Galatea

In the Imp: Sweet yet slightly spicey almond. Wet: The myrrh just leaps right out and takes command. This is now a very dark, resinous, serious blend only lightened ever so slightly by the almond note. Dry: Eventually the almond dries out and barely plays in the mix of myrrh and musk. Unfortunately the myrrh and musk combo goes rather powdery. It's sweet and dark, but smells like musky baby powder. Throw: Stays fairly strong for quite awhile. Overall: Not exactly what I'd thought it'd be. I don't exactly know why but I thought this blend would be spicier. I think I will have to try this one again to decide finally whether to keep it or not. Rating: +

In the Imp: Sweet apple blossoms and sharp grapefruit. Wet: This is just delightful and sweet with just a bit of bite by the citrus. I don't notice the hear of the ginger at all. Dry: In the drying stages this seems to get sweeter and more flower. There is still no ginger that I can detect. Thankfully the sweetness does reach a peak and then tapers off. The steady tea and grapefruit keep the flowery aspect in check. Throw: Decent throw for a light scent. If I were to wear this often I think I'd tend to slather this one on just to get an initial kick of scent. Overall: Love, love, love. It's fresh and clean and flowery and warm and just so nice. This one might inspire me to carry a decant in my purse in order to reapply during the day. Rating: +++

In the Imp: Not unlike wet straw hay. Wet: The straw hay smell is pretty strong still, but is joined by a bit of sweet honeyish scent. Dry: This is a nice not-to-sweet hazy, warm, very beginning of summer scent. So appropriate! The honey definately stands out, but it's not some sugar soaked honey, it's the honey scent of the mixture of a beehive plus grasses and wildflowers. Gorgeous. There is also elements of something barely green, and the base steadiness of the frankinscent and copal. Throw: Mid-level throw, but it wears off fairly quick and reduces to not much throw at all. Overall: I actually really like this, but I can't see wearing it all the time. It evokes that certain time of the year when the days are getting warm and the grasses are getting high. I think I will be keeping only a ml of this to wear on special time of the year occasions. Rating: ++

In the Imp: Sweet and Piney. Wet: An odd candy and pine trees scent. This isn't the totally too strong resinous kind of pine either, it's like green pine needles but mixed up with a fruity sugar syrup. Dry: First there is a phase of "clean" scent to accompany the sugar and pine, it must be the eucalyptus asserting itself. From then on it get progressively cleaner with a touch of sweetness. Very nice. Throw: Pretty good. Overall: I honestly didn't expect to like this, but it is actually really good. The pine isn't too strong on me, the eucalyptus lends a fresh clean scent, and the orange is sweet and fruity. None of the individual elements seem to be overwhelming, and of three notes that can become nasal bombs these are the ones! (Sniff an EO of pine or eucalyptus sometimes, that'll clear out your sinuses.) I guess all their raucousness cancelled each other out? Ingenious! Rating: ++

In the Imp: Dusty cloth; maybe fabric that's been sealed in a box in the attic during a long hot summer. Wet: Still dusty seeming, very powdery. There is a slight touch of flower under the crumbly old cloth smell. Dry: The first dry down stage reveals a light woodsy scent, with a bit of peppery herbs also. Very light and breathy, and strangely enough, evocative of something long dead. It's rather limp in depth of smell, I guess. There's a few moments of high thin flowers again and then something that smells to me of spent fireworks. That smoke-sulfur-paper smell. Interesting. Throw: This is a light perfume and so the throw is not substantial. Overall: It's what the name would indicate, but I'm not really in the mood currently for light perfumes. The powdery notes in this don't take over completely, and that's nice, but it's still just too powdery for me. Rating: +/- (neutral)

In the Imp: Patchouli baby! Wet: A nice mix of patchouli and sandlewood. Pretty straightforward and simple. Dry: This is most definately now a blend for those that don't like the patchouli, and while I do like it I don't usually go for just straight up patchouli. Which is why this is so fabulous. The sandlewood adds teh right amount of woodsiness and the frankenscense adds depth and warmth and longevity. Throw: Excellant throw, just like every "dirty, patchouli-stinking hippie" you've ever known. Overall: I love it. I'll be a dirty pirate hippie any time. Rating: ++

In the Imp: An almost buttery mid-depth resin with a little bite. Wet: Hello Amber! Definately some smoky frankinscense too. Dry: Initial phase reveals a strong wood note, not piney per say, something with more depth. Sandlewood? Oak? Cedar? I think that's the one, but don't hold me too it. There is also an unexpected background hint of vanilla. Throw: Just like incense in a cathedral, it really travels. Overall: I'm a little ambivelent about this one. It's nice enough, very woodsy and incense filled, but I'm not bowled over. I kind of wish I were. Rating: +/- (neutral)

In the Imp: Very flowery, and a bit resinous. Wet: Piercing green scent; deadly blossoms. This is at first a flowery and yet herbaceous blend. Dry: This quickly reduced to a powdery-flowery blah on my wrist. I've noticed a few of the blend with cypress in them tend to do this. The cypress takes over and just turns slightly woodsy/flowery but mostly just plain powdery. Throw: Ok. It's strong enough, but a rather normal-perfume smelling blend I think. Overall: Maybe a note in this blend just went bad on me, but overall I'm not impressed with Medea. Yeah, for about 15 minutes it was a little bit magically resinous and a dangerously fragile flower, but after that goes away it smells all too normal. It goes powdery and gets bland. Rating: -

In the Imp: Heavy, and yes even deadly. I think in the imp the smell of herbs and tobacco come though the most. Wet: Sharp pierce of the mandarin is the first salvo, then it's a crashing three way with the tonka, saffron, and tea. On the way to dry this really warms up a lot. Dry: This dries out to be a very dark, resinous smelling and heavy but not overwhelming scent. You definately don't get the sense that this is a foody blend even though it has foodish elements to it; no CHOCOLATE, only earthiness; no ORANGE, no VANILLA, only a slightly uplifting sweetness. This is very well blended indeed. By full dry down the tonka and musk do stick out the most. Throw: Great, heady but not "knock you down if you share an elevator with me" heavy. Overall: Love this one, surprisingly enough. For some reason I hadn't put this on my wishlist because I didn't think I'd like something that complex. I'm greatful the lab sent me this as a fimp! It's just amazing how this blend goes from piercing herby, to pendulous resin, to sweet resolve. Perfectly named actually. Rating: ++

In the Imp: Light, barely there herbs and aquatic notes. Wet: Very misty and sweet green smell, hard to describe really. Seems there is lavender in this and possibly some ozone notes too. Dry: Woo! Powdery and very "clean". Somehow it got stronger in the dry stage. Given a little time the strong herb scent thins out and the perfume calms down considerably. This is still mainly a clean herbal blend. Throw: Fairly good; but at first dry down it's a bit much. Just be aware it has a shortish stage of being almost overwhelming. Overall: From the description I thought I'd like this a lot more than I do. It seems so light and innocent in the bottle and when you first put it on, but then Wham! The dry down knocks you down. I think I'd like this a bit more if it were a less "clean" and more aqueous. I have yet to find a watery BPAL blend I like, and from somone who loved Cool Water as much as me, that's weird. Rating: +/- (neutral)

In the Imp: Chocolate-covered cherries with spices. Wet: Wow, this is so different. The cocoa takes the lead of course, but there is cinnamon and something woodsy too. Woodsy = Coffee? There is definately a hint of coffee about this blend. Dry: The cocoa continues to get more bitter, and the red wine is very dry smelling, oaky even. The most surprising note is the blood; it actually smells coppery-acidic. Then all of a sudden I get a background note of something like vetiver, oh no... Throw: So good my husband thought I was cooking something, and I wasn't even in the same room with him! Overall: This starts out so wonderful and intriguing, why did it have to end up smelling like cocoa, wine and vetiver? This would have been a perfect blend had the vetiver just stayed the hell away. So sad now... Rating: + (one mark better than neutral because it smelled so good at first)

In the Imp: In a word - Smoky. Yum. Wet: This is like the best incense ever. Smoky, woodsy, sweet, sharp, green and deep; all those things. Dry: Age just melds the notes together even more. It doesn't seem to lose any depth or smokiness. This is resinous delight! To me it's oh so sexy, and at the same time comforting. Throw: Pretty good, but its strength is in the fact that it lasts for hour upon hour. Overall: I love this one so much I gave it to a friend of mine who loves incensy perfumes. (If you love it let it go?) It has her favorite incense in it already - Nag Champa. I am going to endeavor to buy a bottle of my own. Rating: ++

In the Imp: Pleather and amber. So basically warm, yet fake. Wet: Pleather Rawr! To me this just isn't as nice a leather smell as I had hoped. Maybe my skin chemistry doesn't work with this leather boquet? It's just a little more plastic-y smelling than the dead cow wonderfulness of the Wilson's store at the mall. Dry: Sadly the plastic smell still lingers even over thirty minutes later, more like pleather. The other three notes are either very much hidden by the plastic or so well blended that I can't tell them apart. The blend does tend to get a sense of warmth the longer I wear it; not unlike skin that's been smacked red with a good leather covered paddle? oh yeah... Throw: Pretty good throw. It might border on overpowering for the wearer, but not so much for anyone else nearby. Overall: I really, really, really wanted this one to work on me. I need a good "your looking for a right smacked bottom" scent! *lol* Alas, the leather that BPAL uses, I suspect it doesn't like me much. The plasticy leather note does eventually die off, but not for at least two hours. Afterwards it's all warm, musky and deep, but much lighter a scent then it started out to be. A bit of a redeeming value, but likely not enough to keep around. Rating: -

In the Imp: Sweet fruit with a hint of grounding supplied by the amber. Wet: Juicy Fruit gum! I can catch just a hint of something more earthy, must be the amber. Dry: It's still very fruity, but teh lotus gets a bit stronger and gives it a bit of a watery feel. Thirty or so minutes ito the wear and it smells like juicy fruit gum that's been chewed for thirty minutes. Ugh. Throw: All showy at first, but fades really fast. Overall: I don't know what to say about this blend. At first it's all sweet fruits, but it quickly waters down. It ends so light, even the amber doesn't stick around (amber usually goes totally powdery on me), all that's left is a sweet hint of lotus. Rating: +/- (neutral)

In the Imp: Smells just like my lemon verbena plants. Wet: Lemon Pledge cleaner, jasmine and Neroli often smells this way to me, only this cleaner has just a hint of herbs. Dry: The jasmine tones down a bit and the blend gets a bit more powdery. After only thirty minutes it's nearly all faint greeness and a bit of herbs; all the lemon and jasmine are gone, gone, gone. Throw: Eh, and it fades quick too. Overall: For those who like light citrus and green scents, this is perfect. It has a nearly overwhelming lemony scent at first, but then settles into a ghostly presence on the shin; barely there green tea and verbena. Alas, alack, this is not for me. Rating: +/- (neutral)

A decadent, deep perfume, lusty and luxuriant. The scent evokes images of velvet-lined Old West cathouses, tightly laced corsets, rustling petticoats and coquettish snarls of pleasure. Bawdy plum with amaretto, burgundy wine and black currant. In the Imp: Very sweet. Black cherries? Wet: Wet, sweet, dark plums and currants, with maybe a hint of musk, or vanilla. Must be the almond in the amaretto that smells that way to me. Dry: Still sweet, still smells like cherries to me, still musky. This blend is staying very true from bottle all the way through the wear cycle. Throw: Pretty good, on a scale of 1-10, I'd say it's a 7 or 8. Overall: A very sweet yet sensual oil. Lovely, sexy, slinky, and edible. It's kind of like an alcoholic drink that doesn't taste the least bit alcoholic, but more like a forbidden dessert. The best part? Eight plus hours and it's still hanging around!

In the Imp: Dark, swarthy, and sweet. In two words: Dirty Sexy. Wet: Mostly patchouli and orange blossom, I don't really detect the spicy ginger at all. Dry: Still no ginger, still all patchouli-dirtiness and orange-sweetness. Throw: This is pretty damn strong, but I guess no stronger than patchouli typically is itself. Overall: I'm just not fond of the combination of patchouli and orange. I like patchouli, and I like orange blossom, just not together. The mixture actually upsets my stomach a bit.

In the Imp: Slightly sweet, airy floral. Smells like peony to me. Wet: Sharp bit of lavender and clean woods. Still very airy feeling. I think I detect rosewood or maybe cedar here... Dry: Still sharp and clean, but more and more has a scent of greeness. This is very much a "clean scent", but has bits of woodsy and floral and green along with it. Throw: Really quite a good bit of throw. Overall: This is lovely. I have a love for all things lavender (but only the EO or other natural lavenders, the fake lavender scents are the worst), and so this just seems to me to be lavender plus plus. I typically like woodsy notes, and if this does contain rosewood it's right up my alley. Unfortunately, the strangest thing happened with this blend. It was strong for about an hour and then it just up vanished completely. Weirdest thing. This would make a great bedtime scent, and this would solve the body chemistry making it disappear problem.

In the Imp: Very light and lightly sweet. Like sugary water really. Wet: Very feminine, sweet and light, almost sparkling. This would be perfect for little girls, in fact it reminds me of afternoons spent playing tea party. Dry: I really like this, but it is so light, so pale, as to be nearly missable, even with my nose attached to my wrist. Then it only lasts about an hour. Throw: Nearly non-existant. Overall: It's a sweet, very pure and innocent perfume; and while I do like it and appreciate it for that scent it evokes, I don't think I'll wear ir much. Also it's just a touch too light. Maybe if it were mixed with something else it might work better for me.

In the Imp: Soapy and powdery. Wet: Seems very masculine, yet it's very, very soapy smelling. Manly soap? There is a bit of floweriness, possibly carnation like someone else has mentioned. Dry: Still soapy/floral. Throw: So-so. Overall: I expected something very much different than this turned out to be. There really isn't any hint of fire to this blend. No heat, no smoke, it doesn't even seem "red" to me, just soapy and slightly spicy floral. The longer it stays on the more powdery it becomes. To the swap pile with thee!

In the past I always used rubbing alcohol, but usually all it did was lighten up the smell of the oil, not remove it completely. It's convenient for artificially aging the oils, if you don't want to wait the three hours it often takes for an oil to mature in scent. So just awhile ago I tried the lemon juice and salt trick. Success!

In the Imp: Toasted coconut and tropical fruits. Wet: The coconut is slight and the fruits are more powerful, but overall it's rather difficult to pick out individual notes. Dry: There seems to be a note of tobacco coming out at first drydown, then a bit of cocoa comes out to play with some greenery. About an hour past first applying this one I finally get a bit of the fig scent I love so much! Throw: Great throw. I could smell it occasionally while riding in a car with all the windows open. Overall: A wonderful blend. I don't know why I initially parted with this imp and gave it away so quickly. I think the coconut scent straight from the imp turned me off. So glad I tried it again! It is very tropical smelling overall, and a bit sweet and foodie, but I love it. The ingredients work so well together, and in the end it's just a nice mellow sweetish sandlewood. Perfect.

In the Imp: Very lightly floral; airy quality. It also seems somewhat lemony. Wet: It smells like candy! Then the sweet candy stops, and it's Gardenia City. Dry: This goes dry really quickly and loses a lot of it's sweet power fast. After only 30 minutes or so it's a rather subdued vanilla-honey, sweet apricot-orange, gardenia boquet. Lovely. Throw: Oh, how I wish the throw was better and lasted longer. Overall: Beautiful and masterfully blended scent, but lacks staying power on me. Which is so so so sad, as I could see this being a top five scent otherwise.

In the Imp: Very sharp smelling, piercing even. I assume from the nose tingly green-type smell it's the juniper and bergamot. Wet: Holy Crap! Just too sharp and strong. I'd almost call this obnoxious. The bergamot, juniper and patchouli are most noticible, the orchid and musk are a little too timid for the other three I think. Dry: I had to artificially dry this blend down with some alcohol, it was entirely too intense for too long on me. Almost fifteen minutes after the application of said alcohol the smell is lessened a bit and the orchid and musk are taking on a bit more stength. Throw: Jumpin' Jehosephat, this will knock you down with its throw! Overall: I think this blend is just too strong and ultimately too masculine for me. I can't say I'd really even like to smell this on a guy either. The strength of it might just remind me of those guys you run into that smell like they've bathed in cologne. *ick*

The scent of warm, glowing jack o’lanterns on a warm autumn night: true Halloween pumpkin, spiced with nutmeg, glowing peach and murky clove. In the Imp: Uber pumpkin! Wet: Very much a 'fall-time in the kitchen' scent. It smells like baked good with pumpkin, spices and lots of sugar and butter. In fact the butter smell is rather promenent for a bit in the wet phase. Dry: The sweetness is still there but it's not overpowering. At this stage it smells most like pumpkin and ginger cookies. The smallest hint of peach is there too. Then a little later on it starts to smell like coconut. Which is weird, since there isn't any in this blend. Throw: Surprisingly little for such a foodie scent. For some reason I think food scents should be stronger (probably because they usually end up being such and tend towards the overwhelming on me). Overall: I do love peach and spice and even fall-time scents, but I am not one of those that like to smell like pumpkin. While baked goods smell doesn't appeal to me either the cookie/pie smell of this one isn't too bad overall. I think this blend would be best used as a fall-time room scent. My house would be totally yummy if I put some of this in the oil burner.