CrazyPretzel

My experience with Tupapau seems to be the same as porcelain's - it's quite bitter and dry and not very nice on me. I do find it rather soapy... and it fades quickly. Win some, lose some!

This? Is SO damn good! Think plum compote simmering away on the stove - not those big wishy-washy tennis ball plums that we typically get here in the southern US, but small sleek super-rich and sweet plums that you get in pastries in Germany - plus masses of creamy spicy (almost peppery!) carnations, and a breath of dry smoky chrysanthemum. Rich, shimmering, sexy, and utterly delightful.

Wow, I'm surprised at how light the lemon in this is, given that lemon & lemon verbena are the first two notes listed! Makes me think of tiny white flowers drifting in the breeze and a little sprinkling of lemon sherbet. Sadly it lasts all of half an hour on me. I'll have to try it in a scent locket.

A paradoxical scent experiment! - tangerine, sugared lime, pink grapefruit, oakmoss, lavender, zdravetz, and chocolate peppermint. Fresh on, this is strong playful citrus with an undercurrent of sharp lavender. I can detect just a bit of coolness from the peppermint; overall it's very fresh. Just as the oakmoss & lavender-like zdravetz start to get a bit funky, I get a strong scent of sweet oranges - is that the sugared lime maybe?

Anyone else notice that Nyx has practically the same listed notes as Wicked, but in a different sequence and with the addition of the qualifier 'night-blooming'? I couldn't wear Wicked as it was rather too voluptuous and, well, slutty, to be frank, but the jasmine in Nyx is a softer note and the trio here makes for a soft, powdery, soothing scent. The throw from this is very lovely indeed; it has a sweet and mysterious feel. I might have to slather this one today.

On me this just smells like the sexiest apple cider, *ever*. I love BPAL's apple note!! The frankincense is a dry, non-foody spiciness. I don't find the peach and rose to be too strong as individual notes, they just provide a gorgeous backdrop to the apple, honey, and rich spice. Wonderful!

For the record, I dislike lotus and wouldn't have selected this scent for myself - so I'm really glad fairnymph frimped me with it, because I like it a lot! I'll repeat what others have said before: the lime *really* ties this together wonderfully, making florals that might otherwise be too heavy sweet and tart. I don't find the lotus to be very prominent in this, especially after a few minutes. Playful and lovely; makes me think of a young girl with ribbons in her hair.

Wait.... whoa, what? I could *swear* this is a mislabeled imp of Dragon's Bone. It's definitely dragon's blood (by sight and smell!), and I thought I could detect a trace of cinnamon at first. As it dries though it very quickly takes on that trademark dry, powdery, tickle-the-back-of-my-throat orris scent. And dragon's blood. Weird.

Initial impression: sweet, lush, juicy tea rose and soft rosewood. The rosewood comes out more strongly on my skin, along with a somewhat dry and dusty Spanish moss note. There's something candy-sweet in here too; probably the mandarin. Hmmm. I really do like the florals in here, but something about that moss note is disturbingly off, like an out-of-key instrument in a symphony. It makes the whole smell just a bit too dirty.

Fresh, I can smell lavender and musk - though there's no musk listed! Quite fresh though. As it dries, the lavender softens and I get a bit of spice from the carnation. There's a slight fruity note hovering around in the background of this one and I have no idea where it's coming from! (Maybe it's something else I'm wearing ) The mosses are deep, soft, and earthy, but fresher-smelling than, say, patchouli.

Lab frimp, and not one I would ever have thought to try. But actually it's a success! I get no bittersweet wine from this at all (happily), and it's a surprisingly fresh salty aquatic with gorgeous lush green palm notes. No seaweed or fishiness. Very beach-y

Hmmm... mostly getting smooth leather and tonka from this, and the tonka is unfortunately just a bit too foosty on my skin for me to really wear this one successfully. Interestingly (or not) I don't get any of the listed booze notes at all.

Fresh on, this scent has a gorgeous deep grape note, which I suppose is the merlot. That fades slightly on the skin and leather pops out after a couple of minutes. The rose, violet, and myrtle aren't terribly strong; this is mostly a combination of leather and deep fruity grape with the flowers just softening things a little.

I am completely in love with wisteria, lavender, and soft rose, so I was really looking forward to trying this scent. ViolaVanWilde is right about this blend smelling like really *nice*, super-expensive soap. The lavender goes on a little bit sharp and astringent but smooths out beautifully as it dries. The wisteria is a honey-sweet floral right behind the lavender, and the white sandalwood is a little bit dry and tickly in the back of my nose. Overall: dry, soft, sweet, and soothing floral. Utterly lovely to wear at bedtime; makes me feel like I've just climbed out of a warm bath and have slipped into clean sheets in a long lace nightgown (even though I'm unwashed and just have my pajama trousers and a big t-shirt to wear).

The only thing I got from this was strong red musk, with an especially fruity flair (though not recognisably grapefruit or strawberry). It's not bad but I have nicer red musk scents soo....

This one is very interesting. At first it is a strong medicinal smell, a trifle akin to Listerine, which I suppose is appropriate for a scent named after a drug. As it dries the sassafras warms up - and I for one was *not* thinking root beer, actually; more like a very soft woodsy vanilla scent. There's a touch of myrrh, dark and powdery. I can't identify opium in this one (one of my favourite notes), and the nutmeg is not noticeably foody to my nose. Soft, dark, powdery, and spicy, with sweetness and a little ribbon of poison running through it. Apparently this one's not wildly popular, but I love the aura of it and may get a 5ml when my imp runs out.

Hmm.... not a wow-er on me; slightly dusty and the fig goes a little bit plasticky. I think I have fig issues.

Uruk opens with a blast of almond (which is not particularly bitter, by the way!) but that soon settles down. The first other discernible note is saffron. With the cinnamon and red patchouli in there, I can't quite figure out why this smells as *clean* and *fresh* as it does, but there we are. Maybe it's the lilies and bergamot doing that. The jasmine in this is a little powdery but it is not heady or cloying, so those who don't like jasmine will probably still be able to wear it. I also don't get a strong scent of cinnamon from this at all. It's a fresh, sweet, slightly powdery blend with a bit of incense sparkling away in the background. Kind of nice! I'm going to keep my imp and wear it some more to see how it goes.

There is no cinnamon in the listed notes.... so why does this smell so much like Harlot to me? Wet, this is definitely a spicy rose, and when it's dry the plum comes out quite strongly. Ultimately it's a sort of potpourri-ish scent that doesn't really dazzle on me, so I'll swap it.

Initially this smells surprisingly dark and spicy - that rum really means business. I think Heavenlyrabbit's right; there might be a little bit of cinnamon in the 'spiced' half of 'spiced rum'. The pineapple is not as forward and fruity as it is in Rangoon Riptide. After a minute or so on my skin, the vanilla steps up, and that's when this starts to get really good. This is a creamy, sweet, and spicy scent more than a fruity one. I can see frances92307's point that there's something a little Christmassy about the spices, but I can definitely smell pineapple and coconut in here and that keeps it firmly tiki rather than tinsel. The more I smell this one the more I love it. Such gorgeous spices! And the bikini babe on the bottle is adorable

Hm. I really like the pomegranate note in this one, which is super fresh and juicy, but I'm less enamored of the martini element - the alcoholic note seems very thin, watery, and astringent to me. I guess I just don't like gin!

This smells totally awesome, like big glistening chunks of sugared honeydew melon. The sweet melon phase doesn't last longer than half an hour on me, but it's definitely good enough to merit the trouble of reapplying.

I concur with Emu Nymph about the sugary-ness of this one in the wet stage; I thought the dark sweet rum note smelled a little bit like the sugars from Sugar Skull. Once on my skin though the fruit starts to come out - pineapple first and then it morphs into an awesome sweet & tart fruit punch blend! It really does smell like a great big bowl of fruity rum punch. The rum note in here is deep, rich, and a little sweet. It is not a bitter alcohol note so don't be scared. Full-on rum and fruit like a beach party should be.

This is my favourite of the Dark Elements scents so far. Initially it's a blast of sweet lotus (of which I'm not a fan), but the mint combined with it makes for an intriguing blend. Once on my skin, the heady sweetness of the lotus settles down in about ten minutes and the juniper starts to come out. The end result is subtle, dark, and cool; very appropriate for the concept.

I have to admit I didn't actually have the courage to try this one on my skin, as the vetiver was SO. DAMN. STRONG. Vetiver and leather were the two most dominant notes in the imp, quite earthy and bitter. If you really love vetiver I suppose you should give this one a whirl...