lohengrin

In the imp: Very green and a little musty. Sharp, too. On skin, wet: That sharp green note with a ginger kick. On skin, dry: The notes are more well-blended, and it's got a bit of smoothness now, from the cream. After an hour: No more green, and a lot more cream. The ginger isn't distinct anymore, either. It actually reminds me a LOT of Love's Philosophy. I'll have to deathmatch them.

In the imp: Florals and amber, with a hint of sweetness. On skin, wet: Basically this smells like O with some florals added in. On skin, dry: And there's the floral-soap. So, slightly soapy O. After an hour: Slightly soapy O.

In the imp: Very tart fruit, mostly cranberry. On skin, wet: Cranberry takes over. A hint of something green, but mostly it's cranberry. On skin, dry: Cranberry single note, more or less. After an hour: Same. Not at all what I wanted (coconut and amber, mainly) and I never got much of anything but the cranberry. Looks like I found another note I amp like crazy. :/

In the imp: Spices, musk. Maybe a touch of carnation, but it's hard to say--that could just be the spices fooling my nose. On skin, wet: Much the same as in the imp. Definitely strong on the musk, but in a nice way. On skin, dry: Same. Not a morpher, this one. After an hour: And still the same! I amped neither the cassia nor the sandalwood, which is kind of a minor miracle. Definitely worth a re-test.

In the imp: Lavender, lilac, something fresh and green (fern, I would think)? On skin, wet: Lavender & green ferns. On skin, dry: Same as wet, but a touch soapy (probably the lilac). After an hour: Never gets past the soapy phase, unfortunately. Another one that didn't work out at all like I hoped.

In the imp: White tea with a touch of musk, maybe. Very similar to Kumiho, oddly. On skin, wet: Citrus, white tea and musk. Still very similar to Kumiho. Not getting any woods or leather at all. On skin, dry: Ack, soap! Where did that come from?? After an hour: Major soap. Not jasmine-bad soap, but up there on the soap scale. Booo. I wanted this one to work so much. ;_;

In the imp: Kind of fresh, I would say almost green-tea-like but that must be the rain/grass combo. On skin, wet: Much the same as in the imp. Green and fresh and maybe a little tart, but no note standing out. On skin, dry: Getting a touch soapy now, though at least it's not insta-headache-dryer-sheets like some aquatics do on me. After an hour: Stays about the same. If it wasn't for the soapiness I would probably like this one a lot.

In the imp: Anise & a hint of cherry blossom. On skin, wet: Slightly sandalwoody anise. On skin, dry: Sandalwoody anise. After an hour: Stays true to the initial drydown. While the white sandalwood is less incensey on me than others it's still not a note I really care for, and it's just too dominant in this blend.

In the imp: Toasted coconut and almond. So very beautiful. On skin, wet: Coconut, almond, and a touch of sandalwood. On skin, dry: Coconutty sandalwood. It borders on "coconut incense," but falls short. This gives me hope! After an hour: Still much the same. I'm going to let this imp sit for a few months, see if the sandalwood gets stronger over time--if it does, this is not a winner for me, but if doesn't, I am in love!

In the imp: Musky and spicy. On skin, wet: Musky, spicy, with occasional whiffs of plastic or maybe play-doh? On skin, dry: Musky cinnamon, and a little more of that plastic/play-doh note. After an hour: About the same as the initial drydown. Dang.

In the imp: Fruity, with some warmth from fig. Quite complex. On skin, wet: Figgy goodness, with a little apple. On skin, dry: The apple is getting stronger and the fig fading into the background. No cinnamon, which is surprising--I usually amp the heck out of it. After an hour: No more fig, alas. Mostly apple with just a hint of something more sour. Maybe tamarind? Nice, but too similar to other apple scents I have.

In the imp: Green, floral, fresh. On skin, wet: Same as in the imp. On skin, dry: Slightly soapy green florals and rose. After an hour: Same as the drydown.

In the imp: Fruity honey. Something a little musky? On skin, wet: Fruity, almost heady honey. On skin, dry: Fruity and something I can't really articulate well--it's almost sour, like something overripe and a bit off, but not in an entirely bad way? With a honey background. After an hour: Essentially the same as the initial drydown. I like it, though I'll need to test it again to decide if I want to wear it on a regular basis.

In the imp: Musky, and almost minty somehow? Something cool that makes me think of mint, in any case, which is weird. On skin, wet: Still makes me think of mint somehow, and I don't know why. There's a musk undertone to it, as well. On skin, dry: Here comes the rose, but that odd almost-mint smell is still there as well. After an hour: Rose-y and cool, with maybe a hint of coconut. But it's also getting a bit faint already. Still, worth a re-test I think.

In the imp: Slightly nutty, almost musky. Nothing I really recognise as honey but there is a sweetness. On skin, wet: Something goes a little astringent when it hits my skin, and the sweetness takes a back seat. On skin, dry: The astringent note fades, but now it's kind of a generic slightly-woody spice. No sweetness to speak of anymore. After an hour: Stays true to the initial drydown. Gets a little woodier, and never gets back any sweetness.

In the imp: MELON. Melony melon. On skin, wet: Still melon above all. On skin, dry: Melon, with a little touch of mint. After an hour: Melon with a minty undertone. It's nice, but I'll have to deathmatch it with Yemaya.

In the imp: Leather and a little bit green, maybe the herbs? On skin, wet: Lilac and just a hint of leather, darn it. On skin, dry: Wait, the leather is back, yay! The lilac has faded into the background and instead of going soapy, it just smells a little bit clean and fresh. After an hour: Leather and that clean/fresh scent the lilac somehow morphed into. Unless it was the herbs doing that and overwhelming the lilac. Either way, I am very happy with this even without getting any trace of the plum.

In the imp: Pastry and a tiny bit of fruit. On skin, wet: Pastry and roses. On skin, dry: I'm having trouble smelling this at all past The Red Queen further down my arm. But what little I can smell is all roses and a hint of pastry, still. After an hour: Swallowed up entirely by The Red Queen. But since I was amping the rose and pastry notes right from the start and getting no currant at all, I don't think I'll bother re-testing this one.

In the imp: Cherry, and a very faint hint of something woody. On skin, wet: Cherry with a woody background. On skin, dry: Crap. This has turned into very strong cherry incense sticks. I guess one of the woods in this blend is sandalwood? :/ After an hour: Cherry incense sticks. But mostly incense sticks, not so much cherry at all anymore. So very not a winner for me.

In the imp: Floral & minty. On skin, wet: Floral, a little bit green, and a little bit minty. On skin, dry: Greener, a little less floral, but still minty. After an hour: It's kind of a watery, green & minty scent, nothing special.

In the imp: Department store perfume section. Erk. On skin, wet: Still very heavily perfumey, with just a hint of something sweet. On skin, dry: It's gotten a lot less perfumey. Now it's kind of toasty, kind of sweet, but also sharp and astringent. It's really hard to pin down this scent, it seems to be different from sniff to sniff. After an hour: It's settled into something vaguely warm and spicy, most of the sweetness gone. I'm glad the apricot didn't turn horrible on me, but it's still just not a scent I would wear.

In the imp: Sweet floral. On skin, wet: Slightly soapy, spicy floral. On skin, dry: Slightly soapy, sweet & spicy floral. After an hour: It's gotten very faint already. What I can still smell is similar to the drydown, but it's almost gone entirely.

In the imp: Boozy, and something that reminds me of raisins, somehow. On skin, wet: Spicy, boozy fruit. Still smells more like raisins to me than quince, cassis or prune, though. On skin, dry: Crap, there's cinnamon in here. Now, I love cinnamon, but I also amp it to an insane degree. This now smells like cinnamon and just a touch of boozy fruit. After an hour: Cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon. And maybe the subtlest hint of sweet fruit, very far in the background.

In the imp: Light floral, and something I want to describe as being cold... I suppose, from the description, it's the delphinium, but it doesn't smell floral, just cold. On skin, wet: Floral, slightly soapy now instead of cold. On skin, dry: Essentially the same as when wet. Mildly soapy, but not unpleasantly so. After an hour: It stays fairly stable the whole time, never really changing from the light floral with faint hints of soap. Not nearly as interesting on me as it smells in the imp.

In the imp: Amber and a little bit of floral. On skin, wet: Amber, and oddly enough a sweetness that almost smells like BPAL's "cake" note, for some reason--crumbly, a little dry, and not anything I would have expected from the description. Weird. o.O On skin, dry: The cakey note has settled down to a more general sort of sweetness, backed up by the amber and that hint of floral. After an hour: Sweet, almost sugary florals, with only a hint of warm amber in the background.