tartchef

Ooo, yeah! I used up my imp last summer, and need to get a replacement...

I've been reaching for green tea-based scents at night this summer - I have a mister of F5 that's been lovely on the really hot nights. It's got a bit of mint, but not too much, and the aloe & white musk together are really cooling...

I've never tried a 13, but all those yummy resins & spices called to me this time... Wet, there's the same clear chocolate-flavored-syrup note from El Dia de Reyes, underscored by a faintly boozy apple note - it's an interesting combination, slightly caramelized-sugar vs apple peel... As it begins to dry, the sharpness of the apple fades and the blossoms emerge, underscored by a very gentle spice note. The tonka's suddenly appeared - I think it was what my nose identified as the caramelly note - subtly adding a toasty, warm weight behind what is an increasingly delicate, edible scent. I agree with windbourne - it's not foody, per se, but very tasty, akin to Freak Show in that chocolate-herby feel. There's something fresh in here, too, maybe the tea & appleblossom working together? Whatever it is, it's lovely - I almost wish the chocolate & tonka would shut up for a minute so I can concentrate on that clear, sweet leaf-&-petals note... The frankincense & sandalwood are nowhere to be found - I suspect we might hear from them once this round of 13 ages a bit. ETA: Mwahaha - I was right! 5 weeks later, the late drydown is a lovely bitter cocoa & frankincense blend, and the nutmeg & sandalwood are peeping out now, too. So my first 13 is very fun - not a Top 10 by any stretch, and ultimately no match for Freak Show, but still worth hanging onto. The appleblossom & tea combination may become my new quest - I'm surprised that out of all the notes, these are the two that really stood out from the pack.

I adored Earth Rat, so I had to try Fire Pig... despite sharing so many notes, they are markedly different scents. Wet, the peony is very prominent - the big pale pink blossoms, fluffy & soft, but in no way overwhelming. Hooray - another floral I can wear! A bitter, pithy citrus & bamboo are there, too, grounding things & giving Fire Pig a very chilly, bracing feel. If I close my eyes & inhale deeply, I can just about pick out the lychee - I was hoping for BIG lychee, but it's still nice. As it dries, more of the tart citrus comes out, juicy & snappy, along with a trace of pine sap. Whereas Earth Rat was sugary & smooth & green, Fire Pig is piquant & orange, with lots more of the tangerine in play. I'm not much for fruity scents, but Fire Pig is a welcome exception - I can see why zankoku_zen loves it so, and am grateful to her for sharing it with me

I'm with VioletChaos - Hand of Glory is very similar to the Antikythera Mechanism, but with less sweetness & more smoke... The leather made me a bit apprehensive, but I needn't have worried - it's old, worn leather, not fresh leather jacket, and adds a utilitarian edge to what could be a thick, overpowering scent. The nutmeg peeks out, a bit citrusy, almost. Up close, I can discern the various elements, but the throw is amazing - subtle & well-blended, but pervasive, vaguely sinister in it's sweet smokiness. If you brushed by someone who smelled like this, your pulse would jump just a bit, and you'd wonder what the hell they've been up to... A fantastic interpretation of the subject, and galleywest absolutely nailed it in her review - Hand of Glory is the scent of mischief, sly & sinister.

Ozone usually sends me screaming into a corner, but iiinterstate's review made me reconsider... Stormclouds opens with a beautiful fresh rain scent, clean & clear & lovely. As it dries, there's a hint of cloying "Rain Fresh" that has me a bit concerned... the incense is smokey & sharp, and I can just barely taste a bit of the sour opium. A very evocative scent, but alas, not one I feel comfortable wearing - my decant might find a second life as a room spray, though...

Fennel & a tiny pop of pomegranate at first, a very natural scent with a cumin-y note coming up in the background. There's something just a bit oily & unctuous here, too, like a drizzle of grapeseed oil... The lavender is gentle, but earthy, akin to Safari. No sign of the verbena, which is unusual, as I tend to over-amp it. In the crooks of my elbows, the Dittany of Crete is prominent, an oregano-like herby green scent. On my wrists, though, Licwiglunga is much drier - the hemp paper really pops, a pulpy papery note... Really, really interesting... very atmospheric. A fantastic scent for when you don't want to smell like you've actually applied any perfume - it's the scent your skin & hair would pick up after a long hot afternoon of hanging herbs to dry & grinding fennel seed... sort of the post-script to the Norn's Farmhouse.

Gah. Flail. That's it. I am selling my soul to Beth. She can have it, I don't need it, not if she keeps making glorious scents like this... My eyes rolled back in my head as soon as I opened the imp - OMFG, cardamon! Deliciously smooth, smokey cardamon underscored by the balsams, with this incredibly creamy backnote... It's like Three Witches' non-foody cousin, that same sweet spice without all the thick vanilla. Bezoar varies wildly depending on where I apply it - my wrists are dry & smokey, and that fantastic hay note is emerging very quickly. It's how I wanted Scarecrow to smell... scorched & dry. In the crooks of my elbows, though, the sweet cardamon stays true, and the hay is a bit greener & sweeter. Bloody hell. That's another one to wedge into my ever-burgeoning Top 10... I will be getting multiple bottles of this, and will weep like a baby when the Carnaval leaves town.

I totally agree with slave1's assessment - Marianne is a muddy, murky scent, totally different from what I was expecting. The musk is definitely Smut-esque, one of the few musks I can't wear well - there's that whiff of latex & peanuts I'd hoped that the patchouli & black currant would dominate, a British Mme Moriarty, but no - I amp the florals just enough that they cancel out any patchouli goodness, and the currant gets drowned out by the musk, & the lotus root, a dry funky, rooty smell, sucks the life out of the rest of the notes. Sadly, Marianne, we must part ways. ETA: Musing on Mme Moriarty just now, it occurs to me that Marianne may well benefit from some aging - fresh from the Lab, Mme Moriarty is unremarkable on me, but left to her own devices for a few months she's OMFG good. So. Perhaps I will hang onto my Marianne partial until the fall & see how she behaves...

Ah, Inez, you'll reel them in, won't you! This will be one of those secret-weapon scents, not overtly sexxxxxy but impossible to ignore. The amber & myrrh make it a bit powdery on my skin, and the vanilla musk nudges it into the almost-foody realm - I swear, there's something almost nutty here that reminds me of Wezwanie/Hold. Grounding things are very smooth, understated sandalwood & the faintest trace of carnation, just enough to add a creamy haze. If I didn't have a million things to do & a toddler in the house, I'd dab a bit of Inez at the nape of my neck & see how long it took for my husband to get me from front door to bedroom... or if we bothered to get that far

A study in carnations Hod - all thick cream & spicy carnations, the closest thing I've sniffed to carnation SN Morocco - carnation with a waft of cinnamon & light musk, lighter than Hod by far Judith & Holofernes - carnation & smokey musk, like Hod's older sister, with a penchant for thigh-highs & bias-cut silk dresses & making heads turn Inez - the faintest carnation of the four lurking under the myrrh & sandalwood, Judith & Holofernes' twin, the more introverted of the two, her black lace bra peeking out from under a beautifully tailored tweed jacket

The first time I skin-tested the Illustrated Woman, I got a heartbreaking artificial pine note, a dead ringer for the ubiquitous pine tree hanging from your rear-view mirror... I left her to her own devices for a week or so in my cellaring box, and she is a bit better for it... Wet, there's that sweet, musky pine note, still hovering dangerously close to air freshener - I think another week or two in the box wouldn't hurt. Fortunately, it burns off quickly, leaving a swirl of Snake Oil, sexy skin musk & a lovely resiny tobacco note. Much like Shelldoo herself, the Illustrated Woman starts off a bit ballsy, but underneath she's an absolute sweetheart - cozy & warm, but with a trace of something just a little sticky & dirty & wild It's not a heavy scent, per se, but it lasts all day, lingering on my wrists as a soft, smokey vanilla musk - the crooks of my elbows cling to a bit more of the sweet pine sap. It's a lovely scent... a beatifully tattoed woman, draped in a heavy, embroidered shawl & puffing on a cigarillo. She pokes at the small bonfire, throwing a branch of fresh pine on the flames... ETA: Oh crappity. I just can't kick the Christmas Tree air freshener. If anything, it's getting louder now, for all the cellaring. Off you go, my dearie.

Clemence! Granted, there's a good whack of patchouli to wade through at first, but I'm finding that it dies down quickly to a complementary note, letting the clove really shine. If you amp patch or carnation, Clemence might not be a "pure" enough clove scent for you, but she's getting me all nostalgic for my high school goth-club days...

Oh Clemence, you minx! Wet, you are the darkest clove-cigarette-toking patchouli ever, delicious & earthy & set to a soundtrack by KMFDM... Ah! But then you turn, shedding your patchouli & revealing a tantalising waft of carnation, creamy & spicy, the cloves & cardamon swirling around in a delcious haze... As you settle down, dry bitter tea & pepper emerge, a lovely contrast to the lush carnation. Ha! You'd have liked me to think you naughty & goth & black-like-your-soul, but I see through your ruse... underneath, you are closer to Morocco than you'd like to admit, warm & inviting & emminently wearable. But granted, with a packet of cloves in every pocket & a collection of stompy boots... which makes me love you all the more.

The mere mention of honey wine was enough to make me want to try Delphi - it brings back very fond memories of my favorite Ethiopian restaurant in Chicago, and the big carafes of tej we used to split... Woo... I can definitely see where folks are getting rose - the initial volley is a thick slap of sticky incense with a strong perfumey-rose note... not rose exactly, but very close. Myrrh, I suspect - it's a note similar to one I get in Cairo & Penitence. Fortunately for me, it dies down quickly, and I'm left with an incredible bittersweet smoke & honey scent. It's heady & strong, like too much incense in a small, warm room. The laurel & bay were thrown on the brazier, too, and the sap is smoking, leaving an acrid taste in my mouth. The honey wine is thick & raisiny, but not cloying, thanks to all the smoke. This is not for the faint of heart - Delphi is an all-encompassing scent, atmospheric & heady. It's decent & holy at the same time, a nifty trick, if you ask me. As hokey as it sounds, this would be a great scent to wear when going out to eat, where the menu is spicy & exotic - the honey wine adds just enough sweetness to keep Delphi from clashing with the aromas of the food, and I bet it would smell amazing with a pile of warm injera & misir wat...

There wasn't technically an '07 Wolf Moon - it was released in December of 2006 (yes, I know, to coincide with the January 2007 moon - flippin' semantics). You can find the reviews here...

Amber, eh? I can't say I get any at all from Riding the Goat - on me, it's a very deep, polished wood & smoke scent... it reminds me most of the teak from Antikythera/Glowing Vulva layered with Herr Drosselmeyer's pipe-smoke... If you get more amber, perhaps Antikythera with aged Lion, Leo 2007, or Jacob's Ladder - all delicious smooth ambers without a lot of other notes (fruit, florals) to compete...

I am quoting myself and bumping this in hopes that someone can help me solve this! *begging* Please? I don't have any first-hand advice, but I couldn't just leave you flapping in the breeze... Have you skin-tested your new imp? Still no scent? My first instinct is that you got an imp from the top of the batch, so to speak - the batch settled out a bit, leaving the heavier spice & resin oils at the bottom of the reservoir. Or, brand new Chimera may be very mild, only deepening after it's had a chance to age for a while. My only experience with it was a 4th or 5th-hand frimp in a swap, and it was definitely a thick, strong oil at that point. Anyone else want to chime in & debunk my half-baked theories?

Just a quickie review before this moves on to its intended home: Thick incense & red musk, a dead ringer for Scherezade, but with a touch of dragon's blood & something very faintly metallic. A previous review called the Cracked Bell a very still scent, and I totally agree. The sense of something massive & demonic in the shadows, utterly still but for a curl of smoke that catches your lamplight... You clamp your hand over your mouth too late, and with your stifled gasp a heavy-lidded eye opens, fixing you with a deadly, smoldering stare...

I had to give Earth Rat a whirl -Tanuki was such a wonderful surprise, despite lots of no-go notes, so I hoped the dragon's blood in Earth Rat wouldn't do me wrong... Huzzah! I smell like a bowl of gummies, but not in a sickly-sweet, cloying way! The melon (very ripe & green) is definitely the dominant fruit, but the lychee & citrus are there too, cutting through the heady sweetness. I'm decidedly meh about coconut, but when it emerges here, it's fresh green coconut, not the thick, toasty Red Lantern/Goblin coconut. Like in Tanuki, the bamboo & pine ground the lot, and the florals are barely perceptible, just a hint of something lovely on the breeze. And no dragon's blood to be found! Woot! As it dries, the melon takes on that dry sugary quality of the melon cakes from my favorite Viet-Thai bakery in Chicago. The rest of the fruits fade away (very quickly from my wrists, but the crooks of my elbows cling to the kumquat), and I'm left with a faint but lovely blend of the melon & the reedy, woody bamboo. Delicious! Delightful! Such a happy scent... green, but a sweet, translucent green, wonderful for summer...

Oh Tanuki, you naughty racoon dog... you should be an utter mess on my skin, with all your flowers & fruity bits. But no! Yes, you do start out a tad soapy - the wisteria, magnolia & cherry blossom muscle for attention at first. Luckily for me, yuzu & bamboo link arms & plow through, sending a shower of petals into the air... as they fall, a glorious green & yellow blend emerges, tart & green & juicy, underscored by a trace of resiny wood & tea. You are like the original Dragon Moon, but with a citrusy sparkle that makes even the hottest days bearable. Just when I think you've faded, you slyly emerge again, deep & tangy like citrus wood. The persimmon slinks in, sweet, heady and echoing the creamy osmanthus. Bamboo reappears, and the end result is oddly tropical - groves of exotic fruit trees with a sliver of ocean in the distance. Tanuki, you are all I'd hoped the Flotsams would be... and here you were, under my nose all along I had to get an extra bottle, even!

I've had my GTV decant rolling around in my imp tray for ages - I finally feel like I've got my head wrapped around it... Wet, it's peppermint & cocoa - deep, dry cocoa, not chocolate. The mint is rounded out beautifully by a touch of smooth vanilla - at this stage, it's most assuredly a foodie scent, and if I made a dessert that tasted the way this smells, I'd be in business for life, I think After a few minutes, though, the serpent starts twisting & things morph incredibly - the mint lingers, as does the vanilla, but the cocoa slips into the shadows & bergamot flicks its tongue out, a tart, snappy edge under the round sweetness. SnakeOil goes PlayDoh on my skin, as a rule, and I can tell that without the mint & bergamot, it'd do the same again here. But instead, it's this cushiony, almost chewy scent, almost like mint saltwater taffy. Left to its own devices, GTV dries down to a lovely deep mint & tea scent, with a hint of that round vanilla keeping things sweet & delectable. This was & is one of the Big Surprises of my BPAL life thus far - it's not something I reach for often, but it is a spectacular scent, delicious & cooling with marvellous wearlength & throw... ETA: Ow. I reapplied late this afternoon, a stinking hot day when my pores were most certainly open. I now have 2 little welts along the nape of my neck. The mint, perhaps? Certainly not a deal-breaker, but I will make a mental note not to wear this on sensitive bits in hot weather...

Reviving this thread because we're in for several days of warm rain, and it took me ages to decide what to wear today... I didn't want anything too floral - the humidity seems to over-amp things like Her Voice - nor did I want the stereotypically "fresh" hot weather scents... I settled on Harikata, and it's working beautifully - it's echoing the dampness, with enough warmth & sweetness to keep the blahs at bay. The florals are soft but wafting heavily - I didn't apply much, but I'm getting way more throw than usual. If this weather keeps up, I'm thinking Tamamo-no-mae, Tsadikim Tistarim, Caliban... the more botanical, less "perfumey" scents in my collection. Maybe Clio & Calliope, too...

Fresh & clean, what a surprise! Yes, white cotton sheets hung on the line, flapping in the sunshine... but there's a trace of citrus & white flowers, too, akin to The Hermit (minus the dry paper note). I can definitely see how this could go soapy if my chemistry or the weather shifted a bit, so this will stay a fun decant, no more. Mind you, if Beth starts making BPAL laundry detergent, I'm all over a Wensleydale version

Oh no! Sleep, M, sleep! :waves Jedi hands: (Need me to come over & do the Magic Baby Dance again? ) There's a bit of orange in it, but the discontinued Calliope is a really fresh herbal, very industrious. Block Buster comes to mind, too - on me, it smells like cloves & a trace of pear cider, not very foody or sweet. Bamboo & green tea are more gentle kicks-in-the-pants - I'm thinking F5, Holiday Moon, maybe Green Tree Viper... Depending on how you do with neroli, Ultraviolet might be worth a shot. I know you don't do well with fruity nonsense, but I have to recommend Green Phoenix - the lime & papaya are barely noticable, just adding a tart little zing to the grass, cucumber & sage...