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This was a pleasant surprise for me! Wet, this is definitely white tea. At first, I'd forgotten the notes and thought it smells like a citrus white tea, but I think the tartness is coming from the hibiscus. It's sweet from the amber, and a bit floral. Dry, this definitely smells like white tea and sweet orange, which is very bright and pretty. Fruit doesn't usually work very well on me, but this mimics the orange nicely. I think this would be pretty for summer. The only thing is that it doesn't have much throw and it fades significantly after about 1/2 an hour. I'll definitely have to slather this one.

Okay, this is a huge disappointment to me. I love leather and musk, and I was hoping this would be bottle-worthy, but it really didn't work on me. Wet, this smells like cheap drugstore perfume or body mist. The musk smells like soapy skin, the leather smells cheap and chemical, and the honey is not helping anything. It's got an artificial, plastic edge to it that I really can't stand, and I blame the musk, which is just really overwhelming on me. As it dries, the leather comes out more, and it smells like the inside of a cheap leather handbag. I think it is the musk making it smell so fake. Completely dry, it smells like mildewed leather. I am not sure why my skin hates this leather/musk combo so much, but this definitely is not working. Sorry, Sara. I wanted to love you! ETA: Dry down is powder. I slathered this too, so the powder throw is strong.

Wet, this is definitely sweet, floral berry/plum. As it dries, I get some smoky incense. I feel like I've smelled this before, but to my unsophisticated nose, the only thing I can really think to compare it to is Lady Una, which is...totally off. I guess all fruity blends smell the same to me, since I don't usually like fruit. All I know if that I'm getting some red fruit, some floral and incense, a lot of sweetness, and something that almost smells like wine. It's pretty, but it's really too sweet for me.

This is really nice. Wet, I get the sage first, with some sweetness from the amber and a bit of spiciness from the clove. It's a tad soapy, but in a clean way, not sharp like detergent. As it dries, a bit of leather comes out. It's such a pretty scent, very herbal and bright, with just the right amount of sweetness. The leather gives it some depth. For notes that seemed like they might be disjointed, these work together really well and complement one one another. I seriously want to keep smelling myself. I smell fresh and warm and slightly spicy-sweet. Unfortunately, this one doesn't have much throw. I was testing The Marquis on the other arm, and when I went back to check on Hunter, she was gone. I think she just got lost since she's so subtle, and my nose was overwhelmed. But this is a great summer scent, so I'm going to test it again later by itself and see if it stands out more.

Yes, this is definitely a wake-you -up scent! Wet, I get a sharp men's aftershave/cologne scent from the mint, eucalyptus, and lime. Dry, I still get that menthol scent, but it's not as sharp. I'm not really getting any leather from this unless I sniff very deeply, and even then it's just a suggestion. I didn't think it had much throw, but then I caught a whiff as I moved my arm. Might be worth applying liberally, though. This is a cool, refreshing scent that would be really nice for summer. Not sure if I'll spring for a bottle, but I'm definitely keeping my imp!

This is definitely a dark scent. Darker than I'm used to wearing, but it really just works. Wet, it is musk, incense, and a bit of sweetness. It's really well blended, and I won't pretend that I can pick out the nuances of each scent, but I know I got some musk, some laudanum, some myrrh, and a lot of incense. It's got a lot of strength, even as it dries. It's a thick, dark, smoky sweet scent. It's not something I would wear to the office! But I will totally wear this when I want something strong and sexy. It's definitely a nighttime scent! Oh, and I didn't notice any star anise.

Wet: Wow, I am definitely getting the vanilla and the sassafras. It smells like a root beer float with vanilla ice cream, and something kind of dry/woodsy/dusty in the background. I don't think it's cedar, so it must be the balsam. Dry: As it dries, I get more of the wood. I think balsam tends to go a bit sour on me, and it is here too. The vanilla root beer is still there, but mostly I'm getting dry woods. Oddly enough, it's reminding me of a couple of the Snakes, which were very dry and musty with the patchouli/Indonesian oils. Cedar and vanilla are usually nice on me, and I liked Stimulating Sassafras Strengthener, so I'm not really sure what's happening here. This might require another test sometime down the road, because I had another scent go straight to wood on me today so I'm thinking maybe my chemistry is off. * Retesting August 2014: Same imp, four years later. Still get the vanilla root beer float upon application, along with the mint-y note that others have described. I think it's actually the sassafras, though? It's not minty, really, but maybe similar to licorice. Something sharp and herbal. The cedar keeps this dry despite the sweetness of the vanilla, and the combination ends up a bit sour on me. I keep smelling myself and I can't decide if I like it or not!

This was primarily a vanilla blend on me. It started out vanilla with a bit of leather and something a bit herbal. As it dried, the carnation came out and added some spiciness to it. At one point I got a little musk, but not much. Overall, it was a warm, slightly spicy, slightly herbal vanilla with a hint of leather. But then then leather faded () and the carnation really started to take over. I really like the carnation-vanilla combo, because carnation with amber tends to turn into cinnamon powder on me, but the vanilla and the carnation stay true here and are really lovely together. It's sweet, spicy, warm, and very pretty. Th only thing I was slightly disappointed in was the leather note, which I'd hoped would be stronger, but that's okay. I might need to experiment with some layering with this one.

Okay, this is good. Like, really good. I knew it would be, and I'm so glad I'm right! When it first goes on, I get berries and honey first. The idea of fruit + anything sweet usually makes me want to scrub something off immediately, but this totally works on me. The berries are sweet, but I think everything behind it is really balancing it out and making it smell delicious. The leather and polished wood are definitely in there, and they come out more as it dries. I don't really get the flowers, but they might be in there, adding more oomph to the blend without me realizing it. This is really well-blended. On me, I don't find it classically masculine, especially with the honey and berries. I mostly got this bottle because I love leather and wood notes, so I'm slightly disappointed that the leather isn't stronger, but that's okay. I have other leather blends where the leather is stronger. But I don't have anything like this. Nanny Ashtoreth is definitely a keeper.

A dizzying eddy of four teas brushed with light herbs and a breath of peony. This starts off a very sweet floral, and as it dries I get a sweet apple/green tea scent. It smells kind of like liquid hand soap. A pretty hand soap, but still hand soap. Overall, it's a bit too sweet for me, but I might try this again later to see if it grows on me.

Snake Oil with blood orange, red apple, lemon peel, plumeria, and gardenia. I really should have known that apples, oranges, and the vanilla from the Snake Oil would not be good on me, but it sounded so yummy and I really wanted to try it. The scent didn't realy morph very much while it was on. Right away, I got very sweet apple-citrus and not much else. It did smell very edible, but it was really too sweet for me to wear. After about 3 hours, I got some of the Snake Oil spiciness, which toned down the sweet fruitiness. It did have good throw throughout. I did a couple of swipes on my wrist and 3 hours later could smell it wafting up at me while I had my hands in my lap. And now it's been 7 hours after applying, and I can still smell it when I sniff my wrists, so it does last a while. Overall, it's too sweet and fruity for me.

I couldn't remember what the notes in this one were, so here are my blind, completely unsophisticated observations. The first few minutes were really strange, because I smelled PEANUTS. Salty, creamy peanuts. That lasted maybe 10 or 15 minutes, and then it faded into an orange-apple smell, with some woods and a bit of floral in the background. It was sweet and slightly spicy, a very fall scent. Sweet, spiced apples and oranges with some woods and floral. I am guessing, looking at the list of notes, that I was probably picking up on the ginger and pepper, which were sweetened by the tonka. The throw was pretty mild, and it didn't last long. 3 hours after applying it, I can still smell it about an inch away, but barely. I like this scent, and I can see wearing it during the fall, but I would definitely have to slather and reapply periodically.

I knew I would love this, and I was right! The vanilla and amber are most prominent, but they're well-blended with the woods. The juniper brightens it a bit, and the pine adds a coolness the overall scent. I really like the combination of the cool pine and the warm amber-vanilla-woods. This is like an inversion of The Illustrated Woman. Where the Illustrated Woman is thick with the cool pine pitch over a thin layer of vanilla-honey, Golden Priapus is a thin layer of pine over a lot of creamy vanilla-amber. I love it. The only thing is that there's a plastic edge to the vanilla, possibly because of the juniper (which tends to smell soapy to me). My imp is lab fresh, so I think this will improve with age.

My first thought when I smelled this wet was that I got roses, but then I looked at the notes and saw rosewood listed instead, so I'm wondering if rosewood smells at all like roses? That's probably a dumb question. Anyway, I got roses/floral and something fruity. After a while, the peach really came out, and it was syrupy, probably in part from the vanilla. Fruits always do this to me. Dry, this was nothing spectacular on me. Syrupy peach, with vanilla and floral in the background. I was really hoping the woods would come out more, but they were nowhere to be smelt.

Weird! At first, this smells grassy and fruity to me, like pears. I'm starting to wondering if I am hallucinating about pears, because something smelled like pears to me yesterday too and there were no pears listed in the ingredients. Anyway, yes, this is a green scent. Still kind of fruity for the first 1/2 hour, but that dies down. After about an hour, I get dry, green grass and a slightly sweet, fruity edge. This is actually pretty. I would not classify it as a classically masculine fragrance, at all, although it seems to be doing different things on my skin than it is on others'. For one, I don't get cologne at all, because if I did I'd be all over that. On me, it's mostly sweet, fruity grass. After an hour, it's actually quite faint, with no throw at all until I get about 2 inches away.

Wow, this is definitely MELON. Cantaloupe, specifically. I don't get the fresh, still-on-the-rind scent that others are getting - it's definitely syrupy and very sweet on me. When I first put it on, my reaction was, "Watermelon Jolly Ranchers!" After a while, I get a bit of mint in there, but it's so deeply buried under the melon that I can't really smell it. I was kind of hoping for more of the mint tea, but overall this is too sweet and syrupy for me.

Wet, I'm getting pear and roses. I don't see pear listed, so I'm guessing this is the sweet lotus blossom pulling something out of the rose or lilies. (Sweet scents + florals tend to turn into some kind of dessert or syrup on me). It's a pretty scent, and I like the rose, but overall it's a bit too sweet and fruity for me.

Wet, this is a slightly dusty honey-wine combo. As it dries, some of the dustiness fades a bit. This reminds me a lot of Fairy Wine and a bit of Lady Una (both of which smell similar to me, except that Lady Una is softer with the vanilla). Mostly Fairy Wine, but perhaps not as a sweet. I think the myrrh is helping with that. I don't know how often I'll wear this, but I think I'm going to keep the imp and see if it grows on me. Also, I passed by my co-workers desk to see what she thought, and she gave this one the thumbs up!

Wet: This is definitely a bright, non-powdery violet. So often, violets smell soapy on me, and this one doesn't really. It's a bit sweet and green. I also get something kind of brown and earthy, maybe the opopanax or the orris root. I don't know the difference between orris and orris root, so I can't tell if I'm getting that here or not. Dry: The brown, earthy thing is still there. I get some mint in the background, but I was hoping for more. Overall: This is a nice violet scent, not too soapy or powdery. I don't think I'll be wearing it very often, but I'm glad I tried it.

I should have known better than to try this one, but I wanted to give it a shot. Wet: BUBBLEGUM. As expected. Rose-scented bubblegum. Dry: The rose starts to come out more, but the sickly sweet lotus-bubblegum note is still ruining the whole thing. Lotus hates me. Three lotuses hate me times three. Overall: Lotus always turns to bubblegum on my skin, so I'm not surprised at all that this didn't work for me.

Wet, this is mostly fig - very thick and sugary and slightly spicy. As it dries, more of the orange starts to come through. Th orange is brighter, but overall the scent is still very sweet and fruity. I don't tend to like foodie scents, so this is not for me.

Wet: Hmmm. Sweet, soapy violets with clove. I like the violet-clove combo, but not the soapiness of the violet. Dry: As it dries, the soapiness dies down a bit, but I'm sort of underwhelmed by this one. It's not very distinctive or interesting on me. It doesn't smell bad; it just doesn't make me want to wear it again.

As soon as I applied it, I realized that this is very similar to one of my favorite scented soaps, which is pine and grapefruit. Jabberwocky smells very much like Christmas trees and sweet oranges. There's also some eucalyptus in there, but I don't seem to be getting as much on my skin as others have. (In fact, I seem to be getting most of it as a chill at the back of my throat!) Overall, it is definitely a buoyant scent that makes me happy. Unfortunately it doesn't last very long on me. After about 20-30 minutes, it is just a skin scent. I think this would be a great scent during the winter, when I crave the smell of Christmas trees and need a little pick-me-up. I'll just have to track down a full bottle so I can reapply as needed.

For a scent that has a couple of death notes for me, this is surprisingly okay! It starts off with a lot of mint and ozone, slightly cologne-ish. Ozone never fails to smell like soap to me, and it does here too, but somehow it works. I also get a bit of the eucalyptus, but it's just rounding out the mint. I smell like mint-eucalyptus soap, and I'm kind of okay with that! Maybe it's just because I have a headache, and mint-eucalyptus is good for clearing the head, but I am kind of liking this. I'm getting that Vicks Vaporub feeling at the back of my throat, and normally that would bother me, but not today. As for the other notes, I'm getting a hint of ginger somewhere in the background, but I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't looking for it. I don't get any lotus, which usually smells like bubblegum on me. I know I won't like this everyday, but I can see myself being in the mood for this every once in a while.

[Aged imp, probably 2+ years old] This was a really pleasant surprise! Wet, it is earthy and slightly sweet. But this is an herbal earthy, rather than something that smells musty or like dirt. It is a bit milky, as others have said. As it dries, it gets a bit sweeter and milkier. I'm not a foodie person, but this is working for me because it's not overwhelmingly sweet and it still has that herbal quality to it. Aaaand as it dries, it gets sweeter and sweeter. Completely dry, it is too sweet for me, but it still smells like it comes from something real and natural, which is nice. I think this would be good layered with something wet and green, like a jungle scent.