Juliamon

Aging seems to have treated this decant well. There's no back-and-forth between the Snake Oil and the pumpkin, it's one seamless blend of buttery, spicy, sweet pumpkin Snake Oil. It's a bit more powdery than Snake Oil usually is, but I don't know if that's me or the scent association I get from this that brings me back to my grandparents' apartment, baked goods and old-fashioned cosmetics and the Tabu perfume that was my nana's signature scent. There's less vanilla in here than with regular Snake Oil, probably because the pumpkin does the job just as well. Very yummy and long-lasting, a decant I will treasure.

Short & sweet review for this one. This is horribly sour in the imp, but on my skin it's Embalming Fluid 2.0--new and improved, now with less cleaning product smell! Lasts a teeny bit longer too, maybe due to the honeysuckle. A bottle of this may be in my future!

2017 version. If ever there were a perfume that my skin betrayed me with, it is Eusapia. It opens with the most beautiful, pure lilac that is spot-on to the blooming bushes so prevalent around here in the spring. The white tea offers a burst of freshness to balance the floral sweetness, and the candle wax is just a faint, soft waxy base note anchoring it. It's perfect... ...except that it changes when dry. The candle wax reveals itself to have some sort of vanilla component, and an hour after applying that's all I can smell. Vanilla often does this to me, but usually it's more of a gradual shift from blend to single-note vanilla (Gobo is a great example of this, it takes me hours to realize the citrus is gone). The lilac and tea just can't stick around very long, I guess. And it breaks my heart because it started off so, so so so good. Keeping my decant for locket use for sure, if I can find a bottle at a time where I can afford it I'll be tempted to grab it so I can reapply as often as I want for that lilac goodness.

Also haven't tried the original. It wasn't even on my radar, but I've been giving jasmine more of a shot lately and I didn't want my Dragon's Eye imp to travel alone. This is, without a doubt, the one BPAL that most accurately evokes its name. Sweet and intoxicating, but also bitter and deadly. The berries and opoponax would be overpoweringly sweet if they weren't cut by the lime and galbanum, and the jasmine is so entwined with the rest of the blend that I wouldn't have been able to identify it if I hadn't read the notes. Throw is insane for the first few minutes, but calms down to a more subtle, sinister level and stays there for quite some time. I don't think I could wear this often, but it's gonna be my go-to when I need to feel powerful.

I haven't tried the original, but had my 'eye' on it because of the lilac, so I was very excited to see it included in the resurrection! Unfortunately the lily of the valley dominates on me, much like on the previous reviewer. It's primarily lily, then some dragon's blood, and then a hint of galbanum. The lilac is nowhere to be found. I mean, at least it's not like most of the other Ars Draconis blends where I get nothing but dragon's blood... but it's still not what I was hoping for. It's definitely piercing though! If I hadn't already taken my migraine medication for an unrelated reason, I'm sure I would need it now. The lily is THAT aggressive.

This reminds me of a beachside motel I stayed in on an overnight trip to Maine. The freshly-laundered sheets, the flowering bushes outside, the salty breeze coming in off the ocean. This is the sort of thing that comes to mind when I think 'vacation.' There's a dark, bitter--no, biting--undercurrent that I think is from the lavender, but as I'm very much not a lavender fan I don't mind it being so suppressed by the rest of the blend. I expected it to be a bit sweeter than it is, and I think that's what's keeping me from really being head-over-heels for it. Maybe layering it with some myrrh will help? Keeping my decant, though I don't know that I can justify the full bottle purchase.

This blend reminds me strongly of LUSH: it's sort of like if their Coconut deodorant powder and Fairy Ring soap had a baby. Very earthy and dry and warm, dirt-forward with the coconut and vetiver supporting it, and a liberal sprinkling of mushroom. The benzoin sweetens things up ever so gently over time. I usually prefer a more moist dirt note but it would probably not work as well in this blend. Unisex, but a bit masculine-leaning as it feels kinda 'rugged.' Like a pile of sturdy clothes and gloves that have been used for farming root veggies, sun-baked and dusty. Not something I would wear often, but I want to keep it on hand for those early autumn days when I start to miss childhood trips to a particularly rural part of Vermont where everyone was a farmer or otherwise at least had attended a barn raising or two.

In the imp: Industrial bathroom cleaner! Where's the limes I was promised? Wet: There they are! The lime and citron come out swinging, juicy and zesty. The lilacs drift in lazily, and then are suddenly pushed aside as the musk announces its presence. And, unfortunately, that's where this goes wrong. I don't usually have a problem with white musk but in this case it seems to be fighting with the citrus and starts smelling unusually dirty. I guess that's the 'corrupted' bit, and I am unfortunately not a fan. The lilac struggles to remind me that it's there, but it's not strong enough to break up the fight. Dry: I think the citrus and the musk fought to a stalemate, both exhausted but unwilling to admit defeat: they cling weakly to my skin, barely noticeable. The lilac is still kicking around a bit, yet still manages to get overshadowed. Poor lilac! The only really positive thing I have to say is that this is much more gender-neutral than the description implies. I had such high hopes for this blend, enough that I tested and retested half a dozen times before reviewing to make sure it REALLY didn't work and it wasn't just hormones/weather/whatever messing with it. Alas!

I wanted to love this! In the imp it's bright, clean, sweet, happy floral. The cedar is light enough not to bother me. But my skin is having none of it. It vanishes instantly on my wrists and turns into run-of-the-mill cherry blossom in the crook of my arm, making me feel like I'm a young teen at B&BW. I already have too many locket-only scents, so this one's headed to the destash box.

In the imp: this wobbles back and forth between lemon-lime soda and Purell. Yikes. Wet: Thankfully it settles onto the former! The mint pops up first, trying to push the scent into mojito territory, but can't quite overcome the fruity sweetness as it starts to shift into melon soda territory. There's a soft herbal note in the background that's quite relaxing. Dry: The soda's gone flat (that is to say, the champagne note has faded) and what remains is a sugary fruit cocktail that's quite nice, if light. The green tea note finally has a moment in the spotlight. Honestly though, at this point it's pretty much Embalming Fluid with a scoop of sugar in it. This is perfect for a cool summer night, but the sweetness might be too cloying in the heat of day. But then, you don't see bats during the day all that much anyway...

I tried Psalm 82:2-4 yesterday and I'm in the mood to keep testing skin musks. Maybe it's the heat. In the imp: ...really, nose? Neutral again? Well... a less-sweet Neutral, anyway. Wet: Ooooh. Very sandalwood-forward for a minute, then settles into sandalwood-touched skin musk. Not a lot of frank, if I hadn't read the notes I don't think I'd notice it was in here at all. Oddly delicate for something roller derby-related. Dry: Yet another BPAL sandalwood falls victim to my hungry skin! Between that vanishing and the vanilla amping, this one actually DID turn into Neutral on me, albeit less sweet. On deep sniff I can still pick up a little bit of the sandalwood so it's at least more tenacious than the white variety, but none of it makes it into the throw. It's absolutely lovely, but dries so similar to Neutral on me that I can't justify a bottle.

This was frimped to me in a swap, definitely not something I would have picked myself because of the lavender. And in the imp, I was almost convinced that I'd made a mistake and should have had this on my wishlist all along. Then I put a bit on and it turned straight into generic restroom soap scent. Welp.

In the decant: Huh. RPG Neutral, is that you? Wet: Nope, there's more going on here. Neutral is very simple, this is less sweet, more resinous and a little bit dusty (vanilla husk?), and it has a bit of a crisp feeling to it like it wants to be aquatic but can't quite get there. Clean, gently sweet, dry, fairly feminine. The musk is a little bit sharper on one wrist for some reason, I gave it a roll just in case it separated like Lucchesa's did so it's possible I didn't roll it enough. Dry: This doesn't change too much, which judging by other reviews is possibly because of my tendency to amp vanilla so it's keeping in step with the benzoin. The cleanness backs off a bit in favor of being resinous. The dustiness pushes a bit towards baby powder, but I don't hate it. I gave Neutral a sniff after wearing this for a bit and they really aren't that similar, I don't know what my nose was telling me. Perhaps it was trying to convince me that I don't NEED to buy an LE when there's a perfectly good, cheaper GC option. But this is warmer, richer, more comforting. Neutral feels like an overly chipper hostess in comparison, and I think Psalm 82:2-4 suits my general anxiety-riddled emotional state better. I have my fingers crossed this will still be around when I can afford to place another order!

For as many things are in this, I have a frustratingly simple review that echoes previous ones: cinnamon incense. The incense is stronger in the imp, but on my skin the cinnamon and cassia quickly come to the forefront and overpower it. It's nice, but I wish the resins came out more on me. I'll be keeping this decant for now, but if it shows up on a swap partner's wishlist they can look forward to it getting thrown in.

In the decant: dirt, grass, dandelions. The platonic ideal of a grassy field... and something sharp lurking beneath. Wet: The resins quickly make themselves known, but also hold themselves back from the grassy opening notes. The fresh air of a late spring backyard barbecue, a plastic cup of cola in your hands, grass between your toes, angry older conservative family members going off on a rant because your cousin posted a photo of a rainbow on Facebook. That last bit might be the tar. It's easy to tune out though. Dry: The opoponax gets a little bit sweeter, but stabilizes. Dandelions transition into damp moss. The dirt peeks through a bit more. It is that quiet moment, after the guests have left and you've cleaned up from the party and suddenly feel how moist your butt is from sitting on grass all afternoon because you were short on chairs, but the sun's going down and hopefully the shadows will conceal the wet spot on your pants until you can grab a minute to change. A feeling of, if not happiness, at least contentment. You made it through the day without committing murder even once. Low throw on me, but solid wear length. Very unisex, fairly inoffensive. I can see myself reaching for this on gloomy days where I need a smile. It's not sunshine in a bottle, but it sure is some good vibes of karmic retribution.