jewelbug

This test was courtesy of a MnS skin test—thank’s Lamia! I am always impressed with BPAL's dirt note, and have been jonesing to give this one a whirl! Wet: This was all damp dirt and sweet florals—sweet roses and magnolias, maybe? Dry: The dirt dissipates quickly on me, and I’m left with a sweet floral—clean and sweet, like gentle roses and magnolias. This phase sorta smells like the fresh green floral I get from the Queen Croquet Ground BPTP spray. This faded pretty quickly, maybe 3-4hrs or so. Overall: So glad I got to try it, and a wonderful dirt note as always, but since it didn't stick around and turned into a simple floral (i'm not a floral gal), I feel comfortable not needing to hunt this one down.

Imp: sharp, green, piney, maybe a bit minty/herbal. Wet: Oh yes, definitely some evergreen notes. Evergreen and baby powder with a very slight citrus tone. Dry: As this dries, the citrus comes out more during the early phases—lemon? I’d call this lemongrass+powder+ cypress, if I had to guess. After about 20 min, its obvious that this powder is actually rose. A strong powdery rose that starts to take over. The citrusy/pine aspects fade completely, and eventually the rose is less-in your face, more enjoyable. It ends as a gentle, sweet, skin-rose scent. Lasts 5-6 hrs. Overall: I liked the rose by the end, but at the beginning, it was far too much for this rose-a-phobe. Passing this on.

Imp: Icy/minty citrus. Wet:SUPER minty, nose-and-back-of-throat-cooling-ly minty. Over bitter grapefruit pith Drying: This smells like minty bubblegum toothpaste and grapefruit. You know how if you eat citrus or drink orange juice right after you brush your teeth, and it tastes godawful? That’s what this brings to mind…not that it smells bad at all, mind you, just that it triggers the citrus with toothpaste memory and therefore has bad connotations. Dry: This leaves a strong physical minty tingle (cooling and burning at the same time) on my skin for 1-2 hrs. Its SRSLY minty. Mint and lotusy bubblegum are what I end up with. The citrus dissipates. Overall: Wow, minty. Cool, but not my thing. Passing it on! ETA: DH says he smells "chlorine." I wonder if thats how he reads the aquatic notes?

Bottle: I smelled this at one of the last ECWC events, and bought 2 bottles, thinking that I'd definitely need a backup for such a lovely spiced boozy chocolate scent. Wet: Very interesting...I get a distinct banana scent from this when wet. Spicy chocolate-covered bananas. Drying: Carmellized brown sugar and a lovely heavily smoked spicy chocolate. Delicious. Dry: Awww, bummer, this is going all sorts of burnt plastic synthetic on me now. I love this one so much when its not ON me. Skin chemistry can be a cruel thing, indeed. :pout:

Wet: Boozy, chocolate-covered, coconut popcorn. A bit of a cough syrupy note in the background. This is really foody. I’d like to drink the cocktail this could inspire... Dry: same as above, but no more of the cough syrup note to speak of. Just all sticky coconut chocolate popcorn. Every now and again, I can maybe get a wisp of PB, a little saltier, but its understated. Overall: Foody and different. Kinda along the line's of Mother Shubs peanut brittle, but w/ coconut and chocolate. At times, it goes a wee bit to the fake-plastic side on me (scents with caramely sugar notes often do this on me). I had fun trying this, but don't need more, and think I will pass the imp on.

First sprayed, this is heavy on the crushed leaf smell--very natural and quite enjoyable. There are bits of "dirtiness" mixed in--smoky/earthy. Its less leafy as it dries, and sweetens up a bit (more black tea). Its a perfect autumn scent, which is no surprise! Its a wonderful non-air-freshener-scented room spray, if that makes any sense. The kind that smells like you left your windows open and freshened up the house, rather than having everyone know you spritzed before they came over... Love it!

A kind gift from ImperatrixMundi—thanks! Imp: so light, innocent and springlike! I get dewy sweet fruits (peaches, apricots?) over some gentle greenish white florals and maybe even a drizzle of honey. Wet: same as in imp, maybe with a tea-like quality, as well. THis is crystalline, sweet, peach wine/tea. Very innocent. This prostitute is downright virginal! Dry: still sweet honeyed peach nectar with a bit of a green/white floral. Virginal and sweet. Like eating peach jam on a picnic blanket under a tree blooming in the springtime. Overall: Very pretty, will keep my imp, not sure i need a bottle, though. ETA: August 2014 update: I get a lot more patchouli/woods from this now than I think I did before. Its still a very sweet peachy blend, but more "diabolique" now, if you know what I mean.

A kind frimp from ImperatrixMundi —Thank you! Imp: Holy sweet, damp, leather batman, this is SEXY. Wet: Mmm, leather. That is all. Its sweet leather, and a little citrusy. Drying: Same sweet leather with a masculine fougere-cologney musk. Oh. Gawd. Dry: Leather Sex. Yum. Overall: DH actually LIKES this one (to wear--its too masculine for me, but its delish on him). I’ve been trying to find a sexy leather blend that he’d actually like to wear (because that’s what I want to smell on him occasionally). Generally, they’re not his thing, but he likes this one! WOOT! Apparently, this is hard to find, but I'm gonna try! He smells so good in it!

Bottle: sweet amber/leather, with a bit of a citrus quality. Kinda powdery/perfumey. Wet: Sorta smoky, syrup-y amber. With a hint of vanilla. Its not really figgy to my nose, which was what I was hoping for. It is nice, though. Bit of a greenness--sharp like pine or vetiver? Still a bit of a citrus feel, too--green citrus? Drying: You know, this reminds me a bit of Hand of Glory--I'd like ot compare the two side by side. Dry: A rich golden amber, a bit sweet, with hints of leather. But mostly an amber blend. Very pretty, but not extremely unique (or figgy, like I was hoping!!). Overall: Not sure if I'll keep her or not--want to get some age on her, test again, and compare side by side to hand of glory. Her bath oil, though, is HEAVEN and will be treasured.

Bottle: Smells like Xiuchetautl--very clean, slightly "creamy" resin, slightly lemony. A hint of very natural, fresh bugspray (that sounds bad, but its not…I just don't know how to better explain it). I imagine its the copal that they have in common... Wet: More honey now. Honey and a slight "funk" that is, yes, vulva-ish. Along with that clean fresh (recently douched??) watery xiuchetuatl scent. Drying: Is that a slight spice coming out? Honeyed clean resin/floral, slightly lemony and a wee bit of spiciness feel. There is a green floral-ness to this, too. Its very fresh and very vaginal at the same time. Smells like clean 'ginas! Dry: Luckily, when this fully dries, the slight 'gina funk is gone. I'm left with a clean, fresh skin scent, very feminine--slightly floral, musky and sweet, and still very reminicient of xiuchetl (however its spelled). This is a very wearable perfume. Overall: Not sure if I'll keep this one or not. It turns out very nice, but also isn't something that I consider oh-my-god-amazing-must wear. I'll give it a few more goes and see how I feel. I also want to do a side by side of this with xiuch. ETA: did a side by side with xiuch--GV is a little less strong and "bright" (fewer of the almost citrus and clean tones), but feels very much like a gentler xiuch base with a dose of honey. Remarkably similar on me, and so much so, that I'm content keeping my imp of xiuch around and passing the GV onto more loving pastures.

Bottle: A sweet musky blend, almost fruity smelling. Wearing, I get a rich musky sweet floral scent. And, given the listed notes this is surprisingly "fresh." Almost like a phenomenally scented soap. I get a great deal of an herbal vibe from this, sweet florals and an undercurrent of sweet leather. But its mostly a fresh sweet herbal with a dark side. Its a surprisingly gentle blend on me, and I get barely any patchouli and no spice to speak of (I don't miss the patch, but would've liked some more spice!). Oddly, this has an almost aquatic feel on me...Sexy dark water. Late dry down--much more vanilla now, and that same herbal aquatic cleanness. Overall, this is a very nice blend, unique and wonderful….but I almost never wear it. So I'm passing it on.

Bottle: woodsy, slightly spicy, almost creamy, and overall a masculine scent. Wet: I smell woods, lime and a creamy spice. Still very masculine to my nose. It smells like a very sexy, salty pirate man. I would describe this as a "cologney" scent, though its a damn nice cologne. Dry: masculine cologne--woodsy, salty, limey, lightly spicy, very nice. I enjoy this scent quite a bit, but its not something I can pull off. I would like it on a man, but its not my man's type of scent, either. So I'll pass this onto a better home.

CCCLIX: Bottle: snake oily, of course, but also something herbal here. The herbal note reminds me of LUSH's henna hair dye a bit. In addition to that, there is a nutty/fruity mix, kinda like what I remember Freak Show smelling like... Wet: Immediately on, this goes kinda powdery (snake oil did this on me, too), but the powder calms down quickly. There is also quite a hefty dose of vanilla a la Dragon's Milk, maybe even some dragon's blood in here. That henna-ish herbal note is understated on my skin. Drying, I feel a bit of spice to this, maybe some anise? I would describe it as an anise-y, walnutty, musky Dragon's Milk. There seems to be a hint of smokiness, too. Late Dry (like 7.5 hrs): A semi-powdery, but still rich, amber with hints of vanilla and a honeyed chocolate vibe. Overall: A fun adventure. I feel like there is a note in this that is on the tip of my brain, but I just can't think of it. I think I'll have to wear this more often to tease it out completely. It'll come to me (I hope!)! Like it!

Spraying this, its golden and resinous, and I can see why people would enjoy it. However, something in my brain is interpreting one of the notes (and I can't for the life of me figure out which one!) as...dare I say it...urine . So, no, this is not the spray for me. If I wanted my pillows to smell like pee, I'd adopt a naughty male cat.

Bottle: A fresh pack of clove cigarettes—the sweet tobacco/spice combo that I love. Wet: You know that sweetness on the tip of your tongue that a clove leaves there before you ever even light it? This is the smell of that sweetness. I also feel like there’s a bit of a vanilla’d sasparilla vibe to this. Dry: Creamy spiced vanilla tobacco. Its like sipping on a cup of creamy vanilla chai with a fresh pack of cloves next to you on the table (its not the smell of smoking cloves—it’s the smell of the unburnt cigarette). Overall: This isn’t what I was expecting from the listed notes, but I’m glad I tried it because it is one of my favorite bpals EVER. I’m so excited to watch this one age. Has good staying power—about 7-8 hrs.

Its not an oil made for specific intent, but I think that one couldn't help but be uplifted when wearing Jabberwocky.

Bottle: Watery coconut floral. Wet: A lot of that watery coconut note. Its accompanied by a very fresh, clean sort of floral blend. Dry: Creamy clean watery coconut for a while. Then, a few hours in, it’s a lot of musk. Pale shimmery musk, white amd dorian-esque, and even a wee bit masculine to my nose. Many hours later, this settles into a sweet, lightly creamed vanilla scent. I like all the phases! Overall: This one take you on a fun journey. I think it’s a beautiful summer scent, and can’t wait to wear her more often as the weather heats up. Even though this is a fairly light, fresh scent, it has wonderful staying power--~9 hrs on me.

I ordered this with a great deal of hesitant hope, since berry scents aren't always my thing, sugars often go plasticky on me, and the previous incarnation of strawberry moon that I tried smelled like acetone on my skin. But honestly, who doesn't love strawberries? I had to cross my fingers and order! The hope paid off. This smells like strawberries. Duh. Okay, to be more specific, this smells like a mix of the most delicious home-made strawberry jam and a sheet of dried strawberry fruit leather/strawberry fruit rollups (in other words, super concentrated strawberry, not watery). With a hint of summery grassiness. Does that sound weird? Well, its not. Its nomable. It is the uber-strawberry scent and it WORKS on me. From start to finish. I lurv it! I am sad that the very cute label was damaged in shipping. Happily, the lab, being the wonderful establishment that they always are, is sending me another bottle with a fresh label. I lurv them, too!

Bottle: Orange and vetiver Wet: Sweet orange and vetiver. Drying: Vetiver. Orange. Hint of anesthetic-ish licorice and medicinal cinnamon. In that order of strength. Dry: Anise vetiver. Vetiver actually doesn't bother me, but I'm not getting much complexity from this scent. I also think it would smell better on a man than on me. I'm going to pass this along.

Really super sweet necco wafers? I dunno why I don't smell any of the notes here, just slightly anise-y necco wafers.

Bottle: Very caramelly. Actually, this reminds me of Ventriloquists Dummy, which was a diasater on my skin. Here goes! Wet: Honestly, it kinda smells like stale coffee grounds and burnt sugar. With a little bit of dirtiness (and not dirt in that bpal-does-awesome-dirt kind of way). Dirtiness like the weird note I got from V. Dummy. Drying: I get a doughty burnt sugar smell. Over coffee and wood polish, with a hint of pipe smoke that might be enjoyable without everything else going on. Alas, this just is not working on me at all. It really does remind me of V.Dummy! Dry: After about an hour, its less offensive one me--the caramel burning-ness subsided for the most part, and this reads as doughnuts, slightly stale coffee and whiffs of pipe smoke. Not sure where that doughiness is coming from, but its still there. Evocative, but not what I want in a perfume. Overall: Like many others, I was really hopeing for a Pinched w/ 4 Aces part 2, but this just doesn’t work on my skin chemistry at all. Wood, pipe smoke, tonka, coffee—all things I like. But there is something hidden in the combo that just doesn’t work on my skin at all. I think it’s the “irish” I swear there’s caramel in here doing horrible things to me, and think this one is closely related to Monsterbait: V Dummy.

Imp: super juicy/fruity along with those plummy asian florals that appear in a lot of asian moons. Something in this says "public bathroom air freshner" to me, though. Wet: yummy juicy fruits over asian florals and, yes, a "bathroom" note. Bathroom air freshner over wisps of fading...urine. Is there jasmine in this?! *looks at notes* Oh crap, yes, there is. Jasmine is my nemesis. Drat! Dry: After about 30 minutes, the urine-y jasmine note burns off, and I'm left with a sweet plum/asian floral, light and pretty as they always are. This fades in about 4 hours. Overall: Pretty after the jasmine leaves the party, but even then, this just isn't my preferred genre. I'll pass it along to a more loving home.

Imp: clove hits first, then an orangey-woody scent. Wet: clove with a red hots vibe--super spicy cinnamon/clove, plus sweet orange and patchouli. Drying: This patchouli is going towards the dirty hippy variety on me. In fact, this is the same dirty patch note from War, which actually made me a little sick to my stomach. The spice/orange is great, but the patch here is not my friend. late dry, about 2-3 hrs in--smells much more peachy now--i didn't get any peach in the early phases, but now that's the predominant note (replaces the orange). These are deep swarthy peaches, not the pale glistening kind. Swarthy peach with a bit of cinnamon, the swarthiness from the patchouli. Its much more attractive now, the uber-dirty patchouli has tamed significantly. Overall: I can see how this would be lovely and popular to some. Unfortunately, I just can't stand the first few hours of overwhelmingly dirty patchouli. Don't get me wrong, I like some patchoulis, but for the first few hours, this isn't one of em. The corrupted peach spice at the end is lovely, though. Lasts 6ish hours and has great throw.

Imp: A menthol/eucalyptous scent, kinda pine-sol-y Wet: Grandma's art studio? Seriously, this smells like artist supplies (paint and oil paint solvents/varnishes, etc) and sawdust left from her frame cutting. Dry: This continues to smell like my grandma's art studio--paint solvents and sawdust. I love that its incredibly familiar and that it was so easily identifiable. It fades in about 3 hours. Overall: This is *exactly* what her art studio smells like. Its incredibly evocative, but then, not what I want to smell like in a perfume.

Bottle: Yup, delicious sweet milky chocolate. Wet: Yes, its delish chocolate, but it also brings to mind those chocolate-scented pencils we all used to huff in elementary school…and very oddly, I get a sense of “pool” out of this…something almost a tad…chlorine-y? Hope that doesn't last... Dry: Luckily, no more chlorine. I still get “chocolate scented pencils” out of this. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t smell bad—it harkens back to my elementary school days, when I felt like the coolest kid cuz I had a scented pencil from Hersheypark. I also get a bit of a coconut vibe from this. Fades to a gentle sweetness in 3-4 hrs, not discernably chocolate or buttercream, more of just a sweet perfumers base. Overall: Yummy…but will I wear it as a perfume? There are so many complex chocolate blends that I love, and I think maybe this is too simplistic/foody for my tastes. I’ll have to think about it for a while longer (and try it when I'm not on cycle), and maybe let it age just in case it morphs into something more up my alley.