catrinella

Imp: Clean wet greenery. Oddly, it's not floral at all to my nose. More ferns than flowers. Wet: The tea rose is strong, although there's definitely violet in it. More muted than, say, Nocturne, but the violet and rose notes are obvious now. Drydown: Interesting - I know there's violet and rose here, but it's blended to the point where I can't pick one over the other. Clean floral, almost saucy, but not overwhelming. 1 hour: Much softer, but still the clean violet/rose blend. It's incredibly feminine, as expected. 3 hours: Very, very faint violet. Verdict: It's less knock-you-on-the-head violet than Nocturne, but it's a bit girly for me. I'll use the imp but not search for more.

Imp: Green and herby with almost a vetiver tone. No berries. Wet: There's the berry, along with the herbs! Drydown: The herby note continues, but with a layer of berry juice (not crushed berries, but straight juice - odd, but specific to my nose!). It's lighter and fresher than I'd expected. Reminds me of the LUSH Blackberry bathbomb, without the frankincense note. 1 hour: Faded a lot. It's gentle and soft, about the level of a scented lotion. The herby/berry notes haven't changed since the drydown - it's remarkably consistent. Verdict: I haven't had good luck with Lab fruit-based oils (Carnal, Swank, etc.), so I was delighted to get a berry note that didn't immediately turn to scented candle or candy. The fast fade was somewhat disappointing, but I think I'm going to add this imp to unscented lotion or bodywash and enjoy it that way.

Imp: Calla lily warmed by cedar. It's gentler and more floral than I'd expect from the description. Wet: Cedar and black orchid, warm and blended with a hint of lily. It's austere without being unfriendly. Drydown: Mmm, it's shifted to lemon grounded by the wood. I can see how this lemon could turn artificial or soapy on some, but it's (lucky for me) clean and juicy here. 1 hour: Mostly cedar with a subtle hint of lemon. Lovely. 3 hours: Gentle cedar/citrus. It's softened quite a bit although it's definitely not girly. Verdict: LOVE. All the shifts in scent worked for me, and the final cedar is comforting and energizing. I got a lot done while wearing this, even with the breaks to sniff my wrists! Will use up the imp and probably buy a bottle.

Imp: Musk with an undertone of sandalwood. Warm without being sweet. Wet: White musk and vetiver, but surrounded with wood. Remote without being austere. Love this. Drydown: The musk is in the forefront - I am waiting for the woods to come back and for amber to show up. There's a high white floral note to this as well. Right now, expensive commercial perfume. Doesn't smell like Samael at all. 1 hour: Musky with a distinct powdery edge. On me, it's very much an expensive perfume for someone in her 60s (and I'm not quite there yet ) Also, it's making me sneeze! 3 hours: Muted musk. Verdict: I'm not sure what happened here. Amber and sandalwood are reliable on me, but the musk and florals jumped all over them. Not for me.

Imp: Greens and calla with a warm base, probably the sandalwood. Wet: Ooh, rose! That wasn't in the imp. I expect it to disappear soon as my skin is frighteningly efficient at eating rose. Drydown: The sandalwood and frankincense has come up to mingle with the fading rose. At this stage, it does smell like a complex commercial perfume, although I don't have a problem with that. 1 hour: Rose and strong sandalwood. It's still throwing quite a bit, although I applied very little. 3 hours: Faded a bit but still obvious. It's now sandalwood with a warm frankincense undertone, which I like a lot. Verdict: Unsure. I can get the warm wood notes elsewhere without the hour or so of commercial perfume, but I do like it even in that phase. I'll put this in the "try again" pile.

Imp: Leather and burning leaves. Wet: Stronger leather and burning leaves, with an underlay of shoe polish still in its can (which actually fits with the leather, so that's not necessarily a complaint except that it's a wee bit chemical). Drydown: At the start, it was very like my Doc Martens after polishing - heavy black leather that's cared for. By about 20 minutes, the smoke came up again, shifting between burning leaves and unattended cigarette. At 30 minutes, the scent level dropped dramatically and it smelt of my Docs again. 1 hour: Faint black leather and smoke. It reminds me of the way a leather jacket smells after a long night in a smoky bar. 3 hours: Very faded, but still smoky bar. Verdict: Not for me. Without the smoke note, it might have worked, but De Sade on me turns out to be all about the smoke and not much about the leather. Edited to add that I had a skin reaction to something in this, bringing up small hives over the application area. Will definitely be swapping it now.

Imp: Lavender and lilac with something almost minty hinting underneath. Wet: Restrained lavender with a wee bit of citrusy musk coming up. Drydown: The citrus is sharpening, and it's starting to smell a bit medicinal. 1 hour: It went soapy/cleaning product - an expensive soap, but soapy nonetheless. 3 hours: Very faded and smelling a bit like the lingering scent of hospital antibacterial handwash, of all things. Verdict: I am really bummed by this. Villain had been near the top of my to-try list for months because it has all the notes I love. I still like Beth's "masculine" scents the best, but alas! Villain and I were not meant to be.

Imp: Cedar, but with a bitter edge. Wet: Sage. This is a hit-or-miss BPAL note for me (love it in Antony, hate it in Aeval). We'll see. Drydown: Ooooh, cedar coming in strong. This is bouncing between sage and cedar, though toward about 30 minutes the bay leaf is coming up. 1 hour: Cedar with an undertone of bay. Very woody and dry, which I happen to like. 3 hours: Still cedar, but softened and with an edge of sage and bay again. Verdict: Keeper. Austere, but appealing - I love Beth's masculine scents, and this is like Antony's stern uncle.

Imp: Cocoa. Wet: Cocoa and flowers. Drydown: The cocoa dissipates rather quickly, while patchouli and leather show up. This is a less-harsh leather than, say, Whip, and it blends quite well. During the first 30 minutes, patchouli and myrrh waft in and out over the leather. 1 hour: Primarily myrrh/leather. 3 hours: Faded, light myrrh. Verdict: Try again. It's nice but I'm not sure it's in my top five.

Imp: Spicy with a bit of green, but a dry-green if that makes sense, not a lush vegetal green. Wet: Cinnamon and nutmeg, with the almost bitter dusty edge of cinnamon bark that I got in Bengal. Drydown: It's sweetening up a bit - still quite spicy and woody but with some florals coming in (light/white floral, nothing heavy). There's also a distinct whiff of Golden Delicious apple, an echo of Hesperides without being too sweet. 1 hour: Very quiet and woody. It changes between cinnamon and a drier wood, but it's basically a second-skin scent now. 3 hours: Faded. Verdict: Keeper. Although there are heavy and sweet elements, Hamadryad stayed dry and crisp, and not overwhelming or foody in any way. It's a complicated unusual scent that I really like, even with the early fade.

Imp: Clean and white, with a whiff of ozone. Wet: White floral - not quite the plumeria others have gotten, but floral. Drydown: Laundry softener. It's not quite soapy and not quite as chemical as Downy, but it definitely smells like laundry. 1 hour: Light and clean and not perfumey at all. Still smells like laundry. Verdict: Not so much as a skin scent. However, in this current heat wave, I'd consider cutting this with alcohol and making an atomizer spray to keep in the icebox. It does smell like laundry, enough so that it seems redundant next to freshly-washed clothing. Possibly a linen spray - if I want cold white floral, I'm more likely to wear Szepasszony.

Imp: Citrus and tea. Wet: Very, very lemon. Almost verging on furniture polish but not quite. Drydown: The lemon remains strong for about 20 minutes, then the tea shows up. 1 hour: Some warm brown suede has appeared (not harsh black leather), and the bergamot/lemon has dissipated a bit. This is lovely but it's starting to fade already. 3 hours: Gone. Sigh. Verdict: Keeper, but a fast fader. I like this well enough to put up with the reapplication, though the initial burst of nearly-chemical lemon is a bit much. It's fresh and cool, as opposed to the warm tea of Dorian.

Imp: Warm sweet tea. Wet: Honey - I almost thought I'd put on O by mistake. Drydown: Vanilla/honey/tea - very nice indeed. After about 10-15 minutes, some musk starts to appear. 1 hour: Warm vanilla/amber/honey with a subtle musky undertone. I like this very much - it's quite understated. 3 hours: The same as before, but much faded. Verdict: Keeper. For me, it's in the same family as O and Chimera, but much softer. I never got the ferny/lavender green note that other people report, nor the lemon. It was just warm vanilla and honey with a bit of amber and a hint of musk. A comforting scent, really.

Imp: Buttery and warm - slightly boozy and very very sweet. Wet: Butter-rum LifeSavers! *gnaws wrist off* Drydown: Something sharp and almost burnt comes up very quickly, accompanied by the odor of cheap rum. I hope this dissipates 'cause I smelled like this in college and don't need it again. 1 hour: The burnt smell (not quite plastic or rubber bands) continues. It's still pretty strong. 2 hours: The burnt smell disappeared rather suddenly, along with the strength of the scent. Now it's just a very quiet butterscotchy smell. Pleasant, if sweet. Verdict: Not for me. I don't generally like foody scents anyway, but the weird ashtrays-and-cheap-rum effect sealed the deal.

Imp: Sweet and spicy, but not particularly cinnamon. Wet: Cinnamon and - is that butter? Ah, it mellows out into copal/amber almost immediately, but for a brief moment I smelled like cinnamon toast. Drydown: Spiced honey/amber - O with an assertive twist. The honeysuckle dissipated almost immediately (yay, I hate honeysuckle's insistent syrupy sweetness) and the myrrh has warmed up. 1 hour: Yummy! Spicy and warm and honeyed. Extremely sexy. The myrrh peeks in and out to ground it. 3 hours: Heresy, but I like this better than O (and that is saying something!). Verdict: Keeper. I put off trying this because the mix of cinnamon and copal sounded a bit intense and possibly allergenic, although my skin likes myrrh a lot. Silly me! Big bottle list.

Imp: Dragon's blood and pine. Wet: Cinnamon. Drydown: The dragon's blood (which is sort of sweet on me) is sweetening up the cinnamon. Wafts of pine, juniper, bayberry mingled in the spicy. Smells like Christmas, which is odd given that it's nearly 90F outside. 1 hour: It's turned to cinnamon chewing gum with that same powdery overtone. Verdict: Room scent, where I hope the conifers and spices would stay true and not turn to gum as my skin chemistry wants them to do. (Also? I really want gingerbread cookies right now.)

Imp: Lemony and crisp with a light woody note. Wet: Vetiver and a bit of lemon rind - very fresh and green. Drydown: The sandalwood comes up fairly early, blending with the vetiver. Toward the end of the drydown a few burnt notes start to waft past. 1 hour: Something burnt and nasty; it smells very much like someone let a clove cigarette burn out unattended, and it's strong enough to make the back of my throat feel weird. After about 30 minutes the burning smell dissipates and the scent returns to a slightly lemony/vetiver sandalwood. 3 hours: Sandalwood with just a hint of vetiver. Soft but distinct. Verdict: Unsure. I like the vetiver/sandalwood blend and the hint of lemon, but the smoldering burnt smell was really offputting while it lasted. As other reviewers have said, this is definitely not a "girly" scent; it's assertive and one of the more masculine BPALs (but I love Beth's "masculine" scents so I'll give this one another chance).

Imp: Spicy cranberry. Yum! Wet: Cranberries, juicy and tart. Very fruity. Drydown: Still the berries, but warming up a bit. The lilies appear at about 20 minutes. 1 hour: Mostly lilies with a hint of musk. The fruit note has disappeared. 2 hours: Faded except for a whiff of lilies once in a while. Verdict: Worth another try but probably better as a room scent if I want the cranberry. BPAL fruit notes take one of two directions on me: sweet fake hard candies, or expensive bodywash/scented candles. The cranberry note here held true a lot longer than I'd expected, but faded within half an hour. After that, Lampades was a lily-based floral. I never got the ginger or anything identifiable as musk. It's nice, and I could see wearing it, but it was not what i expected given the description and other reviews.

Imp: Fruity pomegranate with an ozone-y undertone. Wet: Fruity and sweet. Drydown: Pomegranate and raspberry, nice but synthetic in that expensive-candle or bodywash way. 1 hour: The same. 3 hours: Same, and fading. Almost no change from application. Verdict: Not me for skin wear. As with Carnal, the fruit note would be great in bodywash or shampoo but it smells a bit sweet and fake on my skin. I just don't like smelling like fruit, I guess. Had I gotten anything boozey from this to cut the sweetness, I might feel different - I have Twenty One on my wantlist, so maybe I'll find that note there.

Imp: Light vanilla/floral. Wet: The light sweet jasmine of stephanotis. It's staying where it's put, too. Not a huge throw (one point for Regan). Drydown: As the vanilla comes up, it grows sweeter and thicker. In fact, it smells like vanilla buttercream frosting made at home, just before it's finished. 1 hour: Still buttercream - one whiff is yum, more than that is sugar overdose - but with a dark edge starting to creep out. I get this damp funky smell from tropical flowers like jasmine and orchid, so it's not surprising to get it in this oil. 5 hours: What's left of Regan is a faint whiff of vanilla bean and jasmine. Verdict: Not for me. I'm just not that fond of tropical floral notes (like Sacred Whore), and the vanilla went foody rather than spicy and warm.

Imp: Mossy, green and damp and dark. Vague & mysterious with that "you might not like this, you might, who knows?" vibe. Wet: Musty mosses and an unnerving tickle on my skin. Hope I'm not sensitive to something in this blend. It throws like crazy. Drydown: Jasmine comes up quickly, and that might be carnation tagging along. However, patchouli shows up in workboots quite soon, stomping all over everything else. I hate patchouli as a top-note. This is not so good. 1 hour: This just won't settle down. Patchouli to jasmine to patchouli to jasmine, lather rinse repeat, with a funky mossy green undertone. I had a very brief incense note but it went away. Whoever said "hobbit head shop" was right on the money. 3 hours: Fading patchouli. Still a bit itchy. Verdict: Definitely not for me. I didn't get the heavy incense notes - sandalwood, myrrh, frankincense all work really well on me, but all I got was patchouli and jasmine with the damp moss thing. Trippy like the Caterpillar, yes, but I never did like him that much anyway.

Imp: Salt and lavender and a wisp of wisteria. High and grey and airy. Wet: Lavender and wisteria, braided together (not mixing, but wafting alternately), with that salty tang that's common in Beth's oceanic scents. Gorgeous. I could smell like this forever. Drydown: The musk is coming up, but the lavender is keeping it restrained. White rose has just appeared, and a warm undernote that's the sandalwood (not identifiable, but sandalwood goes warm on me). 1 hour: White musk and nothing else - I could be wearing Body Shop White Musk and not tell the difference. Drat - I was loving this when it was more ethereal and herby/floral. Since musk single-notes give me headaches, I'm going to wash this off in hopes that it at least mutes a bit (my skin amps musk like crazy and the throw has actually built over the past hour rather than diminishing). Verdict: One more try in case it's my skin chemistry acting up, but likely that it's not for me. Something like this without the musk would be fabulous.

Imp: A big bouquet of wet David Austin English roses, the ones specially bred to retain old rose scent. Wet: Rose, but much greener. It's not as sweet as tea rose - still big drooping blooms - but not as overwhelming as in the imp. Throws like crazy, though. I feel like I'm drenched in rose oil. Drydown: The leather is bouncing in and out. It's more suede than the polished black whip-leather I was expecting. Something in this does not agree with my skin, as just under the oil I'm feeling some heat and prickling. At 15 minutes, the leather and rose blend quite well, but then...at 30 minutes, I can't tell whether I'm so overwhelmed by rose that I can't distinguish it any more, or whether Whip's disappearing. 45 minutes: Almost completely gone except for a lingering whiff of face-powder. Verdict: Not for me. I had a similar experience with Ouija, and am starting to think that my skin eats rose in a terrifyingly efficient manner (gobbling up all its friend scents at the same time). With the throw that this had wet, I am astonished at its rapid disappearance. We'll see whether DeSade sticks around longer without the rose note.

Imp: Ozone. Cold and fresh; smells white, but I'm not sure what's doing that yet. Wet: More ozone, and something wet and windy. Drydown: There's something white-floral under the rain-smell, possibly daisies or even lily of the valley? 1 hour: Fresh and ozoney and floral, but doesn't feel warmed by my skin at all. 3 hours: Restrained white floral with an undertone of salt and lemon pith (not peel). Verdict: Meh. I'll hold onto the imp for a while, but I've got a lot of aquatic/ozone imps to work through before I come back to this one. It stayed very impersonal on me with only a little change as it settled in. Distant and unengaged.

Imp: Bright sweetness (I looked up palmarosa and found that it's often compared to geranium oil, which is a fairly good description of what I get in the imp). Wet: Rose, but not the high sweetness of tea rose. A bit earthier - not much, but not girly at all. Drydown: Sandalwood blending in underneath. Throws a bit but not as much as I'd expect. 1 hour: Rose/sandalwood, blended well and almost intoxicating - I'm sniffing my wrists every couple of minutes. 3 hours: Same as before, but much closer to the skin. 8 hours: Still traces on my wrists, mostly sandalwood but with a slightest whiff of rose. Verdict: Unexpectedly, keeper. Just as Carnal wasn't carnal on me, Wanton's not nearly as slutty as I feared (I despise patchouli and am delighted that it didn't show up or that, if it did, it was so blended with the sandalwood all I got from it was heat). Womanly and sensual, Wanton's willing to take her time. For someone slightly more gypsy than me, this would actually work as a day scent, but for me? Bedtime or dates. Definitely not work.