DifferentDances

Imp: Unflavored cough syrup. Wet: Ouch. Bad to worse --dried ginseng and deer antlers and all the usual smells you'd find in a Chinese apothecary. And plastic. Drydown: Freshly pressed Chinese red envelopes. O_o While I'm all for nostalgia, I don't really want to smell like money. Dry: Chinese red envelopes. My rating: I'm torn between giving it just a 2/5 or a 1/5. I fear giving it the lowest rating because, well, I don't want to diss money. I'll give it a 2/5 because it fades quickly.

An effervescent blend of crystalline champagne notes and sweet strawberry. Imp: Strawberry candy, of the very artificial hard kind. Wet: Strawberry syrup and bubblegum. Drydown: Strawberry syrup and something nastily sour. Hi, champagne note. I don't imagine you and I will get along. Dry: Soured strawberry syrup. My rating: 2/5. Not appallingly bad, but not my thing at all.

Imp: Medicinal. Wet: Smells kind of like generic men's cologne/body spray. There's something like dragon's blood, but also some weird ozoney layer. Drydown: Weird feral edge to it that's overtaking the dragon's blood. Still smells like a man coated in body spray. Dry: Someone else mentioned red musk. Yup, it smells like a pile of dirty cats to me with the coolness of ozone/aquatics over them. My rating: 2/5. Nothing to jump with glee for, but not nauseatingly bad.

This is what is called a morpher. On me, anyway. Bottle: Perfume that's had a pair of rotting feet soaking in it. O_o Wait, why's everyone so keen on this? Wet: Moldy bread/wet feet with perfume. Drydown: Boiled vegetables with spring florals. Dry: Mildly soapy florals. Very pretty, very fine, with a hint of sweetness. (The pear, perhaps?) All the notes are jumbled, and nothing really stands out...except that hint of wet bread again. My rating: 3/5. It's pretty, certainly, but only at the end. It's rather hard to stomach the bottle and wet scents, however briefly. I like weird scents well enough, but this is just not a fun experience for the end result. Debating whether to keep or swap.

Bottle: Whoa, fermented wood pulp! Wet: There's that bamboo note I love. Wait, there's no bamboo in this, and it's a bit dryer than bamboo...papyrus, then? A hint of something akin to lemon verbena floating along the edges --I assume this is the linden blossom. Drydown: The lemon edge is getting bolder, and I think I smell a hint of the tea peaking through as well. The woodiness is fading. Dry: Crystalline lemon tea with a big fat wedge of lemon; very light indeed. My rating: 4/5. I kind of wish it stayed in that first wet stage, but it becomes such a --I believe people have used the word ethereal, and I agree-- scent.

Bottle: Cough syrup. Wet: Splashed orange concentrate, like a frozen popsicle. There's a hint of something floral softening the edges of the tart orange. Drydown: Whoa there, careful now. Starting to smell ever so slightly artificial --moreso than the popsicle, which at least was a bit creamy. This reminds me of a dissolving orange candy I used to eat: it has that same airy, fragile feel. Dry: Doesn't change much from the drydown. Biggest transition is from the creamy orange when wet on my skin to the delicate orange candy it becomes. My rating: 5/5. I cannot believe I waited so long to try this!

Bottle: Piney sugar. Wet: This seems to be a very sweet, very clustered scent. There's a rolling wave of pine, but a hint of something sweet and lemony running parallel to the woodsiness. Drydown: Some other kind of wood is coming to the forefront. I presume this is the birch or fir. It's like there are tiny ripe berries --really tiny-- that are dangling all over the place coyly screaming "Bite me!" Dry: The berries have been picked off, leaving behind sugared trees. My rating: 5/5. It is with great surprise that I confess I love this. My skin tends to amp woods, and I think perhaps the snow note is interpreted by my brain as pine, but it's such a delectably sweet pine. Ooooh. Keeping my bottle. So happy I bought this during my newbie craze phase of buying every bottle I saw.

Wet: Faint rose and white tea. Drydown: There's something spicier climbing in. Carnation? Dry: Spicy floral. My rating: 3/5. I liked the beginning stage with tea and rose, less so the spicy carnation note it wound up.

Wet: Poop. I believe this is the jasmine. Either that or a poorly chosen musk. Drydown: Poop with soap. Dry: Spicy poop with soap. Methinks it's a combination of the jasmine and musks. My rating: 1/5.

Imp: Perfume. Of the mixed department store fumes kind. Wet: Oooh...citrus? Drydown: Faintly green, still with that oddly citrus edge, and some herby-flower. Slightly chilly. Dry: And....it's all but gone. Lovely scent, but zero staying power. Huh. My rating: 4/5.

In the bottle: Whoa, freshly mown grass shoved in my face. Wet: Still grass. Drydown: If I sniff very carefully, there's a bit of something else trying to peek through, though precisely what's trying to peek through leaves me at a loss. Dry: Something vaguely sweet floral, with a solid layer of grass. I have no idea what to make of it. I will try it again at some later point in time.

Imp: Almond, is that you??? Reminds me of some other nutty blend I tried a while ago. Wet: Oh god, whatever that nut is, make it go away! Drydown: Whoa. The amber has invaded with a massive army. Nut down, nut down, we need a medi-lift! Dry: Oh. Wow. This is, erm, very, very sexy. Like, roll in a pile of hot men sexy. Erm. My rating: 3/5 for now. I think I need to retest this later, because as jawdroppingly bad and long as the beginning was, the end result was nice. But it didn't last more than a couple hours. Hmm....

Alice doesn't morph a great deal on my skin. It goes on a warm spice cookie, and it stays a warm spice cookie --it fades just enough to let a pan-seared carnation pop up, but mostly it's a spice cookie. My rating: 3/5. ETA: I know what this reminds me of! Anyone remember those cupcake dolls that you had to flip the cupcake 'wrapper' to turn into the dress of the doll and they smelled nice? It reminds me of a whole bunch of them mixed together.

I received this from a generous forumite...and now I'm in love. Imp: Frighteningly green rose. Very strong, and somewhat off-putting. Wet: WHEW rose up the wazoo! Drydown: Mmm...there we go. It's green and fresh and the rose is settling down for the long haul. Dry: This is amazing. Most roses turn to hand-soap after a couple hours on my skin; even after 15 minutes other BPAL roses get a faint soapy edge to them. This? This gets anchored so tightly on my skin that it's amazing. It's like a solid chunk of steady, green rose floating on my skin. My rating: 5/5. It's a rose that one hundred percent works with my skin chemistry. I must track down more.

Imp: Sharp cleaning supplies. Wet: Lavender. Drydown: Sharp lavender with a hint of something herby that reminds me of kitchen spice racks. Dry: Faint lavender with edges of that herb. My rating: 1/5. Not my thing; I think I'm not a fan of lavender.

Wet: Mostly flowers with just a hint of dragon's blood curling my nose. Drydown: Ooooh....now this is a nice, warm scent on me. Mmmm.... Dry: Minimal throw, minimal staying power: the warm scent is still there, but it's very faint. My rating: 3/5. Not bad at all, and is probably the first 'warm' scent that worked on me while still remaining 'warm.' Not sure about it as perfume, per se, but it's a nice scent experience.

Wet: Dragon's Blood. Drydown: Dragon's Blood with herbs. Dry: Faint dragon's blood with herbs. My rating: 2/5. I don't really like how this smells --I think I'm not a fan of dragon's blood. And I have the TAL version, so I don't really need this for the magical purposes either. In its favor, it doesn't morph on my skin really, just does a fading act.

Imp: Citrus Wet: Lime-citrus. Drydown: Lime with a hint of something else around the edges. Musk or lilac, maybe? Dry: Huh. Citrus lime with a roll of babypowder. My rating: 1/5. It tickles my nose in a bad way.

Wet: Piney mintiness. Smells like powerful cleaner --not even Pinesol, because Pinesol is scented in an attempt to make it smell better! Drydown: Mint over pee. I swear to god, this reminds me of a bathroom. Toothpaste gargle --you know, the foam you spit from your mouth. On the one hand, I'm impressed to find a BPAL mint that stays put. On the other hand, it's not a very nice mint. There's an edge of generic masculine cologne to it. Dry: Hello, where did the flowers come from? And that edge of furniture polish? And...okay, that's it, I'm done. There's a hint of skunk in here now. O_o My rating: 3/5. It's an interesting scent, to say the least. Interesting experience as the notes decide what they want to do.

Imp: Whoa, this smells really powerfully sweet! Wet: Mmmm.....sweeeeet aquatic, with an edge of citrus. Drydown: No no no, where are you going? You packed such a punch wet! Dry: Minimal hint of the sweet aquatic that made my heart skip a beat when I popped that cap off the imp. DAMN IT. My rating: 5/5 for the scent by itself, 2/5 on my skin simply because it FADES. Keeping this imp, though. If I ever get a scent locket, this is another one I'm wearing in it. This is delicious.

Imp: Herb candy. Wet: I guess the paint-thinner smell is the rooty component? Smells like sweet turpentine. Dry: It's making the back of my throat tickle when I try to smell it; it's too faint from a reasonable distance to detect anything. My rating: 1/5. Really, really not my thing.

Imp: Whoo, that's sharp! >_< Wet: Pine? There aren't any pine notes listed! Drydown: I can smell the different components wrestling with my skin chemistry. It's disconcerting to have in the same breath sharp-flower-cleaner-rum going on distinctly. Dry: Still that minty-pine edge, and little else. Faint and not-me. My rating: 1/5. Not for me.

Imp: Floral bouquet. Wet: This is kind of nose-curling. Hmm... Drydown: Wait, wait wait, this smells familiar. Cleaning supplies? No, not quite. It's not pine. A hint of...swimming pool memories? Dry: I figured it out. It smells like the posh bathrooms at a country club my family used to belong to. It's that air-freshening, clean, crisp, non-offensive scent. My rating: 2/5. It's pretty enough, but given that it doesn't stand out in my collection, and given the connotations I have with the scent, I'm going to have to pass.

Black tea, cherry blossom, ho wood, calla lily, rice wine, and white mint. There are really no words to describe this scent. It's just soft, feminine, and clean. I'm surprised there aren't more reviews for this! Sadly, it doesn't last very long on my skin, but I think that may be more due to my tentative testing habits than the strength of the oil. Then again, the other reviews have noted its subdued-ness. My rating: 5/5. OMG this is lovely.

My skin tends to amp honey, though I think with this 'white honey' note, it's to a lesser degree, so what I have is a delicious, sweetened tea scent that is OMG just the slightest hint of fruity goodness. My rating: 5/5. This is definitely going to be a Big Bottle Buy.