whisperstilled

In Imp: Opium, strong vetiver. This is the 'peanut' vetiver I despise. Wet: Vetiver. Smoky and harsh. I was so hoping to get some opium from this one. Drying: Warming, getting a little of the opium and sweet honeysuckle, but that vetiver is just ashes in my mouth. Dry: It is heady, and if you like vetiver, you'll love this scent. Not for me, though. The honeysuckle and opium just aren't enough - vetiver is the top note here, not the grounding base.

I'm a big fan of most of the Phoenix Steamworks line, but somehow I've never tried this one! Got a fresh imp from the lab in my last order. In imp: Sage, metal, something musky, and something sweet in the backdrop that I assume is the incense. Wet: Sage, incense, and the bright metal. Actually surprisingly well-blended, this one. Drying: Oh no! This note combination seems to be turning into soap as it dries. Not sure what it is that's doing it - probably the incense and 'metal' minerality. Dry: The incense is starting to peep out again, thankfully. The sage has mostly disappeared. Still smells like Irish Spring soap though.

Just got a tester of this one! In imp: Something almost chocolatey here. Strangely, that must be the vanilla. Wet: Oop, there it goes, total disappearing act. A little rose? The pepper is giving my skin a bit of a tingle, as pink pepper always does. Dry: I've eaten this one alive on the skin. Ah well. Lovely, soft and sweet. If only it were a bit stronger!

I have a love/hate relationship with Mr. Hyde, so I was curious to get to know his other half a bit better. In Decant: A nice cologne, light and a little sweet. I definitely get the juniper, and bergamot. Not sure exactly what's bringing the sweetness, but the verbena brightens it. Wet: Sharp! That sweetness drops off on the skin almost immediately and I get strong bergamot and verbena, a slightly bitter citrusy quality. There's a hint of spice from the cumin, and some of that sharpness must becoming from the "dregs" mentioned in the notes. Not chemically though, which was my concern there. Must be more of a patent medicine kind of thing. Dry: It's become more of a classic men's cologne, now, a touch bitter and more mellow. The mint comes out once it dries, giving it a freshness. I think on a certain kind of man this would be very sexy indeed, but it's not working too well on me.

Wet: Swanky men's cologne, per the description. Sharp musk and something vaguely cedar. Dry: Annnnnd baby powder! Fancy baby powder, for very fancy babies.

In Bottle: Tobacco and incense and sandalwood. So good so far. Wet: Rum! Rum over the sandalwood. This is sweet and deep, with a little mahogany lingering in the back. Drying: Rum and incense, with the tobacco falling off, at least on my skin. Something about this combination of notes is reminding me a lot of the Marquis de Carabas, without the leather. Dry: This is, in a word, sumptuous. It's rich and incensey. The rum on my skin doesn't dominate. I want to eat my arm. If I had known this combination was going to become so deep and complex, I would have bought a bottle. This decant is not going to be enough, and this is exactly the sort of scent that ages like a total champ.

If it says leather in the notes, I'm probably going to try it at some point. Ian is the second OLLA bottle in my collection and part of a gotta catch 'em all quest due to my general obsession with this movie. Rum and leather? Wild vampiric sisters couldn't keep me away from this one! In Bottle: Rum, cool leather, and something almost fruity. A flicker of patchouli, but not overpowering, which is a good sign, I'm not a fan. Wet: Rum and the leather has faded to the background. I could swear I could smell cherries. So far this is reminding me of Gothabilly more than anything else. Must be the 'alcohol' quality, but I smell cherry liqeur when wet. It's almost sugary, with just a whiff of leather. This is not at all what I was expecting. Drying: Now the hemp is coming out, and the leather is moving to the fore again. Sweet herbs and leather. There is a distinctly green and pulpy quality to this, like a rum-soused cowboy who's been rolling in the grass, long in the saddle. I am loving this way more than I expected to. Dry: Rum, pulpy green sweet hemp, and leather with a dash of patchouli. This absolutely smells like a musician. I don't know if I'll wear it all the time, but this is like no other leather scent in my collection, and it's a definite keeper.

I always rogue, no question, in every game I play. I bought a bottle of Rogue about six months ago, tested it once, and got the vague impression it wasn't the leather heavy scent I was hoping for, but let's give it a go. Bottle: Strong, strong scent of pine and something, well, resinous that I'm assuming is the rosin. Essentially no leather. A sweet herbal quality that I can only assume is the hemp. Wet: Pine and hemp. Very herbal, not what I was expecting at all. Drying: Sweet herbs. Uh oh. While I think this does a good job capturing the concept in theory, this one may not be for me. Yep, I smell like a head shop Dry: This scent is definitely more pleasant as it dries down, more resin and less herbs, but still not for me. If hemp and rosin are your thing, though, this is your new fave!

Bottle: Musk hits me first, with a vaguely sour note, plus the vanilla. More subtle than I was expecting. Honey as well, definitely. A fruity complexity that has to be the mandarin. Not really getting much rose at all. Wet on Skin: Honey and skin musk, plus that sourish note that I'm guessing to be the 'prussic acid.' Drying: This is dropping off fast. Not a lot of amp, at least not on me. Dry: Musk and honey, but still a bit sour. I wish this had leaned more toward tea and musk, and less toward honey, which rarely works on me, particularly not for musky scents. I think I'll be passing this one along!

In Imp: Booze and cherries, with a base of chocolate! Slightly grapey wine note. Awesome. Wet: Chocolate comes out big time on the skin. It's giving the booze a good solid base, but the cherries are still definitely making themselves known. Dry: This is a bit of a weird one, I must say. The cherries and wine have made for a mix that ends up being a little sour, weird, and disconcerting with the chocolate and anise. I might have to go in for a second test, but I don't think this one is for me. Glad I stuck with a tester!

In Imp: Spicy! That strange but fascinating smell of dead leaves that I love so much. Definitely the same dead leaf note that's in scents like November and October, so if you like those, you'll love this one. Wet: Spicy, astringent dead leaves. If you grew up in a northern clime, this scent is guaranteed to give you nostalgic feelings about the fall. There is a little spicy wood here, as well. I don't get much clove, although I think it's part of what's making up the backing spice. Drydown: Dries down earthy, with a less intense astringency, and gets much sexier as it settles on the skin. Awesome! 4/5

In imp: Chocolate and something dark and fruity. Possibly the meat of the pepper? Definitely vanilla as well. My first impression is that it reminds me of Candy Butcher. There is a bit of the spice I expect from Mayan chocolate, as well. So far, it reminds me of Mexican hot chocolate, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Wet: Mexican hot chocolate and dark fruit, still! Very interesting. The spice is starting to come out on my skin. Strong vanilla, mingling with a dry cocoa scent. It continues to remind me of candy butcher, more like cacao dust than chocolate. Really nice! Drydown: As the vanilla scent comes out more and it becomes less spicy, this scent is becoming less foody and more sexy. Whatever it is that the pepper is doing that's giving it that dark fruit hint has turned this into a much more complex scent than I was anticipating, and I love it! Cocoa scents tend to be hit or miss for me, but this one is completely wearable, not overly foodie, with pretty good throw even from just a little bit on my arm. I wish it retained more of that spiciness, but that's my only complaint! 4/5

So glad to be back getting new BPAL again! Let's do this: In Imp: Cocoa, creamy lemon, musk, oh my GOD this is good. From a distance it reminds me enormously of the Lace scents, I'm assuming that's the bourbon vanilla blending with the cocoa. On skin: Clean and foody at once, how surprising! The clean is definitely a lighter musk, but as it dries the lemon is growing strangely astringent. Thankfully the cocoa is peeping through, which I think will ground it and keep it from going all lemon soapy. I'm really surprised! I fully expected this to be mostly foodie, but on my skin the scent has gone very cleaning product-y. The throw is more creamy. Drydown, five minutes: Musky indeed! The foodiness has gone out of the scent almost entirely. This scent does indeed almost verge on cleaner-y, but just veers out of that territory. Now that it's settled on my skin I do get a little of the custard and vanilla, just enough to keep the skin musk from being overly harsh, but this is definitely not the warm and friendly scent I was expecting! Not terrible, but not what I was hoping for. I'm glad I stuck with a tester on this one. 3/5

This may be the scent I was looking forward to most from my weenies, so let's see! In Imp: Oh. Oh man. This smells like Black Lace with an injection of blood. I am already basically 100% onboard. Wet: Strangely astringent on the skin, with something that hints of vetiver. Go away, vetiver! The laudanum is, I think, what is causing the medicinal scent. The tobacco musk rides high with the linen, however, and keeps the laudanum a bit more in check. This feels more like a cologne than a perfume, but is delightfully androgynous. Dry: Staying medicinal, clean linen and musk, with a wisp of tobacco smoke and the sting of spilled laudanum. The blood is barely in Blood Moon, though it seems to be coming in a little more on the drydown. I wish this scent was a little warmer and a little less medicinal, but it's still awesome. I think as this one ages and mellows it will only get better.

2011 In Imp: Wow, not what I expected at all. I smell chili powder, of all things, something spicy, along with the boozy musk that's advertised. I can only assume the 'chili' note is the smoke and fire, but in the imp it is weirdly strong and astringent to the nose. Wet: Dead leaves, sugar, musk, and something uneasy and a little sickly underneath that I think is the booze. Dry: Oh thank god this is getting way less weird as it dries. Whatever the hell the chili powder scent was it's going away now, and this is drying into something that really does smell like a sweet autumn wind blowing over sweat-soaked skin, with maybe the tiniest wisp of smoke. The booze has sweetened up, and I can remember of what this reminds me of now - The Unsavory Grave-Diggers. A LOT, actually, just without the 'cold' feeling I get from UGD. It's even getting a touch of strange spice as it dries further. This also reminds me of Mary Read. It has a similar natural/booze mixture to it, like someone chugging cheap brandy on an autumn night while they set somebody's house on fire. I cannot get over how weird of a morpher this scent is, but in the end it kind of works as a Smut + October combo. Strange, but interesting.

In Bottle: Not what I expected at all, yet somehow totally appropriate! I smell linen, a touch of jasmine, and definitely opium poppy. The honey is, I think, present in the light sweetness, and there is something faintly fruity about it, though not in any definite way. The amber gives the whole thing a powdery quality. Amber tends to become baby powder on my skin, so fingers crossed that is not my fate today! Wet: Linen, jasmine, amber. The honey is still there. This isn't the thick golden honey I like, it's more the powdery honey that reminds me of amber. I'm finally getting some vanilla off this, and the linen cleanness of it really is lovely. Dry: As it dries, I get more opium poppy and linen, which really were the notes I was hoping for. The amber is lurking in the background threatening to turn into baby powder, but the other notes, specifically the fruit, which has mostly faded, seem to be keeping it just wet enough to work. Something gets a little musty about this as it dries, and it reminds me of a slightly jucier version of Sir Hugh Ockram's Winding Sheet. On final drydown, I get no fruit, a touch of amber, and mostly the vanilla-linen-florals trio, with lavender finally showing up on the drydown. Not as much opium as I would have liked, but it is there enough to make this a keeper. This is a light, dry opium/linen scent. It's a keeper, but time will have to tell and make sure this doesn't go super powdery in an hour or two and that the lavender doesn't amp up anymore. Still, pretty awesome. 4/5

In Imp: Sandalwood and something a little acrid that made me wrinkle my nose. If I didn't know better, I'd guess there was vetiver in here. Maybe the oud? I'm not familiar with what oud smells like, so I really don't know, but something is kind of sour and dark lurking in the background. Wet: This is a little better on the skin, but there's still something weird in the background I don't like and can't place. The musk is there, but overpowered by the sandalwood. Dry: Much better as it dries, but still not quite the hit the other RPG scents I've tried are. The beeswax sweetens it at the end, so this one might be worth a longer length test to see how it does over the course of a day. It dries down to a very dry sandalwood with some musk and still some dark weirdness. Not terrible, but not great. 3/5

In Imp: Sharp, 'perfumey', and elegant, just what I would expect from an Elf based scent. I definitely get the bark and the musk, as well as the moss - this is light and consists mostly of old greens instead of fresh ones, which is just perfect. I don't get much amber, which is a good sign, since amber is a total death note on me. Wet: Sweet! Much sweeter on the skin than in the imp. I am getting some violet now. The bark has died back considerably, as has the musk. A touch of honey and lily, perhaps? Not very floral, though. And yes, now that I sniff it again, just a touch of the berry. Dry: What a morpher this one is! It's sweet now that it's dried down, but really well blended, not particularly floral nor too green. The bark is still there giving a backdrop to the sweeter honey and berry notes. This is a light, green, beautiful scent, one that will definitely layer really interestingly with some of the harsher class based scents. Can't wait to try just that! 5/5

In Imp: Whoa! Leather in my face, and something that might be the blood, with an oily edge that has to be the steel. My immediate thought? Rivet.Goth. It's got a sweeter edge, though, and in that way it's a bit like Robotic Scarab, but nowhere near as sweet or spicy. This is well worn leather, my favorite kind! Wet: Yep, definitely Rivet.Goth mark II, but without the harshness or so much of the hardware store intense oil that put me off that particular scent. The musk is there, but more as a backdrop. Dry: While a harsher, sharper leather than I usually like, on the drydown as it calms a bit this scent is great. I can tell I'll only be needing a dash of it when I do wear it. While it doesn't quite hit the highs of my favorite leather scents, it's a great fallback for when I don't feel like wearing something a little more precious.

In Imp: Leather and something sweet. This is surprisingly soft, even in the imp. I get the musk and the frankincense and just a dash of the vanilla, which I think is what's sweetening it up. So far, so very good. Wet: Oh good god. Sweet vanilla and leather with a dash of spicy frankincense and white musk to give it bite. This is just to die for. If anything, my only complaint is that I can tell it's a slatherer, but that is A-Okay by me, because this smells amazing. Dry: Come back Paladin! My skin eats this scent in record time, but I can't even complain because it's so delicious. I'll have to layer this one with some of the others later, this is one beautiful light leather scent. 5/5

In Bottle: Plum, florals, a definite smokey back note and something sharp and citrusy. This is a sit up and take notice blend. It has a bit of an oriental perfume feel to it, but dirtied up by the smoke. I don't get much amber and just a whiff of patchouli, but I do get some vanilla sweetening it up. This is a complex blend, and it seems a little different every time I sniff it. Wet: Plum and floral with smoke. I get a little musk, no jasmine, and maybe a little of the orange and mimosa which I think was the citrus/floral combo I was smelling earlier. The notes here blend almost seamlessly together, however, giving the whole thing a sexy, smokey vibe that is surprisingly light. Dry: As it dries, the orange is coming out more. I still get a little vanilla and some of the florals, and while some notes have faded back in the end this is what it was in the bottle, if a little dirtier on the drydown. Totally intriguing scent, good for a night out.

In Imp: Cakey lemon and tea! This smells like sitting down to a lovely tea with a piece of lemon cake and a cup of black tea with honey. Wet: Oh my goodness, can anyone say om nom nom? The cake note from Cake Smash, but with lemon icing. This smells exactly like the iced lemon poundcake they sell at starbucks with a bit of tea in the background. Dry: Lemon cake! The tea stays just a background note, and it is still pretty much as it was in the imp. I'm not getting the hate for this scent - I think it's definitely not for you if you don't like foodie scents, but if you do like stuff like Cake Smash or Huesos de Santo which are its closest relatives, you are going to love this. Fab!

In Imp: Fog, wood, and a touch of smoke as advertised. The wood is piney and the dominating note, but almost smells as if it's been polished smooth. Wet: An uncomplicated scent, this one - mostly wood, with just a brush of smoke and something aquatic that does indeed smell like a thick fog. Dry: Unique, masculine, and a touch sweet, but not all that interesting.

In imp: There is definitely a cologne vibe to this one. So far the only identifiable notes are the wood and beeswax, with something else lurking underneath. Reminds me a little of Philologus, but without the leather. Wet: Now along with the beeswax and wood I get a little of the salty sea waves, and as it warms up on my skin it sweetens in a way I find difficult to define. This is a very well-blended scent, resiny and a touch sweet as it dries. Dry: Creamy beeswax, wood, maybe a hint of salt, sandalwood, and something soft and sweet. This is a very intriguing scent, one I am hard pressed to define or pick out notes for. I'm not sure how much I'll wear it, but it's definitely something different. 3/5

I am hoping against hope that things go better for this scent and I than Sugar Plum Fairy and I got along. I'm still holding out for a good dark foodie scent from the Yules. In Imp: Gingerbread! I had gingerbread coffee this morning, so I have gingerbread in my nose already, and that is most decidedly what this is. Gingerbread and spices. Wet: Whoo! All of a sudden this isn't just gingerbread, it's ginger. Ginger comes out strong over the foodie bread/cookie note, and gives a spike of interest to what seemed like a mellow enough scent in the imp. Color me intrigued. Dry: this is way nicer than I ever could have hoped. Gingerbread isn't even my favorite thing, but I figured I'd give this one a try and see what came of it. Lo and behold I got a gingery foody scent that is strong on the ginger. I don't really smell the marshmallow except maybe in the far background, but I do get a touch of the spices and vanilla. But make no mistake, this is yummy cookies and ginger, not just gingerbread. Surprisingly good, definitely wearable and a comforting, warm winter food scent. 4/5