devilot

Sekhmet v5 In the Bottle: Golden. Reminiscent of Leo 2007 and Sunbird, actually. Resinous. Ambers? Wet: Still golden and resinous, but now it's somehow sharpening and turning almost sour on me. Drydown: Little dusty, and still sourish and sharp. Darn. Yes, much too 'dusty,' the kind I get from some resins/ ambers. Verdict: I wanted desperately to love this, as I think the whole Egyptian theme is pretty nifty, plus, I feel so lucky I got to go to Cobwebs and buy this in person! But I just don't think I love it enough to keep around. And I prefer Sunbird over this blend.

New Orleans Whoaaaaa jasmine. Just sniffing this sucker, I don't care to skin-test. Ick. I amp the lab's jasmine notes and I don't like it, either. Verdict: I'm gonna pass this imp on w/out even testing it. *shudder*

In the Vial: Something sharply plant-like, think I'll blame the blue lilac. Wet: This is incredibly well-blended, even wet, I'm having a hard time discerning individual notes-- perhaps some dustiness/ powderiness from the orris (might be the coconut), clean (probably the linen), and a hint of wood and tobacco. Drydown: Think the "darker" notes are coming forth a bit more now. I'm tempted to say I detect some bay rum and the leather. Verdict: What a complex and amazingly well-blended perfume! I think that of all the BPAL I've had the luck of sniffing and testing, this is the most well-blended-- it's nearly impossible for me to pick the notes out of this one! I'm so glad I swapped for this decant as I htoroughly enjoy this whole experience. I'll be keeping this decant, but I'm not quite ready to make the plunge for a bottle.

Noche Buena In the Vial: Smells like fig to me. And something else sharp. Oh, it's a lot of the florals. Wet: Still figgy to me. And now the florals bloom more. Strong plumeria. I'm not sure what tuberose smells like, but that's a strong floral, right? I wonder if that's what it is that I'm smelling. Drydown: Thank goodness for the sage, I think that's the only note that's helping to mellow out the really strong florals. Minutes later, it's a very tropical floral, definitely the plumeria. Verdict: I'm intrigued, I'm going to keep this decant for sure, but I'm so grateful for having been frimped this and now I know I don't need to seek out a bottle. I think it might be nice to layer this with some sort of a creamy vanilla of sorts.

Nemesis I definitely smell something green. Cypress, yes, but I'm not sure what cyclamen smells like. I also detect the rose. Whoa. Got a dab onto my fingers when opening the imp and as usual, my damned skin chemistry amps the rose. Get a hint of the fig, too, for some fruitiness. Overall, it's not all that bad, and would be amazing on the right person, but I'm afraid Nemesis isn't for me.

Port Royal In the Vial: Salty. Definitely salty. Wet: Hm, is that rum now? Mebbe a bit of that ship's wood? But always, always, salt. Shifting quickly into a really sharp perfumey thing. Ick. Drydown: Still salty and still perfumey. Yeah, not feeling this... Verdict: I like the notes listed, but I guess the combination just doesn't work on my skin.

Tamamo-No-Mae In the Bottle: Fruity, definitely that Asian vibe already. Wet: Yup, still fruity as well as that tea and rice flower feel. Drydown: Something shifts and it's almost dusty now. And yes, a bit sour, but still that fruity, tea, rice flower thing. Verdict: This is a gorgeous blend, but ultimately, my nose no longer cares for these sorts of scents. That's also why I sold my Hanami months and months ago. I feel like these blends just get a tad sharp w/ my skin chemistry.

Loup Garou In the Vial: Juniper and cypress tend to translate to my nose as 'pine.' And yes, this is in-your-face pine. Ick. And then if I keep huffing, whoooooa eucalyptus rears its nasty head, too! Verdict: I'm not even going to skin-test this sucker. I'm not a fan of pine scents and not a fan of eucalyptus (unless it's for something somewhat medicinal, but not as perfume). Swaps ye' go!

Goblin In the Vial: Patchouli! Wet: Strong patchouli still. Drydown: Again, patchouli is front and center. But now I'm detecting the resinous benzoin. I'm not getting much coconut, but that might be what's adding a slight dustiness. Verdict: I'm no longer so terrified of patchouli to immediately get rid of this imp. But, this is still too strong on the patchouli for me to wear as is. I think I'll hold onto this and let it age a bit. See if the patch' doesn't mellow out.

Lear In the Vial: CEDAR! Powpowpow. Wet: Super cedar still, and probably the sharpness of bay leaf. A quick shift into something dusty. Ew. Drydown: Ah, the sweetness of sage comes out. Except, this almost smells like single-note sage to my nose and on my skin! I may not be the biggest fan of cedar, but a little bit would have been nice to balance out the dustiness of the sage. Verdict: This reminds me of some batches of LUSH's American Cream shampoo (vanilla and sage). All in all, it's an okay enough blend, but not one I feel the need to keep the imp around for. I bet it would be nice layered with Antique Lace, but since that's on the brink of extinction...

Dragon's Tears In the Vial: Eek. Slightest hint of dragon's blood, but something that comes across as moldy to my nose. Shudder. Wet: Thank goodness, the 'moldy' note has shifted into something somewhat aquatic, almost green in nature. A green floral. Very soapy. Drydown: Strongly soapy floral. Verdict: My nose burns. This really isn't for me.

Dragon's Eye In the Vial: Clean, almost soapy dragon's blood. Definitely 'floral' to my nose. Wet: Sharply clean and floral still. Very perfumey. Drydown: Powdery, clean, and yes, still floral. Verdict: Not for me. Swaperooni.

Dana O'Shee In the Vial: Almonds?! That's not in the lab's notes. Wet: Still almonds. But now the sweetness of the honey mingles a bit. Drydown: Dusty, sweet almonds. Verdict: I guess something in this blend just doesn't want to play nicely with my skin chemistry. I bet this would be lovely on someone else, but it's not impressing me so far.

Baron Samedi In the Vial: VETIVER! Ew. Wet: VETIVER! Ew. Shifting to... mm, bay rum! Drydown: Now it's spicy. A good spicy. Mmm. Wait, now it's just overwhelmingly spices. In fact, now this is like, a baby powdery spice. Verdict: I think this is a bit much for me. Too bad, I love in the in-between stage with the bay rum and a touch of the spices. Wish my skin didn't amp spices so much.

Hellboy In the Vial: Crisp sort of generic cologne. Wet: Whoa, really cologney now. Drydown: Sort of powdery. Must be the brimstone. And mebbe a hint of something sweet (the 'candy wrappers?'). Verdict: Overall, too generic cologney, too powdery, and yes, it makes me sneeze. Ugh. So glad I swapped for a decant and not a bottle. Eeps.

CD023 In the Bottle: Ha. Weird, my nose makes me think 'chemical.' Boozy chemical. Sweet, boozy chemical. Wet: Super rich butterscotch, so rich, it definitely comes across as boozy. But unmistakably sweet and sugary at the same time. Drydown: That strong 'chemical' aspect is definitely gone and am left with a stunningly smooth and creamy, sweet butterscotch. Verdict: Total heartbreaker. It smells wonderful on me. It really does. Or at least, I happen to love the way it smells. Well, when I can actually smell anything. My stupid skin chemistry just swallows this up so quickly that it's way too subtle. I just can't justify hanging onto such a beautiful blend when it evaporates to nothingness on me. This has found a new home.

Capela Dos Ossos v5 I definitely get the sweetness (almost creamy vanilla sweet) and the dry spiciness that others have mentioned. Resins, possibly frankincense, and I agree with others who guess that amber is in the blend. This definitely is incensey, but sooooo light, it might be the only incense blend I'd ever consider wearing as a perfume. It is wonderful, but I'm afraid too unattainable as well as much too subtle on my skin. Really gorgeous, though. *Luckily for me, I had an amazing trunk show angel and now have my very own bottle to cherish! Squeals!*

Buck Moon In the Bottle: Very faint-- barely musky with a hint of pleasant grasses. Dry, not super duper green and wet to my nose. Wet: Mm, gloriously soft and downy musk. Similar to Ivanushka and Creature Feature's musk, but much muuuuch subtler. Maybe a hint of that same dry grassy/ herbal tinge. But really, this on my skin is all gorgeous, soft, hushed, musk. Drydown: Not much has changed at all. Could it be due to aging? I'm not sure, but whatever the reason, it's still that same, gentle musk. Verdict: I see why this has been such a coveted blend. It really is lovely. However, my skin is just too "thirsty" and gobbles up most oils leaving little to no scent behind. Because of this, I figured this lovely cobalt bottle should find a new home, which it has. Gorgeous, though, if only it stuck around longer on me. Glad I can fall back on more robust blends (Ivanushka, Creature Feature, etc.).

Aeronwen In the Bottle: Super crisp, clean, FIG! Wet: Pretty much just the fig. Do I amp fig? Or are there significant batch differences? 'Cause I'm tellin' ya', I'm only gettin' fig. Drydown: Hm, I think I might be getting the redwood. Something smells piney. And something else smells very very dusty-- myrrh? Amber? I'm not a fan. Verdict: I love the figgy beginnings, but am not wowed by how it ends up. This bottle has found a new home.

Sorry for the lackluster quality. Poor lighting + cell phone camera = not the best pic, but at least you can get the general idea. me too! somebody?

I might come back and edit if I think of others, but the v first blend that popped into my mind was White Moon '06, which shouldn't be hard to find at all on the swaps forum. The notes are: These are the blossoms of loss and liberation, soothed by the calm, comforting scent of sandalwood : lilac, calla lily, wisteria, white sandalwood, moonflower, night musk, phlox, and violet. I feel that Mr. Ibis can also be a bit soapy. Notes are: Papyrus, vanilla flower, Egyptian musk, African musk, aloe ferox, white sandalwood.

Red Moon 2007 In the Bottle: Red musk and something deeper somehow. Wet: Slammed by red musk. I love me some red musk, but I'd like more to this. Sweetness that I identify as dragon's blood (since it's the same sticky sweetness I get from the Ars Draconis blends). Drydown: Shifting into something sharp, almost dusty. Guess it's the herbs working together overall, maybe this amber isn't working for me, though it could be heliotrope. I really wish I could try some SN Heliotrope as I think it might be this note that my nose/ skin dislikes. Verdict: It's a nice blend, but not quite what I thought it'd be. It's sharper and dustier than I had anticipated. Also seems too similar to some other strongly red musk blends. I'm grateful for this bottle, but I think I'll swap it to a better home.

Verdandi In the Vial: Appley. Really discerning, huh? Heh. Wet: Hm, there's that herabally/ bitter element I've seen in other reviews. Drydown: Fades fast. Powdery now. Powdery? Ohhh, the black amber. I don't think I'm liking this black amber. Hm. Verdict: Not really for me. Not a bad blend, but not great either.

Libertarian In the Vial: Sharply herbal, medicinal. Verdict: Not even gonna skin-test. I know, blasphemous, but this sucker has like, gone into my throat just from sniffing the imp, so I really don't fancy putting this on my skin.

Cathode Whoooa nelly, they're not kidding about the mint. This is actually a really gorgeous blend, but not something I would really consider wearing as perfume. I'd love to hang onto this imp, but if a swap comes along, I should be good and pass it on to get something I might love more and actually wear out. Still, I wouldn't mind having an imp of this around, just in case.