anomie

Imp: Musk and citrus and smoke. Uh. Ow?

Wet: Oh hey there you are blackberry and gardenia! How nice of you to come.

Drydown: Blackberry and citrus? This is confusing. And it doesn't last very long either.

Imp: Flowers. Lots of flowers. And the barest hint of blood orange.

Wet: Soapy flowers. Like, the really fancy expensive soap.

Dry: Yeah, this just really does not do it for me. I was more excited about my prototype of The Flower Girl, which is more lush and alive on me; this is just powdery and soapy.

Imp: This is very sweet and clear. Mostly what I assume is the tea and the peach.

Wet: Same thing. Soft and sweet and clear.

Dry: It's opened up a little, but it's still not doing much for me. Eh.

Imp: ROSE! Also jasmine. But ROSE!

Wet: Rose? All those wonderful heavier things are grounding it, though, and it's calming down.

Dry: This makes me think of a rosebush - roses and wet dark glossy leaves. It's quite nice, but I don't think I need a bottle. Oh well!

Imp: Deliriously sweet and fruity. This is sweet sticky honey and hints of quince and mandarin.

Wet: The fruits come out more, as does a hint of the boozy cognac. Deliciousness. Can I eat it? It's also throwing like crazy, whoa.

Drydown: Wow, this has completely morphed. Tobacco and cognac and vanilla with sweetness and an almost floral citrus note. It's really pretty, but I wish that earlier scent had stuck around - it was something I could see myself wearing a lot this spring.

Bottle: Smarties. The American version. Sweet and fruity and dusty. Ack.

Wet: Grape and pomegranate. Big wet fruit. Drippy fruit.

Drydown: Okay, this calms down some, but it's still quite sweet. I shall have to try it with Black Lace to see if that grounds it more.

Bottle: This is much cleaner than I'd expect from the notes list; cotton and something fragrant and dark, which feels like the cognac.

Wet: Man, I can barely smell this at all. Sadface. I think the musk is starting to come out, though.

Two minutes later: O HAI MUSK AND INCENSE OM NOM NOM. Tempered by the vanilla. Phew, I was starting to wonder if I'd gotten a dodgy bottle or if my nose was broken!

Sweet, musky, beautiful.

Bottle: Sweetly peppery carnations.

Wet: Floral in a very gentle way.

Dry: Whoa, carnations. And something weirdly pungent.

Later dry: Hey, the gross pungent note is gone and I'm getting that lovely sweet carnation scent that everybody's described. If I can make it through that first stage this will be awesome for everyday. Snuggly, is what it is.

Bottle: Huh, a very clear and limpid scent. I guess that would be "tree" and "moonlight," and "snow." And possibly wind and maaaaaybe blackberry?

Drydown: Um, where did it go? Again, something clear and sweet, but... it's vanishing. Going to try this in my locket to see if it sticks around longer.

In the bottle: Cologne and leather, I think. Almost soapy.

Wet: Musk, leather.

As this dries down it gets warmer and softer. That might be the patchouli coming out, and the vanilla husk - both scents that I love and that work really well on me. I wish I had a gentleman caller to put this on, but I might be able to pull it off in the right mood. Something about it reminds me of a less-bright version of Lush's Karma scent - another scent I love. Nom.

Imp: It smells like the spice aisle at Whole Foods where they keep everything in big jars and people spill on the wooden shelves. Very dry and dusty with a hint of sugar.

Wet: Um, this opens up really fast and smells like a cookie. A spicy cookie. Maybe not the pfefferneusse I'm used to eating, but a delicious spicy cookie. And the sugar reminds me of the sugar from Marshmallow Poof.

Dry: Snuggly sweet cookies. This would be amazing as a room scent.

In the imp: Sweet sunny citrus and floral. I can smell the tangerine and what I guess is the orange blossom.

Wet: It's like lemon candy and flowers!

Drydown: Ohhh, okay, there's the soapy note everyone was talking about. I can still smell a little of the citrus but it's mostly powdery amber and maybe a hint of saffron and frankincense. Pretty, and I'll test in my clocket to see if it sticks around any longer.

Imp: Whoa. SUPER intense cocoa.

Wet: The aromatics of the tobacco over the dark, heady cocoa and musk.

Dry: Whoof. I am not woman enough for this scent. I feel like the musk is hitting me over the head and the tobacco is kicking my shins.

In the imp: Smoky and sweet. The nutmeg is like an actual grated nutmeg, yum.

Wet: A delicious and unfamiliar dessert treat. Almost bready.

Dry: Still bready. And sweet. I'm still getting the nutmeg but I am not really getting anything else specific.

In the imp: A very dark floral. Definitely smelling the lavender right out front.

Wet: Sharp and metallic overlay on the floral. Maybe my nose is broken today. Still quite dark. It's getting sweeter, though. I'm getting a lot of the rosewood and what I think is the benzoin.

Drying: Syrupy. Hints of something really wonderful dark and mellow underneath a sickly sweetness.

Later: The sweetness has died down. I can't pick out the individual notes but this is complex enough to hang onto for a while.

In the imp: Citrus! Bergamot and lemongrass and a hiiiint of ginger.

Wet: Beautifully fragrant citrus blend. And yet there's something fuzzy about this.

Drydown: There's a sharpness to the citrus that makes my fillings hurt, and voom, it's gone like that. Probably going to pass it along.

Imp: Very wet and clear, somehow. I can't actually pick out any of the listed notes in this. The description of it as melony makes sense, though.

Wet: Some of the more heavy things - ginger, patchouli, smoke, myrrh - are coming out. It reminds me quite strongly of Lush's Karma fragrance, actually, which I love.

Drydown: Spicy patchouli and wood. This smells like walking into a Lush store, actually, the mishmash of all the different scents and the wooden bins mixing together. Not that that isn't awesome! It's just very surprising from a BPAL scent.

Bottle: Caaaaaake. And cream cheese frosting. Flashing back to Beaver Moon '05!

Wet: Sugarrrrr. Frosting. Diabetes on my wrist. Warm nutty cocoa undertones starting to come out.

Drydown: Huh. Very complex and sweet; I don't have enough familiarity with Dorian, Doc or Snake Oil to really identify which of them is at work here, but it's something a little woody and resonant with a fluffy sugary overlay. I would love to try this in a scent locket, too. Yum.

Bottle: Apple and spices! Mmm, nutmeg.

Wet: Strangely, I can't smell the spices, and the apple is surprisingly deep. It also is developing a heck of a throw on me as it dries.

Drydown: Oh hey ginger! And nutmeg! Where did the apple go? I smell like a craft store at Christmas. And CLOVE. Wow, clove. I don't think I love this, given that I don't love smelling just like spices and I already have apple scents that I adore.

In the imp: Resinous and dry.

Wet: I can definitely smell the frankincense and the myrrh. And the lemon verbena. It smells really rich - luxurious.

Dry: Warm, sweet, spicy, complex. I was afraid the billion notes would just turn into a muddle, but this is really wonderful.

In the imp: A sweet, clear rose. It reminds me of the sweetheart roses my dad gets that smell almost honeyed.

Wet: This one opens up like crazy.

Dry: Powdery vanilla with undertones of rose. It's pretty, like a less intense Bearded Lady.

In the imp: Sweet and spicy!

Wet: Definitely getting the prunes/plums. And warm spices over it - not necessarily Christmas ones but possibly ginger. Cosy.

Dry: Spicy fruity goodness.

In the imp: The cold clean scent that I associate with the BPAL snow note, plus undertones of wood and sage. Interesting.

Wet: "Stopping by woods on a snowy evening." Yes, I'm a nerd. Minty and snowy and clean and a little herbal.

Dry: Really a beautiful snowy winter scent. I might hoard this for summer, actually. Lovely.

Bottle: Blackberries and a dry scone. Biscuity rather than sweet.

Wet: This is thick and sweet like honey. Fruity, almost boozy in its intensity.

Dry: It does what it says on the tin. Summer in a bottle. This is really pretty, and much less "foody" to me than Closet. Delicious.

In the bottle: Warm and golden, dry and incensey. It almost reminds me of cedar shavings, but that might be my limited scent vocabulary.

Wet: It suddenly gets very floral, and unbelievably summery. Actually, it's triggering a very strong memory of being at the beach with my mother, who exclusively uses the Bain de Soleil "Orange Gelee" sunscreen. This smells exactly like that: the scent of the sunscreen heated up, with the sand behind it.

This has a hell of a throw on it, too.

Dry: And we're back to wood and incense. Which is good, because "mom's sunscreen" is not exactly what I'm looking for in a perfume. Smoky, too. Unlike anything else I have. Very interesting, and quite beautiful.