caitilarkin

In the imp: Herbal lavender Wet on skin: Oh dear, this is doing the same vaguely sweaty trick that Moon of the Terrible did on my skin...now I know it was definitely the lavender... Dry on skin: Yup, it's all sweat on me. This will have to go to a new home.

In the imp: Plum and sandalwood, very rich and fruity-sweet Wet on skin: The vanilla is coming out but seems very sweet--more than it usually is on me. Dry on skin: Never got any nutmeg or rice, but the plum/sandalwood/vanilla combination is lovely, although a bit sweeter and more high-pitched than I would like.

In the imp: Sharply sweet gardenia Wet on skin: The gardenia amps, as it usually does on me, but hopefully it will calm on the drydown. Dry on skin: Gardenia and light honey, with the paper as a faint grace note. I'll keep my decant, but it's too sweet to be a regular in my rotation. It will be interesting to see if the gardenia mellows with age.

In the imp: Muted, smokey-spicy vanilla Wet on skin: The ginger amps a little--and it's lovely--and the fruitiness of the palm date (!) appears. Dry on skin: A lovely light-smokey, faintly spiced vanilla that lasts most of the work day and becomes fruitier with time. This was the runaway hit of the Lupers for me.

In the imp: Deep fruits and amber--smells wonderful, but seems similar to Hymn to Proserpine, which turned to hairspray on me. Wet on skin: Uh oh. The fruits are being overtaken by something herbal (?), but they're not going down without a fight. Dry on skin: Hello, hairspray. I was afraid you would show up. One or more of these notes doesn't like me. Is it you, fig? Might have to try it out in my clocket...

In the imp: The Lab's delicious tea note, with carnation and another floral in the background...this blend is very spring-like and vaguely familiar. Wet on skin: Aha! Now I know why Maiden smells familiar: it reminds me of my beloved Lady Lilith. The tea and rose are blending well and are backed by the spiciness of the carnation. Dry on skin: Yup, this is a simpler, younger-smelling cousin to Lady Lilith. The lovely tea grounds and blends the florals. Maiden doesn't morph much over its 8-10 hour last on my skin (the spiciness of the carnation mellows a bit but that's about it). Now I know what to get once my cherished bottle of Lady Lilith is gone. I also know to be careful while wearing it in public--judging from multiple comments/compliments from random men on the subway, it registers as sexy to some noses.

I threw a decant of this into a recent forum sale on a whim--I have no idea what I was thinking, since it contains two of my absolute death notes (cocoa and sage) as well as lavender, which is iffy on me. In the imp: Rich, bittersweet cocoa blended with lavender; very soft and comforting Wet on skin: OM NOM NOM NOM...the lovely cocoa/lavender blend is grounded by the vetiver and tar, thus keeping the cocoa from turning to cardboard and the lavender from amping into a screaming herbal monster as it is wont to do. Dry on skin: The deep, non-foody richness of the cocoa is sweetened by the lavender and kept in check by the deeper notes mentioned above. This has become my favorite bedtime scent. My imp is more than halfway gone so I will probably have to spring for a bottle soon.

A lovely, monumentally generous forumite frimped me with this lovely scent, which I am hoarding ferociously and only wearing on the most special of days. In the imp: The Lab's lovely pine note, with clean snow and delicate florals in the background Wet on skin: The pine mellows (!) while the snow and florals intensify just a bit. Dry on skin: Beautifully blended pine, snow and wintry florals...this is one of my all time favorites and definitely my most loved lunacy so far. Nothing amps, goes bitter or too sweet, and it lasts for over 8 hours on me. Gorgeous.

In the imp: Musky vanilla, backed by sandalwood with amber very faint in the distance Wet on skin: Slightly muskier and woodier, but still predominantly a sweet, mellow vanilla Dry on skin: Gorgeous and very well-blended vanilla-based scent, backed by smooth wood notes...this lasts forever and doesn't morph much through its 8+ hour life on my skin. No carnation, though. I've been wearing this a LOT since I got the imp because it's perfect for any environment and situation. There will be a bottle purchase in the near future.

In the bottle: Wow, this is...salty. There's musk and sweetness in the background, but I got such a strong salt note every time I opened this that I let it sit for a couple of months before testing it on my skin. Wet on skin: I bought this before I realized that every nut note hates me. Even blossoms of any nut tree hate me. It's a conspiracy. Anyway, chestnut blossom hates me just as much as the rest of 'em, and it's amping fiercely. Dry on skin: This is much better, but it's so different from what I was expecting. The blend eventually resolves into a very strong chestnut with buttercream, as previous reviewers have mentioned. There's no citrus, no discernible musk...it's Chestnut Victorious. I'll have to think about this one for awhile.

In the bottle: Resins and lychee with lavender in the background Wet on skin: Something is amping unpleasantly, almost like sweat (blames and glares at mysterious lunar herbs). And where is the Lab's lovely snow note that I adore so? The lychee and lavender are still present, though. Dry on skin: Ah, here we go! The scary sweaty smell is gone and I'm left with a lovely blend that smells exactly like the description: chilly winter fruits and florals backed by cool resins. This is a faint, close-to-the-skin blend on me and lasts about four hours.

In the bottle: Icy balsam (registered as mint to my nose at first) with very faint musk and florals Wet on skin: Yowza, the balsam amps to high heaven and the other notes flee in terror. Dry on skin: This takes almost an hour to bloom on my skin, but when it does...the balsam is tempered by the softness of the skin musk, while the florals and berries are discernable but very much in the distance. Lasts over 6 hours on me, becoming richer and warmer with time. Wintry loveliness!

In the imp: The lab's lovely dirt/soil note, with a hint of fruit Wet on skin: The earth is joined by cherry, plum, tobacco with faint traces of florals. Dry on skin: This scent literally blooms as it dries. The soil backs off just enough to highlight the deep sweetness of the fruit and the lighter florals (and the evil jasmine is behaving on me, for once in its life). If I try very hard, I can pretend that I'm gardening. Really! This is so utterly lovely, and very different from any other scent I own. Now I need to decide if I'll wear it enough to justify springing for a bottle.

In the imp: Light aquatic notes with faint florals and frankincense Wet on skin: Here come the florals--light and not at all soapy Dry on skin: Sour, salty dryer sheets, then gone in about an hour I need more of the water element in my life and really wanted to love this one.

In the imp: Wood with florals in the distance Wet on skin: Well. I'm amping the wood notes to high heaven; the musk and florals are completely outmanned. I can definitely pick out the bamboo, but the other wood notes are blending. I think maybe I detect the walnut but that might be wishful thinking. Dry on skin: I spoke too soon. Magnolia has arrived and she's taking over. This ends up being a soapy magnolia with some bamboo on me. And it's so nice in the imp...maybe it will work better in my clocket, because these notes, they do not love my skin.

This is my first experience with the Lab's metal note. In the imp: Ozone and light florals Wet on skin: Ah, here come the honeysuckle and the musk. And the metal note, which registered as ozone to me at first, is very delicate, as others have said. Dry on skin: Now slightly warmer and spicier from the carnation--absolutely beautiful. Time to try more blends with metal, because this one's gorgeous!

In the imp: Sweet Tarts! I thought this would be entirely sweet but it has a delicious candy tartness as well. Wet on skin: Crystallized pear, pomegranate and currant dusted with powdered sugar (still with the lovely tartness). Dry on skin: Stays delicious for several hours--no soapiness or sharpness at all during the drydown. I didn't think I'd like this one, but I love it!

In the bottle: Spice cake--I detect a lot of ginger but the fruitcake is very prominent. Wet on skin: Gingered fruitcake--ginger, sugar, allspice and rum (which isn't smelling very alcoholic to my nose) Dry on skin: The musk appears and the blend becomes less foody. Very appropriate for the season, although I think it would be spicier without the musk. Very yummy and longlasting on me.

Got a frimp of this from a lovely and generous forumite In the imp: Honey and subdued, rich florals Wet on skin: The florals are behaving beautifully, even rose and gardenia which usually go crazy on my skin. The pink pepper is in the background adding a tiny hint of sweet spiciness. Dry on skin: More resinous and slightly more spicy, with the florals still prominent. This is one of the few blends with rose to work on me. And it's the first where gardenia has played nicely with the other scents. It's not quite as sassy as I expected, but I love it.

In the bottle: Incense and freshly cut wood Wet on skin: Well-blended incense and wood (not pine but not massively cedar-y either) Dry on skin: Becomes lighter and sweeter with time and lasts only 3-4 hours I like this pretty well now, but based on past reviews it will probably improve hugely with age.

I bought a bottle unsniffed after reading all the rave reviews--this is one I never would have gone near based on the notes alone. And now it's my favorite BPAL. Ever. In the bottle: Deep, velvety lavender and poppy with incense; this reminds me of Midnight Mass for some reason (probably because of the aforementioned incense). Wet on skin: Delicious incense-y florals (well-blended lavender and poppy) are joined by deep amber and wood Dry on skin: Just as the scent description says, this blend is an embrace, an enveloping friendly darkness. Sexy, classy, smoky and utterly unique. If I had to stick to one scent for the rest of my life, this would be it.

I wore Perchta for Christmas. This was a particularly happy holiday for me this year (usually it's either meh or awful) and so Perchta will always evoke wonderful memories.

I jumped on a bottle of this as part of my rapacious lust for honeysuckle, even though I was a bit worried about some of the other notes (mead tends to go grainy on me and thyme sometimes ends up bitter). In the bottle: Well-blended sunny florals with mead in the background Wet on skin: The grainy mead amped for a few minutes before mellowing into a deliciously golden, boozy note. The florals are yellow and summery but not overwhelming. Dry on skin: This is glorious, much more so than I had thought it would be. The honey appears and blends the richness of the mead with the supersweetness of the florals, while the herbs and woods add depth without bitterness. This is a gorgeous representation of Summer Solstice--sunny, sweet and natural.

In the bottle: Sweet, creamy smoke and beeswax Wet on skin: Warm beeswax with soft smoke and a vaguely spicy citrus note way in the background Dry on skin: The beeswax note intensifies and I think I can detect a fruity olive oil--it's like an olive oil fresh off the presses in Italy that still is more olive than oil. I adore this blend. It's strong, simple, warm and deliciously rich.

I got a decant of this thinking it would be the big hit of the Yules for me (citrus, honey and amber always do well on my skin) and that I would end up buying bottles and bottles of the stuff. In the imp: Strong brown musk and some pine Wet on skin: Patchouli has entered the fray, making this a very woodsy, husky scent. Dry on skin: This blend has been entirely taken over by patchouli and brown musk with some pine in the background. No amber, honey, florals or citrus are to be found. Now, I love musk and like patchouli and pine in some blends. But there is nothing sweet or citrusy in this blend at all, which I expected especially because I usually amp citrus and florals. This will probably go to someone whose skin chemistry is more compatible with this combination of notes.