akiko

Wow. This may be the first heady floral scent I like. By which I mean I'm going to order a bottle of it.

Imp: Sweet flowers. Probably the gardenia.

Wet: FLOWERS! O HAI!

Dry: Very soft, sweet florals, reminiscent of Shadow Witch Orchid (the other floral I can wear.)

4.5/5

I would suggest not wearing scent to the gym. When you sweat, it can actually magnify the scent quite a lot, and as you've got a somewhat captive audience, it's not really fair to the people who might be sensitive to smells or just dislike that particular scent.

 

I'm just thinking of one particular gentleman who uses the gym at my parents' place - he wears a cologne that I think is nasty and it just totally saturates the gym even hours after he has come and gone. Granted, that's an extreme case, and I think that BPAL given that it is alcohol free, is less likely to be offensive - but better safe than sorry.

As one of those people who get headaches from strong smells, I thank you.

I had my first skin reaction today. Lucky me It was Inferno, which smelled *so good* then started itching and turned my wrists red. OF COURSE I'd also decided to put some behind my ears.

I ignored it and it went away after an hour or so. I'm not getting rid of it - it smells so good! I might pick up some jojoba oil and try diluting it, or put it in my oil diffuser, or get a scent locket. Or all of the above...

I'm liking this one so far.

Imp: resiny. Very resiny.

Wet: Er, I forgot to sniff my wrist before I rubbed them together this morning. Right after I did that, it was resiny, probably amber.

Dry: I can smell some of the honey, though it's turning vaguely powdery. Still resiny, though.

My decant finally arrived, just in time for me to order bottles!

Imp: Fruity and sour. Kind of odd, but I like it.

Wet: Hello, pomegranate! I also get some of the other things, a reedy smell and maybe barley.

Dry: Dark fruity pomegranate. Yum. It's reminiscent of Fruit of Paradise, but in a slightly orthogonal direction.

Imp: floral - jasmine.

Wet: Getting a lot of jasmine here.

Dry: More fruitiness is coming out, but it's still primarily jasmine, which means it's pretty I guess, but not something I'll wear. Ah well. Worth a try, anyway.

I got this as a frimp in my last lab order. I tested it after sniffing the imp and without checking notes prior.

Imp: Ooh, butterscotch? Something sweet and yummy.

Wet: Still butterscotchy, but then some coconut? sad. I hate coconut.

Dry: Coconut. Maybe a little sugary rum, but the coconut makes it a no-go for me.

This one is odd.

Imp: lemon & aquatic?

Wet: lemony, but it goes away, and more aquatic comes up.

Dry: maybe something resiny, hint of lemon?

This is really strong. I was intrigued by the description and wishlisted it despite it having some notes that particularly hate me (lavender, jasmine).

Imp: Yikes. It's the same lavender as in Yvaine.

Wet: I used a teeny dab from the very tip of the wand. Hoo, still sharp and biting. It's not just flowers; I can tell there's something else there that I like, but these flowers...

Dry: Still strong, and starting to give me a headache. After a few hours, it was almost pleasant enough to wear. Sadly, as much as I love dear Oscar, his perfumey namesake doesn't generate the same devotion.

I got this as a frimp in a forum order. I'd avoided it because of the note listing (jasmine = death), but when I got home from a night out and needed to get to sleep quickly, I thought to myself, "eh, why not?"

Imp: pleasant and soft, not FLORAL!!!

Wet: lavender, but not the in-your-face lavender of Yvaine, and some other semi-sweet florals.

Dry: pleasant, nice lavender, like in my garden.

I fell asleep & had some fascinating dreams, too, though that may be attributable to having been out late. too.

A frimp in my last lab order, yay.

Imp: It smells like purple. Kind of like those scented purple markers, except not as artificial. More like actual purple fruit.

Wet: definitely something fruity in there, possibly red musk. There's a resinous phase during the drydown.

Dry: Plum-touched resins. All in all, not a bad smell.

I'm of 2 minds on this: it's pleasant enough once the cheap cigarette stench goes away, but I can't see myself using it very often.

Bottle: Ugh. This smells like my mom's house: stale smoke from cheap cigarettes.

Wet: Eew, stale cigarette still. As time passes (about 10-15 minutes), the stink dissipates, and it becomes a lightly citrusy-sweet smell.

Dry: Lightly herbal and fruity.

I'll probably decant myself an imp and sell the rest.

2008 version

I threw a bottle of this into an order, mostly on a whim and because how can I go wrong with swarthy musks?

Bottle: Red musk. Or at least the fruity-grapey-wine smell I associate with other blends with red musk (War).

Wet: RED MUSK hello. Maybe something sweet or boozey?

Dry: Red musk, softening a bit. Not getting booze or sugar. But I like red musk, so I'm good with that.

I get vanilla from this. No idea where it's coming from, but... yeah.

Bottle: vanilla. I'm guessing it's actually the cream, because it's a very French vanilla.

Wet: same vanilla smell, with a floral in it.

Dry: In the drying phase, there's something in the throw that makes my eye want to explode, but fortuitously, it goes away. It becomes a soft amber-vanilla/cream, with a weird perfumey floral behind it. It reminds me of Love's Philo, but it's nothing at all like it. I'm not sure which I like better...

Like someone above, I was lured in by the ginger & vanilla flower & honey.

Bottle: floral and something sweet

Wet: Fruit and floral?

Dry: honey, floral (osmanthus). Maybe ginger & vanilla flower.

Not my favorite of the Shunga so far, but still nice enough.

In the bottle, this smells a lot like a plum sake I drank once.

Wet on my skin, the plum-ness comes out more, and there's still a detectable sake smell.

Dry: plum, currant, maybe some sake.

Nice, light, fresh. Nice for a summer day, I think.

Bottle: Soft resiny and a hint of "perfumey smell"

Wet: Amber, myrrh? tolu balsam? softly resinous but sweet

Dry: I keep sniffing my arm to decide what it smells like. There's definitely some amber in there, and something sweeter, but I can't decide whether that's the tonka or the muguet. I'd been a bit afraid of the muguet, because florals do nasty things on my skin, but I think the resins are keeping it in line here.

K, all I'm getting here is melon. Not even a hint of the dragon's blood!

Thankfully, honeydew melon is one of my favorite things on the planet (which is why I bothered picking this up, after reading the reviews). Maybe a little lychee, but it's still mostly melon. And I'm fine with that

I got this as a frimp from my last lab order. When I opened it initially, it smelled very light, kind of like a weak kid sister of snake oil. Same when I applied it the first time. I didn't like it all that much, but I'm always willing to give things a second chance before putting them into the box of unloved and unwanted imps.

That second chance was today. Normally, red musk is my best friend in the world, and there's a touch of red musk smell in the imp. So I put it on my wrist, just a dab, and leather beat the hell out of my friend. Then it beat the hell out of my nose, and I had to wash it off. Soap didn't kill it, so I broke out the rubbing alcohol.

Off to swaps with you, you vile thing.

This reminds me of something familiar, too, but I can't place it either.

Imp: resiny fruit, I think?

Wet: Orange, but not the bright orange in Tweedledee: a dark orange.

Dry: Soft, dark orange. Maybe the frankincense? Or the galangal, probably, because the google is telling me it's got an earthy citrus scent.

I like this.

I agree with Gwydion - this is very Wild West outlaw.

Imp: odd astringent quality over Snake Oil

Wet: Still some astringency, but the snake oil is coming out a bit.

Dry: I can get vanilla & tonka after a deep sniff, something astringent (sage?) after a brief sniff, and a decent blend of the two in a medium sniff.

Nice.

Imp: Dark. Probably the patchouli and/or vetiver.

Wet: Patchouli, but not like the pot-smoker in the next dorm room.

Dry: I'm getting more cedar, which is good. Not detecting much on the cinnamon end, unfortunately. All in all, I like it. I should try it on my SO.

I don't know which year this is. I got it in a swap, and the decanter didn't note on the label.

Imp: Very subtle, nice incensey resiny blend. I got this one because it reminded me of Pit & the Pendulum, except very much less so, and I wanted to smell it on my husband.

Wet: Still a nice blend of resins. This must share a note with Heavenly Love & Earthly Love, because there's the same note that makes me gag a bit. In this it fades off as it dries, which is good.

Dry: Goes kind of powder/wax on me.

On SO: Smells nice, and it doesn't get that gag note.

I like citrus. I like this

Imp: Hello, grapefruit. And some bitter orangey stuff.

Wet: Grapefruit & orange/tangerine

Dry: Still identifiably grapefruit & citrus, but like someone above, I'm getting a bit more of the cherry blossom or something now. It's much softer and less aggressive. (About 45 minutes after application.)

This was the only frimp in my most recent order that I had any desire to try. (All the rest were floral and rose. Bleah.)

Imp: I hardly smelled anything. Very faint something.

Wet: Still very faint; I had to put a ton on before I could smell anything.

Dry: This smells like B&BW mango mandarin body butter. After a while, more of the amber comes out, but it's still very mango-mandarin.

It's pleasant, and I don't dislike it, but I don't really like it, either.