pensive

Imp: Dark, has potential. Can't pick out much. On me: It smells too dark, too creepy. It's not bad, but it certainly isn't in my 'yeah baby' list. Verdict: I'd oil burn it, perhaps. Not wear it. Swapable.

A frimp. Imp: Smells woodsy. Sandalwood. On me: Very light herb plus sandalwood. Verdict: I have no idea what to think of this. A keeper, but I'm not sure it'd be a bottle.

In the imp: hm. sharp. On me: straight licorice. Which would be OK if I liked that. No mint. Verdict: Swapping.

This is for a friend of mine, so while I don't like it, and I know I don't like it, I wanted to confirm that while a singular rose may be cool with my skin, a pile of roses stands up and shouts no no don't think so. In the most awesome looking vial/imp: Mmm, it smells like a bunch of roses, which is a smell I can appreciate in small doses. Wet: Entirely overpowering on me. Drydown: More grassy. But still too rosysweet. Verdict: I'm awfully glad I got to smell this. The lady I know who likes roses should, if I'm not mistaken, love this. At best, I'll gain a convert, at worst I'll get the imp back with a "well it smelled nice". In which case I could see this in a burner easily, to get the rose smell without having to go out in the heat to the store and buy flowers for the apartment.

A legendary warrior bard from Irish lore and a renowned member of the Fianna. His saga is detailed in two of the four great Cycles of Celtic legend: the Fenian and Ossianic Cycles. A lyric, wistful blend of summertime Irish blossoms and herbs, glistening with vibrant white musk. Thank you DragonGrl! In the really awesome imp: Clean, yet musky. Wet: Same Drydown: Mmmmm, musk! And that's all it is, folks, musky musk but deliciously so. Impression: It's uni-sexy in a way. Verdict: I think I need a man to test this one out.

Will take offers. The first thing I smell is sour milk. On me: Sourish, when I can smell it at all. Verdict: I wanted to like it so bad. I get no mint, no coconut, no love. Oh wait! This means I got my very first order!!!

In the imp: Leather, smoke and the yummy of dragon blood. On me: Starts out sweet, goes down to mellow smokyness pretty fast. Impression: Fall, leather jacket time. Verdict: Ars Draconis line.

Embalmed Desk Fluid Imp-pression: Woah hey lemony but not as sugary as June Gloom. Skin: Almost too lemony at first, but it calms down. Desk: I spilled the imp a bit. I liked this on my desk, bigtime. Perhaps I need a woodsy lemon. Verdict: I know someone who will probably like this. I don't think me and citrusey work.

The Four Hundred divine rabbits of the Aztec pantheon that preside over parties and drunkenness. Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood. In the imp: Mexican hot cocoa! You do remind yourself NOT TO DRINK THE BPAL. On me wet/drydown: Extremely dark chocolate. I want to gnaw my wrist. Impression: Not for summer. Definitely for winter. Verdict: Must pass this around my foody lovers.

In the imp: A more grounded floral. On me, wet: Mixed floral, creamy. On me, dry: A woodsy floral that occasionally gets creamy. Impression: I thought the roses may put me off but there's a LOT of stuff going on in Viola. Verdict: A surprising like. A maybe for next spring.

I keep saying I'm not a floral person. I love carnation. Carnation in single note form is beautiful, like a fresh picked flower. I'm now able to figure out what that spicy thing is in Alice and other scents I like. That's carnation! And it likes me back! I must keep it. It would be wrong not to.

emmacrew, thanks! In the imp: Playful, sensual amber with a bite. On me, wet, in order: Apple, carnation, amber. On me, dry: I can't explain what this turned into but its appleish and ambery. Verdict: I'm not sure this will replace Imp and Bastet, but I do like it

In imp: Pumpkiny spice On me, wet: Butter. On me, dry: Spiced pumpkin, baked. Served in a candlelit room on a plate surrounded by leaves. Impression: Jack w/Samhain = Fall in a bottle Verdict: Come fall, I want to live in this scent. 10ml, I think.

Imp: fruity drink with an umbrella on me, wet: pineapple on me, drydown: mixed fruity drink, with the umbrella verdict: I like it It also seemed to fade sort of quickly, but I didn't slather.

In the imp: wood table On me, wet: Expensive hand squeezed lemon, on top of a wood table. A very strong lemon. On me, during drydown: Well the lemon went softer but there's something horribly foul smelling going on. Verdict: I didn't pick it, nor will I warn my friend. But I don't think she's going to like it either. Observation: my skin doesn't seem to jive with lemongrass, I guess.

Thank you emmacrew! In the imp: very spicy. Gorgeous. On me, drying down: pineywoodsysmokycampingyay Verdict: I would easily buy this if/when it came around again.

Imp: woah. vanillay! On me, splash (a near imp-tastrophe): Rich vanilla. On me, wet: Smoky vanilla. Drydown: Smoky sweet vanilla. I can see why people want to roll in this. Impressions: Yes, bottletastic. I must share Snake Oil with everyone.

Foodyfruityspicy. On me, anyway. In imp: Almondy. Twinged with cherry. Wet: like the imp. Drydown: Spicy almonds. Mind you, I like almonds. Impression: This is one crazed scent. Verdict: A lower priority bottle next to some other things I've tried lately but a bottle eventually would be neat. Need a couple friends to smell this, I think they'd love it.

Thank you tart! tart knows me pretty well, she looked at the good notes, and she knows I'm a foody person.. so what does she do? Sends me Velvet. In the imp: Chocolate. Blissful, heavenly pass me the chocolate. Wet, on me: I smell like work today - chocolate chocolate chip cookies and my desk. Drydown: Sandalwood with bits of chocolate. Sort of like a midafternoon snack you have stashed away. Impression: I would drive my coworkers nuts. Verdict: I like this better than Vice, for the most part.

Imp: Salty. On me, wet: Fresh, aquatic. Drydown: Clean, yet powerful, but the dragon resin doesn't take over at all. I know it's there to keep the salty goodness from fading quickly. Dragon's blood is one of my 'glue' scents and it does the job without being predominant. Impression: The waves crashing towards a cave where a dragon lurks inside. Verdict: Bottle for sure.

Thank you tart! If you can do sandalwood and you can do dragon's blood without either going funktastic: you want this scent. Imp: Warning: I'm a big sucker for Dragon's Blood. Cherry goodness. I love the smell of the resin, and I have been blessed with an abundance of sandalwood blended BPALs lately: therefore, I know my sandalwood. Wet, on me: Sweet yet sort of not. Spicyish, but not spicy like cinnamon hot Wrath. Drydown: This blend is beautiful. Sweet and dry all at the same time. Verdict: pensive just needs to count her money and get the whole Ars Draconis line. There's nothing in this catagory that refuses to play nice on me. Never would have pegged me for a dragon sort..

Dry, exotic, spicy-sweet... ok, let's check it out. (disclaimer: Your milage may vary, but come visit Morocco anyway.) Imp: The cap popped and I nearly got covered in it. Shameful since I've still got cleaning to do. On me, wet: Dry, spicy, Drydown: I smell like spice cake sitting on a well cleaned wood counter. Back up. I smell like spice cake. Impression: Who doesn't like spice cake? I love spice cake. I don't know if I can do spice cake in this weather, but I want to do spice cake at some point in my year. Verdict: Wow this is gorgeous. I may have to rearrange my 5ml list for fall. This is late September and October and traveling to places I've never been.

(all tests have been done on me, your milage may vary thusly) Preconceptions: Well I was never one for grapefruit. Imp: If its one thing I'm learning fast about the complicated blends (especially the aquatics), its that "I have no idea what this is but I'm not repulsed" is generally a good sign. Wrist, wet: Woah, herbal medicine. Down boy, down. Get you gone! Drydown: Hey check out my citrus incensey thing. It's alternately sweet and sour and tasty business all on one wrist. Drydown: Gets lighter as it goes. Impression: I don't know if we're overestimating the evil grapefruit, but it is Up To Something. It's a wet mossy tree that was there before the dark murky lake was. It is dark summer evening scent. Sweet and sour sauce. Verdict: As far as the aquautics go, Cthulhu and Undertow still rock my house, but I kinda like this one for its vaguely citrus thing and it makes grapefruit smell good to me.

A luminescent red scent: breathless with passion, flickering with desire, and glowing with ardent and reverential love. conversation at work regarding the Living Flame - "(Coworker), can you smell Living Flame and tell me what it smells like?" She comes back. "It smells like.. I know there's a word for it." "So do I but I can't figure out what it is." "Well I took a small swipe to see." "Give me the wrist." (pensive sniffs) "Not bad, not bad at all. Works on you." (pensive sniffs imp) "I don't know what it is. It's interesting." Imp sniff: This is gonna make no sense. Spicy, yet fizzy, and sort of floral. Wet: I have rarely been at a loss for words trying to figure out what something is. Drydown: I got some words at last - spicy. floral. Verdict: It smells more commercial than any of the other scents I've tried, like I'd be able to spritz this, but minus all the alcohol base. This is not a bad thing. The next morning: Omyword. You know what that smell is? That's sandlewood! It has to be. I have a little vial of straight sandlewood I got from a Ren Faire and the extreme drydown smells a bit.. like that. Either that or that's what you get when you layer Alice and Somnus on a faded Living Flame, which would be weird. Reinforced:nice, but I wouldn't personally go chase a bottle down, I don't think.

Eoywin is an angel. Imp: Chery wood. Wet: Cherry. My skin rocks the cherry cart something wild, because if there's cherry in it I'm all over it. Drying down: Woodsy. Still cherry, but deep cherry. No marischino for me. Impression: Too insanely heavy for this weather. I do like it. Verdict: I will be hard pressed to give up my imp, but given its totally out of season, I may be able to be convinced. It'd have to be a darn good offer though.