DiesMali

In the imp: Sharp, chemically amber. Wet on my skin: This is somewhat unpleasant on me when it's wet, despite my skin usually liking amber. It's sharp and chemical. Dry: Thankfully, this calms down once it dries. It's a rich, spicy amber with what smells like some cinnamon and maybe nutmeg. It isn't terribly complex and doesn't morph once it's completely dried, but it is pretty. I won't need more than this imp, probably, as I have other amber scents I prefer to this one and which don't have that initial 10-15 minutes of weird, unpleasant sharpness.

In the imp: Thick, woodsy musk. Wet on my skin: Sandalwood and red musk, with just a teeny bit of amber. Dry: This is very, very similar to Venus Victrix on me. It's primarily red musk and sandalwood on me, a bit lumber store-ish, but in a good way. The rosewood contributes and gives it a slightly sweet undertone, and the amber comes out just enough to give it a faintly resinous feel. It is a powerful and "strong" scent, not just in terms of throw, but it's like a scent I might wear to inspire me during a hard workout. It remains almost identical to Venus Victrix as it wears, though I think I may actually prefer this slightly due to the amber. Will need to test them side by side to decide if I'll get a bottle of this and sell VV, or keep my VV and just have the imp of this one.

Disclaimer: Violet is not my thing. It almost always ends up smelling like overly-sweet kids' bubble bath on me. In the imp: Purple kids' shampoo. Wet on my skin: I get a strong blast of purple flowery kids' bubble bath, and then it disappears almost entirely. Dry: POOF. I can smell a hint of powdery purple violet and a bit of chilly mint, and just a tad of something earthy and green, but the scent almost just disappears on my skin within 10-15 minutes. I can only smell it if I put my nose right up next to my wrist. It's the least offensive violet scent I've tried so far, but probably not something I'd wear even if it hadn't gone poof. To the giveaway pile!

In the imp: Bitter ashes. Wet on my skin: Bitter ashes and I think pine smoke. Dry: Surprisingly wearable once it dries down! This is a woodsy, incensed, ashy scent. I recognise vetiver and sandalwood, and ginger, and what I'm fairly sure is pine pitch and/or pine ash. There's also something camphorous in it, which gives it a nostril-tingling sharpness when inhaled deeply. After a while, a hint of something a little sweeter comes out, and I think it might be citrus, but thankfully it doesn't turn to bathroom cleaner due to the dry/incense notes. This is a little bit reminiscent of the old Tiger Balm recipe, though not quite as sharp and medicinal. It's a fairly masculine scent, but very wearable on my skin. I don't think I'll need more than an imp, since I have other smoky/fire scents I prefer and have bottles of, but I'll definitely use up the imp!

In the imp: Musky wood. Wet on my skin: This does not start off very good on my skin, despite having several notes that normally work well on me. Musty, musky, and oddly like cinnamon bark. Dry: It had potential, and it's not awful, but it's not really something I think I will wear. I like most of the notes in this individually, but they're just not working well in combination on my skin. I think it might be the mango that's taking this from spicy-musky to musty-sweet, and it just isn't doing it for me. I can detect all of the notes, and the agarwood, sandalwood, and red musk give this a very nice base. The cassia is, I think, what's giving it the decidedly cinnamony quality. Overall, it smells like dusty potpourri on me. Not unpleasant, but not something I will wear again.

Disclaimer: I knew this likely wouldn't work on me, but I have a personal policy of testing all imps even if they have my death notes, which in this case are grapefruit and tangerine. In the imp: Sharp, green-ish citrus. Wet on my skin: This actually starts off smelling rather pretty on me, with sugared lime and lavender, and the grapefruit in the background. Dry: Sigh. There are sniffs where this smells lovely, almost like a tropical, fruit-infused tea. I can detect lavender, grapefruit, tangerine, sugary lime, and just a hint of mint. The oakmoss ALMOST saves this on my skin, but not quite. For every sniff where I get that beautiful tropical drink scent, I then get a sniff where it smells like cleaning fluid and/or medicinal cough drops. I really wanted to like this because of the concept, but alas, grapefruit and my skin just don't get along. Period. I'll make this into a room spray, because I think it'd smell lovely that way.

In the imp: Grass and flowers. Wet on my skin: Damp, green grass and flowers. Dry: Green florals like this don't generally work terribly well on me, and this one is not an exception. It goes soapy on me within 5 minutes of application, and stays there without much morphing. It smells like tulips and grass and expensive hand soap, and while that's not an unpleasant smell, it's not something I want to smell like. I'll be passing this imp on to someone who appreciates old-fashioned florals more than I do.

In the imp: Dirt! Wet on my skin: Dirt! Dry: This is loamy soil with fallen, dried pine needles, and mushrooms poking up through the pine needles. It's a scent similar to that which I've smelled very often during hikes up in our mountains here, after the late summer rains and when all the mushrooms are popping up everywhere. Patchouli, benzoin, and cedar bark are what my nose picks up here, along with something a little musty and fungus-y, though the musty note fades after a while and just leaves the soft, dusty, earthy scents behind. It's a nice scent, but rather faint on me, and doesn't have much of a throw. I'm glad to have the imp, don't need a bottle since The Grave-Pig takes care of all my earth and mushroom needs.

In the imp: Sweet, juicy dragon's blood with honey. Wet on my skin: Same as in the imp, but now vanilla joins the honey. Dry: This is a lovely scent that does not morph at all once it's on my skin. Dragon's blood forward, then vanilla and honey, in that order. Thankfully, this is one of the BPAL honey notes that works on me. It's simple, soft, and very beautiful. This is actually one of the prettier vanilla blends I've found in the GC, and definitely my favourite dragon's blood scent thus far. A surprise hit from the frimps in my last order, and I'm glad to have received a second frimp of it since this may become a good sleep scent for me.

In the bottle: Rich, aftershave-y cologne. Wet on my skin: I swear to the gods, the first whiff of this on my skin smells like warm taco spices. Like, I could go get the bag of taco spices from my pantry and it would smell like this. Either my nose or my skin is really, really weird with this at first contact. Dry: No more taco spices! While I actually like how that smells, I'd rather not smell like a Taco Bell, and thankfully I do not. This is now a surprisingly close to the skin scent, slightly fuzzy, and definitely cologney and masculine in nature. It's primarily a green-edged lavender and soft brown leather on me, with sweet bay leaf, tobacco, and oudh underneath. This isn't the sweet and chewy tobacco like in some of the other Weenies this year, but rather a dry and slightly dusty/smoky tobacco. Like one previous reviewer mentioned, this could have been a fuzzy brown scent, but the herbal sharpness takes it into slightly green territory instead. It has the feel of a very expensive, high-class, and somewhat antique cologne, at least on me. Silver fox scent, basically, but in a very good way. On me, the throw is fairly light and close to the skin, but I think it will strengthen and be even nicer with a bit of aging.

In the bottle: Smells very, very much like dark, icy seawater. Wet on my skin: Salty, aquatic, wet black leather with a hint of licorice. Dry: I smell like a Viking lumberjack in the dead of winter, if the lumberjack was also in charge of hewing those logs into boats and sailing the icy Scandinavian seas with them. This is very dark, very masculine, and I love it. On my skin, it's black leather and black licorice soaked in icy-cold, salty seawater, and just a hint of the birch tar to make it smell just a little woodsy, like pitch-sealed boat or cabin wood. This would be an excellent scent on a man**, but not mine. No, he can't have it. This bottle is MINE. Not sharing. ** Poster is bio female but also kind of genderfluid and likes masculine scents to go with androgynous/masculine looks.

In the bottle: Bitter herbs. Wet on my skin: Not gonna lie, this isn't very pleasant wet. It's MUG-FRICKIN-WORT MOTHERF***ER with a little whisper of opium. It's sour and bitter and a bit aftershave-ish at this stage. Dry: After the mugwort stops beating me senseless, which is until this starts to warm and dry on my skin, this actually is a very pleasant scent, and worth the 10 minutes of bitter-sharpness. It becomes a mildly sweet, soft, and almost-green herbal scent, somewhat reminiscent of the herbiness in Blue Moon July 2015 but not quite as sweet and gentle. This is warm and a little smoky, herbal, and retains just a hint of the sharpness from the initial blast of mugwort. The primary notes on me upon initial drydown are opium, mugwort, and tobacco, in that order. The bourbon vanilla never does come out as its own note, but rather contributes to the feel of the rest. The tuberose and plum only really come into the blend after it has been on my skin for an hour or more, at which point it goes from herbal and smoky to sweet sachet herbs and flower petals.

I waited a while to review this one, because for the first few weeks I owned it, it was ALL JASMINE ALL THE TIME. However, after almost 2 months sitting in a dark box, it is MUCH better! In the bottle: Smells like wet soil. Wet on my skin: JASMINE. And a little vanilla. Dry: As this dries, the jasmine tones itself down and allows other notes to come play! It's predominantly this beautiful jasmine-vanilla combination at the start of the wear, but I also get some patchouli-oudh soft earthiness and glittery frankincense at the "back" of each sniff. I do not detect honey myrtle or clary sage at this stage, but I think the myrtle is simply blending in seamlessly with the jasmine-vanilla and my nose can't quite detect it on its own since it isn't a note I am terribly familiar with. After several hours, the frankincense comes out a little more, so now it's beautiful jasmine-vanilla-frankincense. So, so pretty. This one definitely required a little aging to get to that point, however, and I suspect that aging it further will allow it to blend more and let the more herbal notes come out. Either way, it's a beautiful scent and I'm glad I have a bottle, even if the jasmine scared me a little upon first application!

In the bottle: Slightly bitter, musky clove. Wet on my skin: When wet, this is much sweeter than anticipated! Sweet red musk and spices, almost grape-like on some sniffs. Dry: This is lighter than I anticipated, but it's still very, very beautiful. It's primarily sweet red musk and clove on my skin, with saffron as a prominent note as well, and with the sandalwood and oudh backing everything up and making it spicy rather than sweet. It's almost a heady scent, sexy and very...forward. It does have something of a Tibet Imports shop vibe to it, and is actually a bit reminiscent of one of my favourite temple incense blends. Once it has been on for a couple of hours, the throw morphs a little, with the musk fading closer to the skin and the saffron and clove taking over as the primary notes. The oudh and sandalwood remain more in the background through this, backing everything up with resiny spice. I really like this, and it also layers extremely well with the Shadow in the Elevator, which I tested earlier on the opposite arm.

In the bottle: Deep, earthy vetiver and patchouli. Wet on my skin: That same deep, earthy vetiver and patchouli...and something a little sweet. Dry: This scent had me at "inky vetiver" and "cashmere patchouli." As a lover of those two notes, I am VERY satisfied with this scent. It's deep, dark, earthy, and deliciously smooth. This is the softest, silkiest patchouli you can imagine, and so very niiice. The vetiver in this isn't sharp, but rather is the smoky kind that can be reminiscent of tobacco smoke. That smoky earthiness is sweetened slightly by the plum, which gives it a cool, sweet throw, and then the whole thing is deepened and smoothed out even more by the musk. Finally, the last note to appear is oudh, which brings just enough spicy resin to the scent to give the darkest notes a slightly shimmery quality. Black, smoky, smooth, and oh so sexy.

In the bottle: It smells exactly like fancy Ghirardelli hot cocoa. Mmmm. Wet on my skin: Still fancy hot cocoa, with vanilla and a hint of spice. Dry: Oh. Ohhhh. Oh yes. The dusty-musky sweetness of the cocoa and patchouli is still present, but now this gorgeous combination of frankincense, vanilla, and spicy pepper-cedar are joining it and wafting around me in a dark, smouldering, smoky golden cloud. It's a perfect balance of spicy and sweet, and oh man that combination of frankincense and cocoa is just beautiful. This is a somewhat foodie scent on me, though not so much that non-foodie people would be turned off by it. I didn't realise this would be as strong in throw as it was, and it was still strong hours later when I wore it to a dress rehearsal today. Normally I'd have gotten a talking-to from the section leader for that, since we have some chorus members who are allergic to strong scents, but this is so beautiful that nobody wanted me to wash it off. THAT'S how nice this Phoenix is.

In the bottle: Sharp, tangy poppy. Wet on my skin: Black poppy and myrrh and just a wisp of sandalwood. Dry: Dark, smoky, incensed opium poppy. The main notes on my skin are the poppy and myrrh, then the musk, and then wisps of smoky sandalwood. It's not a terribly thick smoke, more like...the remnants left behind. Haunting, foreboding, and just a little bit melancholy. Dark grey and maybe a hint of the deepest green. This is not a perfume for everyday wear, but definitely one requiring I keep it around for those days when I feel morose and brooding.

In the bottle: Chemical amber. Wet on my skin: Thankfully, the chemical sharpness fades as soon as this hits my skin, and it turns into PURE WIN. Dry: Absolutely beautiful. This is a rich, slightly herbal amber with a tea-like quality to it. It's a relatively simple blend on my skin, but oh is it lovely. The amber in this is somewhat reminiscent of the amber + black musk in aged Haunted, but sweeter and more elegant with the fougere added to it. Masculine, but not so much so that it would smell out of place on a woman who enjoys more masculine scents (I do). This is definitely as good as the previous reviews have said, and I'm so glad I got a bottle!

Disclaimer - I had to get this even if I hated the notes in it, because my entire basement is quite literally an insect museum. Thankfully, these are all notes I love. In the bottle: I'm not sure why, but this smells very much like lychee fruit in the bottle. Wet on my skin: The purple fruits + neroli seriously makes this smell like fresh lychee, and then there's the patchouli! Dry: The sweet, sharp fruit calms down as this warms and dries on my skin, and now it's GORGEOUS. This is a lustrous blue-black scent, with the fruits and this beautifully smooth, dark patchouli at the forefront, and given a gleaming kick by the neroli and opoponax. It's actually a little masculine and cologne-like at first, at least on my skin, and so very dark. Only after it's been on a couple hours does it soften and become a little more feminine, though it's still what I would consider unisex. This is not a scent for the faint of heart, but it's definitely one for patchouli lovers. I am a patchouli lover. I love this scent. Another win from Crimson Peak!

In the bottle: It's like sniffing a real-life white rose, with vanilla-moistened petals. Wet on my skin: Smooth, slightly-powdery amber-vanilla-rose. Dry: The first word I'd use to describe this scent is "smooth." It's very light and ethereal on my skin, but has a definite presence and has a decent throw for being so light. It's white rose and powdery amber first, then cool vanilla. Closer to the skin, the musk, rosewood, and ambergris all combine to make sure the scent doesn't entirely float away. I'm not really getting any champagne from this champagne musk, so maybe it's describing the colour rather than the beverage? I'm not sure. There's something very sophisticated about those three notes closer to the skin, and the overall feel of this scent is just lovely. Classy, sophisticated, smooth, and just a little bit whimsical. White with gold trim, in my mind.

In the bottle: Rich, loamy patchouli. Wet on my skin: Chewy, thick, rich patchouli with a hint of tobacco and sandalwood. This is already awesome when wet, but then I'm a patchouli lover... Dry: GORGEOUS. I knew it would be, from the notes, but I'm so glad I was able to track down a bottle of this! The patchouli settles down a little at this dries, providing a rich and earthy base to the rest of the notes, all of which are discernible despite how well-blended this is. Vanilla, ambergris, and benzoin are at the top here, providing a creamy-smooth sweetness with just a hint of cool salinity from the ambergris. Beneath those are a beautiful, smoky-sweet tobacco note, subtle sandalwood, something vaguely floral, and of course the patchouli. After wearing a few hours, the throw is now mostly creamy vanilla-tobacco-ambergris, and it's gorgeous. The reviewers who said this would be amazing after aging a year were spot-on, and UNGH SO GOOD.

In the bottle: Incensed sassafras. Wet on my skin: Spicy vanillic root beer! Dry: Cool, delicious, spicy tonka root beet. I adore the sassafras note, and Tombstone is one of my favourites, and this scent has a similar feel to it. Tonka does the usual woody-vanilla thing on my skin, and the champaca in this gives it a slightly spicy/incensed quality. The tea is faint, but rounds out the scent and seems to give it something of a softer herbal feel than the sassafras' bite initially gave. Soft, fuzzy, mildly incensed herbal sassafras-tonka-tea. It's gorgeous and I'm so glad I found a bottle.

In the bottle: BOOZE. Fruity, sweet booze. Wet on my skin: BOOZE. With a bit of brown sugar and dark, juicy fruit. It's actually a bit overwhelming at this stage. Dry: Thankfully, this does not remain overwhelming when it dries. It's a juicy and true fig with brown sugar and booze, and it smells good enough to eat. It's definitely more of a dessert scent than a spirit or liqueur scent, but it's like...purple fruit mashed with brown booze and spices. Yep. I guess that's kinda what a pudding is anyway, isn't it? JUICY, boozy, sweet fruit, sweet spices. The raisin note threatened to make things weird, but now it's behaving and the delicious, lovely fig is the main fruit. Mmmm.

In the bottle: Fruity vetiver-patchouli. Wet on my skin: Smoky, gorgeous vetiver-patchouli and soft carnation. Dry: UTTERLY GORGEOUS. This has taken a fast leap to being one of my favourite BPAL scents ever. It's dark, rich, vetiver-patchouli-amber closer to the skin, with just a touch of musky sweetness from the blackcurrant and red musk. The throw, however, is mostly velvety carnation and warm amber. It's a dark scent overall, definitely one for vetiver lovers, though the warmth from the carnation-amber gives it these little golden sparkles on top of the deep, rich brown base. It's a very unusual scent, like nothing else I have, and I LOVE IT.

In the bottle: WIIIINE. Wet on my skin: Sweet, strong red wine and juicy fruit, and a bit of rose geranium. Dry: I adore the Lab's wine scents, and this has probably just overtaken my beloved Obsidian Widow as my favourite wine blend. As this dries, the wine is threaded through by the geranium, beeswax candle smoke, and resins, and then the patchouli and leather ground the whole thing and give it a dark, earthy quality. After several hours of wear, it's much less wine and much more resins, geranium, smoke, and soft red patchouli. It's a very evocative and sexy scent, beginning as a deep, velvety purple-red in colour fading to dusty purple at the end.