girl_android

My mega group order of iminent BPAL doom arrived on Friday, which definitely made turning up to work somewhat worth it ! Black Phoenix was in my small bunch of imps, and I picked fairly blindly, not having read any of the reviews for it before it was added to the list before I could second-guess anything! In the imp, it's almond essence with something else in the background. I was going to bake something tonight, but it's a little late to start, and I was thinking something along the lines of almond ... Wet on skin, it's still almond essence, but with some underlying fruitiness. It's been mentioned somewhere above me that it smells of marzipan - I'd have to agree on that one. Once it's try the almond essence feeling calms down a little, and I get something powdery and slightly floral. It's trying its hardest to make me think it's a really *really* luxurious soap, but I don't want to think that it's soap! A few hours later, the soap feeling goes away, and I'm left with a kind of ambery musky almond thing, which I don't much mind at all ... I just don't want the part that makes me think soap ! I have learnt that for Black Phoenix, a teeny bit goes a very long way ...

The last of my non-TAL imps to test...! In the imp, it's remarkably like cough syrup ... it's cherry-ish, but there's definitely something that reminds me of Dimetapp ... which was grape-flavoured? Perhaps it's the red wine doing that ... Wet on skin, it's defintely grapey, but there's also some powdery rose there. The cherry-ish thing I normally get from dragon's blood hasn't stuck around much at all from the imp. Once dry, there's a hint of cherry, with a background of rose, and the dimetapp note has disappeared. I shouldn't be surprised anymore that the scent has changed so much from the incarnation in the imp ... Not sure I'm in the right mood for this today, I have an imp of Dragon's Milk which I quite enjoy, but it's only for a particular mood/weather ... I don't think I need two!

Whoa, there's a great big hit of vetiver in this ... it's kind of what I imagine some sort of herbal poultice my father once had to ... wear? (not sure that's the words) when he was having his elbow treated by the chinese medicine doctors. I woke up this morning early enough to go for a run/walk, and figured I'd give a review a go while I was trying not to get overheated. It is kind of ... dark and herbal, if I think about it there might be patchouli in the mix also. It's gearing up to be yet another really hot day, but I was determined to stick out the half-hour or so my ipod mixset goes for, despite the rising mercury. I was good - I checked out what the temperature was prior to starting, and made sure it wasn't bordering on ridiculous for even a walk. I'ts not likely a scent I'd choose to wear for the scent alone, it's not unpleasant though, and it at least passed on one test so far... admittedly not too difficult! This was part of a trio of TALs I purchased to help with the completion of my final subject, that will be the biggest test, my enthusiasm for the subject needs raising, because I've already been through it so many times. I'm hoping to make use of this in our oil burners while I'm studying, to put me in the right frame of mind to actually complete the given task. (I should really go and have my cup of coffee now before I ramble incoherently anymore!)

In the imp, it's kind of ... air-freshenery in its rainforest incarnation, but with a salty bite, and a kind of ... musky base, and a bunch of light florals. Wet on skin, it's slightly less... salty/bitey, but I'm still getting an overwhelming feeling of rainforest air freshener. I think that might be from the sweetness of the blend. Once dry, there's actually a hint of citrus that peeps out amongst the ... tropical-ish feel I'm getting. There's definitely one note that my skin has taken and amplified til there's not much else around. It's one of the florals, it's definitely something I've smelled before, but my nose doesn't know how to tell me what it is. I don't think this is for me, but I think on the right guy, it would be divine ... this sort of thing isn't something my DH would go for though, so it's off to the frimp pile ...

It still feels like morning, but it's 2pm ... that's what a sleep-in is supposed to be like! This was a frimp kindly given to me by a workmate - not one that I enabled though - they arrived pre-enabled, if that makes any sense (: It's a relatively lab-fresh imp, as it was a frimp from the lab in their most recent order. In the imp, it's lavendery, and ... kind of minty. But mostly lavender. It kind of scares me. Wet on skin, the green things come slithering out, to subdue the lavender a bit. The sensation of something that has mint in it, is on my skin, but I don't detect any mint wafting about anymore. Once dry, it's more green things with a faint lavender background. It doesn't scare me so much anymore! I do wish the mint was more prominent though. The lime does make an appearance, but it's not hitting me in the face screaming LIME! I'm surprised I'm not hating this *grin* It's not something I'd usually choose to wear though. I'm being rewarded for my insistence at trying everything that passes through my hands (but maybe my bank account isn't), because I've found a few things with lavender in them that to my nose, don't want to kill me when I'm wearing them!

Scent-only review, I was frimped this in one of my earlier forays into forum sales (: In the imp, the first thing I think of is suntan oil, with the coconut and the sweet spicy lemon thing going on. Wet on skin, there's definitely something gingery going on, reminds me of the smell of the kitchen this morning as my first batch of gingernut (ginger + cinnamon) cookies was baking, but with a kind of candied lemon thing in the background also. Oddly enough the coconut doesn't make an appearance once it's on skin. Once dry, there's something slightly incensey-smokey happening on my skin, as if the candied lemon was being burned as incense.

I've just recently got my hands on a wee lil imp of this, nearly ordered this untested (seeing how effective the majority of the TALs that have come through my hands have been), but I figured that as I'm already waiting for my first TAL order, I'll be good and wait first... In the imp, it's patchouli (I'm getting better at picking that one out of everything), something earthy, and a hint of orange, not unlike the orange that I got from Amor, actually. Wet on skin, the patchouli tries to back off, as something kind of ... earthy and roasted herbal. The orange is still there to brighten things up though. Once dry, the scent is intriguing. It does smell of something that's also in Concentration, but in a much larger quantity. Intent-wise, well it's just the beginning of the day, I'm awake because a headache wouldn't let me sleep anymore .... shall have to come back later (:

Random imp! In the imp, it's definitely amber, golden and sticky, with some dusty kind of berry going on. I'm not sure I know what iris smells like, actually! Wet on skin, there's an incensey feel to it - spices plus berries plus amber? There's a streak of something that isn't from spices or berries or amber, I'll figure that for iris? Once dry, there's actually something that makes me think green as well as powdery. It's lovely, kind of not for me though, especially not on a warm day! It's a little old for my tastes, not sure why though? ETA: cat leaned on mouse button! I hadn't finished!

Imp time! It's lovely and honeyed and gently floral in the imp. If you pushed me to name the floral I might say lily. Wet on skin, it's definitely lily, sharp edge tempered by the presence of honey. Once dry, normally I'm ok with lily, but the honey's all but disappeared, and left me with some mighty powerful lily. I guess my skin like it. I really liked the wet stage, and how it was in the imp ... maybe I'll try this again before I leave it be ... ETA: Later on in the day, the honey starts making an appearance again. It's 10 hours later and there's still a trace of honey on my skin, but it's not something I can smell unless I glue my nose to my wrist...

I'm only giving this a quick scent-based review, because it was actually purchased on behalf of a friend at work (: In the imp, it smells like almonds and lemon zest, like if I'm making lemon ricotta cupcakes, actually (: There's also some orange in there, and maybe there's some cherry along with the almond. Wet on skin, the orange peeks its head out a lot more, although the almond/cherry is still there. Once dry, it's all sweet oranges on me. It's really quite pretty actually, kind of glad it's also usable as a perfume oil (: Not one I would've considered purchasing but the scent may do me in! ETA: I did end up getting a bottle of this in a TAL order - it has served me well both as perfume and with intent

I gave this a go last night, post-bath because while I was tired already, my brain was quite fried from everything at work, and I tend to take a while to settle down and actually sleep. Scent-wise, it's rose, with a bit of lavender, and a bit of jasmine. The lavender isn't at all sharp though, it's lovely and round, and didn't raise the ire of my lavender-disliking DH (: I'm awake now, and I can say I quite enjoyed the sleep I had last night - it's rejuvenated me like sleep should, instead of only topping my reserves up a little bit.

I only have a lil sniffie of this, but it smells so yum! Toothpicks are useful to get to the bottom of the imp... (: In the imp, it's all buttery mint, I'm kind of reminded of butter menthols. On skin, it's kind of like I melted those butter menthols down into liquid form, and let me dribble it on my skin. Once dry, the vanilla makes its way out a lot more. Luckily there isn't any melted plastic kind of thing happening from the butteriness I had at the beginning. This was well before my time, meanwhile I'll cherish the little bit I have for the moment, because there's no way I'll be able to get my hands on more!

The house we bought has a lot of things that need doing to it to make it ours, and to fix the broken things. It's what comes with home ownership, I guess. I decided to give catalyst a test run this afternoon. The little ritual I've come up with for my use of TALs is simple, because I'm not a huge ritual person. It exists so I will sit down and think of the intent of the oil. This afternoon became a whirlwind of activity in the house - there were cupboards emptied, then filled with boxes that have just been sitting out in the open doing nothing, there was furniture rearranged, lists created from searches (our current other project is to replace all the vertical blinds in the house seeing as they're 1) pink and 2) all broken by cats), even the daunting pile of laundry needing sorting and ironing is being taken care of today (: Catalyst seemed to be enough of the initial little push I needed so I would just start somewhere. Scentwise, it's spicy and slightly sweet in a deep kind of way. I suspect this may make it into a future TAL order (waiting on my first order to arrive), a lot of this last subject for uni is getting myself onto doing the hard work instead of leaving everything to the last minute.

It's a lazy sunday afternoon on a long weekend (it was Australia Day on Friday), and the housemate is attempting to cook up a storm tonight so not much for me to do but keep out the way and not obsessively keep the kitchen clean. Although that's going to have to be done anyway. In the imp, I have no idea really what it is I'm smellling... that in itself isn't odd (seeing as I consider myself to still be in the neophyte stages of BPAL addiction though. I'm looking through the listed notes but don't see anything that would strike me as being particularly citrussy. Kind of like those dried preserved lemons one might find in an asian grocery (it's a snack food, I like it!). If i think about it a little more I might find something that could be the white ginger, nothing on the patchouli though... Wet on skin, it's mellow and citrussy. It's fairly subtle (mind you there's only a teeny dab from a toothpick on me), but strikes me as being masculine. Once dry, it sticks close to skin, and it's not so sharp anymore. It's dark, but not too feral on me. It's as if it was once in a room next to something that might've been considered feral, but wasn't feral itself. I quite like this, very happy that I have a decant to keep me company (:

Hooray for decant circles, or I'd never be able to afford anything! In the imp, it smells kind of piney with bit of juniper going on also. There's something sharp about it though. Wet on skin, the sharpness dissipates, and I get something that makes me think I'm breathing in the air outside in a forest in the dead of night when it's cold. No idea how this is being done, but ooh, it's good (: Once dry, the sandalwood, amber, musk, and tonka come out to play. The juniper berry's still around, but it's less sharp now, and more ... fuzzy. That probably made no sense to anyone, but it's what I tend to get when amber and musk come out to play. I don't know that it's particularly weather-appropriate for me to be wearing this in the height of summer in Melbourne, but it suits my mood today. I'm glad I have an imp for now (:

It must be the day to test Tombstone also - my initial sniff of the imp put me off because I thought I detected the buttery vanilla scent of doom ... In the imp today though, it's caramel vanilla and woods. Quite warm and pleasant, actually! Wet on skin, there's something medicinal behind this caramel vanilla, which makes me think sarsaparilla (which is ... what root beer can be made of?). Wikipedia tells me root beer is made from the shoots of sassafras, so I guess that kind of makes sense? I'm not sure what balsam is meant to smell like though.... Once it's dry, it's more vanilla, with a background that includes a touch of caramel, a bit of root beer, and maybe if you sniffle enough, a bit of cedarwood. It's quite lovely, possibly a teeny bit masculine for me to wear for all occasions.

I'm whittling away the imps to test, I can't put an order in til I've exhaused all my imps to test! (except for the ones that are making their way to me - they don't count ... spoken by a certified obsessive BPALer in the making) In the imp it smells powdery citrus, patchouli and sandalwood. There's something woody and rose-like lurking about also, if I think hard enough about what I'm sniffing, there's lemongrass in there too, like what it smells like when you're chopping it up finely. Nothing particularly jasmine though. Wet on skin, WHOA, lemongrass! It's pretty much knocked the socks off everything else in the blend. It's just a complete 360 from what it was like in the imp. Once it's dry, the lemongrass calms down a bit, and a teeny tiny hint of jasmine peeks out. It's quite lovely actually, not overpoweringly patchouli (which is what I think put me off testing this for so long), but definitely one I think needs to be sparing in application.

Imp testing time! Especially seeing as my box of imps to keep are being borrowed by friend at work (well on her way to being enabled!) In the imp, it's patchouli (but not quite the same as Anne Bonny, which I tested earlier). I'm ridiculously tired this evening, so I don't know how the intent is going to work its way through that ... Wet on skin, it's much the same - patchouli, with a slight medicinal scent. Once dry, it's kind of ... weird. I'm thinking I'm imagining it (or else it's the cats and their recent trip to their litter trays), but I detect a very faint whiff of ... poo. Eeeep! Not much, just a teeny bit, underneath the toned down patchouli thing. Maybe it's not that, but something keeps drawing me back to having another sniff. If it were just for the scent, I couldn't wear this in public. Actually, if it were for the intent, I wouldn't be wearing it in public either...

Named in honor of the most notorious female pirate to ever set sail. Wicked, cruel, beautiful, intelligent, resourceful and dangerous: a true role model. A blend of Indonesian red patchouli, red sandalwood, and frankincense. A million thanks to Juliana Williamson-Page for inspiration! Gah! imp cap decapitation! Ok, I take that as a sign that I should test this now. I didn't have any spare 1/32oz vials (must make a note to actually buy some of these things), so it's been decanted into a little 2ml atomiser. It should be OK and not affect the oil, I hope! In the imp, it's all patchouli and sandalwood to my nose. Wet on skin, it's much the same... it has me a little worried, especially as it's drying because I keep thinking medicinal. Perhaps that's the frankincense poking its head out. I keep going back to where I tested this to have another sniff - it's not something I'd choose to wear, but it's sure got my nose intrigued! I might let this wander its way to someone else who may appreciate it more... poor decapitated imp!

This is the 2006 version, courtesy of a decant circle, yay! I put this on this morning, fully intending to start this review while I was finishing my cup of coffee before I left for work today, and then add to it once I got to work. Except that I didn't do that (: In the imp, it's crisp dry leaves, a hint of smoke that's woozy and sweet. I can't remember what it was like wet, because ... I was driving the car to work! I do remember liking the odd wafts of this as I waited at the traffic lights - sweet boozy smoke? (5) hours later, it's mellowed out to be a sweet musky skin scent. I really like this - it's not a likely one for me to pick out when it's sweltering out here, but come autumn (this is what happens when I'm on the other side of the planet, and opposite hemisphere!), it'll be perfect.

I *think* this shortie I have is the 2005 version, based on when I received it as a freebie - it might've been too early for the 2006 version to be floating about like this. Not sure, anyways. I've been putting off reviewing this because I'm not a huge fan of buttery scents, and my first sniff from the imp was all scary butter, kind of like super rich butterscotch, almost cloying, with something tart in there. Wet on skin ... eeeep! buttery! The reason I'm so wary of buttery things is because they end up having this fake plastic note on me, and it's not pleasant unfortunately ... Once it's dry, I get a hit of something sharp and fruity in amongst the buttery plastic thing. I wish the plastic thing wasn't there, because I'm a fiend for sweet things ... On the up side, at least I know to avoid pumpkin?

I'm feeling quite incapable of having a proper not awake til noon kind of sleep-in, it's not that early though (: In the imp, there's a definite hit of white pepper, it's the first thing I can identify amongst everything ... There's some orange blossom in there too as well as something tart - I'm figuring this for kumquat. Nothing that makes me think white tea yet ... Wet on skin, it's the white pepper and orange blossom duking it out. It's not until it's dried down that they calm down, and I finally get the white tea ... the thing I think is kumquat (not really orange, kind of like an orange lemon. That makes no sense) I'm not fond of the wet stage of this - I think it's the combination of white pepper + the thing that makes me think kumquat that's making me think this. Once the tea comes out it's much better on me. I suspect it's kumquat reacting with orange blossom that I'm not liking in this because usually I'm all over things with white tea or pepper in it.

Oooh... smoke in a bottle is my first impression! There's some musty leaves in there also, like it's rained in the recent past. Wet on skin, it's dark green and foreboding, like dusk after a cold, wet and grey day. There's a hint of spiceyness, and smouldering wet leaves in the distance. It's different to the smoke haze that's been around Melbourne over this summer (from the bushfires) - that always smelled burnt and very dry. Once dry, the spiceyness remains, and the dark green-ness moves into the background. I'm guessing this is what vetiver might do? Nothing that particularly makes me think patchouli although that could be contributing to the spicy smokiness from incensey feel. I like this, but I think it would be to die for on a boy instead of me! Not sure of the odds of DH trying this though ... poor little imp!

I'm doing this before I have to go back to work after a lovely, but far too short break from work... 2 days around a weekend just isn't long enough! Anyways ... in the imp, it smells like ... rich smoky wooden furniture infused with rose oil. It's a little sharp, but not too spiky to my nose. Seeing as it's going to be mighty warm today (39 degrees celsius in Melbourne.... eeep! I'm thanking something that the air-conditioning in the office is going to keep me cool!), I'm hoping this doesn't get too heady once it's on me. While wet, there's something so familiar about part of this scent, I'm wracking my brain (admittedly only after half my serve of caffeine in the morning), and I'm drawing blanks. There's something a little green and herby floating about also. Once it dries down, the sharpness mellows out. It's now a rosey floral with woodsy notes in the background. I do like this, but I am worried about it and me in the heat today. I might have to put this aside for some cooler weather ...

I decided to give my lil imp of White Light a try, as today was the day we'd decided (in a huge flurry of activity) that we would be scattering my FIL's ashes out of a little plane. DH was in the plane with our friend/housemate holding one borrowed video camera, I was on the ground with MIL and SIL, holding the other - this so we could see how it went from where we weren't at the time. I wanted to make sure I remained calm enough that I could use the camera ... White Light was just what I needed to calm me down. I was moved by the situation, but I wasn't upset - instead, it felt right that this was where his ashes were being placed. I couldn't tell you what this smelled like, besides maybe ... white floral? I'm hoping it won't be likely that I'll need more White Light in the very near future, but it's good to know that I have an imp around should the need arise ... ETA: The last few weeks have just been a rollercoaster of moodswings, but I didn't think to reach for white light until this evening... it was like the hug I needed right then and there.