themeaningofV

Received a very aged imp in a trade. I was so looking forward to this, since I usually like "dark" scents and vetiver. Reading the reviews, I see mentions of civet -- that's okay, since Debauchery has civet and that works on me. Alas. This scared me even sniffing the vial -- SO. MUCH. MUSK. And when I put it on... well, how can I put this? It reminds me of a sweaty Port-a-Potty. It dries down to an icky powder scent. I had to use the scrubby soap for this one. While I'm glad I finally got to try this one, and it was cool to see an imp with the old-style logo, it's not for me. Into the swap bag with you!

Initial application is MINT! MINT MINTY MINT MINT, with an undertone of something herbal. But when the mint all burns off, I am left with the best New Age shop smell - like warm, sweet burning grass. This was my surprise favorite of my Song of Nature decants.

I was very generously frimped a decant of this from joyfulgirl, and wow, this is ASTOUNDING. I sniffed it when I was nowhere near a note list, so at first I thought I was getting wine. When I put it on, it absolutely BLOSSOMED into a gorgeous mix of roses, Spanish moss, and earth - I fell in love with the Lab's earth notes from the moment I tried on Nosferatu, and I always jump at the chance to try it again. It remains an elegant, refined, almost mournful scent and ends as dust a few hours later. A wonderful experience.

This is like... a lighter version of some of my favorite vetiver/patchouli combo scents (Death Adder, Great He-Goat), but with a nice citrus kick that makes it stand out. It's very green and earthy, but not overwhelmingly filthy. The drydown is phenomenal. I can't say for sure whether I'll get a bottle or not, but I'm glad I got a decant.

I was worried because of the STRONG honeyed-wine notes from the vial (almost sickly), but those burned off on me immediately. It was mostly myrrh for a few minutes, and now it's... potatoes. Yeah. I don't get it, either.

Today was one of those testing days that were not-good (one turned plasticky, the other into Play-Doh)... so to brighten my mood, I will try this, which I have no expectations whatsoever for! I was going to save this for last because it was naughty and decided to leak in my imp box, but fuggit - THE TIME FOR WRATH IS NOW. This was a frimp from joyfulgirl, btw. Thank yooooou! /opens imp In imp: Spice rack FROM HELL, more savory than sweet. Reminds me of a sauce more than anything else. This is pretty bizarre. (In retrospect, I think I'm amping/amped the pepper.) Wet, on skin: Good news: I have not randomly developed a cinnamon allergy. It's still strange and vegetable-like. Dragon's Hide is one of my faves, so why isn't the dragon's blood in here behaving? Dry: The cinnamon finally comes out and makes a difference - a HUGE difference. I'm not sure if I'd wear it, but... um... actually this is kinda sexy. I'm starting to get the Red Hots comparisons - this is actually getting BETTER the more it dries, so I hope it holds up! VERDICT: Into the like/retest pile... er... mentally, due to its oily status. Saved. FOR NOW.

This is the first BPAL I've tried that well and truly turned to Play-Doh on me. It was SO NICE for the first few hours, too! Waahhh.

I wanted this EVER since I read the description, and now that I finally have a decant, I am so glad somebody snagged the last bottle on Etsy before I did. Sometimes, this is exactly like the smell of rain striking the pavement on a hot day, with a hint of faraway incense wafting on the breeze. Unfortunately, the rest of the time... it's soap. Heartbreaking.

I checked this out because it was a sweet blend with vetiver in it, and oddly enough, vetiver is the one note I'm not getting. But that's okay, because this is otherwise UNNGHASDFDSAFSD -thud-. The cherry note stays, which pleases me IMMENSELY, because my first cherry blend (Queen of Hearts :'() got eaten in an instant. I also get the wine, the clove, the honey, the vanilla, and what amazes me most is that it all plays nicely together. Nothing is screaming over the other notes; this is smooth and sexy the whole way through. I didn't know I had an Inner Vamp until I tried this one. This makes me want to dress up in leather and pop on some bright ol' red lipstick. Decadent, somewhat obscene, and should probably be illegal. If this continues to be good when I wear it other days, this'll be a bottle for sure.

This was a total whim purchase for me, having not been interested until I saw it in somebody's Sales thread while looking for something else, but I'm glad I'm decided to go for it. The stars of skin chemistry were in perfect alignment today, because I kept sniffing myself and smiling all day long. Starts off wet as mostly sweet rose, then slowly morphs into the most WONDERFUL sweet rose/whipped cream scent. The strawberry's there if I look for it, but it's not overpowering at all. I will gladly go through my decant and may even hunt down a bottle. I LOVE LOVE.

Starts off MUCH sweeter than I thought it'd be, very tart and powdery. Reminds me of apple chips or apple rings - sweet and chewy. It stays fairly sweet on the skin, but then the resins come out to add some depth. At this point, it actually becomes a bit dark, and it smells WONDERFUL. I will note that it left a pretty obvious red blotch where I swiped the imp wand, though there's no itching or pain. If I re-test and wind up with the same results, I'll forgo hunting down a bottle, since that's a bit worrying. :/ It's a shame it's doing that, since this is definitely one of my favorites so far!

For the first few moments, this is wonderful - it's fruity and happy-making and fun. In the decant, it was fantastic. I put it on my skin; still pretty great, not too different... And then, everything went HORRIBLY WRONG. Under the surface of the fruits lies something... not-good. Sour and acrid, like something left out to rot for a while. Are those the florals? The Snake Oil? I thought SO was all right on me when I tried it. Why is it doing this?! I was having such a good run with the Carnaval. Poo. I'll definitely retest this, since I was looking forward to this so much. But for now, I think I need to wash this off. :/ So bummed!

Testing this out again after a month to compare with Lucifer (both woodsy figgy scents). This is really nice out of the imp, and the wet stage is GORGEOUS - I get a bit of everything, really well blended! It's woodsy, slightly sweet, and calming. And then it EXPLODES into tamarind. Really pungent tamarind... with a bit of fig, lavender, and rosemary. This was in my "like/retest" baggie, but I think I'll either swap this out or give it to a friend - it's pretty overwhelming and I just can't see myself wearing this very often.

First impression: Wooo-wee, that's gin all right! The citrus is very faint. Wet on skin: Immediately upon hitting the skin, the tangerine comes out. It's then beaten back into submission by the gin. Throw is minimal, I have to sniff very close to my wrist to smell it. Dry: There was a moment of lovely fruitiness, but now it's mostly gin again. Still very faint - my skin is threatening to eat it at any time. This was a half-bottle purchase from a forumite, and I'll hang onto this for more testing - it's still great for summer.

I've been testing this imp vigorously since I got it. On some days, this is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I get a burst of apple; the rose behaves itself; and on especially good days, the honey wafts up midday, and I think, "Damn, I smell good." But there have been days on which the whole concoction goes totally sour for a few minutes upon hitting my skin, and it's rather unpleasant to sit through. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it's a bit ech. I learned this the hard way after Two, Five & Seven - the imp smelled SO GOOD that I got a bottle immediately, but ever since, it hardly works anymore. :/ Damn you, rose! I'll keep the imp, but I don't think I'll be getting a bottle soon.

Oh man, I think I know what my next bottle order will include - this fades so quickly on me, but it's SO GOOD. I'm getting perfectly spiced hot apple cider - I can't really pick out individual spices because it's so well-blended (though there might be cinnamon in this, it doesn't seem especially prominent like in the other ones I've tried). It's sort of candle-like on drydown, but not in the same way that Al-Shairan was on me. It's comforting and really, really nice. Actually, you know what? This reminds me more of glögg than apple cider. Yum.

Okay, wow. I smelled this in the imp, thought "huh," and put it away. Today, I dug it out and tested it on the back of my wrist. Yup, SCREAMIN' JASMINE. I promptly set the imp aside, planning to do away with it. Twenty minutes later, I got a waft of something sweet and thought, "What is that amazing smell?" I smelled my wrist... and it's exactly like some of the other reviews said. LEMON POUND CAKE. And the florals have settled down and become... pleasant. What is this, I don't even. I guess I'll hold onto this a bit longer...

Whoa. You get me. That's a superb list, I actually just added a few of those to my ever-growing Excel wishlist. I just found out about Lucifer last night and was heartbroken that I'd never get to try it, but then you posted that it was still available! I've ordered so much perfume in the past few days, though... but if there isn't much left, then... /waffles Thanks for all your help!

All these suggestions sound great, thank you! I had Serpent's Kiss and Goblin in mind -- the honey in the description of Blood Kiss put me off, but since there's so many other notes in that blend, I'll track down an imp anyway. And layering something vetiver-heavy with Snake Oil is giving me a total "duhh" moment, haha. I'll definitely have to try that. Thank you! <3

Reviving this thread to ask... Recently, I've found that I'm somewhat of a vetiver-lover -- I especially like it when it's blended into something sweet to kinda balance it out. Two of my most recent loves are Death Adder and The Great He-Goat, and I won't be able to stock up on one until CD comes back and the other is Salon and seems hard to find. Does anyone have any recs for something similar in the GC catalog? Here are the notes for reference: Death Adder: Snake Oil with vetiver, black coconut, vanilla, and opoponax. The Great He-Goat: Haitian vetiver, Egyptian amber, carnation, black musk, pomegranate, patchouli, and smoked ginger. GC blends with vetiver that I've tried include: Saturnalia, Brimstone, Voodoo, Nephilim, The Caterpillar, Spider, and Anathema.

My eyes! My eyes! This smelled really nice in the vial, but when I applied it it became JASMINE JASMINE JASMINE - I hadn't tried many other scents with jasmine, but I definitely recognized the note from The Caterpillar. It's very herbal and medicinal, and STRONG. I wound up having to wash this off because it started giving me a headache. Oh well, I know a friend who'll love this.

Wow. Wow. I was a bit worried about testing this because of my last failures with one vetiver-heavy blend and one ginger-heavy blend, but this one. THIS ONE. It works so well. It starts off as mostly vetiver, but when it dries, it backs off and the ginger comes through. And then the patchouli. It's dark and earthy, but also smoky and sweet. It's spicy, but never threatens to turn into cheap cologne. If I concentrate, I can make out the pomegranate rounding everything out. This scent is pure sex and makes me terribly weak-kneed. LOVE.

I got this in my Quest for the Perfect Apple Scent. On me, the rose amps liekwhoa, but the lemon and apple are still discernible. It's a bit too bright for me, so I don't reach for it very often, but I apply it whenever I need to wake up RIGHT HERE AND NOW. It's rather good that way.

I'm not getting "masculine" from this at all! When first applied: cinnamon. Cinnamon cinnamon cinnamon. Did I mention cinnamon? But since this was my first cinnamon blend, I was pleased that my skin didn't burn or turn red. Yay! After a while, the violets come peeking through and threaten to turn it into soap. Now? It's back to CINNAMON EVERYWHERE (and some incense). I keep getting wafts of it even when my hand is nowhere near my face. I think I'd like this if it were a soap, but I'm not sure how I feel about wearing it -- the CINNAMON makes it a tad too foody for my tastes. To Google!

Started off as a very powerful rose scent with a hint of darkness. Sweet, very feminine, something that a strong, confident woman would probably wear. After an hour and a powdery phase, it's pure incense. All the rose is gone. How strange.