ImperatrixMundi

Pass. Anything that has words like herbs, mist and dew listed tends to go wrong. Nondescript department store scent somehow. Not that bad but BPAL definitely has better things to offer.

I got the last tub of Jingle Jelly at the Lush store yesterday and regret no trying it earlier. It seems to have a lot of juniper. If BPAL would make a juniper and labdanum perfume I would be very very happy. Without rose, pretty please. Hey, I totally forgot about that, thank you for mentioning it. If anything with cistus comes out in the future I am going to jump on it Wulric smelled like cocoa and a huge lot of musk with an herbal undertone, if cistus smells like labdanum it did not really come out very much, the musk was way too strong. I still have the imp up for swap but since noone has wanted it so far I am going to re-test...

My like and dislike of Ylang seems to be totally random, depending more on mood than hormones I think. Some days I cant stand it, maybe because I just amp it so much. Malice has got Ylang, clove, black patchouli and myrrh. That is the only Ylang blend I have really liked so far. It is hard to describe. Very sweet and warm somehow. The now discontinued Phantom has a strong Ylang element too.

Does the rose in Pulcinella and Teresina come out a lot? I wanted something heavy on the labdanum but was scared of the rose because I amp it so much but dont like to wear rose so I never gave it a try. Oblivion is dark and resinous but was not labdanum in particular.

Baku has a lot of anise too. You might want to try Somnus as well but that has a lot of rose on me. I love Angels on Bare Skin too, while it is mostly lavender there is something else too. *goes to sniff* Maybe that is the scent of the almond and rice flour base that makes it a bit... creamier? If anyone has better suggestions they are very welcome!

It was weird but I got a sample of some chai tea in a swap. It was strong black tea with a lot of cardamom. About the same time I also got a decant of Alone, which smelled exactly like that brand of cardamom chai. Weird. I still dont like either because cardamom is not my favourite thing.

Sensual, robust, and silken: voluptuous red rose bursting with lascivious red wine and sultry dragon’s blood resin. A very voluptuous blood red rose, indeed. My mom has some very old roses in her garden, with small, velvety petals and a red so deep they are almost purple-black. They smell great. Blood rose is very much like that. A full, dark and strong rose that is rounded by the wine and dragon's blood but not drowned. Beautiful, even to someone who never ever wears rose.

Woohoo! Trading Post Frimp! Needless to say this smells like cucumber. And no melon, thank the gods. Not normally the kind of thing I like to wear but it is really really nice. Watery-juicy and cool and not artificially sweet. There is something lightly florally-sweet in the background that compliments the cucumber beautifully but I dont know what it is. This will be very nice in summer and I am looking forward to slathering it on in the heat.

Honey. Light and very VERY sweet! Rose amps a bit too much and hangs in there with the carnation. I never get milk and bergamot but it has a creamy, rounded feel. Warm, sweet and a little spicy. But too sweet overall, too much rose, I just cant wear this.

Mint and lotus, I dont manage to pick out the juniper berry because I dont know what it really smells like on its own. I love mint but after it fades the lotus does its infamous bubblegum impersonation.

If this starts out with an acetone smell like hairspray or nail polish remover please be patient and let it dry. Depending on the chemistry of the day, so to say, that effect is worse some days and hardly happens other times I put it on. Dry this is a brownish green, deep and very dry moss scent. Reminds me a bit of Lush's Tramp for some reason, but much drier. But it also really smells a bit like summer here, when everything is scorched and dry in July and it has not rained in six weeks and the wind never lets up even for half an hour. The fields smell a bit like that then, at least to me. Sweetish, dry, dusty hay and grass. There is just a bit too much moss in it. I am on a farm and it reminds me a lot of home because it is rather evocative in that way so I like it and am happy that it works out like that on me and I do not get cologne, cleaning products or any other unpleasant things beyond the initial nail polish remover phase.

Thank you for the frimp, dear lab, but no. Smells tart and crisp in the imp but like any red fruit scent, whatever it is, smells sour in a bad way when actually on my skin.

Sandalwood and Ylang ylang come out in a strong way, the scent is soft and sweet but at least for me not particularly floral. That may be because of the Ylang, it likes to take over on me. The lavender is not prominent. It is pretty but not for me. Although it contains some of my favourite florals, violet, orris and lilac. But it is too soft and whispy and sweet. Suits the concept though.

I could swear I have reviewed this before cant find a post anywhere, so here I go. A creamy yellow coulour, in terms of synaesthesia. A very sweet citrus musk in terms of smell. All the notes are blended well into a very creamy citrus scent, only the musk is quite dominant. The china musk smells like a white musk variant. It still borders on beeing foody and reminds me of lemon baiser cake. It is strong and lasting and while it is lovely it is almost a bit cloying when being worn.

Soft vanilla and an almost watery note that I find incredibly hard to put a finger on. It makes this blend warm and cool at the same time, very strange. A light and non-foody vanilla scent. But I get watery vanilla, not rocky vanilla

Bon Vivant reminded me of Lushs Rock Star soap without the vanilla. The champagne and strawberry notes dont work for me, I always get a rotten and sour smell from them. Cant have everything in life...

A sophisticated traditional gentleman's cologne, with just the slightest taint of patchouli's passion, tonka bean's decadence, the philanthropy of bergamot, moss' cynicism, the sharp wit of lavender, and the hopeless romantic longing of jasmine and thyme. I love the labs masculine cologne scents and this is nice, fresh and a little citrusy without being gruntingly male. However it does not work on my skin and turns into something awfully wrong. It was some time ago that I tried this but by now I suspect that I cant wear things with tonka. It works nicely on my boyfriend though but for some reason he never wears it.

What to say? I love amber and amber loves me. I dont like red fruit and red fruit dont like me. Like any sour fruit scent this kinda smells like red fruit tea together with the sweet resiny amber. Not for me at all.

Oh well... I really had high hopes for the World Ash. While I like woods the nine leaves and herbs dont seem to work for me. That tends to happen when a blend has "herbs" listed. It turns into a manly cleaner scent, not pleasant at all. I also tried it on my boyfriend and did not have any more success than on me. It was sort of sickening.

Ozone, lemony, piercing and eyewatering and sharp, bordering on laundry detergent with sharp citrus. Dont get me wrong, I love ozone scents but this was a bit too sharp and lemony so I got the dreaded laundry association. I was going to try it again in the heat of the next summer but ended up frimping it away in the meanwhile. Might give it an other try next June or August though, in the summer storm season. Fall and winter is just not the time for this.

Chimera has the same thick and sweet resiny scent that I get from blends with amber. With the cinnamon it smells like gingerbread or cinnamon cookies. Nice but too foody sweet for me. I kept sniffing my wrist when I tried it on and loved it but it just drives me crazy to smell like food in the long run, that is not me. Has tons of throw too, which is also like any good ambery scent.

D'oh! The forum just ate the review I was going to post. Alright, once more: The Raven does not appear to get so many good reviews but I like it. My guess is that you need to like violets and the black musk can turn to baby powder sometimes if you are unlucky. It is mainly violets, the dark musk shows after a few minutes and fills out the backgroud with a sleek, dark and sweetly musky scent. Neroli shows right in the beginning and lends a slightly bitter edge, deepening the otherwise light and powdery florals. Iris and sandalwood play a supporting role. They may seem a bit too white and powdery on the whole but to me they are like a reflection on the shiny feathers of a raven. Overall I am pleased with this and it does not smell like a powdery old lady scent to me. It gets more and more violet as the time passes and has long staying power.

Damn that thrice damned frankincense! Sandalwood has a tendency to go powdery and frankincense never turns into a rich resinous scent on me but into somthing thin, powdery-dusty and stale. Happens all the time. And I dont amp patchouli. I love patchouli but the red variant never really comes out on me. So I love this blend initially after application, but then it goes down the drain somewhat. Buhu. When I finally get my locket from the TP I will have to try Anne Bonny again and see if it stays more true to the wet stage. I want me patchouli.

Spider came to my mind. White ginger, artemesia, vetiver, nutmeg, King mandarin, bergamot, and lime. It is not a sweet, cinnamon-y spice but more a cologne type scent that starts out fresh, however the ginger and nutmeg give it a lot of spicy warmth. It is more on the masculine side but I love to wear it myself. And has noone said Shub yet?

A nice scent overall, but on me it smells a bit too much like a christmas candle. Not in a bad way, just that I would rather have my room smelling like this than myself. The boyfriend who loves pine does say the same thing. He sat down next to me and asked if I was burning a candle. After an initial pine blast the tonka really comes out way too strong so I blame this on my non-cooperative skin. Which is a shame, I wanted to love this.