CordeliaSeduced

Usually, something with Tobacco and/or Brimstone just isn't my style. But I'm a sucker for the lab's Bourbon Vanilla so I took the plunge, and now I'm wishing I'd ordered two bottles!

In the bottle, this is very boozy. It's strong, but smooth, and it only mellows out further when I put it on. There is a definite smoky undertone to it, which added to the Bay Rum is a little masculine in my opinion. Any guy wearing this would probably have to watch out, lest I jump him on the spot, but I can wear this myself comfortably enough.

On the drydown, this fades to a very soft vanilla on me, leaving just the barest hint of smoky autumn to tease me with. I know I'll end up slathering myself with this like a fiend, which I'd do guilt-free if I'd ordered a second bottle!

This scent confused me greatly--I hesitated to try anything from the Garden, fearing it would be too floral (and florals and I simply can't be friends). But then this came as a lab frimp, and it blew my mind. The imp is filled with a rich, juicy chocolate-cherry, with a rosy pink colour to match. Now, I've never sniffed a love-lies-bleeding, but if it smells anything like this, I think I need to replace my entire garden.

On my skin, this warms to a dripping, hot cherry with just a touch of chocolate and possibly some dragon's blood underneath. It's sweet, sticky, and seductive.

Oddly, this has a dry-down similar to Queen of Sheba for me: a sweet almond with hints of spice, though love-lies-bleeding still has a healthy helping of cherry. It seems to get stronger and throw farther the longer I wear it, and I'm loving every minute of it. This definitely warrants a bottle.

In the bottle, this is a very complex floral. I can smell rose, lilac, and wisteria over most everything else, though it could be because those are the only notes I recognize by name.

On my skin, this remains very much rose/lilac for a few minutes...and then...AH. SOAP. Soap, soap, soap, and more soap. Soap with a little bit of rose. But mainly soap.

I should know by now, florals and I just don't like each other. But I really wanted this to be a pretty, light floral/herbal scent. Oh, well.

EDIT: After a few agonizing hours of soap, this actually mellowed to a nice musky green-blue herbal. If only it was like this the whole time!

With this heat wave reaching tropical heights, I figured it might be a suitable time to give Shango a try. In the imp, this was all tropical fruit with a slightly punchy finish--the chili, I'll admit, almost frightened me out of it. But hey! I'm adventurous! So on it went.

On my skin, this was mostly banana and pineapple and milky coconut. It still had a slight zing, but not nearly as punchy as in the imp. Honestly, it was a smooth, lovely tropical fruit blend. My only criticism? It seemed to last barely half an hour. I'll have to re-test, however, when my skin isn't going wonky in uncharacteristically hot and humid weather.

Still, I think this might be worth a bottle.

In the bottle, this was all caramel and honey with light apple blossom. I was so praying that when this touched my skin, it would be musky caramel, amber, and honeyed cream! This went immediately to soap. Apple blossom got right down to business and soaped up the whole scent (at least, I assume it was apple blossom, because I wear all the other notes fairly well--maybe it was the combination?).

...and I had such high hopes for this lovely! It's still beautiful in a locket, though. Sigh.

It took me much longer than usual to smell this in the bottle: it was a light, clean, barely-there waft of wet sugar and absinthe, with a far-off hint of smoke. I was expecting the absinthe to come to the foreground on my skin, since alcohol seems to love me, but it almost immediately went to rose. Luckily, it wasn't the cloying, powdery rose I usually get, but a soft, wet rose over something like sugared licorice. The effect rather reminded me of someone trying to cover their illicit activities with a fine perfume.

While this didn't have remarkable throw, it did have some staying power: I applied at about 8AM and could still get whiffs of this well into the evening without reapplying.

This is not at all what I expected...but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

In the bottle and wet on my skin, this is a dry, dark, unsweetened cocoa. It almost smells like coffee to me. It's rich, thick, and yet not really foody. After being on my skin for a while, I swear, I get whiffs of peanut butter. Could it be the heavy cream note coming out to play?

After this dried completely, it became a kind of powdery, dark musk with absolutely no trace of chocolate or cream (or peanut butter!) in sight. I do like this fragrance a good deal, but I'll need to keep it close at hand to ensure the powder-headache does not follow.

I had really wanted to try this on my SO, but something made me dab this on this morning instead.

In the imp, this was the classic, sophisticated cologne the description promises: it's musky amber with a taunting undercurrent of lavender and some deep greens springing up every now and again. On my skin, this was the scent of a refined, sexy...man. I simply could not shake the smell of man. It's probably a good thing I wasn't home, because this would have gotten scrubbed off right then. Not that it was bad, it was just very masculine.

Once it dried down, it became the same musky lavender that Dragon Moon becomes on me. It became very herbal and very indigo-and-green. This phase lasted for several hours, and had a decent throw.

I'll definitely be trying this on my SO, though he liked it on me so he may all ready consider it too 'girly' by association. It is a lovely smell, just not my cup of tea. On a man? It would be fabulous.

I wish I could drink this scent...in the bottle, I get a delightful pineapple juice and apricot liqueur cocktail with hints of pomegranate, bright citrus, and ginger. Wet on my skin, it's all apricot liqueur, brandy and ginger. The whole thing is warm, tropical, and rather sexy in a boozed-up kind of way. Once dry, it's mostly warm, spicy booze like tropical rum.

This lasted for a decent length of time, and had enough throw so that while holding a conversation with someone I could see them thinking about what could possibly smell like liquor--probably not a good At Work scent.

I'm glad I snagged a bottle of this last-minute and really wish I'd stocked up on more of the tikis--I've had nothing but good experiences so far!

I was a little put off by the "floral" reviews, since florals often don't work on me, but I'm very happy I gave this a shot--although there's a soft, flowery scent to the vanilla and ginger in the bottle, it disappears the instant I put it on my skin. All that remains is a warm, almost baked vanilla spiced with hot ginger. It's sweet, yet not obnoxiously so, and exotic enough to suit many different moods without seeming out of place on occasions other than tropical-themed parties (which is honestly what I bought it for).

Dry, it retains its ginger-vanilla-frosting quality but gets just a touch warmer before fading. --which takes a while: I applied this at about 9AM, and reapplied when I left work about twelve hours later.

I wish I'd bought a back-up of this. Oh well. So much for being cautious.

In the imp, this is a light blend of teas. After applying it to my wrists, it developed a very pronounced sweet lemon scent like sugared tea with a lemon wedge. I honestly did not get much peony whatsoever, except perhaps after drying, when it became dry tea leaves and a powdery floral note in the background, but it's not enough to keep me from loving it.

Honestly, this reminded me a good deal of my once-beloved lemon perfume sprays. It's fresh, light, and yet sophisticated. Absolutely going on my list of bottles to buy!

I was anxious to try this, because I've been working on a lot of research into the history of parapsychology and this obviously fits into the theme. The imp smelled strongly of floral and tame woods, neither of which I typically wear. Once on my skin, it's all lilac and polished wood. After a few hours of drying, there's a deep, smoky, dusty undertone that makes it a little...smothering?

It's floral and woody, but mysterious and moody. I like it for occasions, but I probably wouldn't wear enough of it to dignify a bottle.

I was very unsure of whether I wanted to smell like "grass," but I've learned not to take things directly from memory in BPAL--surely, the grass in this couldn't be the same grass on my front lawn. On sniffing the applicator, I smelled something green, sweet, and moist, so on it went.

Once on my skin, the green swelled to create a very sweet, grassy scent, though there's something youthful and bright in the background. I'll assume it's the berries, though I really with they were more pronounced. Drying down, the florals play out slightly, though the dominant note is still the wet, sweet green.

It's a lovely perfume for a bright day in the spring/summer cusp we're in currently, and while it does smell like grass, it's not the grass I feared it would be. I'll probably wear this fairly frequently, but we'll see how fast the imp runs down--I don't know if it's exactly bottle-worthy yet.

In the bottle, I would have sworn I was sniffing directly into one of the homemade wine bottles my family serves on holidays--it's dark, mysterious, and I have to wonder whether I'll be able to dip into it without calling it an early night. Once on my skin, it still smells highly of red wine, but the myrrh and sandalwood are also clearly present. Every now and again, when the wind is just right, I get a whiff of patchouli, but the body of the scent is pinot noir, myrrh, and sandalwood. Dry, there's a definite floral quality to it. The jasmine and attar of rose seem to powder everything over, leaving an elegant finish to an elegant scent.

While this really isn't an everyday scent for me, I can definitely see occasions where this would be appropriate. It's seductive and exotic (even though I think there was a phase during the dry-down that reminded me a lot of Avon's original Skin-So-Soft oil)! Not sure I needed the entire bottle I bought, but the label is lovely...

I was really amazed at the dragon's blood in this--I would have thought with the name "Dragon Moon," it would be overwhelmingly dragon's blood-y. However, I couldn't get more than just the barest hint of it in the bottle. What I got instead was a mottled green-brown scent like a dozen or more drying herbs in a room made of cedar and scattered with the traces of incense.

Once on my skin, this was very mellow: mainly lavender and sage, with hints of sweetgrass, frankincense, and bergamot. It shifted every now and again, as if the notes were fighting for dominance over my flesh, and for about an hour the cedar was prominent--this terrified me, because I seem to wear cedar like pencil shavings steeped in perspiration, but it faded out quickly enough. As soon as it did, the incensy combination of sage, frankincense, and dragon's blood wafted past, giving the entire smell a smoky, yet still very green, feel.

I don't think it had much in terms of throw, but I could smell it on myself and that's all that matters. It also lasted a good long time. --I'm very glad I gave into the impulse spending here, because even though certain notes were an obvious no-no, this worked very well for me.

I wasn't so sure this was going to work on me originally. I love foody smells, but I was getting a slight peanut-butter vibe from the bottle and to be perfectly honest, I don't really want to smell like peanut butter. Luckily, there's all other kinds of yummy in this bottle as well: caramel, buttered popcorn, and seemingly some sort of coffee-cocktail (I'm thinking either Irish Coffee or Kahlua and Creme?)

My skin seemed to amp the caramel along with whatever note was smelling suspiciously like coffee, lasting a surprising few hours before maturing into a softer, butterier coffee-cocktail smell. During that phase, I swear I got a few whiffs of cocoa, but it could have been a chocolate craving disguised as wafting perfume.

This may be the first scent I've tried with a very good amount of throw as well as a fantastic lasting time--I dabbed this on around 2PM and was still able to tell it was on around 11PM. Normally, my skin drinks it all in and I need to reapply three or so hours in.

Of almost everything I've tried, I think I was most eager to try this. I was hoping for ALL sugared incense, and honestly, that's exactly what I got.

In the bottle, its incense and soft flowers, very sweet and rather gentle. Once on my skin, however, it's like a candied version of Nag Champa, no floral detectable. For about two hours, this had impeccable throw--it's all I could smell in the car (and my mother's car typically smells like horse), and all I could smell at work.

For about five minutes during the dry-down, however, there was a strange, salty scent thrown in there...it wasn't as pronounced as the notes listed and I could only smell it if I was too close to my wrists (writing, filing, etc.) and it went away quickly enough.

All in all, I'm very glad I tried this because it's exactly what I was hoping. Unfortunately, now I have to horde it. :/

After a bad stretch of florals going rancid on me, I was really afraid that would happen here--the description is just so lovely, and I wanted so badly to adore it.

In the bottle, there is no other way to describe this than fresh flowers. Honestly, this smells like walking into a florist and inhaling the closest cut bouquet. Lilac, lily, carnation, hyacinth, greenery...it's all here.

Wet on my skin, I could smell a little more of the amber and beeswax but the green floral was still dominant. The amber was a little off-putting at first, but it mellowed out nicely.

Dry, it was very much beeswax and greenery. It was lush and somehow moist, like smelling flowers after a heavy summer rain. This is my PERFECT FLORAL and I can't believe I only bought one bottle. Oh, how I'm kicking myself right now.

If you had asked me before BPAL if I liked herbal scents, I'd have said, "uhm. Nothanks." But after trying some of the herbal scents here, I've realized I'll likely end up going after them before anything else.

In the imp, this smelled very much like Envy (which is my current favourite). Very sharp mint, but not necessarily all the green of Envy. Wet on skin, the pennyroyal still dominates, but there's a hint of something softer, more blue, in the background. It's a little medicinal, but it's not unenjoyable--it definitely wards off the headaches.

After it dries, it's a soft mint-and-lavender that really only catches up to you when the wind kicks up right. I fully enjoyed it, even though I needed to re-apply halfway through the day.

This is definitely a bottle for me, and I'll probably end up with it in my very next order.

I suppose I forgot what this was supposed to smell like, because I was blown over by the grapefruit when I opened the imp. It was entirely grapefruit, with something warm and spicy underneath but not nearly as easily detected.

Wet on my skin, the ginger was more apparent. A very bright, warm citrus and perhaps a teensy tiny little bit of floral but still very crisp and juicy. Once it dried, it turned into a light ginger tea, plain and simple.

I really, really liked this scent. It was exactly what I'd hoped for from the description. Not much throw (enough that I could tell, as well as anyone nose-to-nose with my throat or cleavage), and the staying-power was less than average, but this is still going on my bottle list. It's really a fabulous summer scent.

From the notes in the description, I was intrigued. I'm a black currant fan, so I had to try it--

But somehow, Black Currant did not come out to play. I can't tell if it was the myrrh or the mandrake (since I've never actually sniffed a mandrake), but something powdery completely overwhelmed me. After about five minutes of dry-down, all I could smell was a sort of stale cologne scent--like perfume from the fifties unearthed in my grandmother's attic: it could be lovely, but all I can smell right now is an acrid, dusty mottle of something that won't be within ten feet of my skin.

It wasn't offensive to anyone else that I'm aware of, so I can't really say it had a decent throw either. I want to chalk this up to my skin chemistry because it smelled much different in the imp--I'll definitely re-try this one, because I do want it to work.

I was anxious to try this, because (a) I love sassafras, and ( anything named after an Old West towne automatically conjures up images of Soiled Doves and dusty saloons that I've been finding awfully glamourous lately.

On first sniff, I was not disappointed: I got strong sassafras and vanilla, rich and sweet. It smelled remarkably similar on as well, and remained exactly as such for possibly an hour.

...and then, Cedar mosied on in, gun 'a firin'. I like cedar, really, I do. But apparently not on my body. I dabbed this on before going to work, and just an hour or so after being there I started to catch whiffs of something like lumberjack body odor every time I got close enough to my wrists.

I wanted to like this so badly, but ended up using the mechanics' SUPER STRENGTH exfoliating soap to scrub the living hell out of my wrists just to get the cedar off. Granted, the smell of anything at work often makes me sick, so I'm going to give this another shot soon before making a final judgment. I also think this might work much better as a room scent. I'm tempted to mix some into a spray to use on my carpet or around my desk since I think my body is just reacting poorly to the cedar.

I don't know what it was I was initially smelling, but when I first cracked open this imp, I was blown away by something completely and utterly terrible. Maybe the travel and the weather had taken its toll on the little package, but this blend just did not agree with me upon first sniff. It got put in the imp box with no real plans to ever be worn.

But something in the air today said, "I want a peppy floral!" and I recalled the notes in this little one--by all logic, this should smell great (even if I've never caught whiff of pink pepper before). I was hesitant to take another sniff, but I was pleasantly surprised--I smelled only an amicable honey-gold floral.

Once it was on my skin, the pepper and amber came out. Together with the flowers, they smell almost like a cinnamon/cardamom mix to me...but then, certain flowers give me that impression anyway. I might just have been cursed with a confused sniffer.

After drying, I could still smell the pink pepper and what I believe was the slightest trails of honeysuckle. It had remarkable staying power and a decent amount of throw.

All in all, I was pleasantly surprised, particularly after my initial reaction. It was enjoyable, but I'm not sure this is entirely bottle-worthy.

I was hesitant to try this blend because I had convinced myself I didn't like florals. Turns out, I like florals a lot and especially dark, musky, mysterious florals. So I second-guessed myself and gave this a shot.

In the imp, this smells very perfume-y. I get a lot of rose and lily, which I think lends to my conviction that this smells very much like an elegant floral perfume. Upon applying, however, I got something much more green, possibly with some lilac or lavender. The rose and lily is still there, but fades rather into the background to make way for the lush green notes.

It remained like this for maybe three hours.

...and then, something changed which I can only describe by saying it went sour. The florals wilted, the green got powdery, and something else came to the foreground that was not entirely pleasant. At least not on me. I wish I could place it, but I can only think of shuffling through boxes in my grandmother's basement and coming across perfume from the 30s--it smelled good once upon a time, but now it really just smells like something passed its expiration date.

I would be interested to learn the actual notes in this because I know that rose, lily, lilac, and certain greens work well on me. If the sour smell is due to my skin chemistry (which I'm sure it is), I'd like to know what I should be avoiding.

I loved this to start out with, but I think it will be reserved strictly for locket use.

Thanks for the insight. Her problem is mostly with scents, but she will occasionally get headaches from music, motions, strobes, weather, etc. She does keep lavender sachets around the house, and makes frequent use of a particular sage/lavender smudge wand, so I don't think it's the lavender. The more I think about your comment, the more I think it's the more overwhelming scents--light scents don't bother her, nor do scents with little throw. Once a perfume seems to 'busy' or strong, that seems to do her in.

Thank you for the insight!