tempete

Carnal is very close to the fig single note (at least on my skin). I can detect a slight citrus zing in the wet stage, which must be due to the mandarin orange. But otherwise, this is a figalicious scent on me. Not sure if it reaches big bottle status for me, but I'll definitely enjoy my imp.

Alice, Bastet, Black Pearl, Dana O'Shee and Haunted are second skin scents on me, although Alice is very floral (hello, carnation). None of them are particularly foody to my nose, but it can depend on which notes your skin pulls up, especially with Black Pearl and Dana O'Shee. I personally differentiate between scents without a lot of throw and second skin scents. For example, Empyreal Mist doesn't have a lot of throw (well, after five minutes it ceases to exist on my skin), but I don't think that anyone would think that I naturally smell like a grassy, dew-covered field. For me, a second skin scent is a much better smelling version of my skin - I agree, though, that second skin scents usually don't have a lot of throw.

There's something sharply green in the wet stage of Florence that is slightly headache inducing. It gives way to a lovely combo of amber and berries with a touch of green as the scent dries down, but unfortunately, morphs into the baby powder scent that Northernminx mentioned in her review. Bewitched remains my favourite berry BPAL, so Florence is off to swaps.

My experience has been that dark musk smells like the traditional, animalic musks. I tend to avoid BPALs listing dark musk as a note (Phantom, Hecate), the major exception being Bewitched (which balances dark musk with berries and greenness). In contrast to Miggins, I really enjoy red musk, which I find to be sweeter and rounder than traditional musks. Some red musk blends that I adore are Scherezade, Spellbound and Fenris Wolf. White musk smells kind of bubbly and effervescent to my nose. My favourite white musk BPALs are Fae, Black Pearl and Whitechapel. I've tried a few BPALs containing black musk, but I couldn't really pick out how it was different from red and white musks. However, I can wholeheartedly recommend Haunted - if you can carry off amber and musk, it is stunning. I'm not sure what kind of musk is in Morocco (description only specifies "warm musk"), but it's a wonderful scent. I'm not as familiar with Egyptian, Arabian or Chinese musks since I've tried precisely one BPAL containing these musks - Bastet, Othello and Queen Mab, respectively - and they're all on the sweet side, which doesn't sit well with me. My suggestion is to do a search for BPALs containing "musk" in the description (you'll get 76 hits) and then pick out the ones that contains notes (beside musk) that you'd like to try. If you spread your choices between the different types of musk, chances are you'll find a musk-containing BPAL that works for you.

I have now tried them all, and would rank them as follows (from most figalicious to no figgy goodness whatsoever): Carnal Apothecary Intrigue Nemesis Cerberus Nephilim Dragon's Heart Mata Hari Cerberus and Nephilim are pretty close, but the fig note in the drydown for Cerberus lasts longer.

I know that the security at Portland, Vancouver and Toronto airports don't have a problem with imps. Some were carried in my purse in a film canister, the others were in one of the boxes that the Lab uses for shipping in my carry-on luggage.

Chiroptera was a burst of nectar-sweet florals which died down to a faint whisper in about half an hour. Though I'm sure bats would love this scent, sweet doesn't do it for me. I'll be passing my imp onto someone who hopefully has a predilection for sweet florals.

Unseelie was kind enough to gift me with an imp of Oberon in our recent swap I'm absolutely floored by how good Oberon smells on me. I definitely get citrus in the wet stage, which I think is the bergamot note making itself known. It fades away rather quickly, which is how I know it's not a real citrus note (those last forever on my skin, even when I would prefer them to go away). The really interesting aspect of Oberon for me is how the white musk enlivens the earthiness of the oakmoss. The only thing keeping me back from ordering a bottle is that it powders out soon after the initial application and it does smell quite masculine on me. I'm not giving up yet - I'm determined to find a way to make Oberon work for me, dammit.

This was a freebie from the Lab. Unfortunately, lemon verbena and white sandalwood don't like me very much. My notes say that Shadow smelled like lemon-scented cleaning product when wet, and then lemony wood on the drydown. Not for me.

I have two imps of Black Pearl, one received in a swap from northern and the other gifted to me by The_Witching_Hour (thanks to both of these lovely ladies). They are completely different scents on me, so I'll review each version. Imp #1 (swap from northern): Astarte, Northernminx and nevermore's reviews closely echo my experience with this imp, which is not very foody on me: the coconut note is very muted and the hazelnut note is non-existent (yay! I hate nuts!). Interestingly, the iris note hits me strongest in the wet stage and then fades to an undercurrent during the drydown. I sometimes get a plasticky note (I think that this is the white musk) and other times a sharp green note (iris?) The iris note does remind me of the violets in Ultraviolet, and unlike some reviewers, I wish that it would come out more on me. The final drydown is a warm, creamy scent with a hint of floral. Imp #2 (gift from The_Witching_Hour): Ah, now I see why shriekingviolet's review made a reference to Frangelico. A swipe from this imp gives me a big blast of nauseatingly sweet hazelnut (yuck!) which fortunately dies away quickly. The iris comes out more strongly on the drydown than it did in Imp #1, and the white musk and coconut play supporting roles, although I have to inhale deeply to detect any coconut. The final drydown for Imp #2 is sharper than that for Imp #1, and reminds me somewhat of a creamier version of Ultraviolet without the sharpness of eucalyptus and mint. Final thoughts: Overall I'm a bit torn as to which version I prefer. Imp #1 is a great skin scent (though I could do without the weird side notes) for when I want something that is isn't brash and pushy and explicit, but still there, if you know what I mean. Imp #2 is more overtly feminine and present, though I do wish it scored higher on the creaminess quotient. Some questions: If I order a big bottle, which version will I get? Or is Imp #1 an aged version of Imp #2? An aside on layering: Imp #1 layers nicely with Ultraviolet (you probably saw that one coming!) - it lends Ultraviolet a touch of creaminess without taking away too much of the lovely eucalyptic/minty bite. I have severe reservations about layering Imp #2 with Ultraviolet because the combination of eucalyptus and mint versus hella sweet hazelnut might cause my olfactory bulb to explode

I put Dracul on before refreshing my memory about the notes in it, and halfway through the drydown, I thought that I detected the evil orange blossom note, which is one of the banes of my olfactory existence. Yes indeed, my nose had picked out the uniquely rancid odor that is unfortunately the result of my body chemistry wreaking havoc with orange blossom (which is undoubtedly lovely on everyone else except for me). But I'm getting ahead of myself. Wet, Dracul is a somewhat masculine blend of tobacco smoke accented by light woody notes. Then, the orange blossom note breaks free and its foulness is all I can smell for a good hour or so. Finally, the initial stage of tobacco and wood return to rescue me, accompanied by the spice notes. Unfortunately however, I can still sense the orange blossom note lurking beneath, ready to pounce on my nose as soon as I turn my back. All this melodrama to say that I must recognize orange blossom as something to avoid avoid avoid and that Dracul will be swapped away, hopefully to someone whose body chemistry plays nicer with orange blossom than mine.

Dark myrrh is definitely the major player in Masabakes. Since I have an imp of the dark myrrh single note, I can tell that the mimosa sharpens it (dark myrrh is very smooth and rounded by itself), and that the black currant thickens it ever so slightly and adds the faintest touch of berry sweetness. While Masabakes is an interesting, intense scent, I actually prefer dark myrrh by itself over this, so this imp will be swapped away.

Wanda started out as a splash of grape juice (as almost all wine-containing BPALs do). She then proceeded to flit through several versions - grape juice, musky rose (kind of similar to Black Rose, though the musk wasn't as strong) and grape-y rose - before settling on a juicy, slightly musky rose. The rose note goes slightly powdery, and I never really detected any leather. This final drydown actually wasn't too bad, but I really do not like smelling like grape juice, so Wanda will probably be swapped away.

:raises hand: The cedar note definitely hit me in the wet stage, though I could detect the vanilla lurking in the background. Then, the vanilla note intensified and the sassafras note came out, so that I smelled like a combination of wood, root beer and baked goods. These elements didn't blend together well on my skin, so it was a bit disconcerting to smell so many disconnected notes emanating from the test spot. The foody notes mostly disappeared in the final drydown, leaving behind some sugar, so that I smelled like sweetened wood in the end. None of the stages of Tombstone suit me, so this one is going to the swap pile.

Almost all of the notes in Fallen sounded so lovely, except for white sandalwood which has a tendency to turn excruciatingly sharp on my skin. I took a chance and hoped that the other notes would tone down the evil white sandalwood note. Alas... it was not to be. Fallen went very sharp and very woody on me upon the initial application, and stayed that way throughout most of the drydown. It has somewhat mellowed out into a vaguely greenish woody scent in the final drydown. Not for me, so it's off to the swap pile.

Now that I've had a chance to try Carnal (thanks to Theravada!), I have to agree with summer that it is remarkably similar to the fig single note (which is also in my collection).

The wet stage of Seraglio is very similar to that of Black Phoenix: sweet almond backed by a woody note, although Black Phoenix adds juicy cherry to the mix. Some woody notes are really overpowering on me, but Mysor(e) sandalwood is not overbearing on my skin. Then, as Seraglio dries down, the rose note blooms, backed by the sandalwood note, sweetened lightly by almond, surrounded by soft spices and enlivened with a touch of tart orange. I'm glad that the clove note didn't clobber me over the head like it did in Sybaris. I remarked in my review of Black Phoenix that although it is not anywhere near my top ten, I can't stop smelling myself when I wear it. Seraglio triggers the same feelings, but unlike Black Phoenix which smells very gender-neutral on me, it is more of a scent to wear when you want everyone to be very aware of your femininity. Definitely a candidate for the bottle list!

Wet, Alice is a burst of carnation and bergamot, though I can tell that the milk and honey notes are lurking in the background. As the scent dries down, the floral notes fade to a whisper and the milk and honey notes take over. Alice is one of those peculiar scents that can dry down in different ways on me. Sometimes the honey note is the predominant note on the drydown, which is not so good because then the scent is too sweet. Sometimes the milk note dominates, which is much much better, but then Alice becomes a second skin scent because she doesn't have much throw in this version (not such a bad thing). If I can figure out how to reliably produce the milky dry down, then I'll be getting a big bottle of Alice. Edited to add: I've decided not to get a bottle of Alice because she has very little staying power on my skin and there are other skin scents whose drydowns are nicer on me.

I've tried most of the scents on that list, and I have Nephilim coming in a swap and Carnal coming in an order, so I will update when I get them. I would rank them from figgiest not figgy at all as follows: Apothecary Intrigue Nemesis Dragon's Heart Mata Hari A lot depends on body chemistry, however. Apothecary smells green or musty on some people, but those are minor notes on me. Dragon's blood and musks tend to dominate on me, which is why Dragon's Heart is at the bottom of the list. I could tell it was present, though, which is more than I can say for Mata Hari, since all I could smell was coffee, no fig at all.

Darkling swapped me her imp of Eris (wave to darkling!) Eris has a very sharp edge when wet, which I assume is due to the mimosa note, and which is bolstered by the spices. The "wet fruits" in the description smell like watermelon or cantaloupe or some similar watery fruit to my untrained nose. It's an interesting juxtaposition that doesn't work so well on skin until the mimosa note dies down a little. I didn't detect the plasticky note that darkling described in her review, but a strongly herbal green note emerged about two hours into the drydown. I seem to be prone to headaches lately, including BPAL-induced ones, and Eris unfortunately falls into that category for me. I will need to try Eris again when the headaches go away, but I suspect that I will have to swap this one out.

The lovely IndigoWhatever gifted me with an imp of Love Me in a swap, and the Lab generously threw in an imp in my last order. Hopefully this is not a comment on the non-existent state of my love life! Unfortunately, Love Me produces the same olfactory experience as Tarot: The Lovers, which is to say, it dries down to cinnamon soap. My skin loves to amp up cinnamon, which I don't want to smell like, and I hate smelling like soap even more. But since I seem to need help, I'll keep an imp to see if it improves my love life...

Lampades is spicy cranberry when wet, and as it dries down, the spices (and ginger) fade away so that the scent becomes faintly spicy cranberry on me. The musk is probably reining in the fruitiness of the cranberry note, but it's definitely not dominant. If this scent was muskier (like Bewitched), I'd probably keep it, but right now I smell too much like a cranberry candle so it's off to the swap pile.

Black Phoenix is an almost overwhelming burst of luscious cherries and sweet almonds when wet, but this intense sweetness begins to fade away almost immediately. Next, a faint woody note makes an appearance, accompanied by hints of incense and booziness. I don't smell the rose that other reviewers wrote about, and I believe that I may be the only reviewer to smell wood, so I'm wondering if rosewood is part of this blend since my body chemistry loves to amp up woody notes. Sometimes, I get whiffs of chocolate in the final drydown, but this doesn't happen every time I wear this scent. In any case, Black Phoenix is a bit of a puzzle to me. It doesn't make me swoon with delight - in fact, the sweet sweet sweet cherry and almond wet stage nearly made me scrub it off the first time that I wore Black Phoenix - but I don't seem to want to trade away my last remaining imp, and when I wear it, I can't help sniffing my wrists continually. I doubt that I would buy a bottle of this, but I think that I'll keep an imp around for when I'm in the mood for something different.

For me, this fragrance evokes the ethereal, fragile nature of spider webs more than the arrogance and hubris of Arachne, because there is nothing strong about it. It's mildly sweet, weakly green/herbal and faintly floral, and eventually powders out on me in about an hour. Arachne would be beautiful on someone else, but it definitely does not suit me.

Normally I cannot wear any BPALs with wine in them because they turn into grape juice on me, and that's pretty much all I can smell from the initial application to the final drydown. Bordello breaks from this convention, although it is candy sweet when wet. When it dries down, though, an incense note emerges and seems to tame the sweetness. The end result reminds me somewhat of a berry-scented candle, which I don't necessarily want to smell like. Of my berry-scented BPALs, I think that I prefer Bewitched and Florence, but I could see myself wearing Bordello every once in a while.