tigerfish

Voluptuous and indulgent! A deep chocolate scent, with black cherry and orange blossom. In the bottle: Smells exactly like a box of Mon Chéri chocolate confectionery. A "heart" of cherry, floating in liqueur and contained in a housing of dark chocolate. Not my favourite kind of candy but something I associate strongly with my mom, who loves her brandy chocolates. Wet on my skin: Very much the same. This is actually rather nice for a chocolate scent. The dark chocolate and the cherry work really well together, making this a bitter-sweet indulgence. I wonder about the liquor scent I'm getting, though. There's not supposed to be any liquor in there, right? Since the brandy has come and bumped her off the stage, the orange is probably sulking somewhere in the backyard. Haven't seen her yet. After a while: The brandy is gone within the first 1/2 hour, leaving behind a very mild cherry&cocoa scent that others have described as well. Ah, and finally, I get some orange too. After two hours it's sadly all gone. Verdict: The initial Mon Chéri scent is very sexy, all dark chocolate and cherries and brandy. This stage is a bit too "loud" for me and I actually prefer the *I-slightly-dusted-myself-with-cocoa* scent I get a bit later. No bottle for me, but the imp is a keeper! Anyone who likes chocolate should really try this one.

I grabbed an imp of Two, Five & Seven, not because I thought I would like it but because I love Lewis Carroll's stories so much and "Two, Five and Seven painting the rosebush" is one of my favourite illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. Like everyone said, it's rose, rose, rose and then some. Not sweet or old-fashioned or girly, like I expected it to be, but just pure rose and gras. It reminds me of the lovely rose oil that they had in our ryad in Morocco last summer. Before BPAL I hardly ever wore parfume, but I enjoyed slathering myself with mint or rose oil while we where there. In the bottle: Rose, rose, rose - but also a bit sharp. On skin: Yum, it's even better when I wear it. A morning stroll through the rose garden, the petals still covered with dew, accompanied the smell of green gras. It's such a pretty, soothing scent. I poured half the imp over myself and my blanket before going to bed yesterday and slept like a baby. Despite a morning shower the scent is still there in the early afternoon and going strong. I'm probably leaving a rose cloud behind everywhere I go - my poor office mate, I will have to tune it down a bit in the future. But oh, I really, really love this one! *sniffs-wrist-happily*

In the bottle: Chiquita Banana has covered herself with whipped cream and jumped into the mixer for a whirlwind romance that she (and me both) will probably regret. Wet on skin: Banana Mama! You love me, I get it. But uhm, some breathing space would be much appreciated... After half an hour: The lady loves and leaves in a rush. What remains behind: A coconut bra, half a pomegranate and apples on the bedside table, her slightly spicy scent in the sheets and a gentle breeze from the tropical forrest. Miss Banana will knock you off your feet, but the after-glow is very pleasant.

On me The Hesperides smells like a nice pint of cider. No bubble gum apple or candied apple but spot on "hard" apple cider with something woodsy in the background. And, I realized that while I love the taste I don't really want to smell like fermented juice... alas, off with you to the swap pile, honey!

Evil gingerbread, that's just . After two hours on my skin only the lingering scent of gingerbread remains, no evilness whatsoever. Veeeery foody and makes me long for the upcoming Christmas markets with their stalls bursting with sugar-coated nuts, chocolate-fruits and warm mugs of spiced berry wine. A lovely scent and with serious staying power too: I applied a teensy drop to my wrist yesterday evening and still get faint wisps 24hrs (and one shower) later. Perfect for the season too - I will wear this one a lot, I'm sure!

Wet on skin: Candy-sweet and fruity but also a bit sharp... very much like kids toothpaste, actually! Not a bad smell, but then not what I expected either. Dry: The scent becomes much prettier after the oil has warmed up for a bit. The initial sharpness recedes and I get a whiff of flowers in addition to the fruits. It's a very gentle, female scent that lingers close to my own skin, but nothing special. Unfortunately, after an hour or so, it is all gone . So far, I've had no luck with the fruity/flowery scents: 51 and Aglaea didn't like me either...

You might try the Washing off BPAL thread. What works really well (at least on me) is using lemon juice and salt plus lots of scrubbing. Just assuming you have lemon juice at your work place (perhaps somebody has a bottle for tea drinking purposes)... Good luck! ETA: Perhaps you can get some rubbing alcohol? I know quite a few people who have a small bottle at the office to remove sticker glue and the like.

That one is strong! As in *that-jackass-just-poured-his-drink-all-over-your-favourite-shirt-and-now-you-reek-of-cheap-whiskey-and-want-to-hide-in-the-loo*-strong. Sadly I didn't get any coffee whatsoever. *gah* The smell calms down a bit after the first 15 min (I detect faint wafts of old books and dust, which would be lovely had the books not all been pickled in sugary whiskey) but it still made me nauseous and I had to go and wash it off... I'm sorely disappointed and sad because Miskatonic University was the scent that made me notice BPAL in the first place and I loved the concept behind it. Plus, I had sniffed it on a friend of mine and it was so delicious and swoon-worthy on her. Damn you, skin chemistry! But I'm going to age the imp for a few months and re-test just in case. Maybe it will improve or perhaps my skin chemistry was a bit off today. We shall see... ETA: The scent lingers even after 24h, 2 showers and some vigorous scrubbing with my soapstone. This one has serious staying power! Unfortunately the boozy note is still overpowering on me...

Starts off: Tea and ginger and the smell of clothes drying in the sun. Very fresh and a bit citrus-y. Not much throw on me, but I did apply very sparingly (just a drop on each wrist). I'm still experimenting with the scents and I don't think my co-worker would appreciate it, if my parfume turned sour on me and he got the full load. After 1-2h: Honey and milk come out to play and the fresh black tea with just a hint of lemon and ginger turns into a warm, comforting tea with milk. A bit of the spicyness lingers, though. It stays that way until the scent finally fades after about 4-5 hours. I've been wearing the White Rabbit excessively these last few days. It's a lovey, crisp, fresh scent and fits my current mood and the weather here in Austria (sunny, fresh autumn day) perfectly. From my first batch of imps this is the clear winner from the tea scents for everyday use (at the office or at university). I love Dorian as well, but it is more of a comfort scent for me, very warm and cozy and perfect for snuggling on the sofa with a good book and a cup of tea. The White Rabbit makes me want to DO something, to go for a walk or running or window-shopping... *sniffs-wrist* ah, lovely!