sunlitgarden

This is a decant that's been sitting in my imp box for a while. I think it was an extra someone tossed into a sale/swap package, rather than something I ordered, but thanks, whoever gave it to me! From looking at the notes, they're pretty much all things I enjoy. In the decant: this reminds me a little of Bath and Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom to be honest. I think it's because of the cherry blossom and sandalwood notes here. But I also smell the sweet honey and iris/orris, which is more powdery to me than floral. On my skin: I smell the coconut more now, but to me it doesn't smell like a dessert coconut or suntan lotion. The cherry blossom is smelling more like cherry fruit than it does in Aizen-Myoo. This is a pretty, delicate scent. For a bit, it reminds me a little of a craft store like Michael's. That "craft store" association doesn't last too long, though. This is nice, but I think I prefer Dia for non-tropical coconut and Silver Phoenix for orris. Still, I'm glad I got the chance to try it, and I'll probably keep the decant.

I was curious about Rozpustnica because I enjoy white musk (but am not familiar with "blue musk" as a note), the florals here, and lychee, but lemon verbena has a tendency to amp on me. I have had a decant sitting in my imp box for a few years now that I hadn't gotten around to trying. In the decant: The oil is a light golden color. The very first sniff reminded me of a soapy scent like bubble solution, but I can tell this is a complex blend. It's difficult for my nose to really separate out the notes, but I can smell some light, sweet florals and a sort of powdery musky base. On my skin: This is almost wine-like when first applied to my skin, but then the lemon verbena immediately comes to the surface. I hadn't detected it specifically in the decant, but as usual it really pops out right away on my skin. This is smelling like a cleaning product at this stage, lemon with an almost bleachy kind of background that burns the inside of my nose a bit. :| A couple minutes later, I can smell what seems like a nice, light floral (the moonflower/magnolia probably as it doesn't smell quite rose-like) trying to struggle through but it's still getting drowned out by the lemon verbena. Michi walked in and said she smelled rose in the air, so apparently the throw is mostly rose. After a while, it does eventually get somewhat better - it's more of a sweet, powdery floral. But that strong lemon verbena and cleaning fluid stage is unpleasant to me. I think that overall, this is a scent that just doesn't work well with my chemistry.

I got a decant of this when it came out, but I realized it's been sitting in my imp box without a review for all this time... In the decant: This is a bit hard to describe, but it's kind of a combination of sweet and green/herbal. I can smell the lemon, and a bit of savoriness from the coriander/cilantro. Overall the scent is very light. On my skin: light, sweet lemon/musk primarily. It almost smells like there's chamomile in here? It's airy and herbal, but overall fairly faint. Perhaps this decant is just too aged. To me this smells more like lemongrass than LEMON, which is usually a lot "louder", but that might be due to age. Tea-like lemon with light herbal greenery. This reminds me of either an herbal tea or what a "natural" cleaning product, like Seventh Generation, would smell like, though it's a bit sweeter and softer than that, especially as it dries.

2015 version, bottle fresh from the Lab. In the bottle: Yum! This is a rich, almost nutty chocolate primarily, with some warm cinnamon and a bit of coffee. It smells like something delicious you could get at a coffee shop, or even just the coffee shop itself with their roasted beans, cocoa, spices and goodies. On my skin: Oil is clear. There's a little more cinnamon on my skin than in the bottle. It smells like the most wonderful concoction of a fancy mocha drink with a cinnamon sprinkled on top. The throw I get from this is mostly chocolate, but if I stick my nose up to my wrist and sniff I get more of the cinnamon and coffee. For a coffee scent, this works on me; unlike Pumpkin Latte, which was a little bit too much like I actually spilled a drink on myself, this is more like just having it nearby and catching whiffs of it regularly. Michi and I agreed: sniffing this is actually kind of better than the real thing, because it's like those first delicious tastes over and over again. I know that when I order this kind of rich drink in real life, it ends up kind of being "too much" by the end of it and I feel kind of sick. This definitely ranks among my favorite chocolate scents, along with Bliss, Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Cardamom, Rum and Ginger Truffle, Boomslang, and Mayan Chocolate with Annatto Seed, Anaheim Pepper, Cinnamon, and Vanilla Bean. Yum!

I just got this as a frimp from the Lab. Just from the name I thought I had tried this already, but I think I was getting it confused with Bon Vivant. I already have a bottle of Bathtub Gin, so I'm not sure if I need to keep this, but I try to at least test all the imps that come my way. In the imp: This is fairly similar to Bathtub Gin in the imp. There's that effervescent note, juniper, and spices. On my skin: This definitely has a boozy kick to it - but it's more like vodka than the more rum-like note I often refer to when I think a scent smells "boozy". Is this a gin or vodka martini? There are definitely gin-like spices in here. I was kinda hoping there would be some kind of olive note in here, but if there is I don't smell it. It's like that effervescent note in the champagne scents + juniper/spices + strong alcohol. Unfortunately, something in this has a very specific and somewhat unpleasant association to me: the room where they made the food for fruit flies when I worked in a biology lab. I don't know exactly what was in it, but it was some kind of malty substance with yeast. It's similar to a brewery type scent, but not exactly the same. And something in this scent reminds me of that room, and maybe the rubbing alcohol used to clean things in it?

On me, a lot of scents with a "wine" note smell like grape jelly or candy. They might smell more boozy with your chemistry though. There's also Blackberry Jam and Scones (http://www.bpal.org/topic/58931-blackberry-jam-scones/), though I haven't tried it myself (it's kind of hard to find).

Preconceived notions: I just got this as a frimp from the Lab. Angel's trumpet is a flower I like in real life, although it has kind of a vegetal edge to it which I tend to not like in perfumes, so we'll see how this goes, though it might end up being too vegetal for me with the angel's trumpet and wild lettuce. In the imp: This is heading into laundry soap/dryer sheet territory, unfortunately. It's about equal parts light floral, vegetal greenery, and powdery orris. On my skin: there's something almost salty when this is first applied, maybe the interaction of the scent with my skin chemistry. This is mostly dryer-sheety powdery/greenish aquatic on my skin. It's not actively *bad* on my skin but not really my thing either.

I just got this as a frimp from the Lab. My initial thoughts are that I enjoy rose notes but am not really a fan of smoky or ashy notes most of the time, so the "blackened" comment makes me nervous. In the imp: Tea rose, primarily. I tried the Fainting Couch atmo spray recently and this smells like the same tea rose note, although Fainting Couch also has rosewater and some other notes. The tea rose to me smells like a combination of "old fashioned" and "little girl", in a way that's nostalgic and pleasant. On my skin: Tea rose still, with maybe a little bit of violet? There's something giving it a slightly chemical quality that I usually associate with violet. Whatever that chemical note is, though, it goes away pretty quickly and I'm just left with pure tea rose. Overall, this is pretty light on me compared to some other rose scents. I think I prefer the Fainting Couch atmo for tea rose. I'm still not sure what the "blackened" was supposed to be.

I just got this as a Lab frimp. In the imp: Crisp watery apple, more sweet than tart. On my skin: Very sweet apple with just a bit of something spicy. It still smells very "watery" to me. This is light, fresh, and clean-smelling, so much so that it's kind of reminding me of a bath product. (I used to enjoy Bath and Body Works Country Apple, so maybe that's why... I actually bought another bottle of it at the last sale for nostalgia's sake, despite its kind of fakeness... but I digress.) There isn't a strong wood note in this, but I think the birch might be what I called "spice" at first. Like most apple blends on me, this fades pretty quickly, but it's nice while it lasts. Overall, I like this a lot, though it's similar to some of the Weenie apple blends I've tried. But this is GC, which is always a bonus! I'll keep this imp, though I probably wouldn't use it enough to justify a whole bottle.

I received a sample size of this from the Post. I don't normally use the atmo sprays, but might as well try out the sample, especially because I like all the notes in this! Sprayed onto my shirt: Wow, I got a jumble of images in my mind when I smelled this. It mostly smells like a sweet rose. It reminds me of a Victorian era little girl's room, or a fancy tea parlor. It also reminds me of the rose flower water used in some Armenian desserts (not surprising since "rosewater" is listed as a note). I do smell a bit of citrus in here too (presumably the orange of the pomander). This smells good, but it smells kind of simultaneously "old fashioned" and like something a young girl would wear. It also reminds me of a toy I had as a kid that would roll strips of paper into a rose shape. The paper had a rose scent to it and while that was no doubt artificial, it's the same sort of tea rose/rosewatery sort of scent that this has. This made me think of Mrs. Grose, a Yule from a few years ago (which has notes of spice, black tea and rosewater), but I sniffed that to compare and it's much heavier on the tea and spice. I'm mostly getting rose. I think the other notes here are much lighter and are just contributing to the overall feel of the scent. There's a bit of a dusty powder backdrop that I can attribute to the orris. I think I like this better than The Queen's Croquet Ground, which has a lot of rose but also a sharp leafy green note to it. There's nothing like that here.

I'm bumping this thread because the Daphne is blooming here and it smells so good... Specifically it's the kind that looks like this: http://www.dutchbulbs.co.uk/plant-0004863-n-1/daphne-odora-aureomarginata/ It's a sweet floral that almost smells like some kind of citrus cake to my nose. I searched my spreadsheet and all I got was Daphne Honey and Snow Moon 2012, neither of which are really what I'm looking for. Even if it's not a listed note does anyone know of a BPAL that approximates the scent?

Received this as a frimp from the lab, and while I used to run screaming from jasmine, I've gone through some chemistry changes recently and it seems to be becoming more wearable for me. This smelled good in the imp so I decided to skin test it. In the imp: Bright white floral, kind of tropical, very sweet, almost bubblegum-like. On my skin: still has that bubblegummy aspect at first, but it fades. The jasmine is okay from a distance, but if I sniff my arm closely, it does have that sort of "bathroom" smelling edge to it. I don't really smell rose here. Overall, this is a bright, cheerful sort of floral where the jasmine behaves more than it usually does (this is not in "wash it off" territory), but it's still a bit iffy with that indolic edge. After about 30 minutes or so, the indolic/bathroom edge of the jasmine is gone. I like this stage a lot better. I think this imp might be a good one to keep around as a "test" to see how well I'm currently tolerating jasmine!

In the imp: Incense that smells very fruity, and sweet, almost like fruit flavored candy. Possibly some wine (there's a definite "grape" aspect to the fruit candy). On my skin: Citrus (lemony) smelling at first. The "fruit candy" aspect does start to fade, leaving a sweet resiny scent, but it continues to smell citrusy for a while. After a couple hours the lemony aspect does fade, and it's just a nice warm incense scent. I don't think this is something I would wear as a perfume, but I put the imp on my altar and might try using it in an oil warmer.

Frimp from the Lab In the imp: Almond (the cherryish kind) with some lemon On my skin: Starts to smell a little more herbal. The lemony-herbal aspect is reminding me of some sort of herbal tea. The almond doesn't last long on my skin. The part I got on my finger is starting to smell like rose. My wrist isn't smelling like that yet. Wrist part is smelling a bit soapy (As in, not just the scent that would be in the soap, but the soap itself). A few minutes later, the rose is starting to come out on my wrist too. Okay... the soap-scent has faded now. It's a sort of herbal-lemony-rose. I probably wouldn't buy a full bottle of this, but I like it.

In the bottle: Light rose and a comforting and sweet snow. I can't really pick out the amber, but I think it's giving the scent a "perfumey" quality but in a good way. On my skin: Much the same as in the bottle. This is reminding me of Joyful Moon, another white rose scent I have. This is a scent that could probably go "Play Doh" on some people but thankfully isn't on me. The scent has a sort of comforting and snuggly quality. It doesn't change too much much on me from wet to dry but the rose seems to fade into the background more and the sweet snow note comes out more as it dries. White amber seems to work on me without making scents too powdery, but amber does make scents smell definitely like "perfume" to me most of the time (as opposed to the rose scents that just smell like an actual rose, not rose perfume). That said, it's a really nice perfume, and it's definitely in the sweet, comforting white rose/vanilla family like Joyful Moon.

I got a sample of this from the Post. I don't really use atmo sprays but figured I would try out the sample. Sprayed on my fleece: Incense is the dominant note when first sprayed. I smell a lot of things in here. A little dirt, and a spicy wood that at first reminded me of cardamom pods (but then I sniffed those to compare and it doesn't actually smell like the jar of them) or curry or other Indian spices. That part faded, though. It starts to smell more dusty as it dries. The overall smell of it is bitter, but it's not unpleasant, especially when sniffed from further away. It's pretty masculine but not really "cologney". The bitter aspect also fades somewhat as it dries. There's a bit of fennel/anise or similar in it. (Other reviews have mentioned "celery" and "licorice" - it's definitely an Apiaceous note.)

In the decant: Sweet, vanilla-y mint. I have Lick It Vigorously and this is very similar. On my skin: yep, still mint. It's not exactly the same as Lick It Vigorously, I think maybe there's a bit more vanilla in this one, but it's quite similar. It reminds me of the inside of a York Peppermint Patty, where Lick It Vigorously is more like somewhere between mint tea and a candy cane. I recently tested Dark Chocolate, Lime, and Chocolate Mint, which was also similar, but that scent had more of a toothpaste-like mint, and this one is more candy. Like Lick It Vigorously, this scent has a skin-cooling effect, but I think not quite as strong. The drydown has a bit of that Play Doh smell but it's not too bad... but it is there. I don't really get almond or marzipan from this scent (at least not compared to Mother Shub's Cthulhustollen) but there is that sort of creamy-soft smell that's in Snow White as well. Overall, this is a fun minty scent, but I don't think it's different enough from my bottle of Lick It Vigorously to track down more than a decant.

I received a sample-size freebie of this. I don't really use the atmo sprays but figured I'd try out the sample. Squirted onto my fleece: I smell rose right away and greenery. It doesn't smell so much like lawn/grass to me, it's more sharp and vegetal. The initial burst of rose fades into the background pretty quickly, leaving much more green, but in a few minutes it resurfaces and the green and rose are more balanced. I definitely see the comparison to the perfumes Rose Red and The Rose, but to me this is a different green note - it's not really that dewy, sappy green that those blends have. It's more sharp like crushed ivy leaves. I find that sharp green note a bit strong when sniffed close up, but this is nice as a "background" scent.

I'm not usually a fan of violet, because to me it often smells kind of "chemical", but I try to test all the imps that come my way, so here we go... This scent has a cool freshness to it, and that chemical-smelling violet is there, but I feel like it fits in with the overall scent and its medicinal aesthetic. I think the cool freshness is mostly from the Spanish Moss - I tried the SN a while ago and described it as "kind of earthy, but kind of light in a way, and green; fresh without being dryer-sheety." I'm definitely getting that kind of impression here too. On my skin: Mostly I get that chemical-violet at first. I think I can smell a bit of the currant, it warms the scent a bit and gives it a teeny bit of spice. I'm not sure how patchouli root differs from a normal patchouli note, but I'm not smelling the "BO" type patchouli scent in here. I think it's just kind of giving the scent a "base", a bit of an earthy scent. As it starts to dry, it's kind of reminding me of soap. The actual "soap" scent itself isn't there (in some blends it definitely can be) but it's one of those scents that kind of smells like a nice bath product. This is a scent that I don't actively dislike, but I find it only "okay" on me.

Source: Frimp from the Lab In imp: To be honest, "pickled jalapeno peppers" was my first thought - an almost vinegary and spicy green note. There's something floral in there too. On my skin: I'm still getting that "pickled pepper" smell primarily, with a bit of sweet flowers. Most of it fades quickly, leaving a faint smell that's about equal part floral + spicy green. This is one where I am reading other people's reviews and wondering if I even have the same scent here! Maybe it's a batch variation or aging issue.

I managed to track down a decant of this. In the decant: Mostly red musk with a bit of root beer and a buttered popcorn sort of smell in the background. On my skin: I got a bit of a smoky scent for a moment, then more of the popcorn. Still getting red musk as the primary note. The smoke is more incense-like than tobacco-like to me. I'm still getting a popcorn-type smell as it dries, but it's not buttery really - more like corn kernels popped in an air popper. Red musk, a little bit of incense, and popcorn kernels. I'm not getting anything "sweet" really, nor do I smell the root beer on my skin. I'm glad I got to try this but I was hoping for more root beer and sweets; I don't think I need more than a decant of it.

Dark chocolate, lime and chocolate mint. In the bottle: Chocolatey mint. It smells like one of those Andes after-dinner chocolate mints some restaurants have. I'm not smelling much lime at this point, but I think it's giving a general tartness to the scent. On my skin: I can smell the lime for a bit once this hits my skin but then the mint becomes much more dominant. The mint is bordering on toothpaste territory. It's actually reminding me of a "vanilla mint" flavored toothpaste I used to use, which was a bit sweeter-tasting than the typical toothpaste mint. Vanilla isn't listed, but I feel like I'm getting more vanilla here than chocolate - at least compared to the dark chocolate note I've experienced in other scents. Sweet, vanilla-y mint. I think that this will be a good scent for warm summery days where I need something refreshing - but for a sweet mint scent I think I prefer Lick It Vigorously because this is a bit too close to toothpaste territory on me.

Although this scent is discontinued, I received a frimp in a recent BPTP package. In the imp: This definitely reminds me of something. I spent a good 5 minutes yesterday trying to remember what it was. I think it's basically the scent of the indoor area of a plant nursery - all the plants and flowers blending together. There's also something a bit medicinal about this - I think it's the more astringent/medicinal lavender note. On my skin: yep, more of the medicinal lavender, making this smell kind of "hospitaly". It's kind of like the combination of a hospital and a plant nursery....weird. Dry, the spices start to come out more, and there's a soft musky base to the scent that I like better. Most of the florals have faded away at this point - it's just kind of a soft musk with a little spice and still a bit of that "mixed plant" smell from the beginning. However, the medicinal stage it gets through to reach this point is off-putting to me.

That shrub is planted a lot around here, and it's been blooming lately -- I agree that it smells really good. I think the "strawberry tree" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbutus_unedo) smells kind of similar (though that blooms in October/November) - the same sort of honey-sweet scent. Though I haven't seen that as a perfume note either! Have you tried blends with honeysuckle? I also think citrus blossoms in real life smell similar, though they have a sort of creaminess that these don't. I have trouble finding very sweet florals that don't also have kind of a "sharp" or "sour" edge to my nose, so I will be watching this thread as well.

In the bottle: A rich, warm-smelling cassia and cinnamon. I think I can smell some frankincense in there too. Spiced, smooth, warm. On my skin: I smell the frankincense more now than in the bottle. The cane is keeping this scent from being too dry or dusty... it's more on the slightly-sweet side, though it doesn't really smell foody or like baked goods with the cinnamon. This scent contains two notes I'm not familiar with: bdellium and dammar gum, both of which Google says are resins. This is basically a warm, slightly sweet incense on my skin. Michi describes it as "cozy". I was hoping for more of the "creamy custard" that some people have mentioned, but I kind of get it - there's just sort of a smooth warmth to this scent. It's the kind of incense scent I enjoy. Dry, I'm getting a lot of warm cinnamon, and it's sweet, though I still wouldn't call it foody. If anything it reminds me of chai tea. I agree with the comparisons to Bengal, but I think I might like it even better than Bengal, because the musk/honey in that scent goes kind of powdery in a way I don't love. I'm definitely glad I got ahold of this!