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In the imp: violet On Skin: I get iris, violet and a touch of juicy mandarin. There is a soft musk underneath. Very feminine. On Drydown: It gets mildly soapy, which I think it's the violets. It's bright, pleasant, violet-dominated and slightly sweet. After about an hour, I get a slightly woody undertone. Verdict: I would like this if it were slightly sweeter... or if it wasn't so violet heavy. I was hoping more for iris and vanilla musk with a woody undertone. This is still a pretty floral, simply not what I was expecting.

I'd suggest something like High John the Conqueror. Even though it doesn't make you smell "smart" per se, it always makes me feel more confident, and when I feel more confident, I also feel smarter.

In the imp: fruity and cakey On Skin: I get a bit of the grape, but I get honeyed cakes layered on it. On Drydown: Still very cakey, but after about forty five minutes, I get more of the myrrh and frankincense popping out. Verdict: This is a very heavy scent in my mind. It's very rich and thick and gooey, and very foody. Too much for me but it's delicious to smell.

In the imp: iris and something green On Skin: something green, like fresh cut flower stems, and the iris. On Drydown: Still very iris oriented, but I get a musky woody tone from it that turns very powdery after an hour. Verdict: The amber turns too powdery on me in this blend. I do love the iris note though.

In the imp: orangey citrus and woody patchouli On Skin: The lavender tickles my nose a bit and there is a citrusy herby smell to it. I get whiffs of patchouli as well. On Drydown: I get smells of musty parchment and woody patchouli. There is a faint lavender herbal scent as the top note, but that changes to parchment/patchouli toward the end as I inhale. Verdict: I'm not a fan of the patchouli and it's a good base in this scent. It definitely evokes books, parchment and critical thought. As an embodiment of the Muse Clio, it's a great perfume. As something I would wear, I'm not completely sold on it. It's a pretty scent, if you like patchouli.

In the imp: Musky On Skin: Powdery amber and musky Drydown: The powdery amber is still there, but there is an edge to the musk that makes it almost bitter. It's like bitter powder on my skin. Verdict: Okay, I like amber and now I'm pretty sure that black musk isn't my friend. This is a good scent to figure out what musk works on you and what doesn't. I'd been curious about which musks work on my skin and this was a great blend to figure that out. And definitely something to keep if you're a black musk fan.

In the imp: Cherry musk On Skin: Bananas?!?! On Drydown: Burnt sugar, cherry and woody musk After an hour: I think I smell the cassia (which is probably translated into my head as slight woody/spicy) and the patchouli underneath which give the smoky undertone. I get an occasional whiff of the cardamom around the edges, which amps up the spicyness. Verdict: If the sweetness of the cherry had stuck around for longer, I would be mightily pleased. This is more of a spicy/woody smell on my skin. And honest to god, I smelt BANANAS for twenty minutes while it was on wet. Wonky skin chemistry FTW.

In the imp: Lemony Dorian On Skin: Lemony Dorian! Yum! Drydown: Still lemony, but with a more woody and a bit smoky Dorian. After an hour: No more lemon, woody and smoky and yes, a more masculine version of Dorian Verdict: I don't like this as much as Dorian, but I think it might be dead sexy on the husband. Definitely more of a 'masculine' bent on this one than Dorian.

I feel like I should add that Nuclear Winter is icy watermelon on my skin. No. I don't know how my skin does it either.

In the imp: greeny like floral On Skin: Green, like the smell of fresh cut shoots, and floral, the lilac and rose standout. I smells whiffs of ferns, which provides a backdrop to the florals On Drydown: It sweetens a bit, but it's primarily a white floral blend. I don't get so much of a 'green' feeling to it. Verdict: This is a pretty blend, and if you like lilacs, this one is for you. The lilacs pretty much stayed all the way from the beginning to the end. After about three or four hours, lilacs are pretty much the only thing I get from this blend.

I got a bottlecap sniffie from mountainwitch! This is bright, sugary. I get whiffs of melon and cherry. Whoever said this smelled like Nerds candy was right on. That's what it smells like to my nose. I wouldn't want to try this out on my skin because I'm not into these kinds of scents. But it's definitely a pretty sugary smell!

In the imp: Minty On Skin: Mint julep! Wow. I had one when I was in college during a Southern Cooking night that my roommates and I held and the drink HAD to be mint juleps. This smells just like my mint julep did! On Drydown: Alcoholy. Verdict: Wow... the Lab basically bottled up a mint julep. I'm not so fond of the drydown since it's like a warm ambery alcoholic smell on me... but I'm amazed at how it represents the life of a drink olfactory wise. Bravo Lab! If I enjoyed the drydown a little more, I would definitely keep the imp.

In the imp: Mint! On Skin: Cucumber and mint mixed together. Very cool and refreshing. On drydown: Minty toothpaste. Verdict: It's cool and refreshing. I would love it if the cucumber note stuck around for the drydown and beyond. But on the drydown, somehow it ends up smelling like toothpaste. I like mint, but I don't fancy smelling like toothpaste. I guess I need some sweetness to balance the mint out, and will have to stick to Lick It and Lick It Again to deal with my mint cravings. Nuts.

In the imp: Fruity floral On Skin: Fruity floral. I get more of the amber. On Drydown: Gets funky. Floral and sharp. The fruityness and amber disappear. Verdict: When I waved it in front of the husband he went "EWWW... that smells like cat pee!", I knew that it really really didn't work on my skin. Even when he doesn't like it, he'll say it's "interesting" and let me decide if I want to keep it. I thought it smelled funky on me, but he thinks it smells REALLY bad. So it's a no winner. On the other hand, patchouli didn't take over. Yeah! But the upside of it, it's still not something I can wear because of my wonky skin chemistry. Again, I think it might be the gardenia.

In the imp: honey and lilies. On Skin: the lilies soften a bit, but they are sweet and have a fresh, green cut edge that prevents this from being too sweet. It's very strong though. Drydown: Still gorgeous lilies. Verdict: This is such a simple, girly and clean scent. I definitely see this as a springtime scent and something very appropriate for either young girls or teenage girls. There is a quality of light, airy and innocent in this scent that I utterly adore. I already knew I loved lilies and that my skin loved lilies, but this is really lovely. This is a pretty and cheery scent and at the moment, I can't stop saying good enough things about it! :luv:

In the imp: strong earthy patchouli On Skin: the same earthy patchouli and a very sweet apricot. It's both sweet and earthy at the same time. On Drydown: Still very much the same. The earthiness of the patchouli actually makes me think of dirt. It's sort of like dirt, patchouli and apricot at the same time. After about thirty minutes, the patchouli recedes a bit but it's still a very earthy apricot. Verdict: This is a very well done scent, sweet and earthy at the same time. I'm not typically drawn to either earthy (dirt smells) or patchouli in general but this is very nice considering my current bias. It also helps me narrow down which kinds of patchouli I don't like. Black is definitely one of them. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes patchouli.

Dorian, O and anything with red musk gets my husband's attention. He likes both Hollywood Babylon and Mania on me. Dorian is the big winner in the household so far because it smells so good on both of us. It smells slightly more floral on him... but I'm okay with that.

I find this one really interesting because I love Anthelion. I really do. But most other scents that have lavender as a component make me sleepy. The closest lavender to the one in Anthelion to my nose is Oneiroi. Which is my favorite sleepytime blend. So I probably would need an expresso before I start my layering experiments. I'd love to hear other people's suggestions about this too.

An enigmatic, otherworldly scent, brimming with power and mystery. Lavender and jasmine, with a touch of glowing honeysuckle. In the imp: lavender and jasmine On Skin: Jasmine BLOOM EXPLOSION! On Drydown: The jasmine calms down, but she's pretty much centerstage here. The lavender skirts around the edges. No known honeysuckle presence yet. Verdict: Bright and flowery jasmine. There's something very clean and cheery about this scent and I could see scenting soap with this. So far, this has been the 'purest' jasmine scent I've smelled in BPAL so far. I like jasmine and how it smells. Now I have to figure out if I want to smell like jasmine.

I agree with edenssixthday that this blend smells like the end of winter, barren and frozen. It is a stark and clean scent. The snow and pine are the most prominent for me at the beginning and then I get the verbena peeking out, making it a lemony/citrusy sort of cold morning. It is sharp. It is bare. It is also 'hungry', in the sense that the absence of things makes you feel 'hungry' or incomplete. I don't do well with the desolation of winter, and that's what this scent feels like on my skin. It's an amazing olfactory experience in that perspective, but for me this isn't a userfriendly scent because I don't feel entirely comfortable with it. Which is sad, because it really does smell lovely. Again, proving that I'm so not a winter person. I wish I were (sometimes). (This is one of those times).

In the imp: cherry and spicyness! On Skin: I smell the red musk, because it smells very similar to Mania, Hollywood Babylon and Spellbound. I love red musk, so that's good. I smell a tinge of cherry. On Drydown: Pretty much just 'red musk', but sweeter. That's probably the cherry there. Verdict: I was hoping that the star anise would make this spicier. I would recommend this blend to people who are just starting out on BPAL to figure out if red musk works on them, if they like cherry, and if they might like spicy scents (although I didn't get spicy out of it). It loses however to some of the more complex red musk scents in my book, mainly because it's pretty much just a sweet red musk on my skin.

In the imp: Green and fruity. And by green, I mean green vibes. On Skin: Still green and fruity, but I get a whiff of patchouli. On Drydown: The patchouli starts to dominate for a while. There are fruity wafts around it though. After an hour or two: Back in fruity territory. I think this is predominantly mango. Verdict: This is a sweet and juicy scent. It's almost too sweet for me though. I'm glad I found a scent that patchouli does not dominate in... at least, not ALL the time. But if you're looking for a green fruity scent, this is it. There's something very cool about it, like eating cold fruit on a summer day. Very tasty.

In the imp: spicy and rummy On Skin: Rich, rummy, sweet and spicy On Drydown: I can get whiffs of the clove. So tasty. Still pretty rummy and fragrantly spicy. After an hour or two: I get occasional whiffs of clove from my skin, like if I'd been smoking clove cigarettes, minus the smoke aspect. On the other hand, it's pretty much faded from my skin. Verdict: Oh, if it had only lingered on my skin some more.... nevertheless with such a disappearing act, it wasn't meant to be. Oh, don't run away Port-au-Prince. You break my heart so.

In the imp: bright, cheery and yellow vibes come to mind. On Skin: It smells very much like Snow Bunny on my skin, minus the pine. A little more floral. On Drydown: The snow note fades. I get soft, powdery florals and again the yellow vibe coming from this scent. There is a teeny plasticky hint to it. After two hours: It's a pretty indistinct white floral. Verdict: I've tried loads of the BPAL Yule scents with the snow note, and so far, Snow Bunny is the one that likes me the most. This one starts out remarkably similar but ends up in lovely white florals. And yes, it holds the promise of spring as oppose to being a truly wintery scent. Pretty, though

In the imp: Sort of smells like Drakkar Noir On Skin: Very musky, very masculine. Very manly cologne. Smells like Drakkar Noir or like Axe Phoenix. On Drydown: Still very similar to wet. Very masculine. On the boy: On wet, it did sort of smell like DN. When it dried down, it was not like DN at all, but still in that type of cologne. He called it mature and sophisticated. And it appeals to him in the way Old Spice does, but he would never buy Old Spice because his dad uses it. Does that make sense? He enjoys it very much though, and says its a nice change of pace from Wilde. Success!