brilliantcat

In the bottle: Fizzy champagne with a hint of something darker. Immediately after application: The champagne fizz is almost immediately cut by resinous, smoky opium. It takes a moment to settle down. Warming up: Bubbly opium. I'm not sure the cheery fizziness of the champagne is melding well with the opium. I like my opium to be dark and murky and sitting in a corner tempting you with its seductive wiles, not floating in happy, bubbly champagne. Fading: Champagne with a hint of opium. Faded: Average throw, average wear. Overall: I am SO disappointed I thought I'd love this one like crazy but it's just not working on me. Woe!!!!!! Rating: 2/5.

In the bottle: Heavy, syrupy fruit. Immediately after application: More of the cheesecake on my skin, still that lovely syrupy fruit too. Warming up: YUMMY! Fading: Cheesecake and strawberry. Faded: Average throw, average to long wear. Overall: LOVE. Rating: 5/5.

In the bottle: Mostly the woods and linen. Immediately after application: Getting some hints of smoke once it's on my skin. Warming up: The slightest hint of leather and a bit of a powdery scent. Fading: Slighty leathery, a smidge of smoke, and a sweet undertone. Faded: Soft throw, short to average wear. Overall: Much softer and sweeter than I'd expected. Unfortunately not for me. Rating: 2/5.

Imp: Woodsy herbal. Wet: Much more herbal-smelling than woodsy now, though I can make out the cedar. Something is giving it a hint of sweetness too. Dry: Herbal incensey woods. It's really quite lovely. I think I'll try it out on the husbeast too, I think it'd smell awesome on him. Bottle for us to share?

Imp: Rose, lemon verbena, perhaps a hint of mint? Very feminine and light. Wet: To my delight, the rose is a mere background hint and the lemon verbena is front and center. I also get something sweet and sugary and a hint of herbal... perhaps the tomato leaf? Dry: Sugared rose petals and lemon verbena. It's quite pretty but not at all for me.

Imp: Lemongrass, absolutely. It smells like lemon candy. Wet: I figured out what candy it reminds me of: lemon Pez! It's pretty and refreshing, though I'm not entirely sold on smelling like lemon Pez. It's fairly one-dimensional at this point. Dry: The sandalwood slowly takes over and the hints of lemongrass left give it an odd sour smell. Overall, it's nice but not bottle-worthy.

Ok jasmine, with all those other lovely notes you should behave. Imp: Lovely watery flowers with a hint of bitterness that I think is the lettuce and parsley. Wet: This is beautiful! A definite aquatic feel that is oh-so-feminine, and quite appropriate for a lunar scent, being tied into the tides and all. Soft florals, quite complex, more so than it initially appeared. Dry: I can't keep my nose off my wrist! Loving this

I have high hopes despite the rose. The other notes all sound amazing so let's see what happens... Imp: This doesn't smell at all how I thought it would! I get mostly the herbal bay laurel and maybe a little floral? Wet: The tiniest smidge of pineapple and soapy florals. I do hope this improves as it warms. It's not offensive to my nose, but it's not great either. Dry: Rose, rose, rose, and rose. Bah.

Imp: This smells lovely, all herbs and mint. Wet: Minty, herbal, slighty creamy... it makes me think of Thin Mints cookies for some reason It smells utterly beautiful though. Dry: Mere moments later I start getting wafts of soapy floral... buh? It smells like roses and more roses on top of florals. I have no idea what the heck note(s) are causing this! Disappointment, thy name is Martian Phoenix

Imp: Woodsy pine and juniper with a hint of something sweet around the edges. Wet: Astringent pine kept from veering into Pine-Sol territory by the cedar, which gives it a deeply woodsy, warm feel. The tiniest hint of spices. Dry: Woodsy pine with a bit of sweet and spicy. Fades quickly on me though

Imp: Pine and snow. Wet: The pine is a bit astringent, making this a bit on the Pine-Sol side. I don't get any herbs, florals, or musk at this point. Dry: Ugh, men's cologne. I have to wash this one off.

Imp: Sweet red fruit with a tiny hint of port. Wet: Though I know there's the port there and it definitely deepens the scent, I mainly get mixed berry fruity candy. Very red and sweet. Despite the port, I can see my daughter liking this (she's 7) so I may let her try it... Dry: Sour red candy. I can't decide if I like it or not. I might hang onto my decant but that's it.

Imp: Strongly almond with a hint of lavender. Wet: I'm getting the lavender-almond which smells really lovely in turns with blasts of thyme, which is quite interesting. It's odd but I like it! Dry: I love the combination of the lavender and thyme which goes well with the almond but the honey goes slightly powdery on me, as it usually does, and that ends that. The whole blend goes off; powdery honey clashes with the thyme which has gone bitter, and the almond is buried under this bitter powdery scent. Blergh. It had such potential

Imp: Oh wow, this smells like the delicious batter for the almond cookies I make at Christmastime! Wet: I'm immediately swept to my kitchen on Christmas Eve, mixing the batter for my almond shortbread cookies that have been a favorite with my family for over 10 years now. I do get a punch of boozey rum (rum makes everything better) and a touch of zesty orange that isn't present in my version but goes so well with the almond and rum. I'm definitely in love with the scent itself and the powerful happy memories it evokes. Dry: Less of the delectable almond shortbread batter and more of the rum and orange, which happily also holds a wonderful scent memory for me of my husband's and my first vacation since we had our daughter. We went to Blizz-Con, Disneyland, and had a very memorable dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse with these mouthwatering orange mojitos. I've loved every phase of this scent, not to mention the name. Anything mentioning Cthulhu is win in my geeky little book

Imp: Tobacco and coffee. Wet: I smell just like I did when I hung at this little coffee shop my friends ran when I was just out of high school. Chain-smoking and lattes with a hint of the leather jacket I used to steal from my boyfriend. Mmm. Dry: Smoky sweet tobacco with a hefty dose of leather and just a hint of coffee. I think I need to find a bottle of this. ETA: On my retest quest of testers I've had laying around for ages but couldn't decide if I *needed* a bottle, I revisted this blend. Aging seems to have smoothed the coffee note right out of here altogether It's now primarily tobacco, which is a note I thought I loved but discovered I needed in moderation as it can quickly go too sweet and end up nauseating. I also get spicy floral carnation and leather. It's still a lovely scent with notes I enjoy but it also seems to make me a bit sneezy. I think I have plenty of spicy leather scents and sadly don't need this one. If that coffee had persisted, I'd be on the hunt though

Imp: Sharply herbal with a medicinal vibe. It's definitely scary! Wet: Still medicinal in a way, though I can pick out the clove and redwood. It's reading vaguely masculine cologne to me at this point. Dry: First and foremost is the bitter clove, a note I adore. It's backed by the woodsy redwood. I quite like it despite thinking Jack-in-the-boxes are absolutely terrifying. Nothing scary about this on the drydown, it's spicy woodsy goodness!

2007 version Imp: Gorgeous sweet chocolate! I want to just huff the decant! Wet: Mmm more of that amazing chocolate plus spices. It definitely reminds me of the Mexican hot chocolate I had at this great restaurant... Dry: Spicy, gorgeous, sumptuous chocolate. I absolutely love this. I smell so tasty

Imp: Murky florals and herbs swathed in incense. If it smells half as good on me as it does in the imp, I will swoon. Wet: The floral has resolved into identifiable orchid (one of the florals I like!) and the herbal notes I was getting disappear into the background. The incense smoke is still very present and gives this a complex, mysterious feel. It is melancholy in scent form. Beautiful. Dry: Incense, slightly soapy incense. Aww, what happened?! ETA: Twitchy fingers! Hit post before I meant to

Imp: Quite frankly, it's scary in the imp. Funky rotting floral with a hint of citrus. Wet: Much better. The narcissus still isn't quite behaving but it's infinitely prettier. The orange blossom and vanilla are in hiding for the moment. Dry: The narcissus just dominates this blend. Every so often I get a waft of vanilla but up close it's rotting flowers. Definitely not for me.

Imp: Resinous and woodsy. Wet: A bit sharp and it smells... musty or something along those lines. Very strange. Perhaps the moss isn't behaving? I also get a touch of powder. It's funky and not in a good way Dry: Luckily the funk didn't last long and now I'm getting the cypress almost exclusively. Underneath that I get an almost sugary sweetness. I don't think this one is for me. Edit: The lab frimped me this and I had forgotten I had already tested it and due to my desire to test any and all imps that come my way, I dutifully dabbed this on. The second time around, this is gorgeous! The cypress is strongly piney at first and settles into a sweet resiny melange. Woodsy, spicy, resiny, sweet. It's surprisingly light. I may have to pick up a bottle of this at some point.

Bottle: Butter rum and it already smells so good I want to eat it. Wet: Not as boozy as I expected, gorgeous vanilla with clove and a hint of almond. This is good stuff! Dry: Rich, buttery, almondy, amazing vanilla. And yet it's not super-foody. It's cozy and sexy and yummy and I am so glad I have a bottle of this beauty!

2012 version Imp: Ah, my beloved red musk! And there's the slap of leather! Wet: Red musk, leather, and dust. I do not know how to explain how dust smells, but it's dry and muzzy and just screams dust. It gives me the sensation of being chilled. This is not a hot-blooded red musk, this is an almost imposing scent which is fitting considering the subject Dry: Wow this fades incredibly fast on me. Sadness I did get a nice hint of the wooden switches before it turned into dusty red musk. Dodged a bullet really, since I already have so many red musky blends 2013 This is pretty much all musk and dust on me. No good

Imp: Delicious tart citrus, I think yuzu. Wet: Definitely smells like yuzu! I like yuzu! Dry: The lichen comes into play and melds wonderfully with the tartness of the yuzu. Husband liked it a lot and so did I! Bottle on this one.

Imp: Slightly soapy floral. Wet: Ooh, now I'm getting the apple blossom! I detect some of the clove and perhaps the neroli as well. Very feminine and lovely. Dry: As it warms, the vanilla orchid sneaks in to round this out and lend a delicate sweet creaminess to the clove and apple. Oh man, this was almost my grail clove scent but it ended up going a little too perfume-y. I will still keep and love my decant <3

Imp: Fresh pine and... something. No idea what Wet: Pine and OH! Peppermint! That's what that is Dry: Mint died off quickly, leaving a citrus-y Pine-Sol. I think it's the amber adding the oddly citrus note. I don't know, my nose is broken :x