Dinerdulcinea

Hello! I had the same kinds of questions when I first started. I made a spreadsheet of the notes in each blend as I tried them and then made three other columns that said "AWESOME" "GOOD" "AWFUL" where I could mark blends as I tested. If a blend was awful on me, I added a mark in the column for awful next to EVERY note in the blend. If a blend was awesome on me, I did the same thing for each not in that blend under the SWESOME category. That helped me to determine trends in individual notes. For example, I discovered that as much as I like rose/the idea of rose, most rose blends at BPAL turn nasty on me. I can successfully wear SOME blends that conain rose, but I know that I might want to be leery of them initially and not buy a bunch of blends with rose as a primary note. I hope that idea helps you!

I had a Zombi imp decpitate in the mail the other day, so I sampled it by wiping the vial and bubblewrap on myself... my verdict is: It smells amazing in the ROOM (although less rose-like and more just GORGEOUS and incredibly refreshing)... ...and crappy, indeed, on ME. All I get on me is rose and it turns on me the way a lot of rose seems to. ---But I have the bubblewrap and empty imp sitting on my dining room table and the ROOM smells just like heaven.

I don't know if this will really help you, but Scherezade and Thaleia last all day on me (they get faint, but I can still smell them). Sloth (which is spicy on me) also lasts really well. I would try putting some in your hair in addition to on your body. That might help since you won't sweat ALL the way down the length of your hair, probably. (not sure how long your hair is...) I hope that helps you smell pretty after sports.

Hi! I feel your pain. Snake Oil goes totally baby powdery diaper table on me. I am afraid it my be this particular vanilla, but I am not sure. I LOVE vanilla and it smells great on me in other products. I'll be peeking in on this thread to see what people say.

imp: a sweet spiciness. on wet: same. It smells rich. Dry: this becomes a really RICH, spicy, warm scent. I like it! It would be GREAT in winter. YUMMY! Smells really good on hubby, too. A keeper!!!!

imp: green, sour violets. wet: same dry: it is a bit more spicy now, but there is still the same sour note. I am afraid it may be the violet. I will have to try more violet scents to find out. dry later (about 1 hour): this eventually becomes "pale, spicy violet soap." It eventually loses the sour note, but that is replaced by "soap"---which I also don't want. Nah. When it got to the stage where I could barely smell it at all, a co-worker said "MMMMMM!" ---but I think it is too many icky stages on me to wait for that one.

imp: sweet, tart and spicy at the same time on wet: I am getting a little note of a "perfumey" quality that I am not too fond of. dry: I am still getting that "perfumey" note I don't like. I also get a lovely warmth and spice, but I think that one note is going to keep me from really enjoying this one.

This says it is light, but on me, it is VERY heavy and smells like rotted fruit bubblegum. I have to go wash it off. To the swaps!

imp: great fruit with an edge. Smells like lingonberries...is that the same as currant? (*looks*) No, not related, but this has a currant/lingonberry jam smell to me. yummmmmmm... wet: lovely fruit with two undertones: 1= candy and the second= herbs. I still like it. dry: This does eventually get more of a candy undertone---like smartees or skittles in "currant" flavor...but I still like it. My skin does eat it after a bit, so this will be a slatherer when I use it. It is nice though and will be great for when I want to smell like fruit...which happens!

imp: an effervescent, light peach. It reminds me of peach vanilla Mystic (my favored drink of choice in the early 90's). wet: peach vanilla Mystic with something floral. later: it becomes too heavy of a floral on me later...which is a bummer because I love bergamot on my skin as a single note. DOH!

I am TOTALLY bummed about this one too...it just disappears! imp: light, a little foody wet: very light, a little foody with a hint of baby powder on me. dry: It is funny...I get SO much baby powder on me that Scherezade smells foodier than this to my nose. verdict: what a cryin' shame. It is so very light it is barely smell-able and too powdery. *sigh*

oh dear...this SOOOO did NOT work on me. imp: sweet and sour flowers (interesting) wet: nasty, sour, rotten flowers!!!! BLE! dry: it just keeps getting worse with every minute. I am really bummed about this one because honey and ylang-ylang have been good to me in other blends. Maybe it is the combo of those with the 2 musks (another blend with Arabian musk did bad things on me) and the labdanum? Oh well.

imp: floral sharpness wet: spicy, light floral sweetness dry: sweet spiciness Hubby said "YUCK! Smells like bubblegum or candy." guess that is a no. There were some qualities about it that did not appeal to me either. I am guessing it was the violet and gardenia that went all wonky on me. I tried my first violet scent the other day and it went sour and strange on me. Oh well.

imp: sour, rotten fruit wet: synthetic spoiled fruit dry: a sour, cheap perfume quality on me (the jonquil?). Not for me. Oh well.

imp: bubblegum fruit. wet: soapy bubblegum fruit dry: plastic bubblegum fruit. Verdict: tooooo bubblegum on me. Hubby wrinkled nose and said, "ick." Away, away!

imp: a lovely, spicy fir/pine scent wet: gets even warmer and spicier dry: fades to become very light within 1/2 hour to 45 minutes to become a very faint fir smell. Summary: I love this scent! It is one of the first woodsy scents that didn't go funny on me. Sometimes I just wanna smell like a big ole tree. This will require a little heavier application though. Hubby likes it too and I like it on hubby!

imp: a lovely wood! wet on: cedar....mmmmmm... dry: becomes too medicinal. Hubby doesn't like it either. Oh well.

imp: a little like a cleaning agent. Maybe geranium and rosemary? on wet: like old man...but in a good way. Some kind of man's cologne I recognize. Old Spice? I can't recall anymore. Dry: I let my hubby and my brother smell it and they sang, "byyyyyyy MENNEN!" I guess they think it smells too much like some kind of deoderant product they are familiar with. I thought it was nice, but I have been overruled...guess the hubby won't wear it now.

Nahhhhhhhh...this turns to cheap rose on me (and a very strong one). Methinks I have to be careful with those rose scents. I seem to do well with them if they are in just the right amount in a blend with other things...but I often get "dead rotting rose" or "cheap dimestore rose" when the rose is very strong or by itself. Swaps, awaaaaay!!!

Someone very generous sent this decant as a frimp in my last forum order (thanks!). Sadly, though, on me...Big Red Gum all the way. It smelled FAB (warm and rich) on my sister in law, however, so I gave it to her. Her very first BPAL imp and her very first BPAl test....ahhhhh, let the enabling begin!!!

I get lots of honey in both Thaleia and Eve. Enjoy!

imp:fruity and woody on wet: fruity and woody. Yum! Throw from 1-10 is a 5 dry: This is pretty pleasant! A nice, woody fruit. It is light, but I like it. Throw=7 later: still a very nice, fruity wood. I like it. Throw=7 Summary: I really love the fruit in this. I will keep the imp, but not sure I will buy a bottle just yet (there are a few things I want more).

... Hellebore resembles the wild rose, but does not belong to their family. The scent is a pale green herbal, darkly rooty, with a faint rose and peony-like overtone. imp: woody and green with a hint of floral. Throw from 1-10 is about 5 wet: a very pale floral. Mysterious and beguiling but very faint. Throw from 1-10 is about 4 Dry: This is very faint, but it has turned too classically "floral" on me for me to really like it. And it is the kind of floral I don't like...that watery kind of floral I associate with a kind of pale blue with a hint of green. I love to look at/wear that COLOR, but I don't want to smell like that color. Does that make sense? It reminds me a little bit of a commercial perfume I once tried. I really liked it at first sniff, like this, but then it turned kinda unappealing on me, like this...was it L'EAU D'ISSEY? (I think that is the one it reminds me of.) I think they must have similar floral and wood notes. Throw at this stage from 1-10 is about 7. This is my least favorite stage. Later: It has finally arrived at a nice, rounded, pale, powdery scent---very light. It is pleasant, but not one I think I will want to wear myself. This one is not for me. Throw at this stage is about a 4 or a 3. summary: not a keeper for my tastes.

imp: orange blossom. This reminds me of a perfume I used to have when I was a kid, only this is much nicer (the perfume I had was orange blossom). on wet: oooooo...I like this! I feel MEAN and STRONG! yea! dry: it is a little bit more spicy now. I still really like it. I would not mind smelling like this all day. Dry later: It gets more spicy and faint as the day wears on. verdict: Really neat blend. I will keep the imp, but am not sure I would buy a bottle at this point (if I had to choose between this and some others I like more.)

imp: this is complex. I can't figure it out. There is some kind of strong floral---maybe gardenia (?) maybe lily of the valley (?). wet: this is beguiling and complex still. dry: this becomes more floral but I still find it to be very complex and well-blended. I still have no idea what it really is, but I can say that I like it very much. Has good throw--7 out of 10. Summary: I really like this scent and will keep the imp. As I don't have any bottles at this point, there are a few things in line in front of this one, but it is very nice!