theal8r

This is like a creamy mellow sunshine in the bottle. I want to lick it all over!

Wet: Uhm? Nuts? Creamy nuts? Whu...? Who invited the nuts? I smell like creamy hazlenut coffee. Not in a good way.

dry down: This is so disappointing. I was sure this was going to be a winner from this batch. But now I smell like spoiled milk and hairspray. WTf.

In the imp: This one is sooo interesting!

 

I get a masculine, woody. I want to cuddle up with it!

 

Wet: Wood smoke -- old books in front of a roaring fire.

 

Drydown: ew. what's that? suddenly I'm getting... old man... ew.

 

This one my boy needs to try... maybe it will not go ew on him...

There is a waxy-metallic smell in the imp that is unappealing. However, people have promised it smells like Antikythera Mechanism, which I love.

 

Wet: The plastic waxy smell is all I get. Yeach.

 

Dry down: This is reminding me more of a smokey/woody Love's Philosophy. But that wax note is driving me nuts.

 

Sadly, this one is just not for me.

In the bottle: OMG I have never smelled anything like this. spicy, orangey-hot. wow! I couldn't wait to get this on my skin.

 

Wet: Orange spice -- like this black tea I use to cook chicken in. I love the smell of it.

 

Dry down: Oh, those cloves. I'm simply huffing my wrist.

 

This is like a warm, amber-colored spice shop. It makes me want to curl up with a book and a cup of tea. Love this. Love it.

Gosh, I really don't get a lot of pine in this. I get a golden, sweet smell. I wasn't thrilled with it in the bottle, but wet it was sooo lovely. Sadly, now that it is dry, it smells like a slightly soapy department store perfume. Not bad, but not bottle-worthy for me. I think I will keep the imp, though, as there is something sexy in here. I'll have to try this one again.

Very red, very dark. I can tell this is going to be one that, at least in the wet stage, is going to give me a headache. I'm hoping the lotus root will pull it out for me. I want to love these dark and sexy oils.

 

Wet: Wow -- that musk is all over the place and soo strong. I like the smell, but it gives me a headache, without fail.

 

Drydown -- It is just too strong, still, although there is such an appealing undernote to this. The lotus is coming out to play more and I want to love it. I do. Alas, it just can't beat Mme. Moriarty for me.

In the bottle: Deep and dark. Suspiciously like something that is not going to work well with my skin. The teak is lovely and inviting.

 

Wet: sweetish, but not too badly. Dark and woody with something bright sparking in the background. I love this.

 

Dry down: Wow -- this is the scent that just won't quit! I put a dab of this on after I came home from work and woke up this morning still wapped up in the lovely, golden, glowy smell. It is like highly polished blond wood, aged and left to sit before a old, wavy glass window as the owner sits, smoking fine tobacco watching the world.

 

This is my new favorite.

 

 

Today I added a drop of Antique Lace over it -- I was huffing my wrists all day. REALLY embarassing in the middle of Wal-Mart!

In the bottle: I want to eat this. Srsly.

 

Wet: OMG, vanilla rootbeer float -- so cool! Such an unusual smell! I want to lick my arm! (why are you staring at me...) Like someone above mentions, this is really closely related to Love's Philosophy, but not quite. The sassafras is stronger and the scent is not quite as delicate.

 

Dry down: spicy, creamy vanilla. Not femmy, but not masculine either -- just pleasant. It sort of smells like walking down a dusty road in the late, late summer. There is something... not quite minty... blooming... and you're eating an ice cream cone. Wonderful throw, not overpowering, but present.

 

 

I didn't really expect to like this one. But I do!

In the bottle: this smells exactly like my high school dentist's office. This does not make me want to try it.

 

Wet: Yup. Dr. Petruska's office. This is not really a pleasant way to smell. (since my mom worked there, it also smells like my mom's hands smelled after work).

 

Dry down: Suddenly it seems to be stinging behind my eyes like eating too many wasabi peas does to me. Again, this is NOT what I need a perfume to do for me. So now I'm stinging and smelling like a dentist... uhm. As it mellows (it never really MELLOWED, per se) I start smelling a weird plasticy smell that is distinctly OFF. Bug spray, dentist and stinging eyes. Not my blend.

In the imp: sharp, rose really attacked my nose (I tried this in spite of rose.) There was an intriguing depth to it -- I assume the pinot noir as it had a winey feel to it.

 

Wet: It smelled exactly like these crazy perfumed paper things I got once for Christmas. You were supposed to make flowers with them. I couldn't stand them and quietly tossed them (with my poor dad's approval, as they gave him a raging headache).

 

Oh, lord, the throw on this is amazing. Sadly, I'm wishing my arm was in another room.

 

Dry down: some warmth starts to come out in this, but the rose is still so very much present I can't really stand being in the same room with it.

 

Sadly, this one is not for me although I adore the name.

This is another of my "I think this is aged 'cuz the script is the old style" imps.

 

I have noticed that aging on several things that list as "sharp" seems to really tone that down. My sinuses are very happy for that.

 

I was not fond of this imp. It smelled, to me, like a minty Tom Collins.

 

The mint amped like nobody's business. This stuck around for ever and had moderate throw, which, if I could stand smelling like mint chewing gum, I'd have loved it.

 

I have an imp labeled Old Amsterday in the old, skinny script, so I assume this is aged.

 

Either way -- green and floral! Not sharp, in fact it is a really pretty scent (aged, as I assume it is). This is big, since I generally can't stand florals. Sadly, the florals come screaming out as soon as this hits my skin. Tulips and grass are not for this girl.

I have used this in my house, my bedroom, my bed and my classroom. This baby can last against a roomful of sweaty teenaged boys! I love it. My students' reactions were mixed, although I swear it made the reading area quieter...

 

At first it is a bit strong, but mellows very nicely. It lasts through about half the day in the classroom, but lasts all day at home. I love it the most as a bedroom smell -- it is calming and comfortable to me. A "cool" scent that I wish came in perfume form as well.

 

I scented a couple cotton balls and hung them in my closet about a week ago and the smell is still a very nice, subtle undercurrent in that small space.

In imp: Thick, sweet with the mint adding depth to the scent.

 

Wet: Sadly, the wet stage lasted mere moments. Heady and lovely. Then powder. This faded out very quickly.

 

Not really a keeper.

the aquatics tend to make my nose itch and give me a headache, so imagine my surprise when this one didn't!

 

In bottle: blue, but clean. Sort of the way I expect sheets that have been line-dried should smell (but never do).

 

Wet: Salty sweetness, like being on a sailboat in the sunshine. Laundry drying in the sun, and sort of a piney undertone (like pine trees along a Michigan lake, not actual "stuff a pine cone up your nose" kind of a smell)

 

Dry down: this baby lasts and lasts for me. A reviving, invigorating scent. Clean, not perfumey. I like this one a lot.

I LOVE this scent.

 

In the bottle: spicy, warm florals (the florals scared me).

 

Wet: Warm, sexy... I couldn't stop sniffing my wrist, and even put a dab in my hair so I could smell it blowing around in the wind. No single note stands out for me -- it just smells like warm, clean, sexy woman. A dusky skin scent.

 

Dry down: This lasts a dececnt amount of time and never really changed much, except to go a tad powdery just as it fades away completely.

 

I must have a bottle of this. This is one of my favorites and, bonus, my husband digs it, too.

I've coveted this one for a while, but have taken my own sweet time getting around to wanderlusts.

 

In the bottle: WHOA. Strong, huge throw, really ... perfumey with that wicked sharp floral that I can't stand. I hadn't intended to put it on, but I got it on my fingers. *heh* Piercing my sinuses is never a good way to start a relationship with a perfume.

 

Wet: Huh. Not bad. The florals are still very present, but there is a darker sweetness bringing up the rear. The sharpness tones down pretty rapidly on me and the melon starts to come through. Not so much that I smell like a Yankee Candle Co. candle, but making the scent more rounded on me.

 

Dry: This puppy stays around a LONG time. There's a definite green note, which I like, but the overall cologne-perfume smell is still just a bit too much. This would be a nice sub when my Green Phoenix runs out, for sure.

 

Overall: Not bad. Not a holy grail, and probably not something I need a bottle of, but I'll hang on to the imp.

Frederic, I wanted to like a lot.

 

In bottle: piney musky -- very masculine scent

Wet: the woods came out very bright, almost piercing on my skin. Very masculine, but with a soapy, unpleasant undertone. A teasing glimpse of the patchouli, but it is too shy to come out to play.

Dry: Masculine cologne, not entirely *un*pleasant, but not the thing I'd wear.

 

I couldn't get my dear love to try this (he literally ran away from me...), but I think it would smell WONDERFUL on the right person.

'08

In bottle: gorgeous! sweet, smoky and sensual, but it has a red undertone (duh!) that I think is going to amp badly on me.

 

Wet: Overpowering and sweet. Thick with florals.

 

Dry down: not getting any of the warmth and the tobacco the descriptions promise me. It fades really quite quickly, which I'm not sorry for.

 

I don't care for this, but can see how I would follow someone around with my nose stuck to them if it was on the right chemistry.

This was a traded imp, so I don't know the actual age of the scent.

 

In the bottle: sweet, but not too bad. I catch a little spice and something that sort of tickles my nose in an suspicious way.

 

On: OMG SWEET, SUGAR SLATHERED SPICE CABINET. Not good. I'm sneezing. Double plus not good.

 

Dry down: still sweet, but now going sort of rubbery/plasticy. The pepper is what I think was making me sneeze -- maybe the lily. I don't like this at all!

This smelled sort of plastic in the imp (a decant, so I cant vouch for the age)

 

On me, the rose amped and and didn't really fade to the background at all -- this is bad, as rose goes old lady on me. I wish the woody/incense had come forward a bit more as it may have toned the rose down.

 

Dry down: plasticy and powdery. *sad face* This imp will have to find a new home.

In the bottle: This smelled like a big uh-oh -- very heavy and syrupy sweet with thick incense. These scents always amp like crazy and give me a big headache. Mostly I caught the sandalwood, but with such sweetness...

 

Wet: super intense but that gorgeous cedar started coming forward and toning the sweet down. although it was a strong scent, it didn't have much throw on me (which is good -- I can huff my wrist and otherwise not bother other people).

 

Dry down: So lovely -- a woody, smoky sweet smell -- like a bookshop that burns sandalwood and cedar incense and serves lattes.

 

9 hours later: I have the subtlest wiff of sweetened cedar -- like I've been digging in a hope chest all afternoon. This dries to such a soft, subtle and sensual note, I don't know how I'm going to stand not having a bottle!

I can't believe I haven't posted a review of this already! This is only my favorite BPAL ever!

 

In bottle this smells like brownies. Brownies, brownies brownies! And not just any brownies, but my mom's brownies.

 

Wet: Whoa! Hello! This is all the chocolate in the entire world concentrated on my wrist.

 

Dry down: Oh, heaven and perfection! This is warm, honest, comfortable, sensual, gooey (it's my review!), and utterly surprising considering how little I love chocolate. This smells makes me feel like the cute, secretly sexy mom-next-door. A total MILF.

This smelled wonderful in the bottle -- creamy, sort of soft but with a slightly spicy/sweet undertone.

 

Wet: ew. Something is amping that smells too floral -- old-lady perfume floral.

 

Dry down: This went to perfumey powder, almost exactly like this trashy Avon powder I used to wear when I was 12 because I thought it was sophisticated.

 

This bottle needs a new home.

I just can't figure out if I like this or love this.

 

In the bottle I was scared of it. The jasmine immediately went for my head and sinuses. I, as someone above, seriously considered not testing further.

 

Wet: The sweet and the jasmine fought with each other HARD. Periodically the honeysuckle sticks itself out, but runs away again. The notes here just did not want to blend, so one sniff was all nasty floral and the next was sweet smoothness. I put this in my swap box.

 

Dry down: Oh. My. It smells like warm, soft skin. Subtle, sweetly floral without whatever it is that makes most florals go grandma on my skin. I don't detect any powder and no single note is stepping forward on my skin to announce itself. Instead this is just a thoroughly happy and charming marriage of scents. Figures that they were fighting first I've now added a bottle of this to my ISO list...