angelamaria

I second Dirty!

Another one might be Embalming Fluid http://www.bpal.org/topic/47-embalming-fluid/ "A light, pure scent: white musk, green tea, aloe and lemon." that one, to me, made me think more of laundered sheets than Dirty did, for some reason

In imp: just as described. This is a perfectly clean, freshly breezy smell, faint white/yellow flowers in the distance, with a hint of bright lemon.

Wet on skin: clean, slightly floral, bright and summery. There might be a hint of mint somewhere, very faint, just a touch cool, that gives this a breezy feel. Lovely, fresh, and very refreshing.

Dry: no change from the wet phase: bright, almost minty, breezy and clean floral. I immediately thought that this would be great in soap, although it's not particularly "soapy"--it just gives you that sense of fresh cleanliness. I also made a note back then that I liked this better than Embalming Fluid as a scent, likely because this wasn't as freshly-laundered-sheets as that one was, though this description actually says linen!

Verdict: not as perfume, but definitely a very lovely scent with light throw.

In imp: sweet melon candy! Yummy.

Wet on skin: sweet, ripe melon that's very candy-like. A simple, uncomplicated scent, with a tropical feel.

Dry: this doesn't morph at all. This is playful, bright, fruity melon, straight up. The aquatic vibe is stronger when dry then when in the imp or wet on my skin, but checked and doesn't overwhelm the melon, just provides an interesting tropical backdrop.

Verdict: this was one of my early keepers! I've since discovered that any fruity blends I have, no matter how I love smelling them, I hardly ever wear, and this was certainly one of the fruitiest.

In tester: this is a little confusing to my nose. It's somewhat fleeting, a sort of light musky floral that is not a floral. It's fresh, slightly herbal, but slightly sweet.

Wet on skin: rich, but light musk. Definitely gender neutral, the florals are not that discernible, and I'd say this is more light greens and woods now. Very smooth! There's a faint powderiness as it dries, but it adds texture and is not the sort of powdery that says something has gone wrong. It does feel like "an amplification of one's natural musk", as it feels very natural and not at all like I've got something on.

Dry: very, very nice. Musk, herbs, faintly woodsy, with a touch of sweetness to it. Definitely a skin scent, and it really does feel like the description. Very natural-smelling, subtly sexy and low-key, kind of like a scent to wear if you don't want someone to think you're wearing any perfume, that you just really smell this delicious.

Verdict: this was actually a keeper for me for a while. It's rare, but I managed to track down a full bottle...but I find I don't really use it much! It's very unique, and I feel it's worth to keep for its very interesting properties, but right now it's not seeing any use in my collection

In bottle: apple with amber, rather creamy. This is a somewhat "grown-up" apple.

Wet on skin: apple, herbs, and amber. Going on, it's almost sharp, with a touch of dark bitterness? There's an interesting, almost peppery texture which I'm owing to the mix of herbs. This smooths out while it dries.

Dry: definitely apple--a beautiful, crisp apple, surprisingly bright without tipping over to a "young" sort of apple. There is a deep, almost boozy note that I can't quite put my finger on, I suppose that's the black amber, as it does get more prominent the longer it stays on my skin, edging a bit ahead of the apple.

Verdict: this used to be one of my keeper blends, but eventually I decided I had to let it go. It's a wonderful apple blend, but not really "me".

Not GC, but I find the saffron in Pussy Moth is very similar to me. Underpants is a bit smoother and "simpler" than Pussy, but I find them relatively close enough.

>_>

In bottle: dark and fuzzy is quite right! Chocolate and tonka, with sandalwood and white oleander, and musk wrapping them all snuggly. This is definitely "batty"! In a good way, of course. This is like a super super cute bat (the artwork is cute too!).

Wet on skin: yummy chocolate and musk, and a definitely masculine tonka. Therefore, this is definitely a masculine blend (which is only fitting, I suppose) although the white oleander helps give it a bit of a feminine vibe to bring it a bit closer to a unisex scent. I suppose whether you get masculine or feminine really depends on your skin chemistry! It's a bit "woody" as well, thanks to the oudh and sandalwood. It's warm and fuzzy all right, pleasant and cozy.

Dry: surprisingly light throw, or maybe my skin is eating this up. Back in the bottle I was thinking this may be one of those blends you must put only a small amount of, but I'm seeing that isn't the case. The white oleander is not very distinguishable now, leaving this a quite masculine blend with my kind of skin chemistry. There's yummy chocolate tonka and sandalwood, maybe a hint of the cassia for a slight spice. This will probably age pretty well.

Verdict: very lovely blend, but not something I will wear myself. I wouldn't mind smelling this on a guy, for sure.

In imp: whoa, hothouse blooms! Past those almost-overwhelming flowers is a solid aquatic vibe to this, with a minty note. This feels a bit more than a "spike" of frost. The vibrant flowers and the minty-cool aquatic vibe is contrasting with each other beautifully, somehow.

Wet on skin: starts out strongly like the imp scent. The hothouse blooms and cold mint blasts first and high, but this quickly softens and smooths out fairly considerably. It's smooth, but there's a spiciness to it that gives it an interesting texture without being actually spicy. At this stage, I immediately thought of this being a general catalogue replacement for Parsifal. I'll have to do a side-by-side comparison soon.

Dry: newly dry, this doesn't morph on my skin, just smooths out a bit more, and softens around the edges. The hothouse flowers are front and center, with an undercurrent of aquatic, almost minty note. Visually, this makes me think of a lake frozen over, and you wipe off the frost at the top and see that under that ice, there are fiery vibrant blooms just frozen and waiting for summer. (I know, that's NOT possible, but never mind.) After a short while on my skin, I was suddenly hit with this blend being an "older" Annabel Lee--none of that candy drydown that Annabel Lee had on me, more subdued and "grown up". Now here's the clincher: I tested this for a whole day at work, and after noon, I went to take a good sniff...and I got that same beautiful drydown scent as The Girl has on me.

Verdict: I'm supposed to be in the middle of a culling. But I can't help it--this is definitely a bottle purchase. I'll admit the notes describe aren't really that promising, but I'm so glad I gave this a try. The incense, clay, stone, and decay notes which are scary to me provide a wonderful calming and solid backdrop to the vibrant flowers and cool aquatic.

Goodness. I was randomly picking imps from my drawer to test, and came up with Inferno. I was going to not even skin-test, as it was so cinnamony and I was nervous, but I thought, well, at least I'll know if I had a bad skin reaction to it! So I dabbed, like, a dot. Or okay, a small comma.

Had to wash it off. It was not an instant burn, but it's about 20 minutes after now and my wrist had a red mark the size of my thumb and still itchy, burny, and sensitive to touch.

Well, at least I know now!

Funny though, I've tried a number of things on this thread but those have not ever given me this reaction. I suppose it really matters how much cinnamon is in the blend.

I was toying with the idea of a "spring cleaning" swap (which was admittedly inspired by a query that came to me earlier this year, but was never posted). The idea would be that we would each send at least 10 little things that we didn't not buy specifically for the swap, but that we think that our swap partner would like. Product samples would be a good start in almost any package, but we could include other things too, so long as anything included was new or only gently used (e.g. books, and the like).

 

Interest?

I'd love to join this too, if it was open to internationals I've been missing circular swaps myself!

Finally got to try this, after being able to try the protos first

In imp: definitely honey, amber, and vanilla. It's sweet and creamy and full-bodied and quite sensual, rather luxurious.

Wet on skin: this is very well blended. Each note comes up fleetingly but then melds back in with the rest. The amber is starting to turn to powder on me however, turning the blend into mostly powdered honeyed vanilla.

Dry: powdery--this probably has the most amber between O v5 and O v6. It's sweetly-smelling honey and vanilla powder, soft and pleasant, which does have its charms.

Verdict: oh well! It was a good try. The end result is rather pleasant, even though it is powdery.

In bottle: brighter than the released version. There's a definite coolness in this prototype.

Wet on skin: slightly minty, and I think this is definitely more foody. Maybe there is less amber here, and the vanilla and honey are then more prominent, along with that minty note. I'm not too sure what sort of mint it is, it may be peppermint, or it may be something else entirely. It's a subdued sort of minty, not snow-note-minty, just adding a touch of brightness and "whiteness" to the vanilla and honey.

Dry: mostly the same as the wet stage, but there is still amber in this for sure, as the blend's become mostly minty powder (with a bit of sweetness) for me. As it stays longer on my skin, the powderiness keeps getting stronger, until it's just mint and powder, a slightly "grandmothery" feel to it.

Verdict: initially I thought this was so promising, as I like soft mint scents. Unfortunately, dry, this isn't my thing. It's "better" for me than the released O, but O v6 is still more up my alley than this one.

In imp: definitely green--salad greens sound quite right! There is also something sweet, almost fruity, along with the greens, but not tipping over completely. This is a ripe scent, with cut stalks, very "alive".

Wet on skin: oh, this is so beautiful. Color impression is definitely green, with hints of other colors and ingredients--yellow, orange. This is a wonderful "garden" scent without soil and with very little flowers, but it's not an overtly "vegetable" scent. I keep thinking fruity, but it's not a "fruit" scent, just a ripe sort of green, inviting and vibrant.

Dry: this didn't change on my skin from the wet to dry stage, other than becoming a bit softer around the edges. Green, ripe, alive, fresh--it really is a beautiful, fresh summer-y scent without being overly fruity.

Verdict: I really like this! It was such a joy sniffing this and trying it on. Sadly this isn't something I would wear, even as enjoyable as it is. It's such a pretty scent.

I was so infatuated with this blend. I bought as much as I could get my hands on, unsniffed...

In bottle: sweet vanilla mint! Very vanilla, and a soft sweet mint. Where snowblind is more mint than vanilla in the bottle, this is more vanilla than mint. Very yummy, tipping towards foody.

Wet on skin: yum! Definitely a sweet candy vanilla mint. Beautiful and yummy and so foodily wonderful; smooth and creamy and minty. This blend makes me want some sweets right nao. The mint strengthens as it dries, keeping more on par with the vanilla.

Dry: this becomes a slightly dusty vanilla mint. Sweet and beautiful and refreshing in a very smooth and creamy way. However, as it stays longer on my skin, that horrible, horrible plasticky note starts to come out for me.

Verdict: I really, REALLY wanted to get this to work. Not just because of the blend itself, but because I, er, ended up with multiple expensive bottles. D: I even tried a scent locket for it, but in the end...I have to let it go. I like how blends become so personal on my skin, and can't remember to be fussy enough to put it in a scent locket.

In imp: very pink! I'm getting the slightly spicy carnations and pepper, a kind of sweet dusty sugar scent. To my nose, it feels rather fizzy.

Wet on skin: low throw, quite faint. I'm getting sugared daisies now and some fizzy pink pepper. The carnation has gone quite faint, but then again the whole scent is faint on my skin.

Dry: my skin must be eating this up, or it's otherwise burning off really quickly. It's almost all gone, with a faint sense of "pinkness". What's left is a dainty, almost fragile scent, beautiful and pink and fizzy sweetness.

Verdict: it's a very nice scent, but sadly not lasting or "present" enough--and I have a number of fragile scents already. Pass!

In tester: herbal, cologney. There's a slight citrus feel to this, but pretty well blended and creamy. I think there's some sort of woody note that is slightly minty/cool--maybe pine?

Wet on skin: this is definitely minty and creamy at the same time on me. I'll admit to wanting this to be like The Girl, which some have said based on the testers that have been out at WCs, but it's not. It's not very close either. It's nice as it is though, somewhat cologney, slightly ozone-y, with a hint of greens and woods. This does feel like something from the Phoenix Steamworks line, which I suppose is apt given the name and description.

Dry: something sweeter comes up when it's finally dry, and it loses the specifically cologney aspect--although it's still bright, bubbly, and almost metallic and minty. It's still not The Girl. After a couple months, I actually went back to retest the, er, tester to see how it ages. It's still not The Girl Color impression now (slightly aged) is a faint yellow, and it's gotten this dusty/powdery feel to it, slightly ticklish to the nose but not overtly so. In comparison to The Girl, though, this is lighter, brighter, dustier, while The Girl is deeper and more grounded. I'd say that The Girl, Lyonesse, and Pale Student of Unhallowed Arts are all similar in impression, however, Lyonesse is a golden orange, The Girl is a golden yellow, and Pale Student is a lemon yellow.

Verdict: it's pleasant, but not really doing it for me, even on its own and not compared against other blends. I know I mentioned The Girl SO MANY TIMES in that review, but really looking at the blend on its own, it just isn't something that I would wear regularly.

I tested this blend twice, one a day or two after receiving it, and another after it's been sitting in my drawer for a while, bit less than a month.

In bottle: the first time I sniffed this, it was very herbal, and reminded me strongly of this cologne I used to wear as a child, called Angel's Breath. It was mostly white sage and lilac. On my retest, it seemed to have grown creamy--something I never thought of it being before--and while it retains its herbs, it was more floral now, more feminine, sweeter, and really more to my liking.

Wet on skin: on my first test, I thought it was cologney, a clean and herbal floral, bright and young but not tipping over to the "kiddie" side. On the restest, however, the creaminess does stay and the cologne feel has disappeared, and I fell quite in love. It still has a "cool" feel to the blend, but nothing as chemically as cologne--it's soft and subtle and refreshing. The white musk is divine, and I suppose it giving that nice creamy feel. The lilac does have a touch of powder but it played well with the blend.

Dry: definitely an instance of a blend coming into its own after a bit of rest, the first time, this was all powdery lilac on me, enough to tickle my nose unpleasantly--but this all but disappeared on the retest. A powdery feel is still there, but it just lends a softness to the light, uplifting, and feminine scent, a beautiful mix of that clean white sage, lovely white musk and beautiful everlasting flower.

Verdict: I'm so glad I gave this a retest! What I'd instantly set aside earlier, I'm so getting a backup for now.

In tester: the first word that came to my head was "interesting". It's smooth, and has a lot going on but not quite too much to be complicated and confusing. It feels gender neutral, with the resins and incensey feel but with a deep floral note (that is not too feminine) to sweeten it up.

Wet on skin: definitely sweeteer on my skin, and the incense kind of disappears somewhere, replaced by a definite powdery note. Over that powder there's a syrupy sort of sweetness going on, although not quite foody. I think, I few months back, I'd be saying this would be a keeper, but it's a bit too powdery and a bit too sweet for me now.

Dry: and yes, when dry, it's all gone to powder for me. I'm somewhat mistified, I have no idea which note is the culprit here. I can't get anything else other than the powder. Someone/something stole my perfume!

Verdict: not for my skin chemistry.

In bottle: orange zest! And then amber and vanilla, nicely honeyed. Oh where are you, linden blossom?

Wet on skin: oh, there it is. Orange zest and linden blossom, amber and vanilla, in that order. Quite creamy, and so far the ambers are playing nice with my skin. This is quite different in "flavor" compared to the other blends I've tried with linden blossom, with the exception of Privilege: this is quite "present" and grounded. I'd say it's in the middle of Privilege and The Unicorn, for example. Quite full-bodied, with a hint of mintiness that is almost like pine--but it may just be the orange zest playing with my nose.

Dry: I was sort of hoping the orange zest would play it down a little, but this is definitely an orange zest and friends sort of blend. That's not too bad, since I like orange notes, but I will admit to expecting something slightly different from this. It doesn't morph on me--the ambers behave--but really, I keep going back to the orange zest and thinking, "why are you so prominent?!" Creamy orange and linden blossom. Much later on, the vanilla starts to strengthen, very similar in feel to Celeste's bourbon vanilla.

Verdict: I didn't quite expect this, but I love this! I especially love how the vanilla came out in the end, I loved the vanilla in Celeste but eventually that wasn't meant to be. I'm happy it's here and with such nice friends, even if the orange zest is being a bit of a bully.

In decant: leather, musk, and a hint of the narcissus.

Wet on skin: at first dab and sniff, the first thing that comes to mind is it's a cleam fresh-from-shower scent, of herbal soap and water. Very quickly the leather kicks in and the result is sweetly-smelling herbal leather. Like someone newly-showered throwing on leather clothes.

Dry: I love this leather blend, it's beautiful, and I'm not getting much of the patchouli at all from him, which for people who don't like patchouli so much, is good. It's a softly herbal, softly spicy leather, and I think this is one of the nicer leather blends.

Verdict: I like the scent a lot, but this isn't something that I would wear.

In decant: a dark floral, rich and luxurious. Very midnight-ish in feel.

Wet on skin: a definite rich dark floral, voluptuous and full-bodied, but not cloying. There's a sweetness present that doesn't overwhelm. I think that this has quite the opportunity to be "too much", but it's not, it's all wonderfully balanced, soft and inviting. It's a soft-smiling woman opening her arms to you for a reassuring hug.

Dry: a soft, dark and friendly floral. Very well-blended, and doesn't morph on my skin and staying true to its scent. Very soothing and spot on with the introspection.

Verdict: I definitely like it, and I debated getting a bottle of this, but eventually I decided I likely wouldn't wear this as much as my other floral blends as I enjoy lighter blends than this.

In bottle: a very nostalgic sort of scent, a hint of melancholia, soft and deep. My untrained nose is pretty bad at recognizing what exactly I'm smelling, but the nearest thing would be resins.

Wet on skin: old/antiqued wood, old photos that give it a slightly chemically feel, but oddly, this chemically note kind of soothing, reassuring. I'm getting resins and a hint of leather. Color that comes to mind mind would be deep green--which I half expected based on the description--but there's a mix of that deep antique brown color.

Dry: doesn't really morph on me aside from a further "softening" of the scent, with the deep green feel receding. Definitely gender neutral, although more on the masculine side for me. After a couple of hours I'm getting a pleasant sort of resinous powder, very soft.

Verdict: I really like this, although I'm not entirely sure if it's more of a psychological "like" (because of the actual idea behind it) more than a real "like" for the scent. It's soothing, but I don't see myself reaching for this much due to my own tastes in what perfume to wear.

In bottle: vanilla, resins, caraway, musk and amber. Slightly boozy, slightly foody but not overwhelmingly so. There's a hint of jasmine peeking out.

Wet on skin: I'm getting the vanilla absolute and resins, with a faint powdery touch. It's well-blended with the other notes playing with each other, and if I think hard that's when I can detect caraway and a bright bergamot. Very beautiful, relatively womanly without being "out there". As it dries, a leather-like scent comes up that gives it a sexy punch as well as making it a little less feminine and more neutral, but still on the feminine side of the spectrum.

Dry: vanilla absolute, caraway, with white musk and amber, and bright bergamot. Almost unisex, but very sexy and womanly without being over the top or "inappropriate". This blend made me think of Liz, even though there is definitely no smoky leather here and they are quite different from each other--but the feel is very similar (strong sexy woman). If you like Liz, this is a definite must-try.

Verdict: keeper! I knew on first sniff that this was likely to be a keeper, and it definitely is. Love it!

To add: I love yeahbutnobut's list of blends to try if you like this. 4/7 are blends I have in my collection, and the other 3 are masculine scents that I passed on since I wouldn't wear them, albeit I did like them too. Hee! Spot on.

In decant: clean, almost green, and almost herbal. My first thought was that this would be great as soap! Maybe I should expect a more floral feel from this, but that wasn't in the initial list of things I thought of when I sniffed it.

Wet on skin: oh, this is nice. A green floral--green and white, to be specific, clean and fresh, in a got-out-of-the-shower kind of way and not in a fresh-cut-stems way. I'm pleasantly surprised by this. The mix of herbs and florals in this blend must be contributing to this almost-creamy, very wearable clean and feminine scent. Loving this!

Dry: clean and fresh. It's a subdued scent, one that you would get close to sniff, but is irresistible once you do (I kept going back to it!). I'd call it a fresh light floral with a bit of herbal undertone.

Verdict: keeper! Very surprised with this one, I didn't think this would work, but it totally does. Love it!

In decant: dusty orange, both in color feel and actual scent that comes up to me.

Wet on skin: orange, and the dustiness recedes a bit. There is an almost-minty feel to this, which is giving it a sort of brightness that seems quite in tune with the midday idea for this blend. Fruitier--meaning, not just citruses now--which probably means it's just the pomegranate showing off--but it's primarily an orange blend.

Dry: sadly (well, for me), it goes back to a dusty orange when dry, and it seems like a more prominent dusty note now than it was in the decant--maybe the amber has something to do with it, but golden amber has been all right on my skin in the past.

Verdict: nope, not feeling this one! It's a shame, I do like orange blends.