Dandelion

Aquatics, a bit of green, and dark florals. Just on, I get a very astringent note and maybe some mint, but that disappears within an hour. Huh. It's interesting, and almost makes me want to keep an imp for those summer days when I want something chilly, but when it goes it leaves a nondescript aquatic + heavy floral that smells a bit like an old lady's perfume.

Very masculine cologne-y. Sexy. If I had a man, I'd want him to wear it. Very warm and sensual, but not too heavy. Leather scents don't smell too great on me, but I can tell that on someone with different chemistry, this would smell so good. Other than the leather, which stands out, everything is so well-blended it's hard to pick out certain notes. Just smooth warm sexiness. My favorite of the masculine blends (so far...).

rating: 4/5

ELF is a bright scent but not a sharp brightness. It's a powerful and warm scent, and smells like how a sunset would smell if, um, it smelled like something... I get mostly amber (YAY AMBER!), carnation, lemon peel, and ylang-ylang from the bottle. On my skin the notes deepen and the florals show up (vanilla, alas, never rears it's head), and within an hour it all turns to orange blossom. Er. Must be something wrong with my nose? It's a nice orange blossom, of the sort that redeemed Masquerade for me (it seems very strange to be mentioning Masquerade in a review for a scent that's obviously so different). Maybe a bit of carnation in there too. I'll have to try it at a different time of the month, I guess, and if it still doesn't work... decant time! I do like this scent, but not as much as I expected to. I don't need quite so much of it...

rating: 3/5

Sweet grass, faint wildflowers, and slightly flat-smelling berries. This smells almost watery in the imp. A very light scent. It's so natural-smelling that even if you slathered people passing by may think they're smelling actual nature and not someone's perfume. It's a very pretty, fresh, natural scent (actually it reminds me of the sleepaway camp I went to when I was younger...), not perfumey at all. On me, I get mostly grass and berries. The berries go a teeny bit flat and synthetic-smelling, perhaps because of my chemistry, making this blend not for me.

rating: 3/5

Our signature oil. A dark, languid scent. Promotes hedonistic tendencies and extreme self-love. You won’t stop kissing mirrors for a month.

Oh, I loooooove the cherry in this. Yummmmm. In the imp, cherry and spice. Smells like Dr Pepper/Mr Pibb. On the skin, more spice, less cherry. Still smells like Dr Pepper. I'm not sure I want to smell exactly like Dr Pepper, but it is still a great scent.

rating: 3/5

Aaaaaaack! PEACHES! This is probably the juiciest and sweetest fruit I've ever smelled in a perfume. Heck, it's sweeter than most real peaches... I also get a bit of bitterness, perhaps from the oakmoss, the tiniest bit of bergamot (almost lost under the PEACHES), and the heliotrope which makes it even sweeter. This is so sweet and juicy I almost don't like it.

On my skin, this oil is very BRIGHT. It stays fresh and juicy until it fades away. It's a nice smell, but a bit too pure PEACH for me to reach for too often.

rating: 3/5

For some reason it smelled like burnt rubber on me.

Other than that it was alright I guess.

I couldn't pick apart any of the notes except for the strawberry and vanilla. The rest may have been somewhere in the burnt rubber mess where I couldn't get at them. Eventually, and thankfully, the burnt rubber picked itself up and went off, perhaps to plan it's next assault. Then I was left with a pleasant, if plain, vanilla. Ah, bliss...

This is the weirdest, and worst, chemistry issue I've ever had. And I was sure I'd love this one, too.

The lovechild of Zephyr and Midnight - lemony floral. I love both of those, but unfortunately am not so keen on Chiroptera. It's a light pretty everyday blend such as I am always looking for, but just isn't for me. In the imp, it's lemony florals. On my skin it's lemony florals.On my skin after one hour it is... lemony florals and that is how it stays until it's lemony floral death. It's a pretty blend, but it just doesn't speak. It reminds me of a perfume a woman about my mother's age (which I cannot tell you because a lady never tells her age and certainly not her mothers' age if she wants to live, but suffice to say she is old enough to join AARP but not old enough to think about retiring) would wear - not heady or old-ladyish, not too sweet, and not too strong. Calm and reserved. Not my thing. But nice.

rating: 3/5

Sweet tropical florals. The ginger blends in with them, giving the flowers a bit more depth. It's very very light, soft, and pretty, not heady at all. A very simple everyday scent. I didn't get any of the dampness other people mentioned, although that may be because I tested this in my air-conditioned house. (The other tropical BPALs I've tried didn't smell their best until I tested them outside in the lovely suffocating heat we've been getting all summer.) I'll have to wear it out a few times and see if it grows on me.

rating: 3/5 (so far...)

Shock tarts! No, really! This smells like those sour little chewy candy things I used to love when I was little. The cranberry and lime are the tart and the vodka is the shock.

Although the Hamptons are a sophisticated kind of place, The Hamptons isn't a terribly sophisticated blend. I can't help thinking of candy. It's like shock tarts, sweet tarts, and sour gummy worms all in one. And although I certainly don't mind smelling like shock tarts (although I am trying to mature in my scent preferences, just a little bit) they don't have much staying power on me. The scent starts to smell flat and loses its tartness, and I have to reapply.

rating: 3/5

in the imp: Just what it says. Lilies and honey. This is the first BPAL honey blend I've tried and it's delicious! Wearing it makes me hungry and the honey keeps the lilies from getting heady and perfumey like they sometimes do.

on my skin: Yummmmm. Like a few people have said, a very golden-yellow summery blend. This just screams late-summer/early fall to me. It's also (and this is completely a good thing!) a very everyday scent. I wouldn't feel too dressed-up wearing this to class like I do with a lot of scents. For some reason it smells to me like a casual version of Et Lux Fuit. I don't think they share any notes, but they're both very golden scents. ELF is more majestic, like a gorgeous sunset, and Tiger Lily is more like a summer afternoon.

on my skin, dry: It doesn't morph much until, after a few hours, the lily gradually disappears and just the honey is left.

rating: 5/5

in the imp: Very, very heady and perfumey, almost gag-inducing, and definitely headache-inducing if I had that reaction to scents. I'm not so great at picking out the different florals yet, but something about this combination just doesn't appeal to me. It's just too much at once, I guess. I like my florals, but not when they're this strong.

Still, I know how BPAL can morph, so I try it on my skin.

on skin, wet: A bit less icky, less like it's going to make me sick, but still very floral, heady, and tart. It's a really sharp scent.

on skin, dry: Even softer now, and almost tolerable when I catch wafts of it. It has lots of throw and even though I only put it on one wrist I can smell it wafting around me for a few hours. It smells better now, but still not for me. I swapped it away after trying it only once.

rating: 1/5

Mmmmmmm... when I first opened the imp it smelled so much like the sea that I could practically feel the spray in my face. Very very wet and aquatic with a hint of grapefruit and a lot of green. It's very refreshing and a great summer scent for those reeeeeaaally hot days. I'm not a big fan of aquatic scents, but this one smells great.

Just after I put it on my skin the green note is the most recognizable, but in about half an hour the grapefruit comes back subtly, only this time it smells like there's some orange in there, too. The aquatic ocean-smell stays pretty strong, too, although it doesn't smell as real as it did at first. All-in-all, the scent is a fresh green-citrus and smells a bit masculine and cologne-y, but in a good way. Not for me, but I'd reccomend it to anyone who likes aquatics.

rating: 3/5

I ordered two sets of imps a few days ago and had a similar problem, tho not the same one...

I had no problem ordering two sets and the text field to type my imp choices in came up just fine. But then, when it showed my completed order, although a quantity of 2 imp sets was listed, only the imps I had typed in the second time were shown. Will the lab get the full list of twelve imps or am I going to get two sets of the same six? And if I am going to get the wrong order, could I email the lab and set it straight?

Any advice you could give me would be appreciated. My imps, my precious imps! Nooooooooo...

OMG ROSE!

Rose is most definitely the dominant note on me. Then comes a muddle of moss and sandalwood (I didn't get a pinch of amber), and finally a bit of mandarin over the whole scent. Pretty. Not bad. The rose is fresh and dewy and doesn't go soapy. It loves my skin. Unfortunately, although I like florals as a whole, rose isn't my favorite. To me it seems old-fashioned, predictable, and just too well-known a scent to make me happy. I'd rather hear someone say "That's lovely, what is it?" than "Oh, roses", no matter how pretty the roses are. Roses just aren't me.

This probably isn't helping you to decide whether you want this scent. Err, well it is pretty, although a bit too much AUGH ROSES! If you don't mind rose, this is a lovely and well-blended scent that I reccomend you try out. If you do mind roses, run awaaaaaay.

The first time I tried this on I got pure gross sour floral and nothing else.

And that, my friends, should teach you about the dangers of getting overexcited and testing an entire imp pack at once. I had BPAL on my wrists, elbows, forearms, and the back of one hand. Unsurprisingly, I hated everything in that order until I started trying them on one-by-one.

The second time around, Midnight blossomed into a creamy, sweet floral, not heady or cloying at all. It smells, like others have said, like a late summer evening, or like a late summer evening would smell if there were any justice in the world at all. ^^

Although it's absolutely beautiful, to me it would only fit properly into a few settings. It's definitely an evening scent, dusky and blue-purple in mood. It's quiet and unhurried. I wouldn't wear it to a big party, and rushing around running errands while I tested it seemed like a total waste of good BPAL. I think it would best be worn to a small gathering with a few friends.

I did just order a bottle, though, and I like it so much that I'll probably wear it well beyond the self-imposed guidlines I just described. It's too pretty to save!

Odd. I got a pale, wimpy blend of pears on a bed of faint musk. No white floral, no rose. Not terrible - I'm a fan of fruity scents so smelling like a pear isn't such a bad thing. But on me the scent has no character. And it all but disappears after half an hour or so. Sure Endymion's pretty, but doesn't Selene get a bit bored with just watching him sleep all the time?

If the scent doesn't grow a backbone next time I try it on, to the swaps with it!

Mmmmmm... this one reminds me of a perfume my mom used to wear. I had her sniff it and she said it smelled familiar too, but can't remember what it reminds her of.

It starts off, in the imp and wet on my skin, all lemony-fresh but not like a cleaner. As it dries down, the lemon and lemon verbena stick around but soften a bit, and the other notes come to the surface. The lemons, white florals, a bit of vanilla sweetness, and what I assume is neroli are the most apparent notes although they're so well blended it's hard to tell what's what... the musks and sandalwood give it all staying power.

Zephyhr is very light and fresh and summery but also sophisticated - not just a little girlish pretty perfume, although it wouldn't smell amiss on someone young. I'm thinking of buying a bottle of this to wear to (the few) college events where when I have to act like an adult.

You know, for when it's still hot and humid but you're dying to get out your sweaters and boots and can't wait for Halloween. I love my springy-summer scents, but I can't bear to wear them past mid-August.

(Until, say, November, when I'm darn tired of the cold and want spring.)

Hmmmm... my reccomendations would be (from my limited BPAL knowledge) Silk Road, which is warm and spicy but light enough for warm weather, Midnight, which smells like late summer nights, and Zephyr, which is lemony but has enough body to work in seasons other than summer.

And yours? (I'm planning to make a massive order of imps soon...)

Yummmmmmm...

In the imp I smell coconut, SEA SALT (?), white musk on backup, very nice iris, and a twinge of hazlenut.

The iris disappeared on my skin immediately. Also, in the imp and on my skin before it dried completely it had a salty note that kept it smelling like the sea - but in about ten minutes that burned off. Then it was pure coconut and hazlenut, pure baked good. The iris comes back and plays peekaboo. Now you smell it, now you don't, and it keeps the scent from being too cakelike.

So, I like baked goods. And I'm not sure whether I'm a foodie fan yet, but this is definitely delicious. It's gentle and lovely for sure. I don't really get any of the meanacing and profound after the top note burns off. Then it's all coconut nutty sweetness just out of the oven. Think of a sweet old lady who loves to bake living on the beach...

Ohgod. Bitter, bitter, bitter. That's all I get. Very bitter incense. Although the oil's by no means sugar-sweet in the imp, I assume this is a chemistry issue and not the oil's fault. It's the only one of my imps that smelled bad. Well. I'll know about heavy incenses next time. It seems they're no-nos for me.

In the imp, I smell a sweet patchouli with frankincense and sandalwood cutting through it. The patchouli is strongest, but the other notes balance it well and it does smell great - but, since I'm not a resin fan, not for me. It's very unisex, I'd like to smell it on a man, but there's no trace of obvious men's cologne (bleechh) so a woman could wear it just as well. It seems like an evening scent to me, but if you put it on with a light touch you could break the rule. All-in-all, very delicious and if only it were "me" in the slightest (I'm a fruity-floral girly-girl, alas..), I'd likely order a bottle.

Err, then I put it on. The notes continued to balance each other well, but over a few minutes lost every bit of sweetness they'd had in the imp. Angry hippy patchouli, sharp pointy sandalwood, and bitter frankincense. Anne Bonny's on the warpath. And she has throw. I put the oil on at 7 am and kept getting wafts all day. Ugh, my skin chemistry. Not a huge loss though, because as I said this one's not one that I'd reach for often anyway.

In the bottle, this is an almost sweet scent. The orange blossom and carnation are almost more noticible than the patchouli, which I like. And it does remind me of a masquerade. I keep thinking of the ballroom scene from Labyrinth and wanting to dress up in a dramatic gown and mask. And huge hair that defies the laws of physics, of course. Totally looking forward to wearing this.

But on my skin, the patchouli takes over, which I don't like, and the florals only give a hint of sweetness. I'm not a big patchouli fan, or a fan of really inscencey scents. And that's all I get. Wah. Doesn't smell bad, just doesn't smell me. Seems like other people are getting better reactions, or like the darker scent. But as for me, this is going to be the starter scent for my swaps pile.

I love it in the bottle. It smells like tropical fruits and flowers mixed with the forest after a hard rain (or, you know, I could just call it "rainforest" and not sound like a prat). I definitely get the smell of the greenery and trees, and they make the smell much more complicated and interesting while the amber gives it a warmer feel.

When I put it on, the fruits and florals fade into the backround (and I really liked them!), the green takes the forefront, and the amber turns into a hint of eau d'rancid. Broke my heart, that did. I was so excited when I smelled it in the bottle! I don't want to let go, so I suppose I'll try it in my hair or in an oil burner at home (excuse to buy an oil burner!) before I lose hope.

Not my first scent ever, but my first review ever.

...

Eep.

So when I first opened the imp it smelled like champagne, artificial strawberries (but very good artificial strawberries. like what artifical strawberries would taste like if, say, Godiva made artificial strawberries!), and a hint of something floral that I'm probably imagining but that makes the imp smell like a summer wedding. Yay! I like weddings. Five minutes after I put it on the imaginary wedding bouquet completely disappears (as imaginary things are wont to do), the champagne gets less noticible, and the strawberry intensifies. Now it smells like, as many have said, a strawberry lipsmacker. Only a bit tarter and with a champagne undertone. And it stays like this for the next five hours, at which point I have to reapply.

I like it. I doubt I'll buy a big bottle, but I'll use up the imp.