Czarina

Interesting. This mix of scents smelled to me like sweet jungle gardenia. I thought I hated rose perfume. This is why I test these scents before I read the descriptions (and why I buy batches of imps from people without caring whether I think I'll like the scents). This is a very disjointed review to say that I can't really identify any of the notes, and thank Goddess, because I would hate the individual notes, but this is made of awesome on me. Oh, and despite the patchouli, I do not smell like a dirty hippy. Average or above throw, so-so wearlength. ETA: Gave this another test drive without looking at the notes. On first sniff it was immediately rose, sandalwood, and patchouli. Still made of awesome but the notes are no longer mystifying.

I was taking a car trip at night and grabbed this imp, name unseen, to apply perfume to while away the driving hours. Well. Without knowing any of the notes in this I fell insanely in love with this. I had to come home and look them up. On me it is all rum and tobacco and sweet in an evil, not-cloying sort of a way. I can smell the leather notes as this one dries down, and an oaky note that I think is the chardonnay. I don't get any smoke notes at all from this one. The tobacco is definitely unburnt here. Average wear length, good throw.

In the imp: I have no idea what I'm smelling, but I don't really like it. Wet: Coriander. Drydown: OK, there's the myrrh, and balsam, and ... what smells like plant sap. I guess that's the embalming herbs. What it smells like to me, however, is the dandelion note in Roadhouse, kind of a weird association with Anubis. There's an edge to this one that I'm not sure I like at all, but I'm willing to work with it. Dry: Becoming gradually sweeter, incense-y. There's a sharp ominous note underneath that keeps this from being too sentimental. I think this was a Lab frimp (thank you, Lab!). I like this, although probably not enough to buy a whole bottle.

This had a very nice pine and herbal scent on me, but only lasted about ten minutes. I have never had a scent disappear on me that fast. Sigh. Love the color in the imp though. Pretty.

2007 version. Of course I had to save it to wear today for the first time. Wet: Sugar Skulls and almond, pumpkin and clove. Very complex scent, hard to pick out individual components. More notes on drydown later. Drydown: cherry tobacco notes prominent. Everyone in my office loves this, and so do I. Above average throw and wearlength. ETA: On 9/12/2008, I pulled out my bottle that I have been aging since this first review to revisit it. In the bottle: Hoowee! Cloves of Doom! Wet: strong cloves and cherry tobacco. A harsh note that is almost like wintergreen. Could be the almond. Drydown: spicy apple and pumpkin cider.

Oh, break my heart. This just smells like aldehydes on me. Chanel No. 5. Meh. Damned body chemistry.

I can't pick out most of the individual notes listed for this one, because this is such a well-balanced scent. It just smells green and salty on me, drying down to a sweet saltiness (must be the sarsparilla) but that green saltiness is insanely good. Bought imp, I'm thinking bottle.

Got this as a lab frimp. In the imp: sharp and astringent. Wet: my DH calls from across the room, "Do I smell...sage?" I can smell pine and rosemary. Sage, not so much. Drydown: sweet green bay, rosemary, pine, cloves (huh?), and church incense. Amazingly OMG heavenly scent. I can live with someone else thinking it's "masculine," I just think it's heaven. I may have to get a bottle of this.

In the bottle: rather odd, plastic-y scent. Wet: OMG Cherry!Vanilla!Cream! goodness. This is yummy. Drydown: cherry/strawberry/vanilla. The smell reminds me a little bit of the taste of Pepsi Jazz. Not very long-lasting, but who cares?

In the bottle: fresh-cut grass. Wet: grass-citrus-salt-aquatic. Drydown: Lime, salt, wood, water. Great unisex scent, I agree. Very very well-blended and balanced. It's actually quite hard to pick out individual notes. It just smells GOOD in a more rugged sort of a way than, say, Bordello. Arrrrrr.

This is a lovely, lovely aquatic lime on me. I'm not catching any of the other notes at all except maybe that wee dram o' Snake Oil, but what I am smelling really makes me want to climb up some riggings with a knife in my teeth. Divine.

Yep, vetiver and musk. Not worth the effort.

2007 version. In the imp: sugar. Wet and drydown: white sugar, brown sugar, maple sugar, caramel...treacle? This has a smoky undernote that makes me think of Bonfire Night. Have one bottle already, think I may need more.

In the imp: cherries, lily. On me: lilies, dish soap. Blah. Not a keeper for me.

Light, slightly chocolately floral. From the name I expected something much more evil. Sigh.

Cherry, watermelon, sugar. Heaven.

In the imp: mossy rocks. Lovely. Wet: mossy rocks with violets growing on them. Lovely. Dry: violet with a hint of powderiness. Very nice on me. Interesting how the moss recedes and the violets emerge.

In the imp: lovely red color, generic floral scent. Wet: flowery, very, very sweet. Dry: aldehyde. Lilies. Decay. Meh. Not much throw. This combines with my skin chemistry very nastily, sigh, so I suppose the lack of throw is good.

Imp: pretty color. Incense-y Wet: chocolate incense. Dry: amber and musk and a hint of cocoa bean. This smells sensational on me, a little like the original Youth Dew but without the acid note.

In the imp: wet wood. Wet: wet wood and flowers. Musty flowers. Dry: this smells like a stale, musty room to me, like a parlor in which a seance would be conducted. Woody, dusty flowers, with dust caught in heavy draperies. Applied @ 7:30 a.m., scent completely gone by 12:30 pm. Meh. Actually a good execution of the concept but not appealing to me.

In the imp: patchouli Wet: Whoa sexy! Incense, patchouli, orange blossom, something almost chocolatey Dry: musk, patchouli, gardenia? Woohoo! Outstanding, more "traditional" perfume.

In the imp: grape juice, wet grasses Wet: whoa! Dandelions—the crushed stems Dry: tobacco and sweet grassy dandelions. This is a sweetly floral scent. If you didn't know that it was tobacco and dandelions, you wouldn't necessarily recoil from the scent knowing this. It actually is quite pleasant, not much throw, not a huge amount of staying power. Very interesting and much more attractive than I expected from the scary description.

In the imp: almond extract. Wet: bitter almonds. Dry: church incense, lemons, orange, musk. Clove. The almond disappears completely. Very interesting.

In the imp: evergreens. My daughter thought it was pine. Kind of nasty, actually. Wet: Hm. Complex. Leather, metal, and the evergreens. I can pick out hemlock and juniper, dragon’s blood and bay. Dry: A lovely, balanced scent. It smells –good- and it is hard to pick out individual notes now, although the wine and leather seem to come out a bit. I desperately wanted to like this one because of its story and my enchantment with the Arthur legend. It did not disappoint. Brilliant scent.

In the imp: “generic” floral (can’t pick out individual notes). Wet: cool, light floral. Linden mostly. Dry: Linden coming to the fore and a baby powder note fighting to come out. No herbs, no berries, alas. Love the concept, the scent is kind of blah on me. Pity.