Category: Wanderlust
I could definitely smell the cinnamon in this one. Oddly enough, there was also a strong chocolate smell as well. I constantly had images of a cup of dark hot chocolate spiked with cinnamon...either that, or a cinnamon-colored, chocolate-striped tiger. It's not bad! Must have been the way the clove and honey were mingling together, with perhaps the ginger as well...it fooled me. All in all, I like it.
Category: Limited Editions -- Halloween 2008
Admittedly, this is less-than-pleasant upon first application; you get all of the beery, boozy qualities of it, that stale, sour leftover-whiskey smell that lingers on your breath the morning after. Not nice.
However! It calms down and behaves itself really quickly. It is like a burly, scruffy man with booze on his breath, who completely surprises you by reciting a lovely poem from memory. The harsh booziness goes away, and you are left with a sweet, malty sort of aroma, like you're leaning over a freshly-drained cask of whiskey and inhaling that slightly-toasted, caramely smell that's still soaked into the wood. Once it's morphed to that stage, it stays there. I really liked this one.
If it weren't for the unpleasantness at the beginning, I would spring for a full-priced bottle. (If I had unlimted funds, I still would.) I managed to wrangle a partial bottle, and I certainly wouldn't mind buying up other people's unloved imps and adding them to it from time to time. It's inspiring borderline hoarding behavior.
On me it smells like musky sandalwood, with a bit of spiciness from the honey. Not really an 'in your face' scent, but it's got some pretty decent staying power.
...which, you know, is kind of nice to have in a phallus. Scent. Phallus scent! Yes.
Category -- Bewitching Brews
The sad part is that I can smell the clove, vetiver, and cherry all working together, but their resultant team effort is just not a harmonious one to my nose. It just kinda smells like burnt, bitter cherry with a side of ass. I blame you, vetiver. Thankfully, it doesn't broadcast very much to the world.
If you already know that the components work on you, then feel free to give this a try, and enjoy.
Category -- Diabolus
Sweet cherry-rose, with maybe a very faint hint of almond. Throw and staying power are both of average quality. Recommended if sweet rosey blends like Kurukulla work well on you.
In the imp: Whoa, butter!
I get a lot of butter when it first goes on...then it calms down into more of a toasted pastry sort of smell. There's still a 'brown' edge to it, as there was with Butter Rum Cookie, but without the out-and-out burned smell...it's more like cookies that have been perfectly, thoroughly baked.
So, if you're looking for something just a touch lighter than Butter Rum Cookie, or *really* like butter (), give this a try.
My verdict is still out on this one. I originally really liked it, but now that I'm giving it another sniff, I'm just sort of 'eh' on it. Then again, I've got like seven scents on this hand, so it may just be an overloaded nose. I'll wash off, give my schnozz a rest for a bit, and try it again before deciding.
This is, indeed, silly and playful and effervescent. It is grape soda and chewy, juicy fruit candies, so many fruity varieties that they just sort of mingle together in a wet, bubbly mauve haze. It has little throw, and tends to fade fairly fast.
Just like candy, this is a scent that would be nice to indulge in once in a while, but a constant olfactory diet of it would be unhealthy. But I'm thankful for the sweet treat, all the same!
At first Grandmother and I didn't get along; she smelled like baby powder with a very unpleasant biological crotch-sweat edge to it. Eww! Over time, however, she mellowed out, did a 180, and smelled like a bouquet of dried flowers that had been saved over the years in a wooden drawer, age and dust giving them a peppery sort of aura.
Not really my thing, but I'm relieve that it had a happy ending, at least.
Category -- Bewitching Brews
A sweet, almost cloying mix if rose and other florals. Not really my thing. It has decent longevity and some moderate throw, especially if, like me, you tend to amp this certain kind of rose. (Now if only I knew just what *kind* of rose it is...)
Category: Illyria
This is another pretty sort of 'bouquet of flowers' smell. The florals all just kind of bunch together and I really don't get any defining characteristic out of it. It seemed to fade fairly quickly and did not throw much.
Category: Bewitching Brews
Definitely mint and lemon...those two scents predominated. Also a very faint hint of orange, and the rosemary gave it a peppery kick. Unfortunately, as strong as these elements sound, it really did not linger long at all. I can't say that this one did much for me. I would recommend it to mint-lovers.
I was really leery of this one, but like all the Phoenixes, it was really nice. Believe it or not, but I really can 'smell' the 'gleaming white metal' in the description; it's like what the mirror-sheen on a stainless-steel table would smell like, if it had an odor. I think the honeysuckle is what makes it so palatable for me.
It's super-light, and seemed to fade really fast. This one won't be so hard to let go of.
Category: Limited Editions -- Samhain 2008 -- Sleepy Hollow Series
Initially, it's a very dry, smokey scent; it doesn't have the sharp tang of cordite that I was expecting -- it's more like the last traces of smoke after a flame has been snuffed or blown out, sans the wax.
This is very fleeting, however; after that, I swear that it smells like Axe Body Spray. LOL Not really my thing.
This does strike me as a very masculine scent, and I'd recommend it, along with Brom Bones, for anyone seeking out a late 'Weenie purchase for their male companions.
It smells slightly like generic perfume or cologne, but there is enough amber present to keep it interesting. Unfortunately, it turns very powdery fairly quickly...and while that's not necessarily bad, it's not really what I was looking for from this scent. Not for me.
Category -- Sin and Salvation
The magnolia and jasmine blend really nicely, creating a sweet floral effect. There is a hint of rose there, as well. I don't get any amber at all...nothing but florals, here. For me, it falls in along the lines of Bathsheba, and Sacred Whore of Babylon...so if you like those scents, give this one a try, too.
Oddly enough, this is not 'cold' on me at all. Quite the opposite...I get the 'warm' notes of amber, sandalwood, balsam, and musk. There is a hint of pine/fir, sweetened vaguely by berry. It's pleasant enough, but somehow just doesn't do it for me. Alas!
I will vouch for the fact that cedar at no point comes out and bullies things the way it usually does. So if you are usually very leery of cedar, you may want to give this a shot.
Category: Excolo
In the imp: Very herbal and 'green'.
Wet: Very strident and medicinal in tone. As time passed, it morphed into a really musty, sour odor; perhaps that's the vetiver? I've never worn anything with vetiver in it before, so I'm hesitant to pass judgement right away, but whichever component was at fault, it was not a very nice smell.
Dry: I was definitely throwing something sour and nasty. Which is a shame, because if I sniffed up close to my skin, I could smell the leafy components of it perfectly, as if I were bending low into a garden and letting the leaves brush my cheeks. If it *all* had ended up smelling like that, I would have liked it a *lot* more, as that particular feeling was lovely.
Verdict: I'm going to have to pass on this one.
What I liked: That leafy scent; I'll try to keep an eye out for scents with olive leaf and see if that evokes a similiar feeling.
What I didn't like: That musty nastiness. I'll have to keep an eye out for vetiver, as well, and see if that was the culprit.
Category: Rappacini's Garden
This one is definitely very 'green', earthy, and has a medicinal snap to it, though it's not overwhelming or obnoxious. More or less, it feels like standing knee-deep in a clump of thin, tiny green vines -- you can smell the tartness of the plants themselves, with a hint of the earth beneath it all, and a tantalizing sweetness throughout, as if from hidden blooms amid all the twining tangle. It's really nice. I'm still not decided as to whether I need a bottle of it, but, for the time being at least, it's a fond favorite. And the green color of the oil itself is pretty cool.
When first applied, I get frankincense and a hint of amber -- very lovely. I can see how people get the 'fizzy' feeling, though, because I quickly detected it there, as well. Then the incense morphs quickly to something sweeter; while I didn't get out and out 'grape' scent from the wine, it was vaguely there. After a bit, it just goes generically perfumey. Just not my thing...
Darn...I really wanted this one to work, since it sounded so delicious. Unfortunately, all I get is toasted pancake syrup. BPAL made me a cookie...but they burneded it.
Category: Ars Moriendi
It starts out sweet, feminine, and just barely resinous -- very sexy. By the end of the day, the patchouli has come to the fore, and is all that remains. I'm thinking that in the beginning I was detecting the myrrh and possibly the orris, so if you like any of those notes, go ahead and give Lady Death a turn on the dance floor. She's quite alluring -- though one dance with her is enough for me. Good eve, Lady.
Category: Wanderlust
This blend is very floral and very wet -- like being near a pond laden with blooming water lilies. It strikes me as very feminine. I would recommend it to those who like aquatic notes and/or florals -- it succeeds really nicely on both of those levels.
As much as I enjoyed this blend, I still think that of the lush plant scents, Amsterdam still conquers all.
Category -- Excolo
This is a very pretty, and well-balanced, blend of lotus and rose. Neither becomes too overpowering; it just blends to create a nice, sweet, light floral. Not quite to my own personal tastes, but still a very pleasant experience overall. If you don't *quite* like either lotus or rose, you may still want to try this, because they really do balance each other well in this blend.
Category -- Ars Draconis
For the first few minutes of wearing it, I'm treated to a smokey, resinous scent that is my holy grail of incense-like smells. And yet, like any good holy grail, it is quickly carried away by mysterious figures wearing samite, leaving me with the sweet and slightly fruity scent that I have now come to associate with BPAL's dragon's blood.
Every now and then, there is a pleasant, smoky sort of whuff to it...like a dragon breathing fragrant smoke out of its huge, powerful lungs as it slumbers, its heart beating but once per hour.
Definitely an interesting blend.
