Heretic

In the Vial: JASMINE! WHOA!

On my wrist, wet: Strangled by jasmine! Almost burns my nose. And what a throw. I can almost see it wafting off my wrist in white, curling tendrils.

After 20 minutes: Hi. I'm jasmine and I own you. But without sourness and pointy edges.

After an hour: Jasmine. It keeps going and going and going... Honestly, I can't pick up any other notes. It smells the same as it did an hour ago, just not as blindingly strong. Pannychis is a strong, heady, floral and I'm not one to pull off that kind of a scent (although I used to have a roommate who could wear this kind of scent beautifully). On me, it's cloying and overbearing. I would feel apologetic for assaulting people if I wore this to a restaurant or other indoor space with people present. Gender neutral? I'd love to meet the man who can wear this and not smell like he mistakenly marinated himself in his lady's perfume.

Must get this off my wrist...

In the vial: A spicy floral, not cloying.

On my wrist, wet: Some serious spicy going on with a hint of rosy floral that has some sort of memory attached to it (I love when scent acts as a mnemonic device). This could be drool-inspiring.

After 20 minutes: Cinnamon amps on me. Pity I don't like it. The way the rose is persevering in the background, though, I think the cinnamon will vanish and leave a spicy rose.

After an hour: This is nice and may be worthy of a bottle. Definitely strikes me as a winter scent, since the cinnamon never quite fades away entirely.

In the vial: Kind of...syrupy, but not totally sweet. What is that?

On my wrist, wet: Oh no! Lemons! And something kind of powdery-- must be the amber. Musk? What musk? This is all furniture polish and dust.

After 20 minutes: No. This is just wrong. Powdery lemon. What does this smell like? Some J.C. Penney fragrance that my grandma got me when I was a teenager...Heaven Scent or some such little-girly smell. Haunted is obviously not reacting to me the way it does with other reviewers here. Only a miracle can save the drydown!

After an hour: Play-d'oh!! Now with lemon and powder! This is a nice enough smell, but it's so not me at any point in my life.

In the vial: A little acrid, but quite sweet.

On my wrist, wet: More than anything I smell a pine, slightly smoky, slightly spicy. This isn't at all the inferno I was expecting (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).

After 20 minutes: Djinn is one of those "color" smells, and its color is a deep, rich orange, like flame itself, but it's also sparkling with white, glittering points. I really like this.

After an hour: Very soft orange with a little of those sparkly points left, though quite dulled. This is a very calming, pleasant, carefree scent. I was expecting something very strong that would reach out and grab my attention and slap me around a little. Instead, Djinn is actually very ...pretty and graceful. This is an all-season scent, but one I have to be in a certain mood to wear. Come summer, this may be 5 ml-worthy.

Vial: Strong and sharp, a hint of eucalyptus and fruity fig. What a bizarre combination. Not something I would normally care to put on my skin or smell on someone else.

On my wrist, wet: Something dry-- almost like champagne, with the earthy patchouli and frankincense all rolling around together. Odd, I associate dry with cold scents, but this is definitely warm. I can pick up that vague chocolate note that Penance mentioned, but just barely. Is there some neroli in here as well? Must be the tamarind. This is really complex and lovely.

20 minutes later: The cardamom and the tamarind are center stage now-- a bright, spicy smell that is somehow a little dark. It's almost foody, so I hope that goes away, because I'm liking this crazy blend a lot.

After an hour: The figgy/fruity is going to town, and it's not my bag, baby, although it's not too bad, if you like that kind of scent.

After 2 hours: The fruity is gently swallowed up by frankincense. This is just gorgeous. This is a warm weather scent for me, but a little dab'll do.

Oh, I'm so excited to try this. I ordered a 5 ml bottle from the description alone and bought an imp from pensive to tide me over.

In the vial: Green. By scent, by sight.

On my wrist, wet: Vick's Vapo-rub and that's it. Even sick, I don't like the smell of Vick's, so I'm not enjoying this at all. The Vapo-rub smell begins to fade pretty quickly, but not nearly quickly enough. I find I'm altering my movements because I don't want to touch my wrist on my clothes or anything I may have to smell later.

20 minutes later: Faded Vick's Vapo-rub. No floral, no earth, just faded medicinal ick.

An hour later: Is that all there is? A medicinal assault that just fades into the ghost of Vapo-rub past? Get it off me! This was a huge disappointment, but someone will want that 5 ml when I get it in the mail.

ETA: Several hours later, the Vapo-rub smell is gone, leaving a rather pleasant herbal and vaguely floral scent. It's very subtle, though, and I'm not sure the payoff is worth the Vapo-rubness of the whole experience. I'll try it again sometime and see if it wears differently.

In the vial: Subtly fruity, but pleasant, which is odd for me, because I don't care for fruity smells.

On my wrist, wet: I was concerned about the cinnamon smell being overpowering (another scent I'm not crazy about unless it's in food), but there is a greater spicy note taking the spotlight, and the cinnamon accents it ever so slightly. That fruity smell is gone almost immediately and replaced with the faintest floral undertone. This is nice!

40 minutes later: Oh no. Here comes the cinnamon! I smell like a Hallmark store at Christmas time. Quel horreur!

Finally, an hour after application: I guess the cinnamon showed up in force to say goodbye. I was working on other things for a few minutes before heading to the bathroom to wash this off and I kept thinking "What's that wondeful smell?" My wrist is now glued to my nose. Hamadrayd has dried down to a complex, spicy floral mellowed with woody notes, gorgeous and worth the wait. This may be worthy of a 5 ml bottle.

ADDED Sept. 15:

This is actually my second post in this thread, my first being the review here. Based on the imp I reviewed, I ordered a bottle and passed the imp on to a friend who fell in love with it. When my bottle came, it smelled nothing like the blend in the imp. What I have now is a bottle of wintergreen oil. Ben-gay, Pepto-Bismal, Life-Savers, you name it. It is not what I thought I was ordering. I don't know what happened, but this isn't the same Hamadryad with woods, green floral, and cinnamon. If there is a component issue, it would be nice if that could be worked out, because I'd love to have the scent I fell in love with instead of this bottle of overbearing wintergreen that I will never use. This is truly the only time I've really been disappointed in something from the lab, and I never would have ordered it had I known it would not smell at all like my imp.

Thanatos

In the bottle, this seems quite "perfumey" to me, however florals always strike me as such. I don't mind a nice rose scent and I'm curious to see what this is like in action, since the description sounds so intriguing, what with the myrrh and incense notes.

On my wrist, wet: Wow- this is almost overpowering, and the rose is really strong but not too sweet or cloying. It reminds me a bit of opening up a closet or trunk that has been closed for ages and being hit with the smell of fabric that has been saturated with fragrance for decades and then put away, but much stronger. If this calms down, it will be lovely.

20 minutes later: Subdued rose, a little dusty, a little earthy. I can smell the sandalwood dancing around the edges-- I wasn't expecting that.

An hour later: This blend didn't develop in the direction I hoped it would. I was hoping the sandalwood would blossom, but eventually, the rose insisted on being the star of the show. It's a lovely scent and it does calm considerably over time. It's not the sort of fragrance I would wear on a daily basis, but I'll revisit this when I'm in the mood for a floral. An imp will suffice.

Gingersnapp's bottle is mine now...

This is the scent that took my BPAL virginity. In the bottle, the scent is oddly green. I don't know the particulars of individual notes yet, but this must be the vetiver that everyone comments on. It's a strange smell, but I like it.

On my wrist, wet: Oh no! Lemons and nothing but lemons almost immediately! Something almost almondine in there, too. I dislike foody/fruity smells more than probably any other scents when it comes to personal fragrance. I consider scrubbing this off, but I've invested in the 5 ml, so I might as well see how it dries down. I'm bracing for a big disappointment.

45 minutes later: This is exquisite. There's something green and softly musky that has completely overpowered that oh-so-bright lemon note. A shadow of something tangible that can no longer be touched. It's unlike anything I've ever worn before. For that matter, it's unlike anything I've ever smelled before, and yet it's familiar, like those places you visit repeatedly in dreams but never in real life. After seven hours, the fragrance is still hovering around me like a subtle nimbus. This is truly a gorgeous and haunting fragrance, and I'll cherish every drop of it.