JazzieCazzie

I ordered this because for some reason I thought it would be like a combination of Nemesis and Velvet ... BOTTLE: The Nemesis vibe from the fig is definitely there, a complex spicy woody scent. WET: Upon application the cocoa really rises and it is very "chocolate-fruity," sort of like I imagined Vice to smell from the descriptions and reviews I read of it ... but also with a liqueur kick to it. This is definitely more "fruity" than Nemesis and I got very minimal woody vibes. DRYDOWN: I just can't make up my mind about this. It is the oddest thing. I keep getting two very separate and distinct throws from it, and I like one and don't like the other ... the one I like is spicy and subtle. The one I don't has a very fruity-rich smell that reminds me of my grandfather's office where all the scents and essences he worked with jumbled together. Alone each was fine but combined they were overwhelming to me ... it just kept distracting me all day.

I ordered an imp of this based on the notes, but received it as a frimp in the order before that one comes so I will have two of these soon ... BOTTLE: A really wonderful floral. Somehow so familiar and comforting, I can't really pick out any of the individual notes in the imp. WET: It's a very rich and lovely and warm scent, and as I said, somehow familiar from childhood. It's really clean. The "church smells" keep it from being too overwhelmingly floral. DRYDOWN: Sadly, it went a bit soapy on me ... I have figured out that I am pretty sure it is the lily that does this to me. But the scent has a lot of legs and by the end of the evening it was still subtly there, a bit less soapy but rich and sweet ... I keep thinking that though it's not in the description, there may be some honey in it ... I had a bottle of Sephora's honeysuckle scent that was heavily honey, and this reminds me of the drydown on that. I don't think I would wear this as a perfume but I think it would make an AMAZING bath oil and plan to put aside my two imps for that purpose.

I know I had this as an imp that I used up and while I recall really loving it, for some reason that I could not remember I had NOT gotten a big bottle of it when I was buying similarly floral scents in 5 MLs such as Eve, Spectre, Nocturne and Old New Orleans ... BOTTLE: A tangy floral but lurking somewhere behind it was something slightly sour. However it has been my experience that the bottle scent is the least reliable. WET: A very unusual floral ... I could be wrong, and I am sure others here can confirm or deny, but I think Delight may be the only BPAL scent to include Frangipani so that might be the unique scent. Very tropical and summery ... NO hint of rose on me with this at all. DRYDOWN: I love the initial throw while it is drying down and interestingly enough it seems to give a different throw on my wrists and from my cleavage. A sexy summer vacation scent ... BUT I also remembered why I didn't get a big bottle originally now ... it dries down a little bit plastic-y on me ...

For some reason I thought I had posted it but couldn't find my post so if I am just being braincrampy, please forgive ... Weird one, but I've found that the drydown of Venom reminds me a lot of Sakura ... that clean laundrry/cherry blossom scent. And the funny thing is I don't like cherry blossom in anything but Sakura and Venom (not even sure if Venom has cherry blossom or if the note that seems to similar to me is something else completely) ...

Ditto-ing on the "body chemistry" thing and to take that one step further, for me at least that even changes from day to day ... Certain scents just disappear on me immediately (sadly) ... others I can't get rid of no matter how often I scrub ... Yesterday I wore Hamadryad and though I thought I had applied it pretty sparingly, I definitely was getting throw all day and all night. Two others I remember offhand as having had good legs all day for me were Sin and Black Dahlia ... I'm wearing Wolf's Heart today and getting moderate but steady throw now six hours after application. I find, also, that cleavage application generally guarantees good steady throw so I only do that when it's an already tested and favorite scent ... Whoever said that Nemesis had strong and steady throw for them, I am envious. That is one of my top three scents but it just doesn't stick around as much as I'd like it to, even when I layer it with my special Aveeno Nemesis lotion.

PENANCE ... sounds like we may be quite twinnish in our tastes ... DEFINITELY try Fire of Love ... I went back over my reviews and that was the one that just cedared me out of my mind!!!!!!!! But in a good way ... By the way, haven't seen this one listed ... for those of you bemoaning the loss of Scorpio, have you tried Veil? I made lotions with both and can't tell the two apart ...

Received this as a lovely gift from the Lab ... BOTTLE: Very very resiny. I was really stuffed up when I tried this and it cleared my sinused in a second. Delicious! WET: Pure resiny goodness on me. Very few layers of different notes. Just resin. Happens to be one of my favorite BPAL notes so no complaints here. DRYDOWN: This has legs and really kept throwing all day. The best way I can explain it is it's a lot like Kathmandu on me but without Kat's many complex layers. A definite keeper that I will use up till it's gone and not cry too much because I have big bottles of Kathmandu in the meantime.

Received both this and Saturn as lovely gifts from the Lab in my last order as I am being sadly weaned off my beloved celestials ... BOTTLE: Hot and spicy and red cinnamon. Always a good sign for me. WET: Absolutely delicious, one of the woody spices (maybe sandalwood, not sure) kicks in right away and somehow softens the cinnamon and adds another layer. Though it was the tinest bit pharmaceutical at first, that dissipated the minute it dried. DRYDOWN: I am crying that I have discovered this too late for a big bottle. I want to eat my wrists. REVISITED AND RE-REVIEWED MARCH 2013: When I was re-reading all of my old reviews to make sure I didn't create second posts in the review threads, I re-read this review and was saddened again, 8 years later, that I never got that big bottle of Mars. But thanks to an AMAZING forumite, my DISO prayer was answered and we completed a swap that brought this precious back into my life. I don't know if this was a 2004 bottle or one from the brief re-release but I am pretty sure the scent was the same (unlike the zodiac re-releases of 2007). IN THE IMP: When I first tried this in 2005, I was unfamiliar with Dragon's Blood so I was unable to identify it. Now, it's one of my very favorite BPAL notes, plus I've gotten a little better at identifying other notes as well. So, that said. DRAGON'S BLOOD DRAGON'S BLOOD DRAGON'S BLOOD with a tiny bit of spicy kick of cinnamon. Mmmmmmmmmm. Was a little too daring and excited perhaps, dabbing on both wrists, into both crooks of arms, into cleavage and behind ears. WET: So very very very very delicious. A rich red blend of the already-spicy floral of DB combined with oodles of cinnamon. I didn't get any welts but admit that my arms itched a bit for about 20 minutes. SO worth it. DRYDOWN: I never got any clove from this, but on the drydown the sandalwood/woodsy note rose and quieted it down just a little bit, so that the throw mellowed. This was a good thing since I was out to dinner with hubby and brother-in-law and I didn't want the scent to be so strong that I would overpower the North Carolina barbecue. OVERALL: This is just a gorgeous, gorgeous scent. I am so grateful to have it back in my life. On a scale of 1-5, a definite 5.

Still very torn on this one ... want to try it one or two more times, stealthily, before deciding what to do with it ... I didn't initially order it, despite the fact that it sounded like that sought-after Christmas pine scent, because of the high-up mention of berries. Anything remotely berryish hates me ... but I got Snow White which TOTALLY didn't work for me and swapped it for a 5 ML of the Skadi figuring nothing ventured nothing gained ... BOTTLE: Definitely the Christmas tree pine scent pretty much dead on, but a little bit of the "this is what the craft stores and BBW think a Christmas tree is supposed to smell like" vibe going on ... more like a well-scented candle or potpourri. WET: I made a mistake here. I put it on reasonably generously and then went to watch TV with husband and daughter. The two of them practically ran out of the room they hated it so much. They have NEVER reacted like that to a scent, certainly not a BPAL scent. They told me I stank like PineSol and to please never wear this again (remember my husband has minimal sense of smell so this must have been powerful to make him say this). I don't know if I just put too much on or was in too close quarters or what. I can't even tell you what happened on drydown because I was forced into washing it off. I plan to try it again much more sparingly applied when they're not around to see what happens ... if it has the same cleaning solution affect when it hits my body, this will sadly go into the swap pile (that won't happen until after the arrival and testing of my two outstanding orders and their nine six-packs of imps ... I want to do this theorganized way, put them all out there at once and try to work in bulk).

This is one of the in six-packs of imps I have on order, but a friend on the LUSH BPAL board had one she was willing to part with and knew I loved sandalwood so I got one earlier than expected!!! BOTTLE: At very first sniff sharp and bitter and yet comforting at the same time, if that makes any sense. Definitely made me willing to apply pretty generously. WET: It softens to something sweet and spicy almost immediately when it hits my skin ... the sandalwood loves me and vice versa. DRYDOWN: There is something remotely pleasantly soap about this that adds into the sandalwood and the herbals, though I found myself sneezing a lot and hope that is just my coming down with a cold ... I LOVE this scent. Definitely a keeper, glad I'll have two vials of it. Probably not a big bottle buy simply because I have a lot of scents that are enough like this to keep me happy.

This is one that I ordered an imp of based on the notes but received it as a lovely gift from the lab in an earlier order while awaiting the second one ... plus, a day earlier, everyone on the LUSH BPAL thread was telling me I had to try this so I was psyched!!! BOTTLE: Not what I was expecting at all ... to my nose, at least, there was no patchouli or the figgy-chocolate scent people had spoken of. Just straight ahead pine, to the point of being Pine-Sol-ish. Very sharp. WET: Pretty much the same as in the bottle. Very herbal and piney, not a bad thing per se, but not what I'd been hoping for or expecting ... DRYDOWN: I kept waiting for the dark sweetness of fig or chocolate or at least the transporting scent of patchouli and it just never came out on me. It stays piney and herbal and dark and sharp. But there is something a little musty about it, as if I'd been in those woods just a little too long with the same clothes on. Probably not a keeper for me which means when I get my act together and organize my next big swap list there will be two imps of this goodness! REVISITED IN FEBRUARY 2013: Gifted with an imp of this as lagniappe in a swap and so was happy to give this another shot, especially since I DO very much like patchouli and yet it didn't amp on me my first time around ... however, in the intervening years I no longer experience, shall we say, differing times of the month that might affect body chemistry LOL. IN THE IMP: Sharp and acerbic. More herbal and piney than anything. Not bad but nothing special. Double-dipping on this testing with the very floral Cordelia on the other arm, I played it a little safe and just went for the crook of the arm where there is a LITTLE more moisture to allow it to play wet and dry. WET: Well, yes, finally got the patchouli. Mixed with the pine and green herbiness. It is definitely better on my skin than in the vial, a little softer and better rounded. Still sharp and strong and unique ... DRYDOWN: I don't NOT like this. Not not at all. It is unique and complex and deep dark brownish-green. It is STRONG and has legs but is certainly not a wash-off. OVERALL: It is MUCH better than the first time around. But it's just not something I could see having any occasion to reach for in my imp box or say "OH YEAH I want to wear The Coiled Serpent." And since there ARE people who feel that way, I will continue to pay it forward and put it into my swap box. SCORE: On a scale of 1-5, a 3.

A complex, voluptuous scent that captures the robust beauty and of the Italian Renaissance: lemon, red currant, wisteria, red rose petals, heady jasmine, Florentine orris root, waterlily, red sandalwood, violet plum, and violet leaf. Received as giftage from the Labbies ... This is one that always caught my eye whenever I scrolled through scents to make lists of imps I wanted to try ... I never ordered it, though, for two reasons ... despite the presence of so many of my favorite notes, the first two listed -- lemon and currant -- warned me away. Plus, it just sounded so ... busy! Nevertheless, I was delighted to receive it ... IN THE BOTTLE: Very complex and sophisticated. Very "high end upscale department store" but in a good way, not a stinky "get that atomizer away from me, beeyotch!" way ... Glamorous. Applied to wrists, moderately. WET: A dazzling and almost dizzying array of the florals, most notably wisteria which I adore. It's a busy scent, as I expected ... I am pretty sure it's the wisteria that is throwing, but it might be the jasmine ... I am pleasantly surprised at the lack of fruitiness, given the top notes listed. DRYDOWN: Sadly, as soon as it dries down the lemon and currant rise to the forefront. It becomes cloying ... though still interesting and complex, it's just not me at all. It's a fascinating scent, full of layers of depth. I can see why people would fall in love with this one. It just doesn't work on me ... it is one of the BPAL scents which I wish I could just put a stop-time on during its wet stage and keep it like that forever.

Received as a lovely gift from the Lab and was intrigued ... I LOVE patchouli, as they no doubt know, but while I really like the scent of orange blossom, it tends to go bubble-gummy on me much of the time ... BOTTLE: Sweet and spicy and what I call the "BPAL apothecary" scent (NOT to be confused with the actual scent of BPAL's Apothecary perfume, but rather this ineffable scent which I associate in my long-ago memory with the drugstores of my youth ... I think Pekeana calls it the "plastic Band-Aid" smell ) ... but not fruity at all in the bottle. Applied to wrists and crooks of arms ... WET: The minute I apply it, it turns into Creamsicle. Spicy creamsicle. I actually like creamsicles so I am okay with this ... DRYDOWN: Sadly, within an hour this isn't working for me. The almost inevitable bubblegumminess of the orange blossom comes up, and combines with something I can only describe as old ladyish ... it's not the patchouli, because patchouli always works really well on me. Luckily I'm not getting the St. Joseph's Baby Aspirin vibe some others got, because that would make me hurl. It's not bad enough to feel the need to run screaming into the bathroom to wash it off ... but it's enough that Ravenous will be added to my "swappies/regiftable" dish (as I've said, this is not a bad thing either ... I always feel a little greedy when I am without delicious smellies to swap and enable others with!!!) REVISITED AND RE-REVIEWED IN APRIL 2013: It's moments like this that make me happier than ever that I am in the midst of a project that's allowing me to take an alphabetical journey through ALL of my BPAL and trying every single scent, old and new, imp and bottle, frimp and lagniappe, to see which may have changed on me with time, and also to comprehensively organize one massive swaplist and one more specific wishlist. I received a frimp of Ravenous from the Lab last month, along with one other frimp that also contains orange blossom (Vixen, which I gave a 1 back in 2005 but will give another try when I get to V!). While, as I mentioned above, I LOVE LOVE LOVE orange blossom in real life, most of the time in the past it has gone either bubblegum or soap on me on drydown. However, in the last few days I discovered Paramatman and it is one of my favorite BPAL scents and the OB is DIVINE on me so maybe my post-menopausal self has decided to play nice with OB now? IN THE IMP: I'm not getting OB at all ... I'm getting straight out orange or, more specifically, orange peel/rind. Sharp and citrussy with a slightly soapy note. Dabbed on one wrist. Not going arm crook on this one (I save that for scents I feel more confident about). WET: Immediately upon application I absolutely get the "spicy creamsicle" I liked so much in 2005. More like "creamsicle snickerdoodle." I get NO patchouli on its own (I like patchouli, just not smelling it here). DRYDOWN: This was the big reveal. And, happily, it remains sweetly foody on me and not bubble-gummy or soapy at all. A little powdery but in a good way. I'd call it sweet orange muffins scent. I still never got patchouli from it. OVERALL: While I didn't get a true (to me) "orange blossom" note like I did with my beloved Paramatman, the sweet orange baked goods scent makes this a definite keeper and somewhat unique in my collection. It's really quite lovely. And I think Ravenous is a good name for it ... it makes me hungry!!! On a scale of 1-5, a 3.8 but a keeper 3.8,

Wow ... um, I'm almost wondering if I got a mislabeled imp or something? I hope not, because I am SO planning on ordering a huge bottle of this on my next order(okay, next next because I am waiting on two large outstanding orders and won't place another till March) ... Received this as a generous and clearly well-chosen gift from the labbies on my Yule LE order ... and am once again convinced that they spend more time choosing our gifties to suit our tastes that we didn't even know we had then ... well, fill in our best analogy of things that take a lot of time. This is just so me ... BOTTLE: One of the most deliciously spicy FLORAL scents I have ever sniffed. So beautiful and evocative it literally brought tears of joy to me eyes. But ... but ... NO ONE has mentioned FLORAL on this thread. Anyway, as per one of my New Year's Resolutions (to start living my BPAL/Lush life to its fullest and USE all my goodies instead of hoarding everything salvishly), I put it on my wrists and crooks and then reapply to wrists and crooks for good measure and throw a little behind my ears too. WET: Gardenia. OK, maybe it's just me ... but this is like a spicier, more sophisticated and somehow more "outdoors" version of White Shoulders, which was my FAVORITE scent in junior high school. More specifically, if I took White Shoulders and added in some fresh flowers from a field and then covered them all in cinnamon, this is what I would have. DRYDOWN: Just a lovely spicy fresh floral. Maybe it's just me. Does this make sense at all????? REVISITED AND RE-REVIEWED APRIL 2013: I'm working my way through my entire BPAL collection, revisiting and reviewing everything I have, some for the first time, some years later. It's especially amusing and enlightening to go back to really old reviews such as this one ... I definitely did not have a handle on Dragon's Blood ... YET ... and had not yet made the connection that it is basically a floral or at least a floral-smelling note on me, a la gardenia (I think there were a few scents with DB that I misidentified as gardenia before I learned what DB was ... and of course now it's one of my favorite notes). IN THE IMP: Spicy hot cinnamony Dragon's Blood. What's not to love? Dabbed pretty generously on wrist and in crook of arm. WET: Did get the slight burn of the cinnamon but very briefly and no welts (I think Malkuth may have been the only blend that gave me welts and even then I didn't care because they always went away and I loves me my cinnamon). From the moment it hits my skin it is just mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Slightly medicinal, and even slightly metallic (I think that may be my vague way of explaining the vetiver). DRYDOWN: This lasts and lasts and lasts so it's a good thing I love it. Dries down to cinnamony-sweet on my wrist and slightly more kicky Dragon's Blood in the crook of my arm. OVERALL: I love Dragon's Blood and this is one of my favorite DB scents. Again, because it's strong and unique, I'd have to be careful about when and where I wear it ... it's not for everyone. My hubby would probably hate it in a closed car. But for me and me alone, it's awesome. On a scale of 1-5, a 4.9.

Received as a lovely gift from the labbies ... not sure I would have ever gotten around to ordering this on my own, but I like both notes so I am happy to give it a go ... IN THE BOTTLE: I expected, based on the two notes listed, a very sweet and slightly sharp scent so I am surprised to find something, as K00Kaburra said, vaguely fruity and tart upon sniffing the imp ... because of that, I dab it on more sparingly on my wrists than I might were it strictly violets and tea rose ... WET: Upon application, whatever the fruit was disappears completely and we have, voila, violets and tea rose. One thing that is interesting about this blend is that if I set my mind to it I can SO clearly smell each individual note, almost as a single note, yet they blend so well together ... For me, Tea Rose is SO evocative that it's hard for me to separate it from this memory ... I grew up in midtown Manhattan in the 70s and at some point, early high school, Bloomingdales came out with a hugely popular tea rose scent ... I can't remember who made it ... but instead of spraying it on unsuspecting customers as they walked by, they would spray it on little slivers of wooden sticks (very common now but almost unheard of then) and give it to you and we'd stick it in our shoulder bags and we'd all smell like Tea Rose for weeks. To this day I can't smell it without thinking of high school ... and this great shoulder bag I had made of recycled jeans and lined with corduroy. I should try to make one like that now ... Oh ... right ... DRYDOWN: Just really nice and light and floral. Probably not something I would wear on a daily basis, but definitely an imp that will get worn up ...

Received this as a lovely lab gift with my Yule LE order ... how did the labbies know how bad my insomnia is, since I don't tend to post in the middle of the night, I just toss and turn ... IN THE BOTTLE: Pure medicinal lavender. I was up at 1:30 a.m. so I was liberal with it, wrists, crooks of arm and dabbed on inner arm as well ... WET: Delicious. Lavender, which I love, and something else so familiar ... it could be the jasmine which a few other people suggested. Pure light, lovely, restful. DRYDOWN: Who knows? I was asleep by then ... This is the first scent on my MARCH big bottle order.

Even before I start writing my review, Caitfish has me peeing myself laughing with this ... One of the defining moments of my life, captured forever on national TV, had me blurting out "Math class is hard, said Barbie!" I was hoping no one would understand what I said but sadly the closed captioners did for perpetuity ... Anyway, back to Sugar Cookies!!! Not that I can add much that others didn't but damned if I won't try ... BOTTLE: Darkly sweet, a burnt caramelized scent that is slightly less sweety-sweety than I expected but that's not a bad thing ... I went for it, knowing I'd probably be the only person in my office today, and slathered on wrists, crooks of arms, behind ears and cleavage. WET: It smells very Starbucks to me. A strong whiff of hazelnut, I feel like one of those frothy concoctions with whipped cream. I am not getting the cinnamon note everyone is talking about while it's wet, but when I close the bottle I can smell it strongly ON the bottle, from when I opened it earlier, and I can smell it on my fingers ... I have an imp of Gluttony on order and this is kind of what I imagine that will smell like ... DRYDOWN: As soon as this dries, it morphs into cinnamon. I smell like a stick of Big Red gum. I LOVE cinnamon!!! I love this and my only complaint, though complaint is too strong a word, is that it doesn't last long enough. I could see this being wonderful to layer with a few other slightly more complex BPAL scents ... I'm thinking a Sugar Cookie/Gingerbread Poppet combo might be the next order of the day ...

In my initial Yule order I only got Gingerbread Poppet ... then I had second thoughts, after reading the bazillion raves about Snow White and the comparisons to cold and snow (I grew up in midtown Manhattan and to me, the smell of the first approaching snowfall of the winter was one of the greatest "city smells" ever!!!) I placed a second order with Snow White and Sugar Cookie ... IN THE BOTTLE: A very sweet and mildly coconutty scent, not at all wintry or snowblown to me but not unpleasant ... but VERY familiar. So familiar it was on the tip of my tongue ... or the tip of my nose. It took me a minute and then it came to me ... it smells exactly like PlayDoh!!! I thought maybe I was going nuts. I checked three pages of reviews here and umpteen on the Lush thread and no one mentioned PlayDoh. So without saying anything I took the bottle into my daughter's room, uncapped it and asked her to sniff. Her face scrunched up thoughtfully ... "It reminds me of something and I have to figure out what ... " she sniffed again and said "It smells just like PlayDoh!!!" Applied to wrists and crooks of arms. WET: Well, it smells like ... I'd melted down PlayDoh and put it on my arms, and then rubbed on a layer of Hawaiian Tropic coconut suntan oil over it. Not unpleasant, mind you, but not exactly what I'd associate with snow and cold. In fact, pretty much the antithesis. DRYDOWN: I'm still wafting around this house like a big ball of suntan oil and kids toys. Ironically, to me I smell like summer vacation, a big beach house late in the afternoon, when everyone's come back from a great day at the beach and no one has showered yet and the toys are flung all over the living room. It's an OK smell but it's not quite what I had signed up for I suspect this will go into the swapping dish and bring me back something I will love madly and passionately somewhere down the road ...

I ordered this one in my Oct. 27 six-pack of impage based on the descriptions/reviews here ... I loved the idea of something warm and cozy and familiar. BOTTLE: Yummy. Spicy and floral all at once, though no specific note is jumping out at me ... slightly sharp in a good way. Applied liberally to wrists and somewhat sparingly to crooks of arm ... WET: The floral part comes up pretty quickly upon application, offsetting the spice. But the two definitely play nicely together. DRYDOWN: I put it on before I left for work (yes, Sunday morning after Christmas, working ...) and while I was driving I was getting frequent drifts of the floral from my wrists ... very VERY nice. But while I know most people here have said jasmine (and I love jasmine so Id be fine with that), for some reason I'm not getting the usual jasmine vibe ... it keeps making me think gardenias. It reminds me a lot of White Shoulders (my eighth grade scent ) but with a little more of a spicy kick ... The more it dries down (about an hour after application right now) the more floral it becomes but that is fine with me ... I'll be interested to see if later drydown brings out the cinnamon or cloves (also fine with me ... in fact everything about this scent is just dandy!!!). REVISITING AND RE-REVIEWING APRIL 2013: I am test-driving the last two scents in my BPAL collection (well, at least until I get my April Fools decant imps AND the 20 imps/bottles just ordered today LOL) and, coincidentally due to alphabet, they're two of the first BPAL scents I ever tried -- Wolf's Heart and Wrath. This is from an imp I decanted from my own cobalt bottle of Wolf's Heart. I'm not sure if my nose has gotten to recognize notes differently, my body chemistry has changed, and/or a bottle aged for eight years smells/looks different. Or any/all of the above. IN THE IMP: It is a bronze color rather than the bright red I am reading about, which could well be due to age. Though the cinnamon and dragon's blood are notable in the imp, it is less fiery than I remember and more deep and rounded and subtle. Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm. WET: The first thing I notice is a very, very strong cola note ... this happens to be one of my favorite BPAL scents. And while I may be totally off base on this, it makes me wonder if there is opoponax in this blend, because I tend to associate that with being the "cola note." The dragon's blood and spices are one of the most amazing and complex spicy blends of anything I've ever smelled. DRYDOWN: If possible, this is even better than it was when I first tried it. I am also wondering if there is amber in here ... I get what I call the "comforting linen closet" smell which I thought I had narrowed down to likely being amber. On drydown, this is not hot and cinnamony and it's not strongly dragon's blood ... it is like a perfect marriage where the partners draw from each one's best traits and become something even bigger and better than their parts. OVERALL: I had forgotten how truly amazing this scent was, and I think it's even better than it used to be. On a scale of 1-5, about an eleventy-million.

Ordered in an imp based on the notes listed ... BOTTLE: Sweet, slightly floral, crisp and clear. Invigorating without blowing my head off early in the morning. Definitely a good smell ... Applied to wrists and crooks of arms reasonably liberally ... I likey in bottle. WET: Very very VERY nice! Slightly sophisticated as the violet seems to rise up pretty quickly upon application ... DRYDOWN: The violet and its light powdery scent definitely overrides the sandalwood and musk on me, but though sandalwood is perhaps my favorite BPAL scent so that disappoints me just a tad, I am also a violet fan so it's all good. I think this is definitely not a daytime scent ... it's a lovely evening scent, to be worn when going out for a nice dinner in a slightly elegant restaurant. Not a wild night on the town scent, not even a "who nkows what mystery and intrigue this evening and morning will bring" scent like Black Dahlia ... but a special occasion evening a deux scent ... A keeper, but I doubt I have enough opportunity to get more than an imp of it REVISITED AND RE-REVIEWED MARCH 2013: Wanted to try this again and was able to get in a recent small imp purchase on the forum. IN THE IMP: Sweet, subtle and sophisticated. I'm getting more musk and wood than anything at first sniff. Applied to wrist and crook of arm. WET: Sexy without being "in your face" about it, which I like. It starts off with a lot of promise of musk and then the sandalwood creeps in ... DRYDOWN: ... and creeps back out. I never get any amber at all. On drydown, it goes all floral on me still, the reason I didn't buy a big bottle the first time. I didn't know if my "new chemistry" would change that. OVERALL: I like this, I wouldn't wash it off (though I will since I'm about to go shower before going out tonight) and I will use the imp but wouldn't buy another. It's not bad but it's not really me. On a scale of 1-5 a nice 3.

Oh my lordy lord lord!!!!!!!!! Just when I think, Beth, that you can not top yourself, you go and make something like Sophia (already penciled in for a 10 ML bottle on my Jan/Feb order) ... I will preface this by saying I was in a shite mood tonight ... working hard (which actually isn't a bad thing because I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job, but as a result my back is killing me because I got so entrenched in what I was doing I forgot to get up and walk around every half hour like I am supposed to), coming down with killer cold from outer space a day before the holidays, going through some bad news and tough times at home, just majorly stressed out. Had three untested imps left and though I was trying to extend the pleasure/anticipation until my wayward 10/30 package came, I gave in and tried Sophia in hopes of cheering myself up. Mission accomplished beyond belief. IN THE BOTTLE: Deliciously clean and spicy. Lavender at its yummiest with a hint of other sexy scents hiding behind it and peeking out ... Applied liberally to wrists and crooks of arms ... WET: Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! I can't even begin to describe the goodness. The lavender blends in immediately with an array of other wonderful notes. None of them jump out and grab me as individuals, rather they are the perfect choral blend ... there is something unbelievably familiar and wonderful that I can't put my finger on but will I sound like an idiot if I say it somehow makes me want to cry (in a good way)? DRYDOWN: I've heard people talk about a scent "throwing" and I'm not sure exactly what it means but my guess is that it's when you just keep getting these whiffs that float up to you ... is that close? If so, this is continually throwing this amazing scent up to me that is so evocative of wonderful beautiful yet hidden memories. Not quite powdery, not quite spicy, not quite sweet. ... ETA: I just figured out what the hidden scent reminds me of ... suntan lotion! Coppertone 4 ... and I mean that in the best possible way. It's always been one of my favorite smells and one that I could never quite recreate. This is truly one of the most perfect scents ever. Thank you so much. REVISITED AND RE-REVIEWED APRIL 2013: Am working on a trip down sensory memory lane, among other things, as I revisit and re-review, or try for the first time, every bottle and imp in my collection ... the plan is to finally have one comprehensive swap list AND one wishlist. As I read over all my old content, to be sure I wasn't creating any new posts in review threads I'd already posted in, I found a few old reviews of scents that, just based on what I'd written, I HAD to try to find and, happily, was able to snag an imp of Sophia from a wonderful forumite. SO this comes from that imp, the date of which I don't know. IN THE IMP: Spicy lavender is predominant with other floral notes gathering behind it. Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm ... with just an imp, couldn't slather as I would have liked. WET: OMGOMGOMG still so divine ... I am a huge lavender fan, but I not only love it as a single note, I especially love it when Beth blends it with other notes like a supreme artist at work. All of the various flowers listed make themselves known but without any of them overpowering another. Perfect chorus. There's also a slight medicinal note which I love ... it could actually be the lavender itself. Not sure. ... And yes, I DO get the Coppertone 4 lotion smell and still love it. Makes note to self: do some Googling to see what exactly that smell is because it is so unique to my nose. DRYDOWN: At first, the jasmine really amps as it starts to dry down but overall, on final drydown, it's the rose which tends to last the longest. Not to a dealbreaker degree by any means, however. OVERALL: I really love this scent. I think it would be a brilliant bath oil. I'm really sorry it's no longer in the GC because I would definitely buy a few imps worth. On a scale of 1-5, I'd give it a 5 when wet and a 4 when dry so I'll even it out to a 4.5

Wow. Just wow. I am afraid I am going to have to try to swap for as many of these imps as I possibly can now that it's been discontinued ... It's funny because most of the companies that do "pink grapefruit" scents do nice enough jobs, but no one has ever captured the pure scent of true pink grapefruit like Beth has with this ... As those above me have said ... just imagine you have cut in half a fresh delicious pink grapefruit straight from the Florida sunshine tree ... you place it on your plate and sprinkle a little sugar on it ... use that serrated grapefruit knife to dislodge all the sections ... eat the sweet pieces and what's left is the best part ... the remnants of juice in each little crevice, with just the slightest bit of sugar remaining to make it perfect. Then put it in an imp and send it to me. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I can see why this wasn't a huge hit ... I ordered this for no real reason other than I like pine and lavender and was reading reviews of the scents where no notes were otherwise listed ... BOTTLE: Really no discerinible notes for me. Just a clean but bland and slightly antiseptic smell. Applied to wrists ... WET: By the time I had recapped the bottle, the scent was practically gone. The impression it left on me was meh. Just ... nothing. So weird. I can see the lavender and pine comparisons for lack of anything else to compare it to but it's just nothing. Not bad, just meh. Oh well, at least I won't be crying over yet another discontinued scent I fell in love with too late

Got Venom in a swap, untested, unrequested, and curious. Jasmine is a good thing. Berries and lime, usually not such a good thing. And Opponax and Galbanum? I hadn't a clue ... But something in the BOTTLE was immediately so familiar from my childhood and I couldn't put my finger on it at all ... GOOD memories though. Somehow oriental and medicinal. When I put it on I got the same vibes while it was WET ... I just sniffed and sniffed and was baffled. Pleasantly baffled. On DRYDOWN though it became sweet and green at the same time ,,, mellowed down in to fruity clean laundry ... and I finally recognized its final morph was into the scent of SAKURA ballistics from LUSH!!! One of my very favorites! And yup, my wrist smelled like Sakura for hours afterwards. This is a big bottle order.

Eeeeeeeeeergh. I am not going to be verry creative here. ... Got the imp as a freebie and figured what the heck ... In the BOTTLE: Licorice! Anice I guess, and wet earth after the rain. Applied to my wrists. WET: Very interesting, dark and kind of leathery yet also outdoorsy. VERY male I think. DRYDOWN: Nope. Just not me. Too strong. Too male,. Too dark. I forgot to mention this somehow ... I wondered if it was just me, finding it so ewwwwwwwwwww on my skin so I stuck my wrist in my poor daughter's face and asked her "do you dislike this on me as much as I do?" Her response: "it smells like old man."