Maleficium

Bear with me in my reviews, my nose is untrained and I can't identify many notes but can only add descriptive and emotive terms to what I smell. IMP: mossy, oak, dusty and wet stone. Smells ancient, dark and foreboding. WET ON SKIN: resin, dusty tomes, earth and very old wood. quite a heavy scent, so far i like it a lot! DRY DOWN: Wow, yeah this one's a keeper. Cathedral is dark incense and that smoky woody smell that I love so much. Verdict: Love! Not exactly sinister, but evocative of something ancient, powerful and looming. Fills me with a sense of reverence and awe, as I am inclined to do when faced with things much much older than I. Will absolutely buy a big bottle.

IMP: sweet pea, soft white petals, fresh and green and watery. WET ON SKIN: rosy, sweet, and light. roses and lilies. It's a little strong and much too rosy on my skin. DRY DOWN: licorice! and lots of headache inducing roses. > AFTER A WHILE: a little too sweet and floral for me.

The first thing that came to mind upon opening the imp was sunscreen. Now dishwashing detergent. I want to wash it off already, I don't think my skin does good things with lilac.

IMP: honey and woodsy. fern and conifer. WET ON SKIN: herbal, sweet, and pointed but delicate. DRY DOWN: I can't stop sniffing my wrist!!! this is a wonderful scent! a little bit of spice in there somewhere. Would buy a bottle for sure!

IMP: spiced biscuits and tea! this is a warm, inviting scent in the imp. creamy and spicy at first sniff. WET ON SKIN: A fruit note. Cherry, or something. Apple cider too. It's making me hungry! Some floral too, carnation from what I gather. It's not overpowering unlike most floral scents on me. So far I'm liking this one a lot. I've got my nose almost glued to my wrist at this point.... DRY DOWN: in addition to all of the above, there's a fresh linen smell in here. like a...freshly ironed tablecloth at a drunken autumn tea party held outdoors. LATER: This scent sure does live up to its name. Would totally buy a bottle.

IMP: a soft, delicate but almost malevolent scent. I'm not really sure how to describe it. It fills me with uneasiness despite being light and fruity. I smell fragrant orange blossoms, tart fruit, and some other kind of white pale floral smell. WET ON SKIN: fresh, really fresh. florally musky. DRY DOWN: It's softening and rounding out to a pleasant tea spice. It still gives me the willies though, or maybe I'm just being nutty! EVEN LATER: It disappears in a very short span of time. Sad, because I was just beginning to really like it.

IMP: pungent, sticky sweet, overly ripe WET ON SKIN: I think I smell lotus. I smell a very ripe fruityness. Like sopping wet flowers that are on the verge of rotting. Not digging it so far. lots of honeysuckle, which isn't entirely unpleasant but even that very strong note is dominated by the rotting fruit/blossom smell. LATER: SO MUCH LOTUS. This is a very intense smell, the kind that makes my nose twitch and try to wiggle away. Do not want.

Imp: incence, floral, pure. reminds me of a giant beautiful chapel. wet on skin: lilies galore! soft rose, but not too much. frankincense for sure. later: a big bouquet of roses and sandalwood. this smells heavenly. this sure is seraphim like. smells great! it's a little too goody two shoes for me though so i won't buy a bottle but i sure will keep this imp.

Imp: berries and honey. emphasis on the honey. smells yummy! wet on skin: a great big bottle of honey. i expect flies and ants to descend upon me any minute now. ohhh and lots of blackberry smells. i now smell like a delicious pie. later: very tart and food-y. oh my this is a tasty smell! i'm not sure i could handle a smell that makes me crave pastries every time my wrist comes anywhere near my nose.... this throws really far, my manfriend can smell this from across the hallway. My rabbit is also very intrigued by this scent! she won't leave me alone and keeps sniffing at me and pushing my hand as if i had berries to give her! verdict: Mouth watering. I want to buy this for my friend who is obsessed with food smells!

imp: shampoo, ...and shampoo. wet on skin: soap, more shampoo, laundry detergent, aquatic, soft. I'm not sure how to describe this so far, other than shampoo. I'm hardly smelling anything else. later: this has calmed down considerably to a soft and mellow wet smell. Very aquatic, and still a little too shower-y smelling for me. Verdict: meh. not for me. edit: I figured out what smell I was recognizing! On my skin it's very very similar to any sweet pea/floral lotion you'd get from bath and body works!

Imp: sweet jumping chili beans that is STRONG! Like, smelling salts strong! Holy gross.... But...I'm feeling adventurous, so here goes. wet skin: oooh here we go. lots of dirt, sharp dirt. floral and sticky. this is a very dark smell, and for some reason the first thing I thought of was DUSKWOOD and ghouls and the big mean skelly boss that used to kill my level 20 self over and over when I was trying to quest. (hi to all World of Warcraft nerds) I can definitely visualize wet spanish moss even though I've never smelled it in person. Oh my goodness what an interesting smell. Going on five straight minutes of being completely unable to stop sniffing my wrist.... After about ten minutes I'm starting to smell more flowers and moss. Still a whole lotta wet earthiness! Verdict: So I guess my skin likes dirt. I could totally see myself buying a bottle of this. Perfect for Autumn and the Halloween season.

imp: creamy floral. roses and milk, almost. wet on skin: wet roses! a very lush and damp smell, as was mentioned above. still very creamy on me. later: my skin really likes to amp up roses. I smell mostly that, but also a little bit of musk. even later: oh no. powder, and lots of it. At first this was a very elegant smell that made me feel very sexy and feminine. Like, "satin dress showing off my curves with pearls and a little velvet hat with feathers and red lipstick" feminine. Not a fan of rose, but I decided to try this one out anyway. I'm on the fence about this one. It's faded to a very...pretty and delicate scent. I do really like it, but it's just not me. Off to swaps I think.

imp: fruit, very light and green and sweet. very lovely i think. wet on skin: still very green and light. smells a little like a garden full of flowers after a rain. little bit later: I smell a little bit of rose. still smells like a wet garden. verdict: wayyy too delicate and sweet for me, and I'm not a fan of florals. It's a pretty scent, but not for me.

Imp: sharply woody. very bitey. wet on skin... Mint??? That's the first thing I smelled. I smell sharp herbal smells, wood, earthiness. I'm getting a whiff of warm leather too. later: some sort of conifer wood is coming through strong. I am reminded of moss and the pacific northwest. This scent is interesting. I don't know if I'd buy a bottle yet but I'm sure enjoying the imp.

I got this with my bf in mind. He loooves leather scents and I could see him pulling off this strong commanding very manly scent. In the imp it smells very dark, like cedar and the tent at Bristol Ren Faire that I always stand by longingly (the one with all the fancy leather armor pieces) Wet on his skin the cedar definitely pops. It's got a really sharp woodsy smell, almost like a skunk musk but one that smells really really good. A few minutes later it fades to a rich leather smell. (<3 YUMMY I'M ALREADY IN LOVE) He's standing a few feet away and I can almost envision the blackest leather. There is also a definite spicy vibe going on. He's shaking his head and very adamant that he wants this for his birthday. I love this scent, and I will certainly oblige!

Imp: tea, milk, linen, wet on skin: spices, very fresh, oh my god so far i love this. smells very warm and lightly spicy and a little bit sweet. later: my skin is definitely amping some spicy vanilla notes if this smell was a feeling or an image, it'd be late summer afternoon light filtering through an open window. I would certainly buy a big bottle of this warm delicious scent! con: this smell makes me too relaxed so it's probably not good for me to wear when i need a nap and/or am trying to concentrate on something

imp: mossy green, wet on skin: reminiscent of ivy and leaves, floral but a green sort of floral if that makes any sense. like new blossoms maybe. so far i love it.... after about ten min: dries to a lovely light scent. really floral on me, but fresh and not grandma like at all. slight powder scent in here but nothing that turns me off yet... final impressino: light, airy, and feminine. quite pretty and floral and i normally really dislike floral! i'm going to definitely give this one a chance and if i decide i like it enough after a few weeks worth of wear i'll certainly buy a bottle.

Imp: rose, babypowder, and something that reminds me of leaves wet on skin: Rose, babypowder. I am learning that my skin likes to turn wonderful musky notes into straight up babypowder! grrrrrrrr A couple of minutes in the rose becomes really dominating in an unpleasant way. On my skin it reminds me of ancient old ladies in even older lace wearing the strongest cheap rose perfume in the world. Shame, it smelled so wonderful in the imp!

In the bottle: wet, woodsy and vegetable-y! very sharp, and not very nice. O_o wet on skin: baby powder and rose. very heavy on the powdery smell! later: resiny, warm, woodsy with very strong rose notes. I normally hate rose, but this is really pleasant. I definitely smell more rose than patchouli, though there's a hint of that muskiness in there. I will give this scent a few more days of wear to determine whether I deem it fit for a bottle purchase. I can't see this as every day wear, but it's got a darkly feminine scent that I really like!

I'm still fairly new to this BPAL thing so I'm not yet sure how to describe these as aptly as I'd like to, but it's worth a shot. Gotta learn sometime. In the imp it's overpowering and sickly sweet. Wet on my skin it's still very sweet but much more pleasant, and the smokiness begins to become more prevalent. After about thirty minutes it becomes very musky and wonderful, it's still sweet but in a masculine way (not unpleasant, I really like that) and I can smell the tobacco more than anything. Reminds me of cowboys and manly men who have a touch of class. Overall I love this but it's too early to tell whether it's bottle-purchase worthy.