Penance

Ooh, let's see, for me... Penitence Cathedral (sweeter dry down than Penitence, but very similar to my nose) Anne Bonny (somewhere in between the two, with a hint of salt) Tushnamatay Old Kathmandu (more cedar, but very similar in the beginning stages) Szepasszony (slightly more floral and with more ozone) Bayou (more aquatic and slightly stronger) Ultraviolet (More violetty) Nine Mysteries (More citrusy, but with the same minty top note and vaguely floral undertone) Ulalume (More floral) Tears Burial (More loamy) Loup Garou (More woody) Those are all I've come across so far, but I'm sure there'll be more once I get through all my imps. ~ Penance

First Sniff: This reminds me a lot of Old Kathmandu. It smells like pure cedar to me, although it may be sandalwood. Sometimes my nose confuses the two and I don't know why. My dad said I smelled like "wood" though, once I had it on, so I guess it's not just me. Wet on The Skin: Whee, another linear scent. It smells almost exactly the same as in the bottle, perhaps a little stronger. I'm still smelling cedar although it seems to be turning slowly into a true sandalwood scent. I don't know if it's just a placebo effect or what, but the moment I put this on, I felt so much calmer. I'd been having a bad day and was desperately in need of some inner peace and, lo and behold, this did the trick. Dry Down: Yep, that's sandalwood alright. The cedar smell has gone and has been replaced by a light sandalwood scent that's very calming. It probably helps that I associate sandalwood with meditation, but I feel so much better with this on. My only complaint is that it's fading pretty quickly as opposed to, say, Old Kathmandu which lasted all day and all through the night to the next day on my skin. The Bottom Line: Lovely, just the kind of scent I gravitate towards when I'm feeling overwhelmed and overworked. Very centering, it would make a lovely room scent if I had one of those oil rings, but, alas, I don't. I really love this, I just wish it lasted longer. ~ Penance

You can always tell when I'm sleep deprived because I start saying things that are either incredibly stupid or totally redundant. Speaking of sleep, I should be in bed by now...I need to be up at 6 am tomorrow morning to go to class. There's something wrong with a world where I have to get up that early on a Saturday. ~ Penance

Pretty redundant, but...Lampades is a great choice if you want berry. Unfortunately, berries don't work on me, but it was a lovely berryish scent. I know, I know, it's been said, but I was just concurring...or something...I'm tired. ~ Penance

To me, this is almost indistinguishable from Penitence, the only difference (on me, at any rate) is the dry down, which is much sweeter on Cathedral. First Sniff: This smells exactly like Penitence. Putting them side by side, I couldn't tell the difference between them. They both smell like the inside of a crumbling cathedral, a deep, dry, resiny smell that really appeals to me. Wet on Skin: The same as the bottle, it smells stronger than Penitence now, not by much, but stronger all the same. There's a growing sweetness to it (it must be one of the resins that's not in Penitence that I'm smelling) that's rounding it out and softening the edges. Dry Down: It's still dry and musty but it's become sweeter, reminding me now of Anne Bonny. I really like this, it's softer and sweeter and less harsh. This is what a cathedral should smell like. I feel like I've just been to confession and can still smell the lingering incense smoke on my clothes. I love this! The Bottom Line: Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. It's Penitence with a sweeter dry-down...a sort of feminine version of Penitence. It's a very comforting scent; I feel unburdened wearing it, like I've just been to confession. This is a real feel-good scent for me, and one I'm sure I'll keep returning to time and again. A definite winner!

Always a sensible choice with LE's. I figure they'll be easy enough to sell if they crash and burn, so I ordered some of all of them. ~ Penance

Got a 5mL bottle of this from the lovely cuervosueno and I love it! First Sniff: Very incensey, very dry...it reminds me of the inside of a crumbling cathedral. I've never smelled either frankincense or myrrh on their own, but the combination is beautiful. I love very dry, earthy incense-type scents, this looks very promising! Wet on Skin: The same as in the bottle, but stronger and slightly more earthy. It's an oddly comforting scent for me...maybe it reminds me of absolution, even though I'm not Catholic. There's something very peaceful about it. Dry Down: Nothing's changed, although the myrrh and frankincense seem to be merging together more, rather than standing out on their own. It's not quite as strong as it was before, but that's okay. I think this scent might be a little too overpowering if it was stronger. This would be a great scent for a man or a woman. I love it! The Bottom Line: Beautiful, dry and musty and incensey...like being in a cathedral hours after mass when it's abandoned and empty. It's sad and peaceful and calming all at once. Definitely a keeper.

Got this from the lovely Mandarin...this bottle's really making the rounds, eh? God only knows what convinced me that I had to have this scent. I hate foody scents with the exception of clove, but I did. I had to have it and I don't think I've ever been happier with an impulse buy in my life. First Sniff: A tart...the description is right! I smell apricot a little bit of clove and something that smells like buttery crust. It's not the sort of thing I normally gravitate towards, but this is lovely and very comforting. Wet on Skin: The same as straight out of the bottle, which is good. I'd rather not be surprised by this one because I love the way it smells in the bottle. This is very nice, thick and comforting and somehow both innocent and sophisticated at the same time. I feel like a little girl dressing up in mommy's clothes in this scent and it's not an unwelcome association. Dry Down: Again, the same as in the bottle. It actually reminds me more of the raspberry bars that I love so much that have the raspberry jam filling and the butter streusel crust than it does apricots, now that I think about it, but it's lovely and very comforting to me. Food scents usually have a lot of memories attached to them for me and this is no exception. I love it! The Bottom Line: Beautiful, sweet without being cloying, sophisticated and innocent at the same time. A definite winner. It looks like this bottle's finally found a permanent home. ~ Penance

First Sniff: Mint with a slight hint of violets. It reminds me of something, but I can’t put my finger on it. I can’t smell any eucalyptus which is a shame, because I love the smell of it…and the feel of it (I’m one of those weird people who loves menthol and camphor and eucalyptus in all their tingly goodness ). Wet on Skin: I can feel the eucalyptus, which is lovely, but I still can’t smell it. I still smell mint sweetened by violets...now I know what it was that it reminded me of, the violet breath mints I used to love when I was little; the ones that came in the silver and purple tin and smelled so pretty! It’s bringing back some really great memories. This is like the opposite of the Bon Vivant memory thing; it’s making me very happy. Dry Down: Pretty much the same as it was wet. It’s sweetened a little bit, but it’s stayed pretty true to the smell of it straight out of the bottle. It’s light, but I can still catch a whiff of myself when I walk. The bottom line: Nice, unusual and it feels good, both physically and emotionally. I like it because it’s different and because of the tingly feeling it gives me where I’ve applied it and the happy memories it brings. That being said, I probably won’t be buying a big bottle, but I probably will be getting another imp when this one is empty. My only complaint is that I wish it lasted longer and that I could smell the eucalyptus in it.

First Sniff: The woods…but there’s cinnamon here, too. It’s a confusing sort of combination for my nose, but not an unpleasant one. I love cinnamon and I love woodsy scents, so this is actually very nice. I’m getting a sort of mental picture of Little Red Riding Hood bringing a basket of snickerdoodles to her grandma’s house, which is wholly unlike me, strangely enough. I don’t normally get mental images from scents, unless it’s a memory that’s been dredged up through the association. Wet on Skin: The woodsy scent is getting stronger, overwhelming Little Red Riding Hood and her basket of cookies. It’s almost primal smelling, but oddly comforting at the same time. I love the woodsy scent of this, but I can tell it’s trying to change on me again already. Dry Down: The cinnamon scent has returned, but the woods have stayed strong, too. The result is spicy and earthy and woodsy all in one and I love it! I think maybe it reminds me of something because I keep getting a sense of déjà vu when I catch a whiff of it…I don’t know what, or who, it is that it reminds me of, though. The bottom line: A lovely, unexpected scent. I never would have thought that deep woods and cinnamon would go so beautifully together, but they do. I feel warm and contented wearing this, even though I can’t shake the feeling that I know this scent from somewhere. This is definitely a keeper, might even have to get myself a big bottle.

First Sniff: Cedar! I love cedar…this is like digging around in my mom’s old cedar chest when I was little, playing pirate and pretending to dig for buried treasure. There’s something else underneath the cedar, though, something slightly sweet…incense of some sort, maybe? Wet on Skin: Still cedar and getting stronger. This is really comforting to me, although I can see it being a little too masculine for some women. The sweetness that I smelled before is gone, now all I can smell is pure cedar and I love it. Dry Down: It’s settled into a nice, vaguely incensey cedar scent that works wonderfully for me. I put this on before going to bed and I’m feeling very relaxed and content. This brings back a lot of happy memories for me and the cedar scent itself is very relaxing. Lovely, absolutely lovely. The bottom line: I love this, it’s going on my big bottle wishlist straight away. The scent lasted for well over 10 hours on my wrists and scented my bed beautifully. It’s pretty straightforward cedar on me, with a little bit of incense peeking through from time to time and I love it. It’s a combination I wouldn’t have thought would work terribly well, but it does, and the result is absolutely wonderful. ETA: I don't normally do this, but I've decided I wasn't glowing enough in my praise of Kathmandu. Since I wrote this, I've gotten a 10mL and a 5mL and I'm head over heels in love! Now when I wear it it's more sandalwood with cedar in the background than pure cedar, but I put this on and feel so amazingly content and secure. This is now my "All is right with the world" scent. I can't live without this one.

First Sniff: I smell the rainforest after a thunderstorm. There's something very wild and untamed about it...I smell cool wind and tropical blooms and something green and lush. This is very nice! Wet on Skin: Smells the same as in the bottle. The lush greens are coming to the surface more and more and the flowers are blooming. I don't smell the amber in this, but I love what it is that I do smell. Very sultry...it makes me wish I was trekking through the forests of South America. Dry Down: This is a very linear scent for me. It remains more or less the same from the bottle to the dry down, with only an amplification of the greens and florals to let me know that a change has taken place at all. I really like this scent, it's not something I would have chosen for myself (I received it as a freebie in a swap), but I really love the way it smells on me. Very warm and sultry and exotic, but somehow comforting at the same time. The Bottom Line: I love how this captures the image I have in my head when I think of Machu Picchu. It's exotic and beautiful and lush. I probably won't be buying a big bottle of this, but I will finish the imp. Definitely a keeper! ADDED Dec. 4: First sniff: Green and somewhat watery with a hint of amber. I expected something more lush and floral smelling, but this is pretty, too. Wet on skin: Once it hits my skin it becomes almost orangey smelling with a strong amber background. The green scent has disappeared, which makes me somewhat sad since I liked the green notes more than I like the orange scent I'm getting now. Dry down: Machu Picchu pretty much disappears on me as soon as it's dry (basically within minutes) which is very odd for me. Usually scents hang on longer than normal on me, but this one was going, going, gone in a matter of minutes. The good news is I didn't get the dreaded sour milk effect from the amber, so it's not a total failure. The bottom line: This one's apparently not meant for me since it disappears almost immediately on me, so it's off to swaps with it. Hopefully it works better on someone else.

First Sniff: I smell cinnamon and what smells like cedar. Perhaps it's myrrh. I've never smelled myrrh on its own and, honestly, couldn't identify it if you asked me to. It's very warm smelling and sensual, but grounded and earthy at the same time. Wet on Skin: The cinnamon is quickly fading, being replaced more by the cedar scent...whatever that may be. Luckily, I love the smell of cedar. There's also a growing earthy sort of scent, which I imagine must be the patchouli, which I also love. Dry Down: The cinnamon is gone, leaving a very earthy, woodsy sort of scent on me with a hint of warmth. I've never really smelled anything warm and earthy at the same time before, but this is and I'm amazed by how much I love the combination. It's a very comforting sort of scent to me. I wouldn't say that it's living up to the name, but I do love the smell and feel of it. It's very calming for me. The Bottom Line: Warm and earthy and woodsy all in one. It's everything I love in a perfume rolled into one and it makes me feel very warm and toasty and oddly comforted. I would have liked the cinnamon to stick around longer, but I do love what it turned into all the same. I'm not sure whether I'd buy a big bottle of this, but the imp is lovely.

First Sniff: Hmm...very aquatic. It reminds me of Bayou in some ways...something about the aquatic sort of vegetation scent I'm getting, but there's more to it...flowers and ozone, maybe? I like ozone very much, so this is a good thing. Wet on Skin: Smells almost exactly the same as in the bottle, but the flowers are picking up, edging out the ozone and making it softer and less hard-edged. I like this, I really do, in spite of the fact that I normally avoid florals. Dry Down: The scent is fading quickly, but is holding pretty much true to the way it smelled in the bottle. The flowers have come out and have edged out the sharp edge of the ozone, which makes a little sad, but there's still the salty, aquatic sort of smell of water and aquatic vegetation. It's nice, but I wish the scent would stay as strong as it was initially. The Bottom Line: I like the scent, but I wish it lasted longer. I also wish that the ozone scent was more prominent. It smells like a lake in a meadow after it rains, which is wonderful, but there's just not quite enough of the electric scent of recent lightning that I like and the scent fades pretty quickly on me. I like it enough to finish the imp, but I won't be buying a big bottle.

First Sniff: Strawberry lipgloss. I smell strawberry scented lipgloss. I'm in 6th grade again and it's not a good thing. But I'll give it a shot, I wanted to try this and I'm going t try it...*bravely forges ahead* Wet on Skin: Nope, still strawberry lipgloss, and it's getting worse. This smells exactly like those nasty Bonny Bell lipgloss things I used to love so much smell like. Unfortunately it brings back bad memories for me... Dry Down: The lip gloss scent has dimmed somewhat, but it's still sickeningly sweet and artificially fruity smelling. I toughed it out, but now I'm going to wash it off. I wanted to like this, I really did. I love strawberries and champagne, absolutely adore them, but this just smelled way too much like cheap strawberry lip gloss, which on its own was sickening enough, but when combined with the memory of middle school, was downright troubling. The Bottom Line: I wanted to like it. I tried it. I can't stand it. To me, it's the smell of cheap drugstore strawberry lipgloss...the kind that makes you nauseous to smell it and that tastes almost as bad as it smells. Sadly, it's going to have to be swapped.

I think maybe I'll get some small pliers and give it a go. I just have this horrible mental image of perfume oil flying everywhere as the top comes flying off...it wouldn't be the first time something like that had happened to me. Here's to hoping all goes according to plan... ~ Penance

I love Patchouli, too. Anne Bonny's my favorite. On me, it's more sandalwood than patchouli, but it's fantastic all the same. ~ Penance

I concur, that was a good post. Now I just need to figure out how to get those pesky reducer caps off since my Queen of Spades just gushes out of the stupid reducer anyway... And I like the Viscosity Rating idea, but what would be be basing the rating on? What I mean by that is...how thick are they in comparison to what? I hope that makes some sense...I'm tired. My idea of runny might be differen than someone else's, even if it was on a scale of 1 to 10. But if you said, for example: 1 being the consistency of water and 10 being, say, a brick...well, then I'd know what you meant. Am I making any sense at all? I have this strange feeling that I'm not...it's been one of those days... ~ Penance

I think she meant order imps of other scents instead of the Sugar Skull, but I could be wrong... God, I hope Sugar Skull doesn't smell like cotton candy. I can't tolerate the smell of it...I'm hanging my hopes on Beth's description. ~ Penance

I don't think they'll "hold" something for you, since their FAQ page says "Please keep in mind, however, that we will not process any order until the money clears," but I'd agree with emailing Nella about it. You never know. ~ Penance

I have a reducer phobia...they make me nervous. Every time I try to use my Queen of Spades, about half the bottle tries to come gushing out through the reducer, effectively flooding my arm with it...which wouldn't be so bad if I had more of it to spare, but I don't and it's making me paranoid. I stick to the old glass stir-rod in the bottle trick. I got the idea from that one perfume store...the one that I can't remember the name of...anyway, they had beakers of oils that you could mix to create your own scent and they had little glass rods with rounded ends in them to apply and stir with, so that's what I do now. Bottom line? Reducers are not my friend...at least not with thin oils like Queen of Spades. ~ Penance

First sniff: This is fantastic! The first thing to hit my nose is sandalwood. It smells exactly like the sandalwood incense I used to burn when I went to college in California. There's something else there that I can't quite put my finger on, but it's spicy and sexy and it's making me wish I didn't have a cold so that I could smell it better. Wet on Skin: Still sandalwood, still sexy. It reminds me of dry wood...actually it reminds me of the time I toured the Santa Maria model in Columbus, that smell of salt and dry wood. This is exactly what I would imagine a lady pirate would smell like; I feel pretty damn sexy wearing this. Dry down: Not much of a change from wet. I'm picking up a little bit of patchouli, which is just fine because it's one of my favorite scents, but the spice I smelled earlier is gone. What's left is a very dry but sexy scent that I know is sandalwood, but which reminds me of weathered, dry wood. This could be great on a guy, too, but I won't be sharing mine. The bottom line: Everything I'd hoped for and more. It's a very bold scent and probably one that wouldn't work for every woman, especially not those who prefer softer feminine scents, but this is just up my alley - bold and alluring and powerful. This is going on my big bottle wishlist. EDIT: I rarely do this, but I've decided I wasn't glowing enough in my review. Not only is Anne Bonny gorgeous and perfect and everything I ever wanted in a resin scent, she's my absolute favorite BPAL scent to date! I've since bought 2 10mL's and swapped for another 5mL and can't get enough of her. This one would absolutely tear my heart out if it were discontinued.

First sniff: Oh, my God...I'm in love. This is so beautiful! I'm picking up a strong incense type smell covering a base of deep, juicy plum. And it's really saying something that I can even smell this, since I have the cold from hell. Wet on skin: This is beautiful...gorgeous...amazing... I'm still smelling mainly incense, but as the seconds tick by the plum is coming to the front, making this scent even more gorgeous. This is quite possibly the most beautiful perfume I've ever smelled. Dry down: The plum has really pushed its way to the front, softening the incense and wood smell and making me feel very sophisticated and worldy. I don't normally like fruit in perfume very much, but this is gorgeous. And I got my first compliment on it as soon as I walked in the door after coming home from the post office. My fiance, who never notices what perfume I'm wearing, noticed it right away and complimented me on it. The bottom line: Deep, exotic, sophisticated and sexy. I'm in love...my favorite to date. ** EDIT ** Make that two unsolicited compliments today.

I pronounce it more like "sah-wen" but in my head, it's always "sam-hayn". Also, I always think of BPAL as "Bee-pal" not "Bee-pee-ay-ell". Those are the exact same things I do when pronouncing them! I always have to fight myself to keep from saying "Sam-hayn" even though I know how it's pronounced. It's like a mental tic or something. ~ Penance

Well, guess that answers my question, LOL.