Aredhel

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Powder. In the imp/bottle: Rose and lilac. A very light, fluffy floral. On skin, wet: Very rosy, with a bit of lilac beneath. My skin amps rose, so I'm not surprised that this is mostly rose. I am a bit surprised that this isn't darker than it is. On skin, dry: Hmm. This turns into a very strange powder. It reminds me of dried, dead, wet flowers. I definitely catch the wisteria, which, sadly, doesn't work with me with this scent. There's something very green -- in a good way -- beneath everything, but it's too faint. Like the stems of flowers. Conclusion: This started out very well. If this smelled as it does in the vial on my skin, I might have fallen for it -- the rose is light enough that I like it, and I do like lilac every now and again.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Aquatic. In the imp/bottle: Dark, green floral. Very unique, and quite intriguing! On skin, wet: The dominant notes are most certainly Spanish moss, as well as cypress. I do catch something floral, though, and it's actually very nice. On skin, dry: This stays very strong, and doesn't change much from its wet stage, save that the florals become more prominant, as does something dark and aquatic. Of course, the moss and cypress never goes away. Conclusion: If one were to cross a hunting shop and a floral shop, I think this might be close the way the result would smell! Very interesting, but not how I would like to smell on a regular basis.

Rating (on skin): 3/5 Summarised in a word or two: Spiced soap. In the imp: Crisp, sweet rose and what I this is pomegranate. On skin, wet: An aquatic floral, most definitely. Very light and breezy. The rose doesn't overpower, which shocks me. On skin, dry: ...Floral dish soap. Damn it! Slightly spicy dish soap, but dish soap all the same. It reminds me of a craft mall up-state. Conclusion: I love how it begins -- lush and aquatic and only vaguely floral -- but it becomes dry and soapy. As a dish soap, it'd be great. As a perfume, no go.

Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: Bug spray. In the imp/bottle: Dark, crisp rose. On skin, wet: This starts to turn into what someone likened to bug spray. It's a very bitter, sickly smell, and I'm tempted to wash the whole thing off. On skin, dry: No change. It's an awful smell, and very, very strong. It stings the back of my throat, and reminds me of horrible, humid summer nights, covered in bug spray. Conclusion: Definitely not for me. It starts out as tolerable rose, but turns into something that reminds me of the way I smell while trying to keep the bugs off of me in the middle of July. Ick.

Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: Roses and dirt. In the imp/bottle: Decaying roses and dirt. On skin, wet: I can only describe this as... sweet dirt. Rotting roses covered in suagr and thrown in damp, freshly turned earth. On skin, dry: Sweet, rosy earth. Unique, but terribly unpleasant. Conclusion: There's no way on Earth I'd want to smell like rotting roses and wet dirt.

Rating (on skin): 4/5 Summarised in a word or two: Sparkling pear. In the imp/bottle: Bright, beautiful pear and champagne. On skin, wet: The pear and champagne are still the dominant notes, but I do notice a wee hint of plumeria. On skin, dry: Still very sweet; almost sugary. I don't know why, but this seems a very "happy" scent. Conclusion: Very, very nice. It is, however, very feminine. I love the scent, but once again, I don't make a usual point of smelling of fruit.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Citrusy tea. In the imp/bottle: Sharp, cold, bitter citrus. On skin, wet: Very bitter citrus, with a hint of what I believe is black tea. On skin, dry: This turns into a mellow citrus, lying over the black tea. It reminds me of very strong, bitter grapefruit. Conclusion: Not bad! I'm not sure I'd ever find occasion to wear this, but it's quite interesting. I think this would be *fabulous*, were it just a tad sweeter (perhaps with vanilla).

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Addicting! In the imp/bottle: Vanilla tea and sugary lemon! On skin, wet: Black tea, sugar and musky vanilla. Absolutely divine. On skin, dry: Musky, sugary vanilla tea. Musky and sweet at the same time? Strange, but lovely. Conclusion: I absolutely understand why Dorian is called "BPAL's crack." It's gorgeous and addicting.

Rating (on skin): 4/5 Summarised in a word or two: Pine! In the imp: Wow, pine! Strong, thick, cold pine! I love this so far! On skin, wet: When this touches my skin, it softens down immediately, and the dominant notes become juniper and musk. It's thick, almost heady. On skin, dry: This turns into a cold, thick, dark and musky pine. I can't stop sniffing my wrist. Conclusion: I don't usually care for pine, but this is a very interesting, almost musky pine. It's not a fake, air-freshener kind of pine. This might be a great winter scent.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Lavender powder. In the imp/bottle: Cold! Lilac, lavender, gardenia and sandalwood. On skin, wet: Lavender quickly takes over, as it seems to do with my skin. Lilac is a close second, making of rna interestingly cold floral scent. On skin, dry: Powdery lilac and lavender, with a bit of cold garednia on the outskirts. I love the gardenia, but the lavender is too strong, and it's too powdery.. Conclusion: I'm not much of a floral girl, and I've never really cared for strong lavender, so this isn't for me.

Rating (on skin): 0/5 Summarised in a word or two: Cat pee! In the imp/bottle: Narcissus, and a very strange rose. On skin, wet: Mostly rose now, lying over a strong narcissus. On skin, dry: The same dry as when wet; Very, very strong. A heavy rose, with an unflattering narcissus (and something vaguely smoky, or spicy). Conclusion: I don't really care for this scent. I still had it on when I went over to my mother's (from the testing), and she told me I smelled faintly of cat urine (I washed it off right then!).

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Musky peach. In the imp: Peach! Strong, juicy peach and beautiful white musk. On skin, wet: White musk and peach! I adore BPAL's white musk. It's soft and white and almost fuzzy. Add peach to that and, well, it's divine. I normally don't care to smell of fruit, but... On skin, dry: As it dries, the peach becomes much softer, and the musk a bit stronger. I'm not complaining. Dry, the musk reminds me of that in Dorian, but obviously, peachy instead of lemony. They're very, very similar, though. Conclusion: Okay, so, I'm complaining: this just doesn't last on me. Also, it's so similar to my beloved Dorian that I don't know that I'd need a bottle of this, when I have Dorian (which also has a glorious sugared-tea element).

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Flowers! In the imp/bottle: Beautiful, cold flowers. On skin, wet: This is warmer on my skin, which is disappointing, since I prefer cold floral scents. It's a proper bouquet of flowers, wherein I can't really pick out any one flower/scent/note. On skin, dry: This has a weak throw and no staying power. There's barely a trace of it by the one hour mark. Conclusion: For a floral, its nice -- but I don't really dig florals.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Smoky amber. In the imp/bottle: Jasmine, and orchids. On skin, wet: The strongest note is the amber, laid over smoky orchid. On skin, dry: Nothin' but amber. Smoky amber. Conclusion: This isn't really bad, but it strikes me as something like every department store perfume I've ever come across. Not my thing.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Smoky rose. In the imp/bottle: Berry and dark roses. On skin, wet: This warms up fairly quickly, and the flowers become sweeter. On skin, dry: Mostly rose now, with berry and gardenia on the sidelines. A sweet, dark and smoky scent. Conclusion: Not bad, but as I'm not crazy about rose scents, I'm not crazy about this.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Exotic. In the imp/bottle:Sandalwood and myrrh. Herbal and very dry. On skin, wet: Not quite as spicy as I'd predicted. Soft and green and earthy. On skin, dry: A cool, woodsy herbaly floral kind of thing. Still much dry; almost dusty. Conclusion: I know I've smelled this someplace before. I think I may have an incense that smells similar to this. It's a very exotic scent, and I think this would be great for using in sachets, though it's not something I think I could see myself wearing.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Over-steeped tea. In the imp/bottle: Very strong black tea and anise. On skin, wet: Strong, over-steeped black tea. No sign of milk, honey or vanilla. On skin, dry: Dryer-fresh linens and black tea. Odd, and not winning me over. Conclusion: I was hoping for a creamy vanilla black tea. No such luck.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Plastic. In the imp/bottle: A very nice floral -- cold and spicy -- and plum. On skin, wet: Quickly turns into a warm, floral plastic. I'm not digging this change at all. On skin, dry: Still a floral plastic. It's a warm plastic, but plastic nonetheless. This reminds me of something my older Aunt would wear. It's perfect on her, but just not my thing. Conclusion: This is another one of those scents that would be great to scent a room with, but not something I like once it touches my skin.

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Sex! In the imp/bottle: Frozen flowers, with the sting of something else... it doesn't remind me of sex (before, during or after!), but I like this nonetheless. On skin, wet: Oh, this is quite nice. Something about it vaguely reminds me of Snake Oil, though a bit floral, and much, much colder. This is starting to remind me of something vaguely sexual. On skin, dry: Wow. Vanilla? So far, it's like a cross between O and Snake Oil with flowers. Conclusion: Lovely! I don't know if I'll be ordering a 5ml, because it *is* very similar to both Snake Oil and O, but I very well may.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Rose soap. In the imp/bottle: Frosty, fresh rose. On skin, wet: Rose-scented soap! It actually reminds me of the Milk & Rose hand-soap my mum has at her house. On skin, dry: No change from wet, other than it has a bit more of a powdery appeal to it. Conclusion: A nice scent, but likely not something I'd want to wear. Might be grand as as a soap or candle, though.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Spicy dirt. In the imp/bottle: Dragon's blood, earthy vetiver and spices! Reminds me of a thick, spicy wine. On skin, wet: I think I had candy once that tasted as this smells. Cinnamony, sweet and earthy. It's nice, but I'd love it were it not for the vetiver. On skin, dry: Despite being a Taurus -- an earth sign -- I've never cared to smell "earthy," and this just reeks of spicy dirt. Not digging this. Conclusion: Red Hots and dirt. Weird, and not my sort of thing.

Rating (on skin): 2/5 Summarised in a word or two: Fabric softener? In the bottle: Fabric softener, or laundry soap. Very bright and clean, but very synthetic-smelling. On skin, wet: Nothing but bright, harsh ozone. Maybe a bit of light incense, but I can't be sure, since I'm not that familiar with ozone. On skin, dry: Still laundry soap! It smells like I just rubbed a dryer sheet over my wrist, and it's doing something strange to my nose. Conclusion: Not terrible. I wouldn't object to my clothes smelling this way, but I definitely don't want this scent on my skin

Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Innocent. In the bottle: Sweet, flowery cream with a bit of honey. Pretty! On skin, wet: Flowery... powder? Wow, why am I liking this? It's sweet and floral and powedery. The honey's there, but not very prominent. Very sweet and pre-teeny. On skin, dry: Warm, floral cream with a dash of honey and spice. Oddly, the rose isn't overpowering the blend yet -- it's there, but lingering behind everything else. It makes me think of how baby powder may smell if one added rose petals, honey and dried milk to. Very, very lovely. Conclusion: I must admit, I'm very surprised that I like this as much as I do. The more I wear it, the more I like it. It's very pretty and sweet and kind of innocent, but I'm growing very fond of it.

Rating (on skin): 1/5 Summarised in a word or two: Fire! In the imp/bottle: Musk, patchouli, citrus and... something I can't place. Reminds me of a dying fire. On skin, wet: There's definitely some sort of citrus in this blend, or so says my nose. Wet, it seems to be nothing but dark citrus and musk, with what I think is still the patchouli. It's a very exotic scent, but kind of off-putting. On skin, dry: This turns into a strange, musky kind of cat urine smell on my skin, once it dries. That, or wet, burning patchouli; I can't figure out which. Either way, I had to wash it off. Conclusion: Definitely not something that strikes me in a positive way. Oh well.

(Re-reviewed on 1 Feb 2006) Rating (on skin): 5/5 Summarised in a word or two: Beautiful! In the imp: Hmm... spicy wine; a very *cold* wine with hints of berry, and something that I *think* is juniper, but wine nonetheless. On skin, wet: Spicy! And kind of earthy. (Dragon's) Bloody and woodsy. Lovely! On skin, dry: I have no clue why I didn't love this when I first tried it in April. It's gorgeous! Berry, spicy, woodsy, earthy and bloody without being dirty or overly sweet? Love! Conclusion: Yes, love. I love dragon's blood, and have come to love woodsy scents lately, so this is gorgeous. I'll definitely be needing a 5ml soon.