Ghost of a Rose

Lab frimp aged about 4 years. In the imp: sharpness - ginger and pepper Wet on me: Wow, this really is reminiscent of milk tea sweetened with honey. Accented by the pepper and ginger. After 5 minutes: I'm picking up almost all of the listed notes. That never happens! And glory be, no dominatrix vanilla. Just enough to give the impression of milkiness. After 15 minutes: It's sweet, the honey is showing strong. For honey, that is; it's always a gentle, more subtle note. And now, with an impression of florals - that has to be the clean linen. This isn't foody at all. I'm not sure if it is strongly or realisticly floral enough to be a short-list favorite, but it's edging awfully close. I love the tea note - I'm a tea-lover and tea notes never seem realistic to me. Especially black tea, which is by far my favorite. But this comes very close to that, too. It helps that this is a milk tea, not a plain (no milk) sweetened black tea. It's also a gentle and mild perfume that might be a suitable choice for wearing in public places. After 45 minutes: Now it's all clean linen. Another scent I really like, but not as interesting and unusual as the milk tea. After 2 1/2 hours, it's powder, honey, and a hint of spice. Still quite lovely. Verdict: This doesn't quite make me swoon like the Rose in Viola and The Peacock Queen or the golden Amber in The Lion does, but I do love it. It's going into my Favorites box. A bottle might be in my future. 4.5 out of 5 stars

Tea leaf with three mosses, green grass, a medley of herbal notes, and a drop of ginger and fig. Lab frimp aged about 4 years. In the imp: Oh my, is this beautiful! It reminds me so much of my beloved and deeply-mourned original Clairol Herbal Essence shampoo. I've been looking for a replacement for that for years. Is this my Holy Grail at last? On me, wet: the same gorgeous green herbal scent, but now with a tiny tingle of ginger added. But very quickly (only about 5 minutes), the whole fragrance has become very light already, and less like Herbal Essence. Still a lovely green scent with florals and ginger, though. Close enough. After 30 minutes: Quite faint. I wish this beautiful scent was stronger and lasted longer! The ginger has faded away, and I don't detect any individual notes. Just that perfectly blended and balanced green Herbal Essence vibe. After about 2 hours: I am surprised at how long this is lingering, after the quick die-down in the beginning. It's very soft, but still there, and is stable - the scent doesn't change much. Which is a good thing, in this case. 4 hours later, the close-in throw has actually gone a little skunky. But that doesn't matter because it is so faint. And past time to reapply anyway. With my nose practically touching my skin, I still get a hint of Herbal Essence. Verdict: This would be a good one for wearing out in public places. It's so light that it is less likely to bother people who are sensitive to perfumes. Otherwise, I'll want to wear it in the scent locket. To maintain the strength and the closest resemblance to the Herbal Essence shampoo. So is it the Holy Grail? Yes! Especially in the locket. 5 out of 5 stars. Thank you so much, labbies!

Lab Frimp aged about 4 years I had this on my wishlist, having apparently forgotten I had it. So of course I was delighted to find it! I love all of the notes except for vanilla. But I don't mind a little, as long as it stays in the background. I'm hoping it smells like sweet pea and amber, especially. In the imp: vanilla, amber, and sandalwood. Everything but the sweet pea. On me, wet: much sweeter, almost a fruity scent. Kinda like artificial pineapple extract. Too foody for me. No vanilla, but a different foody note is almost as bad! After about 30 minutes: almost all vanilla, and sugary-sweet. Sigh. I totally agree with those who mentioned cotton candy. Which I have never even liked for eating. After an hour, it's mostly just plastic, unless I get my nose right up close. Then it's still vanilla, less sweet now. A couple of hours later, shortly before the scent disappears entirely, there is still the plastic. But up close, the vanilla has gone, and finally I get the mild spiciness of sandalwood, along with some amber. But to be honest, it's too little, too late. And I never got so much as a hint of floral. Several hours after that: I had thought the scent long gone, and was busy doing some chore that brought my arm up closer to my face, when I noticed the most wonderful fragrance wafting around me. Like a beautiful soft baby powder, but even better. I love the scent of baby powder and am definitely not one to complain about notes going powdery. Some kinds of amber do this on my skin. It's very beautiful now, but I have other perfumes that I love the whole time I am wearing them. Verdict: 2 out of 5 stars. Too sweet, too foody, too much candy, and way too much vanilla. Vanilla is my note of death. Totally not my thing. Oh well, you can't win them all. I'm grateful to the labbies for giving me the chance to try this for free, so that I can save my money for a blend I will like better.

Frimp from the lab, aged about 4 years On me, it's cinnamon and wood, and stays that way. No tea, alas - a realistic black tea scent is my holy grail. But I was distracted while wearing this, and didn't try too hard to find the tea. Maybe I'll try it again in a couple of days, when I can pay more attention. The cinnamon sweetens on drydown, which I like. It's not really my thing (I love florals), but it is quite nice. I will enjoy it occasionally as a change from the usual. Thank you labbies! My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Frimp from the lab aged about 4 years In the imp, all I smell is a bit of wood. On my skin, wet: This is surprising me. With all those floral notes, I expected to love it. But on my skin, it's just a generic women's-cologne-for-the-masses. No realistic flowers at all. After 10 minutes, I can pick out a bit of violet, but it's still predominantly a light cologne. After 30 minutes, all light cologne again. It's okay, pleasant enough. But nothing special. My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Somewhat aged imp, maybe 4 years old. Wet: I adore this. I love the scent of Amber, and this is totally it. 100% amber. It brings back such lovely memories of a lump of amber resin I used to have in a little carved soapstone box. After about 10 minutes, cinnamon and something incensey - sandalwood? - have come out to overpower, but not annihilate, the amber. I am surprised by how much I love this! I usually enjoy, but don't love, unisex perfumes like this one. Florals and such, very feminine scents, are more my thing. It must be the amber. After about 30 minutes, the cinnamon, sandalwood, and amber are perfectly balanced. After an hour, the sweetness of the amber predominates again, with sandalwood a bit behind it, and a faint tingle of cinnamon in the background. After several hours, the cinnamon and most of the sandalwood is gone and it's a soft, very sweet - even vanilla-ish - amber. The sweetness gives it a more feminine feel. The Lion is beautiful in all of its stages! So, apparently golden amber is the one for me. I should wear this in the scent locket, to maintain that beautiful 100% amber. But I also love the complexity and interest that the lower notes give. Maybe I should wear it both on my skin and in the locket, even at the same time sometimes. I never would have thought to try this, thank you, labbies! I'm thrilled to discover a unisex/spice/incense blend I love as much as my usual florals! My rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Gorgeous fragrance, but doesn't last very long on me. I'll have to try it in a scent locket.

Imp aged about 8 years In the imp, I don't get much fragrance. Just a faint whiff of old oil. Wet on my skin: There is strong coconut and just for a second, an even stronger sweet something that's soooo familiar, but it is gone before I can identify it; leaving just the coconut. This now smells exactly like the artificially flavored coconut pudding I had in a frozen TV dinner a couple of nights ago. I mean this in the best possible way. I loved the pudding; it was very sweet, creamy and smooth. I preferred it to real homemade coconut pudding which is less sweet and has all those fibrous shreds of coconut. The milk note is not noticeable but no doubt contributes to the pudding "flavor". I love smelling this, and wish I could eat it. But I wouldn't wear it out in public. I dislike foody perfumes. I'm pretty sure most people around me would like the throw of this scent, but I don't want to smell like something to eat, or - even worse - like I've been pigging out on dessert all day. It would be a great atmospheric scent for the kitchen. I tried putting on another drop of oil to see if I could get that vanished mystery note again in order to ID it. But no go. It must be overwhelmed by all the coconut from the first drop. The pudding I ate tasted like it also contained some almond extract. Could that be the very sweet, very familiar, mystery note? No almond is listed in this blend, but I've heard that Beth doesn't always list all of the ingredients. After only 10 minutes, a lot of the sweetness has dissipated. After 20 or 30, the coconut has faded significantly as well. It's still distinguishable, but now I can smell that old oil again as well, turning the overall fragrance plastic-y, like one of those little scented dolls. After about an hour and a half, the old oil/plastic note has settled down into a pleasant hint of waxiness playing in the background to a frontman of soft coconut-vanilla. It will always be too foody for me to want to smell like this to other people, but it is lovely for me to sniff. On me, this lasted longer than I expected, given the other reviews and how quickly the scent lightened up at first. Verdict: I strongly suspect that the old-oil note (perhaps Shea butter that is past its expiration date?) and the lack of any watery note may be due to the age of my imp. It would be interesting to try a fresh sample. I would not wear this scent out anywhere or often, but will keep it to occasionally wear at home, just for fun and variety. 5 out of 5 stars for wearing at home 2 stars for wearing in public (but that's just me)

Frimp fresh from the lab - thank you! In the imp: Not sure I like this. VERY strong and smoky. Intense. Almost all smoke, with a hint of incense. On me, wet: Pretty much the same. But I'm liking it. It reminds me of campfires and woodsmoke. Makes me want to go camping. There's some clove oil, too. The intensity calms down to some extent pretty quickly, but it remains strong and smoky. Upon drydown: It has lost much of its intensity, but remains smoky and fairly strong. Lots of vetiver, which gives it some earthiness as well. And very incensey, with that added touch of clove. Really quite pleasant, and certainly surprising. After an hour or two, it even becomes soft and gentle, but still the same scent. It doesn't morph at all. Verdict: 4 out of 5 stars. I wouldn't want to wear this every day. Or out in public, because of the strength, and because other people might dislike it. But at home, as an occasional change from my usual floral favorites - sure!

Imp fresh from the lab In the imp: Super-sweet pineapple. WTF? In a blend that lists only floral notes? But that's what I get, and that's all that I get. It's an artificial pineapple "flavor," like some kind of pineapple-flavored hard candy. On my skin: The same. This is probably the sweetest BPAL I have, and I have at least a hundred, maybe two hundred. So that's saying something. I don't get any floral notes at all, but then I don't know what those flowers smell like. I'm sure I've smelled lilies but I don't remember the scent. I've never noticed any fragrance from crocuses. And I have crocuses in my yard. I'll have to remember to get up close and personal with them when they bloom again next year. But that's a bit difficult with a flower so small and close to the ground! Upon drydown: The sweetness and the fruitiness have lightened up a bit, but it remains basically the same scent. And still plenty sweet. But I can almost see how this could be a floral scent if it wasn't so sweet. Like a blossom buried in sugar. Maybe it's one of those floral-infused syrups, like rose syrup or lavender syrup. But pineapple still wins, really. I have to work at it pretty hard to imagine any flowers in this. After an hour, what remains of the fragrance is mostly just a bit of plastic. But that's okay, because I would want to reapply the perfume once it gets this faint anyway. An interesting thing: When I sniff around the cap of the closed imp, I do get the florals that were absent in the open vial and on my skin. Aha, now I remember the fragrance of lilies! I wonder if that's what the oil will smell like once it has aged a bit. Or if that's what the throw smells like to people standing near me. I hope so! It's much prettier!

I'm working with an old imp that has been stored in a cool dark place. A light floral, with just a hint of water and greenery. Smooth and subtle, this would be a good one for work. I don't identify any specific note. That could be due to the marrying of the notes with age, or because I don't know what tulips or peonies smell like. Which is odd, because I've got tulips planted in my yard! I've never noticed any scent from them. I have to remember to get up close and personal with them when they bloom again next spring. Many hours later: As light as this is, I am surprised at how long it has lasted. The fragrance is faint, but still discernable. And without a trace of plastic or powder. Yep, perfect for the office. My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars. It might be higher with a fresh bottle. Or not. I'll have to try one to see. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fresh frimp straight from the Lab. In the imp: Flowers (I can't tell the tulips from the peonies, I'm not familiar with either scent), aquatic, a green note that is herbal rather than grassy to me. Not the like the grassy notes I love in some of the Mad Tea Party oils, but this is a nice green too. All the notes are present and accounted for! Very bright and light-feeling. On me, wet: Very aquatic, which nearly always smells like men's cologne to me. The flowers are lovely, though. I don't get as much green as I did in the imp. At 5 minutes: The sharp/bright/aquatic/men's-cologne aspect is gone already. I miss the water and the brightness, but not the men's cologne. But I guess I can't have one (or two) without the other. Only the florals remain. At 10 minutes: It's totally a rather unusual soft floral perfume now. Almost a single note. So pretty, if perhaps a little boring. At 20 minutes: The florals have lightened, letting the green and watery notes show through again. But this time without so much sharpness and brightness; thus without the men's-cologne. So now it is more complex and interesting again. There's just a tinge of citrus, maybe. Lemon? Not enough to be obnoxious (fruity or like cleaning products.) At 30 minutes: The lemon note is a little stronger. Otherwise everything is the same. At 1 hour: No further changes. At 2 hours: It first went very plastic, and now is virtually gone. Verdict: A light, bright, spring floral perfume that is a bit different. Yes, I do like the fresh imp much better than the aged. You get more of the aquatic and green notes, which makes it brighter and more interesting. 4 stars out of 6

My imp is fresh from the lab. I haven't smelled the original either. I thought "eucalyptus" too! Lavender is one of my favorite scents, but this type and concentration is way too piercing and medicinal. Fortunately, within 10 minutes it has calmed way down. Gradually the violets take over to become the dominant note. After drydown this becomes a violet scent accented by lavender. Very nice. I haven't noticed any musk or vetiver. I like white musk a lot, so I am hoping it will show up as the final lingering bottom note as it often does on me. Later: It did. It's faint, but there. Along with a trace of violet. Still quite lovely, without any of the plastic tone that my skin often distorts scent into, near the end. A little powdery, but I'm fine with that. It's the white musk and is pleasant and subtle. My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This. This is the fragrance I've been looking for for decades. The one I wore all through high school in the early 1970's and had never smelled since. I have purchased and tested dozens of bottles of patchouli oil through the years, only to be disappointed every time. They smelled NOTHING like the patchouli I remembered. I didn't even recognize their scent as patchouli. But the moment I opened this bottle, I was instantly transported back 45 years, on a wave of nostalgia so powerful it almost hurt. Hippies, check. Head shops, check. Me at 14, check. This. is.The. One. 5 out of 5 stars

Lab Frimp 2018 Sniffing the vial, I get an immediate reaction: I KNOW this smell. Really, really, really know it. Something I've smelled 10,000 times. But I'm racking my brain and can't come up with a name. I gave up thinking logically and just let my mind wander while sniffing. It only took a moment for a picture to appear in my mind. Very detailed and vivid, and, yes, it is a scene I've seen a thousand times. My Mom's white ceramic Christmas bowl, painted with red and green designs around the rim with a Christmas tree in the center. And in the bowl lies a half-peeled tangerine, with some stem and leaves still attached. A couple of peelings lay upside down beside it, but all the fruit segments are still intact. I can see the rough, wrinkled skin of the peel that's still on the fruit, and the gap between the peel and the pulp (the reason why tangerines are so easy to peel.) Yep, that's it. Tangerine. And only tangerine. The scent in this oil is every bit as real and vivid as the image in my mind. I lived in the Phoenix area until I was 56. Every house I lived in had lots of citrus trees, including tangerines, oranges, and grapefruit. The house I grew up in had 3 different varieties of tangerines, among other citrus trees. And all winter long, while they were in season, that bowl sat on either our dining or coffee table, filled with tangerines. Apparently that was the designated tangerine bowl. I don't remember oranges or grapefruit ever being in it. Those were always in a huge brown Melmac bowl. So yeah, I know the scent of tangerine. Once applied to my wrist, the tangerine note diasappears quickly. Just as well. I don't want to go around smelling like something to eat, so I wouldn't like this blend if the tangerine stuck around. But it was fun since it lasted for such a short time. From then on, it's a mild violet. There seems to be something else there too, especially as time goes on, but it's too faint to identify. Maybe a soft musk or amber? Personally, I don't get any watery note at any time. Maybe a bit of green with the tangerine in the beginning. That would be the tangerine stem and leaves. I have no idea what tangerines, or any of the other notes I perceived, have to do with water, or Our Lady, or her famous cathedral. I've been there, and didn't smell any of those things! But never mind, it's a nice scent, and I do love the name. Pleasant and discreet, a perfect everyday perfume. My rating: 4 out of 5 stars P.S. My parents still own that house (although it is now rented out because they need 24/7 care) and the citrus trees are still there.

Discontinued Category: Mad Tea Party With three of my fave scents (gardenia, lavender, pear), this sounds promising. In the imp: clear amber color oil. The fragrance is sickeningly-sweet and very fruity. The pear and gardenia overpower everything else. Ugh. Wet on my skin: There is a hint of incense in the throw, but up close it is the same ultra-sweet smell as in the imp, with an added sharp woodiness. At 10 minutes: The lavender note develops within minutes, which goes a long way to counteract the excessive sweetness. I like it much better now. After a few more minutes, a faint undertone of woodiness kicks in, and the incense begins to strengthen. By the 10-minute mark it is a lovely and far more complex blend of gardenia, lavender, and incense. The pear has already vanished. At 20 minutes: Now a softer, pretty scent of powdery gardenia with some depth from the wood and a trace of spiciness from the incense or resin. At 30 minutes: Mostly a beautiful soft gardenia, although the wood, incense, and resin are lurking in the background if you know to look for them. At 1 hour: Gentle gardenia and warm resin. At 2 hours: Faint. Mostly resin with a little gardenia. At 3 hours: Barely a trace remains. Verdict: I'm glad that I gave this a try instead of rejecting it after that initial cloyingly sweet whiff from the imp. This gardenia-based blend turned out to be one of my favorite perfumes! I'm bummed that I didn't buy a bottle before it went out of production. Wear it in a scent locket if you want the pear note to last, but I vastly prefer it after drydown on my skin. My rating: 5 stars

Mmm, I love this one! Warm and spicy, but not in a foody way (I don't like foody scents on me or my linens.). This is more like incenses mingled with spices - exactly what I'd expect a bazaar in Morocco or India to smell like. It gives my room a lovely incense-y fragrance without the stale-smoke aftermath that you get with real incense. The various notes blend so beautifully that it is difficult to pick out individual scents, but I think I can detect sandalwood (the incense aspect) and that the spicy aspect is coming from the ginger, peppercorn, and cardamom. My rating: 5 stars Later ETA: I always write my review before reading other peoples' so that I won't be influenced by the opinions of others. After reading the other reviews, I was amused to see that ianastar had written a sentence that said almost exactly the same thing as one of mine! After aging 4 years: Clove is the first thing I notice. Which isn't even on the long list of ingredients. And other spices. This is definitely a foody scent now, but still very complex, exotic, amd lovely. Still one of my favorites!

In the imp: Mostly incense, with undertones of fruit and rose. On me, wet: Pretty much the same - primarily an incense perfume. But with a tiny bit of fruitiness and floral, which now is a blend of both the lilac and the rose. After 10 minutes: First the plum and then the florals are coming out more strongly, but the incense still dominates. After 30 minutes: The throw is of spicy plum, with the spice note coming from the frankincense. Sniffing my wrist up close I can smell the lovely florals, with lilac the stronger and rose in the background. After 2 hours: Still mostly incense, although now the myrrh is now at least equal to the frankincense. There's still a trace of fruit, but the florals are mostly gone, lingering only as a faint powdery undertone. After 3 hours: A subtle spicy fragrance of frankincense. Verdict: I would like this even more if the frankincense and myrrh were less strong, to allow the plum and florals more of a presence. But I do like it a lot. It does impart a sense of "purpleness." It would be good for the office, since it is not ultra-feminine. Just don't apply too much, as the incenses are pretty strong. My rating: 4 stars

In the imp: A very complex scent, in which it is difficult to identify individual notes. I do get woodiness and vetiver especially, then florals, and a touch of citrus. On me, wet: Again, the woodiness and vetiver is strongest, but now I get the lavender next, then citrus, with the florals almost equal to the citrus. There is a sweetness to it which nicely balances the earthy wood and vetiver. After 10 minutes: It is losing some of the sweetness and the freshness of the citrus. The patchouli has come into play, but subtly blended with the sandalwood, musk, and vetiver. There's a musty note to it now that does create more of a death-like mood. The lavender is more prominent than before. I don't pick up any mint at all, which to me is a good thing. After 20 minutes: The mustiness has increased. It reminds me of cut flowers that are wilted and past their prime - very appropriate to the concept. I do get just a little mint now, but it is very subtle and well blended with the lavender so that the note is a slightly sharp ozone rather than candy. The sandalwood, musk, and vetiver are still the strongest notes. After 30 minutes: The floral lily note has faded away, making this now more of an ozone-y masculine scent. The wood and earth notes give it depth, and there is a hint of warm spiciness - probably from the geranium. The mustiness is still quite apparent. I'm thinking that may originate from the geranium as well as from the vetiver. After 1 hour: The ozone sharpness lingers, like in a men's cologne. But the sandalwood and musk notes add some lovely softness, warmth, and depth. The mustiness is gone now, as is the earthiness of the vetiver. The bit of spiciness still remains. After 1 1/2 hours: The ozone note is now leaning towards lavender. After 2 hours: Weaker, but otherwise pretty much the same as at 1 hour. The more distinct note of lavender that I noticed half an hour ago has now faded back into the overall blend. After 3 hours: Still there. Less woody now, more of a fresh clean scent. After 4 hours: Only a trace of the scent remains. Verdict: Nice enough, but not really me. I see it as more of a guy's scent. I'll keep the imp and use it when I feel like wearing something different, but I won't need a bottle. My rating: 3 stars

Daemonorops is a rattan palm from Asia; one kind of Dragon's Blood Resin is made from the fruit. The cinnabar is a bit of a mystery, as the word can refer to several different things (none of which I'm familiar with.) At first, I pick up mostly incense, wood, and spice (something clove-like but milder.) There's also a hint of vanilla and a bit of an aquatic note (again mild, not sharp or piercing as such notes can often be.) This is a very smooth blend, without any notes that stand out in particular. That makes it hard to characterize - I'd say it falls into the "incensey" category, but even the incense is not especially prominent. It is a unique but quiet blend that I think would be pleasant and non-intrusive to almost anyone, and in any setting. I don't get any whiff of chemicals that would make me think "laboratory", alchemical or otherwise. But that is a good thing - who'd want their home or office to smell like chemicals? After a few minutes, the geranium comes out, with its characteristic pungent, spicy, slightly bitter note. But here, it is toned down like all the other notes. There's just enough to notice it, not enough to be actually pungent. To me, it just smells like plain geranium - no trace of rose or any other floral-type note. But then, I thought the same thing about a rose geranium plant I used to have, so the note does strike me as authentic. Once dried on the pillowcases, an ozone-y note appears that imparts aspects of coolness, men's cologne, or - yes, perhaps a chemistry lab (only the pleasant-smelling chemicals!) This blend is not as long-lasting as some of the other Atmospheric Sprays, and when sprayed on my sheets and pillows was gone after 6 hours. But that's long enough. Later, when I sniffed the sprayer top of the empty goblin, I did notice some rose and other florals, which made me like this even more. And even then, it wasn't heavily floral, but nicely balanced with the other notes. Interesting, and lovely! Verdict: An excellent choice for an all-purpose room freshener in situations where there will be people who have varied and/or unknown tastes. It would be nice to have a full bottle. But for an incense/spice blend, I like Exotic Bazaar even better - it stays warm and does not remind me of men's cologne. This would be a great alternative for a man or during hot weather. My rating: 4 stars

Dried roses, rose leaf, Spanish moss, oakmoss and deep brown earth. In the imp: Oil is clear and a medium-bright pinkish yellow in color. Just for the first second I could smell a little rose, then it became all rich, fresh, potting soil. On me, wet: On me the rose is slightly more noticeable, and it is indeed a dry rose, without the strength of a fresh rose. The earth dominates it, as does a secondary herbal green note - the moss, no doubt. This is a perfect realization of the concept. After 10 minutes: The rose has faded even more into the background. After 20 minutes: The rose is virtually gone. The earth and moss notes remain the same, with the earth note taking center stage. After 30 minutes: Now the herbal green note has become equal to the earth note and they are in a nice balance. After 1 hour: Same as above, now mild and delicate. After 2 hours: No further change in the fragrance, but now faint. After 3 hours: Almost completely gone. Verdict: Earthy, green, fresh and cool, this is a great scent for hot weather. The scent stays quite consistent, with the changes I've mentioned being very subtle. The rose is barely there - I would have preferred more, and I know I would really love this layered with a touch of something like Rose Red. That would probably smell very much like The Queen's Croquet Ground (BPTP Atmospheric Spray), which makes me swoon with ecstasy. My rating: 4 stars (Edited to correct a typo)

Galen's Kyphi is: Raisins, wine, honey, asphaltum, bdellium, camel grass, sweet flag, cyperus tuber, saffron, spikenard, aspalathos, cardamom, and cassia. Abramelin: an Egyptian mage. There are many different recipes for the incense. Dominated by a balsamic, vanilla-like fragrance. Usually contains one or more highly scented woods, such as balsam, cedar, or aloeswood. Often also contains galangal, cinnamon, and myrrh, and sometimes frankincense, storax. In the imp: Oil is clear and a dark bright yellow in color. I smell grapes and incense, with a little cardamom and cinnamon (cassia.) On me, wet: The first thing I pick up is the spices, especially the saffron this time. Then the grape/wine/raisins come through. It's surprisingly unsweet - I think due to the predominance of the saffron. It reminds me of saffron rice pilaf with raisins. After it has warmed and dried for a couple of minutes, it starts to develop a floral sweetness. So far I quite like this. It is highly unusual, and in spite of my thoughts of pilaf, it isn't really at all foody. At around 5 minutes, the woods and incenses come in, making it even less foody. They blend nicely with the saffron and florals - very complex and sophisticated. After 10 minutes: Now the honey has come to the foreground, together with the florals and saffron. The raisins are still there, but the overall impression isn't fruity. The woods and incenses provide a solid foundation and add extra warmth to that of the saffron. This is so lovely, exotic, and intriguing. The floral notes remind me of White Shoulders perfume, but the saffron added to them turns this into something entirely different. At this point it may be a little too feminine and flowery for the office. Which is just the type of perfume I like best! After 20 minutes: The incense, cardamom, and cinnamon are gaining ground, which makes it less feminine. Otherwise it's pretty much the same. After 30 minutes: Big change! Suddenly cinnamon and cardamom are the star players, with saffron and the florals tied for second place. The wood and incense have actually receded further into the background as the spices have strengthened. The sweetness now comes from the flowers and honey - like the best baclava. The grapiness is still there in strength, but it blends into the florals so smoothly that I don't notice it unless I really think about it. It seems like a small change, but it makes a big difference in the fragrance. And I love it this way just as much! It is still spicy and decidedly floral, rather than foody. I don't know why I keep getting these food images. I'm not even hungry. That just seems like the best way to describe these notes and how they come together. After 1 hour: Now the spices have taken a back seat to the incense notes. There's also just a hint of fruitiness, honey, and an even smaller trace of florals. It's primarily an incense-type perfume at this stage, more unisex. After 2 hours: Mostly incense now, with some honey and spices. After 3 hours: Now soft warm incenses and spices. Verdict: Very lovely and highly complex scent that morphs frequently and dramatically. It's not quite flowery enough to rate 5 stars for me, but I do really like it. It would be fine for the office after all, the florals don't stick around long enough with enough strength to make it ultra-feminine. My rating: 4 stars

In the imp: Oil is clear and a bright yellow. The fragrance is just as described, herbal and fruity. Also very sweet. And there are fabric softeners or dryer sheets in here as well (which I actually rather like.) On me, wet: On my skin there is a LOT more berry - blackberry. The overall impression is very strong and sweet. Also very fruity, but the dryer sheets keep it from being overly foody, which to me is a good thing. Still, it's really too strong and sweet for me. I think it would be great for a little girl. It smells just like a little girl, all grape jelly and clean clothes still warm from the dryer. After 10 minutes: Pretty much the same, except that the dryer sheets are now about equal in strength to the berries. After 20 minutes: Still much the same, but going a little plastic. Red fruits - and apparently black ones as well? - always do that on my skin. That makes it smell even more little-girly; like a Strawberry Shortcake doll. After 1 hour: Very little change - the dryer sheets may be starting to overtake the blackberries. After 1 1/2 hours: Now mostly dryer sheets, which I prefer to the berries. It's very fresh and clean, with just a bit of a fruity/plastic undertone. There was a hint of a warm incense note, but it didn't last long in any significant strength. After 2 hours: A faint scent of dryer sheets, with perhaps an even fainter wisp of incense. After 3 hours: Up close (the way I've been testing it), I detect just a trace of herbs and incense. But when I stop smelling my wrist, I notice that I'm sitting in a cloud of grapes and blackberries. A bit of oil must have rubbed off on my clothes. Verdict: On me, this fragrance stays quite consistent, just with a slightly different emphasis as time passes. I'll keep my imp for variety, but it's not really me and I won't wear it often. If I get any duplicate frimps of this, I'll give them to my 9-year-old granddaughter. I think she'd really love it. My rating: 3.5 stars out of 5, round to 3 Later edited to add: In 2018 I tried an imp from a batch that was made in approximately 2014. I noticed a few slight differences, perhaps due to the batch, age of imp, or changes in my skin chemistry. - When the berry note was dominant, it reminded me of Smarties candies. One of the very few kids' candies that I ever liked! - I noticed the florals more, rather than dryer sheets - I think the "incense" note might be sandalwood. It also lingered as a faint powdery incense note, the last thing I could smell right at the end. I get this effect often with BPAL oils that contain sandalwood. - I gave it a higher rating, 4 stars.

A gorgeous ladylike rose and violet-like blend with just a wisp of tea. This carries out the concept so vividly; and it is so perfectly suited to my Victorian house. It is a light and delicate fragrance - more rosewater than tea rose - even when I sprayed it so generously that my goblin was empty after only two uses. I definitely need a full bottle! My rating: 5 stars ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later edited to add: Bottle purchased from The Trading Post, after aging about 6 years. This is still gorgeous, still one of my top favorites! The rose has amped. It's now a strongly rose blend, with hints of other mysterious and unidentifiable but lovely things in the background.

Fragrance: So far, my favorite of the hair gloss scents! I love the spiciness and warmth and the non-foodiness of it. The only downside is that the scent doesn't last as long as the Snake Oil one does on my hair. Gloss: This does add shine to my hair without making it look greasy. And I especially love that the gloss helps to detangle it, too, when combing. My hair is extra long (hip length), thick, and somewhat curly, so it is very tangle-prone and I need all the help I can get with that. I always use a spray-on, leave-in detangler, but this works even when the detangler doesn't. When I use this, it takes less time to comb out the tangles and there is far less ripped-out hair stuck in my comb when I am finished. Like others, I too have noticed that if I put it on dry hair, I should use much less to avoid a greasy look. One spritz into my hand (then rub my hands together and wipe it into my hair starting at the bottom and working my way up) for the right side of my hair, and one for the left side is enough, even with my long hair. On wet hair, I can use much more without making my hair look greasy. (I use 8 sprays, 4 on each side, for my very long hair.) The scent also lasts longer this way, perhaps because I can use more of it.

My imp is a decant from the lovely and generous spiresinthesnow. In the imp: Oil is clear and the color is a gorgeous, glowing, pink-amber. The scent is strongly incense and musk, with just a hint of non-specific florals. On me, wet: On my skin the fragrance is the same, but clearer and brighter. After 15 minutes: Same as above. I'm not really getting much, if any, of the rose; but it is a lovely incense blend. With a somewhat sharp, bitter green overtone - probably the galbanum. After 30 minutes: There is a decidedly smoky aspect to this - it is lit incense, not an unlit incense stick. i can pick up a bit of rose if I try really hard, but I'd never notice it if I didn't already know it was there. I don't know what immortelle smells like, but this is emphatically an incense fragrance, not a floral one. After 40 minutes: The smokiness has developed a slightly skanky undertone - could that be from the musk? It is rather animalistic and feral, but not super strong. After 50 minutes: The skankiness has died down now, and the smokiness has also toned down considerably. This allows the rose to peek out just a little, along with a powdery amber. At 1 hour: Wow, this has changed completely, and very suddenly, within the last 15 minutes. Now there's almost no incense left at all, just a trace of smokiness. It has turned into an amber, musk, and slightly rose powder that verges on the scent of baby powder. But there's still enough of the skankiness left to keep it from edging over. Although in all honesty, I might prefer the baby powder. It is also delicate and close-to-the-skin now. At 1 hour 15 minutes: The scent continues to morph, although less dramatically now. It has veered away from baby powder and is now powdery amber and musk with a hint of the spiciness and smokiness of incense. A wisp of the animalistic note lingers as well. At 2 hours: Mostly gone. Verdict: A nice unisex incense fragrance, but I already have plenty of those. i was hoping for more rose. My rating: 4 stars