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I liked the way this smelled in the imp, so I gave myself a good going-over with it instead of just a test spot on a wrist. ("Good going-over" = put lotion in palm, pipette oil onto palm, rub hands together, rub all over insides of arms, run hands through hair.) Impressions when drying: Drat. Roses. But green. So I'm thinking more of rose stems -- with thorns -- than rose petals. Kinda watery. And then that vaguely sour milk scent that precedes soapy. And then the inevitable soapy. And then suddenly green and sharp. What is going on with this? I usually stay away from florals, so I am no good at picking out any notes in this. The only one I know is rose. And it's prominent enough here that I can't wear this. I really want to find a floral I can wear that isn't too soft and girlie for me, but sadly, this isn't it. By the way, the good going-over was not entirely remedied by a liberal application of Lust. I'm still a bit rosy, which surprised me. Only now I don't mind it so much.

Coincidentally, I tried this the same day I tried Nero -- one on each wrist. Wet, I much prefer the orange in this one to the rosemary in Nero, but unfortunately I can't get away from the accursed VapoRub associations from the eucalyptus. And I guess I have too many pine-scented cleaning products, because Jabberwocky makes me feel like I smell like my kitchen floor. A very clean kitchen floor, mind you. When drying, the pine/eucalpytus turned into a spectacular, bright, orange scent. The eucalyptus seems gone so it's no longer VapoRubby, and the pine kind of charges up the orange. Unfortunately I also have orange-scented cleaning products. So, this one isn't for me. And even though Mr Gree wanted to try it, I don't think I want him to. I'm afraid that if I smelled this on him I would suddenly want to rush off and scrub down the fridge.

I love the sharp ginger scent in the imp. When it was wet, I was thinking, "I smell like a cup of tea with lemon." That tart lemon scent quickly changed to ginger, and I realized that I was not smelling tea, I was smelling all the stuff I put in the tea. (Evidently when I smell milk and honey and something sharp, my brain assigns "lemon" to the sharp scent, even though here it's actually ginger.) I got a big blast of ginger. I love the taste of ginger, but I don't really want to smell like ginger. The ginger is only bold for about 15 minutes, and then it's all milky and spicy, as though someone in the next room has a big mug of chai and I'm catching wafts of it. It's the smooth creaminess underneath the ginger that I love. Honey often goes play-doh on my skin, but not in Sudha Segara. I smell delicious! This is the first time I liked the imp sniff, didn't like it wet and thought "uh-oh", and then loved it dry. It's soft and doesn't last a long time, but actually the ginger is so strong that I'm glad it doesn't have much throw. I think this ginger could knock people over. Since it stays close, the milk and honey stick with it. I'm beginning to think Beth is brilliant.

This was a frimp from the Lab and was a "No" on my spreadsheet. Still, everything is worth a try... In the imp, it's VERY strong. Lots of pine, and the rosemary is definitely there. On, it smells like VapoRub, in a not-unpleasant menthol way. I don't know what bay smells like, but I know rosemary, and I can smell that, too. 1) I don't like rosemary. If my food comes with rosemary on it, I pick it off. 2) I have strong associations with VapoRub and Vicks inhalers from way too many years at way too many raves. So, in a word: No. This is not for me. And I don't want my husband to smell like this either. However, I would have killed for this blend about 10 years ago when I went to raves all the time.

This was a frimp from the lab, and was actually a "No" on my spreadsheet. But I'm glad they sent it, because now I know what wisteria smells like! Wet, this is all roses. My grandmother used to use a rose lotion for years and years, and I used to sneak some of it when I was little. So, unfortunately I associate rose scents with little old ladies who want to play canasta all afternoon. Roses are pretty much a no-no for me. However, as its drying I can sure smell the lilac. There was a big lilac bush under my window when I was growing up, and I adore lilac scents, mainly for the nostalgia. But since there is definitely something here that isn't rose or lilac, it must be wisteria. It's a little bit sharp and green. Lilac never smelled that sharp to me, and rose certainly doesn't. When it's drying, the whole blend morphs from one note to another fairly continuously. It's pretty impressive. This is a strong floral, and in my opinion I am not nearly feminine enough to carry it off. However I would love to scent my bath towels with this blend.

Slight backstory: My husband is one of the people who proofread the Project Gutenberg version of Sir Richard Francis Burton's translation of Arabian Nights. When I told him there was a BPAL blend called Scherezade, he wanted me to try it. After I tried it, he told me that he thinks it's the perfect scent for the storyteller. Well done, Beth! OK, now for my opinion: This is what purple smells like. I don't know how else to describe it. It's rich, luxurious, deep, regal, inviting, and a bit decadent. When I'm wearing it, I feel sexy, strong, and beautiful. I feel like I can get whatever I want, with barely a glance or a gesture. (In reality that's not quite the case, but the point is that's how I feel.) Out of about 100 imps I've tried, this was my first 10mL bottle order.

Not much I can say that hasn't been said. On me, it's honey and vanilla -- after a while it warms up into a honey musk. After reading the reviews I was expecting O to bowl me over with sexiness, but it doesn't. (I guess Scherezade is still the reigning champ of sexy, for me.) It's not really what I expected. ETA: After trying many BPAL blends, I now know why O didn't work for me -- my skin turns the BPAL honey note to play-doh. However I have found that Mouse's Long and Sad Tale works great on me and is sort of what I was expecting O to smell like.

I've read comparisons to O in other reviews, but that's not what La Petite Mort is like on me. O is nothing like this for me -- O is honey and vanilla and sweetness. La Petite Mort is darker, I think the myrrh makes it sultry. I was wearing Black Phoenix yesterday, and it reminds me of that one, except sweeter. And Black Phoenix is one of my favorites. Definitely a keeper. I just wish it had Snake Oil's throw.

On me, this is strongly tonka and cocoa bean with bergamot and pomegranate. It's beautiful -- it smells sweet and smooth at the same time. This is what I wanted Kunstkammer to smell like (that one went disappointingly cough syrup). I have to be careful with lemon because it tends to overpower on me, but I can't detect it in this blend. And I sort of wish I could pick up more fig, but on the other hand Freak Show is fantastic as it is. I will be on the lookout for more of this one. When I want a non-apricot fruity blend (apricot is my favorite), this is the one I'll reach for.

Had absolutely no idea what to expect from Cairo. At first I didn't like it -- it smelled a bit sharp to me. Not like fruits or even like incense, actually a little edgy. It made me feel a little uneasy. However, as it dried I started to like it more. It's been about 3 hours since I put it on both wrists, and I still don't know what I'm smelling. It smells yellow to me. Sort of like honeyed figs and incense. To me, it smells exotic, but in a rather bright way. It's intriguing, but I don't think it's for me.

Initial impression: Dark amber and musk. A little smoky, in a sultry smoldering way, not in a hazy way. While wearing: I LOVE THIS. I don't find quite as much leather as I was expecting, but the other notes are balanced very well. And it never gets sweet or powdery -- on me, it was the same scent Hour 1 through Hour 8. It has a lot of throw, too. Sensual? Oh, hell yeah. "Lascivious" is the perfect word for this blend. I didn't look at the notes before trying it for the first time, and I put it on right before going to chemistry class, which proved to be problematic. I could barely concentrate. Husband's reaction: "It kind of reminds me of Pez. In that dusty way." [Note: He's wearing Casanova right now, so his sniffer might be a little off.]

Initial impression: Amber and a bit musky. Smells like perfume, rather than food, flowers, spices, etc. Promising... While wearing: Jacob's Ladder is faint, but I wouldn't call it light. When I catch the scent, it is deep and luxurious. Golden. On me, this does not smell masculine at all. "Glowing" is a good word for it. Unfortunately I'm not familiar enough with the notes in this one to be able to say which ones are prominent. But this one smells a lot more like "perfume" than other BPAL blends I've tried. Mr. Gree is sitting right next to me and can't smell it, and I nearly slathered. I'm enjoying it, though. I like it more and more as the hours go by and it softens a little. Hubby's reaction: First 30 minutes: "I like it, but Alone is better." After 3 hours, with a surprised look on his face: "Mmmm, that's niiiice. Can you get more of that one?" ETA on 5/14/07: I got a decant of the 06 version in order to compare it to my bottle of the 05 version, and I can't really tell much of a difference. The 05 version smells a little bit deeper and a little less bright, but I think that's to be expected since it has amber, galbanum, and benzoin in it. It's a barely noticeable difference, and I wouldn't have been able to tell if I didn't have them both on, right next to each other. I like the 05 version better, but I always like aged resins best.

Initial impression: Wow. Fresh and clean. I'm getting a powerful, wet citrus. Must be the bergamot. Whatever it is, it's bold. While wearing: I really, really like this, and I didn't expect to. I usually like the darker, smokier blends. But the crisp citrus scent fades within the first 20-30 minutes, leaving a really lush, round floral with just a hint of woodsiness. For some reason I feel like sitting in a rocking chair on a verandah sipping mint juleps, and I don't even know what mint juleps are. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to last very long on me. It's wispy after about one hour. But when I catch wisps of it, it's wonderful. I completely agree with reviewers who said it would be great spritzed on bed linens. Will just use the imp, since hubby crinkles his nose a bit at this one, but I'll love using up the imp. Husband's reaction: "Smells like old-lady purple."

Initial impression: Started out sharply and strongly clove, and I couldn't find the cherry in it at all. In the first 30 minutes the clove overpowered everything else, and it was making me slightly dizzy. Perhaps that was because I could not stop myself from repeatedly bringing my wrists to my face and breathing it in. (The dizziness was kinda fun.) While wearing: Resin-sweet (must be the Dragon's Blood), but still no cherries. Also I have to get pretty close to my wrists to get any clove. After about an hour, it turned a bit powdery, but the sweetness never faded. The myrrh lends a subtle undercurrent of smoke. The spiciness fades a lot over the first couple of hours, but the sweetness lingers quite a while. I put it on at 8 p.m. and could still smell it the next morning. After about four hours I still like it, but I want to re-slather to bring back some of the beloved clove. For me, this is a singularly winter scent -- it feels red, and too hot for summer. Probably don't need a bottle, because I was really hoping for more clove and cherry. But I know I will use my imp. Husband's reaction: "You smell like chai. It's nice." In the first couple of hours, he noticeably keeps coming round and being affectionate. "Strangely alluring, isn't it?" I ask. "Mmmrhhrmmm-mmrhhmm," he says, snuggled into my neck.