Aurelius

Unrestrained revelry, unchained licentiousness! Violet deepened with vetiver. In the vial: weedy and reed-like. Dark, though certainly not "dark" in the incense-y way I think usually categorize as dark. Wet: Violet! This is the same note as ultraviolet (duh, violet) that smells just like Kansas to me! Which is odd, seeing as how the family farm does NOT have any violets. Huh. Violets smell sweet to me, not very flowery. Okay, this is strange. It smells the same on the farm on a summer's evening right before it rains. That odd, sweetly metallic smell. While this doesn't scream unrestrained revelry and unchained licentiousness (um, I don't even want to think of that in the context of a FARM ) it is, however, a fantastically cool reaction. Drying: stays true on my skin. Sweetness that's somehow thick. Overall: Man, I love the nostalgia factor on this one, but it's not quite right for my tastes, scent-wise. Love the memories though!

In the vial: Citrus and gingery. Yum. Wet: Herby with a strange trace of bug sprayness (like Luna did to me, only this time it was much less, thankfully). Drying: Yay! Tea! Chamomile. And, um, lavender. Dry: uh oh. The apricot has gone too sweet on me. I seem to be amping every sweet scent into unholy sweetness lately. Overall: Sweet with a bite, but too sweet for my skin.

Gimpage! Thanks Lab! Vial: Lemon! Wet: Calm down, lemon! Or rather, lime. Whatever. Citrus, please stop yelling so much. We can all hear you. Do behave. Dry: A little too limey to be enjoyable. Sometimes my skin loves citrus, sometimes is loves it a little too much. I have a feeling this is one of those scents that will *sometimes* work with my skin chemistry. Lovely lovely blend though.

Gimpage! Thanks Lab! In the vial: Cherry? If it is cherry, it's most certainly mixed with something else. It almost pops. Wet: Oh good god, get it off! Ew! Bug spray! It smells JUST like the spray my mother used to douse me with when we'd go camping. *shudder* Drying: Ahhhh. Better now. The bug spray is gone. Now I smell...honeysuckle? Something soft and comforting. I know that smell! I wish I could identify it. This smells summery! Dry: Honeysuckle, maybe sweet pea. This smells very similar to Aeval, but without that plastic smell I get. Very nice. Overall: This is nice, but I don't think I'd wear it all that often, especially with the stomach churningly odd bug spray stage. Silly body!

Sleek, dark, and ominous. Violet and neroli mingled with iris, white sandalwood and dark musk. Gimpage! Yay! in the vial: Um, flowers? I can't pick anything specific out. It's not floral bouquet floral, if that makes any sense. wet: Violets! Violets and something sweet. drying/dry: Wha? Fruit punch? Oooooooookay. That was odd. This goes super sweet on me. It's not a bad scent, but clearly my skin chemistry is having a field day morphing this one way out of whack. Odd.

...Her scent is that of a lightless fir wood, nighttime air, wet forest mosses and upturned earth. I have this as both an order and a gimp from the lab! In the vial, and wet on skin: Pine! And...berries? There's something sweet that I cannot place. It's lovely and unexpected. Drying: Come back, pine! The pine has left, replaced by dirt. Wet, earthy dirt, not dry coarse dirt. The sweetness still jumps out, although now it's no longer on my wrist, but flits about in the throw. Dry: Dirt. Just dirt. Overall: Man, the opening stages of this scent are to die for! I LOVE the pine and sweetness. The drydown, however, just isn't for me. This is a lovely scent and I'm sure many people will adore it.

This was a freebie from Macha. And now go read her review (upthread) because I'm sure mine won't be nearly as helpful. in the vial: Whoa. Thick, dark, and sinister. Everything mingles and I can't really catch any single notes. wet, on skin: Why do I smell dragon's blood? I swear, this is very familiar. Aha! This smells very similar to Dragon's Heart, which has notes in common with Debauchery. drying: Opium! Lots of opium. Musk too. Now I can smell single notes appearing. This is very rich. dry: Uh oh. Something has gone just a bit sour. That must be the civet. I'm certainly glad it hasn't had the icky reactions with my skin that others have gotten, but this still isn't quite right. overall: not for me, what with the sourness, plus the overall heaviness of the scent. This really is *too* wicked for me. I like my hedonism to come with a side of whimsy, not death.

Oh holy fuck. *ahem* This is truly one of my OMG, WFT BPALs. Just...damn. This blend has three components that can go very, very wrong on me. Leather? Cheap motel soap. Anise? Makes me ill. Lemon peel? Rotting lemon rind. How the hell they work so well in this one is the mysteries of Beth's genius. This oil immediately gets stronger once it hits my skin. It's somewhat flowery at first, and I was afraid the flowers would attack. I think they were just rowdy, because they got tired and calmed down. I also was afraid it might be a bit too masculine for me to wear, but it mellows and I'll be damned if I'm not putting this sucker on! Just...gah. I cannot describe how great it is. Sexy, damn sexy. And, seriously, one of the best scents for a man. Ever.

Damn! I love Dragon's Blood and so does my skin. But my skin chemistry has a rather chaotic relationship with leather. Dead Man's Hand? Pure leather. Other BPAL with a leather note? Cheap ass motel soap. And, sadly, Dragon's Hide turned from a lovely scent in the vial into an overpowering soapy smell. Boo. This is a great scent, but my skin chemistry just loves to wage war. Off to swap to find a happy home.

I'd like to tell you I tried this. But I would be lying, and my mom told me not to. Anywho, this has almond in it and almond makes me ill. As such I couldn't even get this out of the vial and onto my skin. I'm sorry! I will send this off to an almond-lovin' happy home as soon as possible.

I don't like cherry scents, so I was scared by this one, even though it said cherry blossoms. Hey, it has cherry in the name. This is so lovely! It's light and crisp and calming. And it lasts about two seconds on my skin. As soon as it touched my skin the scent morphed into bliss and then poof! Gone! My skin ate it! I hoped it might do the scary thing Snake Oil does (it disappears only to reappear much later as if from thin air). Sadly it did not. It was just gone. Damn, it's really lovely, but it's not worth wearing if I can't smell it.

This starts out as flowery and turns into FLOWERY. Bah. My skin chemistry and floral notes usually don't like each other. That is certainly true with this blend. Off to swap!

I'm not a fan of cherry scents, so I'll admit my review is totally biased. But I did want to try this gimp from the lab! At first I smell cherry. Thick ripe cherry. Dark and rich. Not pleasant for me, but it's a very true scent. Then I get cherry cola. Bubbly almost. And then...cherry cola and bactine! Yup, it smells like bactine. Not good. Strange.

At first this is light and flowery. I really like the sage. Like many blends with a floral mix, it gets a bit overpowering. I smell like grandma's bouquet gone wrong. Ah well. Florals just aren't my skin chemistry's favorite.

This is ozone-y and fresh, very strong and bold without overwhelming me. I really like it. Unfortunately it reminds me of "mountain spring" scented soap. Clean and crisp. I like it, but that's what my soap is for. I mean that in the best possible way.

Yup, leather. It stupidly surprised me. I nearly snorted the bottle and was like "my god, who stuck leather in there?!...Oh, yeah, uh, Dead Man's Hand. Duh." Hee! This stays the same from the bottle to my skin, and it lasts without being overpowering. I do love the smell of leather, but I'm not sure I want to smell like it. But I just had to try it!

Why does my body chemistry like to wage war against some BPAL blends and notes? I expected Cordelia to smell similar to Embalming Fluid or Kumiho. Instead I was stalked and attacked by a gang of flowers.

I ordered an imp of this for the name alone. How could I not?! This smells just like dirt. Freshly upturned dirt. The rose must have stayed dead because I simply cannot smell it on my skin. As fantastic as this scent is in conveying zombiness, it's not really for me. Love the fantastic images and the smell, but it's not something I want to smell like. I'm really glad I tried it though.

A gimp from the lab... When I opened up my imp to sniff it and put some on I freaked out, thinking that it had turned. It smelled just like vinegar! Ew! Then I put it on and the sucker just completely changed. It was suddenly berry goodness. Wine! Rich heady wine. It stayed in all its wine-y glory until much later when the chocolate peeked out a bit. As for the other notes, well, I assume they were beaten into submission by the red wine.

This was a gimp from the lab. I am embarassed to say that I wasn't able to try it. As a member of the Anti-Almond League I might have my membership revoked. Actually, I intended to try it, but the almond was overpowering and it makes me ill. This is off to my swap pile to find a happy home with an almond lover.

Huh. All I smell is dirt. Fresh dirt, and nothing but. Odd. Stupid body chemistry.

Dracul makes me drool. It's simply one of the best things I've smelled. I worried at first that it was too masculine for me. But if I have no SO to slather it on at the moment, then I'm wearing it, dammit. It's just that good. It's vaguely like Snake Oil, with a rich spicyness, but Dracul also has an orange-y kick. One of my favorites.

A gimp from the lab... Mmm...rose and patchouli. Both of these notes tend to be very strong on my skin, but luckily they behaved. It's actually fairly light on me. Wonderful, calm, and earthy.

This (in the bottle) really does conjure up images of a lush parlor room, somewhat closed in, dusty. However, one of the notes is very bitter on me. It just clings to my skin and won't let anything else come out. It morphs from bitter to sour, and it isn't pleasant. Silly body chemistry.

This is a gimp from the lab. I love Dragon's Blood. This smells *just* like the resin. It's strong without being overwhelming, and it just pulses with comfort, strength and vitality. I love it. I tend to like blends with Dragon's Blood in them; now I think I've changed my mind. I want it all on its own. This is fantastic! Thanks lab!