Chrysantza

The dry, glorious warmth of the Savannah. A golden, spiced amber, proud, regal and ferocious.

I love amber so I knew I had to try The Lion.

I was not disappointed. This is luscious, warm amber mixed with something spicy and something almost like new-mown hay. It is the bottled equivalent of a balmy but not-too-hot summer day where you can feel the sun on your skin as you walk barefoot through the flowers and grass.

I definitely want to get a bottle - maybe even a big bottle - of The Lion. It's luscious on its own, and will also make a great base-note scent for layering. The Lion is love!

I bought an imp lot from a friend of mine and this was in it.

In the imp: Rich, spicy (VERY spicy) incense and carnation

On me: This is a lovely warm, spicy scent. The patchouli does come out a bit (because I tend to amp the stuff) but fortunately is not overwhelmingly hippie head-shop. Mostly it's honey, amber and carnation.

I never thought I'd like this (I was a-skeert of the patchouli) but I do - it's really lovely.

As everyone else said, this is a pink scent. I envision a very clear, pretty, spring-like pink.

Going on, it has a scent very similar to rose, but not quite. A lovely, feminine floral.

Drying down, some kind of sharp green note comes out. Fortunately, the sweet floral doesn't entirely go away, but I don't like this note that much.

Overall, I find it to be a pretty, springlike, soft and feminine floral. Budding Moon is a bit sweeter, so I like it somewhat better, but Peony Moon is really nice, especially for warmer weather.

I'm also interested in hearing a backup to Haunted = Shalimar, because I'm thinking of getting a friend of mine addicted to BPAL by sending her an imp pack. She loves Shalimar, and I want to include an imp of something similar.

I bought an imp lot from a friend of mine and this was part of it.

In the imp: Crisp green, reminiscent of Calyx by Prescriptives

On me: Hairspray! Alas, not the exception to the rule that green scents + me = smell of chemicals.

This came as a frimp decant in a swap.

In the bottle: Nag champa.

On me: A lot like Guerlain's Mitsouko - a very complex, sophisticated greenish/mossy/incense with floral overtones. I'm reminded simultaneously of a teashop, a New Age bookstore and a forest.

I never thought I'd like this one, because I don't really like neroli and I HATE patchouli. But the Caterpillar is a real winner, and a big change from the florals I usually wear. Definitely a sophisticated workplace type of scent.

Jester is a syrupy-sweet fruit scent. I uncapped the imp and it scented the whole room!

Another vote for Budding Moon! It's so light, floral, fresh and pretty. Venus (celestial) is another one I really like for spring - it's a rose with a hint of herb. Venus is NOT for you if you don't like roses, however.

Delight is a stronger, more tropical floral (rose, tuberose, frangipani and jasmine) which I also like for spring.

In the bottle: Roses

On me: Roses with a hint of green herb. Not sure if it's mint, or what, but it's really pretty. And very feminine, just like the Venus principle herself.

I wore this a few nights in a row because I wanted to be able to be social and charming, not my usual INFP self. And it worked! I feel as if wearing it gave me a dose of confidence and sociability, and the people I met seemed to be charmed.

This is a beautiful Celestial (if you like roses, which I do) and works for me as a personal empowerment oil as well. One of my favorites. I'm glad I swapped for an extra bottle as well as the one I bought!

... Hellebore resembles the wild rose, but does not belong to their family. The scent is a pale green herbal, darkly rooty, with a faint rose and peony-like overtone.

Frimp from...somewhere.

In the imp: Pretty light herbal/green with a touch of floral.

On me: Alas! Yet another light "fresh" blend that I turn to cleaning products! I wanted to like this because it is so pretty in the bottle, but it doesn't work on me.

Someone (forgot who) frimped me this in a swap.

In the imp: OMGCLOVE

On me: Clove, apricot and spice. It's really nice but unfortunately, the clove and cinnamon appear to irritate my skin...so it's off to the swaps.

This is very sweet and pretty. Fortunately, the roses balanced out the lotus which is often horrid and bubblegummy on me. It does start out a bit lotus-intensive but then calms down. I like this one.

I got this as a frimp from the Lab.

In the bottle, it's a woodsy floral. On me, it's a very pretty scent of rose/lilac/woods that does remind me of an antique Victorian parlor. Very dainty and old-fashioned feminine, like dried flowers and gold lockets.

This arrived as a frimp.

In the bottle - orange blossom and patchouli with a hint of spice.

On me: Pure patchouli. It's drowned out the orange blossom. I smell less like a vampy vixen than like Miss Haight-Ashbury 1967.

Off to the swaps.

This is the most delicious, sultry, juicy rose. It's like the combined scents of a bouquet of rich, deep, red roses with hot spiced wine. It's just plain yummy, the kind of scent where you have to stop every once in a while to sniff your wrist.

Definitely bottle-worthy!

Remember, YMMV due to skin chemistry issues, but I have found:

If you like the tropical sweetness of Pele but find it's too faint for you, you might like Delight or Euphrosyne instead.

If you are looking for a sultry rose like the LE The Peacock Queen, try Black Rose or Blood Rose.

Spellbound and Othello are very similar musky/spicy/rose blends.

If you like Morocco you will probably like Baghdad, Scherezade and Silk Road as well.

If you layer Delight or Rapture with The Hanging Gardens you might get a good approximation of the LE Khajuraho.

I get the spicy fruit that everyone else is talking about. It's a lovely, sweet, warm scent if a bit more "ritual" smelling than I normally wear as a perfume.

I have been using this as a ritual oil and let me tell you - it WORKS. It does bust the blocks. Only thing is it is not particular about which ones it busts as I found out this afternoon. Be careful what you work for, etc. But this is a very nice-smelling oil that does work for ritual purposes.

The good news is that, as an aromatherapy blend, Moxie really did work on me as intended.

The bad news is that my skin chemistry makes it smell funny.

It smells very orange in the bottle, with hints of ginger and herbs. On me, it smelled kind of like a wet sponge with orange juice. My skin doesn't really like most citrus scents and prefers the sweet, and Moxie is not sweet.

But I wore it to a class I had today where there was a LOT of group work and intense interactions with other people, aka INFP Hell. And Moxie really did work in giving me energy and courage to put up with it. However, next time, unless I absolutely have to take it with me, it's going in a scent locket or oil burner.

This has an overpowering smell of sweet fruit candy, like Starburst Fruit Chews. All I had to do was take the top off the imp and whoa fruit candy!

And on me it was the same. I smelled as if I had bathed in fruit syrup. It's not a bad scent - in fact, it's rather pretty - but it's just not me, not for a personal scent. I might save the imp for a room scent though.

This is somewhat sharp in the imp but dries down to a very pretty, sweet, light floral. I can smell the magnolias and jasmine, and the amber adds a nice balance. I'm not sure if I want to get a bottle but I will probably keep the imp.

You might also like to try Black Rose - rose, amber, and musk. On me it smells very rosy with the amber and musk deepening it and keeping it true (not too sharp or soapy).

And I second the votes for Spellbound. It's also rose/amber/musk but this one has more musk and amber, balanced between all the elements. Black Rose is rosier. But both are absolutely gorgeous.

In the imp, this is a light and pretty rose with a whiff of spices.

On me, it turns into a cross between those little rose-scented guest soaps and potpourri. I like rose, but I prefer something richer and not soapy, like Peacock Queen. This is just a little too generic "rose perfume."

Off to the swaps.

The Lab threw this in as a frimp with my last order.

This smells very almond-y in the imp and dries down to a delicious, almond-cookies-with-milk scent. But alas, it's a very faint cookies-and-milk scent. I put it on only a half-hour ago and can barely smell a thing now. It's a lovely scent but not for me as my skin eats scents and I need something that packs more of a punch.

I was gifted with an imp of this and it's been sitting around for a while, so I thought I'd try it.

In the bottle: Very foody, coconut/caramel/butterscotch.

On me: Ugh. Tobacco with a sharp note, plus stale smoke. I do smell like a nightclub but not in a good way.

Off to the swap pile.

I wasn't sure about this when I sniffed it in the imp and put it on. Wet, it smells like some kind of cocktail made with very sweet liqueur.

Drying down, it reveals itself to be like Katharina, drunk, having taken an aphrodisiac, and in sexy lingerie. The apricot gives the white floral and vanilla sweetness a real kick. It's a delicious sweet fruity/spicy floral.