kakiphony

I'd suggest Vixen because my boy think it *is* sex (some girl catch their guys with porn...I catch mine sniffing my bottle of Vixen!), but if Snake Oil goes bad on you I wonder if you can wear patchouli? It's a MUCH less sweet patchouli than snake oil, and the ginger gives it some bit and a certain feral feel.

In the imp: Other people have noted caramel, but what I'm getting is butter and vanilla. It smells like a dense, rich pastry made with about 2 pounds of butter and a bottle of vanilla. This scares me a little because my experience with butter notes (Jack, Gluttony, etc.) has been uniformly bad. This reminds me a lot of Gluttony in the imp. Wet on skin: The scent is immediately less rich on application, and the butter tames itself into something more like sweet cream or perhaps clotted cream. The vanilla is still very strong, but it's a higher, thinner vanilla than it seemed in the bottle. No sandalwood or saffron are apparent at this stage. The boy commented that it kind of smelled like vanilla bread pudding. Early Dry Down: Twenty minutes after application, this is fading VERY quickly. The butter is gone and I'm getting a base note that's more powdery than sandalwood usually is on my skin. It's still quite sweet, and there's the barest hint of something floral, which I'm assuming is how saffron is teaming up with the vanilla in this blend. Late Dry Down: This scent is all but gone after one hour. If I snuffle my wrists I can still detect a sweet powdery note, but nothing significant or particularly mouth watering. It's a nice scent, but I'm content with one bottle. It just doesn't knock my socks off, (or draw any monsters...or boys...to my underpants) the way Vixen and Queen of Sheba do. Interesting notes: I wrote the above out last night and then decided that, since I didn't think I'd covet this one that much, I'd try a little in my bath. I added about 1 ml by my pipette's measure. I'm now soft and my hair smells vaguely like some kind of floral honey. It doesn't have any more staying power on my skin after immersion than it did with the dropper. However, I also applied it to my wrists and the crook of my elbows after my shower. The wrists have done the same thing as yesterday, but my left elbow crook has concentrated the scent a lot more. There, it's a deep saffron scent made a little sweeter. I like it A LOT. Too bad it doesn't smell that way everywhere and too bad that my elbow crook has no throw of which to speak...

In the imp: Toothpaste. The old fashioned, non-gel kind like the original, pale blue Crest. Wet: Still minty toothpaste, but there's a slight hint of something richer and sharper underneath. I'm betting it's the wood base, but it hasn't developed enough for me to identify it yet. I have to say, that for its pungency in the imp, this is very subtle on my wrist. It smells very clean. Early dry down: After twenty minutes, this is still very minty on me. The throw is medium to good, which is a bit unfortunate with this scent. The up-close smell of my wrist is pleasant (minty, but not sharp), but the throw smells uncannily like my dentist's office. It's rich, yet sweet and high, and a bit medicinal. I'm not getting any mossy lichen or florals from this, it's pure mint laid over a very subtle wood base. Late dry down: After a full hour, the predominant note is still a sweet mint, and it still reminds me of toothpaste. My two wrists always develop slightly differently, and Hamadryad is no exception. The left wrist is a much stronger odor, with more mint and less subtlety. The right wrist faded much more quickly, but also developed a slightly peppery note along with the mint. The seven-wood base of the scent is detectable on both wrists only if I snuffle them. I would not recommend this as a dry wood scent (I'd recommend Anne Bonny), but I would recommend it as a sweet mint. It's a gentle, mild, sweetened mint, and not a sharp, or pungent mint. I think this would be an excellent scent for a young girl, and might smell quite interesting on a man. However, since I don't particularly relish smelling like toothpaste, I'm happy to say that I do not covet this one and it can go onto my sister, as intended.

There have been quite a few that my boy has declared "nice" so far and "good smelling", but the two that have gotten wow reactions from him are Queen of Sheba (which he says makes his knees weak) and Vixen, which both he and his friend Jeremy agree could "really get a fella worked up."

I think Hetaerai is an extremely sophisticated scent. Here's what I wrote about it during late dry-down "An hour later, I'm glad I out more of this on. It's elegant and complex. It's the little black dress of bpals. The top note is definitely floral on me (probably the ylang-ylang), but the patchouli in the background keeps me from sneezing. It's sweet without being cloying, and is just generally fabulous. It reminds me a little bitty bit of Ma Griffe by Caraven, an old green chypre blend from the 1970's which was my godmother's signature scent. It's not so much that they smell the same as that they convey the same things to me: A strong sense of self, understated elegance, and brainy grace." I'm making it my new dinner party perfume.

This is the second scent I've tried from my imp set of Elementals. I reviewed Salamander yesterday and will try Gnome and Undine next. In the imp: Lavender, with a dry citrus tang. It's acidic citrus as opposed to syrupy citrus. This is a very fresh, clean scent and reminds me of hand soap. Wet: Milder upon first application than I expected. The lavender is the dominant note, but the citrus is still sharp and dry and there's something else herbal and wild in there. Juniper? At first application, it still reminds me of a soap scent, but in a good way. To clarify a little, it smells like expensive glycerin soap that you would buy in France - not regular bath soap. Early dry down: After fifteen minutes, the citrus has risen to the surface on this, although I'm still not sure whether it's a lemon or a lime citrus. It mingles very well with the lavender. There may also be lemongrass in this. It seems masculine and clean to me. I'm reminded just a bit of Guerlain's L'eau de Lavande Velours, but without the powdery note of that scent. It also smells a bit like my boy's Benetton Cold, which I think has lemongrass as a primary note. Late dry down: An hour later, this has all but disappeared into my skin. What's left is a fresh, clean scent which reminds me a bit of how I used to smell after I'd shower with Dr. Bronner's lavender soap. It's kind of a nice change from the sweet and spicy scents I normally wear. It makes me feel like a scrubbed clean, country herbalist with flushed pink cheeks and a slow smile. It's a very English countryside scent. Conclusion: I think I'm keeping Sylph. It's very different from most of the scents I wear, but I think I like its clean simplicity. It feels like a good summer scent to me. I'll try it out week after next when I'm in Florida and see how it does with heat and the accompanying sweat.

Since I'm a Leo and a true fire sign, Salamander is the first of my imp set of the Elementals that I'm trying. I plan to try them in the following order over the next few days: Salamander, Sylph, Gnome, and Undine. I'll post reviews as I go. In the imp: Woody, with an over-layer of something sweet and vaguely linament-like. The sweet thing could be an herb or a spice; it's not distinct enough in the imp to tell. I think the base is patchouli, even though the smell is reminiscent of cedar (wet patchouli often is to my sniffer). I also think that I detect a slightly spicy floral note (carnation?). Wet: Mild and somewhat soapy. The patchouli is of the woody, inside of a cedar lined closet smelling variety (as opposed to the hippy headshop variety) on me. There's some spice fighting to get up there in the notes, but it's too gentle to work its way past the patchouli. Early dry down: After fifteen minutes, this is drying into a quite interesting scent. I had expected a cinnamon note since almost all the lab's "fiery" blends that I've tried have one, and everyone else seems to have gotten cinnamon... but I didn't think there was any cinnamon in this at all. Instead, I'm getting a very mild patchouli, interwoven with a spicy floral that I don't recognize. (I'm not good at floral notes because I never wear them. Unless it's lavender, rose, lotus or honeysuckle I'm likely to just call it "floral" and leave it at that.) It reminds me of something my Grandma Neydon used to wear, but since she was not loyal to any one perfume, that doesn't help. I know she wore Chanel No. 9, Shalimar and a lotion by Estee Lauder that came in a pale aqua tube... Florals are usually not my thing because they tend to irritate my sinuses and turn me into a sneeze machine, but this does not seem to be affecting me so far. It's not a "me" scent at this stage, but it would be quite lovely on someone who wears spicy/oriental florals. Late dry down: After an hour, this has faded somewhat, but has retained the same spicy floral character that it acquired in the early stages of dry down. It's a biting, spicy, floral with some woody notes, and not a bit of sweetness to it; much more a traditional perfume blend than any of the other bpals I have tried. It's a very dry floral, which I expect is why it's the fire element in the series. Conclusion: An accomplished and complex scent, but it's not for me. Also, my skin chemistry could just be VERY weird right now. (Major stress is attacking me on all sides.)

The sublimely beautiful, fiercely independent, impeccably cultured, fascinatingly worldly and witty courtesans of ancient Greece. A seductive and dazzling blend of golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang. In the imp: This is a syrupy sweet in the imp with just a hint of patchouli behind it. I'm actually worried it may be too sweet for me. It's more a classic perfume smell than a foody one. Wet: Still very sweet, but the patchouli is stronger on my skin than in the bottle. It's a sharp high patchouli at first and reminds me more of the patchouli note in Spanked than that in Vixen or (heaven forbid!) Shadow. It's a complex scent and seems quite elegant to me. Early dry down: After about half an hour this has faded beautifully into my skin. The patchouli is there as a subtle background note tempering all the sweetness with its woody stability. (I love it when patchouli morphs on me to turn into a kind of ginger and cedar mix. It's such a wonderful chemistry reaction!) And over the top, there is a subtle green floral scent sweetened with what smells like orange blossom honey to me. The only complaint I have is that this faded so quickly that it was hard to smell. I slathered more on at the 45 minute stage to see what an added concentration of oil on my pulse points would do. Late dry down: An hour later, I'm glad I out more of this on. It's elegant and complex. It's the little black dress of bpals. The top note is definitely floral on me (probably the ylang-ylang), but the patchouli in the background keeps me from sneezing. It's sweet without being cloying, and is just generally fabulous. It reminds me a little bitty bit of Ma Griffe by Caraven, an old green chypre blend from the 1970's which was my godmother's signature scent. It's not so much that they smell the same as that they convey the same things to me: A strong sense of self, understated elegance, and brainy grace. Conclusion: 5ml please. This is will turn into my formal dinner party perfume. It screams for pearls.

In the imp: The sweet smell of dragon's blood (which always smells like a fruit to me) is overlaid with very sharp musk. This smells like a more traditional perfume scent than a lot of the other bpals I've tried. There's something very 70's about it to my nose. It's quite pungent and a touch bug-sprayish from the aggressive musks. Wet: This is much less pungent on my skin than in the imp. The dragon's blood is dominant, and the musks add a combination powder/salty sweat note in the background. There's just a suggestion of pink bathroom soap in there as well. Early dry down: After about fifteen minutes, the musk has receded and I've entirely lost the sharp-sweaty smell and the soapy odor. What's left is a sweet, rich, grape-like scent which reminds me of cream sherry. It's obviously the dragon's blood since that almost always turns into fruit of some variety on me. (Dragon's Hide was skittles-powder and Tintagel is Grape Nehi.) There's just a hint of something spicy under the sweet. Maybe cinnamon? If it's not cinnamon, then it's some other warm baking or cooking spice. It's very subtle so far, without a lot of throw. It's another wrist to the nose variety on me. Late dry down: After one hour, this has continued to fade into a sweet, syrupy scent with just a hint of musk under it. It reminds me a lot of Tintagel with the grape/fruit note, but whereas that faded into a spicy, resinous grape, this has faded to warm, thick grape. I'd almost swear that there was honey in there, but it must just be how dragon's blood and musk combine on my skin. It makes me feel sticky, as if I'd spilled my pancakes in my lap! There is, however, a powdery finish to the scent. Conclusion: This is a nice scent, but I'm not sure I need it and Tintagel. I think this might be another one of those scents that's more appropriate for a young teenager or someone more traditionally feminine than me. I don't know whether this will go in the swap/gift box or if I'll keep it around to give it another try. Right now, I could go either way.

In the imp: Sweet almond extract with a hint of something herbal and bitter behind it which I can only assume is the myrrh. Wet: Whoa! I don't think I've ever had a bpal change so much from the imp to its wet application on my skin. As soon as this hit my wrist (left wrist pulse point for those keeping score) the herbal note shoved its way to the fore. It's pungent, and the sweetness of the almonds in the background is like the sweetness of a child's liquid medicine meant to mask the active ingredients. Early dry down: After approximately fifteen minutes, this is still a very herbal scent, but the backing note is now the musk. The almonds have completely fled, leaving me quite bereft since I do love the lab's almonds. (Queen of Sheba stole my heart. I've actually got a 10ml, my first, of it on order.) It's hard for me to describe the smell exactly, but it reminds me of a sharp, musky men's deodorant scent. I find it strange that a Goddess blend would smell masculine on me, but it does. Late dry down: After one hour, this has faded almost to the point of disappearing. There's no throw at all, and I can only detect the oil by putting my wrist to my nose. When I do so, I am finally able to detect all three of the listed notes. It's a strange reaction, but rather than blending the notes my skin seems to have separated them out. The almond has returned to be the background not, and it's a subtle, sweet, warm almond. I don't detect butter, but it is a rich almond rather than the syrupy almond of Queen of Sheba. Overlaying the almond is the bright, herbal scent of myrrh and a salty, almost sweaty musk. It's still somewhat masculine on me, but not as much as it was in its early stages. Conclusion: I like this scent, but I don't love it. The almonds in Queen of Sheba wow me more, and the myrrh still smells a twinge medicinal to me. It's a no-go for me, but due to ambivalence, not dislike.

Slivers of warm, pulsating blood forever crystallized in golden amber resin. In the imp: Sweet dragon's blood. Wet: The dragon's blood is both floral and fruity on first contact with my skin. But it's more a tropical fruit flavored skittles smell than the grape Nehi of the dragon's blood in Tintagel. Early dry down: After this has been on my wrist less than ten minutes, the sweetness of the dragon's blood has receded and the spice of the amber has started to emerge. It's developing a slightly soapy smell that I'm hoping disappears as it has more time to develop. Dry down: Well, it's not as soapy as the early dry-down suggested, thank goodness. It's still fruity sweet, but that sweetness is layered over a spicy, salty, tangy smell that almost reminds me of a musk. I've been sitting here trying to figure out just how to describe this smell, and having a heck of a time with it. Finally, after holding my wrist up to my nose and sniffing for about two minutes, I have to say that what it reminds me of the most of is how my dog, Elliott, a bichon frise, used to smell right after a bath. We couldn't use doggy shampoo on him because he has skin allergies, so we used Johnson's Baby Shampoo and then condition him with Salon Selectives (bichon's have hair that is VERY prone to matting and tangling because it is so fine). He used to smell sweet and fruity, but you could smell the spicy/musky dog scent of him under that. I used to bury my head in his soft fur and sniff. Blood Amber smells like that to me. Conclusion: This is a very nostalgic scent for me, so I may keep it around for that purpose. It's a good smell. It's pleasant and not offensive. However, I don't think this would ever be an everyday scent for me. It's a bit too sweet, and a bit too reminiscent of the artificial fruit smell of so many major brand shampoos and candies. I think this would be a great scent for a young teenager. It's innocent and fruity, yet the amber adds just enough spice behind it to make it slightly complex. It feels like a good starter perfume to me. I think I may send my imps (I have two!) to my younger sister who likes younger feeling fragrances than I do.

In the Imp: Hmmm....it's VERY sweet, almost cloying, but I can pick up some notes. First, I smell bubble gum (lotus?) and under that there's a syrupy fruit smell that I think is cherry, and over the top there's a bite of a sweet spice like cinnamon. Wet: Bubbleyum bubble gum, unadulterated. Early dry down: The bubblegum scent remains predominant on me, but the spice has risen a little to the surface to make it a bit more grown-up. Mind you, I said "a bit," not a lot, Dr down: Overall, this stayed a very sweet, very youthful, bubblegum fragrance. It reminded me of Lolita, and that is not a good thing. The boy and I kept giggling as we smelled it, but not because it made us joyful, just because it smelled so darn much like Bazooka bubblegum. It's not a *bad* fragrance, mind you, it's just distracting, overly sweet, and not at all me. I can see this working well on tween age girls or the cute blonde sorority types. It's just not me. Off to the swap pile it goes.

I have recently been reminded of how much I like Shi-Kai's Amber and Sandalwood Lotion, so I was eager to try a bpal amber. (I'm also a Leo, so The Lion appeals to me from an astrological angle as well.) This came with a Christmas card, and I finally tried it this morning. In the imp: This is a very lightly scented oil; I have to hold the imp right up to my nose to catch anything at all. I can detect amber and some very faint spice. Wet: The amber is the dominant note as this is placed on my skin, but there's also a gentle wood (cedar? one of the sandalwoods?) and something sweet. Early dry down: The wood rises to the surface on my skin after a few minutes, and the amber tones down considerably. I'm going to guess that the wood note is red sandalwood, because it smells a lot like Anne Bonny did on me, but it might be some kind of cedar. There are some spices, but they're so faint under the wood that I can't quite pick them out. There's also a sweetness here that is almost fruit or nectar like. This scent almost glows. (It's what I expected Aureus to smell like!) It feels like a beach scent to me. Late dry down: This didn't have a lot of staying power, but I like the way the scent settled into my skin. The wood gentled over time and the amber re-surfaced, leaving my skin spicy and very slightly powdery. I think this will be excellent layered over my Ski-Kai lotion. I'm not sure I'll wear it much in the winter, but I can see it becoming a favorite summer scent. It makes me want to wear amber, golden topaz, and carnelians, go to the tanner and mousse my hair. In other words, this is totally a scent for embracing my Leo nature!

I've been wearing Blood Moon to all my negotiations at the court house. It's a very strong musky cinnamon on me that just feels tough and take no prisoners. It's my warrior blend. Block Buster does similar things to my psyche.

This came in my Christmas card from Liber_Amoris. I tried it last night, and liked it so much I'm wearing it again today! In the imp: I smell rum and something slightly fruity. Tonka? It's sweet and very rich. Wet: Mmm. This is sinfully good. The rum is rich and sweetened by a deep vanilla scent. (I do wish I knew if that was the tonka! If I knew for sure I'd start ordering every scent with tonka in it.) Both the boy and I were sniffing my wrists like crazy. Early dry down: The tobacco starts to develop as this dries, and like so many of the lab's tobaccos on me, it's a sweet, pipe tobacco scent. Combined with the rum, this is what I imagine butter-rum flavored pipe tobacco would smell like. I'm not getting leather or chardonnay yet, but what is there is divine. I also catch just a whiff of something like ginger spice in there. I don't smell any of the coconut that other reviewers mentioned. Late dry down: Unfortunately, this one does not have the best staying power on me. After about two and a half hours, there's little to no throw left. If I sniff my wrist, I still get just a little of the awesome butter-rum tobacco smell. It's as if I used the yummiest lotion in the world this morning. The scent is that subtle and has soaked into my skin that well. I am sooooooo glad I have another imp of this on the way in my Yule order. I'm restraining myself from buying a bottle, but we'll see how long that lasts.

This is not one I would normally pick for myself. It was on my wishlist so that I could send it to a friend I am trying to enable. However, I decided that I needed to try at least one fruity/floral blend. It's all well and good to *think* something doesn't work for you, but with bpal it's only smart to make sure. After all, I've read all the stories about surprise favorites. So, I decided to try it before I passed it on. In the imp: This smells quite floral to me, but with an herbal undertone. I don't smell the berries at all in imp. Wet: Soap. Floral, icky soap. Or possible air freshener of the type used in restaurant restrooms. Early dry down: There's something very sharp at the top of this blend. It seems more herbal than floral to me, and I wonder if it's the heather. I realize that heather looks a bit like lavender, but based on the heather infused Scottish beer I've had, I thought it smelled much more floral. Whatever this scent is, it has totally subdued the berries beneath its awesome might. I'm not getting any fruit at all. I also wouldn't classify this as a sweet scent. It seems more clean than fruity or sweet so far. Dry down: After two hours it's still soap. And I would classify it as slightly sweet old lady floral soap. It kind of smells like my grandma's bathroom cupboard where she has numerous bars of lily of the valley, rose and violet soaps stored all together. Not my thing at all. So much for experiments. Out it goes to its originally intended recipient and off I go to thoroughly wash my wrist.

In the imp: This has a dry, woody smell to it. I was expecting a lot of amber, and maybe a little saffron, based on the catalog description, but I think that I'm smelling cedar and possibly a little sandalwood. Wet: There is definitely cedar in this blend. On my wrist, that is the strongest odor, and it is a bit astringent. Early dry down: The cedar is still dominant, but I'm starting to smell a heady spice behind it that I'm almost positive is amber. Late dry down: The cedar has continued to dominate this scent for over two hours, and it has done very little morphing on my skin. It resembles Anne Bonny with its woodiness, but lacks the salt tang and doesn't seem to settle into my skin as well as that oil did. Instead, this one remains very assertive. Every time I smell my wrist I'm reminded that I put a fragrance on rather than thinking, "Gee I smell good" as if it was some natural process of my hormones and not the lab's genius. While the smell isn't *bad* (it smells just like the inside of a cedar lined closet, which is a perfectly pleasant smell), it smells artificial to me. This is definitely a swap.

In the imp: This smells much lighter than I was expecting from the description. I have to hold it very close to my nose to smell much, and then I'm getting a non-determinate woody scent which is seems more cedar to my nose than any of the named notes. Wet: This is definitely stronger than it seemed in the imp. When it hits my skin the sandalwood wakes right up and cries out to be noticed, but there's something sweet coming up through the wood. I'm wondering if it's the red patchouli and it's going to turn molasses on me the way the patchouli in Vixen does?... I would like that quite a lot. It might also be the frankincense. Early dry down: No molasses yet, and the sweetness has pretty well disappeared. The sandalwood is really the dominant note, and it's definitely a very woody sandalwood and not a spicy one. As it settles into my skin, I'm once again getting a very cedar-esque scent. It reminds me of the inside of J's humidor. Dry down: This one has more throw than I expected based on the strength in the imp and its wet application. I don't think it's enough to set my anti-perfume alarms screeching (no one would be olfactorily injured in an elevator with me), but I catch whiffs of it quite frequently without having to shove my wrist up against my nose. It's a very hot/dry scent, and I find myself thinking of the deck of a ship which has been beached for years on a desert island. The planks would be sun baked and starting to split from the heat, but there would still be a salty tang to them from their years at sea. This is one of those scents about which I'm having a very hard time making a verdict. On one hand, it's much woodier than anything I'd normally wear and lacks the subtle sweetness that tempers my favorite scents. On the other, it settles against the skin so well that it feels less like a scent I've applied and more like a natural odor I became infused with by lingering inside the walk-in humidor. This is definitely one I'm going to have to get the boy's opinion on. If he likes it, I can see myself wearing it fairly frequently in the winter when I want to be warmed up. But if he dislikes it, I can also see myself saying, "Yes, this really is too masculine" and happily swapping it. I do sometimes wish I was more decisive.

In the imp: I'm smelling a lot of buttery pumpkin. It actually doesn't smell that much different than Jack to me wet, but I'm betting that's just because pumpkin is a heavy note and my nose can't pick out the other notes in the imp. Wet: As soon as this touches my skin, something sweet, but astringent rises up. I think it's the apples. Dry down: This was the pumpkin patch I expected to like the best as I did so well with mulling spices in Tintagel. Unfortunately, as this dries it doesn't do the lovely things it has done on others...it turns into a generic mish-mash potpourri scent. I smell like the inside of a Michael's. It's not a bad smell, just a very non-specific and kind of overwhelming on. Not me. OK. On to the next pumpkin... I'm saving this one for the Meet n sniff in AA, Mich if we have it...

This came in my second package from my fantabulous autumn switch witch/swap faery. I was really excited to get it since it sounded like the most likely of the Ars Draconis group to work on me. In the imp: The main smell I get from the imp is smoke, but a rich, flavored smoke like J's English aromatic blend pipe tobacco. Wet: Smoke is still the dominant note, but I'm getting the leather underlying it, along with a bit of subtle floral sweetness from the dragon's blood. My first impression is that this is a very well blended scent. I'm eager to see if the blend stays true on me. Early Dry Down: As this dried, the sweetness of the dragon's blood rose up on my wrists to give me some of the same grape Nehi scent I get from Tintagel. The smoke was still there, but the leather faded almost instantly. Late Dry Down: The richness of the scent which was created by the smoke didn't last on me, and after about an hour, the dragon's blood had pulled an evil trick and turned quite floral and a little powdery. It reminded me of Ysatis by Givenchy, and while that's not an unpleasant scent, it does have a tendency to make me sneeze. The boy's reaction basically mirrored my own. He sniffed and announced, "I don't hate it." However, he didn't love it either. Into the swap pile it goes. Sigh. This is very disappointing, especially since I have another whole imp of it on the way in an imp pack with my Yule order. Oops.

Blood Moon was in my mailbox waiting for me when I got back from my weekend in Holland. I tried it last night, but J had my computer, so the review got typed this morning, In the imp: Cinnamon was the dominant note, but was a high, thin, slightly alcoholic cinnamon, and not a rich, thick one. (To be completely abstract in my description, it was more of a feral cinnamon than a foody one.) I think that it was a thin note because I was smelling the lunar oils in the background; they just weren't strong enough, and my nose isn't sensitive enough, to register them as additional notes. Wet: I was a bit apprehensive that this might sting since it was so very cinnamon, but there was only a slight tingle on my wrists. It's a very subtle scent when first applied. I actually had to slather on a second coat of oil to get much scent from it at all. The dominant note was still cinnamon, but a bit fuller than what I got from the bottle. There was something high and sweet underneath it which I couldn't quite place. It wasn't vanilla, honey or sugar, which are the notes I usually sense as sweet backgrounds, but something lighter and less rich. I suspect it may be a very subtle lunar floral, but I don't know which one. Early dry down: After about a half an hour, I was still getting cinnamon. There was a little more waft to it, and the sweetness had faded. This was turning quite spicy on me, which I liked. It seemed like the spicier, gutsier older sister to Block Buster. Late dry down: As this mellowed on my skin, the high sweet notes all but disappeared and a musk developed to mingle with the cinnamon. It was a subtle spicy musk, which is good. (Some musks turn vaguely ferret-like on me, but this one seemed to avoid that pit-fall.) It had a lot more waft that I was expecting given how it disappeared into my skin at first. Obviously, there was something in it that needed time to react with my chemistry before making its appearance. The combination of the musk and the cinnamon smelled good to me, but also struck me as quite masculine. It's a powerful scent, and one that I think would be excellent for divorce negotiations that require more anger and stubbornness than finesse. I'm not entirely sure whether this is one I'll actually wear, or if it's just one I admire. I meant to put more on this morning and get the boy's reaction to help me decide, but I forgot and walked out of the house with no scent on at all. (Horror!) I'll have to put some on at lunch and edit this post later to add in J's two cents. ETA: J says it's nice. His exact quote, "It's nice. But it doesn't make my knees weak like that other one." (The other one was Queen of Sheba. And yes, I ordered a big bottle!) I wore this one for Thanksgiving yesterday, and while no one gave me weak in the knee comments, I think it made me feel more confident before going to J's family. I will be keeping this one, and maybe decanting out one or two imps worth for my best friend and my sister. I don't think I'll use the whole bottle, but I'll come close.

In the imp: almonds, Almonds, ALMONDS. (Or maybe just almond extract.) In any case, the almond is VERY predominant in this in the imp. Wet: The almond is still the predominant note when I first apply this to my wrists. However, I am catching a little spice trying to claw its way past the super-sweet extract smell. If I had to guess at this point, I'd say I'm smelling saffron, and something peppery. Dry down: This one settled down pretty quickly, and the almonds mostly ran away within the first ten minutes. After the first hour or so, I was definitely smelling saffron along with a slightly syrupy sweetness that seems to be equal parts honey and almond extract. After about two hours, my right wrist had faded until it smelled like slightly spicy powder, while the right wrist still had the syrupy honeyed almond scent. The left wrist also had a slightly peppery undertone Final verdict: The boyfriend remarked, "You smell good" when I got home from work, and then, when I lifted my wrist to his nose he pretended to fall over and said, "That makes me weak in the knees." Uh-huh. It's a keeper.

In the imp: This smells like my grandpa standing in a kitchen where my grandma has been baking sugar cookies. In other words, I smell musky aftershave overlaid with the scent of vanilla. There's no tea in what I'm smelling at all, which is somewhat disappointing. (I'm still looking for a good earl grey tea smell that lasts longer than the Demeter spray.) Wet: Hrm. The musk is definitely potent in this one. It reminds me of cheap after-shave and some kind of odd floral. The over all effect is of those old fashioned solid air fresheners that people used to put in their closets. I'm still not getting any tea. Dry down: In the usual bpal fashion this has utterly changed on me from wet to dry. After about an hour the musk has simmered down and become more lady like than grandpa like and been overlaid with a sweet and citrusy bloom. The citrus comes in because there is a sharp, lemony tang at the first sniff of the wrist. I suspect that the citrus is, in fact, the tea as it develops on my skin. As usual, my two wrists have developed the scent in subtly different ways. On my left wrist the scent is much sweeter with less of musk and more of vanilla, while on the right it is all the tang of the tea vibrating through musk. It reminds me just a bit of Comptoir Sud Pacifique's Cristal de Musc. Conclusion: Although I can see why others swoon over this scent, I must admit that as nicely as it has developed, I still don't think it's particularly me. The tea is a bit too sharp and the musk is still a bit too powerful for me to feel comfortable in it. When I smell it I want to look around for the source of the scent instead of feeling that it's me only better the way my beloved Vixen makes me feel. Back into the Christmas box for which it was intended it goes.

In the bottle: Butter, butter, butter and maybe some popcorn. And then more butter. Wet: Still buttered popcorn, but with a slight underlying hint of fruit. The boy said, "interesting" and raised his eyebrows. Drydown: The fruit very quickly takes over the butter and continues to amp up and sweeten until it morphs into bubblegum. Then it amps up again and I'm suddenly sneezing and snotty. The overall impressipn before I run for the lavender scented soap and hot water is of rancid peach jolly ranchers wrapped in already been chewed bubble gum. It was way too sweet and had a nasty plastic tang to it. The boyfriend commented, "That's yuck."

In the imp: A sweet citrus scent. It reminds me of sniffing unmixed Country Time Lemonade - sugar and citric acid. It reminds me just a little bit of my Fresh Sugarbath lychee lotion, which I loooooove. I can very vaguely smell the tea in the background, but it's a perfumey tea scent more like an Earl Grey than a black tea. Wet: The citrus is definitely the dominant note on me, but there is an undercurrent of something slightly floral which might be tea. In one whiff it reminds me of Tazo Lotus Blossom tea and in the next I smell honeysuckle. The ginger is undetectable at this stage. Dry down: Hmm. Not what I was expecting. This is surprisingly floral on me given that no floral notes are listed in the description. It must be the way the sweetness of the vanilla and honey are mixing with the citrusy tea and my body chemistry. It's a thinner sweet scent than I was expecting given how ginger and vanilla usually combine on me to make thick, rich, cookie smells. I still get whiffs of honeysuckle, and my overall impression is of dryer sheets in a fragrance I would not pick. The boyfriend's comment: "It smells like Glade. Like something you spray in a bathroom to cover up a poop smell." Conclusion: It started out pleasant, but didn't evolve well on me. I'm wondering how it would have smelled without the citrus in it since I think that was what turned floral on me.