Musamea

frimp In the imp: peach and the sharp dirt note of vetiver Wet: the florals bloom a bit… something akin to jasmine as the topnote, the peach fades back while the vetiver remains prevalent Dry: all vetiver, all the time. A bit too strong and earthy for my tastes.

wet: very citrusy, which was unexpected, just the gentlest hints of sandalwood and almond, and a teeny tiny bit of nutmeg... I'm not sure what neroli smells like, but I'm guessing that's what's giving this scent its sharpness drydown: oh, there's the rose; the orange peel has begun to fade into the background dry: it's pure rose now, with just a bit of sharpness leftover from the neroli and the orange peel... the drift is a lot sweeter. This rose is a little lighter than the tea rose in London -- less murky and more straightforward. It reminds me a bit of Lucy's Kiss, but somewhat soapier... overall: I've got it! This blend on me, dry, smells like the early stages of Come to Me, with the orange complicating matters. That actually makes a lot of sense, since Come to Me is a voodoo oil that's an attractant and Beth's description for Seraglio includes harem girls. It's pleasant, but I prefer Come to Me's eventual drydown more.

wet: All chocolate, all the time, then the sandalwood begins to make itself known... it smells like cold cocoa spilled over cold wood, not quite the warm, foody scent I was imagining and expecting. drydown: All sandalwood, all the time. Damn, I was so hoping the vanilla or the myrrh would be what my skin grabbed onto. Instead, I smell like a headshop. dry: the sandalwood calms down a bit and the scent turns warmer, with the cocoa sweetening things up. overall: interesting scent, and the sweet cocoa-sandalwood mix that it ends up as is actually quite comforting. But I really can't see enduring the 30 minutes of in-your-face sandalwood to get to that final stage... luckily, I have other Lab comfort scents, so this one's off to the swaps pile.

wet: mm, I might be going crazy, but wet, this smells a LOT like a slightly sharper version of Morocco. The carnation really makes its presence known before the poppy kicks in to give the scent a waxier cast dry: mostly poppy, with some of the honeysuckle and lemon shining through. the carnation's gone, which is strange, since my skin usually amps it like crazy. overall: soft and comforting, but the waxiness of it keeps me from loving this scent.

in imp: all cedar, all the time wet: cedar with... pear? I'm definitely getting a juicy pear note, though it's not noted in the components, maybe it's the wisteria? It's very green and a little sharp, with the lemon gradually making its presence known dry: Up close, it's spicy cedar/lemon, with whiffs of whatever it is that keeps reminding me of pear. The musk is starting to come out more and more and grounding the scent. The throw is all light, floral sweetness. extreme drydown: Uh oh, the musk is turning really, really, really musky. overall: This scent morphed so much that it's hard for me to pin down one impresison. It was initially really unique and clean and light, but then the muskiness absolutely killed it for me. I wish the osmanthus had been more apparent. Off to the swaps pile!

In the imp and wet: My goodness, that's a LOT of patchouli! Dry: Patchouli and what I take to be vetivert. Something like dry woods. Very musty and waaay too strong for me.

In the imp: Very, very light, airy, and clean. And something that smells like a lighter, softer, more gentle version of the tea rose in London. Wet: The soft rose blooms beautifully. I think there's a whiff of plumeria in there, too. It's very, very sweet… and I think it'd almost be overwhelming except for how soft it is. Dry: Dries down to a sweet, slightly damp scent. Like freshly washed cotton sheets spread out to dry over rosebushes at dawn. Utterly beautiful and unexpected… I think I've finally found the "clean" scent I've been looking for!

In the imp: A little lemony, a little piney (though not like cleaner), very masculine. And… jasmine? *reads description* hothouse flowers. I'm willing to bet one of those is night-blooming jasmine. Yup. The one Lab component that absolutely hates me. Sigh. I'll be passing this one on.

In the imp: Butter. And popcorn. Buttered popcorn. Where in the world is that coming from? I can practically hear the oil sizzling. Wet: I almost didn't try it on, but all the glowing reviews convinced me otherwise. There's still the butter as the predominant note… very, very thick. A little bit of peach, with its sweetness cut by the clove, but I only get that with a realllly deep whiff. Where's the pumpkin? Ooooh, there's the nutmeg. And we're… back to butter. Dry: At a distance, it's all spiced peach cider. Yummy! Up close, I can still get a few whiffs of the detested buttered popcorn. After about ten minutes, the cider fades away and I'm back to popcorn and… smoke? It smells like dry woodsmoke. Would that be the clove? Conclusions: I absolutely ADORE the cider stage this scent warps through. Even more than Samhain, that's the scent of autumn nights to me (warm, in front of a crackling fire). It's too bad this scent has to go through the popcorn phase before it gets to the cider. Plus, the cider doesn't last long enough to make the wait worthwhile. This one's going into the swaps pile, but I'll definitely be testing more Lab oils with nutmeg!

frimp from the Lab In the imp and wet: Holy watermelons, Batman! It's melon bubblegum. Dry: Melon, melon, melon. Sunkissed and ripe, to be sure, but still. Melon. It's a scent I could see wearing only if I were on a tropical vacation, which isn't going to happen any time soon! Off to the swaps!

I'd heard about Misk U from practically the day I got into BPAL, but never expected to get a chance to try it, since it was still discontinued then and going for exorbitant rates of Ebay. Imagine my joy when it was resurrected. In the imp and wet: Wow, I now know why this was the Holy Grail of BPAL scents for so long! Rich, creamy hazelnut coffee. I want to eat my wrist!!! Dry: Oh no… the dust note is coming out… and taking over… aaaaaand… yup, any coffee goodness is gone. *weeps* Conclusion: Well, it'll be an absolutely beautiful room scent.

In the imp and wet: Strawberry to the extreme, indeed! I get a teeeeny tiny bit of the carnation's spiciness, but that's it, in terms of other notes. dry: Strawberry, strawberry, strawberry. Cute, but a little too young and flighty for me.

In the imp and wet: A very "wet" and sharp scent… I'm guessing it's the Nile lily? There's something in here that smells exactly like the perfume of a woman I work with, and it makes me keep thinking about her, which is kind of weird. Dry: It's mellowed out a bit, but there's still some lingering sharpness. It's just too strange to wear a scent that I so closely associate with someone else. I'll be passing this one along.

In the imp and wet: all sandalwood, all the time. To me, this scent is more spicy/sharp than gentle. Dry: This scent is *really* bold, with mainly sandalwood and lemon notes. I'm getting no vanilla and very little musk from it at all. It reminds me a lot of Kathmandu, except without the eventual sweetness in the drydown. Overall impression: I think this scent would make an excellent cologne for men. Unfortunately, I'm not a man and I prefer my perfumes a little softer. I'll be passing this one on.

I've been looking for a good osmanthus scent for awhile now, and decided to take a chance and buy a 5mL of Snow Maiden unsniffed. Impressions: In the imp and wet: Wow, that is... very astringent. Definitely a "frosty" scent. Dry: Scent's turned kind of waxy. I can't figure this one out. It's at once too sweet and not nearly sweet enough. It smells like it's trying to turn into something warmer, but the chill of the hoarfrost and daffodil keeps pulling it back. I'm not getting any osmanthus at all. Extreme drydown: About 5 hours after application, I'm getting the same note I got from Night's Pavilion. I'm guessing that's the osmanthus, since it's the note the two blends share. Hmm, it's not at all like the delicate, elusive scent that the osmanthus bushes by my porch give off when they bloom. This is one for the swaps pile.

received as a frimp from the lab In the bottle: sweet pea with an underlying hint of lily Wet: initially sweet pea, then the lily scents really start to bloom out, there's a whiff of the pear that I love so much in Endymion as well Dry: sweet pea and lily vie with each other for prominence, while the white musk adds sweetness to the mix Overall: I love the lily, white musk, and initial pear in this blend (can't seem to find the honeysuckle), but in the end my aversion to sweet pea puts this imp in the swap pile

In the bottle: all dry, slightly smoky rosewood Wet: mostly rosewood, with a whiff of frankincense Dry: Interesting, the rose and lily make brief appearances and add sweetness to the blend, then they fade back and it's all dry rosewood, then a hint of smoky frankincense, and then it all starts over again, eventually calms down to rosewood Overall: a bit too dry and woody for my taste

In imp and wet: Burnt plastic overlaid with powder Dry and wearing: Red Hots kind of cinnamon. I got a headache from it and had to wash it off. This is a little too straight-forward of a scent for me; I can see it being really nice layered (perhaps with Chimera or another scent whose cinnamon isn't as prominent) but the fact that it gives me an almost immediate headache puts it in the swap pile.

In the imp: Whoa, an intensely orange bergamot, with the honey and milk lurking in the background. I can just barely pick out the carnation. No rose at all. Wet: An initial burst of bergamot, honey, carnation that then fades into a creamy, sweet blend (the milk coming out, I assume), with the spiciness from both the carnation and the bergamot tempering the scent. Dry: Alice has faded down to mostly carnation for me, but it's a sweeter, creamier, more soothing carnation than the one in Maiden (probably due to the foody oils in this blend). Overall: Lovely, refined, yet girlish. Unfortunately, my skin tends to turn Beth's milk notes sour at certain times of the month, which means I'll probably be using this oil more for enabling than wearing purposes.

Wet: cedar, spiced with sandalwood -- very cool and refreshing… nearly minty! Dry: this blend has turned a bit darker and wetter; the cedar and sandalwood still stand out most, but the lotus adds a sweet note and the spices form a lovely, complex background -- this blend keeps turning sweeter and more feminine on me (the lotus, perhaps?) but the spices and the sandalwood allow it to keep its mysterious, exotic allure. The longer I wear it, the warmer it gets… and I've decided that's a good thing. Overall: this oil has a lot of components that I usually avoid (sandalwood, cedar, saffron), but the blend morphs into a lovely scent that I am really enjoying. It's a very sacred-smelling fragrance, if that makes sense -- evocative of hidden, gold-covered Buddhist temples beside the banks of ancient rivers. I think I'll hang onto the imp, even though I don't see myself wearing this oil often… it's a little too exotic to be an everyday scent for me.

In imp and wet: mostly fiery cinnamon with a hint of sharp, nearly plastic-y rose underneath Dry: Cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon; still with a hint of plastic in the background… the Moroccan rose, I believe, since that's the note this oil shares with Rapture and I got the same scorched plastic scent from that blend. I really like the cinnamon in this one, but the plastic is a huge turn-off. Will throw this imp into the swap pile and stick with Chimera for my cinnamon fix.

In the imp: extremely sweet, shifting sort of blend Wet: roses that keep morphing… slightly sharp/spicy, very, very sweet, nearly candy-like scent Dry: the blend has thickened and deepened, losing that intense sweetness and becoming heavier, more generically "perfume-y"… it's not as complex as I'd expect it to be… A pretty, girlish kind of scent, but not one that I'd ever be tempted to use as a signature fragrance. Into the swaps pile it goes!

In the imp: thick cinnamon and honeysuckle -- warmed by copal Wet: cinnamon, but not of the sharp, burning, Red Hots variety -- the honeysuckle subtly adds sweetness to the blend, and the myrrh and copal warms it up nicely -- you can definitely pick out the individual scents in this blend, but overall it's just a lovely, warm combination… I bet this scent would be amazing layered with the Lab's London Dry: this scent dries down to a sweet vanilla… very like the final stages of Snake Oil, but without the in-your-face sharp phase that the latter passes through… this scent is actually very soothing to me, which I hadn't expected, considering its ingredients and name. Overall: I'd say it's Snake Oil's softer, more feminine cousin. It's a big hit with the gentlemen, too; strangers have stopped me in the street on more than one occasion to tell me that I "smell good, really, really good." *g* There's definitely a big bottle of this in store for me when I place my next order.

frimp from the Lab In the imp: Very strong patchouli with underlying spiciness of carnation and a hint of sweet orange blossom Wet: Smoky, earthy patchouli overlayed with the sweetness of the orange blossom -- this scent is both wet and dry at once, like standing in a foggy forest on a wet spring morning, holding a pipeful of unlit, expensive tobacco. Dry: My skin seems to have gobbled up the orange blossom (and I never got much carnation out of this blend to begin with, which is strange since that's the predominant note I get whenever I wear Maiden) and has left me with the patchouli. I kind of like the smoky strength of this blend as I find it rather comforting, but it's very masculine and not something I could see myself wearing often. The initial burst of orange blossom makes me reluctant to part with this imp though, so I'll keep it around for when I'm in a particularly patchouli mood... or for when I have an SO and can foist it on him!

In the imp: a smoky, exotic blend of saffron and spices, with the barest hint of patchouli Wet: Mostly saffron Dry: This blend reminds me a lot of wet Snake Oil, when the spices are still predominant and the vanilla has not yet begun to emerge Overall: I love the story of Scherezade, and had thought it'd be wonderful to have a perfume by the same name for inspiration in moments of writer's block. And certainly, when I put this one on, I almost immediately got a mental image of a veiled woman, gesturing with her bared arms, holding a king in thrall. However, due to the similarity between this blend and Snake Oil and my preference for the vanilla in the latter, Scherezade is going into the swap pile.