Miyabi

This is a strange, but nice one. It smells like candy for the longest time on my skin, and hours later, I've discovered it's morphed into something more rounder, more vanilla-like. I like that one better than the initial candy scent, but admittedly I got this not for the way it smelled, but because I could use some happiness and ease while waiting for the law school decisions to come in! I still like it, though. I'd like to try Has No Hanna sometime, too.

Mmmm, I love this. At first the pepper really stung my nose when it was in the imp, but afterwards, it's dried down to a nice honey/milk/vanilla scent with some grains in the background. It's like a more innocent O. I love it.

Oh, no. I was expecting a floral with a touch of herb, but the rosemary and orange really overpowered this one. It came out as cleaning fluid on my skin. Definitely not for me.

In the imp, it reminds me of some very strong, very expensive perfume. While it mellows out on my skin, it never really loses that florally feeling, and it's a bit much for me. Off to swaps on this one.

Whoa, it's strong in the imp. Almost too strong. On the skin, it's a confusing blend of notes, but sooner or later the apricot comes out on top. I'm not too fond of confused fruity scents, so off to swaps it goes.

In the imp it was just floral floral floral--like getting shoved facefirst into heavily perfumed bouquets, but as soon as it got onto my skin it behaved pretty well. The vanilla and amber came out as strong notes; it's like O's girlier sister.

Got it from a swap. In the bottle it smelled clean but sweet, so I was afraid the berry note was going to overpower things, and it did for a while on my skin. Now it's dried down into something powdery, but clean with that same hint of berry. Not too sure about it--it's not as bad as the plum blossom notes in Peony Moon and Budding Moon, but I guess I need to try it again before making a decision.

In the bottle: smells like...lotion? that sort of lotion I used to put on when I was little. Hmmm. On skin, wet: oh, the sweetness is coming up and out now. I'm kinda afraid this will be like Budding Moon--the candy sweetness with the spice were what killed it for me. Drydown: Whew, what a relief. This is peony, peony, peony, but with a clean freshness that makes it all good. This is gorgeous, hands down. I'm especially pleased, since this is my birth moon.

In the imp: Wow, oranges oranges. On skin, wet: still no sign of fig, though the oranges are reminding me of LifeSavers now. Drydown: OK, it's going between spicy and then sorta cleaning fluid like. Off to swaps.

I think it's a good scent, though I don't think it's something I'd really wear. The imp I received smells warm and golden, but it's a bit strong, for one, and I think the spiciness really makes it something I wouldn't wear. Still, it's a lovely golden sweet scent, so I intend to send the imp off to someone who wants it.

In the bottle: Mint, but with heady fragrant notes in the background. Not candy-caneish to me. On skin, wet: OHMYGOD delightful. The mint's stronger, but the other stuff in the background is coming out as more sugary and vanilla, which is good, 'cause before I was like, "huh?" It's making my wrist cool! Drydown: Still wonderful. I'm sniffing my wrist as I'm typing this, it's so good. The vanilla's coming out more, taking over the mint, though the coolness is still there. Definitely keeping this with Skadi for wintertime.

Unfortunately, the musks did me in too. It wound up smelling a lot like Chanel No. 5 when I had the chance to try it on, and it wasn't too pleasant. This one's off to swaps.

When I opened the imp, it smelled a lot like herbal fruity gum, but it's changed a lot since I put it on my wrist. I can smell the grape, still, but it's not too overly fruity--the herbs do a lot to soften it. It's sweet, but also clean and soft, so I think I'll keep the imp for now. I was thinking it'd be some odd herbal scent, and I'm glad it didn't turn out that way!

This is all "whoo, citrusy!" in the imp and later when I put it on. It smells a lot like lemon drops, even through the drydown. Getting a peek of the almond, though. Smells very clean, sweet and fresh. I think a big bottle is in my future, along with London.

In the bottle, it was really fruity and candylike, but when I put it on, it morphed into this warm gingery scent without any plum until after it dried down, and then it smelled like plum. The musk in here doesn't bother me at all, something I find interesting. Probably will keep the bottle, at any rate. Sometimes it veered off into this odd candlelike scent, but I like it so far. It's different.

In the imp, it's intense freshness. Citrus soap-like, I'm not getting any tea or oude from this. Smells a lot like Irish Spring, to me. On skin, wet: Ah, there's the oude, but it's very light. It's still very fresh, very clean, but not too feminine. I think it would smell exceedingly sexy on a guy. Drydown: Now the oude's out, but I dunno. I think it's a lovely scent, but maybe not me. I tend to go clean-but-a-little girly. Luckily, I've got a friend who wants a scent like this, so I'm going to try a second time and if I still don't think much of it, I'll give it to her.

I actually get a warm sense from Talvikuu; it's cold and cool and almost too manly and strong at first (for the first hour or so I kept thinking I'd like this on a guy), but after that it dries down into a sweet, warm balsam scent that I used to get from the Flex conditioner a few years back. It's almost foody 'cause I think I can smell just a bit of vanilla in it too. I'll have to try out the imp more to see whether it warrants a 5 ml or not. I was expecting a less berryfied Skadi, and this one definitely wasn't it, but it's very intriguing.

Hmmm. This, to me, smells like what Two, Five and Seven should have been for me (that oil was beer on my skin). I get a lot of sharp green at first, but then it fades into the background and lets the rose peek out. A lot of posters here say they've got an image of a single fresh cut rose in water, and that's the exact image I got too. The rose is light, but it's also still there too. It's rosy, but it's a bit too clean rose for my tastes, and I usually like clean scents. While I don't think I'd get a bottle, I'm definitely keeping the imp. London still stays as my primary rose scent for BPAL.

I wasn't so sure when I opened the imp and had a sniff. But then as it dried down, there it was! That's honest-to-goodness lilac, and I'm so glad I have it, since I missed the lilacs this year. It's beautiful stuff!

Wow. I really really wanted to like this one. But then I opened the imp and it gave off that smell like Verdandi--stale chocolate when I was expecting apples, and then well, it turned into apple, all right, but stale dried apple potpourri when I was hoping for fresh apples. Off to swaps.

In the imp: Sweet-scented wood. Wet on skin: still sweet, but the woody notes are coming out. Where's the lilac? Drydown: Meh. Nice, but not me.

In the imp: Sweet fruity candy. Wet on skin: still sweet, but not so candy-like. Drydown: fruit-scented candle! ick! Off to swaps with you, my dear.

In the imp: frankincense. a lot of it. On skin, wet: There's the rose. It's peeping out a bit, though the frankincense is the star. Drydown: Rose potpourri. Eh, dunno about this one. Persephone and London are more my type of rose scents. Maybe one more time and see if anyone else wants it if it doesn't work on me.

In the bottle, it's very citrusy, but then gives way to sweet herbal powder, all while remaining clean. I've put this on the past two nights, and in the end I sleep really well (though sometimes not enough). Definitely a keeper, this one.

in the imp: sweet musk and amber. No rose. wet, on skin: the rose creeps out a little bit, but not too much. drydown: eeeeew. it's roses and pee. eeeww. Got two imps of this, and now they're off to swaps.