Altaira

My bottle of Samhain (ordered unsniffed based on recs) came in yesterday and I just put some on. Seems to be fine on my wrists, but in my cleavage it burns and turns the skin bright red! Truly the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. I've worn Pumpkin V with no issues, so I doubt it's the pumpkin or the spices. And I've never had a problem with patchouli in the past. That leaves "woods," fir, red apple, and mullein as possible culprits. Anyone have ideas?

This was a frimp from the Lab. In the bottle and wet on my skin I get the smell of lollipops. Not just hard candy - specifically lollipops - the purple ones. Once dry, the candy smell fades down to honey wine. I like this a lot. When I sniff my wrist it smells powdery, but the throw is still sweet wine. I put this on around 8 this morning and it is still going at 4:30.

I bought a bottle of this unsniffed and was a little worried when I first put it on by the strong smell of red hots melted into black coffee. I soon realized it was an almost perfect scent to wear to work. For the first 20 minutes or so it is all "wake up, Wake Up, WAKE UP!!" with the coffee and cinnamon. It is very energizing. But by the time I get to work, it has mellowed into a sweet, creamy scent; something like french toast and coffee. It lasts quite a long time on me as well. However, I wore it 3 days in a row and the sweetness started to get cloying. I guess that means I need to expand my collection to different types of scents!

This was a frimp from the Lab. I had no idea what to expect given the lack of listed notes, but I agree with the consensus here: cedar with a warm sweetness in the background. I like this, but I'm not sure about it on me. It smells like a cedar hope chest that maybe contained some dried flowers from a special occasion, so old they have lost their scent. I understand the "pencil shavings" that people report with cedar, but I have different associations so it doesn't bother me. It might be better as a room sent than as a personal scent. I don't have any allergy issues with it, but the guy in the cubicle next to me has been sneezing a bit today, so I don't think I'll be wearing this to work again.

I received this as a frimp from the Lab. With no idea what to expect - but not finding any obviously offensive notes when sniffing the vial - I wore this to work yesterday. At first I thought I had made a mistake because this goes on very strong. I don't like wearing scents with a long throw to the office. But I needn't have worried, after about a half hour the scent had backed down and became much lighter. I have been wearing mostly foody scents lately, so this as a nice change. It is a more traditional perfume, verging on slightly floral, without any actual flower notes to bother me. I quite like this and will keep the imp to wear on occasions where I want to seem more adult than can be accomplished while smelling like baked goods. I would recommend it to people who avoid florals but want something traditional and pretty.

The initial coffee smell of this is really quite delicious. Then after about a half hour it becomes a bit more sedate and the polished wood becomes more noticeable. It is a fun scent and I can see myself wearing it frequently.

I ordered this because Egyptian Musk is a long time favorite scent of mine and this was one of the few oils that mentioned it as a note. I want to love it, I really do. Amber, musk, saffron, myrrh, almond, cardamom - all things I love. However, my nose is very sensitive (in a bad way) to florals and the lotus is almost all I can smell unless I press my wrist right up to my nose. I'll hold onto it for a while. It is very sexy, maybe I'll try it on a "date night." But first I need to find out if lotus type water lilies are included in my hubby's lily allergy...

Dorian was a lighter smell than I expected. Quite nice, but very little throw on my skin. When wet I can smell the sugared tea, but it has now faded to something more traditionally "perfumey" but thankfully not floral. I usually go for stronger, spicy scents, so this will be a good option for days I want to be more subtle. ETA: Gave this a longer try this weekend and decided it's not for me. There is too much vanilla cologne, not nearly enough tea and lemon. I suggested to my husband that it might be better on him and he wrinkled his nose and said "Just because I like vanilla ice cream doesn't mean I want to smell like a vanilla bean!"

I received this as a frimp in my recent order. It is a very pretty floral that does not give me an immediate headache or sneezing fit. However, it is not something I would wear.

When first applied the chocolate mint is very noticeable. But it smells more like the herb "chocolate mint" than baked goods. This is actually not foody at all to me. Unfortunately, that first burst of chocolate mint burns off in under 5 minutes. Fortunately, I like the smell of oak moss, because that's pretty much what I'm left with. The hubby finds oak moss to be overly masculine on me, so we'll see how this works out...

The citrus is very prominent to me. I can smell the ginger underneath, but it reminds me of a gingerbread cake covered in lemon frosting. The ginger is there, but it is obscured by the lemon. Sniffing real hard, I think I can detect the "popcorn" smell others have reported; to me it smells more like butter in the cake/frosting. I like this quite a bit, but it doesn't fit my mood right now. So I'm going to wash it off and try something else. I'll update when I've had a chance to see what it does after a day's wear ETA: I just took a shower and applied a single swipe of the imp wand to see how it settles in. My hubby came into the room and said "Something smells like baby powder." It still smells like frosted ginger cake to me... ETA2: Wore this to the office yesterday and had some issues. While it was wet I kept thinking it reminded me of something that was making me a bit queasy. I realized it was a mental, not physical reaction. This throws the scent of Rose's Lime Juice. What's wrong with that you say? Rose's Lime Juice has been a component of just about every alcoholic beverage that has made me ill. So, unfortunately, when not smelling my wrist directly, the scent Shub floats up to my nose is highly reminiscent of drunk sick. feh. I Liked this so much at first

Ripening concord grapes on the vine are one of my favorites smells ever. I was *so* looking forward to this one, it was the first I tried from my imp order. Alas, like arsenicsauce, I am mostly getting a weird sour top note. It smells vaguely floral to me, maybe it's the cereus? I can smell a bit of the other notes underneath the sour smell, but they are not enough to break through. Washed it of after about 10 minutes, it was making me feel queasy.

I was very excited to receive this as an unexpected frimp in a decant circle, as it was on my "to buy" list. Sadly, it was far too floral for me. I don't think it is a skin reaction, because most oils smell very similar to me on my skin as they did in the bottle. I think my nose is just hyper sensitive to florals (and then I start sneezing). There was something dark and dry and the background that I quite liked, I presume that to be the leather. I also like the wine/juice scent that was coming through. But in the end, it those all took a back seat to the floral notes - particularly violet. I'm just not girly enough to pull off a scent like this, even if it didn't trigger my allergies.

Bumping the thread to say that Pumpkin I (2009) smells like pumpkin & nut cookies to me. Sooo delicious! But definitely cookies, not bread. There is a crisp toasty quality at the edges unlike the soft roundness of a cake or bread.

I received this as an unexpected frimp from a forum member in a decant circle. It's not something I would have chosen for myself, but was intrigued enough to try it out. In the bottle, all I can smell is the cologne, cheap drugstore cologne. On the skin, I can smell the minty pennyroyal, but only when I hold my wrist up to my nose. The scent wafting up when I'm not sniffing directly is still men's cologne, but at least the cheapness has worn off. Overall, this gives me the impression of a creepy uncle with too much aftershave, who is always sucking on wintergreen lifesavers. Quite appropriate for the name, but nothing I would want to smell like - or have anyone close to me smell like. I'm glad I got to try it out because I'm just getting into BPAL and learning what I like, but it will go in the swap pile and continue its journey to find someone who likes it.

OMG I love this! It smells like fresh baked pumpkin & nut cookies. So, yeah - very foody. There's something in the background that might be threatening a headache/nausea reaction, but I'm hoping that is still the Pumpkin II that I hastily washed off before trying this one (I think some brushed off my wrist onto my shirt cuff). I would be very sad if something I liked this much caused physical discomfort... Edit: I wore this to work today and have had it on for 3 hours now with no adverse reactions, Yay!

This is exactly what I was expecting from a pumpkin scent: warm and spicy. It is very evocative of Fall and takes me back to my teen years when I went to a local renaissance faire every September. It was there that I first encountered perfume oils and Pumpkin IV is the scent of that cart. I quite like this, but I'm glad I got it as a sample from a decant and not a full bottle as find it a bit too heavy for everyday wear. I can see wearing it to parties or when reading tarot cards.

I'm not a fan of florals, and this is no exception. The rose completely overpowers the pumpkin for me (both in the vial and on my skin). The pumpkin is adding a sweetness, causing the blend to smell like candied rose petals. There was something in this that was reacting badly with my head and threatening a massive headache (one of the reasons I am not a fan of florals) so I washed this off before it fully dried.

I'm a bit disappointed in this one. For me, the pumpkin is completely overshadowed by the fir and rosemary. This is a very clean scent; not "just out of the shower" clean, "eco-friendly cleaning product" clean. There s a laundry detergent at the health food co-op I go to with a similar scent, which I have never purchased because I don't like my clothes to have a smell. The cleanness is probably why I'm most disappointed. Based on the description and reviews I was expecting the green dirty smell of my hands after weeding a garden. This is nothing like that. I'm just getting into BPAL after many years of not wearing scents at all and I'm still learning what notes I actually like. Overall, this is not a bad scent, just not for me. I wouldn't have a problem with a co-worker wearing it as it does not trigger my headache or sneezing reaction to many (mostly floral) scents.