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Imp: Rooty patchouli, dusty moss, and something that might be sandalwood. No mushrooms yet! Wet: Fig. Definitely fig. For just a second. And then back to warm, earthy, soft brown patchouli and the dusty, almost salty, moss. And-- I'm almost sure-- white sandalwood as well. The overall impression is very nice, pretty and headshoppy but not overwhelming. It's a calm, down-to-earth smell, a bit like the stuff I wore before I found BPAL. I think there might be cedar in here too, but not enough to make it all pencil-shavings. Dry: Dry wood, soft roots, earth. Patchouli and sandalwood and moss and maybe just a trace of fig. It's pretty, but I like Baba Yaga more for the same feel. Also, too much exposure to this one makes me sneeze (the cedar, I think!)

Creaky wood and sun-dried thatching, clacking bones, leering skulls, burnt herbs, and enormous magical chicken feet. Imp: Herbal, dusty, nutty, maple-syrupy and spicy. It smells like one of my favorite, Brahmin. Maybe this has caraway seed in it as well? Wet: Maple oatmeal, a gorgeous soft fuzzy musk very much like the one in Blackbear Moon, a million spices, and some of the wonderful dried herb bundles from the Feb. '09 13. And hay. Ohhhhh man, that's the good stuff, right there. Warm, spicy, rich, sweet, but not so foody it actually smells like cookies or something as mundane as that. On top of it all is a white floral, or lemon, or something, that gives it a slightly 'clean' note. Dry: This is the kind of scent I adore, dry and herbal and woodsy and spicy and sweetly grain-y all at once. It's even got a touch of freshly-scrubbed kitchen in there somewhere. I think Brahmin and Feb. 09 13 fulfill my needs in terms of bottles, but this is unique and gorgeous and I will cherish my imp.

Imp: Oak! Oaky oaky oak! Like oak barrels before they're filled with chardonnay or whiskey. Behind that, something a little sweet, and bitter but pleasant chamomile. A very natural smell, not sugary or perfume-y at all. Wet: Oak oak oak oak CHAMOMILE rhubarb! A buoyant, lovely rhubarb, tart and gorgeous, and all backed by that super herbal, super woody oak and chamomile. Oh, this is gorgeous. Pretty and earthy and fruity and tart and yes, bubbly! Dry: It smells, in a great and non-alcoholic way, like rhubarb and herb wine that's been aged in oak. It's herbal, floral, woody, and tartly fruity all at once. This is absolutely gorgeous, and like nothing else in my Imp box. It's present, but subtle and unusual enough that you would never think "perfume". The imp is staying with me!

Imp: Fresh, clean musk, snapped stems, and a hint of fruit. Wet: Something very very similar to the smell of trimming the rose garden, a bit of soap, cologne-y white musk, and orange blossom. It smells like freshly showered skin. Dry: Slightly bitter greenery, musk, and soap. Might make nice laundry, but certainly not a perfume for me.

Imp: Deep florals, heady and sweet, jasmine and carnation and iris, and heavy, almost bitter resins and incense. Patchouli, very clearly. Wet: Heavy, dusty moss and patchouli with sweet florals. Incensey and heavy and very, very head-shoppy, although not in a bad way. Dry: Perfect '70s headshop with heavy florals, dust and patchouli. It's very nice, but I have other hippie scents I like more (like Banshee Beat!)

Imp: PINE PINE PINE! I love pine, and this is the wet, sticky, sweet kind from Slobbering Pine. Under that is a bracing, fresh tartness that I assume is the cranberry, and just a hint of hot musky vegetation-- tomato leaf. Unf. I want to roll in it! Wet: Tomato leaf, tomato leaf, how I love you. And bright iced pine needles. And... craftstore candles? Uh-oh. Don't let that be you, cranberry. No blackberry leaf yet, but some dry cedarwood emerges and it's surprisingly well-behaved (cedar can turn to pencil shavings very quickly.) Dry: Cedar and cranberries push this into holiday-store territory, but the pine and tomato leaf are still so lovely and bright. This isn't as much of an outdoors scent as I was expecting, but it is very lovely and festive and reminds me (oddly) of Lovers in a Carp Streamer in terms of holiday cheer. I'll probably keep my imp, but I don't anticipate a bottle.

Imp: Roots, dust, cold metal, cinnamon, white florals, and an understated but still quite heady black patchouli. Gorgeous-- complex but natural, deep and dark and earthy but not oppressive. Wet: Moss, dusty and dry and just a tiny bit salty as moss tends to go, and a laid-back patchouli. Then something gritty and pleasant, like sandalwood, and something else faintly bubbly, like sarsaparilla or mint or birch (I think birch? Birch brooms, after all.) And a gorgeous, dusty, dry, incense-y cinnamon! And lots of other unnamed herbs and flowers and something a little bit like pennies, or the smell of your hands after you've been warming up your fencing foils in the winter. Dry: Dry wood, forest, roots, dust, iron and cinnamon, faintly washed with fruit and spice and small pale flowers. I do think this is amazing, but I'm not actually sure how much I want to smell like a witch's cellar. I'll keep it around and see how much I reach for it-- and I got no pineapple, or mango, or anything fruity at all!

Imp: Soft, babyish floral (lily? lavender? Something powdery) and something cool and green. Wet: Some kind of floral that I associate very, very strongly with the smell of 'natural' shops-- so, something that smells like hippie body products, but that isn't patchouli! And that soft green note, and maybe a tiny touch of sandalwood. Dry: I can't tell if this actually vanishes almost instantly, or if it's just so similar to the body products I use it's melded into the smell of my soap! Either way, this is a pretty, soft, understated scent, but ultimately probably not one I'll use.

Bottle: Soft, sugary hazelnut, green acorns, pine needle honey, and a huge mound of ripe black cherries-- but where this should be so sweet that it makes me want to hurl, it's all balanced perfectly by a deep, soft, shadowy musk that really does smell almost like animal fur. Oh my. Wet: Hazelnut, grounded by foresty, slightly bitter acorn, and powdered sugar, and honey, and pine needles, and bark, and a very faint white floral, and a gorgeous touch of deep, dark berries-- not at all the Sweet Tarts that I usually get-- all topped by that incredibly wonderful, wrap-you-up-in-it musk. Dry: Dark cherry musk, warm hazelnuts, and animal fur. Oh, man, this isn't too sweet or too fruity at all, and it lasts all day too! This makes me want to be a bear.

Imp: Strong, sweet violet and a deep musk (but not, I think, black musk, since it doesn't have that weird powdery-lemony-animal smell I associate with black musk.) Maybe a bit of iris, and some nutty, dry sandalwood. Wet: VIOOOOLET and powdery iris soap with that sandalwood that turns particularly gritty on me (almost like I'm rolling incense grains over my skin), and then just a brief hint of bitter, bright neroli. The musk is quite strong as well. It's very, um.... mature. It doesn't smell like old lady perfume per se, but it does sort of smell like something... Sybil Ramkin might wear it, we'll say. Dry: Lovely, gritty soap. Not for me.

Imp: GINGER. CHEWS. The best candy ever! With huge hits of green spice and lemon. Wet: GINGER. CHEWS. ON. MY. ARMS. With a gorgeous, non-foody vanilla, a huge lime or lemon peel throw, and the most amazeballs spices of all time. Holy freakin' crap, I want to eat myself. Dry: Like Love's Philosophy, the vanilla in this one goes into a slightly sour, almost burnt sort of vanilla-scented plastic smell. I still get that wonderful ginger and all those spices, so it's not quite enough to ruin it, but I was really in love for a minute there. I'm heartbroken it didn't stay the same as wet. I'll hang on to my sniffie, but I don't think I'll be seeking out any more.

Bottle: Let me just say that this is the most ridiculously gorgeous label art of all time. Amazing Isis surrounded by hieroglyphs and green leaves. The smell... aah. The smell is still clean water, wet earth, ozone, and green leaves. I get the breaking string beans comparison for sure. No squash or tomato yet, though, and no herbs-- hopefully they'll come out to play. Wet: Wet soil, quiet aquatics, and a hint of green florals. Very, very similar to Jazz Funeral on me, although a little less sweet. Still none of the more exotic elements. Dry: The same. Soil, aquatics, a bit of floral, but no fruitiness from tomatoes or squash. This is definitely a close cousin to Jazz Funeral: I will have to deathmatch, but I think I may actually like the lack of florals here a little better!

Imp: What a strange, fierce scent. I get a huge blast of citrus peel-- not fruit, the actual peel, sharp and bitter and delicious-- and a swirling hot spice, and a lot of green wood notes. This is almost indescribable, but it smells amazing. Wet: Citrus peel, saffron, heavy fruity patchouli, tons and tons of incense and resin, wood and-- miracle of miracles-- a well-behaved geranium that doesn't make me ill. This is... hot citrus in the midst of an incensed desert. Dry: Scorched citrus peels, thick heady incense and the most amazing skin musk. Holy balls. I'll be reaching for this one for sure, too bad I can't buy a bottle!

Imp: Thick, spicy greenery and sharp florals. No dirt, sadly, or at least not yet. Wet: Wet green deciduous leaves, lemon cleaner (what?), jasmine, and soap. Maybe a little juniper, and something quite soft and fuzzy-- musk or sandalwood. It's got kind of an effervescent tang in there somewhere, which makes it more interesting. Dry: A pretty green floral with an interesting element of... wet dust? Like dry soil when the first rain falls. This is really interesting.

Bottle: A soft, waxy, fuzzy sort of scent, full of grassy vetiver (the kind I can wear! Hooray!), beeswax, and the same feathery sandalwood from Fledgling Raptor Moon. Wet: Heavy green vetiver and thick almost salty moss at first, then coming up behind it a sweet creamy beeswax and beautiful pale sandalwood. Lots of clove as well, which here smells very much like the clove in Gacela of the Dark Death-- dry, splintered, spicy wood. The throw on this is enormous! Dry: The drydown on this is exactly the same on me as Fledgling Raptor Moon-- a soft, almost cuddly, mossy beeswax and clove with hints of wood and spice. It's lovely, but I will have to deathmatch the two to see which wins! I can't believe this doesn't get more attention: don't let the vetiver scare you, this one is all bark and no bite.

I really don't like chocolate scents, but I am completely in love with the Feb. 2009 13-- in fact, it might be my number one BPAL. So when I saw the comparisons, I had to try this! Bottle: Deep, dark, vegetal chocolate. Smells like slightly sweet baking chocolate with a big hit of dry herbs, olive oil, and a tiny pinch of tomato. Actually, it smells like my spice cabinet (which is also where I keep my cocoa.) Not edible, but unusual. Love it so far. Wet: Opening salvos of heavy green comfrey and dusty, wonderful thyme. Then pepper, and that distinctive dried-tomato-in-olive-oil smell, all backed by a rich, thick, almost woody chocolate. This is my kind of chocolate scent for sure: kitchen-y but not actually foody. All that being said, there might still be too much chocolate in here for me to wear it comfortably. Dry: After a while, the chocolate backs off and I'm left mostly with dry green thyme, rooty comfrey, and hints of pepper, olive oil, and tomato. The chocolate is present far in the background as a woody brown fuzz. I like this! I like this even moer than I expected to. That said, it's such an odd amalgamation of notes I don't know how much I'd actually wear it. I'll keep it around for now and see how much I reach for it.

Mine is the 2008. Bottle: Thick, sweet, woodsy incense, heavy on the clove, myrrh and frankincense and much lighter on the cypress. There might be a tiny bit of olive blossom hovering around somewhere, sweetening it all up. Wet: Bitter frankincense and myrrh, followed by splintery clove and a sharp, dry cypress. Little to no olive blossom or blood to smooth out the whole thing. It's woody incense through and through. Dry: Unfortunately, as they often do, the myrrh and frankincense combine here to make this sort of a muddy, incense-y mess on my skin. That's too bad, because for a moment there the clove and woods were just lovely! This will need a new home.

Imp: Sharp, fruity rose and pomegranate. Wet: Oh hey there soap and Sweet Tarts, what's up? Pleasant, soft, soapy rose and that lovely juicy pomegranate. I can already tell it's not going to work on my skin but it's so damn cheerful it's hard not to like it. Dry: Soft rosy soap and lovely fruity, gritty pomegranate. Nice, but not my thing. I might dump it in my homemade fabric softener, though, since it is a lovely fresh fragrance!

Imp: Can you say MELON?!?!?! Watermelon, honeydew, canteloupe, iced grapes, pears, all the good fruits of the world. Oh goodness, now I really miss summer. Wet: Melon, pear, watery fruits and a thick, soft, glorious, slightly salty moss. And florals! What florals. Orchids, liles, maybe even muguet? Moss can quickly amp and become horrendous on my skin, but miraculously here it's kept in check by all those flowers and fruits. Dry: Well, that one went by fast! Melons and lovely moss and florals all the way through. Nice, but unless it sticks around for longer next time it will probably get swapped.

Bottle: Sharp apples, pomegranate, and something that smells like boozy nuts (heh. Boozy nuts.) Wet: Green apples, strong pomegranate, and... candle wax? No, seriously. There's a strong waxy note that reminds me of unlit candles. Behind that, nutmeat and rich, fermented berries. Smells like a really, really nice autumn-scented candle. Dry: Apples, nuts, berry wine and something sweet and a little sharp, all accompanied by that same wax note. This is nice, but I think Mabon 2010 fulfills my summer/fall APPLES! scent niche. I may find this one a new home.

Imp: Clean, green, spicy tea soap! The last whiffs of this singe the nose hairs in a really pleasant way. Wet: Fresh, crisp, Dorian- and White Rabbit-like black tea, spicy fresh green wasabi, and banana-honey sandwiches! Yes, seriously. It's so clean and fresh and cologne-y and delicious without being overwhelming. Dry: Slightly floral banana-honey, a pale green spice, and that perfectly refreshing black tea-- and something else, something sort of water-y, almost like bamboo? This is amazing! It's clean and soapy and masculine without being any of those things to the extent that it's overwhelming. I will enjoy the heck out of my imp.

Bottle: Heavy, dark, dry, overwhelming black tea and strong, strong vetiver and saffron. And ginger, but not sweet fresh ginger: more like powdered ginger that's been sitting at the back of the cupboard so long it's almost papery. The first blast of this is awful, but the after-whiff is weirdly intriguing, so I guess I'll forge onward. Wet: Black tea, bone-dry saffron, dark vetiver, papery ginger. After a moment it starts to take on fruity components-- honey, apricot-- but it's still dominated by those spicy, dry, almost harsh notes. Dry: Apricots and honey finally come to the fore, smoothing and rounding everything else out. Now it smells like an exotically spiced apricot tea in a room full of wooden boxes, stuffed with dried roots and herbs. This does indeed have a hint of "paper bag" smell, but it also (weirdly) evokes the smell of dead leaves to me much more than any of the other BPALs have tried that actually list it as a note. This may be too harsh and martial in the opening stages to wear much, but the drydown is both bizarre and interesting. Further testing is clearly required.

Cypress, labdanum, stargazer lily, juniper, yew, black rose, white sandalwood, benzoin and aquatic notes. Imp: Deep, sweet, cypress- and forest-smell, coniferous and wet and spicy and in some ways a little bit... candy-like? But in a good, green way. Yum. Wet: Spiced, resinous cypress and juniper, and deep masculine aquatics-- but it avoid the 'aftershave' smell that aquatics so often translate into in my nose. There's a mingled scent of brown, overturned earth, incense, a faint floral, sweet water. The benzoin lends that perfect amber-y quality that is such a great reflection of the painting. Dry: A soft, close, cypress and juniper scent, backed by florals and aquatics. This is gorgeous, very natural and at the same time gilded in all that lovely resin. I'm not sure how much I'd ever wear it, though, so I'll stay happy with my sniffie!

I was sad that I missed this one, and so happy when a swapper frimped me a sniffie! Imp: A deep, purple scent: the first identifiable thing I can smell is the woody fig, but it's cut with an icy blast of violet and a swell of deep, resinous lavender. There's a lovely musk underneath it all as well-- white or skin, most likely. Gorgeous. Wet: Perfumed violets, cold fresh figs, and an almost gritty lavender accompanied by dry blackcurrant wine. The ambergris, which is a WIN! note on me, provides that smooth golden base that I simply adore. In this stage it smells a lot like the Pickman Gallery Nightmare. Dry: This dries down into a gorgeous purple incense dupe of Nightmare with a bit of added violet. Since I like the linen and vanilla in Nightmare more than I like violet, I don't feel the need to keep this, but I'm so glad I got to try it. It's gorgeous, rich, non-fruity, non-floral and generally awesome.

Imp: My imp is certainly chaotic, considering it fractured into a billion pieces when I opened it for the first time! The smell inside is strong sweet strawberry and hibiscus tea. Wet: Immediately calmer and less sweet. I get lotus and florals and strawberry, a big fruit-floral melange that's just sort of... present... without being all that interesting. Dry: Weirdly, this fades super-fast on me to a faint memory of florals and strawberry. Pretty, but not remarkable.