ShadesOfFree

Vial: It's... patchouli. Nothing else, really. Wet: Patchouli & myrrh. It's very dry. Reminds me a bit of 'all night long' but less cinnamon'y, a little more powdery as it starts to settle. Kind of a calming, sleepy scent, but not to the point where I can't wear it during the day. And there's something up there, too, something peppy? Not peppy. Sassy? Dryish: Myrrh and ... I guess it's the ylang ylang, but that's not a scent I'm familiar with... It's a floral smell, though, but it almost reminds me of booze or fermented flowers, or something. Not negatively, just... that's the impression of it. That's if I have my nose to my wist, though - just wafting around me I'm just getting straight myrrh. There are no cloves, the patchouli has gone away, and the floral doesn't reach that far. It's rather nice, wafting. Dry: It's like a resinous, incensey baby powder. I really like it in this stage a lot. Final thoughts: I could use a bottle of this. I would probably wear this a lot - it's got personality (kind of feisty, a little playful) but it's still comforting and cozy. I get nothing malicious out of it - there's nothing cruel to it. Just something that feels familiar (even though it's not because it actually is, just that kind of comfort), like someone you're used to having witty banter with. It's great. I'm adding this to my next order list, I think. 4.5 stars (only lower than 5 because sniffing close to the mid-dry stage is a bit wonky, but waftingly it's fine so.)!

This is one of those scents where the drydown/final stage is the best part for me, and the beginning is just "meh" but not bad enough to make me sick or something, so I can stand it long enough for it to get to the good parts. I like the initial application's intensity - this one goes a long way with just a few drops, normally I kind of slather the stuff on, but with this one nooo - and I like that there's a whole complex scent thing going on with it. Once it dries it goes for the sweet vanilla resin smell that I love, with a bit of powder, which I also like in most cases (as long as it's a complex powder, which this is - it's almost like a scented body powder, 'cause it's got the vanilla/spice/resin + baby powder smell). The only issue here for me is that occasionally I get PEANUT BUTTER from this. Like, some days my skin is just like "you know what? Today, everything about this scent is peanuts. No spice, no vanilla, no powder. Just karking peanuts!" and I mean it could be worse, but I'm just basically learning I need to test a drop on my hand or somewhere easy to wash before applying it for the day in more spots, because I've gone to work smelling like peanuts like five times now, and it's kinda maddening. Also I need to try this aged. I might just let my bottle rest a bit, get a little older, and just use the imp for application in the meantime; I had an older imp ages ago that was much smoother, faster drydown and no peanut issue, so maybe that's a young oil thing. We'll see. 4/5 stars, though, in all.

This is a super familiar smell. Like, the first time I tried it, it reminded me of going into an attic and opening a box (some nice, wooden chest) and finding some old dress or something that's sprayed with an old perfume, and being hit with instant familiarity. I have never done this, but, that's the mental image that this gave me on the first try. I mostly get rosewood/chamomile. There's something sharper there, too, but it's lurky. More herbal and green. The only quirk this oil has is that if I wear it in my hair, the scent turns to legit DILL. Which then reminds me of having pickles in my hair or something. So this is not the best hair scent. It is, however, a good rainy day scent, and is my go-to for those delightfully gloomy stormy days. ...The kind of days where you can't go outside, so you get bored and go clean out the attic. Proverbially. It's also a nice work-friendly scent.

All Night Long - to me this is not terribly 'sexy' like it's "supposed to be" based on description/reviews/intent. To me this is a dry, confident smell, and on me it wears like sarcastic remarks and smiling glares with a side of barely-concealed badassery. Chimera - my 'comfort scent', of sorts, so it's not really an ass-kicking sort of 'battle scent' but it's one that helps if I'm having an anxious sort of day, so it still counts, for me. Also Cathode has a certain regal sort of power behind it, on me - though I haven't tried it out in such situations, so I can't be entirely certain if it would have the desired effect or not. It probably would. I should try it, I suppose.

I am immune to 'sexy' vibes, all around, so to me this is just another scent. One that kind of reminds me of Christmas-time holidays. In a good way; there's no 'cheap festive scented candle' thing going on with this. It's a dry cinnamon, on me - kind of makes me think of cinnamon bark, with the wooden type of vibe going on. I think there's also some sort of swirl of incense-smoke? I don't know, but this is amazing and I am keeping it for sure.

Woahflowers, with something bright and citrusy, maybe something vaguely incensey. It's pretty? It reminds me of something. But, mostly, it is woahflowers, which means migraine which means this does not work for me at all. Which is fine, I don't need boys following me around anyway.

This is the first aquatic scent I've liked. Ever. For some reason, this is coming across vaguely vanilla/resin, on me. There's a tiny hint of "soap", too, and the flowers + water, which in my mind is like... crushed, pulped flower petals. Some kind of flowery goop. The description is right - this is both warm and icy, and that is fascinating to me. Brilliant. It's very pretty... unfortunately, gardenia gives me migraines. I can feel it beginning to kick in right now. So, even though this is a really pretty, well-blended scent, it's not one I can wear without serious pain.

On me this smells like a nice version of 'linen' scents - detergent, fabric softener, something like that - but with something sharp added. Probably salt? It's not a bad scent, but it's not one I would wear. I'm not one for fresh/aquatic scents, generally. I'll see if my mom or my sister like it, otherwise it will be swapping.

Polished metallic notes, glossy leather, frankincense, star anise, and thin lubricating oils. Another Lab-frimp~ I got this afternoon... Live-blogging a scent ftw? This might get rambley. I'm picking up the spices + frankincense, first. Mostly the frankincense. ...and something that's making my brain think "gold", which I suppose is the metallic notes. I think the 'thin lubricating oils' are turning to soap on me, though? But not 'soap' like a bad thing, more like... men's shower gel. Maybe. It's got a round sort of smell, glittering and smooth and sort of soothing. I feel like this one would kill me if I already had a headache, but it doesn't seem to be creating one thus far, for which I am grateful, because I rather like it. I'll probably hang on to this one, try it out a few more times - it's not very 'me', but it's interesting, and I'd definitely like to play with it some more.

Just got this as a frimp from The Lab, and tested it before I knew what was in it (because I like throwing myself under the bus with scents I don't know, sometimes) - and oddly my first impression was a garden. Not a flower garden, obviously, but an herb / green-plants garden. I guess that's the oakmoss + mint combo. The longer I wear it, the more I like it - it sort of reminds me of power (which, I suppose, makes sense with the name?), but a calm power. Like something that could turn you to dust, but instead is just sitting and watching, patiently. I was surprised I liked it so much, when I looked at the notes, because it's not something I'd ever have picked out for myself. I usually go for spices/resins, maybe some rose - but, yeah, no, this is glorious. Apparently the rumors about the Labfolk's psychic ability to pick appropriate freebies are true. This is definitely a keeper, possibly jumping up into my top five favorites.

I have to do a double review - I had an imp of fresh Chimera, and a partial bottle of aged. They are so completely different, but both so amazing. Fresh - This is one of the first three I ever tried. In the vial it's all cinnamon to me. I was excited about this, since I kind of really, really <3 cinnamon. Once I put it on, I was alarmed to notice my skin burning - practically blistering in some areas (Chimera + sensitive skin + cleavage = bad news). I ignored it, though, because I can deal with a little pain... and this eventually went from spicy to vaguely sweet-spicy, like someone had put honey on my skin under all the cinnamon. It pretty much stayed that way, until the very, very end, and then I got my first whiff of myrrh, and it was beautiful. So I went off to buy a bottle of this via forums. What I found was a bottle of it, Aged. To me, aged Chimera is myrrh and smoke in the bottle. Not bad smoke (not the sharp stabby brain-hate kind I get from anything with vetiver in it, thank God), like... muted, soft incense smoke. It's much the same on my skin, just sweeter - like sugary myrrh-incense and a vague cinnamon bite. I've taken to wearing this in the longer part of my hair (towards the front where it falls over my face) so I can smell it better. It's amazing. As it fades, it keeps getting sweeter, more honey-myrrh and less spice or incense-smoke. Aged, it doesn't burn nearly as badly as it did fresh. Nothing but a vague redness/burning, no blisters (thankfully!) and no rashes or anything. So, basically, this scent, in either form, gets about 46355735677 stars from me. <3

I think the imp I had of this (now reduced to just a sniffy, sigh, I need more) must have been aged - I got it from someone else for free, so I do not know; it does not match any of the reviews I've seen so far on here. When I open the imp, it smells like moist wood. It reminds me of the part of the description that mentions a pirate's boat, or the crates of spices that are being plundered. I don't get any cinnamon/cassia smell at all, at first, it's all warm wet wood and a vague spice-sweet smell. On me, it turns to wood and honey. I don't know how it happens, but somehow that spice-sweet turns into honey, and layers with the wood-smell. Once it dries, I get vague clove / cassia/cinnamon, but it's only in the very background. At some point, it turns into a lemon-honey-spice-wood combo, right near the end of it's life - which has been up to six hours, in certain areas (wrists fade fast, but most everywhere else does not). Overall, I <3 this scent - but I really want to try it fresh, now, seeing everyone compare it to chai!

I'm not usually one for florals at all, in the sense that even being in a room with certain fresh flowers will give me piercing headahes, sometimes, let alone a perfume on my body that I can't escape from. So, when I opened the imp of it and sniffed for the first time, I went aw, man, it's a strong floral. But then I tried it on anyway, and I am very, very glad I did - because apparently the one floral I actually can wear is orchid. I hadn't realized that what what this was, at first, not until I looked it up later, and now I'm going to be attempting to gather/try orchid scents, because I do want to like forals... On me this starts out very strong and thick, warm-cloying-fuzzy kind of flower that kind of reminds me of mild intoxication in scent-form. I don't get the green smell most people have mentioned in their reviews at first, just that warm headspinny floral, but it's not a bad headspinny. No headache. As it starts to dry, I notice a faint edge that cools it down, takes some of the heat and thickness away. I still don't get green, exactly, it just chills and sharpens a little, like something coming slightly into focus. It stays this way for a long time, and I really do get the powerful / in-charge sort of impression from this, even not having associations with the inspiration behind it. It's a feminine scent, but one that's not childish or overly flirtatious. It doesn't feel out of place on me. And once it's fading out, it's a sweet warm smell again, but much fainter. I think the apple blossom has overpowered the orchid, though thankfully it appears apple blossom doesn't hurt my head either. This stage of it reminds me of something, but I can't quite place what it is. My mind goes to fabric softener, but I know that's not it, it's just the thing I'm mentally tripping over trying to identify it. Something from my childhood, or ....something like that. Anyway, I like it a lot. Basically: this is the one floral I want to buy a bottle of. And, seeing the reviews for it mentioning similarities to Queen Mab, I'll be looking for a sample of that one, for sure. I need more orchid/safe florals in my life. 5*'s, or whatever. <3

Aahhh, you're both awesome, thank you. ivyandpeony: I didn't see those things on the site, but I am bad at seeing what's right in front of me, so I could have easily missed it! <3 Looking at them, it's clear I need to practice picking out notes by smell a little more, hah! Little Bird: Thank you! Those seem to match up really well!

Anyone know of a BPAL scent that's very close to the Nollie perfumes, from PacSun? Specifically the green (unnamed) or the orange ("Shine") ones - those are her two favorites. So, any suggestions? I can't seem to find anywhere that says what they actually are, note-wise, so I'm kind of just sniffing them and trying to pick things out, but ...yeah. So, if anyone has them and knows better than I do, that would rock. (Listed in order of favorite, hah!) Orange (Shine): Citrusy, kind of plantlike and fresh. Sweeter than the green. Green: Citrus/plantlike... kind of reminds me of grass and limes? Purple (Real): Fruit and flowers? Kind of reminds me of a melon scent, with... magnolias, or something? Pink (Live): Smells like there might be white/light musk in this one. Almost cologne-like, but lighter, and more feminine. Anyway, any help with that would be appreciated very much! <3

Hey, so... I hope I'm posting this in the correct place. I have a question, which... I'm not entirely sure where to send it, so here it goes? Someone let me know if I posted in the wrong place, please. <3 Okay, here goes. I'm one of those people without a mail-able street address, who has to get their mail from a PO Box. Which is all well and good, except for when you're trying to prove where you live - as, in my case, in the event of trying to get my driver's license. So, I decided I was going to order something online, get it shipped to the street address, and thus would have my proof of address and something spiffy for myself (...I never buy myself anything, like... ever. I hate spending money). Problem is, I see BPAL, like almost everything else I've looked at, ships via USPS, which... would end up either going to the PO Box, or never arriving due to mail not being delivered to my street. Is there some way around this? Can I send a request for custom shipping, or... otherwise achieve my goal without causing too much bother to anyone? <3

Thanks, guys, I've been kind of worrying about that - problem is, I have none of those things. My parents' names are still on the property / utilities, and my voter registration card managed to screw up the address - which they refuse to fix without proof of address, also. Why the government decided to go and get overzealous about proving where you live is beyond me. Security? Pfft, whatever. /sarcasm Anyway, yeah. At this point it's going to come down to giving them two things that have my name and my address paired up in any sort of an official fashion, and if they don't accept that, I'm probably pretty much screwed. I think the people at my DMV will take it, even if it wouldn't be PROPER proof, honestly, because we're in a little middle-of-nowhere place and they don't seem to care too much as long as it's something, but. Fingers crossed? But, seriously, thanks for the heads-up, guys. I appreciate it. <3

Thank you, I'll do that! I guess I probably should have thought of that first, before I posted, huh? <3