kuanyin

I am on my second bottle of Somnus. This is the first bpal bottle that I have actually emptied! I got it from the Lab and was disappointed that it was barely above the label from the get go. But it smelled so heavenly, with lavender being the prominent note, and such beautiful lavender, smooth and soft. OK, I love lavender anyway.... I put it on my pillow case and would drop off to sleep like a log and be in a coma until the alarm went off. This was the big gun against not getting to sleep. I got another bottle in a swap. This one is not the same. Sometimes I get the gorgeous first bottle scent and effect and other times I get JASMINE. I swear that the first time I used it IT KEPT ME AWAKE. I do not consider straight jasmine scent to be sleep inducing....but, if I shake it good, I might get close to the good Somnus scent. Right now, The Sandman Snoozeth by Mara Fox is my big gun. I wouldn't put it on me, no way, but on my pillowcase it really works. Not as well as the first bottle of Somnus though....

Oh my. This has me all atwitter. I can't pick out the individual notes, and it smells very perfumey to me, but in the best way possible. I have been really loving lemon peel lately, but I don't pick it out here. I always love the woods this one has, but it doesn't smell woody to me. I get light and dark at the same time, like fireflies at dusk. It smells like a second bottle. It MIGHT smell good on Mr. G Spot, but he ain't getting it. It's MINE! Bwah ha ha!

I can only wish that Doc smelled on me like the descriptions here. I love woody scents, but on me all I get is pencil shavings! Oh well, wins some loses some. I would have adored the addl. notes, though....

It's hard to believe the reviews are of the same scent! Only one person mentioned civet, but I had already wondered if this has it in there. Wet: I get spice, saffron, probably, incensey resin notes and a b.o. aroma that is strongly present. It sounds awful, but...I kind of...like...it... It sweetens up in drying, not maple syrup, but a sweet resin, the b.o. turns to musk and the spice lightens. Oooooh, I am so glad this came back and that they are selling individual imps. I see a bottle in my future. The throw comes and goes, and I'm not sure of the staying power, but it is definately worth reapplying!

Usually, I'm not as intrigued by the florals... ahhh, who am I kidding? I'm just a scent whore and the only ones that don't sound wonderful are the extremely foody ones. I am as intrigued by the florals as I am by the incense/woody scents, I just don't like them as often as I like the others. This one intrigued me, but I was fearful it might end up being Flying Fox jasminey. In the bottle it is too. But on me, it is more violet than anything else and this is just fine with me. I get a nicely balanced violet with musky vanilla tones that round this out to a superb complex scent. Reminds me of Bathos and that is a compliment. I put a small amount on my wrists this morning and I still had decent throw 12 hours later.

I got this imp with some others in a "what the hell" mood, I love the Salon blends, but didn't have any big expectations for this one. It was a real surprise that I love it. I get murky green with golden highlights, exactly like the painting. I'm not familiar with aquatics, so I can't say that I recognize them. I certainly get the cypress and yew, but I get a very sweet quality that I'm not able to place. It isn't a sweetness that I am familiar with either, it is green. This blend is like no other that I have tried. It has remarkable staying power, decent throw and an elusive quality that won't be pinned down to the usual categories of scent. I'm getting a bottle next order.

... Dry white sandalwood and soft Siamese benzoin over a lugubrious blend of myrrh, Moroccan rose, mastic, tomb moss and a thin whiff of Greek incense. First off, I have gotten so many imps that I hardly can test the ones that I specifically bought. Terrible problem to have, I know! Thanatos was not a requested one and when I sniffed the imp, I put it in "to test later" pile, which actually translates to the "to be forgotten" pile. Then I read the official description for it, it sounded just like my thang and I thought "Hmmm, did I get an imp of that?" The answer was yes and I was running to find it. Makes me think of Khajuraho, though I didn't compare the two, it brought it to mind. Sweet and spicy, warm, resiny incense with just an impression of rose and maybe moss. The throw isn't too far, but I hugged a friend and got a raving compliment and asked what I was wearing. After a few hours, I smell primarily sandalwood. Thanks to whoever sent it to me, and I hope to have a bottle in my future.

I could just say "ditto" to Liber Amoris' review. I won't, but I COULD. I have no clue what immortelle, gaiac and hyssop smell like. But when I read the description, I HAD TO HAVE THIS. Partly because I'm wild for lily of the valley, and the blonde musk, almond flower, honey and sandalwood sounded irresistable. It does a marvelous job of capturing the light in the picture in a scent. Perfection.

I'm not familiar with several of the notes listed, but love dark patchouli blends so I was really looking forward to this one. I've had it on today and I have a serious problem with it. I am certain it will be even better aged, but I don't know how I can let it get to that stage. I also strongly desire another bottle. This is probably my favorite of my favorites. Up close I get the patchouli. The throw is something I don't know, but someone described oponax as sweet resin, so that must be it. I wish I could drink this stuff! It is so beautiful, it hurts. I've had it on all day, reapplied at noon and this evening the throw is fantastic, so I would say it is very long lasting. It reminds me of the salon blends in that it is so complex, so blended and so different.

In the bottle and wet, this is very men's aftershave to me. And not one I would be drawn to. As it dries it becomes a woman's perfume, heavy on the perfume part. It is pretty, but too brittle for me. It seems clear, sharp and cold. I don't dislike it, but it isn't one I would want in more than an imp.

I'm trying to get better at distinguishing notes, so I tested myself with this one. I tried it without being able to resort to the site and what is in it. (Ok, I sorta kinda remembered, but not without the olfactory jog to the memory). In the bottle: Very sharp, bright and brassy perfume, not one I would care for. Wet: I thought I determined amber, vanilla, musk and honey. I missed on the honey, obviously. It instantly became creamy, soft and musky... pretty doesn't begin to cover it. But it IS pretty. Dry: Not as much throw as I would hope for, but the layers come through. Now that I read it has violets, I can determine them. I have no clue what iris smell like. This isn't what I think of as floral. It is so complex, I may sound like a fool being such a novice, but I can see the artistry of the Salon blends. Beth is at master's status with these scents.

Mata Hari is quite a quick change artist by these reviews! Which is fitting I suppose. It is hard to believe that I can't smell 5 roses, but the floral I get is very creamy and white jasmine. Coffee is fleeting, which is a shame, but then I get the creamy jasmine, I'm guessing the vanilla adds the creaminess and tonka balances it nicely. I don't find the mahogany, though I'm sure it adds depth. This is a very deep blend with tons of throw that lasts for hours and hours. I put mine on 9 hours ago and I don't have throw at this point, but I still have a lovely scent when I sniff my wrists, which I find myself doing a lot. This scent reminds me of a Georgia O'Keefe white flower painting. Maybe because I tend to mix up jasmine and gardenia and she painted gardenia blossoms. This scent also has the remarkable distinction of getting an unasked for comment from Mr. G Spot! Mr. G Spot only has a sense of smell when he takes his allergy meds, which he hardly ever does and didn't today. He actually smelled it and when pressed, said it was rather overpowering! Now THAT impresses me!

Everything has been said, I'll have to repeat. In bottle: astringent men's aftershave, but I LOVE men's aftershave, so that doesn't daunt me. Wet: Resins and sandalwood BLOOM, wafting off in glorious throw. Dry: The amber and musk glow on my skin closely, it is much lighter, but I have the marvelous incense-woody-spicy thing going that I adore so. It IS golden brown. Totally gender neutral, I feel very feminine with it, as opposed to smelling feminine. This does the beautiful painting justice.

Oh my, be still my heart. Vetiver to the Nth degree. I've never smelled it as a single note and that would be very interesting. But, I love everything I find it in. I get vetiver and smoke or is it smoky vetiver? Then on dry down, a lovely dry wood quality. I can tell there is more depth to this voluptous blend, but that is what I can distinguish. I did not read the poem before trying the scent and I got a distinct imagery to go with it. I can clearly see a beautiful gypsy woman, standing in a doorway in shadow, waiting to beckon someone into her small house lit brightly by a fire. To tell fortunes, to seduce, to sell a charm, whatever happens to be desired - IF she also desires. I am in LOVE with this...

I love every single note listed, except for orris. And it seems to have the capacity to ruin a blend for me, even as the last item listed. Actually, it doesn't ruin this, it is nice enough. It would be more accurate to say that it keeps me from loving it. It just never catches on for me, although I was impressed that it smelled best hours later. I caught just a hint of throw late in the day and loved how my wrists smelled at that stage. And I only applied a speck since I'm not supposed to wear scent to work for now....