mymymai

In the Imp (ITI): When I open the vial, a lovely combination of vanilla and for some reason lemon waft toward my nose. It certainly reminds me of tea cakes. On second and third sniff, the sandalwood greets me, making the vanilla spicier and rounder, while the sweet pea ads just a hint of greenness. In the bottle, it’s feminine, sweet, and almost dream-like.

 

Wet: Strong vanilla bean with a tartness I’m assuming comes from the sweet pea. There is the sandalwood supporting the vanilla while the amber adds its powderiness. I still get a bit of faint lemon, like limoncello or lemon meringue cookies.

 

Dry: Faint vanilla, amber, and just a tad of sandalwood linger, although I need to bring my wrist close to my nose to smell it

In the Imp (ITI): On the initial sniff, for some reason I get Bubbleyum, like the watermelon type. I’m sure it’s the sugar paired with the pink carnation and daisy. This really wasn’t a scent I was expecting from the notes listed by BPAL. On second sniff, I can just discern the pepper, which makes my nose tingle. It’s rather intriguing.

 

Wet: It still smells like watermelon Bubbleyum, and I’m smiling because it evokes such fun childhood memories. Again, the pepper is noticeable with that pepper tingle, but it’s such a pleasant feeling paired with the overt sweetness of the sugar and florals.

 

Dry: 30 minutes- The daisy, carnation, and sugar have morphed ever so slightly from the watermelon scent to something a little more mature (not much, but a little). The pepper rounds down the overt sweetness, making the scent have more depth. It’s a rather pretty scent.

In the Imp (ITI): The orange blossom is rather sweet and when paired with the ginger, it’s almost candy-like. Oddly enough, I can’t really detect the patchouli like I would have expected.

 

Wet: I get the patchouli now on my skin, and it seems to bear equal weight with the ginger and the orange blossom. It’s sweet, but not cloying.

 

Dry: It’s taken a while, nearly 10 hours, for the scent to morph to the extent that I consider it somewhat pleasant. Now I sell a faintly resinous orange blossom, which is innocently sweet, not as sultry as I would have expected.

In the Imp (ITI): I get a soapiness when I initially sniff the vial. I can certainly discern the violet (very strongly) and the coolness of the delphinium is an interesting touch. The wisteria and chrysanthemum are weak, but present.

 

Wet: On me, it's very sharply floral as the violet is the dominant scent. The delphinium still cools down the violet, but only slightly. There is just the slightest hint of softness, which I think is the chrysanthemum. If's very feminine, just just a little too floral at the moment.

 

Dry: Still sharply floral even when dry, with heavy violet and delphinium. The softness of the of the other florals during the wet phases is no longer present.

In the Imp (ITI): Sweet almond to the point of being cloying. I can also smell the powdery notes of the amber, but it smells like a marzipan cake store to me. Mind you, marzipan and I are not very good friends – both on the scent and the taste level.

 

Wet: The almond stays strong, although I start to get some whiffs of myrrh and cardamon. The scent is getting better, but the marzipan scent really isn’t doing anything for me.

 

Dry: The almond gets less sweet as it dries and the overall scent takes on a slightly more spicy and resinous quality. It’s okay once it’s dried, but it’s still too sweet for me.

In the Imp (ITI):It smells like teak, but I'm assuming that's the balsam. It's rather complex, but I think I pick up the lemon, sage, frankincense, and a bit of the benzoin. It's lovely in the bottle.

 

Wet: Lots of mentholy woods oiled with the greatest care in lemon and frankincense. This smells like a wonderful and richly adored teak check that one gets from exotic lands.

 

Dry: No. 93 Engine has lightened up considerable. Its soft, slightly exotic and woodsy like frankincense infused rare wood offerings purified by sage and surrounded by pure beeswax candles. While I realize this scent is supposed to be evocative of brass and mechanical workings, I do not get any of the coldness of metal. Instead, it's warmth and beauty to my nose.

 

This may be bottle worthy

In the Imp (ITI): Impressive - menthol plus the distinctive woodsy herb scent of rosemary are the first notes to hit me. It's rather astringent, but it a wake-you-up-in-the-morning kind of way. When I concentrate, I get a light boozy note, which must be the grape spirit. I'm not smelling any of the other notes as the top ones are so strong.

 

Wet: I'm still getting mint and rosemary as the strongest top notes. There is an odd under scent that my brain is just not picking out. It almost reminds me of an herbed pizza. Odd. I think there is lemon buried under all of this, but I'm not getting the rose, which I was interested in smelling.

 

Dry: AS it is starting to dry, I get a little of the orange and the lemon peel - a tangy citrus muddled with the strong herbs. The rose has come through to some extent, but now it's getting just a bit soapy on my skin - this does not bode well. After 2 hours, the soapiness has died down completely and I'm left with rose, orange blossom, and just a hint of herbal notes from the rosemary and citrus. I'm much nicer now it is completely dry, however, this isn't something I'd reach for on a regular basis.

In the Imp (ITI): Wow, this is a complex scent. Immediately, I can discern the honey and vanilla, but it is made slightly boozey by the red wine. The cherry scent is evident with some concentration, but it is a cough syrup cherry to my nose. Hopefully that doesn't come out on my skin.

 

Wet: I get vanilla and honey on my skin made slightly medicinal with the vetiver, but I can certainly smell the musk, which is lovely as a base scent at this point. There is just a little of the red wine and dragon's blood that come out on my skin, and the cherries just made it slightly sweet. If I sniff for a while, I can detect the floral note of the poppy. This is might prettier than I had anticipated.

 

Dry: Dry (post workout and shower), the scent is warm with vanilla and sweetened with the honey, dragon's blood, and just a touch of clove. It's feminine, sexy, warm, and evocative.

In the Imp (ITI): On first sniff, this smells distinctly like ginger Altoids. Oh no! My husband claims he can smell orange rinds and a bit of vanilla. There certainly is a warmness to the scent that does make me think of a vanilla or amber note, even though I do not see it in the scent note description. On third sniff, the resins are detectable, although just barely.

 

Wet: Hmm, I'm getting spicy gingersnap cookies. The resin and spices are making it a bit more complex with the cinnamon and perhaps a nutmeg spice notes of this scent.

 

Dry: Once dry (+2 hours), the vanilla or amber scent has died down so I'm left with spiced/dried ginger overtones with a darker spice (nutmeg) underneath. I'm not a foody person, so this is just an okay scent for me.

In the Imp (ITI): MY first impression is that the scent smells like it may skew soapy on me, but I hope that isn't the case. On deeper sniffs, I smell the ambergris, the leather, and the sage.

 

Wet: While the ambergris and leather are predominate, the sage is giving the scent a herbal spiciness. I'm also not smelling the basil, which is a nice undertone when sniffing deeply.

 

Dry: The frankincense has really developed (and I love that note on my skin). The ambergris and leather play nicely with the incense and just a hint of the herbal notes remain, to the extent that I have to concentrate in order to detect those notes.

In the Imp (ITI): On first sniff, the oud and labdanum feature prominently. With some concentration, I can discern the verbena and the citrus.

 

Wet: This scent is much lighter on my skin than in the vial. The oud, amber, and labdanum still feature prominently, but the verbena is quickly making itself more apparent. It's rich and exotic without being cloying or stifling.

 

Dry: While drying, the scent takes on more of a bright overtone with the verbena carrying the scent; however, after over an hour of drying, the oud and amber with just the slightest hint of verbena linger on my skin. It's a great feminine scent.

In the Imp (ITI): It does smell rather masculine to m on first sniff. The There is a sweetness that meets the nose, which I assume is the tonka bean base note of the fougere. This is mediated by the lavender, which is a true lavender note. I can discern the lilac and lime, but these are notes I'm having to tease out after multiple sniffs.

Wet: On my skin, the lavender comes to the front as the top note, but it's tempered by the tonka base note, the lilac, and the citrus musk, which has come out on my skin. At this point, there is a slight menthol scent that I'm getting.

Dry: As it dries down (about 5 -8minutes), the tonka bean comes to the forefront as the lavender recedes to something I have to concentrate on a little more to detect. The lilac is still present, while the lime/citrus notes are still there, but much harder to detect on initial sniffs.

In the Imp (ITI): My first impression is that is a wonderfully clean and feminine scent. It reminds me of light powder and budding roses. On additional sniffs, I can discern mint and a bit of oriental spiciness.

Wet: The mint comes to the forefront on my skin and rose seems to be the note that has take back stage. I do get a lovely mingling of the oriental spices with the mint, and just a touch of powder rounding off the scent.

Dry: (15 minutes) The rose has warmed up more on my skin so that it competes on an even par with the mint. There is just the slightest hint of spice. There still is a powderiness as a secondary note, but it isn’t overt, which is pleasing. At the dry stage, this scent is very light and feminine.

ITImp: I get a nice vanilla with lilac musk and just a hint of citrus.

Wet: I get vanilla as the top note, flanked by benzoin, lilac musk, and perhaps just a lint of myrtle of blackberry leaf.

Dry: The vanilla scent is still prominent, but it's starting to be overtaken by a combination of the floral and green notes. While it's only dried for 30 minutes, I hope it doesn't shift too much. It's nice, but not something I'd reach for every day.

ITImp: Very aquatic, which worries me as aquatics and I do not play nice. I don't smell much of the fruitiness or the blood.
Wet: Very aquatics still with strong floral scent. I'm fighting the urge to wash my wrist vigorously.
Dry: Still aquatic as the first note, but a bit floral-y like a lightly floral and powdery soap you get in fancy hotels. I do smell just a hint of lemon. Dry, I'd say is a 3.5/10 on me.

ITImp: I get fruit cake. Yick!

Wet: I still get fruit cake, but with just a little ginger. Still not liking it.

Dry: More ginger and candied oranges, but I still smell like a fancy fruit cake. Not for me.

ITImp: A faint hint of dragon's blood tempered with apple and apple blossom. I don't smell the other two notes, but it's pretty so far.

Wet: Wow, the hyacinth and musk come out, flanks strongly by the apple. The dragon's blood is there as a subtle spice to the sweetness of the apple.

Dry:After 30 minutes, the dragon's blood became really strong, to the point of smelling like too strong incense. I couldn't smell any of the other notes. After 3/5 hours + a workout, it smells faintly of dragon's blood and just a hint of musk and floral.

ITImp: Very much almond with a hint of spiciness like cinnamon and nutmeg.

Wet: Marzipan almond with some nutmeg, a dash of cardamom and just a hint of booziness.

Dry: Spicy nutmeg and cardamom with some marzipan. (The longevity of this scent is minimal. After 3 hours, I really couldn't smell much at all.)

ITB: I get a green scent, like ivy, with musk and just a hint of leather and folio paper.

Wet: The green scent really comes out on my skin, but I'm getting a lovely sweet musk worn into just a little leather. The paper scent is very gentle and takes some time to tease out.

Dry: Light leather, musk, and the faintest hint of old paper.

ITB: Very much yuzu with grapefruit and some mint.

Wet: Bright yuzu with heavy mint (almost juniper and just a hint on vanilla.

Dry: Very light mint complimented by yuzu. There is just a little warmness from the vanilla. Lovely.

ITImp: I smell a lovely combination of myrrh, teak, neroli, and patchouli - very incensey, but lovely.

Wet: Oh gosh, yes. myrrh, galbanum, neroli, patchouli (light) and sweetness from the cocao.

Dry: I love the combination of galbanum and myrrh. There is just a hint of sweetness, but it is amazing!

ITImp: It smells a bit light fresh laundry detergent with a bit of floral and something crisp about it.

Wet: Wow, it warms up on my skin instantly so it's not so detergent-y. It seems to have a bit for fruitiness with floral notes(orchid perhaps) - very pretty.

Dry: It turns a little soapy, but with strong floral. I wish it hadn't dried own like it had, but it's an okay scent if I'd like to smell like fresh laundry.

Trying out an aged version (cobalt bottle) for this review.

 

ITB: Rather sharp smelling, to the point of being off-putting. I smell something that is a little dew-ish, some sharp, bitter herbs, and a little light floral on top. It reminds me of a rather manly scent at the moment.

Wet: Wah, still strong. Very masculine herby scent, with what could be lily or something along those lines. I'm smelling a bit of the dew. I do hope this mellows down. Slightly soapy. Oh no!

Dry: (+5 hours) It's very light at this point and much different. I'm smelling powder, but in a good way. There is a very faint hint of flowers like rose and a bit of carnation - not so much lily now. Much more of a wearable scent after it's been on for a while.

Bittersweet Mexican cocoa with rum, red wine, and a scent redolent of sacrificial blood.

In the Imp: Sweet cocoa followed by spicy chilly (rum?) and just a bit of raisin.

Wet: A bit more floral on my skin. I still smell the cocoa mainly, but I get an odd whiff of green notes.

Dry: After 12 hours, I smell a bit of boosy chocolate. It's an interesting scent.

almond with star jasmine, oakmoss, red sandalwood and Egyptian musk.

In the imp: I can smell the incense / musk rather strongly, but it seems a little oddly sour with the addition of the jasmine.

Wet: Wow, it's very strong in terms of incense and musk. I really can't smell anything else.

Drying: I get a little sweetness from the almond, my it's almost completely incense-y on me. I'll need to see how this wears hours out. After 13 hours of wear, it is a tad sweeter (almond), but still lots of incense.