jasmine

I didn’t intend to test this today, but while taking a brief sniff, I spilled some on my fingertips... so, since it was there anyway, I rubbed it into my elbow. This smells AWFUL on me. The word that comes to mind is “fecal”. I can tell it smells like something more, but I frankly don’t care to sniff long enough that I can figure it out. I couldn’t manage to wash it off. After scrubbing, it muted to something that I could tell would smell like something masculine on some people. I’m sure some people would want to smell like this. I’m also sure that it utterly turns something at the pit of my stomach and I can’t get it off. ARGH! I haven’t been deliberately cat-testing my scents, but the cats thought my Czernobog-contaminated fingers smelled fascinating. They were entirely unimpressed by any of my other scent-test patches. Darn cats. (Edited to reword slightly.)

Immediately after application, Kumiho smells very light and citrusy. (I use the word “application” loosely, because what actually happened is that I was impatient with my packing material when the imp was tangled in the bubble wrap. Consequently, the imp’s cap came off and my right hand is doused in the stuff.) This is distinctly lemony. It isn’t a lemon that announces itself as floor cleaner or anything equally rude -- it’s too quiet for that. Oddly, I’m more impressed with it on my fingertips than my wrist, which must be related to the concentration of scent. Perhaps Kumiho requires slathering for any real effect on me. As time passes, Kumiho gains a gentle warmth while still maintaining the citrus that I smelled earlier. This warmth isn’t actually spicy; it’s just... warm. Now the citrus is fading out. Kumiho must not like me, because it has decided to vanish entirely, I think.... no, it’s now drifting back and forth in presence... but it’s remaining high and citrusy. It could grow on me, but I think I would need to slather in it to appreciate it properly. Ah, well. I stood up, walked away, came back... and realized that my entire nook smells of Kumiho due to the spill. Of course I couldn’t detect anything special on my wrist -- but my nook smells wonderful! I feel rather silly now... and I do like it. It doesn’t wash me away, and I think I prefer Unicorn, but it is very nice (and, if I get into atomizing and so forth, I would definitely consider it as a room spray.) I wrote this review mostly without reference to the lab description, and so it came as a surprise to me to see that there is no citrus in this blend. I think that the “citrus” note I perceived is the way that white tea reacts with my skin, and I’m pretty sure that the warmth was ginger, but it was still never what I would have expected. Very interesting.

Upon applying, I instantly think of this as a contradictory scent. It’s very difficult to class because there are hints of spice and hints of plant all at once, so I can’t quite call it a spicy or a green smell. It has a distinct warmth, and I have a terrible tip-of-the-tongue feeling upon inhaling and concentrating -- there is some specific spice here normally used in cooking, something I like, and I have no idea what it is. It smells familiar, but not in a perfumey sense. It melts very, very rapidly into my skin. There is basically no throw -- just a hint of presence and warmth. I think there may be honey in this, or the scent that BPAL calls “honey”, because it reminds me of last night’s application of Athens. If so, it’s very mild and subtle, but it’s gaining in force. I currently detect a hint of quasi-familiar spice, a hint of -- mint, maybe? -- and a ghost of that honey scent. The throw has arrived, and it’s a soft, spicy warmth. Not bad. Not very impressive, but not bad. This scent faded almost entirely within two hours after application. I can still smell it, but only when my nose is within touching distance of my wrist. It doesn’t blow me away, not when compared with some of the scents produced by the lab, but I like it. It seems like a scent for days when I want to wear a scent for me rather than for the world.

Upon immediate application, my wrist does smell like tea. Honeyed, spiced tea. I feel like I ought to be curled up under a blanket while my friend the tea gourmet presses a fresh cup into my hands. Unfortunately, the lovely honey scent seems to be going a bit sour soon after it arrives -- or perhaps it’s just that the tea scent has faded, leaving the scent a bit unbalanced toward the honey side, and the honey is taking over. This scent lasted for a long time, but it seemed more and more unpleasant as it progressed. It doesn’t do it for me at all.

I don’t like this scent just after I’ve applied it. It’s high, penetrating, and reminds me of commercial cleanser of some variety. Initially, I thought I spotted something citrusy, but I don’t spot it now. Instead, I’m getting the jasmine, and something that I think is the Asian plum. As it settles into my skin, it’s calming. This is the second jasmine scent that I have tried (the first being Muse), and I am becoming fairly sure that I have jasmine-amplifying skin chemistry. I am even more confident of it as the throw suddenly blossoms and I discover that the throw is, not jasmine, but Jasmine. Hello, Jasmine. This is an interesting effect because, at the moment, I can’t smell very much Kitsune-Tsuki if I deliberately sniff my wrist. I just have this halo of jasmine scent in the immediate enviroment. After some more time, the halo has faded, and my wrist now radiates a clear, crisp jasmine with a hint of something that still strikes me as chemical. Perhaps I’m prejudiced against it on account of enjoying Muse as much as I did, but this doesn’t seem like a scent for me. Faint jasmine, now. Unless it decides to reblossom later, it has very little staying power. Goodbye, jasmine.

This strikes me as a masculine smell. (Big surprise there.) I catch a trace of pine under spice and something foody... cinnamon sugar? I’m not sure. The pine is coming on stronger as I wait. It’s a very confident scent. Definitely strong pine oil in this. Beneath the pine, it is foody without being sugary, which I would consider a bizarre concept if I weren’t smelling and enjoying it right now. It’s balanced in a very interesting fashion -- indoors and outdoors, green pines and warm cookies. I am inclined to call it a sexy scent, but I don’t think of either pines or foodiness as a sexy smell, which makes me wonder whether it’s just mystique working. Still, it’s incredibly distinctive. I think, in the right mood, I could wear this and feel very good and confident about wearing it. Later: I went to bed, I got up, and I showered. Approximately twelve hours have passed since I put on Golden Priapus, and, moreover, I scrubbed the heck out of my elbow. I can still smell it faintly! I am left with no doubts whatsoever about the origin of this scent’s name -- this is the scent that does not give up. Good grief.

Spicy and fruity! Peach is the overriding winner in the immediate smell, and it’s a rich, luscious scent, but the spice gives it an appealing warmth. It’s not all peach, either -- there are other fruit scents here that I don’t immediately recognize. I don’t detect anything floral. As my skin interacts with the scent, it starts taking on a fragrance that reminds me of bathroom air freshener, much to my worry. I don’t think the smell is unpleasant -- it’s quite nice, in fact. I just think I’ve been in a bathroom at some point that smelled like this. Hmm. The juiciness of the peach is fading, and the spice is picking up a bit. As the scent matures, it eases down into a quiet perfuminess that is a bit of a disappointment -- I liked the initial wave of peach more. As it quiets, the sense of “bathroom air freshener” is fading. It’s becoming a mellow, quiet peach. I’m not dazzled, but I do appreciate it. I could wear this under almost any circumstances and feel reasonably happy about it.

I can smell the blackberry, but the other scent is very enthusiastic, leaving the blackberry as a muted purple note in the background. I don’t know what heather is supposed to smell like, but this scent actually seems more complex than two notes. As it starts to dry, the throw manifests, and I notice that the throw smells much more blackberry than my wrist does. It is still not “true” blackberry -- I can figure out that it’s blackberry, but that’s by reading the description, not because I would smell it on my own and think, “hey, blackberry!” Still, it’s a nice blend. The complexity seems to be fading as it dries, and, as it does so, the blackberry gets a bit more convincing. The impression of “nice” remains -- it’s not bad, but it’s hardly knocking me off my feet. It’s gained a warmth that I associate with the way blackberries legitimately smell, which is neat. Perhaps the biggest accolade I can give it is this: I was thinking about which scent I should put on my other wrist before going to work, since I’m doing so much testing, and then I thought... no, this is good enough; I don’t want to risk putting on something that I don’t like that would spoil it. Glasgow is a pleasant, light purple scent, and I’ll be happy to smell like this today.

After immediate application, this is a sweet, yet dark floral and fruit scent. It has a lot of throw -- I can detect it loud and clear while typing. It smells not merely ripe, but overripe... not decayed, but at the point where a given fruit (a blood orange, for example) is swelling and ready to burst. Boozy, almost... but I like it. It announces itself clearly and swaggers. I think I’m picking up a honey undertone, but I really don’t mind. It really does smell like something fermenting -- it’s floral, undoubtedly, but there’s fermenting fruit as well. It’s like a mead, almost -- this is a sweet, confident, distinctly corrupted scent on my skin. I approve of it. It has confidence, and I like its confidence. I wouldn’t want to wear it to work, but it would be a great scent for barhopping, GMing, or some other casual, non-sexy activity where I want to feel cheerful and confident and have strong presence. Still rather honeyed, and fruity and flowery on top of it. Blood orange remains in my mind... it has that floweriness to its scent while still being definitely and clearly a fruit. This seems much more fruity than flowery, and I adore the honey. It could be too clean a scent without the booziness, but it’s simply luscious with it. It faded fast, and may not have much staying power on my skin, but that’s what reapplication is for -- and it reduces the chances that I’ll knock somebody inadvertently dead with my scent. I doubt I’ll acquire a bottle, but that’s only because I don’t see myself having sufficient opportunity to wear it. This made me very happy.

A perfume sacred to the highest of the angelic hosts: calla lily, wisteria, white sandalwood, Damascus rose and frankincense. I don’t know what to call this scent. There is a certain floralness about it, but also something that is particularly hard to describe. It isn’t, in fact, smoky, but it seems as if it should be. I may be detecting the frankincense. I have described scents as layered from time to time. This particularly seems appropriate for Seraphim. There is a high scent (calla lily?) at the top, and something beneath that is either the frankincense or the sandalwood, and may even be both. The top scent is very clean and clear, now. And now the top scent is fading, which disappoints me... particularly as I can detect a faint hint of soapiness beneath it. Or I thought I could, for a moment. I may be paranoid. I am definitely picking up the sandalwood now. I’ve realized that the top scent isn’t fading down -- it’s fading up. If I inhale the air away from my wrist, it smells like air. If I inhale the air near my wrist, it smells like a medium scent -- sandalwood? -- in really clean air. The “clean air” smell is where the high scent has gone. It’s an impressive trick that utterly bewilders me. (I wonder if the sniffing is starting to get to my brain?) That sense of “surrounded by clean air” is neat, and I could see it being useful under the right circumstances, but I would prefer my scent to actually smell like something... and, no matter how impressive the “clean air” trick is, I don’t feel overly impressed by the medium scent underneath. (Edited to add the lab description when I realized that I was at the top of a new page.)

This is stinging my elbow mildly. I feel that I should have expected it from Rage, which I tried and washed off a moment ago, but I really didn’t expect it from Eternal. This leads me to wonder if it was really Rage’s fault, or if my skin just dislikes me today. Ah, well. It is a high, sharp, somehow “precise” scent. I can pick out the gardenia, and possibly the rose, but I don’t know what else I am detecting (probably because I have no idea what the other elements smell like). It is definitely a complex scent. Now the smell is fading. I don’t think I can tell the gardenia apart any more, and it almost smells faintly lemony. As it fades, it becomes less complex to my nose, and the lemon aspect is increasing. How very odd. There’s the gardenia again. I like this when I can detect the gardenia, but I like it less when I can’t. This is unsurprising, since I have a weakness for gardenia. This scent has no lasting power whatsoever on me -- it’s slinking away into my skin, and I don’t think I applied it more than forty-five minutes ago. Now I need to press my nose onto my elbow to detect it. Meh. It continues to exist, and it’s stayed for at least an hour, and I suppose it will linger on a bit further, but I prefer a bit of throw. (It stayed at that very quiet level for at least four hours, during which it mutated quietly back into gardenia. Polite of it... and yet... no.)

Not as sharp as I expected, and more fruity. It stings the inside of my elbow slightly -- I probably should have thought twice before applying it there, since my skin was acting up across that elbow through most of the past week. Definitely a fiery scent, all the same, and with a darkness that I can’t quite place. The fruitiness has faded, and now it smells a bit more “perfumey” than expected, which may be the geranium and so forth. (It may also be that I still don’t know what amber smells like.) Right now, I approve of the scent, but I’m worried about the stinging. I hope it doesn’t get much worse. It’s getting worse. Hrm. This is definitely a serves-me-right moment. Scentwise, it’s still perfumey... but not a pretty perfume -- just a scent with that note that says “perfume”. It is starting to remind me slightly of the aspects of Morgause that I didn’t like, but I can’t figure out why. I think I wanted a sharper scent out of something called “Rage”. Gave up and washed it off. It never became fully painful, but if I can still sense it stinging after five minutes... forget it.

Initially, this is a strange mix of light notes that have no sweetness at all to them. I think the tuberose is the strongest. I’m really not detecting any lime. It has a certain spiciness, but no warmth whatsoever, which is a peculiar combination. As it dries, the jasmine kicks in. I still can’t detect lime, and I don’t know what lotus smells like (a bubble-gum scent, from what the forums tell me?), but the jasmine and tuberose are present and accounted for, thank-you-very-much. I might be getting a trace of lotus, but then again, I might not be... hard for me to say. The jasmine’s presence is definitely increasing as time goes by... definitely! I can pick it up hanging on the air around me now. I have become surrounded by a little cloud of Muse jasmine, and it’s only getting stronger. This is an impressive scent full of many, many small white flowers. After a bit, the jasmine started fading away. Close up, it has become not fully jasmine, but some lovely jasmine blend that has a positive feel about it... very smooth and creamy. It doesn’t seem like an everyday scent for me, but I do approve of this scent on my skin, and I will enjoy it for appropriate occasions.

Sour cherry and almond in the bottle... something else under it (musk?) Not a sweet cherry in the slightest. After being applied to my wrist, it almost smells moldy. I expect cherry to have a sweetness and roundness to it that this doesn’t have. The moldy smell is settling away (thank goodness!) and the scent has backed off entirely. Whatever is here doesn’t strike me as particularly complex... it’s a dark, rich middle note. I’m not sure what became of the almond smell; it seems to have faded out. In fact, the entire thing seems to be fading unexpectedly into my wrist. I can pick it up at a distance, but only by concentrating. Ah, this is getting better. It’s turned into... I’m not sure what. The darkness is ebbing a bit, leaving a reddish scent behind that I don’t at all mind. (I sound like I have synethesia when I write these reviews. The English language just doesn’t handle scents correctly.) It is developing a bit more presence as well, but it doesn’t seem like a presence that I particularly want to exhibit. The sourness and mold are gone, but now it smells like unsweetened cherry with a distinct “perfuminess” about it. This scent faded slowly and gradually into a reddish-purple scent, but it took three hours or so to hit a point where I felt happy about it. It lasted for almost ten hours before giving up the ghost. Nice on the right person, I am sure... but it needs the right person.

Hey, I figured out how to open an imp without spilling it! That’s simpler than it looks. How embarrassing that it took me seven tries. When I opened my new box of imps, it smelled like honey, and I think this is the scent that made me think “honey”. It’s spicy and strange, but not unpleasant... honeyed, but not in fact sweet. In hue, it’s very dark on my skin -- an actual smear of color instead of a wash. That effect is fading as it sinks in. The scent is nice, but it doesn’t seem like anything to rave home about. It has a trace of “high pitch” to it -- I suspect it’s ginger. This continues to be a very odd scent. I really can’t pick out notes worth anything. It isn’t bad... far from it... but I really don’t know what to make of it. I would describe it as complex and layered, but that sounds as if I’m reviewing a wine. I suppose the skills are similar. This isn’t a particularly warm smell, but it isn’t a particularly cold one, either. I don’t detect sugar, though I think I can spot the vanilla. It’s a slinky smell that makes me think inexplicably of spotted cats. It has good throw on me, and I like being able to smell it at a distance. If it was the “is this honey?” scent that I picked out before, the honey has since faded away. It is a scent with presence, and I like its presence. As time progresses, the wash of smell around me is growing stronger and stronger -- and that’s not just because I’m trying Black Phoenix on the other wrist simultaneously. Snake Oil is here and wants me to know it, which is an effect that I didn’t really receive from any other scent thus far. Although this doesn’t strike me as masculine, it isn’t feminine, either, and I wonder what this would smell like on a male. It is a definitely sensual scent, and I appreciate that. I’m still not raving about this, and I don’t foresee buying the bottle at this point in time, but it is very good at being what it is. ...I wrote that, and then I went to work. And it stayed. The scent stayed spicy and sensual and eloquent without fading or getting weird for over twelve hours. I could smell my wrist all day and get a little burst of energy. The longer I wore it, the better I felt about it -- I couldn’t tell you whether the scent improved, or whether it just grew on me, but I have been converted. I do see why this is the most popular scent that the Lab produces, and I can certainly see myself wearing it in the future.

The first sniff is light, with a trace of sweetness. It doesn’t actually cry “floral!” to me, but it's rather lemony. Once on my wrist, it seems a touch more floral, but that might be the power of suggestion. Whatever I’m smelling, I definitely like. This smells light, yet complex -- it doesn’t leave me looking for the rest of the scent in the fashion that Sudha Segara did. It has a very fresh quality. Lemony is still the closest I can come to marking notes, but it isn’t fierce lemon -- just a trace element within the blend. (I have no idea what linden blossoms smell like, which makes this a bit tricky.) It feels like a morning sky looks when I’m actually awake and ready to face the day. This could be a wonderful daytime scent for me. As it dries, the hint of lemon lingers on -- lemongrass, perhaps? I don’t know. This is a very clean scent on my skin, but without any soapiness. It is complex and gentle, with a glimmering freshness to it that makes me think of mists and dawn and other mystique-laden things that were probably inspired by the lab description. I admit that I wanted to like this fragrance, so I’m particularly willing to be enchanted by its loveliness, and so I am quite pleased that it has demonstrated loveliness with which to enchant me. It is subtle at a distance, but that’s all right -- this is a scent for my benefit rather than that of the world.

From the vial, this strikes me instantly as spiced rose. It is a deep, rich smell. I really like this. I’m not sure what dragon’s blood resin smells like, but this is definitely warm, and I like its warmth. (I am relieved -- I had been afraid that I would wind up adverse to everything in my original pack!) As Blood Rose dries, the scent strikes me as exotic and beautiful, which is hardly a bad way to feel. I do smell the rose, and the warmth makes me happy. This isn’t sweet the way Persephone was, and it doesn’t show any sign of soaping out on me, either. I don’t think I can smell the wine, but maybe it will show up later. There is a weird familiarity to it, but I can’t place what is so familiar. I like it, though, I truly, truly do, and I am happy about liking it. It strikes me as a scent to wear when wearing red lipstick and gold jewelry... something sensual and graceful (definitely not a workday scent for me.) It’s sophisticated and natural all at the same time. I feel like purring. After an hour or so, the scent remains rich and warm. The rose is detectably there, but the scent doesn’t come off either floral or perfumey -- it is just warm and rich and lustrous. I still don’t detect wine, no matter how I concentrate on the scent, but it may be serving as a base for the rose and (what I assume is) the dragon’s blood resin. I must try another dragon’s blood resin scent for comparison at some future point. Definitely a keeper.

To be frank, Morgause initially smelled like some kind of toilet cleanser to me. There was something floral in there (the violets?) but it was incredibly, incredibly chemical along the way. Obviously, Morgause is intended to meld with my chemistry, since it can’t possibly be intended to stay the way it smelled in the bottle. (Right? Right.) After a bit, the scent has mellowed (what a relief) into something purple, but the purple is quite lurid. It doesn’t smell berryish yet to me, and still smells like something used to clean a restroom -- the fragrance scenting the air afterward instead of the actual cleanser. (Yes, I am having much more of a negative reaction to this than to any of the prior scents I tried!) As if to make up for it, Morgause is being much more enthusiastic. As I wait, it continues transforming, and now it has transformed into something that smells like violets (I think?) It no longer smells like toilet cleaner, and I suspect that it is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. I don’t smell any weird warping by now, and I do smell something purple with a bit of fruit, and it has decent throw. This is a very pushy smell. Unfortunately, Morgause doesn’t feel like “me” in the slightest. I suppose it could be nice on someone else, but that someone probably isn’t me. After an hour or so, Morgause is actually getting rather pretty. If I try to deliberately smell my elbow, I hate it, but the scent at six inches is sweet and not unpleasant, and the scent at that distance has become fruity in a fashion that appeals gently. Close up, it’s still pretty noxious -- though I suppose anything will be that has a decent throw. Later, the noxiousness faded, and the throw faded out as well. Morgause had its moments, and I suspect it did exactly what it was supposed to do, but this scent still isn’t anything that I want to wear.

This smell is angry at me. Woodsy and spicy, but in a sharp, tangled sort of way. I think it’s probably the myrrh that is confusing me so badly. Something sweet is in there, but it’s all odd. As it dries, it commences mellowing, I think. There is distinctly a chocolately flavor here. It’s a dark scent, and I had been saying that I wanted to try a scent with more substance, so I can hardly complain about that... but it’s not as smooth as I expected. I think it’s the myrrh I don’t like. Distinctly dark brown, if I were assigning it a color. I’m going to allow it time and see what it is like when it dries all the way, but... whatever smells smoky isn’t thrilling me. Now it smells like sharp smoke, which may be exactly what it is supposed to smell like, but I’m not happy with it if it is. I'm afraid my mental image is of ash trays. After an hour, I suspect that I don’t like myrrh. I like the cocoa tinge of this scent, but there’s something about this that just smells smoky in a way that I don’t want to smell. It may be the sandalwood instead of the myrrh, but I don’t think so -- my nose for sandalwood isn’t much, but I don’t think it ever manifested on me. The scent has faded quietly into my skin, which is good, since it still strikes me as unpleasantly smoky. At this point, it is detectable only about four inches from application. Later, I checked in with one of my roommates to see if the weird smell might be myrrh. He said it wasn’t, but that it reminded him a bit of the cologne English Leather. Fair enough -- I could see that this scent might be good on the right man. I am not he.

This was spicier than I expected -- very spicy on an initial sniff. Also sweet. I can definitely pick up the rose, but I don’t know where the pomegranate is. After the Sudha Segara "baby powder world" incident, I only applied to one wrist this time. I tipped some onto the label this time, but none on the desk -- there is definitely an art to opening these things without making a mess. I do like the scent, but as it started drying, I found myself wondering... pomegranate? Where? I rubbed my two wrists together, thinking I didn’t want to be uneven, since this didn’t instantly strike me as baby powderish... and discovered I had muted the scent hugely. How very unexpected. (I woke up with a cold today, though, and so my idea of “muted” may be everyone else’s of “oh my god.”) The pomegranate did speak up in a whisper for a moment, but then it went away again... very shy note. As the scent dries, it fades, leaving me wondering "did my skin eat this, or is my cold obscuring it?" (This is why scent testing should only be done by fully healthy people.) My nose needs to be within two inches of my skin to detect it after an hour. I’m tempted to apply more, but that would remove the point of the review. From what I can tell, though, it has gone soapy... not bad soap, nice soap, but, yes, soap. Again, I’m going to concentrate on this as a learning experience. There’s a whiff of pomegranate back again, and the soap has faded, but it’s still a very subtle smell. Fruit... but quiet, subtle fruit. This would demand slathering for proper effect, but I’m concerned that I may be missing something due to my cold, and so I don’t want to apply in that fashion at this second. This never acquired any throw, but it lingered politely and quietly on my hand (less on my wrist, and more my fingertips) for over six hours. It was definitely pomegranate for much of that time. I think I could enjoy wearing this if I applied a lot of it with a great deal of enthusiasm... but why not find something I enjoy more instead?

In the bottle, this is spicy and “high-pitched”... minty, almost? Not what I expected. (I also managed to tip over about half the bottle onto my desk. I must be more careful in the future!) As this scent dries, I think the scent that makes me think “mint” is actually the ginger. It is still a very cool scent, despite being spicy... almost detached. More warmth seems to be seeping into it as it dries... yes, it’s definitely becoming warmer now. (Or else it’s reacting with my desk. This area is going to smell like Sudha Segara for a bit.) As this was drying, I passed my wrist to one of my roommates, who promptly informed me that it smelled like "aggressively sweet" honeysuckle and baby powder. Ah-hah! That’s what people mean by scents going powdery! (I recognize this is a weird thing to rejoice over, but at least I understand it now.) My desk is still spicy because of the spill, but my wrist is smelling more and more like... baby powder. Sweet baby powder... but, inevitably, baby powder. Argh, and yet... argh with knowledge. Over an hour, Sudha Segara faded slowly over the past hour towards something that stopped shrieking baby powder to me, but I still wasn't wild about the scent. It remained a high scent... not necessarily light, but a sweetness with no lower notes at all. I think I would prefer something with a bit more substance. (edited to catch a typo)