laliloo

I think I may be getting 'sniffed' out now - this is the last imp I'll try out today and I'll give it another try another day when my nose hasn't been inundated by 6 other imps of new smells! Aeval. I love the description of a raven-haired Irish Queen. My grandmother was raven-haired and Irish. Not a queen, but 2 out of 3 ain't bad. Actually, having thought of Nan, I can imagine this is a smell she would have liked. This is a floral scent on me, but very interesting. I think the sage adds a nice herbal depth, without the sharpness that some herbals add. It's quite a warm smelling scent, but not overwhelming. Yes, I'll definitely keep this imp and give it a try another day without the competition of other scents around.

Interesting. I was half thinking that Zephyr might do the lemon household cleaner thing on me that Shanghai and Embalming Fluid both did. However... it doesn't. The lemon is quite a sweet, creamy smell when the oil is wet, but dies down a lot as it dries, leaving a soft, slightly lemony, slightly vanilla-y pleasantly light scent. It's very nice, but not a favourite. I'll keep the imp and try again another day as I've tested lots of imps today, so may not be giving it the best chance!

I ordered an imp of Bathsheba based on the carnation note - I'm a newbie and I love carnations, so I figured I'd try Bathsheba and Maiden in this batch of imps to see if they like me! Unfortunately, Maiden didn't arrive, so it's all down to Bathsheba now... This is definitely a very sensual perfume - warm and sultry like a heavy, late summer evening. I can just detect the clove smell of carnation, but the plum and musk are slightly winning the battle, making it a fruity, sexy blend. I would wear this if I was going out somewhere posh for the evening - a theatre/dinner trip in the autumn/winter perhaps. This doesn't happen very often, so I won't be getting a big bottle, but it's not an unpleasant scent on me. I'll definitely keep hold of the imp. I don't think I could wear this during the day.

This is a lovely, light rose scent. There's definitely something keeping the rose from turning a little sickly on me, which has happened with a couple of the other rose based oils that I've tried. I'm still very bad at identifying individual notes! I'll definitely keep this imp and I may even consider a bottle. Pretty, sweet and it stays in the background nicely and doesn't give me a headache like some of the stronger rose scents do occasionally (Viola, I'm looking at you!).

Fun! Definitely a gin martini - Twenty One smells like gin and tonic with a slice of lemon, fizzing in a glass full of ice cubes. I can almost see the condensation dripping slowly down the outside of the glass. How wonderful to get a scent that evokes something so perfectly. I'll keep the imp for cute sniffing value, but won't be going for a bottle of this one. I'm surprised how far this scent travels - most scents seem to stay close to my skin, but this one I can smell at arm's distance, despite only using a light touch from the imp wand.

awww. This is going to be another "I so wanted to love this from the description, but..." review I'm afraid. All I can smell is Germolene. The old-style Germolene ointment that came in a round tin pot. It was thick and pink and medicinal looking and magically made every little tumble and scrape better when I was little. It's a comforting smell, but it's a bit too reminiscent of hospitals and dentists surgeries to wear as perfume! I can't smell any of the woodsy stuff that's mentioned in the description. What a shame.

Thanks for passing this on to me as a frimp, readiness! Unfortunately, I sniff the imp, and I just get strongly smelling pear - I can't bear pear! I dared to put a tiny amount on my wrist, and the pear mixes with something else (me, perhaps?!) and turns to pear-scented old socks. Oh dear. What a shame. It really isn't very pleasant on me at all. This little imp will be passed on again - one day it'll find someone who loves it I'm sure!

I received Polyhymnia as a frimp with an eBay purchase. It's quite lemony (that'll be the lemon balm) when I first put it on, but I'm not getting the detergent/polish smell that so often seems to happen when I apply oils that contain lemon. As it dries, the lemon fades a little and errr, that's it. It fades, to pretty much nothing. It really does disappear very quickly on me - from drydown to just the memory of a scent within minutes. It reminds me of the Clarins Refraisseur body spray, which is a good thing as I like that scent. It's just a shame it disappears so quickly. I'll keep the imp I think and try again another day. Always worth a second try.

A lemony scent (along with Shanghai and Phantasm that I got in my first batch of imps). It doesn't really work very well on me, like the other lemon scents. So sad. The lemon seems once again to drown out the other scents and makes me smell like I've just polished the house with lemon Pledge. Definitely a slight chemical twang to this that doesn't small nice on me. I shall pass my imp on to someone who gets on better with lemon notes, I think!

Phantasm is very lemony. A bit nicer than Shanghai on my skin, but not for me. I've just realised, after having a second try - Phantasm smells exactly like a paper bag full of fizzy sherbet lemons when I sniff the imp!! Cool. Just tried it again on my arm and that's exactly it - fizzy sherbet lemons! I'll keep the imp just for the fun value, but I doubt I'll ever wear it as a perfume.

Unfortunately, Shanghai isn't pleasant on me at all. The lemon just shouts over everything else and I get lemony toilet cleaner. It's a sharp smell in the imp and it doesn't really change much on my skin. I don't get the green tea element at all - it's sharp, sour lemon. So sad. I've discovered that despite loving lemon smells and flavours in the kitchen, most of the oils I've tried with lemon in them just end up turning to some sort of bathroom cleaner on my skin. What a shame. I'll put my imp in the swap pile for someone else to love.

Irukandji, I'm so pleased I'm not the only one! To me, Tintagel smells of Juicy Fruit. Exactly like Juicy Fruit in and out of the imp. This is not a good thing for me, as I can remember pleading with my sister and dad when I was a kid for them to stop chewing it in the car as it was making me feel ill. I've hated that smell since I was a little kid - it just makes me nauseous. This is just sickly and awful on me - I only applied a small amount, as the smell in the imp was so strong, and I just ran to the bathroom to wash it off. This was a frimp from the lab with my first order, so it was interesting to get a scent that I would never have ordered for myself based on the description. Unfortunately, I'll pass this imp on to someone who likes Juicy Fruit.

O dear. I was intrigued to smell this as so many people recommend it to first-timers. My first imp batch arrived and this was the one that I pulled out first to sniff... URGH! To me, there's something rotten smelling about this scent - in and out of the imp. It's nasty, sweet, sickly and vile. So many people love it, but there's something in this that just doesn't play nice with me at all - I think it may be the honey, I don't know. But that 'rotting' smell underlying the honey actually turns my stomach a bit. I couldn't get this washed off my skin soon enough. So sad! This imp will be passed on to someone else who wants to love it the way I hoped I would.

The first time I tried Moon Rose, I wasn't keen at all - it was too strongly rose-scented and gave me a bit of a headache. However, I tried again a couple of days later and it's nice! A light rose this time around. It's one of those scents that will work beautifully on me some days, and not at all on others. I think it's the rose that my skin seems to be so moody with. The oil did something weird to the skin on my wrists where I applied it - whereever I put the oil, my skin wrinkled up! Weird. I won't be buying a 5ml, but it's a very pretty rose scent for those days when my skin is playing nice with rose.

Dublin is sweet smelling - I don't get pine from it at all! I think my nose must be dysfunctional. I get a spicy rose smell from the imp, and then the oil has a lot of rose in it on my wrist. It lasts very well and has the most throw of any of my first batch of imps. I would have considered a 5 ml of this if it hadn't been discontinued the day after my imp shipped! I'll keep my imp for days when I want to smell intriguingly sweet and spicy.

Lightning really does smell of lightning! Amazing that Beth managed to bottle such a very elusive scent. The oil is subtle and unusual - it smells of ozone and a tiny amount of salt. Unsurprisingly, this is a clear, clean smell. It doesn't last very well on me - the scent has virtually gone after an hour or so. I do like Lightning, but not enough to buy a 5 ml. I'll keep my imp for those days when I need something very unusual and ozoney.

I found Viola to smell of softly rosey and violets (I guess my nose is telling me violets because of the name - it's more likely lilac). It's a little cloying at first but it's not horrible. I liked it - the rose overwhelm and didn't make me feel nauseous like Moon Rose did. Surprisingly, I've found Viola works better for me on some days than on others. Sometimes the cloying-ness doesn't go away and I have to wash it off, other days it's pretty and comforting and I enjoy wearing it. Weird! I'll be keeping my imp for days when I feel the need for a comforting rose scent, but I won't be getting a 5 ml of this one.

Empyreal Mist has a really nice, light smell. I love it, although it does disappear very quickly. The scent really does conjure up a misty morning. And it got discontinued the day after my imp shipped! I may have ordered a 5 ml if it was still available, but Neo-Tokyo and Dorian were my absolute must-haves from that first lab order and this ethereal scent doesn't last long enough on me to warrant an eBay purchase. I'll keep my imp and wear it when I need to be more ethereal and misty.

Dorian is gorgeous. It is lovely, subtle and sweet when I put it on. Vanilla tea, but not at all sickly. I don't get a lemon scent from this at all! I didn't think I liked the smell of vanilla until I smelt this oil - if vanilla could always smell like this, then I'm a convert. It lasts about 3 hours and then I have to reapply as I end up craving this scent - my wrists seem to float towards my nose all day long when I have Dorian on! I have already ordered a 5 ml of this. This is described as one of the more 'masculine' scents, but it's very feminine on me - I can't actually imagine a man wearing it, as it's so sweet and feminine, without being floral.

My first review I'm not going to be able to pick out notes and give such wonderful, descriptions as everyone here seems able to do, as I'm a real newbie to all of this. Neo-Tokyo arrived in my first imp order about a month ago. I ordered 12 imps, received 14 and of the 12 ordered, four of them were discontinued the day after my order shipped. Annoyingly, of those four, three were my favourites - Empyreal Mist, Dublin and... Neo-Tokyo. In the imp Neo-Tokyo smells slightly minty with a slight tinge of cherry and flowers. When I first put it on, I get a gorgeous minty smell wafting around - it's not cold mint, somehow. It's fresh but has a slight warmth to it. Think cool rather than cold. The mint fades once the oil has dried and the smell changes very much - it's so different to how it smells in the imp and when I first put it on. This seems to be a common theme with the BPAL oils I've tried so far! Once it's dried, the cherryblossom smell and I think possibly orchid and bamboo take over - I'm unsure if I'm just assuming that's what the smells are from the description, but this is a very unusual and absolutely gorgeous perfume on me. It stays cool but has a depth to it that I absolutely adore. Luckily, I've managed to procure a 5ml of this from eBay, as I was feeling a bit let-down that I wouldn't be able to get a bottle from the lab. Empyreal Mist and Dublin will have to stay as special occasion imps for me, unless they get reinstated by the lab!