alyelle

Imp: slightly talc-like, jasmine that borders on orris, and a tonka that insist on impersonating sandalwood. It reminds me a little of Follow Me Boy. Wet: much more rosey (I get none from the imp) - so much so that it drowns out any other note. Dry: a soft, unfortunately generic, rose and talcum powder, though thankfully without ever turning into the rancid baby smell I got from Follow Me Boy. Not really one I'd wear, or repurchase, as it smells like many others I've turned into atmos sprays. Throw is strong, with a life of 10+ hours. Stars: ★★★

Another lab freebie with my order this month, and another one I'm testing purely out of curiosity - I learned long ago that if the description says "spice" and the forum thinks it smells of cinnamon, it's not for me. In the imp: lavender, lotus, and I do get the bubblegum flavour others have mentioned. No spice yet. Wet: lotus, the barest hint of lavender, a faint talc scent. I'm not sure what the spices are, but they emerge predominantly as sweetness, tempering the aquatic notes of the lotus. I might actually try this out as a proper wear; so far, there's no hint of burning and I'm not convinced that any of the notes I'm smelling are cinnamon. It's more like gentle star anise and nutmeg. ETA - I did actually wear this for a proper test. There is definitely no cinnamon in here, wrists and neck are welt free Dry: lotus, mostly, and incredibly long-lived. This is one of the few lavender scents I've tried where the lavender doesn't amp, and I like it. I was going to give the imp to a friend to try, and I may still, but I'll definitely keep it in my list of imps to repurchase in the future. Stars: ★★★★

Freebie from the lab with my OLLA order. I won't be able to wear this due to the cinnamon, but the reviews are so intriguing that I have to at least give it a sniff. In the imp: weirdly floral, heavy on the dragon's blood resin, and topped off with pepper and clove. Wet: I'm risking welts on the back of my hands but - sweet cinnamon buns, summer flowers, and a warm, sultry beach smell (coconut? ocean salt?) This is not at all what I expected; it's not wrath on me by a long shot, it's gluttony, sloth, and lust. And annoyingly, it's starting to morph into something really lovely at around the 2-3 minute mark ... but it's also starting to burn like mad. For the sniffs alone, ★★★½. I'd really love to know what this does over a full day, but nothing is worth that level of pain.

I have two versions of this, one I believe I ordered as part of my first imp collection, and one a frimp from 2016. This is for the later one, which I had planned to swap but never got a chance to. Imp: in 2016, I had a note that this was too resinous, and that C. didn't like it. Two years on, it's much sweeter, and slightly alcoholic - pine, juniper, and cypress. Wet: on my skin, it behaves exactly like the smell of the 2009 imp - salty and damp, with a twang of earth and truffles, and a deep, rich fragrance of pine. Dry: I'm actually quite glad I allowed this to age, because it's morphed into a gorgeous soft pine and cypress blend. I don't get vetiver at all from this, which is quite odd for me, but in the end works well - knowing how that behaves on my skin, I think it would actually drown out the pine, and the pine is what makes this. Always fresh, but not fresh enough to be considered bathroom cleaner. A beautiful mimic for the 2007 Capricorn, and still my go-to pine scent after a decade. I recommend a year or so of aging to bring out the nuances. Stars: ★★★★ (this version)

Another one I've had for years and somehow never officially reviewed. Expect a lot of these as I organise my masterlists, ha. This is from a late 2009 purchase and I've soft-reviewed it four times in my journal - in 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2018. In the imp: during the early years, a very sweet apple juice scent, topped off with apple blossoms. As the imp aged, a hint of grass or straw, and by 2015, a wee hint of soap. That's probably the dragon's blood. Wet: soap, heavily, during the initial tests, which balances out a bit. As of today's test, there is still a laundry detergent quality, but barely. Dry: as a young imp, a buttery and rich apple, like apple pie, heavily covered in soapiness. As it aged, a series of grassy, meadow scents, apple blossom, fresh dew, and by 2015, a contender for my permanent apple scent. Today it was soapier than my past testing notes led me to believe - but having said that, my all time favourite apple is extremely hard to come by (Snow, Glass, Apples) and my backup is now discontinued (The Hesperides). Despite my dislike of most DBR scents, this one works quite well, so I'd stick by that assessment, perhaps with the caveat that 3-6 years is the ultimate age to be using this. Staying power is decent, about 6-8 hours. Stars: ★★★★½

First purchased in 2009, worn many times since then! Somehow I've neglected my reviewing duties - though I'm not sure how as this very quickly became a favourite of mine (impulse purchasing done right). In the bottle: a strong lavender, with faint soapy overtones in my initial early notes; these died down after a few years, as the magnolia softened out. Wet: early on it was magnolia and musk, with a trace of airy aquatics. It's become more magnolia-dominant during the aging process, though always with a solid helping of lavender and blue musk. There's less vanilla than TKO but the overall effect is quite similar and when I ran out of my sleep helper one time, this proved a very useful substitute. (Let it be known I do not sub in discontinued LE's except in extreme cases; at that time, I had been about three weeks without decent sleep and was at my wit's end.) Dry: this one has definitely benefited from aging - my early notes read "soft floral blend, nothing exciting". Yvaine really was a slow grower and surprise for me; I didn't love it nearly as much as I do now, as it didn't really do anything special til about 2012. Very careful storage has resulted in an utterly delightful scent now - the blueness of the musk fades off as the day progresses into a lovely mauve, leaving a mellow and stable blend of vanilla-tinged lavender and magnolia. Very long lived, and perfect for sultry summer days and balmy autumn nights. Absolute fave, will be keeping for as long as I'm able. Stars: ★★★★★

I have two imps of this, one that is clearly reasonably new which was a freebie with a recent decant order, and another which I received as a lab freebie a few years ago. Reviews for both are below, since I figure it'll help anyone who wants to know how this might age over time. Imp: In the older version, a rich, thick resin blushed with narcissus. In the younger, rock-rose, narcissus, and stephanotis - much lighter, and much more floral. Wet: The younger imp starts of very resinous, underneath the floral top notes, and is borderline sickly in its sweetness. The older is spicier, and citrusy, almost like mulled wine, with hints of floral talc. I usually stop at this point, as I haaate the talc scent, but risked finishing the application for the sake of comparison. Dry: The young version dries down to a dominant note of stephanotis, with a sick, sticky narcissus over it. It's too floral, too cloying, too long-lived and annoyingly present at all times. The older version is more well-rounded, and dries to a smooth, pleasant finish, with a shorter life span and less persistent throw. Stars: ★★ for young Hades; ★★★ for the aged version.

Freebie with a recent decant order; lab origin, age unknown. Imp: Coconut and suntan lotion, bay leaves, spices and parchment. A more masculine Snake Oil. Wet: Vanilla, salt, Indonesian spices, and possibly balsam. Thankfully no signs of cinnamon welts, which is always a worry when I'm testing something with no listed notes. Dry: Snake Oil, heavier on the incense, lighter on the vanilla. An average lifespan of 6 or so hours, with medium to strong throw. Would consider buying equally for me or the boy. Stars: ★★★★

Freebie with a recent decant order, lab origin, no clue as to age. Imp: Dragon's blood resin (I assume it's actually blood musk, but it smells identical to the DBR notes in a couple of my favourite blends), tonka, and a faint aquatic overtone. Wet: Champagne grape - which hits first, and so strongly I didn't need to review the description to know they were there - oakmoss and plum. Dry: This fades gradually to a soft, rosy (in mood and colour, not scent) fruit wine. Quite pleasant, and classic BPAL. What I'd been hoping for when I bought Athens all those years ago. Overall, a very long-lived perfume, some 8-12 hours, with a medium and ever-present throw. Stars: ★★★½

Imp: cherry almond cough syrup, with undertones of salt and bay leaf Wet: my skin eats this. I have to sniff so close to my wrist to find it. Clove, honey, and vanilla; it smells a lot like chai tea! Much better than anything else I've tried with bay in it. Dry: soft vanilla cloves, like the memory of chai in an empty tea cup, and curiously, bubblegum. It's lifespan is about 4 hours, with strong-ish tending quickly to very soft throw. Surprisingly good and definitely better than I was expecting from the description! Stars: ★★★★

Imp: Slightly dusty dried roses. Wet: Pot pourri, sadly. Strong and entirely rose. Dry: Sometimes I get a waft of moss, but otherwise this is pure rose, with no balsam, labdanum, or relief. This is disappointing, as I loved almost all 2014's rose scents after years of avoiding them for exactly what this one does - old, cheap, pot pourri smell. I had such high hopes too, moss usually behaves very well on me! I don't hate it like some others, and I can wear it without headache, but it's not a keeper. It lasts a good 6-8 hours, and the throw stays strong throughout. Stars: ★★★

Imp: Amber, and a bizarre sweetness I can't place that must logically be carrot seed. Wet: Sweet, and slightly aquatic. Carrot seed is weird. It also seems to be making me sneeze. Dry: Slightly metallic in the dry-down, and the sneezing fit lasted a good hald hour. Later, once that settled, this morphed into almost pure amber, more earthy than Mouse's Long and Sad Tale (which is my go to amber scent) and not quite as sweet. Life was quite decent, 8-10 hours, with a medium throw. I might keep it for a while, but if that sneezing repeats, to the sale pile. Stars: ★★★½

Imp: Cypress and oak, white glacial mountains and cool hidden streams. Wet: Strongly cypress and cedar, with just a hint of mint ("must be the 1920's" ). Possibly also some sandalwood if I really sniff for it? Dry: The typical cold pine scent I've to expect from anything with cypress; similar to Capricorn, and delightfully pleasant, but nothing I'll need to buy a bottle of. It does remind me slightly of Delphi and Olympia in winter. ♥ A reasonable 8-hour life span, and a medium throw. Stars: ★★★½

2015 version Imp: Musky, sweet, and somehow plastic-y. Yes, okay, it kind of does smell like (impending?) sex. Wet: Pale, thin, and white; mainly orris and narcissus. It's very sweet and sickly floral, not a big fan so far. Dry: I actually couldn't stand wearing this long enough to wait for a dry-down analysis; I ended up scrubbing for ten minutes in the shower to get rid of it and switched to Mt. Fuji. The throw is mid to strong, and individually the notes should work on me, but in combination.. Nope. Sale pile immediately. Stars: ★½

Imp: Deep, earthy woods and a throbbing patchouli core. Wet: Strong on the patchouli and balsam, but more like a pure resin than the usual incense/smoke scent I typically get from BPAL's patchouli. I'm already crossing my fingers for a dry-down like Eve. Dry: Very little morph, and much balsam throughout! I really like this, but it will be an early autumn/late spring blend, I think. The more extreme seasons won't do it justice. Reasonable life span (about 8 hours) with a mid-strong throw. Stars: ★★★★