torikitty

I, too, had a bar that barely smelled like anything. I was going to chalk it up to aging it for 2 years. I seemed to remember smelling it through the packaging when it initially arrived, so I was surprised when it hardly smelled like anything when I used it last month. But the quality of the soap actually impressed me. It lasted for quite a while, suds up nice, and didn't leave a residue.

I don't get nearly as much nuance as some of the other reviewers. It's sweet, caramel apple, leaning heavier on the apple. It briefly goes into the candle zone, but I think that's going to depend on people's chemistry. I think the caramel brings it back to more foodie smelling on me. There's a subtle hint of plasticky during drydown, which happens with my chemistry with some of the lab's vanillas, but luckily it goes away. Sweet apples, what else can I say?

I keep waffling between whether I enjoy this or not. While I'm not a honey fan, I know this is popular, so I wanted to retry it. I decided to try a fresh imp from the lab, instead of the aged one in my swap box. I think I enjoy fresher better. The amber is more apparent, and the honey hasn't gotten to the "spit" stage. The amber has a bit more of a fancy perfume feel, so it doesn't have that bawdy, dirty, sexy feel. But with the honey, it still is a bit sexy. I'd recommend that people who usually shy away from honey give a fresher imp another try.

I feel like this has the same peach as Obligatory Peach hair gloss. Surprisingly, the peach stands out more than pumpkin and spices. That is not necessarily a complaint, but tells me that the Pumpkin Patch is my go-to for pumpkin-heavy scents. I would even go so far as to say this is closer to peach pie sans crust. This definitely leans heavier on the dessert side of things.

Before I really understood the notes in Dorian, this is what I expected Dorian to smell like. It's fresh and herbal enough to be unisex, but i personally feel like it leans a bit more masculine with the lavender and bergamot taking the stage. It does end up smelling clean, and a bit of the clean side. I can see the connection made by previous posters about smelling similar to a particular brand. It does walk that line, but manages to stay away from being too "perfumey". I think I'd recommend this to just about everyone who wanted something clean, lavender, and unisex.

Strangely, this is so pretty, but not milky nor creamy, but perfumey enough to put me off. I think it's the honey and the white wood. I think this would smell fantastic on the right person, but that is not me.

Smoky and ethereal. Based on the reviews I read for Liz, this is what I was expecting. But I feel like that's giving the wrong impression. There's no smoke in this. I think the tobacco leaf is evocative of a smoky room with someone laid out on a chaise lounge with sweet, creamy skin musk that is really amped with desire.

Wow, everyone is saying foodie vanilla, and I don't get that at all. I immediately feel like it's floral. That initial floral note is putting me off. Luckily, the patch starts to cover up the floral note. There's something still funky around the edges. I'm not sure if it's the sandalwood or copal. It eventually goes away, and I feel like I'm left with a sweet patch laying next to some vanilla bean pods that have been scraped clean. But there's still an incense vibe to it. This will smell beautiful on the right person.

This smells like something I've smelled before. Not necessarily a previous bpal, but something else. Maybe a candle from somewhere like World Market. Mangoes and strawberry are not the first thing that come to mind. There's a fruitiness, but it's surrounded by the the spiciness of the ginger, star anise, and eucalyptus which really stand out to my nose. It's like spicy, fancy fruit? It kinda feels like a room freshener that you would smell being pumped around a nice hotel.

First thought when wet: Oversweet. Funnel cake that was left out in the sun, sitting next to some honey, for a few hours. Drydown: The typical Snake Oil comes out and evens out the funnel cakeness. Somehow the vegetalness sticks out slightly higher than normal, but it's not overwhelming. Dry: It mellows out to a slightly sweeter Snake Oil. I feel like the powdered sugar is easy to pick out. It's nice, I can see this aging nicely.

Wet: BANANA!!??? Drydown: Fig and ylang ylang start to show up. Fancy bananas! Actually, bananas recede to the background quickly. Amber and guava start dancing around the fig and ylang and ylang. Dry: This has a nice spa-like quality to it. Sweet, fruity, and comforting. Not entirely heavy on any one note. Very well-balanced, and a close skin scent.

Starts out: Almond and clean? Like fresh linen? Wow, I would not get any of the notes listed, except, perhaps, the lily. It's like a white floral that is quickly pushing away any gourmand notes, and leaning heavier on the laundry detergent side. Not enjoyable for me. Drydown: Still a clean, white floral with more a bit more depth. It's pretty, but it's definitely not for me.

This is all pumpkin and coconut on me. Like Halloween on the islands. So nice and comforting.

Most people see anise, and think of black licorice. This is not that. This leans closer to salty, nuanced European absinthe sans alcohol, and it's not overpowering. Kinda like a burnt sugar that leans on the musky side. It's so simple, yet so hard to describe. I don't feel like the cardamom is easy to pick out, but grounds this nicely. This would be comparing it to the cardamom in Blueberries, Cream, and Cardamom. And the amber doesn't make it feel perfumey, as I'm used to amber doing. I haven't smelled star anise in a while, so I'm realizing that I wrote this for regular anise, and that's not even listed in the notes. Yet, somehow, some of the lighter European absinthes still come to mind. It's not in your face at all, but hangs out for a while. It's a very comforting scent to me. I know this would get lumped into gourmand, but I guess the way that my body chemistry reacts with the star anise and the cardamom, it feels more musky. Like kitchen musk, is that a category? It doesn't make me think of food, but is very comforting while being a great skin smell.

Coffee and Halloween. This is so evocative, but because it's lighter, and somehow ethereal. Like, I have a pumpkin coffee, which is super in-your-face. This is not that. Wow, what a fantastic blend that I can pick up the individual notes if I read them, but it blends so well together, each doesn't scream by itself.

Clove and carnation. This reminds me of the smell of walking into a flower shop. Just a comforting, generic shop smell. This didn't really change on me. I think this would make a great room spray.

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet. I've bought so many bottles. This is incredibly unisex and super well-balanced. Although the sweetness could turn away some more masculine noses. My husband adores it, and it smells amazing on him. I couldn't pick out one note very easily. And I love how this smells different on everyone. Chocolate and wine are the most apparent while it's wet. Cinnamon starts to eek out. I could even see it having that yeasty, fermented quality that spilled beer has after it starts to dry. But, you get close to the skin, and there's so much nuance in the spices and depth with the octli. This hits me the same way that Dark Chocolate with Merlot-Infused Black Cherries and Star Anise hits my nose. There's the wine note which comes across as very sexy and dreamy, backed up by chocolate which is grounding. The spices make it entirely too enchanting. Feast can even end up leaning slightly smokey, chewy tobacco side on the right skin chemistry.

So, imagine you're in the backseat of a car, it's winter. Maybe the heater is on really high, and it's too hot. You rolled down the window just a bit for some relief. You just left somewhere they are pumping in artificial tree smell or burning a ChRisTmAs candle, which has permeated your sweater. As the smell drifts up to escape the window, that's what I'm getting out of this. I'm not very good at picking out sandalwood. ?

Not nearly as fruity as I was expecting. The white musk ends up coming across as white tea, to me, which ends up smelling kinda perfumey. The currant is in the background, giving it a chewyness that is nice, but not enough to give it enough sweetness for my taste. Definitely not for me.

Darn you, honey, making things smell acrid again. The other things around it smell pretty, but there's just an acridness that is just too much for me to enjoy this.

I was expecting this to smell more like artificial, overly-sweet cereal, and it doesn't! Kinda like that little kid smell, after they've eaten something super artificial, half sweet, yet somehow half stinky. It does initially have that blast of artificial cereal, but evolves into a creamy, fruity, and the vanilla skin musk. I think the vanilla really grounds it, and strawberry lends to a more balanced sweet/fruity experience. Strawberry fans: I think Eat the Strawberries is more of a strawberry that really meets those needs, this could be disappointing. But, sweet, fruity fans will love this.

So pretty, and very springtimey. It doesn't have the acrid, bitter note that I usually get with neroli, so the orange blossom is different here. I can see the high-end spa perfume as being a good category. It's soft floral, nothing sharp in here.

This is pretty simple. The frankincense is stronger at the beginning, but eventually floats behind the bourbon tobacco. I don't have a handle of tonka bean, so I can't pick it out specifically and speak to it. This ends up feeling mostly single-note tobacco to me. I'd say that if you're a tobacco fiend, this is nice, but not necessarily a must-have. I think there's other tobacco blends that are more nuanced than this. If you're a frank and tobacco fan specifically, go for it. I think I'd wear this when I'm wanting something with tobacco, but on the "prettier" side of things

I wish my nose translated neroli like everyone else. I had a Bitter Orange tree, and loved smelling the blossoms. Neroli from the lab doesn't smell like those blossoms. It smells more acrid to me, like a dying plant, or branches and leaves that are being cut from the tree in the hot sun. And then mown over with a hot lawnmower. But I was hopeful with the patchouli. Going on wet, the neroli takes over. As it dries, the patchouli starts to come out. There's a woody quality to it now. The patchouli balances out eventually, but I'm still getting the acrid neroli in the background. This just solidifies for me that I don't like the lab's neroli. If you smell neroli differently, and enjoy patchouli, this could work for you.

My immediate impression is rooibos tea. Ugh. I think my nose interprets that scent up a bit weird since it seems very monotone to my palate, but it seems like no one else experiences it that way. They seem to be able to assign chocolate and nuts notes to it, but it ends up smelling/tasting the same way to me no matter what flavoring is used. I know smell and taste are too different senses, but I am floored but how utterly one-note this is to my nose. I do feel an apple/cinnamon note starting to peek through, but the rooibos tea really overpowers.