and test a second scent today. This led me quickly to the unexpected discovery that I seem to have not one but two imps of New Orleans. I have no idea why this should be; all I can think is that maybe Beth frimped me two of the same scent? Goodness knows. I certainly haven't ever bought it. But anyway, here we are. I'm certainly getting the "touch of decay" in the imp. I think I can smell honeysuckle, too, and maybe a bit of lemon. It smells fresh and pretty with a slight dark undercurrent, and I'm beginning to think that I might not mind having two imps of it in the slightest. Then I swipe a little onto my skin, and the very second I get a sniff of it wet I begin to rethink that decision. This smells of nothing if not soap. And not just any soap, either - it smells of a nursing home. Just exactly like a nursing home. Sanitisation and cheap stale perfume and the least glamorous kind of impending death. After a short while I start getting hopeful notes of something minty or eucalyptusy and I get my hopes up again, but they're mostly being drowned out by the old lady soap. I wave my arm in my boyfriend's face while he's trying to play the new Star Wars MMORPG and frown. He knows what I mean by now and dutifully sniffs at me. "You smell very...er...clean", he says, trying to be helpful. I wander off muttering about retirement complexes and go outside for a cigarette, which sometimes seems to help perfumes settle in. Once I'm back inside the honeysuckle is much clearer, but the strong overcurrent of soap is still overpowering and I'm really not sure I shall ever want to smell like this, alas.

In the imp, this is all evergreens to me. It's quite fresh and very piney. Dabbed on wet it's much the same, though with sweeter top notes. During the initial drydown the lemon breaks out along with a handful of herbs that I can't distinguish. I'm enjoying this, though I do sort of wish it was fresher and cleaner and brighter. It's definitely nice, though - and that sweetness lingers on for about an hour. As the scent develops it gradually broadens out into dark herbals, smelling like a kind of greenish purple colour. It doesn't last too well on my skin, though, and would need frequent top-ups - after a few hours it's very faint, completely lacking in throw, and actually a bit soapy. Two stars for this, I think, though with the potential for me to like it more after a few more tries - I think this one might be a grower.

Being a complete newbie to all this I wasn't at all sure what dragon's blood smelled like; all I knew was a vague memory of my friend Troy who got me into this telling me it always turned hideous on her so she didn't have any in the stash to try on me. I ordered this because I liked the description, and because I was curious to find out what such an odd-sounding note did on me. I decided to test it today because I was sleepy and anxious and had a monthly review meeting at work that I was stressed about, so I fancied some comforting protection! In the imp this smells quite masculine to me, though also a little floral, and somehow oddly lemony. A quick swipe of the wand and a sniff of it on wet brings out something warm and musky and deep that I rather like - I have to assume that this is the dragon's blood! It smells quite resinous for a while - and though it does have a distinctly soapy phase about an hour in, that morphs through into something that sits well with me, something with a hint of smoke. I'm still not getting any leather anywhere, unless that doesn't come out till the much later in thre drydown. I like this. It's not big or flashy or shocking or anything and I don't think I'd wear it for, say, a night out. But it feels comfortable and protective, warm and musky, and it's a good smell for fragile days. I shall try more dragon's blood - I think it might work for me. My work review went alright, by the way :-)

Full disclosure: I really, really, really want to like this. I've been using the names Persephone or Seph for the best part of a decade now, and if I got to choose my signature BPAL from theme alone...well, she'd be a shoe-in. But anyway. Time to open the imp. The pomegranate smell is very strong and surprises me - it's sweet and juicy and slightly more artifical-smelling than I expected. It's overpowering enough that I'm not getting any rose at all yet, which I actually rather like. My first impression of it when on wet is actually, of all things, acetone. But I'm determined to give this one a good long go, even if it does mean spending the day smelling of nail varnish remover. So I get splashing it on liberally - I always do, even on a first test - and try my very best to ignore the paintstripping tang. And then - joy of joys! About five minutes later, the acetone smell is gone and now everything is screaming ROSES at me. ROSES ROSES ROSES. It'd be nice to get some pomegranate back, but I'm not particularly averse to roses. This is a clean wet youthful juicy rose, and I quite like that. It smells a tiny bit soapy, though. I've now got into work and it's settled down into a strong, young rosy scent with good throw that doesn't seem like it's going anywhere any time soon. If anything changes I'll update the review, but I think this one might be done developing. I do quite like it for what it is, but I really did want more pomegranate :-( Ahh well - I shall hang on to it all the same, and go through the GC in search on a more pomegranatey and less rosey scent. ETA: A couple of hours later, and it's still all rose but it seems to have grown up a bit - it's older, drier, darker, spicier. It's lost that juicy youthful bloom. I can't decide if I'm pleased or not! On a base level I think I prefer this scent, but the former was more what I expected of Persephone. Though bah, where's my pomegranates...

Full disclosure: I've been using the name 'Persephone' online for nearly ten years now, and as I am only twenty-two that is basically MY ENTIRE LIFE. I really want to like this, and am prepared to work for it. I have Persephone itself in my to-test pile, and if I don't love her there is a slim chance I might actually cry. Anyway. In the imp, my first impression is that I am in way over my head with this one. My nose just isn't well-trained enough; it smells almost generic to me - not because it is, but because I can't really pick out notes that well yet. So, as I'm trying to educate myself, I go and look them up in an effort to work out what's what. I think I'm getting the opoponax ("sweet, balsam-like, lavender-like"), but I'm not sure I can pick out the woodyness that several of the other notes are supposed to have. I get much the same wet, and I'm still fighting the fact that my ingorant palate still wants to go MEN'S AFTERSHAVE. I sit there sniffing the crook of my arm like a madwoman all through the initial drydown, but other than a faint herbally scent I don't think I'm finding anything new here yet. It's definitely not unpleasant, but I don't seem to be able to make anything special out of it. After a little while I think I do get something a bit smokey, but that might just be wishful thinking. I wish I was better at this! The floralyness might be the narcissus making its presence known?