Originally reviewed: Dec 26 05
In the Imp: I smell something light and green, something fresh.
Wet: The fresh foliage smell intensifies, immediately evoking images of new spring leaves dripping with cool rainwater. Equally dewy rosebuds sprout from my wrist seconds later - but phew! Are they ever *strong*!
Drydown: This scent settles down both quickly and dutifully, coming together with just enough rose, just enough green, just enough misty freshness to impress even a non-rose fan like myself.
Sniff.
Sniff...sniff.
SNIFFFFFFF!
Uh...did I say impress? I meant astound - amaze - make my eyes go all sparkly with surprised delight. This is what the center of a living, rain-spattered rosebush smells like. Seriously. I'm a florist, I would know.
Overall: I was convinced this would smell like a granny perfume at best - a granny bathroom at worst - and likely wouldn't have even tried it had I not stumbled across a half imp's worth in the swaps section. I'm VERY glad I thought to toss it into the mix, and that it proved to be such a stunner. Extremely bottle-worthy.
In the imp: Paint (I get that a lot, for some reason ) and the faintest hint of something sour.
On wet: The sourness is more pronounced, though there's a hint of almost herbal sweetness underneath. I'm not getting any note specifically at this point.
Drydown: I smell sandalwood first. Oh, and there's the ylang - I'm becoming more appreciative of ylang ylang, so I'm glad it's a somewhat dominant presence in this blend so far. When I inhale deeply, I get a dry, almost dusty sweetness that reminds me of that orange sugar powder you'd get in in a Fun Dip (or Lik-m-aid, or whatever those things were called). A very interesting, yet pleasing combination!
Overall: This scent worried me at first - it was coming across as "generic-bought from a drugstore-old lady perfume". Now? ::sniffs wrist:: I smell like candied oranges! The sandalwood and ylang are still in the picture, too, keeping things from getting too saccharine, and really making for a nicely balanced group of notes. A very happy fragrance. 3.5/5
Originally reviewed: July 23 06
In the imp: Dry, herbal, vaguely sweet and woody.
On wet: If there's cinnamon in this blend - like so many before me have mentioned smelling - then it's very well hidden. All I'm getting is something sweet and resinous.
Drydown: Still a very sweet, yet somewhat dusty and subdued wood-sap type of scent. I think I'm picking up on cedar and myrrh...and if frankincense is what's driving that incensey undernote, then I may have to reconsider my completely random anti-frank policy (he kinda scares me...).
Overall: This blend has totally surprised me - it's not like anything I'd normally wear, but I can't stop sniffing myself! It's warm and sweet and spicy (though if it's cinnamon, it's still too well-blended for me to distinguish it), and definitely lovely. Reminds me of La Petite Mort, Eclipse and, to a lesser degree, Black Phoenix. Maybe if they were layered together... Either way, a very yummy, skin-licious scent, and an easy 4/5.
Originally reviewed: Dec 27 05
In the Imp: Sweet, strong, fruity booze. Can't detect apricots right off the bat, but I am getting a definite whiff of brandy.
Wet: This blend is almost overwhelming at first. My nose is blasted by the intensity of the newly erupted apricot note, the warm shot of brandy, and, as some other reviewers have mentioned, a spike of something almost grassy or wood-like.
Drydown: The wood/grass note fades after a few minutes, leaving nothing but pure, sweet, DARK apricot syrup. It's deliciously warm, wonderfully rich, and the thought of how this would smell in my bath water is actually giving me goosebumps. The throw is average, the staying power is faboo - I put this on long before going to bed last night, and my wrists were still smelling good when I got up this morning - and, most importantly, the hubby was decidedly...approving.
Overall: I'm not usually a fan of fruit, but I make an exception for good apricot blends - and this is easily the best one I've *ever* tried. The apricot is totally realistic, it's sweet without being cloying, and best of all, the brandy note lends it an air of sophistication, keeping it from being a straight up fruit or kiddy fragrance. I'm not only in love, I'm in need of a big bottle.
Originally reviewed: May 27 06
In the imp: Sweet with a faintly woody undertone.
On wet: Mmm...sweet and incense-y - but kinda dry? (If that makes any sense, lol.) A tiny hint of spice underneath the prominent notes tickles my nose.
Drydown: Still sweet and incensey, complimented perfectly by a much more instense spiciness than before. Extremely pretty - I can't stop sniffing myself!
Overall: It's lovely and warm and kinda reminds me of the deliciousness that is teh Smut. How could I not love this?
In the imp: Almond and a touch of sweet, almost effervescent citrus.
On wet: Pure citrus - sweet, lemony, sort of powdery, too. Very bright and candylike!
Drydown: The citrus has faded almost completely, and all I'm left with is a touch of thyme.
Overall: This blend started out quite nicely - I'm a fan of citrus, almond, and various herbs - but it faded within minutes! And I didn't get anything beyond lemon and thyme - no lavender, mint, or even the usually dominant almond. So, yeah...a bit of a disappointment. 2/5
In the imp: Sweeeeet reddish-purple-fruity-berry-ness. A hint of what I think is thyme.
On wet: Kool-Aid!
Drydown: 10 minutes in, and it's faded quite a bit. It's lost a lot of that berrylicious/fruity edge in favour of just pure sugary sweetness - it's actually making my teeth hurt every time I inhale! There's also a soapy, shampoo-esque thing going on now, too. I'm reminded of the "perfume" I used to get as a kid - the kind that wasn't much more than scented pink liquid in a pretty pink-capped bottle. I can't recall exactly, but I think the brand was called Tinkerbell (no relation to Disney). Not getting anything even remotely boozy or herby.
Overall: WAY too sweet for this grrl - though I'd definitely recommend it for the junior BPALers out there. A kid-friendly scent to be sure - and SO much nicer than that chemical playtime crap I'm sure is still being sold today. As I am no longer a kidlet, however, this ranks a 2/5 on my skin.
Originally reviewed: Dec 29 05
In the Imp: Predominantly cocoa with a faintly sweet background.
Wet: Citrus explosion! Mmmm...smells really good, though - like my skin's been dusted with orange sugar.
Drydown: The sweet mandarin backs off a bit, politely mingling with its imp-mates as it mellows. I get distinct whiffs of tobacco...musk...tea... It's like a different note is peeping out every time I inhale. Very, *very* nice.
Overall: Warm, spicy, musky - and a kickass name to boot. What's not to love?
Originally reviewed: Aug 08 06
In the bottle: Apples! Gorgeous, golden apples!
On wet: Mmm...more apples!
Drydown: The apples are still there, providing this positively *gorgeous* yellow sweetness - a perfect counterpoint to the dry, slightly spicy undertone that's starting to emerge. It's almost a clean, woody/peppery scent that I'm starting to get now, if that makes any sense.
Overall: Pure Autumn-in-a-Bottle, y'all. I've got a touch of early October smeared on my wrists! This is like a daylight version of my beloved midnight-esque Samhain - THIS is what I'd hoped last year's HM would smell like on me, like I'm sitting in a hay field on the edge of a sun-warmed apple orchard, clear blue skies stretching out above my head, a clean, cool breeze stirring the rust-gold-scarlet leaves... Serious love and a hugely deserved 5/5. Well done, Beth!
In the imp: Dirt...something faintly sweet...an almost spicy underbite - taken all together, I'm reminded of pickled beets!
On wet: Beets in a cellar! The dirt note is still very strong, and there's also something that totally reminds me of what the basement in my childhood home smelled like.
Drydown: A dry, almost burnt woodiness and a soft vanillic undertone has taken over. There's still a hint of beet dirt lingering, but it's in the backseat now, more than happy to be chauffeured around by its fellow notes. Hmm...strangely enough, I'm reminded of hot erasers! That smell you'd get after furiously scrubbing your pink-tipped pencil butt against an incorrectly answered math question? On my skin, Death Cap Drydown IS THAT SMELL!
Overall: Well, I like the scent of dirt well enough, but I'm not much of a beet fan (I'm the only non-beet eater in my family, actually), and this blend is seriously screaming BEEEEEETS!!! - when it's not reminding me of one too many nightmarish math exams, lol. Too bad that woody-vanilla drydown wasn't more intense! 2/5
In the imp: A soft, vaguely sweet smell - for some reason, Dove soap immediately springs to mind.
On wet: This has got to be, without doubt, one of the faintest BPAL blends I've ever tried. I can barely smell *anything* after immediate application, and I all but slathered it. The barely-there whiffs I *am* getting are still soft, lightly sweet, and soapy.
Drydown: Still incredibly faint - to the point where I actually had to sniff around my wrist to find where I'd applied it. Still primarily soap, too (though I'm pretty sure I caught a ghostly whisper of something that *could* have been ginger at one point) and not much else.
Overall: This was one of the first frimps I ever received. I tried it as soon as I got it, discovered how weak it was with my skin chemistry, and promptly put it in the 'Try Again' pile. Since then - almost a year ago - I've broken it out a few more times, hoping that it would have aged into something more intense, or that my nose, being fed a steady diet of BPAL, would've somehow become more aware of it. Alas, this fantasy I've so desperately clung to has not come to pass. Sudha's just as Dove soap for me now as it was that first time I sniffed it...and that makes me a sad panda.
A (very reluctant!) 2/5.
In the bottle: Clean, fresh, grassy...with just a *hint* of something sweet-tart underneath.
On wet: Pale, pale green aquatic, with the vaguest touch of watery fruit around the edges.
Drydown: Mmm...the sharp aquatic-ness has died away. Now it's insanely fresh smelling - like a garden, comprised of nothing but carnation and big, green, leafy plants, all dappled with cool water after a good rain. The heather is sweet, the carnation is lightly spiced cream, the green things stay green - really, really lovely.
Overall: I had to have this scent purely because of the poem - it's been a favourite of mine since childhood. I was incredibly fortunate that none of the notes were dealbreakers (though moss and ivy *can* be troublesome), and doubly lucky that they all decided to play nice on my skin - I would have been heartbroken if this hadn't worked. But here I am, smelling deliciously fresh and spicy and green all at the same time, anxiously waiting for warmer weather to arrive, as this is definitely going to be one of my go-to spring scents. A delightful blend - 4.5/5.
In the imp: Uber Almond! Yum!
On wet: Nothing but almond at first. A few seconds later, there's a tinge of darkness from the myrrh, a lighter sweetness that I'm attributing to the mandarin, and a delicate slither of snake oil. Mmm, I smell like a complicated amaretti cookie!
Drydown: Snake Oil + something smoky + a weird herbal peanut butter (wtf? where did *that* come from?) = a very strange, almost savoury version of my favourite GC fragrance. Not what I was hoping for, and not a scent I'm enjoying at the moment. It's actually kind of turning my stomach...
Overall: Well, I've found the first Snake Pit scent that doesn't work on me. It had to happen sometime, I just wasn't expecting it from one of my most anticipated combination of notes. A disappointed 2/5.
In the bottle: Like herbal...paint?
On wet: A sharp yet decidedly warm scent combination - I'm getting leather, spice, and something burning. Definitely keeping true to the description!
Drydown: Pretty much the same as above - woodsmoke (which has morphed into the dominant note), leather, and I want to attribute that soft, spicy undertone to a liberal dash of either clove or nutmeg, though I'm probably way off. Could I somehow be misinterpreting the tobacco? As a former - though longtime smoker, how lame would that be?
Overall: A slightly smokier, drier, less sweet version of Dee, like some of the past reviewers have mentioned. A good fragrance for when it's cold n' snowy outside, you're inside, bundled into a squishy sweater or blanket, curled up on the couch with a good book, drinking something cidery, chocolatey, or otherwise winterlicious. Very evocative of the season it was created for. 3.5/5
In the imp: Sweet fruityness - almost apple-like - and a touch of something floral.
On wet: Nothing distinct beyond sweeeeet and frooooooty.
Drydown: Blackberry at first, then that dark berry vibe gets even darker - definitely the plum. A floral haze sorta clings to the edges of those two emo fruits, and the lilac is the most notable. Still an incredibly sweeeeet blend with just a *hint* of something spicy/cinnamony underneath. Lovely.
Overall: I don't really enjoy blackberry scents as a rule (they tend to not like me very much), but this one works thanks to the plum (one of my favourite fruit notes). The fruit/light floral/spice combo makes for a very warm n' wearable blend - and it's not going potpourri/holiday candle on me, either - another bonus. My nose says it's reminiscent of Frumious Bandersnatch. I rather enjoy these plummy-spicy scents, but don't really wear them very often (just because *I* don't get candles or an Xmas sachet from them doesn't mean others don't - like my DH ) - even still, I'll be keeping my imp. 3.5/5
In the imp: Sugared mint tea!
On wet: Mmm...sweet, fresh mint - green and growing. Lovely!
Drydown: I smell like pure honeyed tea leaves! No mint, no citrus (never got any noticeable citrussy notes, though), and the sweetness is more mellow, no longer sugary. It's gone drier, too - hence the tea leaf vibe, rather than the beverage.
Overall: This is quite nice. I rather enjoy all the notes included in this blend, but it's incredibly faint, and only lasted about half an hour on my wrist. If it was a bit more intense, I would definitely go for a bottle. As it stands now, I'll just continue to enjoy my imp. 3/5
In the imp: Cherry and lavender.
On wet: Cherry, lavender, and I'm pretty sure that the smoothness underneath the two of 'em is the white musk.
Drydown: The cherry faded almost immediately, leaving the barest hint of lavender wafting up from my skin. If I mash my nose against my wrist, I can smell the soft sweetness of the white musk.
Overall: I failed to detect any trace of rosewood, red musk, or red rose in KoH - and to be completely honest, I rather liked it that way! The white musk's powdery softness proved the perfect grounding for the sharpness of the lavender, pinning both notes firmly in place against my skin, where they lingered quite happily for several hours. A lovely blend! 4/5
Originally reviewed: April 26 06
In the imp: Fresh n' minty green apple.
On wet: Fresh n' minty green apple - with a sweet, somewhat licorice-y undertone.
Drydown: The apple faded, the minty licorice notes remained, and now I'm (finally!) getting a soft breath of lime swirling into the mix - a fresh and subtle combination of scents. If I really press my nose against my skin, I can also detect something kinda warm and faintly...amberish (the ambrette?). I tend to dislike ambery stuff as a rule, but it seems subdued in this blend - like the other notes are keeping it on a tight leash so that it peeks out *just* enough to ground everything.
Overall: A perfect summer fragrance, but I have to agree with many of the above reviews: After about half an hour, I can barely detect any scent on my wrist at all. This Turtle *should* rate at least a 4/5 for sheer prettiness, but lack of staying power (on me, anyway) drops it down to a 2.5.
In the bottle: Slushy mint.
On wet: Gorgeous and grassy - like snow melting in a garden full of wild mint.
Drydown: The lovely slush-touched greenery is joined by a light, almost perfumey sweetness - a combination that makes for a fresh, incredibly unique, and downright elegant fragrance.
Overall: Even though I get a little sad when the grassy note fades to make room for that drydown-sweetness, this remains one of my favourite "cold" scents, and easily one of my favourite concept blends. 4.5/5
CCCXCIX - 339
In the bottle: Fizzy grapefruit and...lilac?
On wet: Grapefruit or lemongrass, but it's almost powdery - reminds me of the pith. No other notes are coming through at this stage - it's like citrus SN!
Drydown: Oh wow, this is gorgeous. The grapefruit has backed off a bit, and is mingling with something so delicate and watery (not aquatic, just a cool, green, moistness) - I'm guessing it's aloe. I still think there's some lilac in here, too - it's soft and gentle, but riding the edge of the scent, giving it just enough creamy sweetness to round things out. That powdery vibe (which is almost gone now) has me wondering if an orchid snuck into the mix somewhere along the line...
Overall: This is a fantastic blend - very reminiscent of Whitechapel (which I )! I will definitely be keeping *and* wearing this scent - it's perfect for me!
In the bottle: Why am I smelling...butter?
On wet: I'm getting whiffs of buttered corn mixed with a high-pitched floral of some kind. So far this is not at all what I was expecting - it's actually kind of scary.
Drydown: Oh...oh yes...*this* is more like it - the good Doctor's finally decided to leave his popcorn-shilling ways behind him! The scent rising from my wrist is now deep and smooth and wonderful. The darkly sweet, almost fruity mix of tonka, sandalwood, and champaca flower dominates, followed by hints of smoke-laced ginger and the occasional whisper of a dry, almost woody peppery-ness. Delicious!
Overall: Even though I was put off by the buttery popcorn + bathroom-florals-from-hell stage, and wish this was a *tad* smokier, DJS is still an incredibly beautiful blend. The drydown alone rates an easy 4/5.
In the imp: Mmm...minty snake oil - delicious!
On wet: Oh, this is yummy. Aside from the *slightest* whiff of something chemical that comes and goes, I smell like minty vanilla cookies - SEXY minty vanilla cookies.
Drydown: Still pure minted snake oil - and I think it's the tea (of all things!) that's acting out. It's not putting me in mind of something chemical anymore, it's just not interested in sitting nicely with the other notes.
Overall: I'm not sure how old my decant is, but this scent is so slinky-nummy, I'll definitely give it another go at a later date to see if aging improves it. Hopefully the tea or the bergamot or whatever's being naughty will calm down enough to warrant a big bottle purchase. At the moment, though, this rates a very respectable 3/5.
In the imp: Cinnamon-scented bonfire - wooo!
On wet: Sweet, earthy cinnamon. It's making my skin tingle, too! Weird!
Drydown: Myrrh. Burning myrrh. Sweet n' spicy myrrh. I am pleased...except when I catch faint whiffs of something vaguely play-doh-y. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, my nose can't help but wrinkle. I am also reminded - much to my dismay - of a carpet treatment powder my grandmother used to use years and years ago. It smelled really good, too, but I never felt the urge to dab a little behind my ears, if ya know what I mean.
Overall: Big disappointment for me, this one. In addition to loving warm, spicy myrrh blends, I'm a HUGE Phoenix fan (the mythology, the gorgeous art that goes along with it, the X-Men character - hell, even the city!), so I fully expected to add another firebird to my well-stocked stable of Phoenixy scents. Instead, I get grama's carpet cleaner, and another imp for the swap pile. 2/5
In the imp: Sweet cherry cough syrup.
On wet: Mmm...cherry-almond-marzipan goodness. Uber sweet, but very yummy.
Drydown: The cherry is long gone. A musky, slinky-sweet, somewhat dusty/ powdery floral is what I'm getting now - that is, until the strawberry rears its massive fruity head. Wow, not only did it just appear outta nowhere, it's surprisingly strong, too. Hmm...unlike other Lab strawberry scents, this berry blend doesn't smell fake on me. It smells darker and richer than it should - almost plum-like - making me wonder if the cherry's really gone after all...
Overall: I don't care for strawberry scents. Amber is not my friend. Red musk is hit or miss with my skin chemistry. Guess it just goes to show you how the right balance of notes can work miracles - I'm finding HB not only wearable, but deliciously sexy to boot! Not certain it'll rank big bottle-love (not yet, anyway), but I'll definitely be using my imp. A surprising, but well-deserved 3.5/5.
In the imp: Intense melon - like a honeydew, cantaloupe, and watermelon salad!
On wet: Sweet, melon-y, something that I *think* is grape, but I can't be sure...
Drydown: Pure fruity candy! The kind that's all innocent sugar on your tongue...just before it gives you that full-mouth-pucker-blast of surprise sourness. There's definitely a swipe of tartness buried under all that bright melon, and a slight floral softness, too. Makes for an interesting mix, if a tad too sweet for me.
Overall: A very youthful, fun scent - perfect for warm, sunny days. I'm not much of a fruit-fan - at least not the uber sweet, somewhat girly variety - so this isn't quite right for me. My sisters, on the other hand - sugary and melony scent devotees - will likely adore it. 3/5
