Kay Torres

This was overwhelmingly iris on my skin, and as such, I'm not a fan. I wish I was like previous reviewers that got rose, but nope. Iris scented cold cream. Kudos on getting the cold cream part down, but the iris ruined it for me.

I wasn't sure about this in the imp because it had a sort of camphorous smell to it. I'm not sure what that is. It smells like sex in the forest... and not in a good way. But on? Ooh, this is so good. It's sweet and... fizzy. Fizzy is a good word for this. It's sweet, thick, dark, a little dirty, and fizzy. This is an instant full bottle purchase for me. I'd wear it by itself or layer it with some of my warmer scents.

My new favorite is Sudha Segara layered with Bengal.

You know, so far the scents I've tried from the Conjure Bag have been my jam. Come to Me, Follow Me Boy, Queen, Fire of Love, Horn of Plenty? All instant hits. I fully expected to love this, I mean, it didn't even occur to me that it would be possible that I wouldn't love it. But I really, really don't love it at all. In the imp, wet and dry there is an astringent quality to the herbs and something that sort of reminds me of sweet flag, kind of lemony and bright. But the vaguely sweet flag scent doesn't last long. There's something in this blend that makes the back of my throat burn like I've been breathing in the smoke of burning peppercorns. It hurt. It also burned the skin on the back of my hand and that's something that has never, ever happened to me. I might look like a delicate little flower, but my skin is the Chuck Norris of skin. I waited it out but it never got any better. Looking through reviews this morning, I see that people got rose and almond from this. I honestly wish that I had. It was just unpleasantly acrid herbs and the strange burning pepper. My skin hates this.

It's official, I can do white sandalwood. This was almost straight resin on me with the other notes giving it a hint of complexity, but never quite distinguishing themselves. I still love it. It's very calming and makes me think of being outdoors more than the grassy/woodsy/herbal scents. I dabbed some on this morning, and it inspired me to create an monochromatic afghan with a repeating tree pattern and flying crows as a divider... So very like this scent, complexity that appears simple

In the imp: All oak all day... Wet: I'm picking up the chamomile. The rhubarb, oak and fig leaf are more impressions than they are scents that I can pick out... there's a tartness, there's a sweetness, there's an impression of wet green-ness and wood. Thank God the oak isn't killing me like it has in other blends. Dry: For a very few wonderful minutes, this smells realistically like working outside in an herb garden. The only thing missing is the smell of dirt. Unfortunately, after that it turns into those scented plastic fruit toys. Not sure what note is doing that.

In the imp: Wine grape! Yum! Wet: Fruity patch... Dry: Same! Nag Champa, patch and wine grape! I'm digging this! Hella throw! Not something that I thought I'd like, but it's excellent. I swear there's myrrh in here too, tho. It does the cola thing on my skin for a fleeing moment when it's drying down.

This is another that I've been wanting to try, and the Lab frimped it to me in my latest order. Thanks, Labbies! In the imp: Mostly ginger. A little honey. Rich, but a little sharp. Wet: It smells nothing like it did in the imp. It doesn't smell like any of its listed notes either. My skin does something to this that makes it smell like a soft, sweet floral. Dry: It smells like soap. Not soapy, just soap. Very expensive soap. That's a terrible description of something that I like so much and that registers as "pretty" to my nose. It's ultra clean, very feminine and just... calm. I could see using this as a bedtime aid or even just to help unwind after a stressful day.

I tried this on directly from the mailbox, so keep that in mind. In the bottle: I smell the cookies which smell very similar to the white cake in Eat Me. I get no Earl Grey or cream. Wet: The same. Dry: The same. I stopped wearing Eat Me because the cake note started to make me feel ill. This is close enough to that note to my nose that I'm not liking this at all. I'll give it a few days to settle and try it again.

Fresh outta the mail, so keep that in mind... In the bottle: Green!! Wet and green and thick! I'm assuming that's the papyrus note. Wet: Still very green in a way that makes me think of still water down south. Almost grassy, but not really. Sappy, wet green, but smooth. Dry: I'm waiting and waiting to catch a hint of anything else. Ten minutes in and I'm just starting to catch a hint of vanilla with the green. Fifteen minutes in and here comes my myrrh fix. It's mingling with the papyrus and the vanilla giving it an interesting spiciness. I like it. I'm not sure I'll need more than my bottle, but it's definitely interesting.

This is fresh out of the mail, so keep that in mind as you read my review. I wanted to get my impression out there in case it helps someone who is on the fence with this one. In the bottle: Strawberry flavored booze. It's almost cough syrupy. Wet: More strawberry. That's the strongest note. But not in a bubble gum, fruit punch type of way. At first it almost smells like melon, but not really. It's recognizable as strawberry, but in a way that I've never smelled one before. If strawberries can be fancy, this one is. Dry: I burn through strawberry, so I don't smell it anymore. This has turned into a very, very elegant rose perfume on me. I can pick up the musk, resins and woods, and they're overlaid with rose in a combination that makes my nose happy. Sweet without being too sweet, perfumey in an understated, elegant way. And perfectly balanced. I'll definitely be backing up. It's got medium throw on me. Can't say how long it lasts yet.

I wanted to like this, and the first time I tried it, I really did. Fresh from the mail, it was nutmeg and pumpkin. I wish it could have stayed that way. The second time I tried it, it was all artificial peaches in a way that reminded me of the nastiness of store bought cobblers (those don't even smell like something people should eat). The third time it was the smell of craft stores in fall - fake fruit, generic spice and wax. I passed this one to the kiddos. It actually smells like real pumpkin on them.

This smells like a shaving soap that I bought for my Pap as a kid. Exactly like it. Mostly sandalwood with hints of "eau de new car". I gave this to my uncle because if I ever smelled this on the man it might break my heart.

I received this as a frimp from the lab. The man has this bottle of lemon oil that I swear he inherited from his grandfather. I've never seen it any other place except his bathroom. He uses it on his clippers and his beard. This smells like that. Thick, sharp, heavy citrus. I really didn't get anything else from this. I gave it to my uncle, but I probably should have given it to the man. Maybe I'll pick one up for him.

I received this as a frimp from the lab. I almost didn't try it because I read the notes first... Sandalwood and I are enemies. But perhaps white sandalwood is okay because I get NO sandalwood from this, just a hint of something milky and dry that smoothes everything out and keeps the amber from going powdery. Speaking of the amber, it's cozy. Very cozy and warm. I've always been a fan of sweet pea (It was my Pap's nickname for me after all) and it adds a romantic sort of sweetness to the vanilla. It doesn't really register as "floral" on me. It's mostly a cuddly vanilla scent that I could see myself putting into heavy rotation in the fall. When I put this on, I got an image of myself sitting in the front porch wearing an oversized sweater, sipping coffee with my latest crochet or knitting project in my lap. This is soft, warm, sweet and wonderful. I love it.

So I finally got to try Bilquis today. I'm kicking myself for not buying it sooner. Before I tried it, I honestly had no idea how it was actually going to play out because every single note listed is a note that will dominate a blend on me. In the bottle: Smells pretty innocuous, I'm only picking up the almond and the apple. Wet: Bilquis was gross here, and I started to feel nauseated. I smelled everything to the 10th power. Screeching high pitched apple, bitter, dry almond, a weird dirty nuttiness from ambrette, honey that turned powdery, overblown rose, etc., etc... Dry: This calmed down almost immediately to the sexiest rose I've ever smelled. It's lush, sweet and musky with the tiniest hint of nutty goodness. This is your skin after you applied perfume and then spent some time getting to know someone in the biblical sense. You know all that prose that compares ladybits to flowers? This is that concept in a bottle. Needless to say, I'm in love. I'll update as to longevity, but Bilquis is going out with me tonight because I've found my Salome rose... ETA** Bilquis lasts forever! Unfortunately, I have to go back to my search for the perfect rose because I found that after roughly three hours, the rose wears away and this turns into almond puff pastry. And the almond puff pastry is what lasts... :/ Reapplying this every three hours isn't practical either, it's got an insane amount of throw. Way too much to be adding more... Guys really dig it in all stages tho, so there's that.

I didn't really like the way this smelled in the imp (a very sharp smell that had me recoiling before my brain registered anything else), but I tried it anyway. That was a bad idea. Wet, this was mostly dragon's blood, but very bitter somehow, with an oyster-ish (?!) undertone. Dry, this picked up hints of pool cleaning chemicals and something that reminded me strongly of baby vomit (sweetly acid) with random whiffs of db and oysters. I don't think aquatics and I will ever get along...

In the imp I get a heavy hit of mandarin and a little bit of jasmine. Wet: This stinks. It honestly smells like poo. I've never gotten that from jasmine before. I'm not a fan of jasmine (and the other usual suspects), but they don't normally smell like eau de crap to me either. It's usually just a stifling floral note. This one goes straight filthy diaper. Dry: I've had it on for three hours and it isn't getting any better. In fact, the warmer I get, the stronger the poo smell gets. Not good since it's already in the 80s today. The only other note that I can detect is the mandarin. So now I smell like someone has sprayed citrus air freshener in the bathroom. Not a pleasant combo.

This smelled like almond extract in the vial. I was a bit frightened, but bravely put it on anyway. Wet, it was all about the almond. Not sweet, not bitter as some descriptions state, but sharp... As it dried, I picked up the cherry/vanilla of the heliotrope and for a very long while, this just smelled like classic Jergen's body lotion on me. Not bad, but not anything to write home about. Growing up, the only lotion I wore was Jergen's. After about three hours, this turns into spiced almond cookies. I was hoping that it would do the skin scent thing that some other wearers described. No such luck. Sad face, sad face. All in all, a pleasant, inoffensive scent, but I'm not certain that I need or want a full bottle.

Crystalline pink rose. The jasmine doesn't particularly smell like jasmine, it seems to just amplify the rosiness of the rose note. The rose hips and bergamot add a pleasant sharpness that's softened just slightly by the vanilla cream. This lasts for about 4 hours on my skin. After that the scent starts to fade into a rosy, vanilla cream. Less floral, more foodie. This has been compared to De Vos quite a few times. To me, and on me, it's less "floofy" and it has more substance.

A very traditional smelling man's cologne. Horrid on me, but will probably smell amazing on the man.

This is maybe the most "commercial" bpal I've smelled to date. Unfortunately, it smells exactly like some high end perfume whose name I can't bring to mind that I abhor...Tbh, I probably blocked it. It's nauseating - sweet vanilla, something incredibly, indescribably freaking salty and the tragedy that is sandalwood on my skin. And Lord Jesus, it's strong!! Final verdict: This one is a frantic scrubber.

Dirty, musty, evergreen trees with pool cleaning chemicals and something grossly sweet. Instant headache and nausea.

I expected a heavy rose scent from the notes listed, but I don't get that at all. In the imp and wet, this smells like a bouquet of roses. And it's lovely, but surprisingly FRESH. Once dry on my skin it turns into aggressively tart fruit punch with rose petals. I'm not sure how that happened or which rose is doing it, but it's decidedly fruity. And very, very red. I'm undecided as to whether or not I need a full bottle of this because I have to layer it to tolerate it. I will say that it layers like a dream tho.

This smelled like lime cola, frank and something grossly musty on me. I layered it out of existence on my skin.