JazzieCazzie

In the Imp: Floral patchouli. Makes me flash back 40 (plus) years to my teens. Wet: The fruity notes come to the forefront to round it out and give it less of a head shop scent (though I actually LOVE head shop scents and not so much fruity ones). It's quite beautiful and almost, oddly, outdoorsy, like being in a lush dark wooded area (probably with my fellow head shop fans). But it's not "fruity" per se. Dry: On drydown this goes back to head shop ... it almost completely disappears on my wrist but lasts longer in the crook of my arm. It's really huffworthy for the first hour or so. Result: I love love love the scent but after the early drydown it doesn't love me quite as much ... blaming my body chemistry for that ... I would love is as a candle or incense.

In The Imp: Fresh, sharp citrus yet somehow mellow and creamy at the same time. Sweet and slightly metallic. Without having seen the list, I would have been able to identify exactly ZERO notes on sniffing it out of the imp. Wet: Boozy creamsicle! Fresh and minty. Smells the same on my wrist as in the crook of my arm, and very similar to the scent in the imp. Drydown: Still slightly minty (I think that's the star anise I'm reading as mint instead of licorice) but the orange has almost completely dissipated. Very very clean but not quite soapy. Result: This is a gender-neutral scent that I think would work better FOR ME as a bath/body product than as a perfume. It's not something I see myself reaching for in my "box o' imps" so it will instead go into my "boxapalooza" that I'll be putting out there once I finish sniffing ALL of the decants I've bought (through Weenies) but if by chance the Trading Post were to make this in a bath oil I suspect I might buy a bottle!

Hard to do two but here you go ... Scherezade for shmexy exotic amazing (Indonesian spice, saffron and musk) Shub Niggurath for the most hot AND warm ginger spice! It doesn't smell like gingerbread or baked goods ... just hot-baby-hot ginger, yet somehow manages to be comforting and delicious at the same time. A third JUST IN CASE you do not like ginger (some people are very sensitive to it) ... Anne Bonny which is not unlike, to me, Scherezade in its shmexy (patchouli and frankincense)

I bought this as a last-minute impulse buy to go with the Black Light 420 scent and am IN LOVE. Anise is absolutely amping up a storm on my wrist (not as much in the crook of my arm) but in a really good way ... kind of mellow and incense-y and golden spicy. Pretty much EVERY note in this is working for me and working TOGETHER without anything other than the anise on my wrist jumping out to make itself known. And, happily, the vanilla is NOT playing badly with the others (which vanilla often does on me) but may help in some of the mellowing effect. I can't stop taking whiffs of my wrist and arm. If you are a lover of BPAL's incense-y spicy "can't really put your finger on what it is" scents, this is for you! I know it's for me.

I was massively looking forward to this one ... "head shop smell" is one of my very favorite scents and the description above just hearkens me back to my awesome teenage years growing up in New York City (though, that said, some of my favorite stores are elsewhere ... I think Loose Lucy still exists somewhere in the Delmarva beach area, and I remember a place I think was called something like Octopus Sunshine, also a hippie beach town area ... plus my beloved and long-gone Faces of Earth in downtown Amherst where I decorated my dorm room all four years of college ... but I digress). Upon first application I was "oh God please don't make me wash this off" because to be honest the first note i got was ... well, sweat. And not hard-working person sweat but kinda ... well ... salty body odor. I was about to go out and hesitated because I was afraid people would stare at me and not in a nice way. So I did a few little errands, emptied some wastebaskets, and waited to see how it would dry down. Now, about 15-20 minutes later, it is quite lovely ... ALL the nasty in-your-face (and armpits) sweaty smell has disappeared and the scent is more faint and definitely headshoppy. (Okay, it's a little "sweatier" in the crook of my arm than on my wrist but that tends to be the issue with a lot of scents for me, so I will simply make this an apply-it-where-you-don't-create-body-moisture scent (goodbye, crook of arm and cleavage, hello wrist and neck). I DO get headshop. I don't get as much weed. I am wondering if maybe the sweat smell is what weed actually smells like these days (I am pushing 60 and I know there's a lot of skunk weed out there, whereas I'm old-school weed smoker from back in the day when we had different varieties I think). I like this and will keep it and I'll just be very conscious about when and where I wear it.

The Fortune of the Seas A hymn to calming lifes storms and a blessing of serenity and level-headedness: champaca blossom and jasmine with a curl of lavender. When I read the notes here, it reminded me SO much of my very first BPAL buy and BPAL love, Twilight (which was lavender, jasmine and honeysuckle rather than champaca), and I have found champaca blossom to be my favorite new BPAL note, that I could not resist getting this and I am SOOOOOO happy I did!!! IN THE BOTTLE: YES!!! Definitely has the same aura that Twilight had for me all those many years ago (in fact, this inspired me to buy a new bottle of Twilight LOL!) ... somehow it's lush and beautiful and floral but without being all "in your face" ... a subtle and amazing loveliness. Applied to one wrist and in the crook of one arm, as I like to have a dry spot and a "moist" spot because they sometimes dry down differently. WET: OMGOMGOMG so perfect. For me, the champaca just blooms off my arm and embraces me in its warm, sweet (but not TOO sweet) embrace, lush and delicious. I know I keep using these "foodie" terms for a blend that is decidedly not foodie, but it's almost edible in its sweet perfection, not unlike the honey from honeysuckle. It's very much THERE but without being too strong or in your face. DRYDOWN: Sweet in the best possible way but also so complex ... the lavender sits in the back like "don't mind me, I'll shut my mouth but I'll be sure to keep the others in line" in a perfect way. It's unbelievably huffable. OVERALL: I know there are people who are not jasmine fans ... I happen to love jasmine, but know that sometimes it can just crash the party and take over and be all in your face. THIS jasmine does not do that. It hangs out with its sweet buddy champaca and wafts gloriousness all over the place. This is a perfectly purple and beautiful and complex blend and absolutely a new favorite for me! Now, if only the Trading Post would complement this with a bath oil, all would be perfect!

Soothe your cares with a blend of dull, dolorous, soporific lavender, weighed down with opoponax and thick labdanum, spiked by an unpredictable, unsettling slash of black pepper. Proceeds from the sale of this scent benefits the Southern Poverty Law Center. There was no way I couldn't get a blend that not only is brilliant in its purpose but also featured four of my favorite notes. IN THE BOTTLE: Predominantly lavender but with a "tang" I could not place or at least could not attribute to one of the other notes listed as far as I remembered them being on me in the past. Applied to one wrist and the crook of that arm (I always go for a dry and a moist spot, because they can dry down differently). WET: Super duper lavender (which I adore) still with that slight "tang" which I saw in my mind as being slightly "coppery," almost like a penny (which is about one cent more than Drumpf is worth). It smelled identical on both my wrist and in the crook of my arm. DRYDOWN: The drydown on me becomes SO much more complex ... the lavender fades or, more accurately, blends into the other notes so that, for me, NONE of them are identifiable as such but they unite to become something stronger and different and unique. I want to say there is something slightly woody (as opposed to woodsy) but I don't see any of the notes really resembling that remark so I can only attribute it to my weird sensory read. OVERALL: I would call this a very gender neutral scent ... it's clean and, weirdly, "organized" ... It brings to mind a modern, clean office space, one that has yet to be moved into but is waiting for someone to come and take over the desk and do brilliant things (things that are not being done at that one big office we all know right near me in DC) ... It reminds me of the sticks you light in a beautiful vase to bring an aromatherapeutic cleansing to a place. Crazy as it sounds, to me this is like a TAL blend ... I feel like it clears my mind, helps focus concentration and just gets rid of all the cobwebs as a cleanser. Plus, it smells good.

IN THE BOTTLE: Light incense with a touch of sweetness I can't put my finger on without looking at notes, so assume is the bourbon vanilla or possibly the myrrh. WET: Really, really nice when wet! Sweet incense with a touch of someplace far away that I've never been but it smells of travel and intrigue. I may be out of shape or maybe it's that I was coming off of a cold but I could not place a single individual note so it blends well. DRYDOWN: As feared, the oudh (which doesn't always play well with me) and/or the myrrh (which can be grand in a bath oil but sometimes goes sweaty socks on me as a perfume) are more prominent than the benzoin and/or labdanum, two of my very favorite notes. OVERALL: This is a really, really nice and unusual and complex yet well-formed blend but in final drydown it's just not "me" enough to be a keeper.

IN THE BOTTLE: Spicy carnations. Not really getting the honey or the orange peel, and can't tell if the white ginger is adding spice, but I'm getting something close to single note carnation (I'll add that I adore SN Carnation so this is not a bad thing). WET: Super HOT but in a good way (and no red welts) ... I keep thinking I am smelling cinnamon or red-hots, neither of which is in the description, so that's probably just more ginger and carnation. I definitely do NOT get any honey on me and maybe a tiny bit of orange peel ... BTW, glad it's orange peel and not orange, because the mere word "orange" in the description was almost a deal breaker ... yet I love the scent of orange peel. DRYDOWN: The original scent stays very true on the drydown but with more sweetness which I assume is the honey asserting itself ... I'd really call this, if I had to sum it up in two words, sweet carnation. OVERALL: I absolutely adore this scent and it's something that if I happened to sniff someone else wearing it I'd hunt them down to find the culprit so I could ask what it was ... BUT it does not love me as much as I love it as a perfume. If this was made as a bath oil, I'd buy a vat of it.

Prefacing this to say that in all my BPAL years (coming up on 14 or so, I think) I'd like to think that I have finally gotten to a point where I'll usually have a pretty good idea of what will "work" for me ... and when I read the notes in this, I felt like if THIS was not a keeper then I'd just give up ... that's how perfect it sounded to me unsniffed and unreviewed. IN THE BOTTLE: The only way I can describe this is that is smells like comfort. WET: ALL THE FEELZ. Gorgeous, incensey, all the warm and comforting smells of BPAL favorites of the past rolled into one ... truly huffable. DRYDOWN: Comforting and still ever-so-slightly incensey. This is a perfect perfume. It's the kind of scent I'd be totally comfortable wearing "out," not afraid to offend someone that I smell too this or that ... it dries very subtly ... when I say it's kind of "perfumey" I do NOT mean that as an insult but rather it has a subtle high-end scent that just elevates it ... OVERALL: WE HAVE A WINNER and I can still pick'em (and of course Beth can still make 'em) ... and now my box is full.

IN THE IMP: Very very very CLEAN. Lavender for sure and a clean, fresh, bright note that just makes me think of a clear cloudless blue sky rather than something with an actual scent. Stillness is the perfect name for this. WET: Still just very very clean. I think it may be the chamomile that is predominant ... it is "soapy" but not in a bad way for me. Hey, I like soap. DRYDOWN: The lavender comes out more as it dries but more like a dried lavender sachet. I smell sort of old ladyish, but hey, I AM an old lady! OVERALL: I find this really lovely and calming. I don't think it's right for me as a perfume scent but I'd buy it in a heartbeat as an atmo or bath oil.

IN THE IMP: I actually did not "get" ANY of the listed notes and definitely not the lavender ... if I had not known what the notes were, I would have thought it was some sort of fruit. I got lightly fruit and clean and clear. WET: Still somehow overall "fruity" on me. Can't place the lavender OR the gardenia OR the cedar. I get fruit and a dry, cold air. DRYDOWN: Still that ineffable fruitiness but it's going more herbal ... like a sachet or air freshener but not in a bad fake way ... it's possible, I suppose, that what I'm reading as "fruit" is the rich lush gardenia, and the sachet is the cedar and the fresh clean scent is the lavender. OVERALL: This is really interesting to me. I like all three listed notes but wouldn't have thought to have them together, and on me (take that as a grain of salt) they are interacting nicely but all totally morphing from how they tend to react to me individually. Not a keeper but a very interesting and appealing scent.

I confess that I am not a big "hair gloss" user ... for whatever reason (possibly age or just the texture of my hair) it doesn't really "do" anything for me ... that said, every so often there is an HG scent that speaks to me so much that I'll buy a bottle and just use it as a light body spray or something ... This was one of them and I am so glad I got it! LiberAmoris put it perfectly (as she usually does!) ... I love the ginger in it ... often for me, gingerbread per se goes a little too cakey/foody, but ginger itself is divine (as in Shub, all things Shub) ... I also love champaca (my golden champa attar SN is one of my most beloved BPALs ever) ... and the two are both perfectly represented in this scent, just enough and not too much of either one.

Almighty God! no, no! They heard! they suspected! they knew! they were making a mockery of my horror! this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! and now again! hark! louder! louder! louder! louder! A pulsating dragons blood and blood musk bath fizz. Vegan, handmade, cruelty-free bath bombs crafted by Dream Drop Bath Bombs. OMG FIRST? I will take the plunge (heh heh bath joke) simply because right now I'm just completely fakakakakakata verklempt over this scent! I am massively regretful that I only bought two ... I had a very good feeling about the combination of dragon's blood and blood musk fizz, but you never really know what something will smell like until you get it. I will try to describe ... it's shmexy, sensuous, ever-so-slightly sinful smelling. The musk is, indeed, somehow fizzy and bloody and the dragon's blood (which often to me smells like a lush hothouse white flower, which is not a bad thing at all) just blends with this to make it smell like ... well, a spicy hot incensey resiny boudoir that you never ever ever want to stop sniffing. This is maybe the single most truly huffable scent ever ... The bath bomb itself is GORGEOUS ... with little tiny "droplets of blood" I think on top LOL ... If you love your bath smelling sexy and sensuous and kind of the way I'd imagine Theda Bara's baignoir would have smelled, and you can get your hands on one or more of these babies (or perhaps Puddin' will consider taking this amazing scent and offering an entire line of bath goods in it ... bombs, bath oils, lotions, candles, you name it, I'll buy it!) DO NOT HESITATE ... and I promise you that if you get it and don't love it, I'll take it off your hands

Thought I was going to go away from the Weenies empty-handed until I stumbled across the notes in this one. IN THE BOTTLE: OMFG. Glorious golden resiny awesomeness. Something ever-so-slightly "soda" (probably for me the labdanum). Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm. WET: One of the most divine (no pun intended) ecclesiastical scents this nice Jewish girl has sniffed. The saffron, I suspect, sets it apart (since that is also a note in Scheherezade -- sorry for misspelling of the scent but that's how I'm accustomed to spelling it so not even sure what is CQ -- and Schehwhatever is one of my favorite GCs and I have two beautiful bottles, one to wear and one to age). DRYDOWN: Stays true to its wet beauty. Pure resiny glorious gold. VERDICT: The first blind bottle buy that's been a keeper in YEARS. It somehow stays strong and true and yet also light enough to not get overwhelming later on. I won't buy a second bottle because I do have many scents from this "family" (I loves me the churchy resiny stuff) but do hope this might be released in some similar forms!