WidgetAlley

I wasn't originally going to purchase this, as the notes didn't leap out and grab me, but after Fritz's post about this oil evoking the Horned God, I had to buy it for my beloved, since I've always gotten a very strong association between the two. And, well, it was delivered to my house. And it was BPAL. BPAL I hadn't tried. The outcome is inevitable, right? Shh, don't tell! In the bottle: Unnnnngh. Mmmmm. Aaaaaaah. And other such noises of appreciation. I can smell a gorgeous, glowing patchouli, rich dark honey, sweet, slightly oily beeswax, green balsam (I think this is either the fir or the poplar kind of balsam, it doesn't smell like a flower), gently astringent juniper, the blue-green of oakmoss and a beautifully fuzzy musk. There's a slight bitterness which I suspect is the Samson root, since Samson root is just another name for echinacea, and echinacea tea has a bit of a bitter taste to it. The ambrette seed is even harder to pick out, but there's something in there that resembles a gentle, almost floral-ly musk, that might be it. Ohhhh. This is incredible. It's strong and earthy and fairly masculine while still being golden and not "heavy"-smelling. In fact, it's surprisingly light. Oh ye Gods. I love this. This is wonderful. Wet: Whoa! This went salty on me for a second! Cool. Odd, but cool. In fact, it's still just a touch.... corn chips? CORN CHIPS? No! Skin! You can't do this to me! I'm going to give it a minute to mellow, here, but if my skin turns this beaut into @$!%& cornchips on me I'm going to leap into a crackling bonfire just so I can get a SKIN GRAFT. Okay, the salt has died back to a managable level again, although it's definitely still present (allow me to say... WTF?) Mostly what I get now is a nice, mellow honey-beeswax-patchouli-trees smell... it's quite faint, unfortunately, but it reminds me of a gentle embrace... that turns into kissing... that turns into making out... that turns into doing the horizontal mambo on the floor of a forest. I can definitely relate to whoever said this was like being pressed between a very virile man and a tree. Honestly, this is some seriously sexy stuff. I couldn't possibly tell you why, but... rowr. It's in a completely different way than Smut... this isn't just a romp through the forest, this feels far more sacred and ritualistic than that. Dry: A dry, sweet, earthy blend of patchouli, honey, beeswax, oakmoss and balsam. Everything else hovers and fades in and out, while the musk provides a velvety, almost tactile base. I can barely smell this, but what I can detect is... indescribable. I am, however, suddenly desperate for the company of a certain male: not so much the physical aspect (although that too!), but rather just the presence of masculinity. I really don't think my skin allows this to blossom as fully as it might, but this will be fantastic, even if nothing changes, on the Boy. While the scent is lovely, it's the effect that really seals the deal for me: like being hugged, resting your head against your favourite person's chest and hearing the rumble of their voice deep in their chest, and being sexed up in the middle of a glade, all at once. Someone is definitely not allowed to wear this outside of the house. It's also worth noting that, as I finished this review, the most beautiful gold-and-black moth landed on my wall. He let me pick him up, just in my hand, and didn't even struggle. When I opened my fingers to let him fly away again on the back porch, he crawled right over to my wrist and sat there for a full three minutes, waving his antennae at me, in no hurry to leave at all. Even the moths feel welcomed by Luperci. [edit] When I tried this last night, I forgot Aunt Flow was due in the morning. I think that's what's making this go just a touch wonky on me. I'm going to give this another shot when it's not the full moon and update if anything changes.

Frimp in a swap. I need more fruity blends. In the Imp: A sharp blend of fruit and... neroli. (I have to keep reminding myself it's neroli, not carrots! For some reason my nose likes to register neroli as "carrot!" Perhaps I was a rabbit in a past life.) I definitely get raspberries and that same delicious, creamy blood orange I remember from The Haunted Palace. Hmm, the smell from a few inches away is quite nice, but up close this is a bit overwhelming. The neroli has a slightly bitter floral edge I'm not terribly keen on. Sinister fruit! Wet: Powdery and bitter-sharp, now, like the smell of bent orange peels up close. A deconstruction of the notes would go something like this: Blood Orange: "Lalala! I am here to make you smell good!" Neroli: *stomp* Raspberry: "Heeyyy, man, that was my friend! You can't just go stomping on people's citrus pals, that's not coo--" Neroli: "I am l337 h4xx0r. STFU, n00b!" Raspberry: "......" Neroli: "MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Pwned." Dry: After a while, this settles down into a well-blending mix of all three notes (perhaps the raspberry slipped Neroli some sedatives.) It's powdery and sweet and really, really reminds me of Sweet Tarts, which I love. I can see how this would be lovely, fruity and stinging, on the right person, but on me, the neroli just makes this too offputting. By the time the neroli is finished establishing dominance and settles down for a nap, the scent has already faded.

Purchased off a co-habitant of the alchemylab LJ. *waves at rhovanion* In the Imp: A bland floral that reminds me of the smell of unscented (or "original" scented) bodycare products. Must be the sweetpea. There's a strong musk note, too, giving a sort of golden-velvet feeling, and something sharp and dry and a touch green that can only be the sage. I can't pick the tonka out specifically, but I imagine that's what's giving it such a strong sweet note. I expected an overall impression of pink from this, but instead I get a light cream and a smell reminiscent of upscale lotion. Not a bad thing by any means. It's pretty and girlish without being too fluffy, if that makes sense, just very natural. Wet: Musk and sage pop right out, making this quite pleasantly herbal and warm, then a still-soft-but-slightly-spicy floral note that I can only assume is the notorious sweet pea. The musk is definitely the "pale" musk rather than the white one; the white one goes either sharply clean (Embalming Fluid) or sort of vanilla-esque (Dublin) on me, and this musk is sort of... fuzzy gold-cream-brown. I swear there's something in here that's almost like sassafras: bubbly and brown and sugary. Tonka? In fact, when I put my nose right up against my wrist, it's sort of like a flowery root beer, or maybe Dr. Pepper. I think it's the combination of sage and tonka. It's nice though, not too loud but not undetectable, either. Didn't someone before me say tea cakes? I can see that. Johnson's Baby Oil and sunblock as well... not that it smells like them per se, but rather that it has an impression of creamy-sweet softness, like something you'd rub into your skin. Relaxing and spa-like. Dry: It's a bit powdery now, but in a pleasant way, not an annoying one. The notes have settled and mixed until it's quite hard to pick out anything individually: I think the sweet pea and musk are on top at this point, mingling to form a lovely, sweet, white-gold sort of smell, with the round, vanilla-without-the-vanilla-like tonka backing. The sage lends things a very slight herbal tinge and keeps the floral from becoming cloying or too high-pitched. Verdict: I wasn't too keen on this at first, but Aeval just keeps growing on me. It's soothing and makes me feel cool-fresh even while the actual scent itself is warm and comforting. It gives off a very welcoming, feminine air, nurturing and tender, and registers as "good smell!" without being perfumey. I think I'll hang on to my Imp for those times when I want to make someone feel as though I and my house are a place of rest. While I'm not all that crazy about the blend itself, I have to say, Aeval is a bit like being hugged by a beautiful woman and invited to relax while she makes you tea. I love the way this makes me feel.

Frimp in a swap with 13bodies. I was just thinking how I need more oakmoss in my life. In the Imp: Woo! Strong, sinus-clearing juniper berry (gin!), followed by a spicy, incensey, earth chaser that almost smells like a very rich cinnamon. I can detect the myrrh, and the patchouli, and I think the oakmoss is what's giving it that springy, blue-green note. Mmmm... it's a bit like very dirty, intense cookies. Er, in a really good way, though. I'm lovin' this. Wet: Myrrh! Myrrh always goes a touch salty on me in the opening stages. Behind that I get the dirt-aquatic of oakmoss and the sting of juniper berries. I can't pick out the patchouli by itself, but it's definitely in there, rich and dark and not too woody-sharp (unlike, say, Depraved.) I can see all the dark forest floor comparisons, but this is surprisingly light-wearing on me. I mean, it's dark in tone, but not so much in actual intensity of scent. Not too much to wear, anyway. The overall impression is just a bit like a spicy, earth-dark floral, without actually being floral in any way, shape or form. It almost reminds me of a feral Laudanum. Dry: Myrrh, oakmoss, patchouli and just a touch of tart juniper berry. Daaamn this stuff has some throw, too, and will, I suspect, last forever. I love it! Earthy-dirty-floral-wood-aquatic-sweet-spicyness, in the most appealing way possible. I can't see wearing this every day, but it will be perfect for certain occasions, and is surprisingly sexy, too. I'm going to have to keep an Imp around at all times.... maybe even a bottle. Hunh, funny how the ones you would have never tried are always the ones that blindside you with their awesomeness, eh?

Acquired from a swap. In the Imp: Hmm. This isn't what I was expecting, exactly, but I like it. I can smell cedar, the slightly peppery blend Beth uses to simulate leather (that just doesn't show up as leather to my nose... ), some kind of golden musk, and dry, spicy amber. It does sort of give the impression of being parched, and also quite masculine. Cedar's on top at the moment, that might be why. Wet Amber, musk, cedar and something sweet, like berries, mixed with yellow grass. I think I might actually be getting a little doeskin, too... not the smell so much as an impression of the texture of suede. This is surprisingly gentle and pleasant (which is good, because I just slung some all over my desk. What is it with me these past few days? Imps have been slipping out of my hands left and right.) The wood has receded to a faint background, the musks are soft, the amber not overwhelming, the berries add a bit of zest.... this is so light as to be almost not there. Once again, not what I was expecting, but me likey. Dry: I have to sniff hard to smell it, but what I can catch, I'm diggin'. It's a very, very soft, fuzzy (furry?) coat of amber, musk, cedar, and grass, with just a twinge of.... hmm, blackberry, maybe? Raspberry? Some kind of berry. It seems to me to have more in common with a mother coyote nuzzling her pups than the trickster in the stories, but nevertheless, I'm keeping this Imp. It will be perfect for days when I want to feel cozy, but don't want to overwhelm everyone around me with perfume.

Dorian and Toooombstooone, which is the thickest, richest, gooey-est vanilla ever. Mmmmmm.

I can't smell leather. Roses almost never work on me (either soapy or overwhelmingly sharp.) So why was I drop-dead excited when this came up in a swap with the faboo 13bodies? Well... it could be all the "iron hand in a velvet glove" reviews. Or all the mentions that this is Wanda's punk little sister. Or the way I think roses and leather encapsulate me perfectly: rough-and-tumble, a bit tough, durable and versatile... but secretly a little femme and just a touch romantic. My brain tells me this will be a trainwreck... but I can't resist. Come on, Whip. Don't let me down, baby. In the bottle: Roses! A very toned-down version of the same wet, greenly fresh rose I get from Rose Red, only with the vast majority of the biting pomegranite-ish note tamed, and the rose note itself much lusher and more heady. I love it so far. It smells like a perfect red blossom open just to its fullest, most crystalline extent. No leather yet, but that's no surprise, considering I have yet to be able to smell leather. A promising beginning. *prays* I'm almost afraid to put this on my skin, for fear it will turn into Irish spring soap and weird spicey pseudo-leather funk. Wet: A slightly alcoholic rose, like roses tinged with vodka and greenery, and then..... nothing. It just faded right into my wrist! What? No soap? No mauling of a beautiful scent, crazy skin? Just poof-- gone? Is my nose dead? No. That can't be right. If this is going to be a disappointment, it's damn well going to be a better disappointment than this. *runs off to get the coffee and clear her schnoz* Aha! That's better. Maybe I shut down the old olfactory organ for some mysterious reason... I can smell the rose, now. It's clean, and fresh, without being overly soapy, and OH MY GOD IS THAT THE LEATHER? Did I smell leather? Put the phones on hold, I have to sniff my arm! ... Wait, no, false alarm. It's the greenery putting in a second appearance. *mournful* Dry: It's gone again. There's a tiny dab of clean, pretty rose left on my arm, and that is all. .... At least I can say this one let me down gently, right? Right? *weeps*

I got an empty bottle of this from kakiphony, and whaddya know, there was enough left for a slather! In the bottle: Oh wow. I wish my baking smelled like this. It's a sweet, rich, creamy-butter brown sugar note, backed by something nutty that reminds me of hazelnut coffee sans the actual coffee. Must be the chestnuts. There's a touch of something smoky-cedary here, too, and a drizzle of golden honey. Positively mouthwatering. I'm dyin' over here. Wet: Firesmoke and dry cedar at first, calming down into yummy chestnuts sprinkled with sugar and honey. The opening stages are a little sharp, but the wait is worth it. It's almost a bit like a smokier, less vanilla and more sugar Tombstone. Positively divine. It makes me want to curl up in front of a roaring fire and read a novel full of thickly-written prose.... I think there might be just a touch of pipe tobacco in this, too, there's a full "brown" smell swirling through everything that's quite pleasant. Over time, the honey and sugar become more and more prominent. Dry: Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.... *hums* Nuts rolled in smoky honey and melted brown sugar. The cedar is still detectable (this seems to vary depending on where I place the oil on my body-- odd, that), and so is the tobacco, but by the far-far drydown, this will be almost all delicious toasted sweetness. I never got any pine at all. I adore this, and would never have expected to, but for me it's the ultimate "snuggle up and read" blend. I have at least one Imp on the way-- not enough to completely fill my bottle, not by a long shot, but it will make it feel a lot less empty inside! I can't wait to settle down in bed with The Hobbit and Hearth!

I got a 1/3 bottle of this as a freebie in a faboo swap with... I think it was cool_chick. Might've been dawndie. Now I don't remember! I feel so bad. Thank you so much, whoever it was. In the Imp: Whooooooaaaa. Overwhelming, leap-out-and-punch-you-in-the-nose spring greenery... like green flowers, not green leaves or shoots, if that makes sense. Jasmine, maybe some rose, something else GREEN GREEN GREEN! I'm pretty sure the oil is is even coloured a strong yellow-green (hard to tell, with cobalt glass.) It's... not what I was expecting, I'll say that. Not sure if I like it yet. Er. Yeah. Wet: The same powdery floral I get from Bearded Lady-- must be a certain variety of rose-- and strong jasmine! Not quite as scarily sharp as in the bottle, much lighter and more floral, although still fairly earthy for a floral... not in the sense that it has earth notes, but it's not very airy or aquatic like most florals. It's grounded. There could be a touch of apple in here, too... it's still quite green, but a lot sweeter and more pleasant, now. There could be tulips, here, too. Pleasant at the moment but fairly unremarkable. Dry: A good deal quieter now... I can detect jasmine, grass, rose, some other kind of heavy floral (tulip, lilac, carnation... I don't even know), and something faintly lemony. Black amber, perhaps? Maybe real lemon, although it's fairly sweet. I also get a vague impression of tea from this. All the flowers are definitely freshly cut; nothing antique or subdued about this one! Verdict: Unfortunately, this one ends up smelling like soap and a tinge of rubbing alcohol on me. Woe! *sighs* Beltane is my favourite Sabbat, too. I will just have to make do with the florals that behave on me when May Day rolls around... off to swaps.

A frimp from the faboo HoneyHoneyNY. I love vanilla, but it's sometimes plasticy or playdoughy on me (as in Golden Priapus), and I'm unsure about cedar, so, um. This could be awesome. Or my skin could rip its lower intestine out, decapitate it and leap up and down on the mortal remains, cackling. (Whoa. Evil skin.) In the Imp: Oh. Yum. I smell an almost honey-ish vanilla, pleasant (not overwhelming) cedar, something evergreeny... must be the balsam... and that shadowy rootbeerish sassafras note I love so much in Laudanum. Wow. This smells rugged and manly and really, really delicious. *crosses fingers* Wet: Vanilla! Straight-up delicious vanilla that's not going all weird on me! Yeehaw. It's got a wonderful, earthy tingle from the sassafras, and the most incredibly delicious, dry cedar and balsam backing. It's like Christmas in the Wild West, or something. I'm reminded, somehow, of Firefly, which is never a bad thing at all. The vanilla is the most prominent note, sticky and gooey and somehow a little antique, but it's balanced extremely well by the other elements. Dry: The same. The richest vanilla imaginable, layered with not-too-sharp cedar, and very slight hints of bubbly brown sassafras and green balsam fir. Hasn't faded a bit; brilliant throw (I'm getting hints of vanilla a good three feet away from my wrists); brilliant scent close-up... really it's just brilliant all around. Verdict: I have a dilemma concerning this scent. Do I keep it all to myself, or do I slather it on my boy and jump him in the middle of an open field on a hot July day? This is one of the few BPAL vanillas I've tried that stays utterly true on me, and the other notes are perfect, too. Definitely a big bottle contender.... Oh, forget the boy. He's got his Golden Priapus for that. Tombstone is all mine, baby, aaaall mine. "Tombstone: Because, when you get right down to it, who doesn't want to smell like Malcolm Reynolds?" [edit] The late late final drydown of this is cedar-touched vanilla candles! For some that might be a heartbreaker, but only the other day I was thinking how much I love the smell of vanilla candles, and wishing I could find a BPAL that smelled like them....... so much for Tombstone.

Miss roxann_ireland gave me a chance to try the fabled Hexennacht. I can't thank her enough! I just had started a mad passionate affair with Blood Moon... I'm going to be awfully annoyed if this one grabs me by the hips and ravishes me, too, considering how ridiculously difficult it is to track down! In the Imp: Musk! Musky musk musk musk, a dark, writhing sort of musk, backed by rich wine and berries and cold forest and bon(e)fire smoke. I have to say, this might be the first BPAL I've had where I can unerringly pick out every single part of the blend and the scene. This is uncanny. And slightly unsettling. Wet: Dry smoke comes forward first, quickly followed by sweet-tart berries, apples and the richest, bloodiest wine imaginable. The musk in here is black, maybe not in scent-category but in feel. This is being alone by your campfire with eyes watching you in the darkness, or maybe (as maewitch said) lying naked next to a handsome stranger with a gleam in his eye, miles from anyone who could hear you scream. Blood Moon was wild, but this.... this is downright creepy. Dry: Hexennacht swirls around itself so complexly I have trouble picking things out beyond an impression of flashing maroons and browns and greens and pitch black. Lone wolf howls and distant firelight; low chanting; masked and hooded figures in white through the trees. The final drydown is sinister musk, shadowed by deep, complex evergreen notes, all wrapped up in wine and poison apples berries that are not eaten, but crushed by the handful, as the deadly juice runs down wrists and drips from fingers. I would have to be in a very specific, hateful mood to wear this, but nonetheless, it's so damn evocative, I'm definitely hanging on to my Imp. It'll be perfect for sniffing while reading Clive Barker... just not while home alone.

Got an empty bottle of this from an LJer, and, whadya know, there was enough for a slather! In the bottle: Strong, dry cinnamon sticks! Mmm. Spicy and hawt. I get something like sandalwood, too, and I know there's red musk lurking in there too. Something sweet as well, maybe honey? This is very nice. Quite feral and wild. I can sort of catch a whiff of the grain, too. Wet: Cinnamon attack! That's okay, though, I love cinnamon... mmm, yes, cinnamon, sandalwood, musk, something a little sugary-- vanilla? Tonka?-- a sort of bread note.... This is lovely. Very, very similar to Sin, too, must be the combination of cinnamon and sandalwood. Much sweeter, though, I must say. This is aptly named, it really does recall a hunt or a wild night late in the fall. There's a surprisingly fresh green note in there somewhere, not a pine but something more aquatic... cypress, perhaps? I think it's part of the "traditional lunar oils", since I get this part from a lot of Lunacy blends. Dry: Foresty, spicy, sweet and smoky all wrapped up together. I smell cinnamon, sandalwood, ozone/some kind of tree note, vanilla/tonka, and velvety soft red musk. This is so.... wild. It makes me want to romp. Seriously. I feel like hauling a pretty boy out into the woods and just.... mauling him. Dammit! Now I have to hunt down more of this. *sigh* It's worth it, though. Every time I sniff my arm, I snarl a little bit. .... Er, in a good way.

Frimp in a swap with roxann_ireland. I have no idea which year this is... In the Imp: Okay, what? Call me crazy, but this smells strikingly similar to Devil's Night. I don't think they have any notes in common.... maybe that's whatever Beth uses for "autumn winds"? But it really, really does. It smells sugary and musky and a little cinnamony (aha! I see there's cassia in All Saints'), with a breath of something churchy behind that. Not getting any florals yet. I can definitely pin down the frankincense and myrrh-- a sort of boozy incense note, the same as in Midnight Mass. We'll see how this one goes. Wet: Sugary-- ohwait. No. Never mind. That immediately vanishes and is replaced by a strong, musky, soapy (#@$%!!) rose, with the almost alcoholic overtones of frankincense and myrrh above it (seriously, one of those-- I think frankincense-- smells almost like vodka on me for the first few minutes. And myrrh goes just a touch salty.) Nonetheless, this is surprisingly soft and yielding. I can smell the Lily of the Valley floating on top, a high, watery floral. There's something almost citrussy in here, too, perhaps the gardenia? The cassia combined with that mysterious sweet note adds an almost vaguely foody background which is very pleasant. Dry: A much drier rose, combined with smoky incense and musk. Most of the sugar seems to have burned off, but the cassia is still lending it a bit of bite. Doesn't seem to have a lot of throw, per se, but it's very strong when I stick my nose in my wrist. It's also gentle, sophisticated and solemn, but in a quiet way, not a stern one. This is unexpectedly womanly, too, I can't really see a man wearing this. Verdict: This one's gorgeous, and I'll probably test it once more to be sure, but I don't really think of it's my bag of bones. It's a bit floral for me, and I have Midnight Mass to cater for my Holy Church moods. I might send it home with the Boy, though, for his mother to try... she's Catholic and would, I think, appreciate both the thought and the reference.

Got this as a frimp in a swap with Ms. Density. Mad loff, gorgeous. With my newfound luck with BPAL's dirt note, I'd been wanting to try this quite a bit... In the Imp: Mmmmmmmmaaaaaack. <-- That's a fair approximation of the noise I made upon first sniff... this is all spicy gingery cocoa goodness for about half a second, and then I'm smacked in the gob by a really, really strong dirt note. It's not the wet rich loam I remember from Jazz Funeral, nor is it the red grave dirt that so unsettled me in Zombie... it smells a bit like potting soil: fertile but very very dry. If I take a proper inhale I can smell other stuff lurking behind it, but it's a bit hard to tell what the other notes are. The soil note is kind of scaring me. Think I'll apply with a light hand. Wet: (This one's quite viscous, too. Cool.) For the first thirty seconds, this is All Dirt, All the Time... then other things start to emerge, softening and sweetening and lightening, thank heavens. I can smell something a little powdery, something a little spicy, something a little bit like cocoa. There's something incensey swirling through the background.... It's surprisingly pleasant, as bizarre as it sounds, and I'm pleased the dirt is being kept in check. I can see how, if you removed that, this would be very femme. Dry: I'm getting what might be a light floral, now, but mostly it's still an indefinable haze of earthy sweetness. If I had to take a guess at the notes, in addition to the obvious dirt, I'd say.... ginger, cocoa, lily, violet (I think that's what's providing the powdery smell), sandalwood and something sugary. Maaaybe dark or red musk, maaaaybe black amber-- there's definitely something anchoring the entire blend beautifully. And, yes, it is a little creepy, but not so much that I couldn't wear it. I have mixed emotions on this one. On the one hand, it's amazing. On the other, I'm not sure I'd ever actually wear it. I can't think of many situations that call for smelling like I'm a Noir heroine out for revenge. On the other other hand, the name is brilliant and I love how evocative this is.... I think I'm going to have to sit on it for a while, and see how often it gets pulled out. Funny how a little glass vial can hold so much story.

Acquired in a swap with the fabulous moonmouse. I'm not terribly familiar with the Lunacies as a whole, and this is by far the oldest oil I've tried from BPAL... but aging is good, right? I just hope I don't fall in love with it, since I never see any up for swap. In the Imp: Whoa, what is that? It smells really, really familiar... I think it's the wine. Amazing. It's a surprisingly light booze note, though, not in terms of volume but in terms of intensity... perhaps a white wine rather than a red one? I really like it, but it's about all I'm getting so far. There's a bit of musk, and I might be able to smell just a touch of grain, in the background, but it could also be my imagination. So far it does smell very autumnal. Wet: Dry! Dry and a little dusty... very much like crunching leaves underfoot. There's bon(e)fire smoke in there, too, I think. The wine note has faded into the background, but it's still adding a slightly tangy edge that I like very much. (BPAL's wines seem to like me.) I'm not picking up much in the way of forest or night sky, though. It's very warm and smokey and dry, almost incensey in a way. Smells sort of like a bookshop, in some indefinable way. Dry: The wine is back, and the whole thing has rounded out a good deal. It's still very dry and autumnal: I can smell rich wine (much redder now), berries, grain, musk, smoke.... hmm, very nice. Verdict: This is really pretty, but I'm kind of ambivalent about it. I'll have to wear it a few more times.... but I think it's going to be a swap. I just don't love it as it deserves to be loved, y'know?

Frimp from a swap with the lovely cal_steph. Let me just preface by saying, I'm reviewing this one by memory only. And hooboy, was it a weird experience when I wore it last night. In the Imp: Oooh. Mmmmm. A refrigerated blast of violet, accompanied by mint and eucalyptus, and just a tiny hint of orangey neroli, softening the whole thing. Very bitchy, powerful, and coolly in control. (Or so I thought.) Like Numb, but less clean and more frigid. Seriously, in the Imp, I loved this, it was all rigid ice and one raised eyebrow. Wet: Regal violets, powdery and haughty, with clarion mint and eucalyptus. Very simple, very powerful... would make a perfect office scent. Conjures up images of dark-haired beauties with perfectly groomed eyebrows and power suits. Kind of sexy, in a "I look good and I know it... but you'd better pretend not to notice or I'll dock your wages" way. A woman you want and know you can't have. Dry: Wait-- wait--- are you ready for this? The ultimate proof of how wacky my skin is? Yeah? You think you can handle it? Okay, get ready, 'cause.... Carrots. WTF!? Seriously! This goes irredeemably carroty on me! Something to do with the coldness of the mint and eucalyptus accenting the orangey smell of the neroli (which finally came out to play).... it's not identical, and I can pick out all the individual notes if I concentrate, but the overall impression is so much of those little sticks of beta-carotine, I just can't get past it. Too bad, I really liked this at first. I'd like to give a big old shout-out to my body chemistry, which takes the nicest things and turns them into #$%@!!! vegetables.

Frimp in a swap with the fabulous roxann_ireland. An unreleased! I'm so excited. *bounce* In the Imp: The piniest pine that ever pined, with a citrus chaser... no, wait. That's not right. It's not citrus, it's pineapple! It smells just like the dried stuff I have in the kitchen. Mmmm. The pine is nice, too, violently green, just like when you take those big round waxy pine needles (not the little thin ones) and bend them. This is dazzlingly bright, sunny and sharp. I can see the comparisons to cleaning fluid, although (for me anyway) that's by no means a bad thing. Woo! I feel way more awake already. Wet: Pine and pineapple and..... something fuzzy. White musk? Maybe amber? I have the feeling there's a bit more foliage in here than what I'm picking up on. There's lavender too, unless I'm terribly mistaken, and maybe some grass-- I get a tickly green spice scent that reminds me of the smell of a fresh-cut lawn. This is lovely and crisp, the transition from winter into spring wrapped up into a little glass vial. Perfect for a day like today, when the sky is sunny and blue and the clouds are fluffy, and there's a feather-light dusting of snow on the ground. I think this may be the most straight-up old-school out-of-doors blend I've sniffed yet. I'm diggin' it. Dry: Noooooo! It's already fading. The pine has mostly burnt off and what's left is bright, sunny pineapple, that fuzzy whatever (musk? Amber? Peach?), lavender, grass, and whatever's giving that impression of wide-open spaces without being ozoney. It's beautiful, but it's leeeeaaaving meeeeeee..... *clings* It can't do this to me! If this lasted longer, and was available, I'd buy a BIG bottle. It's gorgeous. I'd use it in my oil burner, on my hair, my sheets... wearing it is like having a crisp, cool spring day on your skin.

I might add that Embalming Fluid, Shanghai and Santa Eularia des Riu all help relax and calm me, and have been known to make pre-menstrual headaches vanish (sweet sweet Embalming Fluid... *snuggles*)

Got this in a swap with the beyond fabulous cal_steph. Since it's actually snowing here (first snow of the year... in February? WTF?), I thought this would be appropriate. My expectations are of something sweet, spicy and snuggly. In the Imp: Oh yum. Heavy cinnamon, something rich and creamy and clear that can only be honeysuckle, and a golden resiny sort of smell shot through with the dry spice of myrrh. Oh wow. Mmm. This smells... freakin' incredible. It reminds me of Beaver Moon, only more spicy and complex. Can I drink this? Please? No? Oh well. Maybe I can satisfy my craving by dumping this Imp all over myself, letting it drip to the floor and then rolling in it? *slathers gleefully* Wet: Cinnamon! Powdered, though, not the stick kind, or even cinnamon frosting. It doesn't burn on my wrists, but I stuck my face in it, and got some on the tip of my nose, and that's a bit ouchy. I'll have to avoid rubbing my eyes, in case I have any on my fingers.... This is drying out a teensy bit, becoming more like a very very sugary cinnamon incense rather than a cupcake, but I'm okay with that. It has a teensy tiny bit of the same slightly round playdough scent that Beaver Moon does on me at first, but I'm hoping that, like the Beaver, that will burn off as this dries. It's still.... oh, let's face it. This is orgasmic, playdough note and all. Sticky cinnamon buns and cinnamon incense and sugary golden warmth; if it keeps on like this, it's going to end up being the ultimate cuddle scent. Dry: Honey, cinnamon, spice, warm resin... mmmm. Still a tad playdough-esque, but it's not enough to bother me. Verdict: Logistically, this is strong, has good throw, and I think will last quite a while. Aesthetically, this is a little more bakery-esque than I'm used to, and, unlike most of my other blends, it's very friendly and sort of puppyish, rather than aloof or sexy or downright beautiful, but I'm willing to expand my usual repetoire if it means I smell like this. This wouldn't be an everyday scent for me, but it would suit certain playful moods perfectly. Unless something goes drastically wrong, this goes on the big bottle list... maybe not at the top, but not exactly at the bottom, either.

Got this in a swap with the faboo cal_steph. So much . The only lotus I've tried before was in Undertow, which I really liked, but which also, unfortunately, lasted about five minutes on me. Wah. So we'll see how this one fares. In the Imp: That distinctive sticky-sweet lotus scent, but clouded by something dry and resiny. I can really smell the myrrh (same as in Laudanum!), and the sandalwood... not the amber, though. But then, I can rarely smell amber in the Imp, I have to wait until it's on my skin. The star of the show is definitely the lotus, though; I know a lot of people think lotus resembles bubblegum, but I really don't get that. It's very sweet, that's true, and very round, but to me it's patterned differently: floral, aquatic, vaguely spicy and a bit minty. Thumbs up so far... Wet: The sandalwood takes over for a minute, then the lotus rallies, briefly reclaims my wrist, and is stabbed in the back by the smoky myrrh. (Maybe they're all fighting over the amber?) Eventually they settle down into a triumvirate rulership.... I have to say, this is nowhere near as lotusy as I expected. The sandalwood and myrrh are keeping it in check... in fact, it almost smells like lotus incense; still lotus, but dry and slightly dessicated. I wonder if I amp spices? Everyone else seems to say it's too much lotus on them, but right now I'm sort of wishing it had a bit more... I should also add that this is very faint on me at the moment (although that's hardly an indication of how it will be tomorrow-- the "volumes" of blends seem to go up and down depending on the day and the weather.) Dry: Smoky, hazy myrrh, bone-dry sandalwood (I think white?), indolent and threatening lotus... and a backing of what I think might be black amber. Amber usually comes off as very friendly, but this... not so much. Black Lotus is quite heady and thick, and really does evoke images of desert sands, slowly flowing water and the gritty sludge that happens when the two mix. Very shadowy and slightly unsettling, in some strange way (somewhat like Undertow, actually-- I wonder if lotus puts me on edge or Beth is just really, really good at creating malevolent blends?) And, did I mention, it smells pretty damn awesome, too? Verdict: I really like this, even if I do wish the lotus was just a touch stronger. Still, I like the way everything cooperates on my skin (for once) to create something incredibly nice to sniff but still a little offputting.... I can definitely see Imhotep from The Mummy smelling like this (er, when he's not a rotting corpse with half his face gone, that is.) I'm not sure about a big bottle-- I'll have to try a few other lotus blends first-- but the Imp is a keeper. I'll use it when I want to feel sinuous, sneaky and powerful.

Caveat lector: I tried this last night and am basing my review purely off of memory. Normally I wear an oil as I review it, but I have a ton of new scents to test and review (hooray!), and this one was pretty simple, so I don't think I'll be too far off. Oh, and this was a frimp in a swap with the seriously awesome dawndie. In the bottle: Patchouli. Hooboy, is that some patchouli. Might as well be patchouli single note for all intensive purposes; I'm not catching even a whiff of the apricot. It's strong and sharply woody, not unpleasant but quite powerful. (But then, I like patchouli.) This is definitely black patchouli, too, none of the slinkier, more seductive and subtle red stuff like in Snake Oil and Sin. It smells exactly like the ancient bottle of black patchouli essential oil I have in my cabinet, in fact. Wet: Patchouli attack! After a minute or two, the apricot comes up and rounds this out nicely, sweetening and lightening the blend without really registering as a fruity smell unless you know what to look for. I do wish it would come out to play a bit more, but the patchouli still has center stage. Dry: Pretty much the same. Fibrous black patchouli, a little woody, a little sharp, made wearable and, actually, pretty nice, by the apricot. This sucker is strong, good throw and lasts for ages; straightforward, and doesn't really conjure up any images or emotions for me, it's just a scent. If the two notes were equally balanced, I think I'd love this. As it is, I'm debating: I don't have a lot of Imps for everyday around-the-house wear, and this might be good for that... but then again, I might find something I like better in a swap. We'll see. Either way, this is a fantastic blend for patchouli lovers, and elegant in its simplicity.

Got a bottle of this in a swap with the fantabulous dawndie. Mad love, gorgeous. Let me preface this by saying, I was kinda "Eh" about swapping for it. Strong florals aren't really my thing: rose has been known to go soapy on me, jasmine occasionally eats every other note in a blend, I'm just not a huge fan of violet, and I'm slowly facing the realization that vanilla sometimes isn't the deliciousness I always hope it will be on my skin. But the bottle I had to swap was Rose Red, which really, really didn't work on me, and I hadn't tried much from the Carnaval Noir line, and I do really like amber, lily and honeysuckle (and jasmine and rose and vanilla, when they don't freak out.) So what the Hell. I could always swap it again, right? How very wrong I was. This one is staying with me. Forever and ever. In fact, I might have to hunt down another bottle. Or two. Me/Bearded Lady OTP!!!!!11eleventy *cough* Right. On with the review. In the bottle: I don't know what I'm smelling, but it's damn sure not registering a floral. The thing that hits me first is an impression of powder, but sophisticated and femme powder that a beautiful lady dusted on just before stepping out, not gross baby powder. I smell vanilla, golden amber, and.... lemon? Yep. Something in here is registering as distinctly lemony to my nose: not so much the tart, citrussy lemon of, say, Embalming Fluid, but rather a sweet lemon sugar. It could be the amber-- doesn't the amber note in Haunted have a lemon tint? There's a faint impression of flowers floating on top, but they're hardly the main attraction. As nice as this smells in the bottle, it comes off as a little perfumey and traditional for my tastes, and I had my misgivings at first. Wet: Oh SWEET asdfjkl; .............. *swoon* Lemon. Sugar. Seriously. It smells like you took a bowl of powdered sugar, dumped lemon syrup in it and scraped vanilla beans on top. There's a gorgeous base of golden amber, and a lovely overlay of what I suspect is rose, but isn't screamingly floral at all. Just a nice, slightly more grown-up touch to a really, really delicious concoction. The kind of 'fumey edge dies off straight away and the powder tones down a good deal: it's there enough to give an impression, but not enough to annoy. The throw isn't very strong, but what there is is identical to the stronger scent on my wrists. Gaaaah. So.... good. Dry: The amber comes forward a little more, and the sweetness dies down a tad, making this much less childish, but still absolutely It's almost like a girlier, less tea-ish and musky Dorian. This stays true until most of the notes vanish about three hours later, leaving a gorgeous amber that will linger for ages; not great staying time on the top notes, but enough. I really, really love this. I want to slather myself and my surroundings-- nay, I want to roll in it-- but, alas, I only have the one bottle! I may have to remedy that. This one's in my top ten, baby.

I hear pennyroyal is good for cramps, so maybe some Pain on your tummy?

I swapped for a bottle of this on LJ with a lovely lady called cool_chick. In the bottle: Hooboy. Yum. I definitely get the clove, cinnamon, and peppers... and something golden and round that must be the honey. Hmm, smells like Gingerbread Poppet. It has the same thick, sweet, syrupy feel-- like spiced honey. Stronger on the musk, though... which is lending it a vaguely funky note that I'm not terribly keen on. We'll see what it does on my skin. Wet: A burst of dry spice, quickly followed by warm, dripping honey. Smells almost like a mulled cider without the apple. Very delicious and kitchen-y... but what's that? Is it a touch of plastic? Oh noes! It is. Here's hoping it burns away on the drydown. *crosses fingers* The musk in here is really quite strong, and while it doesn't smell odd any more, I'm not sure it really jives with the blend overall, either. Cinnamon. Clove. Acrid pepper and grounding honey, followed by a slightly unwashed musk. I want cookies. Dry: Most of the plastic has burned off, unless I stick my nose directly into my wrist, and the throw is all spicy yummy cookies, backed by fuzzy musk. This is really, really nice, but it's not smacking me in the gob and screaming, "You love me!" It's not terribly unusual or striking, just pleasant, and there are so many BPALs that are striking and unusual I feel kinda bad holding on to one that's just meh on my skin. I might keep an Imp, but I don't need a whole bottle. Swaps.

Frimp from the Lab .... wonder if they're trying to tell me something? In the Imp: Strong... something. Wow. This is hard to pin down. It's a very unified, coherent scent-- so much so it almost smells like a single note-- but what that single note could be, I have no idea. I think I'm getting some patchouli, ginger, and an earthy sweetness that might be fig, and definitely the fruity-but-sinister currant. There's something else in here that's very dry and hot, too, almost ashy. Vetiver, maybe? Some vetiver smells like sweet, fuzzy golden grass on me, and some smells exactly like wood ash. Whatever it is, it recalls the rained-on remains of last night's bonfire, mixed with the sharp scent of the local red clay, and only a faint kiss of rich dark wine lingering in the air to remind you of the previous evening's revelry. Wet: The same strong ginger I get from Siren, only cut by the woodiness of the patchouli. The fig is a slightly sweet brown background, the currant a sinuous hint that reminds me of spilled drink. This is my first experience with date, but I imagine that's what's adding the slightly sweet topnote. The vetiver seems to have softened a little; still quite burnt, but not so strong. Something about this reminds me of an herbal tea (not the brew itself, but the dehydrated loose leaves.) There's nothing shy or delicate about this one, ladies and gents. This is languid, entitled debauchery, right here. Dry: Date-fig-currant slinking through patchouli-ginger-vetiver. A little sweeter, now, but that's about it. This is still very indolent, shadowy and earthy. A sort of dark brown fruit blend, not bubbly at all, underscored by dirt and wood. It's very evocative and really quite pleasant (and still reminds me of tea!), but I don't think I'd ever wear it. It's just not very me, y'know? Off to swaps.