DiesMali

In the imp: Mint toothpaste. Oh dear. Wet on my skin: Mint toothpaste. Dry: Faint mint toothpaste. Unfortunately, I don't think this one works on my skin. Bummer!

In the imp: Burnt dirt? Wet on my skin: Bitter, burnt dirt and grass. It smells like the old remnants of a wildfire. Dry: Still smells like the old remnants of a wildfire, with a bit of hot leather mixed in. It's an exceedingly masculine and dark scent, and I think this is the first BPAL scent I've found that is just TOO masculine for me. It's very interesting, though, and I know JUST who to pass this on to now that I've had a chance to try it!

In the imp: Sweet red wine and roses! Wet on my skin: ...This smells like For Each Ecstatic Instant had a baby with Lilith. INSTANT WIN. Dry: This like a lighter, sweeter version of the above-mentioned scent. It's largely rose and patchouli on my skin, with the rest of the notes present enough to give it a sexy, sensual feel. There's just enough sweet wine in this to lighten it, but then the jasmine darkens it again as it dries and warms on my skin. It's absolutely gorgeous on me, but I suspected it would be since it shares several important notes with two of my other favourites. The wine is a lovely touch, and really rounds out the overall feel of this scent, which is a luscious, deep red with black swirls.

In the imp: Orange juice? Oh crap, yep, orange juice. Wet on my skin: Creamy orange juice, reminiscent of an orange Creamsicle. Dry: I was just waiting for this to turn into gross dirty cleaning wipes on me, as most orange and grapefruit blends do. But...it never happens. Hours later, this is still this delicious creamy-vanilla-orange scent. It really is like one of those tasty orange and vanilla ice dream popsicles from my youth, when they were still made with real orange juice and not artificial orange-flavoured weird gunk. It also has this hint of slightly-powdery and sweet flower, which must be the narcissus, but it's mainly orange and vanilla on me. I can't really express through text how surprised I am that this works on me! I'd saved this for last out of my newest order, expecting it to smell as putrid on me as other orange/grapefruit scents, but it's actually...one of the nicer scents in the box? WHat? Maybe it's because of shark week. But if I can only wear this one week per month, that's okay, because if it's this delicious for a week, it's worth it!

In the imp: Sweet fruit juice? Wet on my skin: Vanilla and peach, with hints of flowers. Actually, it's reminding me of how Hollywood Babylon smells on me. Dry: This still reminds me of Hollywood Babylon after being aged a few months, but less cherry and more peach in terms of fruit. They share several important notes, so I'm not surprised. I THINK I like this one better, though. This is lovely, musky amber and peach close to the skin, with the heliotrope and vanilla swirling through it. I'm actually not getting any sandalwood, but maybe that's in there with the musk, grounding what might otherwise be too feminine and sweet for me.

In the imp: Sweet hyacinth and jasmine. Wet on my skin: Beautiful aquatic hyacinth, with a touch of jasmine and green fir needles. Dry: I'd been considering ordering this, but had not yet gotten around to it. So glad they tossed this in with my latest box! This is mostly hyacinth and jasmine on me, with a sense of rain-slicked petals and wet fir needles in the surrounding forest. It's a blue scent, very feminine and soft. This is actually quite beautiful, and is the first scent in my box with hyacinth in it. I should see if there are more~!

In the imp: Sweet rose and pear juice. Wet on my skin: Mostly pear, with lily and rose. Dry: This started out very nice on me, full of sweet pear juice and flowers. It smelled like the pear I had for breakfast this morning, actually. Then...SOAP. Lily and rose usually work fairly well on me, but apparently not in this particular blend. It's very nice soap, but still too soapy to be perfume. However, as I love the legend and notes in this, I'm willing to let it sit for a while and see if it remains soap. Or maybe try it during mid-month, when I'm not about to start shark week (which makes my skin do interesting things with rose).

In the imp: Mmmm, sassafras and cedar. Wet on my skin: MMmm, sassafras and cedar with vanilla! Dry: I knew I'd like this, and I am not disappointed! This is a perfect balance of vanilla, cedar, and sassafras on my skin, with the balsam spicing it up enough to make it a sexy, head-turning cologne. I'm finding that I really like the Lab's sassafras and vanilla on me, and this blend is just heavenly delicious. It's a bit reminiscent of how Old Scratch smelled on me the other day, but maybe even better!

In the imp: Dry, bitter. Wet on my skin: Still dry and bitter, dusty, and musky. Odd, and somewhat unpleasant. Dry: I think I'm going to need to let this one age for a while, because it's just not working on my skin today. I usually do great things with amber, musks, and orchid, but not right now. It's almost all light, dry musk and dust, with something bitter-green that I think might be the hemlock. Will re-edit in a month or so if it improves!

In the imp: Cherry cough syrup. Wet on my skin: Cherry cough syrup. Dry: Gooooooorgeous. While this retains a spicy, almost medicinal note from the anise, it's no longer cough syrup. It's sweet, sexy, and sharp enough to mean business before pleasure. It's a RED scent. Juicy and a little dangerous. But! This isn't a heavy scent, despite the sometimes-heavy notes in it. It's cherry blossom light, wafting gently in the air. This might be another bottle scent (in case I don't have enough already).

In the bottle: Vague spices. Wet on my skin: Very faint, a little bit of musk and a little bit of spice. I can smell the saffron. Dry: While this is faint when wet, it strengthens as it dries. This is a warm, dusty, brown scent with dusty saffron and myrrh swirling through slightly-sweet musks. There is a hint of that sun-baked leather, but mostly, this is saffron, myrrh, and musks. It's lighter than some of the other blends I have with these particular notes, and more warm and dusty than seductive. I like!

In the bottle: Somewhat unpleasant, very medicinal and "dirty." Wet on my skin: The anise comes out right away, smelling like old-fashioned black licorice. Not the plastic-packaged mass-produced stuff, but the real kind you find in glass jars in dedicated candy shops. Dry: This remains primarily anise on me, inky and black, with an undercurrent of wet, thick spices and something earthy. It's a pungent mixture, but not a bad one in terms of scent. The feel of it, though, is disconcerting. It's actually the first BPAL scent that has been black in colour, inside my mind. Thick, viscous, inky black. Strange. I love it!!!

In the bottle: Dusty, minty vanilla. Wet on my skin: Much the same as in the bottle. Dry: Dusty, lightly-spiced woody vanilla and mint. It's a lot prettier than the name would suggest, and it's sort of a warm, foody scent. Interestingly, it is making me a little hungry, which is amusing in the context of this scent being evocative of a ravenous plague of locusts. This is the first of the Plagues series I've tried, and if the rest of them are this nice, I will be quite pleased.

In the imp: Wood! Wet on my skin: Living wood, slightly sweet fig, and something that my nose swears is cocoa. Dry: That cocoa note doesn't really fade, but it adds this really lovely, warm, fuzzy sort of feel to the scent. The rest of this is warm wood, fresh green fig leaves, and dry, faintly sweet figs. With cocoa. This is actually really nice, and it will make a good autumn/winter scent since it's so warm and comforting.

In the imp: Dirt and moss, I think? Flowers. Wet on my skin: Same as in the imp. Dry: It took a little while for this to bloom on my skin, but bloom it did. It's a gorgeous, spicy, earthy scent with magnolia flowers wafting through the air. The moss, dirt, and magnolia are predominant on my skin, and the booze doesn't really smell boozy, but instead spices up the top three notes. I was really not sure about this when I put it on, but it's really quite nice now! It's different enough from the other two "death" scents that I like (Sheol and The Grave-Pig) that I don't mind having this imp floating about at all.

In the imp: Green! Fruit! Wet on my skin: This starts out a little bit shampoo-like due to the berries and violet, but doesn't quite make it to soap territory once it begins to dry. Dry: This is a bright, green-gold, berry-touched forest scent. I can distinctly pick up the aspen leaves (living in the Colorado Rockies gets one used to that scent!), violet, honey, and lily. It's pretty but not yet stand-out. Thankfully, this is the one of BPAL's honey notes that doesn't go rancid on me. After it's been on a while, I start to get some light musk and a fainty woodsy-ness from the moss. I suspect this will smell great when paired with my imp of Paladin. I didn't order this, but I'm glad they included it so I can do that RPG layering thing.

In the imp: A dark, earthy, wet scent. Wet on my skin: This is very green, very dark, and slightly salty. A bit odd. Dry: This is mostly vetiver and what smells like bramble or ivy greens. Maybe grass. And maybe dragon's blood? It's sweet-salty, earthy, and deep green. Not a happy scent, and I'm not sure it is something I will wear again, though it was nice to try it once.

In the imp: Warm cocoa. Wet on my skin: This specifically smells like a specialty hot chocolate I used to make at a cafe where I worked. Ghirardelli cocoa, vanilla syrup, and hazelnut syrup. Dry: I love this. It's so warm and fuzzy and sweet and it smells delicious! The cocoa and vanilla mingle perfectly, with a bit of a spicy/incensed note to the mix. It's a comforting sort of scent, and I'm so glad to have this imp.

In the imp: This smells nasty. Wet on my skin: Cantaloupe and a very unappealing mix of other...stuff. Dry: The cantaloupe is the only pleasant note in this, at least on my skin. A few of them work on me in other blends, but definitely not in this one. This is a very musty and unpleasant scent on me, and I think the honey note in this is the one that's smelled rancid on me in a couple other blends. Urgh. I'm debating on whether I should wash this off or wait another hour or two to see if it changes. Leaning toward the former, since it's already been on a while and hasn't improved at all.

In the imp: Aquatic cologne. Wet on my skin: This is a salty, ozone-laden aquatic and not much else at this stage. Dry: Salty ocean and a teensy bit of rum for an hour or so. After it's been on an hour, a hint of damp leather and something dusty (wood?) starts to appear, but mostly this is a fresh aquatic scent. It's quite nice, and thankfully doesn't have grapefruit/orange in it like many aquatic scents do. Not something I'll wear often, but this will definitely be replacing Kumari Kandam as my go-to for when I need salty seawater.

In the imp: Smells exactly like the lilacs blooming in my backyard right now. Wet on my skin: Fresh, newly-bloomed lilac, green cedar needles and bark, and a bit of musk. Dry: That same fresh lilac, fresh cedar, with musk and a hint of the wisteria. It's very green and lilac and beautiful, and there's a slightly sharp edge from the lemon and tea. Those last two notes don't stand out by themselves, but serve to freshen and "green" the rest of the blend. I love lilacs (and realistic-smelling lilac scents), and this is definitely one. Pretty!

In the imp: Sandalwood. Wet on my skin: Spicy sandalwood and lush rose. Dry: This blend has dried into a beautiful, soft, spicy sandalwood-rose. It's perfectly balanced and oh so lovely. If I stick my nose right up to my wrist, I can smell earthy patchouli, but the throw of this is entirely the wood and rose. Gorgeous!

In the bottle: OH MY GOD Wet on my skin: OH MY GOD Dry: OH MY GOD. Okay, this has instantly become one of my favourite BPAL scents. I knew I'd at least like it based on the notes, but oh my god it's so gooood. This a gorgeously sexy amber, musk, almond, and vanilla scent on me, with this seductively gorgeous spicy edge to it from the lavender and Snake Oil spices. And THEN it's got this dark, earthy sort of base to it beneath the golden sweet-spicy notes. This bottle is going to get a LOT of use, oh yes.

In the imp: Dark florals with a little incense. Wet on my skin: This is nighttime flowers with a little incense and earth. Dry: Doesn't really change from wet, except the flowers strengthen just a tad. Definitely jasmine, maybe lily of some sort, moss, and wet earth. It's actually a bit similar to Sheol, but not as strong and with fewer types of flowers. It's pretty, but unremarkable. Will try it again in a few months and see what it does.

In the imp: Pleasant florals. Wet and dry: I'll just condense this by saying that I did not expect this to work on me when I read that it has mandarin in it. Orange and grapefruit makes me smell like dirty orange-scented Costco cleaning wipes, after I've cleaned the whole bathroom with them. Not even the rose, musk, and jasmine could save this from turning into cleaning wipes on me. I think I'll just go wash this off...