AmyAngel

A dizzying eddy of four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peony. The Dormouse: In the imp, this smells like tea! This is one of the most pleasant “in the imp” scents I've tried. On, more tea! It quickly becomes tea with a touch of lemon, and a few minutes after that becomes tea with lemon on a table (dressed with a crisp linen tablecloth) beside a vase of flowers. I guess that's the peony. I'm not really getting much herb, unless my nose is lumping them in with the tea or flowers. This is really feminine and pretty, and reminds me a lot of White Linen, which I used to wear sometimes. It has decent throw, I went shopping right afterward and would occasionally get whiffs of it, and sitting at the computer I can definitely tell I have it on. It's not badly strong, but not wimpy either. I've had it on for only an hour and a half, so I'll have to see how much longer it lasts.. My sister thought it was pretty as well. After 2 and a half hours and two handwashings, it's still there though not as strong as it was. It's still the same and hasn't changed really. Very, very pretty. Not first on my bottle list, but I'll definitely try to keep an imp of it around. I think it will be good for dress-up occasions, especially in the Spring.

Kabuki: In the imp: GAH! Cherry Nyquil!!! On: Still cherry Nyquil. It's not even SIMILAR, it's the exact smell. I could TASTE the stuff smelling this! As it's drying, though it's turning into “black jellybean”. I LOVE black jellybeans! (My grandmother and I are the only ones in the family who will eat them. I wonder if there's a genetic component there?) There's cherry, too, like eating red and black jellybeans together, but not so super-sweet as that would be – it's not really fresh cherries either, but a really good quality candied cherries maybe. After another 15 minutes or so, I think the musk is coming through just a tiny bit, to warm this up. I'm really liking this. It's very unusual, and the notes seem perfectly balanced. I hope this bodes well for the imp of Absinthe I ordered... After nearly an hour, this is not smelling like much close to my wrist, but I'm still getting wafts of it. The anise scent is also helping clear my slightly-runny nose. It's still pretty well balanced, but a little less sweet. After 2 hours this is just barely there on my wrist, but I think I'm getting whiffs of it now and then. What's there is a little more of the warm musk scent, with just a hint of the cherry-anise smell from before. There's something that makes me think of tea when I smell it. It's still very nice! This is on the cooling side to me, I think it would be a great summer scent, with the fruitiness of the cherry and the cooling anise. I don't know if I'll get a bottle, I'll save the imp and see how often I wear it in the summer. I do like it quite a lot. I just have to remember not to sniff at it until it's dried a little!

It's amazing how different scents can smell on different people! I bought this imp from PhunkyPhreak, thanks!!! Bastet: In the imp, it smells sweetish but sharp. I'm finding most things not-so-pleasant in the imps, though, so I'm starting to ignore that. On, it went strange and plasticy for just a few seconds, but then started to sweeten - it's now a sweet, creamy sort of spicy scent. After a few minutes there's a touch of powderyness to it. After a few minutes more it's smelling much like the spiced vanilla PartyLite candle I used to keep in my kitchen. I think something honey-esque is coming through, though – I'm off to check the note listing. Ahh. Almond. Maybe it's the honey-almond melts I have that I'm associating this with. After checking, this does smell almost exactly like them but not so strong – those melts give me a headache after a while! I smelled it again, and suddenly it was darker and there was musk there. A few minutes later, back to the honey almond smell. I can detect the amber, too, now. Weird. This keeps alternating! One sniff – almondy-ambery-sweetness. The next – musk! The next – almondy-ambery-sweetness... This is staying pretty strong on my skin, so I'm thinking this will be one to use sparingly. After nearly an hour it's staying the sweet almond-amber-spice smell. After over 2 hours it is fading a bit, so this might be one to re-apply sparingly partway through the day. I think if I got into my Partylite stash and lit an Amber Dream tealight to warm a Honey Almond melt, my whole house would smell EXACTLY like Bastet. I may try that sometime... This is warm, sweet, creamy and a bit spicy to me, and I absolutely LOVE this. This is definitely going on my bottle wish list. ETA: I wore this to work the next day, and my co-worker who enjoys smelling my new scents picked up the amber immediately! Then, today, I was wearing something different and she said "I like the amber one you were wearing the other day!" It faded some throughout the day, so I think I will need to reapply this one after lunch or so. On days I'm not planning to come home and test more imps, anyway!

Eris: In the imp, it smells sweet and maybe floral, bit with something unpleasantly sour underneath. On, I'm getting more sweetness and less sourness, though it does smell a bit like a horse. Much like my college roommate's car, that always smelled of horse from the tack kept in the back, but with air freshener over it. As it's drying it seems to be floral and fruity, but I can't pick out anything specific. I keep smelling this and not knowing what to write. It's mostly nice, but with a hint of something slightly “off” - not necessarily in a bad way, but different. I think I'm getting mostly floral out of this after 10-15 minutes. Ooops! Now it's fruit! I can see the goddess of discord enjoying this, watching us all sniff over and over trying to pick out what the heck this smells like, and what the heck is in this that peeks out once in a while giving it a bit of a dark edge. She's laughing at us, I bet. I keep thinking this reminds me of something and can't think of what. This is staying very strong, and turning a bit old-lady-perfume on me at the moment. In fact, I think this is almost exactly the smell that lingered on the vanity I inherited from my grandmother – the smell of old perfume and powder, hairspray, hairnets and curlers soaked into the wood. It's stronger than that, but that's what it's reminding me of. The vanity doesn't really smell like that anymore, and I'm tempted to dab some of this in there to bring it back! I think I'll be keeping the imp for nostalgia's sake (in the vanity, naturally), but not buying a bottle. I probably will test this again in the Spring, to give it another chance. I'm not liking it much at ALL now after an hour and a half, and may go wash it off. After 2 hours it's fading a bit, but still wafting! Ugh. Must wash this off!!! Old lady hairspray smell is OK for a nostalgic heirloom piece of furniture, but not to wear! I wanted to like this one, but other than a few minutes when it first dried, yuck. Not for me.

Black Forest: In the imp, smells strongly of pine. On, wet, I smell like a Christmas tree! After a few minutes it is less strongly pine, and I'm getting a whiff or two of something a bit darker. Still pine, though. I like this, but not a ton. It faded away within 2 hours or so, I thought. My sister said it was still there 3.5 hours later, but she also said it smelled like clean laundry (and she was carrying a basket of clean laundry at the time) so I'm not sure I can trust that! I tried Calliope the same day, and it faded quickly too. I'm thinking both of these might deserve a second try.

Calliope: Smells strong and kind of pollen-like in the imp. On, it starts out with the pollen smell but quickly becomes herbal with an almost citrus smell on top. Smells kitchen-y. There's a freshness that might be the mint. I'm getting a bit of powdery scent, but citrusy, not the immediate strong baby powder that Faustus turned into. It smells very clean. It's pretty faint after about 10 minutes. What's left is a soft herbal powder smell. Completely gone in 2 hours or so.

Thanatopsis: In the imp, PINE! On, while wet, I smell like a Christmas tree. As it's drying it seems to be getting sweeter, and lighter. I thought it would be strong so I put only a little on, but it might take a bit more for actual wearing. After 10 minutes or so, I'm starting to smell a little of the musk. I don't think I can tell a difference between Juniper and Pine, so can't pick out those specific notes, but it's not just straight pine at the moment. It's a bit unusual for a perfume, but I'm liking it. There's a sweetness to it that Black Forest didn't have. After about an hour or so, I'm smelling the musk more, combined with the piney scents this is coming off pretty masculine, though good. This might end up a trader. Mostly faded after a couple hours.

Gluttony: In the imp, CHOCOLATE! On, it smells like a buttery chocolate cake. Good throw, too, I'm smelling wafts of it. 10 minutes on I can definitely smell the caramel! Yummy! I'm not sure I want to smell like this all the time, but it's good. The imp's a keeper. Mostly caramel an hour in, still yummy! I really, really hate the fake chocolate smell that most “chocolate scented” stuff has, but this really truly smells like a rich chocolate caramel cake to me. I actually have been craving wearing this, in the two days since I tested it. I haven't worn it all day yet for various reasons, but I suspect I will eventually use up the imp and have to get another, or maybe even a bottle!

Les Infortunes de la Vertu: In the imp, very strong and medicinal. On, wet, smells very strong and like some sort of cleaner, yuck. It seems to be mellowing as it dries, and becoming less sharp. Now I can mostly smell leather, and maybe a bit of amber. I'm not really getting much by way of floral here, but maybe a bit of herbal. It's actually pretty faint, and seems to be mostly leather. Once in a while I think I can get a hint of incense, but not often, it's usually leather and something “green” smelling to me. Still leather, amber, and something else that's making me think green. I like this much better after the first 20 minutes or so. An hour later, I've got slightly soapy clean leather on my wrist. There's a sort of floral sweetness that wasn't there before. It's subtle, but it's there. After another half hour I still have the slightly sweet clean leather smell. Not bad! I really thought I'd hate this one at the beginning, but since it seems to have settled down I actually kind of like it. Actually the longer I wear it the MORE I like it, and the sweeter it seems to get. After 2 hours there's a slight hint of floral. I think this is the first I've tried that has really “morphed” and continued to morph as I've worn it. I'm getting a reasonable amount of throw from it too, now. I totally would not think of this as “me” but it's really something I could wear! I'll be keeping this imp for sure!

Chuparosa: In the imp, it's strong and a bit sweet. On, it blossoms into a pretty, sweet floral. Honeysuckle, maybe? Oooh, a few minutes later there's rose here, too. Now I'm getting something sharply sweet, that reminds me of root beer. Like smelling a rose while eating a root beer DumDum pop. After a while, that fades a bit and it seems to be mostly rose. I didn't think I'd like rose, or florals in general, but I do like this a lot. It's a sweet rosy floral to me. This might be a nice dressing-up in the spring and summer fragrance. After an hour, it's still rosy, but with something sharpening it. I wonder if this will turn into the infamous play-doh scent? I hope not. I like the smell of clean play-doh, but if I wanted to smell like it I'd have bought the play-doh perfume! Another half hour later, and it is still rosy and floral, and JUST on the verge of smelling like rose-scented play-doh, but not quite there. I think this will be one to try again, when there's someone else around to give me THEIR opinion on what it smells like. And now I'm off to add those rose perfumes that I'd rejected out-of-hand onto my wish list.

I'm new and still learning notes and things, so keep that in mind. Tum: This is really STRONGLY fermented-smelling in the imp. Very rancid grape smell. Wet, it smells the same. It seems to have softened a bit as it's dried, though. 15 minutes later it's smelling more like cough medicine, but not the kind I liked – more like the red grape kind that wasn't as sweet and tasted sharper. After 45 minute or so, it's pretty wine-like, but I'm not really liking it. Into the swap pile! My quick-description on my spreadsheet simply says "yucky fermented grape" - to me there's a sharpness to it that is pretty unpleasant. I'm not getting any richness or other scents, just an unpleasant sharp grape smell.

Tintagel: Definitely Dragons Blood here. In fact, that's pretty much all I'm smelling both on and in the imp, but especially on my skin. Lilacs! Not as sweet as Dragons Milk, though, I think I like this better. 15 minutes later it's softer lilacs. If I get right up on it there's a hint of wine and woodiness. Definitely like this better than Dragons Milk. It's sweet, but not SO sweet. I'm liking it! It appears my skin must like Dragons Blood to the point that everything else gets pretty swamped. It faded fairly fast, though. I'll be trying this again, and will keep the imp, but I don't think this will be a bottle purchase anytime soon.

Namaste: Very floral in the imp, and on, too. Very citrusy sweet flower smell. Definitely getting the jasmine and lemongrass! I only put on a tiny bit, and I can smell it wafting. 20 minutes later still mostly jasmine and lemongrass, but very good. After about an hour, I think the rose is be showing up a bit, with a bit more “floral perfume” smell – and it's still citrusy. I like the first 20 minute or so better than after that. For a while there it went VERY floral, and the citrus faded. An hour and a half later it's a fairly light floral perfume smell, with just a hint of woodiness if you get RIGHT on my wrist, but I think the woodiness may be coming out a bit more now. I'm going to give this a few more hours to develop, and I think I'll be testing this again. I don't dislike it yet, but it's not a must-buy either. I'd like a lot more of the sandalwood, patchouli and cedar with slightly less of the florals, I think, without the "oh wait, there's ROSE in this!!!!" period that happened for a while, threatening to give me a headache. I like the beginning 20 minutes, and I'm starting to like it more now almost 2 hours later, but the time in between was iffy! I can still smell the tiny TINY bit I put on my wrist wafting even with my arm held away, so there's some throw there!

Faustus: Smells very perfumey to me in the imp. With the imp closed it's sweet and pretty. On, starts out strong perfumey then almost immediately turns powdery. 20 minutes later, still powdery. Good powder, but still powder. It's sweet and nice, but not at all what I expected. After about an hour, still powder. Guess this one's not for me. It's mostly disappeared after an hour and a half, and what little is still there is basically baby powder. I guess my skin doesn't like something in Faustus!

Bordello: In the imp I can smell the plum, definitely. On, it's fruity at first, then the amaretto starts to come through. I wore this one all day, and it held on for most of it – I reapplied only a tiny bit at around 4 pm after putting it on at 8:30 or so. I couldn't smell it most of the day, only whiffs, but a co-worker said she could smell it from 2 feet away at one point (after she'd sniffed my wrist) so it must have some throw (I was wearing it swiped lightly on both wrists only). It seemed to go soapy at one point on my right arm but not the left, strangely, but then came back. Everyone I had smell it liked it. I think I like it a bit better in the imp than on my skin, though. Maybe I'll try it in a locket? It definitely has a fruity, wine, “old fashioned” sort of scent to it. I like this one quite a bit. I'll probably use up the imp then consider a bottle. Edit 2-21-07 - I ended up wearing Bordello so often that I bought a bottle here in the swap forum. I love it more every time I wear it. Today, I don't know what I did differently (slathered a bit, maybe time of month differences, who knows), but it smelled the best ever! I kept getting wafts of it all day and thinking "DAMN I smell so GOOD!" It went a little incensey, and was nice and deep and decadently plum without being a foody sort of fruit at all. Absolutely intoxicating. It's definitely an old-fashioned dark-red-velvet scent to me, and I love it! My co-worker is totally in love with it too, and I'm getting her a bottle in my next order. It's currently my favorite BPAL of the 55 or so I've tried so far.

This is my first try of anything with dragons blood in it. So, Dragons Milk: Lilacs? It did smell a bit milky in the imp, but when I put it on - lilacs! After 5 min or so it's turning into something almost grape smelling, but there's something incense-ey trying to come through. Still a lot like lilacs. 10 Min later, still lilacs, nothing grapey anymore. I can tell 20 minutes later that it's trying to be vanilla and something else (the Dragon's Blood, I guess), and I'm getting a little less of the “Lilac!” Impression. 30 minutes on, it's sweet, but not too sweet, and I'm thinking I like this. An hour later, still sweet, but less lilac-like. Kind of soft and maybe a bit powdery, now. Fading an hour later, I have to get right on my wrist to smell it. An hour and a half later, still there a bit, now smelling soft and sweet. Ten minutes later it's a bit spicier. I'm starting to really like this. 2 hours in it smells like DragonCon, I'm sure I've smelled this in the dealer's room. Must be the dragons blood. I'm definitely keeping the imp, but at this point I don't think I'll ever need a bottle of this. Of course, my mind may change... As it turns out, I tried Tintagel later, and it was OMG LILACS on me too - so I'm thinking it's the Dragons Blood.

I'm new, so still learning notes and what my skin likes and doesn't like. OMG! This is sharp and STRONG in the imp – like dirt with strong smelling aftershave spilled on it. On while wet – still smells like dirt, with a strong alcohol smell. It's softening as it dries, but smells very “perfumey”. I'm not sure what exactly I'm smelling, but 20 minutes in the “dirt” smell is gone, and it's pure perfume. It must be the ylang ylang (or maybe myrrh, but I don't think so), because it's reminding me of something I've smelled before, but I'm not picking out any clove or patchouli. I'm not sure about myrrh, but there's something kind of musky going on here. My mom definitely had something that smelled like this in the 80's, I just can't remember what. I'm not sure about this one, I think this might be a headache-inducer. An hour later still too perfumey for me. An hour and a half later I'm getting something sweetish, I think myrrh. Still not liking it though. I'm starting to like it two hours later, but I think the patchouli is finally coming through and that's what I'm liking. There's myrrh in there too, now. I think this is a no. I only started to like it after it's mostly gone. I'm putting ylang ylang on my "must test further, potential problem notes" list.

This is my first review, from my first batch of imps, so I'm still training my nose. In the imp, smells oceany and green, kind of sharp. On while wet pretty much the same. Very strong on me! As it dries it's getting saltier, definitely sea water here! 20 min later, just got a whiff of wood or leather under the sea salt, by sniffing right at my wrist, but it was almost immediately gone. Still fairly strong. I'm thinking this may be better for spring or summer than for the icy rainy winter night that it is right now. I am liking this, so far! 30 minutes in, still very salty. I think I'd like this to be a bit sweeter, the salt and ocean smell is just a bit much for me today. It seems to have settled into a greenish-salty sea smell and softened quite a bit, but is still strong. I'd like to smell more of the other notes, rather than JUST the ocean, but on me today it isn't reallly happening. I think I need to go a little lighter on the ozone/oceanic notes than this, but will keep it around untill summer to see if I like it better then. I'll definitely have to apply this one sparingly to prevent potential headaches, though.