SoundlessEchoes

Through sunlit caves of ice, roses unfurl amidst dancing waves of serpentine opium smoke and amber tobacco, golden sandalwood, champaca, tea leaf, sugared lily, ginger, rich hay absolute, leather, dark vanilla, mandarin, peru balsam, and Moroccan jasmine. In the imp: A garden in spring, with pale flowers and a hint of mint. I think that might be how my brain is interpreting the mix of tea, ginger, and mandarin? It's sort of wild-smelling, it's a garden, but not a manicured one. Worn: Yeah, I /definitely/ get something that reads as mint in here when it's on and fresh, even if it's not in the notes. I feel like that's the tea, if it's fairly fresh. There's a wild tangle of soft woods, greenery, and some delicate flowers underneath. There's so much going on here, and it's so blended that I can't pick out much specific, other than ginger. Long term: Once fully dry and over time, I get ginger glowing over ancient woods, rather than fresh greenery. I'd expect to be able to pick out the rose, champaca, leather... sandalwood... but I still can't, it's just, well, it's all wild woods and spice and glorious and atmospheric. A rich mix and well suited to the poem!

In the imp: Sometimes apple, sometimes rose, sometimes lemon. It seems like every time I sniff, the exact balance is a little different, and I can't quite pin it down. Worn: The apple is strongest a few minutes, with the rose rising up behind it to draw equal. Over time, the lemon reappears, making it seem like the apple slices were dipped in lemon juice to keep them fresh, then laid on a plate of fresh rose petals. The rose eventually becomes the central note, with the apple and lemon juice dancing around it erratically. It sounds like it shouldn't work and it shouldn't, but... I'm actually really, really into it? It's never too sweet or too floral, and it's definitely not predictable!

In the imp: Sandalwood and roses and... Christmas? I have no idea why this particular combination makes me think Christmas, but it does. Worn: On me, sandalwood is strongest, with patchouli and rose supporting it. It still smells like Christmas. That said, my skin tends to amp up sandalwood, although only part of the time, so it's unpredictable. Long term: As I wear it, the rose gets stronger and grows more even with the sandalwood while the patchouli hangs back behind. At this point, it stops feeling too strongly like Christmas. It's smooth and pleasant. After another hour or two, the rose wisps away, leaving the sandalwood and patchouli, and the patchouli becomes the dominant note, but it's still a very smooth mix. Long term, the sandalwood gains a slightly musty-sharp unpleasant edge, which is something it does on me at erratic intervals, but I'd consider it a very pleasing scent overall.

Tested from a rather aged imp. In the imp: Green tea and lemon verbena Worn: Something about this combination of notes goes musty in a way that I don't expect it to. This stage lasts for a few minutes, and my gut wants to blame the mix of green tea and neroli, mostly because jasmine doesn't usually go weird on me. Before too long, it relaxes into just being a faintly floral green tea scent. Not too interesting to me, but if you're into green tea scents, this might work!

Disclaimer: champagne and white wine notes go HORRIBLY wrong on me. This proved it. In the imp: Fizzy strawberry booze! Worn: For a few minutes, STRAWBERRY, in your face, not very real, but not super-fake either, odd as that seems. There's a hint of champagne behind it. And then, rapidly, it all goes wrong. The champagne promptly turns sour and chemical on my skin. It's not a note I like. It really isn't. Long term: I had to scrub it. Overall, avoid if you also have issues with booze-y or white wine type notes. I don't think this is a fault of it being a bad scent, but it's sure AWFUL with my skin chemistry.

In the imp: Dragon's blood, more than anything, herbal, crisp, clean. Worn: As in the imp, dragon's blood with some clean herbs under it. Something bitter/sour on the back end, but you have to look for it. Long term: Eventually, this turns sweet, loses the herbal edge. Overall, to me, pretty unremarkable, but I'm not a big fan of dragon's blood.

In the imp: Sea air, leather, and salt. Worn: Yep, sea air! There's hints of leather, water, and wood underneath it, but the crisp scent of air at sea is dominant the whole time. That's my experience the whole time, really, the sea air is always dominant. I'd call it an aquatic, which isn't my favorite, but it's a very easy to wear, pleasant scent, if you want to invoke the sea. It was fine, but didn't do a lot for me. Definitely a very unisex blend, maybe leaning to the masculine.

Tested from an aged frimp. In the imp: Dark, dry chocolate and hints of vanilla. Worn: At first, quite yummy and edible, more foody than I expected. The chocolate is definitely in the forefront. Over about a half hour, it blends down and merges into the sandalwood and the myrrh, although neither is distinct. I'd call it 'soft textured', with hints of something vanillic. It sounds like it should be pleasant, and yet... It's not. There's something vaguely bitter, or sour, that seems to linger underneath and never goes away, taking it from something I should like, to something that makes me keep sniffing it and going '... What is OFF with this?'. I'm gonna assume that there's something that goes weird with my skin chemistry and on me, it's just a definite fail.

Tried this from a fairly aged frimp acquired second hand. In the imp: Pretty much all I get is lily. On: The lily softens, and I get a feeling of dust and crushed green weeds surrounding it. For a minute or two. Then it's... where did it go? Did I not put it on? Long term: If I really struggle, for about an hour I can get the sense of a faint, dusty lily-based floral. After that, it's totally gone. Overall, while the age of the imp might have been a factor, this was the lightest and shortest lasting BPAL I've tried. The scent didn't have any notes that really drew me anyway, so I'm fairly unmotivated to try a heavier slather in a location that might hold on to it a bit more. The best I can say of it is that the feel did remind me of a graveyard lily, or maybe even the ghost of a lily.

I'm honestly not totally sure what to make of this. Imp: I had a brief moment of wondering if this is mis-labeled, since there was something almost cacao-y about the dusty cream scent of this. Short term: My first reaction was that it was vaguely creamy-soft, which isn't... very useful. On more consideration, I decided that it was mostly the orris, with faint hints of lily of the valley. To me, it feels both a little powdery and creamy all at once, which shouldn't be possible, but there you are. Long term wear: Stayed pretty much the same, settling into a powdery-creamy-faintly floral, kinda sweet scent. It feels blended and is pretty in a way that reminds me more of mainstream perfume than anything else. It's very inoffensive and wouldn't feel out of place on a tween or a grandmother... which means it's not at /all/ my style, as I tend to eschew classically pretty scents. It's been years, and this is without the alcoholic or sharp edge but something about it puts me in mind of Chanel No 5?

In the imp: I can pick out something grass-y, and something I can only describe as a vague... herbal-fruit-y? It's very hard to pin down, but not at all what I expected. Worn: Immediately, oh, there's the hay! It's still fairly fresh, not a dry hay, but like it's still growing wild in the field. The grass is green and mostly fresh too, like an unmown patch grown wild under the summer sun. Now I can cacao and tonka beneath enhancing the sweetness of the grass, but not too distinct or prominent on their own. They're definitely supporting players. Long term: To quote my notes, 'graaaaaaaaaaaaass'. The distinctive hay and being able to pick out the tonka and cacao leaves, and it becomes a slightly dry but still living grass scent that has a good life span. If you like grass scents, this is a pretty nice one, but for me, it'd fall under using up the decant but probably not bothering to get a full bottle, since the long term is rather single note.

I think I got a slightly different feel from this then some of the others. To me, in the imp, this was definitely a quite juicy blackberry bush scent, with soft hints of lilac. That's what I got when I first put it on too, a fresh blackberry note with vague hints of green leaves or a lilac nearby, less like you're in the garden with both and more like you're standing near a cracked window in the spring eating blackberries while the breeze blows the lilac scent in through a cracked-open window. That lasts for nearly an hour, then the lilac starts to lift out into more prominence. It's perfectly pleasant, but doesn't do anything special for me. For those wondering, as I was, how this compares to Glasgow, despite both having only two notes and one of those in common, I found them completely different. Glasgow is primarily heather with soft touches of blackberry, and the heather is prominent to me from the imp to the long term, with the blackberry subtle. It reminds me of a gift shop in England, or attending an outdoor re-enactment event. Echo Azure is all about blackberry bush, with the lilac used to make it a livelier, more centered scent. It's far more of an outdoorsy or cottage garden scent, and feels younger and more like spring.

In the imp: Lavender, hops, and something cooling. Short term: Soft mint on top, then lavender and hops under. It's a glorious minty-herbal and I kinda want to lean into it. Long term: I found the hops to come a bit more to the forefront long term, but the mint and lavender hold their own. It's very cooling and relaxing, and I have a full size bottle sitting in my cart for when I get around to placing my next order (probably when the Weenies come out...). I'd call this very unisex, and while it'd be good for sleep, I think anyone could enjoy it in the summer or hotter weather to take the edge off.

Similar to the above reviewers, I found that this was almost entirely orange blossom, with a subtle grey/ashy grittiness that grounds it underneath and makes it a little more earthy. I had pretty good throw and wear length, and it was a fairly consistent smell, with the orange blossom staying dominant from the bottle to the long term dry down. Out of the four butterflies I tried, this was fair and away a favorite, because while straightforward and mostly classic, it has just that perfect little twist of something quietly different to make it stand out. I definitely expect I'll use the whole decant and may eventually grab a bottle, although it isn't a 'I have to get this NOW' sort of appeal, more like it's a really good, day to day easy scent.

Dry and herbal lavender is definitely the prominent feeling here, but there's touches of the hops and sandalwood. I don't smell mugwort distinctly, but there's an underlying 'herbyness' that I'm fairly sure comes from that. For me, the jasmine and vanilla blend pretty seamlessly into the rest. It's definitely a lighter scent, but it's quite effective - we have waterproof fabric couch covers due to our dogs, and a quick spritz of this took it from 'yes, the dogs lie here as often as the people' to 'a lovely soothing place to nap'. Overall, a really nice bedtime/relaxation scent.

I snagged this off Etsy recently - my first hair gloss! There's less any distinctive notes than a general autumnal forest scent. I've been applying by a squirt or two on my palms worked through my hair, and the primary note is definitely the maple leaves/maple sugar note. I'd definitely say sugar or sap, not syrup, as it seems too light and airy for maple syrup, but it's definitely maple in origin. It's not a super-strong scent, although it clings to my palms, and I tend to get little wafts of sweet-vague-autumn-forest for hours. Expect mostly sweet maple and a touch of deciduous woods under.

I popped this one on last night - imp was from an Etsy lot of discontinued several years ago, so who knows how much it's aged! When I first tried it, I dotted it on. Last night, thinking it might be good for sleep, I swiped the wand along the length of each arm. Imp notes: A VERY soft, almost soapy floral. Faint notes of honeysuckle. Initial: I first thought of this as just blended breeze of soft florals. With more application and way more nose experience, the jasmine and lavender definitely start to stand out first on applying this. Not too shocking, since I find Jasmine is a bit strong on me. Dry down: This is probably better applied with a light hand. Done so, it was a delicate, ethereal floral, absent of any soapy or powdery notes. I specifically noted it wasn't at all an 'old lady' floral. With a heavier hand, I got /strong/ rise of the soft, more soapy/floral lavender off the skin, as well as the calla lily. Jasmine and moonflower seem to blend into a white haze with the amber behind it. The honeysuckle seems to fade, and I still don't know ratkirani well enough to pick it out specifically! With this application, it was /strong/ for two or three hours, and every time the fan blew past my bed I got a facefull of FLORAL! FLORAL! FLORAL! Overall, it's a dreamy, light nighttime floral, to my impression. It's pretty, but I don't think I'm likely to wear it again, it's not really my style. Into the swap box it goes!

In the bottle, this is a soft, oriental breath of sandalwood, champaca, and myrrh. It's a very soothing scent, to me. Worn: It blooms from slightly floral to more of a soft incense on the skin, but this isn't harsh, close-in incense, or even incense burned nearby. It's more like being somewhere where a sweet, heady but light incense is being burnt in the next room over and a warm breeze is carrying it over to your nose and wrapping it around you like a fire-warmed scarf. There's a very slight hint of smokiness to it that sometimes clarifies itself into the red pepper note, but mostly, the edge it adds just goes to create that faint feel like something is burning. To get the red pepper distinctly, I find I have to go in closer to the skin where it's applied, then it becomes clear. The vanilla sneaks out over time from under the rest as a supportive, almost fluffy underlying base. Overall, that initial feeling of a soft, warm, soothing incense-y oriental holds out for me. It has decent life span and a fairly gentle throw, so I think that worn in moderation, it'd be a perfectly fine workplace scent. That said, it might make me feel sexier than I'd want to be at work, I find this one can support both a snuggly or a sexy mood rather easily! Not always, but at least some of the time, this reminds me of a much softer, more stealthy Snake Oil.

*digs to double check first* I got this in 2016, either as a frimp, or part of a grab bag off of the lab's Etsy of discontinued imps. It came together with a pack of ordered imps, so sometimes wasn't clear what was frimp and what was grab bag! In the imp: Bright ozone notes, and a follow up of METAL, like the smell that clings to your hand after you've been holding a bunch of coins. On: Wet, airy, crisp notes. Reminds me of the breeze off of an ocean when you're not close, but a mile or two in land, so you're just catching that ozone-salt tinge. Hint of metal spiking through. Dry and onward: An ozone-tinged, faintly metallic breeze, like it's blowing through a field of metal. There's something reminiscent of a fresh line type scent to it, a touch soapy or detergenty in nature, but not strongly or unpleasantly so. Overall, I found it surprisingly wearable! It's not something I wear for often, but I actually do pull it out once in a great while when I want something very clean and light.

One of my first imps, and one of the most distinctive still. In the imp: Fresh air and a gentle breeze that carries a touch of freshly crushed mint leaves. Worn: It's still 'sharp' in the nicest way, fresh air and ozone, the mints coming hard into the foreground. At the initial stages, especially when the imp was fresh, it can smell a great deal like peppermint schnapps poured out of a new bottle, with that very distinctive edge. As my imp is several years old now, I tend to find that edginess tempered, and while the overall experience is the same, the initial application has more of the oakmoss and comes across a little softer. Long term: This is definitely a morpher, as many others have said. The mints fade out within an hour or so, other than as a soft memory, while the ambergris and oakmoss linger, grounding it in an earth richness, just a bit of cool air floating over it. My favorite stage is probably between the 30 and 45 minute mark on me, when the mints and woody/earth smells are best balanced, but it's pleasant in every stage.

While I can place a fair guess at the notes/contents from the reviews above, I'll be honest and say that the only one that I personally picked out sniffing it in the imp was a suggestion of sandalwood. I suspect that that there's amber, patchouli, maybe myrrh or frankincense or cedar? But this one was more experiential than being about specific scents. Imp: Probably some sandalwood, but overall, golden and light. I get the image of sunlight through the rafters of the Catholic church we attended when I was growing up, it was a very sunny, bright, airy church, and if I'd ever been able to climb up near the ceiling, this is what I think it would have smelled like. Worn: Too blended to pick out notes, but there's definitely woods here. Again, it may be associations with that specific church, but to me, it's very much golden wood, an oak or cedar, varnished to a natural color and used to hold up high ceilings, the light slanting through tall windows and illuminating dust motes in the air. I swear I can smell the airiness and the sunshine! This one doesn't really change over time, it smells like that beautiful image. I'm not really any sort of synesthete, but there's just no other way for me to describe this one... it smells exactly like the sunny, airy heights of a wood beamed church!

Basing this off an older imp I had of this, from 2015 or so? That said, I got a frimp of it in my last order, and it doesn't seem any different! In the imp: Herbal, heather, and a definite sense of thick, wet fog. Exactly how I'd imagine a wet Irish night to smell! Worn: It's very distinctively 'wet' and misty on, both to my nose, and my partners. I get less of the herbs, but the heather is definitely there and distinctive. It's very fascinating that even as the perfume oil dries, it still smells wet and misty! Long term: For me, this lasts two or three hours before fading. It's fairly consistent from when it's first put on, staying with an impression of green plants and heavy mist, all wild and full of moisture. If I had to name specific notes, I'd say dew, mist, and heather. It's not a strong scent, but a delicate one, without a strong sillage. Very easy to wear.

I really, really, really wanted this to work for me. I'd eyed it since my first order, but gone through several without trying it because the peach note put me off - I hate peach. But reading reviews convinced me that maybe it wasn't a major element and it would be worth trying, at least, since I so dearly wanted to have a nice, GC 'autumn in a bottle' to soothe my soul. In the Imp: Okay, this seems good. Pumpkin, nutmeg, and an odd sensation of bakedness... This reminds me of the pumpkin muffins I sometimes bake in the fall! Promising for sure. Worn: As it first dries down, I get wafts of that same baked pumpkin spiced muffin off of my wrist and arm as I move. Occasional hints of peach peek through, especially close to my skin, but they're not overwhelming and I'm hoping they'll fade out. So far, not perfect, but not bad! Longer: Oh, no. Every second that passes, the peach gets stronger and the pumpkin fades. Within a half hour, it's peach muffins, not pumpkin. In Jack's defense, it's a spiced peach, like a warm fruit tea, with nutmeg and clove that just barely edges it towards fall rather than spring. Overall, however, it's ripe, juicy peach. I'm pretty sure that someone who likes peach would think this smells good on me - it's not an offensive scent at all, it's just a scent that I, personally, dislike, and apparently amp to high heaven, and it's not at all what I hoped for or wanted. So that's Jack for me... A lovely spiced-peach-tea scent, on someone who hates peach. Oh well, when I have a chance, I'll pass the imp on to someone it does work on!

Trying this one was a trip. I wasn't sure, originally, despite the reviews and my like of the listed notes, because my first thought when I sniffed the imp was that this was a grim scent. It seemed dark, aggressive, foreboding, only let up on by a tiny hint of warm hazelnut. Still, I soldiered on... after a few days to work up my nerve to testing it. Worn: Thankfully, Danse Macabre definitely morphed as soon as it touched my skin. It warms up and calms, growing softer. On me, the frankincense comes to the fore in the beginning, although the black cypress and oude blend to make a scent of smoky woods, or maybe that's the 'toasting' on the still quite present hazelnut. It's actually a fairly comforting scent! Long term dry down: My skin continues to drink in and gentle this blend. Pretty quickly, it eats anything other than frankincense and the toasted hazelnut, leaving me smelling sort of like someone sneaking roasted nuts in church. Sadly, it doesn't last very well on me at all, but while it does, it's a very snuggly, comforting scent. This is something I'd put on a half hour before I expected to be snuggled up to someone cute.

In the imp: My first thought was 'This smells dark... almost callous! Like watching someone from afar and longing for them to acknowledge you.' The actual scents took another moment or two to register, with a generalized sensation of woods and muskiness. Harder to pick out specific notes though. Worn: On the skin, the darkness goes soft and deep, it's not callous or cruel anymore, although it's still shadowed. I don't know the notes in this one as well as I'd like to be able to name them, but I can pick out the musk, a spice that my spreadsheet called 'bright-sharp' in feeling, and some sort of very sweet wood or resin. Overall, though, I'd consider this more of a blended scent, with the notes giving an overall impression, rather than being distinct. Long dry down: This continues to mellow, and becomes a deep, shadowy, sweet woody incense. It's not something I'd wear daily, but contrary to how I felt sniffing it in the imp, with it on, I feel like I'm the person someone is longing for and I know I'm not interested! It's an interesting switch, and for me, something of a comforting feeling, as well, sometimes it's nice to feel beautiful and untouchable and distant. Definitely worth holding onto the imp for when I need to bring that emotion up, or when it's cold and I just want something deep and sweet. Definitely feels like a winter-wear scent to me, somehow, rather heavy and dark for summer or spring.