Ghost of a Rose

In the vial: The sharpness of pine, lavender, and some peppermint is what I notice first and most strongly, with some wood coming in behind that. With a bit of floral sweetness (especially magnolia) on the side. On me, wet: On my skin it is immediately sweeter, with some orangey bergamot now adding to the astringent notes. Within a minute, the woods come out more strongly. I'm still noticing all of the notes that I initially detected in the vial as well. This is very complex and sophisticated. I especially like the lavender and magnolia top notes, although the juxtaposition of those with the peppermint and pine is a little strange. They co-exist, rather than blending. Something in here is also contributing a jasmine-like soapiness - I'm thinking it is the lavender-magnolia combo. After 10 minutes: The heavier wood notes are garnering more attention, although the astringent top notes still dominate. The Dragon's Blood is there, but I have to think about it to notice it. I'm surprised that it isn't a stronger presence, in a blend with Dragon in the name. I'm glad that the florals are still around, although they are fading. After 20 minutes: Mint, lavender, and pine - in that order - are what I notice first. The heavy woods are surprisingly less strong than before - I'd have predicted that they would grow stronger as the astringent top notes faded. There's some smokiness mixed in with the woods. And the florals haven't given up yet, yay! This isn't what I'd call a floral perfume, though, especially at this point. The magnolia softens the sharpness of the top notes and the darkness of the smoky wood, rather than being a distinct presence. After 30 minutes: A sharp lavender and pine note comes first, followed by the warm softness of magnolia, which has surprised and delighted me by making an encore. A little spiciness of incense is beginning to show up in the background, adding to the new warmth of the scent. After 1 hour: Most of the magnolia is gone now. But the lightening-up of the astringency and soapiness, together with the increasing spiciness of incense notes adding warmth to the smoky woods, keeps this as lovely as ever. Maybe even lovelier. The lavender is still around, but much softer. After 2 hours: Very soft now. Mostly spicy incense, with a little wood and lavender. After 3 hours: I thought most of the throw had wafted away, but someone just now commented that it was nice to walk behind me, because I smelled so good. After 4 hours: A faint but distinct whiff of incense. After 10 hours: I can still smell a trace of resin. Verdict: Although I've mentioned florals and magnolia so many times in my review, don't get the wrong impression. They are a fairly subtle accent, not the main theme. This is still a unisex fragrance like the other Lunacies. But the touch of flowers makes it one of my favorites of the Lunacies. My rating: 4.5 stars

I was a little concerned that this would have the BPAL artificial cherry-candy note that I don't care for, but I took a chance in hopes of getting a true floral cherry blossom instead. And I love the concept and the Japanese-themed notes. As it turns out, I don't detect either cherry fruit or cherry blossoms at all. But I was also interested in the other ingredients, and I do notice the green tea especially, and also the mild woodiness of the bamboo. Since the green tea note is the strongest note, this goes perfectly with the sheets on my bed, where I sprayed it - they are the exact color of matcha tea. The fragrance is not sweet at all, which surprised me. In fact, it is almost salty, with a seawater undertone. This isn't boozey, either, although I do pick up something like sake without the alcohol. To me this smells like a men's cologne - it reminds me of how my sons smell when they come out of the bathroom after showering. It is quite pleasant, but not really my thing. I would love it if l could smell realistic cherry blossoms in addition to the other notes. This is a light fragrance, even when I sprayed it around very generously. And the scent doesn't last as long as some of the other atmospheric sprays. It lasts longer when sprayed on fabric than when sprayed into the air. My rating: 4 stars

Beautiful! At least at first, I don't get any orange at all, which is good because I was a little concerned about the orange note. But it's all gorgeous florals - I can definitely smell jasmine and ylang ylang especially. After about 10 minutes, the musk comes out, with just a touch of orange to make it interesting without making it foody. It remains mainly a floral scent. My rating: 4 stars

In the imp: Oil is clear and a pale straw yellow in color. Both honey and oleander blossoms are very distinct and realistic in this. Absolutely gorgeous! On me, wet: The floral dominates, but the honey is still a strong presence. After 10 minutes: Same as above. Ummmm, I'm loving this. After 20 minutes: The floral has overtaken the honey. That's my favorite note in this, though (I've always adored the fragrance of oleander flowers) so I still love it just as much! After 30 minutes: Same as above. After 1 hour: The notes have switched roles, with the honey now taking the lead. But the honey is lovely too, and the oleander is still there, so I'm still loving this. After 2 hours: Mostly honey. After 3 hours: Softer and all honey. After several hours: A gentle and very pretty whisper of honey lingers. Verdict: I totally love this during all of its stages. A full bottle is definitely going on my wish list! This lab frimp was a real winner - thank you, lab pixies! My rating: 5 stars

In the vial: Sour red cherry hard candies, and nothing else. Ugh, I don't even like the candy, much less want to smell like this. But I'm always willing to try anything. On me, wet: Exactly the same at first. After 2 or 3 minutes, I start to pick up a boozey note, although it doesn't smell specifically like amaretto. After 10 minutes: All of a sudden, most of the cherry just got up and left, taking much of the throw with it. And also the sweetness. Now it smells boozey, buttery and oddly musky. With just a trace of remaining cherry, now very artificial and plastic. It's something of an improvement, but strange. Not even really foody at this stage. After 20 minutes: Now what's left of the cherry note has turned into black cherry rather than sour cherry candies, which is much better. But unfortunately it's still very plastic. My skin does tend to do that to red fruits. The butter is gone, but the booze and musk are still there. But no amaretto or even almond, just the tiniest hint of nuttiness that smells more like hazelnut to me. No vanilla, either. The muskiness is at least as strong - perhaps stronger - than all the food notes combined. Which to me is actually a good thing, since I don't like foody perfumes. (So why did I get this? I do love both black cherries and amaretto, and a pudding made of them sounded soooo delish. I wanted to sniff it, although not necessarily wear it on my body.) After 30 minutes: Same as above. After 1 hour: Much the same, except that plastic is now the dominant note. After 2 hours and 15 minutes: Same as above except that it's now rather faint. Note: As always, I wrote the review before reading other reviews so that I wouldn't be influenced by them. Now, after reading the other reviews, I'm delighted that others also mentioned musk and buttery notes! So it wasn't my imagination! Verdict: This blend morphed dramatically in the first 10 minutes and from then on remained stable, with only subtle changes. As for how much I liked it: meh. This didn't smell anything like real Black Cherry Amaretto pudding, in any of its phases. I never did detect any vanilla, either. It has some interesting notes at certain moments, but it never really comes together. And the strong note of plastic puts me off. Normally that problem can be overcome by wearing it in a perfume locket instead of on my skin, but I don't want to do that with this one, because a locket would retain the strong top note of sour-cherry-hard-candy for a long time, and that was my least favorite phase. It might make a good room fragrance in an oil warmer, especially for the kitchen. I'll try that and see if I like it that way. Meanwhile, I'm only giving it a 2-star rating.

In the vial: A fruity floral, but very unusual! Dry, cool, powdery (it doesn't smell like baby powder, it just reminds me of the dry, soft, ethereal texture of powder.) I can distinctly smell most of the notes listed - carnation, bergamot, non-specific fruits, coconut, and musk. The orangey bergamot note combined with the sweetness reminds me too much of Syrup of Ipecac for me to really like this. I enjoy the musky florals and the cool dry powderiness of it, but would prefer less foodiness and a lot less sweetness. I'll see how it goes on my skin. On me, wet: Right at first it is much the same, but a warm note of clove from the carnation quickly develops. The orange is much less evident. The powdery floral/musk is still lovely. It's less foody without the orange, although an undertone of red fruit remains. After 10 minutes: I like this far better now than I did in the vial, without the cloying sweetness and the orange. But it's still a bit too much on the foody side for my taste. The cranberry has strengthened and is equal to the powdery floral/musk. This is indeed an exotic fragrance with a somewhat Asian mood although not incensey. After 20 minutes: Same as above. Interesting how this has gone from a cool scent to a warm one while still maintaining a fairly consistent overall character. So far I haven't noticed any peach - does Chinese peach smell different? After 30 minutes: Cloves, flowers, musk, with a little red Lifesavers fruit candy in the background. And I'm finally noticing some peach, which goes great with the other notes, especially the clove. At 1 hour: The fruits and flowers are fading, but still around. They are most noticeable when sniffed from a couple of inches away, and at first. If I keep sniffing, and/or smell my skin up close, the lead players are the clove and musk. Some amber is starting to show up. At 2 hours: The notes are blending together more, with individual notes - even the clove - harder to pick out. Except for the amber, which is now the dominant note. The dry, powdery trait is more evident, and the fruitiness has largely evaporated. The throw is closer to the skin, and the strength when sniffed up close is soft but distinct. At 3 hours: Only a wisp of amber remains. Verdict: Quite nice after the first 10 minutes, and especially after 1 hour. But too sweet and fruity to rate 5 stars for me. My rating: 4 stars

ETA: ROSE RED 2011 In the vial: Just like it says - the perfect fresh rose. Vividly realistic, a beautiful single-note rose scent. On me, wet: The aquatic note is more evident on my skin. It is lovely together with the rose. And there's a hint of greenery as well, contributing to the freshness. After 10 minutes: Same as above. After 20 minutes: Same as above. It smells like the rose in The Queen's Croquet Ground (BPTP Atmospheric Spray), which I love. After 30 minutes: The aquatic and greenery have died down, and something like an earthy note has appeared. The rose has gone a little plastic (it's my skin causing that) but is still very lovely. After 1 hour: The throw weakened very suddenly and significantly shortly after the 30-minute mark. The supporting-role notes have also faded away, but so has the plastic. It must have been coming from one of the other notes rather than the rose. Now the scent is a fairly soft single-note rose. After 2 hours: A very soft and pretty single-note rose scent still remains. After 3 hours: Faint but definite rose fragrance. This really doesn't morph much. The changes I've mentioned are subtle, and the rose note remains consistently dominant throughout. My rating: 5+ stars, a new top fave! I'm so glad to have a full bottle!

In the vial: Drop-dead gorgeous! Honeysuckle with greenery. On me, wet: On me, the herbal notes of moss and ivy are strongest at first, but the honeysuckle quickly catches up, and I do pick up an undertone of saltwater. I'm in ecstasy - the beautiful strong florals that I always love, with the greenery and ocean spray adding an extra boost of lightness and freshness. I already know that this will be a favorite. After 10 minutes: The greenery has developed a subtle zing of bitterness, which nicely offsets some of the sweetness of the honeysuckle; as does the saltwater. This is sheer perfection. After 20 minutes: No change. I am strongly reminded of the original Love's Fresh Rain Eau de Toilette from the 1970's, with its turquoise blue color. I adored that scent. But I was always frustrated that it vanished almost immediately on my skin. This is so much better - the gorgeous fragrance sticks around. And it lacks that piercing whang of isopropyl alcohol which characterizes cheap cologne. After 30 minutes: Same as above except that the throw has softened a little. After 1 hour: Same as above. Its freshness makes this a lovely scent for hot weather, especially now that it has lightened up in strength. After 4 hours: Although now quite soft and close to the skin, the same heavenly fragrance is still there. My rating: 5+ stars

In the imp: This sounds like a dream come true for me! Love the concept, love the notes - orange blossoms AND rose, two of my biggest faves ever! The oil is a gorgeous pinkish-copper color. The first thing I smell is honey, and then . . .oh no . . . damn! . . . orange. Orange fruit, that is, not the heavenly and completely different fragrance of the orange flower. Adding the scent of orange fruit to anything labeled "orange blossom" is one of my pet peeves, and perfumers do it more often than not. I expected better from BPAL. This is more like orange-flavored cough syrup. Well, I'll give it a try. On me, wet: Yep, orange cough syrup. Exactly. After a few seconds, some rose comes through, but against the background of orange cough syrup, all it does is add to the sickening sweetness. It helps a little to think of it as orange-and-rosewater Turkish Delight instead of cough syrup . . . but that still isn't a fragrance I'd want to wear. After 10 minutes: It has lost the cloying sweetness, but what's left turns out to be no better. Now it smells old and stale. Roses are there, yes, but old and stale ones, yuk. After 20 minutes: The fruity orange top note has floated away, which is some improvement. Now the rose note is coming through strongly. But blending it with honey is not a felicitous combination. The honey (perhaps together with a trace of sandalwood) gives the rose a sweetish note of decay. I never thought I'd say this, but here is a rose fragrance I'll be happy to pass on. After 30 minutes: The scent continues to improve as the rose strengthens into something closer to a single note. But even now, there are so many BPAL rose blends that I like soooo much better. After 45 minutes: The sandalwood is picking up, with a faint and pleasant hint of spiciness. But overall the combination of that with the rose and honey still smells old and stale - and at this point, plastic as well. After 1 hour: Now pretty much all rose and sandalwood, the scent is finally pleasing. But not so wonderful as to be worth tolerating a somewhat unpleasant hour for, especially when other BPAL rose blends smell gorgeous right from the start. After 2 hours: Basically the same as above, but a little plastic. Verdict: I never did smell any actual orange blossom scent at all, just the fruit. Nor the true rose fragrance of fresh petals, either. This was such a disappointment. It's not even worth trying in the scent locket - that would just preserve the orange-syrup note, extending the phase that I liked the least. I'm not normally a believer in letting perfumes age, but since sandalwood is one of the few oils that actually does improve with aging, maybe I'll try this again next year to see if I like it better then. Although by then, the rose oil will probably have lost much of its scent. We'll see. My rating: 2 stars in the first hour on my skin, 3 stars after the first hour

In the imp: Oil is a very pale yellow, almost ivory. Grassy, herbal, with a distinct note of earth. If I keep sniffing, I can pick up some flowers and a teeny bit of rum. On me, wet: On me, the rum is much stronger - equal to the dirt - and somewhat buttery. The grassy/mossy note comes next, then the florals which are non-specific to my nose. And there's something here that is almost lemony. The mood is light and fresh, although the throw is fairly strong. In spite of the rum (I don't notice the bourbon, but then I'm less familiar with that), this is probably just a little too flowery to call it unisex. I like it. After 10 minutes: The rum top note fades quickly, leaving the earth, grassiness, and florals to dominate, with that lemony undertone which is fainter now. After 20 minutes: Sadly, some of the florals have also faded away. But the mostly grass-and-rich-earth scent that remains (together with a trace of the florals and that hint of lemon) is still quite nice. After 30 minutes: The scent has faded significantly and very suddenly, just within the last ten minutes. It has become light in strength as well as in mood. That mysterious lemony note is gone. It's now all grassy moss and dirt with a touch of florals. But a teeny bit warmer - perhaps the lightening-up of the dominant notes has allowed some warmth to peek out from the remaining hidden traces of bourbon and buttery rum. After 1 hour: Very faint now, and more mossy than earthy. Otherwise much the same, still with a bit of floral character that is now somewhat reminiscent of a classic perfume in late drydown. After 2 hours: The scent is gone. Verdict: Feminine, but not in-your-face girly. Mainly grassy moss and earth, with a touch of florals; and fairly consistent over time. While not exactly "cooling," this is light and fresh enough in mood to make it a lovely fragrance for warm weather. It's not particularly long-lasting, but that might be a positive in hot seasons, when a long-lived fragrance can seem annoyingly heavy after a while. I especially would like to wear this in a perfume locket, to preserve more of my beloved florals longer, together with the complexity contributed by the rum top note. My rating: 4 stars

In the vial: Chocolate, with non-specific flowers. On me, wet: The florals are equal to - and maybe a little stronger than - the chocolate. I like this. On me, after 15 minutes: The florals are still there, but the chocolate is definitely taking over. After 30 minutes: Still the same, including the strength/throw. The flowers and chocolate are nicely balanced - it isn't too foody, nor aggressively floral (for those who don't care for florals - personally I love them, the stronger the better.) The two main themes complement each other and blend together beautifully. This would also be a lovely fragrance for Valentine's Day. After 45 minutes: The honey is coming out more strongly, becoming a distinct presence rather than just blending in with the chocolate. The scent has gone a bit plastic, but not enough to make it unpleasant. It's probably my skin causing that; it seems to happen with many sweet foody notes. After 1 hour: It has begun to fade, becoming slightly more plastic as it fades. But still quite nice. Otherwise much the same. After 2 hours: Very faint. Only a trace - mostly of chocolate - remains. After 3 hours: As faint as it was an hour ago, I'm surprised to find that I can still smell this on my wrist. The warmth of chocolate is particularly distinct, but the overall fragrance is much the same. After 4 1/2 hours: A weak but pleasant note of chocolate lingers on. Verdict: I don't like foody perfumes, but I really like this feminine scent. The florals balance the chocolate out beautifully, making it a nice all-purpose fragrance. The scent stays quite consistent - all of the changes I've mentioned are subtle - until so late in drydown that it is virtually gone anyway. My rating: 4 stars

In the vial: This is odd, but it reminds of of some kind of thick black medicinal syrup. And/or black molasses with overtones of grapefruit. But the overall impression is incensey rather than citrus. A very dark scent, and almost sickeningly sweet. On me, wet: Same as in the vial. So far, I don't like this one. I don't care for the pairing of incense/wood with super-sweet notes. On me, after 10 minutes: It has lost the cloying sweetness, but still doesn't appeal to me. It's incense, wood, and yes, smoky. And there's a spiciness, almost like clove - maybe the elemi or just the way everything blends together? In any case, more of a guy thing. After 20 minutes: Much better now. To me it smells like clove and smoke with a bit of amber. Still not really "me," but at least now it is pleasant. After 30 minutes: The incense notes have come back into play and are now equal to the clove-like note as it fades. After 1 hour: Softer and nicer. Still clove and incense, with the smokiness no longer so aggressive. After 2 hours: Subtle and warm now. Champaca and amber, with that mysterious hint of clove. After 3 hours: Very faint. It might still be noticeable by someone else (who hasn't been sitting in a cloud of it for the past few hours), but to me it is more or less gone. More than 12 hours later, I noticed that the clothes I had been wearing when I put this scent on my wrist still carried the scent - at its best. I really like that. It might convince me to keep this. Verdict: it is pleasant enough after the first 20 minutes, but not my thing. A man might like it, or a woman who prefers incense-and-wood scents. My rating: 3.5 stars, round to 3

In the imp: Oil is clear and amber in color. The fragrance isn't particularly floral - it's mostly incensey myrrh and musk. But if I keep sniffing, I do pick up a little rose. On me, wet: Much the same, although I don't have to try, to be able to smell the rose. And there's a bit of ylang ylang too, being uncharacteristically discreet. After 15 minutes: For a couple of minutes as it began to dry, the ylang ylang started to dominate, but now rose has taken the lead, which to me of course is a good thing. All of the other notes are still very much present as well, though. This isn't a fresh green rose fragrance, but a dark and mysterious one perfectly evocative of the name. Lovely, sultry, sexy, a little spicy in an incensey way. Like the ghost of Cleopatra. After 30 minutes: My first thought is that this is almost a single-note rose scent now, with just a little myrrh and musk whispering in the background. But the longer I sniff at my wrist, the more I notice them. The ylang ylang has given up and gone away. Overall, this is softer and more subtle than many rose perfumes are. After 1 hour: The rose is fading, allowing the myrrh and musk to take the lead again. This blend doesn't exactly morph - it does retain a consistent character. What it does is, it emphasizes different notes at different times. After 2 hours: Mostly incensey myrrh and musk now. There's only a faint trace of rose left. After 3 hours: Same as above. After 4 hours: Same as above. After 8 hours: The rose has faded away, but the myrrh and musk are still clearly discernible. After 11 hours: The musk lingers on long after all the other notes have vanished. It makes for a pleasant and long-lasting finale. (ETA) Verdict: The Phantom here is of course The Phantom of the Opera - with a red rose held in front of his mask as in the logo for the play. (And accompanied by the ghost of Cleopatra.) Lovely, intriguing, fairly unisex, and fully-realized in concept. My rating: 4.5 stars

My imp is a decant from the lovely and generous spiresinthesnow. In the imp: Oil is clear and a light yellow-beige color. Right off the black I get all of the notes: Black tea, oakmoss and to a lesser extent, anise, are strongest; the first impression is of bitter herbs. Then along comes the the mango which smells like the fruit - I'm not getting any floral note. The wolfberry might be blending in with that, I don't know what it smells like. On me, wet: Much like in the imp except that the mango is stronger. The other various notes seem to be vying for attention, with first one and then another coming into play and constantly shuttling back and forth. The bitter herbs are not as dominant as they were in the imp, but are still strong players. It is an exceedingly unusual and complex unisex kind of fragrance. After 20 minutes: Same as above. After 30 minutes: The mango keeps taking over more and more as the other notes fade. But they are all still around. The anise is developing more of its licorice aspect, which is a startling combination with the mango, but as it turns out, they go amazingly well together. I have some cool star anise earrings that my niece made for me, and I've been looking for the right perfume to wear with them. Well, here it is! After 1 hour: Pretty much the same. This blend doesn't morph - it stays fairly consistent, with the only change being that the mango gradually becomes more dominant. After 1 hour and 15 minutes: A strange and rather piercing petroleum-like odor has very suddenly developed. It must be something weird my skin chemistry is doing to the scent. After 2 hours: Fortunately, the tarry smell lasted only a few minutes, disappearing completely as suddenly as it came. But it took most of the remaining scent with it. It's virtually gone now. Verdict: I really like this for how unusual it is and for the amazing bittersweet contrast between the mango and the anise, tea, and oakmoss. I'm going to order a bottle to wear with my star anise earrings! My rating: 4 stars

My imp is a decant from the lovely and generous spiresinthesnow. In the imp: Oil is clear and a pale yellow in color. I can only smell a single note - of pine/ snow. On me, wet: Pine and now, an even stronger, sinus-clearing, eucalyptus. I chose this blend to try because of the delicate florals and the peach - I hope they will show up! After 10 minutes: The sharp eucalyptus has vanished, and now it's back to all pine again. There may be some teasing hints of other things starting to come out, though. After 20 minutes: Nope, not really. There might be the teeny-tiniest hint of peach musk timidly peeping out, but it's so faint that it's just as likely to be my imagination. After 30 minutes: Yes, the peach musk is now definitely there, to sweeten and balance the pine. And maybe some cherry - the fruit, although there are some florals showing up too. The pine has settled down significantly, but this is still a pine-based scent. It's gentler and much more interesting now. After 1 hour: The pine has finally agreed to share the limelight, and all the notes (besides pine, they are the musk and some mild florals - the slight fruitiness is gone) are now well-balanced. The overall fragrance has become very soft and subtle. After 2 hours: The musk has gone powdery, something that it always does on my skin. But I don't have a problem with that. Ditto for the florals, which are barely there now anyway. After 5 hours: A little powdery musk still remains. Verdict: I love the concept, and the choice of ingredients evokes it successfully. I also love the artwork. This is a nice pine-and-musk winter fragrance, and my imp is just the right amount for me. The florals are not a strong enough presence here for me to need a full bottle. My rating: 4 stars

Wow, with all these things in it, it's anybody's guess what this is going to smell like! My imp is a frimped partial decant from the lovely and generous spiresinthesnow. In the imp: Oil is colorless and the color is a delicate pale beige with a tinge of pink. OK, here goes . . . I smell fruit, lots of it, especially orange and tangerine. With some unidentifiable florals in the background. On me, wet: On me, it's a lot more complex. The citrus still dominates, but there is far more nuance. It's so complicated that it's hard to tell, but I think I can pick up lychee, kumquat, peach, and dragon's blood along with those florals. It's really quite nice, not as obnoxiously foody as it sounds. After 10 minutes: It reminds me of some kind of delicate fruity candy . . . I know, Turkish Delight, the real kind with the floral waters. After 30 minutes: The fruitiness has lightened up a bit, but so have the florals which were never that strong to begin with. It's difficult to describe now, and almost impossible to identify any specific note. There's still some fruit, now more generic. The fragrance is also a little incensey, and and a little powdery. After 2 1/2 hours: Almost gone. A hint of incense and powder is all that remains. Verdict: I'm not a fan of foody perfumes, so I won't need a bottle, but I have to admit this is really intriguing. The sense (scents? haha) of exotic Asian fruits does come across, even with the orange and tangerine dominating. I'm glad I got the chance to try this, and will hang on to my imp. My rating: 4 stars

My imp is a decant from the lovely and generous spiresinthesnow. In the imp: The oil is clear and a light yellow color. The fragrance is heavenly - a beautiful rose note with a hint of woodiness. On me, wet: The same. The woodiness gives the rose a musty, almost mildewy aspect. That sounds bad, but it isn't. It's like finding your grandmother's dried wedding bouquet in a wooden chest in a basement. Beautiful, antique, full of memories. After 10 minutes: Mostly rose. I'm not getting much of the oude at the moment. After 20 minutes: Back to the woody/musty rose. After 30 minutes: No change. Just as we might expect from a blend that contains only two ingredients, the fragrance remains rather consistent. It is long-lasting and stays the same for many hours after the initial drydown. After 11 hours, I can still smell the perfume on my wrist. The oude has evaporated first, and the scent is now a soft but clear single-note rose. Verdict: A beautiful and long-lasting perfume for rose lovers. I don't like the old-rose fragrance quite as much as I do other, fresh-cut, rose blends, but only slightly less. I do love this and will purchase a full vial. My rating: 5 stars

My imp is a decant from the lovely spiresinthesnow. In the imp: Oil is clear and a light yellow color. Mmm, it smells beautiful - gardenia, magnolia, lilies, a little rose; with a tiny hint of a mildly bitter green note that reminds me of neroli. That must be the bergamot. On me, wet: On me it is much sweeter and a little fruitier, but the flowers are still the main game, especially gardenia and magnolia. Gorgeous! I've been looking for a great magnolia-based scent. This might be it. After 10 minutes: The green note is stronger, giving it something of an orange-blossom-like fragrance. Which is one of my favorites, so of course I'm loving this, especially mingled with the other heavenly white flowers. I do get the reference to sorrow - these are funeral flowers rather than wedding flowers. After 20 minutes: Now the white musk (my favorite of the musks) is coming out, making this seem drier and a little powdery (in a good way.) After 30 minutes: Like an expensive white-flowers-and-musk body powder, with just the teensiest hint of the citrus-y bergamot to give it sparkle. After 1 hour: The same, but considerably faded. This blend stays pretty consistent rather than morphing much. After 2 hours: Same as above. After 3 hours: Almost completely gone. I kept expecting the sandalwood to show up in the final drydown, but it never really made an appearance, although it may have added subtle nuance. Verdict: The rose isn't particularly noticeable in this, but with so many other beautiful florals, I love it anyway. It isn't very long-lasting, but I can reapply it often or wear it in the perfume locket to make it last longer. My rating: 5 stars

My imp is a decant from the lovely and generous spiresinthesnow. In the imp: Oil is clear and a very pale yellow in color. I'm not familiar with the scent of peonies (they don't grow in my area.) But this is a beautiful fragrance that seems almost fruity. I don't detect any note of vanilla; maybe the flower has a different scent than the bean pod. On me, wet: The same lovely scent that seems both floral and fruity. After 10 minutes: No change. After 20 minutes: Pretty much the same, but now decidedly more fruity/foody than floral even though the only ingredients listed are flowers. The fruitiness has a candy-like quality to it. I'm also noticing something that reminds me of root beer. I remember thinking the same thing about another blend that had vanilla orchid in it. Maybe that's what the vanilla orchid smells like to me, or on my skin. After 30 minutes: The scent has now become rather artificial in character, like a root-beer-and-fruit-flavored-candy-scented plastic toy. It's probably just something my skin chemistry is doing to it, and might not happen if I wore it in the perfume locket instead. After 1 hour: It is much lighter, and most of the fruitiness is gone. Now it is vanilla bean (a note I haven't smelled before in this) and root beer. After 2 hours: Only a faint trace of vanilla lingers. Verdict: Intriguing and unusual, especially at first when the floral notes are more fully present. The overall effect is too foody in character to make me lust after a full bottle, but I will keep my imp and enjoy using it up. My rating: 4 stars

My imp is a decant from the lovely spiresinthesnow. In the imp: Oil is clear and a pinkish light yellow color. I first smell roses, then lilac comes in with equal strength, and I can also pick up a little honey. On me, wet: The immediate fragrance is all rose, and very beautiful. After a couple of minutes, it is much the same as in the imp, but more nuanced (undoubtedly from the other flowers, which I don't have enough familiarity with to identify specifically.) I knew that from either the name or the description alone I'd want a full vial of this, and it fully lives up to my expectations. I'm in rose-and-lilac heaven! After 10 minutes: It has already lightened up quite a bit as it dries; and the subtler nuances have faded away. But the rose and lilac remain and are two of my most-favorite-scents-ever, so they can inspire my adoration all by themselves. As beautiful as each one is alone, the two are stunning in combination. After 20 minutes: Save as above. After 30 minutes: Still swooning . . . After 1 hour: The scent has lost some of its freshness and has gone a little plastic. That's not a flaw in the perfume, but something that my skin chemistry does to a lot of scents. It still also has the lovely floral notes, and I know that if the tinge of plastic bothers me, I can wear this in the perfume locket instead of - or as well as - on my skin. That would also be a great way to retain the subtle nuances of the shorter-lived top notes (the honey, rice flower, and peony.) After 2 hours: Almost completely gone. There's just the faintest trace of a somewhat plastic-y rose note remaining. After 7 hours: I'm pleasantly surprised to find that although very, very faint, what is left of the fragrance has returned to a true rose. Verdict: For flower lovers only. It isn't a long-lasting scent (at least not with any strength), but this is too beautiful to care about that. I can reapply often or wear it in the perfume locket to make it last longer. There was never a moment when I doubted that I would want a full bottle of this. I've already ordered it! My rating: 5 stars

My imp is a decant from the lovely spiresinthesnow. In the imp: Clear, bright yellow oil. Mmm, beautiful! Honeysuckle, pear, and lily-of-the-valley with a mild bit of the ozone. On me, wet: Just the same as in the imp. After a couple of minutes, it's already less floral and more pine, sandalwood, and moss, with the pear adding sweetness. After 10 minutes: Mostly pine. A nice unisex, snowy, scent, but I'm pining (heehee) for those gorgeous flowers. The pear has gone as well. After 20 minutes: Same as above. After 30 minutes: Same as above. After 1 hour: Still mostly pine and ozone, but softer now. And with nuances of sandalwood, musk, and amber. After 2 hours: Quite faded, but now that the pine is gone, the floral and pear notes are faintly discernible again; along with the musk and amber. Verdict: I like this, but I really loved it in those few initial moments when the florals were dominating. I'm thinking it might stay like that for a while if I wear it in the scent locket. It would rate 5 stars and a bottle if it does. Later ETA - In the scent locket: It does stay as beautiful - for about 18 hours now - in the scent locket as it was in the first couple of minutes on my skin. The honeysuckle and pear are still there, the pine is behaving itself discreetly, and I can detect all of the other notes. It's heavenly! After reading the other reviews, I'm thinking that what my nose interprets as "pine" is the snow note. My rating: 4 stars on my skin, 5 stars in the perfume locket

My imp is a decant from the generous azurephoenix. In the imp: Perfume is a deep, rich, golden yellow. The fragrance is strongly chocolate and vanilla, with some pomegranate and the faintest breath of rose and nutmeg. On me, wet: Chocolate is the primary note, with vanilla and pomegranate. I don't notice the rose. As it begins to dry, within the first couple of minutes the chocolate lightens up, allowing the most beautiful floral fragrance to shine, and bringing out the first hints of the incense notes. After 10 minutes: Florals and pomegranate. The floral is only subtly identifiable as rose, it is more just a lovely floral note. After 20 minutes: This is OMG-gorgeous now! The rose has come into its full glory, and is now definitely rose. Balanced equally with pomegranate, and with the incenses whispering in the background. After 30 minutes: Same as above. After 1 hour: Same as above. After 1 1/2 hours: The rose has faded, which leaves the pomegranate as the main note. I don't love it quite as much now. The incenses are still around, though, which does help to keep it from being obnoxiously foody. After 2 hours: Pretty much the same as above, except that it is more faded, and the pomegranate has turned a little plastic-y (red fruits always do that on my skin.) After 3 hours: Faint traces of pomegranate, vanilla, and incense. Verdict: I wasn't so sure about this at first. The initial scent of chocolate, vanilla and pomegranate is delicious for sniffing, but I don't want to walk around smelling like I've been eating chocolate truffles all day! But the foodiness was very short-lived, and once the rose kicked it, this became drop-dead gorgeous for the next hour. The late drydown is nice enough, but doesn't equal the beauty of the first hour. No matter, I can always reapply if I want to keep the gorgeousness around longer. My rating: 5 stars

My imp is a decanted frimp from the most generous azurephoenix! It is a special offering and required special effort to get. I am so lucky that I got to try it, thanks to her!! In the imp: The perfume is clear and a deep golden yellow with a tint of pink to it. It smells very perfumey - like a lovely expensive perfume; with pomegranate, patchouli, and ylang ylang predominating. On me, wet: It is much the same, but with the addition of the woods and a hint of balsam. The pomegranate is the main player, but closely followed by the florals. Is it my imagination, or do I detect a faint whiff of vanilla? Does the vanilla orchid smell anything like the vanilla bean? After 10 minutes: As it dries, I become more convinced that the vanilla isn't just my imagination. Much of the fruitiness has already dissipated, and it's now mainly florals and woods. Even the patchouli and ylang ylang (which tend to be divas) are peacefully and quietly blending in with the other notes. This is an elegant, formal, and sophisticated scent. After 20 minutes: It has changed character completely! The florals have lightened up, which brings out more of the pomegranate again. But the main aspect by far is the woods, which now gives it a more casual, but dignified, mood that would be perfect for the office. It has an understated, professional kind of femininity. After 30 minutes: Still primarily wood, with the pomegranate and florals about equal in the background. After 1 hour: Same as above. After 2 hours: This is not a long-lasting fragrance; it is already very delicate. Mostly sandalwood and amber, with a lingering hint of the florals and pomegranate. After 3 hours: Faint powdery sandalwood and amber. After 5 hours: I can still smell just a trace of it. It did last reasonably long after all, it's just soft and subtle after the first hour. Verdict: Feminine, unusual, and very lovely. Also interesting in the way it goes through two totally different moods. My rating: 4 and a half stars

In the imp: Oil is clear and a deep golden yellow in color. I smell the patchouli and petitgrain. On me, wet: Same as above. After 10 minutes: Pretty much the same, although I do get the faintest of rose notes in the far background. If I didn't know to look for the rose, I wouldn't know it was there. This has a surprisingly woody feel to it, from the benzoin I think, or maybe the petitgrain. After 30 minutes: Where'd it go? Once completely dry, the throw lightened up dramatically. I'm just kidding, though. It's still here, just a lot weaker. The patchouli, petitgrain, and benzoin are the main notes. The rose is gaining in strength and is noticeable now, although still subtle. And it's still woody. After 1 hour: Again, mostly the same - a woody and incense-y fragrance. The rose is still there, but barely; as is a tiny breath of something like vanilla from the benzoin. After 2 hours: Same as above. I have not noticed any fruitiness from the cassis bud at all, although other aspects of it may be playing a part in the woody/incense blend notes. (As well as fruity, I've seen its aroma described as "catty", whatever that means. I don't think I want to know.) After 4 hours: Much the same, but fading away. The strong woodiness is gone, but so is most of the rose. So although they are now more balanced, I still don't get much rose. After 8 hours: A very faint scent of incense remains. Verdict: A lovely wood-and-incense blend. I like it very much, but the rose isn't strong enough for it to wow me. It is a dignified scent that would be excellent for work. My rating: 4 stars

My imp is a decant from the lovely TrailerTrashPrincess. In the imp: The oil is clear and a pale yellowish ivory color. I first notice the flower, then the chill air, which is lovely and lighter than "cold" scents usually are - no sharp medicinal notes. The white musk (which I love) is also there. On me, wet: Mostly the same, except that I do pick up an understated note of pine (the fir needles.) It still isn't sharp or camphoraceous, just enough there to make this a unisex scent. I have no idea what papyrus reeds smell like, so I can't tell about that one. Nor am I familiar with grey amber specifically, although I would recognize amber in general; and so far I don't. After 10 minutes: It is becoming less sweet and floral. This allows something I can't identify to shine out - perhaps those reeds? And there's a "men's cologne" feel to the background. After 20 minutes: Now there is a somewhat soapy, jasmine-like aspect to the floral note, and the men's cologne aspect is stronger. The fragrance resembles jasmine enough that I looked up champaca on the internet to see if it is a type of jasmine. It isn't; it is in the magnolia family. The fir is there, blending subtly into the background. After 30 minutes: Still mostly jasmine-like but I'm also starting to get a whiff of the spicy incense scent that is more familiar to me, from champaca. The men's cologne note has lightened up, but it isn't going anywhere. After 1 hour: Basically the same as above, but while going about my work I did notice a cloud of fragrance that had a note similar to anise. After 2 hours: The jasmine/champaca dominates, but there's still a definite aspect of men's cologne. After 3 hours: Mostly men's cologne. After 5 hours: The cologne scent has faded and it's now a nice incense/floral fragrance, but quite faint. Verdict: I like this best in the first 10 - 20 minutes on my skin, when the beautiful flowers are dominant, so it might be a good candidate for the scent locket (which retains the top notes much longer.) The rest of the time, it's too much like a men's cologne to really be my thing, but I would like it on a man. I like how the more feminine florals combine with the men's cologne scent - it's an intriguing yin-yang fragrance. So it could also be unisex. Later ETA: I do like this best in the scent locket - the florals do last there. My rating: 4 stars