selkielass

Wow, tested this this morning, and I'm still getting whiffs of fragrance from my wrists. Myrrh loves me, and Priala is no exception. This one has excellent throw and amazing staying power though it does morph relentlessly as the day passes. My inital impression on opening the Imp is that it is very similar to 'Sloth' a favorite of mine when I want something dark and sultry. It also reminds me strongly of Black Pheonix and Phantom. I don't pick up much of the smoke or cinnamon that everyone else speaks of- they blend in with the other notes too well for my nose to pick them out and once the oil hits my skin they dissapear into Beths rich voluptuous Myrrh. I was surprised, after a few minutes, to find a sweet soapy not emerging strongly- so soapy that I found myself sniffing my tea suspiciously- it was so strong I could *taste* soap in the back of my mouth. I haven't experineced soiapiness like this before with any BPAL blend,a nd I'm tempted to wash it off- it's making everything taste like soap, but I persevere. After an hour or two the soapy note softens ans the spicy myrrh rounds out into something soft and round and sort of husky smelling. Husky, because each time I catch a whiff of it I taste it in the back of my throat. Its gorgeous in a very expensive perfumed soap sort of way, but the way it invades my mouth is a little disconcerting. I never got any cinnamon reaction from this one which is nice, but I think it's a little too pervasive for my tastes. Everything I ate or drank tasted like soapy myrrh today.

In the bottle; very sweet and fruity On- spicy. I smell the cinnamon, but it is tempered by something else. It is a hot cinnamon, like a cinnamon broom, but it is fading ito something like hot candle wax. The sweetness is coming out again, but it is a resinous sweetness, not a foody or sugary one. THIS I like. The pine is subtle on me, thank goodness since I am allergic to pine and too more than a whiff makes me edgy. This is just enough to make me think of christmas without being able to put my finger on exactly why. It smells like a holiday display! Candles and berries and evergreen and cinnamon, oh my!

A sinuous, vibrant scent, striking in its boldness and complexity. Juniper and white cedarwood entwined with orange and raw civet. All right- this one is taking me some courage to try since I am allergic to juniper and cedar, but I am off to shower soon, so here goes. In the bottle; very fresh and resinous. This reminds of the oils that my mother used to mix with her china paints somehow. I like it. Wet (On my forearm.) sharp resins with a faint dusty undertone. The orange has faded, leaving me with a smell that reminds me of varnish and freshly cut wood. The civet is hiding completely, unless it is that dusty undertone, which pleased me because Czernobog turned into bad breath on me, and I blamed the Civet. Peraps this kitty is better trained, or maybe the cedar shavings in his litterbox are just covering over his latest leavings. As it dries down it becomes more balanced, but the piney evergreen resins still dominate- possibly because I am oversensitive to them. It does smell sweeter now and I think if the dominant notes had fewer negative associations for me I would really like it! As it is, this fragrance makes me vaguely uneasy, like a very attractive stranger you dont quite trust. ETA- on further drydown the Civet has come out and is turning to that bad breath odor that ruined Czernobog for me. The other notes have balanced wonderfully, but as the cedar has toned down the foulness of the civet has emerged subtley. This sexy stranger needs to brush his teeth.

Czernobog: Created in honor of the Slavic Black God of the Dead. A nighttime god of grief, evil, chaos and woe, he is paralleled by his twin brother Bylebog, god of light, joy, order, and good fortune. A combination of three musks, with splashes of dark myrrh, vetiver and mullein. Oh I so wanted to love 'Czernobog', and he broke my heart! I love musk and myrrh and vetiver, and they love my skin- based on my experiences with 'Sloth', 'Phantom' and other similar fragrances, I expected 'Czernobog' to be truly yummy- alas, *something* in there doesn't like me. I was lucky enough to sample Juniperus Intrepidus's imp at the Michigan meet-n-sniff- in the imp it was lovely; rich dark and musky, but as soon as a drop hit my skin something nasty emerged; bad breath. My wrist smelled like the mouth of someone who hadn't brushed their teeth in a very, very long time. When I received an imp as part of a trade, I tried it again, hoping that this batch would smell better, but the rotten breath odor was there again- I had to wash it off. Alas. I'll have to pass Czernobog along to someone else.

This is Aquatic? It has a high, sharp feel to it, but I wouldn't have guessed citrus. I get no Amber from this, just lots of what I suppose are the bright 'aquatic' notes, and they don't blend well with my body chemistry at all. Ah well, I'll swap this off for someone else to try.

If you like 'Venus', give 'Pride' a sniff- I do believe the main Rose note in each (Moroccan rose) is the same, or very similar. I also suspect this is the same rose that tantalizes me in 'Seance'- when I first fell in love with Seance I was nursing, and my body chemistry amped the rose and softened the woods slightly. Now that my son is weaned I've been missing the strong rose element- I'm going to try layering 'Pride' and 'Seance' after I shower!

I haven't tried Snake oil yet, but Snake Charmer was nice, but nothing to right home about on my skin. THIS took Snake Charmer one better, which I found a relief- a GC that smells better on me than a LE? Yay! It *did* start out a bit bitter, as some others mention, then it settled into a lovely sweet-but-not-cloying spicy vanillaness that left me wondering if this is what everyone loves so much about the snake family? It was lovely on my skin, but even better when I caught wafts of scent from my wrists- utterly delicious! I hope I get a frimp of Snake oil with my first order, but if not, this scent has made me determined to seek out an imp from some kind soul.

Wow, I don't get any sweetness or incense off this- all I smell is wood. Resinous freshly cut wood- this reminds me strongly of the wood storage room adjacent to the wood shop in my high school. I smell pine, rosewood, mahogany and perhaps birch and apple or other fruitwoods. The leather is subtle or blends well with the woods which surprised me as lately my skin has been amping leather fiercely. This is nice, but the piney-ness is putting me off. It is NOT a pine-sol pine scent, but the smell of a pine resin on the air as a board is cut. Very pleasant, but as I'm allergic to pine, it has unpleasant connotations lurking in the back. Very masculine and woodsy-just not a fragrance for me.

This was pretty, yet such a dissapointment for me. I was hoping for sweet rosewater pudding (Milk and honey plus roses? Yum!) Instead I got 'Loves Baby Soft'. A rich creamy version that leaves the scent I remember from Jr.High school a little flat, but Loves baby soft just the same. I tried this on my niece, and with her body chemistry the roses bloomed softly, and it was lovely, but on me the honey and milk just go a little wild. Ah well...

Whoah! Leather! My skin has been amping leather the last few days, and with this oil it really jumps up and slaps me in the face! I can barely smell the florals- as the leather quiets down I can tell they are there, but no one note stands out- very well blended and very masculine. I want to try this on my husband- it smells like a very traditional mens fragrance to my nose, and I think it would be very sexy on him.

Hmmm this smells familiar to me, but I can't quite put my finger on exactly what... It does smell herbal, but the associations keep bringing me back to soap or shampoo. Perhps, as some other poster commented, this is reminding me of some soap or shampoo out of my past. It's pretty, but not something that I want to keep on smelling all day long- it reminds me of the showers at summer camp, so I'm pretty sure it is triggering memories of some shampoo. Alas.

I adore The imps of Seance that I have found, but the bottle I purchased here on the forum is much woodier than any of the imps I have- I am hoping it will mellow and become rosier as it ages. Which other Rose fragrances have that same creamy, misty, edible rosewater quality as Seance? Alice turned to 'Loves Baby Soft' on my skin. Two, five and seven turned to sugary cotton candy. Black Rose, and rose cross were all resiny incense overpowering the rose. Blood rose was sweet and resinous. Spellbound was rosier, but the rose was very mixed in with the resins Mata Hari was just weird and unpleasant. I love Zombi and Whip, but these are strong gardeny roses on me- more similar to Peacock Queen than Seance. I also love Highwayman and Libertine, but I'm looking for a truer rose here. The Peacock Queen is gorgeous, but I'm having trouble getting more, and it is distinctly different- a more assertive rose. Osun is a Rosey floral, but definately a mixed floral, not rosewater. Venus is very pretty- especially in my hair where it holds and remains true for hours, but it reminds my husband of '...the smell of a freshly opened package of diapers or a diaper Genie refill." ...I'm not sure how to take that. Any suggestions?