hackess

Imp: Almost minty. There's no mint in this! Wet: Ah, the sweetness comes from the lime, I'd guess. I probably think it's mint because the pine isn't amping like mad but still provides a nice deep greenness. Dry: Resin and patchouli. Painfully incensey.

Bottle: Aw, no. Spilled liquid laundry detergent. Dryer sheets. Fabric softener. Add a lot of heat and some dust and it's my college laundromat days all over again. Wet: Hm, that's better. Lots and lots of ozone. It's still got a very wet smell to it, heavy, like the air just before a huge storm breaks. Underneath, though, it's dry -- the fields waiting for the clouds to let loose the rain. It's definitely similar to Tempest and Lightning. Dry: Still waiting for the ozone to cool down. The aquatics are nice, but the ozone is making my nose itch and the longer the ozone sticks around the more I think it smells like detergent.

Imp: I haven't looked at the scent description yet. There's something lemony in here. It could be the BPAL snow blend, though it's much more pungent than usual. Wet: Pine boughs, lemony snow, and a hint of some kind of wood shavings. Cedar? Dry: Wow, the pine backs way off and the lemon becomes much richer, darker, almost resiny. It's still not something I'd wear, because it reminds me of the cleaning solution the elementary school janitor used and it's burning my eyes. Yeah, this has to come off.

Imp: Nondescript. I can't pick anything out of it. Wet: It's almost fruity! Very pretty - tiny blossoms and a sharp green note underneath -- freshly cut grass? Dry: Something almost like incense. It feels like a ritual (this is a strange reaction for me to have to a scent). A very creamy, smooth floral; not too sharp or perfumed. Not bad, but not my thing.

Bottle: Slightly sweet, but a little acrid as well. Like berry-flavored cough syrup. Wet: Ever have those Halls Strawberry Vitamin C drops? Yeah. That's what this smells like on me. Thus far, I'm not impressed. Dry: The strawberry stays dominant all through this scent's lifetime. The creaminess comes out in the drydown, almost souring the sweet berry. It's not a horrible scent, but it's not one I'd find myself wanting to wear -- the fruit smells fake, too much like bathroom deodorizer or Japanese candies.

When I'd ordered this one weeks ago, I thought I was getting an imp of 2007, but this one smells entirely of strawberry fluff in the imp, so it must be 2005. (I later got a bottle of '07, so I know the difference.) Wet: Daffodils and strawberry syrup, the kind Hershey's makes to mix with milk. It's pretty and springy, but starts to smell of celery(!) as it dries. Dry: Celery. No more strawberries. No more spring flowers. Just celery. I'm very confused as to how my skin morphed things like phlox and osmanthus into a green pseudo-vegetable. 20 minutes later, the celery's worn off and my skin smells very lightly of tulips!

Imp: Light ozone over musk. One my dad wears. It's his cologne with floral top notes. I'm suddenly wistful. Wet: Gods, yes, this is my dad's scent. Clean Dial soap, a little bit of Old Spice, and white musk. I wish I remembered what cologne he wears. Dry: I'm nearly crying. My dad's got MS and had an episode just before Christmas. It screwed with his memory capacity, among other things, and my mom's taking the change pretty hard. This scent is my father, like he's right there and I'm hugging him. I don't know if I can wear this and I know I'm doing this review no justice by keeping it all to my personal emotional response. Your mileage WILL vary.

Imp: Creamy milk chocolate. Wet: Ack! That sickening smell of too much melted bittersweet chocolate. It's briefly overpowering but I'm giving it a little time to mellow. Dry: It got a little better. I have this cocoa butter lotion from Jergens or some other Walgreens brand, and it smells exactly like Bliss once it's mellowed. BPAL chocolate smells off on me, kinda fake and plasticky. I'm also not sure I want to smell like candy.

I'm so glad the red wine doesn't really come through in this scent, because reds, even sweet reds like Bordeaux, give me massive headaches. To me, it smells like the seduction of power. There's a hint of that fake berry smell of black cherry candles, but it's sweet without being waxy and cloying and blends with the stronger scent of deep red currants and just a touch of spice. Honestly? I used to love this one, but it seems that all red chunky fruit scents (incl. Bloody Mary) are turning into berry-scented air freshener on me lately.

What I love about Magdalene is the labdanum and orchid and how they keep the rose down to just an undertone that only comes out in the drydown -- and I love roses, so that's saying something. When immediately applied, sometimes I get slightly greener wafts of the labdanum, sometimes they're woodsy and spicy. Sometimes the orchid is most powerful. The woodsy/spicy notes last throughout the scent's lifetime on my skin. Ten minutes after applying, the white rose starts to come out, but it's not anything like Two, Five & Seven or any other rose scent I've tried. It's somber, haunting, like the scent of a funeral bough. The rose is kept to a very light powder, which would usually have me rinsing my wrists and mumbling something about "old lady," but Magdalene's different somehow. What I like about scents like this and Alice is the combination of a gorgeous soft note with something spicy. Here, it's innocent, frail rose spiked with the exoticness of orchid: the dichotomy of a revered whore? It lasts long enough that I don't feel the need to slather myself in it (which doesn't stop me, of course). It's probably not supposed to be sexy, but I feel like a damned goddess when wearing this one. It was the second bottle I ever bought, and the first one I've kept. It'll be the first one I replenish, too.

Oooohhhhhhhhh...how calming. It's clean and refreshing without the overpowering ozone that some other crisp scents have (though, I do like Lightning). Imp: It almost wants to turn into baby powder. I had scratch-n-sniff stickers in my youth for Easter that smelled like this: spring and powdery and clean. Wet: Still threatens to go powdery, but instead it's the scent of freshly washed sheets. All I can picture is a Downy commercial and collapsing into a big bed covered in fresh linen. It's not soapy or detergenty, though. Just clean. I've smelled spring breezes like this, the sunny day after a night's rainfall. Dry: There aren't many scents I can sleep with while wearing, but this might be one of them. It almost reminds me of one of the soaps my boyfiend has used in the past. Sadly, these "clean" scents are gobbled up by my skin and don't last all that long. I tossed a few drops into my hair and it neutralized the scent of my shampoo, but that's about it. Verdict?: Imps only. Nice for relaxing me on hectic, hormone-fueled days, but not as a regular perfume.

Imp: It smells sort of like anise and musk. It's very exotic and lingers in the back of my nose. Wet: Wow, this is weird. I can't identify anything in it, but it reminds me a LOT of perm solution. It smells very warm. Dry: The boyfiend recoiled in horror. It's like a hair salon is melting and all the products are being stirred together in some horrible mix, with a little wet dog thrown in. 30 minutes and one vigorous hand-washing later: IT WON'T DIE. I can still clearly smell it over the Congo-bongo (smells like monkey farts!) soap. *adds sweet pea and tonka to the horror list*

Imp: All almond extract. It's got that almost cherry-like quality to it. Just the faintest tinge of cinnamon at the end. Wet: Holy hell, that's cinnamon. Little red hot candies. It's thankfully not burning my skin, though I think my nose and back of my throat might be red now! Dry: Dry light cinnamon. I smell like autumn baked goods and I want to eat my wrists.

Imp: Pineapple LifeSavers candy Wet: Grilled pineapple with caramel. It's sweet and tangy, and slightly buttery. It reminds me so strongly of my grandmother's house, but I can't figure out why. Dry: Creamy and sweet. The pineapple has died off for the most part, but the sugary caramel remains. I can't stop sniffing my wrist, even though pineapple is not usually a scent I drool over, and butter/caramel/vanilla tends to turn into rancid sugar on me.

Imp: Super-sweet banana bubble gum! Wet: I keep getting bananas out of this one. Slightly spicy, like banana bread dough, not yet baked. Quickly gives way to generic incensey spices and dry flowers. Dry: Smoke. Fire. Burning wood. Did the banana bread burn in the oven?? 10 minutes later, it's distinctly embers on my skin. Strangest I've ever had a scent morph on me before.

Imp: Kind of effervescent, like lemony seltzer. Wet: Very light and faint. Still clean and fresh, but no real scent to it outside of a light lemony tinge. Dry: Greener and sharper! There's nothing discernible - it's just there. I've had to put my nose very close to my wrist to sniff. There's no throw to this one at all, though it lingers faintly on my skin for several hours.

Imp: Rubbing alcohol and nail polish remover. It's astringent and sharp. Wet: The roses are very heady and sophisticated. They're consistently the base note in this blend. On me, though my skin usually loves roses, this one turns out kind of sour. Dry: The cinnamon comes out, but as sort of an "after-sniff." It's the last thing I smell after sniffing before the scent escapes my nose. Sort of tickles the back of my throat, too! After 20 minutes, I no longer detect any cinnamon. After 40 minutes, all that's left is faint traces of roses, but they're roses that have been left in a vase of water too long and are starting to rot.

The spirit of temptation, the essence of lost innocence. Apple blossom, rose, ylang ylang and golden honey. Imp: Apple juice laced with honey. Wet: Rose, but very green. It's almost a little sour. Dry: Fresh white florals. It's like being in an apple orchard at blooming time on a warm spring day. I can almost smell the pollen! Too bad I can't smell the honey those bees should be making. It's a nice warm scent, very reminscent of spring's growth.

Imp: Pumpkin, sweet, slightest tinge of cocoa. Wet: Wow, this is really pretty. It's the sweet pumpkin in Jack and Punkie Night that I love so much, with the same kind of peach/cider feel. The cocoa is different than the lab's usual chocolate, which tends to smell "off" to me. Bliss just a candy bar that'd been left out in the sun. But the cocoa in PP2 is dry, powdered; the good stuff with which you should make hot chocolate. Dry: The nuts come out on the drydown and blend perfectly with the cocoa. It's like brownie mix on my wrist. It's not a warm scent like most autumn blends, but it's happily comforting.

Imp: Oh, I have a bad feeling about this one. It smells like forest and cheap men's cologne. These usually don't work on me. Wet: Woodsy. Not quite like green needly trees, but the wood and bark and dried leaves of the forest. What's this now? There's something very smooth in this incarnation, but I fear it's barely holding back the hated patchouli and opoponax. Dry: Hm. Maybe I shouldn't have been so scared of it. It's tame. It doesn't feel bloodthirsty at all. Primal, yes. The ginger hits the back of my throat like an afterthought. (And there are the damn mums from Chrysanthemum Moon coming up from my other arm now...it's a bizarre combination.) I'm tempted to test it on my boyfiend and see what his skin does with it.

Imp: I'm really not sure. It's exotic, for sure! Wet: Wow, is this heady. The first thing I notice is the musk, but what I'm left with are the mums. I'm not getting much ginger off it. It's absolutely sensual; the kind of thing I'd keep sniffing on a girlfriend if she were wearing it. Dry: Hm. It's getting kind of...different. And yet I'm still left with this lingering scent of mums for seconds afterward. Then I realize it's actually my arm I'm still smelling, almost two feet from my nose. This has some great throw. Usually I have to put my nose right up to my skin to get the full breadth of a blend. This one is right up in your face. I have the strongest desire to pounce on my boyfiend right now. Wow, this one weaves a spell. ETA: 15 minutes later: I *was* testing Lycaon on my other forearm but the mums keep wafting up. It's friggin' gorgeous. I think I'll wear it to the club this weekend and see what kind of attention it will draw. Maybe we won't even make it out the door. ETA2: It lasted over 10 hours on me today, beating down the Shub and Pumpkin Queen I'd layered with it. I did a test run of the layered combo before showering for work, and was immediately inspired to jump my boyfiend. Something about Mum Moon makes me want to devour. It's so incredibly sensual.

Imp: Creamy. I get a very "white" feel from this, like coconut milk. Just a touch of something sweet, but I can't tell if it's the pomegranate or grape. Wet: Fermenting (read: molding) white grape juice. It's disgustingly sweet. I wanted it to be richly fruity without being noxious. It failed. Dry: A strange tinge of pineapple. Must be the honey starting to come out. I would've been happy if it were all fig. Oh well. Tried it on a whim and hoped it wouldn't be sour fruit.

Imp: Wet sugared pumpkin. No hint of spice or warmth at all. Wet: Rich amber and pumpkin with swirls of (most prominent) ginger and (in waves) clove. It's incredibly warm and might be the perfect fall scent. Dry: I've tried Shub and it was okay but too heavy on the ginger for me to put it among my favorites. Pumpkin Queen has the perfect amount of ginger. It's definitely one of the primary notes on my skin, but it's not so powerful that it's dominating the pumpkin. As it dries, it becomes a very dry (ha) scent, barely sweet. It's gorgeous. I think a bit got on my boyfiend, and it was even richer on him. Very very very sexy.

Excellent. Thanks for the recommendation! I CR.

Give London a try. They "feel" very similar to me.