filigree_shadow

A clean-smelling white tea scent, and the ginger is pleasant. It smells polite. It's kind of like Dorian plus fabric softener. It has more of a crispness to it and less creaminess than Dorian. And the honey in this doesn't smell like play-doh like it does in other blends. I like it.

Reminds me of a cross between generic bath beads and bubblegum. Plus it's strong. It reminds me of a cheap fragrance for some reason, like a bathroom spray. The second imp I tried smelled better, less like bubblegum, but it's still too much of a sweet artificial scent for me. I'll stick with the peach and apricot ones.

At first the apricot smells a bit like an artificial peach scent used in air fresheners. I used to have a "peach potporri" powdered carpet freshener that smelled very similar. The clove isn't very strong, but it gives the scent an earthy foundation and balances out the sweet fruitiness. And after 20 minutes or so the apricot doesn't smell nearly as aritifical, and the apricot/clove combination is more balanced. It's a pretty scent, but it still reminds me too much of that carpet freshener for me to wear it.

Wooo, very ozoney. Slightly salty, kind of a weird twang to it. This isn't the kind of scent I would wear as a personal fragrance, but it is the sort of scent I would use for a linen spray. It smells clean and fresh.

At first it's a lot of cinnamon, but there's a syrupy feel to it, kind of like that sticky frosting on cinnabons. As it dries down it's still quite a lot of cinnamon, more than I generally like. And by the time the cinnamon fades out, any other scent that was under there is gone too.

Very sweet, very pretty, but also very light. I like the scent a lot, but it just doesn't last one me. I once spilled a whole imp on myself and could barely smell it 30 minutes later. Phooey.

This oil doesn't seem to smell as good on me as what many other people describe in their reviews. It's kind of a stale perfumey scent. Milky and vaguely floral. It does smell white, but it doesn't smell fresh to me.

Cross-posted to the reviews forum. Antique Lace - A soft, wistful blend of dry flowers, aged linens, and the faint breath of long-faded perfumes. This oil doesn't seem to smell as good on me as what many other people describe in their reviews. It's kind of a stale perfumey scent. Milky and vaguely floral. It does smell white, but it doesn't smell fresh to me. Belle Epoque - Sweet opium, Lily of the Valley, vanilla, mandarin and red sandalwood. Very sweet, very pretty, but also very light. I like the scent a lot, but it just doesn't last one me. I once spilled a whole imp on myself and could barely smell it 30 minutes later. Phooey. Chimera - The fiery, volatile scent of cinnamon, thickened by myrrh, honeysuckle, and copal. At first it's a lot of cinnamon, but there's a syrupy feel to it, kind of like that sticky frosting on cinnabons. As it dries down it's still quite a lot of cinnamon, more than I generally like. And by the time the cinnamon fades out, any other scent that was under there is gone too. Lightning - The electric tang of ozone, marine notes, and a drop of sharp rain. Wooo, very ozoney. Slightly salty, kind of a weird twang to it. This isn't the kind of scent I would wear as a personal fragrance, but it is the sort of scent I would use for a linen spray. It smells clean and fresh. March Hare - A twisted teatime tart: apricot and sweet clove. At first the apricot smells a bit like an artificial peach scent used in air fresheners. I used to have a "peach potporri" powdered carpet freshener that smelled very similar. The clove isn't very strong, but it gives the scent an earthy foundation and balances out the sweet fruitiness. And after 20 minutes or so the apricot doesn't smell nearly as aritifical, and the apricot/clove combination is more balanced. It's a pretty scent, but it still reminds me too much of that carpet freshener for me to wear it. Swank - Simply cool, the essence of Lounge: the scent of a crisp pomegranate martini. Reminds me of a cross between generic bath beads and bubblegum. Plus it's strong. It reminds me of a cheap fragrance for some reason, like a bathroom spray. The second imp I tried smelled better, less like bubblegum, but it's still too much of a sweet artificial scent for me. I'll stick with the peach and apricot ones. White Rabbit - Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen. A clean-smelling white tea scent, and the ginger is pleasant. It smells polite. It's kind of like Dorian plus fabric softener. It has more of a crispness to it and less creaminess than Dorian. And the honey in this doesn't smell like play-doh like it does in other blends.

This doesn't smell much like ozone to me, but it does smell breezy. There's kind of a citrus scent to it as well. It smells much brighter than most ozone scents.

Dew-covered berries and fresh green grasses with a faint breath of spring flowers. This oil smells mainly grassy, but very fresh. The florals are very faint and not all that noticeable. It does smell a bit dewy as well. It's a young, clean, fresh scent. It's pretty, but too feminine for me personally.

I loooooove this oil. It's beautiful and womanly, sexy and powerful. There's nothing young and innocent about this scent, it's the scent of a woman who knows what she wants. The black orchid is wonderful, and I love the sandalwood and musk with it. To be honest I'm not sure what night-blooming jasmine and osmanthus smell like, but if they're in this blend I'm pretty sure I like them. Mmmmm, this smells good. Can't believe I don't have a bottle of this yet... it's going on the list right now.

Katharina is a very bright, very springtime scent. There is something in it that reminds me of popsicle sticks. You know that woody flavor combined with the last drops of fruit-flavored popsicle left on the stick. It's very soft though, it doesn't have strong throw.

Hmmm... black cherry and red musk, very lovely. Lusty and dark. I don't really get much strawberry, which is okay with me. I love heliotrope, and I always love amber and vanilla. Seriously, the only note in this whole blend that might not have worked on me was the strawberry, and I can't really detect it. This is exactly the sort of oil I'd like to wear 5 days out of 7. I tried this again as part of the GC circular swap after not trying it for a couple of months, and now I realize I need a bottle of it.

At first I mainly get vetiver from this (I love vetiver) with clove and a little bit of cherry. It's smoky and warm. After a while the honey comes out a little more and makes it creamy... it ends up as kind of a husky smooth clove scent, with only a little bit of vetiver underneath. Complex and wonderful. I like it a lot. ETA: I came back to amend my review of this scent (even though I doubt anybody is reading this far back in the thread at this point) because I like this scent so much and wanted to give the review a little more detail. I can't smell the red wine or poppy in this scent, and the vetiver is only overwhelming right within the first minute. Blood Kiss reminds me an awful lot of Snake Charmer -- in scent and in feel. It has a dark, smooth musk that blends beautifully with the sweetness of the vanilla. Blood Kiss is different because it has a cherry and clove overtone, but the scent behaves very similarly to Snake Charmer on my skin. Sweet, musky, and entirely sensual. Also, here is a tip: Let it age. Or try to find an aged imp in swaps. Trust me on this one.

Cross-posting to the reviews forum. Blood Kiss - Lush, creamy vanilla and the honey of the sweetest kiss smeared with the vital throb of husky clove, swollen red cherries, but darkened with the vampiric sensuality of vetiver, soporific poppy and blood red wine, and a skin-light pulse of feral musk. At first I mainly get vetiver from this (I love vetiver) with clove and a little bit of cherry. It's smoky and warm. After a while the honey comes out a little more and makes it creamy... it ends up as kind of a husky smooth clove scent, with only a little bit of vetiver underneath. Complex and wonderful. I like it a lot. Hollywood Babylon - The essence of innocence shattered: glittering Egyptian amber and heliotrope, infused with the sweetness of strawberry and vanilla - dragged into debauch by lusty red musk and a dribble of black cherry. Hmmm... black cherry and red musk, very lovely. Lusty and dark. I don't really get much strawberry, which is okay with me. I love heliotrope, and I always love amber and vanilla. Seriously, the only note in this whole blend that might not have worked on me was the strawberry, and I can't really detect it. This is exactly the sort of oil I'd like to wear 5 days out of 7. I tried this again as part of the GC circular swap after not trying it for a couple of months, and now I realize I need a bottle of it. Katharina - A strong, willful blend with a soft, utterly lovely soul: white musk with a trickle of bright, sharp apricot and orange blossom. Katharina is a very bright, very springtime scent. There is something in it that reminds me of popsicle sticks. You know that woody flavor combined with the last drops of fruit-flavored popsicle left on the stick. It's very soft though, it doesn't have strong throw. Queen Mab - A very complex scent, both shadowy and fierce: black orchid, sandalwood, night-blooming jasmine, osmanthus, Somalian rose, and Chinese musk. I loooooove this oil. It's beautiful and womanly, sexy and powerful. There's nothing young and innocent about this scent, it's the scent of a woman who knows what she wants. The black orchid is wonderful, and I love the sandalwood and musk with it. To be honest I'm not sure what night-blooming jasmine and osmanthus smell like, but if they're in this blend I'm pretty sure I like them. Mmmmm, this smells good. Can't believe I don't have a bottle of this yet... it's going on the list right now. Rosalind - Dew-covered berries and fresh green grasses with a faint breath of spring flowers. This oil smells mainly grassy, but very fresh. The florals are very faint and not all that noticeable. It does smell a bit dewy as well. It's a young, clean, fresh scent. It's pretty, but too feminine for me personally. Tempest - A crisp ozone-tinged breeze. The scent of the first gentle rain before the storm. This doesn't smell much like ozone to me, but it does smell breezy. There's kind of a citrus scent to it as well. It smells much brighter than most ozone scents. Thanatopsis - A deep, solomn earthen scent containing pine, juniper and musk. Thanatopsis was pretty far down on my "to try" list because of the pine and juniper, which are traditionally urgh for me. I put it on, sniffed, thought "eugh, pine," then went back to typing something. About 10 minutes later I started to wonder where that lovely scent was coming from. I traced it to the little swipe of Thanatopsis. So I swiped on a whole bunch more, and waited for the pine to go away again. Is anyone else getting red musk out of this? I swear the musk smells like red musk... and at one point I thought I faintly detected some leather. Very animalistic, and to be honest I don't mind the pine. It actually makes the whole thing seem slightly fresh, giving a pleasant respite from the feral undertone. I can see this being masculine, but I'm reluctant to hand over the imp to the hubby. I kinda want to keep it for myself.

In a couple of days it will have been one year since my dad died. This whole Father's Day thing is just going to be terrible for me forever... my dad died on June 17, his birthday was June 22, and Father's Day is always right around those days. Three whammies all at once. Last year I brought the Father's Day card I got for him to his funeral. I had bought it before my husband and I went on a cruise to Alaska -- we arrived home on Sunday night to find out that he had died on Friday morning. The next morning we drove to Ohio for the funeral. I took the card and read it to my dad when I saw him. I wanted to put it in the casket with him but my husband didn't think I should. So now it's in the back of a picture frame, the one that holds my favorite photo of my dad from when he was about 22. My mom is getting ready to retire and move into her parents' farmhouse -- Grandma passed away in February, and my mom is buying their property and is going to live there. So a few weekends ago my sisters and I were all going through all our old toys and stuff from school, boxing things up to take to our own houses, and my mom gave me some of my dad's and my grandparents' things. I have an apron my grandmother made, an ashtray my dad made and a bunch of his college books, my grandfather's locksmithing certificate, and a few of my other grandmother's ceramic turtles from her turtle collection. I used to have four grandparents and a father, and now all I have is a few of their things. For the past couple of weeks I've been such a mess. No sleep, and bawling all the time. I can hardly stand to read the Confessional thread these days because whenever someone complains about their parents I just sit here and cry. And think about how much I would give to hear my dad's voice again. Yelling at me or anything, I don't care. Just to hear his voice.

Thanks, miss apple & valentina. I think that wanting to bury precious things with a beloved person is a very, very old instinct. And I think your idea about the dog fur was very thoughtful, valentina. I wish someone would think to do that for me some day... I love my dogs and I am never without their fur on my clothes, so to me it seems very appropriate. I think my husband wanted me to keep the card mainly as a memento of the last Father's Day before my dad was buried... I actually got it out of the picture frame yesterday and looked at it again. I was surprised to find out that the image I had in my head of what the front of the card looked like was completely wrong, and I had forgotten that I put a funeral card in there too. So I'm glad I kept it. I can't visit my dad any more, but I spent some time with memories. Those cards helped.

I appear to have one of the weirdo imps. (The imp has one of the new labels, the ones with the new phoenix art, so it must be fairly recent.) It's it minty-camphor hell at first. Yick. But after it's dry it's really, really nice. It doesn't smell like woods or moss, it smells like a fruity floral blend, and it's a bit perfumey. It's sweet and pretty. I'm really glad that beginning icky phase faded out because the dry scent is quite lovely. ETA: I found a really old Hamadryad imp in my imp box -- one with the old style art on the paper label. I'm guessing it's from before 2006. At this point, it smells faintly like apples and mint, but it's really smooth underneath. This is a lot nicer than I remember.

Since florals aren't my thing I wasn't going to try Beatrice, but somehow I ended up with an imp of it a couple of months ago. I tried it with some trepidation because I didn't want to stink like a rosebush for the next 4 hours. Not to worry. In the first couple minutes of wearing it, I thought, "Hmm, that's not too bad." After about 30 minutes, I was headed to my bedroom to find the imp so I could put on some more. I am teh suck at identifying floral notes, but it does seem like there might be some lily in there, maybe a teeny bit of rose, and possibly some carnation. This oil has a very cool characteristic in which it is spicy and creamy at the same time. The flowers in it smell like a cross between green and white. It is feminine and luxurious, but I wouldn't call it girlie. And definitely not innocent -- no one that innocent would smell this good. My only problem with it is that I have to wear more than usual because it seems to fade more quickly than other BPAL oils. But the throw is just right for me (not gonna knock anyone over, but no one has to have their nose on my skin to smell it). I have used up my whole imp and now I'm working my way through a bottle. Beatrice was really good to me in the late spring months and I'm planning on wearing it all through the summer too. Like I said, I'm not a floral fan, but this one in particular is too beautiful to resist. ETA, a year later... I feel like I should amend my review because I now have 3 bottles of this. It's become my signature traditional floral scent. I wear it a lot. It's soft and beautiful and feminine and graceful.

Mostly rose. Kind of an herby, woody, rose. To be honest I think this smells really nice. It's pretty and light. I don't usually wear rose blends as a personal fragrance... but maybe I should. Beth's rose notes smell so good and very true on me, even if the rose scent itself isn't my own fave. My skin seems to like it a lot.

Almond powder. That's what it smells like on me at first. And then it smells like hair-styling products. I smell this and all I can think of is an old lady with her hair in those pink rollers and a hairnet, standing there in a housecoat and fuzzy slippers. So, um, no. This will go to the swap pile.

I was put off by the reviews of Puck, and I'm just now getting around to trying it. I Puck! In the imp it smells like grapes to me, and on my skin it smells like grapes at first. But then it settles into a really sexy, stinging, intoxicating scent. A glue-nose-to-wrist scent. Seriously, this smells fantastic on my skin. I smell like I'm on the prowl (and I feel like being on the prowl, wearing this.) Since swiping my wrist with it the first time, I have now applied it to both wrists, neck, insides of elbows, and cleavage. I can't get enough of it! Damn its discontinuedness! I hope that the people who hated it still have it for sale or swap...

This oils smells wonderful. The cranberry doesn't smell like a candle like I was worried it would, it smells lovely and round. I'm a sucker for musk and spices, and they blend fabulously with the cranberry. Over time it gets pretty fruity, but it stays a dark delicious fruit. Lampades is one of my favorites -- it does seem like a winter scent, but I'm wearing it in June and loving it.

Thought I'd hate this, and I don't. It is pungent, but in the good way. A bit piercing, but I like it. I thought it would smell good on my hubby, but he didn't like it. He thought it smelled "funky." He said, "It's not bad, but it's not my fave." To be honest, I think this smells better on me than it does on him. ETA: I forgot to mention, when it's dry it has a really lovely powdery lavender scent to it. I'm not usually a lavender fan, but it smells so clean and pretty in this blend.

Hmm... cedar. A bit too much cedar at first. Cathedral-esque. It smells warm and comforting. Very woody, but after 30 minutes or so the frankincense comes out and makes it sweet. I like it, but it's quite faint, a bit wispy. ADDED August 16: I read frankincense and cedar in the notes and thought I wasn't going to like Magus. I'm surprised to find that I do like it. It's in the same vein as Aureus and Cathedral, but it doesn't smell as much like a pencil box as either of those do. The frankincense doesn't get overly sweet on me like it usually does, and the cedar doesn't smell quite as peppery as usual. This is kind of comforting and soft. I like this one better than Cathedral.