sestina

oof. well, i'm generally a fan of everything incens-y but this one is just not for me. my first impression was of highly fragranced baby powder. that gave way after about an hour to the more specific odor of baby powder scented deodorant, and lots of it. after several hours I'm getting some of the incens-y undercurrent of older vintage perfumes and the longer I wear it, the older I feel like I smell. Perhaps this particular combination of jasmine and mosses just isn't friendly with my chemistry. but this is the only mad tea party scent I've found so far that I didn't love, so that's not a bad record.

I was certain, positive, had no doubt at all, that I would love this one. I love vanilla. I love all the scents that everyone seems to find this reminiscent of. But on me, Antique Lace is a combination of hair spray and cake icing. I want to like it, but it just won't work. I'm thinking of combining it with Sudha Segara to see if that tones it down and brings up the soapy freshness in Sudha. Maybe that will work.

I am absolutely split about Sudha Segara. When I open the imp and apply, it is a wonderful clean, fresh, slightly soapy scent. But literally minutes after it hits my skin it starts to disappear. I used the entire imp in one application and still, after 30 minutes, I could smell nothing at all.

 

If the scent would last, this might be one of my favorite BPALs. I get nothing milky, nothing lemony, nothing gingery, just fresh loveliness. But I don't think I could make this stick even with some sort of layering concoction.

heavy dose of cinnamon - so much so that my initial impression was "whoa, yankee candle factory explosion!" but as soon as I thought that, I got a whiff of something soft and sweet underneath. over the next two hours Chimera developed progressively into cinnamon ice cream. and it smells even better on my husband. a yummy spicy cinnamony confection, probably best for the autumn/winter months.

since this scent is so incredibly popular, i thought there was a good chance it would be one of the few florals that would agree with me - alas, no luck.

 

i agree with the "clean laundry" verdict except in my case, it smells like dryer sheets - a little too clean, a little to strong, a little too fragrant. i love dryer sheets but the scent gets diffused through laundry and Dirty just gets more and more intense on me as it flowers.

 

I would say - if this were a laundry spray or room scent, I'd love it, but I can't wear it.

This was a frimp from the lab. I have to say, the oil itself is a gorgeous color. So much so that my husband picked it out of the pile for me to try on.

 

Unfortunately, on my skin, it is all grape bubblegum. Grape bubblegum for miles and years and it had to come off. Not for me.

I received my latest order of impage last night and the very first thing I dug through the box to find was Black Opal. I've been wanting to try this for months, mostly because I remembered someone here mentioning that it favored Shalimar. I really don't agree on the Shalimar comparison - Shalimar is, on me, spicier and slightly more erotic. Black Opal is, though, unlike anything else I have. Maybe the closest thing I smell in there is Pink Sugar, but even that is not a good comparison. To me, Black Opal is luminescent and soft and a creamy cloud of contentment. My husband smelled it and immediately decided that there are "exploding" scents and "imploding" scents and that this one is definitely "imploding" - he went on to describe this as dark and close. Completely different from the way I experienced it. But he was delighted (and vindicated) when I told him the name.

In general, I'll try this several more times before really deciding if it's a keeper, but my inclination is to say it's one of the prettiest (and I do mean pretty) scents I've gotten from BPAL.

Sadly, this is the imp that decided to explode all over my recent order en route. So I got no Aureus to try on skin, but my whole house smells of it at the moment. For me, this is not golden at all. It's more of a sharp dark green and brown. Perhaps Aureus suffers from having no skin to settle onto, but as it is, I don't think I'd reorder.

First Try:

a soft and beautiful scent - warm and enticing but not overwhelming or powdery. i had a few moments this morning when i thought this was going to venture into hairspray territory but luckily, it stayed calm and an hour after application it's a supersoft amber. it is a very "light pink" scent for me, and i'll certainly use the imp with love, but i tend to like headier ambers for regular wear.

 

Second Try:

for the first two hours, very soft and somewhat bland - reminiscent of several other BPAL oils that I also love for their round sweetness, but nothing really stands out. However... after about two and a half hours, I put my nose to my wrist and I adore what has developed. the sandalwood, i guess, has come forth a little more and the ambers have become slightly more intriguing. I'm glad, very glad, I gave this a second try, because I think this might actually end up being a 5 ml purchase. Beautiful drydown. I can also imagine wearing this scent to bed often. Not too strong, but just strong enough to be calming.

I'm crazy about POTL too and I am wearing a mixture today that smells, on me, very similar:

 

1 drop The Lion

1 drop Snake Oil

dab of Maenad

 

Beautiful in the bottle and beautiful wet - but maddeningly faint as the drydown begins. Alice was pretty much gone after two or three hours, the only BPAL I've tried so far that just doesn't seem to stick to me.

 

I do love the scent while it lasts though, and a gorgeous carnation note to spice up the sweetness of the milk and honey.

 

A perfect blend for a scent locket, I think. I will almost certainly swap for more imps or a bottle.

I tested this by wearing it to bed last night and it is just beautiful. I buried my face in my forearms and fell asleep with the soft, etherial scent of fee. Slightly tangy and fruity, but very quick to settle down into a very skin-close scent. I will definitely find myself wearing this often in the spring. Just lovely.

This is a straight-out-of-the-bottle, 100% love at first sniff, OMG gotta have it big bottle experience for me.

 

Dorian is one of the few BPAL fragrances I've tried that does not seem to morph or change much through the drydown. It starts off soft and sweet and comfortable, and it stays that way. I glued my sniffer to my wrist and occasionally could catch an olfactory glimse of the lemon and perhaps some lavendar. Ah, this is so wonderful...

 

If I could think up anything I wish were different, I would say I just wish it were stronger. But maybe when I have more than an imp I'll be able to slather it and that problem will be solved.

 

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

I'm so glad you asked this question because the very first search I ever did on BPAL was for carnation notes and it's great to hear some feedback from those who love it. So far in my testing, I'm going to echo the Brisingamen recommendation. It is definitely, definitely worth a try. Morroco is also wonderful although I get much less carnation from it than I thought I might. I'm in the process of trying the Maiden and Alice imps as well, and I'm finding carnation extremely enticing right now. Bathsheba is on my "to get" list as well.

This fragrance is pure brilliance.

 

Initially on my skin, it was almost aggressively floral. For the first ten minutes or so, flowers flowers flowers. I am a recently minted fan of carnation so I was very intrigued at the way this blooms - it has none of the spiciness that I usually associate with well-crafted carnation blends. The thing is... the spiciness is what I like about carnation. In this blend, it brings out the softer, somewhat creamier side. And just about forty-five minutes into drydown, this turns into pure heaven. It is a very close-to-the-skin, subtle ambery floral - it has that very warm tone that amber powder seems to have. I found myself reapplying two hours into the drydown, not because it was fading but because I could not wait to experience the transition again.

 

I will definitely purchase this, and it's one that I would recommend that almost everyone try - and give it some time. The drydown is worth the wait.

Neroli, sandalwood, ylang ylang - three notes I normally love.

 

Somehow, though, the trinity in this formulation doesn't work for me. Immediately upon application: the neroli is so sharp it almost smells like … old lady perfume. On me, this has a dated, department store smell. It reminds me of Serge Lutens Fleurs d'Oranger which unfortunately is the last orange flower perfume that I tried and which only lasted minutes on my arm until it HAD to be scrubbed off. This lasted a little longer. Oh well... maybe my chemistry is buggered. Then again, maybe I just can't take orange flower in prominent doses. Good to know, I guess.

1 - beautiful, soft, and almost a little bland at the beginning. A definite almondy note underneath the honey.

 

2 - as this develops, the sweetness remains consistent but the scent lies very close to the skin. Very comforting. Comfort-food ice cream perfume.

 

3 - Lovely. I don't know that I would buy a bottle of this but I think this would be a wonderful bedtime scent. Very pretty and sweet without being foody or cloying. And it lasts a very long time without any obnoxious opening notes to deal with. Great drydown!

Primarily based on reviews, I ordered a 5ml bottle of O - it was the very first thing I put in my shopping cart on my very first order. I was slightly worried that it couldn't live up to its hype. I had most of an imp from a sweet swapper but, you know - maybe the imp was just great and the bottle, or another batch, be different. I mean, amber, honey and vanilla? That's just too good to be true. There must be something in there that will make me tilt my head and squint.

 

But no... sweet dreamy goodness, this is the smoothest, most lickable scent I have ever had the pleasure of oiling myself down with. I wish my whole house smelled like this. It's the smell of golden honey and sugary warm amber.

 

O is just exquisite.

Included as a frimp - I probably wouldn't have ordered this as I don't often like woods/leaves/herbs.

 

Initially on skin: Pepto bismol? Ben-gay? I'm getting a major mint note - not unpleasant, just unexpected.

 

five minutes after application the pepto bismol is gone and this has quickly morphed into a very pretty, very light and transparent herbal smell. Almost veiled. I can't pick out any specific notes.

 

almost gone after two hours on me, faint but very pretty - airy is a good word to describe this one. it has all of the herbal woodiness without any of the dirt. It's among the prettiest "green" scents I have tried. I will definitely love the rest of the imp. Perhaps a larger bottle later.

I'll preface this by saying I don't particularly like the scent of roses. Not even straight from the florist, fresh roses.

 

But Psyche is a lovely, lovely scent. I get no lavendar, no frankincense, nothing that other reviewers have mentioned. I get a very dewy green rose, almost like the scent of rosebuds right after a rain, when they are not so fragrant. And then, over the first hour or so, the scent blossoms slightly and then fades to a very lovely, soft, transparent rose-not-rose. It's really quite a beautiful fragrance, and I never would have ordered this for myself as I'm not one for pronounced rose notes.

 

The drydown is very subtle and tame - after an hour it almost smells like the remnants of a bubble bath. A very calming scent.

I straight-up ordered this in the 5 ml size unsniffed.

 

I thought - blackberry: yes! Sage: ok! Green tea: yes! Wild berries: yes YES! White musk: bring it oooon! So it was one of the first I tested.

 

Initally, this was just all weedy and thickety and a tad perfumey for my taste. Unfortunately, that perfumey thing intensified sharply over the first hour.

 

I had to wash it off but I will try it again in a different mood and update my review accordingly.

 

I probably should have ordered an imp instead of a 5 ml, but I'm sure it will find a loving home

Initial: Perhaps it's the almond and musk, but on initial application, this is a dead ringer for a dark vanilla musk I used to wear - ten years ago or so. Pleasant memories.

 

Thirty minutes: Hmm… the bright, sweet notes have given way to something that is almost unbearably floral. I don't know if this is the lotus that is mentioned in the description, but it doesn't agree with me.

 

Six Hours: I applied at 8 a.m. and at 2 p.m. this is finally something soft, round, and gorgeous. The floral unfolding was a bit too much for me, and I never detected what I generally imagine amber to smell like.

 

Verdict: If I could skip the opening four hours and get straight to the drydown, this would be a keeper. Just, too much of something in there for me to really feel like Bastet suits me.

In the bottle: this smells like a dark but gentle musk.

 

On my arm: it smells like the breath of someone who's been eating raw meat for days without brushing their teeth.

 

I have often complained that I can't seem to smell the civet in perfumes that are supposed to have it (i.e. Jicky.) I am almost pleased to say that I can now smell the civet, and I'm a little afraid wild raccoons are going to break into the house and attempt to mate with my wrists. It's ... well, it's something else. This might work for, I don't know - a werewolf. It's been on my wrists an hour and it's now reminding me of the meat section of the grocery store. That slightly bloody smell?

 

Not for me.

As far as I know, this is my first experience with Dragon's Blood Resin, and if that's what is making this musk pulse, then I'm all for it. A gorgeous, gorgeous scent. Very long-lasting on me, and the musk is not too masculine, not too animalic, just very warm and sensuous and determined.

 

I'll definitely use up the imp, and I'll most likely try several other Draconis blends before deciding on a favorite.

When I received this imp, I tried it on my boyfriend first, and it was very, very sexy on him. With his chemistry, it's all incense and a touch of spicy cinnamon.

On me, though, it's a little less spicy and I can just barely detect the violet, which I normally -hate-. I hate violets, they hate me, we have a truce. But Faustus is, I think, the first scent I've ever been able to tolerate a detectable amount of violet in.

It's a warm, strange scent. I don't think I'd buy it for myself, but I love it on ze man.