kakiphony

In the imp: This smells bright and citrusy to me, and also sweet. The closest I can come to describing it is to say it smells like Tang. I assume that's the bergamot, as sweetened with honey. Normally I would stay far away from rose and florals, but so many people have raved about Alice that I'm willing to give it a try. Luckily, I'm not getting rose out of this at all. Wet: It's still sweet, but I'm getting a lot less citrus than in the vial. It's more floral than something I would normally wear, but it's a spicy floral and not at all an old-lady rose. It's also very, very light and I'm rather afraid this may fade to nothing before I even get a good dry-down. Early dry down: After about ten minutes on my wrists, this is faded almost completely. I'm getting a faint odor of baby powder and citrus, with baby powder being the far stronger odor. There's no waft at all, and I have to sniff my wrist to detect the fragrance. Late dry-down: Gone on the left wrist and lingering as a soft, unidentifiable floral, powdery smell on the right. Conclusion: This wrong on me, but not for the reasons I expected. Florals usually overpower me and trigger a sneeze-attack, but these went away so quickly they may as well never have been present. While I'm a subtle perfume devotee and prefer oils that don't waft, I do like to be able to smell them on my wrists. If I can't smell it, what's the point? The two decants I have of this will definitely be given as Christmas gifts this year. I'm no longer tempted to keep them.

In the imp: Butterscotch. But not butterscotch candies. Warm, melted, homemade butterscotch ice cream topping. The kind that is starting to thicken, but is still a bit syrupy and has an alcoholic kick to it even after simmering for a few hours. It is so yum... Wet: The booziness of the scent is not nearly as strong on my skin as it was in the imp. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad one yet. At first contact, this is buttery and sweet, like buttercream frosting, with just the slight hint of a nut extract smell to it. It's a thinner scent on my skin than it was in the bottle. Early dry down: As this has settled into my skin, the nuttiness has surged to the top while the sweetness has mellowed. It's still pleasant, but not as wrist-eating yummy as it was on the first application. I'm torn as to whether the nuttiness is a hazelnut smell or an almond one. When I first sniff, I get the thin, sweet, almost medicinal scent of almond extract. But when I hold the breath for a moment or two, it deepens into something richer and mellower. It's not quite the scent of hazelnut that I associate with hazelnut flavored coffee, but it's similar. Late dry down: This scent has almost completely disappeared into my skin, leaving a faint burnt sugar smell. It's not an unpleasant odor, but I have to put my wrist right up to my nose and snuffle noisily in order to smell it. I don't think I'd wear this one frequently as it's just a bit too rich for me. But I'm going to keep the rest of the imp and experiment at making a catalytic lamp fragrance by adding it to isopropyl alcohol. I think it will smell absolutely divine this fall as a house scent.

In the imp: This is a thinner and sharper scent than I was expecting. It's sweet, but not rich. There's a subtle alcohol scent there, but it seems more like medicinal alcohol than booze to me. I tried Hellcat yesterday, and I was expecting something similar to that, but with some herbal spice. Instead, this is a completely different scent, and if I didn't know from the descriptions that they both have rum in them, I never would dreamed they had ingredients in common. I expected to love this one, but I'm a little dubious... Wet: Oh. This is interesting. When I put this on my wrist, the dominant note isn't the alcohol/rum at all. Instead, I'm getting something spicy overlaid with a green and herby sweetness. It doesn't smell like cloves to me, and I'm not getting almond at all. The sassafras is definitely the dominant note on me, and the smell of it has awakened memories of brewing sassafras tea with my fifth grade class when we went out to Camp Fort Hill for a week. Early dry down: This scent is really surprising and puzzling me. The tiny amount I applied has faded pretty quickly, and now when I sniff my wrists I'm getting a smoky and woody odor, with a little bit of that herbal sweetness. The sweetness almost reminds me of sweetgrass incense. It's really like nothing I've ever smelled before and I'm struggling to find something with which to compare it. The closest I can come is to say that it reminds me of how the cabin of a little old country witch would smell, tucked way back up in the woods. Late dry down: It's...gone. When I sniff my wrists, I get nothing but the scent of plain old me. I smell clean and a little spicy, but it's not noticeably different from how I smell on days when I wear no perfume at all and the only scent on me is the linger of sweetgrass soap. I think I'm going to try this one on the boy and see how it reacts on him. I really liked the smell, it just didn't smell like *me*. It smelled more like someone I would want to hug than someone I want to be. (If that makes any sense at all!) I may also, however, give it one more try, with a little more applied. I suspect it might make a good spring scent for me, but that I'm just looking for a warmer, more assertive scent in the this new cool weather. I'm also curious to see how this one ages, and if it gets more oomph over time. I think I want to experiment with this imp rather than throw into my swap pile even though it isn't an immediate favorite. It's intriguing enough to me that I want to see where its potential leads.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with people. I know the essential isn't supposed to smell like cough syrup... but The Red Queen (the one and only cherry bpal I've tried) smelled like Robitussin on me. I can't vouch for the others, but I'm convinced that I just associate cherry as a fragrance too strongly with medicine for it to work for me.

Vixen. The orange blossom is a top note on a base of patchouli and ginger. It's my favorite scent to date. It ends up smelling like molasses cookies and orange blossom honey on me. Yum.

Note This is not a scent I would normally try because that many woods scare my sinuses. However, I got an imp of this from the lovely lady I first learned of bpal from and, despite the scent description, I knew I had to try it. You see, I have a *thing* for Tintagel. I first went there in 1996 on a college class trip to England, and I had what could only be classified as vision. It affected me more deeply than any place I've ever visited, and I know I'll make pilgrimages there again. The ruins, the cliffs, the little church and the town all resonate with me. I don't know if I believe in past lives, but if I do, I'm pretty sure at least one of mine was lived there. In the Imp: This smells much sweeter than I imagined from the description. I can pick out the slightly alcoholic scent of the wine, but there's something very sweet over the top of it. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the nearest I can come is to say this smells like sweet tarts or unmixed Kool-Aid powder. Wet: When it hits my skin, the alcohol shimmies up a notch, but the sweetness is still very present. It smells even more strongly of grape Kool-Aid or soda now, but it's mixed with Christmas potpourri, which I assume is the juniper and possibly a bit of cinnamon. There's something sharp darting up through it as well, but that fades almost immediately as the oil dries on my skin. Early dry-down: I am still utterly surprised at how very fruity this scent is. I was expecting something herbal and smoky with a spicy undertone. What I'm getting so far is sweet fruit with spices. It's a little sweeter than the mulled wine I'm used to drinking, but I'm definitely detecting cloves and grape, which would both make sense. I did not expect to be bowled over by this one, but I have to say that it's surprising me in a nice way. I keep smelling my wrists and being reminded of being a kid playing by the pool and drinking grape Nehi. I'm not usually a huge fan of super-sweet scents (I like my vanillas rich and tempered with ginger and spice), but this is really quite lovely. I want to lick myself. Late dry-down: This scent doesn't have all that much staying power on me, but it is so pleasant that I ended up reapplying to my wrists and rubbing a few drops between my breasts. The sweet fruit eventually gave way to a warm, spicy resin with just the faintest hint of sweetness, and after about an hour, I started to get some lingering smoke undertones. I've been trying to plan a September 1 order, and this just threw a monkey wrench in my plans because, all of a sudden, I think I need a big bottle of this. I also think my sister would like this a lot, so I may go searching for an imp of it for her to try. (I'm NOT giving mine away!)

In the imp: This is citrusy. Very citrusy. I'd say almost lemon fresh Pledge citrusy with just a bite of something spice underneath which I assume is the ginger. I'm not smelling tea at all, unless maybe it's a lemongrass blend. Certainly not a white tea scent which in experience is sweeter and more subtle. I don't know if I'll like this or not. Wet: Still cleaning product like. Stronger than it smelled in the bottle. I'm still getting lemon with an undertone of spice, but the spice is not giving it much depth. It smells very sharp to me. So far, this is not for me, but I'm willing to give it a chance. Early dry down: The citrus has tamed itself somewhat, and now I can smell the ginger coming through. It's a sharp ginger and not a warm ginger. It smells very clean and fresh to me. I still don't get white tea from it, but it does remind me of an herbal tea blend I used to drink with lemongrass and rose hips. It's the strongest scent I've tried to date, and the one that smells the least like "me" on my wrists so far. It seems to overpower my natural scent, not blend with it. Late dry down: This scent has stayed remarkably true to itself and it's still going strong over an hour later. For anyone who likes sharp citruses this would be a good bet, but it's not for me. It's making the back of my throat feel like achy and like I want to sneeze. Way too perfumey, and a floral note has developed that simply isn't me. Bleh.

In the imp: This is a rich scent, and I can smell vanilla, nutmeg and some underlying spiciness that might be patchouli or sandalwood. It's pleasant. Wet: The spiciness comes through stronger than in the imp, and I can see why this might be a gender neutral scent. It's a resinous spice and I like it. It's more subtle than vixen, but has the same kind of sweetness with spicy depth to it. Early dry down: I'm getting hit with nutmeg so much I feel like I'm in grandma's kitchen. It's a nice scent, but very wintry. Not really a scent for the tail end of July, but pleasant. The boyfriend pronounces it "Nice, but not as nice as the stuff yesterday" (which was Vixen). Late dry down: This scent changed wildly over time on me. It started out sweet spicy and has ended up powdery and vaguely floral. It's much more like a traditional perfume than I expected it to be from either the imp or the early stages on my skin. I don't hate it, but neither would I wear it regularly.

In the imp: I smell oranges, but spicy oranges with no sweetness. I would say this is a "thick" citrus rather than a clean one. The patchouli coming through is adding depth and keeping the orange from being cloying. It's not a hippy incense patchouli smell, it's more like a woody, bottom of a grandma's cedar chest smell. The ginger is there, but very faintly. I'm intrigued. Wet: The orange is still the most prevalent component, but that patchouli is kicking up a notch, as is the ginger. After a few minutes, the ginger is kicking up even more, and suddenly the smell has morphed from a warm, kitcheny spice smell to something much sharper. It doesn't smell like incense exactly, but it smells like the inside of certain new age/pagan shops when all the incense and oil scents have blended together to form a strong odor that can't be reproduced by buying one or two types of scent. Early dry down: After about half an hour the patchouli has come to the front and I have almost entirely lost the oranges. They've just completely disappeared into the spice. (I can smell more orange on the wrist I placed the oil on than the wrist I patted against it.) It's not an unpleasant scent, just very VERY patchouli. The ginger is an underlying sharp note which wafts up occasionally. It's a slightly astringent, slightly woodsy and spicy scent which reminds me very strongly of the inside of the palmist's I used to frequent in Boston. Final dry down: After about an hour, the scent faded into a sweet, slightly gingery, warm and food-like scent. My boyfriend stuck to assessments of "vanilla" and "yum" while I thought it smelled like a molasses cookie from the Amish bakery in Shipshewana. Neither of us smelled orange. However, we both agreed that it was a delicious scent. It just smells like me, only better. This one is a definite keeper for me, and I've already ordered a bottle!

In the imp: This is sweeter than I expected from the description and I'm not getting "fiery" at all. In fact, I'm a little dubious of this scent because it smells more like an old lady perfume than anything I would normally wear or order. I can pick out the melati (which I understand is a variety of jasmine) note, and some underlying sweetness which I suspect is that mandarin. I'm curious to see how the dragon's blood develops after yesterday's go-round with Blood, so I'll try it despite my misgivings. Wet: Whew. I don't think this will be my thing. This is very floral on my skin, and I honestly can't detect the dragon's blood under the melati and the rose geranium. I'm hoping these fade, or I may have to go wash. I've already sneezed three times. Dry down: Thank goodness. As time has gone on the florals have faded and the amber has risen to the surface. I no longer smell the sweet note of the mandarin. This has become spicy and resinous. That shouldn't surprise me since my skin tends to retain and amplify resin scents, but in this case it does because those florals were so strong when wet. I can still smell just the slightest hint of the melati, but it's a spicy floral and not a sweet one. I never have detected the dragon's blood. It totally disappeared under the florals and the amber. After the first twenty minutes of wear, this no longer made me sneeze, so that's a plus. It reminds me of some strongly scented powder my mother used back in the 70's. Taboo maybe? This scent has also faded incredibly quickly. I think it has the least staying power of any of the bpals I've tried to date. Several reviewers over in the forums noted that this developed into a soapy smell on their skin and, after it faded on me, I understood what they meant. When I use a strong deodorant soap my skin maintains it all day if you put your nose right up to me and sniff, but it's not detectable is you're less than an inch from my skin. Rage faded just like that. It's not unpleasant, and it's a nice clean smell, but it doesn't dazzle the senses. Final verdict: In the end the scent was pretty non-offensive to my nose, but it didn't "zing!" for me the way my favorite bpals do. I think this pretty much proved to me that I haven't been lying when I say that I just don't do well with florals, no matter what they're mixed with. It was a good learning experience, but to the swap pile it goes...

In the imp: Wow. My first impression is that this is a powerful scent, and very complex. I can't begin to pick out individual notes, but it's a warm, spicy scent with a hint of incense. There's not much underlying sweetness there; it smells like the base is all musk. Wet: This isn't quite as strong on my wrist as in the bottle, but it's still very spicy and musky. I'm picking up just a hint of the saffron as a sweet floral note. (Note: It smells nothing like the saffron rice I've bought from the grocery store, but I'm just like the saffron ice that a friend in Boston once tested on me before serving it at an SCA event. That was made with saffron ribbons, which are apparently super-duper expensive and hard to find.) It's more classically perfume smelling than what I would normally wear, but it hasn't made me sneeze yet. It reminds me just a bit of Samsara, but without whatever it is that makes me head fill up with snot and sneeze uncontrollably. Dry down: As this first settled on my skin the musk rose to the surface and practically overpowered the more subtle spice notes. After about an hour it started smelling like a very expensive men's soap; like something a dashing South American polo player would use. I kept catching whiffs of it and looking around to see which of my male clients had walked into the office! After that first hour, a sweet undertone began making its way to the surface. It's more a sweet floral than a food sweet like vanilla or honey, and I suspect it's the saffron peeking through the musk again. Interestingly, the oil seems to have developed quite differently on my right wrist than on my left. (I apply the oil directly to the left and then blot my right against it as I'm right handed.) On the right, it's much sweeter, with that sweet floral undertone, a very light powdery note and a hint of sweet almond. On the left, it's much muskier and spicier. I suspect that as the day goes on the left will fade to match the right, which will make me very happy indeed. Over all impression: I think this is a very beautiful scent: Complex, bold, spicy, exotic, and just sweet enough on the dry down to be feminine. However, the boyfriend's comment was to wrinkle up his nose and say, "Too powdery." So now, I'm doubting my own power of sniff. I'm going to keep this one though I think. I'll just wear it on the rare occasions the boy isn't around.

In the imp: Very patchouli, but with an astringent or medicinal undertone, possibly from the cedar. Wet: The medicinal quality I sniffed in the bottle is even stronger on my wrist and reminds me of the highly toxic bug spray my mother used to spray us with as children. It's a bitter, medicinal, and very strong odor. Ick. I'm hoping it will turn into the usual spicy scent I get from patchouli on dry-down, with some woody undertones from the cedar. I swapped for this hoping it would make me smell like the inside of my cedar box after I've stored incense in it. Dry down: Unfortunately, prolonged contact with my skin has not helped this one. It has stayed medicinal and unpleasant, and it makes me sneeze. After just under an hour, I couldn't take any more, and I went and washed my wrists in very hot water and sweet smelling soap. After wash: This scent definitely has staying power. After washing with super hot water and Bath & Body Works Cucumber-Melon soap, I could still smell the oil. Thankfully, it had toned it down enough to be bearable. After the soap and water, all I was left with was a vague whiff of hippy patchouli. Later that night I also swam in a pool for about an hour and when I toweled off there was still a faint trace of the odor. This as a rousing NOT! on me, which made me sad because I had such high hopes for it. I think it may be the combination of patchouli and cedar which doesn't work for me, because individually I like both scents just fine.

In the imp: Vanilla extract. It's a thin, alcoholy vanilla scent. Wet: The minute I put this on my skin the vanilla deepened and richened to do away with that nasty extract alcohol smell. On first sniff the amber is just barely present, the vanilla smells deliciously like vanilla pudding, and I'm getting a biting note of something even sweeter than the vanilla. Dry down: The sweet vanilla has given way to the amber. There's still some vanilla left, it only adds a sweet depth to the scent. I don't smell foody at all, I just smell like me, but sweetened. There's a bit of a powdery finish, but not baby powder. It's more like those edible body powders, but in no flavor I've ever tried. If I had to name a flavor I'd say it's some kind of spicy honey. It almost smells like there's sandalwood in there somewhere along with the vanilla and amber. I have to run this one past the boyfriend, but I'd say odds are very, VERY good that this a keeper. Maybe even a 5 or 10 ml scent for me!

In the imp: Mmmm. This smells like dark chocolate hazelnut liqueur truffles. Wet: Still pretty mmmmm, but less chocolate and more cocoa butter with hazelnut. This is the first strictly foody scent I've tried, so I'm interested to see how true it stays on my skin and what my body chemistry does to all these rich/sweet candy notes. Dry down: After about an hour, this scent has faded a lot. I have to stick my wrist right up to my nose in order to get a whiff. Said whiff, however, is very very nice. The nuts smells have come to the fore and I smell mainly of hazelnut with a hint of toffee. There's a buttery base to the scent, which makes it rich and heady. I'm also detecting a very faint note of something cinnamon-like which reminds me of baking pecan rolls. Once again, my left and right wrists (despite having oil applied straight to them both this time) have developed in subtly different ways. On the left, there's a hint of something sharp and alcoholic, like a hazelnut liqueur, while on the right it's much sweeter and more buttery. Final verdict: Darn. Here's what I wrote after two hours of dry-down: "I will definitely use my imp of this, and expect I may crave a larger size come winter. It's really a little heavy for warm weather, but I know I'll wear it when I want to hear the boyfriend say, "I could eat you up." I don't feel gluttonous when I wear it; I feel warm and motherly, like someone who has been baking or making fudge all day for the people she loves." Unfortunately, it is all a big fat lie. Shortly after the preceding statement was written, Gluttony and my body chemistry decided to conspire to become completely bloody evil together. It turned into horrible saccharine smell not unlike a Wal-Mart knock-off of a Bath & Body Works spray which made me sneeze and burst a damn of snot in my head to completely flood my sinuses. In fact, it provoked the most virulent reaction of any bpal fragrance to date. I am so unhappy with my silly hormones I could kick their asses.

In the imp: I smell the cherries right away, and thankfully it's a fresh black cherry scent and not the fake cherry scent I associate with cough medicine. (I've been hesitant to try any of the scents with a cherry note because I loathe that cough medicine smell so much. I'm very pleased to see that my fears were utterly without basis. I should have had more faith the lab.) Under the cherry, I can detect something dark and spicy and a slightly bitter note which I believe is the myrrh. Overall, it's a nice, complex scent with plenty of resin/spice to interact with my skin chemistry and not enough fruit to smell teeny-boppery. It's also an amazing dark red color, almost exactly the color of blood when I have it drawn at the hospital. It would look awesome sitting on my vanity in a glass perfume bottle, so I have high hopes for this one. Wet: Hmm...The cherry is still the strongest note, and it's not quite as nice on my wrist as it was in the imp. Not that's morphed into bad cough medicine exactly...but there's the faintest trace of something medicinal there. I think it may be because the myrrh is stronger on my skin than in the bottle and that is what I'm smelling. Another sniff of the wrist reassures me that the resin is still there under the cherries and the bitter. I'm willing to see how these cherries and myrrh settle in. Dry down: Whatever fears I had that this scent would be too fruity for me have now been safely laid to rest. The cherry more or less vanished after about half an hour, leaving me with a vaguely sweet, incense smelling blend. Once in a while, if I sniff deeply and hold the scent in before I exhale, I can detect the faintest hint of what smells like cherry pits. It's cherry mixed with wood. However, it's very very faint. The clove finally came to the surface after a while, and that's what's providing the sweetness now. Between the clove and the resin, I smell like a palmist's shop where someone smoked a clove cigarette a few hours ago. Over all impression: There is absolutely nothing unpleasant about this scent, but there's also nothing terribly special. The complexity that intrigued me from the imp is gone, leaving me with a nice incensy resin scent. Because it just doesn't wow me like my favorite bpals do, this one is probably destined for my swap pile, but I really can't say anything too negative about it. It's just sort of blah on me. On to the next scent...