steelgossamer

In the imp: Fruity, wet, buttery Wet: Very fruity, definitely smell the orange and ginger, and a little bit of pumpkin Drydown: More of the pumpkin came through, the orange mellowed out, and the amber started to show up Dry: Pumpkin, amber, a little something sweet, and a light touch of fruit under it Several Hours Later: This has mellowed out over about 5 hours into a warm pumpkin scent with a touch of ginger. No fruit at all, and not super buttery. I really like this one. It morphs a bit over time, and it definitely loses the fruity quality that it starts with, but overall it's very nice. I like this as an alternative to the spicy pumpkin scents I usually go for. It's a bit lighter and less pie smelling than say, Jack.

I have imps of: #315 - This one was lightly fruity, creamy, and with a bit of a spicy drydown. I think there's apple in this one, along with nutmeg and cinnamon. I can't pick out any other notes as it's really well blended and mostly dries down to a creamy spicy slightly fruity scent. I really really like this one. #1?? - This imp came from a smudged label bottle. It had a 1, what looked like a backwards 3, and what looked like a backwards 6. The last two numbers were really smudged, and neither myself nor the decanter could figure out what they were. At any rate, it started off all smoke. Like the smoke note from Djinn. As it dried down, I got leather like from Liz (Hellboy), and the vanilla came through. Dry, it smells just like Liz without the florals. It's gorgeous and I wish I knew which number it was so I could try to swap for more of it! Curses! #349 - A bit sweetly soapy. Clean, very lightly floral, and sweet. I like this one a lot. It gets sweeter over time and a bit softer too. I can't tell which floral notes are in this one. They all mingle together nicely, and none of them are too heavy. No lilac, lotus, violet, or jasmine here, though. If I had to venture a guess, I would say there are likely lilies in there. #222- Herbal and head shop like. The vanilla smells strong in the decant, but fades away during the dry down into an herbal, slightly astringent head shop scent with underlying sweetness. Very strange. It morphs over time into something a little sweeter and softer, but still weird. This stuck around for a while, and ended up being sweet, soft, and a bit spicy with an herbal edge to it. #354- FOODIE! This one smells like delicious vanilla cake with spices. A bit like a vanilla pumpkin pie. Definitely a keeper <3

This one was okay. Not a very exciting scent on me, nor one that I will hang onto. In the imp: Sweet, citrusy, slightly resinous. Wet: Citrusy, with a resinous note and a bit of musk. Drydown: Slightly more sweet, still citrusy, still resinous Dry: Sweet citrus with resin. It was very subtle and well blended, but I wasn't a big fan. It wasn't OMG WASH MY ARM NOW, but not something I sniffed very often either. Into the swap pile it goes!

I've had an imp of this around forever but never got around to reviewing it. It's a really lovely soft floral with a slight herbal note to it. It's got a classic perfume feel to it, and this one imp has been good enough for the last four years . I like it, but I only wear it once in a long while.

Fit for the finest oblation -- and your holiday table, too! Sugar-sprinkled pepper nuts with a bit of cinnamon, a bit of clove, a little cardamom, and a hint of nutmeg. This one was sweet, a little citrusy, and spicy, but very light. It faded completely within an hour, which made me very sad. I found it to be pretty unremarkable. I have other spicy scents that I like much better, and other foodie cookie type scents that I like much better too. It was sitting unloved in the back of my collection, so I sold my partial bottle. Nice, but not strong enough or interesting enough for me.

In the decant: Cool, rosy, sweet Wet: I can smell the icy snow note, but it's a little plasticky on me. The rose is also a bit strong. No vanilla. Drydown: Still sharp and icy with heavy rose. Dry: Fake snow smell with heavy rose Ick. This one never rounded out to a nice scent for me. It's sharp, and smells like ice and plastic with a rose undertone. The vanilla never came through, and it just gave me a headache. Boo.

In the bottle: PEPPERMINT! Wet: Cough drops! With a sharp bitter kick! Drydown: Still cough drops, but a little less bitter Dry: POOF! Gone. As soon as this one dries, it's gone. So it's just sharp medicinal peppermint for about 5 minutes before it disappears completely. Sadness.

I can't pick out specific notes in this one. It's a warm, sweet, slightly fruity floral on me. It starts citrusy (must be the grapefruit), then as it dries, it gets warmer and smoother. It's really well-blended and lovely. I love this one to pieces and wish that I had gotten a half bottle of this one instead of the Lick It blend!

This one is a huge disappointment. I love woodsy scents, nutty scents, and mint. Tokyo Stomp was delicious smelling (though in the end, not one I wore enough to keep around), and I hoped that this would remind me of it a little while being more grounded by the cedar. Not so. Wet: Chocolate and cedar with a touch of mint. Drydown: Chocolate and sawdust Dry: Chocolate sawdust This one lasted all day long (10+ hours), but the throw was a bit weak, thankfully. It smells like I rubbed my wrist on a chocolate scented candle and then through a pile of sawdust. It's not horrible, but not what I wanted at all. I've tried this out a few times, and have been disappointed every time. Into the swap pile it goes!

I was a little wary of this one at first because Perilous Parlor's pear note went all tinned pears on me. Glad I got an imp, because it's divine. In the imp: fresh pears and flowers Wet: musky with a touch of floral Drydown: pear coming through the musk and florals dying down Dry: gorgeous blend of light pear scent, musk, and a light floral I love this one, and I reach for it when I want something subtle and classy. I am thinking seriously about a bottle purchase for this one.

In the imp: Sweet, light, foodie. Wet: Almond. It smells exactly like a sweet almond oil while wet. Drydown: The vanilla and amber come through, warming this up a bit, but no peach. Dry: After about 4 hours, the sweetness of the vanilla is still there with some warm spicy undertones, and it still has that almondy scent to it. No peach at any point for me. This is an imp I tried a while back and forgot about. I think it aged very nicely because it was in my "to try again later" pile, which means I didn't like it much the first time. I do like it a lot now, but I think an imp is enough for me. I have plenty of sweet foodie scents to last me until Kingdom Come.

Ooh. This one surprised me. I got half bottle on the hope that it would work the way I thought it would. I was hoping for something similar to Lilith vs. the Giant Crab, but got something altogether different. AND AWESOME. In the bottle: Sharp, musky, and not sweet at all. This made me a little nervous. Wet: Oh hello there. Coconut, musk... creamy sweet and a little sharp still. Kind of oceanic smelling. Dry down: The sharpness fades away, the ambergris and amber come through, along with what I assume is the ylang ylang. It's still coconutty, but with more softness and more of a... skin? scent. I think? Dry: Lovely. Absolutely lovely. And strangely sexy. It smells the way I wish my skin smelled on its own. It's sweet, creamy, musky, and smooth. Like how I would smell after a long bubble bath and a few rounds of sex. I keep sniffing my arm trying to explain what this smells like, and all I can really say is "lovely". I really really like this. It's not at all what I expected, but it works out very nicely. I'm glad I bought a half bottle.

OMNOMNOM! In the decant: FRUIT! Juicy delicious fruit! Wet: FRUIT! Juicy delicious fruit! Drydown: Juicy tropical fruit and some soft floral coming through. Dry: FRUIT! But slightly more mellow than it was when wet. I love fruit, and I have had good luck with fruity florals in general. This reminds me of a more citrusy Titania. I really really like it, but I will probably be happy with a decant. It's tasty and makes me want to eat my arm, but I don't wear fruity scents *that* often. Still, I will happily slather myself in this on rainy days to lift my mood.

Love this one. Sandalwood always works for me, and it's nice to be able to rely on it ;-p. In the decant: Rich spicy men's cologne. Sandalwood, HO! Wet: SANDALWOOD and a bit of spice Dry down: More sandalwood with some of the tonka and spice coming through Dry: Delicious spicy sandalwood with a slight sweet note. This is a very sexy scent and were my husband at all receptive to wearing cologne, I would make him try it on. Instead, I will have to settle for huffing my own arm. I think this will layer really nicely with some of my sweet vanilla scents- Sugar Cookie and Cake Smash in particular. It does remind me of Voodoo and Dee though, so I'm not too sad that I passed on a bottle.

Again, major disappointment. In the decant: Anise, vanilla, and floral. Sweet and pretty. Wet: OMG ANISE. It's like I slathered my arm in black licorice. Dry down: Still anise with something herbal around the edges. Sharp, kind of bitter, with black jellybean on the side. After about 30 minutes the vanilla has started to come through, and it seems about ready to poof. No cherry blossom at any point. This makes me really sad because I love cherry blossom and vanilla, and I ended up with black licorice. I think I will hold onto one of the decants I got and see if aging does it any good. Maybe the anise will mellow, yes? Edited to add: After a bit more time, the licorice goes away and I'm left with sweet vanilla. Which is nice, but I am not sure if I can deal with the OMG ANISE that comes before it. One decant goes in the sale/swap pile and the other goes into the "cross my fingers and hope for the best later on" pile.

I was so excited for this one, and I am very disappointed. In the imp: floral, lavender, and a bit of something sharp. Wet: Lavender and powder with a bit of tea Drydown: Lavender floral, powdery, herbal- very soft Dry: POOF. Gone. Once it's dry, it lasts for less than an hour before it's completely gone. I will have to try this one again and hope that it sticks around a bit longer next time. For now though, very sad. It's quite pretty until it fades away.

I wasn't sure about this one at first because Dorian always turns to sugary plastic on me, and I have not tried Doc Constantine before. I'm glad I gave it a shot, because OMGCAKE! In the vial: CAKE CAKE CAKE (and frosting) Wet: CAKE AND FROSTING OMG Drydown: Starting to get the SO, Dorian, and DC peeking through the sugar Dry: Lovely blend of the perfumes and the cake/frosting scent. Decent throw, and lasts really well. I really like this, though I can't see myself wearing it all the time. I'm thinking that one decant will do me just fine .

This is pure Orange Cremesicle when wet. After drying down a bit, I can catch some watery aquatic... something underneath. I can't put my finger on what it is, but it's there. I think the one decant will be enough for me. I don't see myself wearing this one too often, but when I want something summery and sweet, this will be the one I grab. EDIT: After a few more tests, I have put this in my "Crap, I should have ordered a bottle" list. It starts off really sweet and orangey, but that fades pretty quickly for me and settles into a really warm scent. I think it's the musk, ambergris, and sandalwood mixing well with the cream scent, but whatever it is, it's AMAZING.

Liz started off very traditional floral- in a light, sweet way, not a heavy way. The vanilla and florals took the front seat during the dry down, but once totally dry, Liz turned to smoke and leather with a bit of sweet floral under it. This is a really dry scent on me, and I am really sad that the vanilla disappeared once it dried. I will have to try this one again, in a full-on all day wearing kind of way and hope for the best. This has all of my favorite notes, so it would be a tragedy if it didn't work out .

Hmmm, this was a frimp, and I generally don't like lavender but gave it a whirl on a whim. In the bottle: Yup, that's lavender all right. Wet: Still very lavender, pretty strong, but not overbearing Drydown: Ah, there's the lotus. Still heavy on the lavender, but with some softer undertones coming through. Decent throw, but it doesn't last very long on me- a couple of hours and then it's very faded. I will have to try this again before I decide one way or the other. I'm just not sure if I'll be compelled to wear it very often, but I'll put it in the "to try again" pile.

In the bottle: Kind of seashore smelling, but a bit generic. Strong. Wet: Holy Wow! Very strong, crazy throw, smells like air freshener. Drydown: Fading very quickly and still smells like air freshener Into the swap pile this one goes! It makes me feel like I'm radiating public restroom air freshener and that's not a good thing. Sad though, I usually like aquatics .

I'm so happy I got this one. I wasn't sure about it, and being a Pisces I was really hoping that it would blend with my body chemistry- and it does! In the bottle: A little sharp, definitely herbal Wet: Very herbal, slight floral hint, strong on the moss smell, some incensey notes Drydown: Lovely. Reminds me of camping out in the woods with a bonfire. It's comforting and warm with a touch of muskiness. It's a little masculine in that stealing your boyfriend's sweater way. This is probably going to be a daily scent. I can't stop sniffing my wrist!

This is one of my new favorites (I think I say that about all of the new BPAL I get). It's crisp and cool and has a calming effect for me. In the bottle: Holy pine tree, Batman! A few seconds later I can catch the florals peeking through. Wet: The pine is the big note with some undertones of florals Drydown: The eucalyptus is coming through nicely, and the pine is calming down a touch Has decent throw, not overbearing. Gets the boyfriend seal of approval too. ;-p Love this. I hope it has staying power!

This, like many of the leather and incense blends, is a huge hit with me In the bottle: Strongly masculine and sharp Wet: Leather! Rosewood! Incense! Very strong, very masculine, and kind of comforting . Drydown: The wood and incense bring the leather down a notch and the tonka comes through a bit as well. It's really lovely and a soothing scent for me. This is a keeper and I may end up buying a larger bottle when I run out of the imp. *sniffs self again* Mmmmm...

In the bottle: Sweet and fruity with a touch of floral Wet: Oh god, sickeningly sweet! Get it off get it off! First time I've ever run to the bathroom to wash off a scent. Ugh, too too sweet like Pez fresh out of the wrapper. Awful I didn't get to the drydown because the sweetness was simply too much for me. I can still smell it some and I do not like it. I hate when something that sounds so good smells so awful on me. This goes in the swap pile.