torikitty

Unfortunately, I can't do the roses, it's nauseating to me. However, I am impressed with how the roses do actually smell dry, and the earth and moss are hiding in the background to provide context. This reminds me of one of those sachets you'd put in your underwear drawer. In the dry-down, the overpowering rose smell does lighten, and seems to blend well with the rest of its earthy counterparts. It's well-done, too bad I can't enjoy it.

In the imp: smells a lot like Snake Oil.

Drydown: I think someone nailed it with "Grand Marnier spiked with patchouli". Funny, because, orange isn't the first thing that comes to mind, but a boozy, orange liquor does. Also, I don't know that I'd categorize this as "strong", as many others have. Subtlety sensual seems to be how I'm amping it. And I'm also surprised by how much the orange is downplaying the sharpness of the patchouli for me. This is such an awesome blend.

Imp straight from the lab.

In the tube:something is making this obnoxiously sweet and cloying. I would have initially passed over it.

Wet:grassy, bright, happy, little spicy, sweet without being overpowering. I can smell a bit of the hyssop.

Drydown: the dry deserty grasses coming out, sweetness is going away

Dry: minty, sweet becomes slightly powdery, like hanging out in a sunny, dry field during sundown

At first, it's wet and citrusy, with a bit of woodsy. I expected this to be more foodie, and it's sweet (probably the currant), but not fruity sweet. Kinda odd, actually. I guess I end up amping the mugwort, champa attar, and saffron-infused agarwood. I can see this being really pretty on the right person, but I'm not bringing out enough fruitness to keep it. I think a citrus, woody incense is a good description.

This ended up going a bit fizzy, and smelled faintly of industrial bathroom cleaning products that were used 2 hours ago. Ever so slightly water, clean, vaguely floral.

Wet: Too much leather for my taste. There's a slight hint of the sweetness of snake oil, but I feel like it's being held back by the leather.

Edit: to be fair, after more drydown, the snake oil is coming out to play more. The tonka seems like it might be there to help even out the sweetness of snake oil.

Wow, I'm not getting tea at all. So sad. Strangely enough, this went oddly bright floral on me, and reminded me a lot of Flower Bomb.

I think the other reviewers are pretty apt, there's freshness with the lemon verbena and the sage, but something pulls it a bit watery. I wanted to like it, but I think it's too complex and unisex for me to enjoy.

When I first ordered this in 2009, I think my skin was amping the honey. Everything smelled overly-sweet and acrid, and I wasn't enjoying it. I let it sit on the shelf for a while, and decided to try it again. I think it's definitely mellowed to the point where everything blends together better. I honestly can't pick out one particular scent. I would say it's still sweet, but it's not overly musky or fruity. It kinda ends up smelling like that ubiquitous BPAL smell when you open your treasure trove of bottles. I guess it's good for when you just want to smell sweet and fruity, without any distinct fruit.

Scents are so personal, so I would hate to give something I loved so well that someone else didn't enjoy. And guys can be even more particular when it comes to the types of scents they are willing to wear. BUT it's the thought that counts, so how about trying to get her more interested in BPAL overall with an imp pack? Or maybe a gift certificate so she can shop for herself? I love giving Etsy giftcards. Good luck!

How funny, just received my imp from Freyasfae. She was super nice, and noticed it on my wishlist, and threw it in with my order.

In the imp: Straight up Creamy Coconut from BB&W, but ever-so-slightly more adult. I could huff this for way too long.

Wet: I can smell the coconut, cream, and the macadamia. I think the macadamia is making this feel more complex, so it takes the edge off smelling like a kid wearing a cheap body spray. So good!

Drydown: I think the amber is sneaking out a bit, the vanilla is turning slightly plasticy, and the coconut is just chilling in the background. It definitely smells better wet, but I'll try a scent locket. Also, I can see this having a lot of good options for mixing with other stuff.

Thank you All! I think I have a couple of these.

I agree with ChessCheval's review. Very fresh and lightly sweet. I was expecting more fruit to come forward, but they remain in the background, while the florals are the star. It's a really, really interesting blend. I can see fresh garden and blossom fanatics enjoying this. Oddly, my skin eats up the entire smell after a couple hours. It's too floral for me, into the swap pile.

I'm not really sure what these single notes smell like, so I don't know if I like them. Are there any General Catalog that might be a blend, but you can easily pick out either Hyssop or Amber? They don't need to be together, suggestions for just one would be great. I have a lot of imps, so hopefully I have something that might give me an idea of those notes. Thanks!

Poisoned Apple, for sure. Punkie Night is nice, but ends up smelling candle shopey to me. Snow.Glass.Apples, good luck, I really hope the lab does another iteration of this. A few other recs I saw: Pomona, which I feel goes more towards pomegranate. Pure Applesauce is magic. Definitely look into the apples from the last weenies: http://www.bpal.org/tags/forums/Bobbing%2Bfor%2BApples/. I really like Apple 2 and Apple 5, but they are all nice. Glittering Apple of the Stars is nice, but goes soft and floral. I had forgotten about the Celestial Apples: http://www.bpal.org/tags/forums/Celestial%2BApples/. Autumn Cider smelled just like cider, which was too sweet when you want fruity.

I'm really interested in Coral Snake now!

So glad I got a frimp of this since it was on my list for a while.

Way too floral for me, like overly sweet granny perfume. It doesn't have a huge throw from what I can tell, but just enough to pick it up from my wrist while typing. I can't really pinpoint any particular notes because it's so overpowering to my nose. I wanted to like this, but oh well.

In the bottle: nice, sweet, and fruity

Wet on the skin: like candied fruit mixed with lemon pledge, minus the artificialness. I did have a slight burning sensation, I'm guessing from the cinnamon.

Drydown: I amped the patchouli like crazy! I enjoyed it wet, and *I* can still smell some of the fruit, but husband is only picking up patchouli.

Sadly, with the skin reaction, and amping patchouli; this is going into the swap pile.

I think Lady_Fire's description pretty accurately describes how I'm experiencing this, too. Just when I think I don't enjoy a particular element, turns out if it's blended with some other things I think I don't like, then I LOVE it. Very odd, but very cool that I keep finding new things to like. Hoping I can snag another bottle of this. What a great swap!

2015

Reminds me so much of how Obsession for Women smells (specifically on my aunt)! I find it hard to pinpoint any specific smells. I wouldn't describe snow, flowers, or plastic. I find this very enjoyable, though. It's not overly floral, not overly spicy, or overpowering. Just a nice, somewhat sensuous smell.

Sadly, not for me. I think the jasmine is coming through like gardenia, and that overpowers the fruit. It ends up going really floral, and it's not working for me. Going into the swap/sale box.

This one really surprised me! I can't stand rose-scents much, they give me a headache. But I think the amber and sandalwood blend out the rose nicely, making it really delicate, sweet, and slightly powdery. I would definitely recommend if you're usually gourmand, and think you can't handle rose usually. This might surprise you.

Received a decant, and tried it on both myself and DH.

Wet: buttered popcorn, like, whoa!

Drydown: buttered popcorn with cinnamon

Dry: If I think reallllly hard about a yeasty beer, then perhaps you describe this as that. I drink a lot of beer, especially pumpkin beer, and that is not the notes I'm picking up from this. It kinda has an artificialness, like you dropped in pumpkin candle into it. It's not bad, but I think I'm not amping the right mixture from this.

Wet: sweet, crisp apple with a tiny, dark something hiding in the back. Perhaps a bit of the patchouli mixed with tobacco. Maybe a bit of the herbalness from the lavender.

Drydown: apple calms down significantly, tobacco becomes more apparent, and seems to be sweetened by the orange blossom and vanilla champaca. Tobacco slowly tapers off.

Dry: Where did it go? My skin ate it up! Usually I amp honey, but I have been known to have orange and some apple smells go missing on me. Too bad because the initial application smells pretty awesome.

Edit: this has had time to age. Apple disappears pretty quickly, I get a dark tobacco and champaca. It's ever so slightly sweet, like a overly ripe apple warmed in some dark leather.

Amazing cookies! The frosting does come out a bit after the drydown, but it's not as tangy as you'd expect. This is pretty much the perfect pumpkiny, sweet, without going artificial or craft-store-ish.

Took a whiff from a decant which was a frimp. NOPE! Smells kinda like weedkiller. But I'll have to try it on, since the rest of these reviews make it sound really interesting. Will update later...