ShannonElisabethJones

Fresh mint - I can taste it in the back of my throat when I sniff. It does the job well, but not for very long. I wish it would last longer.

I got this as a frimp in my last order. I was really put off by the smell at first because I didn't know what was in it. Once I read the description, it made sense. This one is great! So playful. I get a big blast of chocolate. My BF says it smells more generally of your Halloween candy bag. Either way, yummy! After a while it mellows to cedar. I like how it morphed from sweet chocolate to earthy cedar. Really well done.

Very, very rosy when first applied. Not regular roses but dusty roses. So far I'm not getting too much earthiness, which was the whole reason behind wanting to try Zombi. I was an archaeologist in my college days, and the smell of earth is one of my favorites. I hope it comes out in a little bit... I like this a lot. I don't get any damp smells - mostly dry and dusty.

I really wanted to like this one. As a kid, I loved Poe's El Dorado more than I loved The Raven, so this seemed to have special significance for me. When I first applied it, it reminded me of old-style Catholic church incense. It's like walking into the Cathedral Basilica here in nearby St. Augustine - that very devout Spanish Catholic church-type smell. I liked it at first - a comforting reminder of my upbringing. But as it dried, it morphed into a very sweet resinous scent - one I knew would give me a massive headache. Boo. This one will be added to my swaps bag.

This is a wonderful sweet but sharp scent. My BF says it smells like candy, and it does, but I also get a more complex bitterness to it. Like orange peel - pith and all. It does feel kind of fierce and growly for all its sweetness. This was a frimp. I totally love the lab for sending me this one!

In the imp and freshly-applied, this is a very sharp medicinal herbal scent. I was so put off by it that it took me almost 2 months to get up the guts to try it. I'm glad I did! While I probably won't spring for a whole vial, the sharpness cools off - minty and bright. Still herbal and green. I like. This would be a good scent to wear on those mornings I just can't seem to wake up. It's very "Hoo-ah! I'm awake now! Ready to go!"

I really love this. It's a feminine pink smell, more of a wet pink than a spicy pink (like Hermia, which I also love). This is definitely a keeper!

I didn't try this one on myself, as it's way too masculine for me, but my BF willingly obliged. I don't really smell any distinct notes, it just smells like really yummy dude cologne on him. Fresh and bracing. I like it, he likes it - I just have to go easy because it can overpower.

I didn't care for this one. It didn't last long on me, and the little whiffs I got smelled like plasticky lemon. Off to swaps.

In the imp, it smelled like flowers and sweet resins. On, it devolved to powdery yuck. It smelled like baby wipes or something. Like all the accoutrements of a baby's changing table before the baby is changed. Just the scent memory of clean diaper area turning into poopy diaper area was enough for me to bag this one.

The herby citrus smell definitely started out like it was going to help unknot my horrible backache, but then it just went away. No throw whatsoever. I like it, I just wish it would hang out longer.

Samhain 2010: This may sound weird, but this smells like mulled chocolate. I definitely get the foody notes like clove, allspice and nutmeg, and they're blended with something almost creamy-smelling. And a tinge of herby patchouli and mullein. I really really love this, and I'm glad I sprung for a bottle.

There is something about this scent...I feel like I've smelled it before. Maybe a long time ago...I just can't place it. Syrupy pink sweet. Like flowers and anise. No, not anise. Just plain old licorice candy. Sweet and sugary. It's nice.

Er, no. Plasticky lemons. Ick. I really wanted to like this, but my body chem had other ideas.

I'd forgotten I'd wanted to try this one - my wishlist seems so huge! - so it was really great that I'd received this as a frimp in my last order. Thanks, Lab! So, Kyoto. It started off as a gentle pink (yes, it smelled pink) floral. Sweet in a sweet-little-girl way. As it dried it became licorice-y - sweet in a candy-store way. It was nice. There's just something innocently playful about this scent. It's pleasant and not too heavy. I can imagine wearing this around my sweet Southern grandmother and not feeling like I'm overwhelming her.

I was a little nervous about this one at first, because I tend to lean towards cool, clean scents like Egle, Jabberwocky and Embalming Fluid or lighter florals. The warmer scents - for me, ones with incense-y and resinous notes - don't do well with my sinuses even though I like the way they smell. Pannychis surprised me. I really love it. My first impression was "whoa, jasmine!" I like jasmine, so not a big deal. The florals were very pretty. And then the woody/incense-y sandalwood and frankincense came in, but not so much that my sinuses rebelled. The combination is magical. And every so often I get the fruity tang of black currant (which is actually one of my favorite flavors in tea). I really love this scent, and my BF loves it - I could tell because he didn't say something smartass like, "It's reminiscent of Milton Berle's dirty socks," which is something that he would say if he liked it but wasn't wowed by it. He really liked this one. I like it so much I think I will be getting a bottle next time I'm able to order some.

This is a great, straightforward scent. Astringent green tea and bright lemon verbena. Tiny hint of something floral. This will be good when I don't feel like being bogged down by a heavier scent. Very nice.

Smells like flowers drowned in a still pond. I told my boyfriend it smelled sweet and sad....he gave me a funny look. When I told him it was like that Nirvana song that goes "I miss the comfort in being sad...," then he understood. It's a lovely scent, and I love the aquatic green notes. However, it's very light and doesn't last long on me.

I got this decant in a recent order of other imps. In one word: Heavenly! The florals came on strong at first but then quieted down. Every so often I catch a cooling whiff of mint. A few hours into wearing it I'm getting a dusty, almost incense-y note in it. It's kind of keeping the florals from becoming overblown summer blooms. These flowers are past their showy prime - not dried, but mature. I really love this and will be sad when it's gone. I hope I can get my hands on some more.

I definitely get a lot of lavender on this one. It is a lot brighter/sharper than I thought it would be, but it was not unpleasant. I slept very well last night. In all fairness, that could have been the NyQuil. I will definitely try it again. Overall, I liked it.

I can understand why maybe this one won't age very well. Coffee oils are so volatile and become stale quickly. Anyhow, my batch must be fresh because this smells great! All I'm really getting is jasmine and coffee, but they're working well together. It's like the coffee is tempering the jasmine, keeping the jasmine from smelling too little-girlish. Mata Hari is sophistocated but feminine. I really like this.

Wet, I seemed to get a lot of citrus. And salt. Dry, it was kinda piny and wet. Invigorating. Like a far northern shore. Sweden or Norway. Bracing....but some sort of woody warmth in the background....like drying fir boughs on the mantle. I definitely like this one...

This was a frimp. A very fortuitous frimp! I love this scent, which comes as a bit of a surprise for me because I thought it would be too sweetly floral, but it's much more "mature" on me (but not old-maidish). It's really great. In the imp: I could barely smell it. Faint and a bit soapy. Wet on skin: OMG JASMINE! It dialed down almost instantly. Nice! Drydown: Very floral but not overwhelming. Pretty. Hours later: Like evening blooms and an undertone of greenery. Beautiful and feminine. Wow wow wow. I love this. I will try it again before committing to a vial (a few scents I've tried recently have changed dramatically only days later), but this will be a winner - I just know it!

In the imp: Sweet vanilla, spicy orange. Wet on skin: I got a weird (but not unpleasant) licorice note. Still spicy. A tad sweet. Drydown: Wow. Complex and spicy. Not super sweet. Resinous, like myrrh or dragon's blood. Dark. Dried and settled: Still dark and resinous, a bit floral. Vanilla barely in the background. I like this. Maybe too strong for work - I hope I'm not overwhelming everyone today! - but would work nice in a club or bar to cut through the smoke. ETA: Ok, this isn't working. I started smelling like Old Spice about an hour after I reviewed this and it's getting worse. Poo.

This one is a WYSITIIWYG (what you smell in the imp is what you get, lol) for me. I guess my body chemistry doesn't really change this one. Jabberwocky is freshly piney and woody with a tinge of citrus. Really uplifting. The woodiness grounds the sharp pine and citrus. I am in love with this one. I might even ask my SO to try it