tdgnika

In the imp: smells like rubbing alcohol and green-ness.

 

Wet on the skin: alcohol, lemon, green-ness.

 

Immediate dry down: Smells like a combination of old lady perfume, my Grandma's linen/medicine cabinet, and the horrible bubble bath I've been given as a gift.

 

Definitely not for me.

I should love this, and I was excited to try it - Tobacco! Wood! Leather! Booze! All my favorite notes. Alas....

 

In the bottle, this smells like chemicals to me. I'm not sure which thing throws that smell - maybe the wood?? The leather being too raw? Smells... off. I let this age for several years after receiving it, hoping the off smell would temper with age, but it didn't.

 

Wet on the skin, the same chemical smell, though getting a bit of the wood at first and then within the first few minutes the leather starts to come through.

 

Hour or so later, it's a very raw leather smell. It would seem that I like my leather more aged. This one is, sadly, a pass for me.

In bottle:
light and floral, definitely get the white musk and tea but the lemon doesn't yell. Seems promising.

Wet on skin:
The lemon is now there, but it still smells light. Lemon is broadcasting a bit.

Dry down:
A bit broadcast-y of lemon and floral. It's nice and doesn't shout lemon pledge and urinal cakes, like many of the other lemon scents tend to do on me. It's a nice, light, bright sense overall, but it's not awesome enough for me personally to keep.

Fair warning - I am really bad at identifying individual notes in scents.

 

I have to admit, I did not like this at all, and I can't match the description with what I'm smelling. I usually can easily identify patchouli, but I get none of it in this.

 

In the bottle: the cloying smell of commercial perfume counters

 

Wet on the skin: A strange sweetness, something citrus-y

 

On dry down: Back to the commercial perfume counters - Chanel No. 5 with a touch of sweetness, perhaps?

 

I had to wash this off and was annoyed that I still kept getting whiffs of it.

In the imp, this smelled like cough syrup to me. My nose is weird.

 

Wet on the skin, it smelled like fir trees.

 

On dry down, it threw a sandalwood scent. I didn't get the darker resin scents that others describe.

In the imp, I sniffed and sniffed and smelled a pleasant sort of nothingness.

 

On the skin, it went immediately to a very loud, emphatic soap smell that shouted and yelled. I'm guessing that's the "peasant blouse" aspect. Oddly, I picked up no patchouli at all, which is odd because I usually amp that horribly. I wouldn't expect a hippie to smell like soap.

In the imp, this smelled like industrial cleaner. Since other folks mentioned neroli as having an orange scent, maybe that's it. Regardless, I was worried.

Wet on the skin, a lovely woodsy smell, with a bit of the pepper.

Dry on the skin, this is a nice, mellow, woodsy scent on me. A bit of spice.

I'm really surprised when I look at what is in this one. It doesn't smell like clove or musk to me at all. I am so bad at identifying notes!

 

 

I tried this again in 2018, not realizing I'd reviewed it before, and this is my new review:

 

I should love this!

In the bottle, strong musk and smells like commercial cologne.

 

Wet on the skin - I get the musk but also the other scents. It's not smelling like cheap cologne anymore.

 

On dry down - it's pleasant and the masculine, incense smell from the musk is really nice with that bit of pop from the pepper. But it's so subtle as to be barely there. I have to practically jam my nose into my wrist to get it. If I didn't know how awesome BPAL was, I would be blown away by this woodsy, incense-y scent. But, given the strengths of my other favorites, this one is too subtle to blip on the radar.

In the imp - smells like incense with a bit of sweetness.

 

Wet on the skin - it smells like...I can't identify it. The scent is very familiar, and I'm guessing it's the galangal, based on other descriptions. Some smell from childhood that I can't identify.

 

Fades to gone within an hour, sadly.

Wet in the imp (sniffed while I was in a big hurry, so probably not my most considered sniffing) - smelled like roasted nuts

 

Wet on the skin - kind of worried, because it smelled like fir trees, which I don't normally go for.

 

Almost immediately after a few moments and persisting into dry down, though, it smells like sandalwood and incense. Seems to be long-lasting so far. A definite keeper.

In the imp, it smells like sweet apple juice, and I was a little worried it would be too sweet and foodie.

 

Wet on the skin, smells like wonderful apple cider with clove. It smells like the Amish stores in Ohio at Christmastime that I remember as a kid.

 

On dry down, it smells like spiced cider with more variety of spices than just the clove. Doesn't last more than a couple hours, but it's definitely worth keeping.

In the imp, I smell a cloying alcohol sweetness – probably the barley and beer.

Wet on the skin, oddly enough, it smells very strongly of lilacs. Really.

Fades to a bland floral. What a strange one.

Sadly, there was nothing peaceful about this on me.

 

In the imp, I get a bit of lemongrass over the other scents.

 

Wet on the skin, it's throwing rose and lemon pretty heavily.

 

On dry down, it just won't stop screaming rose with a little help from the lemongrass cheerleader. Citrus and old lady's bath salts - yuck.

 

Tried to wash it off with no luck. Blech.

This scent proves what I already know to be true - I am AWFUL at identifying individual notes. I've been trying imps given to me from my wishlist without looking at the description to remind myself why they were on my wishlist, and I wouldn't have guessed any of these scents.

 

In the imp, a bit of that chemical, fake perfume-y smell I don't like.

 

Wet on the skin, it smelled like a pleasant, light flower, perhaps a bit of Lily of the Valley - maybe that's the rosewood?? Or the violet?? Who knows.

 

On dry down, it went to the generic incense smell (must be some of the musks or the sandalwood that make it do that) and then my skin ate it.

In the imp, this is all orchid in the imp, and the first day I smelled the imp, I put it back in my box, not wanting to risk a heavy, floral scent.

 

On the day I braved it, the smell in the imp and smell of it wet on my skin are totally different. Wet on the skin, I get a light wood smell. Patchouli is usually all dorm-room hippy, and I don't like it, but this is a much lighter wood note, like a light sandalwood or balsa. Started throwing that wood smell after about an hour, which I'm not crazy about.

 

On dry down, the wood has faded back but isn't gone entirely, more floral has come forward.

 

It's a really nice, light smell balanced well between wood and floral. Not sure if I'll keep it or not - I don't wear light florals much and already have more than I'll probably ever wear. But, my late kitty was named Oberon, so there's a sentimental thing... Decisions, decisions.

Huh. Rose, you say? Rose usually goes to old lady bath salts on me, but this doesn't.

 

In the imp, there was a slight chemical smell, but mostly a pleasant, floral scent with a hint of some deeper thread running through.

 

Wet on the skin, a very sweet floral. It almost went syrupy sweet, but then pulled back.

 

On dry down, I smell the rose, but it's very calm, and not throwing that horrible old lady perfume soap smell. I don't often wear floral scents, but this is worth saving for those few times on a warm spring day that I do.

First try:

 

In the imp (full disclosure, I have a cold), it smells like green and dirt, but a very good, earthy smell. Wet on the skin, it's throwing something I can't identify, maybe opium?? A sweet, but somehow dark, pleasant smell. This definitely captures evil so far and brings to mind a seductive devil's face beckoning from the shadows.

 

Second try, without a cold:

In the imp, it's awfully sweet, but there is still that earthiness behind the sweet smell. Wet on the skin, it's lighter than

I would expect, sweeter, but with a slightly dark tone. On dry down, it's a flowery incense smell that many BPAL oils dry down to for me. It's okay, but not worth keeping.

 

Much lighter and more floral than I expected. I actually liked it better when I had a cold, but it seems silly to keep an oil to wear when I have a cold.

In the imp, this smelled like beer and cough syrup, and I was worried.

 

Wet on the wrist, it smelled like spice and syrupy-ness.

 

As it dried, it went to incense, which I normally really like. But, there was something that it threw quite vigorously that got in my throat that bugged me.

I'm beginning to suspect that amber and I don't get along. I need some way to cross-reference all the scents I don't like and figure this out.

 

A forumite was nice enough to let me try this while we were swapping other things.

 

Wet and as far into the dry-down as I could stand before washing it off, it was an unpleasant mix of Play-Doh and plastic baby doll. Blech.

Reviewing the 2008 version

 

In the imp and wet on the skin - thick, cloying, syrupy sweetness, smelling like fermented fruit. Really throwing this awful, cloying scent.

 

About an hour into dry down, I had to wash it off, because it just kept screaming that spoiled, thick, syrupy smell. I didn't pick up any of the notes from the description. Interestingly, it smelled a bit woody on the wrist, even while it was throwing the syrupy smell, like Blood Kiss gone horribly wrong.

In the imp, I was getting a chemical smell that I don't care for. Not sure what note would have caused that, since none of the scents listed usually create that chemical smell for me.

 

But, wet on the skin and on drydown, I was getting only shittim wood, a very nice, light wood scent that I like.

 

This one's a keeper.

In the imp, fruit and some sort of musty, rotting undercurrent. I'm rather horrible at identifying scents that fall into this fruit family.

 

Wet on the skin, the musty undercurrent comes out and smells more woody and plastic-like? It smells very familiar but I can't place it. In the first few minutes, it's throwing that smell, and it's getting my throat.

 

Really throws baby powder within a few minutes. Within a few minutes, I had to try washing it off – it REEKS of baby powder.

I was positive this one would be a sure thing. Sandalwood, musk and cedar? Easy.

 

But, in the imp, it was all Chanel No. 5 chemical yuck. On the skin, it SCREAMED Chanel No. 5. I'd get a bit of sandalwood and vanilla every once in a while, just enough to tease me that it would get better, but then it would prove to just be taunting me and Miss Chanel would go back to shrieking at the top of her lungs.

2009 version:

 

In the imp, I get smoke, chocolate, warmth and spice.

 

Wet on the skin, I get all that, plus a bit of buttery-ness and a touch of orange.

 

As it dries, happily the orange quickly went away. Then, I started getting more leather.

 

I'm really not very good at identifying individual notes. But, this has good staying power, and is a wonderfully masculine scent that I really like. It's kind of the love child of Blood Kiss and Haunt's Winchester.

In the imp, this gives me that vague smell that I can only quantify as fruity pumpkin. I'm so bad at identifying certain notes.

 

Wet on the skin, it smells like a candle that's supposed to smell like one of those chocolate oranges.

 

On dry down, I'm definitely getting a deep chocolate smell, which is nice since most of the chocolate scents go to a cocoa powder on me - emphasis on the powder. This doesn't have that dusty powder quality. And, it's not shouting ORANGE the way that other scents that have orange in them tend to do. But, it still smells very strongly of wax. If this was a candle, I'd probably like it. But, seeing as that I am not a candle, I don't like it on me.

I have tried this one a couple times - put it on and left the house and promptly forgot I was reviewing something and forgot to take mental notes. But, today, I remembered.

In the imp, syrupy sweet, kind of the same way Blood Kiss smells when it's wet. This bodes well, since I love Blood Kiss after it gets past that syrup smell.

Wet on the skin - well, hello, flowers! How doest thou choke me with your strong scent. It smells like Lily of the Valley to me, though I could see how the rose could be misinterpreted as such by my uneducated nose. It *screams* Lily of the Valley for the first 5 minutes. As much as I love Lily of the Valley, I think it should use its inside voice.

I was a little worried, since I was going to my very blue-collar job with it on and didn't want to be shouting FLOWERS at all the guys in their shop clothes. But, by the time I drove to work, my skin had eaten it. There's a faint, very light rose/powder smell if I huff my wrists, but it's that icky old-lady-linen-closet smell that I don't care for. So, into the swap pile for this one. It's crazy-fast fade would explain why I'd always forgotten I was reviewing this one.