Mokiefraggle

Just got this today, and I had to try it on! In the bottle: oh, my. That is very, very much apple. It smells like hanging my head over a pot of cooking applesauce, what with the spices and such. I can smell a little of the underlying scent of damp woods--like going out hiking in the thick mist that often gathers here in autumn and winter--and a slightly herbal whiff, but the pumpkin is definitely hiding. Wet on skin: still very apple and spice, but there's a more definite note of pumpkin under it that grounds it. Damp woods and a bit of patchouli take a more background layer, and I sort of feel like I just came into a kitchen where applesauce is cooking on the stove and a pumpkin pie is in the oven, after a long hike in the woods. Dry, approximately 1 hour: definitely "kitchen full of autumn baking after a hike in the woods." There's the scent of that hike still clinging, as if I've just come in to warm up, but the predominant scent is the apples, spice, and pumpkin. Very warm scent, just a tiny bit like a holiday candle, but not in a bad way. Reminds me of helping with the baking at my grandmother's, before Thanksgiving and Christmas; it's a very homey scent, and I'll definitely keep it for the holidays. I'd also love to try it in an oil burner; it would be amazing to have my room smell just like this!

Got this one as a frimp back when I got Black Bear Moon, and apparently I hadn't reviewed it yet. Could've sworn I had... When I first got it, Al-Shairan was a thick, slightly syrupy scent like heavily spiced peaches, but without any of the sort of sickeningly sweet scent I associate with peach-scented perfumes and the like. It was very smooth, sweet without being cloying, and had just enough throw that I could smell it without having to bury my face in my forearm. Unfortunately, as it was a bit heavy for summer weather, I'd set it aside in favor of cooler, crisper scents. Age has not really served this particular scent terribly well; it's lost most of the sweet end, and has become almost nothing but spice. It's become something like melted red-hots or something--pure cinnamon heat, both strong-smelling and harsh overall; I had a red mark along my throat where I'd swiped some of it this morning out of habit, and it itched something awful until I cut it with a little Black Bear Moon to soften the scent. I really hope it'll mellow with a little more age, and not get hotter, as I liked it before. If this is what's to be expected when it ages, though...I guess I can definitely forget about a bottle. Never really considered what a cinnamon burn feels like on the skin before...definitely going to have to be careful to blend the heck out of this if I ever want to wear it again. Owie!

Have you tried Queen Gertrude from the Illyria collection? The description is "Imperial violet softened by wisteria and chrysanthemum, but edged with the regal iciness of delphinium," and I've found the scent to have something like that cool, crisp sort of scent that is somewhat like the note you mentioned having trouble finding...

Given Amora's known for seducing people, my first thoughts tend to be scents like Bien Loin d'Ici, or Sed Non Satiata, possibly Harlot. Or there's always O, or Snake Oil; in general, I figure some sort of deep, sultry scent would be the thing for cosplaying her. Also, I totally agree with crimescenecleanup's suggestions for Carmen, but I also picture Plunder and Brisingamen as being right up her alley. After all, Carmen's all about the plundering, and the Brisingamen was a legendary necklace that she'd be all too happy to get her sneaky little mitts on. =3

Received this as a frimp in my very first order, though I didn't find it terribly interesting at the time. Since I got it in late autumn, I found the heavy, spicy scents more interesting and appropriate for the time, and set it aside with intent to try it in spring or summer. That said, I've been wearing it frequently for a cool alternative to my usual warm and heavy scents, so I decided it was high time for a review. Queen Gertrude certainly lives up to the "regal iciness of delphinium," since just smelling it in the imp makes me shiver--it actually smells cold, something I didn't think was possible! I definitely can make out the wisteria, though the overwhelming scent seems to be the violets. It's a surprisingly green scent for all the rather "violet" scents involved (if you'll pardon the pun!), and is rather refreshing, both in the imp and wet on my skin. As it dries, unfortunately, the scent seems to fade very quickly, no matter how much I slather on. It ends up being a strange, somewhat grassy scent that just vaguely hangs close to my skin, as if I'd just been trimming flower stems to fit a vase. It's still cool and crisp, just not flowery or terribly interesting. The cool aspect I like, but it's definitely a scent I'd have to continually reapply to have it as something I wear with any regularity. Definitely not on the bottle list.

I just recently came into a frimp of Ekhidna that made me think a bit of Riku after he went over to side with the Heartless. There's a scent to it of dark, murky ocean water mingled with something dark and almost swamp-like, and a very dark spicy quality that makes me think of Dark Riku in all of his hotheaded, vicious glory. Not sure what scent I'd associate with Kingdom Hearts 2 Riku or Riku pre-Heartless, but I think Ekhidna might suit his darker side quite well. I keep thinking Sora would have something with a coconut scent to it, if only because I always get the mental association with him of a warm, lazy summer day on the beach, slathered in suntan lotion--one of those sorts that has the thick, coconut-cream scent. Kairi...I personally associate her mostly with flowers, due to her Kingdom Hearts 2 Keyblade. Flowers with something fiery behind it, since she's kind of a temperamental, take-charge little lady.

I feel I must review this quickly, as the frimp I received today had a break in it and was leaking everywhere, and thus had to be discarded. Therefore, I'm reviewing before the remains have a chance to fade, and I forget it. In the imp and while it's wet, I get a strong whiff of myrrh and clove, with a thick, dark scent behind it that I presume is the tobacco, as it smells a bit like a cigar. There's a dry, biting note as it just begins to dry on my skin--likely the pepper--but I don't get anything mossy or aquatic at first. It's only when it's dry that I get a thick, salty smell of ocean mingled with a dense, wet earth scent I presume is the moss, and a murky, woody scent I think is the mandrake. It's dark, heavy, and the scent feels thick, like every time I smell it, it's settling way down deep in my lungs and hanging there like a fog. I feel like the only word to describe it would be potent. Not sure what I think of it, and unless I get another imp of it, I won't get another chance to test it. Definitely not one I'd buy for my own use, but it's definitely interesting. Never had a perfume that smelled so potently of seawater before, especially not this particular seawater scent, with its intermingling of muddy earth.

Just got this today as a frimp, and I am utterly fascinated. A grapefruit scent that actually agrees with me! Never would've thunk! In the imp, I couldn't really tell what the scent was, other than something crisp and very clear. It definitely lives up to the name, though I was put more into the mind of shards of ice than broken glass. On my skin, I found both the mint and grapefruit coming forward, though neither to a degree that was unpleasant. The mint was dry and...not creamy, but not the sort of sharpness I usually associate with mint, either. A bit like the catnip I use in my herbal tea cold remedy, actually, rather than any sort of mint I'm used to. The grapefruit was a light citrus note that was different than the lemon of Dorian, or the lime-citron of Whitechapel, sort of bitter-tart, but not unpleasant. As it started to dry down, both of these scents were muted under a scent that reminded me of dry champagne and a light, slightly murky scent that I presume was the lotus? And all of this mingled with a clear scent like fresh-flowing water, like being in the middle of an icy river. I don't know if I'd actually buy a bottle of this, but I think I'll be trying the imp out over the summer. It's cool and crisp, and a teeny bit astringent, so it should be perfect for the heat.

I'm a bit of a newbie, but I'm still game to throw out a few recs (especially now that I've read through the whole thread and seen some of what others have suggested). megheartsshoes: yours was one of the first posts that caught my eye, and for some reason my first thought was Tavern of Hell. It starts off a bit heavy on the flowers, but the scents of ebony and whiskey then come up to ground them, and I've found that it smells fabulously like some slightly smoky tavern mingled with the perfume of some sultry demoness on one side of you, and the cologne of a charming devil on the other. You mentioned your love of drinking, so I thought the scent of a sultry tavern might work for you. Alternatively, there's also Mad Sweeney, from the Neil Gaiman collection, which is just whiskey and oak. Leafy Sea Dragon: first off, wanted to say that I adore your avatar; Homestuck is awesome! Also, I agree with girasol's rec of Mouse's Long and Sad Tale, and also add Hell's Belle. I've found Hell's Belle to be a wonderfully soft, creamy scent that's lovely and cuddly. It's also a sort of sleepy smell, from what I've seen--my fiance loves to fall asleep using me as a teddy bear when I wear it around him. the malinoir: I thought of Fenris Wolf when I read that you were "rather feral under the surface," and your mention that you're not one for fruity/flowery/sweet scents sort of sealed it for me. I haven't yet tried Fenris Wolf myself, but all the scents in it are ones that I know for being deep and rich, at least to me. On to me now, I suppose. This is going to be long; I'm a terrible rambler. I'm 31 but have been confused for a middle or high-schooler repeatedly while working as a substitute teacher, an English major who's spent most of my life nose-deep in books. I'm a major lover of fantasy, especially science-fantasy and urban fantasy, as well as anything that takes classic mythology in an interesting twist. I'll read anything from YA books, to classic literature, to movie novelizations, though nothing on this earth could make me even touch the Twilight books. I'm a theatre geek, a casual artist with a fondness for comic book/manga styles of drawing, jewelry-making, and various forms of sculpture, an amateur author (one of these days, I'm going to get past the planning for NaNoWriMo, I swear!), and I love to sing and dance whenever I can. I enjoy a huge spectrum of music, from 50s doo-wop to prog rock and metal, from country to death metal, and I love the Insane Clown Posse, though I'm one of the more mild and casual Juggalos out there. I'm a video game enthusiast who just recently kicked a six-year WoW habit, and an avid player of tabletop RPGs from D&D to World of Darkness. I'm a regular Renaissance Faire attendee, and always go in garb if I can help it, usually with a long knife on my hip and a dagger in my bodice, and my big cavalier's hat with its huge rose-pink plume. I love animals, from house pets, to horses, to wild critters, and currently live with a trio of quirky cats when I'm at home, or a trio of equally quirky dogs when I'm visiting my mum. I'm a slightly strange mix of Puerto Rican, Japanese, and German, though practically being raised by my Japanese grandma has left me with mostly Japanese mannerisms and tastes, especially when it comes to food. I love rice and any sort of fish, and anything involving fried tofu. I also grew up on Japanese fairy-tales before I ever really learned about the Western ones, which only fueled my later love of mythology not just from Japan, but from a variety of cultures. I'm Pagan even though living with my family makes it difficult to practice rituals and the like, and recently found out my affinity for such things and the supernatural in general might come from my great-aunt; she was the local "witch" back in Puerto Rico, apparently. My friends frequently compare me to a house-cat, in that I'm a little lazy and love to curl up in sunny spots for a nap, I get distracted easily by small moving things and play with dangling bits of string, and I'm very fond of monopolizing someone's attention (and lap) for getting my head scritched. I've also been told I meow and purr in my sleep, and I get totally goofy on a whiff of catnip. I'm also the bad side of feline on occasion; I can be irritable and prone to showing the literal and metaphorical claws if I'm not in a nice mood, and if I don't want to be touched, woe to the fool who tries. I'm chatty and amazingly good at seeming very extroverted in the right company, though I'm more often quiet and pensive when I'm alone. I'm very good at covering up my more introverted side when I'm comfortable, and in general very good at covering up how I'm feeling, which often makes my actual moments of emotional outbursts kind of terrifying to those close to me, as they'll have no idea how I'm feeling under the surface until it explodes in an extreme display of that emotion. I don't have mild displays, I go straight from appearing completely calm to violently emotional with no in-between. And it's often the way I express those emotions that's so terrifying to other people, as I can swing from kick-your-face-in furious to convulsive sobbing in a blink, or suddenly tell someone precisely how I want to hurt the target of my rage in such a way as to prolong their agony for hours with a sort of sociopathic, Hannibal Lechter calm. I've no idea where it comes from, or what the particular explosion will be, but it's always unnerving to see it in progress, even if I've never actually done more than verbally vent. I'm a strange mix of utterly girly and aggressively tomboy, able to chat with my mum or my girlfriends about clothes, makeup, perfume, or jewelry for ages whenever the mood strikes me, or watch chick-flicks and get all teary at sad movies, or fuss over how I look for a night out in San Francisco. At the same time, I'm perfectly glad to kick some butt playing Street Fighter with the guys, roughhouse with my buddies, or go to watch a WWE show and be as loud and raucous as any other fan in the house about who I like and who I don't. I clean up pretty nice, but I'm just as happy in a t-shirt and jeans, and I'm seldom found in any shoes but sneakers or my combat boots. I'm also more prone to showing my more mature behavior the more feminine I decide to look and act, where my everyday casually tomboyish side tends to bring out the rough-and-tumble, childishly inappropriate behavior, especially when I'm hanging with my friends. I think that's about all I can say about my personality and where it comes from. Heck, it's probably a lot more than I planned to say!

This was the first bottle I actually bought, and I'm still not sure if I like it, though I'm finding new layers to the scent every time I put it on. In the bottle: whoa, hazelnut! First sniff and all I get is something that smells like my dad's much-loved hazelnut coffee creamer, which almost put me off. It's not exactly a favorite smell, which is odd when I consider that I like hazelnut otherwise. It took a lot of subsequent sniffing and considering to recognize the other scents in there. After a few weeks, I began to be able to separate out the hazelnut from a more musty smell I associate with acorns, a light scent of pine resin, and something furry (though oddly, unlike the common "cat-tummy" association many have noticed, I'm more reminded of the scent of just-groomed horse or my Ren-Faire fox-tails). Not really getting the berries or cherries, though I'm getting a thick sweetness that's probably the honey rounding out the background. On my skin: again, I get a thick cloud of hazelnut that just sort of hits the nose like a hammer, dominating the initial scent when freshly applied. It takes some time and drying for those other scents to come out, and I still never get anything that smells like either of the fruit. I was really sort of looking for the berry scent to help balance out the dry, heavy smell of the hazelnut and honey with something wet and juicy, but it's just not really there. Or it's drowned out by the other scents getting amped by my skin chemistry, but it seems that this is going to be a very nutty, dry scent on me. I think maybe if I had something fruity to layer it with, it might work out. Unfortunately, most of what I have now is either flowery or incense/resiny, so it wouldn't really work. Otherwise, this is just a little too dense with dry, nutty scents to be used in any other way but sparingly, as it tends to hit me with a wave of sticky-sweet hazelnut that can be a little dizzying. It's nice, but a little overwhelmingly one-note to be used on its own. *Goes to hunt for appropriate fruity scents for layering*

I was fully expecting and hoping that this would smell more...well, tavern-like. I was expecting a boozy, smoky, somewhat wicked scent that might even prove a bit off-putting. Heck, I initially wore it with intent to be off-putting, in protest of an abrupt change of holiday plans! Instead, my mum loved it on me, and while it wasn't the dark, naughty scent I was expecting, I'm still quite happy with it. In the imp and wet, I get a lot of gardenia and a slightly more citrus scent that I'm assuming is the orange blossom, with possibly a little bit of the fougere, as it has a similar undertone to Dorian. I'm impressed at the fact that I sniff this and I immediately feel like I'm smelling actual gardenia flowers, like the ones I used to put in my hair at a luau, and that I'd hoard and stash in the fridge until they'd gone yellow just to hang on to that lovely scent a little while longer. It's so hard to find that smell in any perfume, soap, lotion or other product that claims to have it, so I just lovelovelove any time I actually find it! On the dry-down, I finally start to get the scents that make me think I've walked into some dark, old-world tavern somewhere, with a tang of old oak barrels and the rich smell of a good whiskey. The gardenia and other flowery scents are still there, it's just that now they've got this solid base of wood and whiskey that makes it deeper and smoother, with just a bit of the bite of the absinthe to round it all out. It's like a tavern with just the right amount of drunkeness and debauchery, that could fit right in with one of my D&D worlds. It's amazing how well this actually captures that image and feel, rounding it out with a near perfect scent.

I'm even newer to BPAL, so I've only actually tried one of those scents...thankfully, it's just the one I want to recommend! I find Hell's Belle to be a remarkably soothing scent, and once the scent dries down a bit, it has a soft, spicy-creamy scent that is very comforting without being a foody smell. It's sweet, but not too heavy, and I've found that it tends to be so relaxing and comforting for me (and my fiance, at that!) that it is very conducive to a nice, cozy nap. Of course, skin chemistry varying as wildly as it can, your mileage may vary.

Got this one as a frimp, and resolved myself to try it in spite of the fact that the last perfume with vetiver that I tried (Highwayman) was just a bit too harsh for my tastes. I wanted to make sure it was the vetiver that off-put me, and I'm beginning to think it's indeed a scent that just won't work for me. In the imp, I got a whiff of something acrid, like smoke. I couldn't really make out anything like musk--which I love--or anything else I could distinctly identify. Once it's on my skin, I end up with something that smells like blood and fresh-turned soil, with this acrid scent of smoke lingering over it. I can only assume the smoke smell, which is almost identical to a sharp, acrid scent I get from Highwayman, is from the vetiver. It's the only similarity I can get from them, and it tends to overwhelm the other scents in the blend with its sharpness. If all I could smell was the blood and soil scent of it, I'd be happy and would probably be quite happy to wear it. It does soften a little when it dries down, so there's not quite as much of an abrasive edge to the scent, but I don't think I'll ever really quite care for this one as a common scent in my repertoire.

This scent is definitely one of my favorites so far (even if I'm still relatively new to BPAL, and have very far yet to go with it), and yet it's nothing like I expected. I was expecting flowery citrus, but what I got was so much better. In the imp: here, I get the sharp scent of the citrus--that smell that comes not from the flesh of the fruit, but the peel. Orange oil, and a trace of something sharpish that almost makes it smell like alcohol. Not booze, but an alcohol-based perfume. It almost turned me off the first time, but I'm glad I did try it on. On my skin: the alcohol-like scent goes away pretty much immediately, and the orange oil smell likewise seems to fade out. I get a little of it, but it's not the sharp, crisp snap of it that was there in the bottle. As it starts to dry, I get a bit of musk and magnolia, along with the spices. It ends up making this thick, creamy scent that's a bit like a coconut scent with a faint hint of caramel sweetness, with just enough spicy and flowery scents to keep it from being totally foody. I think if it weren't for that, I'd smell a lot like my favorite Girl Scout cookies, which I don't think I'd want. I might like them, but smelling like them is a bit too much! The coconut quality seems a bit fleeting, though; I only smell it some of the time, but it blends with the creamy qualities of the scent so nicely that after a while it seems to disappear entirely. Eventually, I just have a soft, creamy scent with just enough musk and spice to stay interesting, and give me a warm feeling. And apparently, my fiance enjoys it on me; every time I've worn it around him, he turns into a clingy cuddle-bug, though it also seems to relax him right into a nap, as well. Still, it's a nice, cuddly smell that will probably stay on my big bottle list for when the time comes that I have money to throw around.

I second the recommendation of Dorian. It smells (for me, at least) very much of candied lemon and vanilla tea, and is absolutely tasty-smelling wonderfulness.

So, I'm trying to turn my mum on to BPAL, since it would make it so much easier on her wallet than buying her favorite name brand perfumes. Plus, it'll save her the three-hour drive to get anywhere with a mall that sells it. She wears Estée Lauder's Estée, exclusively, and I'm wondering if anyone has found anything similar? According to their website, Estée has: Top Notes: jasmine, rose, muguet. Middle Notes: coriander, ylang-ylang, orris. Base Notes: sandalwood and moss. It's called a "lush floral," but I mostly notice the sandalwood, jasmine, and what I'm pretty sure is the ylang-ylang when she wears it. It's a bit incense-y on her, with a sweet trace of floral just over it. If anyone can recommend something they've found with such notes, it'd be much appreciated. Also (slightly off-topic), any recommendations for a vanilla-heavy scent that might work as something to be added to a body lotion for her would also be appreciated. She doesn't wear any vanilla-y perfumes, but she does frequently buy BBW's Warm Vanilla Sugar lotion, and generally loves the scent of vanilla both for her own uses and on my stepdad. ETA: I'm thinking of trying an imp each of Namaste, Venice, and possibly one other to start...those have some of the notes, but I'm not sure how the rest of the notes in them will change things. A third option would be much appreciated.

Hm. Not sure what to think of this one. In the imp: powerful citrus (I'm assuming it's the citron, since it's a bit too potent to be all lime) and a hint of musk beneath it. Honestly, it smells a bit like key lime pie. Wet: still powerfully citrus, with the musk fading out under a powdery scent I'm sure is the lilac. It's very, very citrus, and the lilac is very sweet with an underlying dusty quality...strange, not totally unappealing. It does, at least to me, give it the right sort of murky, sinister quality to fit its name under all that sweet citrus and powder. Dry: the citrus has faded out to a much more tolerable little whiff of tartness under the lilac and musk, and the sweet edge of the powder scent has become just a trifle more dusty with the musk. Sort of murky, dry sweetness, thankfully without the overt key lime pie sweetness I smelled in the imp. The intensely sweet edge goes away quickly enough that I think I might be able to wear this without being fussed too much by the initial smell, before it settles into something that registers more as perfume than fruit. I don't know yet if I'll consider a bottle, but I think I'll keep the imp. Don't think I like it quite as much as some of the others, though.

This smells wonderfully tasty--that's the only term to describe it. It smells like all the best parts of a high tea, with a little whiff of lavender and musk just under the surface. Not sure if I want a bottle just yet, but it's lovely. In the bottle and wet on my skin, it smells of vanilla tea and something akin to candied lemon, sweet and tart all at once. Underneath that, becoming more evident as it dried, was the lavender, and below that was the faintest bit of musk. And yet, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't too much sweet, nor did the vanilla and the lemony edge of the scent feel too foody. Even though the combination on the whole makes me first think "tasty," it somehow doesn't actually smell like food; possibly because it also seems a very cool scent to my mind. I was also pleasantly surprised to note that it did indeed smell very feminine on me, as the name and some of the reviews had me thinking it might end up a tiny bit too masculine. It's sweet but somehow haunting, and surprisingly persistent in spite of how light a scent it is. I have a feeling that I'd like to wear this in the summer, actually. It's light and has a cool, foggy quality that I imagine would be wonderful in a California heatwave.

While this one sounded intriguing in its description (gardenia, cinnamon, jasmine...all love!), I'm not so sure I like it once I actually got it. It's not bad by any means, but I got a strong wallop of what I'm guessing is the vetiver and a sharp undercurrent of cinnamon in the imp and on my skin while wet, which seems to hang on for a fair while before the faintest whiff of sweetness comes out in the dry-down. Otherwise, it seems to have pretty much vanished over the course of an hour or two, unless I'm just not noticing it without the kick-in-the-face of the vetiver. I'll give this imp another go after I test the rest of them, but I don't think I'll be buying more. Not unless a second test yields marked differences. And I think I'm going to give things with vetiver as a distinctive note a slightly wider berth. ETA: okay, I tried this again a couple weeks later, and this time I'm smelling new leather (in fact, rather reminds me of the scent of the tack shop I went to when I still owned my horse) and the sort of gardenia I usually smell in fancy soaps, with no cinnamon or jasmine at all, and much less biting harshness. Still not sure I like it, but it's fascinating me nonetheless. ETA2: and now, after a few more months, it's not quite so sharp and smokey with the vetiver, but instead smells like a spicy men's cologne. And yet, it's not too bad on me; a little bit close to the edge of being too masculine, but not too bad.

So, I just got my first set of imps, and this one was the first I just had to try, after a round of cursory sniffs. In the imp: spicy. It had a definite incense-like scent, patchouli and a sort of smoky quality. Didn't get the vanilla directly, but there was a sweet quality that definitely hinted at it. Wet on skin: oh, hello, vanilla. There you are. As soon as this hit my skin, the vanilla came out and blended very nicely with the incense scent, just sweet enough without being cloying. Very strong if I put my nose right up by my wrist, but it's a soft sort of strength--nothing sharp or biting, but very dense. Not at all a "foody" vanilla. Dry down: as this starts to dry, the scents continue to mingle and smooth out from that initial pop of vanilla I got when I first put it on. The sweet and spice blend nicely, and neither facet seems to overwhelm the other. I'm a bit surprised at the throw; I've never had spray perfume really do so other than as a clinging aerosol fog, but this I can definitely get a whiff of without it being a kick in the face. I'll have to wait and see how this stays throughout the day, but this is pretty much just what I was looking for. Just sweet enough without being overwhelming, just spicy enough without being biting, and a vanilla that doesn't smell like it belongs in baked goods. I already foresee where some of my Christmas funds will be going, because this is delightful.

Clearly, Pandaren would be anything with booze. They are sort of the preeminent brewmasters of Azeroth, after all. Crazy drunken-master kung fu bears...