grifyn_whiffs

The white poppy in this gave me hope that it might actually STAY ON MY SKIN. It was very generic white Grandma perfume in the bottle, but was lovely on my skin... for, like, two seconds. Alas, it turns out that I have the chemistry that eats destroys any and all white florals, if my skin's reaction to this, Snow-Flakes and White Moon is anything to go by. They just disappear on me. I certainly like soft white florals in theory, but moments later, it's like I never applied anything -- it's been the same for all of them. The carnation note, I was sure, would have staying power, but there was no throw at all, nothing to indicate that I SLATHERED this stuff on, because I tend to slather. The next "pale" white floral I eye will be regarded with deep suspicion.

Simply cool, the essence of Lounge: the scent of a crisp pomegranate martini. I've never reviewed this one? It's one of my favorites! The tang of the boozy note, that bright, dark red pomegranate note. It has a LOT of throw, and the smell makes me not only very happy, but very thirsty for a pomegranate martini, and the kind of relaxing environment where someone might be serving them. Swank is in my top 10 since the very beginning, and has never left. It's second only to Bewitched for a happy, happy smell. It never goes powdery on me, but stays rich and bright.

When I first slathered this on, taking the pumpkin note for granted, I was worried at first: there's a VERY intense peach note that tops this one off -- true peach, tangy and bright. GLOWING is the absolutely right word for that note. Then came the nutmeg. After about five minutes though, the pumpkin and clove pop up, and send me absolutely over the moon for this scent. It smells like fresh, warm pumpkin pie, but it smells more like an autumn kitchen -- that first waft of pies as the oven opens. It's not so foody that it's cloying, but it's absolutely gorgeous and delicious. I think the "murky" clove saves the day. About 3-4 hours later, I have to re-apply, BUT things fade on me fast. I would call that staying power on me. This moves to the top of my 5ml Wishlist!

The first sniff from the bottle was a little sharper than I thought it would be very -- very watery. I was sort of disappointed at first. I was expecting a "colder" scent, something frost-like. On my skin, it felt more like what I had in mind -- the way your skin might smell after playing in the snow. But even then, there was a sort of nondescript herbal-ness that I wasn't quite mixing well on my skin. I don't smell any mint, however. I LOVE mint -- it's currently one of my favorite notes. An hour later now, I smell something sweet in there, and for the life of me, I cannot place it! It's very beautiful and I just can't figure out what it might be. It's right on the line between being fruity and being floral. I can now pick up some mint under there as well. I'm not sure how I feel about this one... it's certainly not bad, and the mystery notes are very pale and pretty, very evocative of a white winter night, but it seems softer and less chilly than what I expected. UPDATE: When I applied this later today, I caught a whiff of something that I'm now certain is a floral.. maybe lotus? It's very pretty. It's floral component is almost robust, but this scent is still more subtle and pale than I'd like it to be. No throw on me at all... oh well.

I got Death Cap as a frimp in my White Moon order. Wow! I was really surprised by this one. It started out kind of over-herbal for me, and then went softly spicy and woodsy. (My husband smelled a cedar/sandalwood note.) A couple of hours after applying, it went VERY light and now I only catch a faint whiff now and again (but then, I applied lightly instead of my usual slathering!). Thankfully, I don't get the mushroom note, or even very much of a "dirt" note -- just spices and woods. There's something very faint and sweet that sort of pulls the whole thing together. Very nice! Probably won't be buying a big bottle, but I can see mixing the rest of the imp into a nice, thick bedtime lotion/body butter as the smell is rather soothing. I have a nice Vitamin E lotion and a super-thick cocoa butter that would both benefit from some Death Cap.

What is it with MEN? The men in the office suite who always say I smell like incense, specifically. Nothing SPECIFIC, just "incense." My husband at least will try to guess the scent, or the main category of notes, but they're clueless as to one scent being separate from another. I pity them and their unevolved olfactory glands. (Sorry, don't have a lead on the Carolina Herrera, except that I don't know what I find sadder -- a woman who only wears one fragrance, or a man who wants all the women he knows to wear the same one!!)

I picked this one entirely at random from my imp hoard. I shouldn't be wearing the same four fragrances over and over! Usually I go over the notes in the blend (if a list is available) and ponder from there. I have to say, if I'd read the notes on this one, I probably would've gone for another as patchouli, whether it's red or black or just the leaf, is wrong on me. This one smelled sharp and herbal in the vial, and the minute it hit my skin, I thought, "There's patchouli in this! AIGH!" BUT, the sharp tang of the patchouli wore away within the first few minutes on my skin, and what remained after that was robustly... well... sort of nice, actually. Sweetish and somber (I DO like sandalwood), but the THROW only consisted of the patchouli, if that makes any sense at all. Oh, well -- it was fun to try it blind like that, at any rate, and for all I know, this is a great pirate-wench-y scent. Just not for me, sadly.

This one, while not as minty as I hoped, is still quite lovely. I get more "herbal" from it than anything, but it is very evocative of its description -- I smell the cold. How can a scent that smells so full remind me of something that is so empty? Now there's a watery note -- nice! The mint sort of lays in the background for me, there but not throwing. It also layers rather well with MMU's "cold" blends like Cherubs in the Snow and L'Hotel Blanche Neige, but my search continues for the perfect minty-cold BPAL note. Unless Nuclear Winter comes back reformulated with more mint, I'm hoping Snow Flakes (and possibly Black Ice) fill my cold note needs for 2006.

I will not bite my own arm. I will not bite my own arm. I will NOT bite my own -- ::bites self:: OW! I haven't fallen this hard for a foody scent since last Yule's Hearth. Unlike Hearth, however, Creepy -- in all its caramelly, boozy, only slightly coconutty, bright red apple goodness -- doesn't "throw" on me at all. I freshened the scent about an hour ago, and I have to basically inhale my wrist to find it again. I'm going to see if it works in my hair as opposed to on my skin. Sometimes a drop added to the bedtime braids works miracles, surrounding me all day with lushly-scented braid waves. Otherwise, good news for my pocketbook: I don't have to lay into a stock of this one. It's as brief (on me) as it is beautiful. Wanted to edit and add: When I applied to make it "throw" again, it gave me a bit of a headache. It is both too much and not enough!!

Hmm. I was hoping for a softly pretty floral, or a crisp white floral (the "green" note mentioned above made me happy!), but this went all powdery-flowers on me, and smelled sort of generic with my chemistry. A violet note can do that to me sometimes, but I only ever smelled the lilac. Since I turned up my nose at Undertow's notes and had it work so brilliantly well, I take no scents at face value, so I HAD to try it. Pretty blend, just not for me.

Well, I like sandalwood, and I like ylang ylang too when it's not overwhelmingly cloying. I think Neroli is the same citrus-y note that got me in trouble in Succubus. Those usually go flat on me, and I'm the only Piscean who hasn't found an aquatic blend that works on her. IN THE VIAL: Elmer's Glue. What? I try it again. Yep, that's what's making my nose wrinkle. No wonder I've picked this one up and put it down a few times. Eww? Here goes nothin'. WET: Lemony. I guess that's the citrus note. Not a fake Pledge dusting sort of lemony, but a true lemon scent - kind of sour and acidic. It's overwhelming; a little too much to take. The sandalwood seems to bolster the lemon/citrus note instead of countering it, and I'm not smelling a ylang ylang note at all. 1-2 HOURS: Lemon. Lemon, lemon, lemon. And now, it's cleanser-style lemon. Bleah. Put neroli on the lists of notes that don't do it for me, because the other two notes here have worked in other blends. DRY-DOWN: Lemon to the very end. I never *did* smell any ylang ylang. *sigh* Also, the lemon/citrus in this was so pervasive, I had to wash my wrist twice to get all of it, and this was only a test-dab.

One of my frimps from the last order!! IN THE VIAL: Deeply, deeply ancient. Kind of manly. I tell my husband, "It smells like an old library." Husand (brow raised): "It smells like an old librarian?" "LIBRARY. Old llbrary. You know, old brittle paper, leather bindings, sunlight, tea, intense research, the thirst for knowledge." "Knew I couldn't be hearing that one right." The only note that might be familiar is balsam, and I know myrrh from some other blends (and I like it). *another sniff* Comes on a little strong at first, but very exotic. WET: Wow, that's nice. Scents that start out "nice" on me usually don't end well, or aren't very intereting. It's my way of saying that while it doesn't smell BAD, per se, it might be about as inspiring, scent-wise, as a bar of Dial soap. On second whiff, It seems to smell very alive. A masculine "clean man in the sun" smell. 1-2 HOURS: What started as soap is now alluringly ceremonial. Is this the "embalming herbs"? Oh, my goodness -- with my hands at my side, a scent wafts up slowly, brilliant and evocative, and finding something old, and sensing deep meaning from it. Seriously. It hits at a weird place in the ol' reptile brain. I'm not messing around here -- I'm in LOVE. DRY DOWN (2-3 HRS): This one gets more like a ritual, more like a spell, as it goes. The next morning, I could still smell it on my wrist, albeit faintly. This one goes on my favorites list. In fact, it may usurp one of my Top 10. It's just that great. I've also noticed that the fragrances I buy where I know (or think I know) how the notes will work on me are less interesting (unless predictable notes work together in an unpredictable way due to the blend) than the ones where I open the vial and apprehensively say to myself, "I don't know about this..." This one is firmly in that camp. Also, the barely-recovered goth in me really just intensely loves the embalming herbs/ancient Egyptian elements of the whole thing. Call it a bulletproof kink.

I don't let that whole "masculine" thing scare me. I LOVE cedar and sandalwood, and though I don't recognize the other notes, they seemed intriguing. IN THE BOTTLE: Would you believe… sweet? We walked into a cigar bar once, though not to have a cigar, and the scent of this reminds me of it. It does smell ancient and male. My husband says "like an old man?" and I tell him to shut up. WET: The cedar and the sandalwood seem to be prominent notes. Again, I don't know the actual smells of galangal, high john essence or frankincense, so I can't tell you if they're in this or not. That's sort of sad to me, actually. I would like to be able to identify the various notes. Maybe I'm only smelling the cedar and sandalwood because I know those smells? Hmmm. 30 MINUTES LATER: Nice! Still very male. I smell a library with dark mahogany shelves and tables, and lots of leather-bound books. Who knew something could smell "arcane"? ONE HOUR LATER: This has dried to a sort of smoky caramel scent, pipe smoke in the dustiest of old libraries. I love it! Then again, I love old libraries. "And old men," my husband interjects. "Shut UP," I gently explain. THROW: Medium, mostly. It smells more like some place you've been than something you've put on. NEEDED TO BE REFRESHED: Quasi-frequently. The smell seemed to fade after about two hours (faint at arm's length) to three hours (faint even directly at the wrist). Comments: I found this one soothing. It seemed to calm me down. PURCHASING: goes on my Maybe list. I like it, but I can see it being for a certain mood only, so I might not go beyond my imp. The nicest thing about this one is that I can hug the husband and give him "scent-by-proxy" without compromising his masculinity. Hee!

IN THE BOTTLE: Wow. I don't smell jasmine in the bottle *at all.* The first whiff out of the bottle is dark musk and mimosa. I bought this one for the jasmine note (one of my favorite notes, a bright and almost spicy note with my chemistry), so I'm hoping there hasn't been a terrible accident. WET: Whoa, Jasmine! There it is! In fact, I now can't smell ANY other note at all. It goes frighteningly "single note" for a second, and I already have a jasmine single note! Hmmm. Because I smelled other notes when I opened the bottle, though, I'm excited to see where this one goes. ONE HOUR: The jasmine is still very strong, but I'm now sensing the violet water and vanilla bean. This threatens to be almost too sweet. It's VERY girly, more girly than I usually like. But as I wait, the dark musk starts to counter-act the bright sweetness. It's still very floral, but not as overwhelming. DRY-DOWN (about four hours later): Complete baby powder, near-soap. I'm not surprised: some jasmine notes go powdery on me, and mimosa ALWAYS goes powdery on me (some scents with a stronger mimosa note actually smell like "orange candy" on me -- I'm looking at you, Succubus -- so I'm grateful this one doesn't go that route.) Comments: I'm glad I got this one; it's a jasmine blend, and I'll definitely use it, as it maintains a "spicy" quality on me like good jasmine notes do, only going powdery/soapy at the very last. BUT... I'm sort of disappointed. The blend didn't really hold any surprises for me, and there's no real "mystery" in the scent - in the way of something "working" on me when I'm not sure how. It's very pretty, but doesn't make me want to jump up and down.

IN THE BOTTLE: Orange. YAY. The orange is why I went for it, and the bergamot and drop of sweet clove just seemed like bonuses. WET: Bergamot? What happened to the bergamot? I smell the orange, and something I don't recognize – maybe mimosa or neroli? Not sure of either note, so I couldn't say which. There's the clove, though! Not bad. 30 MINUTES LATER: Hmmm. Something weird is happening. What… what IS that? Someone get me some pure notes of neroli and mimosa so I can figure out which one is doing this weird-ass thing. It's gotten edgy and weird -- usually GOOD things -- but this particular edgy and weird makes me think something has "turned" in the bottle. ONE HOUR LATER: Powdery. Something went flat, powdery and plastic on my skin. YIKES almighty. What the HELL happened? It smells like something between the tang of chewable Vitamin C supplements and, I hate to say it, something like the scented crap they put on vomit until someone can get rid of it. NEEDED TO BE REFRESHED: Gack – no. It makes me smell like Smarties, or Sweet Tarts. Comments: The citrus note was so promising. I haven't given up on it (the note itself) entirely, but this particular blend did NOT work on me. PURCHASING: Nuh-uh. BUT, I'm interested in layering potential for this one with something that will counter-act that powdery, saccharine quality, so I'm keeping the imp for now.

IN THE BOTTLE: There ain't ANYTHING subtle about that rose. Not on me, anyway. Woof. It eats the jasmine, and as I sniff a second time, it tries to eat my face. WET: I swear I didn't put on too much. I learned my lesson about that, honestly! 30 MINUTES LATER: I agree with "womanly." Though the woman in question is older than me, and more flamboyant. I guess that's the rich myrrh. Myrrh cracks me up – the name sounds like the preemptive meow of a cat that's about to jump up on your lap and topple whatever you're doing. The rose and myrrh are vying in an epic battle. The jasmine, the scent that "sold" me on this one, said, "Screw this, I'm going home." ONE HOUR LATER: Yes. You're a rose. A big red rose, so ripe and red, it's black unless you get close. We get it. You've beaten the myrrh and you made jasmine run home to mama. You are superior. THROW: Yikes. No one had to enter my personal space to get a whiff of this one. NEEDED TO BE REFRESHED: It didn't – not sure I'd want to if it did. Hmm. Comments: Well, now I know I like myrrh. It would need to be with different notes, however. I had high hopes for this one, since I generally like rose notes and I LOVE jasmine. The jasmine in this one never really materialized for me. PURCHASING: Nah. This imp will probably go up for a swap.

I know everyone and their sister has reviewed this one, but I'm going through reviews I've been keeping privately and on LJ so I can contribute. IN THE BOTTLE: Whoa! DOWN VANILLA, DOWN! ::another sniff:: But there's something… else. Something intriguing is lurking there. Like some sort of exotic candy you would buy online from a place you couldn't afford to visit. Yeah, that clears it up, right? WET: This is nice. I'll bet it doesn't last long, though, so I'll apply it generously. 30 MINUTES LATER: Shouldn't have done that. Thank god it takes me an hour to get work. Some of this can sort of fade by then. ONE HOUR LATER: WOW. This is great. Something mystical seems to be happening with the Indonesian oils. Can I call this fragrance "sweetly mystical"? Not with a straight face. Of all BPAL oils I've worn, this has garnered the most comments from random people. I once got sniffed by a waitress at a restaurant, who then had someone else come over to sniff me. "Smell that! Isn't that great?!" So, warning for those of you (like me) who might ferociously value your personal space... this scent makes people crazy! THROW: I'm not going to be a good source of information on throw. I don't hover near other people that much. NEEDED TO BE REFRESHED: Mid-day. Someone stood right next to me within five minutes after I refreshed it, and sniffed me. That's flattering, I guess, but STOP SNIFFING ME. Freak. Comments: It gave me a headache, or maybe the headache was just a coincidence? I put on too much, though, so I'll give it a second chance later. Second chance: I didn't take a bath in it this time. But what I DID do was put a drop on my hands and put it in my hair right before I blow-dried it. This changed the smell a bit, but not much. Every few minutes, I sort of tossed my hair around and sighed happily. Now everything smells like it, including my laptop and various articles of clothing, and I'm halfway through my second imp. PURCHASING: Damn betcha - would've bought it ten times over, but I keep falling all over myself for the Shiny & New and Limited Editions!

IN THE BOTTLE: This one came as part of an eBay goodie box, so it was a total surprise, and not one I would've picked immediately from the notes described. In the bottle, it's cloyingly fruity. The blackberries are front and center. WET: OH. Here come the other notes, the green tea and dark musk especially, giving this scent some depth. ::keeps sniffing:: This is quite promising. 30 MINUTES LATER: Believe it or not, within half an hour, the scent had changed, and had gone sort of fresh and green. It's still quite intriguing. ONE HOUR LATER: It's now equal between the dark berries and the green tea/sage. This is a gorgeous scent! THROW: High, but probably because I had overdone it. People kept turning around and anticipating my arrival in various rooms because the scent was preceding me, so we'll adjust "Oh, here she comes now" down to medium throw. COMMENTS: I can't get enough of this scent. It smells fresh, but isn't simple. I find myself wanting to slather it on like crazy. NEEDS TO BE REFRESHED: Because the fragrance kept changing, and I loved all the changes, I probably refreshed this one every couple of hours just for the hell of it. Toward the end of the day, I wanted to find out what it finally faded into, and was astounded to find that it was changed yet again. Like Belle Epoque, letting this one go through all of its variations is the best. COLOR: I get color senses with fragrances - chalk it up to synesthesia, which usually only gets me with music. This color "sense" on this one changed as the fragrance changed. It's either hard, glossy green (think clean and growing, not "freshly mown lawn") or dusky purple-black (that's got to be the blackberries). It was like a blackberry going from hard green bud to ripe, black fruit right there. PURCHASING: Oh, yes. I will have a big bottle. Maybe more than one?

IN THE BOTTLE: I was excited about this one, because I love (in theory) when orange and vanilla notes are blended. But I don't smell either when I take the cap off this one. All that's left is black narcissus, which I don't believe I've encountered before. My feeling upon opening the bottle is, "Are you sure you want to do this?" But I've been displeased with the smell in the bottle before and had it turn out fine. WET: Old grapefruit. Uhm… eww? 30 MINUTES LATER: So this is how you find out the notes that don't work for you. Nope, drying down doesn't seem to help. ONE HOUR LATER: Okay, here's the orange blossoms and vanilla – where WERE you guys?! I was waiting for an hour! -- but it's not enough to soften the sharp, unpleasant black narcissus. THROW: I really couldn't tell you. After the hour, I officially gave up and took a wet nap to my wrists and behind my ears. Then I burned the wet nap and buried the ashes in a field. After a protective chant, I was on my way. COMMENTS: I'm toying with layering this one with another that might balance the black narcissus, assuming there is such a thing, but I'm afraid this is either a "bad chemistry" scent, or I happened onto a bad batch of this particular fragrance. I see where someone might like the fragrance, in theory, as I would've liked if the orange blossoms and vanilla had been a little more apparent, so I'm going to go with "bad chemistry" on this one. NEEDS TO BE REFRESHED: Couldn't tell ya. COLOR: Not black at all, but a sickly sort of yellow. If it had smelled black, I might have gone for it, as it would match 95% of my wardrobe. PURCHASING: Gee, let me think. NO. I just got a frimp of this one, and going on my "bad batch" theory or "bad day for my chemistry" theory, I'm going to try it again, and will update accordingly. Right now, I still run away when I see "black narcissus." It sounds like something that would work for me, dammit, so I'm not giving up.

IN THE BOTTLE: The rum in this one knocks you down, takes your car keys and goes on a little joyride. But don't judge a scent by its top note, especially not this one. WET: Holy Molé. There's that bitter Mexican chocolate playing with the rum now, but the rum makes it almost overwhelmingly, deeply sweet and wine gives it an edgy tang. It's definitely exotic. 30 MINUTES LATER: The wine note has faded into the background, and what emerges triumphant is a perfect blend of the cocoa and the rum. ONE HOUR LATER: The overly sweet aspect of this one fades on drydown, thank goodness. I ended up with something Aztec, old, rich with legend and ritual. I keep getting a sense of something orange… again, not a bright citrus note, but maybe the faint smell of a chocolate orange. THROW: Low to medium. COMMENTS: This one made me feel aloof and mysterious. Usually, I'm just aloof. This one also, even more mysteriously, was a powerful aphrodisiac. At the flaring of my nostrils and the dilating of my pupils, the husband blinked fearfully and said, "Uh-oh." Add this one to the "warm" list with: Snake Oil, Magus and Hearth 2005. I can already tell that blends that fit into this category are going to be my lasting favorite. NEEDS TO BE REFRESHED: This one didn't have a lot in the way of staying power. It seemed to fade to faint after just a couple of hours. Strangely, this one seems to become the scent of skin. That's got to be the "blood note" playing games with my chemistry. PURCHASING: Will eventually have at least a 5ml of this just to keep the husband on his toes.

IN THE BOTTLE: Hmmm. Tang. I'm smelling something lemony, but with cream instead of citrus. I've smelled all of the other notes save for sweet opium, so I'm guessing that's the note. WET: Not sure about this one so far. It smells almost like a cleanser. "Synthetic" is the word. I'm smelling that lemon again, like Pledge. Please, I say to my wrist, don't make me smell like I've been dusting. 30 MINUTES LATER: Okay, now we're getting somewhere. This is really nice. It smells bright and airy. The sweet opium and Lily of the Valley are right out there. The remaining notes are so thoroughly blended that they make the scent, as a whole, more evocative. That's artistry. ONE HOUR LATER: This one goes very subtle and feminine. This is a fragrance you wear to tea, or a garden party. Or, if you're more like me, you wear it to a good, low-key burger joint and the zoo, but it's refined and doesn't turn powdery the way I associate with "old lady" perfumes like the many samples I nabbed in my youth from unguarded make-up cases. THROW: The throw is low on this one, but that's not a criticism. This is a lean-in close scent, the one someone catches a whiff of during a hug (or an "air kiss" if you're at the aforementioned garden party). I would say that this is explains why my husband was sniffing my ears, but he tends to do that anyway, so the indictment would be if he didn't sniff my ears. COMMENTS: Floral, sweet, subtle and hard to hold on to, the scent equivalent of a fluffy meringue melting in the mouth. When I woke up the morning after wearing this one, it just smelled SO DAMN GOOD, if faint. NEEDED TO BE REFRESHED: This one invites you to slather it on. Once I discovered I liked it, I ended up refreshing it. For the rest of the day, however, I left well enough alone. At day's end, when I sniffed my wrist, I was officially won over. PURCHASING: This goes on my 5 ml wish list.

On me, this one starts out very dusky, almost woodsy. It reminds me of Red Phoenix, but this has sweet AND sultry, where as Red Phoenix is just sultry (and, an aloof "I'm sorry, were you speaking to me?" fragrance... I mean that in a good way!) It does share two exact notes (red musk and wild plum) and a patchouli-type note. Because of the other notes here, though, the scent goes more mischievious on the skin and less "grown-up" like Red Phoenix (a scent I had categorized as being "for job interviews/professional meetings" because it smells refined). The vanilla bean and pomegranate take this one to a completely different level. One whiff smells pretty and the next whiff smells dark. I like the fight between the two, one luring you in and one putting you on guard. *grin* One note will come out on top for just a moment, but then it combines seamlessly with the others again. My nose isn't picking up the pomegranante, but I'm chalking that up to the artistry of the blend. The "dark fruits" undertone of the scent tells me the pomegranate is present. I think it might be the scent equivalent of cocaine, because I CAN'T STOP SNIFFING IT.