Czarina

Smells like lavender and chamomile. I don't smell any jasmine. Seemed to help knock me out last night. TAL Nocturne seems more effective. It smells similar but also has a rose note IIRC.

Lab frimp. In the imp: light floral. Wet: soapy green floral, plus frankincense. Drydown: florals fade, frankincense amps up. Pleasant enough but not me.

Source: lab frimp. In the imp: grapefruit fizz. Wet: (consults scent description) oh, I guess that's pomegranate. Man, that smells like grapefruit. And grape. Drydown: pomegranate and juniper berries (yes, that would be the gin). Very light and summery. So-so throw.

There is no accounting for body chemistry. Sadly, this smells awful on me (it was okay in the bottle). In the interest of science I will try to be specific in my critique. In the bottle: bay rum, but with a medicinal note. Wet: a stale attic. It smells like rotting wood, but not Beth's yummy rotting-wood scent from the Forbidding Foyer of last year's Haunted House. It smells like real rotting wood and rusty nails. Drydown: old shoes. How sad. I cannot smell the booze, the tobacco, the vanilla. They are all off somewhere having a party without my nose and me. I bought Hellhound and all it brought me was this lousy coffin.

Lab frimp (incidentally, filled to the very, very brim--I <3 the Lab). This is an explosion of butter pastry with currants and (very faintly) roses. This is Cockaigne plus currants and (faint) roses. If you like the BPAL butter scents, this one is for you.

Lab frimp with my Harvest Moon order. In the imp: bay rum and florals. Wet: florals and just a hint of bay rum. Drydown: dandelion sap (!). Yes, just like Roadhouse. Sticky florals. On me, an entirely forgettable scent.

In the bottle: grapes and sharp herbs. Wet: whoa, I spilled about an imp's worth on myself. Man, this is strong. Acrid. I smell leaves. cloves, and cherry to add to the grapes and something sharp--an herb? I think the juniper berry. Drydown: smells a lot like Samhain 2007 to me. Pretty smell..but something scary under the leaves...out of the corner of my eye...rustling... Can't smell the fir tree in this.

In the bottle: orange cake with anise. Wet: buttery orange cake with anise. Drydown: orange cake with anise. It's like a Cockaigne cream cake soaked with absinthe. Delicious. The anise fades fairly quickly. I never really get the flowers.

In the imp: fir trees. Wet: fir trees. Hemlock? Sugary fir trees. Drydown: fir trees. No leaves, no snow, no bottle.

In the imp: department store perfume. Wet: department store perfume. Drydown: department store perfume and chrome. Actually, this reminds me a LOT of Privilege--which I like. Not really distinctively BPAL though IMO.

Oooof! The laurel and the bay are overwhelmingly strong in this imp, on application, and on drydown. Not for the faint of heart indeed. The astringency of the bay plays very strongly against the honey wine. The incense doesn't quite tie it well together. Not for me.

Reviewing the very same imp reviewed above by Zankoku Zen! In the imp: sweet Snake Oil. Wet: sugar, incense, and herbs. Drydown: plain Snake Oil (not necessarily a bad thing). Okay, maybe a little sweeter than usual. Not so much different from regular Snake Oil to justify rushing right out and buying some IMO. However, not unpleasant.

I was able to score a partial imp of the original release of Graveyard Dirt. In the imp: wet earth. Amazingly true scent. Wet: wet earth with a hint of ... menthol. Weird. Drydown: this has substantial throw and it smells like wet dirt. Only when I put my nose up close to my arm can I detect the menthol, which lingers close to my skin. I love this. The question is, do I need the BPAL version of this...or the TAL (which I suspect will have a similar scent)?

I had a tiny amount of this obtained in a swap so used the whole thing in my scent locket this a.m. for a meeting with my accountant. Well, it turns out he was recommending I make a big quarterly tax payment based on my projected income for this year. Thoughout this meeting I kept getting whiffs of the cherry/almond scent from my locket. It felt like a caution to me of the responsibilities that come with good fortune. It's not all just rivers of milk and honey. Then I came in to my office and discovered that one of my customers had made the first payment on her account in a year-and-a-half (true, I had to sue her for nonpayment). I suspect this should be considered a longer-term and not a short-acting oil. I don't know if this oil or Wealthy Business is really more what I am after. ETA: Forgot to add. I kept wearing the scent locket with Perpetuum Bonum until I couldn't smell the oil any more. Maybe the day after the meeting with the accountant I was offered a paid gig dancing (I perform a lot, but usually not for pay), which was unusual and very nice.

In the imp: head shop. Would that be the musk, or the dragon's blood? I don't see my friend patchouli listed as a note. Wet: oh, the head shop is on fire! Drydown: yup, the sand and the blackened elements are definitely there. But I mostly smell tobacco and ginger now. This reminds me a lot of Scherezade, without the off note in Scherezade that makes me wrinkle my nose in displeasure. I don't know whether I like this or not, but it's certainly well-done. I'm giving the Ifrit a test ride in my Clocket today.

In the bottle: minty violet. Wet: violet with a hint of Froot Loops. Drydown: violet with an herbal note. <sniffs> Oh, there's an aquatic note, but it smells like fresh, sparkling water, not murky boggy water. The mushroom gases are apparently too evanescent for me to discern <coughs>. I mean, I wasn't fast enough to smell them.

In the imp: cedar and teak. Wet: cedar and teak. Hint of rose. Drydown: rosy-incense cedar and teak. If you like this try: Intrigue.

This is my favorite-named scent of all time. In the bottle this smells very woody to me. Wet: old leather and old paper. Drydown: my college library, which is a very happy association for me. Also, the tobacco emerges. It really smells, however, like old, well-handled books. I'm not getting the incense note in this at all. If you like this try: The Lurid Library.

This stuff smells exactly like Chanel No. 5 on me. WTF? Unfortunately, I hate Chanel No. 5.

This was a lab frimp. In the imp and wet: gingersnaps with, um, clove and nutmeg, I think. Maybe a little pepper. Drydown: wow. Satanic gingersnaps. This stays buttery and foody on me. If you like this try: Gingerbread Poppet, Pickled Imp, MVJBA (more of a stretch).

Got a lab frimp that was full to overflowing with Sin. Hmm, are they trying to tell me something? In the imp: whoa, I'm being hit with the Patchouli Stick of Doom! Wet: patchouli and sandalwood are struggling for dominance. Drydown: this is a nice competent Come!Here!Now! scent on me, but the patchouli and sandalwood are totally overwhelming the amber and cinnamon. This would be a more interesting scent if they could all play nicely together. If you like this try: Intrigue, Madame Moriarty, Scherazade.

In the imp: well, I'll be damned. It really does smell like Froot Loops! Wet: Froot Loops with milk. Drydown: orange cake. Oh, pepper, where are you? Pepper?

Totally bland floral. No mint or currant in evidence. Meh.

Honey and myrrh. Honey honey honey. I smell like a piece of baklava. But that's good.

Yep, rose and lavender. Fairly harsh and aggressive lavender. No, wait, that's just a brief flareup of scent during the drydown. My heart chakra isn't one one of my problem areas AFAIK. This oil isn't doing much for me one way or the other. Think I'll keep it on hand on the assumption that circumstances change.