TrailerTrashPrincess

there's no change from my imp to wet on my skin to the drydown phase...

 

i like this, and i will be buying a bottle...

but the only way i can describe this is that if Old Spice had ever made a woman's scent, this would be it.

now, let me add that i love men's fragrances, and that's generally what i wear when it isn't BPAL (either that or Yves Rocher's Comme une Evidence)... and Old Spice is one of my favourites. i know that lots of people hate it or think it smells like their grampa, but that's what i like about it. it smells like my PawPaw did -- and makes me feel 2 again.

 

anyway, this doesn't have much staying power -- but maybe mixed into a lotion and soap and then slathered on...

 

scents are so very often tied to emotions, and this makes me both sad and happy.

(y'know the line "tis better to have loved and lost..." ? well, this scent makes me sad, reminding me of things/times/people that're gone -- but happy, to be reminded that they WERE once, and that i was lucky enough, and loved enough, to know. and i am grateful that i can remember.)

 

now i need to go find a teddybear (or, rather, in my case: a stuffed vampire) and snuggle.

 

i've vaguely been wondering what scent i'll wear to our wedding (next year, sometime.) and i think this may be it. that way i'll be reminded that just because certain family is no longer *here*.... they'll still.... here

i was gifted an imp of this in a swap and i (am ashamed to admit) i let it sit for a few weeks, because the description of it, and the notes, didn't sound like something that i would like.

 

*hangs her head in shame*

 

i tried it and this is beautiful.

 

this smells the way the glow of a beautiful, clear full moon feels on my skin.

the way everything looks *different* in that light -- even the backyard you know so well can look alien and interesting under moonlight. or creepy. just different.

 

i have white flower petals making love to my skin everywhere i've slathered myself, and an aura of *bliss*

 

yes, i know i'm melodramatic. (like some of y'all aren't just as bad!) but this is beautiful.

 

i must check my notes to see which angel first shared this oil with me.... whomever it was, i owe a tremendous thanks (with an eensy bit of frustration, being as how this is an LE)

i've always loved DB....

one of my favourite incense flavours.... a good, dependable, yummy earth-dirt-passion scent.

 

so i had high hopes for the BPAL version. with good reason, yesh?

 

 

but....

at first, it smells like some sort of liquid medicine

which dries down to a very purple (lilac? iris? tulip?) sort of floral.

 

there's no cherry, or soap, or dirt here for me.

and certainly no tree bark.

 

an hour later, this has become "Hi. I'm A Generic Flower."

pretty, but nothing i'd ever wear. reminds me vaguely of scented toilet paper from the 80's or cheap potpourri.

 

i'm not going to give up, though. i'll put this away and try it again in a few months and hope it'll be better after it ages some.

somewhere in the middle of the reviews, valentina mentioned that this smells (on her) like Ombre Rose smells on the people who wear it...

 

i get that, too. being a person who used to try to wear Ombre Rose (such nifty bottles!), i was always sad that it turned into something wierd on me.

 

this is how i wanted that to smell.

 

it isn't really roses, though....

but i'm sure there's rose in it, somewhere. maybe white roses. and white musk (just a drop) and some other white flowers.

 

even slathered on, there's not much throw, and this is one of those scents that more blends with my own scent than tries to overpower it, if that makes any sense?

(that's one too many words that sound like "cent" )

 

i *heart* this. truly. this is the first GC scent i've tried (and i've tried 100+) that makes me think yessssssssss.

i must get a 10mL of this. or two. or three....

omg... this is MoneyHouse's older, slightly more affluent sibling.

 

the purple can/spray bottle/indian head Money House Blessing Spray that i got addicted to at a very young age...

this is that. but BETTER.

 

in high school my room reeked of the stuff... and all people could say was that it smelled purple.

i'd add in grape when i could find it...

 

i painted my entire room pale purple, so... it worked. it was The Purple Cave...

 

wow.

 

just.... wow.... i'm babbling and not making much sense, i know, but i'm continually amazed at the olfactory wonders that are in these little bottles.....

in the imp... all i smell is chemicals... sortof fake lemon industrial cleaner.

 

as it dries down... band-aids and wet half-smoked marlboro reds

 

finally it becomes the hard leather used in saddlebags, but the cheap kind. or like the patchwork purse your gramma had in the 80's...

 

not what i wanted it to be at all.

a lovely experiment, though

wet on my skin ... smells like brownie mix or bittersweet chocolate chips

 

as it dries.... it becomes sassafras and sandalwood with the eeeensiest little bit of cedar in there somewhere.

 

half an hour later.... vanillabean icecream and rootbeer.

or a rootbeer float (as someone has already described -- and nailed it)

 

not something i think i'd ever want to wear, but an amazing combination.

in the imp: dried roses.

 

initial drydown: smells like perm solution (or like bath/body/works "moonlit path" [i think that's the name? yesno?] which one of my old office managers wore and something about it just smelled overly chemically -- permy)

 

wierd skin chemistry.

whew! that i'm-in-a-mall-salon smell went away after about half an hour

 

and everything changed into a lovely bouquet of wild roses.

 

 

** i must also add that i've had an extremely stressful week and started new medication a few days ago - -so my chemistry is uberwierd right now.

 

ADDED 11/28/07:

 

having tried quite a few of the Lab's rose blends, i can say they're very hit-and-miss. either i love it (2 5 & 7, Rose Cross) or really just don't much care either way.

 

impsniff: stale/old rose potpourri

skinned: same stale potpourri but now with an unwashed-funk-musk and perm solution twang.

 

end verdict: oh hayull no... time to go scrub this off.

in the imp -- it smells like Redken conditioner.

 

and i got some oil above my upper lip from leaning in too close because it was so faint.

 

not a bad thing, necessarily, but, the whole world is highly scented now!

 

wet, ah! this is how i wanted Black Rose to smell.... real, true, in-bloom roses.

maybe there's moss, maybe there's dirt.... i can't smell it. all i get is roses.

 

this is like Emily Strange "black rose" perfume except less chemically and *better*

 

dry, doesn't change much. rose blossoms a little more, but not much

 

throw, i can't judge -- the whole world smells like roses!

 

quick edit to add:

as a few people have learned, this has become the scent i wear to work everyday... [=

roses and moss and dirt and YUM.

having loved Snake Oil for awhile, yet having never done a review of it...

 

i was just another one of the crowd who got a vanila-something that was teh yum.

 

but i put some on this afternoon when i needed a boost and....

the most awful thing happened!

 

i suddenly reeked of maraschino cherries that had wallowed in baby powder.

where is the lovely vanilla-sassafras-patchouli-musk-clove i ususally get?

 

and, to add: i haaaaaaaaaaaaaate the smell of cherries (or almonds) in a fragrance. and the smell of baby powder makes me ill (and always has -- even when i was a baby they couldn't use it on me)

 

i'm all stressed out and sad today -- and on a new medication. so i'm sure that's what the problem is.....

but still. wasn't fun.

 

editing, to add:

nope. still can't wear it. generously obtained a 2+ year old bit of Snake Oil to try, and it is simply more concentrated baby powder and plasticky almonds.

 

Snake Charmer, by contrast, is much more wearable for me, but i still don't *love* it.

 

my whole fragrance-life, after a few years or few months i've found that i can no longer wear a given scent... that it changes in a new way and just.... doesn't work. regardless of the age or layers or time of the month or year. just can't wear it anymore.

i'll put my remaining Snakey Oil away. and forget about it for a few years. and see what happens...

on first sniff... months ago... all i could smell was almond. and i can't stand almond... so i thought i'd let this age a bit.

 

and i decided today would be the day to try it again!

 

wet in the bottle the almonds had calmed down a bit... leather, bay (leaf or rum, i'm not sure), vetiver...tobacco?

 

wet, ALMONDS and Cherries.

ugh

 

on drydown, there was a lemonymint stage which was scary

 

and now, about an hour later...

Pine needles and potting soil...and still a little lemon.

but very faint, almost no throw. i have to smush my nose against my wrist and sniff carefully to get anything -- and i can only imagine how wierd that looks.

 

not a bad smell, i certainly won't mind it for the rest of the day, but not something i'll pine for (erm. i didn't mean to do that) when the bottle's gone.

 

i might put this on the boi later -- it might be uber yummy coming off him.

dry. cherry blossom... something that's somewhere between sandalwood and bamboo, if that's possible... and hot plastic.

 

*siGh*

 

i really wanted to love this.

 

wet. the dragon's blood jumped out and wanted to play, but as soon as the drydown started, all i get is....heated cherry scented plastic...

and something vaguely medicinal.

laundromat. fabric softener, detergent, soap. all different brands all mixed together. a clean, happy smell - but certainly not what i was expecting from such a luscious red oil!

I think I've discovered my signature scent.

 

This is pretty, pretty dirt. It's darkest earth; moist, sweet and spooky, but uber-feminine thanks to the orchid. <snip> everything works in perfect harmony and the effect is gorgeous and creepy.

 

Love!

 

not to re-use someone else's review.... but she nailed it perfectly!

 

i *LOVE* this oil. i'm currently swimming in a cloud of it...and i couldn't be happier!

there's this mossy, foresty, loamy rich earthy dirt-wood-greenery smell surrounding me that is absolutely lovely.

pretty dirt -- that's it exactly!

 

anyone who has this and doesn't love it, i'll happily take it off your hands

 

editing to add review of the "new" Dark Delicacies retail-exclusive blend:

oh em gee!

when i first first got my "descend into the Maelstrom" set of bottles, this is the one that truly blew me away. and i have compulsively collected every bottle and decant i've been able to get my hands on since then... but somehow i'd forgotten how delicious the dirt-orchid-patchouli smell is when fresh.

must...resist...the...urge....to...stockpile....

Underpants starts off so well on me..vanilla, caramel booze and spice..but..then it just changes to this sweet plastic smell.. which..isn't too bad. ...I guess it's just the pantie elastic!

 

 

i get that, too. cheap vinyl/plastic and dollarstore vanilla body lotion.

such a shame! i love the bottle...and it smells so good before it hits my skin. i'll try this in my scent lockets.

 

at least i'm not alone in the "panty elastic" drawer....

 

*siGh*

 

edited to add:

 

i tried this again yesterday and it was a little better... i actually got the saffron and some vanilla-sandalwood. but it still wound up being plastic in the end. { Sep 6 2006, 03:15 AM }

 

10/19/06 745am

i tried this again this morning and... wow, it keeps changing! i think what i'm getting now is more of what some of y'all have been getting all along.

 

is your bottle getting stronger? the scent getting more intense? i know mine is! and its crazy! the saffron and sandalwood are getting milder and the vanilla and buttercream are getting stronger... but without just smelling like cake batter or frosting.

eventually, it still turns into panty elastic or something equally unappealing, but.... hey, for anyone else it didn't work on in April, give it some time!

this smells the way i wanted Herr to smell.

 

perfect.

this is a memory i can wear.

nyquil. eucalyptus. pine-sol. vap-o-rub.

 

all of these things make me queasy and i feel quite ill now.

 

of all the scents i've tried (i've only just begun reviewing them, but i've got quite the stash going!) this is the first one i'm going to have to wash off, rather than let it morph and change on my skin to see where it ends up.

 

another minute of this and i'll have a migraine.

 

a footnote (now that my hands are clean)... i don't eat tomatoes. for hundreds of years, people thought they were poisonous and only pretty plants. they're closely related to Belladonna -- so maybe that's part of my problem here. i hate the taste, texture, feel, smell (etc) of them, and i think there's a tomatoey element somewhere under the pinesol.

 

or maybe i'm just wierder than normal today.

when you were little (or not so little, i had one a couple weeks ago) and the ice cream truck or slushy truck came by, didja ever get a slushy/sno cone in the "rainbow" flavour -- or whatever y'all call the flavour that consists of a little bit of everything where you're from.

that's what this smells like to me.

that being said, i always ask the guy to give me a rainbow, but no coconut. so if i could lose that, this would be delicious.

for several years i was quite addicted to Yves Rocher's Moroccan Rose line. so, of course, they discontinued it.... since then i've been trying to find a new rose scent that didn't smell like soap, plastic, or too "old" for me...

avon's "roses, roses" (which, of course, is also discontinued) is close, but smells so....fake. and Planetary Perfumes' "Victorian Rose" is delicious but doesn't last long on me....

and then i found this one! this is the perfect rose blend. enough green that it still smells *real* (leaves, stems, dirt)

i'm so glad i have a bottle, although my next order will also include a 10mL of this. or two. i know its a GC scent but i'm so afraid it'll be taken away...

lemon and mint.

and smoke from things that are burning that weren't meant to burn (like a house, instead of, say, a bonfire that's supposed to burn)

 

a bad memory, but an amazing blend.

i love this scent.... it isn't something i'll be able to wear much... but i'll treasure these bottles! this smells like my first stepfather. he smoked a custom blend of cherry-vanilla (and something else) pipe tobacco...

 

and was quite a bit older than my mom (his youngest son is just a few years younger than my mom -- my stepsisters had kids my age)

and this smells JUST like him. add in a touch of coffee oil somewhere, and i'd probably cry just from the missing him

(he stepped on a rainbow in 88)

 

this has the leather and the cherry vanilla and the pipe smoke and, yes, the "old man" smell that isn't actually all that pleasant, probably. but to me, yes, this is a precious memory.

 

Thank you for giving it back to me.

sadly, the wet-in-the-imp smell doesn't change much on me...

 

all day long i've smelled the way our living room smelled the year a storm blew the cover off the fireplace and all the ash and logs got rained on.

 

amazing that such a scent-memory can be crammed into such a teensy little glass vial, but that's the talent from the Lab.

 

i'll keep this, just to sniff it and be amazed. and maybe scare some people off. (again, i must be grateful for my Other Half's complete lack of a sense of smell!)

in the imp: lovely, rich, sweet & delicious...

 

as soon as it gets near my wierd skin chemistry, all that yummy quickly turns into cheap perfume, baby powder and cherry coke.

 

the blends are amazing, all the notes and drydown elements -- the way fragrances change over the course of time.

and how everything smells different on one person from another.

 

EDIT:

the imp i tried before was from a large lot i got on ebay...

i've since gotten a sniffie (well, there was an eeensy bit left in the imp) from a forum member... and i swear it isn't the same scent at all. i compared the two and they're very different. the one i tried before was like.... fresh snake oil and cherry coke, but all the negative things about 'em, none of the good.

this one, that i re-tried, cuz i'm a glutton for punishment like that.... this one is like the Premature Burial (which i love) with a little more something flowery behind it.

 

i'm SO glad i tried this new imp, instead of simply going by the first test. then again, maybe i'm not glad, cuz now i have another bottle i hafta buy. *siGh*

In the bottle: I loved it in the bottle. Heady, spicy, adventurous. However:

 

On Me: For some reason, after about an hour or so, it turned into a sort of fabric softener smell- like Bounce dryer sheets. This was sort of weird, because I like the "fresh out of the dryer" smell, but its not what I was expecting with a scent based of a notorious female pirate.

 

 

mix that with coconut (i hate coconut) and some baby powder.... and that's what my wierd chemistry turned this delicious concoction into.

 

i'll probably keep this to use as a room or candle scent...but not for my skin.

...in the early 80's there was a fragrance released by Paloma Picasso (wierdly enough, she called it [wait for it....] Paloma Picasso)

 

which i still love, but haven't ever really been able to wear because it is so strong and overpowering (but what 80's fragrances weren't?)

 

and Rose Cross....smells the way Paloma should have, at least to me.

 

there's rose. deep, true rose -- not the damageproof ones you buy at the grocer's, but the real, heirloom roses from fifty or a hundred years ago. and longer, of course.

 

but there's a stable, grounding, earthy note. incense and.....

i'd say dirt, but that has unpleasant connotations for some.

loamy, rich. middle of an old forest after a hard rain.

healthy, fertile

 

yes, i can see how this is a sacred blend....

 

my poor little 10mL isn't going to last long, i'm afraid....