storme

In the imp: a sweet, wet, fruity aquatic. On me, wet: lots of juicy, dark fruits and aquatics, with a musky, spicy floral in there too. This is a complex scent on my skin. On me, dry: musky spiciness - is there spicy carnation in here? - and a sort of plummy tang. Gosh, this is awesome - and hard to come by, naturally. Verdict: Oh, I think I'll be keeping my half-imp.

In the imp: sharp metallic tangy ozone. Wow, that's a bright, airy scent. On me, wet: mm, river-wetted rocks, smooth and cold, with a bright breeze over the top. Very clean and very ozoney. On me, dry: ozone and wet rock. Sitting by a stream in the shade on a summer's day, with washing drying on a line nearby. Verdict: this is rather lovely, but I like ozone scents. I never wear them, though, so I'll probably trade it so someone else gets a chance to try it.

In the imp: lots of white florals, slightly sharpened by sappy greenness. On me, wet: lots and lots of white florals, very heavy, heady and slighty soap-tinged. Hrm. On me, dry: very heavy white florals, in the soapy, waxy sort of sense. Blerf, I was hoping for something crisper and brighter to emerge. Verdict: Nah, this one didn't go in the direction I wanted it to go. Not a keeper for me.

In the imp: very sharp and manly - bitter lavender and citrus reined in by a hint of warm amber. On me, wet: that lavender now smells a little soapy, but that amber is working away to make it sexier - every sniff is better and more masculine. On me, dry: mmm. This is very nice indeed - lavender and amber and yumminess. Very much a scent for a man with plenty of confidence and rakish charm. Verdict: my only complain is that this is perhaps a little close to a commercial cologne sort of scent. But it's deeper and more mischievous that those. The imp is staying.

In the imp: lots and lots of strong, crisp citrusy neroli. Possibly a *hint* of other florals too. On me, wet: sweet vanilla and sappy green carnation coming out strongly to mingle with the neroli, but it's still a bit kitchen-cleanser-ish. On me, dry: hunh, this is weird. lots of mingled florals (primarily neroli, but the sweet pea is pretty assertive too) drizzled in vanilla syrup. Verdict: this is very much not my style, and the wet phase is really offputting. Not a keeper.

In the imp: woods and sticky-sweet incense with lots of rose over the top. On me, wet: lots of lovely sandalwood and a tiny bit of a rather unpleasantly heavy, over-sweet rose. On me, dry: hmmm. mostly I can smell sticky incense and roses now, but there's something cooling and grounded under this. It's pretty faint, though. Verdict: Nope, too much treacly, cloying rose and incense, not enough sandalwood for me.

In the imp: lavender and soft powdery mint. On me, wet: oh, there's the black musk, under the minty softness. This combination feels off to me - too harsh and metallic. On me, dry: mm, yeah, it's the black musk that's throwing me off here. I don't like it - it's too animalistic and acrid under that powdery mint. Verdict: nah, this can go off to live elsewhere.

In the imp: a very light, softly pink rose scent with a hint of lily. On me, wet: wet pink roses and lots of lily. Unfortunately, the lily appears to be turning plasticky on me. On me, dry: faint pink powdery tea rose, and the lilies have backed off. Can't smell that vanilla musk, though. Verdict: It reminds me a lot of Moon Rose, actually, that pinkness and very pretty girliness - but as with that one, it's a bit faint for me to keep around. Ah well.

In the imp: Spicy and clean and.. hmm, almost oakmossy. Weird. Maybe the patchouli and the woods together are doing that. On me, wet: it's a very clean and slightly smoky-spicy scent, and sort of musky and woodsy and rather nice. On me, dry: This doesn't morph very much on me. It stays very appealing, in a pure-hearted clean-cut uncomplicated hero way. Verdict: A little too boyish for me. This smells pretty good on the SO, though not so awesome as other BPAL scents I have around. I'll keep the imp, anyway.

In the imp: ylang ylang, rose and heliotrope - very perfumey-sweet-florals. Hmm. On me, wet: oh, the lily popped up immediately, and then was reswamped by those perfumey rose-ylang-ylang notes, and then the smokiness swept in and darkened it all. Quite the morpher already, apparently. On me, dry: mrph, and now everything's evened out into one big amorphous but vaguely perfume-y indistinguishable floral muddle. Verdict: The red musk? The plum? Sigh, those notes I really wanted just seemed lost under those floral notes. Swap.

In the imp: hmm, light, airy florals. On me, wet: still light and airy and floral, but with a distinctly soapy tinge to it. Uh-oh. On me, dry: very faint, but otherwise very nice - sweet and light, drifting between being sort of sap green and very airy with a breath of sugariness. Verdict: Hmm, too light, in the end. But nice enough otherwise.

In the imp: oh, that's a gorgeous soft sweet lavender. On me, wet: mmm lavender - there's a slightly clean-cologney background to this, too. On me, dry: wow, the magnolia has really come forward, and there's a brightness and cleanness to this otherwise soft, floral musk. Verdict: it's beautiful - and the SO really likes it. I think I'll be keeping this around - and maybe grabbing a bottle at some point.

In the imp: huh, weird. Lots of linen and tobacco and an aquatic feel behind it. On me, wet: aquatics and tobacco, very pale and masculine feeling - but this feels too *clean* for Shadwell. On me, dry: this is very clean and aquatic now, with a mild linen tinge to it and... hunh, yup, some creaminess too. Verdict: Not really my style, and not really Shadwell-like to me. Swaps.

In the imp: holy crap, I actually recoiled from this at first sniff - that's astoundingly dry and acrid and peppery. On me, wet: it's not a good sign for me when an overwhelming earthy patchouli note is a relief. But it's lightening the dry pepperiness, so. On me, dry: hunh, I guess that must be ginger there with the patchouli, but it's a weird, mouldy ginger. This smells really funky and nasty on me now. Verdict: augh, aie, away, away.

In the imp: amber and cedar, a nice dry, sun-warmed woods sort of smell. On me, wet: hmm, and now there's a sharp, sour floral note cutting across those woods. It's a bit, hmm, cleaning-product-ish. On me, dry: baby powder and faint woods, with a small trace of that sour floral. Verdict: Off to the swaps pile - this isn't playing with my chemistry well at all.

In the imp: verbena over coconut and bubbly heliotrope. On me, wet: very sweet heavy lemon - this smells like lemon curd, actually. On me, dry: sharp-and-sweet lemon drops with a splash of refreshing coconut and some florals desperately trying to get attention from behind all that lemon. Verdict: ended up nicer than it started, but still a little too sugared-lemon-candy-like for me.

In the imp: lots of dragon's blood, maybe a little almond, and some feisty spiciness - cloves, perhaps. On me, wet: woody musky dragon's blood with some spices. The almond-cherry note has backed down a bit. On me, dry: hey, this somehow morphed into a very strong sandalwood note. There's some sweetness and acrid-spice too, but the dragon's blood has vanished. Verdict: Hmm, well, that's quite the morpher. But not one I'll be keeping, I think.

In the imp: Hmm, a sweet jelly-candy note is prominent with a candied-orange note flavouring it. On me, wet: immediate fading, but still smells like citrus-flavoured jellied candy. On me, dry: faint sweet orange and bubbly golden heliotrope, but with a powdery tinge to it now. Verdict: vanished from my skin very quickly, but I think it was too sweet for my taste anyway.

In the imp: lots and lots of green, rich herbs and grassy aquatics. On me, wet: grassy green herbs and water with some soft florals bubbling around. On me, dry: sharp, crisp, sappy greenery. This is like carnation stuck in the wet phase, with a few herbs behind it. Verdict: Mrm, I think I prefer my carnations to do that spicy transformation they do. Ah well.

In the imp: lots of dragon's blood over sweet warm... redness, I guess. florals and musks. On me, wet: red musk and dragon's blood and a herbal, slightly soapy smell. On me, dry: mmm red musk. There's not much else to this now - a tinge of amber, a breath of dark red florals, a hint of juicy sweet fruits. But mostly red musk. Verdict: This is very nice indeed. It's fainter than other red-musk-heavy scents I own, though, so I won't be hunting for more.

In the imp: sweet, dark, smoky resin. Wow. This is awesome. On me, wet: man, so much sweet, sticky, warm, sexy resin. Reminds me a lot of <b>Laudanum</b>. On me, dry: dark and delicious and sexy, but mostly just myrrh and galbanum. Lighter than was expecting, I guess. Verdict: Wrist-by-wrist, ths is so much like <b>Laudanum</b> on me that I'm not going to mourn for more. But hey, sitll an awesome scent.

In the bottle: aquatics and honey and lots of florals. On me, wet: very light clear aquatics and honey - very clear and bright and sweet. On me, dry: hmm, there's a sharp fruity edge to this - which is a bit unpleasant against that powdery-honeyed floral. Verdict: Yeah, that honey-powder isn't nice with the fruits on my skin. Hrm, guess I didn't need a bottle. Oh well.

In the imp: citrus and bubble-gum (is there lotus in this?) and spicy incense buried way beneath. On me, wet: lemony powdery incense with a boozey tang. On me, dry: my god, the lemon peel is assertive and brash and underneath is this wisp of rather nice (if cloying) saffrony petitgrin and musk crying out desperately as the candyish lemon stomps on it. Verdict: this might be wonderful if the lemon wasn't so damned attention-seeking and sugary. I think I'll pass.

In the imp: whoosh, sweet sharp citrus and soft sweet amber. On me, wet: mm, that's rather nice - sort of warm and foody and sweet but balanced between powdery and sharpness. On me, dry: hunh, fading fast. But still rather nice, warm and soft and slightly foody. It almost feels musky, to me. Verdict: rather nice, but it does fade awful fast. Mrm.

In the imp: hunh, very light - lots of linen with a little fresh watery coconut. On me, wet: yup, all light linen and not a lot else. I expected this to be a darker, boozier scent. On me, dry: hmm, that linen's dirtying up now - the tobacco and orris are creeping in and making this feel a bit ominous and grubby. Verdict: Nah, this makes me feel like I need a shower. Blech.