Beary Strange

In the bottle: Christmas--I'm struggling to explain what I mean by that, I want to say it smells like Christmas trees, but it's not straight up fir smell, it's way more than just trees: it's the wreaths and the spices and mistletoe and the fire going in the background. Wet: said Christmas smell with men's cologne strongly coming through; there's also a slight chilled edge despite the warm Christmas smells that even feels cool on my skin (I'm guessing this is the Snow White aspect people mention) Dry: Hello! The fougere, cologne scent of Dorian is at the forefront, but it's very much warmer than Dorian usually smells on me. My skin doesn't seem to be amping any sweet elements. It's all warm cologne with that Christmas scent lingering in the background. If you enjoy smelling like men's cologne, as I very much do (it's my preferred scent profile) this is definitely a must-try...or must hoard in my case. It seems to have fairly good throw. Will update on lasting power.

In the bottle and wet, it's mostly stems, very green, almost astringent. But after it dries down, the rose comes out more but brings with it a bit of soapiness. It reminds me off those little rose-scented soaps you find in bathroom dishes at your grandmother's house. Boyfriend says it smells like rose bath pearls. That said, it's a very pleasant. Maybe not something I'd wear out, but definitely something I'd enjoy smelling around the house.

Absurd! Green mango, fig, patchouli and green tea. It smells sweet and fruity to me in the imp and wet. Dry, it smells like spicy Juicy Fruit...which is not a bad thing imo. Boyfriend compared it to the way Hot Topic smelled in the 90s--that patchouli incense waft combined with the fruity, bubblegum perfumes that were so popular back then.

In the bottle and wet, I get a strong orange and lemon oil smell. Pleasant, but also sort of akin to furniture polish. There's also a light undercurrent of something bitter. Dry, the orange and lemon scent is still there but the bitter smell really overpowers it--it reminds me of when you accidentally bite a bit of orange peel and flowers that have wilted and are starting to smell bad. I'm not getting any clove whatsoever. Based on the description, I was really hoping for a pomander scent, but the bitter, rotting flower petal smell really amps on me instead.

In the bottle, it's very sweet; and directly on, it smells woodsy and maybe a bit spicy. On the it's way to drying down, it smells very much like what happens when I mix Eat Me and Greed, only not as strong and the slightest bit plastic-y. And after it's dried down a bit it, it's all spicy vanilla with a hint of cherry-heavy fruits. It's definitely strikes me as similar to Eat Me + Greed, but more wearable in public. There's not a lot of throw, but it does seem to be lasting.

In the imp: BO and jasmine Wet: myrrh and jasmine, but there's still that edge of BO Dry: still myrrh and jasmine, but the BO smell has faded a bit; the jasmine is a bit more tangy than I'm used to in jasmine though, I can get the "cat pee" comparison other's have made; it's also gone powdery on me I love myrrh and jasmine, but this scent doesn't work for me. Even forgetting the odd BO smell it has when wet, the powdery scents strikes me as a bit old lady. Idk, I may give it another try but so far, it's a miss sadly. Quite a throw too--which in this case, not necessarily a good thing. I smell like I tried to cover the need for a shower with a ton of jasmine.

In the imp: it smells exactly like lime peels to me, heading bitter but not to a degree that's unpleasant Wet: it still smells like lime peels, but now also like lemon and orange peels as well Drying: I get citrus, along with their respective peels and there's a sweet floral coming through Dry: I smell like a lemon drop. That is not a bad thing imo. I also get the sweet floral smells, but it's very lemon drop-y. I actually tried this while not feeling well yesterday and it smelled grossly bitter on me, but I decided to give it another try fresh from trying it. This time, I get floral lemon drop. I really like it; fresh, sweet, citrusy, floral--it's a very lovely spring/summer scent. Definitely considering a bottle of this.

In the imp: wet leather and smoke, but not good smoke, more like liquid smoke Wet: leather, smoke and a bit of dragon's blood Dry: my skin amps the dragon's blood and leaves the other two notes in the dust, which as far as I'm concerned is a very good thing. It is leaning a bit soapy though, but I'm not overly bothered by the smell of soap-I think it smells clean. Not fond of it in the imp or wet, but it's nice once dried. Not sure if I feel the need to get a bottle, but the frimp will probably get used.

Unfortunately I couldn't get to full dryness on this one. In the imp, it was bitter and acrid. And on me it was even worse, so much sourness in addition to the bitter. I can't place the smells but I feel like the comparison to band-aids is heading in the right direction, but way stronger.The sour bitter smell turned my stomach so badly I had to rush to get it off (washing + alcohol wipes and I still had to resort to covering it with a lotion). I wish I was exaggerating because I hate to have such a strong bad reaction to a BPAL scent, but omg.

In the imp: like a woodsy men's cologne Wet: more woods as well as the tonka and incense Dry: incense-y wood with tonka and a scent that reads as cedarwood to me; if I really concentrate I can smell the rosiness of the rosewood and the leather I like it but while I like masculine scents generally, this one might be too masculine. So I decided to try it on the dude and it smells very different on him; his skin amps whatever cedarwood smell I'm getting, the vaguest whisper of menthol and I swear it smells like this one shaving cream. He said it was "ok" and compared it Brut. Washed off it smells like shaving cream on me as well.

There's no point in dividing this into stages because to me it smells exactly the same in the imp, wet and dry. It smells like Cool Water in soap form. I also get the comparison to dish washer detergent and Irish Spring. Or if you've ever smelled a candle that's supposed to smell of the sea. It's not a bad smell, just one of those scents I don't think of as a perfume. But, if you're having a DIY spa day at home, this would be a good scent.

In the imp: a scent I don't recognize; I get bitter with a vague fruit smell, I'm guessing it's the plum Wet:plum and the musk has made an appearance; it's reading slightly sweet on my skin and a tad powdery Dry: while drying, my skin started amping the musk and then fully dry, there's a lovely spice smell (it's a bit clovey, a bit cinnamony, a bit peppery) which is apparently the carnation At first sniff I could not fathom why people like this so much, but dry, oh my word, dry it's so amazing. I'm really glad I received this as a frimp because it's proven an excellent way to discover things about my taste in scents. I'm guessing the smell that offends me so much in the imp and wet is plum, so I'll be avoiding that; but, now I know I absolutely love carnation in all it's spicy glory.

In the imp: headache-inducingly sharp frangipani and rose Wet: same thing ^ Dry: sickly sweet rose bath beads and frangipani I don't like this, which is such a disappointment because with the notes it contains, I should have loved it. Alas, the rose and frangipani are both way too sharp and artificial for me; it's not even my skin amping something, that's literally all I get in the imp as well. In addition, my skin had a bad reaction to the oil itself, which is a first for BPAL for me; I left it on long enough to get an impression of it dry and furiously scrubbed it off to relive the itching. :c

In the imp: what I assume is the civet and red musk; it's really strong, it practically smacks you in the face when you put your nose near it Wet: red musk, resin and civet Dry: mostly resin (from other posts I'm guessing that's the opium?) and red musk; I don't get any more of the animalistic civet scent at all anymore (or my nose has deadened to the smell--this stuff is pretty strong); there's also a slightly sweet smell coming out, similar in sweetness to Blood where it's not candy sweet but more sexy sweet Overall, this is a very sexy, warm and heady perfume. After I looked up what smells to expect from civet and opium and the strong opening waft, I wasn't expecting to like this, but the combination of notes seem to work really well together. It probably helps that my skin seems to amp the red musk, which seems to really work for me.

In the imp: herbs and flowers Wet: herbs, flowers and incense, a tad bit soapy Dry: flower herbal soap with a side of incense; the description mentions "nighttime dew" and I definitely get something from this that smells of night, maybe a bit of chamomile or lavender is in this? This turned soapy on me, but I don't dislike it. To me, a flowery herbal soap smells of clean, like a relaxing bath right before bed. The result is something that is very calming and soothing to me; this would make a very good bedtime scent.

In the imp: sharp bubblegum, like when you first unwrap a Hubba Bubba Wet and Dry: the bubblegum brought some strange friends along when it met my skin--I smell spice and musk, competing right there along with the bubblegum. It's not a bad smell per se, but it's a weird combo to my nose and definitely not something I want to smell like. I got a second opinion and it's not just me; my skin is definitely amping some unlisted spicy musk note in this oil. This will probably be the first scent to go to the swap side of my imp storage that I don't outright hate. It's just too weird for my taste.

In the bottle: jasmine, neroli and myrrh Wet and Dry: honestly, this smells like all the notes to/on me. My skin really amps the neroli and myrrh, but I can smell all the other things too. I get: neroli, myrrh, rose, jasmine and bergamot in that order. They all blend together and sit really well on my skin. It sort of reminds me of this one flavor in traditional Christmas ribbon candy that is sort of spicy and citrusy, and just a tad floral. I don't notice much of a difference dry. Another blind buy, I figured I couldn't go wrong when I love all the notes listed and I wasn't wrong. I especially love that the blend stays with me and it's not just a single note amping on my skin.

In the bottle: powdery musk Wet: also powdery musk with the barest whisper of vanilla, which was a bit concerning Dry: It smells like Lush's Pink Fun and I mean exactly like it. Which is incidentally my favorite Lush smell and I've long wished it came in perfume form (for those who don't know, it's a soap in play-doh form basically) --well, wish granted. As far as actual notes, it's a sort of powdery vanilla sugar scent with a mild tea background. This was a blind buy based solely on reputation and honestly, I would have been happy with a straight up tea scent, which is what I was expecting, but the way it actually smells on me makes me so so happy.

OMG In the imp: smells like a white russian with cherries Wet: I get chocolate, cream, frosting, cherries (boyfriend says he smells maraschino cherry juice) Dry: chocolate leaning more white chocolate than milk, and cherries with a hint of cream; there's also something warm that I can't quite place but that smells amazing. I can smell the orange but I have to really sniff and concentrate and I wouldn't have any idea it's there if I didn't already know it was. There's also a light bit of woodiness which is nice and not at all detracting from the foodie scent. I LOVE this; it's foodie but sexy all at the same time. It even got a resounding yes from the boyfriend who ordinarily is so-so about me wearing perfumes. It has a light throw on me but it's not overpowering. I need need a full-size bottle asap and back-ups for days.

In the imp: orange and fresh laundry; it smells like a day at a beachside park Wet: orange and lemon and very marine Dry: the lemon overtakes the orange and there is still a marine scent fused with fresh laundry which becomes more dominant with time I surprisingly really like this, though not necessarily on my person because of the laundry smell. I do think it would make an amazing room scent for spring and summer though and I may have to pick up a full size bottle in my next order for this express purpose. It's such a fresh, clean scent.

2016 version In the imp and wet: it all blends so well together that I really can't pick out the single notes Dry: my skin seems to amp the red musk, which to me smells sexy, warm and somewhat sweet; I could smell the incense while it was drying but now I have to really sniff to get it I don't get "bonfire" at all from this and thank goodness-I've learnt fire scents aren't my friend. On me, this is almost single note red musk which is the slightest bit underwhelming (Idk what I was expecting but I just thought it would be more MORE) but that said, I really do like it. I do wish it had more throw though; I keep sniffing my wrist because I really can't smell it on myself otherwise.

In the imp: dirt, like straight up dirt is all I smell Wet: dead leaves, dirt with a bit of wood and something that reminds me of Autumn Dry: my skin seems to be amping some minor note that isn't listed but on my skin smells of spice. I'm picking up ginger, cinnamon, a bit of apple--it makes me think of spiced cider. The dirt is there as well. This scents reads very warm on me. I don't care much for apple scents ordinarily (from the spiced cider it turns on me) but I actually really like this--it's so warm and autumnal. The only complaint I have is that the spicy apple scent smells much more like a room spray than a fragrance, so while I like it, I don't think I'll be buying a full bottle. It's too bad it's my skin turning it into spiced cider or I might be tempted to get one for my oil burner but looking at other reviews, it seems it normally smells of wood and dirt.

In the imp and wet: slightly minty, herbal aftershave Dry: herby, light bit of dirt, juniper (which is where I'm guessing the mint smell is coming from), aftershave As earthy scents from the Lab that smell of mint go, this is the least minty one I've tried so that's a plus. But it still does smell of mint, which I don't enjoy smelling like and will probably never enjoy in a fragrance. It also is very herbal and medicinal, which also isn't to my taste so this one is a major miss for me. It definitely isn't just me picking up on a minty, medicinal smell and also, this scent has quite a throw apparently: I walked into the room and my boyfriend immediately declared that I smell of vapor rub so...

This smells exactly like the description to me/on me: dead roses and dirt. It makes me think of a grave flower arrangement that's been left to rot.There's also an undercurrent of what to me smells like dead leaves, but I believe is the moss. The rose smell is almost too strong, to the point that it burns my nose while it's wet but it's less intense in the dry down and the dirt comes more to the forefront. I think I may need to dilute this for the sake of my nose when I wear it, but I do definitely like it.

In the imp and wet: smells like vapor rub and herbs, very medicinal and strong Dry: basically the same as wet, except maybe a bit less strong but not by a lot; I never get any berries or fruits, just straight up eucalyptus/vapor rub/ some sort of sports cream The description doesn't lie, it's green--just not the right kind of green for me.