phedre

Honestly, I find all the spreadsheets and tracking systems too complicated for me, and I'm a frickin SysAdmin by trade!

All I want to know is: Do I like it or not? Have I tried it? Have I reviewed it? And do I want to try it?

I made up a simple HTML page hosted on my website which tells me all this at a glance. I'll probably change it and add other information as time goes on, but for now it really helps. If I want to see what I thought of a particular scent, I look up my review on the bpal forums.

The next step will probably be a database backend of some kind, with links from the bpal page to my specific review. Hrmm... maybe I'll do that this week.

in vial: musk and deep florals.

wet on skin: definitely spices, warm light spices, and musk. primrose and iris floating over the top, and jasmine.

drydown, after ten minutes: sweet spices and musk, dark florals.

After an hour: Gorgeous! Perfectly balanced spice and floral, with musk thrown in for good measure. This is very warm and sensual.

In vial: this is all myrrh and jasmine, quite decadent feeling.

wet on skin: rich incense, like opium smoke, with rose and jasmine twined around it. Oh this is lovely.

drydown, after ten minutes: rich spicy smoky incense and florals. This is blatantly sexual.

An hour later: this remains the same throughout drydown: smoky incense and florals. It's not something I'll wear often, but I'll reach for it when I want to feel sexual.

In vial: very light florals, somewhat soapy.

wet on skin: sweet frankincense and white rose, lily for sure. No sandalwood yet.

drydown, after ten minutes: white florals and sandalwood. The soapiness is gone, thankfully.

An hour later: this has almost disappeared. The soapiness is back, though. Off to the swap pile.

In vial: patchouli and musk.

wet on skin: warm, lovely musk and patchouli with a bit of ylang ylang. It's sexy and slinky.

drydown, after 10 minutes: Pure musk & patchouli, maybe a touch too much patchouli for me. The florals soften it a bit, but it's still a bit unbalanced.

An hour later: Still a bit too much patchouli. There's a tart edge coming out too, almost citrus like, but not quite. This is nice, but too heavy on the patchouli for me. Think I'll hang onto the imp for layering.

In vial: lovely pure rose!

wet on skin: sweet roses and carnation maybe? Something spicy.

drydown, 10 minutes: haughty English rose presiding over an elegant parlour. This reminds me of peacock queen without the green notes.

An hour later: Pure sweet rose. I love it! I'm a rose fanatic, and this is a true rose scent. This might turn into a bottle

In vial: honey and ylang ylang. the honey has a sharp quality to it.

On skin: paint fumes Still tons of honey, but there's a chemical quality to this.

drydown, 10 minutes: the paint fumes have gone, and now i'm getting something like a white cake with florals on top. Definitely a baking vanilla cake note going on here. Tons of ylang ylang with it, and a bit of apple blossom.

An hour later, this has a lovely floral note to it, but there's something off. There's a fake vanilla scent here, like artificial vanilla extract, that's keeping this from being beautiful. The florals are nice, though.

in vial: sweet pea and more sweet pea.

wet: it has a bit of a dryer sheet quality. The sweet pea is dominant, with a touch of vanilla and musk, barely there. There's no sage here at all.

Aeval: Dryer sheets. There are other notes here, the musk for sure, but it's all overbalanced by the dryer sheets. Ah well. Off to the swaps!

In vial: cardamom and ginger. this reminds me of good gingerbread spice.

wet: this is all pumpkin spice, with tons of cardamom and ginger. I don't get any amber or orange.

drydown: Wow, complete change. Mandarin and orange peel are coming out in force now. The pumpkin spice has almost completely disappeared, leaving behind just a bit of cardamom and warm pumpkin pie. I'm still not sure what I think of this one, if I love it or just like it, and whether or not I like it as a perfume oil. It's definitely worth trying though, so I'll think on it awhile.

in vial: tobacco leaf and florals, maybe the carnation. a touch of sandalwood.

wet: clove and patchouli come out. tobacco is still there, but dying down a bit. incense definitely appearing!

drydown: Pretty! sandalwood and incense softened by carnation and rose. Not something I'll hoard, but I like having a bit of this to try once in awhile.

in vial: there's a citrus peel quality to this, with very subtle vanilla notes.

wet: florals pop up right away, the rockrose maybe? Tonka definitely comes out to play. The citrus peel is still there, not quite sure what's causing that. The ambrette is coming out too.

drydown: This has definitely gotten more interesting since it was first applied, with tonka and amber appearing. it's got a lot of complexity to it, but smells a bit too perfumey for me. There's a note in it that's turning it off and I'm not sure what it is. Off to the swaps, I think.

This one scares me, as my skin usually amps orchid to an unholy degree.

in vial: sweet tobacco leaf and a touch of floral rose.

wet: orchid amps up immediately as usual, but the tobacco leaf quality stays. This might be an orchid scent I can actually wear!

drydown: I'm being overwhelmed by tobacco leaf. I can't believe it isn't listed in the notes! Even orchid, my nemesis, has been swallowed up by it.

This is interesting, but not something I love.

in vial: strongly aquatic, very men's cologne-ish.

wet: my skin seems to eat this one. it stays men's cologne-ish on me, and a bit soapy too.

drydown: ick. men's cologne for sure. Salty and aquatic, no florals whatsoever. This would probably be lovely on a man, but definitely not for me!

in vial: sharp bitter almond and sour apple must

wet on skin: pine emerges, and the must thankfully fades a bit, but is still present. It's still sour, like those old super sour candies from the 80s.

drydown: pine and bright green apple. the sour mustiness is gone. It's bright and sweet, but not cloying. I like it, but it's not for me.

in vial: tons of patchouli and a bit of spicy carnation and orange blossom. mainly patchouli though.

wet on skin: orange blossom amps up almost immediately. patchouli dominates, but in a nice, soft way.

drydown: lovely! the patchouli mellows and the florals come out to balance it. Patchouli can so easily be overpowering, but not in this blend. it harmonizes perfectly with the other notes.

in vial: root beer! sassafras and vanilla.

wet on skin: this is pure sassafras and sweet vanilla. it stays very true to the vial scent.

drydown: still smells like rootbeer, with maybe a touch of wood coming out underneath it. definitely not a keeper, but interesting in its own way.

in vial: candy sweet peony and plum blossom

wet: even sweeter candy

drydown: this stays far too cloyingly sweet for me. I'm amping one of the sweet notes in this to a disgustingly sugary degree and it's just too much. It's disappointing because the individual notes are so lovely.

in vial: amber and myrrh

on skin: cardamom, which i love, and almond come out immediately.

drydown: this reminds me of traditional Indian masala chai, heavy on the cardamom. Some muskiness and amber, with a touch of a floral note that must be the lotus. Quite pretty! I don't get any cherry out of this at all, it's pure almond, cardamom, amber, and musk.

ETA: Oh my frickin deity. I LOVE THIS. I just went back to sniff the spot I'd applied it to, and wow, it's almost reminding me of snake charmer! My skin must be amping one of the minor notes to get that out of it This is now on my top ten list!

Strong black tea and milk with white pepper, ginger, honey and vanilla, spilled over the crisp scent of clean linen.

in vial: milky tea, pepper, and spicy ginger

wet on skin: very strong black tea with milk in it. there's something almost sickly about it, maybe the honey? So far, I don't like this.

drydown: Ugh. I need to wash this off. It's doing just awful things with my body's chemistry, amping the black tea and milk up to huge proportions. The vanilla and honey never appeared at all, and the pepper and ginger are both gone.

Off to the swaps with this one.

I am a huge fan of churchy blends.

In vial: this is almost pure rosewood with a touch of lily, and dust.

Wet on skin: it's dusty, almost mildewy rosewood, like in a very old building. The florals are overwhelmed by the smell of old wood.

drydown: this has gone even more mildewy, like rotting wood and dust. Not good at all! Off to the swaps for Kostnice.

in vial: sharp lemon, but just a bit. sweet orange blossom and hibiscus. this is q golden scent.

wet on skin: it's warming my skin a bit. There's lots of orange blossom and amber, and the frankincense comes out.

drydown: The orange flowers and mock orange are overpowering everything else. There's a lot of sweetness and orange citrus here, without anything to counter it. Pretty, but not a favourite.

In vial: pure vetiver, and maybe a touch of mint.

wet on skin: Oh this is pretty. the vetiver warms and softens, something almost creamy comes out. There's a light mint coming out for sure, and a white floral note.

drydown: it stays very close to the bottle scent. It's a bit aquatic, but mainly i smell mint and vetiver with a touch of floral. It's nice, but not a bottle for me.

In the vial this is pure pine, lovely and clean.

On skin the pine stays, and a touch of mint and spice emerges. This is a lovely, cold winter scent with a very realistic winter forest feel to it.

In vial: crystalline is a very good description of this scent. light musk and herbs.

wet: definitely florals and herbs, with musk underneath. lovely so far!

dry: this gets muskier as it dries, and becomes the animalistic scent of its description. It doesn't get heavy though, on the contrary, the herbs and florals balance out the musks perfectly. I really like this!

in vial: pomegranate and cherry, apple and berry. This is pure fruit in a vial!

wet: apple peel, like a red delicious apple. Cherry and sugar, pomegranate all appear, but apple dominates. Very slight floral, but only if I really look for it.

dry: apple cider! there's tons of other things peeking around the edges, but apple is still the main note my skin picks up. It's lovely! Reminds me of fall, sipping cider after being out in the cold air.

An hour later: the apple fruits are receding and the other compounds are coming around. It smells a little dusty and wheaty, and the florals are a little more present.