Kimbernunk

This is interesting. It's patchouli with a strong orange blossom topnote and a bit of ginger to round stuff out. It's okay right now but it's sending signals that it wants to age for about six months and be tried again. So I will do that and likely amend the review at that point. For now, however, it's much lighter than I expected, faintly floral, faintly patchouli-woody, and slightly spicy. The throw is about average in that I get the occasional whiff of it out of nowhere but need to bring my wrist to my nose to really get a good smell. Not bottle worthy yet, but we'll see after it's aged.

This is really nice - it's very balanced between the sweet pea and the sage in the imp, and when it dries down it's largely sweet pea with the other notes as a good supporting cast, which keep it from becoming too sweet or too soapy. The tonka and the musk make it slightly creamy and more noticeable; the sage keeps it from going too girly. Overall, I like it for when I'm in the (rare) sweet pea mood - this would be good for spring/summer days.

Frimpage! It begins by smelling like the inside of a salt shaker. It ends by smelling like a faint, albeit expensive and extremely well done, French-milled lavender/indeterminate floral soap. In agreement with a few other reviewers, I could see this as a bath more than as a perfume. Overall: 2.5/5

Dragon's Blood was one of the worst things I've ever tried (on my skin - it's awesome on other people). I got this as a frimp in a recent order - I NEVER would have picked out anything else from the Dragon line on my own. However, this is awesome and sexy - it really surprised me. I had low expectations after the Dragon's Blood experience, but this is sultry/musky/faintly cherry-sweet and really sexy. I probably won't buy a bottle, but will definitely keep the imp around for sexy dates.

I grew up in the Sunflower State, and bought a full bottle, scent unsniffed, out of homesickness and because I love the scent of sunflowers. I can't do a particularly methodical review with this scent. When I first tried it, I got a definite "Woah, sunflowers" followed, thanks to my skin's love of amping amber beyond all reason, by a definite sweet, almost sticky, dark scent (the black amber, definitely). The amber took about an hour to really calm down - it wasn't a pleasant hour and I was starting to wonder if it just wasn't going to work. It finally did calm down though, and I'm left with a really pleasant scent that is vaguely floral and vaguely a sunny, late-summer day. And then I walked over to the nearby farmer's market, which is a block away. In between my apartment and the market is the following: a fairly busy 2 lane road, lots of grass, lots of blooming flowers, and a few crabapple trees. It's really sunny and humid and in the mid-80's right now. What blew my mind was that the moment I walked out the door and the whole way over to the farmer's market and back, I was getting really HUGE wafts of Sunflower... until I held the perfumed wrist behind my back and sniffed the wind for a moment. The perfume smells *exactly* like the air outisde right now - redolant with warmth and lots of grass and flowers and trees baking in the mid-late summer afternoon. I'm in awe. This is PERFECT.

In the imp and wet, it was musk, vanilla, tea. Black tea, specifically. Vanilla often goes very manky on my skin, so I was a bit nervous to try it but thought I should because I know it's one of the popular ones. It smelled quite strongly after I put it on and it had settled like a cuppa freshly-brewed English Breakfast Tea that someone had scraped a vanilla bean into. This would be awesome for people who like sweet vanilla tea. I'm not that person and this isn't really my type of scent. I could see where it would be lovely for people who want that sort of thing. Overall: glad I got to try it, but I'll pass.

Starts very red, goes very, very woody. It's all dry wood on me. It's nice, but I prefer Dee for my wood scent - Dee has a touch of tonka to balance out all the dry wood, and Anne Bonny doesn't want anything sweet anywhere near here - she's all brass and rowdy toughness. This blend would be good for tough, angry days.

This was interesting. It was all sticky red wine in the imp (like a red wine made out of Concord grapes which I've tried once at a tasting and which was, I assure you, revolting). I dabbed it on and it suddenly turned to the scent of thick-stemmed plants being trampled in freshly turned up dirt, with a heavy tone of (a thankfully much drier) red wine on top -- rather like people had been dancing around a tombstone at an Irish wake but were drinking Pinot Noir instead of whisky. The problem: 10 minutes in I started to develop a headache. 20 minutes in I figured out exactly where the headache was coming from and had to wash it off. Verdict: will have to pass on to someone who doesn't get the headache.

This was a imp from a friend on one of our occasional imp swaps. I don't think I would have ordered it myself, but I'm glad I've gotten to try it. Wet, it smells like lime and mint and something woody (but not a clearly defined wood). When I first put it on it was all sandalwood and vetiver, but after it's settled down a bit it's a soft sandalwood and white musk scent that gains sweetness from the bourbon. It has peppery moments and citrusy moments, which seem to alternate every now and again - this is definitely a morpher. It's a very androgynous scent (at least one me, but my skin tends to make everything smell very sweet and sugary so that may be why). Overall, I quite like it.

A sepulchral, desolate scent. Long-dead soldiers, oath-bound; the perfume of their armor, the chill wind that surges through their tower, white bone and blackened steel: white sandalwood, ambergris, wet ozone, galbanum and leather with ebony, teak, burnt grasses, English ivy and a hint of red wine. I don't know when I would have gotten around to picking this out for myself, so I'm thrilled it showed up as a frimp. This is Tintagel's darker, morose, long-haired brother. When it's wet I can't distinguish anything - it's like a loud clamor of amazing on my skin. Dry, I can pick out the ambergris, ozone, lots of wood and leather and a touch of the wine. It's powerful, masculine and amazing. It's too masculine for me to wear by day, but would be great for a date when I want to feel powerfully sexy and seductive. LOVE.

Wet: ROSE. Rose rose rose rose rose. Once it dries, it's ROSE with a hint of orange blossom in the background. The orange blossom makes it sort of bearable. Overall, I can't stand rose, so this is off to the swap pile.

I had hopes for this. I really did. Unfortunately, my skin amps sugar in a really BAD way, so that really sweet, sugary blends tend to smell like burnt caramel on me. That ended up being the case here: I smell like bananas, apples, and a strong overlay of burnt sugar. This one is going to swaps.

In the imp, it smells like a giant herb garden, one which is very heavy on the basil. On my skin, it suddenly develops into a bottle of high-quality aloe gel. I'm not entirely sure what I think about it. Once it settles in, there's a strong aloe-smelling base that occasionally throws out a waft of lime. It's nice and subtle, though I wish it were stronger. It lasts about three hours on me, so if I take to wearing this often I'll have to re-apply a lot. This would be a good candidate for a GC replacement of my beloved Green Phoenix when I run out of it.

Azathoth is the blind, idiot god who sits on a black throne at the center of Chaos. His scent is high-pitched and screeching, both impenetrably dark and searingly bright with the clarity of madness: tangerine, saffron, vetiver, black amber and cedarwood. In the imp: Vetiver and cedar, mostly. I can smell a hint of the saffron, but no tangerine. On skin, wet: Vetiver and cedar, both of which are going nuts. On skin, dry: It takes about half an hour to settle down and I end up with LOTS of amber. It's a slightly smoky amber, but amber nonetheless - amber and my skin ADORE each other with lots of screaming loudness. All in all, this isn't a bad thing. I got one whiff mid-afternoon that had a strong scent of saffron in it. I never smelled any tangerine at all. Throw: average to strong Overall: Not great, but possibly nice in mid-autumn. I'll keep the imp.

In the imp, it smells like Lemon Pine-Sol. Once I put it on, it smells really bright and herbal, like rosemary and lemongrass. This phase, unfortunately, only lasts for about 10 minutes. It then goes to a wonky lemony incense scent that, while interesting, isn't really me. Off to swaps.

Starts out as all vetiver and lavender - very dark and masculine and stormy. It dries down to a striking vetiver/violet combo - the white musk is making it a tad more androgynous than Saturnalia is. The lavender fortunately wafts away instead of going soapy on me. This, I think, would be the perfect perfume for a dismal, stormy day when one is in the mood to wear head-to-toe black and high heeled boots. Overall - not everyday, but I'm keeping the imp.

In the imp, this smells like rotten amber. Wet on my skin it's almost all amber, but the patchouli smells slightly less rotten. No florals. After about an hour, it's a definite strong amber base, but the patchouli and the florals come out all over the top of it. It would probably work for a summer date night. Overall, about 3/5. It's nice, but not quite my thing.

In the imp: Straight banana. That was unexpected. It makes me nervous. On skin, wet: Ginger (which I usually love) peaks out with some very strong, very dark florals. This has potential. On skin, dry: Foiled by moonflower. It dominates the blend in an overpowering way just like it did in Titania and Nuit. I think Pele will have to be my tropical gingerfloral scent. This is a pass.

I love that the major smell in this smells like a *real* apple, and not some bizarre "green apple flavor." It smells like the peel of a dark red apple. The other notes serve to make it sugary and a bit dusty. Overall, very nice.

In the imp: Smells like a commercial lotion, and a fairly cheap one at that. On skin, wet: EXACTLY like Irish Springs soap. Eeek. On skin, dry: After it calms down and dries for about 10-15 minutes, it suddenly goes from commercial ickiness to a smell that strikes me strongly of dew-covered berries being hit with the first rays of morning sun. It's lovely. Unfortunately, I have to smash my nose to my wrist to really smell it. Verdict: Will play with the imp before deciding on a bottle.

This was an overlooked frimp from ages ago that I just tripped over. I'm glad I did. In the imp: WOAH plumeria. And pear. No champagne. On skin, wet: My skin goes nuts on the plumeria - that's almost all I smell. It does smell a bit like the old Bath and BodyWorks plumeria, but not quite as bubble gum-like as BBW's version. On skin, dry: The champagne comes out in a way that makes the plumeria smell like the olfactory equivalent of having glitter poured all over it. The pear peaks out a bit from time to time as well, but doesn't seem to be a major player. Overall: 4.5/5 - probably a bottle at some point. It's very cheerful and bright pink, but in more of a flamingo way than a girly way.

Like many of the reviews above, this was hugely mega MINT when I first put it on. The mint toned down prettty quickly and I went into about 15 minutes of ROSE. Once the rose decided to be more polite and calm down a bit, what I seem to end up with is something that is a combination of all sorts of plants growing around an enormous and very old tree. The mint peeks out a bit every little while and then disappears again, so it's definitely there but not screaming. I'm getting a little thyme, a lot of floral, and a lot of mossy woods. This is definitely very Spring-y and very different from the other 'green' springtime perfume I've been loving lately (Green Phoenix). All in all, I'm happy with it and glad I took a chance on it.

Interesting scent for a rainy day. A friend swapped this to me in a "let's trade what didn't work" type deal - the upshot of this is that the imp's been aging for about a year or so. In imp: definitely ozone/aquatic/sweet+salt and a little bit of vetiver in the background. Immediately on skin: ZOMG VETIVER. Not polite vetiver (is vetiver ever polite?), rather very loud screaming in your face vetiver. Initial drydown: After five minutes the vetiver and the china rain balance themselves a bit - it's like standing outside in a downpour dancing on upturned roots. Dry: the vetiver calms WAY down and is almost unnoticeable except that it lends a slight 'damp concrete' smell to the whole thing. It's actually turned extremely sweet on me as well, which blows my mind a bit. Throw: strong on me - I barely dabbed it on and it's wafting everywhere. Verdict: 3/5. It's nice and I'll keep the imp but it won't be an everyday type thing.

This was from an imp passed to me by a friend. Over the course of 30 minutes: Starts out very quiet and hard to smell. I’m mostly getting violet and tonka – the clove and spice notes are absent when wet. After it dries a bit, it starts adding the violet back in. And then some spice, and the tonka drops out… ...and then it turns to powdery muck on me. It was getting so nice, too. Stupid skin chemistry. Off to swaps.

To begin with, it’s immediate wood and something slightly alcoholic. Like someone has taken some driftwood, soaked it in rum and left it out in the sun to dry. When I wear it, this is an extremely masculine scent. Most of what I can smell at first is a very strong wood scent, but after about 20 minutes my skin starts amping the rum. After an hour, I get a very strong mix of the rum and the wood. The throw is extremely strong on me – my fiancé could smell it from across the room. Overall, not my thing but I’ll be passing it on to the boy to see how it works for him.