surlygurl

I had purchased a bottle of this unsniffed in the far distant bpal past, long before I was aware of decant circles . Back then it was all "Scary Cherry and his toady Lemon Verbena attacking innocent people with their cardamon/cassia baseball bat & taking their money". So I set it in my swap box & forgot about it. Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. Just on a hunch, I opened the bottle and took a sniff....... In Bottle: Hmmmm......... not quite as scary as I remember it. Kinda warm & soothing. On skin: Cherry & Verbena have grown up and are no longer bullying the neighborhood kids, but they're still not the type I'd invite home to dinner. The spices are no longer weapons grade. They do flare up at first, giving the scent a craft store candle feel, but they melt into they background within minutes. Drydown: Once the spices sink into the background, this turns really pretty. The cherry & verbena, both mellowed by time, come together in a sort of dance. The patchouli & spice provide the background music. It's really quite beautiful. If this were a color, it would be dark red clouds with golden yellow light breaking through in places as well as illuminating the outside edges. Dark & somewhat sinister, yet hopeful. Always hopeful.

When I first put this on today, I was worried - it seemed to have aged strangely. There was a plasticy bit to it, but I knew what was underneath, so I waited. Underneath the fading plastic was a cool, dry sandalwood. I don't smell pine or any other scent; they just exist to modify the original sandalwood. As it dries, the honey comes out. It's like no other bpal honey note. I don't know if it's truly a one of a kind honey or if it's the blending with everything else, but it doesn't turn to funk on my skin. Dry, this ends up just as I remember it - sweet, cooling sandalwood. A summer scent for incense lovers. Verrrryyyy pretty.

Ooh! This is nice! It doesn't morph much on my skin, and I don't know how to describe it except in pictures, so here goes: When it touches my skin, I smell a barely there touch of mint, then lots of purple. I don't know what the purple is - it's not lavender or grape or anything else I can identify. You know the crayola color "purple mountains majesty"? It smells like that, but like that underneath frost crystals. The purple is obscured by / reflected in the ice crystals. It's a very clean, chilly scent. Perfect to wear on a summer morning before the heat kicks in. I shall cherish my decant, and if this makes a return one of these Yules I will gladly grab a bottle!

In the bottle it smells very light to non-existent. On my skin, I first get chamomile & dandelion, which would normally scare me, especially the dandelion. But this is sweeter and not nearly as sharp. Still a little too sharp for my tastes. But as it dries, the sharpness recedes and a sweetness comes into the mix. I'm guessing that it's sage/fig. The individual scents are hard to pick out. Overall, it's a soft, clean, slightly sweet, gently herbal blend. It feels 'clear'. It has aged beautifully and I'm glad I kept the bottle. This will get lots of summer wear.

When I ordered a set of decants, I figured this would go into the swap pile. Silly me! I should know by now to have faith in the strange sounding scents. In the bottle: Chocolate. Not bad scary chocolate, but good quality stuff. And something sweetish. Fresh on: OMG!! This is exactly what I wanted white chocolate, coconut & marshmallows to be! Toasted unsweetened coconut held together by good bittersweet chocolate. This baby sings on my skin! ("Some enchanted evening, you may meet a stranger....") Drying: the coconut gets tired from all that singing & takes a rest while slowly, almost imperceptibly, something else comes out. Probably peanut butter. I don't smell grenadine (I think. Hard to tell). This thing - whatever it is - becomes sort of like the butterscotch woods that I get in aged pinched w/4 aces. But mixed with chocolate & toasted coconut. Overall: eta: There's the grenadine! This scent just keeps morphing.

From the bottle, I don't really smell anytjing. maybe a bit of something, but not much. On my skin, I get powdery dark musk and a certain sweetness, a fruityness. I don't get mandarin, and I get no obvious woods. I think there's a touch of anise that quickly melds into the overall scent. Nothing but the powdery musk stands out. As it dries, I get 3 things - musk, powder & fruit. It's a very close scent, very personal. Very pretty. It reminds me less of a panther and more of dusky skies turning blue/purple before nightfall. It's lovely when first applied, and then I forget about it because it's so soft & close. This is an interesting scent. This could be worn by both an elderly woman and a teenaged girl and smell beautiful on both - there is no "age appropriate" category for this. I'm glad I have a bottle.

This scent has changed drastically since I first bought my decant when it came out. When it was fresh it was all woody coffee with some golden sweetness. Today I put some on and got...... butterscotch? And a bit of coffee, like someone poured a bit of coffee into butterscotch ice cream topping. Much, much sweeter than I remembered it. The woods are there, but they're off in the distance. As it dries, it stayed pretty much the same. The "golden glow" that was part of fresh Pinched comes out after a few hours, but it struggles through the butterscotch. Later on, the woods finally come forward - a bit of wood encircled by a halo of sweetness. The coffee is long gone by this time. This scent lasts & lasts. This would be perfect for a winter's day, sitting curled up by a fire.

Funny you should bring this topic up today! I'm currently wearing Death Adder (Snake Oil with vetiver, black coconut, vanilla, and opoponax). At first it's green swampy vetiver , then that drops into the background after a few minutes, leaving me with coconut vanilla heaven! The vetiver/opoponax just grounds it, giving it an earthy vibe. It doesn't come in imp form, but you could probably find a decant in the sale section if you search .

Fresh on, it's a jumble of jungle blooms & what must be copal. I can't pick out individual floral notes, but it has a lush, tropical jungle feel (as opposed to tropical island feel). The incense blends with the copal to make this a dark, lush blend. As it dries, a creaminess starts to emerge and it lightens up a bit. I never get the orange; on my skin the orange just 'grounds' it in sort of a "here's a familiar smell to keep the scent from being too strange" kind of way. There's no fruit or citrus in this blend. This really is Jungle Blooms. I can picture South American shamans performing a ritual under a full moon, this scent wafting through the scene. It's really lovely. eta: when I lightly reapplied 4 hours later, I could smell some orange, but like a dried orange peel blending with the copal. Very yum.

I second this. It's more earthy, like really good ginger beer. But, yeah.... it's yum.

My decant just arrived! I was wary of this at first (honestly, it wasn't even on my radar until reviews rolled in). Fresh on, it smells like cloves and something like cigarettes sitting in water - that bitter smell. Masculine and a bit harsh. Drying, out came the dust, which somehow strengthened the bitter tobacco. Cloves were still there, but not as loud. At this point I thought "maybe this isn't for me". But...... the bitter got bored & left, *poof*, just like that. The dust cleared & settled. And out came the cloves. Not cloves like Smiling Spider. Cloves like Clove Pinks. Spicy pink florals. Backed up by the same vanilla that's in Tombstone. I think I like this! Dry - Clove pinks & vanilla. Maybe a touch of dust to settle thing, make it a bit earthy. If Tombstone put away his sassafras/cedar and had a baby with Hod, this would be it.

Huh. I never would've thought. i guess I should try Robotic Scarab. Many of you are comparing Antikhyra Mechanism to Glowing Vulva. On me, AM is a little too dark, but Hand of Glory is really close. It's not quite as complex and *glowing*, but they share a soft vanilla wood. Lovely! (Ok, so it's an LE - but it's still available).

She regrets her harsh words, spoken thoughtlessly, which caused a quarrel that divided her from her lover: hyssop, lavender, balsam of Peru, jonquil, and elemi. After reading the scent description up top I had to go back & recheck the decant. Really? Lavender? Herbal? Ummm..... ok. Fresh on my skin, it starts out sharp herbal incense, but with something juicy. I'm so confused The different scents begin to flow into each other and I get Incense, very ripe fruit, and some kind of curry. At this point its pretty but a little scary. As it dries, the curry breaks apart & drifts away, leaving a bitter herb thing mixing with the incense. Closing my eyes, I can see a room with a bowl of very ripe fruit on the table and indian incense burning in the corner of the room. This has aged beautifully and my skin loves it. I've never smelled anything like it!

Penitence CCXX (220) In the bottle, I get caramel or burnt sugar on top of resins. Fresh on the skin, there's a moment of smokey grape motor oil . Luckily, as it has aged, this moment has gotten shorter (the motor oil part, at least). Drying, there's a grape kool-aide vibe paired with the resin, and something floral. Purple smelling flowers? I have no idea what they could be. At this point, the scent smells purpley-brown. Slowly, the grape kool-aide becomes softer and out comes what I think is sweetened coconut creme. The longer the oil dries, the more the purple scent fades & the coconut comes out. Wow. From smokey grape motor oil to pale purple coconut creme. I'm impressed. I was all ready to swap this baby, but I think it needs more 'study' Previously reviewed by fairnymph.

Oh goody! More summer blends! Fresh on, this is MINT! Not a bubble gum mint, but a mint tea filtered through something spicy/herbal - probably the wasabi. The mint is immediately tamed and the scent turns into a clear spring green / jade green scent. As it dries there's a sweetness that comes out, along with a slight soapiness that doesn't last. Eventually it becomes this clean green scent with a slight kick. Then it just fades away..... One the one hand, I'd like a bottle of this so I can slather; on the other hand, do I really want to spend money on a scent that disappears within the hour? Hmmmm......

Since summer is just ahead, I decided to try out my decant..... Wet on: Lemon!! With something kind of plasticy. I don't get musk anywhere. Drying, the lemon fades, and what must be musk comes forward. That plasticy thing is still around. I've never smelled it in a bpal blend before so I can't tell what's causing it. At this stage, it's pretty, polite & a little lemony. But as time goes on, this becomes a second skin scent - no lemon or florals or sugar. I'll definitely keep the decant for when I need a light skin scent, but I don't need a bottle.

Ok, it's time. Time for me to finally review my first bpal love. I purchased this imp in my first pack of imps ears, and it was the only one that I liked. And I still like it. Wet, it's light purple & light green smelling. There's a slight sharpness slithering around (a boyfriend once compared it to chlorine). Not a bad sharpness - just something to let you know it isn't all pretty flowers & herbs. As it dries, the purple & green colored smells overlap and the scent blends into green-blue-purple. I don't smell lime, but I'm guessing that is what is causing the sharpness. Whatever that is, it mellows & becomes a bridge to help merge the mint & lavender. Envy smells really clean, and it has a slight watery feel (to me, at least). This is a scent to be worn on a warm summers day after a shower or a swim. It gives a sense of cool wetness. (And, yes, I'm testing from a 2.5 year old imp )

This blend sat in my swap box for the longest time before I decided to do a retest. I'm glad I did! Fresh on, it's a clean fruit. Not knowing what was in it, I thought "white musk?", but now I think that was the osmanthus. As it starts to dry, the pine comes out, followed by the fruits & blossoms. This is extremely light & pretty. I almost wish I could detect the individual notes like some of the other reviewers. Instead, I get 'pretty', 'gentle', 'girly'. It fades quickly, but the last little bit lingers. Just when I think it's gone, I move my arm and get a tease, like plum / cherry blossoms on a spring breeze.

It looks like CDCXI, but maybe the letters smeared. CDLXI seems more logical. In the bottle: EEEK! Caramel! Run away!!! Wet on my skin: Ummmm..... it's not the dreaded evil caramel after all. More like a burnt sugar. Still very sweet. I can't smell the snake oil. At this point, I'm disappointed. As it dries, I'm getting a bit of spice. Cinnamon? Light cinnamon. Cassia? Just enough to give it a Cinnabon vibe with extra sugar. And I think the Snake Oil is coming out of hiding. It smells kinda pretty. I've never tried Sugar Skull, but I hear there's a burnt sugar in that. This might be the same stuff. In my mind's eye, this has a tan / nut brown color. This isn't a Snake Oil blended with other stuff scent; it is SO infused with other stuff. Cinnabons, to be precise. After it dries, I get these yummy wafts of sweetness from my wrist. I'll have to age this, see how it goes.

I put this on this morning for the first time since I got the decant. Wet, it smell like amber-orange blossom. Not very complex, but pretty. Age has made this less sharp. As it dries, the scent blossoms into something much lovelier than I remember. It's sweet but not, incensy but not, floral but not. And there's a background of vanilla somewhere there. All in all, it smells like Super Sexy Orange-Creamsicle Incense

Trying this one for only the second time since it arrived, I was delighted at how light it was. If scent had a color it would be light blue, to start. Soft watery florals, slightly astringent from..... herbs? Juniper and Bay make it feel 'clear' while grounding it. The soft florals are so pretty! As it dries, the 'color' of the scent becomes greenish blue - from the herbs - and a bit more astringent. Then, as soon as I realized the complexity of this scent, it became soft, sweet, 'clear' pale blue once again. Then it just fades away. It's a very pretty scent. It'll definitely get play this summer!

When I first bought this, I was really disappointed. Ozone / aquatic sharp scents aren't my style. But I tried it last night, just to see how it aged. Fresh on: Is that mint? Like spearmint gum, just a little bit? And light florals, but I can't tell which ones. It's slightly sweet and very clean smelling. Drydown: The minty gum smell fades away and leaves a clean sweet floral aquatic(!). I'm assuming the floral is wisteria. Clean & sweet are the 2 words that stick. What does it remind me of.....? Something. Dry: It's still a clean, sweet aquatic, but there's a fruityness to it (the pomegranite, I guess). I don't know where the anise, myrrh or any of the darker notes are. It's a pretty blend, good for warm weather. Then I knew what it reminded me of: scented laundry detergent. Yup. But really good laundry detergent - the kind where you'd buy the detergent, fabric softener and maybe dryer sheets in that scent because it smells so clean & pretty. I'm definitely putting it in my "aquatic" rotation for hot weather. I just have to remember to apply lightly.

277 In the bottle: uhhhh... mint? Green plants? Soft florals? Honey..... On my skin: No mint. Floral - a little bit - but herbal, too. Sort of like flowering herbs. The honey note is faint in this; it's really about the flowering herbs that the honey is made from (in theory). I'll have to try it again when the bottle recovers from its travels. As it stands now, it's pretty but gives me a headache

CVII In the bottle, sweet myrrh and orange...... oil? Zest? On the skin, the sweetness of the myrrh mellows the orange (or mandarin, or whatever). The fruit isn't citrusy or bitter; it even smells floral at times - like orange blossoms. This is a beautiful scent. I don't get the frankincense, but the myrrh & "citrus" meld together beautifully. Almost like a love child of Bakenako & Priala, but without the spices.

This was the first one I tried when I got my decants... sniffs decant - "Hmmmm" applied - "Oooh!!" *peels of laughter* "This is so F*cked!" (thinking of my poor wallet) Ahem. Second try, to see if it's still as good. Fresh on: juicy fruit, incense, and something.... interesting. Drydown: the blackberry & orange blossom come forth as a lovely fruity floral, innocent like 2 children holding hands. The red sandelwood gives a sort of head shoppy vibe, but cleaner - like a headshop that plays christian rock (or something similar). But what my nose keeps hunting for is the amber mint. Amber mint? Yes. I don't catch MINT, but there is something elusive & gorgeous bridging the innocent fruit & the headshop. As it dries, everything blends into what would be a generic fruity floral if it weren't for the amber mint. It's sharp & smooth at the same time. Haunting. I hope amber mint gets more use in the future, because it's unique. Bottle. Oh yes.