Miseraya

In the imp: Salty woods indeed! This smells very salty. The description for this is perfect, it really smells exactly like the notes listed. On the wrist: The leather automatically perks up and begins to dominate, but not so much that the sweet wood scent is lost. This is very pleasant! Drydown: Bummer, the leather ate everything else. This is a fabulous scent, but alas on me it morphs into pure leather and I have De Sade for that. Swaps.

In the imp: Sweet, fresh and crisp marine note. Lovely. On the wrist: Surprisingly this one doesn't immediately go funky on my skin. It stays pretty true to the in the imp scent, which I love, so I hope that continues. It gets a little heavier and sharper, but still the same scent. It reminds me of the beach! (Without the dead fish smell.) Drydown: This turned... weird when it dried down, didn't keep the lovely notes, turned different. *shrug* It starts to smell more like the bathrooms at the beach. Off to the swaps.

In the imp: There's that spring floral note that always makes me think of peony. No grass though... On the wrist: Pretty spring floral, reminds me of Dirty (plumeria) or Dormouse (peony). Peony and plumeria smell similar to me (and I love them both!) Surprisingly I'm not getting berries in this, which is probably a good thing, they tend to get very sharp on me. Drydown: Ooh! Getting a bit of grass now, which is the note I was hoping for in this blend. It's getting a bit sharp on me though, which I think must be the berry's influence. After a while this is all sharp sweet on me and starts to give me a headache. Yep, the berry has struck again. Off to the swaps. The hunt for the perfect grass note continues.

In the imp: Yikes, nail polish remover! What the hell? On the wrist: Heavy nail polish remover scent, not like acetone, but like the fragrance they put in the nail polish remover to make it smell nice. Not cool. Drydown: After a while this turns into a nice sun warmed field sort of smell, I get sweetgrass in this. It's actually really nice, but that nail polish remover phase is too much to go through for this. Off to the swaps.

In the imp: Floral? Hey... where's the bananas?? Unlike pretty much everyone else, I'm getting no banana in this, it's all florals... Maybe on the skin... On the wrist: Floral. Bugger. This is a heavy floral scent on me. No bananas. Drydown: Is there a resin note in this? My skin is doing the thing it does with incense/resin/wood notes...damn. Off to the swaps.

In the imp: Hmm, sweet and floral. Thicker and more perfumey than I thought it would be. Not getting any of the orange blossom or lemon verbena yet. On the wrist: Similar to in the imp but less thick. This is all heliotrope and honeysuckle on me, no orange blossom or lemon verbena. Drydown: This has turned into a heavy spicy floral on my skin, but not old lady floral. Still, not for me. Off to the swaps.

Non compos mentis, indeed! A contrary, conflicted scent, bubbling with merry madness. Contains apple, rose, and lemon. In the imp: Rose, rose, and rose. With a hint of lemon, not the actual scent of lemon, but a sourness that indicates lemon might be lurking about. No sign of the apples. I am on a quest to find apple scents, I don't think this one is going to be one of them. On the wrist: Rose. No more lemon, just rose. Dry: Rose scented talcum powder. This sometimes happens between rose and I. In a few minutes more my skin will have eaten the scent entirely and left me with the vague suggestion of a powdered wrist. Alas, this is not the apple scent I was hoping for. To the swaps. ETA:Lab description.

In the imp: I get a band aid vibe from this, but more than that it reminds me of heavy 70-80's style cologne. There is no way this will work on me. On the wrist: Getting opium, definitely. This on me is just overwhelming resin/incense type stuff. Dry: Goes powdery rather quickly and stays that way. Overall: I should have known better, resin/incense smells just never work on me. Off to the swaps.

In the imp: Clean floral, greenish note. Not as thick as I was expecting! This is a sweet scent, but not as heady or lush as I was expecting. I think it must be those mountain top breezes thinning out the scent somewhat. I'm not getting the amber right now, mostly just a clean wet floral scent. On the wrist: Instantly upon application the amber starts to come out, thickening the blend, but not so much that my initial impression is lost. Hmm, this smells like a long steamy bath. Some expensive bubble bath or bath salts wafting up scented steam.... Dry: This definitely goes all bath product on me. It still smells great, but it smells like expensive bath stuff. After awhile the amber takes over completely as amber is wont to do on my skin and I am left with an amber bubble bath smell. *shrug* Alas. Overall: This starts out as a great wet and clean smell and slowly thickens into something else (the stuff used to get wet and clean). I never got any fruit notes, but that is quite possibly because the amber reacted with my skin and turned very heavy. I would classify this one as a floral and good for lovers of amber. Anyone who has problems with their skin amping amber might want to proceed with caution.

I wish this had worked on me, but my chemistry is really awful about sweet floral scents and it always tortures dragon's blood (which a lot of people seemed to pick up in this).... In the imp: Very sweet, sticky and red smelling. On the wrist: Uh oh, shampoo. It's totally turned into Suave Shampoo. Dry: Slightly powdery suave shampoo. Off to the swaps. *sigh*

In the imp: Deep, lovely almost dark chocolate fig. This is fantastic. I hope this stays like this on my skin! On the wrist: Oh heavenly earthy seductive fig! How I love thee. That near dark chocolate note has faded. This takes quite a while to dry on the wrist or possibly in my fever pitch excitement I slathered. Dry: This is not your usual sticky sweet fig (at least not on me) but an earthy, dirtier and more plant like sort of fig. Magnificent!

In the imp: Holy booze batman, yikes! After the third sniff (holding the wand further from my nose each time) I finally get some cranberry in this. Here's hoping this smells a little less like vodka on my wrist! On the wrist: Getting a bit of the lime now, as well as more cranberry. But this is still not a good smell close up. This literally smells like a cosmopolitan, harsh vodka vapors and all. Dry: Much more lime now, lime and cranberry, but still obviously an alcoholic scent. I think this one will require more testing before I decide whether or not to keep it.

In the imp: May I just say... This. Is. AWESOME. I hope it stays like this on my skin, oh please, oh please. This smells just like dirt and mushrooms. It's wonderful! On the wrist: Huzzah! This is the best smell ever, it's Zombi with mushrooms instead of roses. It's rich thick loam with fresh fungus sprouting up after a rain. It's like falling over and landing nose first on a toadstool. I'm in love. Dry: It sweetens up a bit and mellows out, but it's still wonderful. Not much throw, not much staying power, but this is a big bottle for sure.

In the imp: Uh-oh. This does not smell at all like something that will work on me. I guess lilies don't smell like what I thought they smelled like. On the wrist: This is a very consistent scent, it hasn't morphed at all. Honey and lilies, very sweet, sticky floral. Dry: Still no change, I bet this would be great for someone who likes lily scents. Which I thought I was, but apparently am not. *sigh* Off to the swaps.

In the imp: Ooh, tough one. I think that's the tobacco I'm getting, but there is something else, thick and almost like dirt. Mostly tobacco and that mystery note, maybe it's the chili pepper? On the wrist: Tobacco and melon! They were combining to make that mystery scent, but now that it's on my skin the melon has uncurled itself from the tobacco and become a distinct note. That's very interesting. Getting the edge of the chili pepper now as well. Not really noticing the other notes much. Gin is there but only barely, just making this a little alcoholic. It's primarily staying melon, tobacco and now chili pepper. I think this scent is perfect for Ogun, it suits the description of him quite well. This is a very masculine blend, I think I'll try it on Eric this evening. The melon gives it just enough sweetness to make it unisex. Dry: This is a very strange scent to my nose, very masculine, but not so masculine that a woman couldn't pull it off. It's thick, smoky and sexy. It sharpens over time, wafts really well and if you smell it close up it hurts your nose. The man in this scent is a comforting presence, capable of great violence but on your side. You feel safe having him at your back, but you don't want to cross him. Much like the God this honors this smell is very strong and not everyone's cup of tea. I know I probably would not wear it, but I can't wait to smell this on Eric.

I grew up in Falls Village, CT which is about 10 minutes from the border of MA and 10 minutes from the border of NY. Half hour to Great Barrington. My tried and true New England in fall scent (now this is Litchfield Hills, foot of the Berkshires talking) is Harvest Moon '06. Punkie moon is great for Autumn in New England too, and Ulalume as well.

In the imp: Almonds? Cherries? Ozone. Ok, so we have almonds, cherries and ozone. Hmm, and plum. I love plum. Not so much almonds though, and ozone usually hates me. This is a very complex scent... Let's see how this goes... On the wrist: Ozone immediately leaps to the fore. Vying with the cherry scent, completely obliterating the almonds... and I'm left with... hmm, plum and ozone. Not bad actually. This is a gorgeous purple ozone scent on me at the moment, very unique. Dry: The plum gets a bit sharper, the ozone is lost entirely... this is pure plum right now, amped to the nth degree. After another five minutes or so I get a slightly musky scent, which is usually a precursor to bad times on my skin as musk and I have never been on the best of terms. This one is quite the morpher! Something herbal is coming through now, herbs and musk are destroying my lovely plum scent! Final Analysis: This started out good, got better, was attacked by my chemistry, rallied and turned into something I would never choose to wear. I'll try it again in a couple weeks, see if it was a fluke and if it wasn't then I'll probably swap the imp. Definitely a recommendation for plum lovers, though anyone who can't do musk or ozone might want to proceed with caution.

In the imp: Peony! Ooh, this smells great, I'm not getting much of the herbs, but I can smell at least one tea note and lovely, lovely peony. I'm in love. I love tea notes and peony and I have a great relationship. I hope this stays true on my skin. I am a bit worried about the herbs. On the wrist: Mmm, green tea and peony, this is fantastic. If this keeps up I'll need to buy several bottles of this! This is the quintessential spring scent, delicate peony carried by the wind to a tea party under a weeping willow. Nearby stream babbling serenely. Oh, love. This is so clean and beautiful, so delicate and natural and amazing.... Thank you Beth! Dry: This one is a definite winner, it's possibly the best BPAL oil (for me) I have tried thus far. Dreamy and sweet, like a soft spring breeze, when all is right with the world and the only clouds in the sky are the big puffy ones that look like anything you can imagine them to be. I recommend this one to peony lovers and tea lovers!

In the imp: Soft pretty florals, but not powdery old lady florals, spring florals. Sweet and innocent and ... white smelling. Possibly jasmine? (Which usually hates my skin, no matter how much I love it.) *checks description* Yep, that sounds about like what this smells like. Jasmine, plum and daffodil anyhow, possibly orchid.... No sign of the musk yet... I'm not sure why I wanted this one, it sounds wonderful, but jasmine and musk never play nice on my skin.... On the wrist: The plum is a prominent note in this blend, very nice. Very light, and pretty. This is the sort of scent I would love to wear all the time, provided I could convince my body chemistry to play nice. So far, this is behaving. The musk and jasmine are staying in the background and I am getting plum and daffodil at the forefront, beautiful and girly. I'm getting a hint of something that must be the orchid as well (it's not musk or jasmine...) Dry: Amazing, this just proves that Beth is magical. For the first time ever jasmine and musk are playing nice with my skin! Hooray, I think it's a keeper! This is the sort of scent I have been trying to find, fruity, floral and fun. I am so glad I got to try this, it's wonderful! Big bottle, heavy rotation spring scent.

In the imp: Fruity, very sweet, berries? This is a clear, sweet and bright scent. Pure fruit, nothing but fruit notes. Very nice. Not overpowering, but very bold. I really want this one to work on me. On the wrist: The scent immediately deepens on my skin and becomes more complex. Still pure fruit, but more grown up. Not half as innocent even though it's still very sweet. Dry: This scent stays pretty consistent, which I like, the big time morphing scents usually morph into something icky on me. It definitely sharpens up on the dry down, the tartness of the fruits starts to come out and tame the sweetness. The scent mellows overall, but doesn't disappear. This is a keeper for me. I think I'll keep it as a winter scent, it smells wintry to me. I would recommend this one to any other fans of fruit notes and clean scents.

In the imp: Clove! But not like clove cigarettes, more like clove for baking. Getting a hint of cinnamon as well. Makes me think of cookies, and baking in general or rearranging my spice cabinet maybe. I like it. On the wrist: Starting to get more of the pepper immediately upon application. The cinnamon is the least obvious of the three notes. Dry: The cinnamon comes back with a vengeance, cinnamon red hots. Very sharp and hot scent. There is still a hint of clove in there, but the pepper has been lost entirely. This was great in the bottle, good wet on the wrist and disappointing on the dry down. Off to the swaps.

In the imp: Civet? Jasmine? On the wrist: Civet and jasmine... Off to the swaps.

In the imp: Definitely pumpkin, it's the same smell that I love so very much in Jack. Ginger... dirt and something... green? *checks description* I would guess it's the galangal giving me the ginger note, the ivy definitely accounts for the green scent. Not sure what is up with the dirt note I am getting, possibly one of the woods. So far this is very promising. On the wrist: Very similar to Jack, but also very much it's own scent. The ivy is more prominent on the wrist than it was in the imp. The ivy gets stronger as time passes, the woods aren't putting in much of an appearance. Dry: The ivy has completely taken over at this point and turned this into a sweet, green, slightly powdery scent. Ivy seems to like doing this to me. It's the only note I know of that can be both sharp and powdery, green and perfumey. Alas, chemistry strikes again. To the swaps.

In the imp: Boozy! Whew, this is booze and cigar smoke. I think I can smell a bit of leather as well. Something a bit sour. On the wrist: Leather and that sour smell again. Lost the tobacco smell and the boozy scent. Starting to get some musk. Dry: Sour musk. Definitely not for me.

In the imp: Masculine, foresty. Fir. Something reminiscent of Hurricane, an ozone note? Mint? On the wrist: Sharp and clear scent. Definitely getting a mint note. Mint, mint and fir. Possibly a little mint. Oh and a hint of...musk. (Ha, you thought I was going to say mint!) Dry: Getting the musk now, and the tobacco as well. It's mellowed out quite a bit, it's no longer so crisp and clear. But the fir and the mint (oh, the mint!) are still very present. This is a very masculine and aggressive scent to my nose. It's also a very evocative scent, makes me think of wet forest nights. I didn't get any of the cumin, clove or orange blossom in this. Not bad, but not me and definitely not the boy. To the swaps.