Suu4LC

Yes-purple and sweet...but there's also a sharp note in there-some kind of floral that I think might turn funny on my skin...we shall see... On my skin this gets less and less purple, more and more green. Eh, I can tell this isn't going to be for me. I haven't had much luck with lily scents lately. Dries into a generic "green" type scent and fades really fast. Totally meh.

Sniffing this in the bottle, I would describe it as "Omnomnomnomnom." Rich, chocolatey bliss! *swoon* On my skin, the other notes come out-the frankincense, allspice, nutmeg, and sandalwood specifically. These keep this blend a little darker-so that it never ventures too far into sugary chocolate mode. Not getting much apple blossom in this-oh wait-I get a whiff of it here and there...lovely! This is such a gorgeous and complex blend! This stays wonderful on dry down. Rich decadent chocolate and spices-I am so glad I picked up a bottle and am sure this will be a fall/winter staple for me!

Ok, I remember sniffing this at will call and not really caring for it-but sniffing my decant now-WOW-this is yum! Fruity and sweet, like a tropical fruit starbust candy. AHH. Why did I not buy this when I had the chance?? I get a little bit of all the fruity notes, and unlike Upa Upa, the rum isn't overwhelming at all in this one! Delicious! I will need to find a bottle of this! Tropical fruity awesomeness! A perfect summer blend!

This smells like honeysuckle and orange to me in the imp. Not as candy-ish as I would have thought based on the reviews. Honeysuckle is a bit hit or miss with me, so I'm not sure how this blend will be on my skin. Urgh, yeah, I basically just get HONEYSUCKLE from this. I don't get any sweetness and barely any citrus. Meh, on drydown it's just powdery lemon honeysuckle. Almost Pledge-y. No go for me.

This sounds awesome...except that vetiver is my scent arch-nemesis. Hopefully I won't be able to notice it in the blend, and I just get a sexy sweet musky red scent! Ahhh, darn it, even in the imp I can smell the vetiver *gag* I'm going to risk it and put it on my skin, but my hopes are not high. Clove comes out strong on my skin. I don't really get any vanilla or cherry at all though. Just clove, musk, poppy, and vetiver =/ This dried down to a sweet powdery vetiver/poppy mess. To ye olde swaps page!

Ooo-I like this in the imp. A rich purple/red fruity sweet wine scent. Sexy! I love the note list for this-tons of things I love! Hmm...it kind of loses some of its initial loveliness on my skin. It doesn't seem as complex and I'm not picking up all of those notes that sounded so appealing. Kind of a generic wine scent with a touch of sweet red fruit and some florals. Nice, but not OMG. And there's some note in it that just kind of makes the blend a bit "off" for me. Not as rich and wine-y as I would have hoped. This isn't bad, but it isn't something that would need to go on my wishlist. I can see it being really badass on the right person though. ETA: Dries down REALLY powdery on me. Bleh.

Hm. I like lily, but the "black" part kinda scares me. Black usually means really dark and smokey, and those darker notes sometimes go yuck on my skin. Luckily, in the imp, I don't get anything dark about this. Lovely sweet lily and a hint of something sweet and creamy-vanilla-ish maybe? Guhh, ok, there is something in this blend that kind of smells like burning rubber on me. Guh, yeah I think the black in this was tire rubber. Fail on my skin! To the swaps!

This is very musky and cologney in the bottle. I'm not really getting much perfume or champagne. Almost seems like there is a deep woody note in there as well. So far, I would put this on the masculine side of the scent spectrum. I do get a bit more of that flirty perfume on my skin, which helps sweeten up the blend a bit, but still, this feels kind of like "generic" cologne. It's not bad, it just feels...meh. Nothing special. It pretty much stays the same on dry down, though the cologne part fades more and more as it dries. That's good, because I like the perfumey side of this better than the cologney side. It's kind of hard to review this because it feels like such a simple blend, and bpal is usually so much more complex. That is probably the downfall of this blend and the reason it is not more popular. It is very nice and pleasant, but not unique-hence I don't feel I would really wear it.

Whoa! This is a lot of notes! Very hard to pick them out in the bottle! Seems like this will be an interesting mix between sweet creamy foody notes, and rich smokey incense notes. Yes, somewhat of a note overload on the skin @_@ Not bad, just...complex. I definitely get the cadamom and clove...mmm, I'm glad those are the strongest notes, because those are notes I love. Just the right amount of spicy! I also get whiffs of fruit and something sweet and creamy...mmmm!!! Warm and cozy, with just the right amount of incense. This is one of those blends that shows off Beth's amazing skill at blending-you look at that list of notes and wonder how it can all come together. It does, and quite well at that! The only bummer about this blend is that it's such a cold weather blend and it's way too hot here in Los Angeles, so I don't see myself wearing it for a while! ETA: I can see this as one I'd need to slather and reslather, because the incense and clove kind of overtake all of the sweet notes on full drydown. That's fine, I like slathering

Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss. In the imp this is buttery vanilla with a hint of aquatics. Very lovely, though I'm not sure how some of the notes will work on my skin (I'm lookin at you sandalwood and sea moss!) Ah, this is a lovely golden vanilla! The floral notes and sandalwood give it a unique earthy edge that keep it from being too foody foody (I already have lots of foody vanilla blends that I like). This is excellent! I need to see how it dries down though, because sandalwood has the tendency to swallow all other notes on my skin. Yep, this is absolutely lovely! Finally, a blend with sandalwood in it that I can wear! Gorgeous golden sandalwoody vanilla. Will need to grab a bottle of this one day!

In the imp I get smacked in the face with PATCHOULI. And some musk. Maybe some other stuff, but mostly PATCHOULI. Yech. I really hope I get the other notes on my skin, but I think this is going to be a patchouli nightmare on me. Ok, on my skin I do get more of the red musk and plum, but this is just way too patchouli heavy for me. I'm going to give this some time to dry down completely, but darn, if the patchouli was more of a background note I could see myself liking this. On full dry down it really settles into something far more complex than that first sniff. The vanilla bean really sweetens this up, and gives it a creamy edge that definitely takes this out of "hippie" patchouli range. The longer this has been sitting on my skin, the more it has been growing on me. There's something kind of sexy and mysterious about this. Musky sweetness without being too foody or too dirty. The vanilla really makes this blend into something special. This wouldn't be bottle worthy for me because I don't LOVE it and it's still a bit patchouli-heavy for me, but I enjoyed testing it and can see why it is so popular!

Alright, I got a bottle of this because I NEEDED Faith, and Hope just HAD to tag along! Here's the thing-it's not that I dislike the idea of sugared rose...it's that rose just tends to go wonky and sour on my skin. There have been many bpal rose scents that I have thought smelled lovely in the imp, but I still haven't found a rose based scent that meshes with my skin chemistry. Hopefully Hope will be an exception. Sniffed from the bottle this is exactly what I would expect-sweet sugared rose-like rose candies! Very beautiful and pink! Hm, ok, on the skin! So far...this is not bad-the sugar is saving this from going too sour on my skin, but I feel like the rose is already struggling to dominate the entire scent. Eh...meh...the sugar is burning away and the rose is coming out stronger and stronger and I just don't like the way rose smells on my skin. *fusspout* It's not HORRIBLE and it is my favorite of the bpal rose scents that I've tried, but this just isn't for me. If I kept this bottle I would never wear it, so as cruel as it may be, I will have to split up the sisters! ETA: Ahh, ok, now I'm waffling. On FULL dry down this is really nice!!! It loses that sour note completely, and I just get sweet soft rose and mountains of sugar!! I think it's worth the drying phase for this...I just might need to hold onto this bottle for a while yet....

Goooorgeous!!! This is kind of like the anti-Kataniya (which is another CD I love). Kataniya is that light floral with the hot yellow metal note, Torture Queen is the light floral with the cool silver metal note. At first sniff, this smells silver-clean and fresh. White tea and florals with an edge-almost unisex, but with enough floral to keep it feminine. Oh man, and it's even better on my skin. It's such a smooth scent. Everything blends together perfectly. So glad I got a bottle of this!

In the imp I get more a much more floral/herbal/green smell than a tea smell. Really, this is mostly peony to my nose. Pleasant, but I am hoping that the tea comes out a bit more on my skin. Right now, this totally feels like a watery floral/herbal. Ah ok, on my skin I do get WAY more of the tea. This is quite lovely! Refreshing and delicate and just a touch feminine. This would be a great spring scent! The only thing I am worrying about is that I already feel like my skin is eating up the tea and that this may end up being too herbal on me. I am going to give it some time to dry down. Actually, on full drydown this ended up being kind of...soapy. Clean and soapy. And it is already fading away. This will definitely not be a full bottle purchase for me. I did love the first few minutes it was on my skin when all of the notes shone through for a beautiful herbal tea/green/floral scent, but sadly that loveliness did not last for me.

Gahhh, this smells SO smoky in the imp! I don't get cinnamon at all, and only the tiniest hint of violet under the strong smoky frankincense. I like frankincense, but this is definitely too overpowering, at least in the imp. Hopefully the other notes will come out on my skin. Ok, I do get the other notes on my skin. It's a very deep violet, with splashes of cinnamon and loads and loads of frankincense. This is a bit masculine for my tastes. But still almost too feminine for a man. Hmm. Let's see how it is on drydown. Ok, this is far better on drydown that it smells in the imp. I kind of lose the violet, but the cinnamon really jumps to the front and it's a very solid, rich cinnamon on me. But for some reason, combined with the smokiness of the frankincense, this becomes almost a woody smell on me. So odd. This isn't bad, but it's not for me.

Rose!!! That's what I smelled when I sniffed this in the imp. I LIKE how rose smells in the imps whenever I've had a rose based bpal blend, but it always goes sour and stinky on my skin. I am hoping this will be the exception, and maybe the lilac and wisteria will soften it up. Guhhhhhh yeah, I am only getting rose from this. Strong strong rose that just does NOT go well with my skin. Bleh, yeah, total rose overload, this is not for me!

This is nice in the imp-musky with light whiffs of sweet fruit-I definitely get the peach and the apple. I'm just afraid the frankincense and myrrh will overtake it on my skin. Ok, the myrhh and frankincense definitely come out more on my skin, but in a GOOD way! They actually deepen this blend from just being a light fruity scent. This is very sexy! I like it! Yep, this was a definite win on me. It faded a bit fast, but it was a perfect sexy smoky musky fruity floral (say that 5 times fast! ) This gets added to the bottle list!

Hmm. I kind of like this. To me it's a rather benign, spicy dragon's blood/jasmine scent. It's nice, but I don't loooove the way it smells. Of course, this blend is meant to be used for a reason, not just as a general perfume. So I tested this when I went to go take a practice LSAT. Did it help? It definitely didn't hurt, and I think maybe it helped give me a bit of a boost. I'm retesting it now under non-stress conditions and it's kind of giving me a headache. Basically, I think I will hold onto this imp and use it occasionally for when I might need a little confidence boost, but I know I wouldn't need a bottle of this.

Sharp white floral in the imp. And for some reason I am getting a peach note from this in the imp...not a sweet peach, but a fresh cut dry peach, that's a little sour...I dunno, this wasn't what I was expecting, but I'll see how it does on my skin. Yah, this is a weird peachy/pear/white floral scent to me. Not as much honey as I had expected. I dunno. This isn't bad, but I'm not blown away by it. It's nice on drydown, pleasant sweetish fruity floral, but it fades fast and is just kinda meh. Will pass this decant along.

Frankincense! Now I like frankincense...I just don't think I want to smell like it. I think of it more as an ambient scent. On application, I rather enjoyed the scent at first-nice frankincense that would be a lovely room type of scent. But it dries down to something odd on my skin-there's a weird sour undertone that I don't like at all. Maybe it's the myrrh? Yeah, my skin chemistry destroys this blend, it morphs for me in a terrible way. I still think it smells lovely in the imp, and would be a nice room spray, but this was not a good perfume for me.

Okay...I should start off by saying that I still don't "get" Snake Oil. *ducks* It just doesn't do it for me. Still, I found the idea of the Snake Pit very interesting and a good way to get me onto the Snake Oil bandwagon. This smells excellent in the imp-nice sweet rich almond/marzipan-a little syrupy, but not sickeningly so. I'm worried this may end up too smoky/incense-y on my skin (which is my usual SO problem), but I have high hopes for this. Oh wow, this is excellent! It's like a delicious spicy almond cookie! The snake oil grounds this from being too sickly sweet and gives it a smoky, sexy undertone. Fabulous! I'm going to give this some time to fully dry down, but I think is gonna be a winner! Grrr...ok, I'm on the fence about this. My skin absolutely DEVOURED everything but the snake oil part of this >_< I lost that sharp sweet almond note! Booooooooooooooooooo. *stomps feet* Yeah, I think I will need to pass on this...I think my skin just eats everything except the smokey incense-y part of snake oil that isn't quite my thing. Doesn't mean I don't want to try more of the Snake Pit...just not sure any will work on me. *pout*

Uhoh. When I thought martini, I had thought vodka, but it seems this one is gin based! Eep. I'm not a huge fan of gin, but I'm not drinking the oil so I suppose I should give it a shot, eh? Ooof gah. Yeah, this is VERY gin-like in the imp. Strong and herbal and a little fizzy feeling. OMG, this is dreadfully strong herbal piney gin doom on my skin. So not for me. I am going to give it some time to mellow, but I am sure this will be a fail. That's what I get for not checking the reviews before going after an imp! Yep. This is GIN. Not me for me, but I would definitely recommend it to someone who wanted to smell like Gin.

Geh. Ok, I am a fan of lavender, but this blend is pretty painful to sniff in the imp. It smells very medicinal...kind of like Afrin, that stuff you snort up your nose when your sinuses are clogged you know? While it definitely smells better on the skin (more like a weird lavender-menthol throat lozenge, than Afrin), this is still a huge no go for me. The menthol-y medicinal note does dissipate when the blend completely dries, but then it's just a meh herbal lavender and totally not worth the wet/drying phases.

In the imp, this is white musk with little whiffs of poppy and patchouli. It smells very gender neutral, or maybe even a little masculine. This smells very cologne-y on my skin. Like nice, but generic men's cologne. One thing I will say is that this is one of the most wearable patchouli blends I have ever tested. The poppy fades very fast on my skin though. Overall, this isn't something I would wear, but I think it is a very nice, light unisex cologne style blend.

Mmmm, this is super yummy in the imp! A nice strong shot of syrupy sweet apricot with a touch of booze to keep it from being saccharine. Hmm, I'm not sure how I feel about this on my skin...it's smells a bit odd and I'm not sure what it is...I'm going to give this time to fully drydown and see how it settles. Okay, gave this a full wear-through and the verdict is...I like it! This is a very good sweet apricot scent. The brandy makes it a heavier as opposed to a light fruity scent, but the booziness is not overwhelming the apricot. A good cold weather fruit scent. I'm not going to rush out for a bottle of this, but it will get added to the list of bottles to seek out eventually. Exellent blend!