storme

In the imp: kumquat and orange blossom and tea, sweet and slightly citric. On me, wet: lots of kumquat and tea, sharply overriding something powdery and faint beneath it. On me, dry: a very sharp orange-and-kumquat-and-lemony citrus, but that candyish sharp-sweet citrus note. Verdict: It's a little too much like orange-scented kitchen cleanser, methinks. I'll never wear it, but if you like sweet citrus, this one is for you.

In the imp: hmm, lavender and cherry, sweet and sharp at the same time. On me, wet: lots of cherry over pale musk and very soft lavender. It's a bit powdery-sweet. On me, dry: very faint, and now it's just pale lavender over even paler musks. No rosewood here, and even the cherry is gone now. Verdict: not to my taste, I think - even if it hadn't faded to nothing so fast.

In the imp: vetiver and wood, that dirty-damp-forest-at-night feel. On me, wet: lots of vetiver at first, and then a rush of saffron and soft powdery amber. It's all fairly faint, though. On me, dry: soft vetiver and powdery amber and a tinge of saffron. No tangerine for me, and only a hint of cedar. Verdict: All the darkness of vetiver but none of the sharp brightness I was promised. Alas.

In the imp: blood musk and pepper and a hint of incense. On me, wet: smoky peppery leather and strong incense. This really does smell like an evil ritual should, dark and deadly and menacing and *sexy*. On me, dry: this reminds me a lot of Blood Moon, that dark musk and spice. This is cinnamon rather than grains, but still warm and delicious and the pepper is a nice touch. Verdict: I think I'd rather have Blood Moon, but this'll make a good substitute when my bottle of that runs out.

In the imp: wow, my brain is confused by this. Red musk and strawberry bubblegum? On me, wet: Red musk is so awesome on my skin. It's pretty much the only note in this at first, aside from a faint fruity trace. On me, dry: Hmm, the fruits come forward a little on my skin, and the wafts (mm, throw!) of sweet-fruit-and-red-musk from this are rather gorgeous. Verdict: This is girly-sexy, light and carefree but with red musk grounding this and stopping it from becoming childish. Yum.

In the imp: yuzu and kumquat, all citric and deliciously sharp. Wow, that's lovely. On me, wet: mm, there's a touch of red grapefruit, but it's not the over-sweet grapefruit I get from other BPAL. And the kumquat and yuzu are still lovely. On me, dry: ear god the prettiness of the citrus, all sparkly bright and sharp and awesome, soothed from becoming at all candyish from the moist faint florals. Verdict: This was the PiA scent I was most excited about, and my god it's lovely. A big bottle contender, for sure.

In the imp: Oh, wow, such an awesomely bright citrus scent. Not candyish, but sharp and sweet and sparkly to my nose. On me, wet: citrus and coconut and maybe some light florals. Sweeter than in the imp, but lovely. On me, dry: hmm, something in this doesn't like me - there's a powdery floral scent and an icky urine scent here, and the two together are all that's left. Where did my lime and coconut go? Verdict: Sigh, my skin killed it. Fie, away with it.

In the imp: weird - like a mix of chocolate and dragon's blend and rose. On me, wet: chocolate-rose-porridge-hazelnut. Very foody, but still identifiably a floral. On me, dry: chocolate-hazelnut with a rich, creamy floral base. There's a tinge of booziness to this, and the dragon's blood is back too - adding a slight sticky feeling to things. Verdict: Astonishing. I'd never wear this personally, but it's the closest thing I've found to a chocolate scent I can tolerate wearing.

In the imp: lily and chrysanthemum and green carnation. On me, wet: very green stem-sap sort of scent, under chrysanthemum and green carnation. Refreshing and floral. On me, dry: I get the impression that without the lilies I would love this blend. Unfortunately, they're swamping the blend. Verdict: Alas, those lilies are too soapy. I can smell how awesome the carnation/chrysanthemum combination is beneath that, though.

In the imp: hm, musky sandalwood with a hint of powdery violet. On me, wet: whoa violet powder and sandalwood and amber. This is quite masculine. On me, dry: florals and musk and amber and very light woods. Still masculine, but it's faded very fast. Verdict: This is nice enough if a bit light and undistinguished. I think I can pass on it.

In the imp: balsam and wood and clove, very acrid and bitter. On me, wet: hmm, everything faded down to a skin-scent smoke-and-wood resin-ish scent. On me, dry: slightly acrid generic-perfume-scent, slightly baby-powderish under the smoke. Enh. Verdict: I love the name, but the scent isn't going to work on me at all.

In the imp: lots of pumpkin and cardamom and ginger and butter - very warming but sort of greasy. Hmm. On me, wet: Wow, everything but the greasiness vanished, pretty much. It smells like I smeared slightly gingery butter on myself. On me, dry: Hmm. Faintly warm and still rather greasy pumpkin and ginger, without much orange peel or cardamom. Sigh. Verdict: I can't see myself ever wearing this. I never wear Jack, after all, and it's the same greasiness that bothers me there. I think this bottle can get in my swap/sale pile. Note: (this layers nicely with Lick It Again, though that's not really enough reason for me to keep the bottle around.)

In the imp: Oh god how I loved Lick It. This is like Lick It with more toothachey sugar-peppermint goodness. On me, wet: The vanilla warms through the peppermint and makes this into a lovely, sugar-drenched candycane. Must not bite wrist. On me, dry: The peppermint doesn't hang around as long or as strongly as I'd like, but the faintly-minty vanilla afterscent is pretty good anyway. Verdict: The extra sugar doesn't make this much different from Lick It, so: yum yay glad I got a bottle.

In the imp: snow and pine and moss and dirt and something unpleasant in a floral way - crushed rotting flowers? On me, wet: lots of moss and snow and that piney/juniper scent. This is very dark and green. On me, dry: Lots and lots of moss, with a bit of snow and even a tinge of sulphurous florals, but this somehow doesn't smell like Iceland to me. It's all ground scents with none of the brittle cold air. Verdict: Nah - I wanted this scent to evoke Thingvellir national park, but it doesn't, and it's not a scent I can see myself wearing otherwise.

In the imp: whoa, metallic - dark and oily metal under dragon's blood. On me, wet: a lot of dragon's blood and that metallic-oily tang. The leather is there somewhere too, slightly sweaty - this is a very butch scent. On me, dry: hmm, leathery-oily-metallic-dragon's blood. This is a consistent scent, if nothing else. Verdict: I was envisioning something a little more fiery from this blend - as it is, it might be okay on a blacksmith, but I don't think it's me.

In the imp: minty sweet tea and orange blossom. On me, wet: mint and orange blossom and over-sweetened tea with lemongrass. This is sort of nice but too honeyed and not really my style. On me, dry: mrf, this has become one large gloopy mess of honeyed citrus, like a throat linctus. Not very appealing. Verdict: Nope, one for the swap/sale pile. Even if I had a sore throat I wouldn't wear this.

In the imp: mm red musk and vanilla and plum. Ohboy that's nice. On me, wet: RED MUSK and vanilla bean and a tiny hint of patchouli leaf making it even sultrier. Wow. On me, dry: I can't talk logically about a scent where red musk is this prominent. It is very sexy and yummy and lovely, even though it fades a little fast for my liking. Verdict: Delicious. I will be keeping this around, yes indeed.

Teddy's gloriously dismal creation. As a lover of rainy days, grey skies and chill air, summer is his antithesis. A spell of June Gloom is always welcome in our household. A bouquet of bright summer flowers dampened by the scent of morning mist and rain. In the imp: whoa verbena and lemon-scented kitchen cleanser. On me, wet: kitchen cleanser! Oh god, it smells like it should be eating into my flesh from the acidity. On me, dry: it stays as lemon kitchen cleanser - in fact, as it dries it smells like kitchen cleaner residue, if anything. Verdict: Enh, very glad I got to try it, but I really don't need to keep this.

In the imp: sweet rose and greenish carnation and resins, I think. On me, wet: powdery resins and that green carnation note and some faint roses. On me, dry: soft spicy powder and carnation - very soft, very gentle, but quite nice. Verdict: Nice, but I think I'll trade this on and let someone else try it - Maiden isn't that dissimilar on me, if I want that spicy carnation feel, and I'm not really sold on the powderiness.

In the imp: dark aquatics and florals. On me, wet: lots of murky turquoise aquatics with some sharp florals - white, but with a strong bitter green floral in here too. On me, dry: That green note became that celery note from Lady of Shalott, over dark aquatics. Mrf. Verdict: Urgh, no, this isn't something I'll ever wear, but hey, a frimp, so I don't mind too much.

In the imp: lemon and carnation and honeysuckle. Yum. On me, wet: lots of lemon and soapy florals over soft musk. Dammit, I guess the iris must be doing bad things on my skin. On me, dry: soap, but at the edge of the throw I can smell the carnation and poppy. Arrgh. Where's my citrus and musk and honeysuckle? Later: hmm, okay, the iris burns off after an hour or so - and I'm left with the scent I wanted, a warm spicy musky base under sweet honeysuckle and lemon. Verdict: Well, hmm, I dislike that iris phase - but after it's done, I'm left with a fairly decent substitute for Et Lux Fuit. One to re-test.

In the imp: uh-oh, jasmine. And incense and much earth, but mostly, ew, jasmine. On me, wet: dark loamy earth and dusty moss and cloyingly heavy jasmine over it all. On me, dry: there's that soapy jasmine thing, heavy over pure dirt and moss. It's like someone scattered soap samples on a grave. Verdict: Oh, I think not. It's not actually nasty, I note - the dirt and the soap balance out quite well - but it's really not my thing.

Absurd! Green mango, fig, patchouli and green tea. In the imp: oh, god, fresh bright sweet fruits - lots of mango and fig. On me, wet: mango and warm figs over softly citric tea. It's a very juicy scent - and a little like Fruit Moon. On me, dry: warm spicy fruit tea, but with a slightly dusty tinge to it. And after a while, the whole thing goes a bit sour and dry - I blame the patchouli reacting with the fig. Verdict: Feh, this seemed pretty promising, but it's hardly going to replace Fruit Moon for my fruity scent needs.

(tested primarily for scent and not for intent) In the imp: roses and resins. On me, wet: pink tea roses over resins. This is very sweet and girly and fairly light - a little powdery, if anything, but in a warm way. On me, dry: still light sweet and pink roses soft over a warm resinous base. Very pink, still a bit powdery, very very girly. Verdict: The SO thought it was pretty, but that was about it. And I think actually this is really too girly for general use. But I'll hold onto the imp for now anyway.

In the imp: first thought: sherbet! A very sugary sweet cranberry-and-lime-and-orange mix with a fizzy edge, to me. On me, wet: fruit-flavoured marzipan soaked in booze. The booze note is definitely gin-like rather than vodka, to me. On me, dry: the booze note burns off and I'm left with tooth-achingly sugary lemony sherbet again. Hrm. Verdict: No, I don't think I want to smell this much like the scrapings from an empty jar of lemon drops.