whimsitini

It's funny. I was really excited about getting my decants a couple of years ago and then I just set them aside. It is really warm and sweet, but unless berry is the dominant note, I never get much of it. For me the red current and pink pepper hang on for dear life. It's a nice sweet but slightly spicy scent. Saving this for cooler months.

My mother, who has classified my BPAL collection as bizarre, (She likes some of the scents on me. But was pretty shocked by the volume I tried.) actually had a pretty nice description of Sugar Skull. It smells like a stone passage way that hasn't been opened in a long time. Not musty, but something fruity in the air. Wet: Really strong sugar smell and more fruit that I remembered from previous versions. Great because I don't really like smokey notes. Dry: Still pretty sugary. After a few days it rather loses the potency and reminds me of maple syrup, although that could just be me getting used to the smell. My favorite fall scent.

I have had a Proustian longing for March Hare over the past couple of months. Absolutely had to have it and scoured sales lists for it. In fact I even thought about purchasing a bottle because I convinced myself that my wee imp would be gone by the next day. And then, the longed for imp arrived. Wet: Spicy apricot. Reminds me of Christmas at my Grandmothers. She had these clove sachets that she hung around the house and the scent clung to the box. Dry down: Apricot note becoming more prominent over the clove. Still a spicy fruit though. Probably won't need the bottle but will keep an imp around. Later: I, I smell like rutabaga. What on earth happened?

Add me to the list of people who wouldn't know a current if it bit them, but I love Eat Me. It is cake. And vanilla. And Cake. And yummy. And cake. Why have I not ordered this before now? And did I mention that my arm smells like cake? Or that I really like cake?

Really strange reaction. All those reviews of what a wonderfully strong spicy sweet smell this is made me really excited for Chimera. The reality? In the imp: faint cinnamon On the wand: faint cinnamon On me: *deep inhale* cinnamon? Oh well. Have to stick with GP for my spicy sweet.

A little bit of background. This was one of the first scents I ordered from the Lab way back when and I remember not liking it, but not the reason why I didn't like it. I've been on a fruit kick lately so I thought I'd give it another go. Wet: Miscellaneous sweet and soap. Dry: Soap. Ah yes. Rose my mortal enemy.

Wet: Carnation and orange blossom. It's a little sweet...sugared cream now coming in more strongly. If you've smelled fresh carnations, there's that touch of green. Dry Down: Very sweet but not the nauseating sweet that I usually get from orange blossom. A keeper.

I rarely have a good experience with BPAL rose. The tend to overpower me. This one is a bit different. There is still the standard "rose" smell but it lightens quickly, however I can't identify any notes other than "floral". Dry down: Lemon peel and faint patchouli. Nice to find a rose that doesn't amp but over all it's not a very me scent.

Hmm, parsley on the wand. Wet: Parsley and tangerine. Sweet but with a bitter undertone. Dry down: Sweetness from tangerine and lemon blossom are more prevalent but the bitterness is still there. Ends up as a sweet scent when the rose kicks in. However it is very very faint and because each note tends to come one at a time I never really get a full impression.

This one seems quite a bit flatter than the others. Passion fruit I think, with some raspberry. There's a slightly sweet undertone but overall very muted.

Guava? And a smell that I don't recognize but it tends to show up a couple of times in testing other oils so I think that is the passion fruit. Tonic? Nope, that's gin. Gin and I are friends. Well, not so much friends as I can't get rid of her. Dry down: Just gin. I think I'll retry most these throughout the week because I'm really not getting the fruitiness that everyone else is.

...I just opened an ice cream bar. How am I supposed to open an imp? Okay, blueberry and lemongrass. Expecting lemongrass to amp like crazy. Gin, which seems to be the most prevalent alcohol on me. I'm pretty sure I could identify gin across the room and thus develop my reputation as an alcoholic. Dry down: Mostly gin and a little of the blueberry and lemongrass. Enjoyable but not my favorite. If I want to smell just like gin I'd wear 21.

Stream of Conscious: Oh yummy yummy yummy! Everything together. Want to eat my arm. On skin: Sweet and spicy from fruit and rum. Vanilla acting as a bonding agent. Drydown: Rum is now more prominent than the other notes. This is the best of all the Tikis that I've tried. I'm going to have a hard time telling myself not to buy a bottle of this.

For the record I have the worst history with grapefruit but I always insist on trying whatever comes out. So, initially nothing but grapefruit and then possibly a bit of the apricot liquor and pineapple. Drying down I'm getting the rum/ginger and what I think is brandy. I've never been near brandy in my life but this is exactly what I think it would smell like. Dry basically just the apricot and later just the brandy, very faint. None of the Tikis seems to be very long lasting on me.

Warm but sharp, which is always how I find orchid. I like it but not going to need a lot of it because it reminds me so much of Siren.

In imp: A very fruity red wine. Wet: Reminds me of sangria. And it is balanced with some clove. Dry down: We used to have an immature mimosa tree with the pink flowers. I can't say I thought much of the smell on them, so maybe it improves with the older, red and yellow trees. Still can't detect the mimosa then, but the clove and wine makes for a lovely scent.

The plums leap out the second I open the imp. On the skin wet: I'm getting plum but more of the spiciness of the chrysanthemum. The carnation is probably there too, but I have a difficult time telling them apart. The chrysanthemum in Mum Moon and the carnation in Alice smell pretty much alike to me Dry down: Plums receding a tad more. Florals are stronger and then everything fades away.

First of all: All frimps are good, but some frimps are better than others. I love the imagination behind the Come and See section. In imp: A very surprising sweetness. Wet: I think it's the lavender and frankincense and maybe the sandalwood. Sandalwood normally over powers me but this is staying rather soft. It smells surprisingly feminine. Dry: Can’t really pick out any individual notes, but it’s quite soft and lovely.

Surprisingly fruity. Had to check that I hadn't opened High John. I just can't place the fruit, though I am thinking of grapes and possibly something else to make it sweet. Plum? There's a very slight floral undertone. Fruit as died down, and now I'm getting more of the soft florals and herbs. Ends up as still slightly fruity with florals. Not really the spider webs until well past the dry down, but still a keeper.

Very light. Something that might have been the berries but now most definitely the heather. The berries in Florence came out strongly so I'm waiting for them here. Rather reminds me of a dryer sheet, but less strong. It's a very fresh scent. Maybe too fresh for me. Freshness is becoming more tolerable. A bit of the berry to soften it, but not as much as I'd hoped for. Disappearing and then coming back as dried heather.

I'm getting something sweet, the mulled wine. Slightly warm, but not leathery. Getting warmer and a light leather touch. Possibly the blood resin as well. And while I can't smell clashing armor I'm certainly thinking it. Very warm and slightly sweet. A keeper.

In the past rose, lemon, sandlewood, and jasmine are dominent notes with my skin chemistry and are simply too much. Violet, even when it is a principal oil never comes to play. With Venice, again no violet scent but the lemon and rose are far more muted and I can't detect the sandlewood or jasmine at all. The dry down comes pretty quickly with the rose and lemon replaced by the water lily before dissapearing after a couple of hours. One of the strangest reactions I've ever had to a scent.