Cimorene

First impression: Ohhhh yeahhhh. Drying down: This smells great in the bottle and great on me too! It starts of very light, with something citrusy (not the cloyingly sweet kind, the tart and juicy kind) and it keeps getting better. I actually don't get any tea from this, just the citrus and florals, and it's not so much "dizzying" as "fresh and lively". Usually green scents don't really agree with me, but this one is something special. Dry: The tea's made an appearance! Whereas Dormouse was sharp before, the tea mellows it out and adds a trace of bitterness that keeps it from getting a little too sweet. Verdict: A keeper. I might like this even better than Shanghai, and I'm a sucker for verbena Only downside is that my skin eats it up, and I wish it lasted just a little bit longer.

Oh dear. I had my misgivings when I read previous posts and found that this one had vetiver, and it turns out I was right -- on me this is dark green and almost medicinally bitter, so much so that I can't help wrinkling my nose when I sniff my wrist Guess I've found one of my death notes! I suppose I'll be staying far away from vetiver from now on.

My first impression of this was PINE PINE PINE. It wasn't overly unpleasant like Pine-sol, but not great either. Luckily the pine has died down within the first few minutes or so! Now the eucalyptus has come out to play and it's a very quiet, but still energizing green scent. I'll probably end up keeping this one, I can see it getting a lot of use in the summer months!

This is a very light scent -- kind of citrusy and aquatic, but with something else diluting it and making it almost disappear into my skin. If this were a place it'd be a small pond, with water so clear and still you could see right down to the rocks and sea creatures at the bottom. I'm not good enough at this to pick out individual notes, but this definitely lives up to its name. I'm not sure if it's really me, but I'll keep it until summer rolls around and see if I change my mind then

In the imp: Woods! Me likey. On wet: This is quite nice - sweet and dry and dusty all at once. My sister also likes it too, and she commented, "You smell very manly!" Um...thank you? Dry: This is a very calm, subdued scent -- I can't really characterize when I'd wear it though, perhaps during a lunch with friends?

Just got an imp from this in my first delivery ever, and I'm so excited to try this! Ever since Gluttony caught my eye I've been dying to try a foodie scent (unfortunately, it was discontinued before I had the chance to order). Let's see how this one turns out! Imp: Buttered toast. Odd. On wet: I still get the toast and something a little sweet under it - probably the cherry - and something that smells suspiciously like BO. Oh dear... Dry: There's something sweet about this that I like, but still something salty under it that just ruins the smell for me. It really reminds me of an arts-and-crafts store, and not in a good way. I can't help being disappointed, but maybe there's another foodie scent that will turn out better on me -- I'll keep an eye out.

Ursa and Balame -- Thanks so much for the recs! I'm waiting for my most recent order to come in, and you guys have named scents I didn't even know about before (darn!). Will definitely be taking a look at those

Hi Ursa! Fellow newbie here, too I don't know that much about what scents work on me personally yet, but my sister's had several BPALs for quite a while now, and your stepdaughter sounds like a really cool kid. Have you considered Shanghai? I've always loved the smell of verbena, and the fresh-but-not-cloying fragrance might go perfectly with what you're looking for. So about me -- I'm very petite, with dark hair and eyes and pale skin. I'm studying Economics at a West Coast university (was considering a French double-major before I figured out I couldn't write essays every week while keeping up my extracurriculars/job) and looking to go into finance. I enjoy cooking and trying new recipes, following fashion blogs, and lusting after things I can't afford through online shopping. I'd say my closet is a mix of modern and elegant pieces, and I'll admit I have a growing addiction to arm candy, but I'm perfectly comfortable with throwing on combat boots and leather jackets when I'm feeling lazy. On my geekier side, I really enjoy PC gaming and hunting down good low fantasy/scifi/historical fiction books, especially if it has a lot of dark humor and multifaceted characters. When I was younger I followed manga/manhwa almost religiously -- sometimes I still do, for the really good ones -- and I believe that anyone who has the time and skill to put together a cosplay outfit is amazing. I also enjoy both classical music and art, especially as I play two instruments and used to sing opera. But that doesn't mean you won't find dubstep or EDM on my iPod =] Other tidbits: I'm pretty well traveled for my age (Shanghai and Tokyo are my favorite cities), and I speak 3 other languages besides English. I've also worked a lot with nonprofit organizations through the years, and I hope to keep that up as I move through my budding career. I consider myself an introvert and it takes a lot for me to trust someone, but once I do I am loyal to them no matter what happens. My weirdness only comes out when I'm with friends I truly feel comfortable with, but otherwise I am pretty unemotional to the point of being stoic most of the time. I'm also very asexual. Love love love a good debate, exploring restaurants, reading, sweets and pastries of all kinds, and cats. Sorry, no babies. Since I'm going into such a male-dominated field, I've been looking for some time for a strong, independent scent that will help me hold my own and reflect determination and a don't-mess-with-me attitude. On the other hand, my life isn't defined by my work, so I'd also love to find some everyday scents for other occasions. I've only tried a few imps so far, but definite no's for me is anything overly sweet or fruity, they immediately turn soapy on my skin Would really appreciate any ideas you long-timers have! Thanks for reading and I'm excited to be a part of the BPAL community

Wet: VANILLAAAAAAAA! Drydown: My sister just sniffed me and said it smells rather nutty, which is curious because there aren't any nuts in this one. But still, this is the best experience with BPAL's oils I've had so far ^^ There's only a bit left in my sister's imp, and she's getting a big bottle when it runs out. I'm lucky her reactions to certain oils are so similar to mine EDIT: Formatting

On wet: Whoa there, spiced Moroccan unguents/red musk! (I can't tell which one) On first sniff it's really heavy, kind of like what I imagine incense would smell like, which isn't necessarily a good thing since I associate this kind of smell with much older ladies =/ Drydown: It's become a bit lighter, I can't tell which notes have receded or come to the front but it's a little more bearable than before. Let's see if that honey or caramel is going to make an appearance anytime soon... Dry (10 minutes): Honey! Warm golden honey, with something else making it just the teeniest bit salty/heavy to keep it from getting too much. Sometimes it even smells a bit like the nutty lotus paste I love in my mooncakes and steamed buns. I'm liking where this is going. Unfortunately it seems to be fading fast, I have to put my nose right up to my wrist to get a good whiff. Dry (30 minutes): Almost completely gone now, and it's starting to smell like honeyed baby powder So this is only my second review, but so far my body's been amping up soapy, cloyingly sweet notes while devouring ones I actually like, like the honey in this one. I'd've been so happy if Bien Loin D'Ici had longer staying power, but it's not the case. Scumbag body chemistry =___=

So this is my first review (eep!), with me trying one of my sister's imps! I know when she first applied it I didn't like it much, so let's see how it is on me... On wet: It smells so much like shampoo I can almost taste the bitter soapy taste on the back of my tongue. Horrible, cloying sweet Herbal Essences-y shampoo. It doesn't even smell like citrus, which is rather disappointing since I've always loved the smell of lemon, grapefruit, etc. Here's hoping it'll improve over time... Drydown: Nope. Still shampoo. Dry (10 minutes): Not as cloying anymore and a little more bitter, that's probably the tea coming out even though my nose isn't that experienced at picking out scents yet. But that soapy smell is still so, so overwhelming. More tea, please! Dry (30 minutes): The soap smell has gone from bashing itself in my nose to lurking just under the surface, but the damage is done: my throat's all dry and scratchy now Everything else is fading away along with it, so I don't think the perfume's going to change much from here... All in all, I expected it to be bad, but certainly not soap-in-my-mouth, garishly-fluorescent-pink bad =/ Good thing my sister just ordered some more imps and I'll have something new to try out soon! Hopefully I'll find something that suits me better in that batch.