Miyabi

In the imp, it's intense freshness. Citrus soap-like, I'm not getting any tea or oude from this. Smells a lot like Irish Spring, to me. On skin, wet: Ah, there's the oude, but it's very light. It's still very fresh, very clean, but not too feminine. I think it would smell exceedingly sexy on a guy. Drydown: Now the oude's out, but I dunno. I think it's a lovely scent, but maybe not me. I tend to go clean-but-a-little girly. Luckily, I've got a friend who wants a scent like this, so I'm going to try a second time and if I still don't think much of it, I'll give it to her.

I actually get a warm sense from Talvikuu; it's cold and cool and almost too manly and strong at first (for the first hour or so I kept thinking I'd like this on a guy), but after that it dries down into a sweet, warm balsam scent that I used to get from the Flex conditioner a few years back. It's almost foody 'cause I think I can smell just a bit of vanilla in it too. I'll have to try out the imp more to see whether it warrants a 5 ml or not. I was expecting a less berryfied Skadi, and this one definitely wasn't it, but it's very intriguing.

Hmmm. This, to me, smells like what Two, Five and Seven should have been for me (that oil was beer on my skin). I get a lot of sharp green at first, but then it fades into the background and lets the rose peek out. A lot of posters here say they've got an image of a single fresh cut rose in water, and that's the exact image I got too. The rose is light, but it's also still there too. It's rosy, but it's a bit too clean rose for my tastes, and I usually like clean scents. While I don't think I'd get a bottle, I'm definitely keeping the imp. London still stays as my primary rose scent for BPAL.

I wasn't so sure when I opened the imp and had a sniff. But then as it dried down, there it was! That's honest-to-goodness lilac, and I'm so glad I have it, since I missed the lilacs this year. It's beautiful stuff!

Wow. I really really wanted to like this one. But then I opened the imp and it gave off that smell like Verdandi--stale chocolate when I was expecting apples, and then well, it turned into apple, all right, but stale dried apple potpourri when I was hoping for fresh apples. Off to swaps.

In the imp: Sweet-scented wood. Wet on skin: still sweet, but the woody notes are coming out. Where's the lilac? Drydown: Meh. Nice, but not me.

In the imp: Sweet fruity candy. Wet on skin: still sweet, but not so candy-like. Drydown: fruit-scented candle! ick! Off to swaps with you, my dear.

In the imp: frankincense. a lot of it. On skin, wet: There's the rose. It's peeping out a bit, though the frankincense is the star. Drydown: Rose potpourri. Eh, dunno about this one. Persephone and London are more my type of rose scents. Maybe one more time and see if anyone else wants it if it doesn't work on me.

In the bottle, it's very citrusy, but then gives way to sweet herbal powder, all while remaining clean. I've put this on the past two nights, and in the end I sleep really well (though sometimes not enough). Definitely a keeper, this one.

in the imp: sweet musk and amber. No rose. wet, on skin: the rose creeps out a little bit, but not too much. drydown: eeeeew. it's roses and pee. eeeww. Got two imps of this, and now they're off to swaps.

London, definitely. It's the closest true rose scent I've found in BPAL so far.

There is no vanilla in this. Only spices, spices, spices, and they're way too strong for me. Off to swaps for this one.

In the imp: Cherry flavored...oh, there's the honey. On skin: Honey honey honey. HONEY. Whoever compared this to Lush's Honey I Washed The Kids was right on. Drydown: Oooh, this is lovely. Vanilla's weaving in and out, and it's very light and sweet. I'm not getting any of that SEX SEX SEX vibe. This is the innocent sweet scent I can see myself wearing on dates, and it's not headache inducing. I've a date this weekend, will try it out then.

While I got an intense lilac when sniffing Dragon's Eye, but on my skin, it went kinda...weird. I could smell the lilac from far away, but when I brought my wrist up for a sniff, it wasn't there. I'd kill for a Blue Lilac SN imp or 5 ml bottle--I'm a huge lilac lover.

Out of all the rose scents I've tried from BPAL, I think London, hands down, is perfect for you. That's the truest rose I've smelled, and one that stays on my skin. I've yet to try out Black Rose, actually. Persephone is candied rose, Kurukulla came out as some sort of potpourri scent later both times I used it (and Persephone did a better job), and Eve came out as honey and ylang ylang on me. Two, Five, and Seven was real disappointing, since it came out as flowered beer on my skin.

I got an herbal sort of scent from the oil when I opened it up. There's a light jasmine note that makes it sweet, but it doesn't really come out. Today I burned a CD with the photos for a photography contest, and burned a candle with the oil as I was doing that, and as I was writing the captions, and then anointed the envelope with a few dabs. We'll have to see what turns up.

In the imp: Maraschino cherry, touched with vanilla. Mmmm. Kinda candyish though. On skin: That cherry sure does like to come out. My mom said she smelled almonds. Drydown: Cherry-touched vanilla. It's lovely, but it's not what I want to smell like. Off to swaps.

Decided to be experimental and swiped this across wrists and collarbone. In the imp: Fruuuuuity. It reminds me of all that tutti-frutti someone was talking about when I was little. No sign of the florals, but I get the idea of intense fruit punch. Wet: The grape note's really coming out on this. It stings a little. Man, I hope it's not like this on the drydown. Drydown: Fruity bubblegum and candles. No thanks. Off to swaps.

Ugh. I had such high hopes for Two, Five, and Seven, but in the imp, it didn't smell like roses, and later, as it dried on my skin, it came out, but with this boozy note. I smell like a frat carpet where someone brought rose-flavored beer. Off to swaps.

When I sniffed the imp, I thought, "Where's the rose?" and then it bloomed on my skin. It's definitely juicier than London by far, but that might be the pomegranate, which, I should note, I can't smell. It could be my allergies, but right now I can only detect a hint of rose--London was showier. But it's definitely there, and that's what counts.

Oh, wow. This is good. It doesn't smell overtly sexy and vampish, but sweet and warm in that wholesome girl-next-door who you still like way. I like this a lot. I don't know whether it necessarily calls for a big bottle yet, but definitely another imp.

In the imp, sniffed: Herbal chocolate? With some apple lurking in the background. On skin, wet: The chocolate note comes out more noticeably, followed by the herbs and the spiced amber. No sign of the apple, which was what I was looking for in this oil blend. There's a slight fruitiness, but it doesn't say "APPLE." Drydown: Chocolate and amber, the apple's completely gone, as is any fruitiness. It's nice enough, but not for me. Off to swaps. I guess I'll have to look to Hesperides for a true apple scent.

In the imp, sniffed: fruity cinammon. Wet, on skin: still fruity, but more of a sweet undertone to it. Drydown: stays the same. If I were to use this, it wouldn't be for something I'd wear every day--more like for the voodoo powers it's got--not really me. I wound up overspilling some onto a candle two days ago, so I think I may need a new imp!

In the imp: A sharp green rose. Not very sweet. Wet on skin: Where'd it go? Drydown: Ah, there it is. The rose needed time to bloom, and it's staying on my skin so far, even now, when it's beginning to fade, I can tell it's a rose. Along with Sea of Glass, I might need a big bottle of this.

In the imp: Salted citrus! Oh, boy! That did not smell like that when I uncorked it a day or so ago. Wet, on skin: The citrus fades into the background, and then the salt tang takes over. It's what makes it from smelling like those generic aquatic scents, that almost bitter salt note. Drydown: the salt fades back a bit, but it's still really pretty. The florals are coming out to play on this one. Eight hours later: it's faded almost to a whisper on my skin. Almost like holding a shell up to your ear and listening for the waves. I think I'm going to need a big bottle of this, pronto.