symbiosis

Definitely has a smoky quality to it until about an hour into the drydown, when it mellows out. It's like storing a bunch of earth in a cigar box, but once you dump the dirt out and leave it in the air for several minutes, the smoke smell goes away and you're left with something woody and rich and deep and dark. Oh, it's definitely dark, and gorgeous. I haven't tried the Red Patch (but I think I will have to hunt down a bottle now) but I LOVE layering with this patch. If I have a blend that's just a little too sweet or floral on me, I'll layer it with an equal amount of East African Black Patchouli and it'll turn into the most awesome, mellowed-out blend. Definitely a hoardable scent for layering.

I get a lot of peach out of this imp - both sniffing the imp itself and on my skin. The sandalwood, which is a note I generally like, is nonexistent on my skin. To balance out that disappointment, I am glad this blend isn't too floral on my skin. Largely this is a clean, pretty peach on me. It's nice enough, but I'm not really one for smelling fruity.

The lime and almond are what jump out immediately to me in Voodoo. But after just a few minutes the spices start to come out and play - this scent is SUPER well-blended. The clove is kept from being dusty by the vanilla, the patchouli isn't dirty because of the almond, the resins aren't dry thanks to the lime. This blend is intensely wearable - for anyone, I think. I'm about to go attack my husband with it.

What an intriguing scent. It has little throw, as some others mentioned - I feel like I'd really have to slather this on to smell it any further away than 1 inch. But perhaps that could be good? (Airplane travel? Busy waiting room?) This one has some notes I love (Patchouli), some I don't (lily, geranium) some I love but don't love me (lavender, some sandalwoods) - so I wasn't sure what to expect. What I'm getting now that it's dry however, is the top tang of yuzu and vetiver, with the patchouli and sandalwood playing the deep notes way in the back - felt rather than heard in the orchestra.The lavender makes it a bit mascline on me, and thankfully the florals aren't overpowering at all. I'll keep the imp, but unless this works great on my husband, I don't think a bottle will be necessary.

Like some others have said, on my skin this is just a giant floral punch in the face. Coconut I'm not getting, nor do I get much musk. It's just sweet floral (the orris turning violet on me, maybe?) This sounded like SUCH a good idea in the imp - it's just totally different on my skin!

Wow - wet Eros is all celery! Celery! No kidding! Once it dries, though the celery falls out of the lineup entirely and the sweet resins come forward. The lilac is very subtle, and I don't really get wine at all except in the sense that way in the back there is something going "fruity!" The myrrh I wish was a bit more forward with the resins - all in all it's a very balanced blend, even if it's not my favorite cup of tea. Despite the florals, honey, and "sweet" descriptor in this blend, it's not nearly as sweet as I was fearing. I'll be keeping the imp, but doubt I'll buy any more once I run out - it will be nice for those days that I'm wanting something a little sweeter and fruitier than normal

I get the "sweet plastic" that many people mention - a bit like My Little Ponies used to be. (Am I crazy or did they used to smell fruity behind all that plastic smell? Maybe I'm imagining it.) A little fruity, a little floral, not so sure about Dragon's Blood. A nice scent, but not me at all. To the swap pile it goes.

I almost didn't try this one, as I'm afraid of almost any floral note. (And with this one being all roses and lotus, I felt I had good reason.) I put just the tiniest dot on the back of my hand, and the smell that comes to mind is dessert wine, surprisingly. The fruit sugar from the lotus reminds me of a honey-floral Moscato. Too bad I'm not a huge fan of Moscato - this is a lovely smell, especially in the first 15 minutes of wear, but it's not something I want to slather on and smell like all day. For people who like fruity and sweet florals, this would be a winner.

This is an interesting mix of three or four things to me - the musk is what anchors it on my skin. I love musks, but this one isn't strong - in fact, it's barely there. If you're not a huge fan of musks, this one might be worth a try. The moss gives it a cologne-y presence - but not in an overly strong way. If you're not a fan of moss, this one might be worth a try. The sage makes the scent a bit dry and the heather makes it a touch sweet and floral - I know I wouldn't be a big fan of either heather or moss by themselves most likely, but I enjoy this scent. I'm definitely going to try it on the hubs when I get home, as the moss is what is keeping me from getting a full bottle - but I bet it would smell divine on the man!

If I were to just sniff this in passing, I'd say it was slightly floral, slightly sweet, and one of those scents that I would quickly classify as not-for-me. But if you take a biiigggg long inhale, I can pick out, in order, the rosewood and cedar, a sweet juniper, and the lilac and orchid playing together. Sadly the musk is so far in the background on me that it's not doing much for the scent besides being a supporting layer. (Musk generally smells pretty good on me.) After a few minutes this almost smells fruity on me. Odd. While this is a very interesting scent, it takes a long, long whiff for me to appreciate it, and I don't want to have to spend 5 seconds inhaling every time I want to smell it. I think this would be interesting aged, as long as age amped ANYTHING but the florals. I think I'll hold onto this frimp for a while.

I had a unique experience in that I got to compare a new and aged (2+ years) bottle of al-shairan side by side tonight. The aged bottle: this is the potpurri that my mother puts in the bathroom at Christmas. Deep, sweet cinnamon, cloves, and the sweetness of orange tempering these spices. The new bottle: The cinnamon is far less noticeable - this is still a "holiday" scent to me but the spices play nicer with everything else, calming the throw down a bit. On the boy, this smells like he hugged the Christmas tree, but he has some of the strangest skin chemistry of anyone I've ever met.

Amber, saffron and bergamot with mandarin, nutmeg, Bulgar rose, musk and sandalwood. I was in Whole Foods sniffing bottles of BPAL and wondering which to get, when I opened the tester of Baghdad and took a whiff. In an instant I wasn't in a grocery in the southern U.S. anymore, but back in the United Arab Emirates. This is the smell of packets of Oud moist wipes that I would hunt for in every single gas station I went into, hoarding them when I found a pack. Forget the rose, the sandalwood, the musk. This smell is all oud to me, even though it isn't in the notes. This is what the Emirati smell like when they sweep past you in the Dubai Mall. This is the smell of the refined middle east, of ancient histories and art, of grace and strength and mystery. Rose tends to turn terrible on me, but thankfully it's nearly nonexistent in this blend on me. Another thing I noticed is that a VERY little goes a long way. I wiped the applicator several times on the bottle, and then just barely touched the end of the stick to my skin. Another thing to note is to give this scent 30 minutes to an hour to mature. It changes over time and becomes more subtle and elegant and less intense and "in your face." Edit: To clarify: the bottle I tested at the store was obviously quite aged: I tried the bottle I got at home and smelled MUCH more sandalwood than the aged bottle. I intend to let this oil age for a bit and get some of that oud quality back into it.

Herbert West sounds nice - I'll have to look up the notes and see what the aftershave bit smells like. I've smelled some really nice and some really bad aftershave in my life! Aeval sounds lovely with the sage and musks - I will definitely be getting an imp of that! I believe I also tried Morocco once but it was just a little too dry on me? Thanks for the good suggestions, I have lots to work with here! Oohh, I will try that. I'm not sure if I've tried rosewood yet, but it sounds appealing! (And it doesn't seem to behave like rose in the reviews I've read.) Dee sounds lovely! Mmm, Zephr is marked on my list of to-buy now, as is Old Scratch! I haven't tried Coyote either, and I love sweet musks. Great suggestions, thanks!!

So I'm looking for some new smells to try! I have some old favorites but I'm looking to branch out into some new things. Here are my current favorites, in no particular order: Perversion Embalming Fluid Lear Mage Envy Shanghai Mouse's Long and Sad Tale I want something that isn't too citrusy (like Envy, Shanghai, etc) and doesn't have vanilla in it. I'm not big into sweet, fruity, or floral scents. Rose and Lily of any kind smell especially terrible on me. Cedar tends to go powdery on me unless it's a variant of some kind (like the white cedarwood in Lear.) Thanks for the suggestions! Hope that isn't too constricting :/

Casanova In the imp: The way all the scents come together, this blend smells almost minty, in a way. Minty in a lavender/anise/bergamot kind of way. It's intriguing, and more light than I was expecting. On my skin: Like everyone else has said, this scent is pretty manly. It's got almost a cologne aura to it, in a way that some men's colognes smell a bit "overdone" - on my fiance it's a little more herbal, but on me I'm getting hits of Obsession (the cologne). It's nowhere near as offensive as those synthetic fragrances, but that's what it is on me, in a way. It's not what I would choose my man to smell like (I much prefer Dracul or Perversion) but it's a nice smell in and of itself. I like it, just not on me or my man

Chaotic: In the imp: Interesting, I am getting the fruity smells here some people have mentioned, toned down a bit by musk. It seems the heliotrope mellows it all out a bit. I'm not entirely sure what the wasabi should be smelling like, though I do get a bit of a "root" smell that could be it. On my skin: This starts out smelling a bit like a strawberry gummy candy (one of the authentic ones made from real juice, not the overpoweringly sugary ones.) But it quickly calms down into a more earthy smell, the mastic, rooibos, and musks becoming more dominant. While I like vanilla and heliotrope, I'm glad that those stay in the background on this blend. Even after the blend calms down and soaks into my skin, the green notes are pleasant, but the strawberry tingle from before is still present, and it's probably the only thing that is keeping me from loving this blend. I'm not big into smelling sweet or fruity, and while the fruit note is very subtle, it's just enough to catch my attention in the wrong way. A nice scent, but not for my wrists, I think!

Perversion: In the imp: Oh, coconut rum! But more creamy - it must be the tonka mixing with the rum and champagne smells that is giving it that creamy, coconutty smell. The tobacco is sweet and lovely, not dry like some blends smell to me. On my skin: Wow, this blend goes through so many changes in about 10 seconds. I wish I could slow it down and make the changes last a little longer, because I want to savor the different notes! I let it dry down a bit, and what I'm smelling is primarily sweet, sweet tobacco. This is tobacco like when you go to a craft store where they store small bits of tobacco in airtight glass jars for use in pipes. This is the smell you get when you lift the lid and take a whiff. It's leathery but not like leather in most other blends. It's sweet and not dry. And this scent has got great throw. I did two small swipes from the imp wand onto my wrist, and I can still smell it when I move my hands while typing. Mmmmm this smells SO GOOD. I must have a bottle of this - initially I bought it to scent a wig, but I want to wear this more often!! This is a lovely, yummy scent.

In the imp: Mmmm, there are so many notes whirling together in this smell that no one stands out from the rest, and the result is simply divine. The play of rosewood and citrus is just DIVINE, and the florals aren't heavy or prominent, which is good news for me. On my skin: Ahhhh, at first it's still the rosewood and citrus playing about on my skin, this bright, happy smell that practically dances off my wrists. After a minute, the jasmine chimes in with her soft, sweet florals. The lily comes in soon after that, neither of them feeling held back by the musks. I was hoping for more in the rosewood/sandalwood and musk category, but my skin just loves to play up florals, and they had plenty of opportunity to do so with the lily and jasmine here. I'd say the note is slightly more lily than jasmine on me. Alas the florals don't calm down after wear, and I'm not big on wearing florals on my skin. I would be interested to see how this scent holds up in some other application - it smells great in the imp, just not my favorite on me!

Highwayman (this imp has been aged for over a year.) In the imp: Mmmm, loamy vetiver. Green and brown, with just a nod to the florals that linger in the background. On my skin: the leather comes through with a soft brown, rich smell. The vetiver is still there, and those are pretty much the only two notes I'm getting. If I sniff for it really hard, I can smell the cinnamon, but gardenia, red rose, and jasmine are in the background so much as to be behind the scenes. This is definitely not a floral scent, folks! Thankfully the leather isn't going powdery on me like it does in Rogue, which I am perfectly happy with! I want to try this one on my fiance and see what he smells like with it.

Arcana: Ordered this one from the lab as an imp (my first lab order!) and I'm super excited to try it. In the imp: Oh green...like I was walking through the woods, breaking twigs off of green shrubbery and pressing them to my nose. The lemon peeks through, as does the lavender - it's all three of those, muddled together in a big marble mortar. On my skin: A burst of lemon sings forth at once, bright and clear and a little tart. This is NOT a sugary lemon! After a minute or two, the sweetness starts to creep back in - like once you get over the shock of a lemonhead, the sugar allows it's presence to be known. I was beginning to worry that this would only ever smell like lemon/verbena on me, but thankfully after about 5 minutes it's beginning to calm down and let the other notes show through. The rosemary starts to poke her head into the blend, asking for her dry, slightly warm smell to take part in the verbena party. After a while, the rosemary is pretty much the only thing left, with just a hint of the verbena sweetening it up. Where's the lavender, the neroli, the frankincense? I think my body ate them right up, and left me smelling very faintly of rosemary. Minimal throw, largely a rosemary scent on me.

Eclipse: In the imp: almond, with a backing of cinnamon. The vanilla adds something nice to this imp, which has been aged about one year. On my skin: The almond bursts through at first, and it's a little intense for about 20 seconds, until that note calms down and the cinnamon kicks in, warming the whole thing up and telling the almond to relax for a bit and hang out with the vanilla. Overall it's a nice scent, and I think I'd like to layer it with something a little more earthy for wear in the summer. In the winter, this might be nice just by itself. It reminds me of a hot spiced drink during the holidays.

Death Adder The imp I have was frimped on an order long ago, and it's been aged for probably over a year now. At least. It's also a bit dried up so I hope there is enough left for me to sample on my skin. In the imp: dark coconut that isn't sweet, vanilla. The vetiver doesn't come out strongly at all. It fades into the background and lingers there. On my skin: this stuff flowed out of the imp like molasses, thick and creamy, and it smells that way on my skin. The vetiver pops out now and to coconut fades to backup, completely reversing the roles they took in the imp. The opoponax incense-y smell adds a touch of spice, and the snake oil is like no other Snake Oil I've tried. If aged snaked oil smells like this, count me in! The vanilla adds warm and cream hues, all in all a very balanced and even presentation. No note dominates and this is a very complex, lovely scent. It approaches coconut sunscreen without actually crossing the line. Now I wish that I had more!

Mage: In the imp: This is a very, very green smelling incense. This isn't smokey or spicey, this is fresh and clear incense and resin. Delightful. On my skin: At first the balsam jumps out with it's green and slightly cedar-y smell. Unlike cedar though, it doesn't smell powdery on me. It *almost* smells like a yule-type blend, as if there was a christmas tree nearby, but it lacks the spice and heat of a holiday scent. None of the resins are too powdery or smoky on me. I had to look up what galangal was - a rhizome of a plant in the ginger family, that supposedly tastes stronger than ginger. I don't get much ginger smell, but now that I think of it, I can identify a smell that I recognize from thai curries using galangal - a slight heat and tingle, something akin to lemongrass but without being citrusy. In short, I love this scent. It's green and mysterious while still being resin-y and incense-y, without all the things that incense and resin do poorly on my skin (like going smokey or powdery.) Might have to get more of this!

Pele In the imp: A surprisingly mellow floral that's sweet and creamy without being cloying or overpowering. On my skin: The tropical heat hits me right away, and I can almost feel the sun warming the blooms of tropical plants as I stand in the middle of a Hawaiian garden. This is the smell of tropical nectar, sweet but low-toned and not heady. The white ginger adds just a touch of spice in the background that's apparent only when I think of it and inhale deeply. I like this scent, but the throw is minimal and it's just not "me"

Katharina: In the imp: oohhh, apricots. But sweet, sugared apricots, not the kind you would buy at the grocery store and munch on. This is not something I would eat, as it's more like apricot candy. On my skin: The sweetness has calmed down quite a bit, thankfully, and the musk warms the scent up a bit for me. The orange blossom still adds that tiny burst of sweetness, but the apricots are the dominating smell. While I don't normally like very fruity scents, this one is quite calm, though I doubt I'll be adding it to my collection.