Different smells/colors, same perfume

[Wwindy]

Gah. I'm tempted to just stop ordering imps of perfumes I'm pretty sure I'll love and getting the bottle. What is it about the big quantity vs. the little quantity that makes the imps so much more colorful and complex in the imp? What changes in the bottle? Is it the presence of a wand? Something to do with aging? A different batch? Has my nose just changed?

 

Hi systemaurora! I've had the same thing happen a bunch of times. I've been following the discussions about aging (for Lab imps) and decanting techniques (for non-Lab imps), but honestly I've just sort of decided that it's like that "No one ever steps in the same river twice" aphorism. The BPAL keeps on flowing, and we (or our noses/preferences/skin chemistries!) keep on changing...

[violent_hippie]

Has anyone else noticed changes in Tempest and/or Lightning?

 

I used to LOVE Tempest. I have never found a perfume anywhere that I liked as much. It smelled crisp and clear the first few times I bought it, then when I purchased it about a year ago it smelled like it had some kind of musk added to it. Musk and I do not go well together. Lightning was really similar to Tempest so I sold the Tempest bottle and ordered that instead.

 

I haven't ordered since last year but I was hoping that Tempest would be back to normal by now so I placed an order a few weeks ago. I explained my old problem with I ordered and asked if the bottles of Tempest that they have still have that musk note to them, to send Lightning instead because it was the closest substitute I've found.

 

Well, I got my order today. They sent Lightning, which I guess means Tempest still smells musky. I was really excited until I opened the bottle - it smells NOTHING like it used to. There is no crisp ozone note at all, in fact it smells just like lemon pledge.

I even dabbed a little bit on hoping it would morph on me but it didn't get any better.

 

The only other scent I know of that smells like T / L used to is Sea of Glass, but it's been a long time since I ordered that imp and I don't know if it has been changed too.

[septima_pica]

For all those who are having problems with totally-unscented bottles: I bought a bottle of Chimera around August and it smelt like nothing at all, so I took it to Will Call and the labbies were very nice about it and gave me a new one. I think there may have just been a few bad bottles, don't know how that happened.

[DenMother]

Has anyone had any problems with Western Diamondback?

 

I bought 4 bottles about 2 - 3 months ago and they smell really wrong. This used to be my favourite scent and I was shocked at the difference, these smell like almonds and it's almost as if the snake oil is missing from the mix.

 

I have kept them to check every week or 2 in the hopes it was an age thing but there has been no change. I have even decanted into an imp to age faster but it hasn't changed either.

 

I really don't know whats happened or what to do. I wanted to stock up on this as I used to wear it daily but this isn't what WDB should smell like

 

I wonder if you got some mislabeled bottles then. Does it smell sort of like an almond cookie? If it does, it could actually be Asp Viper. The mandarin in Asp Viper smells 'almost' like a leathery note to me.

 

No it doesn't smell like that one either there is a strong almond smell but also quite Sharp and aging doesn't seem to be helping much either. I bought I think 4 of them at the same time and they are all like that. Very strange.

[rawgirl75]

Has anyone had any problems with Western Diamondback?

 

I bought 4 bottles about 2 - 3 months ago and they smell really wrong. This used to be my favourite scent and I was shocked at the difference, these smell like almonds and it's almost as if the snake oil is missing from the mix.

 

I have kept them to check every week or 2 in the hopes it was an age thing but there has been no change. I have even decanted into an imp to age faster but it hasn't changed either.

 

I really don't know whats happened or what to do. I wanted to stock up on this as I used to wear it daily but this isn't what WDB should smell like

 

I wonder if you got some mislabeled bottles then. Does it smell sort of like an almond cookie? If it does, it could actually be Asp Viper. The mandarin in Asp Viper smells 'almost' like a leathery note to me.

 

No it doesn't smell like that one either there is a strong almond smell but also quite Sharp and aging doesn't seem to be helping much either. I bought I think 4 of them at the same time and they are all like that. Very strange.

 

Oh my! Component change maybe. eep.

[tartchef]

Got my back-up of Hanerot Halalu today, and suddenly yeahbutnobut's ISO for the orangey version of HH makes total sense. My original bottle is heavy on the sweet orange element, but this new bottle is much more olivey - the orange is still there, but much, much lighter, making bottle #2 more of a savory, smoky scent...

 

Luckily, I love Hanerot Halalu in all its incarnations

[biz4brent]

I've been loving Shub to death recently and picked up a couple bottles via sales posts. Here's the thing, I have 2 distinct varieties. One is a golden oil and another is bright red. The red Shub has a much more intense ginger kick to it. Was there a reformulation? What's going on here?

[faylie]

Shub was originally a part of a limited series called Springtime in Arkham (from memory). A few years later Beth brought back part of that series and added some new blends to it and called it A Picnic in Arkham. It is possible one bottle you have is very well aged and the other quite new. I've not tried either so someone else will have to shed more enlightenment, maybe compare some of the old reviews to the new ones and see if that helps. People who have tried both may do a bit of a comparison.

[alicia_stardust]

Shub was originally a part of a limited series called Springtime in Arkham (from memory). A few years later Beth brought back part of that series and added some new blends to it and called it A Picnic in Arkham. It is possible one bottle you have is very well aged and the other quite new. I've not tried either so someone else will have to shed more enlightenment, maybe compare some of the old reviews to the new ones and see if that helps. People who have tried both may do a bit of a comparison.

 

To add to that, when Shub was released as a GC, there were many who said that the newer version was more "lemony" and less spicy, however as time wore on, many of those same people came back to say that the new Shub aged into its spiciness and became more like the original release.

 

 

[biz4brent]

Shub was originally a part of a limited series called Springtime in Arkham (from memory). A few years later Beth brought back part of that series and added some new blends to it and called it A Picnic in Arkham. It is possible one bottle you have is very well aged and the other quite new. I've not tried either so someone else will have to shed more enlightenment, maybe compare some of the old reviews to the new ones and see if that helps. People who have tried both may do a bit of a comparison.

 

To add to that, when Shub was released as a GC, there were many who said that the newer version was more "lemony" and less spicy, however as time wore on, many of those same people came back to say that the new Shub aged into its spiciness and became more like the original release.

 

 

Hmmm, I think both my bottles are from the last year or so. But maybe not ... interesting!

[faylie]

biz4brent, another thing I thought of is are the bottle labels the same? I would guess that the ones from the LE and GC would be different, at least saying 'Springtime' or 'Picnic' even if there are pictures that are the same.

[biz4brent]

biz4brent, another thing I thought of is are the bottle labels the same? I would guess that the ones from the LE and GC would be different, at least saying 'Springtime' or 'Picnic' even if there are pictures that are the same.

 

Yeah, the labels are the same - I'll have to check next time I'm at will call which one is out. I really do prefer the golden one more, it's a little softer and more Storyville like than the red variety. They really are different scents!

[Em-]

biz4brent, another thing I thought of is are the bottle labels the same? I would guess that the ones from the LE and GC would be different, at least saying 'Springtime' or 'Picnic' even if there are pictures that are the same.

 

Yeah, the labels are the same - I'll have to check next time I'm at will call which one is out. I really do prefer the golden one more, it's a little softer and more Storyville like than the red variety. They really are different scents!

 

If you're thinking of something that is out at will call as a tester than I'd be virtually certain that it is the catalog "Picnic" variety, since "Springtime" was only sold for about two months in the spring of 2005.

[forspecial_plate]

biz4brent, another thing I thought of is are the bottle labels the same? I would guess that the ones from the LE and GC would be different, at least saying 'Springtime' or 'Picnic' even if there are pictures that are the same.

 

Yeah, the labels are the same - I'll have to check next time I'm at will call which one is out. I really do prefer the golden one more, it's a little softer and more Storyville like than the red variety. They really are different scents!

 

From our handy-dandy Label Image Gallery.......

 

The original label, from the Springtime In Arkham series

 

Resurrected bottle

 

.....I bought the 2nd bottle of those two as soon as the scent was resurrected (somewhere around Nov of '06), so it's possible the label has been changed again, since the other GC labels have been revamped. It's also worth noting that before it was brought to the GC, this was one of those super-coveted-by-many scents that was really hard to get a hold of! To me, the original and newer GC versions look and smell the same.

[biz4brent]

They're definitely the resurrected bottles and labels. I own a total of 3 bottles of Shub, all 3 have the resurrected label, 2 are golden colored oil, the other is bright red. I got an imp of Shub a while back from someone and it was also bright red, so I know this isn't a fluke. I just thought someone else out there might have noticed this pretty major difference!

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

This has been really frustrating for me. Being an imp fiend I have multiples of many scents that I love but haven't acquired bottles of yet, or am looking for empties/partials for said imps to live in. Anyway, it happens so often that two imps of the same fragrance smell radically different. I have one Inez imp (my original) that smells like toasted almonds drizzled with honey, amber, and myrrh, like a spicy, incensey baklava. The other one smells like ivory soap with a light film of resins. I have an imp of Chimera which is deliciously spicy, and a partial bottle of Chimera that has virtually no spice in it at all. I never know which one I'm going to get when buying a bottle (which is compounded by my cheap-skate ramen-eating financial aid and grant loving grad student tendencies towards buying partials rather than lab fresh.)

 

It makes me wonder, when I've been stupefied in the past by the lackluster qualities of scents that everyone else was blown away by...did I just get a bunk decant?

[tartchef]

This has been really frustrating for me. Being an imp fiend I have multiples of many scents that I love but haven't acquired bottles of yet, or am looking for empties/partials for said imps to live in. Anyway, it happens so often that two imps of the same fragrance smell radically different. I have one Inez imp (my original) that smells like toasted almonds drizzled with honey, amber, and myrrh, like a spicy, incensey baklava. The other one smells like ivory soap with a light film of resins. I have an imp of Chimera which is deliciously spicy, and a partial bottle of Chimera that has virtually no spice in it at all. I never know which one I'm going to get when buying a bottle (which is compounded by my cheap-skate ramen-eating financial aid and grant loving grad student tendencies towards buying partials rather than lab fresh.)

 

It makes me wonder, when I've been stupefied in the past by the lackluster qualities of scents that everyone else was blown away by...did I just get a bunk decant?

 

Both Chimera & Inez are drastically affected by aging - even a few weeks makes a huge difference IME. Both get spicier & yummier with age, so I'm betting your bunk decants are just really fresh.

 

If you're buying on the forums, it's totally within your rights to ask the seller how old a bottle is before deciding whether or not you'll purchase it - I've posted ISOs in the past specifying aged bottles & had great success

 

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Both Chimera & Inez are drastically affected by aging - even a few weeks makes a huge difference IME. Both get spicier & yummier with age, so I'm betting your bunk decants are just really fresh.

 

If you're buying on the forums, it's totally within your rights to ask the seller how old a bottle is before deciding whether or not you'll purchase it - I've posted ISOs in the past specifying aged bottles & had great success

 

Thanks, that was super helpful. The yummy Inez decant I have was actually from you! In fact, all of the decants I've ever gotten from you were fabulous, which is kind of what I'm getting at...there have been one or two other sellers in the past where everything I've bought from them smelled a little....off...even things like Crypt Queen where it's obviously been aged...and I wonder why. Storage differences, perhaps? Testing methods? Not rolling the bottles before decanting? It's a mystery.

[swansong]

I have two imps of Defututa, and one is much more honey-sweet than the other (in the imp). This worries me a little because I'd like to get a bottle at some point and pour imps into it. Has anyone else done this? Are the results catastrophic, or good?

[septima_pica]

OneTheyCallLuna: I had a similar problem with a bottle of Chimera that I bought a while ago. It had absolutely no smell at all, so I sat on it for a few months and when nothing developed I took it back to the lab (where they were very nice --sniff, "Well, that's definitely not it", and POOF, a new bottle from the mysterious backroom stash).

 

Do you know how old your partial bottle is? It could have just been a bad batch from which we both got our bottles...

[cinderfallen]

It's kind of interesting to read reviews because you can see the trends from each new batche of the oil, like For a page or so, everyone shouts "baby powder!" and then for the next page or two, people talk about different notes.

[fiddledragon]

I have two imps of Defututa, and one is much more honey-sweet than the other (in the imp). This worries me a little because I'd like to get a bottle at some point and pour imps into it. Has anyone else done this? Are the results catastrophic, or good?

 

I have an old 10ml bottle of Sudha Segara which I keep topping off with imps. It's worked just fine, but none of the imps have been drastically different or odd. They just deepen a bit with aging.

[Inventrix]

I have an imp of Oblivion, and while the smell of it fits the notes and the reviews fairly well, it's a completely different color! A lot of the reviews comment on it being a murky olive green, but mine is sort of a light amber... I also just noticed as I just got around to testing it that the oil level seems a bit lower than normal from the Lab. If I recall correctly, it was a lab frimp and there are/were no apparent leaks.Most of the reviews for Oblivion describe it as a really unusual green, but mine is a light golden amber. A couple of reviews I saw in the thread mentioned their oil being a golden color, but most are mentioned as green. I think I'm going to have to order an imp (this was frimped) and see if I get a green one, and compare if so.

[cinderfallen]

Everyone knows the story. The wait. The anticipation. And then the bitter, bitter letdown when you've got 5+ mLs of an entirely different perfume than the one you fell in love with.

 

:evil:

 

That happened for me with Anubis, which was so, so, so GLORIOUS, sweet but with with this plant-y sap note holding it back... The bottle of the stuff was just saccharine sweet in comparison. That delicateness wasn't there. And I take my bottles seriously.

[marared]

Ah yes. I was so very much in love with Danube in the imp, and the bottle just wasn't quite the same. Same with Szepasszony. I'm holding out hope that Danube will improve in another year (the bottle's only a bit over a year old now), but I had Szepasszony for 2-3 years and it never matched the wonderfulness of the imp. It's also possible that aquatics just don't work on me in general, and I didn't realize it with such a small base of comparison, but ... broke my heart, man.