CYT0SINE

Last year, three of my friends and I led a committee and were each given the title of one of the four horsemen. How appropriate that I got this as a frimp in my first order, since I was War. Anyway, on to the review! I didn't know what was in this when I first sniffed it from the bottle, and I was surprised by the intensity of the citrus note. That mandarin is strong! I get a general sweet spiciness surrounding it, and I almost swear I smelled ginger, but I'm pretty sure that's just citrus + herbs confusing my inexperienced nose. Once on me, I took a whiff and thought, "Terry's Chocolate Orange!" and immediately started salivating. Lordy, this stuff is delicious. Sharp, spicy and sweet, and dusted with chocolate. With my nose slightly away from the skin, it's warm orange spice. I love it! It calms down after a while and stays at that soft, round, warm orange spice stage, which is quite fine by me. Come these long winter months, I think this will be a great comfort scent.

I just picked up four imps of this stuff on eBay, and I am SO glad. However, one out of the four vials is my favorite. I'm assuming it's the oldest because the label looks worn and it smells slightly different. I think it's had the most time to age and evolve. But they're all awesome and definitely the same oil. My first thoughts on the aged one: happy honey tea! I love tea, so this made me sigh happily. Seriously, it's delicious and warm and airy. There's also something sweet and vaguely fruity to it, but not in the way that makes me think of fresh fruit...more like a breezy day down the road from an orchard. I also get a nice whiff of something kind of herbal, almost a little spicy at times (if I have my nose right up to it). It ends up really clean and soft and comforting. Gosh, do I ever love this stuff.

2007 Version Even before opening the bottle, I had a feeling this one would not quite agree with me. Not that it isn't lovely, but certain scents give me an awful behind-the-eye headache. Anyway...in the bottle, this is ridiculously sweet, smoky incense. I can't get a more specific description here because too many sniffs of the concentrated form will give me a dizzying headache. I even kind of flinched at first because I didn't expect it to be so gosh darn sweet. Once on my skin, it's this beautiful sweet, buttery incense. It's like there's this heavy smoke wafting all around. And I do mean all around me...it's like I'm surrounded by it. Really kind of nifty. Unfortunately, it's actually really, really strong and overpowering on me. Because of the headache I was getting, I had to go try and wash it off. But it's stubborn and really likes me, so it hung around for hours afterward. But I noticed after a couple hours that the incense died down considerably and I was left with this incredible sweetness wherever I applied the oil. As nice as it smells, I'm gonna have to let this one go. Luckily, it's only 1/3 of a bottle, so I didn't pay much for it.

This was my first ever BPAL fragrance experience, so yaaay! I'm no longer a BPAL virgin! I was a little nervous about this scent at first...in the bottle, it smells like boozy, buttery cherry cough medicine with a hint of vanilla. Not entirely unpleasant, but not really what I want to smell like. ^^; Despite that, I dabbed it on and waited a second to sniff. Wet on my skin, it's still a bit boozy, but the fruit no longer smells artificial. I'm getting mostly juicy, tangy cherry and strawberry with creamy vanilla underneath. I can't stop sniffing! This scent is so red and juicy and delicious! After an hour, the fruit gives up the spotlight, and I'm left with this incredibly sweet, smooth vanilla...much like a heap of whipped cream with a cherry on top. I totally smell like dessert. Has me practically drooling, and I keep covertly taking whiffs off my wrist. Now I'm hungry! I need to get me some whipped cream and cherries as soon as possible!