being_brianne

This was a frimp from my first BPAL order! When I looked up the name on the website I was excited to see the description and forced myself to wait a couple more days before trying it on. You know, build the anticipation and all. I put a little Shango on and went about putting on my makeup and within 5 minutes I was completely overwhelmed by the smell of coconut, pineapple and lime. Oh my goodness! Hubby was standing next to me and he looked over and said, "You smell like a tropical fruit smoothie laced with tanning oil." This scent may work well during the summer months but it's not a winter scent for me... in fact, I don't think that this is the scent for me. Just the smallest swipe of the wand on my skin and it totally dominates me and not in a good way. To the swap pile with Shango!

I am so glad that I gave Ave Maria Gratia Plena a second chance. The first time that I tried the scent it was perplexing to me. Do I really want to smell like incense? Is this going to annoy me? I told myself that I'd give it another try and if I still wasn't sure about it I could always trade. No need! I love the complexity of the scent. It makes me feel smart and grounded. I'm going to hold off on ordering a 5ml bottle of this until I've worn it a few more times, but it's certainly a possibility!

In the vial I smelled a wonderful mix of woods and sweet cherries. They very much complemented eachother and I was excited to see how this would wear on me. Wet on the skin I smelled like I had just walked through a very wet, very moldy forest. All of the sweet notes had completely disappeared. 2 minutes later, I still smell like a wet, moldy forest but now there's a big pile of sawdust in that forest. Where the skin contacted the oil I'm all red and splotchy. Unfortunately, this one was immediately washed off. A lot of scents change on my from wet to drydown and so I never give my final verdict on a scent for a few hours after putting it on. In this case, though, that's not going to happen.