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Imp: A sweet, lily-plum-daffodil-orchid scent. One of the clearest, loveliest daffodil notes ever! This smells just like spring. The white musk adds a clear, almost soapy note, but in a nice way. Wet: Juicy, soft, sweet, tropical florals, rather like Dirty, but with a lovely, pale purple plum note. Jasmine and white musk make it very heady and feminine and spring-like. Dry: A white musk and florals scent with a bit of plum and just a tinge of bitterness to keep it interesting. Lovely but not necessarily very me.

Bottle: A soft, powdery, fuzzy brown scent. Sweet clove, sandalwood, a little soft carnation and patchouli and wood. Wet: A spiced, almost citrussy scent, full of dry exotic wood and spice and soft incense. It's quite feathery, light and gently brown, and a bit sweet-- vanilla? It's a comfort scent for sure, but an exotic, interesting one. Dry: A soft, sandal-wood based incense with lovely touches of wood, vanilla, and carnation-spice. Very nice!

Blackberry wine and apple with hops, English ivy, rosemary, hazel, sage, chamomile, sweetgrass, oak bark, wild nuts, and myrrh. Bottle: A mouth-water melange of fruit, grass, and wood notes. I smell fresh blackberries and the tang of blackberry liqueur, sun-warmed yellow apples, hot dry grass on a summer's day, a bitter tang of hops, something gently nutty, and a lot of just-dried herbs in a warm window, with a touch of incense. This one is the perfect invocation of my favorite time of year: late summer just verging on fall. Wet: Wine is not normally a well-behaved note on me, but here it's rich and round with blackberries and it smells incredible. That's the first thing to come up, with hot grass and drying apples just underneath it, then a mysterious myriad of kitchen herbs, a touch of sugared nuts, and rich, orderly (for once!) myrrh. I am just in love with this. It's fruity without being girly, herbal without being bitter, warm without being spicy. It's also very much not a perfume-smell, it's a me-smell instead, with the perfect amount of close-but-present throw. It smells like I've been hiking in a bountiful landscape all day. Dry: Eventually the fruit dies back a little leaving a mostly herbs-nut-trees-with-side-of-fruit scent steeped in sweet wine and myrrh. I almost didn't swap for this one, but I'm so glad I did! A surprise contender for serious love that will absolutely go into heavy rotation: in winter, to remind me of summer's golden days, and in summer to celebrate them! I can't believe this one doesn't get more love.

Bottle: Heavy forest spice and a very strong, masculine new-car-smell leather. Wet: A soft forest scent, heavy on the pine, moss, and juniper, with a spicy note (galangal) and a thick, almost slick leather. It's not quite as new-car-smell but it still doesn't smell like buckskin on me; it's definitely a big piece of tanned cowhide. Unfortunately the leather smells almost chemical in some aspect; although, props to Ranger for sure, because this is one of the very few BPAL leathers that actually smells like leather on me and not some weird melange of notes that ends up like a slightly sickening round vanilla. I just wish the leather were more of a bit player here and let the woods come out more. Dry: The final settled scent is a soft but present leather backed by woods, moss, grass and a gentle spicy root-smell. It's fairly nice but I don't think I'll be keeping it. Sad that Ranger and I didn't get along.

Imp: Strongly resinous, medicinal scent: frankincense, patchouli, vetiver and fig with strong herbal backing. Wet: Fig! Figgy figgy fig, dry and woody fig rather than juicy sweet. Sharp frankincense, and a lovely upsurge of warm herbs and resins in the background: tamarind, something minty (the combo of lavender/rosemary/cypress?), moss and a lovely sweet hyssop and patchouli. There's a lot going on in this tiny imp! The complex tangle of notes that should be dissonant but work beautifully well together reminds me of Incubus. Dry: This ends up a complex, resinous fig- and hyssop- with lots of herbal and woody backing. It's lovely, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. A scent this complex deserves testing more than once! I will probably at least keep the imp, though.

Hell yeah phalluses! Imp: Sweet, nose-tickling, slightly ashy and woody incense. Mm, lovely. Lots of amber and musk and cedar and just a leeeeettle saffron. Wet: Oh, yum. A perfect balance of musk, amber, dry wood, and incense. Smells like a golden treasure chest or the inside of a magical wooden box or a hot wheat field in summer. Dry and sunny and absolutely lovely-- perfect for summer. It's a little bit sharp and powdery at the moment but it's also fresh, and amber has a tendency to get better on me as it ages. After a bit of quick Googling, I see that litsea cubeb is an Asian citrus; maybe that's what's making this smells so bright and happy! Dry: This ends up a simple but beautiful golden incense on my skin. It's not harsh, overly resinous or woody, or overwhelming-- it's just liquid sunshine. I love it! I will certainly keep the imp and may invest in a bottle for summer. I'm so glad I like the penis perfume!

Imp: REALLY high-pitched, screaming florals and the cherry-floral aspect of dragon's blood. Oh lordy this is not going to be nice on me, I can already tell. Wet: Well, at first blush, it's actually not as bad as I thought. The florals go soapy on me, the dragon's blood sweet and tame, and it ends up smelling like very expensive little-girl's soap. Dry: Like most dragon's blood blends, this one ends up a sticky-sweet floral on me. Pretty but not my bag.

Imp: Sweet moss! Citrus and orchid over a bit of fresh juniper and musk. Smells like idealized forest moss. Wet: Orchid, mostly, along with a faint hint of bergamot and a hefty shot of white musk. I don't get a whole lot of either juniper or patchouli from this at the moment, so it's mostly a high-pitched very sweet floral. I get the bodywash comparison but on me it smells more like a commercial candle. Dry: Screaming orchid, bergamot and overly sweet white musk. Lovely on the right person but on me it ends up heavily cloying and headachey. Guess I'm just not woman enough to handle a Faerie king!

The pinnacle of power, poisoned by sin and indulgence - this is our homage to Classical Roman debauch. Rosemary, bay, pine and a touch of lemon. Imp: Yum! Spicy bay leaf, fresh astringent rosemary, and a lovely bright scent that's a combo of pine/lemon. It's very, very herbal, which I simply adore! Wet: I can see how on others this might come off as masculine, but on me it's green and fresh and perfectly astringent, strict and uplifting at the same time, like a celibate priest you have a crush on. After a moment on my skin the pine warms and takes the fore. There's this weird thing that pines do-- they say if you can smell pine sap when walking in pine woods the trees are dying. And I've experienced that before. But this is the smell of a living pine wood, crushed needles and sun-warmed bark rather than sap. The bay adds a perfect spicy touch and the rosemary and lemon are there to make it smell so happy. Dry: This smells like the opposite of evil! I get an impression of uprightness, maybe even rigidity, like strong wood and a very well-kept house, but not a single trace of debauchery. To me this is a 'strength' smell, soothing and encouraging while still being commanding. I REALLY love it, which is no surprise considering how much I like forest, citrus and herbal smells. I can see a 5mL of this jumping into my box for sure!

Imp: A brighty, zingy floral. Lilies and pepper and light woods, along with something a bit citrussy. Wet: A juicy, sweet floral-- definitely peony and lily-- accompanied by a nice, green, herbal background full of woods, and a bit of citrus. There's a lovely clean white musk in there too. This is complex but unified and quite feminine. Dry: Strangely, the combination of the dry woods + pepper + florals ends up smelling like melons and clean laundry on me! It's pretty, and I may save the imp for springtime.

I'm scared of this one. Imp: Thick vetiver, spice and something that smells sweet, almost like... molasses? Sugar cane? Cardamom and maybe saffron as well. This isn't as scary as I thought it would be! Wet: Very charred wood, woodsmoke, incense, hot spice (like when you toast cardamom and star anise in a pan?) and a sweet lovely brown sugar note. It's like the most hardcore gingersnaps ever! They've been hanging out at a bonfire burning things they shouldn't, too. There's a lot of strongly artificial gross things in here too, including something that must be in the leather accord because I swear I smell that weird round-plastic smell that the Lab's leather notes morph into on me. Dry: The throw is smoked gingersnaps, while up close it has more of a scorched, oily incense smoke aspect. I'm not at all sure what to make of this one! I might try it on my boy, but otherwise it will probably find a new home.

Imp: Holy crap vetiver, deep and dark and swampy, and a charred smell like burned marsh grass. Wow! That's some heavy dark stuff right there. Wet: Uh.... popcorn? Wait, no. Now it's something different. A clear carnation laid over the deepest, darkest, ashiest vetiver of all time. There's kind of a nut smell too, I think that's what was giving me the popcorn. No musk, tonka, orris, or amber yet. Dry: This softens and sweetens considerably as it dries, letting the amber, musk, and lovely tonka come out to play. The carnation gives a lovely, floral-peppery bite to the whole thing. Unfortunately, my two nemeses, orris and vetiver, are still there, stomping on the other partygoers. Ultimately this one's a little too harsh for me, but I'm glad I tried it.

Imp: Cherry cordials, y'know, those little glace cherries in brandy syrup enrobed in dark chocolate, and a fresh and lovely hint of orange extract. I usually don't like chocolate smells, even in the bottle, but this one is really lovely-- the fruit keeps it light and fresh but still very rich. Wet: It immediately goes bitter on me for a moment-- there's the orange blossom!-- and then back to a sweet orange and cherry with a hint of dark chocolate. The neat thing is, there's something in here that makes it almost perfumey rather than foody-- not sure what it is, but it's lovely! It takes it from nauseatingly syrupy and thickly sweet to a sort of cheerful, sophisticated holiday scent. Dry: A realistic and lovely bright cherry and orange blossom scent with just a hint of scrumptious dark chocolate. Totally wearable, which is really unusual for chocolate or foodie perfumes for me. I don't think I'll need more than the imp but I'll really love wearing this in the dark dreary depths of winter!

Bottle: A sweet white rose rather like Katrina Van Tassel, and dusty orris, bitter frankincense, dry coconut, and sweetly creamy, tangy vanilla tea along with a hint of resiny goodness. Wet: At first blush this is a creamy, citrussy white rose strongly backed by resinous vanilla and sharp tea. After a moment the frankincense, coconut and orris come out to play, giving the whole thing a dry, perfumey edge. This isn't the lush gorgeous floral I thought it would be, it's actually kind a still, quiet scent, feminine but a bit reserved. Dry: This dries down into a lovely, soft rose and vanilla-tea scent, but sadly the frankincense and orris are just a bit too strong and make it go slightly sour. Sad panda! Oh well, I'll always have Katrina van Tassel.

Imp: Amber and light florals, but strangely I can smell very little. Wet: An almost peachy combo of magnolia, oleander and mandarin, along with some red musk and a swirl of resins. But it's still really faint. Strangely the whole thing has a sweet, lush, but surprisingly tropical-fresh vibe. Dry: This one dries down to a smoky, resiny floral with a lovely sexy musk, but it's simply so faint it's hard to catch. Weird.

My skin does not like booze or sugar notes so here goes! Imp: A sweet, syrupy, but interesting smell. Wood and thick sugar and rum and a bit of dark molasses and some lemon. It's actually quite nice if a bit strong. Wet: A gently wafting honey touched with citrus (lemon? lime?) and warm oakwood, like a log that's been left to dry in the sun. A bit of rum and molasses as well, but it's not so boozy I can't wear it. Smells like a sophisticated, spicy molasses cookie. The throw is a sweetly spiced butter rum with a heavy dose of sugar, but it's not sour on me like most booze notes are. Dry: Well I am impressed as hell that this worked on me! The drydown is a sweet honey-wood with touches of molasses, sugar, citrus and rum. I'm still not sure I'd wear it very much but I have to give this one props, it doesn't go nasty or overwhelming on my skin like so many of its brethren in the same category. I'll probably hang on to this for when I want to smell warm and festive!

Scent-wise, TKO is is a mixed bag for me. It is, truly, sharply lavender-- a stinging, almost smoky lavender, not a floaty pretty one. And I get marshmallow too, and indeed I suspect marshmallow EO is actually present, since the true marsh mallow plant is a sedative. So yes, lavender marshmallow, but not a sweet one at all. Instead it's just big and round, like someone forgot to put in the sugar. And because my skin doesn't like sweet scents very much, it takes on a strangely rubbery smell as well. So it ends up being smoky, rubbery lavender marshmallows. Fortunately it's not a bad smell per se, just a very very strange one. However, as far as a sleep aid, TKO is the flea's eyebrows, the bee's knees, the mutt's nuts. I'm not a person who has a lot of trouble falling asleep, but a normal course of sleep for me usually involves me waking up at several times during the night and some tossing and turning. TKO takes me down and keeps me there, to the extent that the covers are not even rumpled in the morning. No midnight waking combined with anxiety from low blood sugar (a major problem in the past), no flailing around, no waking up too cold or too hot. I shut my eyes and bam! the next thing I know the alarm's going off. I usually don't even remember my head hitting my pillow. Interestingly, I can feel TKO coming on: it's almost like a very mild paralysis that starts in my extremities and moves towards my center. I feel heavy, lazy, sleepy, not can't-move but don't-want-to-move. I'm still awake but just so comfortable. Five minutes later, my brain flips a switch and I'm gone! I don't even need to listen to podcasts or audiobooks to keep myself occupied, which is my normal method of falling asleep. I can't recommend this stuff highly enough! It's like sleeping pills in a bottle only better.

Imp: Strong, sweet floral: mostly night-blooming jasmine and water lily with some sweetly powdery rose. Wet: Bitter, green powder with strong celery overtones. I think it's the calla lily/water lily combo? Wish I got the white rose and rose amber from this! Dry: Slightly green-smelling powder with a sweet rosey throw. Lovely but not for me.

I know that everyone is just dying for reviews of this one, so I thought I'd go ahead even though my bottle just came through the mail and isn't settled yet. Here goes! Bottle: First off allow me to say that this is some of my favorite label art in the history of ever. It's so pretty, you guys! Sniffing from the bottle, I get a lot of notes I'm not familiar with. Oak wood for sure, but dry, sweet, rounded oak wood, and maybe a hint of green leaves, and something approaching a berry note. There's also, at the very very very back, a slightly sour smell like split, wet wood that reminds me just a touch of cats. Mostly, though, this is sweeter and more airy that I thought it would be, at least in the bottle. Wet: Hunh. Once again defying my expectations, Oak Moon morphs into a musky berry scent with strong hints of wood, smoke, and leaves. The musk is a soft, sweet variety, sort of similar to... oh... I'm really not sure. Buck Moon, maybe? The cat note has faded but this is very sweet on me, almost too sweet. I don't get acorns or damp forest from this at all! I do get a wood, but it's a lot closer to Tombstone in feel-- dry wood layered over sweetness-- than, say, Omen or another 'forest' blend. I wish this had more dirt and earth and tree to it. Dry: This dries down as a very sweet, berry-like musk on me, with almost plasticky hints. And there's almost no trace of wood or oak or acorn or forest to be found! I am not at all sure what to think-- blends can certainly go crazy on me because they're still too stirred up from the mail, and I hope that's the case here. I'll test again and edit in a few weeks but for right now this one is just a puzzle.

Mine is the '07. Bottle: Tremendously sweet and glowing olive oil and beeswax, overlaid with a slightly smokey blown-out candles smell, a bit of an alcoholic pomegranate, earthy fig and sweet pastry. This smells good enough to eat! Wet: A bit of a foody, buttery pastry smell at first, very closely backed by sticky fig and beeswax and olive oil. The pomegranate is fairly quiet, here, which is fine by me since we usually don't get along very well. If I sniff hard and think about it I can almost catch a hint of a wine smell that must be the pom, but it plays nicely for once. The combo of smoke + sweetness really reminds me of Hearth '05, but this is a bit lighter and fruitier. Dry: This dries down to almost exactly the midway point between Hanerot Halalu and Hearth '05. It's a creamy, sweet smell full of glazed pastry crust, dried fig, beeswax, olive oil and smoke. I like it, but since I have bottles of both of the previous two I don't think I need to keep this one: I like the simplicity of HH and the more woodsy, smoked aspects of Hearth better.

This is the 2010 version. Bottle: Hunh. This has the same very strong, cut-greenery note that is so present in La Calavera Catrina and Orpheus, but it's backed by... what? Resins? Musk? Smoke? Something, anyway, that provides a lovely backdrop full of the impression of brown-ness, very much like leaves. Smells a lot like the leaf note in November mixed with the previously mentioned two. Wet: An odd, softy bitter green smell very much like salad mix, quickly followed by a sweet cinnamon smoke and a gently fuzzy musk. When I first tried this fresh out of the mailbox it was, bizarrely, crayons on me-- distinctively and definitely Crayola crayons. There's still just a hint of that waxiness, but it's nowhere near as strong or bitter as it used to be. Instead, it's a softy spiced smoke with a throw of musk and cassia. Dry: Sadly, the Crayola smells comes back in force in the throw, even though up close it remains a soft and pretty smoky musk. I think I would really dig this one if it weren't for that odd wax note; I wonder what's doing that? Oh well. This one will go on to someone whose skin chemistry is kinder to it.

Hmm. Imp: Sweet, dry, thick incense dust, like the ash that's left on the burner, and fuzzy spicy musk. No coconut yet. Wet: Yum! A dry, sweet but not too sweet coconut incense with a hefty dose of brown musk and a really lovely white sandalwood. The orris, which is definitely usually a not-so-great note on me, is okay here, although it does make the whole thing a little bit perfumey. Dry: A pleasantly ashy, gently coconutty scent with a strong backing of gentle brown musk. Pretty, but the combo of sandalwood + coconut + orris on my skin makes it smell a little bit generic. I don't think I need to keep it, but someone else might love it!

I love the IDEA of roses and foody scents but neither ever really works on me. Oh well, hope springs eternal! Imp: Rich, thick, spicy and incredible blackberry jam, a crumble of pastry and bright lush roses. Holy moly this smells great! I hope it works on me. Wet: Lush, soft, slightly powdery but not unwearable rose at first, along with a really fantastic spiced currant and berry scent and just a hint of incredible sweet pastry. This isn't buttery-weird-plastic-soap on me like I'd dreaded, at least not yet-- it's a wonderful, unusual, fresh-floral-fruit-touch of spice and sugar that's perfectly wearable as a perfume. Ohhhh man. This is indeed in the same vein of wearable foodies as Eat Me, and I love it! Dry: A lightly rose-y, mostly blackberry and spice perfume with a hint of buttery crust. Yum! This is far too spring-y to be wearing now, but I'll definitely save my imp for spring and maybe even invest in a bottle. I'm so glad this worked on me!

Imp: Sharp, almost alcoholic resins with a sweet waxy undertone and some citrus. There's also a note or two that all the Steamworks seem to share-- kind of a, uh, oily or metallic note? Wet: Saffron, trying to be one of those saffrons, the kind that just take over and turn my skin into a battleground, but it's held in check by a holycrapthat'sgood honey and beeswax and benzoin and sage and balsam and who knows what else. Up close this is all fierce, spiced warm resin, which I love, but the throw is this unbelievable light honey and resin and spice and citrus that combines to almost smell sort of floral but not, in fact, like flowers. Cool and warm at the same time. It's frakkin' incredible, is what I'm trying to say! Dry: Hot mothertruckin' damn. I want to smell like this every day for the rest of my life. It's warm, rich resin and dry, woody herbs with that incredible beeswax and honey. There's a sexy musk in the background too! INSTANT 5mL purchase for sure. I am beyond smitten.

With a list of ingredients like that, who knows what this will smell like? Imp: Whoa! Uh, I have no idea what that was, but it smelled great! Like freshly peeled fruit and a really nice soap and flowers, all at once. Definitely lemongrass, the greatest, juiciest, sweetest lime you have ever smelled, and mixed florals-- wisteria, peony, iris, muguet, and that awesome snowdrop that I liked so much in Prague. I hope my skin treats this one kindly because it could be a winner! Wet: Oh man, I have so smelled something like this before, but I just don't remember what. Something else from the Lab that's a close cousin. I can't remember! But this is creamy and sweet and fruity and floral all at once; it's beautiful sugar-lime laid over aquatic florals and lemongrass and pale amber and translucent musk. Dry: A beautiful, citrussy, tropical floral with strong overlays of fruit and musk and incense. What a fabulous scent for summer! This may be a bottle purchase. I think it would be great in a diffuser too!