kakiphony

Application point: Right elbow. Wet: Apricot. Very sweet, but a bit Jolly Rancher-like. Early Dry Down: Apricot. That's all. I seem to really be amping it. Late Dry Down: I'm really disappointed in this one because I adore orange blossom and was hoping it would show up strongly in this blend. Unfortunately, all I get is apricots. It's a very sweet, candy-like scent and is juicy and young. I can see this one as a young, shiny haired cheerleader. It's nice, but not for me.

Application point: Right wrist. Wet: Cough syrup and ashtrays. Early Dry Down: Cherry Swisher sweets. Late Dry Down: I think that for some reason my chemistry is turning musks smoky today, because this scent is also very smoky on me. As it dried down, it lost its sweetness and took on a bitter note, laid over a fruity tobacco. It's like being in the inside of a pouch of cherry pipe tobacco. I think that for someone who loves it, this is distinctive enough to be a true signature scent. Unfortunately, that person is not me.

Test site: Right wrist. Wet: It's a perfumey scent that I associate with deodorant soaps and cheap conditioner. The one "marine note" candle I have smells the same way, so i assume that's the marine notes. Early Dry Down: Irish spring soaking in a tub of rain water. Late Dry Down: This is still soap-like, but has sweetened. This is how sweetgrass deodorant soap would smell if there was such a thing.

Application point: Left wrist. Wet: Perfume. Horrid, horrid, sneeze inducing, grandma-wearing perfume. Early dry down: Complicated florals. I think I smell lily of the valley in there, but it's too overwhelming to be sure. Late Dry Down: Gone. One hour later I can't smell a thing. In my world, I guess that may be the best floral there is!

In the imp: Sweet Tarts. Wet: Sweet tarts. Early Dry Down: I finally started to get some morphing after about 20 minutes. It lost the sugar candy edge and started to smell a bit boozy and a bit tart. The boy said, "Nice citrus. I like it." It made me feel invigorated. Late Dry Down: This is one of the most interesting oils I've tried to date. It started out a generic fake fruit and ended up a wonderful, boozy, juicy, tart and refreshing scent. It started out 6 years old and ended up a sophisticated 33. It seems like a great summer scent, for when I want to be refreshed, with a little boozy undertone. I'm not sure I'd buy a bottle of this, but I bet I'd go through an imp or two in a year's time.

I tried this last night. It was the first I tried for the general catalog circular swap. In the imp: Vanilla, but a less high and sweet vanilla than some. It doesn't have that extract edge to it. But it is also not buttery vanilla like Underpants. There's something dry underneath. Wet: Vanilla with the slightest hint of dry sandalwood. It's already a bit powdery. Early Dry Down: Dusty vanilla. Vanilla scented powder that has been sitting in a cedar chest for 50 years. The boy likes it, I'm less convinced. Late Dry Down: The dusty/dry/powdery note is very dominant on my skin. It's a little sweet, but mostly dusty. Nice, but not a "wow!" scent on me.

In the imp: Bug spray. I shuddered as I put this one on. Wet: The bug spray smell was still there, but I could get a little sandalwood with it. Early Dry Down: After less than five minutes the jasmine in this had begun to amp itself and all I could smell was jasmine with a sharp, dry undertone. About five more minutes and the other florals had begun to come through and sweeten the blend. Unfortunately, they also made me sneeze uncontrollably. Late dry down: I will admit that this late dry down description is not quite as late in the process as most of my reviews. After about 45 minutes I had to wash the oil off or risk a vision-clouding migraine. This seriously had me seeing a halo around my vision and it totally filled my sinuses. Logically, I know it did not smell bad. It didn't smell like rot, or garbage, or cat piss. It smelled like flowers. Perfectly lovely, perfectly evil flowers. The jasmine was the dominant note and it was paired with other florals. This gave me the same sort of reaction that traditional perfumes have always given me. It was like being stuck in an unventilated elevator with Mimi from Drew Carey. Conclusion: Thank god this is going out in the mail in the circular swap. I don't think I could even stand to have it in the house. Seriously. Horrible.

All the glory, warmth and majesty of the sun -- darkened. A delicious blend of bitter almond, vanilla, frankincense and heliotrope, with a drop of cinnamon. In the imp: Almond extract and cinnamon. It smelled like someone got confused about whether they were making cinnamon buns or almond cookies! It's a bit medicinal and lacks the warmth or depth of some other almond blends. Wet: Astringent almonds. It was not as rich as Queen of Sheba or as soft as Dana O'shee on application. It was a sharp almond note. The cinnamon is there, but barely, and everything is overwhelmed by the bitter almonds. Early dry down: The astringency of this toned itself down quickly and the vanilla began to show up along-side the almonds. I couldn't pick out the heliotrope, but the frankincense lent a golden background to the sweet notes. Late dry down: By two hours after application, this scent had faded and morphed. I lost all individual notes and the almond was almost undetectable. Instead, what it turned into was a faintly powdery, spicy sweet scent. It reminded me of a Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. Conclusion: Pleasant, and akin to several scents I've quite liked. However, it lacks the staying power or complex spicyness of my favorite of the almond blends, Queen of Sheba. I suspect I'll use up my imp and would be willing to swap for it again, but doubt I'll ever buy a full bottle.

In the imp: Hmm...I had to sniff this one at least three times to make my brain register what I was smelling. It's not that it's a particularly faint scent, just that it's so complex it was hard for me to form a quick impression. It was sweet, but not cloying, and was definitely fruity. It had a bit of a medicinal quality to it, but nothing as gag inducing as the cherries of the Red Queen. I put it on with reservations. Wet: This was quite fruity on initial application, but the smell was not (thankfully!) cherries. It reminded me of fresh damson plums. There was something fresh and green under the fruit, and I suspected it was the bamboo. The whole scent was also very wet. It reminded me of walking in my uncle's fruit orchard just after a spring rain. Early dry down: This turned into something very pleasant, and it has made me a lot less nervous about Dragon Moon. (The cherry blossom note intimidated me, but if this is it, I'll be quite pleased.) There's a floral-musk undertone and the fruit and green note have combined to smell almost exactly like Twining's Summer Fruits black tea. The boy's comment was a non-committal, "Nice," but he kept asking to smell it again, which is usually a good sign. Late Dry Down: This didn't really morph anymore from the early dry-down stage; it just faded. By about two hours after application, I had to snuffle my wrist repeatedly to get any sort of hold on the notes. It was fruity-floral, but definitely musky as well. Back when I was making inquiries about the cherry blossom note to decide whether or not I should buy a bottle of Dragon Moon, someone told me that cherry blossoms are musky, so I suspect that the cherry blossom is the strongest note on me. It's a very refreshing scent, and I suspect it might get spring/summer wear. It also made me feel young and rather hip, which are usually good things. Conclusion: I like this. I'm surprised by just how much I like it since it's definitely not at all like my usual spicy/foody/rich/sweet scents. It fades quickly, which is a possible draw-back, but the scent it leaves behind is musky and fruity and all together gorgeous. It's enough outside of my current preferences that I doubt I'll order a bottle for myself, but I'll happily put a bottle of it on my Wishlist for swaps, gifts, etc.

In the imp: Generic sweet floral. I immediately crinkled my nose and sincerely did not want to put this on my skin. But, I'm committed to trying everything, so I buckled down and applied to one wrist (my right). Wet on skin: Still a generic floral. I sneezed three times in rapid succession. Between sniffles, I think I smelled honeysuckle. Early Dry Down: After twenty minutes, I finally stopped sneezing and could sniff my wrist without an allergy attack. I got a very specific floral note that drove me nuts because I couldn't quite place it. My first thought was honeysuckle, but then I second guessed myself and wondered if it's lilac? In any case, it's a sweet, fresh floral that I KNOW I've smelled in my garden. It's quite pretty, and very feminine, which is usually the kiss of death for me. Late Dry Down: After two hours, this was still floral, but developed a powdery undertone. It reminded me a bit of how I used to smell after staying the night at grandma's and washing with her floral scented soap. I'm almost positive the floral is honeysuckle, and, aside from the fade and faint powder, it stayed amazingly true on my skin. I had no more sneeze-attacks after initial application, which proves to me that it's the combination of florals and alcohol in traditional perfumes which do me in, not the florals alone. The boy's comment on this one was, "It smells like my mom." This is not a good thing. (She's partial to cheap commercial perfumes like White Diamonds.) Conclusion: I have to admit that this is a pretty scent. It's not overpowering or obnoxious, both of which I tend to expect from florals. However, the Irish muse is still, sadly, not for me. I'm just not a girly-girl or a wearer of florals. On its way it goes. Hopefully, it will find its own true love somewhere along its route.

Desolation. The remnants of an empire, shivering with forgotten glories, a monument to megalomania, sundered power, and colossal loss. Dry desert air, dry and hot, passing over crumbling stone megaliths and plundered golden monuments, bearing a hint of the incense of lost Gods on its winds. In the imp: Vaguely perfumey. This is faint and hard to smell in the imp. If I had to pick a fragrance category I'd say it was citrus, which does not seem right...but it's so faint that it's a guess in any case. Wet: This is still faint on application. In fact, it's so faint that I ended up slathering more on. I even tipped the imp directly against my skin which I never do. Once I could smell it, I detected something faintly citrus overlaying a sandalwood-eque dryness. The notes are too faint for me to be sure of them though. Early Dry Down: After about fifteen minutes, what I'm getting from this blend is a very dry wood -- but it's so faint that it has almost ceased to be wood and has become dust. There's a sweet, powdery note at the base that I'm betting is amber. I've read other people's reviews and they keep talking about Chanel No. 5. I wonder if I'm wearing the same oil? On me, this is NOTHING like a traditional perfume (at least at this stage). It's much fainter, doesn't have any floral notes, and seems more shifting-smoke like than anything else. Late Dry Down: All right, after an hour I finally understand the traditional perfume and Chanel No. 5 references. I still don't think it's exactly like Chanel, but it has certainly developed a much more traditionally perfumey note than it had at the beginning. However, it's not a straight-out floral note like many lady's perfumes. It reminds me more of the way certain spices (like saffron) sometimes develop on my skin. It's a golden scent laid over the dry wood and powder, and I'm also detecting a note that I've noticed in a lot of men's colognes, but that I can't identify. (It kind of reminds me of the winter white earl grey tea I drink in the morning. Maybe it's bergamot?) It's less faint than it was in the early stages, but the throw is minimal. After about four hours, this scent is pleasantly part of the background of my skin. The golden perfumey note is still there, but it has become secondary to a dry, powdery amber. Conclusion: This is pleasant scent, and I might wear it now and again, but I don't see it becoming a staple. (I certainly don't need a bottle, thank goodness!) It's too traditionally perfumey in the dry-down, and doesn't make me feel powerful or sexy the way my favorite bpals do. It does evoke the description nicely. There's the richness of an empire, but muted, as it would be after a fall. However, I have to say that, to me, it seems more like wandering through a Queen's ruined chambers than it does like the scent of the "King of Kings."

In the imp: Somehow, I'm getting cocoa from this. It doesn't smell precisely like chocolate, but it feels like cocoa if that makes any sense. I suspect that what I'm smelling is the Sudanese black coconut since I'm familiar with the lab's caramel, and it doesn't usually cause me to salivate and fire off tons of serotonin the way this smell does. It's making me want to slather, but I only have an imp of this, so I will not give in to that instinct. Wet: When I apply this to my wrist, I am immediately hit by the tobacco. Combined with the still detectable Sudanese black coconut note, and sweetness of the caramel, this smells like a foody pipe tobacco blend. I would love it if the boy smoked something that smelled this mouth watering. Early dry down: Something floral starts to peek out of this blend within a few minutes of application, and it continues to amp itself for a while. I assume it's the delphinium since that's the only floral note listed, but it reminds me an herby floral...kind of how my geranium pots smell in the summer. The amber is finally kicking in and adding that peculiar body/powder sweetness that I love on my skin, and combined with the floral and the foody tobacco smells, it's just lovely. This is rich, rich, RICH, and has more throw than I'm used to in my bpal. Late dry down: After about two hours, the throw has tamed itself and the blend has settled into a well coordinated blend without any individual notes that jump out at me. The overall impression is dark, rich, and sweet. If I had to compare it anything, it would be dark chocolate dipped in German chocolate frosting. But it's not really that sticky sweet. It's more like how a German chocolate pipe tobacco might smell. This is sultry, yet somehow comforting at the same time. Interestingly, I'd been smelling something floral all afternoon, but when I would sniff my wrist the floral odor was not present. I finally realized that some of the wet oil had gotten on my sleeve. Where the oil has not had a chance to react with my skin, the floral note is much more pronounced. I have to say, I like the way my skin makes the oil smell a lot better than I like how my sweater makes it smell! Conclusion: I know I'll use an imp of this, but I don't exactly regret having sold the rest of my bottle. While this is a lovely blend, and quite flattering on me, it's enough like certain other blends (and combinations of other blends) that it doesn't have a Holy Grail feel to it. I will say though that it makes me eager to try anything else the lab releases with Sudanese black coconut. I can't wear cocoa/chocolate blends (for some reason they all smell like burnt toast on me), but the black coconut has a cocoa feel, even if the scent is really quite different.

In the imp: Almond extract and vanilla. This is much higher and sweeter than Queen of Sheba, and seems like a thinner version of the lab's sweet almonds. Wet on the skin: The almond note is still dominant, and my initial impression that this is a lighter, sweeter scent than Queen of Sheba is borne out as it hits my skin. The vanilla I smelled in the imp is not immediately present on my skin. This all almond extract. Early dry down: After about fifteen minutes, the almonds have toned down and a sweet vanilla-cream scent has begun to mingle with them. This smells like almond pastries to me. Again, comparing to Queen of Sheba, this is a tame scent. The Queen's spices start to come through at this stage and I get saffron's subtle floral and a peppery tang with my sweet almonds, but this scent is simply gentle and sweet. This is almonds in "play-nice" mode, while my beloved Queen is almonds in "I-am-woman-hear-me-roar" mode. Late dry down: This scent doesn't morph so much as it fades. By an hour and half after application it has very little throw and the individual notes have blended to form a subtle sweet base scent for my skin when I snuffle my wrists. The sweetness is mainly almond, and the undertones are all cream. Conclusion: This is a pretty blend, and certainly smells nice, but it doesn't wow me. It is, in fact, just a tad dull. I don't think I'd wear this on its own except at times when I'm particularly sensitive to smells (the first day of a cold when my throat is raw or when my allergies are kicking up), but it might make a nice layering blend to sweeten up particularly spicy or musky oils.

I tried this oil this morning as I was having an utter panic attack that my boss was going to ream me for not having my time sheets filled out and for not billing enough hours lately. I thought a little Charisma might help me turn a confrontation into a positive discussion than a scream-fest or a crying jag. I did a quick ritual in which I anointed my chakras (or there general vicinities) and asked for strength, power, calmness, decisiveness and charisma. The smell of this oil is, as other have said, much less like a traditional perfume than regular bpal. I expected that since it's a ritual oil and not just perfume. But the scent is NOT awful. It's actually pretty pleasant: sharp, pungent, and herbal with a smoky resinous note under it all. I'm not getting patchouli, it smells more piney or minty to me... But it may simply be a type of patchouli I'm not familiar with. I would guess that (likie patchouli) whatever the base to this is, it is a resinous evergreen of some sort. There's something kind of peppery-spicy in there too. As for the results... It's hard to tell how much is my own attitude and how much is the oil. It turned out that my boss was out sick today (although my time sheets are ominously missing from their drawer), so I can't go his attitude. My secretary is the same as ever and when I went to the bank and coffee shop nobody treated me any differently than normal. However, I FEEL more charismatic than usual. I'm alert, calm, and productive. And I really shouldn't be since I had crappy sleep last night. I'm also optimistic and centered. I'll definitely use this one again and keep track of my results. Edited on 5-16-06 to add the following: I used my Charisma in a similar fashion one day last week when I had a motion hearing in an unfamiliar court. It was not strong enough to make me feel comfortable hanging out with the 50 year old pompous men in the attorney's lounge, but did seem to help when I was actually speaking in front of the judge. I had none of the usual sweaty palms, and I think I less confrontational than usual in my arguments. In any case, the client was happy with me at the end of the day, and I more or less got my way in front of the judge. Again, whether it was the oil or me is hard to verify. But I think just knowing I'd done the ritual and having something to focus on helped me be more charismatic than usual. As a total aside, my boy thinks this one smells great on me. I realize it's not a perfume, but both days I've worn it he has commented on it and tried to jump me at inappropriate times. At HE thinks I have more Charisma than usual.

Oh! I second this one. I don't wear it often because I only have an imp, but it is VERY sexy. It dries down to a rich (unlit) pipe tobacco smell on me. And what's sexier than a sexy man smoking a pipe?

I bet a young boy might like Jack. The story is cool and it smells like pumpkin. (Except on me. On me, it smells like microwave popcorn.)

I'd suggest Vixen because my boy think it *is* sex (some girl catch their guys with porn...I catch mine sniffing my bottle of Vixen!), but if Snake Oil goes bad on you I wonder if you can wear patchouli? It's a MUCH less sweet patchouli than snake oil, and the ginger gives it some bit and a certain feral feel.

In the imp: Other people have noted caramel, but what I'm getting is butter and vanilla. It smells like a dense, rich pastry made with about 2 pounds of butter and a bottle of vanilla. This scares me a little because my experience with butter notes (Jack, Gluttony, etc.) has been uniformly bad. This reminds me a lot of Gluttony in the imp. Wet on skin: The scent is immediately less rich on application, and the butter tames itself into something more like sweet cream or perhaps clotted cream. The vanilla is still very strong, but it's a higher, thinner vanilla than it seemed in the bottle. No sandalwood or saffron are apparent at this stage. The boy commented that it kind of smelled like vanilla bread pudding. Early Dry Down: Twenty minutes after application, this is fading VERY quickly. The butter is gone and I'm getting a base note that's more powdery than sandalwood usually is on my skin. It's still quite sweet, and there's the barest hint of something floral, which I'm assuming is how saffron is teaming up with the vanilla in this blend. Late Dry Down: This scent is all but gone after one hour. If I snuffle my wrists I can still detect a sweet powdery note, but nothing significant or particularly mouth watering. It's a nice scent, but I'm content with one bottle. It just doesn't knock my socks off, (or draw any monsters...or boys...to my underpants) the way Vixen and Queen of Sheba do. Interesting notes: I wrote the above out last night and then decided that, since I didn't think I'd covet this one that much, I'd try a little in my bath. I added about 1 ml by my pipette's measure. I'm now soft and my hair smells vaguely like some kind of floral honey. It doesn't have any more staying power on my skin after immersion than it did with the dropper. However, I also applied it to my wrists and the crook of my elbows after my shower. The wrists have done the same thing as yesterday, but my left elbow crook has concentrated the scent a lot more. There, it's a deep saffron scent made a little sweeter. I like it A LOT. Too bad it doesn't smell that way everywhere and too bad that my elbow crook has no throw of which to speak...

In the imp: Toothpaste. The old fashioned, non-gel kind like the original, pale blue Crest. Wet: Still minty toothpaste, but there's a slight hint of something richer and sharper underneath. I'm betting it's the wood base, but it hasn't developed enough for me to identify it yet. I have to say, that for its pungency in the imp, this is very subtle on my wrist. It smells very clean. Early dry down: After twenty minutes, this is still very minty on me. The throw is medium to good, which is a bit unfortunate with this scent. The up-close smell of my wrist is pleasant (minty, but not sharp), but the throw smells uncannily like my dentist's office. It's rich, yet sweet and high, and a bit medicinal. I'm not getting any mossy lichen or florals from this, it's pure mint laid over a very subtle wood base. Late dry down: After a full hour, the predominant note is still a sweet mint, and it still reminds me of toothpaste. My two wrists always develop slightly differently, and Hamadryad is no exception. The left wrist is a much stronger odor, with more mint and less subtlety. The right wrist faded much more quickly, but also developed a slightly peppery note along with the mint. The seven-wood base of the scent is detectable on both wrists only if I snuffle them. I would not recommend this as a dry wood scent (I'd recommend Anne Bonny), but I would recommend it as a sweet mint. It's a gentle, mild, sweetened mint, and not a sharp, or pungent mint. I think this would be an excellent scent for a young girl, and might smell quite interesting on a man. However, since I don't particularly relish smelling like toothpaste, I'm happy to say that I do not covet this one and it can go onto my sister, as intended.

There have been quite a few that my boy has declared "nice" so far and "good smelling", but the two that have gotten wow reactions from him are Queen of Sheba (which he says makes his knees weak) and Vixen, which both he and his friend Jeremy agree could "really get a fella worked up."

I think Hetaerai is an extremely sophisticated scent. Here's what I wrote about it during late dry-down "An hour later, I'm glad I out more of this on. It's elegant and complex. It's the little black dress of bpals. The top note is definitely floral on me (probably the ylang-ylang), but the patchouli in the background keeps me from sneezing. It's sweet without being cloying, and is just generally fabulous. It reminds me a little bitty bit of Ma Griffe by Caraven, an old green chypre blend from the 1970's which was my godmother's signature scent. It's not so much that they smell the same as that they convey the same things to me: A strong sense of self, understated elegance, and brainy grace." I'm making it my new dinner party perfume.

This is the second scent I've tried from my imp set of Elementals. I reviewed Salamander yesterday and will try Gnome and Undine next. In the imp: Lavender, with a dry citrus tang. It's acidic citrus as opposed to syrupy citrus. This is a very fresh, clean scent and reminds me of hand soap. Wet: Milder upon first application than I expected. The lavender is the dominant note, but the citrus is still sharp and dry and there's something else herbal and wild in there. Juniper? At first application, it still reminds me of a soap scent, but in a good way. To clarify a little, it smells like expensive glycerin soap that you would buy in France - not regular bath soap. Early dry down: After fifteen minutes, the citrus has risen to the surface on this, although I'm still not sure whether it's a lemon or a lime citrus. It mingles very well with the lavender. There may also be lemongrass in this. It seems masculine and clean to me. I'm reminded just a bit of Guerlain's L'eau de Lavande Velours, but without the powdery note of that scent. It also smells a bit like my boy's Benetton Cold, which I think has lemongrass as a primary note. Late dry down: An hour later, this has all but disappeared into my skin. What's left is a fresh, clean scent which reminds me a bit of how I used to smell after I'd shower with Dr. Bronner's lavender soap. It's kind of a nice change from the sweet and spicy scents I normally wear. It makes me feel like a scrubbed clean, country herbalist with flushed pink cheeks and a slow smile. It's a very English countryside scent. Conclusion: I think I'm keeping Sylph. It's very different from most of the scents I wear, but I think I like its clean simplicity. It feels like a good summer scent to me. I'll try it out week after next when I'm in Florida and see how it does with heat and the accompanying sweat.

Since I'm a Leo and a true fire sign, Salamander is the first of my imp set of the Elementals that I'm trying. I plan to try them in the following order over the next few days: Salamander, Sylph, Gnome, and Undine. I'll post reviews as I go. In the imp: Woody, with an over-layer of something sweet and vaguely linament-like. The sweet thing could be an herb or a spice; it's not distinct enough in the imp to tell. I think the base is patchouli, even though the smell is reminiscent of cedar (wet patchouli often is to my sniffer). I also think that I detect a slightly spicy floral note (carnation?). Wet: Mild and somewhat soapy. The patchouli is of the woody, inside of a cedar lined closet smelling variety (as opposed to the hippy headshop variety) on me. There's some spice fighting to get up there in the notes, but it's too gentle to work its way past the patchouli. Early dry down: After fifteen minutes, this is drying into a quite interesting scent. I had expected a cinnamon note since almost all the lab's "fiery" blends that I've tried have one, and everyone else seems to have gotten cinnamon... but I didn't think there was any cinnamon in this at all. Instead, I'm getting a very mild patchouli, interwoven with a spicy floral that I don't recognize. (I'm not good at floral notes because I never wear them. Unless it's lavender, rose, lotus or honeysuckle I'm likely to just call it "floral" and leave it at that.) It reminds me of something my Grandma Neydon used to wear, but since she was not loyal to any one perfume, that doesn't help. I know she wore Chanel No. 9, Shalimar and a lotion by Estee Lauder that came in a pale aqua tube... Florals are usually not my thing because they tend to irritate my sinuses and turn me into a sneeze machine, but this does not seem to be affecting me so far. It's not a "me" scent at this stage, but it would be quite lovely on someone who wears spicy/oriental florals. Late dry down: After an hour, this has faded somewhat, but has retained the same spicy floral character that it acquired in the early stages of dry down. It's a biting, spicy, floral with some woody notes, and not a bit of sweetness to it; much more a traditional perfume blend than any of the other bpals I have tried. It's a very dry floral, which I expect is why it's the fire element in the series. Conclusion: An accomplished and complex scent, but it's not for me. Also, my skin chemistry could just be VERY weird right now. (Major stress is attacking me on all sides.)

The sublimely beautiful, fiercely independent, impeccably cultured, fascinatingly worldly and witty courtesans of ancient Greece. A seductive and dazzling blend of golden honey, fiery patchouli, sweet fig and clove, and a blushing touch of ylang ylang. In the imp: This is a syrupy sweet in the imp with just a hint of patchouli behind it. I'm actually worried it may be too sweet for me. It's more a classic perfume smell than a foody one. Wet: Still very sweet, but the patchouli is stronger on my skin than in the bottle. It's a sharp high patchouli at first and reminds me more of the patchouli note in Spanked than that in Vixen or (heaven forbid!) Shadow. It's a complex scent and seems quite elegant to me. Early dry down: After about half an hour this has faded beautifully into my skin. The patchouli is there as a subtle background note tempering all the sweetness with its woody stability. (I love it when patchouli morphs on me to turn into a kind of ginger and cedar mix. It's such a wonderful chemistry reaction!) And over the top, there is a subtle green floral scent sweetened with what smells like orange blossom honey to me. The only complaint I have is that this faded so quickly that it was hard to smell. I slathered more on at the 45 minute stage to see what an added concentration of oil on my pulse points would do. Late dry down: An hour later, I'm glad I out more of this on. It's elegant and complex. It's the little black dress of bpals. The top note is definitely floral on me (probably the ylang-ylang), but the patchouli in the background keeps me from sneezing. It's sweet without being cloying, and is just generally fabulous. It reminds me a little bitty bit of Ma Griffe by Caraven, an old green chypre blend from the 1970's which was my godmother's signature scent. It's not so much that they smell the same as that they convey the same things to me: A strong sense of self, understated elegance, and brainy grace. Conclusion: 5ml please. This is will turn into my formal dinner party perfume. It screams for pearls.

In the imp: The sweet smell of dragon's blood (which always smells like a fruit to me) is overlaid with very sharp musk. This smells like a more traditional perfume scent than a lot of the other bpals I've tried. There's something very 70's about it to my nose. It's quite pungent and a touch bug-sprayish from the aggressive musks. Wet: This is much less pungent on my skin than in the imp. The dragon's blood is dominant, and the musks add a combination powder/salty sweat note in the background. There's just a suggestion of pink bathroom soap in there as well. Early dry down: After about fifteen minutes, the musk has receded and I've entirely lost the sharp-sweaty smell and the soapy odor. What's left is a sweet, rich, grape-like scent which reminds me of cream sherry. It's obviously the dragon's blood since that almost always turns into fruit of some variety on me. (Dragon's Hide was skittles-powder and Tintagel is Grape Nehi.) There's just a hint of something spicy under the sweet. Maybe cinnamon? If it's not cinnamon, then it's some other warm baking or cooking spice. It's very subtle so far, without a lot of throw. It's another wrist to the nose variety on me. Late dry down: After one hour, this has continued to fade into a sweet, syrupy scent with just a hint of musk under it. It reminds me a lot of Tintagel with the grape/fruit note, but whereas that faded into a spicy, resinous grape, this has faded to warm, thick grape. I'd almost swear that there was honey in there, but it must just be how dragon's blood and musk combine on my skin. It makes me feel sticky, as if I'd spilled my pancakes in my lap! There is, however, a powdery finish to the scent. Conclusion: This is a nice scent, but I'm not sure I need it and Tintagel. I think this might be another one of those scents that's more appropriate for a young teenager or someone more traditionally feminine than me. I don't know whether this will go in the swap/gift box or if I'll keep it around to give it another try. Right now, I could go either way.