Galatea

In the Imp: Clean linens and a cup of tea. This strikes me as so typically Victorian British; the scent of taking tea in the solarium on newly washed linen tableclothes. Wet: Ahhhhhhh...relaxing. Just sweet enough, but not foodie or candyish. The tea, linen and vanilla are most prominent, the honey is more a sweet hint of a note than a full embodiment of honey. Dry: It goes through phases of being more of a clean linen scent, and then wams up to be mostly ginger, vanilla and honey. Very lovely, and still relaxing. The best i can do to explain it is this: comfortable yet sexy. Throw: Surprisingly good, a lot of the milky/clean/tea smells from bpal don't seem to have much throw to them, at least when on me. This one does. Overall: This is hands-down one of the best "clean scent" perfumes i've ever tried. Too many clean scents tend to be too much like laundry detergent for my tastes, but this has the hints of spicy ginger, and the warmth of vanilla and tea to make it something sooo much better smelling than just mere laundry detergent. (in fact i don't even use scented detergent any longer, most of them are too perfumey and just a little too too much to me.)

In the Imp: Beautiful, airy, white and clean. Wet: It smells of magnolias and clean laundry to me (or maybe that's because I'm doing laundry right now?). Must be the combination of violets and tuberose that smell like that to my nose. Dry: The lilac comes out, but seems a bit, I don't know, musty? I don't tend to like lilac anyhow so it's most likely just a personal preferrance thing. Lilacs always smell "grandmothery" or like an over perfumed bathroom to me. Throw: Eh, not so much with the great amounts of throw. Overall: I think this scent might be lovely, all floral and clean smelling, if made into a room spray or such. Maybe a mixture with alcohol to spray on your pillow - make for some sweet dreams? I just don't like this as a perfume on me.

In the Imp: Sharp, greeness. Somewhat herbal smelling, mostly woodsy and wet. Wet: This is a very simple blend; white roses and mellow-misty green forest smell. I do tend to smell a bit of something I would think is berries, but that just might be the combination of sweet rose scent and the misty wet scent. (berries = sweet and wet) Dry: This stays fairly true to when you first put it on. The only major change I can detect is a slight increase in powdery notes, and a bit of a decrease in the wet smell. I do so wish the wet smell had stuck around a bit longer, I love that part. Throw: Not a high amount of throw kind of perfume. It's subtle and beautiful. Overall: A lovely perfume that is very true to the description. No funky odd smells your not expecting. The only unfortunate thing about the blend is that it gets fairly weak fairly quick. It lasts for awhile after dry down, but it's not a sit next to someone and notice it scent.

In the Imp: Very astringent, sharp. The lavender and chammolie i'd guess. Wet: The lavender is strongest at first, followed closely by the rose otto. I'm not so fond of rose otto, it always smells old and potpourri-like to me. Dry: Oh my, the rose otto is taking over. I can't really smell anything else now. Throw: Pretty good, out of 1-10 i'd say it's about a 7. Overall: Starts too astringent, ends with too much rose. *blech* I'm beginning to despair of ever getting rid of the smell of rose otto out of my nose...

In the Imp: Slightly sweet and hints of cinnamon and a curling whisp of smoke. Wet: Sweet and spicy. Like cinnamon cookies with lots of sugar on top. Snickerdoodles? Very cinnamon-y, I love it! I hope it stays this way. Dry: Well, crap. Only thirty or so minutes into wearing it and the scent's gone all powdery on me. I so wish it had stayed that yummy cinnamon and sugar with smokey autumn leaves smell. Throw: Great at first, but quickly dies off and doesn't have much throw at all. Overall: The constant reapplication it would take to make this smell how I like it would be totally cost, and sanity, prohibitive. Too bad, so sad. Hopefully there is another scent out there now or in the future that smells akin to this blend and will have the spicy, smokiness but with scent-true staying power.

In the Imp: All leather and violets. Odd combination. Wet: The leather has gone plastic-y smelling, and the red wine/merlot is so strong it's drying out my throat! Dry: Still plastic-y smelling but the merlot dries off and the roses make a soft and flowery appearance. Then the violets get overbearing... Throw: Obviously kind of good - my hubby walked into the room 5 minutes after I put it on and asked what smelled like licorice whips. (I kid you not) Overall: You know I'm all for a little fun with Mssrs. S & M, but this blend just doesn't do it for me. I'm pretty sure the scent wasn't supposed to be torturing. Was it? Even though the scent eventually wears down to its nice base musk, it still has that odd plastic note and the combination of roses and violets just don't agree with my nose. This one goes to the swap pile.

In the Imp: Knock your face off, extra-sweet, vanilla cake. Wet: First: Maple Nut Goodies, you know, those candies with peanuts in a maple candy drop? Second: Coconut cum caramel. Dry: Exceedingly sweet, tobacco smoke and high priced bourbon scent. If it were a little less sweet smelling I think I would like it more. The coconut overpowers just a little too much also. Throw: Fairly good. Though it fades a bit fast for my tastes. Overall: I'm actually kind of torn about this one. I like everything in this, but I don't like the overly sweet suntan oil element I get from it for awhile. There could be times when this would be a perfect scent, but I don't think it would be even a weekly wear for me. Strangely enough, for a scent that is so strong at first it doesn't last all that long. About an hour of wear and it's knocked down to this 'nearly unsmellable to anyone but me' perfume.

In the Imp: Fruit Salad! Wet: Wet, sticky; with a hint of musk? This is the ultimate "to wear on a tropical island when I want my husband to nibble on me uncontrollably" scent. Dry: Still wet, fruity and musky smelling only now there are some light flowery notes too. I fear this blend might not have the staying power I'd like. Throw: It's fairly good. I'd stay the throw actually gets better after a little time has passed. It's strongly fruity at first and you'd think that would make for some throw, but it doesn't seem to get it's distance on until the oil's been on for an hour or more. This could bode well for the length of wear. Overall: I really love this, fruity, and just sweet enough without being sickly so. it's so summery and tropical, it goes fantastically with the breezy white skirt I decided to wear today. Plus, it does last a good bit of time! For some strange reason though, it's reminding me of the sachet I bought in Harper's Ferry as a youngin'!

In the Imp: Powerful sweetness! Wet: Cake! Cake! Cake! Dry: It now smells more like the blackberry bourbon buttercream frosting. All sweet and berryish and just a tad alcoholic. Throw: I smell like a candy dish at twenty paces... Overall: While I do like foodie scents, and I don't really mind sweet stuff, I think this is a bit overpowering even for me. Smelling like berries or peaches = good, smelling like cake = not so much. so, what did I do with it? I gave it to my sister-in-law for her birthday! She LOVES it.

In the Imp: Mostly cedar with a bit of waterly lotus. Wet: The cedar really POPS! It usually does this on me. Cedar really likes to take over a blend on my skin. Dry: Whe dry the cedar calms down a bit and the sandlewood really comes to the fore. It doesn't seem so spicy or really very lotus-like at all. As it warms up a bit more I seem to detect a bit of the bark and possibly the saffron...It's very nice at this stage, all warm woods and calming saffron. The longer I wear this more more of the spices come out. They really hide til the very last. Throw: Really great at first (but that could just be how the cedar acts on me), but takes a dramatic drop when the oil heats up the least bit. Overall: This is a really great blend once I get past the screaming cedar part. I need to test this one more to arrive at a final verdict.

In the Imp: Dry and mossy. Wet: Halfway between rootbeer (i guess that is what everyone else is smelling as wintergreen?) and teaberry gum. Weird and strangely strong. Dry: No more rootbeer, now it's mroe flowery and sweet. Almost cutesy smelling to me. A bit powdery too. It's reminding me of a perfume my grandma used to wear. After a couple of hours of wear, it's considerably better. More like the dry woods and flowers it's suppose to be. At first it was just too powdery and rosy smelling. Throw: Not much at all. Overall: It's really odd how much the smell of this changes from wet to dry and from dry to even drier. I've had it on for three hours now and I'd say it's changed about three times at least.

In the Imp: Exceedingly light, like very fine wispy strands of spider's web. Wet: The lightness is still there, but now has an added bit of dustiness to it. Dry: The longer the wear the more it smells a bit like laundry detergent or fabric softner. It's not really a soapy smell per say as much as a clean, just washed, yet slightly flowery emanation. Throw: This has a surprisingly good throw for such a light seeming scent. Overall: I really like this one, but I don't know if it likes me. I got a really bad headache directly after putting it on. This could have been a coincidence, or it could have been an ingredient in the blend that did it. I will have to retest.

In the Imp:The Myrrh and Clove really pop out of the imp at you! Wet: This blend really works well together, while i can pick out some individual elements, they don't overpower each other. I get the cherry, clove and myrrh the most. the DB really just plays a nice base note here. Dry: The myrrh dies down a bit and the spiciness of the clove and DB really peak up. This mixed with the cherry is my idea of heaven. I love cherries and spice. Throw: Really good throw. The person sitting across from me can't smell it but the person sitting next to me can. Overall: Great mix. It doesn't really evoke "blood" to me, but I love it none the less. Plus it lasts a decent amount of time too! (5-6 hours and still putting off a bit of throw)

In the Imp: Smells dusty at first. Like a dusty attic that had been long shut up. Wet: Warm summer wildflowers with a little powdery old perfume smell in the background. I suppose the flowers is smell is the sweetpea, i'm not liking them much at all. The dusty stuff? Maybe tonka tends to go dusty on me in some blends? Dry: The powder proceeds to get stronger and stronger and the rest of the blend is getting so weak I can barely make it out. I never smelled the sage at all, and I don't get much musk out of it either. Throw: Eh. Overall: Since it seems to only succeed in smelling like an old bottle of powdery old-lady perfume that was long ago forgotten in a dusty attic, I don't think I'll be buying a big bottle.

In the Imp: Very strong and incense-like. Wet: Wow! Strong is right! Strange all I seem to smell is pine and orange. But they seem very-chemical like. Almost as if i sprayed Orange Clean and Pine Sol on my wrists. (why is it sometimes the cedar will be all overpoweringly Pine-like, then other times it will be all mellow and nice?) Dry: The pine dies down just a bit, thank god, and there is a smidge of something smokey and incense-like. Much better now, but I can see how this blend might not be something I would wear much at all. Throw: A friend of mine tried this one tonight. I put one tiny line of oil on his wrist and he rubbed it in. 5 minutes later I could catch whiffs of him from across the room. It's strong stuff. Overall: I just don't think this is for me, the name to me implies something calming and at peace and this blend just doesn't seem that way to my nose.

In the Imp:Somewhat spicy, flowery and milky. It's fairly gentle in strength, and for some reason smell to me like something for babies. Wet: Very odd scent. The spicy floral of the DB is barely there and a powdery-honey scent pervades. It is so light as to almost seem not there at all. Dry: Mostly powder, hardly any of the honey smell is left, but the sweetness lingers a bit. DB is usually a strongish and commanding scent on me, but this just isn't at all. Very weak. Throw: Nearly nill. Overall: With a powdery and light overall smell, and just a hint of DB spice and the honey, I'd say this is well suited to use in baby lotions and the like, but hardly something I will be wearing. Plus, it faded super fast. I've liked all the Ars Draconis blends so far but this one doesn't make the cut, right now...(as i've heard aging it helps alot)

In the Imp: Musky vanilla incense burning on the porch with flowery gardens in the backyard. Wet: Whoa! This smells exactly like this pagany/witchy/new age store in my city! I love the smell of that store! It's a deep dark yet ever so slightly flowery incense smell. Dry: The Gardenia, Musk, Amber and Vanilla mix in the wonderful dance of mellow-smoky-floral goodness. The strength of it wet dies down just enough whilst still staying true. Throw: Great throw. Overall: I love it! Can't you tell? I never thought i'd like a blend with rose in it, as I'm not a fan of rose at all, but in this the rose doesn't seem to peek much more than a sweet-smoky hint into the mix. Unfortunately it all goes rather powdery smelling after only a few hours. That damn amber always does this!

In the Imp: All I can pick out is a bit of sweetness and a bit of smokiness, no definitive smells at all. Wet: BUTTER! RUM? Must be the brown sugar. Smoky bits in the background. It's really much sweeter smelling than I'd thought it would be. Dry: As it dries the Buttered Sugar bath goes away just a hair and is challenged by the pine. Sharp and green. The smoke basically disappears after only 15 minutes. Then eventually the pine goes away too and all that is left is sweet smelling butter with a bit of something 'eh' in the background. Throw: Not impressive really. Like someone else said, for a foodie scent you'd expect more throw. But no, not this one. Overall: Not for me. I like food scents, but not ones that make me smell like butter or baked goods. Worst of all? My hubby said it made me smell like those buttered popcorn jelly belly jellybeans. *ugh* I hate those, and so does he. This one will be going into the 'to be traded' box.

KATHARINA A strong, willful blend with a soft, utterly lovely soul: white musk with a trickle of bright, sharp apricot and orange blossom. In the Imp: Sweet and light apricot/peach. Wet: Very true to the imp. Still a sweet, light, summery apricot, with just a hint of the musk to make it stronger. The orange blossom doesn't do much more than hover a faintly flowery bit in the background. Like an apricot orchard in summer with one single orange tree growing in the midst of it. Dry: Very lovely. The apricot, musk and orange blossom mix so well and work so well together. It's just an epitome of summer fragrance for me, at least as foodie scents go. Throw: Excellant throw. Overall: One of my top ten scents so far (I've only been trying BPAL for a couple of months). It's got pretty good lasting power, excellant throw, and smells like bottled apricots with a great quality light musk. This will be one I will alway recommend to people looking for fruity selections.

In the Imp: All musky figs and currants. A bit sweet, but mostly "earthy". Wet: The Dragon's Blood take top position and the figs and currents add only a bit of sweetness. Dry: DB tones down a bit and the musk picks up to counter it. A nice balance of floral-spiciness and musky earthiness. Unfortuanely my beloved fig doesn't really make much of an appearance to remember through the whole wear time. It's very much a background player in this blend. Throw: Pretty good throw, and it's not all DB screaming throw either. Overall: A very lovely mixture, it'd be even better if it lasted longer. DB mixtures usually hit about the six hour mark on me, but this one fades in only 4 or so on me.

ok, now that you mention them, I remember Eden (didn't like it that much) and Strangler Fig (it's on order), Tweedledum (on order), The Apothacary (on order). Thanks for listing the others too, I'll have to go through my GC file and read about them. I think what i'm looking for most of all is a rather simple scent using fig. Something with two or three notes, something where the fig won't be overpowered by other ingredients. Carnal might be it, but I'm not usually attracted to citrus heavy scents. Gomarrah looks like another good possibility so far.

I was just thinking, while I'm pretty familiar with the GC so far, I don't remember there being many scents that included fig. And I love me some fig... Gimme some fig!

In the Imp: Uber flowery, with just the smallest hint of something dying, moldering. Not unlike Magnolias past their full bloom. Must be the jasmine, it tends to smell this way to me more often than not. Wet: Very flowery still; it swings between light and airy flowers and deep dark chest-crushingly sweet flowers. It also has the old and green thing going on. Old trees? Old money? Just plain old? Dry: The honeysuckle and jasmine blend properly and reign supreme. I really don't smell the lemon or spice at all. Throw: Not terribly much throw, surprisingly enough. The scent stays very close to my body, but when you do smell it - Whoosh! Smack! Thud! Flowers! Overall: I really didn't expect to like this one as much as I do. But I am a pretty bug fan of honeysuckle*, it's just uncommon for a perfume to get honeysuckle right or for it to smell right on me. ________________________________________ *My wedding was bathed in honeysuckle; it was growing all along one fence in the yard my wedding was held in. So it and the smell of it's flowers hold a special place in my life.

In the Imp:Sweet-spicy-slightly floral dragon's blood, with just the barest hint of smokiness. Wet: The dragon's blood is obviously the power note here, but the leather and smoke mix pretty equally and provide a nice secondary milieu. Dry: The leather and smoke seem to get a bit stronger while the dragon's blood takes a bit of a lighter turn, now all three are pretty equally mixed. It's a very lovely flowery-spicy-smoky masquerading around in a leather corset. Throw: Not so sure about the throw, I tested this on the way to and at work today so there are quite a few mitigating scents around (manufacturing business). I will reappy tonight before I go out on my usually tuesday night goings on and edit this with the findings. Overall: So far this is my favorite dragon's blood mixture. The only complaint I have about it is that it doesn't seem to last very long.

In the Imp: Clean and yet, somehow...dangerous. I think the parchment scent is leading the pack here. Wet: Sharp green, with something bitter in it. Not at all what I expected from the ingredients listed. There is a bit of the woodsy note in it, but it's something like a forest at the edge of the property kind of smell; it's a ways off. Dry: The violent green smell calms down a bit and the leather bouquet comes a bit more to the fore. Then the rosewood peeks about the corner, but only peeks. So sad. I love rosewood and hoped it'd be much stronger than this. I don't smell the tonka at all. Whatever incense it is is taking over I think. On the up side, this does smell intensely manly. Maybe my hubby will like it? Throw: On me the throw is pretty damn strong. Overall: So far the period of time it lasts is nice, I wish I really wanted it to last. It's just too manly smelling for me. I thought for sure that since this has leather, tonka and my dear rosewood that it would smell lovelier than it does. Sadly, no.