funkmoppet

NOOOOOOOOOO! *has tantrum* *throws things* God dammit this was trousers-down boy-sex when wet! The kind I'm searching for! And then...WTF Doom Powder!?!!?? *Stares at the Lab description* WHAT??!! There's nothing in there that should do this on me, it's all herbs and wood and flowers! WHYYYYYYYYY... *whine*

A frimp from the Lab and...whoa lotus!! Sweet sweet sweet from start to finish. The rose does finally kick in once it's dry, but it's still one very sweet lotus free-for-all. This is in no way unpleasant, but it's definitely not for me. The boy won't like it either (he seems to favour the dark, musky, patchouli blends on me), so It's the swap pile for Kurukulla.

Now I'd hoped for something delicious and manly here, but I have to agree with Laliloo and Irukandji that this is Juicy Fruit gum. Sweeeeeet and unrelenting about it. For a very brief time, cinnamon popped up and, being a sucker for cinnamon, I was much happier. Then...gone. Such an odd morphing blend. The odd nice note kept popping up for air only to be pushed down by the fruity gum. The weirdest thing of all is that there's Dragon's Blood in this - and it should have gone to doom powder. But it's been about an hour now, and there's no sign of that tell-tale smell. Why this blend? What the hell are you up to, skin chemistry? (And why the hell can't you choose to play nicely with a resin from a blend I really like?? Bastard, you're doing this on purpose!) No knights in a magnificent banquet hall here. Shame, because I looooove the concept. *sigh*

Oh lordy, wet from the imp and onto the skin, this is spectacular! Sensational rosewood and hazelnut. It's a small, darkened room full of old wooden furniture, books and assorted curiosities. At this point I'm in love. Drying down, it all seems to fade as a breath of faded rose takes over. Very whispery, very dusty. It lingers like this when dry, with the occasional whiff of faint wood, but unfortunately it's lost that crazy old room smell that had me so completely at the start. I have a feeling my skin is misbehaving today, so I will definitely test this one again. I'll also give it a whirl in a burner, because this definitely would make a fabulous room scent for when I'm writing. Keeping the imp. I'm not done with this blend yet.

Huh. That's very odd. I first tested this last night, and now again this morning and it's decided to behave differently on me. Wet, I love this. It's a nice lavender and resin blend with tart berries, and had it stayed like this I wouldn't have hesitated to make a bottle purchase. Dry down: Last night, it went berry sweet. I liked it, but the boy didn't, and since I have my fruit fix with a stash of Fire Pig, I was happy to leave it at the imp. Today, however, the dry down has gone to sweet floral powder, and I'm liking it a whole lot less. So much so, I'm going to wash it off. I know it's the resin, but why it behaved last night and not this morning is a mystery I'm unlikely to solve. Either way, Lurid might wind up in the swap pile.

Yes, this is tea rose. Tea rose wet and dry. That very vintage rose that can turn potpourri on me - which mercifully doesn't happen with London. This tea rose is lovely. The throw almost has a light vanilla tinge to it, which is surprising, as there's no vanilla at my wrist. I thought I did detect something else lurking underneath during the dry-down, but whatever it is, it's not enough to really push through the rose - particulary once it's been on for a while. Had the wickedness been stronger, this would have been a big bottle want, but as it is, the imp is all I need. Definitely a pretty, nostalgic scent.

Lab frimp, and one I passed by since I was wary of straight leather being something I wouldn't like. Not so! In the imp it's almost sweet, but hits the skin with authority - without being quite as overbearing as Highwayman. This is very new, very shiny leather. While it's not a bottle for me, I'll hang onto the imp - I can see this might be a nice one for layering when I want something to have a bit more bite. Nice!

I knew the chickens wouldn't let me down! I love love LOVE grassy scents and this is SO GOOD!! Straight out of the bottle is sweet, juicy, wet grass. MMM! Just perfect! There's a moist soil something in there, but right in the background of the spectacular green. It's this sort of magic that just drew me to BPAL in the first place. Yes, I want to smell like a garden path! Drying down, I swear I can smell a mixture of grasses - if it's not dandelion, then it's doing a good impersonation. There are no "pretty" florals here, it's more rustic than that. It really is a mild, dewy spring morning in the back yard. I cannot get over how perfect this is! This was a bottle purchase without any hesitation, just for the concept alone, and it is SUCH a winner. Run, little chickens! On your funny little legs!

Oh. Oh oh oh. Well, with this and Dorian, I have discovered vanilla heaven. This is so beautiful! The vanilla dominates when wet, but drying down on the skin, this absolutely touches everything in the Lab description. The oh-so gentle, faded florals come into play just behind the vanilla, which takes on a wonderful linen quality. It's very much like smelling a room from a faded photograph - absolutely nostalgic. The throw is quite remarkable, considering how gentle this blend is on the skin. Soft, wistful, romantic, warm - this is divine. MUST have a bottle!

"Pretty" is definitely what this blend is. The sweet mandarin is a little stronger than I'd like, but the opium and lily don't let it get too dominant. As it dries down, the sandalwood pushes through and warms it all up - at this stage I like it very much. It's been on my skin now for a while, and it's faded off into a powdery floral with a linger whiff of the sandalwood and vanilla. Still very pretty, but I'm not sure I'd wear this often, as I have other florals I prefer. I'll keep the imp, let it age, and see how I feel about it when summer hits and I fancy getting my girly on. But for now, it's a bit "meh".

This is nothing short of perfection when wet. It hits the skin and it's an honest-to-god forest! Warm, dappled sunlight filtering through the trees, dry wood and the most fantastic smell of leaf-litter! Just. Spectacular. But noooo! On the dry down it all goes away! It morphs into a light floral, and the forest vanishes. So heartbreaking - it was my dream forest scent when it was wet! It's by no means an unpleasant floral, but when teased with such a gloriously evocative beginning, it's such a dissappointment! Woe! Robin, I was ready for love!

Nature spirits and protectors of the world's groves and forests that appear as breathtakingly beautiful women. Hamadryads are born into a tree that serves as both a home and an anchor for the creature's soul. They are sometimes tricksters, sometimes seducers, sometimes helpful and benign, but they are always fierce and furious protectors of the natural world. Seven dry woods with mossy lichen and a gentle breeze of forest flowers. Awww. Wanted to love this. Dryads! Always loved them! Wet, it's like Irish Moss cough lozenges. Medicinal. And as it dries it pretty much keeps on with the medicinal. The description sounded SO me, I really wanted more woods and flowers in this and buried under the wintergreen they are there. But they're just drowned out. If I wear this out, everyone's going to be thinking I'm trying to beat the flu. Well titsticks. No dryad love for me.

Aww - I wanted dirt. Wet, Zombi's all sweet moss with a very light rose. Said rose does amp up - dry and powdery. Possibly the moss underneath the powdery rose is what aaaaalmost gives it that dusty sort of dirt touch, but it's a clean dirt. I was expecting wet dirt, and that's just not what's here. The rose fades after dry down and the moss warms up and takes on a plastic smell which isn't doing wonders on my skin. It's not unpleasant, but overall, this isn't quite what I'd hoped for. Shame, because I wanted to like Zombi! Ah well. Might hang on to the imp and see if it does better with a little ageing.

Ooh, wet, this is all clean, light floral freshness. As it dries it gets whisper soft. Definitely a clean, freshly laundered sheet sort of smell. Unfortunately it fades away to barely there, but I still like it. It'll be exactly the right sort of scent for that recovery-shower after a night of caning it. Big bottle? Dunno. Keeper imp, definitely.

Oh god, this is everything I hoped it would be! Such a fantastic sweet pine blast from the imp and onto the skin - real pine. I can almost reach out and touch the pine needles. Fantastic and a smell I just adore. It's absolutely a think pine forest, cold and dark. The musk comes out only when it's dry, and when it does it's perfect. The ambergris behaves itself *yay* and actually adds to the warmth under the now mellowing pine. Woody, wet, and with that sexy musk bursting through - this is bliss! Bravo - I adore it. Oooh, bottle please!

Frimp from a generous Ebay seller. I dabbed it on before checking what's in it. Wet - Whoa! Stabbing cypress up the sinuses! So much so I almost got a headache. But it grew kinder on the dry down and became a fabulous, dark woodsy scent, and I thought I might have stumbled on a winner. Nooo - thanks frankincense. You almost had me going there! Almost thought you'd behave, but nup. Skin hates resin and I really really need to stop trying things on before checking for resins. If it's any consolation, my imps of Dragons Musk and Blood Amber went straight into the swap box untested. Learning curve go!

Ohhhh Queen Mab. Oh, this is gorgeous! It's a burst of sweet floral and sandalwood when wet. There's a touch of honey to it, which must be a combination of the florals, reminding me a little of the light honey in Selkie. Can't stop sniffing! Then as it dries down the musk warms up and is soooo soft and sensual. It's like the musk in Buck Moon, and in fact, reminds me of the muskiness in O, but without the horrid cloying honey vanilla that amped up on me. But this - ah this works. It stays close to the skin, not much throw, but I like that this is a quieter blend. Wonderfully intimate. Absolutely MUST have a big bottle - straight to the top of the wishlist with you, Queenie.

I was distracted by the rose and wine and forgot about the dragon's blood. It sounded so sexy on paper! And it damn well WAS for a little while - the wine isn't overpowering, the rose isn't dominant and it has a delicious dark fruity scent that makes the whole thing so...wonderfully sordid. And then DB strikes again. Hi doom-powder, you son of a At least I have some appreciation for what ought to be with the resin blends - if you're not prone to the effin' doom-powder like me, you can freely ignore everything after the praise. I wish to hell I could, too.

This is a lovely rose scent. There's definitely a dried quality to the roses, a powdery vintage scent very much in keeping with the whole victorian theme. It takes a while for the underlying spices to show up, but they do, very faintly. This succeeds as a vintage rose blend where Kelly Pool failed for me. And while I'm not as fond of this particular rose as I am of Whip, this is still beautiful. Not a bottle, but keeping the imp.

Lab frimpage, and one I wouldn't have picked (especially since most of the MTP blends don't really appeal to me). Still - I'll try anything. Starts off very nicely with smoky carnation and vetiver behaving itself nicely underneath. But uh...the incense isn't long on my skin before it kills everything by turning to doom-powder. I scrubbed this off pretty quickly. I'd like to smell it on someone with resin-friendly skin though, as it was promising before the usual powder horror.

With BOTH amber and myrrh, the leather and musk never stood a chance (and god how I'd love a musky leather slap). With a double whammy of resins, Loviatar's brief sexy whiff turned to foul doom-powder before it even dried. Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! Grrrrrrr resinssss we hatessssss...

Guh. Wow. That is some awesome irish coffee right there. Boozy, sweet, strong coffee with incredible throw. There is nothing about that I don't love. So strong, it's all coffee, all the time right through the dry down and then...oh-ho THEN I get the oak. The coffee backs off just enough to get that wood, and while the dusty tomes aren't showing themselves, this is the kind of library I smell I could get lost in. Books, coffee, wood - heaven. LOVE. And my wishlist grows again.

With the notes in this, I really expected to love it. (And yes, love the colour of the oil!) But wet on the skin, this just reminded me of bathroom disinfectant. It's really unpleasant on me when wet, so I avoided putting my nose to it until it had settled down. During the dry down I couldn't stop being reminded of a public pool - some odd, almost salty sweat and chlorine smell. Not that I have bad memories of public pools, but it's not a smell I want on me. Finally it does settle and becomes a sweet sort of musk, but fairly ineffectual and not the kind of musk I like. I may try it again later in case I just wasn't in the mood for it today, but right now it's really not doing it for me.

Okay, another imp bought before I discovered my skin's anti-amber tendencies. And with amber as the first note, I knew Sin was going to turn... Which completely sucks, because with patchouli and cinnamon, this should have worked - and irritatingly, like almost EVERY sodding amber blend so far, it did at first. Sin is a very sexy blend, and for a while I thought the cinnamon and patchouli might just save it on me, but nope. Finally, the powder-of-doom...yet again. Stuuuuuupid skiiiiiin...

Wet to dry, Black Tower is unique and fantastic. I can't begin to pick out many individual scents, as it's complex and comes together so wonderfully as a whole. It definitely says "majestic" to me. Not so much the empty tower, this blend is too warm. The woods are dominant, the ozone lightly in the background. It's spicy and leathery - masculine without being anything approaching a standard masculine scent (nor would I call the blend masculine, as it's too unusual to be anything but unisex). But this is definitely evocative of armoured men in a great hall. The red wine peaks on the dry down, then falls back again to the spicy warmth, with sandalwood finally a little more noticable. Absolutely stunning. The morphing is all wonderful, never hitting a "bad patch", and I think I definitely need a bottle.