Muppetk

disclaimer: am suspicious of this blend immediately due to presence of jasmine. Jasmine likes me not. OTOH, honey likes me and tends to amp extra on me.

Wet: *slow blinking* *looks at wrist funny* How on earth does this start out as lilac? It's a more subtle lilac than bpal blends with the lilac note, but I swear that's how it starts out. It's really nice though.

Drying: Pretty decent throw. I didn't put that much on, but it's wafting up at me while I type. It's very pretty. A tad fruity (from the rose hips I think) combined with a cool honey. Maybe it's the green combined with the honey... but it's a surprisingly refreshing honey. I don't believe I've ever found a blend that said "cool honey" to me before. Interesting.

dry: AH - there's the jasmine I was worrying about. Though it is far more sedate than I was expecting. I forgot that honey seems to be the one note that can force jasmine to behave on me. Not quite enough, but enough to make this an almost scent for me. Surprisingly nice. I may save this to retry another time of the month. (TMI & NTS: Today is day 5, very end of period.)

dry a bit longer: the jasmine is behaving...? It's actually being one of the chorus instead of utterly taking over. It's a miracle! Or maybe I just need to try jasmine blends this time of the month?

Dry an hour: Nope. It took a while but jasmine has done it's usual and taken over and gone funky. Sigh. I really need to give up on jasmine blends even if every other note in it is a good one for me.

CDXXV

Huh. Not sure what to make of this.

Wet: SO + something cologne-y, like an ingredient I might know from an aftershave. It's not rosewood - which always goes OMG I'M A GUY on me in a similar way but deeper, plus something powdery - I think like the more femme amber from brisingamen.

Drying: holding pretty steady. Femme Amber slightly stronger, but the odd MEN's shaving-cream note still going strong. Sigh. I have a feeling this is something that's not going to settle down now, but may age out in a year or so. Several of the snake pits had a note that did something similar - was louder than the rest, but settled into the blend as a whole after a while to make it really nice. I think it was banded sea snake that did something similar with oakmoss where the oakmoss was obnoxiously loud at first, but after a year or two became something FABULOUS.

Dry: (Men's) Shaving cream note tames a little, but not enough. Though what's underneath it makes me think I need to hold onto this, and that it'll be wonderful in a year or so.

This is almost a keeper. It's almost enough that I'm going to want to try it at several points in my cycle - to see if some hormone shift squashes the champaca... and maybe I'll try it on scent lockets to see if it's my chemistry makign the champaca turn from mogwai to gremlin or if I just don't *like* champaca.

So to the real review:

WET: Yum. This is my favorite part. Plum + burgundy wine -- rich and full and juicy. More than decent throw too. REALLY nice.

Drying: And then the champaca starts to come out. It's still nice - It's about 1/2 champaca's powder/cough medicine and 1/2 plum/burgundy. Still nice, but really disappointing after the first glorious burst.

Dry: And then the champaca takes over. Only a hint of sandalwood ever peeks through, and the champaca smothers (or at least overtakes somewhat) that gorgeous burgundy from the beginning. Sigh.

CDLVI

Oh happy! My first impression of this is Snake Oil plus cactus and a subtle hint of baking spice and some general... lightly sweet furriness. Furriness is a quality I tend to associate with basenotes, especially musk & oakmoss. Yes, it's a very silly description.

Then I read the other review for this bottle and I can see how apple & clove make more *sense* than cactus plus "spice", but it just felt greener and juicier than apple to me. Maybe my chemistry is odd? Anyhow, it's not a *foody* scent and it is deep and just slightly sweet which means, ME LIKEY ME KEEPY ME HAVE BOTTLE FILLED TO BRIM SO THERE, so this review does no one any good except for being a learning experience in how my Nose is Weird. The other review also says tobacco & dark musk and I think THOSE are entirely possible, but subtly. Hmm... as it dries further, I can see the apple resemblance a bit more...

So the note total is feeling desert-exotic: SO + cactus + apple + tobacco + spice + musk. Nice. Am inclined to agree with the other reviewer on it not lasting long, but I'll happily reapply this. Then again, it *seems* to not last long, as I don't smell as much close by my arm, but as I sit & type, it's wafting up to me. ME HAPPY!!

EDIT: updated to say that a little later, it seems like there's a slight wine note. The combination is reminding me of Beth's Aztec and/or Mexican blends, only fortified by snake oil. This is an awesome thing. (It's also making me thing that layering regular SO with CentoinT~~(something) could be pretty nifty.)

But this is the first Chaos I've tried from CTV and I'm so damn happy with it. I have one more to try. If I like it anywhere near as much, I may have to hunt down all I can get.

I tried this one tentatively, as cherry and I often don't get along, but it's hard to resist the call of deep mahoghany.

Wet/drying: *blinks* I swear to dog, it smells like a barbie doll. My nose must be on crack today, but it smells like a richer version of snow white on me -- which also has that sweet barbie doll plastic scent.

Dry: The cherry actually seems to be okay as the currant keeps it tamed to less than obscenely sweet (*cough*Aunt C's Joy Mojo*cough*), but OMG POWDER BARBIE is most of what I'm getting. Sounds like one of those velvet woods Does Not Like me! Either that or I'm missing part of the scent as my nose is stuffed on one side today... I think I need to try an old favorite to see in my nose is Just Off today.

Unless my nose is on complete crack, fans of Snow White would like this one.

Starts out pretty when wet, with the linden pretty evenly mixed into the other floral notes and no worryingly sharp herbals. Within 5 minutes, it seems to have 80-90% disappeared. This is nice enough, but destined for someone else. TO THE SWAP PILE, ROBIN!

~~A review in many layers~~

I've tried this one numerous times & at numerous ages. The listing of notes sounds perfect, and I keep coming back to it again and again.

Fresh: It's very peachy. Peach syrup straight out of the can (which I assume = peach blossom + vanilla bean) with an undertone of those lovely amber/sandalwood notes that I love, but still pretty dominantly peach syrup. Not for me as I don't care for overly sweet and foody, & I didn't initially bother to write a public review before now. But I've heard it ages incredibly well, so... I held onto it. And the notes all sounded so good and I was so convinced that I should like it, that I'd pick up more whenever I was buying from someone's sale post and they happened to have a cheap imp. I have a lot of those now. Not to mention a bottle, but that's another story.**

Aged 3ish years: This weekend, I got into a discussion with someone on LJ about how it takes 3 years of aging to get *really* good, and I think "huh, I need to try that again." I have some imps of it with the old label, with the less elaborate phoenix, (and I believe the labels changed about 3 years ago) so I pulled it out for a sniff. That WAS nicer. The peach was MUCH tamer, the undernotes of amber/sandalwood were much more prominent (much more amber than sandalwood though). Very smooth. This one felt much more balanced, and got an "ooh, that smells nice" from my SO, whose taste, like mine, runs to incense/amber/snake oil/patchouli/etc. Conclusion: I totally agree on aging it for a couple of years! Still haven't decided how much I like it though. It's much nicer, I'm hesistant over the amount of peach. Maybe I personally just like a drier blend? Maybe I need to experiment with layering it. I certainly have enough of the stuff!

Aged 5+ years: And then tonight, for the first time in ages, I made an attempt to organize my massive piles of bpal, and I ran across a tarted imp of Tamora. I'm fairly sure that the lab stopped tarting imps in 2004, making this one an old fart of an imp! Aged this long, it has gotten DEEP. The peach is deep, like a bass profundo of a peach, but the other notes have deepened even more! The amber/sandalwood/vanilla have enricked and darkened to the point where this blend is like a very mellow, VERY mellow, peach flavored O. Plus an extra... furry*** quality for the first hour or so that reminds me of oakmoss. Like if someone took Oakmoss and transposed it several octaves lower. It's also got a slightly burnt quality that reminds me of my first sniff of (EDIT: Dia De La Muertos. (The original, I add, in case it's been reformulated.) I'm pretty sure I meant the burnt note in original Sugar Skull. One of them anyway!) This stuff is pretty wow for intensity & depth. I could also compare it to Khrysee on steroids. Serious steroids. And the killer part -- it's become amazingly rich the way I like scents, but I'm just not sure that it's me. I think I need to try it again in cooler weather before I'll know for sure. It's gorgeous, but it may just be that this rich a scent doesn't agree with OMG AUGUST IN NYC EEEEEEW!

** On a related note, tonight, I have officially come to the conclusion that I own entirely too much perfume.

***Yes, I'm quite aware that saying something smells furry makes No Sense At All.

Wet: starts with a light, slightly masculine scent that makes me think of aftershave - kind of a cross between oakmoss and rosewood. I'm guessing that's the "woodmoss" as the opening act.

Drying: becomes a little more complex, but still vaguely masculine. Much as I adore gender neutral/heavily wooded/musky scents (which this ISN'T, just saying that I don't often go for overly femme scents), this one is starting to look like a no-go for me.

Dry: It continued to round out & the ambergris pokes it's head in making it a bit nicer; it's probably be nice on a guy. I don't love it enough to present it to my sweetie to try on or to hunt down more of though. It's very nicely blended -- note that the cedar, lavendar and white sandalwood, all notorious for taking over a scent, all behave nicely enough that I might not have guessed they were in here. So if you like scents that smell like a nice aftershave but are scared off by one of those notes, fear not.

EDIT: a couple of hours later, the base notes drydown is lovely. It's sweet and creamy and woody. This doesn't magically transform it into a keeper, as the lingering scent is a skin scent without much throw for me. *shrug* Not worth the "meh" first hour or so for me, which is much louder than the lovely rest of it.

Well, this almost works on me. That is, it's gorgeous - smooth sweet complex incense/musks except for one overriding note, which I'd have to label jasmine. I need to look up the florals in this and see if one of them is related to jasmine, because jasmine takes over and dies on my skin and this blend did the exact same thing. Sigh.

I just do not understand why this didn't work for me. I love amber. I like orange. I usually love vanilla. The scent is pretty together -- it's very much an O + orange blossom to me. All the individual notes, and I can pick them out, are nice. But they only seem to go together "nice" on me, as opposed to the OMG I would've expected. And the overall scent feels like it clashes with my personality. I'm sure I'd be thrilled to sniff it on someone else... but *shrug* scentfail.I just do not understand why this didn't work for me. I love amber. I like orange. I usually love vanilla. The scent is pretty together -- it's very much an O + orange blossom to me. All the individual notes, and I can pick them out, are nice. But they only seem to go together "nice" on me, as opposed to the OMG I would've expected. And the overall scent feels like it clashes with my personality. I'm sure I'd be thrilled to sniff it on someone else... but *shrug* scentfail.

Oh. My. God. I need more. I need much more. (You want to buy me a birthday present? Send me some of this.) This smells incredible on me. SO SEXY. Cannot stop sniffing my wrist! All rounded scents - dark wood & musk & tobacco & a bit of spice. I was worried about the anise & the caramel - I can't stand either anise or foody notes, but they either disappear or blend in perfectly.

Also, this got me nibbled by my SO. Always a plus! I'm so, SO sorry I only got a 1/4imp decant in the circle.

This is lovely. Sensual, musky-incense plus a light femme-y floral on top. Actually the best way to summarize this is THIS almost exactly what it smells like when I open my bpal box. That wonderful melange of all things slinky!

Does not like me! Wet stage is melon + evening flowers (nice!) + amonia. O.o

Dry stage is nice evening flowers + rubber bands. Reviewing mostly for my own reference. Does Not Work on me. I wonder which note it is that curled up and died on me....

"Bitch" from the Panacea blends is designed for PMS.. but when I'm PMSing, I really like Snake Oil. I guess that one's more of a to-each-their-own thing, though.

I too find Snake oil soothing when cranky. Or when anxious. Or tense. Or when having stage fright. Other good options include TAL White Light if PMS gets ya blue, and Moxie if PMS gets you too lethargic to move. Also, TAL Charisma, if you HAVE to be social but it's the last thing in the world that you want to do. (I can *seriously* attest to that one; it didn't just make me more pleasant to be around, but I enjoyed myself a hell of a lot more than I was expecting to.)

My god this is good. I haven't been moved to review a scent in a while, but I *adore* this. It's everything an incense blend should be -- woody, resinous, slightly sweet and it makes my shoulders relax.

It reminds me a bit of Chitmani Dhupa (sp? you know the LE of which I speak), but... it's much more. It's rounder, brighter, sweeter. If that one is a 4 star blend, this one is all 5stars. Too bad it's going to be such a pain to acquire more of.

Iago = Determination.

Can't say that I agree. Iago made me gag, while determination actually smells really *really* good to me. The difference might just be the leather note in ago though; most leather notes disagree badly with me.

I would like to try and find (if possible) a carrier oil that is reasonably unscented but THICK.

The first things that come to mind are avocado oil and jojoba oil. Avocado is definitely thicker than some of the other oils I've worked with, and at least the stuff I have is completely unscented. (I know you can find it for something like $8/4oz from The Vitamin Shoppe.) And while I haven't worked with jojoba yet, I'm told it's technically a wax, so I'd expect it to be thicker. Maybe someone else can speak to the scent of it.

But no, no scent similarities were given.

 

Yes, when I asked, the last reply I got was "I'm going to have to ask Beth," and then nothing. Oh well. I'm still looking.

Bummer. Oh well. But you know what I think? I think if the snake pit had an albino member, this is what is would smell like! Charisma = Albino Snake Oil + Moxie. No wait, it'd be Moxie plus Enraged Albino Snake Musk!

I amuse myself far too easily...

I sucked up my courage and emailed the lab to see if they could recommend a scent equivalent to Charisma, but I don't know if I'll get an answer. If I do, I'll post it.

 

Hey, it was worth a shot, right?

 

MV

 

I did too -- I emailed Forest late yesterday. I asked her both if there was an equivalent and, just as important, if this was an esoteric blend that could be overused. (I mean hey, maybe I just need to smell good and be more charming 5 days/month?) If/when I get an answer, I'll let you know. I suspect I should at least get an answer to the latter question.

Replying to my own post... how bizarre. But just saying that I got an answer from the lab... not the one that many people wanted, but one that I can work with. I was told that as long as I was using the oil with intention (which I am, as during that time of the month, I could use something which at least *appears* to minimize my flaws), I should go ahead and keep using it. That I'm not overusing/abusing the oil. I can work with that. Even if I'm not in public, I suppose I could set the intent to minimize the appearance of flaws from myself. And who couldn't use a little of that during their period?

...justify, justify, justify....

But no, no scent similarities were given.

I sucked up my courage and emailed the lab to see if they could recommend a scent equivalent to Charisma, but I don't know if I'll get an answer. If I do, I'll post it.

 

Hey, it was worth a shot, right?

 

MV

I did too -- I emailed Forest late yesterday. I asked her both if there was an equivalent and, just as important, if this was an esoteric blend that could be overused. (I mean hey, maybe I just need to smell good and be more charming 5 days/month?) If/when I get an answer, I'll let you know. I suspect I should at least get an answer to the latter question.

I don't suppose anyone's found a GC or LE scent that smells like Charisma??

 

Hm. I wonder if anyone has actually ever asked anyone over there if they would mind telling us a scent equivalent of a TAL oil? It's kind of fun to guess, but on the other hand, Beth or someone could probably give us a better answer. Hey, it couldn't hurt to ask!

 

From the Reviews of Charisma, people have said that it reminded them of Hymn, Mata Hari, and Faustus. I have a hard time placing one note in Charisma, but I seem to get amber (or maybe ambergris), patchouli, and something ... sweet.

 

If you ask the lab, and they tell you, would you mind posting back here if they say it's okay? I'd love to get a lab opinion on what Charisma is closest to, BPAL-wise.

 

MV

Could be ambergris, I recently realized that the two scents with that note (The Wild Men Of Jezirat Al Tennyn & Antony) that I've tried have been really yummy on me too. (Of course, I haven't tried them this time of the month. But I'm still trying to work up the nerve to ask... I feel vaguely like it'd be cheating, like I'd be asking for Beth's secret recipe. Which I'm not trying to do. Maybe I just need to be charismatic more often?

I'll have to give Hymn, Mata Hari & Fautus another try if I can find them in the scary pile of imps that have taken over my home.

I don't suppose anyone's found a GC or LE scent that smells like Charisma?? Charisma smells lovely on me normally, and bizarrely, during my period, smells like THE BEST STUFF ON EARTH. There are so few things that smell nice on me that time of the month let alone smell amazing, but I feel a bit like I'd be abusing the oil to wear it when I'm not actively looking for a social boost. Worse, I'd be worried about over-using it and then not having it work anymore when I want it to.

D'you think that emailing the labbies for a recomendation with similar ingredients would do any good on this one?

Wet: Okay, now this is pretty! Lightly-spiced plums with the chrysanthemum blended in seamlessly. I don't smell much in the way of musk, but that may have something to do with witting next to two open boxes of bpal bottles.

But this is really nice. I may well go from merely testing this one to slathering it for the day! (I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I love 'mum moon! But I had no clue that plums could be so pretty on me!) It's lighter on me than I usual care for, but given that it's hot and humid today, that may be a good thing.

Of course, I may well edit in a half hour to wail that it's turned funny on me, as fruits used to, but it looks dry and ... it's oooh, better! The spiciness is actually becomeing slightly deeper! Oooh!

VERDICT: YAY! If I'd ever finished an imp of anything, I'd immediately go out and get a bottle of this. As is, I'm going to savor my imp & get more if I run out.

Huh! Aquatic Vanilla! Whodathunkit!?

Seriously though, it's a soft, aquatic vanilla with a hint of musk and more than a hint of soap on me. The soap just ain't working with my skin. Hmm... actually I think I may be mistaking soap for sunscreen, which is how coconut goes on my skin & to my nose. So it's an aquatic/coconut/vanilla. Interesting, but not me.

In the Imp: faint snake oil with LOUD sharp spice and a hint of baked goods. Made me recoil a little to be honest.

Wet on: Ooh, okay, the recoil baked-butter note is gone, and I have a light snake oil background and a sharp spicey foreground. Whoa cinnamon! But hotter and drier. (At this point, I actually looked up the notes and realized which imp I'd randomly pulled out of the pile. No wonder my wrist feels warm. Cinnamon AND ginger AND cassia?) It's probably the ginger pulling it so far to the hot side of the force. Within about 20 minutes though the spices even out with each other. Nice.

Sensitive skin alert!! Jeez, this has turned an area on my wrist slightly larger than a quarter red! I knew it felt warm to start, but wow. I rarely react to bpal and this one has got me but good. Mildly stinging, and I now know NOT to apply to my usual favorite spots: cleavage and behind ears, 'cause OUCH. Though seriously, it's causing enough enough irritation that I'm seriously tempted to experiment with using this on acupoints to see if I can stimulate an immune response without needles. I *think* it'll work, and a hell of a lot less akward than sticking myself with pins. [Note: I'm a licensed acupuncturist, not a creative masochist. This is professional experimentation, dammit! *ponder* I wonder if I can deduct a bottle of this as a business expense?]

Later (an hour or two?), the snake oil balances out with the spices better. The redness & most of the stinging is gone. And it's certainly yummy. I have a feeling that with a bit of aging, the snake oil will intensify and spices ease up and balance each other better. In the meantime, I think it's more about scent lockets than wearing it on ouchy locations.

Overall: Yum. Probably getting more!