The_Merf

In the imp: Coconut, fresh patchouli, light floral (but not the orchid) Wet: Coconut and floral--very green scent. This must be the Devil's trumpet accord, as it really does not smell like orchid would on me. Drydown and wear: As the scent dries down, I'm really struck by how clean it is. Although there is the slightest hint of patchouli and resin the background, both are very clean and do not suggest any sort of dirtiness. The coconut that was prevalent during the wet stage now gives way to soft florals. I can now smell the orchid note blending with the devil's trumpet accord. These florals seem to burn off a bit and reveal a coconut that is the final stage of this scent. This one is complex and a morpher. A very nice blend.

In the imp this one smells like rose and gardenia with maybe the slightest touch of ambergris in the background (but I tested this right after sniffing another blend w/ambergris, so perhaps I'm quite tuned to it). However, once I put the perfume on, it vanishes down to a very soft rose/lily right away. As it is wet and drying, it smells like I've had it on for hours and hours--quite hard to detect. It holds to that level of scent, with the lily becoming more dominant than the rose as it dries.

In the imp: Predominantly lilac--this smells almost exactly like a bottle of lilac single note (not BPAL) that I own. There's the slightest hint of lily. Wet: Dragon's blood--which can smell an awful lot like lilac--combines with the fresher florals lilac and lily. Drydown and wear: This has one of the most interesting drydowns of all the Ars Draconis blends. While, as others have said, it is a faint scent, it also turns strangely aquatic. In fact, it reminds me of a more gentle version of Danube--very much the idea of flowers (mostly lilac) growing on a shore in a watery brine. It is really rather beautiful, and I would move it onto my "get this as a bottle" list right away except for the fact that it doesn't have a lot of strength. I'll probably end up getting bottles of both this and Danube eventually--perhaps they would even blend well?

In the imp: rose and patchouli Wet: Patchouli first, and then immediately rose. Drydown and wear: This becomes a soft rose/sandalwood.

In the imp: Bright red wine--a more sparking sibling of Lilith Wet: Grape Kool-Aid drink mix, freshly done Drydown and wear: The Grape Kool-Aid mix smell does not go away, but simply gets more faint

... Holy frankincense and hyssop in union with earthy fig, defiled by black patchouli and vetiver, with a chaotic infusion of lavender, cardamom, tamarind, rosemary, oakmoss and cypress. In the imp: A combination of woodiness, black patchouli and fig--the combination is not pleasing to me. Wet: Fig and black patchouli... Drydown and wear: This combination is really not for me...this is one of the few BPALs that has made me nauseous. It's juicyness mixed with the dust of the patchouli and just does not sit well with me.

When I first tried this imp a long time ago, it was mostly floral. Now that it's aged a bit, there is more sandalwood, both in terms of what I smell in the imp and what happens when the fragrance is wet. However, the aging has not seemed to change the drydown for me all that much--it's still very floral there, although after about twenty minutes or so, it goes into what I can only call "stale sandalwood" or "burnt sandalwood" stage. There's very little dragon's blood here (either the standard kind or the 'cleaner' Dragon Moon kind) for me to detect.

In the imp: Myrrh and black musk Wet: This is the most hippie-headshop BPAL I've ever tried--even more than Urd! I would swear there's patchouli in here, but I guess it's a combination of the myrrh and vetiver. Drydown and wear: This is a much, much less threatening/scary scent than I had been expecting. As the oil dries down, the black musk-ness actually fades away for the vetiver. I don't know what to do with this one, as I do 180 degree turns on my opinion of vetiver with great regularity. The musk does provide an interesting blend here (and the headshop patchouli goes very early in the drydown as well), and about 20 minutes in, this takes a very menthol edged turn and even reminds me of Vicks a bit. In fact, that is where the scent stays!

In the imp: Rosey and lily floral notes with some wet greens and the tiniest touch of dirt. Wet: Dried roses with something green in the background. Green incense? Drydown and wear: This one's not changing a lot though the dusty rose note is what lasts longest on the drydown. Very old floral in the end...

Perfectly enchanting! An irresistibly sexual, utterly rapturous blend of three roses, radiant amber, and sensual red musk. Huzzah red musk! This definitely leans toward the sultry Scheherezade red musk family as opposed to the more feral Loviatar/Fenris Wolf red musks, most probably because of the amber. The amber is the second most prominent note in the blend--as others have said, the rose is really very faint here, so if that is putting you off the blend, I'd definitely give it a try anyway. It really does dry down to mostly a dominant red musk on my skin.

Spices, cardamom, nutmeg, and flowers. I tested this blend at ECWC, and on me it was almost all cardamon. Now, unless there's something to balance the cardamon out, I tend to be reminded of a spice cabinet or of a particular tea I happen to dislike when I smell the note. Alas, I kept on thinking it was time to bake something when I had this blend on; it really did come off as nearly a single note cardamon. There was a slight touch of floral right when I put the oil on, but that was eventually overwhelmed by the spice.

I tried this at ECWC...fortunately I wasn't suffering from a headache, but I could definitely see how this would help clear my head. As others have said, it's a strong mint...like an undiluted version of the mint tea that I tend to brew n'breath when I do start to feel a headache coming on. I'm not sure if I'll get a bottle--my headaches are pretty severe and generally require medicine + herbals to calm them down, and I already have the teas, which work pretty well (it's a pretty mint on its own, but I don't really like mint perfumes, so it isn't something I'd wear except for its purpose). Perhaps I'll seek out a decant and try it on a real headache before making a full decision.

On me this was a very straightforward blend and smelled the same on me as it did in the bottle. Of course, I have a nose for picking out dirt and myrrh scents as they are very strong on my skin. This is basically a dirt and myrrh blend, but the snow note gives it a silver chill--it is the cool season/color sibling of Dance of Death, which has the same basic dirt/myrrh combination, but has that taken in the direction of sweetness and freshness with the orris instead of the snow note. I prefer orris to the snow note, and I prefer Dance of Death to this blend, although I must say that I believe this blend is one of the best Salons in terms of representing its object of art that I have tried. Kudos to Beth!

myoubi sent me a sniffie of this months ago, and I was intrigued by the lemon in the blend, so I was happy to be able to give it another go at ECWC. I don't know if it was the age of the tester versus the age of my sniffie, but the lemon was not as pronounced on this second try. It was, however, certainly still there, though a bouquet of green herbs matched it in terms of strength. On both tries, the dry-down was highlighted by the stephanotis flowers. I got very few wooded notes out of my tries, even with the more aged decant. It's very much a fresh citrus/green scent with a floral drydown.

I was able to test Silence at the ECWC. This was a really light blend (I had to test it on my thumb...sigh), where the main notes were lotus, iris and musk. Even though the musk is "blue musk," it wasn't sharp or chilly, but really a very pillowy scent. As the blend dried down, the sandalwood become more noticeable and added further soft/warm grounding to the scent. Even though it was very night, it was very light and vanished off my skin quickly.

Forgot to add my review of this one...Delousing Powder is not really strong citrus in the imp--I pick up more amber (I'd guess black amber if I had to be more specific) and even a dash of musk, maybe? On my skin the lemon is more prominent, which doesn't surprise me, as I amp it. It's real competition--the amber and lemon are discordant, and the amber actually starts to win out as the drydown increases. This actually reminds me of Haunted in terms of the way the blend is acting--this is why I feel there might be a bit of musk in here as well. The lemon does not go away completely and does give it an interesting edge that makes me mind the amber/musk/what-have-you less than I usually would. The scent also holds well. Alas, I don't think it's quite right for me; it's one of those where I like the idea of having an imp around, but know I would rarely wear it. Still, it's a really cool blend.

In the imp: Very woody--teak, rosewood, etc. Wet: Blast of wood notes at first, but then the lilac hangs around the edges and blends a bit. Drydown and wear: An interesting and smoky blend of wood and floral notes. I will probably come back and update this review later, because this scent screams "age me!" Indeed, I had an aged imp of Ouija that spilled, and it did smell related, but different. I definitely will hold this for awhile and revisit the review.

In the imp: Apples and bananas Wet: Bananas and pineapples--very juicy fruity. There's the slightest hint of the "dry juice" of the pomengranate in the background, and there's a rich base here that might come from the cocoa and sugar being really well-blended. Drydown and wear: This doesn't morph much--perhaps the pineapple becomes stronger and the dusting of cocoa becomes just a bit more noticeable. However, I'm not really a fan of pineapple (except in Tzadikim Nistarim), so I think I'll send this imp to swaps. It's interesting though, and seems pretty unique among fruity scents in the catalog, so if that's a family that appeals to you, I'd give this one a go.

In the imp: This smells like cherry cough syrup--like the rose attar mixed with some sort of booze-tinged note. I have no idea what it could be. Wet: I now get the peach that a lot of people have been talking about, and it is in combination with the rose. After just a few minutes, there's some lily too. Drydown and wear: This does go soft very quickly, and dries down to an herbal peach. It's very different from what I smelled in the imp; I don't get any of the rose/cherry notes at all.

In the imp: peach and amber Wet: Very peachy! Drydown and wear: There is definitely golden amber here; like many others, I don't really pick up on the myrtle--until the oil's been on for about 20 minutes. The myrtle suddenly pops and it blends really well with the peach. The drydown with this is really quite lovely. Like a lot of the peach/apricot scents, I wish it were a bit stronger, but--like a lot of the peach/apricot scents--it is really beautiful.

In the bottle: As others have said--lots of herbs. However, I get an edge of floral. I don't know enough about the flowers used to be more specific, but there's a not sharp white/grey/light colored floral edge to this blend. Wet: This blend actually goes rather minty on me--very cool. The notes are a muddle. It's also very light. Drydown and wear: This remains very minty on me--when I can smell it. This practically vanished on my skin; it's been awhile since a blend went away so quickly. However, I tend to have worse luck with herbal scents than others (Glasgow tragically disappeared on me--in fact, Singing Moon calls to my mind a more complex version of Glasgow). Alas, I think this one's going off to swaps.

In the bottle: Way more amber than I smelled in the prototype at ECWC, but it is a golden and warm amber, and doesn't smell like a lot of the other black ambers (which tend to go stale on me, much in the manner of black musk) I know. Wet: Same as in the bottle--lots of golden amber with a floral backing (I assume this is mostly orchid with a bit of violet, as the floral notes are hard to distinguish) Drydown and wear: This is so close to being a "man's scent," but the way the florals interact keeps it, IMO, distinctly feminine. This is really beautiful--I liked the sugared/candied prototype, but this one is a bit drier and more composed, and I love it as well. There is still the hint of sugared/candied in the oil, but that is balanced out by the amber. My only reservation about the scent is that it doesn't seem to last very long. Something more leafy/foody (blackcurrant) becomes prominent just as the scent begins to lose its strength. Still, this is one of my favorite ambers since the '05 version of Jacob's Ladder.

In the imp: Black musks and black amber--although I almost get an effect that reminds me of the ambergris in Hellfire. I'm quite keen on how this smells in the imp. Wet: Bergamot! This is, of course, completely different from Severin, where the bergamot is buttressed by the lemon. Here the bergamot is a citrusy outgrowth of the black amber. Honestly, I'm really pleased with how this is proceeding in the wet stage--this scent has been on my W/l for almost two years, and the reason I kept on putting it off was disaster after disappointment with black amber. This actually reminds me a bit of Haunted. Drydown and wear: This basically dries down to black amber and bergamot with a hint of "red" in the background. I'm not entirely sure what to do with the scent in terms of how I feel about a bottle, but I do like the imp and I'm glad I have the scent.

In the imp: I expected this to be way more floral--it's very green and herby. I can't pick out the lilac at all--I don't even pick up on the lavender that others sniff. Wet: Green and...apples? I swear to god, this smells like BPALs apple note--very crisp fruit. Drydown and wear: OK, now this is back to green herbs and the slightest hint of lavender and currant. There's also still an apple-ish smell, I swear. This is a bit too bright-green for my liking; I really wish that I could have smelled more lilac!

In the imp: Dragon's blood here? Wet: Totally misjudged it--this is cinnamon, baby. In fact, it's a pretty damn strong cinnamon, because I definitely felt a tingle on my wrist after applying it, which is not what usually happens to me. In fact, I had to ask myself, "is this irritating my skin?" Drydown and wear: I don't see any irritation here, though I'll bet that if my skin were in a "sensitive" mood that I might. I'm in a bit of a quandry on this one--even though there seems to be a herby backing to this scent in the wet stage (that doesn't mix well with the cinnamon), as it dries, that vanishes and I'm left with a lovely deep cinnamon that doesn't have the candied quality of a Wrath (or similar). However, I'm really worried about my skin breaking out, as I can definitely "feel" where I applied this oil. To decide whether or not I'll get a bottle will require me to test it multiple times.