DarkMouse

It really has an outdoors in the woods with ivy sort of scent in the imp.. but it isn’t nearly as dark as I expected. My skin is amping a green, almost citrus, soapy scent which is actually really nice.. though completely unexpected from something with ‘burnt” in the description. I like it, and I'll wear it.. I just wish it was a little darker.

The Hessian of the Hollow started out really well on my skin - masculine, smoky, musty (like my beloved Kathmandu) but with a tinge of metal & blood- but sadly it ended up with something that I can only call "BPAL men's cologne smell" because I smell it a lot in the more masculine toned scents like Wilde & Dorian. Unfortunately, this one really isn't for me but I'm thinking it might work on my hubby.

In the Bottle: a little chocolatey, a little smokey, a bit of booze.. this could be good. On my Skin: Ooh.. cocoa and smoke. I really like ---- hey.. where are you going? No.. don't leave pretty chocolate smell... please... Oh hello, who are you? Thuggish Musk and your friend Booze, come to.. beat me over the head and steal my purse?? That's not very nice.. Great. Now I'm covered in weird baby soap smell.. Damn you Lab musk and your hatred of my body chemistry... damn you!! Verdict: sadly.. it has to go. The other odd thing about this scent is a back note that I can't help but think smells like the glycerine concoction of "bubble liquid" that you use to make soap bubbles.

I use the applicator inside the imp vials for all of my scents. When I get a new bottle I just decant about half an imp's worth and use that until its gone, then just refill. I like imps because I can carry them around, leave them on my desk.. etc without having to worry about ruining or contaminating my entire bottles. This and I'm a clutz.. so I always worry about spilling an entire 5ml while applying.

Sugar Skull was calling my name with all of the reviews of "maple syrup" and butter rum.. unfortunately it really doesn't seem to like me. I couldnt' put my finger on what it smelled like when my bottle arrived.. so I shoved it under my husbands nose. He said "eeewww.. it smells like Port Wine.. get it away!!!" -- my bottle is so boozy that it almost upsets my stomach. I don't get much sugar sweetness at all when its on my skin.. but for some reason I find myself wearing it even though I'm not fond of it. I'm glad I didn't buy two bottles, but I'm keeping my one - especially because the label is so gorgeous!!

I really love the smell of buttered popcorn and so does my little boy.. so I snagged an imp of Shill in a trade for us to try. Butter is NOT my friend. I learned it with Jack and should have known better with Shill.. it smells like rancid butter on my skin. :: shivers:: yuck.

In the imp: boozy, almost musty with a hint of mint On my skin: mens cologne and sawdust. I can't figure this one out at all.. my skin loves mint and boozey scents, but this just disappears into something unsettling. verdict: swaps - my skin hates it.

In the bottle: cinnamon, ginger and pepper -- this stuff is STRONG! Its actually almost too strong for me to put my nose into again. On my skin: Cinnamon & hot, hot pepper. I was hoping that this would smell like Chai on me and I'd want to bathe in it... think again. My wonderful chemistry decided to do a whammy on me since I opted to buy a bottle of Bengal un-sniffed. My skin amps up the pepper part of the blend enough to make my head feel like its caught in a vice that is slowly being tightened. The honey part of the blend is beautiful.. its almost like a spiced version of "O" - but it doesn't last enough on me.. it goes right to almost a powder scent (the musk.. lab musks go powdery and lab ambers go soapy on me) just as I'm getting the "Chai with honey" scent others raved about. Verdict: I'm thinking of layering it with O to bring out the sweetness and keep the pepper in check but I'm starting to learn that me and cinnamon scents don't actually get along. While I love them in my house, its a different story on my skin. Edited to add: both my husband and MIL said that this smells like spicy baby powder on me. WHAAAAAH!

Dragons Blood from the lab is too sweet for me.. even if its dried down with orris & sandalwood. This smells sort of like Cathedral only with a sticky sweet top note.. a Cathedral filled with wedding flowers maybe. Again.. not for me, since I'm not a floral girl.

2004 version I can't even tell you what I'm smelling straight off.. but I really don't like it. It has too much of a floral top note for me and there is something 'biting' in the background. I do smell something like candy or chocolates in the very back.. but I'm unsure if that's the Velvet I was wearing earlier today. This really gives me a headache.. its going to the swap pile. I'm glad though that I didn't make a mistake when not ordering this years version. Too bad it doesn't like me, because the name is so cool. (after reading other reviews.. I think the nasty scent I was smelling is jasmine - which hates me and gives me a headache)

I love it more in the bottle than on my skin.. the damn flowers are reeking havok again. I'd love to know where the apples & cinnamon scent I get in the imp goes when it gets on my skin because right now this smells like some disgusting perfume I bought when I was a teenager. I wish to Dog that this scent would stop beating me over the head with the weird 'synthetic apple' note.. its getting annoying. "Seven dry woods with mossy lichen and a gentle breeze of forest flowers"- why am I being tormented by apples?? Damn my crappy body chemistry.. damn it all.. .I'm hoping that in trying it again later it gets better. Worse to worse its a candidate for being turned into a perfume spray or a lotion... maybe my chemistry won't mess with it if it has been diluted.

In the Bottle: Its Earl Gray Tea! Yummy.. It smells just like I opened a teabag of Bigelow Earl Gray and was about to put it into my teacup. On my skin: Earl Gray tea - mainly the bergamot part of the tea.. and leather.. Not new car smell, but DeSade leather. This is sooooo good! (and sexy too!) OK -this is definitely a "Big Bottle" scent. Wow.. I haven't been this taken with a catalog scent since Scherezade and Absinthe (Come to think of it.. those are the only two catalog scents I currently have an obsession with) Verdict: if you love the smell of Earl Gray and leather.. this should be your next purchase/hunt. its AMAZING. YUM!!

In the bottle:cocoa bean, fruit.. and honey. on my skin: Sweet sticky honey, like O is famous for... and a fruit.. I think it is supposed to be figs or pomegranates ( though I don't have the lab description written down for this) I was hoping it was going to be chocolate on my skin, but its got a mind all its own. Right at the start this could be Blood Kiss - then it turns into something similar to 13.. and I smell cherries somewhere in the background for no reason. Verdict: Its ok.. but I like Blood Kiss better... (after about 2 hours this morphed and smelled like something rotted.. I had to wash it off)

This is an ozone/ aquatic scent almost akin to Jolly Roger - with a hint of soapiness in the background ( thats the lab's amber going sideways on me again- why Beths amber hates me so, I'll never understand.) There's a definite "perfumey" quality to this .. but its an extremely upscale perfume, so no disrespect to the lab there.. Its what a really good perfume should smell like. I do get the "crystal" sensation and the idea of something shiny (like .. duh.. mirrors) . I like this.. but I don't think it'll get much wear.

The King of Pain, the Famed Fakir. Frankincense and sweet clove, mandarin and bourbon, lemon peel and leather, grasses and smoke, lime and vetiver, ambergris and deep musk. whoah- leather, incense & spices.. its very sexy and masculine, though this one does work on a woman ( at least it works on me, but I've got weird chemistry) There is musk in this.. and unfortunately its looking like it could be the kind that makes Anne Bonny smell like dirty gym socks on me. I have to say that "The Famed Fakir" smells sorta sexy and dangerous - I just 'tortured' my husband into trying this on his arm.. cuz it isn't doing the trick on me. verdict: smelled way better on hubby than it did on me.. but he says he's not interested in an LE blend and will stick with his beloved DeSade.

The Dark Side of Fire: cinnamon, bitter almond, and neroli. Heavily spiced, torrid, and possibly conflagrant. I got this as a frimp from the lovely Kamyra after I mentioned that Chimera was too sweet and sickening on me and that I was still searching for the perfect cinnamon BPAL. I totally missed this scent in the catalog. In the bottle: Cinnamon & almond On my skin: On application the Almond is definitely the topnote though the cinnamon keeps clawing its way up to the surface. Its like a war between cinnamon and almond that is being waged on my arm at the moment. With each sniff I smell each one of them stronger than the other. There is a powdery sort of note in the background that is almost floral (the neroli) that keeps peeking out of the battle. As this scent dries down the neroli comes to the front and finishes with a soapy almond spice note.. this drydown stays with me for a good part of the day. Its a very long wearing scent.. love it! verdict: definitely a 5ml in the future.

I bought Wilde for my husband.. but he immediately smelled the lavender in it and said that he "wasnt' going to smell like his mom's bathroom". I of course (never being able to pass up slathering on some BPAL no matter what it is..) tried it on but it was entirely too masculine for me. It is so well blended that I really can't pick out any notes to it - but it is definitely a 'victorian mens cologne'. It definitely evokes its namesake in my head.. its Oscar Wilde through and through. Too bad it didn't work on me. Swapped away.

Alas, Chimera and I did not get along. While I love both sweet and cinnamon scents I found this entirely too much on the sweet side. It smelled like cinnamon icing and just got sweeter on my skin until it is cavity inducing.. like one of those big Cinnabons you get at the mall. This one is going to the swap pile.

Absinthe was a last minute add on of a single imp in my last order.. just because I was curious about the scent. I really didn't expect to like it.. but it has become one of my favorite catalog BPAL's to date. In the bottle: anise & mint.. very sharp and cold. On me: the mint hits my skin first, its cold and medicinal though appealing. I've never actually smelled real Absinthe.. but this smells so green and intoxicating. The mint fades away a bit faster than I'd like it to.. but the anise/ lemon/ green smell that remains is fabulous. I love this as a summer scent for these hot hot Georgia days.. I made both a perfume spray and a lotion out of my imp and I wear this scent layered because it doesn't have much staying power straight out of the imp. The lotion tends to capture more of the mint scent and hold it closer to my body.. Verdict: I already have 3 imps of this and will definitely be buying myself a bottle for wearing in summer. Absinthe is awesome.

In the bottle: (5ml) thick dark chocolate cake with a hint of smoke. (I have an imp that smells of mint chocolate chip ice cream) On my skin: (5ml)Chocolate incense (is there such a thing?) Its definitely chocolate.. but its so much more rich and dark than Bliss - there is also a musty smell in the background (sandalwood) that makes it so much more than a "foody" smell. It really does make me think of thick dark velvet fabric. (imp) starts out a minty chocolate and drys down to a thick chocolate cake smell with the musty incense in the background. Verdict: I love Velvet and will definitely be buying another 5ml once I use this one up. I love the smell of the imp from the lab better than the bottle I have because the mint is much more up front.. but I just layer the two together to achieve the same scent. This is much more of a chocolate "perfume" than a foody scent.. its a more sophisticated chocolate. I wear it when I don't want the blatent foodiness of Bliss but still want to smell sweet and warm.

In the bottle: Spicey buttery apples On my skin: I didn't get a BIT of pumpkin in this.. it was all spiced apples and butter. It had real staying power, but unfortunately I don't LIKE apple smells. This smells like the 'baked apples' my mom used to make in the microwave for me when I was a kid. It would be nice as a burner scent (but again.. I don't like apples) Verdict: I wish I smelled the spicey pumpkin that so many reviewers got.. Eventually I'm going to order a bottle straight from the lab to test this again. My imp went to the swaps.

Midway smells like Krispy Kreme donuts on me... its absolutely wonderful! I can't stop sniffing my wrists when I wear it, its awesome. Depending on the day, it starts out smelling like either cotton candy or buttered popcorn.. but goes right past that and settles on donuts - it lasts forever too! Midway is probably the longest lasting BPAL on me yet.. I've put it on in the morning and smelled it all through the night into the next morning. I'm just hoping that the bottles I have on order smell as good as this imp I've got!

My son is 4, and he always notices that I'm wearing perfume - so he likes to grab my hand and put his nose on my wrist to see what it is I'm wearing each day. I've been wearing Midway a lot lately.. and he says it smells like donuts ( it does smell very similar to a Krispy Kreme shop - so I see where he gets that) and he also likes the chocolate scents (13 and Velvet). He also says that Scherezade smells "like Mama" since its what I wear in between my foody scents and is pretty much my favorite BPAL. He's totally in love with popcorn right now, and I thought of buying a bottle of Shill to wear or use as room scent in my son's room.. but I really can't handle the smell of buttered popcorn all day long!!

in the bottle: Boozey cherry & almond on my skin: wet, it starts out cherry liquor and thick sweet almond (think Eclipse) and is yummy.. for about 5.2 seconds. It goes into a cedary sort of scent then to mahogany (like the drydown of Red Queen) and then to something wood polish smelling that gives me a headache. There's something similar to Sri Lanka in it.. maybe the cedar. verdict: I had to wash this off.. it gave me a splitting headache. Off to the swap pile with you!!

In the bottle: wow.. look at how red it is! I hope I like this.. it would go great in a dragon perfume bottle I have. I'm smelling leather (DeSade leather, not 'new car scent'.. this seems hopeful) and sweet dragons blood. On my skin: uhm.. damn. This is waaay sweeter and prettier than I'd have thought "Dragons Hide" should smell like. I'm not getting much of a smokey smell at all.. its being overpowered by the floral dragon's blood scent. I can smell the leather.. but its to the background and its still not making this scent any less "girly" for me. Verdict: as it dries down its getting more wearable, but its not something I'm going to be buying a bottle of. I'll keep the imp and wear it out but probably won't be getting more when its gone. There are other Ars Draconis scents I like much better than this one.