Xiabelle

Wonderful frimp from the lab. So happy, as this one has almost made it into my last two orders. In the imp: I smell... nothing. Maybe this is because I had Snake Oil on at the time, or I'm congested, or because I'd been smelling other oils... but I couldn't smell it at all. Worrisome. Fresh on: Oooh, there it is. It's... spices. And amber, I suppose, but it smells like desert grasses to me, and I definitely get the sense of the sun beated down on a golden plain. It smells very much like grass, but in a good way. It's hot air across a field grass, not hay that makes me sneeze grass. Drying: Mm, spices. Is that cinnamon? Maybe. There's some... not clove or anise, but something else in there. It's yummy. Keeps this very golden. It's not how I always picture amber, which is a richer warmth. This is a wilder, sun-drenched warmth. Very lovely. It's rather close to my skin, but I didn't apply much, either. This definitely isn't the Cowardly Lion, though. This is a regal, proud lion watching over his pride. So pretty, although I haven't decided on it yet. I think I'll age it a bit, but this is definitely something to wear when you want a strength to you. ETA: I hadn't worn this since I wrote the review and decided to try it again. Holy wow. It's that TOM and this has turned to the most incredible creamy, sweet amber. Yummy. I wish everything smelled this good on me.

OK, now I see why everyone loves this one. Yummy! This came in my first order yesterday, so of course it was the first thing I tried on. In the imp, I believe the first words out of my mouth were 'Oh my god!' Sweet, spicy vanilla with amber undeneath it. Mmmm. Fresh on, I was initially surprised at just how viscous thick this one was. Wow. I only swabbed it once, yet it stood on my skin, putting off soft vanilla smells. Very orangy. This would definitely stain light clothes. Smells yummy though, and I'm getting a strong amber from it. I let the oil sit there a while (10 minutes later, it STILL wasn't dry!) while I sniffed at my other new impies, then rubbed it gently in. OK, I admit it: I was still drugged from benadryl, so about a half-hour into this one, I fell asleep for several hours. By that point, it was still spicy vanilla, with a hint of powder coming through. Amber seems to powder on my a bit, but in a good way. Final drydown: rich, lucious vanilla, witha hint of spice. I'm not precisely sure what sort of spices, but it's definitely very sugary and vanilla. The amber's warming it. I really, really like this. It's got that fabulous warm quality I look for in the commercial perfumes I buy, and that has to be the amber. But.. there's still something missing a bit in it for me, maybe I need another kick, or to layer it with something. I don't know if it's a wear all the time scent yet. However, it's definitely something I'd wear when I want to feel vanilla warm and sexy.

I think I like this one... In the bottle: I'm not quite sure. Got this in a swap and we had an incident with another imp in shipping, so the label got utterly soaked in Jailbait. Unfortunately, Jailbait's sharp bubblegum does NOT go with Intrigue! I can't smell the imp without being assaulted by the smell of Jailbait, so I think there was some fig and a bit of cocoa, but I'm not sure. Fresh on: Figgy goodness... and Jailbait on my fingers interfering. I have to wash my hands. I'm definitely going to wash the imp off and relabel it. Dry down: First it's gorgeous figs, dusted by cocoa. A bit of wood comes out to play, but this is very dark and rich and soft, but a little dusty too. Quite pretty, I think I like it. On my wrists, a few hours later, it's softened a lot to be soft woody figs and cocoa. Maybe it's the palm I'm smelling for the wood. It's all blended quite nicely, with nothing really predominant. If I sniff at my cleavage where I have a bit, it's warmer and a little figgier, but still quite nice. No cedar notes, thank goodness. I think this is a keeper. Not sure if it's a big bottle or not, but I'll need to try it again to finalize my opinion.

Marie, she hates me. In the imp: Ew! I don't know if my nose is off, but I really don't remember this being so.... foul... the first time I sniffed it. It smells chemically and, dare I say it, a bit like urine to me. Yuck. I would expect violet and rose to be gorgeous to smell, at the least. On: Wet, it's still got that chemically scent. It IS kind of like perming solution, like someone else mentioned. It got louder, but it's still sour as it starts to dry down. Dry: I can pick out violets and rose, but they don't go with my chemistry at all, and smell rather harsh. It's bad floral soap. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind floral soapiness, but this is... bad. I can handle clean soapiness, but this is just cloying and chemical. I can't decide if it's the violets or roses that hate me, but I suspect it may be a rose note. Ultraviolet was bright and fresh violet soap, but Marie... No. Off to swaps with you!

When I first opened this, all I thought was 'Ack! Wood! Too much wood!' In the imp it's very very strong, sharp cedar and patchouli, which is not really what I want to smell like. I tried it anyway, despite my reservations. Fresh on, it bloomed with cedar. Wow, that's sharp and loud. A few minutes in, I got a real musky scent -- patchouli, maybe, which my skin tends to amp (I'm looking at you, Rakshasa) unless it's in small quantities. It settled down again, though and eventually I started getting something sweet with the wood. This dried down to an absolutely gorgeous warm cedar, backlit by amber. I could smell sweet amber warmth floating behind it, and it was like opening a very old cedar chest that had been sitting out in the sunlight, so the smell was heated. Lovely, but not quite what I would generally wear as I'm not into wood in that big of amounts. I tried it on the boy, but it was mostly straight cedar on him, and he thought it was too sharp. A coworker expressed interest when I told him about it, so I'll probably let him sample it and have it if he likes it. Otherwise, it's off to swaps. ETA: Late in the wearing, I evidently developed a sensitivity to this, since every time I smelled it, it felt like someone was stabbing the top of my lungs. I knew my cedar allergy would come out sooner or later.

In the imp, this is gorgeous: mint and eucalyptus with violet sweetening them. Yum! I like it, especially as I'm starting to really adore that sort of scent. Once on, lots of mint still. It's quite cool with a sweet candy undertone. Someone mentioned those violet candies or mints and that's exactly what I get from it. Love those. But as it fades... where'd the mint go? It dries down to a very clean violet soap smell. Not a bad smell, but still... it's violet soap. About three hours later I can barely smell it at all and it's almost gone, but it's still sweet violet smoke with a tiny tinge of mint to cool it. I'm undecided on this one. I was gifted an imp and I have one coming in an order, so I guess we'll see. I'll try it again on some cotton or in my car (mmmm).

You took the words out of my mouth (I haven't smelled Alice yet, but it was certainly my first thought!) To be more useful: Hrm. All I can think is, say, Jailbait (another I have yet to smell) if only for irony. I wore Hollywood Babylon to an amusement park a week or two ago, to good effect, too. That would work well for MGM.

Oooh, wow. This is not just chocolate. It's CHOCOLATE. In the imp, it's pure, pure chocolate. Very drinkable. I was surprised by how light it was too, but mmm. It smells fabulous. It's a milkier chocolate than my bottle of 13, obviously, because I don't get the orange or iris notes. Very much the yum. Once on and wet, it's instantly hershey's syrup. Very sweet and fluid and almost viscous. I like this. I can't believe how true this is staying, No morphing at all really. It did go through one phase where it was very dry and had a touch of vanilla, but morphed back some. It's dried a bit to more cocoa -- it's sort of like dutch process cocoa, floating in the air, but my skin is warming it. Really, it reminds me of nothing more than brownies, or these chocolate fudge cookies I make. Very nostalgic, in a way, because when I sniff my wrist I feel like I should be baking, mixing batter and checking in the oven for the doneness. Yummy. I really like this. The boy told me when I first got the imp that I should wear this if I wanted him to lick me. He's a huge chocoholic. So I think I'll wear it tomorrow, since we're going to visit my parents. I'm evil like that. This isn't something I'd wear every day, though, as it's a bit foodier than I want my perfume to be, and I think I'm more likely to layer it, or perhaps get some unscented conditioner to mix it with so my hair has a lovely chocolate scent. That's a bit more what I'd like, I think, than chocolate perfume. But it's good. It's very good.

So happy I managed to snag a bottle of this off the forum. Wet in the bottle, this is chocolate. It's very rich and complex chocolate, with a definite orange undertone and some hints of something floral in it. Can't tell what, but it's definitely more than chocolate and oranges to me. Makes me hungry, Fresh on, it changes: there's still chocolate, but it kicks in then fades very quickly. I can't even define what it smells like, to be honest. But it goes through the morphing process relatively quickly. The boy came by about a half-hour after I put it on yesterday and at that time, while it was drying, it changed to a decided spicy white tea and iris scent. The iris was very prominent to me (good because I love irises) and had a bite of white tea tempered by some underlying sweetness (good since I find white tea astringent, although much less so than green tea.) It was strong enough I'd occasionally get some whiffs. It was amazing how different it smelled on from in the bottle. Suddenly, 45 minutes to an hour later, it went back to chocolate with florals. It was a much dryer chocolate scent, like cocoa as others said. No milkiness at all, but sort of like a chocolate tea to me, with the fruit. I could still find it all, but the chocolate was floating over everything. It made me very hungry. And it stayed like that, for hours. It only morphed and softened again to a slightly dusty/mustyness in the last hour before it faded. I put it on at around 10 am or so... I could still smell it around 6 pm, which was when it started fading. Lasts nicely on me. I like this one. It's not a signature scent for me by any means -- it's not as warm or lush in the same way as what I look for in that -- but I'll definitely use it all up.

Oh, what to say about this one.... In the bottle, this is gorgeous juicy peaches and amber. I like fruits, so this is a happy thing to me. It smells good enough to eat, or like a nice peach liquor. Fresh on... I'm... not sure what that is. some peach, but something much sharper too. Wow. Not sure how much I like this yet. Peaches, but the patchouli is starting to amp up. Dry down: Ack! I almost scrubbed this off, the patchouli amped so much. It was giving me a headache, and evidently my skin likes to take it and run with it. Way too much, and it's just.. sharp and screaming. I really don't get any fruit or amber at all. It /is/ that time of month right now, so maybe that's why... but the patchouli amped up in Rakshasa too, so I think it's just me. About an hour and a half later, the patchouli has finally faded away, and it's a lovely warm amber peach, sort of like peaches in wild honey. I think the musk is mellowing it, and the patchouli as well. I like patchouli when it's subtle, not when it screams at me. Not sure if it's a keeper yet, but I like the dry-down even now, several hours after I put it on, since the fruit gives it a sweet roundness. Yum.

Hmmmm. So when I got my swaps in the mail today the first thing I opened up to try was O. Boy was coming over anyway, and I thought I'd test. In the bottle: I went through three distinct thoughts. 1. Woah, sweet sugared vanilla! 2. Oh my god. This DOES smell exactly like sex!! 3. Wow that's a lot of honey. Wet, it was really sweet honey. That was all I could smell. As it dried down, it started getting richer. Really sweet. It almost made me uncomfortable bewcause it still had the sweet sex smell, but not in the same way. Vanilla beans drenched in honey. When the boy showed up, he proclaimed I smelled good. I proferred my wrist and he said that was what he smelled. A few minutes later... he said it smelled like baby powder. Bah! So I have amber vanilla baby powder. This isn't a BAD thing, but it's not quite what I'm looking for! I still like the way it smells, but this might be a bit too much one-note for me. However, my period started today too, so I'll test it again when my hormones slide a bit more into whack and we'll see what happens then. ETA: I tried this again a few days later and it's still too much honey and sex for me. I like sweet scents, but I'm not sure I want to smell THIS much like honey, which seems to have amped up powerfully on my skin. Ah well. This is coming in my first order, so I guess it'll go straight to swaps. The imp I have... hm. Maybe layered as someone else was pondering, but I'm not sure with what.

Pretty and floral in the bottle. It's very bright. Lots of wisteria. Fresh on, well... it's wet. It's sort of like you took a cedar room, sprayed it down, draped it in wisteria and a bit of lilac, and then heated it up. Very cedary with the florals threading through it. Too sharp for me, and it's making my nose run. I'm allergic to cedar. Dry down is ok... now that it's been on a couple of hours it's faded into a pretty lilac with a twine of wisteria, but really, this isn't my sort of scent at all. It's a bit too cool for me, I think. There's something else going on in there, but I'm not sure what it is. I might sit on this a bit, and decide.

Given how much lotus hates me, I almost didn't try this one. But I'm a well-trained little monkey, so I figured since I HAD it, I owed it to the oil to give it a chance. In the bottle: Sweet! I can smell the lotus, but then I'm hypersensitive. Maybe it won't be that bad. First on: Woah, so that's what the bubble gum lotus scent people have been talking about is. That makes my teeth ache. It smells like hubba bubba, so sugary sweet. I don't chew gum. I don't want to smell like it. But since this lotus isn't instantly pukey on me like most of them, I have some hope. Five minutes in: Oooh, roses. They don't sneak through for long, but they're gorgeous, antique roses. My mom had some climbing roses that smelled like this: fruity, heady rose with big velvety red blooms. I like them (and I'm not a rose fan). But the lotus is still there, and keeps intruding its bubblegum. After about 10 minutes: Oh, there's the pukey lotus. Ugh. Although to be fair, this isn't as vile as most of the other lotus I've tried. It doesn't smell like cheap floral soap. Still smells like bad florals, but it's not nausea inducing. Must be the influence of the roses. An hour later, it's still got the same scent, but it's all lotus, just not as awful as usual. I don't detect roses at all. It's not terrible, but it's definitely not something I'll ever wear. This will be swapped. ETA Over 4 hours later, it's actually a sweet candied-rose powder, but it's very close to the skin. Kinda pretty, but the lotus party at the beginning kills it for me.

The Dormouse made me very happy and girly feeling yesterday. I need some now to wipe away my annoyance with blood lotus today....

I hate you lotus. Why do you ruin everything for me? In the bottle, this started out promising. Is that what dragon's blood smells like? It's thick and sweet and rich, and despite my misgivings about the lotus, I have high hopes. First on: Oooh, sweet. Undefinably sweet. I can't even classify it. It's fruity and floral and just nice. I spilled a bit when I opened the imp because it was practically glued shut, so wiped whatever was on my fingers onto my other wrist. From the thin-coated wrist.. argh! It's the nasty soap-lotus smell! I seriously get the image of rancid walnut shells in soap. Nasty. The thicker-coated wrist is still ok. Within 15 minutes all I smell is the lotus, and the dragon's blood occasionally creeps through, but it's all lotus-lotus-lotus. Lotus hates me. In the end, this smelled like a really bad, sweet almond floral soap gone nasty. I had to scrub it off after an hour because it was making me nauseous. Plus, the smell of it mixed with the pumpkin bread I was trying to eat was very much Not Good either. (Sadly, the traces of it mixed with the pink liquid soap they put in office restrooms actually isn't that bad.) Off to swaps for you!

Um, wow. In the bottle: cherry starburst. Sweet, sugary CHERRY. Wow, that's sweet. On, wet: Still CHERRY. Oh, and something spicier. Is that the anise? The musk? It's interesting, whatever it is. Not bad, not good, but interesting. Still smells yummy. Dry down: About 15 minutes in, this totally vanished on me. I was utterly confused. This was way too strong to just vanish. Buh? Is my skin hungry today? Did I just get used to it? I even went and smelled some coffee to clear my nose and no luck. Another 15 minutes and it came back, and this time it was cherry-coated star anise. I didn't really get the licorice some people have, but then I know exactly what star anise smells like (given I bake with it and have some in my pantry) so it's very much anise-not-licorice to me. Sweet and spicy. Maybe it's cherries rolled in amise? Not sure. Whatever, they're all mashed together. And it lasted. And lasted. It didn't change a bit, just kept on radiating cherry and anise. I get no musk from this at all unless it's tempering the anise a bit. This morning, I could still smell this on the crook of my elbow, but now it's just musk. /There/ it is. A slightly dirty musk, but musk nevertheless. That's more than 12 hours, folks. This is nice, and I like it, but it's pretty foody to me. I like some foody scents, but not this sort. I don't want to smell like anise. This might make a good room scent, or maybe I'll save it for holidays when I'm baking. I do love the cherry note in it, though. But.. not really my style.

This is so gorgeous in the bottle. I love gardenias and they're so rich and creamy and sweet... in the bottle. But as soon as I put it on, I was overwhelmed by jasmine. Jasmine and gardenias! Jasmine again! This is sharp and way sweet, and I'm not sure I like it. As it dries down, it starts smelling like fresh-cut grass or weeds in a ditch, which is a bad thing, given I'm allergic to both of them so hate the smell. The gardenia is still there in the background, but it's behind the very very green grass scent. Is that roses? I'm not sure. It's just too sharp and makes my nose tickle. I'm wondering if roses hate me, since I had bad luck with Rakshasa, too. Even after an hour, it's Not Good for me. If it kept the creamy gardenia, I'd be all over this. It fades very quickly, too. Not a keeper for me, I don't think, alas.

Oooh, yum. I must have this. Now. In the bottle: This was very very loud. Sort of like vicks, without the medicine smell -- not the ones with menthol in them, but standard throat-soothers. Almost too cloying. It's like if I mixed this incredibly sweet cordial I have -- raspberry di amore -- with amaretto. Fresh on: there was a bright hit of fruit, then the amber and musk especially both came out. It was really really musky warm with a slight fruit undertone for a bit. Dry down: This kept morphing back and forth. I'd smell fruit, then I'd smell musk and amber, then it'd smell like I'd mixed strawberries with vanilla schnapps and amaretto -- I see where people get marzipan from, as it throws some almond sometimes. When I first put this on, I was just half-dressed, and I spent about 20 minutes grumbling around the apartment because I wanted to wear a sexier shirt and I couldn't find anything that wasn't just a t-shirt and was suitable to wearing to the museum, which is where I'm going today. I finally swabbed a bit more in my cleavage, and gave in and put on something sorta fitted, but not before tossing aside a couple of other things. Now it's dried down to a rich cherry vanilla with a nice spicy undertone of musk and amber so it's not too sweet. Fruity, warm musk. Mmmm. I want to layer this with a bit more amber or some sandalwood maybe. But it's so yummy. I need a bottle of this. The imp's not going to last long. It's really not a summer scent, but I love warm scents, so it doesn't really bother me. It'd be good when it's cold and wet here, though, too.

Bottle: Sharp sandalwood and patchouli. Isn’t there supposed to be rose in here? Fresh on: Helloooo patchouli. I guess the sandalwood is in here too. Somewhere. It’s very woody, and it almost gives me a headache. This smells like a lumber store, after they’ve been cutting wood, or going into a new house after they’ve just sanded the hardwood floors, but before they’ve varnished. I’m not sure I want to smell like sawdust. It’s very masculine to me so far. An ex of mine would have been fabulous in this. Not so sure about the current one, since he doesn’t know how to wear scent or what he likes. As it’s drying, it’s really not changing any, either. I still can’t smell the rose. Maybe I’m just overwhelmed by the rest of it. Is that rose? Hrm. Maybe. I still can’t quite tell as there’s still some really strong sawdust going on. But it’s rounding a bit. Sort of like crushed roses buried in sawdust, then lit with a stick on incense. It’s very incensey to me. It smells a bit like a scent I was given to mix in with my oil burner years ago. That might have been patchouli rose. I’m not sure. I didn’t like it. After an hour and a half it’s finally got some recognizable rose, but too much patchouli still. This combination doesn’t seem to be working for me. It’s like the thorns of a rose rather than the rose itself. I really wanted to like this, because it sounds so wonderful Such high hopes – my favorite commercial perfumes all have both sandalwood and patchouli, and one I made myself at Garden Botanika had a gorgeous sandalwood base. Maybe I'll try it again later, but it might have to be swapped. I think I need to buy some single note oils so I can actually identify scents better.

Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen. More from my yummy ebay purchase, since I was impatient... In the bottle, woah. Pepper. Something sharp. Is that the linen and ginger? On, ok, there's the linen. It smells like a homemade linen teabag, after it's been used. Yum. It has a definite floral scent to me, but I can only think that's the honey and vanilla or something? Maybe the milk as well. It reminds me a bit of fading gardenias, which is good because I love them. (And I know it's not the gardenia body wash I used this morning because that stuff really never stays on my skin.) Drying down it's got that floral tea undertone still but the pepper's coming out a bit and is tempered by the honey and milk. You know, I just realized -- this smells like a freshly prepared and doctored mug of my English breakfast tea. Maybe even a bit like Bengal spice, but with weak spice. A chai made with white tea, maybe. This is really nice. It seems to be settling into a sweet floral tea and the vanilla is starting to come out, with an undertone of sharpness. I usually wear warm, full scents, without the sharpness, but I really like this one! The longer I wear it, the sweeter it gets. Now I’m getting honey and vanilla tempered by weak tea and ginger. I’ve got a very strong impression of my bottle of orange-blossom honey. The ginger is definitely floral, and it’s like honey-covered flowers with the pepper peeking around in back with a slight bite. I just want to slather this! This almost made it into my first order from the lab. Now I'm glad I got it even sooner. Mmm. I'm definitely going to use this imp up. Haven’t decided on a big bottle yet since I’m new to this all, but we’ll see. Several hours later, after lunch, it's faded to a hint of almost-nothing sweetness. Now I want to pour some into a bottle, maybe with some carrier oil, so I can really slather it a lot.

The Dark Side of Water: clean and purifying, yet menacing -- lotus and juniper with a hint of mint. A scent dragged up from the depths to the Stygian shore. Just got this one out of an auction. Hrm. Pardon my untrained nose. I sniffed at my imps and just loved the way this smelled so much... In the bottle it's so gorgeous, like those buttermints or the little square after-dinner mints that melt in your mouth. It has a sweetness lurking in the background and I like it. After I put it on, when it was wet, it was mint. Mint. MINT! Oh, and a bit of evergreen, but mostly minty like spearmint. A few minutes later it darkened and there was something darker lurking behind it. The lotus, maybe? It wasn't as cold. The juniper is giving it an evergreen smell. I'm so glad this isn't making me sneeze. After about ten minutes I had to pause. Soap? Soap and nuts with mint? How strange. It wasn't bad, just odd. Lotus, which I can only recognize because I tried s lotus-scented cream the other day, seems to have a nutty odd scent to me. But the mint's still there, and it's changed out of that to a more mint-accented lotus. And once it's all dry it seems to fade quickly (although I didn't put much on) into an odd sweet-nut-sweet-rubber smell with mint edging around it. When I smell at it, it feels cool. But, alas... not bad, but not really for me, I don't think. It'd be a great room scent, though. Or maybe the boy will like it. I'll have to ask him. My dog likes it, though. He's tried to lick it off my wrist twice. ETA I handed this to my coworker whose wife mixes essential oils and makes candles this morning, and he proclaimed it to be bubblegum.