Trish

I was so sure this would work for me, what with red wine, vanilla, oak and black fruit - all things I love and love me. In fact they've never failed me - except if black fruit = black cherry.

 

Alas it broke my heart and I do not know why. But from start to finish it had a sour wine note to it, almost medicinal, but more like red wine vinegar. I tested it several times and resisted the urge to wash it off just in case but it wasn't to be. Maybe it's the type of red wine? Who knows?

 

Needless to say, the bottle's not a keeper. In fact, it has already left me.

In the imp: Sage mainly, the other notes are much more subtle and well blended.

 

Wet: Tonka, vanilla and sage.

 

Drydown: Sage and lots of it, with just a little tonka and sandalwood underneath.

 

Dry: The sage softens a bit but is still very present. The only other thing I can smell is tonka and the combination just doesn't sit right on me.

 

*sigh* I'm glad I just got a decant of this and not a bottle despite the fact that I love the majority of the notes. But I am not a fan of sge, especially when it's as strong as in this.

In the imp: Butterscotch and apple - kind of like Misk Uni with apples actually!

 

Wet: Apples and loads of them! Unfortunately once again I am immediately reminded of the apple scented fabric softener I use. Not because this smells soapy at all, it's just what I associate with that apple scent now (maybe I should change fabric softeners...).

 

Drydown: Still lots of fabric softener apple, but with a little hint of coconut rum underneath.

 

Dry: This is a lot like Misk Uni now, but with a touch of apple. It is rather nice, but unfortunately I can't get past that fabric softener ssociation.

On me this is a rather straightforward scent. It's very lemony, with just a touch of musk and a little spirity/alcohol. It's sweet, bright, cheerful and fresh, and will be wonderful in Summer. Actually it will be perfect for visiting the in-laws - both for the scent and the name!

In the imp: Tea with a touch of floral. Reminds me a lot of White Rabbit - which is a good thing.

 

Wet: Mainly tea with some herbs and a little floral that must be peony (it's a new one for me). Light and fresh, and very nice indeed.

 

Drydown: The peony is becoming stronger, but isn't overpowering the tea at all. There's a slight citrus note too, as if one of the teas is Earl Grey.

 

Dry: This has barely changed at all, and is exactly as the description says - tea, herbs and peony, with the tea by far the dominant note. It has a little throw and average last.

 

I really like this a lot but I don't know if I will get a bottle, as on me this is rather similiar to White Rabbit except softer and a little less sweet and a little more floral. I have a bottle of the Rabbit and I don't know that I need both. However the imp is a keeper, and I'll add peony to the list of florals that bear investigating further.

In the imp: Very light lavender and amber.

 

Wet: Light men's cologne. And lavender.

 

Drydown: It's softening now, and I'm getting more amber and carnation than anything else. It's very very light though.There's still a tiny bit of sharpness from the lavender if I sniff in deeply.

 

Dry: Soft amber and carnation with a touch of men's cologne. Rather nice until it turned to powder *sigh*

In the imp: Sweet yet slightly tart citrus and resin.

 

Wet: Vetivert, citrus and a touch of cedar and saffron.

 

Drydown: The vetivert is becoming rounder and smoother, while the cedar is becoming stronger and the citrus weaker. It's quite strong despite the fact I only put a dab on. There's a swirl of saffron but only a little. It is quite masculine but that's fine by me.

 

Dry: Hmm there's something weird in this, almost chemical. I suspect it's the vetivert combined with.. something. Perhaps the cedarwood.

 

Urgh I want to keep it going for longer to see if the amber turns on me (amazingly it hasn't as of yet) but that vetivert chemical smell is getting up my nose.

In the imp: Very sharp wood and herbal. The juniper and cypress are screaming for my attention, and the lavender isn't that far behind.

 

Wet: Very briefly it softens and I get a hint of lemon, but almost as quickly the cypress smacks it out again. Lucky I like cypress.

 

Drydown: Cypress has decided he doesn't need to hog the limelight to himself now that he's satisfied that yes, I did indeed notice him. Verbena and juniper have joined him, and there's just a hint of lavender underneath. The cypress is sitting on her very firmly indeed though - thank goodness!

 

Dry: Wow this has softened hugely! What was a sharp herbal wood is now a soft floral with some sharp herbal/woods still lurking underneath. And just the tiniest hint of spice if I go searching for it. Lavender has given up and run away.

 

And 40 minutes later it's almost completely gone! There's just a ghost of verbena left.

In the imp: Sweet yet slightly sharp green tinged woods and herbs.

 

Wet: Very sweet.

 

Drydown: Bubblegum. Lotus then I'm assuming. And it's getting more bubblegummy every second.

 

Dry: Bubblegum with a little floral drifting around the edges.

 

Uh.. no. I don't even like bubblegum, let alone smelling of it.

In the imp: Roses. Lots of 'em.

 

Wet: Rose and ylang ylang.

 

Drydown: Rose, ylang ylang, mryyh and a little orris. The last two are stopping this from becoming Insane! Rose! Of! Death! on me thank God.

 

Dry: Rose and myrrh. There could be some other flowers in but I'm not familiar with sweet pea and rose tends to eventually smother everything else on my skin in any case.

 

This would be lovely for rose lovers, but alas I am definitely not one of those. If it were any other floral dominant I'd probably be all over this because I love myrrh.

I got this as a frimp from the lab and it could be interesting. There's notes I love (musk, blackcurrant, resin), one I hate (lavender) and ones I'm not overly fond of (ozone).

 

In the imp: This smells quite a bit like the Christmas '05 Lush 'Twas The Night Before Christmas' soap to me. This is promising as it's the one product I do like lavender in.

 

Wet: Yep, definitely Twas. Minus the soap part and plus a little musk. So far I'm pleasantly suprised by this one.

 

Drydown: Still much the same but with a tiny bit more musk. There is some ozone but it's not unpleasant at all, nor particularly strong.

 

Dry: This isn't changing at all on me, just staying this lovely slightly musky blackcurrant and lavender scent.

 

I like this quite a lot but I won't be keeping it. No, this is the perfect scent to enable my sister with since she adored Twas!

This was on my wishlist soon after I discovered Bpal. Then I found out amber doesn't like me so off it went again. However the lab was kind enough to send me a frimp of so here goes!

 

In the imp: Ohhhh this is lovely! Sweet ambery musk.

 

Wet: *dies* This is going to turn to baby powder and break my heart I know it! Because this is fucking gorgeous! The amber is more prominant but the musk is lurking underneath. It's soft and sweet and golden and oh yum!

 

Drydown: Oh here comes the musk! I love musk (of all kinds) and it loves me right back. The scent isn't as golden now, it's getting darker and murkier, but still so beautiful and warm and soft. I'd love to be haunted if it smelt like this! There's a decent amount of throw.

 

Dry: I hate my skin chemistry.

 

*cries*

In the imp: Amber, verbena and lemon.

 

Wet: Warm and bright, sweet yet with a touch of tartness.

 

Drydown: I can definitely pick out the ginger now, the freshly cut raw ginger type..

 

Dry: Lemony sage, very bright and cheerful. I don't generally like green but the sage in this is quite nice. To me this is a very yellow scent.

 

After 30 minutes or so it changes quite a bit. The amber comes out and rather than being yellow it's deeper and more golden in colour. The lemon and sage has subdued also, so it's more amber with touches of lemon verbena and sage, and with the tiniest bit of ginger.

 

And then grass shows up and wrecks it for me, just when I was starting to think I rather liked this. It also fades incredibly quickly from this point.

In the imp: Lavender and rose, with a sharp green astringent note that smells something like linament. All the things I hate in one imp!

 

Wet: Lavender scented linament.

 

Drydown: The linament fades a bit thankfully, and in it's place comes rose. And a little musk thankfully.

 

Dry: Thank God for musk! It's turning what would be a "wash it off now" blend into something far warmer and smoother on my skin. The lavender has all but gone, so it's a musky rose, jasmine and linamnet scent. But the linament isn't overly strong. What does that anyway? I've had it happen in a few oils now but I've never been able to work out what it is.

 

It isn't long and the jasmine announces it's arrival on centre stage in it's normal attention seeking manner. I like jasmine, but it doesn't somehow work for me as a perfume. I'm not sure why because it doesn't turn on me or anything, it just isn't "me" or something.

 

Musky jasmine with a drop of rose. It is a darker floral and despite my aversion to it in the imp it's actually ended up ok. But not enough to keep. Mind you if I were into florals, particularly darker ones, I'd be all over this because it has ended up rather nice.

From the imp to well and truely dry this barely changes at all on me, just softens a bit. This is definitely straight out leather, pure and simple.

 

Now I like leather, but this is perhaps a little too much leather for me. However my partner likes leather on him and rather liked it on me, so I'm pretty sure he'll take this imp off my hands quite willingly.

 

And then maybe I can get my Loviator imp back from him!

This was a frimp from the lab and it could be interesting. I do like lemon but not rose, and although I like apple the few I've tried so far remind me of the fabric softener I use!

 

In the imp: Oh wow that's... unusual. The apple hits my nose first, then the rose and lastly the lemon.

 

Wet: Rose and apple.

 

Drydown: Rose and apple, with the lemon barely peeking through.

 

Dry: Rose potpourri with some apple.

 

And with time the rose takes over as normal. Pity, because this had some promise in the imp.

In the imp: Umm.. flowers. At least one of them is very familiar but what it is I'm not sure. There's a touch of citrus too.

 

Wet: Mega white flowers with some citrus.

 

Drydown: This is giving me an instant headache, it's just way too aggressively floral for me. Although it's not suffocating like Pele, thanks to the citrus which definitely improves it for me. Grapefruit?

 

Dry: Well thankfully the florals have subsided a bit! There's a little salty tang now also. It's definitely a cool, clear scent. Peaceful.

 

This isn't bad once it's been on a while, but it's too much floral in the early stages for me. I'm also not a fan of salty aquatics - or the headache I still have. I do like the grapefruit though. Needless to say this is going to swaps.

2006

 

In the imp: Very sweet, golden, resin. Almost foody in a way.

 

Wet: Same, but without the foodiness. There's something that smells like orange too. It's such a very golden scent.

 

Drydown: Sweet golden amber and tonka, with a very slight hint of spice.

 

Dry: Powder. Golden powder, but powder nonetheless. Not that I really expected anything else from something containing amber.

In the imp: Earthy (as in real earth!) yet with a touch of sweetness and light from the incense and herbs.

 

Wet: Woah the loam just disappeared instantly to be replaced by florals and sweetness.

 

Drydown: I'm getting more moss and herbs now, with just a touch of incense. But it's mainly a floral on me.

 

Dry: The dirt is re-emerging, damp sweet loam. Over it is a mass of blooms, sweet yet dark, and there's a touch of moss, herbs and incense underneath. I'm not a fan of florals, moss (except oakmoss) or dirt yet this is rather nice! I can pick out jasmine which I do like but doesn't always sit right on me, however in this it's more subdued and grounded and so works better. Except now my nose is starting to itch and I'm sneezing. That's the first time I've had that reaction to Bpal! Of course we're in the midst of hayfever seson here and I already have it.

 

Despite the sneezing (which passed quickly thankfully) and my dislike of most flowers, earth and moss I think I'll hang on to this imp for a bit. I do like it but I'm not sure if I'll wear it enough to make it worth keeping.

In the Imp: Woah vetivert! I don't mind a little but this might be a bit too much. It's very wet vetivert too.

 

Wet: Same but a little softer.

 

Drydown: Same, just gradually softens and sweetens.

 

Dry: This is quite sweet now, and yes it does have that rain quality. And rotting wood. It has pretty good throw too!

 

I don't like aquatics and this has done nothing to change my mind one bit. Off to the swap pile it goes!

Almonds and I don't tend to get on overly well. Rather, almond usually likes me a little too much and stomps on everything else. At least in Eden I could detect a little fig and sandalwood as well, in fact it reminded me of Intrigue but with almond instead of cocoa. But there was too much almond in it for it to get more than a "you know, it's not too bad" out of me.

 

It's already gone to a new home.

In the Imp: *sniffs in deeply* Wow this is nice! Warm and smooth, a tad dry. I can smell the sandalwood mostly, with a touch of musk and floral (but no lavender thankfully!).

 

Wet: God I love sandalwood and this is loaded with it! The lovely warm smooth and dry variety.

 

Drydown: Sandalwood, a bit of patchouli, a hint of mint, a little floral (mainly lily), and the tiniest dash of vetivert.

 

Dry: The mint has gone, and it's now predominantly a musky sandalwood and lily on me, with just a little patchouli and vetivert in the background (and it is just a tiny amount of vetivert at that). There's no sharpness at all in this on me, instead it's warm and smooth and rounded. It is quite dry also. Actually it's quite a calming and soothing scent (but then sandalwood has that effect on me). A welcomed Death, not the type to be feared and fought.

 

As I typed that I got something else too, way underneath everything else. However it's buried so far underneath it's near impossible to say exactly what it is. And it disappeared nearly as quickly as it emerged.

 

No lavender, no green (except that very brief hint of mint in the drydown), no herbal, no cologne, no sharpness, no yuzu that I know of (I have nfi what it is). Just lovely warm dry musky woods and florals.

 

This ws a frimp from the lab that I never would have picked for myself because I HATE lavender with a passion. But I'm so glad they sent me this since I never got the slightest whiff of it at any stage. This is a definite keeper and possibly a bottle at some stage.

I got this as a frimp from the lab, and fully expected to hate it. Everything about it screams no to me. But since I swore to try every Bpal that came my way - and the fact that it doesn't smell too bad in the imp - on it went.

 

And I don't hate it. But nor do I actually like it. Salty aquatics really don't do it for me at all. Howver if they are I'd definitely recommend trying this one out, because it's a rather well made one. A semi-sweet salty aquatic with just a touch of grapefruit, and not as dark and dank on me as the description made me think it would be.

At first it's quite a strong and sharp woody green (I'm guessing that's the bamboo along with the teak) with just a hint of vanilla buried way underneath. Gradually it softens and eventually settles into Snake Oil with slightly green and woody overtones. Interestingly the throw was pure Snake Oil from about the 10 minute mark.

 

I like this, but not sure if I like it enough to bother about a bottle. The decant is certainly a keeper though!

I got this as a frimp from the Lab and I have absolutely no hope that this will work for me. It sounds wonderful but there it is, my nemesis - amber.

In the imp: Vanilla, with a touch of pine and amber.

Wet: Sweet vanilla with quite a helping of pine and juniper. Sharp and woody yet warm and sweet.

Drydown: Pretty much the same, except a little more vanilla. Warm sweet golden vanilla woods. This is lovely but I know it's going to turn on me once it's dry.

There's a little throw, mainly vanilla and amber and the combination is heavenly!

Initial Dry: It hasn't changed a whole lot, except the vanilla has receded a little and the pine is the top note. No baby powder as yet...

Later: The vanilla has faded some more, so that it's mainly pine and rosewood now. A little sharp, a little soft, and still sweet. No powder....

5 minutes later: And now the vanilla returns with a vengance! Warm sweet golden vanilla overlaying pine and rosewood. This is my favourite stage so far... and still no baby powder *begins to hope* The throw, although not strong, is pure vanilla now. Soft and sweet, and reminding me of the vanilla I get in the throw of Eat Me. It's rapidly becoming more and more vanillary now on my wrist too.

After an hour or so it's settled into a soft warm vanilla amber scent with just the tiniest touch of powder - but not baby powder. I agree with whoever said it reminded them of Chimera minus the cinnamon - and I love Chimera.

This was a suprising success! I don't know that it's a bottle yet though - I need to experience it properly instead of compulsively sniffing for baby powder. I also need to test it on Ray.