storme

In the imp: dragon's blood, and something warm and something floral in a herby way - lavender?. On me, wet: oh, man, dragon's blood and vanilla. This is like Dragon's milk without the honey taking over. I can smell the herby floral note behind it still, too. On me, dry: hmm, that floral note has started to come forward. It's starting to be a little bit soapy on me, and I don't think of floral soap as being very sexy. Still, I do like a good dose of dragon's blood, and that's still there faintly in the background. Verdict: Mrm, I'm not sold on this, and the SO seems underwhelmed. There's nothing *bad* about it, but it's just a bit generic and boring on me.

In the imp: coconut and musk and some sort of alcohol scent. On me, wet: whoa that's strong and stale and chemical and rank. Geez, I've never smelled a perfume from BPAL that's so nasty. It smells like it's gone bad now it's on my skin. I can just about catch a whiff of coconut over it all, but on the whole it's just vile. On me, dry: well, it calmed down a bit - but it's still sour and chemical and powdery if I sniff anywhere my wrist. Further away, I can actually smell a really nice coconut scent - I guess that bit of the scent must have a wider throw. Verdict: God, I have no idea what reacted like that - maybe the orris? - but it's made this unwearable. Still, the coconut note I got from further away was really good, so I will look for some other coconutty BPAL scents to try.

In the imp: is that myrrh? there's a lot of cinnamon and clove, but there's something resin-y beneath it. On me, wet: amber and clove and cinnamon and spiky spices! ...and, I suspect, frankincense, since this is starting to go soapy. On me, dry: Oh yeah, this has frankincense in. It's gone soapy with some faint, sharp herbiness and some dusty florals. The spiciness does creep back in a bit after a fairly long wait, but it's still a dusty, dessicated spiciness. Verdict: it smelled interesting in the imp, but this isn't going to work with my skin chemistry. Alas.

In the imp: I didn't think I had any idea of what holly berries smelled like, but apparently I did, because my nose went 'oh that's holly alright'. On me, wet: Very Christmassy, but I wouldn't say it's just holly berries. Spices and slightly hints of soap - and nutmeg, maybe? On me, dry: Wow, but this fades fast. Faint spicy gingery nutmeggy clovey sweetness for a while, but then just a slightly plasticky aftersmell. Verdict: I like this quite a lot, but it's similar enough to Laudanum on me(and fades much faster) that I don't think I need to keep it around.

In the imp: hmm, florals and vanilla. On me, wet: vanilla over slightly soapy florals. There's a touch of something sugary-sweet in this, too. Mrm, all the individual notes in this are fine, but I'm not sure I like it as a whole. On me, dry: hmm, now this is a warm vanilla, not too sweet or heavy, but not really what I expected from the description. It's soft and delicate, and most of the florals have vanished. Verdict: This is the best vanilla scent I've tried from BPAL. A keeper, even if it's a bit more delicately feminine than I would normally wear.

In the imp: that's a *lot* of fruit. I can't identify much in the way of individual notes, it's just a big pile of juicy fruits. On me, wet: slightly chewing-gum-ish multitudes of fruitiness. The strongest notes on me are citrus and cherry and mango, I think. My SO really likes this. On me, dry: this is still very fruity. It's not as sweet as I was fearing - the sheer volume of notes stops any particular scent from taking over and making this too cloying. Verdict: I think I want to keep this around. If you lie fruity scents, this really is going to be something you want to try.

On me, wet: Oh, pumpkin and ginger and nuttiness and not-too-cloying sweet foodiness. I smell very slightly like newly-baked cookies of some sort. On me, dry: I smell like chocolate-chip oatmeal and ginger cookies - I have no idea why this is so gingery to me, but it is. This dries down to smell not unlike a spice-scented candle - there's a sort of oiliness to the smell that I associate with that, I guess. Verdict: I like it, but My SO finds it completely repulsive (he doesn't know why, since he likes all the descibed notes individually). I don't like it enough to want to keep it despite his reaction. Alas.

In the imp: Wow. Sharp, biting citrus - with some earthy black tea behind it. On me, wet: Man, this has a tangerine and grapefruit sort of tang to it. It's very sharp, but quite pleasant - and there's definitely some cherry blossom behind it too. This is good, but it might make my eyes water if I keep it on too long. On me, dry: This is still a tangy sort of citrus, but less eye-watering than it was. The tea balances well with it, but I wish I could smell those elusive cherry blossoms more strongly. Still, this is juicy and bright and fruity. Verdict: It really reminds me of the green tea and mandarin gel air freshener we've used in the past - which is a good thing, since I liked that stuff a lot. I'm unlikely to wear it very often, but definitely one for the 'how do you scent rooms with these things?' pile.

In the imp: honey, vanilla, and spices. hrm. On me, wet: this is the yellowest oil I've had from bpal yet. I keep thinking I'm going to leave turmeric-style stains on my wrists. The scent smells very sweet - the honey I smelled is drowning out almost everything bar a tiny bit of vanilla. Bleah. On me, dry: this is less obnoxious than other scents I've tried with any hint of honey in, but it's a bit too sweet for me. Verdict: yeah, swap pile candidate. This doesn't smell especially sexy to me at all.

In the imp: grapefruity citrus and ozone. Another 'holy crap that's very very full' imp, but I managed not to spill any this time. On me, wet: ozone and aquatics - it's an airy scent with moisture and a weird plasticky rubbery edge to it. It seems like an androgynous scent. On me, dry: This is very much what I think of as ozone - that type of blue-grey, buzzy scent. It's not an entirely different smell from that of a new computer, actually, I guess - a technology scent. The longer I wear it the more it becomes pleasing to my nose. Verdict: I like this, and my SO likes this, possibly even slightly more than I do. It smells a bit more futuristic than I expect from BPAL scents, but it's a great scent nonetheless. I might even want a big bottle of this.

In the imp: mmm, rose and gentle spices. the musk is sharp, but isn't very strong. On me, wet: musky rose, citrus and cardamom. The citrus - hmm, is that lemongrass? - is making this smell a bit like an air-freshener rather than something I would want to wear. Clean-yet-musky. On me, dry: the citrus calms down a fair amount - this is now a rose scent with gentle musk and cardamom and faint citrus in the background. I can't imagine Othello would wear this scent, since it seems a bit too girly for him, but perhaps I am underestimating his metrosexuality. This fades fast on me, too. Verdict: Nothing wrong with this, but it's going on the swap pile. It's a warm, sweet rose, but I already have rose scents I like more.

In the imp: musky spicy florals. On me, wet: At first, sharp spicy musk over sweet florals. It's not unpleasant, but it's sort of pungent. The sharpness drops away quickly, and so does most of the rest of the scent with it - all I can smell now is very faint sweet musk. On me, dry: the warm, slightly floral musks return. This is much more gentle scent than I would have expected from the imp and the description. It smells like faded white musk rather than like a combination of many musks. Verdict: this certainly works okay, if less dramatically than I expected to. I'm not a huge musk fan, but I guessI can keep this around.

In the imp: peach, over florals and ... chewing gum? Must be the amber. On me, wet: Ew, this smells like a chemical mess that someone threw peaches on top of. There's a powderiness to this, too. Yargh, I don't even want to keep this on long enough to dry down on me. On me, dry: No, this is rotten peach with bleach and nail varnish remover on top. Wargh, time to scrub my wrists. Verdict: Absolutely not one I want to keep at all, which is probably just as well considering how I keep having to check the spelling.

In the imp: mmm, pepper and gingery tea and.. ah, honey. this could be bad. On me, wet: gah, honey explosion. I can faintly distinguish ginger and that lemony citrus linen scent from Dirty behind it, though. Come on, scent, don't let the honey win! On me, dry: nope, the honey won, and destroyed any hints of other notes on me. it's just sweet sweet sugary sticky honey on me. Verdict: I think this marks the definitive 'right, okay, honey is an evil scent on me' test. I really wanted this scent to work on me, because that description *still* sounds awesome to me. Sigh. Swap pile time.

In the imp: *cough cough * leafmold and dusty earth. On me, wet: rich earthy rose. The sweetness of the rose does nicely offset most of the dustiness of the earth, so it's no longer making me cough. I keep getting alternating wafts of earth and rose, and it's lovely. On me, dry: Yum, earth and rose - it's like fresh blooming roses in a newly-tilled border. The rose in this isn't very different from the rose in London, but this has damp earth where London has damp air, so it feels warmer. An indian summer rose, rather than a springtime-after-the rain rose. Verdict: I like this - I don't think it's a scent I could wear every day, but it's certainly something I might wear every now and then.

In the imp: hmm, creme de menthe. sugary sweet mint and alcohol, in other words. On me, wet: well, now it smells like peppermint. it's nice, in a sinus-clearing way. I hope it calms down a little, but even if it doesn't this is a refreshing change from all the terrible honey scents I've been trying recently. On me, dry: hey, surprisingly nice. It's a minty alcohol-ish sort of scent, but it's more like a good laid-back mint julep than a sticky mint liqueur. Verdict: I received this as a frimp. I'm not sure how often I'll want to smell like a mint julep, but I think I'll keep this around anyway.

In the imp: warm, soft peach over florals. On me, wet: woody vanilla and peach. The amber is there in the background too. This smells very slightly like peach schnapps. On me, dry: archers and lemonade for wrist #1! Sugary and slightly alcoholic peach. I don't really smell the heliotrope, but everything else is identifiable and contributing to the stickiness. Verdict: if it smelled on me like it does in the imp, then I would be very happy. Unfortunately, it doesn't.

In the bottle: warm, musky, smoky cocoa. A bit dustier than I expected, but that's the cocoa. On me, wet: spicy cocoa. I can smell the smoke and the musk underneath. After a while there's another scent emerging - it smells like cucumber, of all things - which makes this a little bit sickly, but it's only a faint hint. On me, dry: warm, spicy cocoa - delicious, but very faint. This is Tezcatlipoca with real warmth and depth and without the dustiness, but it's so faint that I have to jam my nose up against my wrist to smell it. Verdict: If this were any stronger I would be very smug that I bought a 5ml. One for re-testing - if it's still this faint, I guess I'll give up and swap it.

In the imp: hmmmmm. I can smell the pear, and something like fruit chewing gum like behind it. On me, wet: This really smells like juicy fruit chewing gum, and behind that is some sort of sharp, almost alcoholic note along with the pear. It's very sweet and sugary. On me, dry: thankfully the chewing gum edge dies down, and now there's just some great peary-juiciness and a little bit of spiciness. Verdict: This is pretty similar to Thalia, except with an added weirdness during the wet stage. I don't dislike it, but I might as well not keep it if I have Thalia already.

The scent of sexual obsession, slavery to sensual pleasure, and the undercurrent of innocence defiled utterly. Amber and honey with a touch of vanilla. In the imp: wow, that's certainly honey. I can smell the amber and vanilla too, but it's mostly buried under the honey. On me, wet: hmm, this has a bastet-like slight marzipan scent - I wonder if that's just sweet amber, rather than almond, then? - and a lot of honey, with a slightly dusty feel to it. On me, dry: vanilla-honey, very sweet and slightly powdery. Enh. I guess I don't like BPAL's vanilla, and I really don't like the honey. Verdict: It's fine for what it is, but what it is isn't something I want to wear.

In the imp: ginger and citrus. Kickass. On me, wet: buh? It vanished. I think I can smell the faintest hint of ginger... On me, dry: ..man, that's some faint scent. My wrist is giving off the *slightest* aura of gingery citrus, but it's so faint that it's hard to be sure what notes I'm actually smelling. Verdict: I can't even complain that it smelled bad, it just didn't smell at all. Maybe it'll work better on someone else.

In the imp: pear pear pear! a very white, clean smell. On me, wet: ..and it's all over my desk. Gee, I hope I like this smell. It still smells primarily of pear - I don't like the taste of pears but I like the scent, so this is good. On me, dry: It's sweetened up just a *little* so now it's more like juicy tinned pears than fresh ones, but it's still fairly clean and white-smelling. I don't get much of the champagne (though I think it's stopping this from becoming too sweet). I have no idea what plumeria is or if I can smell it, but I don't think so. Verdict: I'm sure I'll be sick of the smell if my desk continues to smell of it for days, but otherwise it's a lovely fresh-smelling fruity scent that doesn't actively make me hungry.

In the imp: sharp citrus atop powdery florals. Also, I think this is the fullest imp I've ever had - almost overflowing. On me, wet: lemony citrus over rose for a little while, but then the jasmine does what it does on my skin, and goes to powder. On me, dry: lemony baby-powder. I can just about smell the rose underneath but it's not enough to soften the powder to something bearable. It's making me cough when I smell it, so I think I'll have to scrub it off. Verdict: this was a frimp - I was tempted to just stick it straight into my swap pile untested but I thought I'd give it the benefit of the doubt. But, no, jasmine still hates me.

In the imp: oooh, sweet florals - it does smell golden, but not in a cloying honey-ish way.. On me, wet: sweet florals with a hint of... citrus? something sharper behind the florals and amber, anyway. There's some muskiness creeping through, also. On me, dry: Hmm, this has gone sour on me. Urgh. Iain's comment is that it smells aniseed-y (but he didn't smell Kyoto on me). I don't think it's aniseed but it is unplesantly chemical and bitter and stale. Verdict: Ick no. I wish I knew what was in this aside from amber so I could avoid it.

In the imp: Spicy sandalwood. This smells promising, if perhaps a *bit* more acrid than I'd really like. On me, wet: This oil is very thick and sludge-coloured, which is off-putting. And it smells earthy - slightly acrid, warm powdery dirt. The cinnamon is just stopping it from becoming actively sour, I think. On me, dry: This definitely gets better on me the longer it is on. It's cinnamon-ish and warm and earthy without falling prey to the dustiness and mustiness I've had with those sorts of scents before. Verdict: I'm not sure I need this when I have so many other warm spicy scents I like already, but I'll keep the imp anyway.