delicate_fangs

(My body chemistry did weird and unfortunate things with this scent. I think maybe violet hates me.) In the bottle: Huh. Weird. Liquor and... dishwashing soap? Smells disturbingly familiar. Wet: Incense? Strange herbs! Wood? Hey, there's wintergreen climbing all over everything. It smells buzzy and snappy and zingy, kind of ozone-like. With a bizarre hint of locker room. This is a very strange perfume oil blend on me. I am not sure I like this ride. Drying: Huh. Bubblebath, the cheap kind. Scary. No, wait, it's a flower! Or is it? Later: Wintergreen? A whiff of smoky tobacco? Oh, now the flower's back. Later: Herbs! Sharp weird green things. And a tiny bit of smoke. And the mint and flowers again. I think this is giving me the sneezes. Later still: The green herb stuff has snuck up on the flower and is hitting it with a brick, while the mint is cheering. I think my body chemistry is completely bewildered by this blend. I know my nose is. Faustus is clearly not for me. (Now if it smelled on me like Gounod's music sounds, that'd be different.) Into the swap pile it goes. *sigh*

Seraphim -- tried this the other day, and only now found my notes, so here they are. In the imp: Sweet. Something like lily or lily-of-the-valley? Definitely floral, and seems kind of white floral, specifically, to my nose. Something else behind it, but I can't tell what. Wet, on my wrists: Definitely something -- lily or jasmine? - something sweet. The sweet goes to "generic bubble bath" scent on me very quickly. Plus I'm getting a stronger hit of that lily-of-the-valley scent, which is a flower I love (if that's what it indeed is), but I'm not sure about this scent on me. (Haven't ever found a LotV scent I like, so that's no big diss here.) Drying: Scent deepens, gaining middle notes. Not sure what, but I think it's another floral. It's more alto than the soprano lilyjaswhatever. Later: Oh, neat! It's gone a little powdery, which I normally hate, but this is kind of cool. Definitely alto and some mezzo-soprano notes. Still mostly floral, but with some light incense or resin. Still later: Oh, definitely incense/resin now! NICE! Florals have calmed down considerably, and now accent the midrange incense very nicely. Later yet: Oh, this is nice. Soft incense, what seems like both candlelight and pale sunlight on white flowers. And a powder that, miraculously, I love. And there's one tiny hint of sharpness in there, too, that says, "Yes, and I can also be strong and awe-inspiring, full of wonders and terrors." This is complicated, I like it, and I am definitely keeping this imp to enjoy. Not sure I'll order a bottle, but I'm mostly in my wild imp-grabbing phase now, I think. We'll see how this one works over time.

When I first put this on, I smelled a mint, almost a wintergreen, rising up with the woods. Then it turned to a mixture of sweet spice and woods. Very nice. I will have to try this several more times to follow it through its changes. Keeper. Maybe a bottle, later. We'll see.

Gluttony. Oh, my, yes. This was one of the imps that just came this week in my big box of fun from the Lab, may their names be glorified forever. I would have kept track of the timing of all the different buttery sweetnesses, the praline, the nuts, that delicious dark rich smell underlying everything, but I was too busy trying to keep my fangs out of my wrists. So from sniffing it in the bottle to enjoying the soft but enduring yumminess that it has become ten hours after application is all sort of a blur. I could almost swear I caught the scent of the toffee almonds they were selling on Stroget in Copenhagen on Culturenight; it made me smile to remember them singing out what sounded to me like, "Brennamenna!" (Burnt almonds, I suppose.) This scent is all good yummy sweet buttery things, and I am going to put it on the list for a big bottle. (This is the second time I've tried to take notes on this one for review. The first time was even less coherent, which attests to the power of this scent to disorder the mind in a very splendid way. I wound up wandering around my workshop, occasionally stopping to sniff my wrists and then trying not to say OMFG out loud every time. Didn't manage that last bit for quite some hours.)

Nostalgia encapsulated. A soft, wistful blend of dry flowers, aged linens, and the faint breath of long-faded perfumes. Yes! When I put this on, I said, "Oh, my God." It took me back to a very particular time and a very particular place. The suntan lotion it reminded me of was Bain de Soleil. There were overtones of what very white clean cloth in strong sunlight smells like, and a tiny hint of salt sea air, and flowers just around the corner somewhere, and a lot, oh baby a LOT of teenage hormones. It smells like our class trip to Florida, 28 years ago. We were trying so hard to be wild and wicked, and we were really so sweet and wistful. Especially that moment on the terrace in the place we stayed, looking at somebody I always wished I could have, and knew I'd probably never get. Thanks for the nostalgia hit. This is an amazing scent.

Bottled happiness. Helps reverse misfortune, brings light and laughter to even the most troubled and discordant place, and aids in alleviating the stress and discontent that accompanies so many of life's daily trials. I'm trying an imp labelled Auntie Caroline's Joy Mojo which I got as a gift recently. This is my first BPAL review. In the bottle: Oranges and strawberries. It reminds me a little of the strawberry essential oil I had when I was a teenager. In fact, I can probably compare them later, because I still have some of that strawberry essential oil, though it may have changed a lot in the intervening years. Wet: Oranges still, but the strawberry goes odd, almost plastic-like. Also there's something under those notes, something not quite amber, not quite buttery, but something mid-range or deeper. Hm. I am not good at describing scents yet. As it dries: Whatever the middle or lower note is, it's coming out more strongly. The strawberry is fainter now. There's still a bunch of citrus. The plastic-like note is very faint, and it reminds me of a similar note in Dream Cream conditioner from Lush. Not Quite an Hour Later: It's lost a lot of the stronger notes, and smells a little like a freshly-baked sugar cookie next to a glass one-quarter full of orange juice. Still a tiny bit of plastic, but as I forgot to mention, I actually grew to like Dream Cream's weird smell, so this is not completely off-putting. It's mostly a pleasant warm food-like smell, not very strong. It's all right, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it. A Bit Over Two and a Half Hours Later: Aww. It's pretty much all gone. There's a very faint warm scent, sort of vanilla-y, but hardly anything, really. Opinion: Moderately pleasant, but not a lot of staying power, and nothing that really grabs me. I am indifferent about this scent. (But I'm really pleased and touched by the gift of it.) Will probably test again sometime and make a decision on keeping it or trading it. Most likely is trading it. Later: However, I notice that I have had a really good mood all day. Hmm! I think I'll keep this around. And I'm twice as grateful for the gift, now! Thank you, good person who sent it to me! ADDED 9/30/08: Candy-sweet on me too, but it's so cheerful that I like it, even with the too-much-sweet-fruitiness. Also, it reminds me of a sweet person who sent it to me, so yay for that. And it makes me joyful. So it lives up to its name. ETA: Oops. Hadn't realized I reviewed this once before. Sorry!