Ailgwyn

This was...eh, so-so for me. Quite sharp, nice and gingery and the way it's supposed to be in the bottle. On me, it turned...a little sharper, and a little tarter. I could have used some more sweetness at that point, because it was only ginger. Still not bad, but...only eh. But ginger doesn't much care for me, I've found, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. I took LongsToFly's advice and layered it with Egg Nog-- THEN it was quite nice. Still gingery, but with the sweetness I needed to enjoy it more. Now I can finish my imps of both scents with a clear conscience.

Holy god. Why do I have to fall in love with a LE scent? It's so...cruel. *sob* I was worried, when reading the description, that it would be too sweet for me. I mean, five sugars with candied fruits. That's an awful lot o' sweetness, ne? But my fears proved to be unfounded, because smelling Sugar Skull was like opening up a sunbaked bag of brown sugar and taking a long heavenly whiff. There was fruitiness there, very faintly in the background, enough to give a very slight tartness to even out the flat sweetness of sugar. And lucky me-- when slathered on my wrists, it seems that Sugar Skull likes me well enough to smell pretty much exactly like it does in the bottle. Maybe the fruit is just a touch stronger, but not much. It's still the same wonderful scent and it stays pretty much the same as it dries on me. I guess I lucked out on this one-- a shame I didn't get a large bottle. I don't know what I'll do when my imp runs out.

The scent of warm, glowing jack o’lanterns on a warm autumn night: true Halloween pumpkin, spiced with nutmeg, glowing peach and murky clove. Oh Jack. Oh Jaaaaaaack. Jack II is one of the first scents I've ever tried that has actively brought back memories. It smells EXACTLY like my mother's tzimmes (that's sweet potato, apricot, prune, raisin, and beef stew to you)...that's a good thing, too. In the bottle I can smell the pumpkin and peach almost simultaneously, a fruity yet mellow scent, and the cloves are like an aftertaste, coming up behind in the sniff. On me, it's exactly like in the bottle at first. The cloves come gradually more and more to the top as it dries, which is great because I love cloves. A couple of hours down the line, it's become all cloves to the point where there's a distinct green edge to the scent, which reminds me of what it feels like to chew cloves (or, heh, smoke them), but it's not bad. That would be the point I'd refresh it, though-- I much prefer the first stages. On my cousin, it smelled like warm apple pie. That said, mmmmmmmm. I can see why Jack is so popular; it's a delicious scent.

Eve disappointed me in that I was expecting someone completely different from what I actually got. What I WAS expecting was something that reminded me of Rosh Hashanah, with the apples and honey that I love so much. What I GOT was a nice sweet floral, with a hint of honey in the background. Pleasant, but not what I was hoping for. Nevertheless, I gave it a try, but on me it turned into Just Plain Rose, and while I like rose, if I wanted to smell like Just Plain Rose, I'd have gotten a single note of it before they were discontinued. A pity. *sigh* Ah well...it really is a nice scent-- would be perfect for spring. It reminds me of when the flowers are just starting to blossom outside and going for a walk to smell them mixed with the sun. It just ain't for me.

Ahhh, Kali. I wanted so much to like you. And I did, just...not in the way I wanted to. What a complex scent in the bottle, deep and heady and floral. The wine and honey seemed most prevalent to me, with the chocolate an undertone in the background. On me, however, it was pure red wine/honey. EXTREMELY heady, dizzying, even-- I felt like I did the time my mother and I made wassail (and she added extra wine when it was done simmering, so it was alcoholic) and I drank three glasses of it. It was. So. Bloody. Sweet. Nice, but SWEET. Too much like wassail for my peace of mind (or stomach-- made me slightly queasy). No Kali for me. Happily, I traded her to someone who will appreciate her.

Now why is it that all these scents with chocolate in them end up smelling faintly of tobacco on me? Eh, regardless, Velvet smells heavenly. In the bottle in smells like drinking a cup of hot chocolate while being wrapped in a quilt and sitting before a fire; this lovely warm cocoa scent with a hint of the vanilla and sandalwood in the background. On me, it started out pure chocolate. Oh bliss. Oh heaven. The sandalwood came more and more to the surface as time went on, and about an hour after I applied it, the tobacco-y scent emerged. Happily, it was only a faint tobacco scent and still delicious. Velvet is one of my new favorites. I like to slather it on and rake in the compliments (which are mostly people wondering out loud "Mmmmm, is someone drinking hot chocolate?").

In the bottle: It smells very much like melon, like a cantaloupe mixed with a watermelon. My first impression is that it reminds me of babies, of young girls. It's the kind of perfume a little girl gets to wear and is all excited about. Very fresh and very clean, like soap. Very innocent. On me: It smells much the same, except for a slight baby powder-esque tinge that turns me off, as it screams "little girl" at me. I'm not liking baby powder much nowadays. It's not sensual enough for me, and on days I want to smell innocent, I don't want to add "little girl" to the equation; enough people think I'm a little girl as it is. o_O It's pretty. It's a nice sweet floral scent. It just isn't me. So it will be swapped.

I'm with the cherry cough syrup-black licorice camp on this one. We got this as a freebie from the Lab (thank you muchly) but after one whiff in the vial, I'm afraid I got a little biased. It smelled sort of like Red Queen to me-- that is, pure Robitussin. Smelling it a little further yielded a faint anise in the background, which made it not so bad as before, but though I love me some black licorice whips, it's not something I like in my perfume. On me, it turned very licorice, and like I said, in my mouth it's good, in my nose it ain't. So Kabuki...off to the swap pile with ya. I'm sure someone will appreciate you more than I.

Unfortunately, I have to work on Halloween...I'll probably end up wearing Lightning since it could pass for a nice-smelling soap (we aren't supposed to wear perfume), but if I had my druthers, I'd be wearing either Lust, Gluttony, or Harlot.

I guess I'll be the minority here in that I tend to match my perfumes to the weather when it's rainy out. It gets foggy here a lot in the mornings, and I almost always choose Lightning or Moon Rose to go with it. But then again, I love the way fog smells. I live where Hurricanes Ivan, Charley, and Jeanne decided to flood (western North Carolina), so it rained an awful lot, and I still almost always chose Lightning or Moon Rose. Water-smell matching water-smell. They kind of make the dreariness into something more pleasant, gray with a nice tinge of blue or pink. Actually, it's drizzly today, and I'm wearing...tada....Lightning. *not predictable, no*

I can attest that anything with lots of lavender in it should do the trick. I have a bag of French lavender that I dive for whenever I'm having trouble sleeping or the beginnings of one of my pseudo-migraines, and it calms me down nicely. As for BPAL scents, I haven't tried any with lavender in them, so I can't recommend any, but of the ones I've tried, Jezebel, Gluttony, and Nyx all make me feel calm and happy, and Lightning and Moon Rose make me feel calm and cool and collected.

As all the other reviews have said, Moon Rose's description is PERFECT. It's rose with a dewy scent at the end, rose and water and air and light. It's like Beth combined mist and rose in a bottle, cool and quiet and sophisticated. On my skin, at first it was about 50-50 mist and rose, pale pink and soft. The mist-smell faded after a while until it was mostly rose, maybe slightly baby-powderish, but I like babypowder, so that was all good. This is what I would wear if I was in a quiet mood, calm and ladylike, or trying to get there. Man, I love rose. This scent makes me want to wear pearls and lace and drink tea from a cup and saucer.

I like patchouli, I'll admit it, the many times I've smelled it. The only problem is that most of those times it's been mixed with B.O. (as I go to school in a hippie town). so it's not got a positive association with me. Lust has renewed my love for patchouli. It was...sweet, but spicy. I can't tell which notes are which, because other than patchouli, I have no clue what any of them smell like. It smelled like a spice cookie, and oh man do I love spice cookies. A warm red-brown smell that put me into a very good mood. This is what I want my house to smell like someday. Didn't seem particularly lustful to me, and Boyfriend didn't give an overwhemlingly enthusiastic response to it other than "It's okay," but I don't care. I will definitely be using up the imp.

I've been SO curious to try this one. I have no idea what lightning or ozone actually smell like, but I could picture it being metallic, and electric of course. I love trying out scents that don't list the specific notes or are full of notes I have no idea what they smell like. In the bottle: sharp, sharp, SHARP. A biting green scent, very much like the smell of a storm where I used to live ont he coast. On me: Greener, like cut grass or freshly-cut flower stems. I can definitely smell the marine notes. Maybe it's now more like the herbs dipped in salt water I have at Passover. Still pretty biting, but clean, fresh. Like smelling cold air. Later: Well, it's not bad. I can see what people mean about the bathroom freshener...sort of like a good clean-smelling cleaning fluid. Not something I'd want to smell like, but interesting nevertheless. I'm not sure if I will keep this one. I actually layered it (accidentally) over a swipe of Moon Rose that I apparently hadn't washed off well enough, and it's really pretty nice layered that way on my skin, like rose with a kick. I think I'll try it again layered and see if I actually like it like that, and if not, then off to the swap she goes.

I got Gluttony in a swap today(!!), so of course I had to try it out: In the bottle: My first impression was vanilla mixed with nut with a slight herby undertone (the hops, maybe?)...didn't strike ME as being terribly foody, but my nose is weird. Mmmm. On me: I could see what people were saying about the coffee/tobacco-y smell they were catching. The herby, green smell came forth for the first few minutes or so-- I was worried that the hops would become predominant, because I'd rather not smell like beer, but it's faded and mixed with the vanilla, nutty, cookie-like, buttery....mmm. Still green, but sweeter. Less biting. Not bad at all. Twenty minutes later-- it's weird. The smell wafts easily-- the wafting smell is all cookie, buttercream slathered cookie with a slight hint of that chocolate (there it is!). But when I put my wrist up to my nose, I get half cookie half green herb. Weird. But fun. I've been subjecting my boyfriend to every scent I've gotten thus far, much to his dismay. Most of the time he'll say things like "That smells nice," or "That's nasty" or "It's alright"... nothing too enthusiastically, because he couldn't really care less about perfume. However, when I showed him Gluttony, his eyebrows jumped and he said, "Oh, I like that one. What's in it?" I'd say him liking it enough to care what's in it is a stamp of approval. Verdict: I'll probably use this imp up. It doesn't blow me away or anything, but it's pretty nice. Good comforting scent. Would be good for the home.

It smelled like pine to me-- Pine Sol to be exact. Well, not so bad in the bottle, but that's what my skin turned it into. Ick. My boyfriend said it smelled like Goodwill. o_O Needless to say, it didn't do much for either of us. To the swaps pile.

When I smelled Titania in the bottle, I was somewhat disappointed. I could smelled the fruit without a doubt, but there was also the "bite" to it that I associate with commercial perfume...sort of alcohol-ish. It smelled like a semi-dry white wine to me. Putting it on, it remained the same, very white-wine, and I hate wine-- the smell really does not attract me at all. As it dried, the pear came forth, mixed with the grape and peach (yeah, my skin adores those fruit smells), but it was really far too late in the game for it to be pleasant for me. If I wanted to smell like pear or peach, I'd just use Fae or Endymion, because I like all the stages of those two. It didn't last terribly long on me, either, compared with the others I've tried-- only a couple of hours, and then I couldn't even catch a whiff. Makes me sad-- I was hoping to really like this one, because I love fruit, and I love florals, and this seemed like a nice combination of both. Oh well-- can't win 'em all. Verdict: To the swap pile.

Smelling Jezebel in the bottle, I wasn't sure I would like it. When I think of my favorite scents, orange is not usually one of the things that immediately comes to mind, and I could smell the orange and honey like crazy, with very very distant backnotes of the rose and sandalwood. Then I tried it on. I never knew oranges could smell so delicious. The honey sweetened the orange, rounded it out, smoothed down the bite I've always associated with oranges. The rose and sandalwood stayed in the background on my skin; I could only catch a hint of them at the tail end of each sniff (enough to perfectly compliment it), but that warm, golden-orange, GLOWING honey-orange blossom...oh my god. I feel like a sunset when I'm wearing it. I craved sliced oranges dripping with honey the whole night. I could not stop sniffing my wrist the whole night. Suffice to say, Jezebel is now the favorite of all the imps I've tried (which is, admittedly, only six). I think a big bottle is in the cards for me.

When I opened the vial and smelled it, my nose was telling me completely different things than what the ingredients actually were-- I smelled rose, and honey, and cinnamon. I must have thought it was something else. Anyway, the "cinnamon," or ginger, overwhelmed practically everything at first to me-- at the end of the sniff I detected a little more sweetness, the apricot (though I thought it was honey) and the jasmine (I guess this was what I thought was rose). On me, wet: The ginger was quite strong. It sweetened up a little on my skin, but it still had the effect of smelling like a candle...sweet but as if the smoke was mixed in, in a way. Like fire. Dry: it's sweetened up a LOT more, though the ginger still wants to be the prominent note. I can pick out the jasmine and apricot now, and the vanilla is hardly detectable. It's not so bad at this stage, sort of like some sort of cinammony cake baking, but I'm not sure if I like it. It's quite long-lasting on me-- lasted a good six hours. Verdict: The boyfriend didn't care for it-- said, and I quote, "it's okay, but it makes you smell like a candle." I agree-- I think the ginger was a tad too much for me. Odd, because I normally like the way ginger smells. At least I know now that ginger will probably come forth in any scent I choose, so I'll be able to pick my next order a little more informedly. Off to the swap pile with you.

In the bottle: To me, smelling this was like smelling Fae, only slightly...different. Silly, I know, because they're completely different scents, but I could pick out the pear first and foremost. I love pear-- it had an undertone that sort of softened the tartness, which must have been the florals (I guess, because I didn't know what the other stuff smelled like). A very light scent that reminds me of fairies, and Midsummer's eve, and white Christmas lights. On me, wet: I must be lucky-- smelled the same on me that it did in the bottle, mostly...only the pear was more fullbodied, rounded out, less tart and more...mmmm. Not quite as light, but still this is so definitely a summer scent. I can pick out the different notes as I smell it, though I don't really know which is which, except for what I guess is the rose. It's all so complimentary. Dry: The pear has definitely come forth more, and almost outweighs all the other notes, though this doesn't bother me. There's still something preventing it from being sickly sweet-- maybe the musk? That was the only fear I had about this one. Most of the commercial fruity scents I've smelled have been so sickly, but then I guess I shouldn't have expected it with BPAL. Verdict: Will be keeping the imp. Possibly I'll get a larger bottle, but there's way too many to try first before I make that decision.

I probably shouldn't have tried this so early in the morning-- my nose always takes longer to "wake up" than my other senses. I just could wait, though, so...here's hoping I'm smelling enough to give a decent review. In the bottle: Mmmmmm. I smell the peach mixed with the bergamot, peach with a bite, and an underlyign warmth that must be the musk. But it's not sickly-sweet! It's lovely, a very bright golden perfume. On my skin, wet: Much the same as it is in the bottle. I guess I'm lucky in that respect. The peach is predominant, and there's still that little underlying bite of the bergamot. The musk has faded a little, but it's still there. Dry, about half an hour later: Oh, I like this. It hasn't really changed a whole lot on me. The peach is still making it smell yummy, the bergamot is there to keep it from getting too sickly-sweet, a little citrusy edge, and the musk is there underneath to give it a glowing warmth. A sun-warmed peach. Mmmmm. Two hours later: Well, I can hardly smell it anymore, but that might just be my nose. I will have to try it again to see if it actually does last longer. Boyfriend says it does, but I'd like to be able to tell if it's still there myself. Ah, there it is! It's mostly musk now, with a touch of oakmoss to give it a little woodsiness. The peach has faded to a tiny little background sparkle (maybe it's the bergamot...I don't know, but it's a very faint tart note), and I really do like that white musk... Yes, I really like this perfume. I really do. Verdict: Will definitely be using up the imp. We'll have to see on the big-bottle-buying. I want to try all the imps I've got before I decide on which I'd like a larger bottle of.

Ouija... In the bottle: I can smell mostly wood and rose. It's a nice combination...very earthy, very mysterious, gently sweet and floral underneath the wood. A scent that is the brown-pink of dried roses. Wet: When I first applied it, most of the sweetness faded into a baby powder-esque scent, heavily mixed with...dirt. Not bad dirt. Just earth. Sweet, dusty, powdery earth, or maybe cut grass. Something very natural. Not entirely unpleasant, but not like I'd really like to smell. Dry, about half an hour later: Dude...I never knew perfumes could change so MUCH. Now all the earthiness has completely disappeared. All that's left is a nice rosy smell, very floral, very sweet, simply lovely. There's a little extra sweetness in the rose-- osmanthus? Lilac? I don't know what either one smells like, but it must be one of those. I can't stop sniffing my wrist. And it's amazing how strong these are! Normally I can't smell for shit, but this is actually sticking around. About 3 hours later: Damn you, body chemistry! If Ouija could have just stayed at that pretty floral, I would have been happy, and at least used up the imp. Well, it did stay floral...but it got progressively sweeter and sweeter, and less rose and more one of the other florals. Sickly sweet. Like a Bath and Body Works. I was a little carsick at the time, and smelling the sickly sweet did not help. It's not...horrible, but I don't really want to smell so cloying. 9 hours later: Still there. The sickly part of the sweet has faded mostly, so it's now just a dusty hint of floral on my skin. Nice. Verdict: Not for me, I THINK, but I might have to use it again to determine it for sure. I hate to give up on it after one try. At this rate I'll go through all the perfume in the imps just to make up my mind!