Diana

Most citruses are considered top notes, and really do not have much staying power.

Top notes: The scents that are perceived immediately on application of a perfume. Top notes consist of small, light molecules that evaporate quickly: they form a person's initial impression of a perfume and thus are very important in the selling of a perfume. The scents of this note class are usually described as "fresh," "assertive" or "sharp." The compounds that contribute to top notes are strong in scent, very volatile, and evaporate quickly. Citrus and ginger scents are common top notes. Also called the head notes.

Other than perhaps using a scent locket or reapplying, there's not too much you can do about it, just due to the nature of the oil itself.

wet: sweet, almost bubblegum... i think it's mostly the hyssop

drydown: smells sweet still—somewhere between candy and penicillin. i can't decide if i like it or not. the penicillin note is making me waffle. i wouldn't turn down a bottle of this, but i probably wouldn't seek it out, either. mass confusion!

wet: detergent-y

drydown: light florals, slightly sweet, fairly powdery. it reminds me of an avon soap from childhood. it's a nice, clean scent, and a nice, inoffensive scent.

wet: straight-up almond

drydown: spiced almond, kind of like a bay rum... slightly clovey, still mostly almond. i'm not a huge fan of bay scents, so this one is not really up my alley.

wet: very faint. kind of an incense + light floral, but it's barely there

drydown: a bit perfumey... it reminds me ever so slightly of aquanet hair spray. i rather like it—it's kind of a nostalgic scent for me.

wet: sweet...and spicy. like melons & black pepper.

drydown: it turns considerably drier—almost like incense or a smoke scent + spice mixed together. it's a bit too heavy on the dry pepper note for my taste, but it's overall an interesting & unique scent.

wet: green floral. it's a bit sharp on the green note, but it's actually quite nice.

drydown: fades quite a bit, but it's a nice & sophisticated floraly-perfumey-green-ish scent.

wet: rosey-sandalwood. very soft.

drydown: rosey without being overpowering—the sandalwood tempers it nicely. it is very soft & pretty. oddly, i don't get patchouli from this at all, and i'm a hardcore patchouli-lover.

wet: cinnamony-almond. kind of like red hots candy.

drydown: the spiciness softens considerably and becomes a bit more floral (maybe dragon's blood?), but with a cinnamon edge. why do i not own a bottle of this? i am perplexed.

This is a nice mixture of soft pine notes, a gentle hint of tomato leaf & a bit of berry. To me it is very soft & sweet, and very evocative of my beloved Skadi. It's a little less crisp, but it has that same combination of piney greens and sweet berry notes. Yum.

You might try one of these Panaceas:

ELIXIR II: SUCCOR

Relaxation, calm, finding center.

ELIXIR IV: QUIETUDE

Peace, serenity, tranquility, silence.

or, if you want to try one of the magical oil blends offered at TAL, I like to think Anthelion has helped me during some pretty severe panic attacks.

torture king = high john the conquerer

 

undoubtedly...i tried them separately on each arm and there is no

question they are exactly the same to this sea monkey's schnoz

weeeird. I didn't get that at all! I thought TK was all leather & smoke, very similar to Doc Constantine.

Another possible substitute: someone gave me a partial imp of Voodoo Queen. To me it smells almost exactly like Perversion, minus the coconut.

There are a few scents with black currant; most of the currant-type scents seem to be red, though. I think red is sweeter and tends to be a bit less bitter & dark smelling than the black variety (at least in BPAL).

Here are some of the oils that contain currant; I really like it in Dragon's Heart and Lurid as some of my favorite blends that contain one or the other.

Some of these oils (ie Pannychis; I don't remember it at all) it's hard to discern the note. I think if some of the other notes are sweet/light, you have a better chance of detecting them.

Hope that helps!

Wet: bananas! very lush & tropical smelling.

Drydown: This might sound crazy, but it smells like a banana Snake Oil. It's warm & lush with just a hint of the banana smell. Maybe it's the coconut + sugarcane? I don't know. Maybe I just have Snake Oil on the brain.

I do like it regardless, and this is now going on my wishlist for a bottle!

I hope I'm not repeating something you already know.

TAL is Twilight Alchemy Lab, a separate company from BPAL. The website is here.

They are a line of magical oils, not perfumes; the Temple one you got is on the site under "Temple Blends & Ceremonial Oils."

Let me preface this review with one word to reflect upon:

CAKE!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In the bottle: rich, buttery, vanilla cake. It's somewhere between MB:Underpants and MB:Underbed, with just a slap of Gluttony thrown in.

Wet: holy richness, Batman! It's very cake + wine + honey = wowza. The wine just adds the vaguest hint of a boozy note, the honey adds a richness & depth. The cake adds delicious.

Drydown: The cake is a bit more spicy. Not as spicy as Underbed. It's not really cinnamon or cassia that I can tell. It might be something more like allspice or nutmeg or a deeper, richer spice. The honey + wine combination is still there, adding a sticky, rich basenote. The cake note per se is mingled all up in all these other things that are happening, that's it's less of an OMG CAKE blend, and rather it's a really sophisticated, complex dessert tray.

I'm certainly glad I grabbed this in a 5mL right off the bat!

In the bottle: limey-bright-freshness

Wet: The lime is the outstanding note. It's very happy and in-your-face. The other notes are kind of there, but none of them are all that strong, so they're just cowering under the almighty lime! I can almost smell mint, but I think it's afraid to come out just yet.

Drydown: A very light, refreshing blend. Embalming Fluid meets Lime + Mint. It's sweet & citrusy, but it's not overwhelming in any way. It is probably great during hot weather, too!

In the bottle: sweet, sweet almonds. mmm. (am i the only one that like almonds??). There's a slight spice and very vague floral quality to it too.

Wet: Glorious sweet almonds. I can't really pick anything else out yet. It's just sweet, and almost juicy-smelling.

Drydown: NOW we have flowers! They're sweet, light, and cool, and blend nicely with the almond note. After a bit more time, some of the cassia comes through, adding a light, warm spice to the mix. There's a bit of fig leaf, adding a vague sweet, almost-fruit quality to it. The incense is really faint, but ties the notes together nicely.

I can definitely see the comparison to Morocco, but I can also see similarities with Eden (probably the fig leaf) and the Hanging Garden (omg complexity!).

In the bottle: sharp wood notes.

Wet: I guess this is mostly labdanum I'm getting right now; it's dark and bitter smelling. Just a touch of rose is in the background.

Drydown: bitter wood notes. The bitterness mellows out, and the woods soften. The rose is really just a supporting role, and it's a nice, fragrant red rose; nothing waxy or cloying. This is really pretty & elegant.

In the bottle: dark cherry. It's a bit murky smelling.

Wet: Dirty cherries! (not meaning that in a bad way). The cherry is strongest, and there's a slight warm spice coming from the oil as well. It's a little earthy smelling from the patchouli.

Drydown: Spicy cherries! The cinnamon/cassia duo is coming out in full force now. It's like a softer version of Alone with a hint of fruit. Or if you made Wrath have babies with cherries and patchouli. It burns, and I didn't put it on a sensitive part of my arm. (Ow.)

The patchouli isn't very strong in this one. I'd say it was more of a cinnamon blend with just a bit of cherry. To me = yum. I love cherry notes, so this one is a definite keeper.

In the bottle: pink candy

Wet: sweet, sugary candy; reminds me a tiny bit of a cross between "pink sugar" and Jailbait. I'm guessing most of the OOMPH from the sweet-candy notes is related to the guava & spun sugar ingredients.

Drydown: it smells a bit less intently like CANDY, and starts to smell like perfumed sugar, maybe from the apple blossom notes coming through now. This reminds me greatly of Pink Moon: A sugary-candy-apple-floral concoction, but a little less floral than PM was.

It's very cute. =D

In the bottle: fig/verbena, fruity, but not like a big bowl of punch.

Wet: Verbena is the strongest & most easily detectable note; sweet lemon, slightly powdery. There's a tiny bit of dark, rich fig notes in there too, but it's mostly lemon verbena right now.

Drydown: The verbena has lessened in intensity, and the fig is more prominent. The fig-lemon connection reminds me a bit of Cerberus, but this is a lot lighter. The coconut finally starts to come out, but oddly enough not the vetiver (??!!!!) and just barely the musk.

This smells a hell of a lot like Carnaval Diabolique; mostly coconut & lemon with a touch of musk. =/

ETA: a few hours later: this has FINALLY begun to smell different than CD! Now it's a nice musk, almost a fougere smell (probably the lavender). Still no vetiver, which is odd, because I usually amp it like all get out. Now I'm happy.

In the bottle: pale notes; I can't really detect anything specific.

Wet: It does smell a bit like Dorian! But with more of a fougere base to it, so it's a bit more "leafy" smelling.

Drydown: The Dorian-ness is fading a bit; there's still that sweetened vanilla-tea thing going on, but the fougere & darker tea makes it a bit more masculine & deeper & more complex. After a bit the fougere becomes softer.

This is like Dorian x grr! I love it.

In the bottle: mostly green tea, and a hint of mint. Reminds me a bit of some of the

Asian-themed lunacies we had at the beginning of 2006.

Wet: This really smells like something to drink. Sweetened tea with mint. A bit more of the lemongrass & orange blossom are coming through now, making it a bit sharper.

Drydown: the orange blossom has become more floral now, and is the major note, with a hint of mint tea in the background.

A pretty sugared-floral-mint! I really like this one. =)