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Imp: Heavy, heady champaca, a sweet bubblegum incense smell, accompanied by honey, vanilla and just a little spice. Yum! Wet: Oh hells yeah. Thick green olive blossom, warm jasmine, that same champaca, a bit of cinnamon and a rich but not sugary honey. I smell good enough to eat... with flowers! It's not a girly floral at all, though, it's heady and rich and smoky and womanly. Dry: I am terribly sad to report that this is one of those vanillas that goes just a bit plasticky on me. Maybe it's because it's fresh? I'll have to stick this one in the aging box and see what happens, because it was great for a while there, but it dried down to a yummy warm floral with just a hint of... plastic. Dangit.

Frankincense and rose are both huge problem notes for me, but I try to make a point of testing everything. Imp: Whoa! *cough* Strooooong frankincense, so loud and bitter that it almost smells chemical. And a little bit of sour rose. Wet: Rose, but sharp rose, a little soapy, with still incredibly intense frankincense. Wow, this is almost making my eyes water up close! The throw is much kinder, a light womanly rose with a hint of church incense. Dry: This ends up being one of those rare roses that actually works on me! However, the frankincense lends it a slightly bitter edge that I'm not sure I like. I'll test this one again but I doubt it's a keeper.

A nice lady frimped me a tester of this! Imp: Tons of mossy, loamy dirt, a bit of juicy fruit and some very sweet flowers. Interesting mix of clean and sweet and earthy all at once. Pomegranate and dirt are both at times problematic on me but I'm hoping this will work since it smells really lovely. Wet: A touch of bittersweet white flowers, a little tangy pomegranate juice, and a lot of earthy, mossy, wonderful dirt that doesn't go sour or scary on my skin. Hooray! Dry: The floral in here is wonderful, and pushes the whole thing from being strange dirt-and-fruit into totally wearable. I probably won't need more than just a drop of this, as I'm still not a big pomegranate fan, but this is surprisingly nice.

I love wildflowers and cream but plum frequently goes wonky on me. Let's see what this one will do. Imp: A creamy, sugary plum scent overlaid with wildflowers. Does it exactly what it says on the tin! Wet: Fresh wildflowers, sweet cream and sugar, and a hint of plums that, instead of smelling juicy, smell almost green instead. Right now this is strongly reminding me of something else but I'm not sure what. Right now this is a very pretty, feminine scent while not actually being either foody or floral. Oh! I think I know. The green plums/floral combo actually reminds me a little of a sweeter, creamier Poisoned Apple. Dry: The same creamy green-fruit and soft-florals scent. It'll have to death match against Poisoned Apple for who wins the 5mL prize, but I predict slathering!

Imp: Sweet woody floral, with a lightly citrussy smell. I think I can identify bergamot, moss, and violet mixed with woods but I'm not really sure-- this is very well blended and nothing is sticking out. Wet: Cool mixed florals, a little soapy but not very, and sweet woods with the slight bubbliness that I associate with birch. I really don't like birch very much if there's too much of it at once but it's mild enough here that I can handle it. The citrus smells like orange peels very specifically to me, not sure how I'm getting that out of bergamot but I sure am. Dry: This dries down to a pale white floral very much like The East but with a twist of wood and citrus. Pretty but I'm not sure I'd wear it-- I'll test again but I don't see this one getting much use.

Imp: A sweet berry airy lightly herbal scent, mostly cranberry, a sweet white mint, thyme, and a breath of cedar and tobacco flower. Nice! It's very gender-neutral bordering on masculine, but not in an unwearable way. It reminds a little of a tarter, fruitier Wilde. Wet: Bright cranberry and sweet red currant, mmm. Making me hungry for berries! Cool not overpowering mint and lovely thyme as well, over a base of sweet tobacco and cedar. This has a very traditional cologne-feel but is much nicer than most screaming loud popular awful man-scents. Like a really expensive body wash with the perfect clean, fruity, herbal and woodsy scent. Dry: This dries down to a festive, springy, mostly-berries with a bit of woods and herbs, although that description really doesn't do it justice. It's gorgeous and totally unisex in the end, and I will definitely be keeping my imp for Christmas and springtime!

A very nice lady (you know who you are! ) gave me this as a frimp in a swap. Imp: Yep that's grass. Pretty fresh-cut summery green grass with a slightly aquatic/floral undertone. Not getting any of the smoky, dry wood smell that the Lab's dry leaf notes register as to my nose. Wet: Grass. And just a bit of the interesting smoked wind smell of leaves. This one is actually quite reminiscent of November on me-- the grass note and the snow note clearly share some components.' Dry: Cool wet fresh-cut grass and a tiny bit of autumn smoke. Lovely! Not something I'm compelled to seek out but I'm saving this baby for days when I miss spring.

Imp: A deep dark woody sweet scent with a strong hint of something that smells a bit like anise. Lots of lovely gorgeous tobacco too. Wet: An almost... um... what? An almost chocolatey-without-the-chocolate smell of incredibly deep, dark, sweetly herbal tobacco, anise seed, and vanilla sugar. Yum. The wood is dry enough to take the whole thing out of 'foody' and push into 'complex, incensey and amazing'! It's almost like a grown-up maple syrup put into perfume form, or a wooden cigar box full of hot, sweet vanilla tea. It's seductive but also very soothing. It's almost a bit like the Feb. '09 13 but with an added layer of sugar. Dry: This really is astonishingly anise-ish on me for something with no anise listed, but I love anise so that's a-okay with me! Hot damn yeah, this is the good stuff right here.

I am absurdly excited about this pepper/amber/florals combo thing. Imp: Sweet delicious honeysuckle, thick syrupy amber, a lightly spiced pepper and something that I assume is the passionflower but which smells really really familiar. I know I've smelled this in another blend recently but I just can't remember which one! Now it's going to drive me crazy. Wet: The amber/passion flower/pepper combo makes this smell almost foody, but in a floral way. It's really cool! It gives the impression of being foody but your nose is still like, "Nope, floral!" This is one of the good ambers on me, too, rich and gorgeous and golden like liquid sunshine. I agree with saralaughs that this is almost too sweet. Dry: A juicy-sweet, softly spiced floral. I wish I got more pepper out of this! As it is, I'll have to wear it a few more times to make a decision, but I think I'll keep the imp. No need for a bottle, though, as this one is just a touch to sweet for me to be fully enamored.

I had a chance to snag a bottle of this and, well, when you're a patchouli-lover like me, you just don't pass that up! Bottle: Deep dark stanky delicious mellow black patchouli, and the green-and-brown smell of hemp. Oh, yeah, the other reason I had to have this is because that hemp smell has certain... associations... for me that are very pleasant. In a naughty kind of way. There's a little vanilla but it's not sweet at all, more the scent of vanilla beans. Dayum this is good! Wet: Unf. Sticky vanilla, green-brown airy-earthy hemp, and blackest of the black patchouli. It's like I've died and gone to hippie heaven. It's like you poured a hippie patchouli fudge sauce all over a bowl of unsugared vanilla ice-cream. Dry: By the beginning of the drydown this is the creamiest vanilla you can imagine backed by earthy patchouli and perfect hemp. Hellz yeah.

Sometimes you need to write whole reviews of all the different stages and everything, and sometimes.... you don't. This is the sticky-sweet lovely floral honeys of O, with the incense vanilla spice goodness of Snake Oil. It's mostly O at first and by the end of the scent (which I might add is 8+ hours later!) it's mostly Snake Oil. It's a little playdoughy still since the SO is so young, but I still love it. Give it another year and this will absolutely be one of my top tens. (Mine is the '10 version.)

Imp: Wow, cedar! And dry, fiery saffron, and sandalwood, and lots and lots of spice with just a touch of lotus. Very very strong and very very grounding. Wet: Hunh, I don't usually get bubblegum out of lotus but I am right now! Maybe it's because I'm (TMI) PMSing? It's strongly overlaid with spice and backed by cedar and sandalwood. Saffron can very easily be waaaaaaaay too harsh on me but this is just the right amount. This is such an interesting smell! Even though it's sort of super-lotussy it isn't sweet the way some lotuses can go, just, like, round. Yeah, 'cause THAT made sense. Dry: A soft and lovely lotus-wood-spice blend. I will need to test again, but I think this is a keeper. It's very centering, meditative and lovely, and does exactly what it says on the tin!

When I tried this fresh out of the mailbox, it was a sharp green mess on my skin. Here's hoping it's settled! My Hallowe'en costume was Catrina so I really hope it works. Bottle: Still a bundle of sharp green broken stems-- I assume that's the chrysanthemum? From farther away I can smell a faint, soapy rose, some vanilla and an almost alcoholic leaf note. Very odd. Doesn't actually smell bad, just not what I expected! Oh, and lots of chamomile. Wet: Chrysanthemum and chamomile, but suddenly much calmer, with a bright yellow note I assume is the marigolds. Definitely some leaves too. Unfortunately the rose in here goes soapy on me so it ends up smelling like shampoo up close. The throw is a nice, slightly rose-sweetened green herbal scent, though. It's very reminiscent of Orpheus without the blue lavender. Dry: A green, soapy, herbal-floral blend. This is pretty, but it's very close to Orpheus on my skin, and since that one replaces rose with lavender (which works much better) I don't think I need to keep this. Too bad, I was really excited for this one!

The only iffy notes in here are pomegranate and sugar. Bottle: Um. Hunh. A very pink, sugary, coconutty blend of musk with something very perfumey lingering at the back. Reminds me a lot of Pink Moon 2005 without the strawberries. No strong feelings about it at this point. It does smell very girly and tropical. Wet: Coconut and pomegranate and spice and that super, super, super ridiculously girly pink musk. It's so feminine it kinda hurts; smells like a girly-sexy Victoria's Secret ad looks. Oh, also, MUSK. Dry: Not gonna make it. There's something in here that's going off and giving me a headache-- probably the sugar. Sad Mlle. Lilith and I couldn't be friends.

I love clove! Bring it on! I also love that poem, which is based on a traditional Arabic short-form, so I'm really hoping I'll love this. Bottle: Splintered pine wood, pine needles, the soft sticky musky pitch from Illustrated Woman () and a smoky but sweet clove. Foresty and dry and smoky but not harsh, somehow inviting instead. Ooh I hope this stays true on my skin. Wet: A surprisingly light and airy spiced clove comes forward first, then the softness of the pitch, and just a hint of cold dark evergreen forest and dry splintered wood (like firewood). Someone up-thread said citrus and I think they're right-- not much though, just a hint of something pale and pretty, like a touch of grapefruit? The whole thing is really gorgeously airy and not heavy at all: it's dark, but it's dark like a nighttime breeze blowing the scents of forest and spice through your window. Honestly it reminds me a LOT of a more 'outdoorsy' Three Witches mixed with The Wild Men of Jezirat al Tennyn. How in [deity's] name could I complain about that? Dry: Unfortunately the lightness of this scent means it isn't terribly long-lived, but that's okay; I can't imagine it doing anything but getting better both in depth and staying power with age! It stays that same, gorgeous, airily dark scent throughout and I just love it. I think it would be fantastic for layering, too. Not sure why I didn't seek out Gacela before but she's sure a winner on me!

I love the ideas behind the Marchen scents but I've never tried any so here goes! I am however also a big fan of herbal perfumes so I hope this one's a winner on me. Imp: Hunh. I sure don't get beer from this. It's like a mix of bitter herbs and a strong astringent-- which could I guess be kind of hoppy if I concentrated-- and a sweet floral. The overall effect is like a really nice high-end cleaning product, but in a really pleasant way. With a little imagination I can see how this might be compared to the scent of, for instance, the head on a light witbier. Wet: It almost immediately kicks into a warmer, more grain-ish mode on my skin, combined with a light floral and a lot of really nice green watery herbs. There's a soft aquatic in there as well, but it's not ozone, something else that reminds me a little bit of whatever watery-scent was in the Lady of Shalott. I think the grain note in here might be nut-oil based? I keep thinking I'm catching whiffs of hazelnut. Lovely and totally different from any other blend I've tested in recent memory! Dry: This is a very ephemeral blend-- I keep thinking it's gone but I'll turn my head and catch a whiff. It's a gorgeous blend of floral/non-ozone aquatic/almost a creamy, foody, bitter note (it smells good though!) I like it a lot, but further testing will be required. I wish it were stronger! Maybe if I slathered...?

All right y'all I just LOVE Stardust so I really hope this works on me as well as Yvaine did and isn't another Lady Una-type failure. Bottle: Hunh. It's floral, all right, but it's a sheer white floral, breathy and breezy, with just a touch of something.... grainy? Jasmine and red current underneath. Pretty but it's very faint and I feel like I can't smell the whole scent. Hopefully it's one of those that will blossom on my skin. Wet: A warmer, brighter floral almost immediately, but it's still that pale white scent that makes me think of shampoo and not at all of mysterious faraway lands. There's only the tiniest touch of delicate jasmine and no real red currant at all yet. Humph. It does warm and sweeten some more but it remains extremely sheer and not at all robust. Dry: Eventually this dries down into a pretty but unremarkable floral on my skin, with no hint of either jasmine or currant. I know this one just came through the mail, so maybe what it needs is a month or two to age, but right now I'm very disappointed that my skin just doesn't make it shine. Probably a swap.

Vanilla, two ambers, sweet pea and white sandalwood. I know this one is super-popular so I hope it's good on me too! Imp: Kind of a sugary perfumey smell, floral and cakey and resinous all at once. It somehow manages to be both fresh and foody at the same time. It's also very soothing. I can see why this one is so beloved! Wet: Vanilla and amber straightaway, but not sweet, just big and round and lovely. The sweet pea softens and grounds it, adding a twist of floral loveliness, and the sandalwood keeps the whole thing from being immature. Unfortunately sweet pea always turns into the smell of generic lotion on me and that's sort of what's happening here in the throw. Dry: This dries down into a soft and feminine floral/sweet resins with just a touch of sandalwood. It's pretty but not really my thing. I might keep the imp for super cuddly moments but I have no desire for a bottle. Glad I got to try it nonetheless.

The pumpkin in Samhain turned the whole thing into a weird dirty mess on my skin, so I'm hoping this will be the fall scent I wanted! Bottle: Fir, patchouli! Also a little bit of hazelnut and maplewood, backed by honey and a slightly fruity touch that must be plum. The whole combo feels very similar to Samhain but less sweet and more woodsy. Wet: Definitely maplewood and fir and patchouli at first, and an odd sweet bright note that must be the cognac. Then honey, sticky and sweet and quite strong, with the tiniest hints of fruit at the very back. No hazelnut, which is too bad since I quite like hazelnut. Dry: This dries down to a soft but not terribly attention-grabbing honey-and-woods scent. I like it, it's what I wanted from Samhain without the pumpkin, but I feel like it's missing some depth or complexity. I think aging may be the thing that brings this forward into full glory, so I'll hold on to it for now.

I LOVE the snow note so I hope this one will be fabulous on me! Bottle: A slushy wonderful snow note full of bright shiny goodness. Smells like the snow note in Snow Moon all righty! But instead of the florals there's a dark night air and smoke scent swirling underneath-- a little like Buck Moon, actually, but smokier and chillier. There's just a touch of sweet ozone but it's definitely not enough to overpower the blend. Wet: Slushy ice and snow and evergreens! And then a soft skin musk, a very light ozone, a smokey outdoors smell, and maybe just the tiniest hint of something minty. There's a 'brown' backdrop that I'm assuming must be the leaves? Oh this is just amazing. Dry: Still lovely soft snow, sweet ozone, 'night-air' musk, smoke and the leaf note. I foresee this one getting a lot of love from me-- it's exactly the kind of scent that Beth does so well: smells amazing while still being spot-on for the scent inspiration. I find the snow note very calming so I may end up using this partially as a bed-time perfume!

I'm all about this except for the vetiver! So let's see what trolls smell like. Imp: Hmm, thick sticky pine pitch and a haaayooooge hit of dark burnt vetiver like the kind in Highwayman, and stroooooooong bitter basil like the kind you've let run to seed. It smells like a more sour Hurricane to me at this stage. Wet: Uh-oh. I think I smell black musk. That could be a deal-breaker here. But I also smell a lot of cumin, and quite a bit of basil, and a harsh stingy clove that sort of catches at the back of your throat, and a much-tamed but still quite-murky vetiver. There's green pine somewhere in there too. It's funny but I expected this to smell... smokier? Greener? Right now it smells very stagnant. Dry: Wow, Troll really does morph a lot on the drydown! Now I'm getting a spiced wood scent, but still without a single hint of sweetness. It's mostly cumin and basil, and unfortunately I'm not getting enough clove or pine to make it not smell like Indian food. Now don't get me wrong, I LOVE Indian food. But I don't think I want to smell like it.... I'll test again since this came through the mail but right now it looks like it's not a winner. Damn.

Every note in this except for vanilla and honey (which can be tempermental) is a winner on my skin. I can't wait! Bottle: Sharp lavender, deep delicious vanilla, and that frackin' gorgeous linen note. Honey, amber, and jasmine all muck about in the background but they're definitely second-tier. Even further down is a deep dark opium note and just a hint of delicious berry-like fruit... but not "bright" as BPAL berries tend to go, more like blackberry jam. Wet: Honeyed lavender, amber in combination with a mild jasmine and just a hint of opium smoke. After a moment the vanilla and linen warm and lift and the whole thing becomes sweet and lovely and a bit mysterious and just slightly powdery but not enough to ruin it. No fruit gums yet. Mid-way through the drydown, though, they show up, in a burst of dry fruity wonderfulness that's halfway dark berries and halfway dark berry wine. Sexy! Dry: Eventually this turns into a perfectly balanced linen-vanilla-fruit gum scent with a lovely dose of lavender. The opium smoke, jasmine and amber aren't tremendously noticeable, but they're in there, deepening and making the whole thing much more complex. This is already gorgeous and I simply adore it, but I think aging will make it even better. It's got enough of the dark, complex vibe of Lunar Eclipse, but it's much sweeter, more accessible and way more feminine.

Frimped to me by a lovely swapper! Imp: Yuuuummmy! Bright super-realistic tangerine, fizzy lovely juniper, guava and a lot of fuzzy fruit that must be passionfruit. And a bit of bitterness from the tonic. I wish I had a tall glass of whatever the drink equivalent of this would be in front of me. Wet: Bright mouth-watering fruit and the awesome carbonated bitterness of juniper and tonic. Just lovely! Not overly sweet, which is a problem I encounter with a lot of blends, and not "flat" like many booze notes are on my skin. The throw is all sweet-and-bitter fruits and tonic with just a hint of herbally green. Man, I did NOT expect to like this so much! Dry: This one hangs around a surprisingly long while for something with so few bottom notes! Mostly what I get at the end of the drydown is a tonic water/juniper scent lightly laced with delicious fruit-- guava and tangerine in particular. I didn't expect to like this but I really do! I'm not in a fruity mood enough to justify a bottle, but I'll hang on to the imp.

The Dodo! Imp: Deliciously spicy cassia, sexy red musk, sandalwood, and the faint sweetness of sugarcane and just a drop of fruity mango. Yum yum. Wet: Fruity red musk, soft dry sandalwood, and cassia. Although I can't identify sugarcane or mango specifically in this instance, the whole thing is sweet, spicy, and a little sexy in a tropical/sultry way. I wish the lemon peel would come out a little more but I'm sure it's in there somewhere. Dry: A lightly-spiced fruit and musk blend that comes off as a much gentler, summerier and more versatile version of Mme. Moriarty, Blood Moon, Red Phoenix or any other fruit/red musk blend. I really love it! The toned-down feel makes it appropriate for more situations while still being full of spiced musk and yummy sugar. I'm going to see how much I wear it but this may be a bottle purchase for me.

Imp: A sweetly perfumed white wine, big round spicy-sugared lotus, the gorgeous tang of grapefruit, and just the slightest hint of sharp mint. If this were a mixed drink, I'd order a couple. Wet: The pale wine/champagne notes happen right away, fizzy and effervescent, but the grapefruit/lotus/mint is there to catch them, a soft but delicious mix of cheerful, glassy top notes. There's muguet, I think, in here, or perhaps lily? Soft white floral aquatics, anyway, that don't dominate but add a layer of complexity. I agree with whoever said that the whole affect is slightly pear-like. This smells a bit like the 'undertones' of Snow Moon without those slushy snow notes and trees on top. Sweet and aquatic without containing a single trace of ozone. Eventually a gentle bitterness rises to the top, smelling something like... grapefruit peel? Or pith? It's a little musky, a little soapy, but not in a bad way. Dry: Unfortunately the champagne notes fall a little flat on me, leading to a slightly perfume-y white wine, grape and floral scent in the drydown. I was actually hoping for more lotus (I LOVE lotus!) and grapefruit, but they seem to give up the stage to the other players. On a skin chemistry that worked with booze notes, this would be incredibly stunning. Oh well, I'll have to stick with Undertow and Paris for my lotus fixes!