girl_android

Hmm... the description kind of scared me, seeing as it mentioned lavender and all <sidetrack> why have I suddenly got so many imps with lavender in it? For the most part, they're all random frimps/ebay winnings where something else in the group tempted me, is someone trying to tell me to relax? </sidetrack> ... but in the imp, it's not that lavendery to my nose ... shall give it a try then hey? (: Wet on skin, I do smell ylang ylang + gardenia, there's something sweet, slightly baby powdery, the lavender isn't that obvious... it's quite bright at first. Dry, it's creamy sweet florals and powder. Something in there that I think is from the sandalwood... Who'd have thought, something with lavender in it, that I think is wearable ? (Then again I have dorian on the way, and am fully aware of what usually makes up a fougere ... eeep!) ETA: Hours later, post-washing up dishes (made lemony cupcakes with lemon + ginger syrup to drizzle!), I'm wondering what smells so nice ... and it's the little patch of skin where I'd tested Veil. It's all creamy and sweet and gentle and round ... One of those blends that justifies the decision to test everything that comes my way (:

For reasons unknown to my mind, I picked an imp of ozymandias from forum sales, not realising that I was about to win an ebay auction of a bunch of imps which also included ozymandias ... yep, I was doing really well with keeping track... or maybe not! In the imp, it's green and floral. it's not sharp though, more ... rounded. Wet on skin: the green flies off somewhere, leaving me with golden, dried flowers. I wish I could be more articulate about the flowers (besides thinking, it's not jasmine, it's not honeysuckle, I don't think it's jonquils...), and there's a hint of smokiness floating about too, like the smoke off a stick of something calming... Dry: there's something a little powdery about this. Not old-lady powdery, not baby-powdery... clean and slightly green soapy powdery. Lucretia mentioned that it smelled of hair conditioner ... I couldn't name the brand, but it does remind me of shampoo or conditioner from some point in my life too! It's a little flowery for my normal tastes, but I'm going to give it another go (probably when the second imp arrives!). ETA: I'm wearing this today actually - it's 2 weeks to summer and we're having 14 degrees (celsius) as a maximum... this is definitely growing on me! It's about 3 hours since I first applied it, and it's a lovely warm golden thing... not sure it's two imp worthy (seeing as the second imp arrived today!) but it's definitely worth one!

Based on the description, I have not a clue what I'm about to have a sniffle of ...! In the imp ... it's sharp and earthy and green and ... oddly clean. Not antiseptic, or artificial clean, more clean like a forest. Not in the same way that bathroom/laundry cleaning agents try to do pine or foresty green smells, more real than that. It's like the smell of a hike through the bush after a big rainstorm, once the water's had time to sink in enough that it's not so muddy. Wet on skin: Freshly turned forest soil, with some recently trampled flowers nearby? Dry: it's a rather sweet green soil kind of thing on me ... I don't think it's me, but I might have to try this on the DH ...

I think I picked this one cos ... it had green tea and jasmine in it. In the imp, it's green tea and jasmine having a fight over who could care most. There's something else in there that makes it less of a fight, and more of a soap drama, I'm hoping the green tea wins, actually. Wet on skin, there's definitely something distinctly soapy about it. Nice soap though, although probably not the kind of soap I'd pick for daily use. Once it's dry, the green tea is just about gone, and I'm left with ... soap. The soap has a bit of a lemony kick to it, so it's not all bad... It's just not something I'd choose to smell like every day ):

I have no idea what is in this but mmmm... it's good .... in the imp, it's sweet, and reminds me vaguely of something candied. Powdered candied, rather than sharp candied. There is something vaguely chocolatey in there, not sure if I expected it, but I'll go with it. On skin, it's really sweet, creamy ... it smells both familiar and strange at the same time... I think I'd be more in the mood for this if it were less warm (surprise surprise, Melbourne's decided to make something of the spring and give me weather where I can wear a t-shirt and not freeze! Two days in a row, even!), so I'm going to hang on to the imp for another day...

Seeing as the weather's trying to show us something resembling spring weather today, a sniff of this from the imp felt like the right one to go for this morning... I get a light fruity floral out of this, I can't name the fruits, nor the florals ... it smells like the field where a picnic would be, golden and peachy and green and blue ... a pale floral slip dress with a floppy sun hat ... Dry on skin, rose pops out a little more with the fruits moving to the background... there's always a BPAL to suit a mood, that's definitely one thing I've picked up! This is a lovely light fruity floral, it's not overwhelming ... my imp will get some use, but I don't see a full bottle purchase from me.

I have wrist space... ! In the imp, I smell ... kind of fruity. Pear and ... apple, but with floaty watery florals also. Already, I can think of a couple of people who would really take to this one (: Wet on skin: apple, pear, something creamy ... something green tea-like? I'm quite taken! Light florals over the top, gently. Dry on skin: there's something juicy but not overbearing about empyreal mist. I agree with those who have described the colour of this scent to be pale green. It would make a lovely spring/summer scent (: I definitely like it, I know of a few people who might be enabled by it too (:

The essence of magickal enigmas and long-forgotten esoteric mysteries. Frankincense, rosemary, lavender, neroli, and verbena. I had a small menagerie of imps descend upon me in the last couple of days ... with more to come, too! In the imp, this smells very strongly of rosemary and lavender... it's doing a good job of scaring me, I'm not the biggest lavender fan. Nothing that brings to mind verbena or neroli, though. Wet on skin ... this actually reminds me of herb garden and kitcheny smells. As it dries down, there is indeed something that makes me think lemon. Dry on skin, the scent wafting is more of a floral thing ... not really my thing though, but someone else might give it a nice home (;

I have an imp from a forum sale, as a way to dip my toes in before I make an order ... I've given Milk and Honey a few wears over the last few weeks since I've had the imp, with a thought to intent prior to applying a little to pulse points. I can't say that big rituals are my cup of tea, but I can understand the intent behind having a ritual, because it makes a good focal point. In the imp, I smell lemon, and honey, a lovely deep, raw honey. The lemon isn't sharp, it's more like the smell you get when you're zesting lemons... Wet on skin, I get light florals over honey. The first few times I wore this it stayed close to the skin; today it was pretty heady, I quite enjoyed floating about in a cloud of honey and florals, but I don't think my co-workers really needed it. Dry on skin, the lemon peeks out again, sweetened by the honey. Scent-wise I quite like this, which a bonus on top of any intended effects. Intent-wise: since I've had this imp, DH was advised of, applied for, and then offered a better position in his current workplace. At my workplace, the mood is a little better (although still frantic, but I'm a little less stressed about it), things at home are full of kittens (: The housemate made good on repayment of grocery money, I was also able to make use of some credit I had with a friend of mine, there were a couple of easy ebay wins (more BPAL! *grin*) ... don't know if any of this counts, but having a little good fall our way isn't something we're about to turn away or anything!

Eeeep! Impy goodness to test is kind of running low again ! (must be patient, there's another package flying its way to me soon...) In the imp: something earthy, something sweet, definitely something patchouli-like ... and seeing as I also reviewed Ravenous this weekend, it's the same sort of patchouli kind of feel. I keep wanting to think oranges - orange rind, or something. There's something floral floating about also, but not freshly cut kind of thing. It's not distinctly rose to me, not anything like rose-scented potpourri. Nothing specifically gingery in the imp ... I'm figuring the earthy thing to be fig + patchouli, maybe ginger here ... ? Besides something floral, I can't comment on what cyclamen smells like ... Wet on skin: There's something fresh and green (Cypress? invading the earthiness. This smells like something you'd wear if you wanted people to <channelling Cartman>Respect mah authoritah!</channelling Cartman>. In the black boots and demure top hiding a vampy outfit underneath, kind of way. Dry: The fresh and green is now just green without the sharp fresh bit, I'd describe this as earthy floral on me. There's a touch of ... fruitiness in there also. It's a lot stronger florally than I'd normally care to wear, I'm glad I got an imp to try though!

This was another frimp, and I'm reviewing to keep me out of mischief! In the imp: Evil oranges does kind of nail it right there, you know ... *grin* It smells of sweet oranges and incense, with something dark and dirty underneath it all ... Wet on skin: It smells much like what it's like in the imp. There's something that's making me think ... medicinal incense, maybe that's just what patchouli does on me (having given other things containing patchouli a go tonight). That's not necessarily a bad thing, it's doing a pretty good job of getting me to like patchouli blends ... Dry: The sweet orange has faded off, and I'm left with incense, but a kind of creamy incense... weird but true. It's not one I'd wear to work, but I'd wear it for a night out, or a night in (:

This was a frimp from a forum sale, not something I'd necessarily pick out myself, but I'm game to try anything at least once! In the imp: There's something familiar smelling about this. I had a test sniff when my package arrived at work, and my first thought was ... cola syrup, or sarsparilla, or something like that. Definitely patchouli, and something sweet and dark. I'm figuring the something sweet and dark is myrrh. Wet on skin: There's something vaguely medicinal in this. I still think sarsparilla. I might be weird. At the moment, this doesn't strike me as a scent to suit the season moving into summer ... then again Melbourne's just turned on some weather that has us turning the heating back on in the house. Dry on skin: I'm getting something that makes the back of my throat go a bit dry when I take a sniff. There's still that medicinal thing going on, although it's reminding me more of linament, or the smell that bandaids get when they've been sitting in a box with salves and tinctures and other miscellaneous things. I don't actually thing that's a bad thing. Must be my obsession with putting things in boxes. For some odd reason I do quite like this. I can't think of an occasion that I'd be able to pull this out to wear (maybe ... if Halloween were more popular in Australia, and I wanted to go dressed as a mummy, or a skeleton bride, or something undead), but I'm glad I got to have a go!

My mind's been particularly skittish over the last week or so; it's been a little difficult to find focus, put my head down, and get through everything I need to do at work. Even without this additional scattery brain thing, my usual state is pretty all over the place to begin with - DH sometimes thinks I think in non-sequiturs. However, I didn't test it at work, mostly because I didn't necessarily think my co-workers would appreciate the scent, but also because I didn't feel unklutzy enough to handle an imp, kindly provided by a lovely forumite, at work. Instead, I used it tonight, after dinner. I had a number of things that needed to get done, mostly so that the weekend wouldn't be filled with domesticities, especially seeing as we're losing an hour of sleep due to daylight savings kicking in *grin* I gave the imp wand a test sniff - it's sharp, bright, lemony, minty with a eucalyptus kicker. I applied a swipe to my palms, cupped my hands, and inhaled deeply. It's a definite sinus clearer, and it did have an effect on me. I had a mental list in my head, and it got done. Bearing in mind I didn't give this a huge challenge (besides overcome my usual post-work state of not wanting to do anything), things did get done. I am going to give this another go, and now that I've established that nothing is in the oil that would cause me to sneeze, have a rash, or have any other unintended adverse reaaction, I'm saving for a bottle, because I'm going to need all the help I can get going back to finish my degree while continuing my current job part-time.

Purge, purify, cleanse. I have a bottle of this from a recent traipse (?) through the ebay listings, at least it didn't have far to go to get to me! In the bottle: lime, and something minty. Nothing so strong as peppermint, but minty nonetheless Wet on skin: More on the lime, less on the mint, although where I've applied it, I get a faint minty tingle going on, which is quite nice actually. Breathing it in clears my head, which is nice. I can see how the name came about, in any case (: Dry on skin: thankfully I don't get anything in the way of lavender, just a lovely sweet and not too sharp minty lime. I like! (am very glad I have a bottle!) My SIL had a sniffie of this at work today - we both thought this would work really well in an oil burner. Both the DH and I have great need to just unwind when we get home from work (which just gets ridiculously stressful), I might try this in the oil burner tomorrow night (seeing as I got back from tennis tonight after dinner, in a ball of annoyedness at the pettiness of the other team), and see how our household is affected by this blend. In the enabling SIL stakes, I'm not doing too badly - she's liked all the blends I've had her take a sniff of, haven't progressed yet to skin! Not that I'm trying but I think I'll get her on the room scent idea first...

Ok, I'm onto my last imp! I *think* there's a package containing a panacea blend waiting for me at work (I left early today to attend a wedding), so all hope is not lost! In the imp: It smells pink and white. I don't actually know what peony smells like, but this smells oddly familiar. Like something from memories of Body Shop purchases past? Also kind of reminds me of this rose-scented sachet thing in my cousin's room ... long long ago! Wet on skin: roses with a tinge of green, it's quite nice. It's not quite roses though. Dry: Something in there that makes me think the Body Shop's white musk. No idea why though. This one's hard to review, because I don't actually know what the listed notes smell like by themselves. I'm finding myself comparing the scent to things I do know, and thinking it's not quite that. I quite like this (: I can think of a couple of friends who might like this too ... but it's not playing fair to enable someone with an LE, is it? Although ... that's how I found myself drawn in ...

This was yet another imp on a small ebay spree (it really wasn't that big in the scheme of things - 13 imps from three lots?). It was one that I'd earmarked to go back to from initial sniffs while I was at work. I've since given it a go a couple of times, first time without knowing the intent (besides guessing from the name) In the imp: almonds. Like the almond essence I've been using in these lemon ricotta cupcake/muffin things I've been making recently. Except without the lemon, or the creaminess the ricotta gives. So ... kind of not like lemon ricotta cupcakes at all. Wet on skin: kind of berryish-almond. It's not necessarily cherries, there's some vanilla in there - once it's on skin it goes a little creamy. Dry: Berry-almond, with something darker underneath it. I remember thinking last time I wore this that I picked up something kind of smokey vanilla-almond wafting about me. The day I wore it I went shopping with a friend of mine. We did a fair bit ! And then we nearly lost the lot cos of some baby-brain-induced forgetfulness (no, I don't have one on the way - laughed my head off denying it at work the other day! Can just imagine the chaos when that happens though). Fortunately we backtracked and found the bag with everything (gift being put together for another friend!) in it. I guess ... there wasn't any extra money, but we did just save the money that would've had to re-spend to get the gift again! Intent or not, I quite like this. Not sure yet about it being bottle-worthy (that thing about needing to spend money to get money...?), I'll work that out by the time I get through the imp (:

I got an imp of this in an ebay lot because I caved in and wanted some slightly instant gratification. Am insane, should not go near discontinued LEs because that's just daring me to like them, and then go looking for them! In the imp - fresh! (if this review is weird, I may have been misled by an imp leakage accident, it smells like Love Me has leaked, but it looks like some other imp did the majority of the damage ... or else the pen ink on the label has eaten any evidence colour-wise of what it might've been, so there might be some label replacement happening at some point) Green! That clean smelling thing that makes me think white! (maybe that's the bamboo pulp - it's the same thing that makes me think this in a dupe of Calvin Klein Truth I have somewhere) Kind of fruity (more along the lines of melons and citrus rather than berries and things. Not canteloupe/honeydew kind of melon, rather some made up melon that would smell like this. I'm not making sense at all and I am typing more in parentheses ...) There is something tea-like in this, not your dark smokey tea, but a lighter sweet herbal tea. Seeing as we're listing green tea as a note, I'll take that it's that (: Wet on skin: lemon zest + grapefruit + green tea soap + that thing that makes me think white! Dry: the lemon zesty part gets less sharp, and the green tea soap part comes out a bit more ... I quite like this, I have an imp, but it's likely to satisfy me for now. Well, once I rescue it from imp leaking label damage!

I figure, I'll get the lavender blends out the way in one shot (: In the imp: Lavender and I guess what is honeysuckle, which makes me think fancy soaps wrapped up in tissue paper with a picture glued over the top of where the tissue paper is scrunched together. It's quite sharp, which I guess isn't helped by having the wand of the imp cap up so close for a first sniff! Better to hold it a little further back from me ... ! Wet on skin: Yep, still lavender, and honeysuckle, now with jasmine! It's not so sharp anymore, which is a good thing! Dry on skin: Remarkably, this hasn't changed much on my skin ... unfortunately that means that there is still a fair whack of lavender wafting about in the air around me. Lavender and DH are not good friends, this (and what's on my other wrist) are going to have to go away soon ... Others have said this also - I can imagine this to be a 'make you sleep/relax' blend, but that's if you're not enemies with lavender and/or jasmine and/or honeysuckle. It's quite smooth though in its blending - I don't have to like the notes to appreciate that!

The eldest of the Muses, she is Eloquence, and thus, governs heroic and epic poetry, and her eloquence has served to calm quarrels even amongst the surliest of Gods. She is crowned in gold, and holds a roll of parchment or stylus and tablet. Hers is the scent of creative inspiration, and it is a boon to writers, poets and arbitrators: lavender and bright mint with bergamot, verbena, thyme and a touch of sweet orange and warm almond. In the imp: eeeep ! I smell lavender! I'm not the biggest fan of lavender, but my DH is very anti-lavender. Ahh well, at least he's got a blocked nose from the cold that seems to be going around this house ... I seem to have recovered enough in any case (: I also smell something herby. Like sage, or rosemary, or something herby-woody smelling, or something. There's also something that smells like ... lemon zest! Here goes nothing ... Wet on skin: Lavender's still there, the lemon zest thing pops out a lot more when it's on skin. It does strangely remind me of a kitchen pantry's herb ... stash. Ok maybe stash isn't the right word. It's more a kitchen kind of lavender scent rather than a garden flowery kind of lavender. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone. Dry: Something like freshly bashed lemongrass, which I guess is actually the lemon verbena. Nothing minty at all though, the lemon zest part I guess is what the bergamot is making me think of, nothing almondy. I do feel like I'm in a kitchen prepping herbs for a chicken! This is nice, but can't stay in our house, because lavender is the anti-DH note (;

Well, it's evening, and the LAN boys are playing poker. I'm about to start another baking spree, so I'll have some scent to keep me company *grin* In the imp: Lemon Tea! I love the scent of green tea, I just can't find one that sticks around for long enough. Wet on skin: Lemon zest in green tea with something sweet as well. Dry: more green tea, the lemon drops back a little, I'm getting that rounded scent thing I most often get with musks, especially white musk. If I think hard about it I can detect what must be the aloe, there's a similar feel I got from Hungry Ghost Moon. Despite the connotations associated with the name (my SIL had a sniffie and said, it's really quite nice and all, but I don't know that you'd want to be telling people you're wearing Embalming Fluid...!), this is a bright and happy scent for me, and another I could wear to work to keep me sane. Two out of two for me today, as this is better than I imagined it would be - this goes onto the bottle ownage list! It's lasted longer than an hour which means it's worth it to me to get this, seeing as green tea just doesn't want to last on me ...

I wore this today, in an attempt to clear my sinuses. If this is all this attempt of a cold is throwing at me, I thumb my nose at it! Or something. In the imp: Ginger! Yum ... it's sweet, and warm. I know it's not listed, but I think I smell lemon tea. Not much, just a little. Wet on skin: Ginger mellows out a little, it's not as biting anymore, still warm though. Dry: Ahh, now I get the milky-creamy thing, but still with a ginger bite ... Throw is ok, as DH could detect it, then again I wear these for me, rather than for others. This is everything I hoped it would be - it's not overly sweet, or bitter in its ginger bite; when I place my first lab order, this is a bottle I must own. It feels appropriate for wearing to work, DH didn't mind this one either.

I gave this a bit of a test yesterday morning ... bear in mind now I think I'm coming down with a cold, just my luck seeing as I'm actually on holiday! In the imp: whoa, strong soapy florals. There is something that reminds me of honeysuckle, and if I think hard about it, something that makes me think pear. Wet on skin: more of the same, big throw, given how little I put on one wrist - just a few dots. DH not particularly a fan, as it's quite perfumey. Testing these things out in an enclosed space (like our computer room) might not be the best thing to do! Dry: strong, but it's calmed down a little. Getting a little powdery, but also making me sniffle. I think this would be nice for an outdoor wedding kind of event. It's not like anything I'm normally drawn to wear. Overall, I can appreciate the work put into this scent, there's nothing wrong with it on me, nothing turns weird or funky, I'm just not a fan of something so big and floral on me.

I wore this last night, but went to bed before I could finish up my thoughts. This was another one of those imps where I kind of freaked at the sniff from the imp, but found it far better once on the skin. I also tried this last week unaware of its intended purpose (picked something to test out before going out to play tennis at night). I tried again last night having read the description after dabbing a little on, as both the DH and I have the rest of the week off though, so we were mostly just kicking about at home last night (: In the imp: Whoa ... can't work out anything, it's quite potent! It's a lovely warm red-orange colour. Not sure I like the sharp thing, there's patchouli, and ...? Nothing that immediately makes me think dragon's blood (from having sniffed Blood and Dragon's Heart), but I'm game (: Wet on skin: this is smokey, and the sharp thing is mellowing out, and there's something sweet in there also, kind of like bubblegum like others have noted. Dry on skin: something woodsy. Not Woodsy green, but woodsy rich red. Something heady. There is something spicy there, DH picked up cinnamon, it's kind of spicy-powdery, and there's a hint of fresh pencil shavings (sandalwood?, cedar?) too... Comment on intended effect: Even though I was tired last night, when DH and I went to bed, we stayed awake for quite a while just flirting about and talking about everything and nothing, no pressure to actually *do* anything about it either, which was good seeing as I was in dire need of rest! Hey, if Love Me was a helping hand in setting this sort of mood, I'm all for it!

In the imp: apricot, something like liqueur. The apricot isn't sharp, it's fuzzy. Wet on skin: like a recently cut apricot, doused with something alcoholic; not necessarily brandy. Dry: more like dried apricots steeped in something now, so that super strong smell you might get initially from dried apricots has dissolved into the liquid. Something that makes me think mint but not mint - that smell that makes your nose open up a little ? Alcoholic things sometimes do this too, so I guess it's the brandy part of the apricot brandy, hey? I quite like this, it's not something I'd pick for myself, but random things are good sometimes (: If I were to go for something fruity, I tend to veer towards berries rather than stone fruits, but that might be a colour association thing (: This smells golden and fuzzy. ETA - It's nearly 5 hours later (I've just finished baking a double batch of choc chip cookies), and the scent is still around ... the alcoholic part of the scent has gone away, and I'm left with a lovely close-to-the-skin warm apricot scent. It managed to make it through washing up a few times, and I got a few wafts as I wandered from the kitchen to the computer room. It's growing on me, there's nothing that makes me regret having the imp about, that's for sure!

I have a half-imp of torture king sitting among my teeny collection. In the imp: Lemon peel, limes, something incensey. I'm intrigued. The notes listed aren't anything I'd immediately go for all at once, but what I'm getting certainly has my interest. Wet on skin: citrus, lemon peel like the zest I was grating off last night (went on a small baking spree, lemon ricotta cupcakes are yum!), slightly more subdued limes, something that reminds me of mandarins, and more incense. It does make me think it's more a masculine scent. For what I get, it's quite clean, for something that smells kind of deep. Dry: It's quiet, and incensey (I figure this is smoke + frankincense and leather and lemon peel. I wonder what the boy would think of wearing it? I think it might suit him. It's a little bit sweet. I wouldn't call it sugary, or fruity though. Later: The citrus has calmed down, it's now smokey preserved citrus. There's also a little something that makes me think medicinal. I'm not sure what it is, but it reminds me of this poultice my dad had on his arm when he went to the chinese medicine place, to treat his elbow. Maybe it was just the general aroma of the place, what with all the sticks, leaves, herbs, and stuff that went into these poultices for everyone. I quite like this, but I'm sure I'd like it more on DH!