mermaidsdream

I received this imp from Azurephoenix's decant circle yesterday, and upon first sniff, I knew this was one I had to try first. Red musk? Honey? Yes please! I was already wearing 'White Peacock' so I opted to wait until this morning to test this one out. First sniff out of the imp, it's sweet with a bit of sultry hiding underneath. Then I applied, a dab here, a dollop there; both wrists and my neck, the usual locations. Holy amptitude, Batman! I had to look up what elemi is, and when I read the 'pine and lemon' part of the description, I knew that's what was overpowering everything else, almost to the headache-inducing point. I think I'm also getting the tiniest, sharp edge from the tangerine. I never realized I'd amp the elemi/red musk combination to this extent. It's been almost an hour since I've applied. I'm sitting at work, and one of my co-workers, as he's walking out the door that's across the building, mentioned that it "smells like incense in here." Uh-oh. That means this is a scent that lingers long after I've moved out of the area. I love this combination. I love how it smells, but WOW. I'm still tempted to get a bottle and let it sit and age for a while to see how it tempers. I will say this: USE SPARINGLY; it's definitely one of those where a little bit goes a LONG way. ETA: My cat *loves* this scent. Seriously. She could NOT stop licking my wrists that afternoon

In the imp, I get sweet & woodsy. Applied, it almost immediately turns into a scent I associate with heavy cigarette smokers wearing cheap perfume :\ There are so many notes in this that I adore (teak, tonka, ebony wood, patchouli, sandalwood, even bpal's tobacco note), but it's a total miss on me. It plays on me like Brisingamen did Alas. I was so hopeful for this one.

Green and herbal in the imp, and it applies the same. My first impression is that it's a bit too masculine for me. Secondly, it VERY quickly turns to soap on me. Trade pile it is.

This is a not-quite-as-gritty version of Hollywood Babylon. Definitely lots of red musk (which is what I was getting from HB). Still works really well on me, but if I had to choose, I'd probably go Hollywood Babylon.

"Death Embraces a Young Maiden" -- not sure what it is, but at least on me is a cross between "old lady" and "diaper wipe" *blech*

I'm fairly certain the imp I have is slightly aged, as I bought it off a forumite in December, and finally got around to trying it; not sure how long they had it. I'd put this in my "try me now" box, but something kept me from trying it (possibly because, as of yet, no Wanderlust scent has worked on me). I'm not sure what made me pull it out today, but I'm so glad I did. In the vial I get a lot of sweet, but am unable to pick out individual notes. Applied, every sweet note comes to the surface, but it's not cloyingly so ... it's very much tempered by amber and the musk. Drying, it seems to fade pretty fast, but my skin has been abnormally dry of late. I'll need to apply some lotion, then some HB, and revisit. OMG, I'm so thrilled with this scent though. This is delicious, without being overwhelmingly sweet. The amber definitely brings it down to a managable level, and the mix of the strawberry & the black cherry ... It's also one that promises to only get better with age. I'm going to have to 1) get a bottle and 2) let it age. A Wanderlust scent that works on me. I may cry ETA: I looked back and saw the comment about it fading fairly quickly, but noticed this gorgeous, creamy vanilla scent still on my wrist the next morning -- and given I apply around 6am, that's saying something I've also determined that the red musk is what I was getting quite a bit of, out of the imp -- that could simply be a matter of mixing. It's still in my top 10 favorites, though.

I'm not sure why this was the first out of the Carnaval scents I decided to try, but it's what I pulled out of the box this afternoon. Out of the bottle, I'm not entirely sure what I'm getting -- definitely NOT Snake Oil; something fruity, but not over powering. It's almost as though the different notes were competing for my attention. Applied (with a toothpick), I get crisp, ripe red apple, and nothing else. I normally don't like the apple scents, as they tend to be a bit overpowering on me, but this works. It's very fresh, very clean. I applied to both wrists & my neck. As it's drying, my neck starts to itch & burn with what I normally associate with the cinnamon + clove combination. It passes after about 5-10 minutes, which is good, and it doesn't burn as bad as Bengal did on me. Hours later, I've gotten a bit of the lemon peel with a bit of floral; now, I get something sweet, not quite floral. I'm on the fence about this one. I don't get Snake Oil at all out of this, which is unfortunate because I LOVE Snake Oil. I'll likely give it another go later; I have many more snakes to try ETA: Mystery of the itch solved -- I'd gone to visit a friend who was gardening today, and was wearing a tank-top. I just got a look at myself in the mirror and noticed the sunburn on the tops of my shoulders & my chest/neck area. Obviously, I need to get out more (with sunscreen). Also adding: this has faded into something very soft, very pretty. I'd definitely need to be in the right mood for this scent. It doesn't draw me in like some of the other scents have, but again, with the very fresh, crisp apple scent, it works.

In the imp I get a bit woodsy with a hint of sweet. Applied, it just turns sweet -- ridiculously sweet, almost sticky sweet. Dry down turns it powdery, sickly sweet. I wish I had more descriptions to it, but ... ugh. This one will be going into the "Trade Me" pile.

I thought that too, were it not for the fact I don't get any apple out of it at all, and it's considerably darker in colour. I have it sitting aside, in the "maybe frimp me" pile, but just can't bring myself to send it off to anyone without knowing what it is ...

In honour of the Carnival Etsy rush of 2013, I'm testing out an imp of Ashlultum I've had sitting around (read: it's aged). Normally, I'm all good with musk, vanilla, tonka, and tobacco ... but all I get out of this imp is coconut, coconut, and more coconut. After a few minutes, it tones down and I get the lilac. A few minutes after that, and it's pretty much gone. It makes me glad I opted not to get a bottle of this last night.

Dark & dirty is right -- in the imp, I get dirty patchouli. On me ... dirty patchouli. There's a slight woodsy smell to it, but I don't get cocoa, vanilla, or tobacco (maybe that's the woodsy smell I get?) Here's hoping it tempers down a little; this is STRONG. ETA: After a full day of wearing #occupy, this amount of patchouli and maybe this type of patchouli has given me a horrid headache I really wanted to like this one, and I'm thankful I was given an imp to test before buying a whole bottle.

Oh thank goodness, I thought I was going to be the first review for the 2013 Anactoria! I'm not sure why I waited to try this until today -- I wanted to test out the Lupers sooner, rather than later, so I could figure out if I wanted bottles or not. Oh.My.Word. This is delicious. It reminds me of something else, but I can't quite put my finger on it. The amber, honey, and musk work very well together, and there's just a hint of tang from the currant. This starts out as someone else stated: a waxy honey, thick, resiny, with a hint of musk. It's deep, sexy scent that warms into something golden. It almost threatens to go baby powder on me, but never does. It's another one where I cannot stop sniffing my wrist (maybe it's the kush ) This imp will definitely become a bottle. I also suspect it's going to age spectacularly.

Aziraphael makes me sneeze like nothing else, and Bengal leaves me wanting to tear my skin off where I've applied it Some of the sandalwood scents make my eyes water a little, but it's hit & miss with that.

In one convenient spot! Also including the original questions Allergies/food restrictions: None, thankfully. Is there anything you don't want to get? I'm not religious, so religious-related items are probably NOT a good thing. Do you celebrate a specific holiday (Easter/Ostara)? Nope Would you like to get anything associated with that holiday (candies, decorations, ect.)? n/a Are you willing to accept home-made food items, and are the limits on what you are willing to receive? Home-made goodies are always appreciated! I love to bake! How do you feel about used items (in good or like-new conditions)? I'm okay with it, so long as they're in good or like-new condition. Heaven knows, I've enough things I've bought, stuck in a box or on a shelf & never used that could use new homes! Do you collect anything? Does BPAL count? Wishlists (bpal, any other wishlist you might have)? I've linked my Amazon wishlist in another blog posting, and my BPAL wishlist is in my signature Favorite or least favorite colors? Favorites: Jewel tones, dark blues, dark greens, black. Least Favorites: yellow, orange, pastels. Sizes (shirt, shoe, ring, necklace, bracelet)? Shirt: XL Shoe: 8 Ring: 8 Necklace: 15"? 16"? Bracelet: Not sure Do you want any jewelry? Hard to answer this one; I don't really wear a lot of jewelry, so I tend to be picky about what I do wear Favorite snacks? Pretzel Chips & Pita Chips in Parmesan & Garlic Coffee/teas? Teas! Chocolates/candies? Please? I do tend to prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate Socks/shoes? Love fun socks What kind of books do you like? Sci-fi & fantasy. I adore Neil Gaiman What kind of musics do you like, and are you ok with burned music cds? I listen to a little of everything, except maybe rap, and I'm perfectly okay with burned music CDs Do you like makeup or nail polishes? Lip balms are okay, but other than that, I don't wear make up Soaps/scrubs? <3 soaps and scrubs. This is probably my favorite aisle in the grocery store. Candles/tarts? Candles yes, tarts not so much. How do you feel about sample-sized stuff? Samples are good What are some small (cost wise) items you would be happy to see? Not really sure on this one. Is there anything else you want your swapper to know? I feel like I"m the most boring person in the world, so I apologize if you're having a hard time figuring me out. *I* have a hard time figuring me out, some days! How do you feel about maple syrup? NomNomNom Peeps? Yay or Nay? Yay! Are we set to a hard/fast rule of 12 eggs, or can we do more, so long as there's enough to open for all 12 days? This was one of my questions: I think there's only 1 day in my package that has 1 item; everything else is multiple goodies. And where are y'all finding eggs big enough? This was another of my own questions. I have 2 different sized eggs, and lots of wrapping paper. Near me is a small-ish local purveyor of whipped shea butter using very nice ingredients and smelling divine. Is that something you'd be interested in receiving, even though you might not be familiar with the company? I'm good with local-made goodies. A little bit of shea butter is good, but I probably wouldn't use a whole lot of it. Would you mind if your package contained a good deal of sugary-confections (a good chunk of chocolates, for example)? Another of my own questions. I love chocolate, but I wouldn't want a whole box of it So is anyone vegan or would otherwise have an objection to things like decorated blown eggshells? Not vegan; decorated eggshells are kinda cool, but I do have a cat that likes to play with everything Ok, so, for those of you like me, with no tub, how do you feel about BPTP bath oils as moisturizers? I'm good with BPTP bath oils BB, do you have any hobbies? Photography, reading, watching TV. Like I said, I'm boring. How do you feel about nail shields, as opposed to polish? If that's a yay, do you prefer solids or patterns? Not my thing.

I've done a couple of swaps now ... I'll try to put answers here when questions come up. Maybe it'll help Do you have Etsy/Amazon wishlists linked somewhere? Amazon Etsy just ends up being lots of BPAL Do you have a Tumblr/Pinterest you'd share with everyone (these can be really informative as to style?) Tumblr Pinterest Style? I'd be hard pressed to pin something down for this; I work and when I don't work, I'm home in sweat pants/pj pants and baggy t-shirts. I don't go anywhere, and I don't do a whole lot more than "work too much" Fave Holiday? I don't know that I have a favorite. I will say Christmas is probably my least favorite (for personal reasons) ... favorite candles, companies and/or candle scents? I candles. Please expose me to more companies! favorite kinds of tea (flavors, companies) Peppermint tea is great for a cold winter's day. I've gone towards loose-leaf teas, so I'm mostly experimenting right now. any of the Villainess autumn or winter soaps appeal? Another soap company you'd like more? I'm open to try spiffy soaps. I spiffy soaps. Sweets? Dark chocolate. Yum Fave Foods? Salty, dark chocolate, caramels, sushi What about desires (limited edition or not) from Black Phoenix? No idea! I've heard great things about some of the bath oils Ereader? I use the kindle app on my iPhone. How do you feel about other perfume etailers? Any you love, hate, are dying to try? How about perfume with alcohol in – do you love all perfumes, do you dislike commercial brands but not mind the inclusion of alcohol if it's a boutiquey or fancy company with unique scents, or are you strictly oils? I think I'd like to stick to one addiction (read: BPAL) for now. I'm okay with alcohol-based perfume, with I'm getting further away from commercial-based perfumes. Other than fragrance oils/perfumes what is your number one (or a tie between 2-3) favorite type of toiletry or scenty item? A Wild Soap Bar's soaps ... Sea Scrub, Pine Tar Neem, and Black Willow Bark are awesome (and local to me); Describe three things you have decorating your room... One of the photos I've taken, framed; hand-made jewelry holders, wooden jewelry boxes Pirates or ninjas? Ninjas Zombies – love, hate, obsessed, don't care, think they're coming for us any day now, other immediate/passionate thoughts? BRAAAAIIIINNNNNSSSSSS ..... Bpal oils: Sunbird, Snake Oil, Feed Me & Fill Me With Pleasure, Antikythera Mechanism, Chimera Disney Villain? Malificent is pretty awesome Also, would you be interested in made just for you products like hand cream or salves, or.....? Yay! What would make you smile the most? Something that seems perfect that I didn't think of myself Do you have a Holy Grail BPAL? Something you long for but think you will never see? I'm still fairly new, so I honestly don't know what I'm missing (probably better that way) Other drink stuff besides coffee and tea?: Water. I'm so boring. How do you feel about hand-crafted goodies? Awesome! I wish I had the skill to craft much of anything. Do you collect anything? BPAL, scarves, decorative wooden boxes Fandoms: Neil Gaiman, Doctor Who

I figure for my first blog entry, I'll go ahead and update with listings of BPAL I've tried, and my own notes on them. For the most part, I'll sniff imps when I get them, and sort them into 3 categories: Yes, Not Now, and No. I'm OCD enough that I keep a multi-tab, colour-coded spreadsheet with notes on what's where, what I've tried, and my own mini-review (even if it never gets posted in the various review sections). I'm going to colour-code this for my own reference (things that turn to baby powder; things that turn to diaper wipe, etc). Here's what I have, so far: Aeval: In the bottle I get floral. Applied I get more floral. Dry down is even more floral. The sweet pea is so overwhelming in this, I get no other notes. Eventually, it turns to baby powder. And There Was a Great Cry in Egypt: Cloyingly, almost sticky-sweet & turns to baby powder on me. Antikythera Mechanism, The: Woodsy in the bottle, with just a hint of vanilla. Applied, it gives me a little of the burn I normally associate with cinnamon, but it doesn't last long. Dry, it turns into a smoky, woodsy vanilla that's just to die for. I can't stop sniffing my wrist Anubis: Not sure why this was in my "try me now" imp box, but I gave it a go anyway. Pure diaper wipe, and stayed that way. Arkham: I've learned I amp violet like nothing else; they SCREAM at me in this, and take a very long time to die down enough for me to enjoy the softer, smokey-sweetness it becomes. Aureus: cedar-woodsy smell in imp, but fades too fast for me to keep. Autumn: Starts out smelling of dry leaves, then fades into something that resembles vanilla. Eventually, it turns to baby powder Aziraphael: I definitely get the 'dusty' in this. In the imp I get woody, dusty. Applied, I can't stop sneezing. Applied at 8am, and by 1pm, it had faded completely. Light, sweet scent left. Keep the imp, but won't be buying a bottle Baghdad: Loved it in the imp, but it turned to baby powder when applied Bastet: Strong woodsy smell right out of the bottle. Fades quickly, and then turns to total baby powder on me Beer from the Marsh Woman's Brewery: Goes on sweet – the apple is very strong on this, and really all I end up smelling. Applied at around 10pm, by 2pm it's faded Bengal: Sweet, sticky, spiced honey. I love this scent, but the cinnamon + clove combination physically burns, causing me to scratch relentlessly at the areas I've applied it. The reaction is enough to make me put this in the trade pile, which makes me very sad. Blood Moon: This was a decant I received. The person I bought it from didn't know which year it was. I wish I knew what year this was, as they're all slightly different. I like how this smells, but it fades fairly quickly. I suppose that's a good thing. Blossoms in Springtime: In the imp: it's sharp & sweet at the same time. I wouldn't have picked out vanilla notes at all, were they not listed on the decant label. On the wrist: It's so soft & subtle, I almost can't smell anything at all. It starts to morph into a delicious vanilla that I love. Dry down: I wish this lasted longer. I love this vanilla, so soft & creamy. After a few hours, it's almost completely gone. I'll keep the partial imp I have, but I'm not going to hunt down a bottle. I think that's a good enough place to stop for tonight. As you can see, for a while I was 'ABC'ing through my "Try me Now" imp box. Then I kept wanting to get to other things, so I started jumping around again, and then I had bottles to get to, and ... well, I could keep coming up with excuses More tomorrow!

I need to start putting dates on imps when I get them. The first imp I recieved of Morocco was actually a sniffy; not enough to test, just enough to have me fall in love. Then I received an actualy imp, and a decant. I tried the imp this morning, discovering that it really didn't have that much in it. It's pure baby powder on me. NOTHING like what I remember from the sniffy. It's a creamy baby powder, but baby powder none the less :(

This was my Valentine's Day gift to myself -- I purchased it from the CBLDF website. First, I love Neil Gaiman's work, and Sunbird is one of my favorite stories. Secondly, the Bennu (Egyptian name for the Phoenix) has a LOT of meaning for me, personally (to the point that it became my first tattoo, at the young age of 38). I had sniffed a decant of this at the Austin Greet'n'Sniff, and put it on my wishlist, but hadn't given it another thought until they posted about it being back on sale, quantities still left, etc. I don't really need more BPAL, but I spluged. I'm so glad I did. In the bottle, it's difficult for me to pick out individual notes. There's no note list for this one, and I'd been avoiding reviews because I wanted to judge it for myself. Something seemed a little off, so I kept putting off trying it. Today, I took the plunge. First, I rolled & gently tipped the bottle to make sure it was well mixed. I think this may help a little; I realize it's not the chocolate sludge that people talk about in other scents, but a little proper mixing never hurts On the skin, it starts out with the same "something off" that I noticed in the bottle. Fortunately, that changes quickly. Within about 10 minutes, I get smokey sandalwood; it starts out more smoke than sandalwood, and within a few minutes, the sandalwood warms. Drydown: There's a slight hint of cinnamon, but this stays woodsy for quite some time. Warm, welcoming, comforting, and a little earthy. Towards the end, it morphs into something creamy, almost vanilla. Honestly, I could bathe in this scent.

In the imp: I'm not sure I can pick out individual notes on this -- they all fight for attention; one whiff, I get the opium, another whiff, I get the musk. Something seems a little off, and I almost didn't apply it this morning Wet: I'm overwhelmed by rose. Rose, rose, and more rose. What? What do you mean there's no rose in this? Drying: after about 10 minutes or so, the rose smell starts to disappear, and I'm picking up that waxy, almost incense smell (which I think I think is the opium). It's starting to become absolutely divine. Overall, I really do like this scent; I'll keep my imp, but it's probably not one I'll buy a bottle of (not that I would turn a bottle away ). I also have to wonder if this is one of the scents that gets better as it ages.

In the imp, I get the sandalwoods, with something a tiny bit sweeter. Applied, all I get is floral, floral, and oh God, what is th...gah! Some combination of soap & diaper wipes, that reminds me vaguely of old ladies. Get it off! Get it off!! I'm thinking it's either the ambergris or the tea rose (my prime candidate is the tea rose), but one of the 2 is (one of) my death note(s). :\

Aged, 1/2 decant I purchased from someone on the forum. The vanilla and orange drew me. In the imp: sweet, soft scent. I can't really make out the orange, but the vanilla is there. Vanilla's always worked on me. Applied: almost resiny-incense, almost waxy, but all in a good way. It's a soft, comforting scent Dry down: I wish this lasted longer. I'm not sure what's going on with my skin lately, but it seems to be eating scents left & right. I wish love this, and wouldn't mind having a bottle (fat chance, I know). Honestly, I would smell this *all day* if I could.

In the imp: rich, smokey butterscotch. Really, it's quite delicious. Applied: OH.MY.GOD. Where did that delicious butterscotch go? Did my skin eat it up in seconds? All I get is dirt. Dirt, dirt and MORE dirt. And there's something underlying that puts me into 'Get it off! Get it off! GET IT OFF!' mode. I really wanted to like this one; and I've NEVER had this kind of reaction to a scent before. I don't even know what to say. I had to scrub it off, and I can still smell it up my nose.

This is my second try with this imp. I don't remember off hand where I received it (that's in a spreadsheet I can't access from here), but judging by the label it's fairly aged. In the imp: spiced honey. The honey is what comes out the most. On the wrist: I still get lots of sweet, sticky, spiced honey. 5 minutes later, however, the skin *burns* due to the cinnamon. It's all I can do to not claw my wrists, my neck where I've applied it. This happened the last time I tried this scent, and I wanted to be 100% positive that's what was causing it before putting the imp in a trade box. Dry: I still get lots of soft, powdery honey. It's sweet, without being too sweet. If it weren't for the problem with the cinnamon, I'd be keeping this, and maybe buying a bottle of it for those days I feel sweet. As it stands, though, my wrists still throb a little from where it was applied. Alas. ETA: I'm still on the hunt for a 'Wanderlust' scent that works on me. So far, they've either been "um, no" or "it's okay" or "it fades too fast on me".

In the imp: green, wet, and ... apples? Applied: Sweet, sticky green apples. Yeah, I know there's no apple in this, but that's what it reminds me of. Drydown: Wow, this faded way too fast. Within 4 hours, it's gone. There's not even a hint of anything left to morph into something else. This'll be going into the trade pile.

Wet, in Imp: woods, dry leaves -- it's divine. On Wrist: dry leaves and a hint of something else. Either the rose or the sandalwood is aggravating my allergies, which is unfortunate. Dry, a few hours later: they notes blend, and the fragrance turns into something close to vanilla. It's soft, kind of nice. Drydown, much later: it turns into baby powder I suspect it's the rose This will go in the trade pile.