Imptress

Gardenia, tea rose, vanilla and jasmine. In the bottle, I could easily detect all of the notes. On first applying to my skin, I got a strong rush of vanilla. This smells very much like the vanilla in Snake Oil. It settled into my skin nicely-- I was afraid that the flowers would be too cloying but the vanilla seems to keep everything "soft" and under control. As I caught whiffs of this, I was reminded strongly of plastic baby doll I had as a child. Not unpleasant, but not exactly what I was expecting! I'll try this again another time, but unless it's really different the next time, I don't see a big bottle of this in my future. It's nice, just not me.

<span style='color:blue'>From Sin & Salvation: Visceral in the extreme. An aesthetic exercise in vice. The ominous scent of vetiver with a swirl of bay and gardenia. </span> Wooooo... spicy!! Definitely has a STRONG bay kick, which I happen to like. It's so spicy I could swear I smell clove in there, even though it's not one of the listed notes. The vetiver adds depth to the bay (or maybe it's the other way around?). On initial wear I don't pick up the gardenia... maybe after dry-down. Mr. Imp loves bay (just used up the last of his Burt's Bees Bay Rum Skin Balm) so I talked him into trying this... yum!! On him I can actually pick up the gardenia. It also has more of a woody note on him than on me. Chemistry is a funny thing! eta: After several hours it's softer but still a very clean, herbal scent... too masculine for me to wear by itself, I think, though it might be alright layered with something else. Mr. Imp liked it but complained it made him itch Guess I'll try it in the oil warmer next... should be nice!

I love, love, LOVE this! Snake Oil is so sexy, and frankincense is one of my very favorite scents so I had to get this. I've worn it several times and every single time I do, one of my coworkers comments on how nice it is. I wore it again yesterday and she said she had to find out more about it, so I brought my bottle in to work today so she could dab some on. About an hour later she came by my desk and said "I have to have some of this!!" Another one enabled! I'm actually ordering myself a second bottle and am getting one for her, too. She also fell in love with the BPAL site and I believe she'll be spending hours there in the very near future, like we all have, lusting over all of the Precious. Long live the King!

I get no lemon, either, so I'm surprised to see that mentioned so often in the reviews. However, my imp is nicely aged and I honestly can't remember what I thought when I first sniffed it. Anyway, I rooted through one of my imp cases yesterday and came up with this. The imp was practically full, too, so I may not have ever actually worn this before-- probably just swiped it on my wrist. At any rate, this reminds me a lot of Snake Oil-- for me, it's got that rich, rounded, almost-vanilla-but-not-quite thing going on with some hint of spice. I definitely felt sexy wearing it, and a coworker commented every time she came into my cubicle yesterday about how good I smelled which is ALWAYS a confidence booster! I'll be pulling this imp out again, soon, and will put this on my big-bottle list. So far, I love all of the "voo doo" oils I've tried!

Yowsa! Patchouli? Dunno... no one else had said they smell it, but it sure smells like it to me and since I love it, that's just fine! Definitely cinnamon, and I had the 30 minute red patches to prove it (hurts so good ). There's something else underneath... maybe jasmine, honeysuckle as someone else noted, or ylang ylang. I really can't tell, but it's verrrry nice to my nose. Right after I put this on my daughter told me I smelled good, and hubby did too a short time later. I ran some errands this morning and it seemed like everyone was super-nice and friendly. One of those errands was getting a headlight on my car fixed, and the guy at the shop did this in less than 10 minutes (there were a BUNCH of other cars there... wonder how I got to the head of the line???) and when he came to get me he told me that he didn't charge me any labor for it... I just paid for the part. Now, that could have been because of the short amount of time it took, but I'd like to think it was because I smelled sooooo sexayyy! This is very, very good stuff! I can always use a blend that will draw people to me, and this seemed to make them very friendly as well.

*sigh* I wanted to like this... really, really I did. I like florals. I like herbals. I even occasionally get whiffs (I think!) of osmanthus, something I L-O-V-E. The aquatic edge to this, however, is what is killing it for me. I don't know why I don't like aquatic notes-- I just don't for some reason. To my nose, the aquatic notes amp up the sweetness of this almost too much for me to bear. I may keep this around to try later, but I'll probably have to find a new home for it. It's lovely, but it's definitely not "me".

I'm throwing in my two cents by recommending Santa Muerte (lovers’ roses, solemn chrysanthemum, dark vetiver and dazzling cactus flowers). I was a bit worried about the vetiver when I tried this but I really couldn't detect it.

This was lovely-- I got lots of rich flowers with just enough fruit to keep the flowers in control. I didn't get any incense at all. As nice as this was, it reminded me so much of Venice that I don't see myself getting a bottle of this when I already have one of Venice. Next time I try this I'll put Morgause on one hand and Venice on the other so I can compare them side by side. Beautiful, though... I really love the flower and fruit interplay!

Hrrmmm... I love me some incense and resins, but this one was just... eh for me. When I first applied it I couldn't think of anything but pencil shavings. You know, the "sawdust" from the pencil sharpener in elementary school. That cedary, sandalwoody sharpness faded back, though, when I began amping the frankincense. I really, really like frankincense so that's what made this wearable for me. I never did get any whiffs of the high john or galangal (not that I know what galangal smells like). When I got home from work, hubby buried his nose in the back of my neck and then promptly recoiled with a "What is THAT?" He sniffed again a couple of times and wouldn't tell me for a while what it reminded him of. Finally, though, I got it out of him: he said it reminded him of the way a peep show smells ! He said it smelled to him like sweat and.. something else. Anyhow, even though I liked it okay this isn't one I'll be wearing again given Mr. Imp's reaction!

In the imp, I got mostly floral and herbs. When I applied it to my skin, I got a whiff of orange. There's also something sweet here, almost like vanilla. The combination of orange and "vanilla" reminded me of baby aspirin (not bad, I used to love baby aspirin as a kid!). There's definitely some floral note here but I couldn't place it... I was thinking maybe ylang ylang? No matter... this was lovely on, and the hubby loved it on me (a-hem! ). This is definitely big-bottle material for me!

In the bottle, I also got mostly sandalwood. When my husband sniffed this in the bottle he didn't like it at all, stating that it burned his nose. When I wore this yesterday it went on almost totally sandalwood (which I like!), then after a few minutes I got whiffs of the sweeter honey and vanilla. Those are both notes that I tend to amp (and honey can be REALLY nasty on me). Fortunately, the sandalwood seemed to keep the sweeter notes at bay. Further along in the drydown, I also detected some fruitiness in this, but nothing that got out of hand. As previous reviewers have noted, this is a nice balance of sweet, "spice", woodiness and fruitiness. It *did* remind me of nag champa... really, really good, rich nag champa! I like this, but I'm not sure if I like it enough to hold onto the bottle (hubby didn't comment on it while I was wearing it, so I don't know what he thought). I'll wear it again and if I don't fall totally in love with it, I think I'll pass it on to someone who feels more passionately about it than I do.

In the bottle, this smelled to me of light rose. My husband said he smelled some patchouli (I never got patchouli, not even on wear... I think the resins are probably something like light myrrh & amber). On, this was pure rose but a soft, real rose... not sickly sweet fake rose smell that amps out of all control. This stayed soft and real-smelling, with just an occasional waft of the resins. This seemed to fade quickly but when I stepped in the shower this morning a cloud of rose and resin scented steam surrounded me. I really love this and hubby thought I smelled great while wearing it. I have just one bottle but I'm not going to feel bad about that... as much as I love this, Beth has plenty of other scents that I love and even more that I still have to discover! All in all, this is a great rose fragrance, and I would definitely recommend it to people who are afraid of rose... this definitely stayed soft and didn't amp at all. Beautiful!

I put off trying this for a while because when I first received it, it smelled like pickles in the imp. I usually wait until a weekend to try anything that I think may not work, and the pickle note had me putting this off for a while. I sniffed the imp this morning and while it still has an odd, sharp note it's now more like nail polish remover than pickles. I went ahead and dabbed some on the back of my hand and that sharp note smoothed out right away, leaving a rich, heavy floral. I like all of the notes in this and I've been wanting to try it for a looong time (this was one of the first scents I put on my wish list), but this just didn't knock my socks off. I guess my expectations were too high? I'll definitely use the imp, though I don't see me getting a big bottle of this any time soon.

I loved this all the way around, although it morphed significantly on me. In the imp and wet on skin this was a heady, very green floral. It reminded me of something I love but I couldn't put my finger on it. I kept applying and sniffing as I went, trying to place it... and in the process ended up slathering myself but good. Clove popped up for a just few minutes and added sweet spiciness. As it dried down further the greenness disappeared on me and it became orange blossom with just a touch of mimosa sweetness. I *love* this orange blossom... it reminds me of the orange flower water my ex-MIL used to send me from France. I *did* get asked what I was wearing that day at work, and it was funny to say "Succubus"... the lady asking apparently didn't know this word and I had to repeat it more than once. I didn't offer a definition, however, because even though the one who asked is cool, there was someone nearby who might have taken offense. Maybe I'll pass my imp on to the "cool" coworker with a print-out of the Lab's description! Anywho, I liked this better wet and I'm going to keep looking to see if Beth has something that stays truer to the scent of this when wet. It is altogether lovely, however, so there's probably a big bottle of this for me in the future!

On wet, ALMONDS! Which I like, thank goodness, but that quickly faded back, never to be heard from again. Jasmine made the next appearance, and I like that as well. For me, it stayed pretty much a nice jasmine fragrance with the oakmoss and sandalwood adding depth and a nice dryness. Every now and then the musk would drift in-- a lovely, low-key sweetness. I liked this and will try it again I think but hubby didn't care for it... said it smelled too "old ladyish" and heavy... and that was after I'd been wearing it all day and hadn't refreshed it at all. Ah well, what does he know??

After hearing about this scent since it was first released in 2003, I finally ordered a bottle of the 2005 version. I tried it earlier this week and at first wasn't really sure about it... it's so different from what I usually wear and love (I tend to love the heavier, floral, incensey scents). It was light and so "barely there" when I first applied that I ended up slathering it. I was enjoying it and trying to place it as it seemed *sooo* familiar to me. A coworker followed me back to my desk that day to compliment me on it, so I'm now in the process of obtaining an imp for her. I didn't really get the coconut in this, or vanilla, though I can see where people think of those notes. It was soft and creamy, very slightly floral and a little sweet. I finally placed it-- it reminds me very much of Lush's Alkmaar soap. I wasn't sure until I pulled out my one remaining piece of it (mental note: time to reorder!) and sniffed it, then sniffed some Snow White in the bottle and on my hand. Snow White is sweeter and a bit more floral, but the creamy "whiteness" I love about Alkmaar is exactly what I enjoy in Snow White, too. I only have one bottle, so I can only hope that Beth will decide to release it again this coming winter so I can stock up .

I was raised Catholic so I was looking forward to my bottle of this to see how close it came to my memories of church incense. It definitely has the frankincense and myrrh that are so recognizable to those of us who've been close to that "Swingin' Censer of Doom" at Mass ( great one Diana-- I can't wait to share that one with my sister!). It lacks, however, something I can only describe as a dry, biting smokey quality of the real thing (almost choking, actually) and boy, am I glad it does. Instead, it has a deep, golden sweetness that develops on drydown. I'm not sure what it is (maybe copal? Amber?), but it makes this *so* wearable. I was afraid to try this when I first got it because I didn't necessarily want to go to work smelling like church which is why I waited until a weekend to try it. At any rate, I love this and I can't wait to let my mom sniff it. She's always loved church incense and I want to see what she thinks of this lovely version. Then again, she may want her own bottle and all I have is the one... maybe she'd be willing to spring for decanting supplies if she likes it enough!

A lovely, complex floral with just a hint of a bitter edge to it. It's that bitterness that kept this from smelling too much like other "commercial" perfumes to my nose. I love the combination of rose and gardenia-- neither one so strong as to drown out the other (and as we all know, both of these notes can be too strong!). This definitely reminded me of Easter in church... that heady, floral scent that brings back nice memories, at least for me .

I love the fruitiness of the dragon's blood, fig and black currant in this... and the musks were an added bonus! I especially love Beth's red musk. This was so sweet and rich, but hubby told me I smelled "too old lady-ish" when I was wearing it. I didn't get that at all, but I do have a tendency to slather. I'm going to try this again with a much more restrained application and see what sort of reaction it gets.

... A dark, palpably sacred chthonic blend: black narcissus and cypress, stephanotis, opoponax, labdanum, onycha and ambergris. A very nice balance of floral, woody, herbal and incense. I really like the "greeness" of the florals in this-- like flowers in a nursery or greenhouse, not cut in a vase. I've picked that up in other scents where narcissus is listed as a note. It also has the "warm fuzzy" vibe I associate with carnation, but that's not listed as a note. I get a similar vibe from Oberon... warm, fuzzy and comforting. I really like this one but since to my nose it's similar to Oberon (and I already have a big bottle of that!) I'll stick to the imp for now.

MMmmmm... almonds. I love the smell of almonds! It doesn't last long, though, drying down into a rich, sweet, resiny scent. I can't pick out any specific notes but do remember that at one point when I was wearing it I thought it smelled sort of like some kind of cough syrup... actually, what I always wanted cough syrup to taste and smell like: rich and sweet, not mediciney. I'm not sure about a big bottle yet, but this imp is definitely going to get used! *ETA there is also definitely musk in this, though I didn't think it was particularly strong (well, duh, if I had to edit my review to add it! )

I really wavered over getting a big bottle of this without sniffing first... my dad is a huge Poe fan and Lenore is my sister's middle name, so I was actually thinking about two big bottles and gifting her one. I decided instead to get an imp from the swaps and I'm glad I did. It's lovely on, and when I first wore it I seriously considered going ahead and getting at least one big bottle (don't know if my sis would like it, though). Hubby really liked this too, which surprised me somewhat. The more I wore it, though, the more I kept getting wafts of something "not quite right" that I couldn't place. I finally realized that the combination of lemon and vetiver (I think) was really reminding me of moldy citrus fruit. Not really unpleasant, just disconcerting. Anyway, it was enough to let me me talk myself out of the big bottle. Just as well... I probably would have fallen in love with it and been heartbroken when I couldn't get anymore! (the heartbreak of Beth's LEs!)

Oy... this is a perfect tea scent, and I didn't get a big bottle This is so lovely and fresh and wonderful. I'm glad I at least got an imp from a lovely forumite! This would be a perfect summer scent IMO. Hmmm... I still see the DIMV stuff on the website, but I'm guessing it just hasn't been taken down yet. Oh well. Next time I'll have to be quicker!

This is the first blend I've tried where I can so easily pick out the carnation note, and it's lovely. The combination of carnation and jasmine in this is just yummy and I can't stop sniffing myself when I'm wearing this! I love incense notes and the fact that they are in this blend too makes it even better. I wore this all day Wednesday and liked it so much that I put some more on to "refresh" it before hubby and I went out that night for date night. He had liked it before but found it too strong after that, so this is one I'll have to be careful with given the tendency I have to slather on stuff I love. Definitely one to dab on, but absolutely wonderful.

I wore this on New Years Eve when I had a cold, so I really had to slather to be able to smell this. Even with the slathering, it wasn't strong at all... the only comment hubby made (and he will ask me "what's that stink?" if what I'm wearing is strong!) is that I smelled like "baby butt"... meaning baby powder. I get a bit of rose, maybe a bit of lily, definitely a sort of soapy, powdery note. It's clean and soft smelling, not what I would have considered "sexual and commanding in the extreme" but I can see how this is sexy in a soft, sneak-up-on-you, totally unexpected way. Someone gets the slightest whiff of this and leans in for more! Very, very nice. I can't wait to try it again when I don't have a cold!