this machine

I usually go to sleep at night with at least a minute or two of thought about what scent i will wear the next day. Sometimes i make a solid decision, and sometimes i waver between a few and decide to see what happens in the morning. In the morning i get up and hover over my imp box, trying to make a decision. Sometimes it's obvious and easy, and sometimes i have to be very careful. If, for instance, i've been thinking about shadow but when i look in my box i find my eye grabbed by lampades, i have to make sure i pick the right one. I love both but if i go with what i've been craving (shadow) i may find myself throughout the day thinking in the back of my head about how i crave the sweet tartness of lampades. Then shadow is kind of ruined for me for the day, no matter how much i love it! And the opposite is true - if i go with what suddenly grabbed my eye in the morning i may find that what i really wanted was the one i'd been thinking about in the first place. It's all so silly and many people would think i need counseling for having this much thought about something like perfume oils! But i'm sure some people out there in bpal land can identify. And when i say silly, i don't necessarily mean unimportant. These things are important to me right now, even if they aren't earth-shattering or life-changing. It's just something that enriches the other more important things in my life. I'm still in the stage where i have scads of imps and i've tried almost all of them, but i'm utterly overwhelmed by them all and feel a constant battle between the grasping obsession of must...get...more...now...must...have and must...reduce...quantities...now. When i have that many (i have something like 80 imps) i know i can't do them all justice, and i look in my box and i'm so excited by them all but also have a feeling of dread, like "ack, i need to test those, and i need to retry those and see how i feel about them, and ACK i haven't even had a chance to LOOK at masquerade or shadow or snow white for three weeks and i love them but i have so many others i need to work on." You get the idea. I know it probably seems silly to many, but it's just overwhelming! I want them all at once! Since i'm trying to move to ordering only on lunacy updates and since i didn't want peony moon, i gave myself the month between that moon and the next to not worry about testing very many if any oils. I'm just going to give the ones i love some time and attention, and basically revisit the ones i've been neglecting while hoarding and trying new ones all the time. It's been very good! I still try a few new ones now and then but mostly i'm enjoying the favs...geek, masquerade, cathode, EO musk, snow white, intrigue...and the list goes on. Once i've satisfied this mode for a while, i'll finish testing the new ones and i'll feel caught up, and i'll have at least separated all the swaps/sales from my keepers, and then i can think about trying some of the new ones out there. Yay!

I'm definitely in the CK one camp on this one. I'm sure if i smelled them side-by-side there would be obvious differences, but i opened the imp and sniffed and immediately smelled my 10th grade boyfriend. I actually like the scent quite a bit, but it's not something i would personally wear.

For my maiden bpal blog voyage, i shall discuss my status as the only person among my friends and acquaintances who is smell-obsessed. I'm preaching to the choir here, i know, but smell is such an underrated sense. People think it's hilarious that i collect these perfumes - they may not think it's silly to love perfume, but they don't see why one would want more than one or two favorites. They listen if i explain that it's not just some perfume like going to the drugstore or the department store counter and picking out the latest j.lo or chanel fragrance that smells appealing...there's craft and artistry and thought and love that goes into these, not to mention they're unique and smell better than 99% of other scented things you can get out there. I just wish i had a friend who is similarly appreciative, so we could dish about our pending orders, squeal when they arrive, talk endlessly about favorites and the horror at adding up just how much we've actually spent on this stuff (but still being so happy to have it!), and just sit around and sniff each other! I mean, i have a few people now and then tell me i smell great, and that's nice, but i want a Nose Buddy. Someone else who loves using their nose as much as i do. It's great to commune about this stuff on this forum, but it's not the same as having a good friend in real life you can do it with. I'm not really such a sad-sack. I'm just lamenting this one particular lacking area of my current life.

Shadow is very lemon-verbena-y at first, with the cedar and sandalwood in the background rounding it off. Quite nice. The patchouli comes along right after the initial drydown and is pretty strong but not overpowering for me. After it dries for half an hour or so, the patchouli fades into the depths but still plays a great role, and as the whole scent fades it becomes more cedar and sandalwood with a tinge of the lemon verbena. I love all the stages of this. It has a nice throw but unfortunately not tons of staying power, though it's certainly not the worst i've encountered as far as speedy exits. Verdict: i love it and will order a bottle as my imp runs out.

I thought i would fall head over heels for this one. Unfortunately, it smells way too much like some men's cologne i associate with young boys, junior high or HS age. It's more sophisticated than that of course, but the base of it is just so cologney that i had to wash it off, which is rare for me! As others have said, it's tangerine and cedarwood and vetiver - all notes i like! I get no amber and i'm not sure i found the saffron either. I'm surprised because i generally love scents that most people deem to be masculine, but this one didn't work.

Danse goes on and reminds me mostly of cathode - it's clearly the oakmoss, which i love. Unfortunately i just end up wishing i was wearing cathode when i try this, especially because after an hour or so it turns into this public bathroom cleaner smell. Yeck.

The orange is, as you would imagine, very prominent here. But it's not any orange, it's definitely a blood orange - not as tangy, more sweet and warm. The combination with the benzoin just makes it sweeter, and it leads to that possible kool-aidy smell people have mentioned. To me i associate it a little more with an orangey candle, perhaps due to the resin. The resin brings it down a little bit, which is nice, and on a nice long sniff i definitely get the tingle of pepper at the end. As others have said, it doesn't seem to morph very much on the skin. It's not an every day for me right now, but i think i enjoy it and will keep it around.

Nature spirits and protectors of the world's groves and forests that appear as breathtakingly beautiful women. Hamadryads are born into a tree that serves as both a home and an anchor for the creature's soul. They are sometimes tricksters, sometimes seducers, sometimes helpful and benign, but they are always fierce and furious protectors of the natural world. Seven dry woods with mossy lichen and a gentle breeze of forest flowers. I'm in the pepto bismol/wintergreen bunch. It's minty and bright and relentlessly green at first, and only as it dries down over the next half hour or so do i start getting the whiffs of light florals. But the pepto bismol smell remains prominent throughout for me. It definitely seems to have decent staying power, and i can see how many people would love this but the pepto smell overwhelms me and it's off to the swap.

Wow, i don't claim to have a trained nose by any means, but i have absolutely no idea what i'm smelling here. Someone described it as the sharpest bpal scent they've encountered, and i would agree. It's very strong, very sharp, and i just can't figure it out. Is it the mandrake? The mimosa in combination with the currant? I don't know. It's sweet but...tangy is maybe another way to describe it? But while i don't immediately think i hate it, i also am pretty sure i don't want it on my skin. Too bad, i was psyched about this one. But you win some, you lose some, and i remind myself that every oil i don't like is a blessing upon my bank account.

I found that torture king resembles voodoo, but i need to test this theory again. I wonder if it's the lime/vetiver/clove connection. Anyone else get this?

Oh man. This primate is musky for sure, but smell that orange peel coming through - it's nice because it's not just straightforward orange, it's got a different feel to it. Wet on the skin it's musk and you get that bit of orange, and ambergris is there. As it dries it mellows out while still saying strong on the skin, and the tropical plants extracts pop up more. Hey look, it's a bit of floral that i don't hate! Someone said it's almost a little perfumey, and i actually agree. But that's a good thing - it levels out at a vaguely floral musky and ambergris scent nicely supported by the other elements. I love it and i need more.

You know those little weeds that often grow in the cracks of sidewalks or in un-pesticided lawns...they have small yellow/green buds on them that when crushed lightly between your fingers have a gorgeous green-with-a-hint-of-something-almost-like-pineapple fragrance to them? Man i love those things. I have distinct memories of playing in the alley behind my house as a kid and my mom teaching me that you can pluck off a bud or two and crush them and get that wonderful smell. Beauty from the most unexpected places. A good lesson at a young age. When wet, envy reminds me distinctly of that smell. It's glorious. I'm thrilled. When dry i get less of that smell, yet it's still a green and lightly lavender with a tiny hint of mint smell that i love. It's great for bedtime too. Sadly it doesn't last as long as i would like it, but i believe i'll be keeping this one around.

I swapped for this as i'm trying to test scents that are out of my normal range of desires (darker, earthier, spicier - not light or fruity). It is warm and sweet like everyone has said. I love the heliotrope in greed so i thought that would be good. Ultimately though, this one confirmed what i thought would remain true - very traditionally fruity and sweet scents (even though it's nicely warmed and balanced by the amber and sandalwood) are just not for me. I felt like i walked into the dorm bathroom in college where half the girls on my hall washed with bath and body works peach soap. This is a far classier version of that - just not good for me.

saint-germain has carnation, if you're not afraid of a gender neutral or possibly masculine scent. i love it to pieces. masquerade does too and i believe it's in my top three as of this weekend when i received it. i haven't tried these, but maiden, the caterpillar, the bow and crown of conquest, morocco, and moscow all have carnation. just do a search on the forum in the reviews section for each of those scent names, and you can read up on them that way.

So it took me quite a while to realize that dragon's blood smells like lilac or something florally to me (i've seen people say jasmine?). I don't get an ounce of the leather or smoke in this unfortunately. It's just all lilac on me. Yet serpent's kiss is spicey and delicious! Who knows...

All the depth, beauty and darkness of All Hallows Eve. Truly the scent of autumn itself -- damp woods, fir needle, and black patchouli with the gentlest touches of warm pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, allspice, sweet red apple and mullein. I'm with the folks who don't really get woods out of this. It dries down to, as someone said, dirty honey, which to me is not a good smell. But i'm giving it another chance next time i get around to it in my "imps to try again" list. I don't hold out a lot of hope though, because i think i'm learning via luperci that anything honey-ish comes popping right out and taking over on me.

I think i may be finding that my skin strengthens honey smells, and i'm not sure i like that. I don't know if it's the honey or the beeswax or both, but that's definitely what this dries down to as the predominate note on me. I'm disappointed at the moment because wet it's glorious and complex - warm and earthy and a little sweet. I'm going to age this one and see what happens with it.

You're very welcome! I've often tried to figure out a way to make my spreadsheet able to do what you've described, but I've come up with few ideas. The only thing I can think of is in the section where I suggested you write whether or not you've tried it, or ordered, etc, is that you can come up with a new tag like "Problematic" and sort the spreadsheet by that? That way, you'll see all the problematic scents listed together and you can check out the notes. That's not a bad idea. Certainly less cumbersome than having all 987982343 notes listed out in their own column. Talk about a bulky spreadsheet, yeesh.

I just had a heartattack over that spreadsheet. I created my own just of the ones that i have, but it was far more cumbersome and didn't have all the descrips and such. This thing is beautiful. The one thing i'll use my own spreadsheet for is being able to, for instance, sort by a particular note that i think may be causing a problem for me and see which scents i have that contain that. I have each scent i own down the left with all the notes in separate columns along the top, and i check off the box for each note each scent contains. I'm not sure i could've described it any more cumbersome-ly. In any case, i think it could be useful for me, but it is a bitch to keep updated. Anyway, what i originally was saying - the spreadsheet is AMAZING! Thank you nattie.

I have one thing to say at this point... The name? It is not.kidding. WOW. Leather and rum are my two new look-out-for-and-retrieve-at-all-costs scents. Damn. (alright, that was two things)

If Greed were any more amazing i'd be sick from it. Okay, i just had to get that out of the way. Wet, it's dirt-sharp patchouli and a whisper of something sweet. Initial dry-down, it's still strong patchouli. Dark. The patchouli stays strong for a while and i was afraid i'd be getting too many "oh my gawd are you wearing patchouli, are you some kind of hippy?" (which i couldn't be farther from) comments. But give it an hour or so and it's golden, warm, and softly sweet. The patchouli balances perfectly with the copal and the sweet and vaguely spicey of the heliotrope. When the dirt recedes and the copal comes out, it's perfection. I had no idea how much i'd like this. And it sticks around forever on my skin and has nice throw. This is how i felt wearing this all last night: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yet another triumph. I don't know why i picked this one exactly, since i have no idea what black palm smells like, and if the cocoa smelled chocolatey i would not like it (but of course it doesn't). But i have it, and it's sweet but not too sweet, and lightly woody. It's hard for me to describe, but i like it a lot, even though it's pretty light on me. I'm still getting little whiffs as i sit at my desk from time to time though, so that's good. Intrigue is definitely intriguing. It's a keeper.

I didn't want to fall in love with a Limited Edition. I really didn't. Ewpsie. It sounded so good i got an imp of it from someone, and now it's all over. It's spicey, a little sweet (opponax?). The leather, the cedar...i'm swooning. It dries down warm and heavy but only medium-heavy. Not too much. It's sexy. Very very sexy. I don't think of it as masculine, but then i don't mind wearing masculine scents. This is one i'm tempted to slather myself in head to toe. And since i just scored a 5 ml, i believe i will be doing so.

I was interested in this one because it's very different from the other scents i have, but ultimately i think i'm disappointed in it. It's very sharp pine to me, but it dries down extremely quickly to something like bathroom scrubby stuff - i think it's ajax is the one. It's like pine with chemicals. After ten minutes or less it's completely disappeared from my skin. Yet i'm not ready to give it away yet - i keep wanting it to work. I'll try it again in a few weeks and see what happens, but i'm afraid it may end up on my swap list.

I'm very anti-rose, but with bagdhad i tried to branch out and try a scent that sounds great but has a bit of rose in it. Unfortunately, i'm of the group with this one that it turned to rose soap. I still smell the beautiful sandalwood and musk in the distant background, but the spice is gone on me and it's soapy rosey. Too bad. Maybe some day i'll stumble upon a rose element that works for me, but this one has made me gunshy again.