storme

In the imp: faint cherry and grapefruit and white musk. On me, wet: grapefruit, plumeria and cherry. It's a bit syrupy to my nose, though - oversweet and cloying. On me, dry: plumeria and cherry. Where'd my citrus go? Verdict: A bit powder-and-syrup, I think. All sweetness with no real scent behind it on my skin.

In the imp: medicinal sharp sage, patchouli and blackberry. Reminds me of Bitter Moon, somewhat. On me, wet: sage and not a lot else, maybe the faintest hint of blackberry. On me, dry: man, this is really faint - a tiny amount of sage-citrus-blackberry, the merest whisper of patchouli. Verdict: Ah well. I think I'm fundamentally not a blackberry-scent person anyway.

In the imp: sweet peachy resin! On me, wet: mm, green carnation and honeysuckle and sweet, rich dark resin. Yum! On me, dry: peachy resin with a warm spiciness from the carnation and a sweet tinge from the honeysuckle. I can smell the frankincense being weird and acrid in the background too, but it's not overpowering. Verdict: this is nice, but hmm, I don't know that I'm going to want to wear this. I just don't like the idea of peach scents, I think.

In the imp: sweet lavender and white woods, yum yum yum. On me, wet: incredibly faint sandalwood and lavender. On me, dry: lavender and pale woods and a faint green scent that's a bit aniseedish. The smoke is only a very faint tinge. Verdict: Hmm. I like this, and it's the clearest greenest sandalwood I've tried yet, but I think it's too faint for me to want to wear it often.

In the imp: wow, masculine aquatics and salty wood. On me, wet: salty woody aquatics, very sea-airish and fresh-smelling. On me, dry: fresh salty woodsy sea air, like lying on a deck at the beach and just breathing in deeply. Verdict: I think this one can stay around - I may not end up reaching for it in the near future, but it's pretty evocative.

In the imp: lime and bay rum and tobacco and sugar cookies, yup. Very sweet and thick and treacly, somehow. On me, wet: whoa bay rum and tobacco amping like crazy. Overpoweringly boozy. On me, dry: lots of tobacco and rum and sugary cookie dough. A little musty nd oversweet. Verdict: Urgh, no, this is not for me at all.

In the imp: whoa, kind of a masculine citrusy musk. and my imp is really lospided at the base, wtf? On me, wet: mm, pale citruses and musk, quite masculine and airy. On me, dry: light airy citruses and musk, not at all bitter. This is a very well-blended scent, and it's hard to pick out any notes, really. Verdict: Odd, but I think a bit too undistinctive for me to keep around. Though the lopsided imp base is curious enough for me to want to hang onto it.

In the imp: milk chocolate and orange and ginger. On me, wet: mmm, cardamom and cream and chocolate orange. On me, dry: smells like a box of chocolate creams melted on my arm. Pretty good ones, at that, if a little mildly flavoured. Verdict: the SO, as usual with BPAL chocolate, pulled an unhappy face when sniffing this, so I think it'll go back in my trade pile.

Luminescent, glowing, and otherworldly: green mandarin, neroli, honeydew, white amber, guava, freesia, white and green musks hovering over desert scrub, smashed wood, and the dry, biting scent of night air over the Groom Lake salt flats. In the imp: ooooh. lots of honeydew and pale musks and ozone, very watery and light - and another lopsided imp base, if not to such a crazy degree. On me, wet: aquatics and melon and ozone, very like Sea of Glass. On me, dry: very ozone-ish. Very much like Sea of Glass with some extra melon lightly wafted over it. Verdict: Yeah, not different enough to be worth keeping around, I think.

In the imp: lots of florals, and the jasmine and the amber are prominent. On me, wet: lots of amber and lavender and what I guess must be vanilla flower. This is floral yet sweet, and the jasmine hasn't yet taken over. On me, dry: oooh, this is weird. Lavender and vanilla, sweet and floral and rather faint. Ah, and then the jasmine ramps up and adds powderiness. Verdict: Way nicer than most jasmine blends are on me, but still, not for me.

Like so many others, this was the Inquisition scent I was most curious about - while it's not what I received for my plea, someone was kind enough to sell me an imp of it on lj to test. In the imp: clove and petitgrain and red musk, oh my. On me, wet: oooooooooooh. aw yeah, that's the stuff. lotsa clove, lots rich, almost burnt-smelling vanilla and petitgrain and musk. On me, dry: no wonder people are going nuts for this. It does remind me of Smut, but where Smut because Brut on my skin, this is feminine and gorgeous. Verdict: I waved my wrist under my SO's nose and his first reaction was to kiss it. I think it's a winner.

In the imp: oh, wow. Dark, smoky, creamy florals with spicy patchouli underneath. On me, wet: mmm, dark, swirly patchouli-and-floral deliciousness. It's really addictive-smelling. On me, dry: I think this is the same patchouli base as in Mme Moriarty - it's gorgeous there and here. This is less musky and more floral, and slightly more creamy somehow. Verdict: I'll certainly keep my imp around, but I think it's similar enough to Mme Moriarty that I don't need to pine for a bottle.

In the imp: hmm, a lot of vanilla and heliotrope - there's almost a ylang ylang feel to this, in fact. On me, wet: orange and ylang ylang and a faint trace of musk and rose. It's very sweet. On me, dry: very faint sweet orange and baby powder. Verdict: Sigh. Apparently my skin didn't want to give this a chance.

In the imp: green carnation and lavender and blackberry. It smells almost medicinal, like a cough sweet. On me, wet: mm, lavender and carnation and tart, ripe blackberries. This is lovely. On me, dry: that's quite a sharp lavender and really fresh blackberries - the carnation and the honey don't really do much here. Verdict: It's lovely, and I'm glad I got to try it, but I'm really not sure I'll ever wear it. We'll see.

In the imp: rose creme centers. Yum. On me, wet: sugary creamy rose, very sweet and toothsome. On me, dry: augh, this has become too sweet. it's like rose sugar, not sugared rose - it has a sort of fizzy dustiness to the sweetness. Verdict: Alas, I wanted crystallised roses, but my skin amped the sugar way too much.

In the imp: violet creme centers. Surprise surprise. On me, wet: it disappeared entirely as it hit my skin, weirdly. I get the fainted trace of sugary violet creaminess. On me, dry: hello? hello? I can detect the faintest whiff of a parma-violet-ish scent, less powdery than most BPAL violets on me, but *incredibly* faint. Verdict: I guess not, but hey, at least it didn't go to baby powder.

Reviewed primarily for scent here: On me, wet: verbena and buttery peppermint. Very fresh, very clearing-the-mind-and-sinuses-ish. On me, dry: the back of my brain feels like it's been sprayed with coolant - this is a chilling scent. Verdict: I'm not yet sure of the efficacy - I haven't yet settled down to do any work - but it makes me feel like I am going to blaze through whatever I set my mind to today. It's pleasant enough to wear, but non-perfumey enough that it feels like it has a purpose. A keeper.

In the imp: freesia and white pear. On me, wet: sweet rose and dusty orris-and-violet threatening to swamp it. On me, dry: old lady talcum-powder. Blech. The SO doesn't seem to think it too bad, but even he describes it as talcum powder. Verdict: Wah. Hopefully someone will trade me one of the other inquisition scents, one that works better on me.

In the imp: sugary ginger and lemon - like a soothing drink for sore throats. On me, wet: ooof, citronella and lemongrass and powdery ginger. Now it's like a soothing drink for sore throats before the water's been added. On me, dry: strong citroness and lemongrass and ginger and something herbal beneath. Still powdery to me. Verdict: Well, this has some throw, but it's really not to my taste. Alas. I was hoping for the sweetgrass that other people described.

In the imp: hmm, sort of a vanilla/musk/sweet resin blend. On me, wet: This feels like it's all airy topnotes. Sweet, light-yet-musky vanilla... After a few minutes, I can smell the dark resin getting stronger underneath that. On me, dry: oh, my. Dark, sweet, sugary vanilla resin with a powdery creamy feel over the top. Compelling, if maybe a touch fast to fade on me. After a while, it smells like a fainter Oblivion. Verdict: I'll be keeping the imp around for a while, just to see if I do use it.

Reviewed primarily for scent, rather than for intent: In the imp: a very sweet lavender - since I love lavender, this is very soothing to me already. On me, wet: lots of lavender, a little eucalyptus and something else herby and gentle beneath it, giving a stable feel to this. On me, dry: lavender and mentholish herbs. This is pretty unvarying and unmorphing. Verdict: This did indeed make me feel soothed, after a day of wranging with php and css. But no more so than something like Safari does.

In the imp: whoa, earthy indeed. Like Zombi, without the rose. On me, wet: hmm, vanilla coconut dirt. With maybe some vetiver. On me, dry: yup, vanilla and coconut and dirt and vetiver. Verdict: interesting, and nice, but I basically don't want to wear dirt scents.

In the imp: cedar and spice, lots and lots of woods to this. On me, wet: mm, sandalwood and spices and something almost menthol-ish. Interesting. On me, dry: cedar and spice and sandalwood, sweet and slightly medicinal. Verdict: this is nice, but I don't think it's nicer than other woodsy scents I have, so I'll pass it on to someone who'll love it more.

In the imp: metallic ozone and a hint of soapy florals. On me, wet: soapy dryer sheets with florals. Mrf, want metals, not spring-fresh linen. On me, dry: the inside of my tumble dryer. Which I guess has a slight hot metal tang, under the floral dryer sheet smell, so. Verdict: Oh, I wanted to love this so much. Alas, it's not quite evocative enough for me.

In the imp: faint orange blossom. On me, wet: orange blossom, faint green carnation, soapy iris. On me, dry: faint, creamy orange blossom, with a sort of treacly sugary note that isn't evident right up close, only when I pull my nose back a little from my wrist. Weird, but nice, in an orange-spicy-cookie way. Verdict: hmm, this is nice, but I think it's just too faint on me. Alas.