theshapeshifter

In the imp: Seems like a sort of generic "pretty floral".

On my skin: It doesn't change much on me - just seemed to stay as a pretty, perfumy floral. The vanilla and mandarin notes that had me excited about this blend never really seemed to come out and play. I'm hoping this might've been a cyclical body-chemistry issue, so I'll give it another chance after I've run through the other new imps I have on hand to try.

In the imp: Eye-opening, almost a eucalyptus smell.

Wet: Not quite as 'zingy' as it seemed in the imp, but a very fresh, energizing kind of a scent. It's a deep green that somehow smells dark and yet vibrant at the same time.

Dry: This had GREAT staying power, morphing into a slightly floral deep forest-floor-undergrowth green scent, very natural and comfortable and strong.

In the imp: A surprisingly INTENSE, syrupy, almost burnt-sugar smell.

Initial application: The sugar blossoms out into pure cotton candy, like the smell just before you bite off a big puff of it. This is a scent I ADORE.

After half an hour: As it begins to dry, I can see the comparisons people have made with Chaste Moon - there's that same creaminess here, although it's candyfloss creamy, rather than the buttermint creamy of Chaste.

Drydown: The sugary note is remaining predominant on me, but the florals have eventually emerged to round it out, so that now it's candied flowers, or standing in a pretty spring frock in a garden, eating cotton candy. It's somehow very girly and yet NOT "girly" in the way I'd typically use the word... I can't quite put my finger on it.

I absolutely adore this. Beth does it again!

I've only had a quick test of this so far, but I adore it!

Wet, it's smoky and dense, like a deep wood, and then it dries into this fresh, campfire-in-a-dark-forest-by-a-lake smell, with a hint of floral in the background.

I was a little sleepy last night when I tried it out, so apologies for the brief review, but this is definitely a winner!

This was a generous Lab gift, and in the imp it smells so pretty that I thought it might defeat my skepticism about rose-heavy scents.

Alas, it was not to be. I dabbed on a teeny bit (I'm usually a slatherer) and it became quite overpowering within about a minute. I'm sure a rose-lover would adore this, as it IS very pretty... but not my thing. It's verging on headache-inducing for me, so off to the swaps it goes.

In the imp: Dragon's blood and spice and wood. Good start.

Initial application: I get the warmth and slight cherry-sweetness of the dragon's blood, and a rush of spices, primarily cinnamon but a little nutmeg as well.

Drydown: As it dries, the dragon's blood and spice stay in the foreground, while the woods start to come out and deepen the scent. It's a very complex blend - and VERY evocative of a medieval romance. It's like a full environmental immersion, where there are all kinds of notes impacting you, but picking out individual threads is tricky.

It's been on me for about four hours now, and still evolving - the leather and musk are just starting to hit their stride now.

I adore this... I can sense already that this will become one of the scents where I'll be trying out something else and thinking "this is nice, but I wish I were wearing Tintagel". It makes me feel sexy and sensual, but in a very strong, self-assured kind of way, like a warrior woman.

I think I'll end up echoing the general praise chorus, but here goes...

In the imp: Very tropical - flowery and fruity intertwined.

Initial application: The INSTANT it touches my skin it bursts into this big juicy fruity scent. I get the pear, plum and fig first.

After about 15 minutes: The other fruits are coming in, and I'm starting to get a hint of the florals, but not in an overpowering way at all. I don't consciously smell the woody elements, but I can kind of sense them, providing a depth and grounding to the blend. Interestingly, for all the fruit I get at this stage, hubby sniffed me and got "incense".

Drydown: As others have said, I think The Hanging Gardens is one of Beth's great triumphs. It keeps evolving and morphing, just as though you're walking slowly through a garden laden with fruit trees, and flowers growing across wooden trellises in the background. It's definitely a night scent, like a still, calm evening.

Beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. *adds to eventual 5ml purchase list... which keeps getting longer!*

In the imp: Sweet nighttime florals.

Initial application: The night-blooming jasmine takes over - which is not necessarily a bad thing, given that I adore it.

After half an hour: The other elements are starting to make themselves felt now. The musk is definitely coming into play, giving it a feeling of warmth, and I can detect a little rose weaving its way in, along with just the barest hint of the incense. I don't really know what moonflower smells like, so not sure if I'm getting any of that at this point.

So far, this truly does seem like an Egyptian-night kind of scent... not that I've been to Egypt, but there's an impression of night falling on a warm, sun-baked place. If this does anything different in the continuing drydown, I'll come back and edit later.

In the bottle: Definitely a DRY dirt.

Initial application: Just like the description suggests, a dry dusty earth with a trace of dried moss. I get a tiny waft of something like pine, too, though. Hubby picked up on it as well, and said I smelled like the earth under a pine tree.

Drydown: On skin, it fades away all-too-quickly, although I get a brief phase of something like cold coffee. Just a tiny whiff of it. However, in my hair it stays lovely and true to this slightly evergreeny dry earth.

I'll definitely keep it and enjoy it, but I think (on first try, at least) that this is more of a "like" than a "love".

My first Mad Tea Party scent, and a generous gift from the Lab.

In the imp: Hmm, not sure this will be for me. VERY floral.

Initial application: There's a fruity/candyish smell that takes me a couple of minutes and many sniffs to place, but then I realize - bubblegum! It's not too promising (for my taste, at least) at this point; I'm getting bubblegum, and some kind of strong, almost-alcohol smell like old-fashioned aerosol hairspray.

After 45 minutes: It IS like the Queen of Hearts... trying to be friendly with me one minute, then "off with her head!" the next. I'm getting hints of the cherry now, and wafts of a floral I like, that's reminding me of something in The Living Flame... but then it gets overpowered by a different flower, that's more old-fashioned-perfumey and not so much my thing. I'm not sure which is which, though, since I'm not too expert at picking out specific flowers.

Edited to add: As the day wore on, the bits of the scent I didn't like died off, and the elements I liked hung around, so I wound up enjoying the Queen of Hearts more than I thought I would. I still think it'll go to swaps, though, since I simply have so many other scents that work better on me, and the Queen deserves a better home.

Having put Leanan Sidhe on for the first time this morning, I must weigh in on this thread! I've also tried and liked Szepasszony and Tempest, but Leanan Sidhe - on me, at least - is pure springtime joy in a bottle!

I've only had this on for about 45 minutes, but I wanted to record my thoughts so far - so I'll come back and edit if need be.

In the imp: Fresh aquatic floral.

Initial application: It packed a quick punch of that almost-dryer-sheet-but-much-nicer bright fresh note that I also got from Tempest and Szepasszony, but I like it even better here. Very green and clear, and all I can think of is "spring in a bottle".

After 45 minutes: It's calmed slightly, and I can start to pick out elements of water, white floral and crushed herbs. I haven't been to Ireland (yet!), but it's certainly evoking mornings on trips to Scotland, when we'd be hiking and the sun would break through and burn off the low-hanging mists.

Wearing this, while listening to Idlewild's "In Remote Pt. 1/Scottish Fiction", is almost a religious experience. If Leanan Sidhe stays this lovely as the day goes on, a 5 ml is going in my next order.

It took me a little while to make up my mind about this one.

In the imp: Berry sweetness.

Initial application: Oh dear. The heather jumped up and got in my face, hovering on the edge of turning into either strong soap or air-freshener spray. Meanwhile, the blackberry was slightly medicinal, like a throat lozenge. I was afraid Glasgow might break my heart.

After about 20 minutes, it started to settle down, but was still a bit soapy-floral for my taste.

However... as the day wore on, the heather mellowed and the berry got juicier. A slightly misty/rainy note came in as well to complete the picture. I'm not sure this reminds me of Glasgow, per se, but it certainly does say 'Britain' to me.

I'm still not 100% sure if it'll be a big-bottle contender, but I've definitely wound up enjoying it today. Looking forward to a second test.

A generous lagniappe, and I'm so glad I got to try it! I probably would've tried it eventually on my own, but sooner is better than later.

In the imp: Woodsy patchouli... the 'red' is obviously not quite as thick and heavy as the black kind.

Initial application: Zingy! I can see exactly what the earlier reviews meant in talking about an "evil orange". Exactly like that, in the best sense of the word. Juicy, almost candy orange, underlaid by dark wafting incense.

After about an hour and a half: The orange is turning more to orange-blossom now, and I can see what people mean about the scent of baby aspirin. It's really compelling - I can't stop sniffing myself! There's a depth and almost woodyness to it, but then this effervescent orangey powder. It's sexy and happy at the same time, like getting tickled while wearing your naughtiest lingerie.

As always, I'll reserve final decision till a second try, but Ravenous has just jumped WAY up my potential-big-bottle list.

This gave me a weird smell when I first applied... something like the 'sex' smell, except not really sexy... more old and funky. I was worried.

However, after a minute or two, that disappeared and it warmed up into a lovely honey/vanilla/actually-sexy-sex scent. Definitely a hit! It's actually quite similar to Dragon's Milk on me... I'll have to test them back-to-back and decide which suits me better.

This was a lovely gift from the Lab, and to be honest I didn't think I'd like it... when I first received my order and sniffed the imp, I didn't smell anything. I guess my nose was over-taxed by smelling too many different things!

When I reopened the imp yesterday, it still didn't smell very strong at all - just the barest whiff of ginger - so combined with the clearness of the oil, I guess I had a preconceived notion that it would be really fleeting. However...

Initial application: Literally the second it touched my skin, it blossomed out into this lovely, bright, incredibly fresh ginger. Not gingerbread ginger; this is fresh ginger being grated.

After half an hour: As it settles in, the milky element starts coming out, almost like a milky ginger tea.

Over the day: The milk note only lasted an hour or so, after which it warmed up into fresh, slightly sugared ginger. It lasted far longer than I expected, going strong through the whole workday. This is a really invigorating, fresh, energetic kind of scent, and I like it far more than I'd expected!

A generous freebie from the Lab, that I never would've ordered on my own. Shows what I know!

In the imp: Sweet and sexy. Can't quite place any notes.

Wet on skin: Really smoky, with a layer of floral and something burnt-sugary underneath.

Drydown: I'm still having trouble picking out specific notes - probably because I'd forgotten what was in the description, but it's spicy, sultry and smoky, with this sweetness that's kind of dark. Sort of Mae West meets Siouxsie. I love it - and I got a lot of compliments on it tonight!

Hmm. This went on smelling very earthy, almost patchouli, but quickly morphed into a simple, soft wood scent. I didn't get any of the florals or anything else, just dry wood... and my skin ate it up quite quickly.

Alas, not destined to become a favourite.

In the imp: Sweet, juicy strawberry.

Initial application: The champagne note comes out really strongly, which is interesting. I'm surprised how much it IS specifically champagne.

After about 20 minutes: There's an odd note coming out that I can't quite put my finger on. Something sweet and flat, almost coconut but not quite. Since I REALLY don't like coconut, this is disappointing for me.

After an hour: It's less strong now, but alas, a mix of strawberry and pina colada. Not for me, but I'm sure others would adore it. Curious to try more strawberry blends, though!

Wow, definitely sharp, cold wind, and then something like a sharp lemon candy. It went on really fresh and lovely... the only thing was, it didn't last very long, even in my hair.

I want to love it, but I wish it stuck around more.

In the imp: Fresh! Hard to put my finger on it, but aggressively fresh.

Initial application: Floral and dark and fresh, like the wind ahead of a thunderstorm, blowing over white flowers. My first thought was that this is the 'fresh' scent that laundry companies try but don't quite manage to fake for fabric softener and detergent.

Drydown: The floral recedes into the background, making way for a pure, clean, dark aquatic/ozone scent. It gives me the impression of lying in bed on freshly-laundered, cool white sheets with all the windows open to a raging thunderstorm. Definitely a keeper! The boy, with his less-attuned nose, sniffed me and said "Soap!", but he liked it a lot too.

In the imp: Plummy dark floral.

Initial application: STRONGLY floral for literally about 90 seconds, then calms down.

After 10 minutes: Deep velvety blooms, a bit of juicy plum in the background.

After an hour: This is surprisingly soft on me, but lovely. Beth is totally winning me over to floral scents, much to my great surprise! The incense is coming out more over time, but it's not a predominantly 'incensey' scent - as others have said, it just seems to give it a little more depth. Sweet, but not-too-sweet, purple darkness. I can't stop sniffing myself!

In the imp: Fruity, with a hint of earth.

On my skin: REALLY, REALLY earthy, with just a whisper of fruit.

I adore patchouli, and this patchouli is no exception, but I was hoping for more of the apricot. And oddly, although patchouli is usually quite lasting on me, my skin seemed to swallow this up in a relatively short time. Not my favourite.

I. Am. In. Love.

In the imp: Smoky-sweet.

On my skin: This one didn't change too much from initial application to drydown. The dragon's blood has that same lovely cherry-sweet-warm effect on my skin that it does in Dragon's Milk, and the smoke and leather balance wonderfully with in. I put it on around 5 pm and smelled great all evening, even through a crowded, sweaty concert.

DEFINITE 5 ml purchase coming up.

In the imp: Minty and dark.

Initial application: Wow, definitely more than a 'hint' of mint! Great scent for applying first thing on a sleepy morning; it was instantly invigorating.

After a few minutes: The mint's definitely in the foreground, but now I'm getting the evergreen smell in there a little, and there's a definite watery quality. I can see where this is going with the 'undertow' concept.

After about an hour: Wow. There's still a bit of mint-tea-ness to it, but it's really blending well on the drydown, into something deep and green and undeniably watery. It's either a rainy wind through an Alpine forest, or standing in wet trampled greenery by the ocean. Very atmospheric.

This was a generous lagniappe from the Lab, and I probably wouldn't have chosen a mint scent on my own, but I'm loving this so far! It's decidedly different from the warm, heady scents I often go for, but perfect when I need a change.