Banyangirl

Oh, vanilla! Oh, amber! Oh, musk! Oh, lily! Oh, sandalwood! It's wonderful. It's slightly powdery on me but the smells, man, the smells! Definitely keeping this one (as I bounce off the walls with joy). Re-test: 3/14: Holy crap, am I glad I gave this one another shot. On Thursday, when I first reviewed it, my skin ate it and that accounted for the powder, but this is strong as anything on me now. I can smell the vanilla and sandalwood and lilies, but now I can also smell the sea moss and orris. It's complex and golden and sexy. This may become my first 5 ml purchase.

It's all sweet Red Hots on me. The cinnamon is foremost in my imp but the rose sweetens it and back it up. It's also surprisingly light: rose normally amps like mad on my skin but I put a generous swab of this on my wrist and it's certainly not overpowering at all. The throw is very nice as well. Its a beguiling scent. It doesn't demand so much as persuade, and because it's so persuasive, no demanding is ever needed. It's very Scarlett O'Hara in that sense. I'm not sure how much I'll use this, but I think it'll be good for those times when I want to feel both sweet and powerful. Lovely.

This scent is like being in a library, surrounded by leather-bound books, soft pipe smoke and dark woods outside. It's highly evocative and masculine but not in an intimidating way. I have decided: this is the scent of an English major. It's deep and dark and sweet. And I'm getting something... almost minty from it. No idea what that could be, perhaps the woody undertones. I'm definitely keeping my imp of this for studying and reading times (read: all the time, haha!). This scent could save my grades!

Oh, and just because I have it on at the moment and it's lovely: Delirium. Its apple, rose and lemon. Now, when I first tried it, lab-fresh, it smelled like pink dishwashing liquid on me, but I let it age with the rest of my imps and re-tested it just now. The apple is a fresh green apple, and the lemon is lemon rind: the two combine to make something very sharp and fresh. The rose comes in to sweeten everything up. I'm visualizing this huge petally rose with slices of green apple dusted with lemon zest. It's great.

I just tried Embalming Fluid in the 80-degree heat of March in North Carolina, and it's wonderfully fresh and bright, and most importantly, light. It's not overwhelming at all! Can anyone give me any more from the GC that won't drown me in scent during the summer? Stuff with citrus would be a major plus.

I am in love. In. Freaking. Love. I tried this out in Whole Foods as I'd been reading reviews and reccs on it, and thought it would be good for summer, as most of my scents are more for winter/fall, or they're just a little too overwhelming for a lot of heat outside. Walking out of the store, I smelled all lemons! Bright, clean and fresh. And light, too. Not overpowering or overwhelming in the least. Once back in my dorm, I've been sniff sniff sniffing, and it's rounded itself out nicely from pure lemons to a mix of the lemon, green tea and aloe. No white musk showing up, but I don't mind that. This is going to be perfect for working in an ice cream shop over the summer, wonderfully refreshing when I'll have an entire Little League team to serve at once. My first bottle ever, here I come!

Unfortunately light and powdery: not a keeper. I don't get any of the blackberry and the heather is powder. It also has absolutely no throw on me. Boo.

Might I suggest Tweedledee? It's got white tea in it, and the first time I put it on, I was laying on my bed doing some work on the laptop and all of a sudden all I could smell was tea. It was delicious. I haven't gotten it to do that since (I've worn it maybe four times since then) but it's there, definitely. PS Isn't thai iced tea made with coconut milk, thus accounting for the sweetness and thickness? Whatever they make it with, I do love it!

Frankly Tweedledee is just so happy and ridiculously surprising that I can't help but be at least interested in things while wearing it. It's peppery fruity pebbles on me. That's hilarious to me.

This came to me as a frimp along with Dance of Death. In the imp, all I can smell is Robitussin. It must be the red wine, but it's gross and cloying. I finally persuade myself to try some on (it's the last imp that I try out of my pack). It's still cloying, but the red wine is still at the forefront and it's not helped by the myrrh or musk. It's too strong and it gives me a headache. Into the swap pile it goes.

Ridiculous! Kumquat, white pepper, white tea and orange blossom. Fruity Pebbles with an edge! This is ridiculous and madcap and completely perfect for those days when I just don't know what to wear. It's also a re-test for me, but I know that the tea comes out on me hugely but briefly after I've been wearing it for a couple of hours. The orange blossom is peeking out on occasion, but mainly it's the kumquat that's amping. But Tweedle, as I affectionately call it, is hyperbole in a scent, and I think I'll be getting a 5 ml of this at least. 5/5.

In the imp: Ick. This may not be good. Everything is kind of mushed together and doesn't have room to breathe. Wet: Okay, okay, patience. It calms down after a few minutes, although when it's really wet it's just stinky and sharp. Dry: After about five minutes, it calms down and opens up. Whew! Sharp and sweet and very different. The apricot and ginger are coming out in the forefront, but when I waft it, I get a very nice scent, mostly jasmine mixed with ginger and a touch of vanilla. It's slightly coconutty, but that's a good thing. Overall, as this sits on my arm, after about an hour, the ginger and apricot are foremost, but I feel like there's a soft jasmine/vanilla aura around me. Verdict: 5/5. I'm definitely getting a 5 ml of this, if not a big bottle. Wonderful! Its very sultry and feminine without being floral or girlish. Definitely Siren-ish!

No. Just no. Its a shame too. I really wanted to like this one, thinking that the apples and lemons would brighten up the rose for me (florals are not really my thing usually). It seemed like it would work while wet, but when it started to meld into my skin, I started to think it was getting soapy. And then about ten minutes after putting it on, I smelled like I was washing dishes after dinner. Pink, floral dish washing liquid, as another poster said. Not what I want to smell like. Edit after five weeks: I let this one hang out in my desk drawer with my other imps, and decided to give it another shot because I noticed that the rest of the oils had changed their scents a bit. I just put this on my elbow and it's rather lovely, although it's doing that pink dish washing thing just a little bit, still. It's a very sharp lemon I'm getting, and the rose is backing up after it. The apple is coming out as green apple, and its contributing to the sharpness of the lemon as well. It's very different and good for spring, this time of year.

I love this. ....Even if I spilled 3/4s of the imp all over my bedspread. But! It's nice and green and refreshing. I'm not getting individual notes really, just an overall fresh, green scent. I'm worried about it lasting-- we'll see how it does. I put it on about 5 PM, and it's already pretty light on my skin. I hope it binds more as the night goes on, because I really do adore this smell. It's for those days that I feel like being fresh and clean-- sort of like what I hoped Dirty would be for me. 5/5. I'm definitely getting the 5 ml, if not the big bottle.

Seriously, where is the Kubla Khan love? It's wonderful! Amber, vanilla and sandalwood all love my skin, and it comes across as a very caramel-colored scent on me. The opium smoke and tobacco also come through a bit, though to other people's noses, not necessarily my own. I adore this, whole heartedly. It's a bit heavy, though, so I wouldn't ever wear too much at once.

I was very excited about this one when I read about it on the BPAL site. In the imp: Clean and fresh, really nice. A bit sweeter than I'd imagined. Wet: Very linen-y and sweet. I hope it can hold up for at least a few hours. Dry down: After a few minutes, the linens disappear and what remains is just a very sweet, fresh scent. It's good for a hot summer day. After quite a few hours: This scent behaved really well on me up until I decided to go to bed without washing it off. It literally woke me up in the middle of the night because it had gone so nose-stingingly sweet. I washed it off and went back to bed. Verdict: this is good for sometimes, when I want to smell just fresh and clean, but not for long periods of time without a re-apply. It's sweeter than I would have liked, as well. I was hoping for that clean laundry smell, but instead I got a sort of Downy Soft Flowers detergent smell. 3/5.

In the imp: Argh, this does not smell very good. Just... do not want. I'll give it a try anyway.... Wet: The patchouli and musk come out to play first on me, followed by what I assume is the orris and the myrrh. My roommate says it smells like baby powder. I really hope this morphs. Dry down: Oo, I quite like this now. The patchouli recedes a bit, and the myrrh gets some play time as well. It's sweet and woodsy, and not overpowering. On me, this turned sweet after a few minutes, and its stayed that way. I like it, maybe enough to get the 5 ml. We'll see how I like it after I've worn it a few more times. It's the kind of thing I'd wear when I wanted to be mysterious and sexy. 3/5. Edit: It's very incense-y on me as the day goes on. I like it! Definitely a thumbs up.