angelfish323

Beer, woodsmoke, tar, and treacle. I am ordering a bottle of this. This decant is immediately going into my imp carrier for my purse. I can see this being something I want to wear through the fall and winter. I love it so much more than I anticipated! It's a beautiful combination of sugar and smoke. It's foody, without being too much so. It's eating treacle (although I confess I've never had treacle, but I imagine this is what it smells like) around a bonfire in the middle of the woods. It's woodsy, smokey, with hints of malt, caramel, brown sugar. If I try, I can imagine there's beer in there, but it's not alcohol-y - it's sweet and malty. It's a tad masculine, which I don't always want to wear myself, but I definitely want to wear this. I imagine grabbing this on days I want something slightly sweeter than Samhain when the weather is reminding me (like I could forget) that Autumn is here. I suspect it would be super sexy on a guy as well. Now if only mine would comply with my wishes to test things on him . . .

This is gorgeous and so . . . evocative. It's a little overpowering at first, however. I had a reaction almost like I do with strong vetiver blends. But very quickly, it calmed down. It became a strong smokey, amber blend over dead leaves. The clove hiding in the background. It quiets down quite a bit. It's like walking through a dying forest on a chill fall evening with a bonfire in the distance. Leaves, wood, smoke, fire, with a very faint hint of amber in the background. Someone smoking a clove cigarette several feet away. I was hoping for more chrysanthemum, but it's only been a half hour or so. I'm not sure I need a bottle, but will definitely be keeping my imp. It's very wearable and another beautiful fall blend!

2007 version I've been anxiously awaiting my imp of this. I love my 2006 bottle, so was waiting to see if I could get it a younger sibling. I opened it and put it on and was so shocked - It tingled! All I was getting off my skin was clove, cinnamon, cassia, nutmeg. It was like a mellow version of Saw-Scaled Viper. (Which is not a positive association for me.) So I avoided panic by trying a few others. Ever so slowly, the woods emerged along with the slightest hint of pumpkin. Whew. The OH-MY-GOD cassia component mellowed out. A lot. So I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. 5 or so minutes after application it became the warm, woodsy, slightly spicey, and very slightly sweet, lovely Autumn blend that I remember. The notes blend so well together that I'm not really able to select individual ones out. On a cold, dreary, fall Seattle day this is a favorite of mine to reach for. I do believe my solo bottle of Samhain will have a younger sibling on its way soon.

At first, this is very smokey pumpkin. Pumpkin on fire? Something like that. It actually starts to sweeten up a tiny, tiny bit after several minutes, but retains the almost sharp smokey smell. I can't quite detect the beer or the beeswax, but I suppose that's what's generating the hint of something sweet. Or maybe it's sour? Damn - this is unique! And I say that in a positive way - while I was iffy at first, I like it more and more with each sniff. ETA: About 90 minutes later I can definitely detect the beeswax and . . . I love it! Now it's mostly pumpkin and beeswax. The smokey notes have faded away. Yummy, yet pretty. Why oh why must a person fall in love with an Inquisition?

Oh yum. Creamy and slightly spicey egg custard. Maybe even approaching a creme brulee custard, minus the caramelized sugar. Not enough sweetness for that. (Egg nog is probably appropriate, but I've never been a fan, so I don't want to liken a scent I enjoy to a beverage I don't!) Unfortunately, it's oh so faint on my skin. It's delicious though. I may try to use half the imp in a perfume spray - with any hope and luck that will make it last longer.

This is so much more light and fluffy than I expected it to be! Charmin indeed! With the faintest hint of some bright, almost sweet woodsy notes in the background. It's soft and cottony and I really love it.

This is decadent. My first thought was of the delicious smell you get when walking into one of those homemade candy stores. Sweet and sugary and chocolatey and just . . . yum. At first, I get no pumpkin. It's all creamy white chocolate, caramel, and a hint of fruit. Very buttery and rich. After a few minutes - there's the pumpkin! Buttery pumpkin and a hint of chocolate. The pom isn't terribly noticeable, but there's definitely something fruity and red behind it all. And it starts to come out a little bit more with the passing minutes . . . I'm in love.

Mmm. Yum. At first application, it's boozy. Lots of bourbon vanilla covered pumpkin. But within seconds, I can start to detect the lemon peel and maybe a hint of red ginger. It's definitely sweet, but not as sweet as I expected it to be from sniffing the bottle. A hint of spice, a hint of citrus, plenty of vanilla. The pumpkin is more in the background than I'd like it to be, but it's still a delicious, foody scent. A spicer version of Pumpkin Queen, at least while it's still wet, is a good comparison. The red ginger keeps getting stronger, which I like. I have plenty of sweet pumpkin in my life, and could use a little spice! A sexy pumpkin blend!

At first, this is actually very bright on me. Which I found surprising, given the name and description. A bright, lemony floral. Not a really sour lemon, but definitely lemon. Maybe a touch sweet. But then I left it alone for a minute and it transformed. Lifeless indeed! It stays so very, very close to my skin. It's dusty, a bit powdery. A gorgeous lily & moonflower combination with the faintest touch of sweetness. But in the end, it's difficult to pick out any notes. It's whispy, ethereal, haunting (borrowing words from other reviewers). Perfectly captures its namesake and concept. Probably not a bottle purchase for me, but I'm definitely keeping the imp.

As I expected, this is dead sexy. Right after applying, I got a strong caramel note, but also a strong musk/tobacco note. Which made for an interesting juxtaposition. Then the mint made it cool, while it remained warmed by the caramel and tobacco notes. I love the opposites. After it had a few minutes, the notes blended a bit better. It's beautiful. I was so curious how this would turn out, but somehow it all works. The mint fades into the background. I don't really get mint, I just get something a bit cool and a bit green underneathe it all. (Suppose that could be the sage as well.) It's the caramel and tobacco that are dominant on me. Sweet and smokey. Yum. Oddly, it's sort of a masculine scent, and not something I'd expect I'd want to wear. But I do. I may not need a bottle, but the imp is staying on hand for days I want or need to feel sexy. And while my last attempt to attack the boy with BPAL (it was Spider) failed somewhat miserably (he promptly washed it off ) I plan to try again soon with Incubus.

Sniffing the imp: Ack! Soap. Wet on skin: Overpowering nasty lavender and jasmine combination that generates . . . Soap. Icky. It actually dries to a rather pretty honeysuckle and jasmine combination with some lavender, perhaps, hanging out in the back. The name twilight is perfect for it. It's wispy, light. Sunset-like. Very nice. However, I don't *love* it enough to suffer the awful wet stages.

I really like this. It's like a sexier, more grown up, less sugary version of the violet in Faith of the Siamese Twins. (Which I adore.) Wet, it's a gorgeous, creamy, spicey, floral. There's a hint of sweet tamarind in the background. It dries to a lovely balance of clove and bright violet. I haven't decided if I need a bottle yet, but definitely going to keep the imp and see how often I reach for it. Oh, Delirium1009's mention of Skinny Dip Buttercream is an apt one. I hadn't thought of that, but it does remind me of the stuff.

Whoa. This is a serious morpher on me. It dries as if it were a completely different blend than when I initially put it on. I sniffed it every couple of minutes for 10-15 . . . It starts out as a sweet lemon, with a hint of lavender and maybe some vetiver in the background. (I am shocked that this barely comes out at all during all of its phases!) As it starts to dry, but while still wet, it gets sweeter. This is my favorite stage - it's almost a light sugary lemon. The plum starts to come out after several minutes, along with a faint powdery note. 15 minutes or so in, almost completely dry, and it's a plum/fig/white musk blend. Pretty, but I have other fig/plum related blends that I like more. It's much less masculine, more gender neutral, than I expected it to be. I keep looking for a lemon blend that I love, and if this had stayed somewhere in the middle of its metamorphosis, this could have been a contender . . . Ah well.

Wet, this was very green and very herbal. Musky, with the slightest touch of floral, but not of the good kind on me. If anything, it's the dreaded rose note coming out and turning to playdough and plastic. Herbal plastic? Not terribly thrilling. However, as it dries, the green/herbal became more subdued. I started to get the faintest hint of floral. Probably the chrysanthemum. Becomes prettier, but still not quite sure it's something I'd wear. 15-20 minutes later, I definitely get the peony! I love peony - like the floral note in Budding Moon or Peony Moon, but greener. It's much lighter, much prettier, with any green/herbal notes holding it up lightly in the background. This morphed quite a lot on me. I'm still not quite sure I love it, but it went from "eh" to "ooooh, maybe" in a matter of 20 minutes. Not much throw, stayed close to my skin.

I love the wet stage of this. It's a really pretty, sweet amber on me. I get a hint of marzipan nuttiness, which I loved. If I try, I can detect the cedar in the background, but it blends well with the other notes so it's not overly woodsy. Unfortunately, once it dries, it becomes a much drier, woody blend on me. Without any of the amber or sweet almond notes that I liked. I may try this in a scent locket before sending it off to a new home in hopes of holding on to that lovely wet stage.

Gah. I feel horrible - all of those BPAL orders since February and I never really paid attention to my payment method. Just always went through CCNow . . . Which is currently screwing around with my 13 order, so I'm off to cancel it and place the order through PayPal directly.

Does anyone else get a softer version of Pink Moon 2007 with Zarita? I know it's not exactly GC, but it's still around for several months . . . I've been dying to get my hands on Sugar Cookie for ages (at least it feels that way ), but Mr. Nancy seems to have calmed the desperate hunt at least a little bit . . .

Glad to hear putting the imps in the ziplock bag when going through security has worked for others. Will be away from the precious stash for almost a month beginning next week, so I plan to do some serious decanting before then.

I must say, I'm impressed! In the bottle, it's super strong, sour, fermented fruit. It stays that way when it first hits my skin, but eventually becomes a little sweeter. It remains a fruity, boozy scent, but no longer one I want to turn my nose up at. By the time it's dry, it's really quite light and refreshing - pleasant. A touch of champagne, a hint of something green or floral. And I'm with whoever said it reminded them of Swank - on dry down, Pruno is very reminiscent of Swank on me. A sweet cocktail blend, sitting on a table with some greenery. I love it!

I want to love this. I really, truly do. I keep shoving my nose onto my arm in hopes I'll get some of the notes I originally sniffed when it was wet. But, alas, my skin ate them up I guess . . . Wet this was absolutely delicious. Foody with a touch of floral. It was a gorgeous blend of honey, almond, and fig with lilies hanging out in the background. After a few minutes the apple showed itself. Subtle, but there. And then . . . it's all gone, wiped away by the musk and myrrh. Which aren't bad necessarily, but I had high hopes for Bilquis. *sigh*

Oh yum! Another floral I love! And this time, instead of my usual sugary, sweet florals, it's sexy and spicey. Wet, right after it's on, I didn't get much of the flowers, but definitely got cardamom and nutmeg. Once it dried, I sniffed again - it was slightly sweeter (but hardly sugary sweet) and the florals start to come out. Not overwhelmingly so, just nicely balanced with the spices. I was glad the initial spice phase was short - while I love both, I'm not sure I want to smell like them. It seems to fade fairly quickly, however, which is sad. I think this will be one of the blends I reach for (and slather, apparently) when I want to feel strong and sexy. Beautiful.

Well, one can never accuse me of lacking persistence. As of yet, BPAL rose turns to playdough on my skin. But, I couldn't resist giving Hope a try. Sugared rose just sounds so delicious, doesn't it? And well . . . Hope gave me hope that I might eventually find a rose that worked. And in the bottle, it is delicious. It's sweet and sugary, covering a fresh aromatic bouquet of bright pink roses. In fact, I can't help but keep opening the bottle to take a whiff. It's that good. It actually made me think of a sweet, floral beverage. Maybe a beautifully sweetened rose tea. However, the moment it touched my wrist . . . playdough, all the way. At least until my skin ate it up 5 minutes later. Hope will be off to find a better home than I, unfortunately. Someone whose skin chemistry treats rose the way it should be treated!

Wow. This is some seriously strong stuff. I put a tiny dot of oil on the top of my wrist and, two hours later, I continue to get wafts of this delicious stuff. Not a slathering-type oil . . . When I first put it on, the cassia/cinnamon note was the strongest, almost too much, overpowering the other notes. Over time (and it doesn't take very long), it mellows, and the angel food cake comes up. Yum. A little bit of cocoa, maybe some vanilla - it's creamy. If I try, I get cinnamon in the background - cinnamon graham crackers. I wish I got more of the cassia, but I think, if nothing else, it's keeping the oil from being too sweet. I'm in love, and so glad I found a bottle of this.

In the imp, I get all sage. Opened imp, sniffed, and BAM! Sage. However, the moment it hits my skin, the sage settles down and the berries come out. I can barely notice the sage. Creamy blackberry tea is a really good description. It's yummy, but I don't imagine it lasting long. And it has a very short throw.

This is what I've been doing the same thing. Seems to work just fine!