cuervosueno

I swapped for a bottle of this unsniffed because I was positive I would like it. poppy smoke (which before I corrected it, I had typed as poopy smoke) , chamaca, sandalwood. ginger, etc. There is nothing in it I don't like. and the first reviews sounded like I would like it. I was hoping for something like midnight on the midway. Then I got a sniffy, and I have to say..... this is not AT ALL what I expected. in the imp and wet it smells like....fruit. Pomegranite maybe. Fruit and floral. I get none of the expected notes at all. Very odd indeed, but I doubt very much it is mislabled. Well, when I get the bottle, I'll compare, but I suspect the Dr. will be moving on from my house too.

This is drop-dead gorgeous! (I seem to be full of puns in my reviews tonight) I was planning on buying a bottle unsniffed, but ended up getting some sniffies, and with glee immediately tried the Count. It is like no other BPAL blend in my mind. It starts out gloriously, with bitter clove and something sweet that I can't put my finger on. After looking at the notes, I suspect it is the tonka. In the early stages, there is also something that smells a bit like smoke, though I don't know what it is. After a wearing it a bit, the leather comes out, but for once it plays nice on my skin (actually, all the Order of the Dragon's with leather have been ok on me--no overwhelming "you must only smell leather" attack as there is with some other leather blends on me). It is so well blended that I can't pick out notes after the intial blast of clove. Instead I get a dark, spicey drop-dead sexy scent that is masculine, but not so masculine I can't wear it. Yes, yes: Lookinglass hit it dead on--this IS clove cigarette smoke wafting from the sexiest goth man in leather. Exactly! He's dark, he's edgy, he's gorgeous. This is his scent. And when I wear it, I can imagine meeting a gorgeous man to try it on (actually, I imagine it my ex boyfriend, who while not goth, was dark, lean, edgy. This would be perfect for him). Ok, so as I suspected, Count Dracula is a must purchase.

Like Filigree, who gave me a sniffie of this, I tend to amp Dragon's blood. In fact, I've passed on most of my DB blends, because except for Dragon's Milk with its intense vanilla, they all smell the same on me. but I was intrigued by the steel note and wanted to try this. Per usual, at first it was all dragon's blood. Sweet sweet, and slightly floral. I thought I was also getting something else even sweeter than DB (is that possible?) but don't know what it was. But as it dried down, I started to get a metallic note. hey, how'd Beth do that anyway? But sure enough, DB and steel. Intriguing! After a bit--say after an hour or so, I smelled DB, metal and just a hint of leather, and this time the leather didn't amp on my skin, but it was nicely cut with the sweetness and spice of the DB. I kept sniffing it--really nice! I'm surprised more people haven't tried this--it is both lovely and unique, and really does embody its name. That said, I have to restrain myself from buying every bottle I want, so I probably won't get those. I like it a lot, and am tempted, but it's not different enough from other DB blends on my skin to warrant it. Still, a winner!

Well, it's hard to follow Yeahbutno's great reviews (and I love the "if you like this try..."), but here goes.... First, a Kindly Moon sniffy was a gift from the lovely Filigree_Shadow. It was not a blend I bought--too floral--but I was interested in trying it. and it surprised me. In the imp it was sweet floral with a touch of fruit, but I couldn't tell what kind. Sort of melonish in the way Yemaya is? I put it on, and it bloomed. It was a lovely hothouse flower scent (white florals, the only kind I like) with a lovely fruit note underneath. Must be the peach blossom. I also get a bit of wax, and a wash of honey. My skin amps honey like crazy (which is fine--its a note I like) and I guess it must do the same with beeswax. But this is lovely, intoxicating, a very sweet honey floral. I kept sniffing it. There is something soft to it, almost edible, and I kept thinking of honeyed flowers. It very much captures the gentleness of its name. After about an hour, the gardenia came out, which is also nice. Overall, its a floral that I really could wear. I enjoyed it, though I'm not crazy enough about it to try and hunt down a bottle. So if I were to take a cue from YBN, and make recommendations, I'd say if you don't usually like florals, you still might like this, especially if you like honey notes.

I had this idea that I hate pomegranite so I have been avoiding blends containing it, though it turns out several I like actually have it. Go figure. Anyway, I avoided Harvest Moon 06 for this reason, but became interested in it after reading the reviews. So I managed to get a decant. In the imp and wet, it is very appley. Red apples and a soft floral perfume. Not dissimiliar to Punkie Night at first, but more "grown up" because it more like perfume and less like straight on apple cider. On, the apple begiins to fade, and I get a softer brown floral. After awhile, I smell something like Hungry Ghost Moon--sugar cane? Its not like HGM at all, but I recognize a similiar note to it. In the end, this is like a cross between Mum Moon and Punkie Night, more towards the mum moon, though. I like it, but probably wouldn't have kept a full bottle, so the imp suits me just fine.

In the imp, it smells like a garden. Like sitting in a green courtyard garden, the air heavy with moisture. On, though, the rose comes out. I guess I'm sitting in a rose garden now, which is cool in real life, but I don't really want to smell like rose. I do like jasmine but didn't get that from this. Instead it is a soft rose, and it doesn't, actually offend me like some other rose scents do, but neither do I particularly like it. Still, glad I got to try this. And thanks to Quikslvr, who included it as a frimp in my decant circle order.

I really wanted to get a bottle of this for the art alone, but I was wary of the notes, so I got an imp in a decant circle instead. Good call, and I'm afraid I'll have to forgo Macha's gorgeous artwork on the bottle. in imp: very odd. smoke and something sweet. On, I like it though. It's like smoke and sassafrass, and maybe a hint of buckskin? Smells like a man--I don’t mean a manly scent, but like a man wearing leather, who smells of smoke and something else sweet, as if he’s standing in a field of sweet herbs. Gorgeous! Guess I do need a bottle. i keep smelling it. I’d also like to smell it ON a man. Later: hmmm....something slightly foody in it too, but it is not a foody scent. But its....odd. And strong. My initial enjoyment has turned to dislike. Everytime I move I smell it and I don't like the oddness of it. there is something bitter in their too, and milky which reminds me of bitter sap from a a plant. I can't explain it any better than that. I tried it one more time, and the second time I didn't even enjoy the opening scent. I really wanted it off me for some reason. Ok, guess it's not me after all.

Yep, just like everyone else is saying, this is delicious red apples. Crisp, fresh, gorgeous. Then the spice comes in with just a hint of something woody. The spices are a bit candle-like; I wish the apple note would last longer. It does turn to apple cider which is very evocative. But my skin just eats it up--it barely lasts an hour. And while I can smell something when I press my nose against my skin later, it is just the hint of spice, which frankly, isn't that different from Pumpkin Queen's dry down on me (and I find PQ much much more interesting.) I'm afraid I probably don't need to keep both--esp. since I still have the Pumpkin Patches from last year for an autumnal spice kick.

In the bottle: incense with a slight cake note beneath it. On the skin: Much wetter and fruitier than I expected. I really smell something sharp and juicy--the currents? At this point there is no cake, no incense, though it begins to come out after a bit. Now its lost all its fruitiness. It smells like old dry cakes left in a dusty room with the faint smell of incense ash lingering in the room. As if you entered an abandoned church much much later, and found ash and offeratory cakes. Something slightly artificial plasticy in it I don’t like, but that maybe because its mixing in a bit with one of the others I'm sampling. Later: nope, the slightly plasticy note is still there, and this underwhelms me overall. Ah well, can't get it right everytime.

Schwarzer Mond, I really wanted to love you. In bottle: whew! strong sharp resins with almost a licorice note. On skin: yes, I see the coca-cola comparison-but it is like coca-cola syrup, spicy and dark. That’s the initial scent, but immediately I get, but I also get something woody, and I think I smell the antique patchouli--ie. something that smells like patchouli, but is softer, darker, more myserious. The odd thing I can’t reallly smell this if I press my nose to it--I have to be a bit away from it. Dark, spicy, cola-like, with a slight woodnote underneath. 10 minutes in and it is starting to smell like bay rum. I wonder if I will love this as much as I thought? It ends up being like the early stages of Voodoo, or even more like French Creole on me. the pachouli is there too, but it is not that strong. I really had to slather to get this to work. It will break my heart if it doesn’t work, but it may not. I’ll try it the scent locket before I give up. Later: I tried. More than once. My best friend tried, because she liked it too. On neither of us was it impressive, though a little better on her than me. It won't work in the scent locket either (though honestly I didn't try it there) because this is a blend that needs to bloom on the skin. Except for on me it didn't. I'm very very sad about this. I guess it will have to find a happier home, though. eta: after i already sold the bottle, I began to have second thoughts, because after several hours all the coca-cola scent fades away, and I'm left with a very soft ambery (ie slightly powdery) note and soft patchouli. I started to regret my quick sale, but the fact is, while it is lovely now, it is so soft I can barely smell it (ie no throw), and I realize I will likely wear it very rarely, so better to let it go to Midnight Aeval who I hope will enjoy it more.

Yay! My first ever first review! But I should say I'm having a particularly hard time picking out notes--this may be more about the Orisha than the scent. I got this at Black Broom after trying a number of Orisha blends, and I admit I bought it mostly on scent alone. That said, let me include some info. on Chango/Shango. It's rather long, but it also includes the herbs/fruits associated with him, which might just be in the scent: The god of thunder, fire, and masculine virility. Shangó is probably the most popular orisha in the Lukumí pantheon. This is probably influenced by the innumerable myths that describe his charming and virile nature and recount his multiple romantic adventures with different women. Shangó despises lies and cheating. His anger is made evident through thunder and lightning. When he has been offended, he is a menacing storm and the lightning bolt executes his sentence. He is also an executioner for Olodumaré—he punishes those who have offended the Creator or broken any Divine dictates. When Shangó possesses, he is an avid and masterful dancer. He brandishes his oshé— double-headed axe—through the air, symbolically slashing away at evil or the head of an enemy. He has a direct relationship with many orishas. Oba was his legitimate wife, but her lack of physical beauty distanced him. He found an equal in Oyá, his second wife and sidekick. Oyá and Shangó are so alike that they can be described as two faces of the same coin. The sensuous Oshún was his favorite wife. This is the only orisha that could manipulate Shangó into anything. When they meet in a wemilere, Shangó will almost always try to enchant Oshún and she ignores him with a seductive cynicism typical of the flirtatious orisha. Chango Saint: St. Barbara. Day of the Week: Saturday. Friday is also popular. Huge parties are held in Chango's honor on December 4th, St. Barbara's day according to the Catholic calendar. Sacrificial Foods: Chango is a glutton. He loves huge portions of corn meal and okra. Apples are his favorite fruit, and he likes pitahaya (cactus fruit). All his food should be heavily loaded with corojo butter. Chango drinks red wine in large quantities. His water should come from a pond. Herbs: arabo rojo, cordoban, vacabuey, siguaraya Banyan tree, kapok tree, poplar, sorghum, clematis, hog plum, Cuban spurge, cashews, ironwood, mugwort, bran, climbing vines, bull's testicles, American spurge, leeks, pitahaya, plantains and bananas, red hamelias, Bermuda grass, royal palm, pine, lignum vitae, amansa guapo, pine nuts and apple trees among others. The BPAL scent: Definately fruity, but not as fruity as some of the other orisha blends I smelled. Its not a fruit I recognize, and smells rather tropical. I don't smell apples in it. There is something floral in there as well. I could smell just a hint--possibly--of red wine as well. it reminds me of being in the tropics, where the air smells fecund and green, sweet with some tropical flower (but not one I recognize like jasmine which doesn't work for me at all), and a hint of some luscious fruit like passionfruit or mango. its a very lush and sensual scent, but not sexual if that makes sense....ie. I associate sexual scents with musk/amber/cinnamon--something warm--and I'm getting more fruity/green/floral here. Maybe just a hint of muskiness beneath it all? It doesn't wear long on me--a couple of hours--and ends on a slightly fruity mostly sweet note. I actually like the drydown/fading stage most....it ends up sweet but not too sweet, maybe like red bananas...not too ripe and not as sweet as the white ones. maybe a hint of vanilla too. Its not exactly what I'd think of if I think of Chango as the orisha of thunder and lightening, but if I think of it as representing his playboy nature, then it makes more sense. Or perhaps as a sacrifice to him as an Orisha? Anyway, I'm glad I tried it--not sure I'll keep it, but it is definately an interesting scent, perhaps better for someone else..... edited to add that if anyone is interested in a decant of this or swapping it outright, pm me....

When I read the description of this, I was scared off by the pomegranite and plum. I haven't been crazy about blends with either note, so I decided just to try a decant of this. Which turns out to be fine, not that I don't love this. I should say that I really liked Snake Oil and Snake Charmer, but I didn't keep bottles of either one. The reason is I have a special experimental blend that I was even more crazy about. (some of you may remember a couple of years ago when Beth swapped experimental blends for Lush? I swapped with someone who had what she called a "snake oil-like" experimental blend). The blend I got is gorgeous--sweet with vanilla and mysterious pachouli. Its a heavy, dark sexy blend that I get many many compliments on when I wear it. In fact, one time someone asked what the perfume was called. I didn't want to explain the whole story, nor that it had no name, so I just said it was a blend from a perfumer in LA. The man said, that is so sexy you should really thank her for it. All women should be able to wear that. Well, now more people can. And now the scent has a name. It's Mme. Moriarty. As soon as I opened the imp, I recognized it. That seductive sweetness with the dark mystery of pachouli beneath it. I don't smell the fruit notes per se, but this is rich and sweet and provocative. To make sure I wasn't wrong about the two being pretty much the same, I put Mme M. from the im on my wrist and the experimental blend on my forearm. Yup, they're the same, though my bottle is just slightly less sweet in the bottle (perhaps because it has aged). They are the same on. So, as it turns out, I didn't need a bottle of Mme. M (though I'm very sad I didn't get the Tarot card!). And now the gorgeous scent has a name. Thanks Beth, and somewhere in ABQ there is a man who will thank you for making this scent available. ps. for those who are interested, this WILL age beautifully. My bottle is two years old and gorgeous, though not much changed.

I'm a huge jasmine fan, so when I saw this, I knew I wanted to try it. I only got an imp, though, because I was dubious of the violet. Which turned out not to be an issue. In imp: musky floral. I don’t like it in the imp. Wet, it smells slightly rose-like. Wait, now the jasmine is coming out, and I like it more. Yes, yes. Jasmine with a hint of vanilla. Uh oh. Do I really NEED another jasmine scent? Part of me is saying yes, yes, because this is subtler than some of the others I like. Reminds me a litle of Red Flower's Indian Jasmine lotion. I do smell smell the red musk, and it has a slightly civety scent...(I’ve been comparing civet scents trying to distinguish them from musk). But the vanilla adds a gorgeous note to it. I might have to have this after all. Ah, but I gave it some time, and after the dry down, it is to jasmine and red musk which is a bit too much like the love me/fire of love/dixie love perfume on me, so maybe not? I never get the violet, which is fine with me. After some thought, I've put it up for swap. I kind of like it, but I have other things I like better.

I really really wanted to like this. In imp: cleaning fluid. On my skin: still kind of like that, but now I smell honey, a scent I like. I can also smell the orange blossom. I get orange blosom and honey and the sharpness (cleaning fluid note) of lemongrass. Where is the tea leaf and mint? I think I smell sugar cane too because I get a bit of a whiff of something like Hungry Ghost Moon. But the sharpness comes back. While it finally settles down into a faint lemon honey scent, I'm left with that sharp lemongrass for too long. And I never get the mint or tea. Damn! I don’t think this is going to play nice with me. Off to swaps, sadly.

In imp: glorious lemony tea. Very much like a more citrusy Dorian. On: at first it is pure lemon tea, which is glorious, but kind of like Spirits of the Dead. Now the lemon is getting sugary, and slightly artificial. uh oh. No, that’s the bergamot in Earl Grey tea. Ok, so now it is a mix of Spirits of the Dead and Dorian. It's nice, but not knocking me out, esp. since I have both SotD and Dorian. I think I’ll keep the imp but likely won’t need more.

I have a crush on a guy at my boxing class. Ok, on two guys, but..... And I thought it might be nice to try out some of the TAL attraction blends in this situation, so I was lucky enough to buy several different decants. Scent-wise, this is by far my favorite. In the imp this is a nice floral, nothing special. On, this blooms. It is glorious! It’s sweet and soft, with just a slight lemony/citrus scent--more like lemon balm than actual lemon. Almost, but not quite, foody. I wouldn’t be surprised if it had an amber in it, because it has that golden light I associate with amber (think, for example, of Jacob's Ladder). I very much like it. And it gets even better as it drys down. Now its turned all golden and fruity and sweet, like amber and citrus together. The citrus is either sweet orange or mandarin, I think, and is very like the citrus note in Pumpkin queen. As it starts to fade (just a bit), it does get a candy note. Smells like orange pez or something, which I find very appealing. and when I read YeahbutNo's review, I thought yes, I could see how this could be lotus. It really is alluring, and is subtle enough to draw people near, I think. I also do think it fits its egyptian theme. Must have more than just this imp! For an attraction oil to be workable for me, it has to also have a smell I enjoy, and this is the one I like best. Perhaps I can swap some of my others for more of this. In the meantime, I plan to wear it to by class tomorrow, and will report back on what happens. eta: I love this! Of all the love/attraction blends I've tried recently, this is my favorite in terms of smell. It reminds me of lemon pez, which sounds wierd, but smells really good. The first time I wore it, nothing much happened in the class, but strangers were very nice to me, which makes sense considering its use. but when I wore it again, the "crush" guys were much nicer and flirtier too. So I do think it works, and maybe not just on total strangers! I may have to consider getting a bottle of this!

I'm on a roll, reviewing TAL love blends just on scent alone, though I mean to come back and add more after I've tested them out. in the imp: Damn! some sharpish herby scent like mint and something floral too. wierd! On, yup, that’s mint. A sharp menthol mint, like straightup peppermint picked from the garden and crushed. So sharp it makes my nose tingle. Reminds me of the top note in The Fool, which I think is pennyroyal. I just smelled them together, and yes, its the same, but I don’t know if it is pennyroyal or some other type of mint (I keep thinking of that note as pennyroyal, but since that is a rather hazardous essential oil, perhaps it is not pennyroyal). After the mint calms down it gets a bit better, a bit softer. At first I thought I got a slightly fruity scent, but I kept sniffing and realized it was something else, something very familiar. Finally it dawned on me: It is rose, but a nice, wearable rose. This is probably the only rose I can wear. I get no musk at all, or at least not red musk, which on me is very animalistic. I’ll keep the imp but I’m not crazy about it. Whether I like the scent or not may seem irrelevent, but in the love/attraction blends I think the scent IS important because if I don't like the scent, I'll either not wear it or feel self-conscious wearing it (ie. in Dixie Love Perfume which is just too strong for me). Anyway, I plan to try out its efficacy in the next couple of days so will report back on that soon.

Damn. I've been dying to try this, and finally bought several imps from the lovely Roesmoker. And I don't like the scent. Of course, I know TAL's are for more than scent, and I do intend to try it out for real, but I also like to try them first for scent if its a wearable blend, because I should know how I'm going to react to it, right? I don't think this would work for me to attract people, because I'd feel self-conscious wearing it. It is simply too strong on me. It smells just like "Love me": a sort of musky cinnamon with something animalistic in it--not just musk. Turns more cinnamon as it dries. cinnamon and powder. Very very cinnamon though, with something a little like civet beneath. I suppose this could be red musk, which is more animalistic than other musks on me, but it really seems stronger than that (and when I compared it to Satyr in the bottle, I thought it was very similiar, though lighter). It is very strong, with a lot of throw. I wish I got jasmine or honeysuckle from it like others did, but I don’t until the very end, when finally the cinamon has faded and I get a very heavy animalistic jasmine. Well, determined spell-caster that I am, I'm determined to try it out, so I expect I'll keep a bit, but I certainly don't need three (!) imps of it. I will report back after I've done more than smell it. ETA: results? Inconclusive. I've tried it out several times in my boxing class, and some days guys seem a little more friendly. But I'm self-concious when I wear it because it is SO heavy. I don't much like the smell of it wafting off me, though I don't absolutely hate it either. Mostly I've tried to put it on, then layer something heavy over it (Mme. Moriarity was a successful blend), but then I wonder if that reduces it's effectiveness? Anyway, I'll keep what I have, but I think it is not the ideal love/attraction blend for me.

How is it that I have not reviewed this? Perhaps because when I sniffed the imp this was my response: I have no idea how old this imp, so perhaps the civet in it is amped to the exclusion of all else, but when I put it on, I thought, yup, that's civet, and its not so bad. For about two seconds. Then I sniffed my hand, and yes, it smelled exactly like a goat. and not a sweet little pygmy goat kid that you might pet at the fair, clean and smelling of a young animal and straw. No, this is straight up billy goat. And is it ever resistant to being removed! Several swipes of alchohol and I can still smell it. Well, I'll keep the imp--I suspect it would get a lot of takers if I put it up for swaps anyway, but I do occasionally want to know what civet smells like, ( to distinguish it from, say, red musk, which is also strongly animalistic on me). But whew! I'm not wearing it!

I know this discussion goes round and round, but I'm wondering what people think about this: in my halloweenie order, my three halloween 5 mls were less full than usual. All Souls and Pumpking Queen were right at the shoulder of the bottle (which is fine). But Punkie night is only full to the top of the label, which is almost an imp low I think. Now if I keep it, no big deal, because I haven't gone through a 5 ml. yet. But if I want to swap it, it looks like I took an imp out, though I didn't. What do you all think? Should I email the lab about it? I'm not sure what they'd be able to do, frankly, since it is just low, and there are no imps for this. Or should I just write it off as a one-time-in-three-years thing? eta: oops! Just read further into this thread and saw at the shoulder is full. But I am still wondering what people think about the Punkie Night.... (truthfully, I probably just won't worry about it, but....)

Her scent is bewitching, almost intoxicating: a sensual incense of crushed mums, red ginger, and pulsing musk … and the air is thick with leaden brown opium smoke that hangs thickly over a seductive mixture of red musk, body-warmed perfume, and hypnotic Eastern flowers. Ah, chrysanthmum Moon-- First, there is the spelling issue...I simply can't seem to spell the name! (I had to look up at the topic title this time to get it right!). I expected to love this, to be crazy for it. And I do like it, but....I'm not crazy about it. In the bottle, I get a dark, incensey floral. Its attractive, and sort of dark brown with golden highlights in my mind. On, I do smell the odd smell of crushed chrysanthmums--slightly musky, slightly bitter, slightly green. The sweetness comes out as well, but it is opium sweetness, and I'm enjoying it. There is also a creamy note as others have pointed out. I don't get much ginger, though there is a bit of spice, but it is not the pungent fresh ginger root of Shub, but rather a softer baking ginger note. Underneath this all, there is something slightly perfumy about it. It lasts quite a long time on me but has little throw. all this is fine, but the fact is, I was really bothered because it reminded me of a scent I couldn't remember the name of. I shuffled through my BPAL, then finally lit upon Carceri from the Salon. I put it on the other wrist. yep, they smell very similiar one me. Odd too, because they don't share the same notes, but on me, the similiaritie is striking, though I prefer Carceri with its redwood note. I can't see wearing both of them, so I guess Mum Moon will go. I did smell it on a friend though, and on her it smelled quite different--more like incense, more spicy, more creamy....More like the reviews from those who really adore this scent. So I guess it's just one of those body chemistry things--while it didn't go awry on me, it also didn't wow me. It's pretty, but I don't need to keep it.

How is it that I have never reviewed this? I suppose its for the same reason the imp sat around in my imp bowl for two years....at some point I must have tested it enough to decide to keep it, but never wore it again. That said, I found it earlier this summer, and tried it out. I thought, my god, this is gorgeous! I love the spicy red floral note of Dragon's Blood (that's what it reminds me of, a spicy red flower. Though I know what it really looks like, I imagine it as a tropical red carnation if that makes any sense). But even more, I love vanilla and honey, and this is one of my to die for vanilla scents. (As much as I like Dorian, it ends up being a bit too masculine for me). anyway, I wore it and wore it, and put it on my bottle list. Finally bought a bottle on ebay. Sweet scents are my comfort scents, and this is no exception. that spicy vanilla blend is gorgeous, and this scent also lasts and lasts on me. My ex said it was too sweet, but I don't agree. And I dumped him anyway. But the Dragon's Milk stays! This is by far my favorite in the Ars Draconis series....I like Ladon a lot too, but I like this more!

I got this as a frimp with an ebay purchase. I thought, Harlot, now why haven't I tried that before? I sniffed it out of the imp--cinnamon! with a sweet soft floral. So far, so good. Then I decided to look it up. Rose! My nemesis! But it was so nice in the imp I had to try it. And.....it's ok. My skin amps rose like crazy, so unfortunately as soon as it hits my skin, its rose rose rose, but its not an annoying rose a la Jean Nate (does anyone remember that other than me?) but its still rose. Which often makes me sneeze, though this didn't. After a bit the rose calms down and a get some cinnamon. I can see the Big Red gum comparison, though mine is Big Red with roses. I wouldn't buy it, nor will I keep the imp, but I'm glad I tried it, and in the end, I didn't hate it.

Hey, that's what some of us are going for! (needs an emoticon of an abashed-looking hippie). I've been burning incense nonstop for 20 years to cultivate that! Yeah, me too! I want to smell like that! I generally love resins and incense scents, but the fact is, a lot of the BPAL resins actually DON"T work for me (though some other resin perfumes do). One of the things is that the myhrr is too dark and bitter on me. That's probably because the myhrr I'm in love with is not true myhrr but the sweeter resin...now I'm forgetting what it is called....opponox I think. A lot of those on the list as resins just wouldn't work for me: aureus, midnight mass, pentitence, etc. But I do well with the nag champa/champaca ones. Three cheers for Midnight on the Midway! I also agree: resins seem heavier, stickier than incense. And yes, incense can be almost anything. I love the Caterpillar, but I get more jasmine than anything else. Jasmine incense! Jacob's ladder=amber=rich, heavy, sticky. Same with all the dragon's blood scents for me. I can do BPAL amber, DB, and frankincense, but not myhrr... trying to think of some other resins....oh, copal! I love me some copal. I suppose what this rather rambling post is pointing out to me is that I like the sweet resins.

Chaos Theory III: Strange Attractors ML (1050) In the last few years, I got CT's that really really didn't agree with me. This year, I got lucky! (Woohoo! Third time's the charm!) I adore my first bottle, and while I'm not yet sure what I think of this bottle, I think I like it. In the bottle: Huh...this is tough. Slightly bitter? Like crushed green leaves? On, it immediately blooms in to a very green but lovely floral. I'm not a huge floral fan, but this reminds of the scent of a tropical greenhouse: wet plants and a sweet blooming flower. It also is a bit musky--but not white musk. It's very familiar and it's bothering me that I don't know what that scent is. (Off I go to compare it to other BPAL scents and to my essential oil collection). Be right back! Ok, bergamot. That is accounts for the fresh green slightly floral note. I thought there was musk in this, but when I sniffed it against several musk single notes, it didn't match up. It's a resin, not a musk. Either amber or labdanum. Its not as powdery as some of BPAL's ambers can be on me, so it might be labdanum instead, though when I compared it to Jacob's Ladder, there was a slight resemblance. And what I initially thought was musk is more likely that slight muskiness that some ambers have. This blend is not at all powdery, and the resin notes are very well balanced by the green of the bergamot. My final guess? Resins and bergamot, for a lovely morphing scent that goes from green to resiny warm sweetness. It doesn't last that long on me, however, and it also doesn't have a lot of throw--its one of those scents that stick close to the skin. It is quite lovely, though I'm not sure I need a whole bottle.