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Speaking as a guy, these are my personal favourites: Herbert West and Vicomte de Valmont for a very clean, classic cologne-y smell, which on me acquires hints of green tea / musk and moss / rosemary respectively on drydown. Respectable, classic and attractive. Hessian of the Hollow, Azathoth and Iago are very dark and fierce. I wear them when I need a confidence boost but they're not something I would wear to work. I didn't like Kroenen as much as I wanted to so it's not in the favourites category but it's something along these lines if you're into it. It's profoundly dark, intense, but also very incensey which is why it doesn't suit me that well, but if you're into that kind of thing, give it a try. And, uncategorized: Loup Garou - very woodsy, green, crisp and herbal. Barely perfumey and very comforting. I can't stop sniffing myself when I wear it. A very natural, straightforward and clean scent. Wear it anywhere. The Great Sword of War is quite warm. Very gender-neutral, I feel, in the good sense. A tad foody, but in the savoury, non-overpowering way. I'll add more as I try other imps, but these are the ones that come to mind right now.

This one is beautiful! My favourite Neil Gaiman character by far is the Angel Islington from Neverwhere and while we're still waiting for a (hopefully, possibly, maybe, please oh please Beth I beg of you) Neverwhere line I've been trying a lot of church-y smells to approximate his scent. This is the closest possible, I think. It's just gorgeous. The old candles, the dust, the old books, the wooden pews, the deep incense, it's all there. Amazing. Utterly amazing. It's not really something I'd wear as a personal scent, but I keep it around and sniff it when I need peace of mind. I have a whiff and think of Islington

Oh, such a betrayal! I bought one imp, and it worked wonders on me, so I bought another, and halfway through that, suddenly it started turning inexplicably sour on me. What's wrong, skin?! What is all this foolishness? During the time I enjoyed him, Antony is dry, leathery, manly, with a touch of dry grass and just absolutely amazing. I do recommend him, if you have less finicky skin than I do.

I must say I am torn. Iago is a tricky little bastard, somedays the vetiver positively reeks on me and other times he's more mellow and covered with a mild creamy note that my brain is deluding itself into thinking smells faintly of vanilla. But he's one of my favourite Shakespearean characters, so I'm keeping the imp - just for those days when I feel I must be extra ambitious.

And, much like real money and chocolate, there's never enough of it and it never lasts I adored chocolate coins - Goldtaler to me - in my youth and when I heard BPAL had created a scent based on this lovely treat I had to give it a go. I like cocoa. I like amber. It seemed like an instant winner by the description. Putting it on my wrist, divine. Absolute heaven in oil form. Cocoa dryness plus the warmth of amber. Fifteen minutes later, the cocoa had disappeared, the amber mellowed and all I was left with was some half-hearted, sluggish amber. I feel rather heartbroken now. I wound up using it as a room scent, but there, too, the nice fragrance all but dissipated after about half an hour of burning it.

I am so very, very torn here. I finally bought an imp of Snake Oil because I decided I couldn't really call myself a BPAL fan and not try it, and while it's absolutely magnificiently blended and smells divine, it's not really a smell for me. It's very rich but also to me a) very feminine and very sultry, two adjectives which nobody has ever used to describe me! But I'm keeping the imp just because I do like the smell. I was quite disappointed, however: the sweetness and vanilla never come to the surface on me. It's all quite dark and spicy. Still nice, but I was hoping for detectable vanilla - alas.

Sam: "So who are you?" War: "Here's a hint: I was in Germany. Then in Germany. Then in the Middle East. I was in Darfur when my beeper went off. I'm waiting to hook up with my siblings - I've got three. We're gonna have so much fun together. [ . . . ] Honestly? People don't need a reason to kill each other. I mean, have you seen the Irish? They're all Irish. You think I'm a monster; I'm jello shots at a party. I just . . . remove inhibitions." - Supernatural 5.02; "Good God, Y'All" I bought this after watching this particular Supernatural episode, since it had such a fantastic portrayal of the Horseman in question. So, as with many things, blame this one Kripke In the bottle, this one is a dark, reddish brown and the scent of pure cocoa and mandarin. Wet on, it's almost entirely cocoa, but as it dries down, I can make out the mandarin, tonka and saffron, five minutes on and finally! Black tea. Another ten minutes later and a lot of the scent has faded, there remains a strong citrus note that reminds me of Whitechapel and which I wasn't that fond of when I tried that, but at least it's overpowered a little by the black tea and tonka. Drying completely, this is lighter and less intense than I thought it would be. It fades very quickly, and I'm a bit upset because I can't really detect the red musk - I love red musk - nor the herbs. It's a nice enough smell, but not really something that would suggest conflict or power to me - I was expecting something darker and more dangerous. Maybe this is War in his off-hours, putting the moves on people in bars?

Got this is a frimp but it broke in half during shipping, I only managed to save half an imp and now everything smells like sandalwood Fingers, papers, desk, sandalwood everywhere. A very pale, translucent red in the imp, beautiful colour, possibly the prettiest I've seen in an oil so far - this is completely besides all possible points, but I couldn't help point it out. I've honestly never tried dragon's blood before and I'm not sure if I detect something here, it's mostly sandalwood and dust, which is a very nice, light smell, though it fades quickly. It's a very cold and quiet scent. I like it, but I don't think I'd buy a bottle, it's too much of a one-note on me without much staying power. For the time it's on, though, it's very nice.

Got this for a friend and couldn't help but have a little sniff. Absolutely lovely! Light, understated and sweet, but not cloyingly sweet. On wet, the peony note is strongest, but as it dries, the scent becomes stronger as the tea notes come out. It also smells very clean. Can't wait to send her this

Good god. Is that . . . ? Is it . . . ? It's a floral I love! And it's all . . . ancient, and masculine, and not at all sweet, and not at all giving me a headache like they usually do, what's going on here? So yeah. It is possible for me to like a floral. Who knew? On wet: CHAMOMILE Chamomilechamomilechamomile. Mmmh. I love the smell. Drying down, juniper comes out and the whole thing becomes extremely herbal and masculine. God, I love it. Later, there's just a touch of rose, and I normally can't even stand rose - but it sweetens it ever so slightly. Brilliant, just brilliant.

On wet: Wood, wood and more wood. It's not the annoying, artificial Pinesol kind of wood though, more like oak and light pine. On drydown, the musk begins to appear. I can't quite pick up on the bible accord, which makes me very, very sad because it's the part I was looking forward to most of all Aziraphale is a very polite and safe smell, I'd wear it almost anywhere, but whereas other scents I wear usually make me feel bold and confident, this just makes me feel, I don't know, a bit shy and aware that I'm pleasant to be around with if I'm being nice? I have no bloody idea why I wound up ordering two 5mls. I might sell one, because I'll never finish both.

"It is harsh in the world, whoredom rife —an axe age, a sword age —shields are riven— a wind age, a wolf age— before the world goes headlong." - The Poetic Edda Oh, this is genius. I blindly ordered a 5ml of this and I love it. On wet, the wood notes are sharp and red and strong, maybe a little too strong, but the moment it dries the amber and musk start glowing beautifully. The wood is still strong, but the sandalwood starts coming through as well. Fifteen minutes in, and it mellows very nicely and all the scents blend together into a dark, musky perfection. A word to the wise, Fenris Wolf is very, very dark and masculine, so if that's not your ball of wax, it won't make you change your mind, but if you've been looking to try that kind of thing, you could do a lot worse than this. It's masculine without being macho, feral, powerful and deep.

A very warm herbal scent - it's really quite nice, but I'm not sure what to do with it! It doesn't work much as a day to day scent, and I'm too much of a cynic to believe it'll bring me good luck. On wet, it's actually not a nice scent at all - it's all herby and medicinal all the time and smells a bit bitter - but as it dries down, it becomes sweeter, warmer and more fragrant. It was a frimp from the lab - I'll throw it in the swap pile for now, if I can't get rid of it, I'll keep it, but I'm not too attached to it. ETA: Forget what I said about it not bringing good luck: within a half hour of trying it I got a call from the supermarket saying I won the sweepstakes my mum convinced me to enter a few weeks ago and I won first prize - a laptop. Cue me breaking into an impromptu rendition of "I'm a believer" and this little guy going back into my pile of keepers.

A frimp from the lab. A very red scent, strangely both woody and foody, though not really my ball of wax. It's also quite sharp and spicy and has a lot of notes that come through beautifully, with the red musk, sandalwood and lemon being the strongest. I was really hoping the mango would come on through for me to lighten this up a little, but it never appeared - shame. Off to the swap pile.

Surprisingly nice! Not a big fan of foody scents, but got this as a frimp from the lab and thought I'd try it. I don't know if I'd wear it necessarily, but I really like the combination of woodsy / medicinal / herbal and fruity, it's dark and sharp, and quite delicious! Reminds me of rooting through forest underbrush for wild raspberries and blackberries as a child. I honestly never thought I'd like any scent from the Garden, due to my bias against food and floral scents, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Soft, with nice incense and floral notes and just a bit of spice. The clove and the bourbon are a wonderful addition and keep it form being too sweet. It's an enormously playful and charming scent, I imagine it being quite disarming on a woman, whether she be a lady or a tomboy or anything in between. It's a very unexpected but quite energetic and bold scent, very, very nice.

"O Hamlet, speak no more: Thou turn'st my very eyes into my soul, And there I see such black and grained spots As will not leave their tinct." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet Got this as a frimp - it's too feminine for me to use, but I like to try all frimps I get out of general principle just to train my nose a little. This is an interesting floral - it's very mature, refined and delicate, and not as sweet and playful as most florals, but rather authorative. It certainly fits a queen - it would probably do well in a professional environment since this is also a very understated, quiet and dry scent.

"There's a daisy: I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet Got this as a frimp Well, it certainly fits the poor dear - a sort of heartbroken floral. I'm awful when it comes to florals - I can barely tell flowers apart by looks, let alone by scents! - but I rather like this one, because it's not as cheerful as most florals, it's actually quite clean and a littlebit dreary. It's too feminine to work for me, but it's quite pretty. Definitely for fans of floral perfumes who want to try something that's a little different!

"Now hold on a minute; forget what our culture has made of the Djinn. Forget Barbara Eden. Forget Robin Williams. To the people of ancient Arabia, the Djinn was neither cute not funny. It was something else entirely. It was the face of fear itself. [ . . . ] Match wits with a creature older than time? Match wits with a prince of the dark dominions? Pit your tiny twentieth century mind against one who walked the spaces between the worlds, and trod the wings of angels beneath his conquering feet? Alexandra, you're a delight! Really, you are." - from Wishmaster Dark, fiery, musky, and very, very masculine, though I think it would be lovely on a woman as well. On wet it's pure fire, like a vast bonfire crackling away in the night. It's powerful, uncontained and a kind of black fire. As it dries down, it becomes deeper and more incensy, and vetiver adds a touch of smoke, but never so much as to ruin it. This one lasts for hours, too.

In the imp, the cocoa, cherry and citrus scents are very, very strong. On wet cocoa and cherry are the strongest, and as it dries, orange blossom comes to the surface and takes over much of the show. I normally don't like foody scents at all, but this one? Dear me, it's brilliant I'm going to use this as a room scent, since food scents still don't smell that good on me personally, but I definitely want to have a room full of it!

Ohh, poor Valmont, he's getting a poor reputation I was a bit cautious of this, because while I do like cologne smells, I prefer them to be complex and/or toned down with something else. Such as Herbert West's aftershave plus Embalming Fluid. In the bottle and on wet, Valmont is excessively masculine, very off-the-shelf cologne-y, and I was a bit disappointed because it smells a bit like AXE Alaska, which my dad is quite fond of. Determined to get something out of it, though, I waited for the drydown. And I was certainly not disappointed! On drydown, the moss, rosemary and light florals come out, but the scent stays crisp and clearly masculine, I also detect a certain creaminess, although I'm not sure what that is. I'm getting a full bottle of this

Got a 5ml for my mum and she was ecstatic, and now me and my dad can't stop sniffing her arm In the the bottle, it smells like creamy vanilla but very light and clean, on her, it went on much the same, but after drydown - wow! A perfect blend of clean (not cloyingly sweet, as is often the case) vanilla, very light florals and clean but aged linen. A wonderful, feminine scent, very timeless.

"After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world." - Oscar Wilde I ordered this mostly because I like absinthe the drink, and this scent definitely doesn't disappoint. Strong but not too-strong anise and mint, with a hint of lemon and something deeper. The only thing I didn't really take into consideration that wearing absinthe as a perfume would basically make you smell of nothing but licorice all day, which in retrospect I really don't need - I'm not one for foody scents. I'll try to swap it, but even if I find no takers, I still like it enough to keep it around.

"Man delights not me." - William Shakespeare, Hamlet Got this as a frimp - the very first BPAL scent I absolutely didn't like. It was a rather disappointing experience The whole scent is just very, very sour and very sickly on me. It smells like a floral with a vinegar infusion - must be the wine. I'm somewhat reminded of the Nosferatu vampire clan from the Vampire: the Masquerade RPGs, from now on, whenever I imagine them reeking of anything, it'll be this - not something profoundly vile but something that might have tried to be beautiful but had gone so sour that it became profoundly disturbing. That said, while it's useless as a fragrance to me, as a scent experience - the experience of being there, next to the wilted flours and soured wine, by the open coffin as something might be crawling up behind you - for that, it actually does its job amazing well.

"Where hast thou wandered, gentle gale, to find The perfumes thou dost bring?" - William Cullen Bryant Got this as a frimp - it's too light and breezy to suit me, but what it does, it does amazingly well. I've never smelled anything quite so . . . fresh, beautiful, well-blended, refreshing, soft, it's the rare floral that doesn't give me a headache. Zephyr is a brisk wind in a wide field full of wildflowers. Absolutely masterfully done.