zankoku_zen

In the imp: Peachy warmness. On Skin: Peach. Smells alot like Fae. On the Drydown: The peach has gone away, and it's incensey with hints of patchouli and vanilla. Very warm and lovely. Verdict: At the beginning, I was a bit disappointed because it was very much like Fae but the drydown is completely different, more of a warm incensey with vanilla and peach whiffs. I really like this. Really.

Shocking, horrific, fierce, savage, sensationalized, luminous and hazy: black currant, Bulgarian lavender and white musk with a dollop of thick resin and a voltaic charge of ozone notes. In the imp: blackcurrant, resin and ozoney mix. On Skin: The resin is the most prominent, with strong whiffs of ozone. There is a sharp edge to it that I think comes from the lavender, and a warmth that comes from the black currant. There is something kinda masculine about this right now. On Drydown: I can smell the fruityness of the black currant, but it's not overwhelming. The resin and ozone are still there. After two hours: This has faded gently into my skin, a sort of musky warmth. Verdict: I really like this. It isn't in your face, like I thought it would be and it's not as fruity berry as some of the other ones I've tried which end up being too sweet. I really am enjoying this one, especially in the drydown.

In the imp: Rosey smell On Skin: Still rosey. On Drydown: I get hints of the apple blossom, and the rose is much sweeter. I think the apple blossom and the ylang ylang keep the rose from dominating everything entirely... but it's still pretty rose-heavy. If I sniff long and hard, I get a whiff of something "green". Verdict: It's a pretty scent and while I'm not a rose-fanatic, this is a light rose to be enjoyed. There is something very feminine about this without being overtly sexual.

Sniffie from Lanet. Thanks doll! In the imp: Toffee and baked goods On Skin: Pineapple upside down cake. Drydown: Gingerbread. After an hour, hint of toast. After a few hours, it just smells like baked goods. The boy sniffed and said it smelled more like a Yankee Candle... Verdict: I throughly enjoyed this imp. Mainly because of the morphing reasons. Beth is a genius to get so many different smells into one little vial of perfume. I wouldn't really wear this, since it's not really appealing to me but I was vastly amused and throughly pleased that I got to try this scent. I really am amused by it.

My husband and I are doing the cutesy couple thing of dressing up in matchy costumes. He's Evil and I'm Good. I'm definitely wearing Sea of Glass. I might slather him in O.

In the imp: Roses and olives?!?!? On Skin: Roses, florals... and that weird olive smell. You know, like green olives and pimento that come in a jar? Yeah... that olive like smell. On Drydown: Thankfully, the olive smell goes away after a while. I was left with basically a rosey-floral smell. After like about three hours, I get more of a whiff of the carnation but not much. Verdict: This is a soft, rosey floral smell. The beginning is really horrid on my skin but it settles down quite nicely. It's pretty much gone after like four hours though. I was interested in trying this one because of the poem and I'm glad I did. I think I would keep it... if it weren't for the slightly off-putting olive smell for the first twenty-five minutes or so.

In the imp: Peppery and flowery. On Skin: The peppery smell lingered there for a while before it morphed into a flowery bouquet. I can't smell anything other than the florals and nothing really jumps out at me. On the Boy: Still mostly florals. I can smell some of the booze on him Drydown: Again, mostly floral. On the Boy: There is something woodsy coming up from under the florals, so that they are tempered but it's still has a pretty white floral smell Verdict: I thought this would be more boozey. It's a very complex floral smell but I didn't get any whiskey/absinthe undertones or wood. It just settled into a nice white floral. Nuts The Boy's Opinion: "It smells like Old Spice... and Woman. A small woman.... a thin woman... It smells like Old Spice and white flowers" I don't know why the Boy's opinion cracked me up. But he's used to smelling me being all floral, a number of the BPAL's I own are in the soft floral category and he just thought it smelled like me mixed in with Old Spice. So I think this imp will definitely end up somewhere else...

In the imp: Smells just like Johnson's Baby Powder. There's something a bit acrid to it... but I think it's the violet that everyone else has perceived. On Skin: Baby Powder Drydown: Still Baby Powderish. Verdict: It's not unpleasant. It's actually very cheery and crisp and nostalgic. It reminds me of something out of my childhood, like being fresh out of the bath and in freshly pressed clothes. There is something very comforting about this scent but I feel like sniffing all the time.

I have to second the notions of: Hanging Gardens: fruit/fig/honey explosion Creepy Endymion: juicy pear Hollywood Babylon: I like to call it devious cherry. I'll also add Hellion - sweet plum goodness. This one is much harder to get since it's a BPTP exclusive. But you might be able to snag an imp in the swap forums, if the price is right. Blood Countess: juicy plum The Hesperides: spicy apple. Not so much sugar. Just think of baked apple, out of the oven sort of smell Fae: spicy peachy floral Jack: buttery pumpkin Bengal: no fruit... but Chai Tea goodness. And if you're going for straight up sweet... why not try Gluttony?

In our paean to all the mysteries surrounding this enigmatic number, there are thirteen lucky and unlucky components, including white chocolate, tangerine, currant, mandarin, white tea and iris. In the imp: Chocolatey orange On Skin: I get a faint dusting of chocolate, but other than that it's very orangey and floral. On Drydown: It's an orangey-floral scent. Very warm. I still get whiffs of chocolate. Verdict: I like the chocolate orangey smell but part of me wanted something more fudgey and luscious. It's a lighter, more floral version of Lump of Coal, which I truly adore. It's quite nice though. I should add that I'm not entirely sure of when this 13 imp came from, since it was a gift from a friend has been hoarding her 13 bottles for a bit. Definitely not the reformulation of 10/13/2006.

In the imp: Smells like chocolate. On Skin: Chocolate Graham Cookie? On Drydown: Graham Cookie. Not a bad smell but not one of my favorite. After a few hours, it smells spicier and the cookie smell is gone. I suppose its either the sandalwood or the myrrh or a combination of the both. This stage is quite pleasant but it takes like four hours of smelling like a graham cookie. Verdict: I wanted to like this. I have tried Beth's chocolate scents... but so far only Lump of Coal likes me! It's sad. I guess I'll go back to hoarding LoC and cross my fingers that an inquisition comes back...

In the imp: Spicy Muskiness. On Skin: It smells very much like a less feral version of Lust, and less rosy than Spellbound. It's spicy and warm. On Drydown: Again, I can't get the comparison to Lust after my head. It's less floral though. Verdict: In general, it's a slightly spicier and more tone down version than Lust. My skin likes red musk so Scherezade and I play well, but I am not bewitched by her. It's a pretty nice scent. Less intense than Lust, less floral than Spellbound and no cherry smell like Hollywood Babylon.

Finally got around to testing this out... Thanks jewelbug! In the imp: Lemony fresh. I get a whiff of lavender. On Skin: It smells alot like verbena, a shap tang of lavender but mostly just citrus goodness. Occasionally, I get the hint of something warmer... After twenty minutes, I smell again and I smell thyme... and roast chicken? After an hour, still get herby chicken goodness.... Odd. After two hours, its settled to a herby smell, with what appears to be a bit of an incense base. Verdict:On wet, and in the imp it's very lovely. Very sharp and clean smelling. Unfortunately, on me Calliope is not a muse inspiration... unless you keep dreaming of roast chicken. It was interesting, but I'm not sure I want to smell like roast chicken all day.

This is one of jewelbug's favorites and I have to say that I tend to skip scents that don't actually list components. However her love for this scent intrigued me and she sent me an imp. In the Imp: Smells sharp and herby, with a teensy hint of incense. On Skin: I get a very similar experience first on with Silk Road as I do with Voodoo. However, after a few minutes I get floral goodness wafting up to meet my nose. If I inhale deeply, I smell some patchouli. After a few hours: Very faint. Still smells floral and herbaly and slightly spicy. Verdict: It stays very close to my skin. It's a very spicy sort of floral. I have to say it is very interesting. I'm not sure that it's a favorite but it is very nice.

Another generous imp from jewelbug. Admittedly, this scent isn't what I would wear normally, but I do have a boy in mind when I asked to try it out. In the imp: Smells like Dr. Pepper. On Skin: An herby Coke. It's got a certain sweetness to it but it contrasts with a sharp herbal smell. After a few hours: The coke like comparison lingers, but I get a warmer and muskier feeling from it. It has quite a bit of throw since I put it on close to 10 at night and at 6 AM the next morning, I could still smell it lingering on my skin. Verdict: Usually myrrh and patchouli are amped all the way up, as well as the vanilla in certain blends. On the other hand, I don't know how everything combines so well that you get this manly soda. And yes, to me this scent is very manly. It's comfortingly sexy like a jean jacket. Now, let's see if the boy's chemistry works with this...

A lovely frimp from ellemir. Thanks love! In the imp: Orchids. One of my aunts has orchids in her house and it smells like them... except stronger. On Skin: When applied, it's very wet and heavy and lush. It smells deeply of orchids in the moist jungle. It's very purple in my mind. After a few minutes, I can smell something sweet and something musky to it. Verdict: It's a bit heavier than what I am used to but I do tend to like florals. I like the fact that it smells so much like an orchid. It's a very sophisticated perfume and I would say more like evening out. It's very seductive and mature and very "come hither".

Another lovely gift from jewelbug... although this one has me confused since she raved about how much she loved this... maybe she is just THAT generous... In the imp: It smells like a plum. Like when you're right up to the skin before you take a bite, and you can smell the plum as you're biting into it... Yup, that's the smell. On Skin: I get some sort of green flower... and then it warms up. After 10 minutes, I still have a tinge of that green flower smell (which may be the narcissus, since in my mind narcissus smells like lotus... whereas lotus turns into bubblegum on my skin) and in the background is this fragrant mix of plum and incense. I don't get so much plum out of this. I do get a warm, spicy, incensey sort of floral. After a while, I can smell the plum again. Verdict: Very interesting. This is a very mature perfume. I'm not sure that its necessarily rabble rousing for me. I feel very sophisticated wearing this perfume though. I don't think I like this as much as jewelbug did...

Another lovely gift from the ever geneous jewelbug I've never been one for the moons. Most of the time, they don't really appeal to me. The only one I really want to try is the ever elusive Blue Moon and I might as well give up on that. Also, most of the wintery scents like Skadi and Snow White have not worked on me. In the imp: Pine Galore. I don't mind the smell of pine. One of the things that I loved about my sojourn in the US was getting a real pine tree. The smell, which my brain doesn't automatically associate with Christmas, does remind me to intense bitter cold. At least, for a person who grew up in the tropics, it was intense bitter cold. On Skin: Smells like pine and a wood. I think its fir. There's an underlying smell of light florals (I do get the image of white flowers) and a certain chilliness to it all. Every time I sniff, I smell the pines and the woodsy smell... and oddly enough, it seems to clear my sinuses. After 15 minutes, either I've gotten to the pine smell or its fallen into the background, and now I just get a slightly chilly/minty impression, light florals but it still is pretty woodsy. Twenty five minutes in, the entire scent just sort of "fades" into my skin (admittedly, I only dabbed a teeny bit on). I get whisps of clean, slightly piney on my skin. Verdict: Maybe its just me and I'm a bit of a weirdo but I like Christmas smells more when it's not the season --- maybe because during the season everything smells the same, be it in a store, in a mall, or visiting people's houses. I don't think I'd ever really wear this as a regular perfume because its not my type of thing. But I am extremely fond of the smell despite that. This does remind me of winter, walking in the woods, the smell of pine and the chilliness you get on your skin from the temperature drops when you walk outside. I have to applaud Beth for such a complex smelling scent.

Granddaughter of Helios, Hecate's chosen: Medea was one of the greatest sorceresses of the ancient world. She is the embodiment of ruthless power, indomitable will and furious vengeance. Night-blooming cereus, black orchid, black currant and myrtle leaf enshrouded in the incense of Hecate's cypress and myrrh, and the dark rage of magickal labdanum and intoxicating poppy. From jewelbug! Thanks love! In the imp: Smells green and herby and slightly sharp. Another whiff, and I get the undertone of spices. On Skin: Herby, I can't pick out any of the notes. Unfortunately, something about this goes typical old lady perfumey on my skin. Twenty minutes later, I have a mild headache. I don't know if its me or this perfume. I will have to try it again some other day. Verdict: I like the initial green but I don't know if I like the perfume. Perhaps Medea is simply too strong for me?

Thanks to jewelbug for this. In the imp: fruity apricot soda. On Skin: Full on peach smell. Actually, I can't tell the difference between peach and apricots. Maybe I'm not talented like that. After about twenty minutes, I get a hint of citrus. However, it still smells very reminiscent to Fae. I like Fae... but this is slightly different. A tad more floral and less spicy and heavy. I would say Aglaea is also close in the light floral + peach smell but Aglaea has a more "bubbly champagne" vibe to it. I'm glad I got to try it but it really does smell to me like a peared-down version of Fae. I have to say it does last quite a while. Like over six - seven hours... and I only DABBED a tiny bit on.

From resurrected 2005! I'm very excited to try this scent! In the imp: I can smell the chamomile. It smells sharp and herby. Very green... although the perfume oil is clear... On Skin: On application, I get lavender all in my face like when she's part of one the Somnium blends. I love Oneiroi so this is vaguely comforting... despite the name. After about half an hour it gets very floral, the rose is starting to peek out although the lavender and chamomile remain. Verdict: The name is a total misnomer. This is a pretty, quiet and comforting scent. Perhaps a tad melancholic but nothing worthy of inducing a massive suicidal watch.

Jewelbug let me have the last drops of her decant of the Imp of the Perverse. There's just smidgeon in the imp... enough to smell and perhaps a light dab on the wrist... In the imp: Roses and booze. Can you imagine a booze made out of roses? That's what it smells like, like someone went ahead and made a liquer out of roses. Potent. On Skin: Alcohol. I get the cognac straight up. Like sniffing it from the decanter. There is something funky about it, which is the rose smell. Other than that, it smells very alcoholy. After a while, the two blend more or less. It's a smell that is oddly reminiscent to my grandmother. She used to buy some odd spanish soap... I think it was called "Maja" because it smelled of roses. So yes, now it smells of roses, soap and alcohol. Verdict: Definitely not my thing. I'm glad I got to try it but the smell of roses is utterly overwhelming.

I've been craving to try this ever since I read about the discontinued scents and jewelbug was generous enough to toss her imp my way.. On imp: Clean floral, I can smell a biting violet there. Otherwise, the impressions are cool, fresh and aquatic. On Skin: I don't get the violets so much, but a sweet and soft floral. Almost too soft, it seems to fade right into my skin. I can see this being a very comforting scent when one is feeling introspective. After a while, I smell the lilies. It's still very much in the soft aquatic blend. After 30 minutes, I get the violets peeking out and the rose is coming to play. If I sniff long enough, I get a hint of sandalwood. It stays on for a couple hours, between 4 and 6. I was a bit busy that day and didn't go sniffing my wrist as often as I normally do. Verdict: This is a very violet sort of scent - but yes, it does evoke feelings of innocence and careless summer days and just sort of hanging out by a river, collecting flowers. The intermingling with sandalwood just makes the innocence a facade that you indulge in to try to get away from bitter reality.

Originally, I am a tad leery since it does have my nemesis - gardenia; however jewelbug was kind enough to gift me with an imp so I am going to give it a whirl... In imp: Smells like sweet cherry syrup. On skin: I get this rather overwhelming sweet floral and heady fruit combination. I'm having a bit of a problem identifying any of the particular notes. It's rather like being hit by something really sweet and good to eat. It still has that strong sweet cherry note. After an hour it calms down and I can basically smell the fig and the plum, which are really nice on a bed of soft florals. Two hours later, it barely lingers on me. My skin ate it all up! Verdict: I'm not so fond of the strong, overwhelming, presence of the scent at the beginning, it does make my head swim a bit. The drydown is much better but it barely lasts. Alas, it simply was not meant to be.

Again, another generous gift from jewelbug. In the imp: smells like spices, and I think I detect cardamom. On Skin: I get a weird mix of floral and pepper. It's not entirely unpleasant but it's very sharp and fierce. After a few hours, the pepper calms down but it last for a good two hours at least. It gets softer and slightly more floral but I get no violets or grapefruit. I really would have liked that grapefruit... Verdict: It was interesting. The one day I wore it I felt very powerful. It has a very strict, don't mess with me vibe. I'm not sure I would wear it for any other reason aside from "I need a boost to my invinciblility meter". I'll revisit it another day and maybe I'll feel differently.