hypothermya

First Impression Okay, I can see why everyone compares this to bubble gum. It is sweet. But it also has that mineral, bubbly note of champagne, which is really noticeable and offsets the sweet nicely. So it's not sweet enough to turn me off. Which is good. It smells very faint, though, which is nice but something I'm not really used to. Most of the oils from the Lab have a very definite smell to them, and this one is more immaterial than the rest. Wearing It It's still very faint, at least as far as the strawberries are concerned. It smells just like champagne (I'm instantly reminded of a wedding I was at two weekends ago), and makes me feel like I'm celebrating something. And the strawberries are there, ever so faintly, like the tiniest remains of strawberry juice somehow got into the champagne. I'm actually glad that the strawberries aren't overpowering the scent, like I thought they would, but I wouldn't mind it if they were a bit stronger. Not sure how I feel about this one yet. I like the champagne better than some of the other "alcoholic" blends I've tried, and it feels more sophisticated/chique than them. (Wanda was very feminine and dark, Swank was more like a girls night out -- This one feels like a successful, rich woman who has beauty, class, and style.) But I think I'm going to have to wear it more before I figure out if it really is a perfume that I'd wear regularly. I found that while I love Wanda, I can't wear her regularly because it feels a bit too feminine...This one might be a bit too upscale for me to wear regularly. Although the strawberries help offset that. I do like it though.

The Hesperides are the Nymphs of the Evening who dwell in a verdant garden located in the Arcadian Mountains, guarded by the terrible three-headed dragon, Ladon. Within their garden lives the tree that bears Hera’s sacred Golden Apples. Their perfume is that of sturdy oak bark, dew-kissed leaves, twilight mist and crisp apple. First Impression Smells like really sweet apple cider, except...With something else. Oh, hey! I recgonize that smell! It's like tanbark, only not so acrid! That must be the oak. I'm finally getting the hang of recognizing these scents. So it smells like sweet apples that have been spilled in tanbark. Wearing It Oh, my. At first I was expecting to smell this sweet caramel apple concoction, and it isn't that at all -- instead, it dries out to smell like crisp red apples that have just been quartered. It's actually making my mouth water, that's how much it really smells like apples... And there's a really crisp ozone scent behind that also, which reminds me of cool breezes at high altitudes. Not cool enough for snow, but cool enough for an autumn evening at the top of a mountain. With leaves around you, and apples in your mouth, and... This is actually a bit like Samhain...Not entirely, of course, but if you were to take away the pumpkins, and spices, and earthiness, and keep the autumn feeling; then replace it with cool air, and you've got this. I like it. It really reminds me of autumn, and twilight, and seclusion. I'm not sure it'll be a favorite, but you can never tell with these. I'll definitely wear it some more, and I'm definitely hanging onto this imp.

First Impression Sticky sweet floral. Definitely smells like big ol' blooms of something with tons of nectar. And humid, too. But there's also something a bit green, and swampy in there...I'm guessing it's the spanish moss or the evergreen or cypress. But it's mainly just a background for that murky, moist floral scent. Wearing It I love the way this smells on me. When it first goes on, it smells very watery (a lot like Tempest or Lightning), and my over active imagination can almost feel the air around me getting humid. But as it dries, it becomes mainly a floral scent (very sweet, almost like honeysuckle?). Lasting Power It's pretty moderate, falling between the other oils I've tried. This one will last for about 3 hours on me before needing any touching up. And the floral scent with the backdrop of green trees and moss, and blue water tends to stay true throughout the duration. It's just that initial phase where it smells super watery and green. I've tried both this and Old New Orleans, and I have to admit that I'm torn between which one I like better. This is a lot more swampy and captures the entire Bayou feel a lot better (guess that's why it's called Bayou, huh?). Old New Orleans is mainly a jasmine scent, and doesn't quite get the same swampy feeling--but I really like the medicinal lemon scent in it, which Bayou doesn't have. Both of them give me headaches (I think I'm slightly allergic to the jasmine or the water notes), and I can't wear either of them frequently (so it's unknown as to why I'm debating which one I like better). But I really do love smelling them, even with the headaches.

Initial Impressions How in the world can a perfume be pale and dark all at the same time? Cause this one does it, and I'm still trying to figure out how. It's got that soft violet, and that light sandalwood, which make it feel very soft; but then the musk and the iris and the neroli give it a more murky, powerful, and dark feeling. I put off trying this for several days just because I was having trouble interpretting what I was smelling in the vial. Wearing It My skin loves musk, and this perfume is no exception. The first thing that really stands out is the darker musk smell, interwoven with that beautiful violet and iris. It's this very moody, introspective scent. Reminds me of a pale purple, but with a hue so deep that it's almost black/gray... The sandalwood for once isn't really dominating this scent, but just adding a bit of a heavier feeling, as though something were grounding that intangible dark floral aspect. ...It occurs to me that this was what I wanted Saturnalia to smell like, only it captures it so much better here! The neroli isn't making much of an appearance, though... Lasting Power This isn't a strong perfume, so someone needs to get up close to even smell it... Which I like, since I'm not a fan of knocking people out while I walk down the hall. But despite being a soft, subtle blend, this stuff still lasts a while. I like this. It's a dark, moody floral with a hint of something mysterious in it. A perfect capture of E.A. Poe's poem. Not being a fan of florals myself, I don't think this can compete with the more fruity BPAL blends that I've come to like, but I'm really glad I got to try this one. And since it was given to me by a friend who had ordered a 5ml for herself, I'm happy just envisioning her with this scent on! How perfect for her!

Initial Impression In the vial, it smells of honest to god pomegranates (not the juice, but the actual fruit) and alcohol. It's a bit sour smelling, and a bit sweet, but mostly boozey. Yum. Wearing It When I first apply it, it maintains a bit of a boozey scent, but that dissappears quickly. What's left is a tart, almost sour, berry smell...almost like cranberries and oranges...But much more reminiscent of pomegranate. It's a little sweet, but not knock-you-off-your-feet sweet like a lot of the other fruity blends that I've tried (Lady Macbeth, Jester, Bordello, etc.). It's also not as strong as some of the other oils, so I don't actually have to be careful as to how much to apply. I like it. Lasting Power I think this is my only complaint with this blend. It vanishes on my skin in a little under an hour. There's a little bit of scent left over, but not much -- it kinda smells like if you'd spilled a fruity drink on your skin and wiped it off with napkins...But without the stickiness. Basically the booze is much more aparent at this stage, but you really have to strain yourself to smell anything. Mmmm....I'm really liking this one. It may become a favorite of mine, if I can get past how quickly it vanishes. One of the first oils that I tried was Persephone, and I couldn't smell the pomegranate at all for the strength of the rose. But this smells more corrupted, much more how I'd envision Persephone to smell during her stays in Hades.

First Impression Lemon, lemon, lemon. This smells *so* lemony, it almost reminds me of Embalming Fluid, only more floral. As for the rest....I get an herbal rosey smell....But the rose isn't super strong, nor a recognizable rose scent; just a garden rose that's been in bloom for a couple of days. Wearing It For once my skin doesn't smell like rose to the exclusion of everything else -- instead, it's decided that the lilac should come through. Thank god, because I hate rosey perfumes but adore lilac with all my heart. But for some reason, instead of being the wispy unsubstantial lilac, this smells like a lilac that can be grasped. It still has that sweet lemon sherbet smell (the lemon scents go very sweet on my skin for some reason), and the chamomile makes me feel very relaxed (reminds me of the Sleepy Time tea). And the rose is there, but not going powdery like it's prone to doing and not dominating the scent...but just being a gentle, subtle rose. And while the lilac is more pronounced than the other notes, they're very well blended, feeling as though they belong together. This perfume is really nice. It is floral, but without being that too femme, too romantic floral. The chamomile and lemon lend this scent a bit of sweet, herby wisdom, so instead you get a soft spoken, tender scent. Admittedly, I'm not really soft spoken, but I can be tender; and amazingly this perfume doesn't feel as though it clashes with me (so many other interpretations of Cancerian traits feel out of place when compared with me). It doesn't capture our more negative traits, but that's just as well. It seems to be a really solid interpretation: watery, emotive, nurturing, and, yes, just the tiniest bit romantic.

First Impression A very green, wet smell out of the vial. Smells heavily like bamboo and cherry blossoms, with crisp streams or maybe city drizzles. Not quite as green or oriental as I thought it might be though. Which isn't at all a bad thing. But it very much captures a more city type of scent than it does a pastoral type. Wearing It When I first put it on, the orchid gains some ground and the cherry blossoms and bamboo. It smells slightly like wood (the bamboo), with a cherry/slightly fruity/pale floral. And I think I might be slightly allergic to this, since it prompted two quick sneezes. But then it does something *very* weird. The instant it dries, the scent of all of this almost vanishes. I'm left with a slightly ozone smelling cologne scent. There's a little bit of bamboo that I can pick up, and the scent of city rain again, but otherwise... It's all gone. Weird... Maybe I'll have to pass this along to my boyfriend and see how it smells on him. Well, I was really excited about trying this one, but I guess I'm just puzzled now. It's not bad. But it's also not quite there either. If I expected anything, it certainly wasn't the vanishing act this one did. It's nice. But something I'd expect to smell coming from a clean shaven business man. The first reviewer mentioned it reminding her of Blue Moon, and this is a bit true...the cleanness of the scent is similar... But even Blue Moon had more scent than this! ...Oh well... Off to test it out on my boyfriend.

Just glancing at the notes in Black Cashmere, I have two recommendations right off the bat: Scherezade I just got my 5ml of this yesterday, and I still can't get over how much I love this one. It's warm, and dry, and musky, and *saffron*... And smells *so* good! Out of the bottle, I had someone comment that it smelled a great deal like antique books and dry desert winds. On my skin, it just smells heavenly, and exotic, and sexual. Old Morocco A bit sweeter than Scherezade, this one is to die for. And practically everyone who tries it loves it. It's got a bit of spice, and bit of floral, a lot of exoticism... And....a week or so ago, I did a Forum's Top Ten post....And looking at that, one of the more popular ones from Fulltiltredhead's list would be Incantation. It got a ton of mentions. I haven't tried it myself, but it does sound delicious.... Also, why not give Kali a try? She's a bit of a rogue scent, in that she doesn't readily fit into a classifcation, but she is heavenly. She's got some woody notes, some incence notes, but mainly she's an exotic creamy floral, with tobacco and honey. I don't even like florals and honey notes, but I really love the way she smells. It's kinda weird how Beth can make something that you normally wouldn't wear smell absolutely to die for. Oh, and if you do end up trying Old Kathmandu, post a review ASAP! I'm dying to hear from as many different sources as possible how it smells!

Wel...I'd love to make recommendations, but I've never tried Black Cashmere (besides in sweater form, of course). Would you be willing to tell us what it's like? Is it a clean scent? A fruity scent? A musky scent?

Initial Impressions It smells a bit odd from the bottle. Definitely something floral. And the orange peel and the marigold are recognizable. And something...herbal...medicinal maybe? It smells like it could be good, but I'm immediately worried about how my skin will like it. Wearing It What a nice dry down. When first wet, it smells a bit like the first part, but then it calms into a beautifully smooth warmth. My skin brings out the orange peel a lot (and it reminds me a great deal of Seraglio), and I can also smell the marigold, the other florals/herbs, and just the lightest touch of that dragon's blood sweetness and the amber behind that. I'm amazed how light it is. Unfortunately, every now and then I get a whiff of something burnt from it. ...methinks my skin chemistry needs some talkin' to. I'm going to have to give this a shot in another week and see if my skin isn't just being finicky. I hope it does work, because it seems to be a floral that I can wear without feeling too femme; it makes me feel mellow yet flushed with exotic and warm energy. Sort of floating above it all. Blue Moon still beats this one out, but this is a little more full bodied and approachable than Blue Moon.

First Impression Wow. This is surprisingly syrupy smelling. It does smell like lime, but more like lime juice that's had powdered sugar added. Andra's right...it does kinda smell like life savers! Wearing It Okay, when I actually put it on it smells a lot more like a lime wedge that's just been squeezed. On my skin, it dries down to a very faint scent, and reminds me of how I'd smell if I'd squeezed a wedge of lime, and then left it on my skin for a while...But also with the faint lingering smell of the actual lime bush as well.

This was something that briefly caught my eye, due to the dragon's blood and cinnamon...but then I noticed the vetiver, and never added it to my wishlist. But the delightful folks down at the Lab sent me this anyway... I guess they just know how to read minds and pick out the scents that you're too afraid to try. First Impression Cinnamon and Vetiver. It's that spicey, red hot cinnamon, though, and not the gentle cinnamon straight out of the spice jar. The vetiver...well, it had that same rotten, decaying wood smell that it always does in the vial... I didn't read the description while I was smelling this, and had no clue that there was dragon's blood in it... But the imp's ear *looks* venomous, with this deep, smoldering red oil inside... Wearing It Of course, my skin realized there was dragon's blood, because right away the vetiver and cinnamon take a break and let the dragon's blood resin do its thing. It starts to warm up, almost like cherries, but more like the cherry cough syrup that they give you when you're sick...but without the nasty aftertaste. And the cinnamon kicks in, and it starts to smell spicey and sweet, like those cinnamon candies, only less artificial and not quite so sweet. This is quite a surprise! I was expecting something really icky from the vetiver, but right now it's only giving me the slightest of earthy smells, kinda like the scent of a snake slithering along on rich, black soil. Lasting Power While this goes on strong, it dies down pretty quickly. What's left is just the heated scent of soil and dark cherry, with the occasional sparks of cinnamon. Mostly this is a scent that stays really close to my body, and actually takes some effort to smell from far away. Wow, do I like Beth's cinnamon scents! This smells a lot like Dragon's Heart, but not as musky and not as thick. This is a more volatile, striking combination. And aptly named, at that. Still not an oil that would get onto my top ten list, but it's close up there. This would smell wonderful on a guy, and just as good on a firey, dangerous woman. Pity my boyfriend hates the smell of cinnamon....

This was one of the free imps that The Lab generously gave me in my last order. I admit to having heard of it, and being interested, but not knowing what was in it... First Impression When I first smelled this, I was reminded of smelling Snake Oil out of the vial. There was definitely vanilla, and some smoky spices, but there was something else that was in there that I just couldn't place my fingers on. It smelled very strongly sweet and... And then I read the other reviews here and it hit me! Gardenia! It smells like a spicier, smokier version of that bush of gardenias that was at my house while I was growing up! I love gardenias, but my boyfriend is horribly allergic to them... So I guess I'll give this a try and then wistfully send it to the swap pile... Or maybe save it for days when I won't be around him. Wearing It This is really something. The gardenia smell isn't nearly as strong, or in-your-face floral as straight gardenias are. Normally a gardenia put into a bowl of water in a room would overwhelm me. No, this is a light, sweet gardenia, but with incence and spice (definitely cinnamon....another yummy scent that my boyfriend can't stand). It makes me think of the drinking a horchata (Mexican cinnamon rice drink), but with more vanilla, while standing in a room with gardenias and incence. Except that image doesn't seem to capture the seductive, feminine quality of ths perfume... Lasting Power This one lasts for a good long while. As it fades, it just gets smokier smelling. I enjoy this perfume a lot, but it isn't a favorite of mine. I'm always impressed with how wonderful Beth's cinnamon scents smell, but for once I'm in the minority in saying that the vanilla in this scent doesn't capture me. It seems a bit too foody/desert-like for me to want to smell like. However, if I were offered a cake that smelled like this, I'd gobble the whole thing up! The gardenia, however, is delicious smelling, and brings back memories of picking the flowers from our gardenia bush... What a lovely smell! I'd keep this around just for that, but... I suspect that my boyfriend would fall over with an instant allergy attack. Oh well. But I can see how this would be a to-die-for scent on some people, and I wish I knew someone who wore it just so I could smell it every now and then.

Another scent that I've decided to try on my quest to try every white musk scent available. Helps that there's mango in this one, which is one of my favorite fruits... Initial Impression This definitely smells oriental. But I wonder what makes me say that? The first thing I can smell is the sandalwood, followed closely by mango and orange. But there is a scent in here that almost smells peppery to me, just like jj_j mentioned... While I liked the description, the first sniff definitely puts me off.... Wearing It Like many BPAL oils, this smells a lot better on the skin than it does in the bottle. When first applied, the white musk becomes apparent, and makes this scent smell smoother, almost like vanillla or honey... But not quite. The mango is also there, reminding me of the sweet mango deserts you can get at Thai restaurants. And the orange, too... But all of this is still underneath the scent of the white sandalwood. It reminds me a little of the smell of the shops in China Town, but sweeter and more elegant. (I think it's the mango and white musk that cause that...) Lasting Power I've tried this one several times, and each time the sandalwood outlasts the fruit notes (which I'm told is common of any fruit based oil...). The gentle smell of the fruit lasts for about 2-3 hours, though, and the sandalwood lasts for about 4-5. I just don't really know what to say about this. I *love* the way the mangos and white musk smell, and for once I have found a scent with orange that doesn't smell sickly sweet on me. It's this gentle, exotic fruit perfume that doesn't have the same perk/energy as Katharina... It's more subdued, and glowing with an inner peace. However, I'm always a little bit bothered by how much sandalwood is present in this perfume, and I suspect that the slight peppery scent is due to its presence. Plus, sniffing this in the vial is a definite turn off, so I don't realy ever feel like wearing it in the morning when I'm sniffing around among my imp ears. It's a lovely perfume, and probably a good one to try if sandalwood is a favorite scent of yours.

Also, what about getting something like Djinn and layering it with a single note Amber? That might actually be really yummy, although it would be *definitely* more ashy than tobacco.

The only other I can think of is Hellfire (the new one), which has tobacco, musk, ambergris, leather and incense notes. The musk and ambergris should be fine on you... Any aversion to leather or incense?

That's why I couldn't figure it out!!! (having a moment of "duh") I could smell this incensey/resiny scent, but I kept smelling something familiar... Like the damned gardenia bush that was right outside my childhood house in our front yard. ....Unfortunately my boyfriend is horribly allergic to gardenia (well, most florals, but especially gardenia and wisteria -- two of my favs), and the last time I visited my father he tried to give us some fresh gardenias to take with us... That didn't work out so well...

Another obtained in the quest to try all of the Asian themed scents. But honestly, I really enjoy Embalming Fluid, and so I've been trying some of the tea based scents... First Impression Wow. For some reason or another, the combination of white tea and ginger smells reminiscent of crisp, freshly sliced apples. The red variety that are sweet, and not too tart. But there's also a bitter quality...The tea leaf scent, I'll wager. Yummy smelling. Wearing It This is a bright white scent. The tea is sweet, and light, and the ginger gives it the eye opening perk that brings this scent to life. It looses that apple reminiscent scent when it dries down, but doesn't loose any of the beauty. This is exactly the sort of smell that I would love to be woken up to: it's invigorating and clean. It's actually more crisp and clean smelling than Embalming Fluid, and would make a perfect summertime scent... Or even wintertime, because of the ginger... After a little while, this reminds me of the pickled ginger in sushi restaurants...how it's sweet, and gingery, yet not as strong as pure ginger. (Ever tried to eat some of that stuff raw? Let me warn you against it...It's really....something...) This definitely has an ethereal quality to it, and feels like you're watching a breathtakingly beautiful spirit that isn't malevolent towards you...yet; but just in case, you decide to stare from a distance. Lasting Power Well...in terms of lasting, this scent doesn't. The day I was giving it a test run, I had to reapply it every three hours. I'd have applied it more often, but I was too busy to notice when exactly the scent faded. Kinda dissapointing, but the scent really is worth the reapplication. A really nice scent. One of my friends who has a fox obsession will be recieving this imp, otherwise I'd keep it and finish it up. I can't say that the ginger was really my cup of tea --it was a bit too strong-- but the white tea was. ...my cup of tea. yeah. It smelled delicious.

Seraglio sounded absolutely lovely, and even though I knew that any scent with rose in it wouldn't agree with me, I had to try it. First Impression Sweet. Take that almond extract smell, and that orange extract smell, and throw it into the freshest/spiciest pile of rose potpouri that you can find. It smells both sexual and like candy at the same time. But...The sexual part isn't like the candy part, if that makes sense. The rose seems a bit strong though... Wearing It When I first apply it to my skin, it smells like a Victorian Christmas. Yummy marzipan, and the smell of orange cloves nearby, and warm roses. It's actually more like Christmas in summer, or thinking about an upcoming Christmas while sitting on a perfectly warm and sunny morning over a cup of rosehip tea. But, then, of course, my skin figures out that there's roses in here, and suddenly there's an overpowering smell of roses. Roses *everywhere.* I can just barely sniff out the orange (which smells a bit like a creamsicle), and the almond is even more hidden. Pity. Well, I'm happy that I got to smell this in the vial. It's absolutely lovely. So lovely, in fact, that I wish my skin weren't so fickle about rose scents... Oh well... Off to the swap pile...

I have some sort of obsession with Japanese ghost stories and folklore. Yeah, my first order had Kitsune-Tsuki, and I've been lusting after both Yuki-Onna and Hakkotsu for a while, but... Sadly, I don't typically get along with jasmine or sandalwood, but... I had to give this one a try anyhow. First Impression Hm. I don't remember the individual notes right away, but what I get from sniffing the vial is sweet lemon with the slightest bitterness. And...mint! Not a strong mint, but when I get a whiff of it, it seems like a soft sinus clearing sort of mint. It's kind of like inhaling cold, crisp air and feeling it hit the back of your throat. I get the hint of jasmine, but really the floral smell and the resiny smell of sandalwood are hiding here. Wearing It Wet, the sandalwood and jasmine show up. The sandalwood is stronger, and the jasmine is almost an afterthought. This isn't like the heavy, sticky floral in Old New Orleans. And this is softer and lighter than Muse, which goes on as a heavy floral with lime that kicks you in the face. The lemon here is keeping sweet and gentle, and the mintiness gives it just the slightest touch of winter. (although it's so faint, I really have to search for it!) It actually reminds me of the mintiness in Snow White, except not as strong... And, for once, the sandalwood smells good on me, and the jasmine doesn't give me a headache. They're both so light and unobtrusive. The lemon and mint alone would be a bit harsh, but the jasmine and sandalwood help to soothe it, and make it seem less threatening than it really is. And as it dries out more, the lemon smell gains a bit more bitter sourness. Ya know, I didn't think I'd like this? Turns out I do. I'm not sure whether this will be an addition to my wishlist for larger bottles, but I'll definitely use up the imp.

Bizare as it may sound, I like the smell of kerosene, and white gas, and lamp oil. Even citronella (although it's my least favorite fuel) holds a special place in my heart (nose?). So a scent that's all firey and smokey... This, Brimstone and Gaslight (in the up & coming section) are *all* on my wishlist. And I finally got ahold of this one. First Impression Someone else had mentioned smelling vetiver in here. I think they may be right. There's a bitter tang in the scent from the bottle, and it reminds me a bit of Hurricane...although less of the rotten wood smell, and more of the burnt wood smell. There's also something distinctly chemical smelling about this... Wearing It Wow. When I put this on, the scent damn near exploded on my skin. I only put on a little, and suddenly I was overwhelmed with a smoky smell -- the exact scent of a large wood/gas fire when you're sitting directly downwind of it. It's not the smell of smoke that's lingered away from the blaze, but rather the choking taste of it while you're trying to clear your eyes of the stinging haze. I've gone to an event called Burning Man several times, and sat in the inner circle when they burned the 50+ ft. tall wooden man. This is the smell that I get when I'm smothered in the smoke, and the heat is tingling across my face. It feels odd to smell it without that heat. And my eyes are tingling, but I'm pretty sure that it's some form of allergic reaction -- I'm horribly sensitive to some of the notes in these perfumes, and it's kind of hit or miss as to whether or not I'll be allergic to a given one... But the fact that my eyes are stinging and I'm feeling a bit dizzy just reminds me of being that close of such a huge consuming blaze. Lasting Power The scent mellows out pretty fast. Within a half an hour, that overpowering smoky scent has died down to the scent of old logs in the fire place -- the scent that you get as you're turning them over, and prepping for a new fire. It's actually rather homey feeling (or at least it is for me, since I grew up in a house with a fireplace which we used every winter). I'm still getting a bit of an allergic tingle, but it's pretty tolerable at this point. After having it on for an hour, it's more of a haze around my body, and I actually have to sniff around to get a sense of it. Nice. I'm going to see if I can't get my boyfriend to wear this, since it'll probably make me unable to keep my hands off of him for the rest of the night... On me, I really do like it, but the allergic reaction is a bit much for me. Same reason why I can't wear Tears, which is one of my all time favorite perfumes from BPAL. C'est la vie.

When I still had a backyard to garden in, I used to grow lemon verbena. I'd snip off leaves of it, and put it into vases with lavender or rose, just to make the bouquet smell that much yummier. First Impression Lemon and green. This is great! It doesn't smell like true lemons -- not the rind, nor the juice, nor the zest -- but just like a stem of freshly snipped lemon verbena. It's got that slight citrus smell, but it's not true citrus. More like the sticky sap of a stem, mixed with the oils of the crushed leaf. Mmmm... Wearing It This stays pretty much true to the scent out of the vial, gaining a bit more strength in the greener half of the scent. Yum. Definitely like this one. I'm kicking myself for not getting a 5ml of June Gloom when I had the chance -- all of the reviews say that it smells like lemon verbena, and the description only said florals -- but if this is one of the notes in June Gloom, I wish I'd gotten it. Either way, I'll keep this imp around for when I want to feel like I've had a day in the garden.

There was a note in Whitechapel that I wasn't quite able to place, and I guessed that it was the lilac, so I swapped for an imp of this. (thanks!!) First Impression This smells sweet, soft and very much like pollen. There's something about most floral scents that cause me to get a "pollen" type of note. But this one smells like a delicate and sophisticated floral. It makes me think of long dresses and wet, green gardens, empty hotel rooms with hand picked flowers on the nightstands, and lightly overcast skies. Wearing It It's soft on my skin, like freshly washed sheets, but sweet too. There's something in here that lends itself to almost being citrusy, but not quite. This isn't overpowering, either, like a lot of floral scents (roses, jasmine, etc.), but a subtle yet pervasive floral. It's so hard to be able to describe this scent. I've never smelled a lilac bush, so far as I can remember, but this smells lovely. I can see why it works so well in Whitechapel. I think I'll be keeping my eyes open for more lilac blends, and I'll definitely be keeping this imp.

Love the moon, love blue, love blue moons...How could I not buy this? And then, it also has cucumber in it, so I had to. (Thank you so much for the cucumber, Beth!!!) First Impression Straight out of the bottle it seems...soft. Not powdery, but soft. There's the sweet cucumber that I can pick out, and... I can't seem to tell what else I'm smelling. It's so sweet and soft and...blue... I think I can get a hint of the wood aloe, and the orchid (that same lovely scent from Phantom Queen, or at least...I think I recognize it...). And there's a faintly medicinal smell underneath it, like...maybe that's the juniper? I don't know. Every other perfume, it's been easier to identify. This is a jewel that I can't stop sniffing at, but can never seem to grasp. My sister says, "It smells natural, but then it doesn't smell like anything at all." Wearing It When I first apply it, it smells like cucumber and flowers, maybe the buttercup? It's delicious, and clean, and lovely. And the orchid picks up, too. I have no clue what the rest of the ingredients smell like, but in the end it dries down to a sweet, subtle, clean scent. It's so different from the rest of the oils that I like (Katharina, Whitechapel, Scherezade) because they all are *strong* and out there to say something, but Blue Moon says what it needs to without being forceful about it. It's just soft and sweet and... Well, now I'm rambling... I really do love this. It's not at all a typical choice of perfume for me (which is probably good, because this way I won't use it all up at once), but it's perfect for those quiet clear nights, or a rainy day. It's perfect for when you need to feel a bit more attuned, to...whatever. I'm going to try wearing this one before I go to sleep tonight and see what sort of dreams our sweet Blue Moon will send me...

This was given to me by the generous folks at the lab in my last order. Coincidentally, this had been on my wishlist for a while, and I was really interested in seeing what this would be like. I've tried Embalming Fluid, which has similar notes, but I had no clue what a lemon/vanilla/musk scent would smell like on me. First Impression Hm. The lemon scent is there, as is the vanilla, but there are two scents that jump out at me beyond that: the bitter scent of neroli (I can recognize this one from Succubus, and others) and the scent of sandalwood. I'm beginning to think that I don't have a fondness for either, straight from the bottle. They just seem harsh. But I love lemon, and when I still had room to garden, the lemon verbena was my favorite plant -- I'd cut off pieces to put in vases with flowers, just for the scent. So hopefully my skin chemistry will bring that part out. Wearing It My skin is just amplifying the sandalwood! It's really amazing. And every time I get a whiff of it, I'm reminded of this delicate carved fan made out of sandalwood that my father gave me for Christmas one year. After a couple of minutes, it mellows down a lot, and starts to smell like a beautiful white floral with a splash of lemon and sandalwood. The musk is beautifully subtle, and the florals are rounded out by a sweetness -- I'm assuming this is the vanilla. The longer I wear this, the more it seems like a seamless blend... As if there could be a singular flower that had a scent laden with vanilla and lemon and sandalwood. It's a very light scent, and not too overpowering (like Dragon's Blood or Wanda or some of the other BPAL scents when you sniff them up close). This scent doesn't seem to last very long on my skin though... Hmm. I do like this. But I don't think I like it as much as Embalming Fluid, nor as much as Whitechapel. Embalming Fluid is a lot less floral, and a lot less woody. Whitchapel has the floral, but it retains the citrusy bite of lime (which I enjoy). While Zephyr still has that lovely sweet lemon scent that I enjoy in Embalming Fluid, and a more exotic musk than either Embalming Fluid or Whitechapel, I think that it's a bit too sweet/floral for my tastes. Eitherway, I think it's lovely... And if anyone's looking for a slightly oriental white floral, and is a fan of vanilla, I'd really recommend this. I think that I'll be trying Yuki-Onna, though, for a sandalwood & lemon scent.