theshapeshifter

In the imp: Sun-warmed grass, and something dark and resinous underneath. Initial application: The apple blossom - well, more of a straight-up apple note, really - hits straight away and dominates for the first couple of minutes. Drydown: At first, it's deceptively bright and youthful-smelling, with the apple blossom and a floral note in the lead. But as it dries, it edges into a darker, yet still welcoming scent. I can't quite put my finger on it... I'm getting the moss, and clover, and what I assume to be the rue and hawthorn, in a kind of sun-baked meadow smell, but there's a dark undercurrent. Rather like being in a lovely field that's the site of a long-past, but bloody and still well-remembered battle. Actually, THAT'S what it's reminding me of... it's not bang-on, because there's no aquatic note to this, but it's evoking the memory of visiting Culloden. Battle, death and regeneration - this really IS very apropos for The Morrigan. I don't want to paint it as a really dark, heavy scent, though, because it's not. It's extremely alluring, and a 'comfortable' scent, in an odd way. Not the strongest - I've had it on for about four hours and I could use a touchup about now - but I like this a LOT.

In the imp: Grapefruit and herbs. Initial application: GRAPEFRUIT!! After ten minutes: Grapefruit, getting darkened by the powdery musk. I can get just a hint of the chamomile and lavender in the background. After half an hour: Disappearing already, leaving just the grin behind? Well, it's not disappearing, really, but the grapefruit is fading, leaving a mild, slightly fruity musk in the background. I'm a bit surprised by how faint it is.. I think I'd better take my imp along to work for reapplication!

In the imp: Definitely a 'murky' scent, but I can't quite place anything. Initial application: Dark, cold, scary still water, and... Granny Smith apple? There's just a tangy whiff that's evocative of a really, really tart green apple. After a few minutes: Still getting the apple. In fact, I stuck my wrist under hubby's nose, and he did a sniff test with the green apple soda he was drinking, and agreed I wasn't crazy. Almost like bobbing for apples, actually! Drydown: The murkiness is taking over now, and the tangy note is changing a bit. Now I can kind of see what everyone was talking about with the grapefruit, although it's not a sweet, juicy grapefruit on me, more like the rind and pith left behind. But the predominant note is the murkiness. It's getting to be less like a dark cold pool, and a bit more swampy. Vetivert, maybe? It's reminding me of a softer, less floral Highwayman now. It's a fascinating scent, one that makes me keep sniffing my wrist and hair every couple of minutes. It's outdoorsy and mysterious; I like it a lot.

This is one of those scents that makes me sit back and say, "How DOES Beth do it?" It changes very little from imp to application to drydown, and it's a perfect encapsulation of a fresh damp spring day. I'm not really getting the peony, but the tulips, water and grass are dead-on. It's a very happy, clear scent that's great for situations where you don't want to smell overpowering. That's its only drawback, as well, though - like most light/fresh scents, it doesn't have a huge amount of staying power on me. I'm wishing I'd brought my imp along to work so I could refresh!

So happy to finally try this! Of course, my review isn't going to do much except reinforce what's already been said - this is a scent that delivers exactly what its description suggests: a perfectly encapsulated ride over the ocean. Water, mist, salt spray... it reminds me of being in Scotland and taking the Calmac ferry to the Hebrides. It was very strong for the first couple of minutes on application, leading me to put on perhaps a bit less than I otherwise would've, but it calms down quite quickly, and like most ozoney scents I've tried, this will warrant a few touchups during the day. But it truly, truly is the perfect ocean scent that I've been jonesing for. And can't wait to try it on the boy, too!

SQUEE. I'm so glad to finally have it in my possession! In the bottle: Sweet and juicy. Initial application: I smell kiwi first, and something a bit sugary, almost bubblegum. Drydown: It's like a fruit parade... they come out one after another, peeking out - the pineapple, mango, the kiwi is back. I don't see to get too much of the pomegranate, except I guess that it just deepens and reinforces the sweetness. There's a definite tartness to it too, almost like sour candies. I'm not getting too much of the peony, but the jasmine is winding in and out in the background, and the pepper adds to the sharpness, so that it doesn't just slide into candy or jammy-ness. Hooray for brains!

In the imp: Intense and slightly acrid. I put off trying this for a while because I was a bit nervous of it. Wet on skin: It's sharp and intense, but thankfully not so acrid or disturbing on. It's actually lovely, and much more accessible than the scary description would suggest. A smoky, hot campfire with some evergreen branches thrown on, with a waft of vague incense-like resin in the background. Drydown: I didn't get to wear Djinn too long, because I wound up doing some yardwork and needed a shower straight afterwards, but it mellowed out beautifully in the drydown. This is the smoke/fire smell that goes with the idea of fire being the great cleanser. It turns out I'm a smoke-scent junkie. I'd been apprehensive that Djinn would be disturbing (rather like The Tower), but it's not at all. This is one I'll really enjoy, and I think I may buy a bottle in a month or two, so that it'll come in time for Fall. Also: While I was outside wearing Djinn, the scent from my neighbour's lilacs occasionally wafted over. Lilac and smoke might sound like an odd combo, but I was in heaven...

Hmm. I was dying to try this, since I'm a great lover of frangipani and jasmine. In the imp: Heady floral, but I'm not picking out a particular note. Wet: Sweet, pretty floral, but the frangipani isn't as predominant as I'd hoped. Particularly since this is the only BPAL that uses it, I'd hoped it would be strong. It's a bit sweet, giving me occasional wafts of something like Sweetarts or Pez. Drydown: It must be the tuberose that my skin is amping; there's a sort of round, green floral taking centre stage here. (I say the tuberose because I don't know that scent, and it's definitely not rose, jasmine or frangipani that I'm smelling) It's gone slightly, not-unpleasantly powdery in the drydown. The longer it's on, the more the jasmine is starting to become noticeable, but not predominant. Overall, this is very pretty, but not what I'd been hoping for. I'll probably use up the imp rather than trading it off, but I don't think I'd buy a bottle.

In the imp: Heavy, dark... I can't quite put my finger on it. Initial application: Incense, with an overlay of sharp, nose-tingling woodsmoke. After half an hour: The narcissus and opium are starting to come out, while the myrrh is turning a little powdery... but not in a baby-powder way AT ALL. I believe someone above mentioned this as being powdery in the sense of a really expensive, womanly, sensual dusting powder - that's it exactly. And the smokiness has turned gentle and wispy - the frequent mentions of blown-out candles are bang on. I adore this. It's dark and ominous, yet entirely classic and womanly. This makes me think of getting ready for a big night out... taking my time choosing just the right underthings, putting on a sexy black velvet dress, lacing up a pair of high boots. A bottle of this has just jumped to the head of my 'need' list.

I had high hopes for the apricot in Katharina, but alas, 'twas not to be. Something about the combination of the apricot with the white musk gave me a strange tropical, almost 'pina colada' scent on my skin. And alas, pina colada is a scent with which I am not on speaking terms. I had to wash it off straight away, but fortunately I already have a welcoming home lined up for the imp.

Wet, and straight through the drydown, Strength was expansive, grassy and earthy... without actually smelling like 'earth'. It somehow managed to personify the feeling of standing firmly rooted, drawing Earth energy up through the soles of your feet. A wonderful embodiment of the Strength card... and proved to be a great oil to wear through my busiest workday of the year!

I'll need to give this a more proper try when I'm ready to do Tarot work, but I gave this a brief try this morning, and wow... acrid, harsh, hot, and disturbing. It certainly embodies The Tower, but I had to wash it off almost straight away. It was simply too jarring.

Wow! This was a lovely lagniappe from the Lab, and something I might not have tried. In the imp: Heady floral, pretty but didn't seem very 'me'. Initial application: Honey! Sweet, and yet something spicy is there too. Almost peppery. Drydown: I would've expected this to be more pretty and prissy, but this is a very womanly, sexy scent. I didn't really know the scent of lilies before, but after trying Prague this morning and Tiger Lily tonight, I think I'm a convert. They seem to render out as heady and spicy on me, floral without screaming "omg I'm a flower!". And the honey gives a lovely mellow roundness to the scent. It almost makes me want to purr. Wonderful. It's a perfect scent for feeling relaxed-sexy. What a pleasant surprise!

In the imp: Floral, not very strong. Initial application: I thought at first that this was going to fade away to nothing - vaguely floral, but couldn't smell it much at all. Drydown: After about 10 minutes, it started to warm up on my skin and turned fresh and lovely. Damp, sweet spring flowers, but with a refreshing 'bite', almost peppery somehow. Despite my earlier worries, its staying power has proven quite good; it's been about five hours now, and I'm still getting pleasant wafts of it despite not having put a huge amount on. This is a great scent for the workplace, I think: interesting enough to be enjoyable to wear, but not overpowering, and not so offbeat as to bother anyone. A very 'clean' scent.

My review is going to be very similar to Penance's. I wouldn't have ordered Jailbait, as I'm not a fan of bubblegum, but I received it as a generous gift and was curious after finding that it smelled much more of the orange and cherry lollipops in the imp. Bubblegum=ick, but candy=fabulous, in my book at least. However... immediately on touching my skin, I smelled like I was trapped in the Bajooka Joe factory. So much so that I settled for just a couple of imp-wand swipes across my wrists, when normally I'm quite a slatherer even on a test run. Still, I remained optimistic, hoping that the other notes would come out in the drydown. Well, it's been on for an hour now, and although it's faded a fair bit, if I sniff my wrist it's still nothing but bubblegum. There MIGHT be just a tiny hint of cinnamon lurking somewhere way, way down under there, but this is pretty much all bubblegum, all the time. I have newly enabled one of my friends to BPAL and as soon as she read the Jailbait description, she immediately requested to take it off my hands if I didn't like it... so at least it's going to a good home!

As others have noted, Nanshe stayed very true from imp to skin. A bright, herbal lemon - lemongrass, or maybe bergamot, or some of both? - with a whisper of lavender in the background. It's a fabulously clean, energizing scent, so much so that I initially worried I'd have trouble dropping off to sleep with it on. However, that fear proved unfounded. I slept wonderfully, and though I didn't have any particularly interesting dreams, I definitely had greater clarity during them, and in remembering them in the morning. I'm going to give Nanshe a couple more tries, and if the results are consistent, I'll definitely need a big bottle! Edited (May 29) to add: Okay, Nanshe is DEFINITELY a must-have. It helped me remember a whackload of detail about a dream last night that was so funny, it literally woke me up laughing.

In the imp: Very heavy and langourous, almost incensey, with a hint of orange. Wet on skin: Creamsicle! The orange and vanilla just jump out and take over. After half an hour: The narcissus joins the party, making sure that this is an Evil Creamsicle scent, not a wholesome juicy one. At first whiff, it actually reminded me of patchouli, but it started to become more floral. Drydown: Although the narcissus is definitely NOT patchouli-like now, Hunger is reminding me a lot of Ravenous; I'll have to try them on successive days and see which I like better. The drydown is VERY similar, with alternating wafts of heady sexiness and a powdery orange, almost baby-aspirin note. Not sure about staying power... it's been on about four hours now, and I can't really smell it much any more - but every time I think it's disappeared, I'll get a random waft of it. Definitely like it, but Ravenous might have a slight edge for me.

In the bottle: A riot of flowers. Wet: Tulip and fresh wet grass hits my nose first, with something underneath, not quite incense, but something resinous and occult-shop-ish. A few other people have mentioned maybe smelling High John Essence, but I'm not familiar with that note on its own, so I'm not sure if that's maybe it. Drydown: This is incredibly well-blended, and smells just like a warm, wet spring evening. I'm getting tulips, and a bit of lotus, and possibly carnation, and other floral notes I can't put my finger on, as well as a strong note of crushed grass and freshly-cut greenery. In the background, there's a bit of musk or something, warming it all up and giving it a sexy undertone to ground all the freshness. A perfect encapsulation of the sabbat!

Water of Notre Dame went on as a clean, kind of herbal-aquatic scent, and not as strong as others have mentioned. However, after about an hour, some kind of note comes out that I can't quite identify... it's not coconut, but it somehow seems related to it, in that it smells the same kind of 'bad' to me that coconut does. Alas, I wasn't really able to tell if the blend would give its desired calming effect, since I found this mystery note strangely disturbing.

In the imp: Seems like a sort of generic "pretty floral". On my skin: It doesn't change much on me - just seemed to stay as a pretty, perfumy floral. The vanilla and mandarin notes that had me excited about this blend never really seemed to come out and play. I'm hoping this might've been a cyclical body-chemistry issue, so I'll give it another chance after I've run through the other new imps I have on hand to try.

In the imp: Eye-opening, almost a eucalyptus smell. Wet: Not quite as 'zingy' as it seemed in the imp, but a very fresh, energizing kind of a scent. It's a deep green that somehow smells dark and yet vibrant at the same time. Dry: This had GREAT staying power, morphing into a slightly floral deep forest-floor-undergrowth green scent, very natural and comfortable and strong.

In the imp: A surprisingly INTENSE, syrupy, almost burnt-sugar smell. Initial application: The sugar blossoms out into pure cotton candy, like the smell just before you bite off a big puff of it. This is a scent I ADORE. After half an hour: As it begins to dry, I can see the comparisons people have made with Chaste Moon - there's that same creaminess here, although it's candyfloss creamy, rather than the buttermint creamy of Chaste. Drydown: The sugary note is remaining predominant on me, but the florals have eventually emerged to round it out, so that now it's candied flowers, or standing in a pretty spring frock in a garden, eating cotton candy. It's somehow very girly and yet NOT "girly" in the way I'd typically use the word... I can't quite put my finger on it. I absolutely adore this. Beth does it again!

I've only had a quick test of this so far, but I adore it! Wet, it's smoky and dense, like a deep wood, and then it dries into this fresh, campfire-in-a-dark-forest-by-a-lake smell, with a hint of floral in the background. I was a little sleepy last night when I tried it out, so apologies for the brief review, but this is definitely a winner!

This was a generous Lab gift, and in the imp it smells so pretty that I thought it might defeat my skepticism about rose-heavy scents. Alas, it was not to be. I dabbed on a teeny bit (I'm usually a slatherer) and it became quite overpowering within about a minute. I'm sure a rose-lover would adore this, as it IS very pretty... but not my thing. It's verging on headache-inducing for me, so off to the swaps it goes.

In the imp: Dragon's blood and spice and wood. Good start. Initial application: I get the warmth and slight cherry-sweetness of the dragon's blood, and a rush of spices, primarily cinnamon but a little nutmeg as well. Drydown: As it dries, the dragon's blood and spice stay in the foreground, while the woods start to come out and deepen the scent. It's a very complex blend - and VERY evocative of a medieval romance. It's like a full environmental immersion, where there are all kinds of notes impacting you, but picking out individual threads is tricky. It's been on me for about four hours now, and still evolving - the leather and musk are just starting to hit their stride now. I adore this... I can sense already that this will become one of the scents where I'll be trying out something else and thinking "this is nice, but I wish I were wearing Tintagel". It makes me feel sexy and sensual, but in a very strong, self-assured kind of way, like a warrior woman.