Seismogenic

My reasons for ordering this imp were twofold: that I wanted to try something that would, in color terms, be a deep dusty gray-green (this is a color I use a lot when I draw), and that A Midsummer Night's Dream was one of the first Shakespeare plays I ever saw, and I loved it immediately.

In the imp: Musky, with an undertone of something dark green. It may just be that I'm uneducated with regards to notes, but at this point, I can't really distinguish much yet.

Wet on skin: Some woody notes pull forward, and something that I am pretty sure is the oakmoss. The musk still overlies all of this.

Drydown: I'm definitely starting to get sage now, and I'm almost certain now that the notes I smelled in the wet stage are the moss and wood. The musk is diminishing, but that's letting me get a better whiff of the greenery. There's something a little sweet, too; from skimming the rest of the thread, I'm guessing that's the heather. I haven't a clue what ragwort smells like.

Five hours later: Definitely still present. Robin Goodfellow has gone soft and gentle on me. It's a bit sweet with a spiced undertone: moss, wood, and sage. The sweetness may be the heather. The musk has either blended in seamlessly with the other notes, or is mostly gone.

End of the day: There's still a definite sweet mossy smell on my wrists.

Overall: Based on the smell in the imp alone, I didn't think I was going to like this as much as I do. It's a soft and gentle foresty smell, as if during the night after a long hot day, when the air has cooled but there's still residual warmth in the soil and greenery. (Like, uh. On Midsummer's Night. There we go!) It also reminds me Coyote, which I also like very much, in that it's warm, soft, woody, and musky. But where Coyote leaves behind the scent of dried grass, Robin Goodfellow leaves moss and maybe heather. Coyote is golden tan, and Robin really does leave that gray-green I'd hoped for. Keeper!

This was the other frimp in my first order, and it's also something I didn't even consider for myself based on the description. Broken heart? Never had one! Maybe because I've never dated, either... Anyhow! Since I'm in no position to be evaluating this based on any voodoo properties, I'm going to describe how it goes based on scent alone.

In the imp: Light and floral. There's definitely lavender in there, maybe also violet. To my nose, it's pretty typically perfumey, though without the part of most commercial perfumes that makes me sneeze.

Wet on skin: Still pretty perfumey and decidedly floral. Lavender still dominates, and I thiiink there may be a tiny bit of rose lurking in the background, though that may also be my uneducated nose playing tricks on me.

Drydown: A few minutes in, I'm getting some lilies along with the other flowers. Maybe something a tad aquatic, like all of the petals are dripping with dew. What's interesting about this is that the throw of this scent smells different from how it does on my wrists. I'm getting mostly rose in the throw (which reminds me of a longtime family friend), but much more lavender when I actually sniff my wrist. Either way, it smells less perfumey and more like the flowers themselves as it dries.

Five hours later: Gone. If I sniff my wrist really hard, there's the tiiiiniest whiff of lavender, but essentially, it's gone.

End of the day: Even if it wasn't gone at five hours, it's most certainly gone now.

Overall: This is a very pretty floral blend, and it is a comforting smell. It is, however, extremely feminine with no qualms or excuses, which rules it out from the list of things I'd wear. It's the kind of thing that would work nicely in a room, though; if anything, that would be more evocative of walking into a dewy garden than having a little patch of scent on the wrists. I'm hoping I have no need to test the voodoo properties of this oil anytime soon, so I'm not sure yet whether or not I'll be hanging on to this imp.

This was one of the frimps in my first order, and it's certainly not something I would have thought to try on my own, since I know nothing about chakras and have never done yoga. But I am certainly someone who could benefit from some grounding - particularly around finals time! My evaluation of this will be based purely on scent, though, rather than suggested purpose, if only because I don't know better.

In the imp: This smells like walking into an Indian grocery store. It's warm and spicy and sharp. I can distinguish patchouli, maybe something a little woody, and there are background notes that, in this context, remind me of pepper and curry powder.

Wet on skin: Very strong! I don't think I smell curry anymore, though patchouli is definitely still there. It's giving me an impression of wet black soil.

Drydown: There is something in here that's making my nose itch a little. Uh oh! I wonder if that might be vetiver, since I know vetiver is related to citronella, and I'm very allergic to citronella. But I'm not sneezing or wheezing yet, so the test goes on. It's not soil anymore as it's drying. It's pretty much just vaguely woody patchouli incense, and it's not quite as strong when it's not wet.

Okay, this has only been on for half an hour, but my throat is getting swollen and scratchy and my nose has become stuffy enough that I can't really smell much anymore. I have to wash this off.

...which is apparently easier said than done.

I'm actually pretty disappointed by this allergic reaction, since I rather like the in-vial scent of The Coiled Serpent. Were I not itching and sneezing, I'd consider trying this as a room scent, since I like that Indian grocery store vibe and since the room doesn't have weird chemistry. But as things stand now, I'm going to have to swap this. I'm not going to write off the allergen as definitively being vetiver yet, since I haven't tried any other vetiver things, and since the specific notes aren't actually listed for The Coiled Serpent. A repeat performance, no matter how undesirable, from another blend will be what proves that point.

This is another scent that struck me as particularly intriguing and unusual based on the Lab's description. I love the smell of the air during a thunderstorm (and it's not something I get to smell often where I live!), and I was curious as to how well such a full-atmosphere smell like that can be put into a tiny bottle.

In the imp: Very sharp and fresh, wet and clean. There's a bit of lemon in there, and something that I assume is the ozone. I can see how some other reviews mention cleaning fluid, but it's not bothering me.

Wet on skin: The scent immediately gets a little heavier, and that heaviness is watery. Otherwise, the lemon and ozone remain distinct so far.

Drydown: As this dries, the lemon and ozone become increasingly homogenous, rather than two separate notes. I'm definitely starting to get an impression of electricity. Within an hour or so, the scent has settled into something that really does smell like heavy wet air, maybe a little salty, with the promise of thunder and lightning.

Five hours later: I'm left with the scent of salt water. The heavier fresher water aspect is gone, and the electricity has pretty much discharged. This is absolutely convincing salt water, though!

End of the day: Completely gone. Maybe the tiniest bit of salt left on my skin, but it takes repeated sniffing to detect. The five hour mark was pretty much the last gasp, really.

Overall: I was a little bit skeptical based on the scent in the bottle alone and on the wet phase, but once given time to dry, Lightning really did get that elusive storm smell. It was still strange to get that smell from a small spot on my wrist rather than from the whole atmosphere, but that's a good thing. This is great for hot weather, especially for someone who grew up where hot weather meant thunderstorms, but is now living in a place where it's even hotter but with far fewer storms.

The description of this scent was one of the things that made me finally take the plunge and order from BPAL. I saw it on the site a pretty long time ago, and though I was dithering over whether or not I really needed oils, I finally figured that Coyote was one that simply could not go unsmelled.

In the imp: Very warm and soft. Not particularly strong, but in a good gentle way. I'm recognizing amber now (the imp I tried yesterday had that in there as well, and that's the only common note between these two), and partially-dried grasses.

Wet on skin: I get more of the grass and dust now, a little less of the amber, but it's still very warm and soft.

Drydown: Immediately after drying, he grass and dust continue to hold the foreground. Something a little sharper is starting to come through, and my uneducated nose is not sure whether this is the musk or the doeskin. Either way, it's more of a background note. The amber has faded even more. About an hour after putting it on, though, the sharpness has faded back a bit, and the whole blend is a bit more homogenous, in a good way. I can smell the amber again. At this point, it's pretty close to what it was in the imp, which is very nice.

Five hours later: Nearly the same combination of smells as at the one hour mark, and close to the same intensity (even with the SoCal Outside In July test!). Once Coyote settles, it stays.

End of the day: A good twelve hours after I put this on, I still get a whiff of soft dried grasses when I sniff my wrists.

Overall: I am indeed very glad to have taken the BPAL plunge for this scent (and others)! Coyote is fantastically evocative. It really smells like a grassy plain in the process of drying out over the course of a hot summer. For that reason, it reminds me a lot of Carrizo Plain National Monument in central California, which is gorgeous and one of my favorite places. I also like how Coyote is a scent that's present even when I'm not actively sniffing my wrist, but it's not too strong or brash or distracting in the least. I am glad this trickster's description rang true, rather than being a trick in and of itself!

First review from my first order! Woo!

So many of the contents of that box were begging to be tried first, but Tenochtitlan won, since I had plans to go to a concert of Mexican music tonight.

In the imp: The very first sniff is bright and fruity - the predominant note is, I assume, the prickly pear. It's almost fruit gum, by how sweet it is. But on a second sniff, the herbier/spicer notes become more evident. It's very warm, and I like it so far.

Wet on skin: The herbs become much more prominent, though the fruit is still there. It's still warm and sweet, but not gummy anymore.

Drydown: I'm definitely recognizing the sage among the spices now, and I think the coriander, too. Pear is still there, as more of a sweet backdrop. Interestingly, I think the whole scent is a little stronger dry than wet. I am admittedly not entirely sure what amber smells like on its own, so I can't tell if it's there or not.

Five hours later: It's practically gone. The fading went in stages. At first, the pear became more prominent again, but what's left behind last of all is more dry and herbal. I don't think it's entirely fair of me to say this always fades fast, though, since I was wearing it outside in southern California in July. That's heat enough to stifle anything!

End of the day: It's at pretty much the same stage of "practically" gone as it was on the five hour mark. It hasn't really faded any more than that, nor has it changed character.

Overall: This is very very nice - I couldn't stop sniffing my wrists all day! The fruit and herbs combination seems absolutely natural and fresh. The combination of herbs smells very much like the desert to me (there was tons of sage in one of my mapping areas in the Mojave!), and the fruit contributes the heat, but also the breeze. This scent also did go quite well with the son jarocho music of the concert I went to - warm and bright, with plenty of spice.