lucycat

This was a frimp from the Lab. Unfortunately, it's Eau de Hallmark Store on me. It's definitely fruity and spicy, but it's the fruit and spice of dozens of scented candles and potpourri in a card and gift shop mingled together. A bit overwhelming for my nose.

I have a twist on this question. I have a phone interview tomorrow morning. Obviously, for a phone interview I can wear whatever I want, and I'm leaning toward either Dorian (my favorite so far since I got into BPAL back in February) or Horn of Plenty. I'd love to hear other suggestions, though. I have four bottles (Dorian, Snake Oil, Morocco and Embalming Fluid) and about 40 imps. Ones I've tried and liked, besides the bottles, include Kabuki La Petite Mort O Absinthe Aeval Aunt Caroline's Joy Mojo Bess Bon Vivant Delirium, Eclipse Zephyr Baobhan Sith Kumiho Aizen-Myoo Shango Tamora Titania Eat Me Mouse's Long and Sad Tale The Lion White Rabbit Lyonesse Tombstone Whitechapel The only thing I'd like to avoid is Alice: though it's lovely, I wore it to my last in-person interview a few months ago, and didn't get that job.

In the imp and when first applied, I smelled strong, sweet lime. Then the lilac appeared. The lime and lilac balanced each other very well. This smelled so good, I couldn't stop sniffing my arm. I got a very brief whiff of cologne that suggested the "gentleman's blend," but that was all. My fears that Whitechapel would be too masculine for me were unfounded. Now this is all lilac grounded by white musk. Lilac is one of my happiest scent memories, because my grandfather had an enormous lilac bush in his front yard. So I'm glad this is working so well on me.

This is a very well-blended scent. I can smell fruits and flowers, but I can't pick out a particular fruit or flower: not even sweet pea, and I have amped sweet pea in other blends from the Lab. A few minutes after I dabbed this on, I thought, "Oh no, candle store." It seemed as if all the different fruits and flowers together were going to become like walking into Yankee Candle, which my nose finds overwhelming. Luckily, they settled down after a few more minutes. Titania reminds me slightly of a late 80s-early 90s perfume called Demi-Jour, though I don't know what the notes were in that, so I can't say if they share any. On me this is warm, bright, and regal. I'll be wearing it again, especially for midsummer in a few weeks.

The third time is the charm for me with Tamora. I ordered and received an imp of this two months ago, in late March. I wore it for the first time then, new and fresh, and then about two weeks later, according to my notes. Both times it was pretty and pleasant, but didn't wow me. I put it on this morning, and: Wow. Peachy vanilla amber, warm, sweet, and golden. I don't know whether it's because of the slight aging, or the warm weather making the scent bloom on my skin, or a combination of the two, but all I want to do is sniff my arm. Tamora is a perfect late-spring-into-summer scent on me. It does fade fairly quickly, but reapplying will not be a hardship.

This was a freebie from the Lab. When it first arrived, two weeks ago, I could smell sage and sweet pea in the imp. However, when I sniffed the imp this morning before applying, I smelled no sage at all, only the sweet pea. On: SWEET PEA and only sweet pea. No sage, no musk. I don't think of sweet pea as a strong-smelling flower; this was the strongest sweet pea I could imagine, without being at all overpowering or unpleasant. After five or six hours, the tonka came through. Aeval is a very pretty, feminine scent, and very well-suited to springtime. I don't think I need a bottle, but I will keep and use the imp.

This was a freebie from the Lab. In the imp, this was all fruit, with the faintest floral background. I couldn't even identify it as rose at that point. For the first ninety minutes or so, I got apple. Sweet, but not too sweet. I wish I could smell more lemon, but it mixed with the apple so well that I could never really pick it out. Then: Rose. It's been almost ten hours since I put this on, and after that first hour and a half, it's been all rose. It's a well-behaved, subtle rose. This is a very pretty scent, but I don't think it's very me. I do think it's a lovely springtime scent. I just wish I could have kept that first apple stage.

My first review! In the imp I smell cedar and balsam: it's very sharp. Wet, it's still sharp cedar and balsam, which lasts for about 15 or 20 minutes. As it dries, it develops into a rich, warm, mellow vanilla. I'm getting just a little bit of the sassafras. It's delicious. After a couple of hours, I applied some more, not because I had to, but because I wanted to. I've only been into BPAL for a couple of months, and right before I started, I received a sample of Kiehl's vanilla cedarwood aromatic spray. THIS is what I wanted that to be. I can see Tombstone becoming a favorite.

White Rabbit for church this morning, which felt perfect: light and springy.