Lunasariel

In the imp: Resinous and sweet. I got it as part of the Vanilla Imp Pack, and the vanilla is definitely there, but it's not a foody, cake-and-cookies sort of vanilla. It blends with the resinous notes to create something expansively warm and sweet. And finally, yup, there's candlewax. I will never not be in awe of the Lab's ability to recreate non-traditional sensory experiences as perfumes like this. Wet: Yup, definitely smoky candles! More of an emphasis on the latter than the former, but still. The vanilla takes a big ol' step forward, making the whole thing deeper and warmer, but, interestingly, "sweeter" isn't the first word that springs to mind. Unfortunately, this stage doesn't last as long as I'd like: the slightly-too-clean smell of pure beeswax takes center stage after a few minutes, with the warm resins/vanilla blend rounding it out and keeping it from smelling too clinical. But then it's back to warm resinous vanilla...it seems to be doing that switching thing where two different notes keep trading places for the most dominant note. Huh. Dry: The resinous aspect comes out much more - smoky, almost spicy. The undertone of sweet (albeit non-foody) vanilla is still there. What surprised me is that most blends that linger throughout the day tend to go either cloyingly sweet or a little sour, but definitely one-note, while this one remained at least mildly complex. This one is definitely going on my to-buy list, but not, I think, at the very top.

In the imp: Right off the bat, from both me and the bf: "OMG CUPCAKES!!!" I got this as part of the Vanilla Imp Pack, and there is indeed vanilla in there, but it's a very foody vanilla (to the surprise of none). I'm also a little worried about the currants. They're only a subtle undercurrent (pun not intended) here, but my skin tends to amp fruit of all stripes to hell and back. Wet: Like GuardianoftheMoon, my initial reaction was along the lines of "sour cake wtf???" At first I thought it was interference from yesterday's Juke Joint still hanging around, but apparently it's not just me. But either I get used to this really fast, or it's just an initial burst that fades thankfully quickly, because it quickly settles down into something much more wearable. The currants are definitely dominant, but not the bust-down-the-door "HI I'M FRUIT!!!" reaction that my skin usually has; more of a slightly-too-loud-indoor-voice kind of thing, with the foody vanilla playing backup. And even this doesn't last too long - within 10 minutes or so, the currant has decided to play nice and settle down, allowing the foody vanilla to take center stage. I actually think I like this phase better - the currants are less sharp (which I think was the initial sour cake note), and it feels more like delicious, delicious cake. Dry: The currants are back, and with a vengeance. There's a slight cake-batter edge rounding them out, but at this point I would describe it as primarily a currant scent. This is a bit too foody-sweet for everyday wear, but I could see myself buying a bottle A) to round out my collection, and for those ultra-horrible days when the only thing that will make me feel better is smelling like fruity cake.

(NOTE: My nose is still a little stuffy from a nasty cold Death Flu I had earlier this week, so some impressions may be off. I plan to revisit everything I wore for the first time this week at some later date just to be sure.) In the imp: This may be because, in many respects, I'm a BPAL n00b, but this is the first blend where I've been able to pick out each note instantly and distinctly. Sweet sugar? Yup. Mint. Yup. Bourbon? Ah, that must be what that nice boozy undertone is. (I'm a TERRIBLE drinker, so differentiating the various alcohol scents isn't something I'm great at.) I found it clean and sweet, but not in a squeaky-clean-dryer-sheets clean way, nor in a cloying-high-fructose-corn-syrup sweet way. Looking forward to this one. Wet: There's definitely some sort of skin alchemy going on here; the mint retains its zinginess (shut up, it's totally a word) without screaming "MINT!" - now I would have a harder time, if I were smelling it blind, picking it out as actual mint, but I'm still definitely getting something indescribably herbal and uplifting. The sugar, too, has undergone a change where it's more of an accent than a main note. Again, if I were smelling this blind, at this point I would have trouble picking out sugar as a note, but there's definitely something sweet bridging the gap between the zingy minty top note and the bourbon(? I swear there's some musk in here) base note. I'm going to have to get confirmation from the bf, but right now, I'm thinking that this smells AWESOME on me! I foresee this being in *heavy* rotation this winter - it reminds me of all the best things about summer, while still feeling winter-appropriate and substantial. Dry: Soft, sweet musk. If bourbon = sweet musk on my skin (this is my first experience with BPAL's bourbon note, btw), then sign me up! I admit, I was a little apprehensive about trying this one out, even though I got it as a frimp. I didn't have much experience with mint, but didn't foresee any problems there. It was the sugar (sweet notes tend to be really really friggin' sweet on me) and bourbon (the only other boozy note of BPAL's that I've tried is the red wine, which mostly just disappears) that I was worried about. But damn, this one just sped right to the top of my to-buy list!

In the imp: A slightly synthetic, fruity-sweet smell. Not quite fake cherry, but close. Possible undertones of red wine. Wet: Apparently my notes deleted this cell, but I'll reconstruct it as best I can. It's still fruity-sweet, but less synthetic; more of a traditional perfume note. I don't think lotus plays well with my skin - it became overwhelmingly fruity in Bastet, and I'm afraid it's doing the same thing here. And my skin amps fruit like whoa. The chocolate and wine (especially the wine) eventually start to peek out a little, but never get more dominant than the florals. Dry: I don't know if this just became an indistinguishable part of my skin-scent really fast so that I couldn't smell it on myself, or whether it fades REALLY REALLY FAST, but I really had to huff to get anything beyond an hour, and after three, I'm not getting anything at all. I may buy a bottle somewhere down the line to round out my florals collection, but I'm not much of a florals gal to begin with. Plus, it shares many similarities with Lilith (only with lotus being the dominant floral instead of rose), and Lilith is already on my to-buy list. But, as usual, I'll hang onto my frimp and see if it goes any interesting directions with age.

NOTE: I'm caught in the throes of a pretty nasty cold, so my impressions may not be the most reliable. I plan on coming back to this scent when I'm feeling better and seeing if my impressions change. But for now, they are what they are. In the imp: A clean, fresh scent; a little reminiscent of Embalming Fluid. A bit woodsier, however, and with an interesting undertone of sweetness. I don't have a good scent profile for BPAL's beeswax notes, so I don't know whether I can't distinguish it or it just isn't there in noticeable amounts. Wet: Man, was this a journey! It started out as a clean, pleasant, musky-sandalwood take on Embalming Fluid. Nothing that knocked my socks off, but something I immediately began to make plans for layering with other RPG scents. (Specifically, I was looking forward to jazzing it up with something like Mage or Bard.) However, after about ten minutes, something sharp and acidic popped up out of nowhere. Before I knew it, I was having my first experience with BPAL's infamous Lemon Pledge/cleaning fluid note. Dry: It stayed stubbornly Lemon Pledge for a good several hours. Eventually, it calmed down to a pleasant, slightly musky sandalwood. There may still be some citrus-y hints hanging around, but that may be just my poor traumatized nose having flashbacks. So while it's now not *un*pleasant, I'm probably going to hang onto the imp for awhile, and see if aging it and/or me changes the Lemon Pledge thing, as opposed to buying a bottle.

In the imp: There are a lot of notes that I'm completely or partially unfamiliar with here, so my impressions might be a bit off. That said, I immediately got something kind of syrupy-sweet (maybe the hops?) that mingles slightly unpleasantly with a VERY sharp sort of sweaty-metallic tang - my first thought was paint. Not gonna lie, I was a little apprehensive about putting this on my skin... Wet: Thank Bob, that sharp tang is gone. In fact, my first impression was "...is that bread?" So that's probably the hops coming out to play. In fact, it becomes a musky-sweet (but not traditional gourmand/fruity/floral/perfumey sweet - it's difficult to describe) scent that seems VERY masculine. However, this calms down after a few minutes and lets something a bit colder and tangy come out. Not nearly as strong as in the imp, but I'm going to guess that this is more of the leather and stone. There's mmmaaaayyybeee a touch of metallic-ness, but, see above re: not as strong as ITI. In fact, now it's rather pleasant. The hops, too, are still around a bit, but only to provide some nice mellow warmth to the dominant stone and leather. Dry: A wonderful smoky, leathery warmth that still reads very masculine, but no less enjoyable for it. I've never been quite confident enough to experiment with layering, and I got this as a frimp, and the only other RPG scents I own (Paladin and Half-Elf) are also frimps, but this is making a pretty strong case for me to systematically buy the series and get a-layering! It's interesting that what terrified me so much ITI turned out to be such a mellow, well-rounded, balanced blend. Thank you once again, BPAL, for leading my nose to scents it didn't know it needed!

In the imp: Bright, sweet, cheerful citrus. Not bubblegum or candy - nothing artificial-smelling here. Just a nice pick-me-up for a gray, gloomy day, with maybe a subtle floral undertone. If the patch, sage, and musk are evident at this stage, my nose isn't sophisticated enough to distinguish them. Wet: WHY have I been having such terrible luck with such promising blends lately??? My very first thought upon application was of this Bath & Body Works Mandarin Orange body lotion/body wash/hand soap set I bought in like 2003 and kept for waaaaaay too long. So soap, but sweet-citrus-scented soap. The real problem here is, it's the kind of soap I can taste in the back of my throat, which bumps an otherwise "hmm, that's kinda unfortunate" scent into "blech!" territory. Dry: The "blech!" factor decreases as the musk and sandalwood move forward, resulting in a kind of intriguing citrus-oriental. Still strong hints of soap, but now it's at least really nice soap. I don't think I'll go for a bottle of this, but the citrus-oriental is interesting, so I might hunt around for a similar concept that works better with my weird skin chemistry.

In the imp: I definitely got a strong hint of some syrupy-sweet, synthetic fruit - probably cherry, from what y'all are saying. Kind of plasticky and chemical, so okay if that's what I was going for, but definitely not my idea of a "languid, heavy" perfume. Wet: Quickly settles down into a baby powder note - maybe there's some amber in here? But normally amber doesn't go THIS powdery on me. After about half an hour, a sort of traditional perfumey rose note emerges. Like, when my mom would buy me perfume at CVS for Christmas because I didn't know good stuff from bad and at least this was cheap and inoffensive, it would smell almost exactly like this. Hints of the original syrupy cherry peek out from time to time, but mostly it's baby powder and drugstore English Rose perfume. Dry: Yup, definitely an amber base, which comes out after three or four hours. And not the sort of powdery thing that amber can sometimes turn into, but lovely warm, slightly musky, slightly sharp (maybe a hint of carnation?) amber. TL;DR: While I don't think a full-size bottle is in my future, the (fr)imp was an interesting experience. I'll hang onto it and let it age, in case it grows out of "baby powder and drugstore rose perfume" and more into its spicy-amber drydown.

See, this is why BPAL is hands-down my favorite perfume company. Oh, BPAL, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: The Christmas-morning-meets-the-lottery surprise that is frimps. Not only are you cool enough to throw in a vial or two (or, in the case of my latest order, 14) that would normally go for $4 a pop, but they're completely random, too; thus, the ability to try scents that you would have never in a million years thought to buy for yourself, and discover some gems along the way. The way BPAL oils react with everyone's individual skin chemistry. This can occasionally be a bit of a drawback (as in the case of Venustas, where the promised lovely mysterious fougere turned to pure soap), but sometimes, you take something that smells terrifying in the imp, and on your skin it blooms into something new and strange and wonderful. In the imp: My first reaction? I quote: "Yikes." A big ol' punch of what I assume is vetiver, with an overtone that BPAL so aptly describes as "screeching" - something high and bright and a little headache-inducing. Shall we say, it did not entice me to wear it. Wet: I was actually pretty trepidatious (shut up, it's totally a word) about trying this one on, after the initial visceral reaction I had. But the vetiver (if that is vetiver) calms way the hell down pretty much immediately, allowing the tangerine to emerge as the dominant note. Eventually it evolves into a surprisingly pleasant woodsy/citrusy/spicy (roughly in that order) blend that I immediately associated with cologne for some reason. Whew, I didn't expect it to become anything near this nice! In fact, it's really growing on me as a masculine/unisex scent. Dry: ...You guys may not believe this, but Azathoth goes from "screeching" to "pleasantly masculine" to "warm woodsy amber" in like two hours. I almost can't believe I'm saying this, based on the strength of my initial "EW NO ugh what the hell is this???" reaction, but a full-size bottle is going on my wishlist.

I got this as a frimp, and this is the genius of frimps in general. This isn't a scent I would have ever tried on my own, and while I still don't think I'm going to go for a full-sized bottle, it was an interesting sensory experience, and plugged a sizable gap in my BPAL knowledge (namely, the entire aquatics family). In the imp: The main note I get is something fruity and a little sweet. There's something else in there that could be a seaweed/brine/kelp smell, but I'm completely unfamiliar with BPAL's aquatic notes. It has a bit of a tang to it, whatever it is. Wet: Soap, for sure. But that kind of soap where they at least try to make it smell nice, so while it's definitely an artificial, chemical smell, it smells like, say, clean clothes or my aunt's bathroom rather than those industrial pink hand soaps. Say, Dove or Irish Spring rather than generic. Dry: Maybe a hint of musk? Still pretty soapy, though. And unusually short-lasting, too. Maybe it's the soap thing, but this one faded to a barely-noticeable skin scent after, like, three hours, and was 99% gone by five hours.

In the imp: Lavender is the name of the game here. Maybe a liiiiiittle smoky and/or earthy, but mostly it smells exactly like the ginormous lavender bush growing outside my mom's house. Which automatically predisposes me to like it - when I was in college, my mom would send me care packages just before finals, consisting of Emergen-C, bread from our local bakery, mini M&Ms, a picture of our cats, and a few sprigs of lavender. Heaven. Wet: Oh, THERE'S all those other notes! It's amazing how I got nothing but lavender in the imp, but as soon as it makes contact with my skin, it morphs into a sandalwood-heavy incense with a hint of smoky tobacco, and the lavender doing nothing more than hanging around in the background, providing a dreamy sort of edge to everything. Dry: Pretty much straight-up sandalwood, and an unusually short-lasting sandalwood at that. Maybe 6 hours tops, when most incense-y scents hang around on me for 10 hours or more. I won't turn down a bottle if one falls into my lap, but I think that, overall, I'll spend the money on the hunt for the lavender blend this scent showed me I need.

Man, my skin chemistry is weird. Lovely cuddly ambergris and wool? Nope, says trollface!skin, you're going to smell like junior prom. I'm definitely getting the "delicate", and maybe even a little "soft", but on me, this goes straight to a traditional perfumey fruity-floral. It feels very young and bright, sort of in the vein of Marc Jacobs Daisy. This is definitely more a springtime scent than an autumnal one. And *very* definitely the kind of thing I would have enjoyed much, much more as a teenager than now. Like, I'm glad I have it in my collection for diversity's sake, but if I were to smell this at, say, a Will Call, I would probably pass it on by. In the drydown, it gets a little more mature, but only in the sense of prom night to freshman orientation.

This was mostly an impulse buy (pun not intended) that got tacked onto the end of my Halloweenies order because of all the great reviews it's been getting. (Also, I'm a complete sucker for vanilla and amber [together or apart], but that's beside the point.) And man, am I glad I got it! Definitely my favorite out of the 'Weenies so far. In the bottle: I definitely got a "shivery" feeling. A touch of foody sweetness, maybe a touch of dead leaves (but dry, not soaked like I'm used to them), and not much amber incense at all. Wet: I admit, I was nervous when this one went on. Venustas, which I'd tried the previous day and was all set to declare my HG scent, turned to pure Dove soap on me, so I was hesitant to love again. I got maaaaaybe a hint of the mint that everyone else is describing, but if it was there, it was mostly to complicate the dominant scent that I initially feared was soap again. But, false alarm, it turns out to be BPAL's dry leaves note, which I hadn't smelled before. Hints of a sweet, foody (mostly cocoa) musk start to peek out here and there around the 30 minute mark, and increase in strength and duration over time. Dry: HHHHNNNNNGGGGG. Hellllloooooo, wonderful sweet ambery musky deliciousness! The incense is still playing a faint backup note at best, but I'm okay with that. Wear time: Wow, does this one have lasting power! I applied it around 7 AM, and it was still noticeable (well, noticeable as a skin-level-only scent, and that with me knowing what to look for) when I went to bed at midnight. It was pretty much only skin musk by then, but point is, it was still there.

Turns to pure soap on me. NOOOOOOOOO!!! There was so much about this I wanted to love! A vanilla-y incense melded with ethereal, intriguing fougere sounds like everything I've ever dreamed of in a perfume, but this went straight to Dove bar soap on me, and stayed there for a good four hours. It eventually dried down to a ghost of the vanilla-y-, incense-y goodness I had imagined, but it was too little, too late. I'll age this one for a little while and see if that helps, but I don't plan on wearing this one again anytime soon.

The first scent that I really, truly fell in love with, and the first full-sized bottle that I bought. In the bottle: my notes say "crystalline amber " - warm amber complicated by something sharp and citrusy. Wet: the crystalline citrus note immediately takes center stage, with the amber playing backup. And do I detect a passing whiff of my beloved Lady Grey tea? Dry: Predictably, the sharp citrus calms down, letting the ambery musk move forward. But if this is how musk and amber work together, sign me up!

Well, this was a surprise. It came as part of an Imp Pack (Beloved Favorites, yes, I'm a n00b), and I admit, I wasn't expecting too much of it. I prefer slinky, sexy scents to the fresh, sweet, innocent ones, and "milk and honey, with rose, carnation, and bergamot" sounded just a little too cutesy for me. (Admittedly, though, the bergamot intrigued me, because my devotion to every variant of Earl Grey tea borders on the unhealthy. Possibly ditto for the carnation - I don't have a good scent template for it in my head, but the Fragrentica definition sounds lovely.) In the bottle: mostly lemony-fresh, with hints of spice and something floral. Wet: Um...what just happened??? It doesn't smell sexy by my usual definition (spicy, subtly sweet; something you would wear a slinky black dress, high heels, and red lipstick with), but sexy as in UNF-throw-me-to-the-ground. I mean, damn, where did this come from? Especially since it starts out as a sweet, milky scent, then morphs into what my notes describe as "surprisingly intoxicating candied lemon peel." Dry: only gets more UNF-worthy as it dries. The candied lemon peel morphs into something spicy and floral, with a touch of powder. Less resinous/amber-y than my usual "sexy" scents, but still something I need a full-sized bottle (or three) of, NOW.

In the bottle: a fruity floral (leaning more towards the former than the latter, which is worrying, as I amp fruit like nobody's business), with an undercurrent of sour wine or port. Wet: Wow, is this one a morpher! Back when I lived in California and I first got this scent, the fruit and roses took an immediate backseat to a lovely musky myrrh. The wine and roses only appeared as a subtle sweetener for the musk/myrrh blend. However, now that I've moved to Washington (state, not DC), for some reason (could it be that humidity never drops below 80% and routinely tops 90%? XP) it's morphed into a musky rose. Pretty enough, but I already have several similar scents, so I don't think I'll be springing for a full-sized bottle anytime soon. I'll hang on to my imp, though, and see how it ages. Who knows, with time, maybe that lovely musky myrrh will come out again? Dry: fairly linear both times; I'd say more so now than previously.

I was thinking, if nothing else comes to mind, something in the realm of Hollywood Babylon - I know Phryne gets involved in film (in s2, I think?), but overall, it just sounds like it would fit her. And, awwww, Phryne the kitten! That's too perfect, since the real (well, "real") Phryne is a Cat Person. Phryne Fisher is my goddamn Patronus (well, one of them, anyway).

Does anyone have a BPAL dupe for Jicky by Guerlain? For Halloween, I'm going as a book character (Phryne Fisher, if anybody's wondering) who is known for wearing Jicky in the Roaring 20s, and I think it would add a very neat dimension to my costume if I even smelled like her. Jicky's description can be found here, and reads: Oriental Fougère. Contrasting, dynamic, surprising. The spicy notes that blossom with the warmth of the oriental facet also play skillfully with the fresh and aromatic notes of lemon and lavender at its heart. Underneath this audacious structure, one detects woody and vanilla notes for greater vibration and character. Fragrentica lists its notes as: The top notes contain lavender and citrus (bergamot, lemon and mandarin), which perfectly match the cold, metallic orris and rose shaded by vetiver. The cold top and middle notes are an elegant counterbalance to the warm base created of patchouli, vanilla, amber and musk.

In the bottle: Just how I like my ambers - warm and sweet. This one has an interesting, subtle hint of orange to make it stand out from the pack (pride?), though. The oil itself is an interesting dark-red color that might potentially stain skin or fabric, so beware where this one ends up! Wet: Much more spicy than sweet, but still a feeling of warmth. A very sharp-nosed friend of mine has said that he gets a soapy edge off of me when I'm wearing it, and...I guess I could kinda see it? Not immediately, though - it took some determined sniffing to get to the soapiness. Interestingly The Lion invoked a VERY strong memory of my old neighbors' house. They once gave me a vial of perfume that (I think?) they made themselves, and it was fantastic - warm, sweet, summery, just a little floral, and all powerful. It made me feel like the queen of the universe every time I wore it. I've actually even got a little bit left, since I've been hoarding it obsessively as a sensory memory of an amazing time in my life. The Lion is a little spicier, soapier, and less sweet than QotU (not to mention, it doesn't have nearly QotU's sillage), but the basic feel is the same. Dry: This turned out to be a pretty linear scent. As usual, some of the sharper edges rounded off over time, but stayed warm, sweet, and spicy all the way through.

This came as a frimp. In the bottle: something sharp-yet-warm. Incense, maybe? This could just be me wanting to smell the listed notes, though - I'm easily influenced that way. Wet: Initial burst of soap, but really nice soap. Like, handmade artisan fancypants soap. Sweet(ish). My initial impression, according to my notes, was "classic Oriental." Dry: The first impression of soap fades, leaving the vanilla and leather much more prominent. It becomes spicier and sweeter. Overall, the warmth and sweetness make me place this one in my "comfort scent" pile, but it's not comforting the way a warm fuzzy sweater is (which is how most of my comfort scents feel) - it's got a serious edge to it, something no-nonsense and comfortingly...responsible?

I also got this as a (fr)imp - not something I would have necessarily ordered for myself, as I'm more into ambers and floral orientals. But BPAL must be paying their psychics some good money, because this one works! In the bottle: sharp and herbal, with, of all things, a hint of lemon. I'm not familiar with actual sassafras root, so maybe that was in there and I'm just not identifying it. Wet: I actually got more of an Italian soda vibe than root beer. Definitely something creamy and sweet. Dry: As it dried, the sharp herbal note (which I assume is the sassafras) steps forward, and the creamy sweetness fade back to give it some room. It eventually fades to a vague (not particularly creamy) sweetness. Interestingly, when I tried it on my boyfriend (because he's cool like that), it pulled much more lemon-drops-and-honey than herbal/sassafras-y. TL;DR: While I don't think I'll order a full bottle, this frimp was a pleasantly foody surprise. I found the Italian soda note especially interesting, since it occupies the place in my childhood memories most people have for root beer - summer vacation, end-of-school treats, watching them mix it together at the ice cream place.