kakiphony

In the imp: Sweet almond extract with a hint of something herbal and bitter behind it which I can only assume is the myrrh. Wet: Whoa! I don't think I've ever had a bpal change so much from the imp to its wet application on my skin. As soon as this hit my wrist (left wrist pulse point for those keeping score) the herbal note shoved its way to the fore. It's pungent, and the sweetness of the almonds in the background is like the sweetness of a child's liquid medicine meant to mask the active ingredients. Early dry down: After approximately fifteen minutes, this is still a very herbal scent, but the backing note is now the musk. The almonds have completely fled, leaving me quite bereft since I do love the lab's almonds. (Queen of Sheba stole my heart. I've actually got a 10ml, my first, of it on order.) It's hard for me to describe the smell exactly, but it reminds me of a sharp, musky men's deodorant scent. I find it strange that a Goddess blend would smell masculine on me, but it does. Late dry down: After one hour, this has faded almost to the point of disappearing. There's no throw at all, and I can only detect the oil by putting my wrist to my nose. When I do so, I am finally able to detect all three of the listed notes. It's a strange reaction, but rather than blending the notes my skin seems to have separated them out. The almond has returned to be the background not, and it's a subtle, sweet, warm almond. I don't detect butter, but it is a rich almond rather than the syrupy almond of Queen of Sheba. Overlaying the almond is the bright, herbal scent of myrrh and a salty, almost sweaty musk. It's still somewhat masculine on me, but not as much as it was in its early stages. Conclusion: I like this scent, but I don't love it. The almonds in Queen of Sheba wow me more, and the myrrh still smells a twinge medicinal to me. It's a no-go for me, but due to ambivalence, not dislike.

Slivers of warm, pulsating blood forever crystallized in golden amber resin. In the imp: Sweet dragon's blood. Wet: The dragon's blood is both floral and fruity on first contact with my skin. But it's more a tropical fruit flavored skittles smell than the grape Nehi of the dragon's blood in Tintagel. Early dry down: After this has been on my wrist less than ten minutes, the sweetness of the dragon's blood has receded and the spice of the amber has started to emerge. It's developing a slightly soapy smell that I'm hoping disappears as it has more time to develop. Dry down: Well, it's not as soapy as the early dry-down suggested, thank goodness. It's still fruity sweet, but that sweetness is layered over a spicy, salty, tangy smell that almost reminds me of a musk. I've been sitting here trying to figure out just how to describe this smell, and having a heck of a time with it. Finally, after holding my wrist up to my nose and sniffing for about two minutes, I have to say that what it reminds me of the most of is how my dog, Elliott, a bichon frise, used to smell right after a bath. We couldn't use doggy shampoo on him because he has skin allergies, so we used Johnson's Baby Shampoo and then condition him with Salon Selectives (bichon's have hair that is VERY prone to matting and tangling because it is so fine). He used to smell sweet and fruity, but you could smell the spicy/musky dog scent of him under that. I used to bury my head in his soft fur and sniff. Blood Amber smells like that to me. Conclusion: This is a very nostalgic scent for me, so I may keep it around for that purpose. It's a good smell. It's pleasant and not offensive. However, I don't think this would ever be an everyday scent for me. It's a bit too sweet, and a bit too reminiscent of the artificial fruit smell of so many major brand shampoos and candies. I think this would be a great scent for a young teenager. It's innocent and fruity, yet the amber adds just enough spice behind it to make it slightly complex. It feels like a good starter perfume to me. I think I may send my imps (I have two!) to my younger sister who likes younger feeling fragrances than I do.

In the Imp: Hmmm....it's VERY sweet, almost cloying, but I can pick up some notes. First, I smell bubble gum (lotus?) and under that there's a syrupy fruit smell that I think is cherry, and over the top there's a bite of a sweet spice like cinnamon. Wet: Bubbleyum bubble gum, unadulterated. Early dry down: The bubblegum scent remains predominant on me, but the spice has risen a little to the surface to make it a bit more grown-up. Mind you, I said "a bit," not a lot, Dr down: Overall, this stayed a very sweet, very youthful, bubblegum fragrance. It reminded me of Lolita, and that is not a good thing. The boy and I kept giggling as we smelled it, but not because it made us joyful, just because it smelled so darn much like Bazooka bubblegum. It's not a *bad* fragrance, mind you, it's just distracting, overly sweet, and not at all me. I can see this working well on tween age girls or the cute blonde sorority types. It's just not me. Off to the swap pile it goes.

I have recently been reminded of how much I like Shi-Kai's Amber and Sandalwood Lotion, so I was eager to try a bpal amber. (I'm also a Leo, so The Lion appeals to me from an astrological angle as well.) This came with a Christmas card, and I finally tried it this morning. In the imp: This is a very lightly scented oil; I have to hold the imp right up to my nose to catch anything at all. I can detect amber and some very faint spice. Wet: The amber is the dominant note as this is placed on my skin, but there's also a gentle wood (cedar? one of the sandalwoods?) and something sweet. Early dry down: The wood rises to the surface on my skin after a few minutes, and the amber tones down considerably. I'm going to guess that the wood note is red sandalwood, because it smells a lot like Anne Bonny did on me, but it might be some kind of cedar. There are some spices, but they're so faint under the wood that I can't quite pick them out. There's also a sweetness here that is almost fruit or nectar like. This scent almost glows. (It's what I expected Aureus to smell like!) It feels like a beach scent to me. Late dry down: This didn't have a lot of staying power, but I like the way the scent settled into my skin. The wood gentled over time and the amber re-surfaced, leaving my skin spicy and very slightly powdery. I think this will be excellent layered over my Ski-Kai lotion. I'm not sure I'll wear it much in the winter, but I can see it becoming a favorite summer scent. It makes me want to wear amber, golden topaz, and carnelians, go to the tanner and mousse my hair. In other words, this is totally a scent for embracing my Leo nature!

I've been wearing Blood Moon to all my negotiations at the court house. It's a very strong musky cinnamon on me that just feels tough and take no prisoners. It's my warrior blend. Block Buster does similar things to my psyche.

This came in my Christmas card from Liber_Amoris. I tried it last night, and liked it so much I'm wearing it again today! In the imp: I smell rum and something slightly fruity. Tonka? It's sweet and very rich. Wet: Mmm. This is sinfully good. The rum is rich and sweetened by a deep vanilla scent. (I do wish I knew if that was the tonka! If I knew for sure I'd start ordering every scent with tonka in it.) Both the boy and I were sniffing my wrists like crazy. Early dry down: The tobacco starts to develop as this dries, and like so many of the lab's tobaccos on me, it's a sweet, pipe tobacco scent. Combined with the rum, this is what I imagine butter-rum flavored pipe tobacco would smell like. I'm not getting leather or chardonnay yet, but what is there is divine. I also catch just a whiff of something like ginger spice in there. I don't smell any of the coconut that other reviewers mentioned. Late dry down: Unfortunately, this one does not have the best staying power on me. After about two and a half hours, there's little to no throw left. If I sniff my wrist, I still get just a little of the awesome butter-rum tobacco smell. It's as if I used the yummiest lotion in the world this morning. The scent is that subtle and has soaked into my skin that well. I am sooooooo glad I have another imp of this on the way in my Yule order. I'm restraining myself from buying a bottle, but we'll see how long that lasts.

This is not one I would normally pick for myself. It was on my wishlist so that I could send it to a friend I am trying to enable. However, I decided that I needed to try at least one fruity/floral blend. It's all well and good to *think* something doesn't work for you, but with bpal it's only smart to make sure. After all, I've read all the stories about surprise favorites. So, I decided to try it before I passed it on. In the imp: This smells quite floral to me, but with an herbal undertone. I don't smell the berries at all in imp. Wet: Soap. Floral, icky soap. Or possible air freshener of the type used in restaurant restrooms. Early dry down: There's something very sharp at the top of this blend. It seems more herbal than floral to me, and I wonder if it's the heather. I realize that heather looks a bit like lavender, but based on the heather infused Scottish beer I've had, I thought it smelled much more floral. Whatever this scent is, it has totally subdued the berries beneath its awesome might. I'm not getting any fruit at all. I also wouldn't classify this as a sweet scent. It seems more clean than fruity or sweet so far. Dry down: After two hours it's still soap. And I would classify it as slightly sweet old lady floral soap. It kind of smells like my grandma's bathroom cupboard where she has numerous bars of lily of the valley, rose and violet soaps stored all together. Not my thing at all. So much for experiments. Out it goes to its originally intended recipient and off I go to thoroughly wash my wrist.

In the imp: This has a dry, woody smell to it. I was expecting a lot of amber, and maybe a little saffron, based on the catalog description, but I think that I'm smelling cedar and possibly a little sandalwood. Wet: There is definitely cedar in this blend. On my wrist, that is the strongest odor, and it is a bit astringent. Early dry down: The cedar is still dominant, but I'm starting to smell a heady spice behind it that I'm almost positive is amber. Late dry down: The cedar has continued to dominate this scent for over two hours, and it has done very little morphing on my skin. It resembles Anne Bonny with its woodiness, but lacks the salt tang and doesn't seem to settle into my skin as well as that oil did. Instead, this one remains very assertive. Every time I smell my wrist I'm reminded that I put a fragrance on rather than thinking, "Gee I smell good" as if it was some natural process of my hormones and not the lab's genius. While the smell isn't *bad* (it smells just like the inside of a cedar lined closet, which is a perfectly pleasant smell), it smells artificial to me. This is definitely a swap.

In the imp: This smells much lighter than I was expecting from the description. I have to hold it very close to my nose to smell much, and then I'm getting a non-determinate woody scent which is seems more cedar to my nose than any of the named notes. Wet: This is definitely stronger than it seemed in the imp. When it hits my skin the sandalwood wakes right up and cries out to be noticed, but there's something sweet coming up through the wood. I'm wondering if it's the red patchouli and it's going to turn molasses on me the way the patchouli in Vixen does?... I would like that quite a lot. It might also be the frankincense. Early dry down: No molasses yet, and the sweetness has pretty well disappeared. The sandalwood is really the dominant note, and it's definitely a very woody sandalwood and not a spicy one. As it settles into my skin, I'm once again getting a very cedar-esque scent. It reminds me of the inside of J's humidor. Dry down: This one has more throw than I expected based on the strength in the imp and its wet application. I don't think it's enough to set my anti-perfume alarms screeching (no one would be olfactorily injured in an elevator with me), but I catch whiffs of it quite frequently without having to shove my wrist up against my nose. It's a very hot/dry scent, and I find myself thinking of the deck of a ship which has been beached for years on a desert island. The planks would be sun baked and starting to split from the heat, but there would still be a salty tang to them from their years at sea. This is one of those scents about which I'm having a very hard time making a verdict. On one hand, it's much woodier than anything I'd normally wear and lacks the subtle sweetness that tempers my favorite scents. On the other, it settles against the skin so well that it feels less like a scent I've applied and more like a natural odor I became infused with by lingering inside the walk-in humidor. This is definitely one I'm going to have to get the boy's opinion on. If he likes it, I can see myself wearing it fairly frequently in the winter when I want to be warmed up. But if he dislikes it, I can also see myself saying, "Yes, this really is too masculine" and happily swapping it. I do sometimes wish I was more decisive.

In the imp: I'm smelling a lot of buttery pumpkin. It actually doesn't smell that much different than Jack to me wet, but I'm betting that's just because pumpkin is a heavy note and my nose can't pick out the other notes in the imp. Wet: As soon as this touches my skin, something sweet, but astringent rises up. I think it's the apples. Dry down: This was the pumpkin patch I expected to like the best as I did so well with mulling spices in Tintagel. Unfortunately, as this dries it doesn't do the lovely things it has done on others...it turns into a generic mish-mash potpourri scent. I smell like the inside of a Michael's. It's not a bad smell, just a very non-specific and kind of overwhelming on. Not me. OK. On to the next pumpkin... I'm saving this one for the Meet n sniff in AA, Mich if we have it...

This came in my second package from my fantabulous autumn switch witch/swap faery. I was really excited to get it since it sounded like the most likely of the Ars Draconis group to work on me. In the imp: The main smell I get from the imp is smoke, but a rich, flavored smoke like J's English aromatic blend pipe tobacco. Wet: Smoke is still the dominant note, but I'm getting the leather underlying it, along with a bit of subtle floral sweetness from the dragon's blood. My first impression is that this is a very well blended scent. I'm eager to see if the blend stays true on me. Early Dry Down: As this dried, the sweetness of the dragon's blood rose up on my wrists to give me some of the same grape Nehi scent I get from Tintagel. The smoke was still there, but the leather faded almost instantly. Late Dry Down: The richness of the scent which was created by the smoke didn't last on me, and after about an hour, the dragon's blood had pulled an evil trick and turned quite floral and a little powdery. It reminded me of Ysatis by Givenchy, and while that's not an unpleasant scent, it does have a tendency to make me sneeze. The boy's reaction basically mirrored my own. He sniffed and announced, "I don't hate it." However, he didn't love it either. Into the swap pile it goes. Sigh. This is very disappointing, especially since I have another whole imp of it on the way in an imp pack with my Yule order. Oops.

Blood Moon was in my mailbox waiting for me when I got back from my weekend in Holland. I tried it last night, but J had my computer, so the review got typed this morning, In the imp: Cinnamon was the dominant note, but was a high, thin, slightly alcoholic cinnamon, and not a rich, thick one. (To be completely abstract in my description, it was more of a feral cinnamon than a foody one.) I think that it was a thin note because I was smelling the lunar oils in the background; they just weren't strong enough, and my nose isn't sensitive enough, to register them as additional notes. Wet: I was a bit apprehensive that this might sting since it was so very cinnamon, but there was only a slight tingle on my wrists. It's a very subtle scent when first applied. I actually had to slather on a second coat of oil to get much scent from it at all. The dominant note was still cinnamon, but a bit fuller than what I got from the bottle. There was something high and sweet underneath it which I couldn't quite place. It wasn't vanilla, honey or sugar, which are the notes I usually sense as sweet backgrounds, but something lighter and less rich. I suspect it may be a very subtle lunar floral, but I don't know which one. Early dry down: After about a half an hour, I was still getting cinnamon. There was a little more waft to it, and the sweetness had faded. This was turning quite spicy on me, which I liked. It seemed like the spicier, gutsier older sister to Block Buster. Late dry down: As this mellowed on my skin, the high sweet notes all but disappeared and a musk developed to mingle with the cinnamon. It was a subtle spicy musk, which is good. (Some musks turn vaguely ferret-like on me, but this one seemed to avoid that pit-fall.) It had a lot more waft that I was expecting given how it disappeared into my skin at first. Obviously, there was something in it that needed time to react with my chemistry before making its appearance. The combination of the musk and the cinnamon smelled good to me, but also struck me as quite masculine. It's a powerful scent, and one that I think would be excellent for divorce negotiations that require more anger and stubbornness than finesse. I'm not entirely sure whether this is one I'll actually wear, or if it's just one I admire. I meant to put more on this morning and get the boy's reaction to help me decide, but I forgot and walked out of the house with no scent on at all. (Horror!) I'll have to put some on at lunch and edit this post later to add in J's two cents. ETA: J says it's nice. His exact quote, "It's nice. But it doesn't make my knees weak like that other one." (The other one was Queen of Sheba. And yes, I ordered a big bottle!) I wore this one for Thanksgiving yesterday, and while no one gave me weak in the knee comments, I think it made me feel more confident before going to J's family. I will be keeping this one, and maybe decanting out one or two imps worth for my best friend and my sister. I don't think I'll use the whole bottle, but I'll come close.

In the imp: almonds, Almonds, ALMONDS. (Or maybe just almond extract.) In any case, the almond is VERY predominant in this in the imp. Wet: The almond is still the predominant note when I first apply this to my wrists. However, I am catching a little spice trying to claw its way past the super-sweet extract smell. If I had to guess at this point, I'd say I'm smelling saffron, and something peppery. Dry down: This one settled down pretty quickly, and the almonds mostly ran away within the first ten minutes. After the first hour or so, I was definitely smelling saffron along with a slightly syrupy sweetness that seems to be equal parts honey and almond extract. After about two hours, my right wrist had faded until it smelled like slightly spicy powder, while the right wrist still had the syrupy honeyed almond scent. The left wrist also had a slightly peppery undertone Final verdict: The boyfriend remarked, "You smell good" when I got home from work, and then, when I lifted my wrist to his nose he pretended to fall over and said, "That makes me weak in the knees." Uh-huh. It's a keeper.

In the imp: This smells like my grandpa standing in a kitchen where my grandma has been baking sugar cookies. In other words, I smell musky aftershave overlaid with the scent of vanilla. There's no tea in what I'm smelling at all, which is somewhat disappointing. (I'm still looking for a good earl grey tea smell that lasts longer than the Demeter spray.) Wet: Hrm. The musk is definitely potent in this one. It reminds me of cheap after-shave and some kind of odd floral. The over all effect is of those old fashioned solid air fresheners that people used to put in their closets. I'm still not getting any tea. Dry down: In the usual bpal fashion this has utterly changed on me from wet to dry. After about an hour the musk has simmered down and become more lady like than grandpa like and been overlaid with a sweet and citrusy bloom. The citrus comes in because there is a sharp, lemony tang at the first sniff of the wrist. I suspect that the citrus is, in fact, the tea as it develops on my skin. As usual, my two wrists have developed the scent in subtly different ways. On my left wrist the scent is much sweeter with less of musk and more of vanilla, while on the right it is all the tang of the tea vibrating through musk. It reminds me just a bit of Comptoir Sud Pacifique's Cristal de Musc. Conclusion: Although I can see why others swoon over this scent, I must admit that as nicely as it has developed, I still don't think it's particularly me. The tea is a bit too sharp and the musk is still a bit too powerful for me to feel comfortable in it. When I smell it I want to look around for the source of the scent instead of feeling that it's me only better the way my beloved Vixen makes me feel. Back into the Christmas box for which it was intended it goes.

In the bottle: Butter, butter, butter and maybe some popcorn. And then more butter. Wet: Still buttered popcorn, but with a slight underlying hint of fruit. The boy said, "interesting" and raised his eyebrows. Drydown: The fruit very quickly takes over the butter and continues to amp up and sweeten until it morphs into bubblegum. Then it amps up again and I'm suddenly sneezing and snotty. The overall impressipn before I run for the lavender scented soap and hot water is of rancid peach jolly ranchers wrapped in already been chewed bubble gum. It was way too sweet and had a nasty plastic tang to it. The boyfriend commented, "That's yuck."

In the imp: A sweet citrus scent. It reminds me of sniffing unmixed Country Time Lemonade - sugar and citric acid. It reminds me just a little bit of my Fresh Sugarbath lychee lotion, which I loooooove. I can very vaguely smell the tea in the background, but it's a perfumey tea scent more like an Earl Grey than a black tea. Wet: The citrus is definitely the dominant note on me, but there is an undercurrent of something slightly floral which might be tea. In one whiff it reminds me of Tazo Lotus Blossom tea and in the next I smell honeysuckle. The ginger is undetectable at this stage. Dry down: Hmm. Not what I was expecting. This is surprisingly floral on me given that no floral notes are listed in the description. It must be the way the sweetness of the vanilla and honey are mixing with the citrusy tea and my body chemistry. It's a thinner sweet scent than I was expecting given how ginger and vanilla usually combine on me to make thick, rich, cookie smells. I still get whiffs of honeysuckle, and my overall impression is of dryer sheets in a fragrance I would not pick. The boyfriend's comment: "It smells like Glade. Like something you spray in a bathroom to cover up a poop smell." Conclusion: It started out pleasant, but didn't evolve well on me. I'm wondering how it would have smelled without the citrus in it since I think that was what turned floral on me.

In the imp: This smells bright and citrusy to me, and also sweet. The closest I can come to describing it is to say it smells like Tang. I assume that's the bergamot, as sweetened with honey. Normally I would stay far away from rose and florals, but so many people have raved about Alice that I'm willing to give it a try. Luckily, I'm not getting rose out of this at all. Wet: It's still sweet, but I'm getting a lot less citrus than in the vial. It's more floral than something I would normally wear, but it's a spicy floral and not at all an old-lady rose. It's also very, very light and I'm rather afraid this may fade to nothing before I even get a good dry-down. Early dry down: After about ten minutes on my wrists, this is faded almost completely. I'm getting a faint odor of baby powder and citrus, with baby powder being the far stronger odor. There's no waft at all, and I have to sniff my wrist to detect the fragrance. Late dry-down: Gone on the left wrist and lingering as a soft, unidentifiable floral, powdery smell on the right. Conclusion: This wrong on me, but not for the reasons I expected. Florals usually overpower me and trigger a sneeze-attack, but these went away so quickly they may as well never have been present. While I'm a subtle perfume devotee and prefer oils that don't waft, I do like to be able to smell them on my wrists. If I can't smell it, what's the point? The two decants I have of this will definitely be given as Christmas gifts this year. I'm no longer tempted to keep them.

In the imp: Butterscotch. But not butterscotch candies. Warm, melted, homemade butterscotch ice cream topping. The kind that is starting to thicken, but is still a bit syrupy and has an alcoholic kick to it even after simmering for a few hours. It is so yum... Wet: The booziness of the scent is not nearly as strong on my skin as it was in the imp. I'm not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad one yet. At first contact, this is buttery and sweet, like buttercream frosting, with just the slight hint of a nut extract smell to it. It's a thinner scent on my skin than it was in the bottle. Early dry down: As this has settled into my skin, the nuttiness has surged to the top while the sweetness has mellowed. It's still pleasant, but not as wrist-eating yummy as it was on the first application. I'm torn as to whether the nuttiness is a hazelnut smell or an almond one. When I first sniff, I get the thin, sweet, almost medicinal scent of almond extract. But when I hold the breath for a moment or two, it deepens into something richer and mellower. It's not quite the scent of hazelnut that I associate with hazelnut flavored coffee, but it's similar. Late dry down: This scent has almost completely disappeared into my skin, leaving a faint burnt sugar smell. It's not an unpleasant odor, but I have to put my wrist right up to my nose and snuffle noisily in order to smell it. I don't think I'd wear this one frequently as it's just a bit too rich for me. But I'm going to keep the rest of the imp and experiment at making a catalytic lamp fragrance by adding it to isopropyl alcohol. I think it will smell absolutely divine this fall as a house scent.

In the imp: This is a thinner and sharper scent than I was expecting. It's sweet, but not rich. There's a subtle alcohol scent there, but it seems more like medicinal alcohol than booze to me. I tried Hellcat yesterday, and I was expecting something similar to that, but with some herbal spice. Instead, this is a completely different scent, and if I didn't know from the descriptions that they both have rum in them, I never would dreamed they had ingredients in common. I expected to love this one, but I'm a little dubious... Wet: Oh. This is interesting. When I put this on my wrist, the dominant note isn't the alcohol/rum at all. Instead, I'm getting something spicy overlaid with a green and herby sweetness. It doesn't smell like cloves to me, and I'm not getting almond at all. The sassafras is definitely the dominant note on me, and the smell of it has awakened memories of brewing sassafras tea with my fifth grade class when we went out to Camp Fort Hill for a week. Early dry down: This scent is really surprising and puzzling me. The tiny amount I applied has faded pretty quickly, and now when I sniff my wrists I'm getting a smoky and woody odor, with a little bit of that herbal sweetness. The sweetness almost reminds me of sweetgrass incense. It's really like nothing I've ever smelled before and I'm struggling to find something with which to compare it. The closest I can come is to say that it reminds me of how the cabin of a little old country witch would smell, tucked way back up in the woods. Late dry down: It's...gone. When I sniff my wrists, I get nothing but the scent of plain old me. I smell clean and a little spicy, but it's not noticeably different from how I smell on days when I wear no perfume at all and the only scent on me is the linger of sweetgrass soap. I think I'm going to try this one on the boy and see how it reacts on him. I really liked the smell, it just didn't smell like *me*. It smelled more like someone I would want to hug than someone I want to be. (If that makes any sense at all!) I may also, however, give it one more try, with a little more applied. I suspect it might make a good spring scent for me, but that I'm just looking for a warmer, more assertive scent in the this new cool weather. I'm also curious to see how this one ages, and if it gets more oomph over time. I think I want to experiment with this imp rather than throw into my swap pile even though it isn't an immediate favorite. It's intriguing enough to me that I want to see where its potential leads.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with people. I know the essential isn't supposed to smell like cough syrup... but The Red Queen (the one and only cherry bpal I've tried) smelled like Robitussin on me. I can't vouch for the others, but I'm convinced that I just associate cherry as a fragrance too strongly with medicine for it to work for me.

Vixen. The orange blossom is a top note on a base of patchouli and ginger. It's my favorite scent to date. It ends up smelling like molasses cookies and orange blossom honey on me. Yum.

Note This is not a scent I would normally try because that many woods scare my sinuses. However, I got an imp of this from the lovely lady I first learned of bpal from and, despite the scent description, I knew I had to try it. You see, I have a *thing* for Tintagel. I first went there in 1996 on a college class trip to England, and I had what could only be classified as vision. It affected me more deeply than any place I've ever visited, and I know I'll make pilgrimages there again. The ruins, the cliffs, the little church and the town all resonate with me. I don't know if I believe in past lives, but if I do, I'm pretty sure at least one of mine was lived there. In the Imp: This smells much sweeter than I imagined from the description. I can pick out the slightly alcoholic scent of the wine, but there's something very sweet over the top of it. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the nearest I can come is to say this smells like sweet tarts or unmixed Kool-Aid powder. Wet: When it hits my skin, the alcohol shimmies up a notch, but the sweetness is still very present. It smells even more strongly of grape Kool-Aid or soda now, but it's mixed with Christmas potpourri, which I assume is the juniper and possibly a bit of cinnamon. There's something sharp darting up through it as well, but that fades almost immediately as the oil dries on my skin. Early dry-down: I am still utterly surprised at how very fruity this scent is. I was expecting something herbal and smoky with a spicy undertone. What I'm getting so far is sweet fruit with spices. It's a little sweeter than the mulled wine I'm used to drinking, but I'm definitely detecting cloves and grape, which would both make sense. I did not expect to be bowled over by this one, but I have to say that it's surprising me in a nice way. I keep smelling my wrists and being reminded of being a kid playing by the pool and drinking grape Nehi. I'm not usually a huge fan of super-sweet scents (I like my vanillas rich and tempered with ginger and spice), but this is really quite lovely. I want to lick myself. Late dry-down: This scent doesn't have all that much staying power on me, but it is so pleasant that I ended up reapplying to my wrists and rubbing a few drops between my breasts. The sweet fruit eventually gave way to a warm, spicy resin with just the faintest hint of sweetness, and after about an hour, I started to get some lingering smoke undertones. I've been trying to plan a September 1 order, and this just threw a monkey wrench in my plans because, all of a sudden, I think I need a big bottle of this. I also think my sister would like this a lot, so I may go searching for an imp of it for her to try. (I'm NOT giving mine away!)

In the imp: This is citrusy. Very citrusy. I'd say almost lemon fresh Pledge citrusy with just a bite of something spice underneath which I assume is the ginger. I'm not smelling tea at all, unless maybe it's a lemongrass blend. Certainly not a white tea scent which in experience is sweeter and more subtle. I don't know if I'll like this or not. Wet: Still cleaning product like. Stronger than it smelled in the bottle. I'm still getting lemon with an undertone of spice, but the spice is not giving it much depth. It smells very sharp to me. So far, this is not for me, but I'm willing to give it a chance. Early dry down: The citrus has tamed itself somewhat, and now I can smell the ginger coming through. It's a sharp ginger and not a warm ginger. It smells very clean and fresh to me. I still don't get white tea from it, but it does remind me of an herbal tea blend I used to drink with lemongrass and rose hips. It's the strongest scent I've tried to date, and the one that smells the least like "me" on my wrists so far. It seems to overpower my natural scent, not blend with it. Late dry down: This scent has stayed remarkably true to itself and it's still going strong over an hour later. For anyone who likes sharp citruses this would be a good bet, but it's not for me. It's making the back of my throat feel like achy and like I want to sneeze. Way too perfumey, and a floral note has developed that simply isn't me. Bleh.

In the imp: This is a rich scent, and I can smell vanilla, nutmeg and some underlying spiciness that might be patchouli or sandalwood. It's pleasant. Wet: The spiciness comes through stronger than in the imp, and I can see why this might be a gender neutral scent. It's a resinous spice and I like it. It's more subtle than vixen, but has the same kind of sweetness with spicy depth to it. Early dry down: I'm getting hit with nutmeg so much I feel like I'm in grandma's kitchen. It's a nice scent, but very wintry. Not really a scent for the tail end of July, but pleasant. The boyfriend pronounces it "Nice, but not as nice as the stuff yesterday" (which was Vixen). Late dry down: This scent changed wildly over time on me. It started out sweet spicy and has ended up powdery and vaguely floral. It's much more like a traditional perfume than I expected it to be from either the imp or the early stages on my skin. I don't hate it, but neither would I wear it regularly.

In the imp: I smell oranges, but spicy oranges with no sweetness. I would say this is a "thick" citrus rather than a clean one. The patchouli coming through is adding depth and keeping the orange from being cloying. It's not a hippy incense patchouli smell, it's more like a woody, bottom of a grandma's cedar chest smell. The ginger is there, but very faintly. I'm intrigued. Wet: The orange is still the most prevalent component, but that patchouli is kicking up a notch, as is the ginger. After a few minutes, the ginger is kicking up even more, and suddenly the smell has morphed from a warm, kitcheny spice smell to something much sharper. It doesn't smell like incense exactly, but it smells like the inside of certain new age/pagan shops when all the incense and oil scents have blended together to form a strong odor that can't be reproduced by buying one or two types of scent. Early dry down: After about half an hour the patchouli has come to the front and I have almost entirely lost the oranges. They've just completely disappeared into the spice. (I can smell more orange on the wrist I placed the oil on than the wrist I patted against it.) It's not an unpleasant scent, just very VERY patchouli. The ginger is an underlying sharp note which wafts up occasionally. It's a slightly astringent, slightly woodsy and spicy scent which reminds me very strongly of the inside of the palmist's I used to frequent in Boston. Final dry down: After about an hour, the scent faded into a sweet, slightly gingery, warm and food-like scent. My boyfriend stuck to assessments of "vanilla" and "yum" while I thought it smelled like a molasses cookie from the Amish bakery in Shipshewana. Neither of us smelled orange. However, we both agreed that it was a delicious scent. It just smells like me, only better. This one is a definite keeper for me, and I've already ordered a bottle!