mymymai

ITI: I'm getting a strong, heady floral with touches of incense and light, slightly bitter herb. I'm not sure about this. The floral is a bit strong right now. Wet: It's stronger than I would like in the floral department. There is definitely that oppressive, musky jasmine note that the Lab uses along with spicy carnation, rose, and incense. There is a touch of light sweetness, but I can't get over the soapy tones that are emerging. Dry: The jasmine is just too much for my skin. I need to remember that. However, I do now get the earthy notes along with the spiciness that I think is carnation, some faint green, but the incense is all gone. This is a pass for me.

ITI: It's astringently green but comforting at the same time from the juniper, cypress, and chamomile. At this point, I'm not picking up the rose note, but I'm actually okay with that. Wet: Ah, there's the rose, adding a slightly powdery, pinkish sweetness to the bitter juniper and cypress, while the chamomile soothes the more bitter tones of the scent. As someone suffering significant ice-pick migraines currently, this scent is strangely soothing. I'm going to bring it with me today to see if it can just help provide that sense of calm I need right now. Dry: The rose develops nicely as it dries, blooming into a full-bodied red rose that gently shines alongside the chamomile against the greens (which have subsided to more subtle tones). Very nice and something I would consider getting a bottle of.

ITI: A really collection of heady ambers paired with the sweet, fruity floral of apple blossom and light green of myrtle. It's a pleasant scent so far. Wet: It's very heady, which I like. I'm still getting the same three notes, but there's almost a woody resinous quality to it. The apple blossom note is simply lovely here under the ambers. Dry: The apple blossom and myrtle are most dominant while it is drying and once dried, although the amber provides a lovely, sweet base for it. The carnation adds a hint of floral spice, which as a whole makes the scent both interesting and pleasing.

ITI: Oh, that's nice. It's green, slightly spicy, and austere. I can most clearly pick out the green sandalwood and lemon balm just under the juniper and fig leaf. Wet: Wow, the fig here really elevates the cedar, basil and lemon balm with the sandalwood, juniper and myrrh suffuse everything with a delightful Christmas-y impression. Dry: It dries down rather beautifully to a subtle combination of fig leaf, sandalwood, light myrrh, and a touch of cedar - gorgeous!

ITI: Wow, that's incredibly sweet - chocolate, gobs of sugar, pumpkin pie, clove, and nutmeg. If you are a foody, this should be one you consider. Wet: warm chocolate, spices like nutmeg and clove, and freshly baked pumpkin pie. Actually, this is somewhat nice, even though I don't usually like foody scents. Dry: The throw on this scent is significant. As I was taking a walk a few hours after application, I'd keep getting strong impressions of hot chocolate, sugar, pumpkin pie, and spices. Even now, the scent and its notes are clearly discernible and pleasant. I've warmed up to this one, that's for certain.

ITI: I'm nervous about the honey note here, but I'm hoping the fig does miracles on it. Yeah, there's a slightly Honeybucket honey note to this, but there's also a creaminess I wasn't expecting as well under the fig and brightly sweet ylang ylang. Wet: Honeybucket honey, although not oppressively so, followed by ylang ylang and a touch of fig. It smells better in the bottle, honestly. Dry: After about 8 hours, it's not bad. It's sweet, musky honey with fig, light ylang ylang, and a touch of earthiness from the floral. Not bad.

ITI: I get rosemary and something that reads as golden - which I think is the verbena paired with the lavender. It's very pretty. Wet: The lavender is much stronger here, so I'm not getting the nice balance between it and the verbena, but even as more distinct notes, the scent works very well. The verbena and rosemary end an mystic and pensive quality to the scent that I'm rather enjoying, which the neroli wafts gently underneath. Sadly, the frankincense has yet to show up. Dry: IT's still bright and lovely from the rosemary, verbena, neroli and lavender. I just wish the frankincense was more apparent.

ITI: It's darkly fruity and floral. I'm picking up the passionfruit, the plum honey, pomegranate, black currant, and something that reads as slightly soapy (but in a positive way). Wet: I think it's the plum honey that has turned soapy on me. I still get those notes plus the dark purple fruits, although it's strongly, and I mean very strongly, reminding me of The Body Shop's Dewberry perfume. Okay, so in direct comparison, BPAL's Street Fair is sweeter and softer. Dewberry is strong, brazen almost, and slightly green, but still very similar. Dry: Dried, the plum honey is softly blended with the vanilla, which has now emerged, in addition to the violet sugar and pomegranate. It's refreshing and gorgeous!

ITI: Wow, that's gorgeous - it's almost effervescent, but sweet, slightly fruity, bathed in cognac and clove. Wet: It invites you to sniff closer. It wraps you up like a glittering serpent. It envelopes you like a leather-appointed grand library bathed in amber light, reflecting off of the cognac's reflection in the glass. Dry: It's clove, green cognac, opium, delightful sandalwood, and gorgeous vanilla still. It's an exquisite scent and it's going on my bottle wishlist immediately.

ITI: It's slightly fruity with a soothing undertone from the rose absolute and amber musk. So far, so good. Wet: Ah, there's the passionfruit displayed more clearly against a warm bed of amber musk, flanked by mandarin and a whiff of rose underneath. It's a bit of a darker, more sophisticated scent than yesterday's, but still pleasant. Dry: After a long walk and several hours, the scent is incredibly faint. I am only getting the amber musk with a touch of passionfruit, but nothing I could say was definitively that without knowing the notes.

ITI: I get a really lovely sugared cream with the subtle, innocent floral of sweet pea and the ephemeral tone of cherry blossoms. Oh, this is really lovely. Wet: The sugared cream is a bit stronger on my skin, and it smells like there may be some cocoa butter in here as well. Once it starts to settle, I get 17 Sakura Lane (Lush)'s cherry blossom note plus a faint hint of sweet pea. Well, if I were looking for a toned down and creamier version of Lush's long discontinued soap, this would be it. Dry: The sugar has diminished some, but I'm left with a gorgeous cream note along with cherry blossoms and the faintest trace of sweet pea. This is a beautiful spring time, feminine scent.

ITI: The wood notes here are gorgeous - rich in body, fragrant, and slightly sweet, while the vanilla note has a creaminess that it adds to scent as a whole. Gorgeous! Wet: The vanilla and patchouli are so rich that they are almost buttery but at the same time are sweet, fragrant, and earthy. All of this overlays the wood notes, which are still fragrant and slightly resinous. There is a touch of apricot peel, finishing the scent off with an innocent sweetness. Dry: The vanilla is much more pronounced as it dries, steering the scent more toward sweet and cloying than woody, earthy, or resinous. Thankfully, however, the other notes keep it just in check enough to make it a delightful, rich vanilla-infused scent.

ITI: Oh, it's bright, slightly citrus-y, but tempered well by the mint and the tea. It reminds me of the chocolate mint star mints but without the chocolate. Wet: Deliciously juicy and slightly bitter mandarin weaves itself around the mint and tea, forming a delightfully bright scent that is as invigorating as it is uplifting. The musk serves as a nice base note, supporting the other scents while not being overtly obvious. Dry: After a shower, the still lingers, smelling of tea, musk, and the impression of a mandarin eaten several hours ago. It's nice in any iteration.

ITI: Bitter, bitter autumnal leaves with a light undertone of rose. Wet: It certainly is an autumnal scent. The bitter leaves evoke the smell of walking through brown, gold, and orange leaves strewn on the grown after the first big windstorm. There is a light rose powderiness to it, but the leaves are just too strong to provide the balance that I'd like to have smelled. Dry: Most of the acrid leaf notes have died down to reveal a deep red rose coming to a close in autumnal dusk. Much nicer when dried.

ITI: Wow, that's strong. The opoponax reminds me of benzoin, along with a candied red musk on top of barely perceptible rose. Hmm. I'm usually a huge resin fan, but I'm not sure about this one. Wet: Wow, I'm having a hard time smelling anything other than the opoponax and red musk. I think there might be rose in there, but the resins are so strong that I'm having trouble getting anything more than an impression. As it stands, the resin overpowers any complexity the rose might have offered. Dry: For the first several hours, all I can think of is that it smells like opoponax, powder (red musk) and cat pee. Finally, after 5 hours, it smells more like red rose and musk with a touch of resin. However, I'm not sure I'm willing to wait that long for it to develop.

2014 Version ITI: It's lightly sweet, but primarily resinous, but daintily so. I do get the incense, frankincense, and myrrh, but the olive blossom and blood resin are very balanced underneath, not overpowering the delicate incense or the light florals. Wet: Olive blossom (light, well-behaved, subtle), followed by frankincense, myrrh, light cypress (which is unusual as that note tends to dominate on my skin), and delicate florals like baby's bread and daffodils. This is really rather nice. Dry: Gosh, the frankincense and myrrh develop nicely once dried down some. The blood resin paired with the olive blossom and floral lend themselves to an innocently sweet yet resinously sultry scent that is really rather beautiful and would be suited for day or evening year. I think I need a bottle of this one.

ITI: Red rose (but a deep red) and benzoin. It's resinous and earthy while still having that deeply romantic floral from the rose. Wet: Deep, dark, but still having a pinch of light from the rose - lovely. I'd in love with how the smoky vetiver and opium curl like the caterpillar's smoke around the rose while benzoin pulsates underneath. Wow! Dry: It's a light, powdery rose now that it's had time to dry. Faint benzoin wafts gently underneath with a hint of opium tar, but the strong smoky quality of vetiver is gone. This is a keeper for me.

ITI: I sniffed this one without knowing the notes, so I wrote down that it seemed like the scent contained a nice but disquieting combination of peach, strawberry, and a muskier, aninmalistic tone underneath a mint or juniper. Wet: I still get the animalistic tone, but it's mingled more completely with strong, very ripe fruit. It still seems like there is peach and a touch of strawberry here, but I'm also getting grape, but wine grapes. Just over all of that is pungent but almost mint juniper or evergreen. I think I actually like this one. It's strange, but interesting. Dry: It mellows out quite a bit, but it still retains much of its evergreen notes along with a faint sweetness from the fruit. Very nice.

ITI: Hmm, it's a balanced blend of purple French florals, leather, incense, and orange blossom to my nose. Wet: It has an almost caramelized brown sugar quality to it under paper orange blossom, incense, and stronger florals, but I'm not getting leather on my skin. I wasn't expecting the paper tone, but I do hope the leather note shows up as it dries. Dry: Ah, there's the leather surrounded by the powdery, resinous tone of amber, flanked by lilac and another purple flower that is not as distinct. I'll be keeping this one.

ITI: I'm fairly happy that I received this one as a frimp. My mother was raving about it, claiming it's one of her new favorites and I've been eager so see what all the fuss is about. It's a bright scent, but somewhat rounder than purely citrus scents are. I think it's due to the bergamot, which lens a sightly exotic, warm tone to other scents that I've tested, as well as the white musk. Wet: It reminds me of Lush's Honey I Washed the Kids but without the cloying honey tones. It's slightly anise-y, bright, exotically delicious, while having this bright musky tone to it infused with the sublime heliotrope. Okay, I think I can see why she likes it so much. Dry: It dries down quickly, becoming creamier than I would have anticipated, like vanilla musk underneath hanging while florals and somnambulant, lulling bergamot tinged with anise. Gosh, this really is gorgeous.

ITI: It's muskier than I had anticipated. I can tease out the attar of rose, patchouli, and palmarosa, but I'm not getting much sandalwood. I'm not sure how I feel about this just yet. Wet: Ack, that's really strong palmarosa and attar of rose. It's certainly in-your-face, and the patchouli only adds to the strength and power of the scent. I am getting a little sandalwood, but it's hard to detect on a cursory sniff. Hmm, it's a bit too much pungent floral for me, so I'm hoping it mellows out sufficiently as it dries. Dry: This has great throw and lasts a good amount of time. 12 hours later and it much better because the rose is not quite so...old and musky. Instead, it is slightly spicy, feminine rose with tones of sandalwood - a feminine but not overtly girly scent. I think I'll keep this one.

ITI: Holy heavy roses, Batman. We are talking rose garden amount with a bit of dried green and earth under. Interesting. Wet: Roses, roses everywhere - dried and very dark red petals strewn on fresh soil with a bit of damp moss underneath. Surprisingly good. Dry: It's much more earthy when dried, but the smell of dried red rose petals and rose leaves is still very much what define the scent. It's nice, but not something I'd reach for on a regular basis.

ITI: It's absinthe, but with mint and a splash of lemon. Nice. Wet: It's certainly absinthe! And it's strong. Very strong. The wormwood and anise pungent, clearly definable, but delicious on my skin and I still do pick up the mint and lemon with a light tone of hyssop underneath. This is a great brooding scent that I'll wear when I go out. Dry: It's much drier in tone and a bit more medicinal after 4-5 hours. The wormwood and anise notes are more woody dried down and not as jarring or striking now that it's settled.

ITI: It's light, slightly perfumey. I definitely get "air" from this but also freesia, musk, salt, and mandarin. Wet: It's slightly floral, musky, salty, with subtle hints of honeydew and really faint freesia. It's certainly interesting, but I'm not sold yet. Dry: This is another short-lived scent. Even after an hour, it's already noticeably dissipated, to the point of having barely any throw. However, what I do get is a combination of musk, scrub, salt, and either guava or mandarin. It's nice, but I wish it lasted longer on me.

Also called Gallows Literature. A dime novel rife with melodrama, horror, madness and cruelty; a ten cent analogy of vice and virtue in conflict. Soft perfume evocative of noir heroines over rich red grave loam. ITI: I get gingerbread spice, mulling spices, apple, but something along the lines of a tart burner wax's apple, faint loam (but not in a bad way, but in a just rained damp earth way), and a faint creamy floral underneath. What an interesting combination of notes. Note: This one is very strong with lots of throw. I recapped it after my sniff and I can smell it strongly even though I'm sitting over a foot away from it. Actually, I would love my entire room to smell like this. Wet: Yes, that's most certainly spiced gingerbread with earth. I'm still picking up on the creamy undertone, but it isn't incredibly defined, like the Lab's cream notes. I think it might be a subtle vanilla. Dry: I had to reapply as I had an unfortunate encounter with expired lotion. After some time, it's lightly floral with a hint of damp earth and spice. I really like this, despite the odd notes.