JenM

In the imp: burnt caramel and toffee. On the wrist: Stops being foody and becomes sunnier, almost clinical—by which I mean I don’t quite smell pine but the effect on my sinuses is reminiscent of a sharp pine. There’s an almost sickly sweet smell that goes nearly plastic-y on me. It varies between being sunny and fresh and like a band-aid. That’s on the left wrist. On the right, it’s warmer with a hint of resin and incense. After it reaches that stage, fades quite quickly. 4/10.

In the imp: warmth with powder and a hint of bandaid. On the wrist: Carnation, with a faint hint of spice. I’m not getting musk or sandalwood except as a vague warmth which backs up the carnation. Which is odd, coz sandalwood normally jumps out on my skin. I shall wait and see. An hour: The sandalwood started to come out, but then the whole kit and caboodle faded to virtually nothing. What’s left is carnation, the faintest whiff thereof. Swapsies.

In the imp: orange, without a drop of citrus. Fuzzy warmth of some sort of resin or incense. On the wrist: a warm pine-like resin, which I *believe* is what myrrh is. On drydown, develops—well, this is fanciful, but I hear a fire crackling in the background. I’ve always loved synaethesia. Fading into pretty much the single myrrh note. An hour and a half: Strongly woody (sandalwood?) now, but still resinous. No hint of the spice or floral others say they got. On me it’s very warming and masculine. One for a winter’s day, perhaps—on my skin it seems wrong for summer. One for swaps.

In the imp: wet not-quite-pine. Almost soapy. I put it on with trepidation. On the wrist: sea breeze with sea lavender in it. On drydown, converts into an aftershave-y scent, like one of the Boots brand marine lines. It’s not dark at all. It’s light and spring-like. Nope. Too much like Boots body gel. Off it comes, and into the swapsies.

In the imp: green, but not green like Squirting Cucumber. It’s darker than that, and completely different. Night-blooming green, with some purple, perhaps. On the wrist: vanishes immediately. Seriously. Nothing left. Doesn’t last even 10 minutes. Oh well. Swaps it is.

In the imp: cucumber sandwiches and cookies. On the wrist: Cucumber, complete with the tang of the skin, and something almost honeysuckle-like. Reapplied, as faded quickly. Reading reviews now—I suppose it could be lily-of-the-valley, not honeysuckle. It’s a fresh scent, not cloying, and is very very pleasant. The floral JUST keeps me from trying to gnaw my wrists off to get at the cucumber. I like this. It’s cool and soothing. If we ever get a summer this year in the UK it will be perfect.

The Mock Turtle’s Lessons In the imp: sweetness and a very light floral. On the wrist: The same. Waiting to see if it morphs into anything. Ah, the sweetness is apples! Sweet, crisp apples, warmed off the tree. There’s something watery, there, too, though not a scent so much as something that runs through the apples and leaves holes. Reading reviews, I’m not getting any citrus or mint at all. This is the second application. The first was gone within 15 minutes. After…a bit (hey, it’s 0540, don’t expect good timekeeping): the apples have faded, but the floral comes out more strongly. It’s a delicate floral. Lasting longer this time. If I had any idea what time I put it on this would be useful. In the morning after some sleep: still lasting. Very faint. More like apple blossoms in spring in a warm wind than teeth-crunching apples. Floral has mutated into the blossoms, the two strands combining. Very pleasant.

I'm sorry I can't be more positive: in the imp, this was floral with a hint of fruit verging on what my uneducated nose deemed "artificial." On the wrist: Motorway service station restroom soap. I was at a BPAL party. I waved my wrists at assorted members of both sexes. They all agreed. Motorway service station restroom soap. Stayed that way. Washed it off. Bummer.

In the imp: perfume-y with a backing scent of pine, and a hint of a flower I can’t place. On the wrist: sandalwood, mostly. The attar of rose (I cheated and looked it up) floats gently in the background, but I’ve really got to pay attention to notice it. The throw, though, now that I can smell is, is mostly rose, with the sandalwood up close. How odd. An hour: the sandalwood has mostly faded. The rose remains, but faintly, almost hauntingly. Two hours: a haunting, ephemeral spicy rose. No throw to speak of, unfortunately. I do like the fact that the patchouli is completely absent.

In the imp: Florals and neroli; maybe a hint of vanilla. On the wrist: sandalwood and musk come through clearly. Still not getting any lemon. 15 minutes: Oh, going very musky. Time to wash. Oh well.

In the imp: Fruit and flowers. Yellow flowers. On the wrist: I can smell nectarine. Nectarine and night-blooming flowers, but it’s still a bright scent. I rather like this. Two hours later: Still present, still with a good throw. Not unlike Aglaea in that it is an ambery peachy flavour, with an undercurrent of white blossoms. (Yes, they’ve morphed.) Not enough distinction to make me keep the imp, but very pleasant. 6.5/10

In the imp: sweet, sweet. Almost like bubblegum, undercut with honey and sugar. On the wrist: My first thought is that this would be really good layered with an amber. Fades fast on the wrist. Half an hour: I can only smell it by snorting my wrist. Utterly gone. Bother.

In the imp: Mostly orchid. Don’t get any roses at all. On the wrist: almost a frangipani-like smell. Drydown: This is all fuzzy orchid. The fuzziness is I think the labdanum, which I just looked up on wikipedia and discovered it’s a resin. Sometimes I get a hint of rose, but just a hint. I was hoping for rose with a hint of other things  Okay, I wandered away from the computer for a few hours whilst it was morphing. The end of it is it lasted for HOURS—longest-lasting fragrance for me to date. And the labdanum faded, leaving only the rose and orchid. Very nice indeed. 7/10

Pride In the imp: I’m beginning to think that Dove soap was florally-fragranced, as it seems to be my default “I can’t identify this rather pleasant smell” floral description. I can smell the rose Maroc, but it smells more red rose than rose Maroc to me. On the wrist: a heady floral. Still getting that soapy tang though. Drydown: No, no good. It’s not unplesasant, but it makes me want to go rinse my hands. Layered with whatever soap my parents have, it’s dulled back to a lovely rose. How bizarre. Swaps.

In the imp: A middling to dark floral, with a tang of something like heather. On the wrist: No one note leaps out. It’s still floral rather than “green”, and has a disappointing waft of department-store perfume. Drydown: a sweet, still slightly perfume-y floral with dark notes. I can so very nearly smell the individual notes in this, but I can’t identify them. Very faint, though. I think I like this, but I may be trying too hard based on the fact that I love the name and concept. Half an hour: fading to white roses. Am going to save this and try it again when my body hasn’t been thrown out of whack by flying.

In the imp: I get a sweeter, darker honeysuckle, which is probably the lotus. On the wrist: Lotus with a touch of myrrh that stings my eyes a bit. Good throw. Drydown: sandalwood getting progressively stronger, but not quite overpowering the lotus. Amber is starting to kick in, too. Half an hour: My skin appears to be eating scents today. Maybe it’s a hormonal thing. Anyway, it’s a nice floral amber with occasional shouts of sandalwood. Later: Hmmmm…I’m beginning to suspect my skin amps sandalwood, coz that’s mostly all that’s left. This bears investigation.

Just a warning note to say I am predisposed not to like musk and/or patchouli. But this came as part of a job lot on ebay, and I loved Ladon to bits, so I tried it. In the imp: sweet incense. On the wrist: a dark red oil. It actually stains my skin. Smells like a hippy shop with some dried fruit you discover by the cash register. Dry: Just incense. Gives me a bit of a headache. Half an hour: pleasant enough. Still generic incense though. Later: Making me lightheaded and woozy and sneezy. Off it comes. 2/10. Not an incense person.

Not for me, I'm afraid. In the imp: Um, sorry, but it smells of band-aids. Complete with slightly astringent smell. On the wrist: a very warm smell, herby/resiny, but I just can’t get band-aids out of my head. I’m a bit at a loss, so I’m going to check the reviews and see what they have. Drydown: sandalwood, definitely. And maybe a hint of lemon balm—not citrussy enough actually to be lemon itself. Still very warm. You know, there’s simply not enough there for me even to make up a metaphor, however stretched. Randomly layered it with Zephyr—makes it brighter, and less incense-y. Summery-er. But I’m not keeping it just for that.

A Catherine wheel of scents—whirling furiously and burning itself out. In the imp: a muted, fruity lavender-type smell. The description says blackcurrant and fig. I can see blackcurrant, actually—it’s as if you mixed resin with lavender and then wafted some Ribena through it. On the wrist: simultaneously sweet and sour, though not of the sauce variety. I’m getting citrus—zest rather than fruit. It smells like zest tastes like. Dry: Still zesty. I think I’m picking up sweet and sticky, too. 15 minutes: faded to musky or dusty lavender. 45 minutes: oh, how odd. It’s turned into cedar, pure and simple. And it’s fading. 90 minutes: no longer cedar; undefined evergreen, with lots of sap (that may be the frankincense?). Okay, fruit to evergreen is really weird. Too odd for me—I’d need rapid mood changes to keep up with it!. Swapsies.

In the imp: a lurid reddy orange that is the exact colour of what we used to call “essence of nuclear oil” at a local Chinese restaurant. Smell: a rather nice floral, blossoms rather than full-blown flowers. Very spring-like. On the wrist: A bit echoey, as if there’s a hole where the main scent should be. Not astringent, not antiseptic, just…a hole. I think it’s meant to be apple, looking at the description, but my skin is doing something funny to it. Dry: left wrist: quite lovely. A bit like I remember Cacharel’s scent Anais Anais smelling. Right wrist: still has that hole. An hour: a hint of something like lilac. I love lilac. Two hours: can’t differentiate the scents any more, but this is a lovely floral. 7/10

In the imp: my first reaction is “dust and chocolate.” Then I read the description, which says “Irish coffee,” and think “of course.” But dust and chocolate is my honest reaction. On the wrist: exactly as in the imp. Drydown: much more coffee-y in the throw, but up close I still get that dusty smell. One hour: The whole room smells of coffee. Funnily, wrists when sniffed smell completely different to the throw. They smell like Kahlua. Two hours: hint of wood on both wrists. The throw of coffee is still almost overpowering; I think I may have to wash it off. It's not unpleasant, but I'm not a coffee drinker. And it does smell more of Kahlua than coffee. Like a white sombrero. 5/10. Nice, but not for me. ETA: Just washed my wrists and it's still there. THat's some staying power!

In the imp: Peach, darkened by myrtle, but still bright. On the wrist: PEACH!!!! And more peach. The myrtle is completely overshadowed and I get no sense of wine. I think the amber is intensifying the peach smell, giving it better throw. It's very, very fruity. Dries down to a nice peach scent, that fades within the hour. 6.5/10 because it fades so quickly, which keeps it from sevenhood.

In the imp: A bit of rose made pungent by patchouli and sharp by the sandalwood. On the wrist: It stings. Not a good sign. The patchouli comes out and drowns the sandalwood, but the rose puts up a fight. After 20 minutes: Still slightly burning, and the patchouli won't blend or go away. I'm not fond of patchouli, so I wash it off. Can't bear to wait to see if the sandalwood makes a reappearance. 2/10, though if you like patchouli this is a nice compromise between hippy/goth shop and floral. Swaps ahoy.

In the imp: Oh, this is lovely. I can actually smell the amber instead of it just being a deepener. Sweetness that doesn’t cloy. The honey is floral in the imp. On the wrist: well, wrists are differing again. Left wrist: really, really sweet, and it’s not just because I’ve sniffed Aunt Caroline’s Mojo again. Right wrist: much more amber-y, resin not quite taking over. Drydown: It smells of the back of New England general stores, where the candy is kept. As far as I know general stores aren’t linked to sexual obsession, but hey, Lovecraft lived in Providence, so what do I know? Right wrist: has developed a bit of a tang—a darker amber working with the honey, I think. 20 minutes: has deepened to something deeper than innocence, but I still don’t get defilement from it. It’s almost lilac-y on the left wrist, and a bit sickly sweet on the right. A bit of sweet vanilla. Hour and a bit: Throw has vanished. Left wrist: it’s not just honey, and it’s not just vanilla. The combination goes a bit fruity. (Not like that—down in the back!) Right wrist is the same but a little bit cloyed or spoiled. Still not “defiled,” though. Two hours: still that same sweetness. Lots later: faded from right wrist. Finally get a sense of what could be termed "sensual" on the left.

I’m in need of a little joy. The construction upstairs started before nine, and I got to sleep at about 4:30. So: In the imp: something bright, and the only scent my mind wants to name is fruity bubblegum. On the wrist: My nose isn’t educated enough to describe this. And there’s no helpful description on the db, either. It smells…bouncy. I’ll go look up reviews and see if that helps. (People are saying bubble gum. And fruit. Maybe I’m not as mad as all that.) Dry. Veers away from the bubblegum into something different on each wrist. The right is almost caramel-y. The left: dammitall, why can’t I define this? But as aromatherapy goes, it seems to be working a bit. Hasn’t prevented the builders from drilling through the floor upstairs through my ceiling. After 15 minutes: left wrist: still a sweet, sweet smell. Reminds me of a carnival. Right has faded to vanilla: reapplied. About an hour: no real throw, and still sweet. I still want to say toffee (American kind) or bubblegum. Three hours: faded to a sort of hot fried-bread-with-icing-sugar smell, with what I think is a bright amber. I am getting fond of amber. It seems to increase throw and last time. At least a 7/10; might be higher if it weren’t so sweet. Can be persuaded to swap for something else lurrrvely.