girl_android

I dabbed on a little Blood Kiss this morning, because it was today's random pick of the imps to test. In the imp, it's quite dark in feel ... there's honey amongst all of this (I'm beginning to learn that I *heart* BPAL's honey note), something cherry (but not in the artificial cough syrup, or maraschino, or superbright glacé cherry kind of way ... there's something kind of woodsy bringing all of this together. Wet on skin, I get something ... dark honey with that woodsy thing going on. There's a hint of clove peeking out now (it makes me think I want to make gingerbread, seeing that's a big part of what makes up my gingerbread besides the ginger!) Once dry, the musk and vanilla mellow everything out. It's still dark honey, the woodsy feel backs off a bit - is that the vetiver contributing to the woodsy feel?, or maybe that's the poppy ... nothing that particularly strikes me as being winey... I could imagine wearing this with a deep red corset, flowing skirt, tendrils of hair tumbling down. It's not quite right for a summer scent (although it's cooler today than it has been in recent weeks), I think it'd do better in Autumn or Winter.

Random imp test evening! Seeing as I have about 13 things here to test, and I'm planning to place an order after payday next week, I might be on target to actually have nothing left to test by the time I place this order ... yay! Oh hang on, I have TALs to test too... I'll still have stuff. In the imp, I get sweet white tea with rose. I'm not sure what carnation would do - I guess it could be adding to the kind of spicy sweet thing going on? Wet on skin, it's spicy tea with a hint of rose. The tea just mellows everything together. I quite like this, actually! Then again, it has tea in it, and the rose isn't bashing me on the head or anything so that's a bonus (: Once dry, the spiciness comes out a little more. I'm so glad I was frimped this, as it's not one I'd likely get to quickly given the notes described! ETA: I have no grammar. Or something.

Not so random imp of the day is ... Black Moon! In the imp (which is now sitting back in the box), it's floral, kind of perfumey, but dark. It's quite strong while wet, definitely something there that makes me think jonquils, as well as lotus - it's ... sweet! Not sure what orchids are like, but the pear is there ... not sure if I can say that cucumber was present though. Once dry, the musk seems to round out the structure of this scent. It's still quite strong when dry, I'm not sure if I like it so strong! I'll see how I go wearing this for the rest of the day...

I'm attempting to make an effort to get through my pile of imps to test, because I don't want to make any more purchases til my small pile is empty ... except that in my mind signing up for decants doesn't count. In the imp, this is purpley and herby. And also kind of soapy. I don't mind soapy if it's going to be purpley and herby soap *grin* There's something jasmine-y going on too ... Wet on skin, it's full of purple berries and something that reminds me of sage. Although it mightn't actually be that. It's just green. DH isn't particularly enamoured with how this one's turned out in the wafting from skin department, and it's not in my usual range of things I'd choose to smell like on a regular basis. Although, the waftage might have something to do with what's been tested on my other arm ... Once dry, it's turned to soap, without the nice part where there are purple berries involved. That makes me a little sad ): Why am I turning things into the kind of soap I don't want to have? If it's violets, I'll be very sad too, seeing what's coming to me in decants in the near future. Perhaps it's the BPAL jasmine - I don't think I've found one I can deal with yet...

Penetrating and gifted, vulnerable, with just a hint of opium-blurred delirium: poppy smoke, champaca flower, tonka, sandalwood, ginger, white pepper. Reading back on the notes, I have absolutely no idea why I signed up for a decant of this. It was probably the fact that ginger was mentioned, but I think I was just curious, my untrained nose doesn't know what to expect! In the imp, there's this weird buttery nutty thing going on with something smokey. I don't detect anything gingery, but there is definitely something peppery going on. It's not sweeet at all to my nose, at this stage. Wet on skin, there's something vaguely banana-ish going on. From reading the reviews above, I guess that's the champaca flower. Bizarrely, it smells like burnt plastic plus bananas plus nuts plus smoke. Not the smoke that we've been smelling lately with bushfires trying to eat up the whole state, a different kind of smoke. Once it's dry, the banana goes away, but the burnt plastic sticks around a bit. No sign of ginger, there's a little something still about that makes me think pepper, and a teeny bit of sweetness - tonka? I'm not sure this is for me - I didn't give it a test (beyond having a sniff) immediately after receiving the decant, just in case my nose was being silly that day. I'm still not sure if my nose is not just being silly, but I think this decant might do better finding another home ...

Not a particularly random choice today - I was trying to pick something that wouldn't be too cloying given the heat we've had over the last week, and the subsequent bleh-ness that happens after the cool change hit last night. In the imp, Bitter Moon kind of reminds me of weird japanese gummy lolly scent. Not anything specific, just that it's a gummy kind of candy. No lavender, something slightly berryish. Once it's on though, I get something resembling that combination of blackberry and sage, which I'm always tempted to get in soaps, less aeroplane jelly (purple flavour), more sage than blackberry, maybe a teeny hint of lavender. I suspect it's the combination of tonka, peony and blackberry that's still making me think japanese gummy lolly. That's not a bad thing, really! I like this. Shock of shocks, it's another thing with lavender in it that I can live with!

An imp of O (distributed by the Apothecary's Cat) found its way to me, and was picked out as one of tonight's random imps to test. I have absolutely no idea how old this imp might be, it's a light golden amber coloured oil. In the imp, whoa ... this smells like moments after hours of bedroom play, basking in the afterglow ... ahem. *grin* I also have La Petit Mort; to my nose, La Petit Mort is more floral, where O is honey drizzled on heated skin ... Wet on skin, it's warm, sweet, slightly spicy honey. Not too sharp on me, which is what I was a little worried for first up. Once dry, it makes a lovely rounded sweet skin scent. The vanilla is in there, but it's not screaming from the rooftops. I think it's the combination of the amber and vanilla making the scent all rounded and unsharp, if that made any sense. I'm not sure it would be safe for me to wear this to work! I've only got about half an imp of this left, I think it might have to make it to a bottle in a future order! ETA: it's over 12 hours since I first applied a teeny dab of O, I've fallen asleep, woken up, gone to bed, and got back up again in the morning, and there's still the scent of O on my skin after this long... Not sure that it would make an an appropriate scent choice for today, given that the forecast is for HOT then thunderstorms, but I appreciate the lasting power!

Random imp picked out pile of imps to test ... I'm not sure what drew me to picking this up as a decant, I might've been curious about the scent of leather. It probably helped that vanilla was mentioned. In the imp I smell ... new leather boots. What I normally associate with tobacco is the smell of the cigarettes DH has, before they are lit: dried sultanas, which I don't detect here... there's something woodsy about the hint of vanilla I smell, and there's something there that I think might be pear. Wet on skin, the leather and pear settle down a bit. This being my first scent with leather, I'm not sure if I like it on me, but I do appreciate it being there. I wonder what this would be like on a guy; it's not really something DH would go for though - he's more a fresh green scent kind of guy. Once it's dry, it's quite a mellow scent. The vanilla and musk seem to round out the scent, with the pear providing a tiny bit of sweetness. Despite this, Quincey Morris feels a little too masculine for me. I'd love for DH to give this a go, because the scent once it's dried down has such a snuggleable feel. I think I'm going to have to find a new home for this lil imp though ...

I've got to do some work at home tonight, but I thought I might start off with a bit of a test from my imps to test pile of doom first. Must get this out the way so I can then work out what to keep, and what to find better homes for! In the imp, I smell ... almonds. Not cherries to my nose (my nose seems to mix up the two) because it's not juicy, but dry. Wet on skin ... there's something that makes me think saffron along with the almonds, but the almonds having their space shared with something sweet (the lotus?) Once it's dry, there's a base muskiness rounding out the sweetness and the almonds, with a hint of spiciness ... reminds me of chai, I'm figuring that for the cardamom ? Overall, it's ok, it's a little dry for what I was thinking. I think I'll sit it in the undecided pile a little longer ...

I think I picked Cairo because it mentioned incense. I have no idea what kyphi should smell like, although with the help of some judicious googling, and information in kunoichi's review (haven't yet read through all the reviews for Cairo!), I've got a little mental picture... In the imp it smells kind of like bruised lemon rind, and honey and something alcoholic-ish, along with something resiny. Wet on skin, there's something at once familiar about Cairo. Weirdly it reminds me of Aeroplane Lemon Jelly crystals. DH walked out of the computer room and noted that this was strong! He picked that whatever was wafting about was Cairo, rather than Miss Mina, both of whom have been swiped on my arm this evening, after having a sniffie at the little patches of my skin that have seen scent. Once it's dry, there's a little smokiness, but still there's the lemon rind thing. The alcoholic bit goes away, and there's a bit of green in amongst the incense waft. It's also kind of reminding me of those candles you burn outside (citronella?) to keep mozzies and other biting insects away from you ... I don't particularly mind that, but I don't think DH is a fan... It took me a long while to get to testing this imp; every time I took a sniff to see whether I wanted to give the imp a go, it just wouldn't smell like something I wanted to wear that day. It's turning out to be a warm and dry-ish summer where I am, and this scent just seemed to suit the mood... I might just keep this imp around a little longer, I'm still a little undecided. Maybe just the imp is enough for me?

Where would I be without decant circles? I'd probably either be extremely broke, or extremely frustrated at reading about so many lovely smellies that I'd drive myself to broke-ness... Mina came to me in a group of decants. I'm not sure what it was that drew me to pick her out, but she is quite lovely now that I have met her. In the imp, Wilhelmina Murray is a soft delicate floral. No sharp edges about her, she's all about the soft focus. I can detect the rose, and something kind of fruity - I figure that's the blackcurrant and daemonorops resin are what's making me think this. Wet on skin, Miss Murray packs a fair punch. There's a bunch of white flowers front and centre, along with the sandalwood. Once dry, the white flowery bit (pale virginal blossoms?) calm down a bit. What I'm figuring is the musk, is rounding out the base. There's the slightest hint of the daemonorops resin, but nothing more to suggest blackcurrant. I really quite like this blend, but I've learnt that a little goes quite a long way - too much and I'll put everyone around me in a headache haze brought on by scent overload. Just a touch, and I'll keep me happy. This imp will more than do me for quite a while!

I received an imp of Energy as a frimp in a recent-ish ebay purchase from a forumite, it made a good travelling partner! In the imp, as everyone has said so far, it's a lovely orangey sherbert kind of scent. I think it's something minty making the orange feel sherbety/snowy feeling. I gave Energy a go today at work, as it's been a bit of a hard slog getting myself through work after having not taken any time off (even the public holidays that I didn't have to work was filled mostly getting to, and being in the next state across) - it's almost like I need a holiday after the 'holiday' ... a little on my palms, a little on my throat. The scent faded quite quickly, but I didn't feel anywhere near as tired despite less sleep, as I have been the last few weeks. I don't feel like I need a bottle quite yet, but I can see that there will be a bottle added to an order soonish ... need to save money first!

My first encounter with Snake Oil didn't begin very well - the poor imp cap had decided to start decapitating itself, for no other reason besides ... it felt like it? A bit of a decanting later (only have some little atomisers as alternative storage at the moment), and I have me some rescued snake oil. I have no idea of the age of the contents of the imp, but it's a lovely red-amber viscous oil, that didn't so much as spray out the atomiser, as just ... ooze out a bead. I found out that a bead of this oil goes a fair way - this is potent stuff! While it's wet, I get vanilla, in the warm, cakey and teeny bit buttery sense, with a background of something spicy and faintly medicinal? Hmmm ... not sure where that came from! Once dry, I'm walking about in a cloud of heady vanilla, something that makes me think patchouli, and something powdery-ish. I keep thinking, it's rather warm here, and I'm standing in the freezer aisle at the supermarket... Having said that, the outside temperature this evening was approaching something resembling sultry summer night, so maybe this was not the wisest choice as it just felt a little ... oppresive. I like the idea of Snake Oil, I just need to give it a decent go when it's not so warm outside!

I've had this in my upcoming to be tested pile of imps (split out from the larger pile of imps just received that I've either made a decision on whether they're up next ... I organise them alphabetically, but I'm not testing them alphabetically!), for a little while... other things (like dorian! *swoon!*, and white rabbit! and sudha segara!) have decided they wanted wearing more often instead. In the imp, I remember this morning it was all sweet pea with a touch of vanilla. I was worried that it was too sweet and floral-heady for me! Wet on skin, the eeep! part of the sweet pea settles down a bit, it's a little bit 'skipping in the colourful fields of flowers' kind of spring picture to me, but I'll deal. It definitely makes me think I shouldn't be flopping about at home in jeans, a red t-shirt and a black jumper, but instead should be wearing a fluffy pink (! eeeep! run away!) dress, a headband (... an alice band? keeping with the theme?), white patent leather flat mary janes with frilly lace socks, carrying a basket of freshly picked flowers. Once it's dry, the amber comes out to play. I get a vanilla-y amber scent, with just a little bit of the sweet pea hanging around. Seeing as the sweet pea has died down a bit, it's got a less pink fluffy dress kind of feel. Still a little girly for my tastes though ... undecided for the moment - maybe today's not a particularly girly day for me? (:

*shriek!* my first imp spillage! I didn't lose more than about 1/3 of what was originally in the imp, it's still more than half-full, but now I have a thalia-soaked thalia imp. It still smells pretty, though (: Seeing as I've spilled it, I may as well review it seeing as I have been wearing it on and off since I received it! In the imp: it's sweet and pear-y fruit with delicate flowers! It's quite girly. Wet on skin: Nothing that makes me think specifically champagne, the plumeria I know from body lotions and things - that's what is rounding out and making the pear smell not just like pear. Once it's dry, it's a lovely light fruity scent. I like it for days when I'm feeling more girly than geeky (although the two aren't mutually exclusive!) at work. Oddly enough, on the tissue I just used to mop up my imp spillage, I do get something that has a boozy note that would be reminiscent of champagne. Just not on my skin.

I have a small pile of imps to work my way through (although a few have already won my heart, which has diminished greatly the desire to test something else!)... In the imp, I smell ... incensey patchouli with something leaning towards woody (cedar? It does smell a little like pencils), and something that makes me think golden warm. There's also something just slightly medicinal (not band-aid-ish, maybe some herbal poultice kind of thing?). Wet on skin, the herbal poultice threatens to take over. Once it's dry, there's something like smoke that makes the back of my throat dry when I'm taking a sniffle, the patchouli is mostly gone, the herbal poultice backs away. Not sure if this is my thing - I tend to go for sweeter things, just my sweet tooth kicking in there. And also, quite possibly my lack of caffeine this morning seeing as we ran out of milk yesterday and I forgot to buy any!

I picked out two imps last night to choose from before I went to work this morning. Zephyr won today (: In the imp, it's kind of powdery and clean smelling. I know this kind of sounds bad because the only thing I can think of to compare it to is bathroom air freshener. It's not unpleasant, it's just ... kind of non-descript? Wet on skin, I get lemon verbena more than I get lemon, still with a bit of a powdery background. Once it's dry, I get a little sweetness to join the powderiness, and the thing that makes me think white florals. If there's any vanilla, it's hiding behind the sweet and powdery. If I take a sniff, and think about it, I can detect something vanilla-y, it's not a buttery vanilla, but a french vanilla kind of vibe. There's a mix in there that makes me think gently citrus, but it's not the dominant thing, and to my nose it's not that distinct. Over the day, I got wafts of this floating about me while I was running around rather frantically (if I thought yesterday was a bad day in terms of the number of broken things I had to work out how to fix, today the things that didn't break yesterday decided to join in!). It was pleasant, but not something that made me swoon. It was, however, gone before I left work. Describing this as a gentle white scent pretty much sums it up. I think there's a few in my group of possible enablees who might like this. That's why it goes in the frimp/adoption pile!

I picked this one out of my pile of imps to test on Monday night, before I headed out to play some tennis, and *had* to stop to post the swoon-worthiness somewhere. In the imp it's sweet dark tea with vanilla and musk. How could I *not* love this?! No signs of lavender despite the fougere, nothing hinting at lemon. It's kind of like a wickedly evil version of fairy floss/cotton candy. I'll admit that it's one I picked because it seems so popular, but it's got to have a following for a reason, right? Wet on skin, there is something in there that suggests lemon, but it's all sweet black vanilla tea with musk on me. Once it was dry (on Monday night it was while I was hopping about between points, and then I wore it at work on Tuesday, hot weather be damned, and then I wore it on Wednesday night, for something to sniff at tennis), I got lovely wafts of what I'm calling evil fairy floss - it's sweet, but it's dark, and it's wickedly good. I loved that it didn't *need* to be slathered everywhere for me to be able to smell it, and I loved that it lasted through the whole day at work. I don't need to think about whether this will be a bottle purchase, it *is* on my bottle list.

I gave this a bit of a test-run last Monday because Melbourne had decided to turn on a couple of really rather warm days (36 degrees C, heading towards 96-97 degrees F), and minty-cool would be something welcome. In the imp, I smell eucalyptus, and mint, and something that makes me think it's the neroli, because it's sweet, and kind of spicy-like. Wet on skin, the eucalyptus and mint dominate. It smells like what cold should smell like, minty, metallic, sharp. They don't last long though, because once it's dry, I get a soft sweet floral. That doesn't last that long either, because it was pretty much gone by lunchtime at work on Monday. Funnily enough, I was quite cold at work - the air conditioning works, and I'm normally someone who takes ages to be warm enough to not have to wear a cardigan or arm warmers or something at work. I do quite like this though, glad I have an imp to keep me company! * Edited because I can't type.

This was my pick for this afternoon. The weather must've heard my questioning it's logic and so it decided to throw us something resembling summer (: I'm a bit of a ginger fiend in both scent and in my random baking pursuits, so this was a no-brainer as a pick for me. I was hoping that nothing would go weird on my skin, cos that would probably make White Rabbit a heartbreaker! In the imp, I smell milk and ginger and sweetened (not necessarily by honey) tea, overlaid on something that smells ... clean. The linen? Wet on skin, I get something floral over the gingery strong sweet milky tea. Once it's dry, everything mellows out, it's more gingery tea with something creamy holding everything together. I couldn't detect anything that made me think specifically peppery, I've tried a couple of things that mention something honey in them (La Petite Mort, and Dragon's Milk), this doesn't have that same thing that makes me think of honey. I really really like this. It's petitioning to to be on the top of my must have a bottle of this right now ! list. [edited - because I can't type]

I gave this a try yesterday, not sure what prompted the pick out of my imps (: In the imp, I get honey ... floral honey with a bit of sharpness. Nothing putting me off yet though! Wet on skin, the honey mellows out, I get a bit of a creamy heady floral thing with honey leading the way. Once it's dry, the sharpness I got from the imp, goes away. I get a subtle spicyness, mingling with the honey. I like this, I don't think it'd be appropriate for me to wear it to work though! I can see me wearing it on a night out, or a night in (:

A truly fae nectar! Dragon’s blood resin and honeyed vanilla. I figured, while I'm feeling my way around, I'd give a few of the more popular blends a whirl where I can find them to adopt. They must have appeal for a reason, right? (: In the imp, I get something that makes me think... kind of fruity french vanilla. Not distinctly cherry or almondy or like anything else I've tried that has had dragon's blood in it, but definitely related. Wet on skin, the scent blooms - it's lovely and creamy and a little fruity, with a non-buttery vanilla. Once it's dried down, the honey starts making itself known. It's asserting itself as the thing I get between the fruity part, and the creamy vanilla part of the scent. I really like this - I don't think I could wear it in the heat of summer, but I'd have a lot of love for it while the weather is pretending hard that summer's not just round the corner here!

I picked this out to wear to work today... I wanted something light and summery, and I wanted to try something out of my *to be tried* pile. In the imp I get grapefruit and a little kick of ginger, with a hint of ... floral apple? There's definitely something white tea kicking around in there too ... this is a first, I could pick out all four listed notes (: Wet on skin, the appley part goes away, I have a white tea, ginger, and citrus scent. It's rather lovely and quite appropriate for the sunshine we got today. Once it's dry, there isn't much throw. There's something white musk-like about it, it's more a white musk, white tea, a tiny bit of ginger, and the grapefruit's all but walked off. Still like it though (: After ... 14 hours (I put it on before I went to work today), it's definitely disappeared from my wrists. I wish it lasted longer on my skin, cos it's rather lovely. Not that I expected anything to last 14 hours! (I can dream, right?). It'd be a bottle if only I could get it to last longer!

Hi hi (: I was just about to have a look-see for things jasmine-related, here is one thread in recommendations for jasmine in BPAL (: For the rest of the threads in the recommendations section, clicky here! I've tried Phantasm, because I wanted something with green tea and jasmine in it... it just didn't smell like how I thought it might. I've also tried Twilight but I'm not a huge lavender fan ... Muse definitely sounds interesting with the jasmine + lime combination ... still new, have tried a bunch but not heaps and heaps yet! Hope this helps *grin*

In the imp: amber + fruits + a tiny hint of something floral. Then again, my nose might be going weird - at the tennis courts tonight there were some super pungent white flowers that kind of smelled like a cross between candlewax and burning rubber tyres... I think someone might've been burning stuff, but I'm not sure. Wet on skin: amber + dark fruits... nothing sharp about this, kind of berryish but nothing specific in the kind of berry. Not purple coloured berries, if I had to name a colour I'd say dark red, maroon in the warm range heading towards orange/brown, rather than heading towards purple/blue. Dry: I'm rather taken by this, it's lovely and warm and subtly fruity - it doesn't scream FRUIT!, it suggests warm berries basking in sun. It's a little syrupy to me, not super-sweet syrupy, but syrupy in ... smell-texture. That's likely not going to make any sense to anyone, much like how I freaked out our housemate by telling him I used to read the dictionary for something to do ... I quite like this, with the number of imps I have (and am about to get.... eeeep!), I'm quite glad I have this one in my lineup (: