Pickled Imp

[Blood onmy hands]

Cinnamon, clove, vanilla, and pine sap.

I love sweet clove, vanilla, and pine, but my skin has a tendency to amp up cinnamon to an obnoxious, overwhelming degree.

In the bottle and for the first thirty seconds on my skin, this is sooo amazing. It's fantastic clove and gingerbread cookies. It's like the best gingerbread cookie smell ever with a great extra kick from the clove.

Then the Pickled Imp quickly morphs into all cinnamon all the time on my skin. It's enough to give me a headache. Super-strong cinnamon that makes me think of red hots candies. It's just heartbreaking that it smells so good in the vial, but the cinnamon overpowers everything on my skin.

Pickled Imp is crazy cinnamon single note on me

[Champagne]

On my skin it`s all vanilla and gentle cinnamon with a tiny clove undertone. It`s such a gentle Christmas blend that now it doesn`t fit at all with summer heat..Not the spicy kick I was expecting but pleasant indeed.

 

ETA: It`s october and I`m completely sold on Pickled imp, I learned to love it slowly and I will back up with great care

Edited October 1, 2008 by Champagne

[darharper]

Disclaimer: I don't like foody scents, but, I do like spicy scents. Tested last night.

 

In the imp: Smells like Shub. Not good because I surprisingly didn't like Shub because my chemistry destroyed it.

 

Wet: Swirling cinnamon and clove. A hint of pine? Maybe? The cinnamon smells drier than usual. It isn't burning my skin, either. This could be good. So far, I like the smell. It is a bit foody and if this keeps up, I will have to swap my imp away.

 

Dry: Vanilla, cinnamon, hints of clove, and something else grounding it all. It doesn't smell foody at all! Hurray! It is the perfect warm, yet, slightly sweet spice scent. The husband agreed whole-heartedly and really likes this one. The throw is good, but, not at all overwhelming. It was still there this morning when I got up. It had morphed into a creamy slightly spiced dark vanilla. Definitely getting a couple of bottles. I didn't expect this to work and I am more than pleasantly surprised.

[roxyhead]

This stuff is all the amazing yummy foody goodness of Gingerbread Poppet with a bonus hit of cinnamon just for fun! I'm not sure if I'm getting the clove as mixed in with the cinnamon or as what's causing the gingerbread, but it makes me feel a little less regret for only getting one bottle of GP before it was gone. Almost vaguely like eating gingerbread cookies wearing Tintagel, some similarities there.

 

This scent doesn't morph much between the bottle and me, wet or dry. Seems like a lot/most of my favorites don't, not sure if that's my skin, my luck, the types of scents I tend to like, or my nose not caring much between minor variances of "yum".

 

Will probably order another bottle.

[Scylla]

I love spicy scents, and Three Witches is one of my very favorite BPAL scents. When I saw Pickled Imp in the Wunderkammer, I was so excited! It seemed like it would be right up my alley. Alas, the combination of the cinnamon, clove and pine goes really weird on my chemistry. On me, it is super clove-y with cinnamon and pine, and I think there may be some ginger in there as well. It was spicy without being foody, if that makes any sense! I don't get any vanilla at all.

 

It's not going to be something I will be able to wear due to my wonky chemistry, but it will be terrific in a scent locket or oil burner.

[DurAnorak]

It was always going to be a fight between the pine and the cinnamon. Cinnamon usually stampedes through all other notes in scents on me, trampling them into the ground until it takes pity on their tiny cries and leaves mere shreds of them clinging to my wrist. Pine, however, usually screams and screams until absolutely nothing else can get a word in.

 

The cinnamon won.

 

I smell like Christmas in heaven.

 

I am very happy. Soon I will also be very broke. Oh well.

[miri]

While this made my brain bop and go "Chimera! But more throw!", I think it's actually closer to Gingerbread Poppet - it doesn't have the copal dry-down, at any rate... I really like both of the aforementioned scents (and have bottles of both), so I intend to enjoy my Picked Imp decant and think hard about whether or not I need a bottle.

 

It's sweet, spicy, almost sticky/syrupy and rather gorgeous!

[Ravenclaw79]

Oh my. I want to eat my hand. This smells like cinnamon sticks, utterly drool-inducing. It's making me think autumn, too, which is bad, 'cause I imagine the new Weenies will rock hard enough on their own without me wanted to throw six bottles of this in the cart, too.

[forspecial_plate]

This is a good, good scent.

 

As spicy scents go, I like some of them and dislike others. I like Shub, of course, among some others. However, there are just as many that I don't like.....Saw-Scaled Viper and Smiling Spider (really wanted to like this but it's woody and sour on me), for example.

 

Anyway, this one works. Just the right combination of smooth, sweet, and spicy. The big shot of vanilla really makes this scent for me. It almost reminds me of Snake Oil's vanilla, especially because it has great lasting power. I applied 5 hours ago and it's still wafting up from time to time. I don't pick up on the pine at all, which is fine.....I do like that note, but I recognize that it's just supporting in this scent.

 

Definitely worth picking up a bottle before the Carnaval leaves town!

Edited August 10, 2008 by Forspecial Plate

[suki]

in the bottle: a hot, sweet yummy drink on a cold, blustery day

 

wet on skin: cinnamon, clove, and creamy vanilla. a fantastic mix. i get only tiny hints of the pine sap. it's not "christmas-y" at all. :whew:

 

dry down: this smells to me like horchata, the mexican cold rice and cinnamon drink!

 

in all: i can see this being one to hoard. it's only a matter of time before BPALers everywhere start demanding multiple bottles!

 

 

 

 

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Vanillary cinnamon and clove

 

On Application

Quite strong cinnamon and vanilla with the clove just spiking through

 

Dry Down

I so get the references to spiced cookies with this blend. The spices are initially quite strong and agressive but the vanilla helps to keep everything relatively calm eventually. Doesn't really morph - just stays spicey sweetness. I like.

 

Rating (0-5)

5

[Rhowan]

In the bottle: Yummy spices!! I got some oil on the tip of my nose and it actually burned there for about 1/2 hour. Not on my wrist though.

 

First applied: Very faint cinnamon. Not cinnamon like redhots or cinnamon like in Saw-Scaled Viper. This is woody - like a cinnamon stick.

 

Dry down: WHOA!! CINNAMON STICK! and very faint vanilla. This is absolutely delish!!! Completely dried down, Pickled Imp stays smelling like this for around 45min-an hour. Love this phase!

 

An hour later - 12hrs later: Oh! Poo! The vanilla kicked in big time and ruined the best part. It is not the beautiful vanilla that some of my other BPAL has, but a nice plastic, candle waxy, vanilla with a very faint hint of cinnamon. I smell like a cheap candle.

 

Conclusion:I loved this the first hour! It was so beautiful!! But then the vanilla ruined it and turned the scent into fake plastic candle vanilla. The throw is awesome and the wear length is just as incredible. Unfortunately, from one hour up until I showered it off, it wasn't pleasant. I had high hopes at first but ended up pretty disappointed.

[innocent]

Pickled Imp (along with Boomslang) was a decant I got in order to See What All the Fuss Was About. I didn't really get Boomslang, but I've joined the Pickled Imp bandwagon.

 

I can pick out each of the notes, and they combine into something delicious but not foody, creamy, but so sharp it actually stings my nose when I first apply it. The drydown softens it quite a bit, but the spice remains for a good long time, eventually dying away into a whisper of vanilla and pine sap.

 

Watch out for the imp if you have sensitive skin, it might bite!

 

I see a 5ml in my future.

[Mordath]

I get a little bit of pine in the bottle, but on my skin this dries down to a beautiful spicy vanilla, with something almost like black tea lurking in the background. Actually, it smells exactly like the chai I like to make in winter - definitely a comfortable cold-weather smell, like a favorite sweater.

[DenMother]

There is an imp sitting on my wrist!

 

He is rubbing a cinnamon stick and a vanilla pod together furiously.

 

"Why are you doing that?" I ask

 

"It's time for tea!" he says impishly as if I am the most stupid human in the world!

 

"Ahhhh........ I see of course! ummmmm what kind?"

 

"I like Chai!" He smiles

 

"Oh me too" I grin back

 

"Then we shall get alone just fine human" He says as he nips my wrist.

[lilacea]

This may very well do as a Pinched With Four Aces replacement! It's soft on the cinnamon for me initially, soft on the pine too (it's not "woah pine" more the suggestion of pine). Lovely creamy vanilla, and sweet clove. The dry down sees a little more of the cinnamon amp up, while the pine fades away. It is a lovely dry, husky cinnamon cream.

[steelxrose]

Pickled Imp

 

Starts off vanilla-cinnamony, eventually giving way to just sweet. Soon this, too, dies down to a bitter woody (alas, not pine) scent which just hangs in the air around me like some dark cloud. I thought I would despise having this, until I went to wash my hands and upon getting the oil on my wrists wet...lo and behold, comes back the vanilla!

 

I'm not sure what to think.

[zankoku_zen]

This is strictly cinnamon and clove at the beginning, with just a hint of vanilla. In fact, it kinda smells like cookie dough. After several hours, close to five, it's less spicy, and the vanilla is more gooey, almost plasticy.

 

But for the first five, my son kept saying, "I smell cookies!"

 

Yeah.

[Saya]

In the Bottle

The cinnamon, clove and pine sap are pretty strong. I’m not getting any vanilla out of this.

 

On My Skin

The cinnamon is the dominant note here, almost drowning everything else out. The vanilla hasn’t given up quite yet though, it’s not strong but it’s there in the background.

 

After a Bit

Around an hour later and it’s almost straight cinnamon on my skin. The vanilla, clove and pine sap have officially been beat into submission. This scent reminds me of the cinnamon pine cones that my local grocery store sells before Christmas. While I enjoy the spicy smell, this isn’t a very complex blend on me.

 

 

Rating 1-5 (5 being the best)

Scent – 2 Throw – 3 Longevity – 3.5

Over all (not an average) – 2.5

 

Final Thoughts

This is something I might reach for during the holiday season, but there are so many other BPAL blends with the same cinnamon kick that I prefer, so I think I’m going to have to pass on Pickled Imp.

 

ETA – 2 hours later I’m finally getting some vanilla in this blend. Now it’s a beautiful mix. Too bad it takes so long to get to this stage. I'm thinking I just may need a bottle of this stuff.

[jwhxtna]

IN THE IMP: VERY cinnamon and clove, with pine sap in the background. And a tiiiiny hint of vanilla to add a little sweetness. It smells like a Yankee candle.

 

WET: The cinnamon is still the strongest note, but it's not as completely overpowering as before. And the vanilla starts to come out, balancing the intense cinnamon a little.

 

DRY: Cinnamon and vanilla. Like cinnamon cookie dough. It gets a touch Playdoh-y on me, though, sadly enough. I'll have to try again later to decide whether to keep it.

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

This contains a few favourite notes, but only the clove and a gorgeous vanilla stands out in the vial.

 

First on:

Cinnamon immediately heats up on my skin – yummy! Clove amps, too, and I definately get some pine sap, though it comes across as almost... medicinal.

 

Dry:

After about 15 mins, it's dried into a creamy vanilla with a lovely dose of clove, and the tiniest hint of cinnamon in the background.

 

Over an hour later, this is pure delicious vanilla clove – it has a great throw! This is long-lasting stuff, I'd wager. Few scents stick this well to my skin. I'm a little disappointed in how the cinnamon has disappeared, but I really like this. The heavy clove makes me thing of the winter holidays, so this might be something I'd wear in the colder months of the year, before I start wearing my Yule scents.

 

Finally:

Good stuff! Lovely scent, good throw, long-lasting. Keeping.

[naeelah]

This is the coolest spice blend EVER.

 

Wet, it's a bizarre, peppery medicinal scent that reminds me strangely of Aries. There's a sweetness, but in the front is sharp spice and an unusual, cool note. That cool note is the pine sap. At this point, it's a little bit like eating a cinnamon roll in a room where someone is mopping. And that's kind of great.

 

The more it dries, the more sweet vanilla comes out. It's very icing-like. The clove and cinnamon blend well, and it smells more like a pumpkin pie spice mix than two separate spices doing their own thing. Except for the pine sap, this smells a lot like Gingerbread Poppet.

 

After a while, the custodian puts away the mop bucket, and you enjoy your WOAH THERE'S A LOT OF CLOVE AND CINNAMON IN THIS BUN with a side of vanilla icing. The pine sol scent lingers in the background.

 

The pine sap is a stroke of brilliance, I think. It adds a unique edge to the blend that makes it more than just a foody perfume. This will appeal most to foodies, but give it a try if you've always wanted to like foody scents but then decided you don't want to go out smelling like cake after all. As some of the sweetness of the vanilla wears away, this really straddles a nice line.

 

Try it if you like: Plunder, Inferno, Gingerbread Poppet, Love's Philosophy.

[whisperingmachines]

I get pure cinnamon- seriously it's all I can smell here. If it was the sweeter kind of cinnamon that goes on french toast, I'd love this. But, alas, I get pure Big Red gum in a room full of cinnamon scented yankee candles

[Czarina]

In the bottle: cinnamon and a touch of pine.

Wet: pure cinnamon.

Drydown: cinnamon and a hint of Playdoh.

 

Honestly, the pine vanishes on me, the clove is undetectable, the vanilla I think produces the Playdoh scent, and this is pure Yankee Candle cinnamon. Tasty, but one-dimensional on me.

 

ETA: After half an hour, this scent is a dead ringer for Gingerbread Poppet, which means that I am smelling cloves even if my brain is not identifying it as such. But why is the pine gone?

Edited August 16, 2008 by Czarina

[gnl]

In the bottle: Wow, that was not the scent I was expecting out of that. Which is not to say bad! It's actually very yummy and good! Very creamy foody but there's a sharp in there too, which I guess is the pine. If nothing else, I'll be keeping this for a scent locket.

Wet: Well HI THERE CINNAMON. Ok, after that calms down in a few minutes, the pine/clove is underneath making a very interesting spicy-er gingerbread cookie-ish smell without being too much OMG CHRISTMAS.

Dry: *licks wrist* Yummy yummy chai tea.

Verdict: Well if that didn't convince me I'm a foody, nothing will. Buying a bottle or two right now and, if this is close to what Gingerbread Poppet smells like, I'm totally picking up a bottle next time as well.

 

5/5

Edited October 18, 2008 by gnl