grifyn_whiffs

First of all, I LOVE the story behind this one. I love how often BPAL drives me to Wikipedia or Google to look something up. First impression: Citrus-y, like lemons with some florals boosting it up. Sweet, but with a sharp tartness. On drydown, I can really smell those rainy aquatics. I must say, this one dries down in a really lovely way. Usually, I can't stomach those ozone/rain notes. A lot of them just go very false on my skin. This one doesn't. It does smell like sunshine through the clouds, glinting menacingly off the puddles below. (The Szepasszony will get you!) I could see adding this to a room spray -- it has energizing potential! But it isn't something I would wear often.

Right out of the bottle: CHERRIES. Fresh, juicy ones. I suppose that's just the really LOUD plum? It settles down -- NOW it's clearly plum, a note that typically loves me. But in combination with the spices here, plum has abandoned me. On my skin, the plum doesn't survive drydown. Instead, the scent goes to very dry spices with the palest fruity background that I have to sniff really diligently to "get." A resounding "meh" on this one. If it had remained as it was for the first 5 or 10 minutes, it had the potential to be a really happy, sexy summer scent.

Oh! At first imp-sniff, this was nothing but roses. Roses, roses, roses. Now, I don't mind roses per se, but with all of those other notes, I wanted more. On my skin for the first five minutes: More roses! Within a few minutes after that, though: HEAVEN. The honey comes out and really (to me) amps the rose a bit more for a moment (I was worried there!), but then everything starts to work together. I thought the sandalwood would be a bit more obvious, but it's almost as if the sandalwood is the anchoring note that's keeping any of the other notes from taking over completely. (Something in here reminds me of Pisces. But there's no notes named in that one, so I have to trust my nose that there's some similarity.) The honey is more prominent on the drydown, and it just gets lovelier and lovelier. If one more coworker catches me inhaling my wrist, I'm probably going to have to explain myself. On me, this is a fresh, sweet, densely lush floral... bordering on exotic and tropical. Not for everyone, but definitely for me! This is SO on my next must-buy list -- I have to get it before it's gone again on the 14th!!

Light, green and slightly sweet (not foody sweet, but floral sweet). A very rich, wet smell in the imp. I sniff again, and it's soap. That generic "clean" scent that soap goes for, anyway. Think Coast or Irish Spring. The soap phase dies down a bit, thankfully! I don't know if I get "the glorious unknowable gloom of the ocean floor" (to me, that's Undertow!), but it does go to a nice, clean aquatic. I'm going to try this one again in the summer, during beach weather, and see if I'm not feeling more kindly toward it. ETA: I gave this one a second sniff, now that it's summertime and I take to the water, and -- sure enough! -- it's more refreshing than I remember it being. I'm so moody!

I liked this more than I thought I would! I was afraid it was going to be overly manly. I get leather first, and then the pipe tobacco. I wish I knew what ambergris smells like on its own so I could identify if that's where my nose is getting licorice. It has that dusty, arcane smell I associate with old libraries. Magus has a similar "feel" to it. (Somebody walked by and asked if I was wearing Opium!) It's not really a "me" smell, so I won't be getting a bottle, but I'm admiring the artistry of the notes and imagining rousing debates and scandalous behavior among sharp wits with the inevitable descent into drunkenness. I'm not crazy about the drydown -- it starts to smell sweaty and musty, and then I thought: Well, that's probably the morning AFTER a Hellfire Club meeting.

An imp of this was recently gifted to me by my beloved SW, another Piscean. This is a watery floral with a touch of pretty sweetness, and I so wish I knew what these notes were!! This smells so gorgeous to me and, more importantly, on me! The floral note is robust, dewy and smells SO FAMILIAR to me. I can't pin it down and it's driving me crazy. It makes me think of a large flower with thick, waxy leaves or petals. Is it lotus (or is that the aquatic note messing with me?)? It is an orchid? Argh! So pretty, and I can't even give it a name! It dries down into a lovely, artful blend of all of those aspects without one trying to overtake another. It's on my wrists now and the smell is coming up to my nose. How beautiful! My only objection is that it doesn't last very long! In about an hour, I won't be able to smell it at all. But I would spring for a bottle (if and when available) in a heartbeat!

Hmm. This one really interested me so I bought an imp from another forumite. Sadly, there didn't seem to be a lot of "mystery" to it for me. It smelled like a high, powdery note of Sweet Tarts -- sort of generic-sweet and plasticky on my skin. But after about 20 minutes, it was gone like Keyser Soze. It reminded me of a few white florals (White Moon, Snow-Flakes), or maybe some of the more subtle blends: my skin just eats them after a few minutes, and then there's nothing left.

WOW! What a comforting foodie smell this is! I almost salivated when I sniffed it. It's a little heavy and sexy for every day wear, but it dries down into a lovely, sweet and smoky (but not acridly so) scent. The throw is quite nice. I needed to refresh (well, it was more like WANTED to!) after two hours. I'm definitely going to enjoy using up my imp!

This one was frightenly Fake!Strawberry in the bottle, and for the first five minutes on my skin as well. After that -- whew! -- it calmed down and started morphing. To me, it smells like a very true, sweet strawberry (not the stems, just the fruit) and... this is going to sound weird. But it smells like strawberries out in the sun under a blue sky, not just strawberries on their own. The throw is medium, and it stays on my skin for quite some time! At the tail end, it gets a wee bit powdery and that's my sign to refresh! I get just the clearest impression of strawberries in sunlight when I sniff! It's gorgeous. I'm glad I took a chance and got a whole bottle. This one is going to see quite a bit of mileage come summertime.

Oh, I like this one! I agree with the assessment of a "watery beaver moon" but there was always something about Beaver Moon that was TOO heavy, like "whomp you upside the head with bodaciousness." Not that there's anything wrong with that... In the imp, Eat Me is a big vanilla milkshake... mmm. You want to do what the label asks of you, so I'm glad the Lab warns us. The scent seems too big for the imp! For the first five minutes, I was sure it was going to be too cloying but here come the currants! Though, they never take over... they keep it from going completely over the edge. The main event is all white, frosted cakes and powdered sugar. It softens into this beautiful, sweet and sort of powdery scent on the skin. Powdery sugar, not baby powder. No throw at all after the first hour and a half... but I'm thinking a 5ml would not go amiss.

In the bottle this smells very fresh... dewy, bright, clean and pale yellowy-green. To my nose, it smells very "expensive day spa" -- that sort of subtle, tasteful, grown-up quality. It is a pick-me-up sort of scent, the kind you might want for your soap during a morning shower or a linen spray. Sadly, this doesn't stick around on my skin. The lime stayed in the back, and I LOVE lime. COME OUT, LIME! :throws rock at window: While this one is good, my skin ate it pretty quickly as it does any "delicate" fragrance I've ever encountered. I do love it, though...

In December, the skeletal, ice-rimmed fingers of winter take hold, and the nights are long, chill and dark. The first flurries of snow touch the land, and the earth itself becomes quiet. A scent of purity and silence, soft with falling snow, as dark as Midwinter: an icy flurry over the winter blooms of narcissus, pansy crocus, dahlia, tulip, chrysanthemum and white rose, with a hint of fir and birch. Oh! OH! I am in and I'll tell you why. My favorite MMU scent EVER is "Cherubs in the Snow" (created by Andrabell!). Snow Moon smells JUST like Cherubs in the Snow, or I should say... it amps all of my favorite notes in Cherubs in the Snow. It's a layering dream! It's cool, fresh, a bit "pine-y" (fir or juniper?) and just... crisp! All of that with just chilly sweetness. I applied it about two hours ago, and it needs to be re-applied now, but I love it so much that I just don't care. I already have a back-up bottle on the way!

My first thought on sniffing this one: effervescent. It has a bubbly, bright smell to it. It's sort of fruity and candy-like at the same time, without smelling specifically like ONE single fruit or candy. This would be great in a scent locket or at strategic stress points (keep it in the drawer with your bills!). I may keep my bottle in my purse, as there are several points during any workday when I need some "joy mojo." AND... I refreshed this at 7pm last night before I drove home (the ninth hour of a grueling eight hour day, hence the need for joy mojo) and I can still smell it on my skin right now. Not only is a beautiful fragrance, but it's quite effective at its Voodoo intent as well!

My first impression of this one (in the imp) is that it starts off like Titania and Endymion -- bright white, sparkling. No white/pale fruits in this one, though -- a possible "dewy"/aquatic note in common with the former, and seemingly no notes in common with the latter. So I'm stumped, but those were the first two I thought of, with that initial nose-tickling sparkle. This one is GORGEOUS. I wouldn't have picked out the peony in this if I hadn't known it was there so I must be getting tulips more than anything. I'm used to peonies smelling... a bit "pinker" than this. This is a very fresh and alive smell. Sadly, my skin is treating Amsterdam like a "white" floral, i.e., eating it. After half an hour, I can barely smell it, as lovely as it is. I like a bit more sillage and a bit more staying power.

In the bottle: grape soda On the skin: A crazy cacophony of purple florals and dusky purple fruits. LOVE. Very pretty. After about a half hour: Metallic??? But why? And slightly powdery. Sometimes dusky=powdery on me. On drydown (after about two hours): All that remains is a sharp metallic-smelling note on my skin, sort of sour and powdery. I'm not sure what happened, but I'm going to be suspicious of these purple notes until I isolate which one is acting this way. ETA: I think it's the VIOLET note doing this. Violet... beware! (puts on the NO list next to Neroli and Mimosa)

In the bottle, this smells naggingly familiar. I would not be surprised to know that Midway is a sort of BPAL "base" -- i.e., this is Snake Oil without the Indonesian spices, and Dragon's Milk without the dragon's blood... I don't get the myriad sweet notes from this one that other seem to. There's some cotton candy and some sugary, sugary vanilla, but that's all I get. It goes through an unfortunate powder-and-plastic phase on me, but once that's over, it's quite a dry, sweet scent. I do get that "outside, whiffing on the wind" vibe from it, but I really wanted to LOOOOOVE this one, not just like it. Ah, well. I'm going to let the partial 5ml age a bit. Maybe come summertime and beach weather, when I'm feeling more festive in general, my nose will be more inclined to suss out those other notes.

Wow! This is a nice crisp smell. Before I had looked at the notes, I was guessing mint and lemon, maybe verbena, or some white florals. But now I realize it was all the cucumber and pepper making that cool bite. What a clean, great but sharp scent! I needed it today -- wished I had put it under my nostrils! This would be great added to an unscented body mist and stuck in the refrigerator. Brrr! (in a good way!)

Because I LOVE Black Moon so much, I had to get a whiff of this one to see what the "other" interpretation would be. The initial smells of pepper and licorice/anise excited me, as well as that deep resin-y COLA smell, as those are all notes I love. I have to admit, it was frighteningly pungent at first. Scary pungent. "Where's my wipie?" pungent. It kicked my ass. When my husband sniffed, he said that it made him feel "challenged", i.e., he wanted to suddenly arm wrestle me. (Hmmm... maybe I should try it everywhere...) It would be a great scent on him actually. But he doesn't "do" smells on himself. If it's on him and it's not soap or shampoo, it's something that I transferred to him. The patchouli kept amping, amping, amping... patchouli and I don't get along. And I think I conveniently ignored it in the notes ("oh, ANTIQUE patchouli... it should be fine then") to justify my HAVING to try this one. After about half an hour, it is smooth and boozy-caramel-y. It comes closest in my mind to Magus -- another "night at the library with the leather-bound books and midnight oil" smell. I agree with a previous poster than when layered with Black Moon, it is something complicated and lovely, to the point of distraction (bravo!). But alas, Black Moon on its own is still one of my favorites. Schwarzer Mond is for someone a bit darker, resiny and herbally than myself. I can see what my husband was saying though... it DOES make me feel a bit combative. But it's just not my thing.

In the imp: This was a little TOO in-your-face sweet in the imp, and for me that's saying something! On the skin: Mmmm... nice! Still very too-sweet and little girl fruity, however (not that that's always a bad thing). There's something sharp in the background that can amp this stuff across the room! On drydown: What a fitting name for this one! Each time I sniff it, it seems to have revved up somehow. It has spice and tang under that sweet fruity smell. As the hours wear on, the musk is more apparent and sort of mediates between all the different notes and has a somewhat powdery finish. But I like the "vrrooooom!" of this scent when it hits the skin, so that's when I refresh. Like others have mentioned, I don't smell strawberry LEAF at all. There's nothing "green" in this scent, but I do smell a strawberry itself, powdery sweet thankfully and not artificial- or chemical-smellilng. Purchasing: On the 5ml wishlist, stat! This one's right up my alley. A fun scent for cheering yourself up... or, amping yourself up during any pre-existing mania you might have.

An effervescent blend of crystalline champagne notes and sweet strawberry. From the imp: Smells just as advertised! YAY! Mmm, frothy sort of strawberry scent, but not fake plastic or candy -- ripe, fresh juicy berries. I wish I had some now! The bubbly champagne sort of glitters in the background on this scent. As it dries, it smells like it might fade a little. Instead, that strawberry keeps going and gets richer. It's a very PINK smell, very playful. To my relief, the strawberry doesn't go unnatural at all. The champagne smell stays effervescent to my nose throughout, as subtle as it is during the last phase. This faded to a light strawberry smell after a little over an hour, which with my skin is about average on the non-incensy scents. Anyway, I'm in love, with a 5ml incoming!

I think I had a lot of high expectations for this one, even with the threat of vetiver. I was hoping for dark, smoky, ominous... the way Black Opal smells to me, only blacker. (I do like my "Black" BPAL blends for the most part!) This one started out very nice -- a cold aquatic that just smells dark. Unfortunately, 20 minutes after that, it had gone to "department store man soap" on my skin.

Oh, Elegba is beauty in a little imp. Every note is clear and wonderful - the coconut and sugared rum could very well make this one cloying, but it's flawless. The tobacco keeps it from going all plastic candy. True, it does waft (on me) as Coppertone tanning lotion, but that's a very happy-making smell for me. The summer of my 11th year, the generous mother of a friend bought me (and her own children) season passes to the local water park, and as she was charged with babysitting me and a few others (a sort of unofficial daycare), we spent about 2-3 days a week there one summer, and it was awe-inspiring and fun. Whenever I hear the songs from that era (schmaltzy sugar pop though they are), I smell chlorine (not in a bad way), sunshine, bare feet and tanning lotion. She (my friend's mother) was a bronzed, brazen Amazon woman with a short spunky 'do (think Jamie Lee Curtis-ish) and always had the telltale brown bottle at her side while we raised hell in the wave pool or waited in line at the water slides. Elegba made that memory sort of POP in my mind -- of just being happy and splashing around in the sunshine for a few brief months. I need a 5ml of this in the worst way.

Envy is very, very wet green and slightly lush floral to my nose. The lab's description: Green herbs slithering through mint, lime and lavender.

I got an imp of this in a sale -- the notes intrigued me. I really liked this in the bottle, but the notes are LIGHT on me. I smell the leather and the rosewood, but not much of the other notes at all. It dried-down very, very fast, and like Euterpe yesterday, my skin ATE it. What gives, skin?? After that, just an incense-y after-note was left on my skin. After an hour or so, that disappeared as well. Very beautiful (it smells academic!) in the imp, but my chemistry is having none of it! For now, my "library" smell is still Magus!

I put on some Budding Moon when another blend this morning ::cough:: Euterpe /::cough:: ended up not working out AT ALL. IT'S GORGEOUS. Budding Moon is luscious and the scent shifts beautifully into drydown. It loses nothing in going from wet to dry like some florals do (going all powdery or plastic or soapy). I'm really beginning to think that plum, in any guise, is one of my favorite notes. It's also very kind to my oil-hogging skin. And peony is becoming a fast favorite as well. But there's just something about this blend that hangs together PERFECTLY. It has terrific throw, and it smells exotic and bright. I'm going to have to get much, much more of this when my 5ml is gone.