CrazyPretzel

In the imp: Powdery rose and sexy apple (why does apple always smell like sex to me, eh?) A little bit of an unfortunate air-freshener vibe. Wet on me: Ohh! The lemon is surprisingly creamy here and actually plays second fiddle to the rose and apple. After five minutes: Err, nice enough, but still a bit air-freshener. Surprisingly soft and powdery -- I would have expected this to be quite tart. Drydown: Soft lemony powder. Pretty strong throw, though. This reminds me a little of the later drydown of Follow Me Boy... I am, indeed, rather conflicted about Delirium. It's a soft sweet scent but it's just so much like a (clean) baby's arse because of all the powder!

Thanks for the recommendations I've been eyeing Jersey Devil; the tomato leaf in there sounds yummy as well. And vanilla! Awesome! When was Mistletoe released? I don't think I've even heard it mentioned -- I'm eagerly looking forward to this year's Yule scents; there's usually a snow-and-pine/winter forest-themed one, isn't there?

So I generally don't get along with woodsy blends (cedar and sometimes sandalwood go all dusty-floorboards on me), and my usual suspects tend to be floral and/or foody. However, someone frimped me a bit of Slobbering Pine a while ago -- whoever it was, thank you SO much, because that never would've made it on my wishlist but I absolutely adore it. I tried Black Forest last night (from a swap with xiangshui, thank you dear!) and was in heaven. Dark, haunting pine forest...just.....guh. I also have an imp of Thanatopsis awaiting sampling. Can anyone recommend more of these beautiful forest scents for me which are light on the woods, heavy on the greenery?

I don't do too well with woods but I adore ambergris and loved Slobbering Pine, so this could be a big hit or miss. In the imp: fantastic fresh Christmas trees. Wet on me: *swoon* More of the same. So fresh it's like biting into a fir needle. After a few minutes: Super-dark pine and fir, full of sap -- this is different from Slobbering Pine in that it doesn't have that citrusy tang to it. Thus far I really love both of them. Drydown: Much the same as above, no weird morphing, thankfully. Wonderful, dark and fresh at the same time. A lot of my favourite scents involve flowers and food, but ever since someone gifted me with a frimp of Slobbering Pine I've been totally in love with BPAL's pine blends. I'm so glad to add this one to my collection!

In the imp: almond and spicy rum. Wet on me: Reminds me of Queen of Sheba, so maybe there's a touch of saffron in there along with the almonds? It's definitely not as foody as QoS was, though. Unfortunately there's something at this stage that seems a little bit off; the clove isn't as strong as some people have reported but something's bugging me and I can't put my finger on it... After a few minutes: It's bay leaves, maybe -- the boy just walked in and sniffed it and declared it 'awesome' so even if I don't fancy it for me I might keep it for him It is improving, though it strikes me as quite masculine. The spices are pleasant; not too hot, but a little bitter. Drydown: Almond is there but not as 'baked-good' as the other almonds I've encountered recently. This is mainly soft clove on me, neither too sweet nor too bitter. I have to say I'm not getting a lot of rum from this, and it's surprisingly faint. Maybe I need to apply more, eh? I'm pleasantly surprised by this one -- I'll be keeping it for further testing on me and the lad ETA: Half an hour later: oh, *there's* the rum! Just a bit of it backing up the bay and clove. Not too boozey.

Usually red musk scares me off, but I've had a lucky day today with Red Moon '07. If red musk + amber works well on me, maybe red musk + all these delicious things will, too! In the imp: It smells *wonderful*, thick and heady like incense in a magick shop. Like nag champa. Wet on me: Honey comes out strongly first -- this is different from other BPAL honeys I've tried. It's richer, darker. Lickable caramel. This is really good. If it does fail on my skin I'd like to hang on to it and put it in a scent locket, when I eventually get one. After five minutes: Musk is definitely noticeable, but the resin seems to keep it from turning evil, the way red musk usually does on me. I hope it lasts. There's something woodsy about this. Still delectable honey and caramel. Drydown: A little bit of a soapy edge that doesn't detract from the deliciousness of the scent: rich dark golden honey and smooth nag champa. Lust, Ravenous, and Seduction all started off wonderfully and then my skin turned them rank. I've finally found a scent in that general family (the family of Hot Liquid Sex) that suits me, and I'm very pleased.

In the imp: yes, it is indeed strong, almost fruity plumeria. Reminds me of Thalia, which is a little disappointing as I was hoping to get the white linen note from White Rabbit. This isn't at all like that. Wet on me: Yes, it's still a fruity-floral. What the heck? As it begins to dry it starts to smell like freshly-dried sheets; not really linen-like, but more like floral fabric softener or something. After five minutes: OK, this is tricky: it's a soap-like scent without being soapy. What I mean is, it doesn't have any of the nose-tickling qualities or bitterness that we generally mean when we refer to a scent as 'soapy'. Rather, this is the sort of scent that soap would be scented with. If that makes any sense. Drydown: plumeria and freshly-laundered sheets. This isn't what I expected, but what the heck, I do like it. It's unusual.

In the imp: Something sharp and sour. Wet on me: Given that Loralei contains neroli and ylang ylang, I would've expected it to be a lot stronger -- instead it's sandalwood with just a little bit of creamy flower. Not sharp at all anymore. After five minutes: I can detect a tiny bit of citrus from the neroli, I think. Ylang ylang is not as strong or powdery as it usually is on me. Drydown: Hard to pin down. There doesn't really seem to be a lot going on here -- ylang ylang is quite sweet, neroli is a little sharp, sandalwood is, as usual, slightly regrettable on my skin, but the whole composition is pretty faint.

In the imp: oohhh, cool green ferns. Wet on me: green ferns and sugar. I love green sugary scents -- this one reminds me a little of Gennivre. After five minutes: A touch of cool green lavender, not at all bitter, and some sweet lilac. Still with the ferns -- this is much more of a herbal/green blend on me than a floral one, at least so far. Cool and misty and suggests faeries to me much more than Fae does, though I do like Fae. Drydown: Lilac with green notes that remind me of Allison Gross (hooray!). I'm glad I wound up with two imps of this. If you like this one, try Dian's Bud from the Rappaccini's Garden section. ETA: After an hour this seemed to take on a slightly stale, dead-flowers smell that worried me, but now it's back to strong lilac and a touch of sharp greenery.

In the imp: wow. Rose, but not overwhelmingly so, with musk and incense and sweetness from the other flowers. Wet on me: Delicious soft incense and rose. There are other things going on but regrettably, I can't identify them! There's a scent that seems soft, glowing and white, and I want to say that it's moonflower. But I don't know for sure. After five minutes: Very sweet; a bit spicy and green. The jasmine in this is NOT strong, but there's a hint of soap. As it continues to dry, the rose gets stronger. Drydown: The early part of the drydown is rose and jasmine with a touch of incense. A bit soapy on me still. This is nice enough but after reading some rave reviews of it I was expecting to be totally blown away by Nuit -- sadly that doesn't seem to be happening. The beginning was very nice but on me the drydown is rather bland. A pity.

In the imp: the same clear scent I got from Morgause -- that's what violets smell like to me before they hit my skin and go all candy-sweet. Wet on me: Candy-sweet violets (what did I tell you?) and fresh lilac. This brings lilac flowers so clearly to mind! After five minutes: The violets begin to get stronger, but there's still a good amount of lilac here. I can't pick out the tuberose too strongly. (I suspect I might be getting some interference from my Paradise Misplaced body lotion!) Drydown: Violet candies and lilacs. Sweet, cool, and springy. One for the violet fans. Hey, I dig it.

In the imp: strong red wine with a little bit of a sickening-sweet edge. Wet on me: It begins to sweeten up quickly, without being gross. The rose gets stronger. After five minutes: Hmm. Yup, it's wine and rose petals. Velvety crushed red rose petals with a tart edge. Drydown: The rose becomes a little softer and more powdery. I like this well enough; on me it's a soft and elegant rose blend. Sophisticated and warm.

I got this scent from the Lab aaaages ago and haven't tried it yet -- today seems like an appropriate time, it being Red Moon and all. Wet on me: The dragon's blood is not too strong; I can smell a little tang of something that reminds me of black currant. Red musk is noticeable, unfortunately (I've discovered in the weeks since I've purchased this that I really dislike red musk, and also that it lingers on my skin. ) After five minutes: A slightly bitter, soapy scent. It tickles my nose. Drydown: Still nose-tickling; sweet heliotrope and dusty orange peel and slightly sneezy herbs. This is not very strong on me. I'll have to wait and see what this one does in the next few hours. Right now it's just so-so on me. ETA: Haha, yes!! After 30-40 minutes this becomes a wonderful soft, smooth blend of amber and dragon's blood. The red musk is so far sweetened by the amber and dragon's blood and thus is, for once, wearable. I'm glad I don't have to swap this after all!

In the imp: whoa! Smells really strongly of amarettini, or whatever those little Italian biscuits are called -- almonds and strong cardamom and spices. Wet on me: Whoa. Weird. I think I'm smelling saffron. It really really smells like saffron rice. And also the lemon juice and melted butter that we used to dip crab legs into when I lived at home in Florida. Yeah, I know. I'm weird. God, it's making me hungry though! After five minutes: Right, I'm struggling to get thoughts of seafood out of my head and have almost succeeded. Still saffron, a hint of lemon, and buttery-golden almond biscuits. (Scrolling through the old reviews and LadyCrow is right. Holy hell, now I totally want a biryani.) Drydown: Saffron rice with almonds and cream and a squeeze of lemon. I really want to be able to take this scent seriously, but it's a *curry* for crying out loud! Also I'm torn because it smells totally delicious and makes me want to eat my arm, but I might feel differently if it weren't dinnertime.

In the imp: Sweet, clear, like the ringing of a bell. Wet on me: This starts to get deeper straight away. There's some berry/plum blended with smoky incense, and a sharp green note. There's a hint of soap that might be jasmine in some form, but it's not overpowering. ...though as time passes, the florals begin to grow stronger and stronger... After five minutes: I think I was smelling *violets* and not jasmine. The violets are strong now, quite sweet but weighted down by the incense. I realise that 'incense' is not very specific but I can't quite identify it -- it's not frankincense; it smells quite ponderous, like something a temple priestess would burn at night. This fragrance makes me think of heavy purple velvet -- it seems much more velvety to me than Velvet does. Still just a tiny touch of berry/plum that fades in and out. Drydown: Rich, dark flowers; incense and just a little bit of purple fruit. Ultimately I don't really know what to make of this one! At first whiff the violets are a bit off-putting for me, but then if I sniff again the incense and fruits are just wonderful. I think I'll hang on to the imp.

In the imp: Something a little spicy and almost foody. Wet on me: Ylang ylang. Why does every damn thing smell like ylang ylang to me? This is smelling like an incense-y version of Seduction. After five minutes: Oh GOD the ylang is amping horribly. This is just what happened with Seduction. At this point it seriously smells like paint to me. Drydown: Soap, syrup and solvents. This one does not like me. Swaps!

In the imp: sexy, slightly soapy jasmine; tart blackcurrant. Wet on me: Black currant, cardamom and jasmine are the strongest notes on me, along with a smooth white floral that I think might be moonflower. Ylang ylang, jasmine, and lily all together are coming on a teensy bit too strong so far, and are a little soapy. After five minutes: Wow, wonderful smooth sandalwood and black currant! Those two are a wonderful combination; we'll see if the sandalwood turns funny on me. The flowers are getting slowly subsumed by the berry-scent of black currant and now instead of dominating they just add sweetness to the tart, silky sandalwood-black currant combo. Drydown: Thus far, the black currant and the flowers are awesome together. Ylang-ylang is a bit powdery but it's in the background behind everything else, so that's fine. Silky, very slightly woodsy berry floral. Nice!

In the imp: cardamom, some dusky flowers. Wet on me: Phoo! Where did all those flowers come from?! This suddenly becomes REALLY flowery when it hits my skin -- smells like ylang-ylang, maybe. Kind of acetone. Ylang-ylang + nutmeg = weird. Sort of turning sickly on me in the same way that Seduction did. After five minutes: Still a bit scary, but the spices are starting to pick up and temper the flowers a little. Now the flowers are heady and creamy rather than chemical and threatening. Strong spices but not foody and not too hot -- no cinnamon in here. Drydown: Still really strong flowers and now they're turning soapy. This might not be for me -- I'm going to try it again in about a week, when I don't have reason to suspect that my hormones are amping floral notes! ETA: After about 20 minutes this chills out and turns totally beautiful and addictive. I have to say it again, it's very creamy.

In the imp: patchouli, and a funny burning smell. Wet on me: Mmm! A great rush of warm spices comes out first, warm but not too hot. This makes me think of Egypt and desert sands. There's some sweetness from the amber, and still that strange burning-paper note -- could that be hyssop? I have no idea. After five minutes: The burning note peaks early to a disturbing burning-rubber scent and then vanishes. Hooray! Now it's all dark elegant patchouli and those wonderful spices. This is a scent like a dark varnished ebony box, or better yet torchlight glinting off of golden treasure hidden for thousands of years in a dusty pyramid, gleaming just a little in the inky blackness. Very very evocative. Drydown: Rich, elegant patchouli that doesn't smell too 'dirty' because of the amber (which seems pretty light.) This reminds me of incense, but *spice* incense, not resin incense. An opulent scent. I will definitely use my decant of this, and it might end up being a bottle purchase someday. ETA: This lasts for hours, and eventually smoulders down to a sweet amber-spice scent. I absolutely adore this!

In the imp: strong, fruity berries. Wet on me: Quite a tart scent like green apple. No amber or cardamom so far, sadly, though they'll probably be there when the fruitiness burns off. Some very very sweet vanilla as well -- the sweetness might be amped by the neroli. After a few minutes: Hm! Still fruity but I'm getting a soapy-clean note, like fruit-scented shampoo. *Nice* fruit-scented shampoo, mind you, none of the ol' cheap drugstore crapola. Oh gods, what am I on about; I probably just had shampoo that smelled like this once and that's why my brain's supplying me with the idea. (The boy just came over and sniffed me and said 'WOOOOW...that is AWESOME.' ) Drydown: Ohh, yum, the vanilla's more noticeable now, along with a slight spiciness that'll be the cardamom. Amber is not really discernible, nor is neroli as a separate note. This is very well-blended. This is a sweet, slightly tart, uplifting blend. Playful. I'll probably be getting a lot of wear out of this.

This is a review of how Theodosius smells on my boyfriend... First, there's a strong lime note, which lasts throughout the wearlength. No idea where it's coming from! I got a whiff of earl grey tea within the first few minutes as well. Unfortunately it seems that he's amping musk to an unreasonable degree () and all I can smell on him is musk and lime. Peculiar. I'll try this one on myself and add some notes on how I fare with it. ETA: OK, on me, it's initially weak tea with a thin slice of lemon on top. Musk -- very light, close-to-the-skin -- and fougere (gentleman's cologne) come wafting up shortly after. This really doesn't have much throw and I need to put my nose right close to my wrist to smell it -- on my boyfriend it's vanished already. I like the combination of delicate musk and light lemon, but this smells like it might disappear soon without doing anything more. I probably don't need a bottle of this.

In the imp: sweet tang of neroli blended with deeper, darker notes: patchouli and black musk. Wet on me: Delicious. A well-rounded neroli that isn't at all sharp or powdery. Tricky to pick out the other notes, but I get an overall impression of thick, languid sweetness. This is pretty intense but beautiful. I can't stop sniffing my wrist. After five minutes: Vanilla and apple come out but merely as complements to the neroli and musk -- neroli really is the star of this blend. Thank god the wood isn't coming out too strongly. Drydown: Man, this is SO hard to describe. The neroli's backed down a little now, and I can smell the vanilla more strongly and a tiny touch of rose. Black musk adds a hint of something like -- well, like sweat, for lack of a better word, but it's not remotely bad; makes the whole blend really unmistakably sexy (i.e. this is NOT one to wear to a parent-teacher conference!) There's a bit of spicy apple as well. This is amazing. ETA: So cool! Well into the drydown, this turns into an incredible spicy apple blend! It's morphed big time but I love BOTH phases: the sexy vanilla-neroli, and the autumnal apple cider goodness.

In the imp: A very dark green scent, a touch of berry. Wet on me: The berry gets a bit stronger. The scent seems slightly drab, though. ...All right, now it's perking up. After five minutes: Now it smells a little like red wine to me. No, more like....Christmas stores, for some reason. O_o Some sort of candle that you get around Christmas -- bay candles, maybe. And now beer? I think my brain is trying really hard to translate the 'poisonous' aspect of this into alcohol. Drydown: Yup, Christmas candles. I think this is the first scent I've identified as wintery or Christmassy that wasn't spicy. But it really is like a berry-scented candle you'd get around the holidays. This is a simple fragrance but I rather enjoy it. I'm going to hang on to the imp -- especially since I feel sorry for poor Baneberry after reading the other reviews; it doesn't seem to get much love!

Three white cakes, vanilla, and red and black currants. In the imp: A strong scent of buttercream frosting -- oh man, I hope the buttery debauchery of Drink Me isn't going to ruin my Eat Me experience, or I'll be PISSED. Wet on me: Oh good, butter disappearing beneath a tide of vanilla. Red and blackcurrant are there too, lending a bit of berry scent but not too tart. This is incredibly sweet. After five minutes: Oh, man. Wonderful cake frosting and batter. Berries are still present but not dominant. The berries do get a bit stronger after a bit; combined with the sugar they make me think of great big spoonfuls of jam. I really do like how this manages to be creamy without being sour or sickly! Drydown: Hm, it's a little difficult to describe what I'm smelling now -- it's not as intense as it was when it was fresh; still sweet and vanilla-y but you could probably smell it without going 'Whoa, CAKE!' Maybe that's why the non-foody lovers dig it so much! Creamy, sweet, well-rounded. A definite hit!

Got an extra-large decant of this as a frimp in a purchase from squirrelmonkey; thank you! In the imp: almonds & cream, a slight plastic note. Wet on me: YUM! Plastic disappears quickly beneath a wave of sugared almonds. Honey is a sweet note distinct from the sweetness of the almonds. After five minutes: The almond mellows out into a wonderful creamy cake-like scent. This is totally delicious and very much me! Drydown: I don't have a bar of Snowcake sitting in front of my right now to make a comparison with, but as far as I can remember this is just what Lush's Snowcake soap smelled like: lush, creamy, sweet marzipan. Not cloying at all and very moreish. Wonderful!