roseus

Ooooh I've been wanting to expand my horizons but I haven't been sure where to start! 1. Morocco 2. Mare Vaporum 3. Mouse's Long Sad Tale 4. Aelian's Phoenix 5. Two, Five, and Seven

My lovely roommate gave me this because it wasn't for her, and boy am I glad we have very different skin chemistry! For some reason I never really took a second look at this one on the site, my mistake! In the imp: Amber, wood, and a little vetiver. Wet: The sandalwood comes out, as well as the musk. Not getting any floral. Very warm and golden at this point. Dry: The amber, sandalwood, and musk come together, warm and almost spicy. Very gentle. The woods are soft, and lend the blend some backbone. There is just an en echo of vetiver and violet. I really had to reach to detect the violet. Overall I really like it, and am considering a bottle. We will see how frequently I reach for the imp.

The Lab generously threw this in with my last order, and I totally thought it was going to be perfection! In the imp I get a lot of fresh lilac and wisteria, a very springtime feel to it. Once on, all the florals get bigger and darker. There definitely was a musty, old lady phase on me. Then that sort of goes away, there is a lovely rose in here for sure. But it stays dark, and as another review mentions sort of creepy.

Well, it has been said before but this is evil grapefruit. Dark, deep, salty, ozone-y, grapefruit. Don't think I'll ever really reach for it, but a very interesting scent indeed.

I got this as a frimp from the lab, definitely not something I would have bought but very happy to try it! In the imp: vetiver, smoke, leather. On me this is pretty much the same wet and dry, it just softens a little bit. There is something almost vegetal about this. It's smoky, leathery, and almost woody. There is something green, but not at all fresh. It's pleasant, but something I'd maybe use in the shower. I'd gladly put it on a man. If only.

Well, this cemented the idea I had about fruit not being my thing. I thought the mandarin and gardenia would dominate but no such luck. In the imp: sweet musk. Very sweet, like candy, but no particular fruit coming out. On wet: STRAWBERRY. Artificial strawberry. Nothing else. Then it morphs into Christmas strawberry. I don't know what that means but my roommate confirmed it. Dry: orange and strawberry candy. Had to wash it off.

The scent of sexual obsession, slavery to sensual pleasure, and the undercurrent of innocence defiled utterly. Amber and honey with a touch of vanilla. Well I was scared to try this. Honey has always ruined things on me, it amps and goes foul and gives me a headache. However my roommate got an imp and I will try anything once. In the imp: Honey and a touch of vanilla. On wet: Honey, amber, and vanilla. The honey isn't blowing things out of proportion yet. Dry: Soft, powdery amber. Sweet (but not cloying) honey. Beautiful! And surprising! Perhaps there is hope for me and honey.

Oooooh this one is really fresh and citrus-y! I really get the sugared lime. There is a breath of mint around it, it keeps the blend from being super zingy. I get just a touch of grapefruit in the background. Overall a really fun blend, something I'll probably wear in the summer!

Spicy, smooth, and leathery. A little smoky dry. Just like the description. Nice but not my cup of tea!

In the imp: slightly sharp herbs and soft elm bark. On wet: soft, dry wood and soft green herbs. A little warmth from the musk Dry: Strong, warm, and powdery. Green and herbaceous but not in a sharp, fresh way. More like dried herbs. The wood is soft and warm, as is the musk. For me this feels gender-neutral but leans masculine.

Overall this scent is very "red" to me, which isn't my thing. In the vial: primarily dragon's blood, a little bit of musk. On wet: gets a little bit spicy, with some resin-y sweetness. The musks start warming up. Dry: creamy and musky, with sweet-ish dragon's blood. Nothing wrong, but nothing really right for me either.

In the vial: Salty water, a tiny bit of lily On wet: Even saltier. There is something dark and vegetal. Getting a little sharp and soapy. Dry: Very masculine ozone and salt. A dark version of Lightning, but without the citrus aspect. This was just too masculine for me, and I'm learning I don't actually like aquatics as much as I thought. But could be nice for those who do!

Okay I wasn't overly impressed with it, but I was too excited to try it and only waited about a month to break it out. I'll give it some time and see how I feel about it in a few months. Overall it was nice though! A sugary vanilla, with a little patchouli and spice. I find patchouli a hit or miss and I really liked it here. But I'm hoping the blend will get the deepness I was expecting with time. ETA: after giving it a couple months I am ready to sign up for the fan club.

As I make my way around the roses, I wasn't too sure about this one as I don't usually go for fruity scents. In the imp: very buttery pie crust, and a touch of rose in the background. To me it's not bread-y or cake-y. It's distinctly the warm, buttery smell of freshly baked pie crust. On wet: the roses bloom and so does the blackcurrant. They completely take over for a bit, making it very fruity and perfume-y. Dry: Everything balances out. There is a base of buttery pie crust, with lightly sweet blackcurrant, and deep velvety rose. Overall: it's a very red scent, something I'm not a fan of. It also leans a little perfume-y on me even dry. It's interesting though, and something I may reach for on occasion.

Very happy the Lab frimped this to me! Not something I'd normally get but I wanted an imp to take to Rome with me this spring. In the imp this was a very herbal, just getting cypress and juniper. Clean and green. This one stays pretty much the same wet and dry for me. This is golden, herbal, and sparkling. The chamomile comes out and and is warm and golden. It's a fresh chamomile, not like dried chamomile tea which was what I was expecting. Unfortunately I'm not getting any rose from this, but it's pleasant enough.

This is a dark, velvety rose. On the skin the musk and amber come out and add a warmth and spiciness, but rose is the star of the show. A dark, sexy scent.

Unfortunately there was no leather for me, just a wet slightly soapy rose. Very pretty but not what I had hoped for. ETA: Retested and now this is PERFECT. Pure lovely red rose, with black leather.

In the bottle there was a lot of stem, but on the rose developed beautifully. A pure red rose, with a little chill. Great throw and lingers well.

My only concern with this was that it was going to be very heavy. But it was, well, vaporous. The jasmine and oudh are deep, yet as a whole this is almost light. The amber, sandalwood, and vanilla meld in beautifully and are probably what lends this blend its opalescence. The jasmine is something interesting to note, it seems different than the jasmine in say, Siren. It's rounder, and a little shadowy. But it's still jasmine, and thus not quite tame.

Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood. In the imp and on wet this was almost cloying. The sweet pea and vanilla dominated at first. And as stated before this is a very feminine, sweet vanilla. On me, as this dries the amber and sandalwood come out and round the blend out nicely. The amber is warm and powdery, and the sandalwood lends a milky quality. It's definitely sweet in the end though, almost candy-like. It's youthful, and innocent. ETA: The sandalwood here gives it a fluffy, almost fuzzy sort of vibe. Like a little mouse. Adorable!

Oooh this is absolutely fantastic! I liked this a lot better than Elf. In the imp: deep oud, with light white tea leaf and soft beeswax. Wet: the sandalwood comes out giving it a clean vibe, and the musk is giving it a leathery vibe. Almost bitter. Dry: Mainly oud, musk, and sandalwood. It's woodsy and bitter, but somehow light and clean. It's glittering, but not in a ethereal way. Like the glimmer of sun on water. It's soft and natural. Decent staying power and throw.

This one stays the same for me in the imp, wet, and dry. Ozone, fresh rain, and bitter lemon peel bringing the electricity. Beautiful and fresh.

I immediately jumped at a bottle of this because so many milk blends have honey in them and honey amps on me like crazy. In the bottle all it was mostly coconut and a little bit of cinnamon and sheep's milk. It's a really sweet and creamy coconut, and strong as well. On wet more of the cinnamon came out. I really like this cinnamon. It's soft, not fiery. It goes very well with the coconut and still warms the blend up. As it dried down the sheep's milk becomes more noticeable, but all the elements are there and very well balanced. The sheep's milk adds a buttery quality to the blend. There is something just SO Yule about this blend, it must be the cinnamon. All in all, it's exactly what I hoped it to be and I'm totally in love.

I got a frimp of this as fruity smells are generally not my thing. But I loved the honeydew in 51 so I thought this one might turn out. In the imp it is very sweet and melon-y. On wet it is watermelon bubblegum. As it dries it goes back to a sweet, honeydew with a cucumber-like coolness. There's a little bit of the tart grape and the deep moss to take an edge of the sweetness. The more it settles the more I like it, though it's not something I would reach for very often. A perfect refreshing late spring, early summer scent.

In the imp: fresh, light florals On wet strong gardenia and a little kick from the giner Dry lots of white florals; jasmine, gardenia, and plumeria. A little kick of ginger and some damp green underneath it all. On me it had decent throw but the blend is delicate feeling, not overpowering in any way.