Gerbie

When I opened the imp and gave it a smell, I was pleasantly surprised. I too expected something more dark and heavy with a name like Villain. I swiped some on my wrist and thought, Oh no, I'm going to have to buy some of this. While wet it is a light citrus lavender that is beautifully blended. It was fresh, clean, unique, and interesting. But the more it dried, the more the liquid hand soap scent came out. Dried down completely, it's not offensive by any means. It's still clean smelling like freshly washed hands, but it no longer has anything unique or interesting about it. Ultimately, this one is a no for me, sadly.

Oh thats a dangerous link! You can add Carnival Diabolique blends from there

I've been wanting to try this for a while as I love chocolate and mints, but I wasn't sure if this would end up like one of those Demeter perfumes that I had a few of as a teenager. I was afraid that it would just smell a bit immature in a way. In imp: Mints and chocolate, reminiscent of a York peppermint patty or Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies. Wet on skin: Melty mint chocolate chip ice cream. Loving this so far. There is a slight cooling sensation on my wrist. Dry: The cedar is taking it's sweet time coming out into the open. This is still mostly mint chocolate ice cream, but there is a backdrop to the scent that makes it more complex. I don't notice any pistachio (im not sure what pistachio smells like anyway) but it might be hanging back with the cedar just to make this oil more than mint chocolate chip. Awhile later: Oh, there you are cedar! Cedar has come out to play and she plays SO nicely with the mint chocolate. Overall, I really enjoy this. This could be bottle worthy, but I might hold off until the weather gets nicer. This could be really nice and refreshing on a hot summer's day. I look forward to finishing off this imp and ordering a bottle. Really nice.

In imp: Red musk. On wet: Red musk and a bit of woods. After a minute or two I can start to smell something sweet peeking it's head out. I am mentally trying to coax it out from the background because red musk is best paired with something sweet to my nose. Dry: The sweetness that I smelled never really develops enough for this to be a love, but I do like it. The red musk stays pretty prominent on me, but the more time goes by, the more woods come out to mingle. In my mind it evokes late summer/early autumn nights when the trees are getting ready for the season change. Leaves are drying up, but haven't fallen yet. The time of year when you're still living in flip flops, but maybe decided on a long sleeve shirt before going out. This reminds me a bit of what that breeze would smell like. Dry, maybe a bit dusty due to the lack of rain. It's a warm scent, makes me think of deep brown/orange (brange? bronge?), but with a bit of green skirting the edges. I like this enough to keep my imp and do further testing, but not enough to buy a bottle just yet. Maybe aging will bring out the amber more. At least I can hope, because I do really enjoy this one.

Wet: I get a little clove and a lot of vetiver and honey. Now that I have a handle on what vetiver smells like, I think I really dislike it! And I already dislike honey so I'm already having my doubts. Dry: After a few minutes in, the honey is behaving well, but I still have my doubts about it. The clove is a little more faint than I would like it to be, I have to sniff and really concentrate to find it. But what I do smell of it, I like! I think the vetiver is what really kills this scent for me. It just seems so in my face, like that really annoying person at work who just won't leave you alone and has to stand in your personal space in order to have a conversation with you. Overall, just not for me. I don't dislike the smell as a whole, I felt like I gave this a lot of sniffs and a chance, I just hate vetiver and honey.

In imp: Hard for me to pick out specific notes, something a little sharp which is probably the herbs and then a lightness behind it. On skin, wet: The forest-y herbs attack! No sign of the shea coming out yet. Dry: I picture this as a light green, sort of sea foam green color. It's nice, the shea butter comes out once dry and plays nicely with the greenery to become a very balanced scent. I would consider this unisex. This smells nice, but there is just nothing here that "speaks" to me. Most of the fragrances that I end up loving are those that give me strong mental images and this just doesn't. It would be nice as a room scent or linen spray, but not something unique enough that I would want to wear it.

Brimstone was the one I initially thought while reading this thread. It was the first BPAL scent that made me gag once it was on my skin. Maybe it was too fresh of an imp as it has many positive reviews. But it was one that I had to wash off immediately and wanted to put it in a couple plastic baggies to keep the smell away!

Let me start this review by saying I really enjoy the smell of fresh motor oil. I'm serious, before I pour the freshly opened quart into the engine, I always take a few whiffs. Would I want to wear that smell? No, but it's a scent that I enjoy smelling and it brings back old memories...Moving on... In the imp: Frankincense, anise, a bit of the metallics. I was scared to try this as the two others I've tried from Steamworks have gone awry. Wet: Every note in here seems to take turns coming out and saying,"Hello there!" Cheesy, I know, but bear with me here. First it's the metal, then the anise, then the leather amps and peeks it's head out. It changes enough on me in the first 10 minutes to make my head spin. Dry: This is good. This really smells like what I would imagine an old, dirty auto shop to smell like, but in a GOOD way. I mean old, classy cars that have been renovated with brand new leather seats. The auto shop would have tools scattered everywhere with an oily residue on them, the floor has old oil spills that have dried. It's the old town garage that people go to because they know the guy is old-school, been in the community for 50 years, and wouldn't lead them in the wrong direction. But, the big question is: Is it bottle-worthy? For me, I'm not so sure. I love the smell of it, it's a very inspired blend, but it might be one of those scents that I love to smell (motor oil) but would rather not smell like. I am going to keep the imp and see if I can use it in the car. My car's very own BPAL!

I purchased this imp because I am partial to pine tree scents that don't end up smelling of house cleaners. In the imp: Pine and sweet, sticky sap... Wet, on skin: Same as in imp Dry: Wow! This is much different than I expected and pleasantly so! It has bloomed into being mainly a sweet(not cloying or candy-like) smell, with a background of pine with no chemical like after-taste (after-smell?) This is an uncomplicated, straight forward oil once it dries down. There is not a whole lot going on here and I do understand the sweet-pea that other reviewers are smelling. Overall, I really like it as a day-time casual scent and it would most likely be unoffensive to most people if worn in a professional work-type setting. This is a light scent with an average throw. I will keep this in rotation for a few days to see if I need a bottle or not.

I had purchased this in an imp pack which was delivered on 11-19-11. I had to smell everything I had received and upon first sniff of Sin in the imp, my nose recoiled. All I smelled was dirty, black patchouli! I put it back in the box for another time. I first skin tested this today. In the bottle it still smells terribly scary to me, but I build up my courage, and put it on my wrists. While wet, all I smell is the black patchouli which to my nose just smells like rain-soaked dirt and bushes. Which, while fine in nature, not exactly what I want to smell like. Upon drydown, the sandalwood comes out to give the mud and bushes a backdrop of a clean, white tree that was maybe just chopped down and the logs are scattered around on the ground. The cinnamon is lingering around about 100 yards away from this scene. It's there, but I don't know how much impact it's having on the overall scent. As a newbie, I am fairly inexperienced so far (this is my first attempt at an official review), but I think this might age into something I can love. In a way, I can see this scent's goal and where it wants to be. I will have to revisit this after letting it sit and see if the patchouli chills out a little and blends as I love the sandalwood and this is a scent that the cinnamon doesn't amp up to Big Red chewing gum on me.